GST: States demand tax on high sea sales, higher compensation

New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) In fresh roadblocks to GST rollout, states today demanded taxation rights for sales in high seas and also increasing the number of items on which cess is to be levied to compensate the states to deal with revenue loss estimated at Rs 90,000 crore post demonetisation.

Initially a Rs 55,000 crore GST compensation fund was proposed to be created by levying cess on demerit or sin goods and luxury items, but post demonetisation the compensation amount is expected to go up to Rs 90,000 crore as most states have seen revenue decline of up to 40 per cent, non-BJP ruled states claimed.

Also, coastal states pressed for rights to levy GST on trade of goods within 12 nautical miles offshore, holding up finalising of the draft law for levy of Integrated-GST (IGST) on inter-state trade.

At the eighth meeting of the all-powerful GST Council, TMC-ruled West Bengal, CPM-led Kerala and Congress-ruled Karnataka pressed for including area up to 12 nautical miles in the definition of states within IGST law, a standoff that led to chairman and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley agreeing to seek legal opinion on its Constitutional validity.

"We couldn't reach a consensus on a very important issue that relates to defining of a state. This is 12 nautical miles from the state. Can states charge GST from them or not? Right now states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Odisha are charging VAT or sales tax within 12 nautical miles. For eg when a ship is loaded with oil or products, the tax on that is charged by the states.

"All the coastal states, irrespective of parties, combined in saying that we must have 12 nautical miles within the state jurisdiction. Whereas the draft IGST law was looking at having taxation rights with the Centre," West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra told reporters.

The Day 1 of the panel meeting did not take up the contentious issue of control of assesses which had been till now holding up roll out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The issue would be discussed tomorrow.

While representatives of opposition-ruled states were unanimous in saying April 1 target date for rollout of the new regime is not possible, even BJP-ruled Gujarat said GST could become a reality from September. .

Pan-India expansion of Maternity Benefit Programme (MBP) to benefit pregnant and lactating mothers across the country

Government of India is committed to ensure that every woman attains optimal nutritional status – especially from the most vulnerable communities as nutrition constitutes the foundation for human development.  This is all the more important during the period of pregnancy and lactation coupled with wage loss.  A woman’s nutritional status has important implications for her health as well as the health and development of her children.    

An under-nourished mother almost inevitably gives birth to a low birth weight baby. When poor nutrition starts in-utero, it extends throughout the life cycle, particularly in women.  Owing to economic and social distress many women continue to work to earn a living for their family right upto the last days of their pregnancy.  Furthermore, they resume working soon after childbirth, even through their bodies might not permit it, thus preventing their bodies from fully recovering on one hand, and also impending their ability to exclusively breastfeed their young infant in the first six months.

To address the above issues, Ministry of Women and Child Development, in accordance with the provisions of Section 4(b) of National Food Security Act, formulated a scheme for pregnant and lactating mothers called Maternity Benefit Programme – a conditional cash transfer scheme.  The Scheme provides cash incentives to pregnant and lactating women (i) for the wage loss so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery; (ii) to improve her health and nutrition during the period of pregnancy and lactation; and (iii) to breastfeed  the child during the first six months of the birth, which is very vital for the development of the child.

Under the scheme, all Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM), excluding the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers who are in regular employment with the Central Government or State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being are eligible. The cash incentive of Rs.6,000/-  is payable in three instalments for the first two live births at the following stages:

Cash Transfer	Conditions	Amount (in Rs.)
First instalment (in first trimester of pregnancy)	·   Early Registration of Pregnancy, preferably within first three months. ·   Received one antenatal check-up.	3,000/-
Second instalment	·   At the time of institutional delivery.	1500/-
Third instalment (3 months after delivery)	·   Child birth is registered. ·   Child has received BCG vaccination. ·   Child has received OPV and DPT-1 & 2.	1,500/-

The cash transfer would be Aadhaar linked through the individual bank/post office account etc. in DBT mode.

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on 31.12.2016 has announced pan-India expansion of MBP in all the districts with effect from 01.01.2017.  It is expected that annually about 51.70 lakh beneficiaries would avail of the benefit.

Expansion of MBP will have huge impact on the PW&LM as it will not only provide them compensation for the wage loss but will also provide them adequate nutrition and rest before and after delivery.  Mothers will have sufficient time to breastfeed the child during first six months of the birth.  Resultantly, it is expected that it will reduce mother mortality rate, IMR, under-nutrition and its adverse effects.

It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and the cost sharing between Centre and States is 60:40 for all the States and UTs (with legislature), 90:10 for NER and Himalayan States and 100% GoI share for UTs without legislatures.  The total cost of the proposal for the balance period of 2016-17 and from 2017-18 to 2019-20 including Centre and State share is expected to be Rs. 12,661.00 crore.   Out of this, Government of India’s share for the balance period of 2016-17 (Rs. 584 crore) and from 2017-18 to 2019-20 (Rs. 7348 crore) is expected to be Rs. 7932 crore.

