ICICI Bank Sells Nearly INR4.3 Billion Debt in Kingfisher Airlines to SREI Infrastructure Fund

ICICI Bank Ltd. (IBN) has sold all of its nearly 4.30 billion rupee ($78 million) debt in Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. (532747.BY) to SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd. (523756.BY), executives at ICICI and SREI said Tuesday.

Jaspreet Kaur, a spokeswoman for ICICI Bank, told Dow Jones Newswires that the lender doesn’t have any more exposure to Kingfisher.

The loans were bought by India Global Competitive Fund, a debt fund managed by SREI Venture Capital Ltd., said Braj Kishore, a spokesman for Kolkata-based SREI Infrastructure.

The company “has invested against good security with adequate collateral,” he said, adding that “the fund saw an opportunity in the securities and commensurate returns being offered for this proposal.”

General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) can impact investments | Sensex down due to GAAR Fears
A new tax proposal by the Indian government could hurt flows of anonymous foreign funds into shares, analysts said on Monday, dealing another blow to equity markets that has been buffeted by worries about slowing corporate earnings growth and stymied economic reforms.

Investments into Indian stock markets through participatory notes, or P-notes, is seen slowing if the government introduces the so-called General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) next month, they said.

GAAR pain to go on, but Fed statement may lift moo

Live UNION BUDGET 2012

Income tax exemption limit raised to Rs 2 lakh

Unveiling the Budget proposals for 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha, Pranab Mukherjee raised the limit to Rs 10 lakh under the 20 pc tax slab.

Budget 2012: No reforms, minor tax tweaks, service & excise tax increased

Announcing major sops for the farmers, rural sector, aviation and power sector, Mukherjee tweaked the income tax rates raising the exemption limit by Rs 20,000. He also increased service tax and standard excise duty by 2 per cent across the board to net an additional Rs 41,440 crore a year leading to several items getting costlier.

The Budget for 2012-13 presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha, however, left corporate tax rate and peak customs duty unchanged while the import duty on gold bars and platinum and excise duty on cigarettes, bidis, pan masala and chewing tobacco were raised.

Customs duty on completely built large cars, SUVs and MUVs of value exceeding $40,000 (Rs 20 lakh) was also raised. While the direct tax proposals in the Budget will result in a revenue loss of Rs 4,500 crore, indirect tax proposals would result in a revenue gain of Rs 45,940 crore. Thus the tax proposals lead to a net gain of Rs 41,440 crore.

The Budget makes a provision of Rs 1,93,407 crore for defence services including Rs 79,579 crore for capital expenditure. The allocation is based on present needs and any further requirement would be met, Mukherjee said.

Under the budget proposals, individual income up to Rs 2 lakh will be free from income tax as against Rs 1.80 lakh currently.

Income between Rs 2 lakh and 5 lakh will be taxed at the rate of 10 per cent while that above Rs 5 lakh but less than Rs 10 lakh would attract 20 per cent, and above Rs 10 lakh it would be 30 per cent.

The Budget also allows individual tax payers a deduction of up to Rs 10,000 for interest from savings bank account which would help a large number of small tax payers with salary income up to Rs 5 lakh and interest from saving banks accounts up to Rs 10,000 as they would be they would not be required to file income tax returns.

Within the existing limit for deduction allows for health insurance, the Minister proposed to allow a deduction of Rs 5,000 for preventive health check-up.

Senior citizens who do not have any income from business are proposed to be exempted from payment of advance tax, reducing their compliance burden.

While not proposing any change in the tax rate, the Budget proposes certain measures to allow corporates to access lower cost funds and to promote higher level of investments in several sectors.

Large cars currently attract excise duty depending on their engine capacity and length. In keeping with the increase proposed in the standard rate, the Budget now enhances the duty from 20 to 22 per cent.

In the case of cars which attract a mix rate of duties, 22 per cent plus Rs 15,000 per vehicle, it is proposed to increase the duty and switch over to an ad valoren rate of 27 per cent.

Noting that the share of service taxes remains far below its potential, the Budget proposed to tax all services except those in the negative list which contains 17 heads.

The important inclusions in the negative list comprise all services provided by government and local authorities except a few services where they compete with the private sector.

The negative list also include pre-school and school education, recognised education at higher level and approved vocational education, renting of residential dwellings, entertainment and amusement services and large part of public transportation including inland waterways, urban railways and metered cabs.

In addition to the negative list, there is a list of exemptions which include health care, services provided by charities, religious persons, sportspersons, folk and classical artists, individual advocate providing services to non-business entities, independent journalists, animal care and car parking.

Service tax proposals alone are expected to yield an additional revenue of Rs 18,660 crore.

