Source: Businessinsider.com

source:MINT

Sikkim Manipal signs MoU with UK university

source:India Blooms News Service

Kolkata, Sept 9 (IBNS) Sikkim Manipal University – Directorate of Distance Education (SMU-DDE), one of the largest providers of Distance Education in India, on Friday announced the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Edinburgh Napier University (ENU), a premier state-owned, Government University in Edinburgh and one of UK’s largest Universities.

The collaboration between SMU-DDE and ENU aims to foster advancement in teaching, research, academic collaboration, cultural understanding and to create avenues for enhancing student experience.

It will create a strong foundation to encourage exchange and sharing of academic, scientific and cultural experiences. ENU will be an academic partner with SMU-DDE by providing academic training & infrastructure to fulfil the educational needs of the students enrolled.

Professor George Stonehouse, Dean, ENU Business School said “With India being one of the world’s largest and most dynamic economies, we are even more delighted to work with its leading University. This partnership will foster academic links between our nations and will provide for research collaborations that would contribute to and support the development of higher education in India."

Prof N S Ramesh Murthy, Director, SMU-DDE said, “We are delighted to sign the MoU with Edinburgh Napier University. This MoU provides a strong footstep for strengthening the academic and build a long-term beneficial relationship between the two Universities. It will also promote knowledge sharing, reflecting the deep interest & commitment of SMU-DDE and ENU towards building a strong educational foundation for the distance education fraternity at large."

Under the scope of engagement, ENU and SMU-DDE will collaborate in the management education space.

SMU-DE degree holders will be given the option to get an additional MBA degree from ENU by enrolling 60 out of 180 credits of the ENU MBA program.

Students will be given the option to pursue these additional credits by enrolling for a term on campus at ENU’s Craiglockhart campus in Edinburgh. This means, SMU-DDE students will avail a waiver on 2 term credits, thus saving time.

Students opting for a term at ENU’s Craiglockhart campus will have an added advantage of working part-time (20 hours per week with minimum wages of 20 £ per hour).

Target-Direct Tax Revenue Collections of Rs.8.3 Lakh

To Achieve the Target of Direct Tax Revenue Collections of Rs.8.3 Lakh Crore and Direct Tax to GDP Ratio at 7.62 % by 2014-15, CBDT to Continuously Evolve Processes, Procedures Innovative Ways of Taxation Especially Related to Cross Border Taxation: FM


The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that the Income Tax Department has been at the forefront of collecting revenue for the Government since the Financial Year 2007-08. During 2010-11, the Income Tax Department exceeded the revised Budget Estimates by collecting more than Rs.4.46 lakh crores. He said that the collection of Direct Taxes has almost doubled in the last four years from Financial Year 2006-07 to Financial Year 2010-11. This has been possible due to rationalization of tax structure, improvement in tax administration, better tax payers’ services and commendable efforts put in by the officers and employees of the Income Tax Department, the Minister added. The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that the 13th Finance Commission has projected Direct Tax Revenue Collection at Rs.8.3 lakh crores by the year 2014-15 and Direct Tax to GDP ratio of 7.62%. He said that the Direct Tax GDP ratio as of now is 5.66%. To achieve these target , CBDT will have to continuously evolve process, procedures and look for innovative way of taxation especially related to cross border taxation, he added.



The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee was addressing the Third Meeting of Central Direct Taxes Advisory Committee(CDTAC) here today which was attended among others by Shri S.S.Palanimanickam, Minister of State for Finance(Revenue), Members of CBDT, Shri Ishwar Singh and Shri Dhoot, both Members of Parliament, Shri Jairaj Purandare,CA, Shri Dinesh Kanabar ,FICCI, S/Shri S.D.Sexana, Sunil Kanoria, Sebastian Philip Cherukara, all representatives of Trade, Commerce and Industry from different Zones and other senior officials of CBDT and the Finance Ministry. CDTAC is an advisory body and its functions are to advise the Government on the measues for developing and encouraging mutual understanding and cooperation between taxpayers and the Income Tax Department. Besides it, CDTAC also advises the Government regarding the measures foe removing administrative and procedural difficulties of general nature. The members of CDTAC gave various suggestions for avoidance on taxation on dividend of Indian companies on their profits on investment in global markets, more tax benefits for manufacturing sector for attracting more FDIs, reduction in time for giving its advance ruling in reduced time frame by the Authority for Advance Ruling, more authority to Dispute Redressal Panel to make it more effective, no penalty in case of amendments made with retrospective effect, more creative and taxpayer friendly advertisements by CBDT, and IT applications by the CBDT be made more user friendly and no need for PAN card for non-tax payers among others

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that for further rationalization of tax laws, the Government has introduced the Direct Tax Code (DTC) Bill which is under examination of Parliamentary Standing Committee and it is expected that the new Direct Tax Code (DTC) will be effective from April 1, 2012.

