NEW DELHI :  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today asserted that legitimate tax demand cannot be considered “tax terrorism” because India is not a tax haven.
Appearing to defend the tax notices sent to about 100 FIIs totalling USD 5-6 billion, he said “taxes which are payable must be paid”.
“India is not so vulnerable that every legitimate tax demand is considered as tax terrorism … We are not a tax haven and we don’t intend to be one,” he said while addressing CII’s annual general meeting.
In the biggest-ever tax demand, nearly 100 foreign funds have been asked to cough up an estimated USD 5-6 billion for ‘untaxed gains’ made by them in the Indian markets over the past years. The Income Tax department has imposed 20 per cent Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on capital gains made by FIIs.
Jaitley in his last budget speech proposed to scrap MAT on capital gains made by FIIs.
“Taxes which are not payable must not be paid. They should be challenged…But taxes which are payable must be paid,” he said, adding “Our fairness has been partly misunderstood. The converse of tax terrorism is not a tax haven.”
Stating that some decisions of the past have made the taxation regime adversarial, he said, “an emerging economy that expects investment cannot indulge in what has been referred to as tax terrorism or very aggressive tax laws”.
“But our fairness has been fairly misunderstood. The converse of tax terrorism is not a tax haven. If I read the front page of some newspapers, it is the impression that I get,” he said referring to tax demand notices on FIIs.
Commenting on the tax notices, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das said, “I think what FIIs and FPIs are asking is retrospective exemption and not retrospective application of a tax law. Because MAT was leviable on them, therefore these assessment, these demand have been raised.”
He said that some Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) had gone to the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) which ruled that MAT was applicable.
“Naturally the Income Tax Assessing Officers have raised the demand,” he said.
Jaitley said the government is in the process of
simplifying the procedures in direct and indirect taxes to rationalise the rates and effectively bring them down.
As regards the new law on black money, he promised a “reasonable compliance window” for persons with overseas funds to come clean and sought suggestions for improving its structure in the proposed Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill 2015.
“…A very reasonable compliance window would come for those who indulged in misadventure in the past,” Jaitley said.
The government had introduced the stringent Bill in the Lok Sabha to deal with the menace of black money stashed abroad. Besides other things, the law provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years for hiding foreign assets.
It will also provide a short-term compliance window for people having undisclosed income abroad to come clean.
The legislative roadmap ahead of the government, he said, includes the passage of the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill, the amendments to Companies Act, and the amendments to the Land Acquisition Act.
As regards GST, he said that there is a broad consensus on the issue and the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill would be taken up for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha over the next leg of the Budget session, beginning April 20.
“Once it (the Bill) is approved, the next stage would be to get the approvals of various states… This itself will become one of the important taxation reforms in India in the recent history,” the Minister said.
On the Land Acquisition Bill, he said it would be a big challenge passing the amendments to the land law. “I firmly believe that the 2013 land law is hugely detrimental to rural India and I am particularly re-emphasising the point,” the Finance Minister said.
Although the amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 was approved by the Lok Sabha, the bill has stuck in the Rajya Sabha as the ruling party does not have a majority in the Upper House. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI :  Prime Minister Narendra Modi today castigated developed nations which “lecture” India but deny it nuclear fuel for clean energy and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to fight against climate change.
“See the irony. The world gives lecture on climate but if we tell them that we want to move forward in nuclear energy as it is a good path for environment protection and when we ask them to provide necessary fuel for nuclear energy, they refuse,” he said.
Modi rejected suggestions that India was posing hurdles in the fight against global warming and climate change, asserting protecting environment “is our tradition”.
“Everybody has come to believe that the world is concerned about climate change but India is posing hurdles ….We have grown up in a culture where nature is worshipped like God and protecting nature is linked to humanity.
“But, due to some reasons, maybe we have been ruled by others for centuries, we are inhibited in expressing our point of view. Till the time we gain confidence in ourselves, we will not be able deal with the problem,” he said.
The Prime Minister, who was addressing a conference of state environment ministers and officials, urged the global nuclear community to ease restrictions on India to enable it import environment friendly nuclear fuel for producing clean energy in a big way.
Modi’s assertions came against the backdrop of criticism by western countries of the very “unhealthy” air quality in country’s metros including the national capital, which has been categorised among one of the most polluted cities, prompting many embassies and international establishments to install air purifiers.