The standard rate of excise duty on non-petroleum products was reduced from 14 to 8 per cent in the wake of global financial crisis in 2008-09 and was raised to 10 per cent in the Budget of 2010.

Proposing a fiscal correction that would result in higher prices across-the-board, the Budget now proposed to raise the standard rate from 10 to 12 per cent, the merit rate from 5 to 6 per cent and lower merit rate from 1 to 2 per cent.

However, the lower merit rate for coal, fertilisers, mobile phones and precious metal jewellery is being retained at 1 per cent.

No change is proposed in the peak rate of customs duty of 10 per cent on non-agriculture goods. Barring a few individual items, the rates below the peak are also being retained.

Duty free baggage allowance for People of Indian Origin has been raised from Rs 25,000 to Rs 35,000 and for children up to 10 years from Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000.

The Budget fully exempted branded silver jewellery from excise duty. Unbranded precious metal jewellery will attract excise duty on lines of branded jewellery.

Customs duty has been raised for gold bars and coins of certain categories, platinum and gold ore. Customs duty is also to be imposed on coloured gem stones.

The proposals relating to customs and central excise are estimated to net a revenue gain of Rs 27,280 crore in a full year.

The Budget identified five objectives to be addressed effectively in the coming fiscal year. These will include focus on domestic demand driven growth recovery, create conditions for revival of high growth in private investment, address supply bottlenecks in agriculture, energy and transport sectors and intervene decisively to address the problem of malnutrition in 200 high burden districts.

The Budget also intends to address the problem of blackmoney and corruption in public life. A white paper on blackmoney will be placed in Parliament during the current session.

Gross tax receipts for 2012-13 are estimated at Rs 10,77,612 crore, an increase of 15.6 per cent over budget estimates and 19.5 per cent over the revised estimates for 2011-12.

Total expenditure for 2012-13 is budgeted at Rs 14,90,925 crore, of which Plan expenditure is Rs 5,21,025 crore and non-Plan Rs 9,69,900 crore.

The combined effect of lower tax and disinvestment receipts and higher expenditure, mainly on account of subsidies, has pushed the fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of GDP in the revised estimates for current fiscal.

However, the Finance Minister said, he has made a determined attempt to come back to the path of fiscal consolidation in the Budget for 2012-13 by pegging the fiscal deficit at Rs 5,13,590 crore, which is 5.1 per cent of the GDP.

Hon’ble Finance Minister will be Presenting Union Budget in the Parliament today 16th March, 2012 watch Live streaming of budget 2012 & online highlights16.03.2012

Union Budget 2012-2013, Indian Budget News 2012

http://indiabudget.nic.in/index.asp

budget 2012, union budget 2012 13, new trains in rail budget 2012, rail budget 2012, rail budget 2012 13 new trains

Previous Union Budget

Facebook shoots for $5 billion in mega-IPO
After a long wait and much speculation, Facebook filed for its IPO on Wednesday to raise a targeted $5 billion in a hotly anticipated initial public offering, setting the stage for Silicon Valley’s biggest-ever IPO.

Trading in Facebook shares won’t begin for at least a few months more. The world’s largest social network, a dorm room project for Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg that exploded in popularity and vaulted to Silicon Valley’s top tier within 8 years, is expected to make its market debut in the middle of the year. Analysts say that Facebook’s valuation will fall between $85 billion and $100 billion, making it one of the biggest US market debuts.

In 2011, Facebook earned $1 billion on sales of $3.7 billion. As of December 31, Facebook had 845 million daily active users.
Analysts say Facebook’s valuation will fall between $85 bn and $100 bn, making it one of the biggest US market debuts.
Facebook shoots for $5 billion in mega-IPO

The company crossed the line into profitability in 2009, five years after it launched in founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room. Facebook earned $229 million that year on sales of $777 million, and has remained profitable ever since.

Its revenue in 2011 was $3.71 billion, up 88 per cent from the previous year but at the low end of expectations. Net income rose 65 percent to $1 billion.

Facebook appointed Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan its lead underwriters. Other bookrunners included Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Allen & Co.

“We often talk about inventions like the printing press and the television,” Zuckerberg said in a letter accompanying the documents. “Today, our society has reached another tipping point.”

“There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future,” said Zuckerberg, whose $500,000 base salary will drop to a dollar from January1 2013.

“The scale of the technology and infrastructure that must be built is unprecedented.”

Zuckerberg’s 533.8 million shares are worth almost $16 billion , based on a per-share value of $29.76 that the company assigned to its restricted stock units on December 31.

Facebook’s revenue

The vast majority of Facebook’s revenue comes from advertising, a combination of search and display ads.