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that a major step towards improving tax payer services was taken by the Department by setting-up of Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) at Bangalore in the year 2010. This CPC has been stabilized and is processing 1.0 lakh returns daily, he added. Shri Mukherjee said that this project is a strong efficiency multiplier and is being replicated at Manesar, Pune and Kolkata. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that he is sure that operationalisation of these CPCs would give a fillip to the processing capacity and help in processing the returns of income expeditiously.


The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that tax Deduction at Source is a major component of Tax collected. He said that the Government is in the process of setting-up a Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) for TDS matters at Ghaziabad which will help in improving the TDS administration.


The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that this year the Government has introduced simple and user friendly SAHAJ (form) for individual salary tax payers and SUGAM (form) for small tax payers availing presumptive tax scheme. Further, the salary tax payers up to an income of Rs.5 lakhs have been exempted from filing tax returns for the Assessment Year 2011-12, the Minister added.


The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that setting-up of Aayakar Sewa Kendras is an important initiative for the effective delivery of tax payers’ services. During the last Financial Year, 13 Aayakar Sewa Kendras were set up under the Sevottam model, the Minister added. He said that it is expected that 50 more such Centres shall be set up during the current Financial Year.


The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that a declaration of Department’s commitment to the tax payers, a Citizen’s Charter was issued on 24th July, 2010, the date on which Income Tax completed 150 years of its existence in India. A “Vision Document- 2020” outlining the road map for the Income Tax Department was also released on 05.01.2011. These documents lay down the Department’s Vision, Mission and Values and outline the strategies for the Income Tax Department to realize its Vision.


The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that the Government has adopted a Five-pronged strategy to tackle the highly sensitive issue of Black Money. This strategy comprises of –
· Joining the Global crusade against black money;
· Creating an appropriate legislative framework;
· Setting up institutions for dealing with illicit money;
· Developing system for implementation; and
· Imparting skills to the manpower for effective action.


He said that as a result of this Five-pronged strategy, credible results are now visible in different areas, which ­are -
· Huge network of amended DTAA and TIEA with tax havens. As on date, we have completed negotiation with 56 countries/jurisdictions (22 existing DTAA, 18 new DTAA and 16 TIEA with low or no tax countries/jurisdictions). Negotiations with 28 countries/jurisdictions are under progress. 17 treaties (12 DTAAs/5TIEAs) have been signed.
· Information regarding details of asset and payments received by Indian citizen in several countries has started flowing in which is now under different stages of processing and investigation.
· In large number of specific cases information has been obtained under DTAAs.
· Directorate of Transfer Pricing has detected mispricing of Rs. 34,145 crore in last two financial years as against mispricing of Rs. 14,655 in crore earlier five years.
· Directorate of International Taxation has collected taxes of Rs. 33,784 crore from cross border transactions in last two financial years.
· Investigation wing of CBDT has detected concealed income of Rs. 18,750 Crore in last two financial years.
· OECD and Task Force on financial integrity & Economic Development have acknowledged outstanding work done by India in its crusade against Black Money.
The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that we have started receiving substantial results due to our sustained and focused efforts and we are likely to get even better results in future. He said that looking into the challenges posed by the generation of illegal income through various anti-national activities, Government has set up a Directorate of Criminal Investigation in the Income Tax Department. This Directorate will deal with tax crimes related to illegal activities by tracing the movement of money before, during and after a crime is committed, he added.




The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that we are in the process of creating and developing systems to reduce human interface and increase efficiency and productivity in the department. Today, Department has reached to a level where substantial percentage of the refunds are issued in the electronic mode, the Minister added. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that these systematic changes will increase the satisfaction level amongst the taxpayers and will also reduce the possibility of rent seeking behavior.

DSM/SS

Teesta water sharing pact hasty

Teesta water sharing pact hasty: Expert

6 September 2011 - 8:32pm
India News
By IANS,

Kolkata: The draft Indo-Bangla Teesta water sharing agreement, which has irked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was "hastily authored" and not in tune with the United Nations protocol for trans-national water sharing, according to an expert.

Kalyan Rudra, an eminent geography professor, said Tuesday if the pact that reportedly proposes to share the Teesta river water with Bangladesh on a 52:48 basis comes through then the very purpose of the Teesta Barrage project would take a beating.

The barrage project - intending to provide irrigation water to the northern part of West Bengal and for generating electricity - was commissioned in 1976 and is still to be completed.

"Had the agreement been inked in its present form there would have been acute shortage of irrigation water in the lean months from December-April," Rudra, a former lecturer in Geography in Calcutta University, told IANS.

