Arun Jaitley Defends Appeal In Vodafone Tax Case

Defending move to appeal against the Bombay High Court verdict in the Rs 8,500-crore Vodafone transfer pricing case, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the case had nothing to do with retrospective tax issue and no company is immune from paying taxes.

"Why should the government not file an appeal when it thinks that it is an appealable order," he told ET Now. "There is no company in the world that is immune from paying taxes."

Jaitley was responding to a question on the tax department deciding to challenge an October 8, 2015 decision of the Bombay High Court in the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition (SLP).

"There are important questions of law which go to the Supreme Court. This case has nothing to do with the retrospective tax issue," said Jaitley, who is here on a seven-day official tour.

Vodafone had got favourable verdicts from the Bombay High Court in two tax cases last year.

The first one pertained to the High Court rejecting tax authorities claim that Vodafone priced the shares of its stakes in its Indian companies sold to other arms of Vodafone in a way to avoid taxes. The Income Tax Department had sought Rs 3,000 crore in taxes.

In the second case, the High Court had on October 8 ruled that the Department did not have the jurisdiction on the sale of Vodafone's call centre business to Hutchison Whampoa Properties and assignment of call options to Vodafone International Holdings BV in 2007-08.

The Income Tax Department has decided to appeal against the second verdict. It has, however, decided not to appeal against the first case alongside a similar transfer-pricing case won by Royal Dutch Shell.

Besides the two cases, Vodafone is fighting a separate larger case relating to imposition of taxes using retrospective legislation over its 2007 acquisition of an Indian telecom group. The case is awaiting international arbitration.

"There can't be a principle that a company had once an issue of retrospective taxation, this company is immune from other forms of taxation. So If there are legitimate issues with regard to other areas, it is between the company and department to sort them out," Jaitley said on Vodafone case.

He said retrospective tax is an issue of the past.

"It is an issue which the previous government has created. It is an issue which we have resolved. For one or two cases which are pending, we have given several options of resolving these issues," he said.

The Minister was referring to his Budget proposal to waive interest and penalty if the companies involved in retrospective tax cases like Vodafone and Cairn Energy plc of UK paid the principal tax amount.

"We want a predictable tax regime. Therefore, the predictability of tax regime is ensured by not having retrospective taxation and that is the clear policy of the government," he said.

Investors, he said, are very clever people who understand the sea change that has taken place in India. "I don't have to smoothen any nerves, investors are very enthusiastic and bullish about India."

Source From - http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-arun-jaitley-defends-appeal-in-vodafone-tax-case-1397712?pfrom=home-latest

Asian Shares Near Five-And-A-Half Month Highs on Oil Rally

Asian shares held near five-and-a-half-month highs on Thursday as oil prices rallied over 4 per cent overnight thanks to a smaller than expected increase in US crude inventories and abiding hopes that producers may eventually agree ways to ease a global glut.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent while Japan's Nikkei gained 2.0 per cent. Australian shares rose 0.9 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.5 per cent. Shanghai was little changed.

Wall Street shares ended less than 2 per cent short of a record-high close on Wednesday as a rebound in oil prices added to optimism sparked by a raft of earnings reports.

The S&P 500 gained 0.08 per cent to 2,102.4, and had gained 15 per cent since mid-February.

Oil prices surged on Wednesday and eventually popped up to a five-month high after a smaller-than-expected build in US crude inventories offset oversupply worries stirred by Kuwaiti oil workers strike ending a strike.

Oil bulls also bet that major crude producers would meet again to try to curtail output even as Moscow denied media reports that Russia planned to host such a meeting.

Last Sunday, Russia and OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) nations had failed to reach an agreement on freezing production at a meeting in Doha, Qatar.

"Despite the denial from Russia, oil prices were strong, pointing to strong market sentiment. I suspect there is speculation that oil producers will eventually agree on an output freeze," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management.

US crude rose above $44 a barrel to touch their highest since November. Brent crude dipped a little to $45.55 a barrel after rallying 4 per cent overnight to near $46, their highest in five months.

Many other commodity prices were also firm, with copper rising to as high as $4,989 a tonne, its highest level in a month.

The Thomson Reuters Core Commodity Index also rose above its March peak to its highest level since early December.

Silver extended gains after Tuesday's sharp gains to hit an 11-month high of $17.185 per ounce. It last traded at $17.10, up about 5 per cent so far this week.

In contrast, safe-haven gold stayed in its well-worn $1,210-1,280 range since February and last stood at $1,247.91 per ounce, up 1.2 per cent on the week.

In the currency market, commodity-linked currencies held firm.

