According to ESET researchers, ModPipe contains an algorithm that collects passwords stored on the RES 3700 database by decrypting them from Windows registry values. This sophisticated method shows the attackers have “deep knowledge” of the software. Most cybercriminals follow the more standard approach of keylogging and credit-card skimming. The researchers say there are possibly three ways through which cybercriminals managed to create the algorithm. The most likely option is that they stole the software and reverse-engineered it, including the libraries in charge of password encryption and decryption. They also could have bought the code on the dark web or acquired it when Oracle suffered a data breach in 2016.

But ESET says despite the access to sensitive data, ModPipe cannot put its hands on credit card numbers or expiry dates in its current state. This data is under the protection of RES 3700’s encryption standards. As a result, the only payment-related info that hackers can acquire is the name of the cardholders. The research team still doesn’t know how ModPipe operators distribute the malware, but they say that most of the successfully breached devices are from the United States.

Virtual private networks (VPNs) lower hacking and cyber threats when shopping by encrypting your traffic and concealing your IP address. TheVPN.Guru is home to the latest, unbiased VPN reviews and offers guides on how to bypass online geographic restrictions. 

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"The budget should announce a fund like Singapore's Temasek that will invest only in early-stage Indian AI start-ups and lower long-term capital gain's tax for investing in AI-based firms," digital intelligence firm Germin8 founder chief executive Ranjit Nair told IANS.

With the US and China racing ahead of India in AI research, AI entrepreneurship and government investment in AI, he said the budget should make it easier for start-ups to access capital, as they face an uphill task in early-stage funding.

"The government bring policies that encourage AI companies. Ease of doing business means less bureaucracy so that entrepreneurs can build solutions without distractions," he said.

AI is expected to have a huge impact not only in commerce, but also in health, national security, cybersecurity, food security, education and global warming.

"The government should announce AI challenges, which make academia and industry solve an important problem in the country. The state's role should give a crisp problem definition, provide access to data and provide a good cash prize," Nair said.

Though thousands of engineering graduates pass out every year across the country, India is behind other nations in AI PhDs and AI research. Hence, the budget should allot more grants for AI research and offer incentives to institutes investing in AI training, he added.

Noting that IT was one of the few sectors that remained growth-driven despite the eonomic slowdown since the last fiscal, Cigniti Technologies chairman C.V. Subramanyam said the budget should give relief or reduce dividend distribution tax (DDT) for IT firms operating in the country.

Anti-virus leader Kaspersky's General Manager, South Asia, Dipesh Kaura said Dipesh Kaura said: "As the budget for the ensuing fiscal is crucial for businesses across the country, we are expecting higher allocations for cyber security from the government."

Investment in cyber security will accelerate the digital transformation. Funds should be spent on supporting skill development and training students keen to become cyber security professionals, he said.

"Cyber security awareness campaign for consumers should be a major focus of the budget," Kaura said in a statement.

Cybage Software chief executive Arun Nathani said the budget should take steps to roll back DDT across the board to attract FDI and incentivise the sector to ramp up the capex/opex spend once the demand is back.

"Rationalising the GST rates and compliance processes will outgrow the consumption rates. The Indian IT industry will welcome specific incentives likeAweighted deductions for investing in R&D of AI/BI technology tools to facilitate IT firms, companies, universities and research institutes," Nathani added.

Source: IANS

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By V.P. Nandakumar

Several savers (investors) in Co-operative Banks, NBFCs, and corporates have faced the brunt of businesses failing to honour their commitment and repay their dues. It is time that policymakers took another look at the long-standing presumption that only equity investment is about risk-taking while debt investments are risk-averse.

For the Indian economy to grow at rates over 8-10 per cent (which in my view is feasible), we must be willing to address the taxation deterrents to savings and investments. India's savers are hurt less by low real interest rates and more by its taxation. Interest income is taxed at the marginal tax rate, while equity capital gets better treatment under capital gains.

Further, under Section 115BBDA of the Income Tax Act, shareowner returns on equity investments are taxed three times in case of dividend income. Firstly, when the shareowner's profit share (of the profit made by the company) gets taxed as income tax on corporate profit. The second instance is the deduction of dividend distribution tax from profits before the company makes the dividend payment to shareowners (coming after payment of corporate income tax) and the third is when this dividend, having already paid income tax and dividend distribution tax, gets further taxed in the hands of the shareowner when such income exceeds Rs 10 lakh annually.

There is no rationale for taxing listed companies' dividend payments thrice. There may be some logic in the taxation of dividend income from unlisted companies, etc., but certainly none for the regulated and listed corporates. Such tax policies deter long-term investments in the economy besides distorting capital allocation. At the very least, the Finance Minister should revert to the pre-2016 position where dividend income was tax-free for all shareowners.