He said the Teesta Barrage project once completed would serve an irrigated area of 9,22,000 hectates, but so far caters to only 60,000 hectats.

Referring to the proposed treaty providing for sharing 33,000-50,000 cusecs water with Bangladesh, Rudra said from June-September the river has more water. In July the flow is the highest at 70,000 cusecs.

"From June-September the river has surplus water. But then during this season there is plenty of rain and irrigation is not required. It is in the lean season that irrigation is needed. In the lean season the river has between 3,500-4,000 cusecs only."

"So how can we give so much water? I think this draft is based on inflated and fictitious database," said Rudra, who is attached to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board.

The Teesta originates from Tso Lhamo Lake in north Sikkim, flows for virtually the entire length of the Himalayan state, then runs through Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts of West Bengal, before merging with the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.

He said to make the treaty pragmatic, it should have referred to the volume of water in the river without only drawing up a 52:48 formula.

He added that the flow to north Bengal would decrease further with the proposed 23 low dams in Sikkim.

Rudra also found fault with the pact for not taking into account the water generated in Bangladesh, as 16 percent of the river is in the neighbouring country.

"This agreement only deals with the Indian water entering into Bangladesh. It does not take into account the water generated in Bangladesh due to rain."

Bangladesh has a catchment area of 12,361 sq km and 2.l17 billion cubic metres of rainfall is generated there. "Annually, from rainfall we get 12.26 billion cubic metres in the catchment area. But the amount generated in Bangladesh has not been considered while drawing up the agreement," he said.

Rudra said as per the United Nations guideline on transnational sharing of water, there has to be an equitable and reasonable agreement. "Demographic and socio-economic factors like the population involved, the catchment area, and whether the population has alternative water sources - these issues have to be addressed. But this does not seem to be the case here."

"The issues like the water level required to maintain the ecological flow have also not been addressed. It should have kept in mind the amount of water needed in the river for preserving bio-diversity.

"The treaty has been drafted hastily and there is no science and sustainability," he maintained.

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source:Valueresearch

Mamata plays spoiler

Source:The Hindu

There can be no quarrel with the position that States bordering India's neighbours must be consulted in framing bilateral policies with those countries, especially when it comes to sharing crucial natural resources. New Delhi's proposed agreement with Bangladesh on a formula to share the waters of the river Teesta needed to take West Bengal along. But Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's row over the draft agreement on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's important visit to Bangladesh has set a new low in the shaping of India's foreign policy. The State government evidently knew in advance that the agreement was in the works, and was familiar with its provisions. National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon met the Chief Minister for a discussion on August 31. For days New Delhi had been describing the Teesta pact as a crucial component of Prime Minister Singh's visit. So why did Ms Banerjee wait until the last minute to declare it was unacceptable to her? Although the specific objections are unclear, the State government is said to have found the agreement “detrimental to the interests” of West Bengal. There is also speculation that the decision was prompted by the Trinamool Congress leader's differences with the Centre over the State's financial allocation. That New Delhi was caught unawares by her dramatic withdrawal from Dr. Singh's entourage to Dhaka indicates that it had no prior indication of her dissent. The agreement has been jettisoned at least for now, the Mamata-authored fiasco casting a shadow over the visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to Bangladesh in 12 years.

Sheikh Hasina's government is already targeted by political opponents for its perceived ‘pro-India' tilt. Prime Minister Hasina might have hoped to use the Teesta pact to ward off some of this criticism — levelled against her for cooperating with India on denying safe haven to ULFA and cracking down on anti-India Islamist groups. It was also hoped that a similar treaty would follow for the Feni river that flows through Tripura into Bangladesh. For its part, New Delhi expected that the give on the Teesta would yield connectivity through Bangladesh to the North-East States and beyond, underlined by the inclusion of four Chief Ministers from the region in the delegation to Dhaka. All this is up in the air now. Prime Minister Singh's visit was billed as one that would “craft a new paradigm” in a complicated bilateral relationship. With the likely signing of a border agreement and an extradition pact, the visit is not a complete write off. But there was a palpable feeling of let-down even before the Prime Minister's delegation took off from Delhi.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