The Canadian dollar hit a nine-and-a-half-month high of 1.2593 to the US dollar. It last stood at 1.2656.

The Australian dollar was at 0.7796, having hit an 11-month high of 0.7830 on Wednesday.

Against other currencies, the US dollar maintained a firm tone overall, and held an upper hand against the euro ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the day.

ECB President Mario Draghi is likely to drive home the case for ultra-loose monetary policy on Thursday, hitting back after a barrage of criticism from German officials who dispute the bank's recipe for tackling the euro zone's economic malaise.

"The task now for the ECB lies more along the lines of promoting the effectiveness of these new expansionary policies and assertion that the Bank can do more if needed," said Rodrigo Catril, FX strategist at National Australia Bank.

The euro traded nearly flat at $1.1299, having fallen 0.5 per cent on Wednesday.

Against the yen, the dollar nudged up to a two-week high of 109.90 yen.

Source From - http://profit.ndtv.com/news/global-markets/article-asian-shares-near-five-and-a-half-month-highs-as-oil-rises-1397830?pfrom=home-bigstory

Sensex Above 26,000 To 4-Month High; ICICI Leads, Wipro Slumps

The BSE Sensex jumped over 225 points to edge past the psychological 26,000 mark for the first time since January 4. The broader Nifty surged over 60 points to inch near the key 8,000 levels.

Domestic stock markets were buoyed by strong trading in Asia, where shares held near 5-1/2-month highs tracking a rally in oil prices. Japan's Nikkei gained 2.5 per cent, while markets in China traded with a positive bias.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank jumped over 7 per cent to top the Nifty50 index, after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to outperform. Recognition of bad loans and the moderation in steel sector stress (to which ICICI Bank has significant exposure) will aid ICICI Bank's re-rating, the investment bank said.

State-run Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India also saw strong buying interest amid renewed optimism in banking stocks.

Meanwhile, IT major Wipro slumped over 5 per cent after a string of brokerages downgraded the stock post Q4 earnings. Wipro's IT services margins fell by 10 basis points to 20.1 per cent compared to the prior quarter. On a year-on-year basis Wipro's margins fell by 2 percentage points.

For the Jan-March fourth quarter, Wipro reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,235 crore. Analysts on average were expecting the company to report profit of Rs 2,343 crore for the three-month period, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Citi downgraded Wipro to "sell", saying organic growth is slowing and margins are under pressures. Morgan Stanley also downgraded Wipro to "underweight", citing weak Q1 guidance. EBIT margin is likely to face pressure, it added.

As of 09.30 a.m., the Sensex traded 194 points higher at 26,038, while the Nifty was up 51 points at 7,966.

Source from - http://profit.ndtv.com/news/market/article-sensex-above-26-000-to-4-month-high-icici-leads-wipro-slumps-1397850?pfrom=home-bigstory

What is an Initial Public Offering | Stock Market IPO

What is an Initial Public Offering | Stock Market IPO from Dhanashri Academy

Interest Rate on PPF, Other Savings Schemes Set To Fall Further: Report

The repo rate cut announced by the Reserve Bank on Tuesday is likely to bring much-needed relief to borrowers, but the move wouldn't impress millions of investors who depend on small savings instruments such as public provident fund (PPF) and Sukanya Samriddhi to earn tax free income.

According to research agency India Ratings, the 25-basis-point rate cut, coupled with measures to ease liquidity, could bring down small savings rate by 20 to 25 basis points during the July-September quarter. One basis point is equal to one-hundredth of a percentage point.

This means interest rate on PPF, for example, could fall to between 7.85 per cent and 7.9 per cent in the fiscal second quarter. 

According to the new small savings scheme rules which came into effect from April 1, interest rates will be revised every quarter, based on the previous 3-month yields on benchmark government securities or bonds with a small mark-up. Earlier, interest rates were set for the full year.

For the April quarter, the government cut the interest rate on small savings schemes sharply, following a slide in benchmark government securities rate.

As a result, interest rate on PPF was set sharply lower at 8.1 per cent for the period April 1 to June 30, down from 8.7 per cent. Senior citizen savings scheme of five years would earn 8.6 per cent interest compared to 9.3 per cent. Girl-child saving scheme, Sukanya Samriddhi Account will see interest rate of 8.6 per cent as against 9.2 per cent.

The RBI's liquidity injection measures are meant to pump enough cash into the banking system, allowing the sector to cut lending rates and pass on the lower borrowing costs to the broader economy.