The second urgent issue is the tax arbitrage in case of interest income. At present, the law offers an unfair tax advantage to debt funds of mutual funds and insurance investment schemes because investments made through these channels get the benefit of indexation. This benefit is not available to bank deposits, postal savings scheme or other direct debt investments, including government bonds.

When the government's fiscal deficit is a constraint to paying favourable interest rate to savers, we can still encourage savings by giving tax-free status to direct interest income, or at least for the interest income received from market-linked products like bank deposits and listed debt investments. After all, why should tax benefit in the form of indexation, etc., be given only when savings are channelled through the mutual funds and not when directly invested in FDs and NCDs? This sort of tax arbitrage is distortionary and must be done away with. Let all interest income be tax-free in the hands of the end-user. Such relaxation will offer banks and financial institutions much needed leeway to raise deposits at a lower cost and will increase credit offtake besides enabling faster transmission of policy rate cuts to spur economic growth.

To further encourage debt investments, it is also desirable to make it easier for savers to invest in debt instruments. Allowing institutions to borrow as and when required through op-tap bond issuance is a good idea. Such on-tap insurances would also help in increasing the liquidity of the securities, further encouraging direct debt investments from savers.

There is also a case to be made for relaxation of external commercial borrowings (ECBs), especially in these times when the international market is flush with liquidity and on the prowl for yield. Policymakers need to re-evaluate the pros and cons of the current restrictions on external borrowings, especially for the fund starved NBFC sector.

NBFCs should be allowed external borrowings even for lower tenure, say, one year (instead of three years), and also be allowed to repay existing rupee debt or refinance foreign borrowings with the proceeds of the ECB.

As NBFCs borrow more from external markets and narrow their dependence on domestic banks, the interlinkages within the Indian financial systems would reduce, making the system more stable and less prone to the spread of contagion, and lowering the "systemic rise" in the Indian financial services sector.

Yes, it would make the task of the RBI a little harder in terms of having to manage the currency risks. But, is it better to have the RBI manage some extra external risks than continuing to have India's NBFCs starved of capital? It would also be a tiny step towards capital account convertibility, a long-cherished desire of industry and policymakers alike.

(V.P. Nandakumar is MD & CEO of Manappuram Finance Ltd. Views are personal.)

Source: IANS

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By Subhash Narayan

New Delhi, Jan 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) You may not have noticed it but the price of subsidised cooking gas rose by an average of Rs 10 per cylinder in the July-January period of current fiscal taking the price paid by common man for fuel closer to market rates.

The good news is that with the developments in past few months, government is looking to completely eliminate oil subsidy by early FY22. But for consumers, the move would mean that their cooking gas price would shoot up by another Rs 100-150 per cylinder over the next one year.

Sources said that taking advantage of low oil prices, government may give nod to state-run oil marketing companies to increase price of subsidised LPG cylinder gradually so that entire subsidy paid under direct benefit transfer scheme (DBT) to eligible consumers is eliminated in one year's time.

Already during July 2019-January 2020, the OMCs increased the price of subsidized LPG by Rs 63 per cylinder. At current global oil prices, if oil companies raise the rate of subsidized LPG cylinder (14.2 kg) by just about Rs 10 per cylinder per month, in 15 months time there would not be any need to extend Central support.

The price of a subsidised LPG cylinder (14.2 kg) currently works to around Rs 557 with government providing Rs 157 as subsidy directly into the account of eligible consumers. The subsidy level may fall if oil prices slides further and remains below $60 a barrel in most parts of FY21.

"Raising prices of subsidized LPG cylinder augurs well for the OMCs, especially keeping in mind the intended privatization of BPCL. However, the resolve of the government would be tested if oil prices spike," said Motilal Oswal in its latest report on oil and gas sector.

At end of FY19, the OMCs had total government receivables of Rs 34,900 crore on account of compensation for LPG/kerosene under-recovery. Deregulating LPG would boost the working capital of the OMCs.

The oil marketing companies (OMCs) incurred gross under-recoveries of Rs 43,300 crore in FY19, of which LPG accounted for Rs 31,500 crore (73 per cent). in case of kerosene, the subsidy support has already fallen and with states targeting the flow of fuel through the PDS system, this subsidy could also be taken off.

(Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in)

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) To boost exports and revitalise the agriculture sector, a key trade promotion organisation has recommended to the government to revamp SEZ (special economic zone) policy for food exports.

Accordingly, the Trade Promotion Council of India recommended this step to the government for the upcoming Budget 2020-21.

