19.11.2010

Finance & Economy

• Should entertainment tax be subsumed in GST?
• In an interesting op-ed Satya Poddar argues that it should be subsumed.  Take a look at his powerful arguments.  Well worth a read.
• Action shifts to TRAI now; it cancels 62 licences
• The telecom regulator has asked the government to cancel 62 of the 122 licences issued by former telecom minister A Raja under controversial circumstances in 2008 to new companies, including joint ventures of international operators such as Telenor ASA, Emirates Telecommunications Corp and Sistema JSFC, because they had not been able to launch services in time.
• India is divided into 22 telecom circles, and pan-India operators get individual licences for each region.
• Trai chairman: JS Sarma
• Definition of 'group company' and what it means for retail FDI
• The definition of the phrase 'group company' has a lot at stake for FDI in retail.
• The current foreign direct investment policy says sales of foreign investment funded cash and carry stores to a group company cannot exceed 25% of their total sales, but did not define group company.
• So, in cases like Bharti Wal-Mart, which is a 50:50 joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart, it cannot sell more than 25% of its sales to Bharti Retail, because it is a 100% subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises.
• The government had, in April this year, put these restrictions to preclude indirect entry of foreigners in multi-brand retail. The current policy prohibits foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, but allows 100% foreign investment in wholesale trade.
• The government will define the term ‘group company’ clearly to remove the confusion in the foreign investment policy regarding restrictions on sales by wholesale cash and carry companies to related firms.
• The new definition may be based on the one given in the foreign trade policy and the Competition Act, which says a company with more than 26% investment by another company will be considered a group company of the latter.
• The new definition has implications for wholesale cash and carry ventures such as Bharti Wal-Mart, Tata-Tesco and Future group -Carrefour, which may have to rejig their holding structures to be able to conduct business.

Language Lessons

• dyscalculia: Noun
• Impaired ability to learn grade-appropriate mathematics
• inter se
• between or amongst themselves
• eg: Further, entertainment activities are inter se not treated at par and each activity attracts a different tax rate.
• suppression veri: Noun
• Suppression of truth; in law, an undue concealment or non-disclosure of facts and circumstances which one party is under a legal or equitable obligation to communicate, and which the other party has a right—not merely in conscience, but juris et de jure—to know.
• suggestio falsi: Noun
• An affirmative misrepresentation, whether by words, conduct, or artifice, as distinguished from a mere suppression of the truth; an indirect lie.
• eg: The focus is on ensnaring gullible consumers by resorting to suppresio veri and suggestio falsi, highlighting what is favourable and suppressing what is inconvenient.
• faux pas: Noun
• A socially awkward or tactless act