Facebook had previously been expected to raise $10 billion in what would have been the fourth-largest IPO in U.S. history, after Visa Inc, General Motors, and AT&T Wireless, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The $5 billion figure in Wednesday’s prospectus was an initial figure and could change based on investor demand.

The prospectus underscored how 85 percent of Facebook’s 2011 revenue was derived from advertising. Last year, social-gaming company Zynga, creator of Farmville, accounted for 12 percent of Facebook’s revenue.

The company Zuckerberg started in his Harvard dorm room in 2004 that grew into a global phenomenon dwarfs any recent Internet debut, such as Zynga, LinkedIn Corp, Groupon Inc and Pandora Media Inc. Their IPOs had mixed receptions.

The last dotcom player to debut, Zynga, closed 5 percent below its IPO price during its first trading day in December.

Google raised just shy of $2 billion in 2004, while the more recent Groupon scared up $700 million and Zynga managed $1 billion.

Facebook’s growing popularity among consumers and advertisers has pressured entrenched Internet companies such as Yahoo and Google. In 2011, Facebook overtook Yahoo to become the top provider of online display ads in the United States by revenue, according to industry research firm eMarketer.

“Zuckerberg is trying to send a bona fides message to techies and users,” said Max Wolff, chief economic and senior analyst at GreenCrest Capital. “Very smart and under the radar.”

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/facebook-shoots-for-5-billion-in-megaipo/226309-7.html

Income tax refund status Online in India

How to check Income tax refund Status Online

All you need to do is go to this website and enter your PAN number and choose the Assessment year and click on submit. This will give you the current status of your income tax refund. You can also track the status of the income tax refund by contacting the help desk of SBI’s at toll free number: 18004259760 or email them at itro@sbi.co.inor refunds@incometaxindia.gov.in

Note that the income tax refund is valid only if you file your income tax return on time. If you delay the income tax return filing, in that case you will lose the interest on your refund money. I hope you know that filing your tax return online helps one to get tax refund faster than offline return filing.
What can be different types of Income tax refund Status ?

1. Change in address

A lot of income tax refunds get dispatched at right time, but they go back because of the change in address. A lot of people keep moving from one place to another and because of this the income tax refund status shows “Refund Cheque returned because of change in address” reason in the status. Look that the snapshot below

Income Tax Refund Status

2. Cheque Encashed Status

Incase one has already en-cashed the cheque which has come for income tax refund, and then he will see the following message in the status box. If you see this and haven’t already got the cheque – you are in problem!

Income Tax Refund Status

There can be other status also depending on the situation . the above two status’s were just for demo purpose .
Some Important Points about Income Tax Refund

* The State Bank of India (SBI) is the refund banker to the Income Tax Department (ITD). So State bank of India sends the income tax refunds
* Refunds are generated in two modes i.e., ECS and paper. If the taxpayer has selected mode of refund as ECS (direct credit in the bank account of the taxpayer) at the time of submission of income return the taxpayer’s bank A/c (at least 10 digits ) and MICR code of bank branch and communication address are mandatory . For taxpayers who have not opted for ECS refund will be disbursed by cheque or demand draft. For generation of refund through paper cheque bank account no, correct address is mandatory.
* The status of the refund would be available for tax payers, only 10 days after the refund has been sent by the Assessing Officer to the refund banker.
* Refund status can be viewed only if you have received an acknowledgment from the IT department of having received the ITR form.

http://www.jagoinvestor.com/2012/01/income-tax-refund-status.html

After US, S&P downgrades France’s AAA credit rating

S&P has downgraded in the Triple-A credit rating of France, as well as trimming ratings of other sovereigns, including Spain, Portugal and Italy. Vincent Cignarella

Standard & Poor’s on Friday stripped France of its sterling credit rating, cut Portugal’s credit to junk status and downgraded Italy’s debt by two steps in a wide-ranging action revision of European countries caught in the euro crisis.

The actions, which lowered the ratings of nine countries, were the strongest signal yet that Europe’s sovereign debt woes were far from over and would pose fresh political challenges for politicians, including President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, as they try to stabilize the problem on the Continent, now in its third year.

Another reminder of the continuing challenge came Friday from Greece, the original source of Europe’s debt troubles. A snag arose in talks between the new Greek government and its creditors — banks and other private investors — in which Athens hopes the bond holders will agree to take losses as a way for Greece to avoid a default.

Together, the developments underscore that even as Europe’s debt turmoil enters its third year, no clear solutions are yet in sight — despite recent signs that financial market pressures might be easing as a result of a new lending program by the European Central Bank.

France and eight other euro-zone countries suffered ratings downgrades on their sovereign debt Friday, sparking renewed global worries over Europe’s ability to bail itself out of financial crisis.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services stripped triple-A ratings from France and Austria and downgraded seven others, including Spain, Italy and Portugal. It retained the triple-A rating on Europe’s No. 1 economy, Germany.