TPCI Chairman Mohit Singla said: "India has huge potential in the food exports and global investors are looking at SEZ as one destination for investing".

"Due to lack of incentives for value added F&B manufacturing and exports is inhibiting them to come to India," he added.

According to TPCI, foreign investors should be allowed to import raw materials at zero duty and avail duty rebate proportionate to value addition.

Besides, the council recommended that foreign investors should be incentivised by lower duty on value addition "they achieve, especially for the food sector where duty is already high".

"It will lead to automatic clusterisation as the incentive will act as a pull factor. This is one incentives which, if announced, will also be WTO compliant. It is to be noted that, exports from SEZs are growing at a faster rate than overall exports from the country," the TPCI recommendations said.

In April-June 2019, even as overall export growth from India slowed down to 2 per cent valued at Rs 562,000 crore, exports from SEZs posted a robust 15 per cent growth at Rs 185,763 core.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) In a major move, the government is likely to stipulate a uniform framework for all asset classes-equity, property and gold-for computation of capital gains.

Among the Budget proposals being considered for the Union Budget is that the long term capital gains (LTCG) tax will be fixed at 24 months or two years uniformly for all asset classes.

This will be a major policy intervention as currently the LTCG for equity is at 1 year, 2 years for property and 3 years for gold. Though it is not yet known, the tax treatment for LTCG may also see the consequent changes.

These asset classes more or less are the bulwark of the investment ecosystem in the country and a standard LTCG computation would introduce transparency and provide more clarity and simplicity of the regime for investors.

On gold, long term capital gains after sale of gold kicks in after 3 years and is levied at 20 per cent plus indexation benefits. The short term capital gains is levied at sale of gold on a time duration of less than 3 years and is levied as per the tax slab of the assessee.

Profit from sale of gold bars, jewellery, coins or utensils or any other form of precious metal attracts tax under capital gains. The profit on sale of gold holding is taxable under the head "Capital Gains" of Income Tax. Only exception to this is in case of gold dealers who transact in gold as a part of their business, where profit on such transactions is taxable under the head "Income from business or profession".

On property, currently, if property is sold within 24 months, one has to pay a short term capital gains tax (STCG) on the gains as per an individual's income-tax slab.

After 24 months, one has to pay an LTCG tax, which is charged at 20% with indexation benefits. Section 54 gives an exemption if there is sale of a property and then another one is bought.

This exemption under section 54 is available when the capital gains from property sale are reinvested into buying or constructing maximum two houses.

However, the capital gains on the sale of house property must not exceed Rs 2 crore in order to claim exemption for reinvesting in two properties. This benefit can be claimed only once in the lifetime.

The exemption will be reversed if this new property is sold within three years of purchase and capital gains from sale of the new property will be taxed as short-term capital gains. The new properties must be purchased either one year before the sale or two years after the sale of the property. Alternatively, the new residential properties must be constructed within three years of sale of the property.

In a move that will fire up the stock markets, the government is likely to extend the timeline of long term capital gains (LTCG) on shares from the current 12 months to 24 months.

Currently, LTCG of 20 per cent is paid by domestic investors if they hold equity for 12 months, and 10 per cent is charged to non-residents if they hold equity for 12 months.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) The upcoming Union Budget may bring about a new policy to reduce the losses of power distribution company and revive them.

Union Power Minister R.K. Singh on Monday said that the Power Ministry has discussed and proposed the new scheme with the Finance Ministry and was hopeful that it would find place in the Budget 2020-21.

The new scheme would include elements of the current UDAY scheme and would provide assistance for reduction of discoms' losses, he told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

Allocations under the new scheme will make allocations based on efficiency.

The minister said that the government aims to reduce the losses of discoms to 15 per cent from 18.79 per cent loss in the financial year 2018-19.

According to official sources, the scheme may come up as a revised version of UDAY -- UDAY 2.0 -- which would provide another lease of life to ailing power discoms by extending financial support in the form of loans and grants.

This would support discoms to cover their payment to the generators and lenders while also investing in upgrading power infrastructure.

The accumulated losses of all discoms have again shot up to over Rs 80,000 crore, as of now, out of which close to Rs 60,000 crore is overdue.

The new financial support scheme will come with stringent conditions of regular power tariff revision by discoms and bringing down AT&C (aggregate, technical and commercial) losses to a level of 15 per cent within a year.

Non-adherance to conditions will stop loans and grants facility to state-run discoms.

The scheme for revival of stressed power discoms was launched in November 2015. The Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana's (UDAY) prime objectives were financial turnaround and operational improvement of the discoms along with the reduction of cost of generation of power development of renewable energy energy efficiency and conservation.

