 |
|
Act to eliminate fiscal deficit notified
Fortnightly revision of petro prices may go
One-time third party insurance proposed
PNB declares 15 pc dividend
Amritsar, July 3 
“The trade agreements between India and Pakistan have slowed down due to the change of government in India,” Mr Azhar Saeed Butt, Chairman, All-Pakistan Traders’ Association, rues. He made a brief stopover here in the city after arriving via the Wagah route today.
Talking to The Tribune during his meeting with some top Indian traders,
he says Pakistan has still not left hope.
GRAPHICS: |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mallya’s no-frills airline awaits nod
Gross income governs rebate
|
|
Act to eliminate fiscal deficit notified New Delhi, July 3 The Act, which was passed by Parliament last year, also stipulates that fiscal deficit should be brought down by at least 0.3 per cent of GDP and revenue deficit by 0.5 per cent of GDP annually. The Act lays down rules relating to annual targets of reduction in deficits, government borrowings and debts. The Act, effective from July 5, caps the Centre’s guarantees and total liabilities annually and prohibits the Union Government’s borrowing from the Reserve Bank after April 1, 2006, an official release said. By undertaking to accept this discipline, the government has put India among the select group of countries which are serious about managing their public finances well and have legislation for ensuring that. Asserting that the government is committed to undertaking an intra-year assessment of its budgetary targets, the release said “at the end of second quarterly assessment, if the non-debt receipts are less than 40 per cent of the Budget estimate or the revenue or fiscal deficit is more than 45 per cent of the estimate, the government will not only take corrective measures, but the Finance Minister will also make a statement in both Houses of Parliament.” The Act stipulates that the government gives three broad periodic reports-Macro-economic Framework Statement, Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement and Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement-to Parliament. The Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement will contain a 3-year “rolling targets” for key fiscal parameters that underpin the government’s fiscal correction trajectory. The Budget for this year will contain the three statements.
|
|
Fortnightly revision of petro prices may go
New Delhi, July 3 As per the proposal under consideration, oil companies would not alter auto fuel prices if the hike or reduction, necessitated due to a movement in raw material cost (crude oil), is less than Re 1 per litre. They, however, will have the freedom to raise or lower prices by Re 1 per litre on both if, for a longer period, say a month, such a hike or reduction was necessary. “The new scheme is being devised to reduce the frequency of price revision. Moreover, it has been observed that if a hike in crude oil price in a particular week or fortnight, due to some extraneous factors, falls in the subsequent fortnight, the overall impact is negligible,” sources said. Through a year, oil companies can revise prices up to 10 per cent of the current prices. Sources said the limited revision proposal being worked out by the Petroleum Ministry will be put up before the Cabinet for approval shortly. Sources said government was unlikely to go back to the control era by setting up a price stabilisation fund. —
PTI
|
|
One-time third party insurance proposed Chandigarh, July 3 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr R. Beri, Chairman of New India Assurance Company said this forms part of the suggestions sent to the Finance Ministry for the Budget .The rate of the premium for the proposed third party insurance should be 6-7 per cent of the cost of the vehicle. Mr Beri said the company, which has 26 per cent share in the insurance market, retained its number one position by doing a premium business of Rs 4,040 crore in the domestic market and Rs 900 crore in the foreign market. The company has set a target of Rs 4,550 crore for their business for 2004-05 with a growth rate of 13 per cent, he said. With an annual business turnover of Rs 400 crore, the company is placed at the 43rd position in the UK market, besides having offices in 36 countries abroad.
|
|
PNB declares 15 pc dividend
New Delhi, July 3 The final dividend is in addition to interim dividend of 25 per cent for the year ended March, 2004. The bank has achieved a net profit of Rs 1,109.69 crore during 2003-04 compared to Rs 842.20 crore during 2002-03, representing a growth of 32 per cent. “I would like to mention that this level of net profit has been achieved after making provisions of Rs 2,012.17 crore towards NPAs, taxes and bonus compared to Rs 1,475.09 crore made in the previous year,” PNB CMD S S Kohli told the third Annual General Meeting of the shareholders here. —
UNI
|
|
Pak trader favours road route for trade Amritsar, July 3 Talking to The Tribune during his meeting with some top Indian traders, he says Pakistan has still not left hope. Crediting the BJP government for its peace initiatives, the chairman says Pakistan traders are pressing upon their government to confer the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India at the earliest so that trade could boom . Favouring a road route for trade between the two countries, he says maximum benefit could be derived from it. “Pakistan had surplus power that may illuminate the whole of Indian Punjab. Similarly, India may provide cheaper wheat, onions, apples and even newsprint.”
