Nasheman News :  A Karnataka-based businessman has been jailed for six months for allegedly not filing his income tax arrears and interest of around Rs 7.35 crore despite reminders, an official said on Saturday.

“The defaulter was arrested on Friday for failing to pay his tax arrears and produced before the Tax Recovery Officer (TRO) from where he was sent to jail for a tenure of six months,” said the department in a statement here.

The official, however, did not disclose the defaulter’s identity and nature of his business, except that he is from Tumakuru, 70 km northwest from here.

Though the defaulter was given many opportunities to pay the arrears, he missed them and failed to appear before the TRO on 17 occasions to explain reasons for defaulting.

“The defaulter appeared before the TRO in response to a notice on October 3, 2018, as to why a warrant to arrest him should not be issued. But he did not explain why he could not pay the dues,” said the statement.

The defaulter again appeared before the TRO on January 3 in response to a second notice issued on December 19 and assured the latter that he would remit the dues on receiving money from an unnamed debtor.

“Inquiry by the TRO revealed that although the defaulter received Rs 1 crore from his debtor before January 3, he did not pay the dues even partly. Instead, he dishonestly utilised it for other purposes,” said the statement.

The defaulter on February 14 admitted to the TRO in a statement that he did not pay taxes despite receiving Rs 1 crore from his debtor.

“The businessman violated provisions of Section 222 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Rule 73(a) and 73(b) of the Schedule II,” said the statement.

As the TRO considered no more inquiry was necessary under Rule 75 of the Second Schedule, the defaulter was arrested and produced before the TRO-7.

“The TRO-7 committed the defaulter to civil prison on Friday for six months after he failed to arrange for paying the tax arrears,” added the statement.

In a similar case, the department arrested a Bengaluru businessman on February 12 at the Mumbai airport and jailed him for six months for failing to pay tax arrears, including penalty to the tune of Rs 11.94 crore.

Section 222 of the Income Tax Act provides for attachment and sale of moveable/immovable property and arrest and detention of tax evaders.

Nasheman News :  Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) would showcase its prowess at the five-day 12th edition of ‘Aero India 2019’ expo, starting here on February 20, to hard sell its military aircraft and helicopters, a top official said on Thursday.

“HAL will explore opportunities at the Aero India by showcasing its fixed-wing and rotary-wing platforms and technologies as an industry player in the domestic and global defence market,” said HAL Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan in a statement.

The statement was issued ahead of the biennial air show at the Yelahanka base of the Indian Air Force on the city’s northern outskirts near the Bengaluru International Airport.

The aerospace major is also organising the present edition of the air show, where 31 aircraft will be part of the flying display and 22, static display.

HAL’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, HTT-40 (Basic Trainer Aircraft), upgraded Hawk Mk132 named Hawk-i, Civil Do-228 (civil version of Dornier 228 aircraft), Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Rudra, Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) will also be part of the flying display.

The fixed and rotary wing aerobatic teams Suryakiran (Hawk aircraft) and Sarang (ALH-Dhruv) will enthrall about six lakh visitors likley to attend the carnival of aircraft.

The defence behemoth will also showcase its LUH (PT-1), LCH (TD-2), ALH Rudra and ALH Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) as part of static display, HAL said.

At the expo, 360 exhibitors — 196 from India and 164 from foreign countries — will showcase their products.

HAL’s pavilion will include technological demonstration of the tail boom folding and main rotor folding of the Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH), which is ALH customised for the Navy.

“For the first time, HAL’s Supersonic Omni Role Trainer Aircraft (SPORT) simulator will be at the pavilion,” the statement added.

The SPORT aircraft will be used for fighter training after advanced jet training stage and before the induction of pilots into the frontline fighter squadron.

The exhibition space will also have a Jaguar aircraft simulator, HAL said.

As part of the air show’s ‘Innovate’ theme, the aerospace major will also display the technologies of Hindustan Turbo Fan Engine (HTFE-25) and Hindustan Turbo Shaft Engine (HTSE-1200) along with rotary unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), models of avionics and mechanical system line replacement units and complex manufacturing capabilities.

Global aerospace majors, including Boeing (US), Lockheed Martin Corp (US), Dassault (France), Russian Aircraft Corp MiG, Saab (Sweden) and European aerospace firm Airbus, will also take part in the exhibition.

Nasheman News :  NASA has announced the end of its Opportunity rover’s mission, 15 years after its arrival on Mars.

The announcement was made on Wednesday at a press conference at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, following NASA’s last attempt to communicate with the rover on Tuesday night which got no response, Xinhua reported.