Singh observed that the proposed new scheme would be replace the current multiple programmes into a single focussed initiative. The centre is contemplating to combine the features of UDAY scheme, Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) under an umbrella programme.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) In its efforts to boost the slowdown-battered automobile sector, the industry has demand an incentive-based vehicle scrappage scheme for removal of old vehicles.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has sent this and other recommendations to the government for the upcoming Budget 2020-21.

Besides, SIAM has called for a reduction in GST rate on vehicles to 18 per cent from the current 28 per cent.

"... we have urged the Finance Ministry to consider announcing a incentive-based scrappage policy and also increase Budget allocation for ICE bus procurement by State transport undertakings," SIAM President Rajan Wadhera said.

"Increased cost of BSVI may effect demand, hence we have also requested the government to reduce GST rates for BSVI vehicles effective 1st April from 28 per cent to 18 per cent."

On the introduction of an incentive-based vehicle scrappage scheme for removal of old vehicles from the road, the SIAM recommended that incentive be given in the form of 50 per cent reduction in GST and 50 per cent reduction in road tax and registration charges.

It has also recommended abolishment of customs duty of 5 per cent on Li-Ion Cells to allow battery manufacturing to commence in India.

"Allocate budget for procurement of buses by STUs, over the budget allocation for procurement of electric buses under the FAME II scheme," SIAM said in its recommendations.

"Increase depreciation rate for passenger vehicles and two-wheelers to 25 per cent permanently."

According to the industry, these steps can revitalise the sector and place it back on the growth trajectory.

Lately, the auto sector suffers from a consumption slowdown due to high taxation, stagnant wages and a stressed rural sector.

Recent data showed the sector's total domestic sales declined to 14,05,776 units in December from 16,17,398 units sold during the corresponding month of the previous year.

In terms of the calendar year, the 2019 sales decline is the worst ever in the last 20 years.

The off-take of commercial vehicles took a major hit with sales declining 12.32 per cent to 66,622 units, compared to 75,984 units in December 2018.

On the production front, total domestic production last moth stood at 1,816,112 units, lower by 5.22 per cent.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) In what is being billed as a make or break Budget to revive the economy, the Modi government is likely to introduce heavy duty measures for rationalization of key equity taxes, including scrapping capital gains on sale of property, shifting the tax applicability of dividend distribution tax (DDT) to the receiver and extending the timeline of long term capital capital gains (LTCG) tax from the current 12 months to 24 months.

The breakthrough measure, if it materializes, will be doing away with capital gains on sale of property. The move has the potential to revive the real estate sector which is in the doldrums and facing immense stress.

The government is considering a proposal to do away with capital gains on selling of property. Currently, one has to pay 30 per cent capital gains on the sale of a property, if the property holder doesn't re-invest it back in property within 3 years.

If property is sold within 24 months, one has to pay a short term capital gains tax (STCG) on the gains as per an individual's income-tax slab.

After 24 months, one has to pay an LTCG tax, which is charged at 20 per cent with indexation benefits. Section 54 gives an exemption if there is sale of a property and then another one is bought.

This exemption under section 54 is available when the capital gains from property sale are reinvested into buying or constructing maximum two houses.

However, the capital gains on the sale of house property must not exceed Rs 2 crore in order to claim exemption for reinvesting in two properties. This benefit can be claimed only once in the lifetime.

The exemption will be reversed if this new property is sold within three years of purchase and capital gains from sale of the new property will be taxed as short-term capital gains. The new properties must be purchased either one year before the sale or two years after the sale of the property. Alternatively, the new residential properties must be constructed within three years of sale of the property.

DDT
In addition, the government is likely to change the applicability of dividend distribution tax (DDT) by shifting the tax liability from dividend issuer or the company to the receiver.

Currently, dividend distribution tax is levied at an effective rate of 20.56 per cent on the company declaring dividends. This is over and above the corporate tax. Apart from this, resident non-corporate taxpayers need to pay 10 per cent tax on dividends in excess of Rs 10 lakh a year. The DDT was introduced for more efficient collection of dividend tax from the companies rather than shareholders.

LTCG on equity
In a move that will fire up the stock markets, the government is likely to extend the timeline of long term capital gains (LTCG) on shares from the current 12 months to 24 months.

Currently, LTCG of 20 per cent is paid by domestic investors if they hold equity for 12 months, and 10 per cent is charged to non-residents if they hold equity for 12 months.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) As the clamour grows for more money into the pockets of consumers and households to boost consumption in the economy, the government is discussing multiple options on cuts in personal income tax (PIT) in the forthcoming Union Budget.

A final decision on personal Income Tax cuts will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next few days.

