Haider Ali KhanThe central government is ready to support golf tourism to attract more foreign visitors to the country, which has over 200 golf courses. This was said on Monday (26 October) by Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma who stressed that there is a lot of potential in golf tourism in India. "Golf is at nascent stage in the country and the government is ready to support this niche tourism product. There is a lot of potential of golf tourism in India," said, Mahesh Sharma at the FICCI Golf Tourism Summit in New Delhi. He informed that India has about 220 golf courses and some of these are best in the world. He urged for industry cooperation and said, "How best it can be explored so that it becomes strength of tourism industry in the country." Disagreeing with tour operators, Sharma said there is no off season for tourism in country like India. India has the strength to provide round the year tourism to the world. Something or other is available for tourists in the country round the year as we have glaciers, deserts, mountains, and vast plains as well and some of the mightiest rivers on this earth. "We have miles and miles of Himalayan range, longest sea beach, desert, wildlife, monuments. India is so vast that we can have round the year tourism," he added. President of India Golf Tourism Association, Rajan Sehgal, said, "We have about 220 golf courses in the country and about 25 are signature golf courses which are at par with international standard." Tourism Secretary, Vinod Zutsi, said, “India is a late entrant in the golf tourism sector. The government has given e-tourism visa facility to 113 countries and our aim is to extend the facility to total 150 countries."
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China may cut its GDP growth target to 6.5 per cent from 7 per cent in its next five year plan from next year at the top policy body of the ruling Communist Party's meet beginning here on Monday amid continued slowdown of world's second largest economy. The fifth plenary session of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee which will be presided over by the CPC Central Committee's General Secretary and President Xi Jinping will deliberate 13th five year plan (2016-2020) for economic and social development. Ahead of the four-day meeting, official reports quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying that China's economy which slipped below the seven per cent in the Q3 for the first time since 2009 does not need to grow seven per cent this year. "First, 6.9 per cent is about 7 per cent, which is in a reasonable range," Li was quoted by People's Daily. "We never said we must defend any target to the death," he said. China may cut its GDP growth target to 6.5 per cent in the next five years, a further decrease from this year's goal of 7 per cent, a recent report in Economic Information, a newspaper affiliated to state-run Xinhua news agency said. Till now Chinese government has set 7 per cent as the target amid the continued slowdown. Recent IMF forecast said China's growth is expected to slow from 7.3 per cent in 2014 to 6.8 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent in 2016 as the country struggles with its shift from export oriented economy to the one driven by consumption. The new five year plans takes into the consideration of the current slowdown and lay out institutional Party reform plans to guarantee a better and effective national leadership, officials said. China has drawn Five-Year Plans since 1953 to map strategies for overall economic and social development, setting growth targets and defining development policies. Besides efforts to address to halt the slowdown and carry forward the urbanisation process, the new plan's thrust was expected to lift 70.17 million people who are still below poverty in China by 2020. It meant that a million people have to be lifted to above poverty line every month specially when the world's second largest economy is on down word trajectory.(PTI)
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Alcohol and tobacco industries will have to pay more taxes towards an additional 'sin tax' under the proposed GST structure that seeks to bring in a uniform indirect tax regime across the country. "We have kept a provision of having an additional tax for the sinful industries such as alcohol and tobacco," a senior Finance Ministry official said. However, the official did not specify the rate at which this tax would be levied under the proposed GST regime. 'Sin tax' is a globally prevalent practice under which products like alcohol and tobacco attract higher rates of tax. Typically, 'sin tax' is an excise tax that is levied on products and services considered to be bad for health or society such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling. These additional taxes are also seen as efforts to discourage people from use of such products or services. Besides, such taxes are often the most common measures by the governments to shore up their tax revenues as people generally refrain from opposition to such levies as they are indirect in nature and affect only their end users. The Finance Ministry is currently seeking inputs from the industry and other stakeholders at national, state and local levels on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law. "Everybody is getting a chance to interact with us so that they get a clarity on the concept and the business precesses, which we are in the process of finalising," the official added. "If we find there are some gaps or areas of concerns, we will certainly look into those areas. Nothing has been frozen so far and all these proposals are drafts as of now. "We are waiting for the comments and suggestions and we will be going through all suggestions from the industry. After making necessary changes based on those suggestions, a final report would be placed before the GST council before the final GST law is framed," the official added. GST is being seen as one of the biggest tax reforms in the country. While the Constitution Amendment Bill to roll out the law has been passed in Lok Sabha, it is awaiting clearance from the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA lacks a majority. The government is meanwhile undertaking the preparatory work necessary for GST implementation, which will subsume various taxes like excise, service tax, sales tax, octroi, etc, and will ensure a single indirect tax regime. (PTI)
