1. Milk, Mercedes Can’t Be Taxed at Single GST Rate: Narendra Modi
Defending the government’s decision to go in for multiple slabs in the goods and services and tax (GST), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said items like milk and Mercedes cannot be taxed at the same slab while pointing out that prices have come for down for almost 400 groups of items.
In an interview to Swarajya magazine published on its website on Sunday, Modi said rates for most daily use commodities have come down.
“Earlier many taxes were hidden. Now, what you see is what you pay. Government has reduced taxes on nearly 400 groups of items. Around 150 groups of items have zero per cent tax rate. If you look at the rates, for most of the day-to-day commodities, the rate has actually come down. Be it rice, wheat, sugar, spices, etc, total tax levied has been reduced in most cases,” he said adding a large number of items of daily usage are either exempted or in 5 percent slab. “Some 95 percent items fall in/below the 18 percent slab,” he added.
(Source: Livemint)
2. Pan-Aadhaar Linking Deadline Extended Till 31 March 2019: CBDT
The CBDT on 30 June extended the deadline for the PAN-Aadhaar linking to 31 March next year. This is the fifth time the government has extended the deadline for individuals to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) to their biometric ID (Aadhaar).
The policy-making body of the tax department issued an order, under Section 119 of the Income Tax Act, late night, extending the deadline. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had last extended the deadline on 27 March.
(Source: Livemint)
3. Tata – Mistry: NCLT Verdict on Tata-Mistry Feud on 4 July
The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal will deliver its judgement on 4 July on the two-year-old bitter feud between Tata Sons and its dismissed chairman Cyrus Mistry.
The key allegation by the Mistry camp is that his removal as chairman and subsequently as a director on the board of Tata Sons was a result of oppression by the promoter Tata Trusts that owns over 68 percent in Tata Sons.
The second part of the plea focused on alleged mismanagement by the Tata Sons board and Ratan Tata which causing revenue loss to the group. Mistry has also termed as “arbitrary” recent changes to the Tata Sons articles of association that dilute his family’s rights as shareholders. The Mistry family owns 18.6 percent in Tata Sons.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
4. TRAI Fines Jio, Airtel, Idea, Vodafone for Not Meeting Service Quality Norms in December Quarter
Keeping its vigil on service quality in the sector, the Telecom Regulation Authority of India has imposed penalties on leading operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel Ltd., Vodafone and Idea Cellular Ltd, for failing to meet various quality of service benchmarks in the December quarter, according to a source.
Around Rs 31 lakh fine has been imposed on Reliance Infocomm Ltd.’s Reliance Jio, the newest entrant in the telecom sector whose aggressive offerings have led to a bruising tariff war in the market.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
5. Jet Fuel Price Cut by 2.7 Percent on Falling Global Rates
Aviation turbine fuel price was cut by 2.7 percent today as falling international rates brought down rates from a four-year high.
ATF, or jet fuel, was cut by Rs 1,942 a kilolitre, or 2.7 per cent, to Rs 68,086 per kilolitre in Delhi, according to state-owned oil firms.
The reduction comes on the back of two successive monthly hikes, the last being a steep 7 percent on 1 June that took rates to a four-year high of Rs 70,028 per kilolitre in Delhi. On May 1, ATF price was raised by Rs 3,890 per kilolitre (6.3 percent) to Rs 61,450 per kilolitre.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
6. Money in Swiss Banks: India Moves to 73rd Place, UK Remains on Top
India has moved up to 73rd place in terms of money parked by its citizens and companies with Swiss banks, while the UK remains on the top.
India had slipped to 88th place with a 44 percent plunge in such funds during 2016, but the latest data from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) shows an increase of over 50 percent during 2017 to CHF 1.01 billion (about Rs7,000 crore).
(Source: Livemint)
7. CBI Seizes Files on Easing of 5/20 Aviation Rule; To Probe Senior Officials
The National Democratic Alliance government’s decision to scrap the 5/20 rule, which made it easier for domestic airlines to fly abroad, is under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The agency has seized files related to the National Civil Aviation Policy and is likely to call senior officials of the civil aviation ministry for questioning. The CBI is investigating allegations of bribery linked to easing policy norms for airlines to fly abroad.
(Source: Business Standard)
8. 1 Mn Traders to Protest Across India Against Walmart-Flipkart Deal: CAIT
Nearly 1 million traders will protest at about 1,000 places across the country on Monday against US retail giant Walmart's proposed acquisition of 77 per cent stake in home-grown retailer Flipkart in a $16-billion deal, traders' body CAIT has said.
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal alleged that the e-commerce market place has been vitiated to a great extent in past years by several leading e-commerce companies by indulging into all kinds of malpractices including predatory pricing, deep discounting and loss funding.
(Source: Business Standard)
9. Defence Deals With US Worth Billions in Works
As India and the US try to find ways to revive the 2+2 dialogue that got delayed due to scheduling issues from Washington, defence deals worth billions are in the pipeline. At least two deals at an advanced stage could see a formal signing in the coming months.
The US has been emerged as a major defence supplier to India in the past decade with deals worth over $12 billion already inked, which includes a $4.7-billion transactionfor C 17 transport aircraft.
(Source: The Economic Times)
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