Economy

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European Union Bans Import of Mangoes From India

The 28-member European Union has temporarily banned the import of Alphonso mangoes, the king of fruits, and four vegetables from India from May 1, sparking protests from the Indian community, lawmakers and traders. The recent decision by the grouping’s Standing Committee on Plant Health came after 207 consignments of fruits and vegetables from India imported into the EU in 2013 were found to be contaminated by pests such as fruit flies and other quarantine pests.

Gujarat Ranks No 1 in ‘ Economic Freedom ‘

Economy

Gujarat has been ranked No. 1 in a list of India’s 20 largest states in terms of “economic freedom”.The index on “economic freedom” takes into account governance, growth, citizens’ rights, and labour and business regulations.As per the 2013 ‘Economic Freedom of the States of India’ report, “Gujarat has widened its lead at the top of the economic freedom table, with an index score of 0.65 (on a scale from 0 to 1.0). Tamil Nadu remains in second position, but some distance behind, with a score of 0.54.

India's industrial output up 0.1 percent in January

Economy

India's industrial output was higher by 0.1 % during January, as mining and electricity sectors performed marginally better, government data showed Wednesday.

The cumulative growth of the industrial production for the April-January period year-on-year was at a standstill from a growth of one percent in the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in New Delhi.

Factory output measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had dropped by 0.6 % in December, registering a contraction for the third straight month.

Mining sector output in January increased by 0.7 % from a deceleration of 1.8 % in the corresponding period of last year.Electricity sector output rose by 6.5 % in January from 6.4 month in the the corresponding period of 2013.

However, manufacturing sector declined by 0.7 % in the month under review from an increase of 2.7 % in January 2013.

PSU banks need 19,813 more ATMs by March-end to meet target

Economy

State-run banks may set up only 14,855 ATMs by December, leaving an uphill task of installing close to 20,000 more cash dispensing machines by March-end to achieve the target of at least one onsite ATM in every branch.

Pursuant to Budget 2013-14 announcement, PSU banks were required to ensure an onsite ATM in all 72,340 branches by the end of the current financial year.

In March 2013, only 37,672 branches had onsite ATMs, and thus 34,668 more were to be installed.

As per the roll-out schedule of ATM installations, the state-owned banks should have set up 25,950 cash dispensing machines by December 2013 or about 75 percent of the target.

SBI had put in place 2,266 ATMs till December and has to install 2,221 more by March, 2014, according to the progress report of ATMs installation at all branches of banks.

Allahabad Bank has set up 385 ATMs and is yet to install 2,033 more.

United Bank of India has to set up 1,044 ATMs to meet the overall target of 1,342.

Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Syndicate Bank and Punjab National Bank need to set up 1,319, 1,004, 1,560 and 1,408 ATMs, respectively.

However, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank and Vijaya Bank have to set up only 02, 32 and 39 ATMs, respectively to meet their targets.

There 26 public sector banks, including country's largest lender State Bank of India and its associates.

GAAR to come into effect from April 1, 2016

Economy

The controversial GAAR provision, which seeks to check tax avoidance by investors routing their funds through tax havens, will come into effect from April 1, 2016, a government notification said.

The provision of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) will apply to entities availing tax benefit of at least Rs 3 crore, according to the notification dated September 23.

It will apply to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) that have claimed benefits under any Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).

Investments made by a non-resident by way of offshore derivative instruments or P-Notes through FIIs, will not be covered by the GAAR provisions.

A business arrangement can be termed 'impermissible' if its main purpose is to obtain tax benefit. Under the original GAAR proposals, the anti-tax avoidance provisions could be invoked "if one of the purposes" was to obtain tax benefit.

The notification is broadly in line with recommendations of the Parthasarathi Shome Committee, which was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July last year to address the concerns of investors.