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State finance ministers are scheduled to meet on November 20 to discuss the model Goods and Services (GST) Tax law as well as the integrated-GST or iGST legislation. The Centre had earlier this month circulated among states the draft of CGST, SGST and iGST for their comments. "The meeting of states to discuss the laws is scheduled to happen on November 20," an official told PTI. The Central GST (CGST) will be framed based on the model GST law. Also, the states will draft their own State GST (SGST) based on the draft model law with minor variation incorporating state-based exemption. Besides, iGST law would deal with inter-state movement of goods and services. After the draft laws are deliberated upon by states, it would be put up in the public domain seeking comments of trade and industry. "The model legislations have been drafted after consultations between representatives of both the Centre and states. Now, the state finance ministers have to formally approve it," another official said. Although the government had planned to roll out GST, which is touted as the most comprehensive indirect tax reform since Independence, from April 1, 2016, it seems difficult as the Constitution Amendment Bill is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority. The government, however, is going ahead with the preparatory work necessary for smooth implementation of the GST, which will subsume various levies like excise, service tax, sales tax, octroi and the like and will ensure a single indirect tax regime for the entire country. The government has already put up three reports of empowered committee on GST on refunds, payment process and registration for public comments by October 31. Besides, another report of a Joint Committee in relation to GST return process has suggested providing monthly filing of returns for business to business dealings through a set of eight forms for different categories of transactions. It has suggested filing of a periodic e-return for CGST, SGST and iGST.(PTI)
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Thousands of high-value business disputes are set to be transferred to commercial benches in select high courts in the coming weeks after promulgation of an ordinance, which seeks to improve the ease of doing business in India. The government had last week approved an ordinance to set up commercial benches in select high courts to deal with high value business disputes. It was signed by President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday. With the ordinance coming into force "at once", all pending suits and applications relating to commercial disputes involving claims of Rs one crore or more in the high courts and civil courts will be transferred to the relevant Commercial Division or Commercial Court as the case may be. The exact number of cases which will stand transferred was not yet clear but Law Ministry officials said the number could be in thousands across India. A commercial dispute has been defined broadly to mean a dispute arising out of ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents; joint venture and partnership agreements; intellectual property rights; insurance and other areas. Commercial Divisions are to be set up in those high courts which are already exercising ordinary original civil jurisdiction such as Calcutta, Madras and Himachal Pradesh high courts. Delhi and Bombay High Courts have already set up Commercial Divisions. These Commercial Divisions will exercise jurisdiction over all cases and applications relating to commercial disputes. The Commercial Division shall have territorial jurisdiction over such area on which it has original jurisdiction, the ordinance states. According to the Law Ministry-piloted ordinance, Commercial Courts, which will be equivalent to district courts, are to be set up in states and UTs where the high courts do not have ordinary original civil jurisdiction, and in states where the high court has original jurisdiction, in respect of those regions to which the original jurisdiction of a high court does not extend. Commercial Appellate Division will be set up in all the high courts to hear appeal against orders of Commercial Division of high court and orders of commercial courts. But Commercial Divisions or Commercial Courts will not have jurisdiction in matters relating to commercial dispute, where the jurisdiction of the civil court has been either expressly or impliedly barred under law. The introduction of the Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts and Commercial Courts Bill, 2015 in Parliament was part of the budget speech of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. After its introduction, the bill was referred to a Parliamentary committee which had been given three extensions to give its report on the bill. The Committee has been given time till November 30 to submit its report on the bill. The bill is based on the recommendations of the Law Commission. An earlier bill brought by the previous UPA government in 2009 was referred to a Rajya Sabha select committee but had failed to get Parliamentary approval. Once the Winter session, likely to commence after November 19, starts, the government will have to seek Parliament's approval for the ordinance within 42 days/six weeks or else it will lapse. (PTI)