The options being considered by the Finance Ministry include acting on suggestions of task force on direct tax simplification.

A tweaking of tax slabs is on also on the agenda and as part of the restructuring the government may raise the minimum exemption limit from the current Rs 2.5 lakh.

Among the measures being considered include increasing tax saving measures through various options. Sources say the government is also considering tax saving options through infrastructure bonds. Under this window, tax saving may be allowed via infra bonds of up to Rs 50,000 a year.

The panel on direct taxes code (DTC) has suggested the widening of the income tax slabs. It has suggested that the 10% tax slab should be extended up to Rs 10 lakh, which will bring a significant relief to a large chunk of taxpayers.

Between Rs 10-20 lakh, the tax slab is pegged at 20 per cent while from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 crore it is 30 per cent and beyond Rs 2 crore it is 35 per cent.

If these recommendations are approved, approximately 1.47 crore taxpayers would move from the 20% slab to the 10% slab. The task force has retained the basic exemption level at Rs 2.5 lakh for general income taxpayers.

As per the Budget 2019 announcement, no changes in the income tax slabs and rates had been proposed. A rebate of Rs 12,500 was made available for all taxpayers with taxable income up to Rs 5 lakh. The standard deduction for financial year 2019-20 was kept at Rs 50,000.

Source: IANS

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The breakthrough measure, if it materializes, will be doing away with capital gains on sale of property. The move has the potential to revive the real estate sector which is in the doldrums and facing immense stress.

The government is considering a proposal to do away with capital gains on selling of property. Currently, one has to pay 30% capital gains on the sale of a property, if the property holder doesn't re-invest it back in property within 3 years.

If property is sold within 24 months, one has to pay a short-term capital gains tax (STCG) on the gains as per an individual's income-tax slab.

After 24 months, one has to pay an LTCG tax, which is charged at 20% with indexation benefits. Section 54 gives an exemption if there is sale of a property and then another one is bought.

This exemption under section 54 is available when the capital gains from property sale are reinvested into buying or constructing maximum two houses.

However, the capital gains on the sale of house property must not exceed Rs 2 crore in order to claim exemption for reinvesting in two properties. This benefit can be claimed only once in the lifetime.

The exemption will be reversed if this new property is sold within three years of purchase and capital gains from sale of the new property will be taxed as short-term capital gains. The new properties must be purchased either one year before the sale or two years after the sale of the property. Alternatively, the new residential properties must be constructed within three years of sale of the property.

DDT
In addition, the government is likely to change the applicability of dividend distribution tax (DDT) by shifting the tax liability from dividend issuer or the company to the receiver.

Currently, dividend distribution tax is levied at an effective rate of 20.56% on the company declaring dividends. This is over and above the corporate tax. Apart from this, resident non-corporate taxpayers need to pay 10% tax on dividends in excess of Rs 10 lakh a year. The DDT was introduced for more efficient collection of dividend tax from the companies rather than shareholders.

LTCG on equity
In a move that will fire up the stock markets, the government is likely to extend the timeline of long term capital gains (LTCG) on shares from the current 12 months to 24 months.

Currently, LTCG of 20% is paid by domestic investors if they hold equity for 12 months, and 10% is charged to non-residents if they hold equity for 12 months.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, Jan 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) Similar to expectations ahead of the Union Budget, Dalal Street has its eyes on a possible relaxation in taxes such as long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) and Dividend distribution tax (DDT) on February 1.

The LTCG tax is applicable on profits arising from the sale of equity, mutual funds or gold held for a period longer than one year. DDT is a tax levied on dividends that a company pays to its shareholders out of its profits.

According to Emkay Global, the current contribution of DDT to the central government is Rs 600 billion. However, markets are expecting this tax to be abolished on the grounds that the DDT not only leads to cascading taxation but also acts as an impediment for non-resident investors.

Ashok Shah, Partner, NA Shah Associates LLP, said the effective tax is currently high and the government should abolish dividend distribution tax as it will promote foreign investment.

"Small taxpayers will also benefit as their effective rate of tax is much lower than DDT rate of 20.56 per cent. Non-resident shareholders will be able to claim tax credit in their home jurisdiction. Withdrawal of the DDT will remove the cascading impact of taxation," Shah said.

The government should tax dividends in the hands of the shareholders at concessional rates which may be 15 per cent to 20 per cent, Shah added.

Currently, a 10 per cent LTCG is charged on sale of equities worth more than Rs 1 lakh and on equity-oriented mutual funds held for more than one year.

"Long-term capital gains tax could be removed with definition of long term extended to 2 yrs from one year currently," Emkay said.

