1. Govt Widens Scope of Direct Tax Code to Make Compliance Easier for Taxpayers
The government on Wednesday, 27 June, widened the scope of a new direct tax code that is on the drawing board to make compliance easier for taxpayers, while transactions by businesses and individuals will be analysed more intensively using technology.
A panel drafting the tax code has now been given four more areas to work on, said a statement from the finance ministry.
One of these is faceless assessment and scrutiny of income tax returns, which eliminates the possibility of the assessee and the tax official concerned ever getting to know one another.
(Source: LiveMint
2. No Proposal to Close MTNL, BSNL: Ravi Shankar Prasad
The government on Wednesday said there is no proposal to close state-run telecom companies BSNL and MTNL, and a comprehensive plan for their revival is under preparation.
"No proposal of closure of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is under consideration," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed the Lok Sabha.
In a separate reply, he said there was no such proposal under consideration for BSNL as well.
(Source: PTI)
3. With 60% Stake, L&T Completes Its Hostile Takeover of Mindtree
Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) gained a controlling interest in Mindtree Ltd, raising its stake to 60 percent in the Bengaluru-based company on Wednesday and successfully concluding India’s first hostile takeover of a software developer.
L&T completed buying the 31 percent additional stake it targeted to acquire in Mindtree for ₹4,988.82 crore through an open offer as large investors rushed to sell their holdings.
The offer to purchase 50.9 million shares of Mindtree from public shareholders was subscribed 1.2 times on Wednesday, two people with direct knowledge said condition of anonymity.
(Source: LiveMint)
4. RBI Releases Directions on Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday issued Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives (Reserve Bank) Directions consolidating and simplifying all previous regulations with a view to protect small and retail participants.
Regulations on interest rate derivatives (IRDs) have so far been issued separately for each product, including for products traded on exchanges.
These regulations were framed with a view to guide the initial evolution of the market through prescriptive requirements.
(Source: PTI)
5. Business Are Cancelling Asia Investment as US-China Trade War Deepens
The US-China trade war is weighing more heavily on businesses operating in Asia Pacific, with companies reporting more delays or cancellation of investments than last year.
The impact on investment was cited by 54 percent of firms surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, up from 50 percent late in 2018, it said in a report on Wednesday. More businesses than last year are also considering readjusting supply chains away from China and the US.
Over the past six months, 41 percent have seen a “slight” negative impact from the trade war, and eight percent registered “strong” negative, while 32 percent reported no impact. Forty percent see the trade war deteriorating further, with 30 percent each saying it’ll stay the same or be resolved soon.
(Source: Business Standard)
6. Payments Data Must Be Stored in Systems Located in India, Says RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said all data related to payment transactions must be stored in the country and that such information, if processed abroad, will have to be brought back within 24 hours.
“The entire payment data shall be stored in systems located only in India,” the RBI said in its frequently asked question (FAQ) section on Wednesday, responding to certain issues raised by payment system operators.
“The data should be deleted from the systems abroad and brought back to India not later than one business day or 24 hours from the payment processing, whichever is earlier,” it added.
(Source: Business Standard)
7. Govt Can Raise Rs 95,000 Cr from Infra Bonds to Boost Growth: BofA
As it looks for means to push growth, the government can look at issuing infrastructure bonds via a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which could mop up over Rs 95,000 crore or 0.5 percent of GDP, says a report.
Even though this will raise the overall public sector borrowing, the market will not react adversely as the money raised will be tied to funding specific needs, economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said Wednesday.
"Infrastructure bonds can be issued by an SPV to fund additional public capex needs, which will boost growth without crowding out private investment," they said in the note, adding the finance minister can comfortably mop up over Rs 95,000 crore from such bonds.
(Source: Business Standard)
8. Jet Airways' Flying Rights With 5 Countries Temporarily Allocated to Air India: Govt
Bilateral flying rights with five countries, which were previously allocated to Jet Airways, have now been temporarily given to Air India till the end of the summer schedule of this year, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Wednesday.
As Jet Airways ran out of funds, it had shut down its operations on 17 April this year which lead to a sudden rise in domestic and international airfares.
As a result, the central government decided to temporarily allocate the domestic slots as well as international flying rights of Jet Airways to other airlines who could start new flights immediately and fill the supply gap.
(Source: PTI)
9. IndiaMART IPO Subscribed over 36 Times on Final Day of Bidding
The initial public offering of IndiaMART InterMESH, an online marketplace for business products and services, was subscribed 36.16 times on the final day of bidding Wednesday.
The ₹475-crore IPO received bids for 9,73,85,775 shares against the total issue size of 26,92,824 shares, according to the NSE data till 1900 hours.
The qualified institutional buyers' book was subscribed close to 30.83 times, non-institutional investors 62.12 times and retail individual investors 13.37 times, according to merchant banking sources.
(Source: PTI)
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