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In a bid to reduce harassment of overseas travellers, the government on Friday eased the penal provisions by raising fourfold to Rs 20 lakh the limit of undeclared or mis-declared baggage that will attract arrest or prosecution. Presently, overseas travellers can pay a fine for any undeclared or misdeclared baggage of a value up to Rs 5 lakh. Any such baggage beyond this limit attracts prosecution or arrest. The government has now raised this limit to Rs 20 lakh. "In cases of outright smuggling or mis-declaration of baggage, the limits regarding value of offending goods have been revised from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh," a Finance Ministry statement said. Similarly, the monetary limits for arrests and prosecution have been raised for offenders under other acts including Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax. However, there will be no limit for arrest and prosecution in the cases of smuggling of fake Indian currency notes, arms, ammunitions and explosives and endangered species. Also, the procedure for arrest and sanction of prosecution has been revised and specified with adequate safeguards to ensure that these powers are exercised only in serious cases above the revised thresholds. "The monetary limits for arrest and prosecution have been revised substantially upwards to ensure that these powers are not used against small and medium businesses," the statement added. The Finance Ministry said limits in case of offence of evasion of tax or wrongful utilisation of input tax credit in case of Central Excise and Service tax have been revised to Rs 1 crore from Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively. In case of an evasion of tax under the Customs Act, the limits have been revised to Rs 1 crore from Rs 10 lakh in case of evasion of tax by wrongful availment of exemption or duty drawback. Similar, revisions regarding value of goods have been carried out with regard to taxes concerning import or export. "As in the past, there shall be no lower limit for arrest and prosecution in the cases of smuggling of fake Indian currency notes, arms, ammunitions and explosives and endangered species," it said. In a notification, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said in case of "habitual evaders", notwithstanding the Rs 1 crore limit, prosecution can be launched in the case of a company/ assessee habitually evading tax/duty or misusing cenvat credit facility. A company/assessee would be treated as habitually evading tax/duty, if it has has been involved in three or more cases of confirmed demand of excise duty or service tax or misuse of Cenvat credit involving fraud, suppression of facts etc in past five years such that the total duty or tax evaded or total credit misused is equal to or more than Rs 1 crore, the notification said. The Finance Ministry said: "The procedure to be followed for arrest and sanction of prosecution has been revised and specified with adequate safeguards in these instructions to ensure that only in cases of serious nature above the revised thresholds, where there is strong prima-facie evidence, these powers are exercised."(PTI)
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The government on Wednesday (21 October) cleared two ordinances for speedy settlement of commercial disputes in the country, giving a fresh impetus to ease of doing business. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cleared ordinances to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act and bring into force the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 pending before a Parliamentary standing committee, official sources said. The Cabinet had in December last year given a nod to an ordinance to amend the Arbitration Act but it was never sent to the President for approval. For speedy settlement of commercial disputes, the Cabinet had in August cleared a bill to amend the Arbitration Act to fix a timeline for arbitrators to resolve cases. The bill was not introduced in Parliament. Under the proposed amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, an arbitrator will have to settle a case within 18 months. However, after the completion of 12 months, certain restrictions will be put in place to ensure that the arbitration case does not linger on, the sources said. In the initial ordinance approved by the Cabinet in December last year, the timeline was fixed at nine months. The formulation was changed after inter-ministerial discussions. The amendments to the law come amidst keenness of the government to attract the greater foreign investment. Certain foreign companies were said to be hesitant to do business in India because of the long-drawn litigations. Another amendment to the law puts a cap on the fee of an arbitrator. The arbitrator will now also have to spell out if there is a conflict of interest in a case he or she is taking up. The Prime Minister has been stressing on steps to promote ease of doing business in India. In its report submitted last year, the Law Commission had also supported amendment to the arbitration law to help India become a favoured destination, after Singapore and London, for international arbitration. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which also met today, decided to take a call on convening the Winter Session of Parliament on October 26. Once the session, likely to commence after November 19, starts, the government will have to seek Parliament's approval for the ordinances within 42 days/six weeks or else these will lapse. The department related standing committee on Law and Personnel was to table its report in Parliament on the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 by end of July. But it was granted a month's extension till August 30. The panel has sought a fresh extension till November 30. The Bill has been pending. After being referred to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee during UPA's tenure, it was sent to the Law Commission. Based on the law panel's recommendations, the NDA government re-drafted the bill as part of its ease of doing business. The government will now have to take a call on bringing into force a law which will allow the Delhi High Court to transfer thousands of cases, mostly related to property disputes, to the district courts of the capital. The law will enhance the pecuniary jurisdiction of civil courts from the existing Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 crore. The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015, has received the approval of the President but is yet to be brought into force. Pecuniary jurisdiction refers to the jurisdiction of a court over a suit based on the amount or value of its subject matter. According to an estimate put before the Parliamentary committee which examined the bill, there are over 12,000 cases which will stand transferred to the lower courts.