Analysts say that the measures taken by the RBI on Tuesday will help to bring down yields of government bonds.  Small savings collections are generally invested in government securities and a small amount is invested as loans in India Infrastructure Finance Company, according to India Ratings.  (Watch)

The interest rate on small savings schemes for every quarter, under the new rules, would be decided on the 15th of the preceding month. Interest rate for July-September quarter will be announced on June 15.

In A First, This Domestic Bank Offers ATM Transactions Without PIN

In a first for any domestic lender, DCB Bank has started an Aadhaar-based ATM usage facility wherein a customer can transact using his/her biometric details instead of the PIN.

"We have started the first ATM in the country which operates using the Aadhaar data. One can do a transaction without the card as well," DCB Bank managing director and chief executive Murali Natrajan told PTI.

The user can key-in the 12-digit Aadhaar number or swipe the card at an automated teller machine (ATM) to start a transaction, but at the stage of confirming the identity, it requires biometric details rather than the PIN.

"All you have to do to authenticate is put your finger on the scanner. This is better than PIN, which can be forgotten because of multiple bank accounts," he said.

Seeding the bank account with the Aadhaar number will be essential before a customer can use the facility, he said, adding that initially, only DCB Bank customers will be able to make use of the service.

The solution has been developed in-house and involves connecting up with the Aadhaar server to authenticate the identity of the customer every time a transaction is initiated, he said.

Mr Natrajan said it is a comparatively inexpensive solution and the bank, which currently has 400 ATMs, is targeting to cover its entire network under the system within a year.

The first of the Aadhaar-based ATMs has been installed at its corporate office in the megapolis's Lower Parel area and Mr Natrajan said it will be waiting for a month more for the technology to stabilise before a mass roll-out.

He added that it has great potential at the POS (point-of-sale) terminals at the merchants' end to make transactions easier and also for business correspondents.

Enrolments under Aadhaar are set to cross the 100 crore mark soon. The data is being used for a slew of purposes like opening bank accounts and the government's direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme.

Mr Natrajan said he sees the banking industry coming out with similar technologies so that ATM transactions can be carried out without a card.

BSE to offer liquidity enhancement incentive to 163 securities

BSE has decided to offer 'Liquidity Enhancement Incentive Programmes Schemes (LEIPS)' to as many as 163 securities exclusively listed on the stock exchange.

Under LEIPS both market makers and general market participants get incentives

As per Sebi regulations, stock exchanges can introduce incentive schemes for brokers and intermediaries to enhance liquidity in illiquid securities in the equity cash and derivative segments.

The eligible securities belong to 'XC' group, which is a new sub-group implemented by BSE for companies listed exclusively on it.

The equities with a six monthly average (full) market cap of more than Rs 100 crore and having more than 1,000 public shareholders are classified under "XC" sub-segment.

Further, BSE said that registration for market makers for the set of companies under LEIPS scheme will be available in BSE Electronic Filing System (BEFS) from April 4, 2016.

Active trading members of equity segment of the exchange can follow a simple process to register themselves for this LEIPS scheme as a market maker by filling a registration form.

Members should also have net worth of Rs 1 crore and there should not be any disciplinary action against the member in last one year.

"...securities eligible for market making are subject to change from time to time depending on listing and surveillance actions," BSE said.

In a separate circular, BSE said that online bidding process for selection of market maker for BSE Exclusive securities (belonging to XD group) will begin from April 4.

The bidding process will be conducted in BSE's iBBS (Internet Based Book Building System)platform from April 4 to April 20 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm daily.

It further said that 539 securities are eligible for market making.

Sensex, Nifty Likely to Open Higher; HCL Tech, Geometric in Focus

Sensex and Nifty are likely to open higher tracking positive trading of Nifty futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

The Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange also known as the SGX Nifty or Singapore Nifty was up 0.25 per cent or 19 points at 7,764.

Meanwhile, other Asian markets were mostly trading higher. China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.12 per cent and Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.11 per cent. While, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.34 per cent.

Stocks on Wall Street rose on Friday after better-than-expected US jobs and factory survey data, but a gloomy manufacturing report in Japan knocked other global equity markets lower and crude oil prices slumped.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 215,000 and the unemployment rate rose to 5.0 per cent from an eight-year low of 4.9 per cent, the US Labor Department said. The jobless rate rose as more people continued to seek work, a sign of confidence in the jobs market.

Back home, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 214 crore while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 519.91 crore on Friday.

HCL Technologies and Geometric will be in focus today after Geometric said it will sell its IT services business to HCL Technologies Ltd in an all-stock deal valued at Rs 1,237 crore, as HCL looks to strengthen its engineering and automotive services portfolio.

Jindal Steel will also be on investors radar on reports that lenders to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) have approved refinancing of loans worth Rs 2,500 crore.