India strongly condemns murder of Russian Ambassador to Turkey

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) India on Tuesday condemned the assassination of Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, saying it was shocked by the dastardly act and that there can never be any justification for terrorism

"India strongly condemns the tragic assassination of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkey. We are deeply saddened and shocked by this dastardly act," the External Affairs Ministry said

Karlov was shot dead by a Turkish gunman at an art exhibition in Ankara last evening

"We offer our condolences to the family of Ambassador Andrey Karlov and share their pain and grief. There can never be any justification for violence and terrorism," the MEA said in a statement

The gunman shouted "God is great!" and "don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria", after killing the envoy.

Trump condemns attacks, vows to eradicate terrorists
Washington, Dec 20 (PTI) US President-elect Donald Trump today vowed to eradicate ISIS and other Islamist terrorists from the face of the earth after chilling attacks in Turkey, Germany and Switzerland.

"Today we offer our condolences to the family and loved ones of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, who was assassinated by a radical Islamic terrorist," Trump said in a statement.
"The murder of an ambassador is a violation of all rules of civilised order and must be universally condemned," he said.
Condemning the Berlin attack, the 70-year-old President- elect said: "Our hearts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims of today's horrifying terror attack in Berlin.

Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday."

A lorry ploughed into a busy Christmas market in central Berlin yesterday, killing several people and injuring over 50 in what police said was a possible terror attack.

"ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners," Trump said.

In a tweet, Trump said, in view of the terrorist attack yesterday the civilised world must change its thinking.

"Today there were terror attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany - and it is only getting worse. The civilised world must change thinking," he wrote.

In Switzerland, a man burst into a Muslim prayer hall, shooting and wounding three men. The attacker was later found dead.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, who is on a vacation in Hawaii, was briefed about the assassination of the Russian envoy by his national security aide, the White House said.

"This morning the President was briefed by his National Security Team on the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey in Ankara today. The President directed his team to provide updates as warranted," White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said.

Earlier in a statement, US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the assassination of Russian Ambassador and offered all American help in the investigation into the tragic incident.

"The US condemns the assassination today in Ankara of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones, the Russian people, and with the other victims who were injured in this shooting," Kerry said.

"We stand ready to offer assistance to Russia and Turkey as they investigate this despicable attack, which was also an assault on the right of all diplomats to safely and securely advance and represent their nations around the world," he added.

UN chief condemns Russian envoy's murder as 'senseless act'

United Nations, Dec 20 (AFP) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the murder of the Russian ambassador in Turkey, saying he was "appalled by this senseless act of terror."

Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead while attending an art exhibition in Ankara by a Turkish policeman who shouted "Don't forget Aleppo" and "Allahu akbar" (God is great).

Ban is "appalled by this senseless act of terror and emphasizes that there can be no justification for the targeting of diplomatic personnel and civilians," said a statement from his spokesman yesterday.

"The secretary-general is following the unfolding situation closely and wishes the other people who were reportedly injured in the attack a speedy and full recovery."

The UN Security Council will today observe a minute of silence to pay tribute to the Russian diplomat, said Spanish Ambassador Roman Oyarzun, the current council president.

The council was preparing a formal statement condemning the attack.

Venezuela's Ambassador Rafael Ramirez denounced what he termed as a "campaign of hatred" against Russia, in reference to mounting criticism from Western powers of Moscow's role in Syria.

"Everything that is said, everything that is done in a situation which is so fraught with extremist actions, such as the situation in Syria, it does have, unfortunately, consequences," said Ramirez.

PM congratulates Indian Cricketer Karun Nair, on scoring triple-century in the Test Cricket

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated Indian Cricketer Karun Nair, on scoring triple-century in the Test Cricket. 

"Congratulations on the historic triple century Karun Nair! We all are delighted and proud of your remarkable feat", the Prime Minister said.

Sports Minister Vijay Goel Congratulates Karun Nair on his Maiden Triple Century in Test Cricket 

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel has congratulated Cricketer Karun Nair on his maiden triple Century in Test Cricket.
“Wow! You have made all of us proud by your grit and determination. Keep it on.” The Minister said in a message to Karun Nair.

Trump tells Michelle Obama US now has hope

Mobile, Dec 18 (AFP) President-elect Donald Trump has insisted that America was full of hope since his election, shrugging off First Lady Michelle Obama's remarks suggesting otherwise.

"We have tremendous hope, and we have tremendous promise and tremendous potential," Trump told a rally in Mobile, Alabama, the final stop on his "thank you" tour.

"We are going to be so successful as a country again. We are going to be amazing," the 70-year-old Republican billionaire said.

In excerpts of an interview released Friday, Michelle Obama told talkshow host Oprah Winfrey that she had concerns about America's future following the bitterly fought November election that pitted Trump against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"We feel the difference now," Obama said.