Maintaining that India had taken several initiatives in solar and wind energy sectors, the Prime Minister said the country should lead the world in finding solutions to global warming.
“India should be a global leader in the fight against climate change    . Instead of being forced to follow parameters laid down by others, India should lead the world in the fight against climate change,” he said.
“It should not be that we follow the world, follow the guidelines set by them…The truth is that we have a legacy of thousands of years in this field and we can lead the world and we can guide the world. India can show the way to the world out of this crisis,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister noted that the relation between
economic development and environment protection was not adversarial and that both can go hand in hand.
Questioning those who questioned India’s credibility in tackling environmental degradation, he said,”Indians have always conserved nature and, even today, have among the lowest per-capita carbon emission globally.”
He said the culture of recycle and re-use was not new for India.
Referring to government’s ambitious Clean Ganga initiative, Modi said state governments should not “compromise” with the mission’s objective and urged banks to lend money at lower rates for installation of effluent and sewerage treatment plants.
“If we successfully stop the pollution going into the 2500 kms stretch of Ganga, we can inculcate in people confidence that we can check pollution through normal efforts,” he said.
He suggested switching off street lights on full moon nights and use of bicycles at least once a week to conserve energy.
Modi also launched The National Air Quality Index to monitor the quality of air in major urban centres across the country on a real-time basis.
The air quality will be monitored in Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU :  Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today pitched for sending an all party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the approval of Rs 44000 crores relief and rehabilitation package for flood-hit people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“An all party delegation should be sent to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister for approval of Rs 44000 crores package for flood-hit people of J-K,” Omar said during discussions on flood situation in Legislative Assembly here today.
The proposal for the special package was submitted to Centre by the previous state regime after quantifying the flood losses.
Omar assured that the National Conference would also join the delegation and impress upon the Prime Minister to approve the full-fledged package for the purpose of rehabilitation.
“There is only one solution to these floods, it is approval of Rs 44000 crores,” he said, adding that there should not be any cuts in this package as it is formulated to ensure justice to all the flood-hit people.
Taking a dig at the Centre for release of flood package in parts and pieces, he demanded the full approval of the grant without any penny cut from it.
He alleged discrimination and bias in flood relief distribution.
“The relief is being distributed on political basis. Ruling party is distributing relief to their own workers,” he said.
Omar said that relief amount should be directly deposited to the bank accounts of flood-ravaged people.
He also hit out at Mufti government for triggering confusion in the minds of people by making contradictory statements over the issue of floods.
“One minister is saying that Srinagar city faced water logging not floods but another minister contradicts him by saying that it is floods and another minister says that it is localise water problem. We want to know from the government whether they call it as floods or something else,” he said.
He also said that the government should take proper measures over illegal constructions in flood-prone areas. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU :  A member of the opposition Congress today accused the state Health Minister Chowdhary Lal Singh of pursuing a “communal agenda” by transferring doctors from the “Muslim dominated areas”.
“You are transferring doctors out of the Muslim dominated areas and appeasing your own people, we will not tolerate this,” Congress member from Banihal, Vikar Rasool said in the state Assembly.
Rasool accused the minister of following RSS agenda and dividing the state on the communal lines.
“The transfers of doctors out of the Muslim dominated areas is a conspiracy to create a wedge in the state. You are following the communal agenda of RSS,” he said.
The house witnessed noisy scenes as the BJP members stood on their benches and demanded an apology from the Congress member.
“This is a false allegation which has no standing,” BJP member Neelam Langeh said.
However, Rasool continued to attack the health minister saying that he was ignoring the Muslim dominated areas.
When the minister stood to answer to the allegations of the Congress member, they both entered into a verbal duel.
The minister asserted that the transfers were done following all the norms and they were not biased.
“Due replacement has been given to any transfers made,” Lal Singh Said.
Later, while speaking to the media Vikar Rasool said, “this person has a communal mindset and he is harassing the Muslims of the area by following a Hindutva agenda. By transferring senior doctors out of Muslim dominated areas he is following the communal agenda.”
He said that if the staff at the Banihal hospital was not restored to its strength he along with the residents of his constituency would launch an agitation and would block the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. (AGENCIES)

Srinagar : Suspected militants today shot at and injured a police officer in Pattan area of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
Sub-Inspector Ghulam Mustafa was shot at by two pistol-borne militants in a bus which was on its way to Pattan, injuring the police officer, they added.
The driver of the bus, took the injured to the local police post where the cops shifted their colleague to the hospital, he said.
