SERVICE TAX EVADERS CAN BE ARRESTED

) The Revenue department today said that stringent provisions to arrest service tax defaulters are being introduced to check evasion in view of blatant misuse of certain provisions. "On Service Tax side, in the recent past where they (assessees) have blatantly misused the provisions, particularly in those cases where they have recovered the money from people and not given to government," CBEC Chairperson Praveen Mahajan said at a Ficci event here. She said the quantum of duty evasion was huge to the tune of Rs 200 crore to Rs 400 crore. The Finance Bill has proposed to introduce Section 91 to provide for power to arrest a person for specified offences, particularly non-payment of collected service tax, by an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Central Excise. Failure to deposit service tax amount exceeding Rs 50 lakh with the government would result in imprisonment of up to seven years. Mahajan said that in 2011-12, 527 commercial frauds in Service Tax were detected out of which only 26 persons were arrested. In 2010-11, 581 cases of fraud were detected by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and only 64 people were arrested. "We are non-adversarial. Power to arrest have been given to Commissioner. There are enough safeguards.. The (provision) will be reviewed from time to time. So there is no reason to be concerned," she said. As per the Bill, offences relating to excise and customs duty evasion of over Rs 50 lakh would be made cognisable and non-bailable. "Arrest provision has always existed in customs and excise. We have raised the limit where this arrest provision can be invoked. From Rs 30 lakh it has been raised to Rs 50 lakh," Mahajan said.

IT KILLS ME NOT TO BE PRESIDENT

Vanquished US Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has said "it kills him" not to be in the White House tackling America's economic woes as he slammed President Barack Obama for failing in his job. "I'll look at what's happening right now, I wish I were there," 65-year-old Romney told Fox News Sunday in his first television interview since the November 2012 election, suggesting he would have been more effective in the current political situation. Accusing Obama of "campaigning" rather than governing as the sequester - USD 85 billion across the board spending cuts that kicked in on Friday - loomed, he said, "It kills me not to be there, not to be in the White House doing what needs to be done." "The president is the leader of the nation. The president brings people together, does the deals, does the trades, knocks the heads together, the president leads. And - and I don't see that kind of - of leadership happening right now," Romney, a successful businessman-turned-politician, said. Speaking about his failed campaign, Romney said that he was convinced he'd win until Ohio's vote came in, and that he damaged his campaign by failing to attract black and Hispanic voters and speaking too freely in his infamous "47 per cent" comments. "I think we were convinced we would win. We saw that the polls were very close, but we knew that the energy and passion was with our voters. My heart said we were going to win," he said. Romney said he doesn't look back at the campaign with anger or regret. "You look back at the campaign and say, 'OK, what did the president do well?' And you acknowledge that his campaign did a number of things very effectively," he said. "Of course you rehearse all the mistakes that you made, and I went through a number of my mistakes, I'm sure. Then you think about the things that were out of your control. But you move on. I don't spend my life looking back," said Romney.