Brokerage firm Centrum said reintroduction of LTCG, maybe with a 2-yr period, is most likely to lift sentiments without having any significant impact on the balance sheet of the government.

"This holds potential to provide a major booster for stock markets as it is a provider of equity to the industry. Another step, which can help without much impact on fiscal, is abolishment of DDT. This will further boost the sentiments," it added.

Shah said the continuation of both LTCG tax acts as a disincentive to shareholders. The government should either abolish STT on listed securities or should exempt Long Term Capital Gain on sale of listed securities from tax.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) The upcoming Union Budget should come up with business-friendly policies for the gems and jewellery industry, according to Shailen Mehta, Co-founder of eJOHRI, an onmichannel jewellery startup.

The e-commerce segment requires policies and regulations to benefit the overall jewellery industry along with the consumers, he added.

"We believe if the industry receives adequate support from the government in the upcoming budget with policies that are business-friendly for the sector, sentiments will change for the better. With online shopping increasing by the day, the government should come out with suitable policies in the e-commerce sector which would benefit the consumers and in turn the jewellery industry," Mehta said.

Noting that the gems and jewellery industry is one of the most evolving and thriving industries in India as well as one of the major contributors towards the economy, he also said that the the past year was not a good one for it with many losing their jobs due to the challenging times and insecurity prevailing in the sector.

On the company's plans for the year ahead, he said that the online platform would look to "aggressively" expand its operations.

"eJOHRI has been able to have more than 20,000 products (on the platform) in the last six months. In the next six months we will grow this to 50,000 products," Mehta said.

He said that the the immediate strategy of the company is to get more jewellers on board and more strategic decisions may follow during Diwali this year.

Last month the Mumbai-based startup had announced that it raised $1 Mn funding led by London-based investor Rajesh Ranavat alongside other investors in a Pre-Series A round.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Union Budget 2020 may allocate Rs 50,000 crore recapitalisation for the banks undergoing merger to support them through the amalgamation with the anchor banks.

"The merging banks will need support to pull through the merger and are in need of capital at least for three quarters in the next fiscal to meet their overall regulatory capital limits post merger and not to put pressure on the anchor bank's balance sheet," a source said.

The idea behind the budgetary provision for capital infusion is the merging banks could be in losses and their NPA situation may not dramatically improve and this may disturb the healthy capital base of the anchor banks.

Budget 2019 had allocated Rs 70,000 crore to the public sector banks to be infused to meet their core capital regulatory needs.

Currently, the Indian Overseas Bank, the Central Bank of India, the UCO Bank and the United Bank of India are under Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework due to their poor balance sheet and capital position. They also stand to gain from the recap, sources added.

As per the merger road map, the Punjab National Bank, the Oriental Bank of Commerce and the United Bank of India are to be merged. The new merged bank will be the second-largest PSB in the country with Rs 18 lakh crore business and the second-largest branch network in India.

The Canara and Syndicate Banks will also merge to become the fourth-largest PSB with Rs 15.2 lakh crore business and third-largest branch network in India.

The merger of the Union Bank of India, the Andhra Bank and the Corporation Bank will create India's fifth-largest PSB with Rs 14.6 lakh crore business and fourth-largest branch network.

The Indian Bank and the Allahabad Bank will merge to form the seventh-largest bank with Rs 8.08 lakh crore business.

All the banks are slated to start on merged entity platform from April 1, 2020. Among all four anchor banks -- the Punjab National Bank was given Rs 16,091 crore, the Union Bank of India Rs 11,768 crore, the Canara Bank Rs 6,571 crore and the Indian Bank Rs 2,534 crore.

Of the merging entities, the Allahabad Bank was provided Rs 2,153 crore, the United Bank of India 1,666 crore and the Andhra Bank Rs 200 crore. Besides, the Bank of Baroda got a capital infusion of Rs 7,000 crore, the Indian Overseas Bank Rs 4,360 crore, the UCO Bank Rs 2,142 crore, the Punjab & Sind Bank Rs 787 crore and the Central Bank of India Rs 3,353 crore.

LIC-owned IDBI Bank too received additional capital of Rs 4,557 crore through the first supplementary demands for grants approved by Parliament last month.

(Anjana Das can be contacted at anjana.d@ians.in)

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget 2020-2021 on February 1, women entrepreneurs have called for measures to empower women financially and promote gender sentisation in the upcoming budget.

According to consultants and leading women entrepreneurs, more schemes and allocations should be made towards empowering more and more women.

Nirupama Subramanian, a consultant in the area of leadership development and personal transformation, said: "Budget 2019-2020 was supposed to be a woman-friendly budget with an allocation of 4.91 per cent towards projects and schemes for women.... The Nirbhaya Fund and schemes like MUDRA, Ujjwala Yojana, Saubhagya and finance for Self Help Groups are steps in the right direction yet much more needs to be done."