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As the prices of pulses have gone beyond the means of the common man, the Modi government has gone on a fire-fighting mode. On Monday (19 October), the government decided to further import 2,000 tonnes of tur dal and 1,000 tonnes of urad dal. MMTC has been asked to float the tenders immediately. The Cabinet Secretary, along with the secretaries of consumer affairs, agriculture and commerce, held a video conference with the chief secretaries of all states regarding the production, procurement, availability and prices of pulses. The states were asked to carry out surprise inspections and raids to prevent hoarding and black marketing of pulses. The Cabinet Secretary said that all the 400 outlets of Kendriya Bhandar and Safal in Delhi should start distributing imported tur dal right away. Some 100 Kendriya Bhandar and Safal outlets have already commenced distribution of imported tur dal in Delhi at Rs 120 per keg.
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Suchetana Ray & Suman K Jha The buzz about a reshuffle of Narendra Modi’s cabinet has been doing the rounds for months now. Many believed that the right time was after the Budget Session of Parliament, but many months have passed since then and the latest whisper is that the changes in the Cabinet will be introduced after the Bihar elections. Of the many Cabinet ministers whose portfolios are expected to change, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s name is right on top. Top sources in the know say that it’s unlikely that any changes will be brought upon the crucial ministry of finance just 5 months before the annual exercise of presenting the Union Budget. So the reshuffle could see Jaitley’s other portfolios - Information & Broadcasting and Corporate Affairs - being rejigged. “He is overburdened with so many ministries, but his proficiency in all matters legal also make him a great asset to the Government,” explain sources. These sources also point to the regular meetings that the Finance Minister is having with the Additional Solicitor Generals of India. A trained lawyer, Jaitley is proficient and well-versed with all the cases pending in various courts that could have a bearing on the government. As already reported by Businessworld.in, Union health Minister J P Nadda could be headed to the party, for leadership position, should the BJP alliance win Bihar. This will be no commentary on incumbent BJP President Amit Shah, though. The RSS, in fact, wants someone at the helm who will be amenable to do its bidding. Shah is an out and out Modi protégé. In the reshuffle, Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah is expected to be eased out, as she has hit the cut-off age of 75. Union MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra may be nearing the cut-off mark, but he is likely to be retained till the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017. Among the Union Ministers, Dharmendra Pradhan and Ananthkumar could be sent back to the party, say sources. Among the junior ministers, the stock of Jayant Sinha (MoS Finance), Kiren Rijiju (MoS Home) and Manoj Sinha (MoS Railways) is said to be high. As has already been reported, Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu may be on his way out, as the Prime Minister’s Office has in recent times expressed its displeasure at the slow process of reform in India’s largest PSU: the Indian Railways. A top official in Rail Ministry points out, “The minister is acutely aware of the challenges in this ministry but he also knows that there are no quick fixes. These are problems that have accumulated over decades and Suresh Prabhu has inherited them.” But sections in the Government say that the urgency shown by Prabhu to sign MoUs with various sectors and stakeholders has done little to improve the condition on Indian Railways. Critics point out that Prabhu’s stated promise of raising Rs 8.5 lakh crore in investments over the next 5 years is yet to take off. And add to that the spate of recent accidents. Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani never ceases to surprise. She will surprise her critics again by retaining her job, say sources.
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To prevent hoarding of pulses and check price rise, the Centre on Sunday (18 October) imposed stock limits on pulses held by licenced food processors, importers, exporters as well as large departmental retailers such as Big Bazaar. It has also directed state governments to intensify anti-hoarding operations and keep a check on black-marketing and profiteering by traders. The stock limits on holding of pulses have been in place for the last few years. Recently, while extending the stock limits on the commodity for one more year till September 2016, the government had exempted these four categories. "To increase availability and prevent hoarding of pulses, government amended the central order under Essential Commodities Act, 1955 with immediate effect to enable imposition of stock limits on pulses sourced from imports, stocks held by exporters... "... stocks to be used as raw-materials by licenced food processors and stocks of large departmental retailers," Food Ministry said in a statement. The government has now withdrawn exemptions to stocks of pulses held by these four categories, it added. The ministry said that the Cabinet Secretary has also been reviewing the price situation on a daily basis. "He directed all departments to keep a close watch on prices of essential commodities, especially pulses and work in close coordination with all states to control price rise." "All states have been advised to intensify anti-hoarding operations and keep in check black-marketing and profiteering by traders," it added. The prices of pulses have risen unabated for the past few months due to a fall in domestic output by about 2 million tonnes (MT) to 17.20 MT in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) owing to deficient monsoon and unseasonal rains.(Agencies)
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