CPSE's ON CASH PILE

The reserves and surplus of all Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) jumped 9.6 per cent to Rs 6.13 lakh crore in 2011-12, according to a government survey. In 2010-11, the reserves and surplus of state-owned units stood at Rs 5.60 lakh crore, it said. The Survey said profit of CPSEs grew about 10 per cent to Rs 1.25 lakh crore during 2011-12, compared to Rs 1.13 lakh crore in the previous fiscal. ONGC topped the charts, followed by NTPC, CIL, NMDC, BHEL and Southern Eastern Coalfields Ltd. ONGC has retained the top position in the coveted list of 10 most profit-making PSUs, while BSNL was the biggest loss-making state-run company in 2011-12. BSNL suffered losses of Rs 8,850 crore replacing Air India as the biggest loss-making PSU. Besides BSNL and Air India, MTNL, Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing, Hindustan Cables, Air India Charters Ltd and Fertilizer Corporation of India, are the biggest loss-making companies. There were 260 CPSEs of which 225 were in operation and the rest were under-construction in 2011-12. The survey said the total turnover of all public sector units went up by about 23 per cent to Rs 18.41 lakh crore, while their networth grew 8.4 per cent to Rs 7.7 lakh crore, during 2011-12. Total investment (equity plus long term loans) in all CPSEs was up about 21 per cent at Rs 7.29 lakh crore as of March last year. The survey said the contribution of CPSEs to the government by way of duties, taxes, interest payments and dividends increased 2.5 per cent to over Rs 1.6 lakh crore in the last fiscal. ONGC Top Investor Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has emerged as the top investor among PSUs for 2011-12 with an investment of Rs 2.1 lakh crore, according to a government survey. Loss-making BSNL is the second largest investor, it said. Investment in terms of gross block (assets) for ONGC stood at Rs 2.1 lakh crore in 2011-12 and its net profit was Rs 25,122 crore, the Public Enterprises Survey for 2011-12 said. In 2010-11, the Maharatna company had Rs 1.95 lakh crore as investment in gross block. Gross block (GB) is the value of a company's fixed assets plus depreciation. Telecom player BSNL's investment on the same lines was Rs 1.74 lakh crore, despite a huge loss of Rs 8,850 crore in the last fiscal, the survey said. NTPC was at the third position. Its investments, expressed in GB, stood at Rs 1.23 lakh crore and net profit at Rs 9,223 crore in 2011-12. The survey revealed the share of ONGC, BSNL and NTPC was 54.7 per cent in the total GB of all CPSEs, as on March 31, 2012. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Power Grid Corporation ranked fourth and fifth, in this respect. SAIL and NHPC were at sixth and seventh ranks, respectively. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Gail (India) Ltd were at eighth, ninth and tenth positions, respectively, the survey said. The total strength of employees in CPSEs has gone down by 41,682 persons due to superannuation, voluntary retirement etc. The salary and wages in all the CPSEs, at the same time grew 7 per cent to Rs 1.05 lakh crore during 2011-12 compared to Rs 98,402 crore in 2010-11, it said.

AMBANI RICHEST INDIAN

With networth of USD 21.5 billion, Mukesh Ambani has retained his title as India's richest person for sixth year in a row, while Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim has emerged as wealthiest in the world for the fourth consecutive year. In the overall rich list of world's billionaires, as per an annual ranking published today by business magazine Forbes, Mukesh Ambani is ranked 22nd, while the second-richest Indian Lakshmi Mittal is at 41st position with a networth of USD 16.5 billion.Slim has topped the rankings with a networth of USD 73 billion, followed by Bill Gates (USD 67 billion), Spain's Amancio Ortega (USD 57 billion), Warren Buffett (USD 53.5 billion) and Larry Ellison (USD 43 billion) in top five.There are a total 55 billionaires from India on the list of 1,426 persons from across the world having a minimum networth of USD 1 billion. Among the Indians, Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal are followed by Azim Premji, Dilip Shanghvi, Shashi & Ravi Ruia, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Savitri Jindal, Sunil Mittal, Shiv Nadar, K P Singh and Anil Ambani. Globally, Anil Ambani is ranked 233rd (USD 5.2 billion), while the global top-100 list has only three Indians -- Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal and Azim Premji (91st position). About Mukesh Ambani, Forbes said that his fortune has dropped by USD one billion over the past one year, but he "remains India's richest person and his Reliance Industries remains country's most valuable company". On the other hand, his younger brother Anil Ambani saw his networth drop by USD 2.6 billion in the past one year, "continuing a three-year decline in his fortune."