Further, direct measures should include provisions to incentivise women to return to work after maternity leave and the government should also increase increasing tax breaks for women-run businesses and incentives for companies that contract to women-owned businesses will support women entrepreneurs, she said.

"This budget needs to focus on both long term and short-term and direct and indirect measures to ensure safety, well-being, education, and employment of women. I would like to see funding for gender sensitisation programs in all schools and colleges, for the police and public service workers," Subramanian said.

Apart from creating a conducive environment for women of all strata of society it is equally important for them to be financially stable, said several women entrepreneurs.

Large number of women from low-income groups work in the micro, small, and medium enterprises and there is demand for more steps to strengthen that segment which would eventually help the economic growth of the participating and working women.

Anuradha Singh, CEO of Delhi-based Indi Collage, says that she looks forward to the "funds of fund" for the MSME sector and observed that the budget needs to address the economic downturn which has severely affected the small enterprises and businesses where a significant part of the workforce is women.

"The tax structure needs to be much simpler, to be able to do business across the states. Textiles and craft sector has been severely hit by the economic downturn & the taxes levied on it, this needs to be addressed or we will turn our skilled craftsmen into labourers," Singh said.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Union Budget 2020 could focus on spending toward railways, defence and toward reviving sentiment in the real estate sector but the exercise would be to keep the outlays lean so that fiscal deficit does not slip beyond 3.5 per cent of GDP, a report by broking house Emkay Financials said.

It said the preceding few months have seen many announcements by the government with an intention to kickstart growth. Thus, it is understandable that expectations run high on the upcoming Budget.

"However, given the tight fiscal space, we doubt many big bang announcements could be made," it said.

The steep fiscal slippage of 48 bps in FY20 is largely due to growth slowdown and the lack of addressing sector-specific issues. The FY21 budget will probably look relatively slimmer with a deficit of 3.5 per cent of GDP. Concentration of spending would again steer toward railways, defence and toward reviving sentiment in the real estate sector, it noted.

"The shortfall in disinvestments is also likely to be Rs 46,900 crore and the target is likely to be rolled forward to FY21. Our base case does not include receipts from the telecom sector on AGR dues," Emkay said.

"Expenditure to be squeezed based on the steep shortfall in revenue receipts, we believe that the government is likely to curtail expenditure by Rs 1.8 lakh crore. Major savings are likely to emanate from food subsidy (transferred off balance sheet), lower interest payment outgo and savings generated from the PM-Kisan scheme. FY21 expenditure concentration to remain similar to that of FY20, where the budget allocation would continue to remain tilted toward railways, defence and urban infrastructure," said the report.

Gross borrowing figure is likely to be budgeted at Rs 7.5 lakh crore, i.e., growth of 5.7 per cent year-on-year. This is likely to keep the yields elevated near 6.8-7.0 per cent said the report. No big announcements but allocation could be tilted toward infra/power/real estate, than consumption boosters.

"We see a low likelihood of a personal tax rate cut, given the consumption boost would be small and transient. On the other hand, we expect announcements around power sector (Discom reforms), where implementation details on how the incentives will be structured for state discoms will be critical, infrastructure (NIP) where part of the funding could come from outside the budget and some stimulus for the real estate sector in the form of additional tax breaks for home buyers."

"In the run-up to the Budget, we could expect some excitement in stocks like L&T, NTPC and HFCs like HDFC/LICHF (however, this last set could be impacted by high govt borrowings on funding costs).

Source: IANS

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"BWR expects Union Budget to provide a boost to investments and savings in the Union Budget 2020-21, to be presented on February 1, 2020, is expected to announce appropriate measures to restore economic growth and to set a clear roadmap for achieving the ambitious USD 5 trillion economy by 2025", it said.

Amidst the current slowdown in the economy evident from the 11-year low GDP estimates of 5 per cent, the approach to the economic policy for the next year needs to be genuine and realistic. The challenges faced by the economy, particularly on the demand side envisages more measures but shortfall in revenue so far, (than the targeted budget estimates) comes as a big hindrance.

Out of certain measures announced recently to revive the economy, the sharp reduction in corporate tax makes India one amongst the low corporate tax rate countries. The reduction in tax rate and lower economic growth impacted government's tax revenue, Brickwork Ratings stated.