"See, now we're feeling what not having hope feels like.

You know? Hope is necessary. It's a necessary concept." 

Without naming Trump she also referred to how important it is to have "a grownup in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil, 'Hey, it's going to be okay.'" 

Trump promised change of his own.

"You watch. It's going to be so special. Things are going to happen like you haven't seen happen in many, many decades," he insisted.

But the first lady indicated she has been sensing a bleak mood.

"What do you give your kids if you can't give them hope?" she asked.

The president-elect, known for lashing out when criticized, seemed to backpedal a bit after initially criticizing the first lady, suggesting she "meant that statement in a different way than it came out." 

He was even complimentary.

"She could not have been nicer," Trump said of the first lady, whom he met with her husband following the November 8 election.

Clarification of Status of Political Parties under Income Tax Act, 1961

There have been some newspaper reports which seem to wrongly suggest that there cannot be any scrutiny of Income-tax returns of political parties registered with the Election Commission in the context of deposits of old currency notes.  This inference seems to have been drawn because of the fact that the income of the political parties is exempt from Income - Tax under Section 13A. 

In this context, the following clarifications need to be kept in mind :

(i)           The exemption from Income-Tax is given to only registered  political parties subject to certain conditions, which are mentioned in Section 13A, which includes keeping and maintaining books of accounts and other documents as would enable the Assessing Officer to deduce its income therefrom;

(ii)         In respect of each voluntary contribution in excess of Rs. 20000, the political party will have to maintain a record of such contributions along with the name and address of such person who has made such contribution;

(iii)       The accounts of each such political party is to be audited  by a Chartered Accountant; and

(iv)       The political party has to submit a report to the Election Commission about the donations received within a timeframe prescribed.

There are enough provisions in the Income Tax Act to scrutinise the accounts of the political parties and these political parties are also subject to other provisions of Income-Tax, including filing of return.

(source : Ministry of Finance)

Jaitley hints not all scrapped currency will be remonetised

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday hinted that not all of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore worth of currency junked will be remonetised through issuance of new notes as he said digital currency will fill the gap.

Calling the scrapping of old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes as "a courageous step", he said the government could do it as India today has the capacity to take such decisions and experiment boldly.

The move will create a new Indian normal as the one that existed for the past seven decades is "unacceptable", he said, adding that demonetisation will help rid the economy of high cash circulation that had led to tax evasion, blackmoney and currency being used for crime.

"One of the efforts of this exercise has to be that even though a reduced cash currency could remain, our conscious effort... (is) to supplement the rest with a digital currency," he said while addressing annual general meeting of industry chamber FICCI here.

As many as 17,165 million pieces of Rs 500 denomination and 6,858 million pieces of Rs 1,000 banknotes were in circulation on November 8 when the government made the surprise announcement.

Jaitley further said: "The whole process of remonetisation is not going to take very long time and I'm sure very soon the Reserve Bank by injecting currency daily into the banking and postal system will be able to complete that."

Also, the push to use the digital mode to make payments has been gaining ground. "The manner it has taken place in the last five weeks is indeed commendable. Only a section of Parliament seems unaware of what is happening," he said.

Once the remonetisation process is complete, it will mark "the creation of a new Indian normal because the normal that existed for 70 years is an unacceptable normal," he added.

"The 70-year normal had become a way of life for almost every Indian. It was not merely a fact that you had a lot more cash currency, far larger cash currency as part of your GDP...

the economic and social consequences of that are extremely adverse."

He made a point that dealing in that cash currency had led to a lot of aberrations in terms of tax non-compliance, currency being used for collateral purposes like crime, escaping the tax net and not getting into the banking system.

Russia behind cyberattacks during polls: Obama

Washington, Dec 17 (PTI) President Barack Obama has alleged that Russia possibly under President Vladimir Putin's directions carried out cyberattacks during the US polls, as he urged his successor Donald Trump to ensure that the American election process is not under potential "foreign influence".

"What I can tell you is that the intelligence that I've seen gives me great confidence in their assessment that the Russians carried out this hack. Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin," Obama told reporters during a White House news conference, indicating Putin's involvement.

"They hacked into some Democratic Party e-mails that contained pretty routine stuff, some of it embarrassing or uncomfortable because I suspect that if any of us got our emails hacked into there might be some things that we would not want suddenly appearing on the front page of a newspaper or a telecast, even if there was not anything particularly illegal or controversial about it," he said yesterday.

A worried Obama also lashed out at Russia for its alleged effort to influence the US election, saying the country does not produce anything and lacks innovation.

"We've got to think what is happening to our political culture here. The Russians can't change us or significantly weaken us. They are a smaller country, they are a weaker country, their economy doesn't produce anything that anybody wants to buy except oil and gas and arms. They don't innovate," Obama said.

Obama assured Americans that the ballot itself was not rigged and promised to "send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us, because we can do stuff to you." 