HARLEY PRICES SLASHED ON LOCALIZATION

US-based iconic cult bike maker Harley-Davidson today said it will start assembling three more models in India that will result in slashing of prices by up to Rs 4.55 lakh, close on the heels of the government increasing customs duty on imported superbikes in the Budget. The company's Indian arm Harley Davidson India will now assemble models Fat Boy, Fat Boy Special and Heritage Softail Classic at its Bawal facility in Haryana. The Harley-Davidson Fat Boy will now be available at Rs 14.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as against the previous imported price of Rs 19.45 lakh. Similarly, Fat Boy Special will cost Rs 15.6 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as against the previous imported price of 19.70 lakh. The Heritage Softail Classic model will be tagged at Rs 16.25 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as against Rs 20.45 lakh earlier. Commenting on the development, Harley-Davidson India Managing Director Anoop Prakash told PTI: "Since we entered India in 2009, we have been consistent with our plans have more local assembly of our products and make them accessible to more enthusiasts and customers across the country. The CKD operations of the three models is another step towards it." The company now has 9 out of 12 models that it sells in India locally assembled. When asked if the company planned to assemble all the models that it sells in India, he said: "It is not possible for a long time to come. Our flagship 'Touring Family' has its own heritage, we want to maintain it and moreover the market for it hasn't developed yet here in India." On the Budget announcement, Prakash said: "Our CKD (completely knocked down) operation allows us to contribute to local investment while also reducing the tariff burden for customers across India." The impact on pricing will be minimal due to the company's steady focus on developing CKD operations in India since early 2011, he added. In the Budget 2013-14, Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed to hike import duty on bikes with engine capacity of 800 cc or more from to 75 per cent from 60 per cent. On the sales growth, Prakash said the company is expecting "a double digit" increase in 2013. Since 2010, when it started selling its bikes in India, the company has sold over 2,000 motorcycles.

BUFFET PRISE AJIT JAIN

Describing him as one of Berkshire Hathaway's terrific managers, billionaire investor Warren Buffett has said that Ajit Jain insures risks that "no one else has the desire or the capital to take on". Showering accolades, Buffett asked shareholders to "bow deeply" if they happen to see Jain at the annual meeting. India-origin Jain, who has been associated with Buffett for nearly three decades, has long been speculated to be a potential candidate to succeed the octogenarian investor at Berkshire Hathaway. Jain runs the Reinsurance Group, one of the most profitable ventures of the conglomerate. Noting that Berkshire's outstanding economics exist only because of some terrific managers, Buffett said that Jain insures risks that no one else has the desire or the capital to take on."His operation combines capacity, speed, decisiveness and, most important, brains in a manner unique in insurance business. Yet he never exposes Berkshire to risks that are inappropriate in relation to our resources," Buffett wrote in his annual letter to shareholders released on March 1. Starting from 1985, Jain has created an insurance business with float of USD 35 billion and a significant cumulative underwriting profit, a feat that no other insurance CEO has come close to matching, the famed investor noted. "He (Jain) has thus added a great many billions of dollars to the value of Berkshire. If you meet Ajit (Jain) at the annual meeting, bow deeply," Buffett said. Famed for his investment decisions, Buffett said that his group is more conservative in avoiding risk than most large insurers. "For example, if the insurance industry should experience a USD 250 billion loss from some mega-catastrophe -– a loss about triple anything it has ever experienced -– Berkshire as a whole would likely record a significant profit for the year because it has so many streams of earnings. "All other major insurers and reinsurers would meanwhile be far in red, with some facing insolvency," the letter said. Last year, Berkshire saw an increase of USD 22.8 billion in its net worth, after accounting for USD 1.3 billion that was used for repurchasing stocks. Taking a shot at CEOs who said they were faced with uncertainty in terms of capital allocation decisions last year, Buffett said that he did not share their fears. "At Berkshire, we didn't share their fears, instead spending a record USD 9.8 billion on plant and equipment in 2012, about 88 per cent of it in the United States. "That's 19 per cent more than we spent in 2011, our previous high. Charlie and I love investing large sums in worthwhile projects, whatever the pundits are saying," the letter said.