The rover last communicated with Earth on June 10, 2018, as a planet-wide dust storm blanketed the solar-powered rover’s location on Mars. It has not been heard from for eight months since then.

Opportunity likely experienced a low-power fault, a mission clock fault and an up-loss timer fault, according to the mission team.

Team members have tried to rouse the rover ever since, and radiated more than a thousand commands to restore contact. However, no signal was heard from again.

“Saying goodbye is hard, but it comes the time,” said John Callas, project manager for Opportunity.

“It is because of trailblazing missions such as Opportunity that there will come a day when our brave astronauts walk on the surface of Mars,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.



“When that day arrives, some portion of that first footprint will be owned by the men and women of Opportunity, and a little rover that defied the odds and did so much in the name of exploration,” he said.



The golf-cart-sized rover far exceeded its planned 90-day mission lifetimes. It has worked for nearly 15 years and travelled over 45 km by the time it reached its most appropriate final resting spot on Mars — Perseverance Valley.



Opportunity landed on Mars on January 24, 2004. First among the mission’s scientific goals was to search for and characterise a wide range of rocks and soils for clues to past water activity on Mars.

Nasheman News : The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found that there was an improvement of one month in the delivery schedule of the 2016 contract for 36 Rafale fighter jets in flyaway condition than the one negotiated by the UPA government.

The CAG report on Capital Acquisition in Indian Air Force tabled in Parliament on Wednesday said one of the objectives of the Indian Negotiation Team (INT), which was derived from the Indo-French Joint Statement, was to expedite the delivery of the aircraft and weapons compared to the delivery period offered by Dassault Aviation in 2007.

According to the original delivery schedule offered by Dassault in 2007, first 18 flyaway aircraft were to be delivered between 37 and 50 months of the signing of the contract. The next 18, which were to be license produced in HAL, were to be delivered from 49th to 72nd months of the signing of the contract.

During negotiations, INT conveyed to the French side that it expected the delivery of the first batch of 18 Rafale aircraft in 24 months after the signing of the Inter Government Agreement (IGA); and next batch of 18 aircraft in 36 months after the signing of the IGA.

However, the delivery schedule finally offered by the French side was 18 aircraft by 36 to 53 months after the signing of the IGA and the remaining 18 to be delivered by 67 months of the signing of IGA. This was better than the delivery schedule of 2007 by five months.

“However, Audit noted that as against the delivery period of 72 months in the earlier offer, the contracted delivery schedule for 36 Rafale aircraft was actually 71 months. The Indian Specific Enhancements (ISE) on the first aircraft would be completed by T0 plus 63 months and integration on the next 35 aircraft would be completed in eight months. Thus, there was an improvement of one month in the delivery schedule of the 2016 contract,” the CAG report said.

Further, it said, audit noted that INT had apprehensions about the achievement of even this delivery schedule, because at the timing of the signing of the contract Dassault had an order backlog of 83 aircraft.

“Considering its production rate of 11 aircraft a year, clearing this backlog itself would take more than seven years. Ministry in its response stated that the Project was currently on schedule and the progress was being closely monitored by the resident Project Management Team and also through the Inter-Governmental Bilateral High Level Group,” it said.

On commercial advantage of Non-firm and Fixed Price bids, the CAG said any savings which accrues would be due to the difference between the escalation cap and actual escalation rates, between 2016 and 2021.

These would have also been available in the 2007 commercial offer depending upon escalation rates but after the mid delivery period as calculated by a sub-committee of the Contract Negotiation Committee in 2011-12.

Nasheman News : The Committee of Creditors (CoC) for Bhushan Power and Steel has issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to Sajjan Jindal owned JSW Steel, thereby declaring it a winning bidder for the bankrupt power company, sources said.

The development comes after the National Company Law Apellate Tribunal (NCLAT) last week turned down Tata Steel’s plea to consider its bid as the “most legitimate”.

People with knowledge of the developments said that JSW Steel has accepted the bid and the resolution professional would now approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the final approval on Wednesday and the procedure might conclude next month.

As per the protocol, NCLT will now have to give the stamp of approval for JSW Steel to acquire Bhushan Power and Steel.

JSW Steel’s revised bid of Rs 19,300 crore for Bhushan Power and Steel made it the top suitor ahead of Rs 19,000 crore bid by Liberty House UK and Tata Steel’s bid of nearly Rs 17,000 crore. The bankrupt company owes Rs 47,000 crore to the financial creditors.

For JSW, acquisition of Bhushan Power would allow it to retain the numero uno position in the Indian market for a long time to come with targeted capacity of 40 million tonnes by 2030.