Lower revenue generation restricts room for huge stimulus, whereas the economy can do with a booster shot. It looks like the government will adhere to fiscal consolidation path as it has already curtailed expenditure for the fourth quarter of 2019-20.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has also cautioned the Ministry to not to set over-ambitious tax and fiscal deficit targets. Hence the task of the Finance Minister has become more challenging, and she has to be very careful while making the budget allocations to the existing schemes as well, it noted.

Most of the industry specific demands have been addressed by the Finance Minister in her announcements since August 2019, like recapitalization of banks and measures to address NBFCs liquidity crisis, auto sector-related proposals and reduction in corporate tax rates, it observed.

These measures are expected to have an impact gradually. The amendments made in IBC law enabling the resolution of finance companies and the Supreme Court verdict on the resolution of Essar Steel case has been positive in terms of releasing the locked-up funds in stressed assets. The government is expected to continue amendments to various laws to provide ease of doing business. Much of the focus is on what the Budget 2020-21 offers to bring the economy on a growth track quickly to attain the USD 5 trillion economy goal by 2025, it said.

Source: IANS

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By Anjana Das

New Delhi, Jan 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Union Budget 2020 may unveil a scheme on production linked benefits to attract hi-tech manufacturing in semiconductors, and microprocessors to India, apart from giving tax incentives to solar electric charging infrastructure, computers, and servers for its thrust in manufacturing of global products to reduce imports.

To make it look more attractive to MNCs to opt for domestic electronics manufacturing in India, the Budget may dish out production-linked subsidies for companies involved in semiconductor fabrication. This is aimed at inviting global semiconductor, and microprocessor companies to set up plants in India.

Earlier also, the government had announced schemes for setting up semiconductor plants in the country.

The National Policy for Electronics, 2019, argues for special support for developing core competencies in the strategic sub-sectors like fabless chip design industry.

The government could provide tax incentives to high-tech manufacturing plants in the fields of solar photovoltaic cells, lithium storage batteries, solar electric charging infrastructure, computers, servers, and laptops.

For 'Make in India', there may be investment-linked income tax exemptions under Section 35AD of the Income Tax Act and other indirect tax benefits.

Many global semiconductor companies such as ARM, Qualcomm, Intel, Cadence and Texas Instruments have set up design and software development infrastructure here but per se, chip manufacturing plants are still elusive for India.

Intel, AMD and ARM for microprocessors, and Qualcomm, Samsung and MediaTek are the names in this segment globally who also cater to the telecom segment and their chips are imported by Indian companies.

The Indian requirement for chips are completely met through imports. The Indian semiconductor component market is expected to be worth $32.35 billion by 2025, growing at a compunded annual growth rate of 10.1 per cent between 2018 and 2025, according to the Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), an industry body.

China, on the contrary, is building a homegrown chip programme, eyeing adoption of local semiconductors in 70 per cent of its products by 2025, up from 16 per cent currently.

In last few years, the Indian government has launched a slew of schemes to boost local manufacturing of electronic goods. Total production of electronic goods in value terms more than doubled from $31.2 billion in FY15 to $65.5 billion in FY19, led by mobile phones, shows data from the Reserve Bank of India's report.

(Anjana Das can be contacted at anjana.d@ians.in)

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Domestic carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir have pitched for TDS (tax deducted at source) relief for expat pilots.

The airlines have claimed that foreign pilots insist on a tax-free salary, knowing that India faces a shortage of experienced pilots at senior level.

In their budget proposal, airline lobby group, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), said that air carriers have to currently gross up salaries of expat pilots and bear the taxes. This results in increase of expense for airlines by 50 per cent on this account.

"It is recommended either not apply section 195A in case of payment to be made to an employee or tax paid by company on behalf of employee should be an allowable expense as business expenditure," the FIA, which represents three private carriers, said.

Section 195 of the Income Tax Act deals with TDS for the non-resident people of India.

With high traffic growth in domestic and induction of new type of aircraft in their fleet, the industry has been facing a shortage of type rated pilot-in-command.

To cover the shortage of type rated pilots-in-command, validation of foreign pilots is done as per rule 45 of Aircraft Rules, 1937. The foreign pilots are phased out by the airlines once the co-pilots inducted by them gain the mandated requirements for being designated as commander.

Till June 2019, domestic airlines employed 404 foreign pilots. As per official data, various airlines had 324 foreign pilots on their rolls in 2018 against 378 in 2017.

An airline executive said that expat pilots generally get a monthly salary of Rs 10-15 lakh and given 33 per cent tax on it, the airlines have to bear a cost of Rs 3-4 lakh.

The Civil Aviation Ministry has advised airlines to develop pilot training programmes in order to reduce the dependency on foreign pilots.

While there is a shortage of pilots at commander-level, there are sufficient commercial pilot license (CPL) holders in the country.

Source: IANS

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