"But they can impact us if we lose track of who we are.

They can impact us if we abandon our values. Putin can weaken us just like he's trying to weaken Europe if we start buying into notions that it's OK to intimidate the press, or lock up dissidents, or discriminate against people because of their faith or what they look like," he said.

Terming it a "pretty hierarchical operation", Obama said there was not a lot of debate and democratic deliberation, particularly when it comes to policies directed at the US.

"We have said and I will confirm that this happened at the highest levels of the Russian government and I will let you make that determination as to whether there are high-level Russian officials who go off rogue and decide to tamper with the US election process without Vladimir Putin knowing about it," he said.

Obama said he had raised the issue when he met Putin recently in China.

Obama also hopedhis successor Donald Trump will show equal concern to ensure that the American election process is not under a potential "foreign influence".

"My hope is that the president-elect is going to similarly be concerned with making sure that we don't have a potential foreign influence in our election process. I don't think any American wants that. And that shouldn't be a source of an argument," Obama said.

The US President also called for bipartisan unity on the issue.

Black money holders get last chance to disclose till Mar'17

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Offering one last chance to black money holders, the Indian government on Friday said they have time until March-end to come clean by paying 50 per cent tax on bank deposits of junk currencies made post demonetisation.

Offering tax dodgers confidentially and immunity from prosecution under the new tax evasion amnesty scheme Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), which kicks-in from tomorrow, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said non disclosure of deposits made in banks after the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were junked will attract stiffer penalties as well as prosecution.

Not declaring the black money under the scheme now but showing it as income in the tax return form would lead to a total levy of 77.25 per cent in taxes and penalty. In case the disclosure is not made either using the scheme or in return, a further 10 per cent penalty on tax will be levied followed by prosecution, he said.

The disclosure scheme is part of The Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 2016, which was approved by the Lok Sabha earlier this month and has been assented by the President.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) will commence on December 17 and shall remain open for declarations up to March 31, Adhia told reporters here.

"Beginning tomorrow most of the banks will have challans to be filled for depositing tax for availing the PMGKY scheme.

Only after payment of 50 per cent tax and setting aside the 25 per cent of the remaining undisclosed amount for 4 year, a person can avail the PMGKY scheme," he said.

Adhia emphasised that mere depositing of cash in banks will not convert black money into white. Taxes have to be paid.

As per the scheme, taxes will have to be paid first and then the scheme can be availed on production of tax receipt, unlike the recent Income Disclosure Scheme and other such plans wherein disclosures were made first and taxes were recovered later.

Also, as the disclosures will be kept confidential, the holder of unaccounted cash need not disclose it in Income Tax Returns forms.

After the shock November 8 demonetisation announcement, the government allowed the junked Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes to be deposited in bank accounts.

For those holding unaccounted cash, it offered new tax evasion amnesty scheme wherein 50 per cent tax will be charged on declarations and quarter of the total sum be parked in a non-interest bearing deposit for four years. .

Sindhu avenges Olympic loss, in semis at Super Series Final

Dubai, Dec 16 (PTI) Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu avenged her heart-breaking loss at the Rio Games to two-time World Champion Carolina Marin with a thrilling straight-game victory in a do-or-die women's singles Group B contest and sealed her place at the semifinals of the BWF World Super Series Finals here today.

In a much-anticipated contest, Sindhu came up trumps against the Olympic champion Marin, who had spoiled her gold medal dream at Rio in August. The Indian dished out an energetic performance to see off a fighting Marin 21-17 21-13 in a hard-fought battle that lasted 46 minutes.

A former World No. 1 Marin, who held a 5-2 head to head record, tried to play an aggressive fast-paced game and pumped herself with each point, letting out a war cry but Sindhu was equally up for the battle of nerves and she showed tremendous grit and nerves to emerge victories in a crucial contest.

With this win, Sindhu finished in the second place behind China's Sun Yu, who won all the three matches, in Group B.

Both the players started with an aggressive rally and even though Sindhu had a 2-0 lead early on, Marin soon turned the tables at 4-3 when the Indian hit long. The Spaniard made it 7-3 with Sindhu playing a few nervous strokes.

However, Sindhu changed her approach and got hold of her nerves and reeled off five points to lead 8-7. But again two long shots from Sindhu and Marin was 9-8 up.

The left-handed Marin soon came up with a sharp smash which an outstretched Sindhu could not connect. But the Indian immediately produced three straight points and entered the break with a slender 11-10 lead after producing a superb cross court smash which found Marin napping.

A lucky net chord helped Sindhu to lead 13-12 after the break which she swelled to 16-12 with Marin finding the net and hitting long.

The duo continued to battle hard and engaged in some fast paced rallies with each trying to outdo the other with sharp acute angled strokes. Eventually Sindhu grabbed six game point advantage when Marin missed the baseline. The Spaniard saved three points before the Indian sealed the game with a superb smash.