The downgrade to France, the zone’s second-largest economy, will make it harder—and potentially more expensive—for the euro zone’s bailout fund to help troubled states, because the fund’s own triple-A rating depends on those of its constituents. The downgrades also speak to how deeply the concerns over countries on the euro zone’s periphery have penetrated its core.

World economy to trudge on in 2012 despite Europe: Reuters poll

Europe faces another year of dismal economic performance in 2012 that will weigh on global growth, but emerging markets and the United States should at least keep the world economy moving in the right direction.

There are several reasons why next year may be nothing to look forward to, according to Reuters polls from the last few months.

Many of the world’s biggest developed economies are heading into recession, global stock markets look set to recoup only a fraction of their heavy losses in 2011, oil prices will head lower, and asset managers are unsure where best to invest.

And these could be the best-case scenarios.

Most economists base their assumptions on the hope that the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis will not boil over into a new global economic crisis, having already dented growth in major exporters to Europe.

Still, most of the major emerging market economies like Brazil and China should pick up speed later next year. All of them have suffered from slowing economies in recent months, caused mainly by tightening monetary policy in the face of high inflation.

“It’s important to stress the world economy is still growing. But it’s a tale of two worlds,” said Gerard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank.

“The storyline for 2012 is that Europe drags the world down in the first half of the year, and China drags it up in the second half of the year.”

Enormous political risks cloud the outlook further, with elections and leadership changes in the most powerful countries and the prospect of continuing turmoil in the Middle East.

Still, there are glimmers of hope. The United States’ economy has performed better than most had hoped over the last quarter, and Reuters’ polls of economists show it growing around 2.2 percent in 2012, compared with zero growth in the euro zone.

“The big unknown in Europe and the U.S. is that big companies, with balance sheets in good shape, have the ability to invest at home if they want. It’s more likely that will take place in the U.S. rather than Europe,” said Lyons.

Read More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/25/us-wrapup-2012-polls-idUSTRE7BM1BN20111225

There are several reasons why next year may be nothing to look forward to, according to Reuters polls from the last few months.

Standard & Poor’s president steps down after historic US debt downgrade

Deven Sharma is to leave the credit rating agency, which faces an inquiry over subprime mortgages

Standard & Poor’s president Deven Sharma is to leave the credit rating firm at the end of the year.

The decision follows the credit rating agency’s decision to downgrade US debt. S&P also faces an inquiry by the justice department into its ratings of subprime mortgage securities.

Company sources said Sharma’s decision predated S&P’s historic downgrade of US debt earlier this month. The cut presaged a worldwide rout on the stock markets as it threatened to increase the US’s cost of borrowing and caused outrage in Washington. The treasury secretary Tim Geithner said the agency’s decision showed “stunning lack of knowledge about basic US fiscal budget math”, and they had “reached absolutely the wrong conclusion”.

Sharma, 55, is set to step down on 12 September and will be replaced by Douglas Peterson, 53, currently the chief operating officer of Citibank, the banking unit of Citigroup. Shareholders are currently pressing for a breakup of S&P’s parent company, McGraw-Hill. Sharma will remain with the company until the end of the year to help oversee McGraw-Hill’s review of its businesses.

Read More : http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/23/standard-poors-deven-sharma-steps-down

K V Kamath new CEO of Infosys | Narayana Murthy wants to see innovation every where in Infosys

On the last day in office, Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy, who is transitioning from the Chairman of Infosys Ltd to its Chairman Emeritus, advised his colleagues to work hard, ensure that Infosys survived for the next 100 to 200 years, and moved from a turnover of $6 billion to $60 billion and, beyond that, to $600 billion.

Mr Murthy stressed that, to succeed, one needs luck and character. “But luck requires hard work and when you perform, you get recognition, respect, and power.” While talking about the importance of teamwork, Mr Murthy highlighted the need to recognise and reward top performers. “If you don’t identify the high performers and reward them, they will lose motivation. However, high performance should not make you arrogant because arrogance leads to hubris.”

read more: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/article2373565.ece?homepage=true

Narayana Murthy : Hope Infy becomes $60bn company soon

Leadership for Infosys is absolutely essential, believes NR Narayana Murthy.

Having successfully steered Infosys to a place among the top IT companies of the world in the short span of 20 years, Murthy has stepped down as Chairman of the company today, albeit with firm indications that he will continue to guide the organisation.

In his farewell speech Murthy said he is confident that Infosys, with its new leadership, will go from being a USD 6 billion company to a USD 60 billion company soon.

Read More : http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/hope-infy-becomes-3660bn-company-soon-narayana-murthy_578310.html