WOMEN LESS ON BOARD

Women account for nearly 40 per cent of the total workforce of India Inc, but their presence is less than seven per cent when it comes to board-level positions, a survey has found.India is ranked at 28th in terms of the presence of women directors in, a slight improvement from last year's 30th position, according to Women On Board 2013. The ranking is better than that of a few major countries like Japan The survey was conducted on more than 1,400 companies in India and it found that the women constituted just 6.81 per cent of the total number of board members in 2013. However, this marks an improvement from last year when women accounted for 6.69 per cent of the total board seats. The female presence on company boards is highest in Norway (37.23 per cent), followed by Sweden (27 per cent), Finland (24 per cent), South Africa (17.31 per cent) and the US (16.67 per cent). The countries having lower women representation on company boards include Italy (4.23 per cent) and Japan (1.26 per cent), the report said. The number of companies surveyed were different in different countries. "India is still need to promote more women for senior management level. Presence of Women members on board are very low, even it's below from average percentage of developing countries," MyHiringClub.Com CEO Rajesh Kumar said. "While around 38 per cent of employee strength in India is female, among these only 16 per cent are able to reach on senior management level," he added. According to the survey, the scenario is not much better in some developed countries as well, with Canada reporting only 11.41 per cent women directors, Ireland (11.16 per cent), Spain (10.79 per cent) New Zealand (9.89 per cent) and Switzerland (8.56 per cent). The countries with extremely low percentage of women on board include Saudi Arabia (0.43 per cent), Qatar (0.89 per cent) and UAE (1.08 per cent). In India, three per cent of the boards have three female directors, while 44 per cent having only one woman director each, the survey said. The study observed that the average board life of male directors is three years more than female directors, while globally the difference is only about two year. The gap between the maximum board tenure of male and female directors is very large.

NO GLOBAL CARDS PLEASE

In order to check frauds, the RBI has asked banks to impose monetary limit for international transactions on credit and debit cards and refrain from issuing cards with global access unless specifically sought by the customer. The Reserve Bank said that a monetary limit of USD 500 be imposed by issuing bank on all global cards which has not been used in the past. "All the active magstripe international cards issued by banks should have threshold limit for international usage. The threshold should be determined by the banks based on the risk profile of the customer and accepted by the customer by June 30," it said. Till the time of completion of the process a threshold limit not exceeding USD 500 may be put in place for all debit cards and all credit cards that have not been used for international transactions in the past, it said. The notification has been issued following cyber attacks, which according to RBI has become "more unpredictable and electronic payment systems becoming vulnerable to new types of misuse, it is imperative that banks introduce certain minimum checks and balances to minimise the impact of such attacks and to arrest or minimise the damage." Besides introducing additional security features in the card, the bank would also be required to put in place a real time fraud monitoring system and a mechanism to ensure that cards can be blocked through an SMS by the cardholder. These initiatives, RBI said are needed to ensures that transactions effected through such channels are safe and secure and not easily amenable to fraudulent usage. The announcement come in the backdrop of a slew of card frauds that has taken place in the recent past leading to unauthorised withdrawal of sums by unscrupulous agents. "Banks should move towards a system that facilitates implementation of additional factor of authentication for cards issued in India and used internationally (transactions acquired by banks located abroad)," it said. To make electronic modes of payment, like RTGS, NEFT safer and more secure, the central bank asked banks to put a limit on the number of beneficiaries that may be added in a day per account. A system of alert may be introduced when a beneficiary is added, it added. Besides, it has also asked introduction of additional factor of authentication preferably dynamic in nature for such payment transactions. The banks may consider implementation of digital signature for large value payments for all customers, to start with for RTGS transactions, it said. Amid reports of growing number of misuse of cards, the Reserve Bank had pitched for uniform security architecture for electronic banking across nations to check credit card frauds. "There is also strong case for uniform security standard across the jurisdictions for minimising frauds in electronic banking," RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan had said. "A case in point is frauds relating to misuse of international credit cards due to the absence of the requirement of second factor authentication for all the Card Not Present (CNP) transactions," he had said. He had stated that the regulators need to play an active role in encouraging entities to put in place various standards and leveraging them for business growth and risk management. The observation by the Deputy Governor assumes significance as there has been a large number of credit card frauds that has come to light.

SAMSUNG 85" ULTRA HIGH DEFINITION TV

Samsung introduced its first 85-inch Ultra High Definition TV (UHD TV), the 85S9. The 85S9’s stunning Timeless Gallery design sets a new standard for TV craftsmanship, with the TV appearing to float within its frame and juxtaposing its classic minimalism with the striking 85-inch display. Samsung’s complete portfolio is on display at the Samsung Southwest Asia Forum at HICC, Hyderabad.

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