Marin needed medical treatment for what seemed like a bruise in her feet before the start of the second game.

The Spaniard used her deceptive returns to put Sindhu in trouble and opened up a 3-1 lead which the Indian soon erased and grabbed a 5-3 advantage after another excruciating rally.

Sindhu tried to keep her opponent away from the net and kept tossing the shuttle at the back of the court. The ploy seemed to work as Marin committed errors while trying to use deception to break the rhythm.

Sindhu was equally athletic on court as she stretched, jumped and dived all across to cover the court and entered the interval with an 11-6 lead after Marin sent the shuttle wide twice.

At 13-7, Sindhu missed the sidelines and coach Pullela Gopichand tried to calm her down. With Marin continuing to struggle with her strokes, Sindhu soon lead 17-10 and eventually grabbed a 21-13 match point advantage when Marin hit long after another exciting rally. The Indian then sealed the match as the Spaniard found the net again.

China protests Prez's meeting with Dalai, warns of disturbance to ties

                                                    

Beijing, Dec 16 (PTI) China today took  strong exception to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan during a children's summit, saying India must respect China's "core interests" to avoid "any disturbance" to the bilateral ties.

"Recently in disregard of China's solemn representation and strong opposition, the Indian side insisted on arranging for the 14th Dalai Lama's visit to the Indian Presidential palace where he took part in an event and met President Mukherjee," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.

"The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to that," he said, replying to a question on the Dalai Lama's presence in the opening session of the 'Laureates and Leaders for Children Summit', organised by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi's Children's Foundation on December 10.

"The Dalai Lama is in political exile and is long been engaged anti-China separatist activities with the attempt of separating Tibet away from China under the cloak of religion," Geng said.

The Chinese side firmly opposes any form of contact between officials of the other countries with him.

"We urge the Indian side to see through the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai Lama clique, fully respect China's core interests and major concerns, take effective means to remove the negative impact caused by the incident to avoid any disturbance to China-India relationship," Geng said.

China routinely protests world leaders meetings with the Dalai Lama.

This is the second time that China objected to the Dalai Lama's activities in India in recent months.

Beijing objected in October this year to India's permission to the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as part of southern Tibet.

Early this month, China also objected to the visit of prominent Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje to Arunachal Pradesh, hoping that India would abide by consensus and refrain from taking any action that might complicate the boundary dispute.

India also came under the criticism from Chinese official media over the Dalai Lama's visit to Mongolia following which Beijing was accused of imposing a blockade of the land-locked country.

While China besides criticising Mongolia for permitting the Dalai Lama reportedly blocked movement along the Mongolia-China border, Beijing was also livid over the Mongolian Ambassador to India Gonchig Ganhold s appeal to New Delhi to help Mongolia to deal with China s countermeasure against Ulaanbaatar.

India has said Mongolia can avail the USD one billion aid, which one of the Chinese newspaper Global Times termed it as a bribe.

An article in the daily also warned Mongolia that it is "politically harebrained" to ask for New Delhi s support as it will further complicate bilateral ties.

India remains one of fastest-growing countries: WH

Washington, Dec 16 (PTI) India remains one of the fastest-growing countries in the world, the White House has said even as it underlined that inefficiencies persist in the country's public sector with the poor still lacking healthcare coverage and access to financial services.

"India remains one of the fastest-growing countries in the world, with real GDP expanding at 7.3 per cent in the four quarters through 2016:Q3," said the Economic Report of the President for the year 2017, which was sent to the Congress.

The voluminous report running into nearly 600 pages says that economic growth in India continues at a solid pace of a projected 7.4 per cent over the four quarters of 2016.

"Private consumption has been a major driver in economic growth, contributing 4.3 percentage points to its 7.

3 per cent real GDP growth rate in the four quarters through 2016:Q3," the report said, adding that lower inflation and fiscal consolidation over the past year has created additional policy space for India to stimulate growth should a crisis occur.

"Macroeconomic risks revolve around inflationary pressure stemming from increasing commodity prices, which could weigh on the current account and fiscal deficit," it said.

"Inefficiencies remain in the public sector, with India's poor still lacking healthcare coverage, educational attainment, and access to financial services. Further, inequality in India remains high," the White House report said.

The report also noted the countries that export to China and the advanced economies have suffered due to the slowdown in those important markets, the report added.

"Economic growth in China has been on a downward trend since a brief rebound after the global financial crisis. China has been attempting to re-balance from an investment- and export-driven economy to an economy driven more by private consumption," it said.

The White House said as China's economy grew to 15 per cent of global GDP in 2015, targeted industrial policies have made it the world's largest manufacturer and the dominant producer of some key goods in the global marketplace, as well as a major source of demand for an array of goods, magnifying the effects of changes in its domestic economy on global prices and growth.