Detailed guidelines for implementation and monitoring of the scheme will be issued shortly.

LPG customers to now get a discount for on-line payment of LPG refill

Oil Marketing Companies, viz IndianOil, BPCL & HPCL are now offering an upfront discount of Rs 5/- on every LPG refill to all LPG customers who will book and pay for their LPG cylinders online. Customers can make payment through existing online modes i.e net banking, credit & debit cards at the time of web-booking their refills.

Customers will get the discounted amount displayed on their screens – i.e. net amount i.e refill RSP minus (-) incentive amount of Rs.5/- which they need to pay for their refill transactions. The net discounted amount will also be shown on the cash memo accompanying the home-delivery of the LPG cylinder.

Under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, it the endeavour of all Oil Marketing Companies aim to encourage consumers to increasingly shift to such payment modes through digital platforms to achieve the objective of no-cash or less-cash based transactions. The incentive will encourage more and more LPG consumers to go for cashless mode transactions.

Growmoney Voice (Intra Day Tips Given for educational / academic purpose – see Notes given at the end of blog)

03/01/2017

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Sell below  8190 ; Tgts -  8171/8149/8126/8104  ; sl  - 8212

Break down -  8153 ;       Break up - 8228

Click for full details : http://growmoney-skhosla.blogspot.in/ 

SC removes Thakur as BCCI prez, Shirke as secretary

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) Cracking the whip on a defiant BCCI, the Supreme Court on Monday removed its president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke, saying they should "forthwith cease and desist from" the board's work.

The apex court also decided to initiate contempt proceedongs against Thakur by seeking his response as to why he should not be held liable for obstructing the implementation of the court's directions aimed at reforming BCCI.

A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said that working of BCCI will be looked after by a committee of administrators and requested senior advocate Fali S Nariman and senior advocate Gopal Subramanian, who was assisting in the matter as amicus curaie, to assist the court in nominating persons of impeccable integrity as the members in the committee of administrators

Banks cut base rates; home, corporate loans to be cheaper

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) Housing, auto and corporate loans are all set to become cheaper with half a dozen PSU and private banks on Monday steeply reducing benchmark lending rate by up to 1.48 per cent after spurt in deposits following demonetisation.

Taking a cue from State Bank of India, other lenders including largest private sector lender ICICI Bank and state-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce and Andhra Bank announced cut in marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR).

SBI on Sunday reduced the lending rate by a good 0.9 per cent after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his new year eve address urged the banks to focus on the needs of poor and lower middle class and middle class.

The reduction in lending rates may prompt increase in credit offtake which has moderated substantially putting burden on balance sheet of banks.

Home loan rate for ICICI Bank will come down between 0.45 and 0.6 per cent depending on quantum and category.

Another private sector Kotak Mahindra Bank too reduced the MCLR rate by up to 0.45 per cent.

The bank has reduced MCLR by 0.20 per cent to 9 per cent from 9.20 per cent for 1-year tenor, Kotak Mahindra Bank said in a statement.

However, MCLR for the three-month period has been reduced by 0.45 percentage points to 8.40 per cent while lending rate for 2 and 3 years has been brought down to 9 per cent from 9.25 per cent.

As far as the youngest Bandhan Bank is concerned, it has cut its MCLR by 1.48 per cent to 10.52 per cent effective on Tuesday.

With this, the bank has cut its loan rate for small borrowers by almost 4 percentage points since it started operations in August 2015, Bandhan Bank said in a statement.

Oriental Bank of Commerce has reduced the one-year MCLR rate by 0.8 per cent to 8.60 per cent while Andhra Bank has brought it down by similar percentage point to 8.65 per cent effective on Tuesday.

Dena bank has reduced marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 0.75 per cent to 8.55 per cent for 1 year tenor, the bank said in a statement.

On Sunday, the country's largest lender SBI along with PNB and Union Bank of India, slashed lending rates by up to 0.9 per cent.

Following the reduction, lending rate of SBI for a one-year loan has came down to 8 per cent from 8.90 per cent.

SP's war moves to EC for 'Çycle' symbol

New Delhi/Lucknow, Jan 2 (PTI) The faction war in the ruling Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh today reached the Election Commission with Mulayam Singh Yadav staking claim over the 'cycle' symbol, a day after he was deposed from the post of president by the group headed by his son Akhilesh Yadav.

At the same time, Mulayam cancelled the January 5 party convention called by him, apparently on fears that there could be a low turnout compared to the convention held by his son in Lucknow yesterday.