|
|
Mallya’s no-frills airline awaits nod "The more, the merrier". This seems to be Vijay Mallya’s philosophy. He is planning a no-frill airline. He has already met the Minister of State for Aviation Praful Patel. If he gets the nod to initiate the airline, it will lead to more competition among the domestic carriers. The venture will be floated with a projected outlay of Rs 150 crore. Technical snags Technical snags and poor visibility at Lucknow were the main causes for delay in Indian Airline’s scheduled flight (IG-601 on June 17, 2004) from Delhi to Lucknow. The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in its findings, has ruled out any foul play or conspiracy. The report says that first engineering snags delayed the take-off at IGIA. Eventually, after rectifying defects in hydraulic system, the plane took off but it could not land at Lucknow as the required visibility minima of 2800 metres for a VOR DME (Variable Omni Range Distance Measuring Equipment) approach for landing was unavailable. In view of this, the plane returned to Delhi. The IA flight was not the only one which was affected because of the poor visibility. The Sahara Airline flight holding over Lucknow had to divert to Delhi owing to poor visibility at Lucknow. Jet Airways had already cancelled its flight. Cargo movement As a Airports Authority of India (AAI) is restructuring cargo services and setting up new cargo terminal, India is on a firm road of becoming a more important hub than it has been.
There is a tremendous upsurg in cargo upliftment and airlines —
domestic and international — are concentrating on development of the
neglected area — cargo. All traders on the domestic routes as also on
international destinations are sending their consignments by air instead
of by road, trains or by sea. Sending consignments by air means quick
turnover of money and this is what traders are looking for. There are
occasional hazards of directional imbalances, but operators are unfazed
in their belief that cargo is a cash cow in the modern airline industry. |
Gross income governs rebate Q: My income consists of interest from PO MIS and bank deposits. For the year 2004-05, my total income is less than Rs.1.50 lakh. If I sell my equity shares in the current booming market, my total income will cross the level of Rs. 5 lakh. Consequently, I shall lose the benefit of the rebate on contributions already made to the PPF. What I desire to know is whether this amount of Rs. 1.5 lakh (or 5 lakh) is to be computed after subtracting 1. Carried forward long-term and short-term capital losses. 2. Standard deduction from my salary. 3. Section 80L benefit. 4. Purchase of a residential flat. 5. Reinvestment of capital gains in Nabard bonds. 6. Interest on loan taken from my son for purchase of the flat. — K. Padmanabhan A: The income levels governing the applicability of rebate u/s 88 are decided by gross total income before giving effect to deductions under Chapter VI A. In other words, while computing this amount, you can take into account all items listed above with the sole exception of deduction u/s 80L etc. IT returns Q: My father was a Central Bank Of India, Khamgaon branch, employee. He died in a road accident and we got the medical bill for Rs 3,39,000 from the bank in two parts: 1. By regular methods. 2. By staff welfare scheme. But my problem is that the bank is deducing 30 per cent from the medical bill amount. My father died on July13, 2003, and the accident took place on March 21, 2003. He got salary for April. There is no income since April 2003. So under what norms and conditions, should I get the income-tax exemption against the medical? The hospital does not have the government certification of medical bill exemption to income tax. You are requested to tell me the right way by which I will tell the bank about the exemption. — Chinmay Kulkarni
A:
The bank has followed the law correctly. It is not possible
for you to tell the bank not to apply TDS or apply it at a lower rate.
The best method is to file two tax returns, one from April 1 to July 13,
2003, in the name of your father and from July 14, 2003 to March 31,
2004 for the estate of your father. You can claim refund of the excess
TDS.
|
bb
Reserves down India-EU summit ONGC Amartex outlet Nabard HC directive SBP loan cell Free replacement |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