Bhushan Power and Steel was one of the 12 biggest defaulters identified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for insolvency proceedings in June 2017. Punjab National Bank (PNB) had dragged the bankrupt steelmaker for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Nasheman News :  In a bid to challenge the dominance of online fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) delivery platforms like Grofers and Big Basket, food delivery app Swiggy on Tuesday launched “Stores” – a platform to allow users to order groceries, medicines and other daily amenities.

“Swiggy ‘Stores’ extends the option of ordering food from nearby restaurants to ordering anything from any store across your city,” Sriharsha Majety, Co-Founder and CEO of Swiggy wrote in a blog-post. 

With “Stores”, Swiggy aims to connect people to every store, retailer or brand – both online and offline – and deliver goods to people’s doorsteps. 

“We’re taking our first step by launching across Gurugram and will deliver from over 3,500 stores across the city. We’ve already partnered with over 200 stores in categories such as fruits and vegetables to florists and pet care stores,” Majety added. 

“Stores” platform has been made available within the main Swiggy app itself. 

“We are launching ‘Stores’ in beta for now, while we fine-tune the service to make sure it meets the high standards that we at Swiggy hold ourselves to,” Majety noted.

Swiggy’s new platform comes amidst controversies ignited by hundreds of restaurant owners sending a petition to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging wrongdoings by food delivery companies. 

The petition, first reported in January, accused Swiggy, Zomato, Uber Eats and Foodpanda of misusing their dominant positions by engaging in practices such as deep discounting, in-house kitchens and internal sourcing.

Nasheman News :A day before submission of the audit report on military procurement, including the Rafale jet deal, by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India to the President, the Congress on Sunday citing a “conflict of interest” said the exercise is a cover-up of the “scam”.

Holding Prime Minister Narendra Modi “guilty” of compromising national security, the Congress also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government for being “opaque, intransient, obscure and obstinate to cover up the layers of corruption in the Rafale scam”.

In a memorandum to CAG Rajiv Meharishi, the Congress accused him of committing “gross impropriety” by auditing the Rafale deal, saying as the Finance Secretary he was involved in the deal announced by Modi in April 2015.

“You were the Finance Secretary from October 29, 2014 to August 30, 2015, including at the time of unilateral announcement for purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft. Even at the time of cancellation of the 126 aircraft MMRCA deal you were the Finance Secretary. 

“Consequently, you were directly involved in the Rafale deal on both these occasions as the Finance Secretary. Not only this, you were also involved in negotiations of the deal as a representatives of the Finance Ministry,” the Congress said in the memorandum. 

It accused Meharishi of being “complicit in the irregularities” in the deal and questioned his propriety to audit the deal as the CAG. 

“The irregularities, bungling and corruption were happening at the highest level with your direct or indirect complicity and consent. This reflects your direct collaboration in the entire matter. 

“There is no reason or occasion for you to audit the 36 Rafale aircraft deal as you can neither be a judge in your own cause (case) nor can sit in audit over your own actions to which you were a party.

“This conduct points to a direct conflict of interest, making you a judge in your own cause (case) and rendering you ineligible to conduct any audit on the Rafale deal as CAG,” the party said. 

Addressing the media later, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the CAG report was yet another attempt of the Modi government to cover up the “Rafale scam”. 

“The CAG in his report, likely to be submitted on Monday, will not only defend his action in deal as then Finance Secretary but also do cover-up for the government. Despite all the irregularities happening before his eyes, the CAG will only come out defending the government and saying there is no corruption in the deal,” said Sibal.

“Being legally not entitled to audit the deal, the CAG should recuse and refrain from submitting a report on the deal,” said Sibal. The Congress has repeatedly demanded a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in to the “country’s biggest defence scam”. 

 Chief Minister HD  Kumaraswamy’s alliance has presented a huge budget of Rs 2,34,153 crore. 

Budget Highlights:

• Agriculture: 1. Agricultural Ratios, Organic Farming, Zero Investment, Agriculture and Israeli Minor Irrigation Programs Total Rs. 472 crore grant.
• Under the Minor Irrigation Scheme, 90 per cent incentive for all classes of farmers – Rs. 368 crores. Grant.
• 100 crores of drought-resistant watershed activities in 100 taluks with drought and high groundwater crunch – Rs. 100 crores
• Rs. 10 crore to be set up for promoting peasant growers
• Coastal coastal package to promote paddy cultivation for coastal and Malenadu population – Rs 5 crore.
• Rs 7,500 per hectare for farmers growing paddy Direct transfer.
• Rs.46,000 crore for farmers’ debt relief
• Arrangements to buy and sell agricultural produce by farmers
• Establishment of 600 sents per 1 crore cost
• Announcements of Rs
• Increase incentives for milk producers
• New Act to provide sugarcane growers’ balance
• Priority to agriculture related to zero capital
• A low cost-high production group is a agricultural plan
• Special Agricultural Package for Women Farmers
• Alternate Scheme for the Fasal Bhima Project
• State Government Sponsored Crop Insurance Scheme
• Israeli model agricultural technology enforcement
• Expansion of the poor of the poor in all cities
• Farmers’ Account Under Farmer Siri Scheme Direct Rs 10,000 Transfer.