The faction headed by Akhilesh, the Chief Minister, will also approach the EC tomorrow to assert their right over the symbol, which is crucial for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Ram Gopal Yadav is likely to represent the faction.

Election Commission sources said it is unlikely to intervene till it hears both the sides.

Mulayam reached Nirvachan Sadan here this evening along with his brother Shivpal Singh, his close confidante Amar Singh and former MP Jaya Prada to put forth his stand on the feud which has virtually split the party he had founded 25 years ago.

"I am still the president of Samajwadi Party and the decision of the rival camp to appoint Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav as the party chief is against party's constitution," Mulayam told the full Election Commission.

Claiming to have the backing of the SP Parliamentary Baord, he said the party symbol 'cycle' belongs to him as he is the party president, sources said.

Mulayam told the Commission that Ram Gopal Yadav, who had moved a resolution at emergency convention of SP in Lucknow on Friday last anointing Akhilesh as party president, had been expelled from the party and was not authorised to take any decision regarding SP, the sources said.

Mulayam said the convention of the rival camp, which passed a resolution to anoint Akhilesh as the new party chief, passed no resolution removing him (Mulayam) from the post.

He said as per the SP's constitution, such a decision needs the backing of the Parliamentary Board, which was absent.

Sources in the Commission said it will follow Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 to proceed on the dispute. It gives power to the Commission "in relation to splinter groups or rival sections of a recognised political party".

"Both the sides will have to stake claim over the symbol otherwise how would EC know that there is a dispute...we don't go by media reports," said an EC official.

The Commission could ask both sides to pick a new party name and symbol in the interim if the existing symbol 'cycle' is frozen.

Successful Flight Test of Agni – IV

Agni-IV, the Long Range Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile with a range of 4,000 kms was successfully flight tested, once again proving the reliability and efficacy of the weapon system. 

The Missile was launched from Dr. Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha at 1200 hrs. today. All the radars, tracking systems and Range Stations have tracked and monitored the flight performance. All the mission objectives have been successfully met.      

Growmoney Voice (Intra Day Tips Given for educational / academic purpose – see Notes given at the end of blog)

02/01/2017

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SP splits, Akhilesh faction upstages Mulayam as party chief

Lucknow, Jan 1 (PTI) The ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh today split down the middle with the faction headed by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav removing Mulayam Singh Yadav as party chief and appointing him in his place at a convention in which the group claimed support of the majority of legislators and district units.

On a day of fast rtp fast paced developments, the two sides engaged in mutual recriminatory expulsions with the convention called by Ram Gopal Yadav removing Akhilesh's warring uncle Shivpal Yadav as state party chief, and showing the door to "outsider" Amar Singh, who has been blamed for the feud in the Yadav clan.

Mualyam retorted by again expelling his cousin Ram Gopal for six years along with national vice president Kiranmoy Nanda, who chaired the convention, and general secretary Naresh Agarwal for taking part in it.

43-year-old Akhilesh was "unanimously" crowned the SP president as Ram Gopal moved a proposal to make Mulayam, the founder president of SP, the party patron at the convention, where the CM's faction claimed that over 200 of the party's 229 MLAs, around 30 MLCs, besides majority of office bearers of district units were present.

The convention also authorised Akhilesh to constitute a national executive, parliamentary board and various state units, as required, and inform the Election Commission of the developments at the earliest.

The proposal to make Akhilesh SP chief was welcomed by a huge applause by nearly 5,000 partymen who had gathered at the sprawling Janeshwar Misra Park here.

Mulayam termed as illegal all decisions taken at the convention. In a hard-hitting letter, he said the convention had not been called with permission of the national president and so all decision taken there were invalid.

In a counter move, he also convened a national convention of the party on January 5 at the same venue here.

Although Mulayam warned that participation in the convention will be taken as indiscipline and action will be initiated against those attending it, almost all senior leaders who had been longtime associates of Mulayam shared the dais with Ram Gopal and Akhilesh.

Addressing the convention, Akhilesh said he respected his father more than ever and that he would stand against those conspiring against the party while Ram Gopal attacked Shivpal for working in an "arbitrary" manner, alleging tickets were being given to those who are not even members of the party.

The fresh developments which almost left both Mulayam and younger brother Shivpal isolated in the party came a day after SP revoked the expulsion of Akhilesh and Ram Gopal amid the running bitter turf battle in the Yadav clan which threatens to affect its prospects in the upcoming Assembly election.

In more signs of defiance, Akhilesh appointed MLC Naresh Uttam as the new state president, replacing Shivpal.

Soon after the appointment of the new state unit president, supporters of Akhilesh laid siege to the state SP headquarters here in the high security VIP zone and forcibly wrenched out the nameplate of Shivpal to vent their ire.