…..Edmund Burke

Data Source: The Economist

PIDILITE-Firmly Fixed

By Niti Kiran | Sep 6, 2011

Pidilite Industries is a leading manufacturer of speciality chemicals in India. It produces adhesives, sealants, onstruction and paint chemicals, automotive chemicals, art materials, industrial adhesives, industrial and textile resins, and organic pigments and preparations. The company’s major brands include Fevicol, Fevikwik, and Dr. Fixit. It currently exports to more than 80 countries and has 14 overseas subsidiaries. Moreover, it has significant manufacturing and sales operations in USA, Brazil, Thailand, Singapore, Bangladesh, Egypt and Dubai.
Source:Valueresearch

source:MINT

Sikkim, Goa and Delhi ranked No 1 in Sustainable Competitiveness Report

Posted by IPR@SKM On September - 1 - 2011

Gangtok, September 1: RICS India and the Institute for Competitiveness released the ‘Sustainable Competitiveness Report 2011′for Indian states today at the RICS International conference on ‘Planning and Delivering Urban Infrastructure in Indian Cities’. The report was released by Mr. Marcus Potter, Executive Director, Developing Markets, RICS and shows the ranking of Indian states in terms of the sustainability of their growth story. The states have been divided into three categories based on the density of population and Sikkim tops the sustainable Competitiveness index in the low density states. Delhi and Goa similarly top the list for the high and medium population density states, respectively. When seen as an overall ranking, the top 3 winners are Sikkim, Delhi and Goa followed by Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Mizoram, Kerala, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh.

source:equitymaster

source:Livemint

Mamata opts out of Dhaka visit over Tessta

Special Correspondent

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided not to accompany Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his September 6-7 Bangladesh visit. File photo
Has some reservations over proposed pact on sharing of Teesta river water

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided not to accompany Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his September 6-7 Bangladesh visit. This has been communicated to the Prime Minister's Office, it was learnt here on Sunday.

Ms. Banerjee has some reservations over the agreement that is to be signed between the two countries over the sharing of the Teesta river water during Dr. Singh's visit.

The Chief Minister's reported stand is that the proposed agreement, with its water-sharing ratio, goes against the interests of West Bengal.

Upset with final draft

She is apparently upset with the final draft of the treaty which, according to her, is at variance with the one she was earlier informed of.

Ms. Banerjee, along with the Chief Ministers of four other States that share a common border with Bangladesh, was to have accompanied the Prime Minister.

The question now is how the PMO will respond to her decision and whether or not there will be a last-minute change of mind on her part.

If she sticks to her decision not to be part of the Prime Minister's entourage it could put the Indian delegation into a somewhat awkward position.

Ms. Banerjee shares a cordial relation with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

When Ms. Banerjee swept the April-May Assembly elections, Ms. Hasina was quick to congratulate her on the win.

Ms. Banerjee reportedly expressed her views on the proposed agreement on the sharing of the Teesta water at a meeting with National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon here on August 31.

SIKKIM: Bidder picked for park – without visitors for 16 months

THE TELEGRAPH

BY BIJOY GURUNG

Kanchenjungha tourist villa at Ranka. Picture by Prabin Khaling

Gangtok, Sept. 2: The Sikkim tourism department seems to have finally zeroed in on a private firm to run Kanchenjungha tourist villa, a Rs 55 crore amusement park at Ranka.

The park had been touted a major tourist attraction and a much-needed recreational centre for people in and around Gangtok.

But the facility hasn’t been opened to the public, even 16 months after it was inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil. The delay has been attributed to the government’s inability to find a private firm to operate the park on lease.

Four tenders had been floated since April last year to seek a firm to operate and maintain the park.

The rural development department, the nodal agency for the construction of the park, had last year floated two tenders, which were scrapped at the last moment. The first tender was aborted as it was bagged by master con man Rajesh Jhunjhunwala on the basis of fake bank documents. The second tender was scrapped as the government decided to hand over the park to the tourism department.

The tourism department also floated two tenders and there were no takers for the first one.

“A private company, which quoted the highest bid, has been selected from the second tender. The state government is likely to give its approval to the firm,” said a senior tourism official.

But the tourism officials were non-committal on when the park would be declared open for the public. 

With no firm in charge to run the park on a commercial basis, the facility is lying idle.

A couple of security guards from a private agency are posted at the park at Ranka, 35km from Gangtok. They while away all the time with no tourist making a beeline for the park.

“Tourists do come here enquiring about the amusement park and they return when we tell them that it has not been opened for public as yet. They must have heard about the park here,” said one of the guards posted outside the locked park.

Fourteen private security personnel man the park, which is spread over 17.5 acres.

“Everything seems to be complete inside and all machines are fine. Sometimes, officials from the government and the construction company come for maintenance. Rest of the time, it is all quiet here,” said the guard.

The project funded by the Centre is a unique tourism attraction fusing cultural ethos of Sikkim and modern amusement amenities with the objective of providing wholesome entertainment to tourists.

The park has 12 shopping arcades for selling handicrafts and souvenirs of Sikkim. There are also amusement facilities like musical fountain with laser shows, a multilevel plaza, open air theatre, ride stimulators, swimming pool, bar and bowling alleys.