Gardening:
1. Paddy and Grape grower special package for Rs.150 crore for improving the financial situation. 
2) Rs. 20 crore is set up for establishment of the International Standard Mango Product Processing Unit at Ramanagar and Dharwad Districts and the Tomato Products Processing Plant in Kolar. Grant. 

Silk:
1. The Karnataka Silk Sales Board has been strengthened to strengthen the stability of raw silk prices by Rs 10 crore. Grant. 

Animal Husbandry:
1. Milk Producers Incentives Increase to Rs. 6 per Liter. 
2. Milk Producers Welfare Rs. 2502 Crore Grant. 
Rs 5 crore to promote vaccine development in monkey disease Grant 

fishing:
1. Jetty Construction and Waste Management Unit and Sanitation facility for development of Malpe fishing activities – Rs. 15 crore Grant. 

Special package for school children

• Free bus pass for government school students
• Public School in Kendriya Vidyalaya Model
• The same school is from 1 to 10th standard
• 1000 school declaration likely in 4 years
• A secure school for the development of government schools
• Government schools are mandatory for English Medium
• A solid plan for the development of poor schools
• Chilli, Raincoat Bhagya for school students in Malnad

Special Scheme for Health & Rural Studies

• Government Ayurvedic homeopathy in all district
• Belgaum – Mother’s Children’s Hospital in Khanapur
• Cancer Hospital in Hubli
• 50,000 solutions to Asha workers who retire and retire 10 years
• Drugs in all districts are home to their own building
• Research Center to prevent mangoes in Shimoga

Increase incentives for home builders

• The existing ₹ 1.20 lakhs has been raised to 2.5 lakhs
• The cattle cottage is to build cows
• More money is spent on the development of the Muzirai shrines
• Helping priests in Muzrai temples
• Rs 48,000 a year to 60,000 a year

For Women and Child Welfare Department

• Special facility for women, children and senior citizens
• Gram panchayat program for unemployed youth
• 5,000 rupees to pay for planting per month
• Travel to Disneyland Model near KRS
• Additional money for the Maykatatu project
• Bumpers grant to farmers’ pump sets
• Water supply to clean drinking water for villages
• Water Resources Project

Social Welfare Department

• New Scheme for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
• Grants to the Ganga welfare of borewell burning
• Public Works Department
• Grant for sewerage infrastructure development
• Grants to Metropolitan Corporation, Urban Affairs and Local Institutions

Bumper for government employees

• Increased grants to government employees
• Retirement age is 60 years instead of 65 years
• Government staff can be announced on 4th Saturday vacation
• The new pension plan is likely to be canceled
• Auradkar reportedly declared a similar salary to the police

Agriculture:
1. Agricultural Ratios, Organic Farming, Zero Investment, Agriculture and Israeli Minor Irrigation Programs Total Rs. 472 crore grant. 
2. Under the micro irrigation scheme, 90 per cent incentive for all classes of farmers – Rs. 368 crores. Grant. 
3. Implementation of Drought Reservoir Activities in 100 taluks with drought and high ground water fall – Rs.100 crores 
4. Farmer Siri Scheme for Strengthening Farmers – Rs 10 Crore 
5. The Coastal Package is a grant of `5 crore to encourage the coastal and Malnad people to grow rice. Rs 7,500 per hectare for farmers. Direct transfer. 

Nasheman News : Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday slammed the Congress for its promise to withdraw the Triple Talaq Bill, saying that 32 years after legislatively overturning the Supreme Court’s Shah Bano judgment, the party has taken another step to drive Muslim women to live a life which is an “antithesis of human existence”.

“History has repeated itself, neither as a satire nor as a tragedy. It has repeated itself with a mindset of cruelty. The late Rajiv Gandhi committed a monumental mistake in legislatively overturning the Shah Bano judgement of the Supreme Court which guaranteed maintenance to all Muslim women. He allowed deserted women to be driven to poverty and destitution,” the Minister said in a blog.

“Thirty-two years later, his son has taken another retrograde step to drive them not merely into destitution but also to live a life which is an antithesis of human existence. The Muslim woman in Bareilly has been forced into animal existence.”