No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, the official said adding the incident is being investigated. (Agencies)

SRINAGAR :  Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying passengers, who were stranded at Jammu for the past one week, left for the Kashmir Valley as the Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained open for one-way traffic.     Though there were fresh landslides, but the highway, connecting the Valley with the rest of the country, remained open since yesterday afternoon after remaining closed for about four days.     Hundreds of vehicles left stranded different parts of the Jammu region for the Valley, a traffic police official told UNI.    He said about 600 vehicles have crossed the Jawahar tunnel and more vehicles are on way to Kashmir.    Large number of trucks, carrying essentials, particularly vegetables and sheep and goats are also on way to Srinagar.    No vehicle was allowed from Kashmir to Jammu today to avoid traffic jam and accidents, he said.    The highway remained closed for about four days. However, it was reopened in between for brief periods after the Border Roads Organistion (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway cleared the landslides by putting into service men and sophisticated machines.    Almost all vehicles, mostly empty trucks and oil tankers, which were stranded on this side of the Jawahar tunnel for the past about a week were allowed to move towards Jammu yesterday. Similarly some of the vehicles, where were stopped at Batote and other places on other side of the tunnel were also cleared till late last night.    Official sources said only one-way traffic will be allowed on the highway till further orders as BRO were on job to widen the road where it had been damaged by landslides in March. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR :  The weekly Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) resumed today after it had remained suspended for two weeks.     Official sources told UNI that the bus left Srinagar for Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector this morning.      Similarly POK bus has also left Muzarffarabad for Chakoti the last military installation of Pakistan on the other side of the LoC.      The bus service could not operate on  March 23 in view of the “Pakistan Day” while it was suspended on March 30 due to flood threat in the Kashmir valley as the river Jehlum, which finally enters POK,  was flowing above danger mark.      The bus service, operating since April 7,2005, has helped thousands of families divided in 1947 to meet each other after India and Pakistan agreed to allow travel of state issues from both sides of the LoC on permits instead of International passports.
(AGENCIES)

Srinagar :  Militants today shot dead three unarmed policemen, who had gone for investigating a crime in a village in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Three policemen — one head constable and two constables — were killed in a militant attack at Ashipora in Shopian district,” a police officer said.
He said the slain policemen were unarmed and had gone to the village for investigating a crime when militants opened fire on them.
This is second militant attack on policemen within hours in Kashmir Valley.
Earlier in the day, ultras shot at and critically injured a police officer in Pattan area of Baramulla district.
Sub Inspector Ghulam Mustafa was shot at and injured by two  pistol-borne militants in a bus which was on its way to Pattan, a police official said.
The driver of the bus drove the bus to a local police post where the cops shifted their injured colleague to hospital, he said. (Agencies)

DHAKA :  A top leader of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party in Bangladesh today lost his final bid to overturn his death sentence for warcrimes committed during the 1971 independence war against Pakistan, forcing authorities to step up security fearing protests.
The Supreme Court upheld its previous verdict on Muhammad Quamaruzzaman, rejecting his plea for reviewing death penalty.
“Rejected”, pronounced Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, a day after the four-member apex court heard the review petition of Jamaat’s 63-year-old assistant secretary general.
After the verdict, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said that there is no legal bar for the government to execute Quamaruzzaman for his crimes against humanity following the judgement.
He said Quamaruzzaman now could seek presidential clemency within a “logical timeframe”.
Authorities called out paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to enforce a nationwide security vigil to prevent possible violent protests by Jamaat activists.
“The BGB troops will enforce a vigil with regular law enforcement agencies like police and RAB (Rapid Action Battalion),” a home ministry spokesman told reporters.
Bangladesh in 2013 had witnessed violent protests and counter protests when the tribunals pronounced its initial verdict on Quamaruzzaman.
Alam earlier said the ‘Jail Code’ which gives an ordinary death row convict a minimum 21 days for preparedness to walk to gallows were not applicable for condemned war criminals as they are tried under a special law beyond the purview of laws like the Criminal Procedure Code.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in May 2013 sentenced Quamaruzzaman to death for committing crimes against humanity siding with the Pakistani troops during the 1971 liberation war.
Quamaruzzaman was found him guilty of mass killing, murder, abduction, torture, rape, persecution and abetment of torture in central Mymensingh region.
He was convicted of killing 164 people at a village in his home district in northern Sherpur. (AGENCIES)