Government Accepted AP Shah Panel Report, No Retrospective MAT on FIIs
- The Union government on September 1, 2015 accepted recommendation of a high level panel that Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) should not be imposed on overseas portfolio investors retrospectively. Now, it is a big relief to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).
- Recommendations of this committee are : there is no legal basis for levying 20% MAT on past capital gains of FIIs. Amend Section-115 JB of the Income Tax Act to clarify the issue with regard to levy of MAT on FIIs. MAT exemption will not be applicable to FIIs not having a place of business/permanent establishment in India.
- The high level panel headed by Law Commission of India Chairman AP Shah submitted its final report on the issue of applicability of MAT on capital gain made by FIIs prior to April 1, 2015, on August 25, 2015.
- An amendment to the Income Tax Act to reflect the same will be made possibly in the winter session of Parliament in November/December, 2015.
Union Government gave Nod to New SEZ Proposals
- The Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZ, chaired by Commerce Secretary Rita Teotia approved six new proposals, including four from IT and ITeS sector, on August 27, 2015 for setting-up of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The BoA has also approved the cancellation of three SEZ developers.
- The proposals which got the approval include those of HCL IT City Lucknow, Loma IT Park Developer and North Mumbai International Commodity Township.
- HCL IT City Lucknow and Loma IT Park Developer have proposed to set-up IT/ITeS zones in Lucknow and Mumbai, respectively whereas North Mumbai International Commodity Township has proposed a free trade warehousing zone in Thane.
See Also – National Current Affairs October 2015 (Part 1).
NTPC Set a Record in Single-day Power Generation
- National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited, India’s largest power generator has achieved a record highest single-day electricity generation of 733.12 million units on August 27, 2015 from NTPC’s 18 coal-based power plants, 7 gas-based units and 8 solar and hydro power stations.
- On August 27, 2015, the Declared Cumulative Capability (DCC) of the stations was 91.10% and Plant Load Factor (PLF) was of 86.34%. NTPC currently, has an installed capacity of 45,548 Mega-Watts (MW) including 6196 MW through joint ventures.
- The NTPC is a Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) under the aegis of Union Ministry of Power. During financial year 2014-15, the NTPC contributed 25% of total electricity generated in India with 16% share of country’s total installed capacity as on March 31.
Government Issued Norms for Selection of CEOs of Small PSU Banks
- The government issued norms for selection of MDs and CEOs in small Public Sector Banks (PSBs) on August 20, 2015. The new norms have excluded private sector executives to become part of the selection process of top management in the public sector banking space.
- As per the guidelines, the selection to the top job in the PSBs would be from the existing pool of Executive Directors (EDs) or Deputy Managing Directors (DMDs) in State-owned banks with a remaining service period of two years.
- The selection will be made by the Appointments Board as per the existing methodology of interaction of the candidates with three panels of the sub-committee of the Appointments Board.
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