He was referring to a case in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, where a Muslim woman was twice divorced by her husband through Triple Talaq.

“It has shocked my conscience. Unfortunately, when human conscience should have been repelled while reading this news in the morning newspapers, the AICC President Rahul Gandhi and his coterie, while addressing a minority convention promised to withdraw the Bill pending in the Parliament, penalising Triple Talaq,” he said.

He said some incidents are so unconscionable and repulsive that they shake the conscience of the society and compel it to take remedial measures.

“Injustice perpetuated by personal laws is a glaring example of this.”

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that many communities, over the last several decades, have brought incremental but significant changes in their personal laws.

“The object and direction of these changes has been that gender equality is ensured, rights of women and children are protected and the right to live with dignity is ensured. Some practices which survived for centuries were so obnoxious (as Sati and untouchability) are now considered as unconstitutional,” he said.

Hitting out at the Opposition party, Jaitley said: “Votes are important, so is fairness. Political opportunists only look at the next day’s headlines. Nation-builders look at the next century.”

Jaitley’s remarks come a day after the Congress women wing chief Sushmita Dev promised to scrap the law banning Triple Talaq if the party comes to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing the party’s Minority Department convention, she also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had created an atmosphere pitting Muslim women against Muslim men through the law. 

The RBI cut policy rates by 25 bps to 6.25 per cent (voted 4-2) and changed the monetary policy stance from ‘calibrated tightening to ‘neutral (unanimous vote). Some key points from the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meet are as follows:

* The MPC cut its CPI forecasts, with Q4 FY19 now being forecast at 2.8 per cent year-on-year (versus the lower-than-expected actual print of 2.6 per cent in third quarter (Q3) financial year 2019 (FY19) and previous forecast of 2.7-3.2 per cent for second half or H2 FY19) and first half or H1 financial year 2020 (FY20) at 3.2-3.4 per cent (previously 3.8-4.2 per cent).

* Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Q3 FY20 is forecast at 3.9 per cent. It assessed the risks to be broadly balanced around the central trajectory versus ‘tilted to the upside’ earlier. The MPC noted its benign food inflation outlook, softer prices of items in the fuel-group, complete dissipation of the recent HRA hike and its current judgment of the recent jump in health and education CPI components to be a one-off phenomenon. 

* However, it highlighted the reversal in vegetable prices, unclear oil price outlook, rising trade tensions, volatility in financial markets and the impact of various budget announcements, although only over a period of time, on increasing disposable incomes as upside risks.

* On GDP growth, it noted slowing global growth/demand, rising trade tensions and the recent pickup in bank credit growth not being broad-based as headwinds. 

* It projected FY20 real GDP growth at 7.4 per cent (7.2-7.4 per cent in H1 and 7.5 per cent in Q3), with risks evenly balanced. Further, it mentioned the output gap has inched lower than potential — the earlier assessment was that it had closed — and the need to step up private investments and support consumption. On the global front, it acknowledged the recent moderation in economic activity in the US, Euro Area and China.

There are some significant takeaways. The rate cut decision taken by the MPC is understandable, although the market, including ourselves, had assigned a less-than-even chance of that happening today. 

This is largely owing to the context provided by the Budget and the expectation that the recent jump in core CPI, although owing largely to rural health and education, may cause RBI to take more time in its assessment. 

However, the cut can be justified owing to the persistent undershoot in headline CPI as well as more sanguine global environment, including worries on global growth. Indeed, that has been our framework for sometime now. 

What stands out, however, is that the assessment is considerably more sanguine on almost all aspects. As an example, the RBI Governor actually stepped in to defend the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection targets set by the government in the new budget; one which has been viewed with suspicion by most. 

Also, the impression given is that the new revised CPI targets take into account the possible impact from the consumption stimulus offered by the government in the Budget.

The policy clearly has the stamp of the new Governor. Assessments are bolder and interpretations are more sanguine. There is clear benefit of the doubt for the Government. 

Also, the focus seems conclusively back on headline CPI. All this means that the market may look forward to at least one more rate cut, given that the near forecast for CPI remains sanguine.

Against this tailwind, however, the government is slated to borrow Rs 36,000 crore extra in this financial year and a higher than expected Rs 7,10,000 crore in the next financial year. The obvious implication is for the yield curve to steepen as the market is called upon to take higher supply at the duration part of the curve. 

In duration, our preference would be for quasi like SDL and corporate bonds rather than Government bonds. While in supply there is a near-term problem, it typically dissipates into the new financial year. Also, starting spreads there are already reflecting higher supply. The most sustainable trade, however, is in 2-5-year AAA corporate bonds.