NEWS FLASH : Bharti overakes Tata in market cap, Mittal surprised | Fog blankets Delhi, death toll crosses 30 mark , rail and air traffic chaotic| FiNMin extends Cenvat facility for supply of goods from DTA to SEZ Developers |Azim Premji's Wealth Tax case - all issues covered by Tribunal's decision in assessee's own case for earlier years - matter remanded: ITAT | Zinc to attract 5% Customs duty; TMT bars 10%; Cement Spl CVD of 4% and equal to excise duty | Satyam investors urge merger ; HCL , MindTree in the fray | Duty Drawback rates for fabrics, cycles, agri hand tools and certain types of yarn hiked from September 1 , 2008 | Export growth to decline for the third month in a row | Govt decides to restore DEPB rates to those prevailing in November 2008 | Prices of food items may ease this year ; while the rates of wheat , rice and edible oil are likely to fall, sugar may rise | Income tax benefits: 50% accelerated depreciation to be allowed for commercial vehicles to be purchased on or after January 1, 2009 upto March 31 , 2009 | Bid for city gas may be a tame affair | Corporate Bond Market: FII investment limit in rupee bond hiked from US$ 6 billion to US$ 15 billion | RBI further cuts repo rate by 1% with immediate effect | Reverse repo rate reduced to 4% with immediate effect; CRR also cut by 50 basis points with effect from January 17 | DoT may go with FinMin on doubling 3G base price | Exports-related procedural issues: Finance Secretary to head panel; other Members are Secy, MoC and Secy, Revenue State Govts to get funds under JNNURM to buy buses for transport system ECB guidelines further eased; 'all-in-cost' ceilings to be removed; Development of Integrated Townships to be eligible end-use for ECB Govt says no more stimulus package this fiscal now | RCom rolls out GSM services in Mumbai ; ADAG company offers one- time subscription charge of Rs 25 | IMG on packaging rules calls for streamlining of labeling on packages | SBI picks up 20% in Mayfair |Customs classification - there can be no confiscation of goods on ground of misclassification because classification is essentially a departmental function | Vishal Retail likely to miss FY09 revenue target on slowing sales | Competition Commission to be fully functional this fiscal; MoC working on new law for valuation professionals | Auto makers reworking export strategy to tide over downturn | Excise - refund - Assessee suo moto avails credit - held, since refund for duty deposited in PLA was sanctioned as it was not hit by unjust enrichment, matter remitted for fresh examination in view of LB decision in BDH Ind case | 2008 job losses in US worst since World War II | India to send Home MInister to USA to reel out evidence against Pakistan's involvement in Mumbai terror attack | Toyota to freeze plans for Russia, Thailand plants |Chinese exports fall, manufacturing contracts |Gujarat may get Rs 10,000 crore investment in solar sector | Chinese construction company keen to collaborate with West Bengal | Chidambaram to go to US with 26/11 evidence ; says India wants 'cast iron guarantees' from Pakistan | Public banks may raise credit growth target | CENVAT credit - Supplementary invoices notified on 29.08.2000 - If appellants were entitled to take credit on inputs prior to 1.4.2000 on strength of original invoices, they could validly claim to be entitled to take credit of additional amounts of duty paid on same goods under supplementary invoices: CESTAT | FBI hands over evidence of attack to Pak, says report | Indian Science Congress: PM calls for qualitative development in research |Airlines play zero basic fare card ; total cost on flyers still high | We will root out terror at any cost : PM | I-T - Assessee takes old Forts on lease - deduction for repair expenses � AO disallows - Held, no business was carried out by assessee in Forts in previous year - Appeal dismissed |Mr. Ravi Kant, Managing Director, Tata Motors, hails fiscal package announced by the Government on January 2, 2009 , says "the government needs to work on ensuring that ultimately liquidity reaches customers at reasonable costs . Although some steps would help commercial vehicles, the government needs to take many more ; measures to substantially stoke demand as that has gone in a reverse gear. We will continue to expect more positive measures forthcoming from the government." | Govt sets up panel to look into grievances of oil sector executives on pay revision | Puri may be ICICI Sec chief | Extradite LTTE chief to India : Congress | Customs Availability of comparable prices sufficient to doubt truth and accuracy of import price � Departments recourse to best judgment method to re-determine import price upheld | Oilmen firm to go on strike from Jan 7 | Value addition in textile industry grows by 16% in 2008; TUFS proves to be a catalyst | RBI reduces CRR by 50 basis points to inject addl liquidity of Rs 20,000 crore in system | ACC issues Addl Charge order at Secretary-level | DGFT amends Import Licensing Note for import of new vehicles + designated ports for the same | CCEA okays Papsico proposal for FDI investment of Rs 250 Cr + Grape Processing Board | Credit for TDS - reassessment - AO alleges excessive relief in terms of TDS credit - Held, since income on which tax is computed remains unaltered in reassessment, proceedings u/s 147 are bad in law | CCEA nod to National Mission on Education through IT |I-T - Sec 10B - exports of software - incures expenses on telecommunication and staff deputed abroad - AO excludes such expenses from export turnover but not from total turnover - held, such expenses are to be excluded from both export turnover as well as total turnover | Railways launches 'Mobile Vigilance'; If a pax has a complaint of corruption, call 24x7 Helpline No 155210 for quick action Assessee entitled to deduction of current year depreciation from net profit to arrive at book profit even though it is not charged to profit and loss account, though disclosed in notes appended to accounts - notes form part of accounts: Delhi HC | US universities sell excecutive courses in India | Thesynergyonline wishes its netizens happy and prosperous new year |Second Stimulus Package is out: DEPB Scheme extended upto December 31, 2009 | ECB rate cap gone , but impact to take a while | Govt decides to restore DEPB rates to those prevailing in November 2008 | Exporters to get more loans, duty drawback rates hiked | Govt withdraws exemption from CVD on TMT bars & structurals; Exemption from CVD and Special CVD on Cement also removed; Full exemption from BCD on zinc and ferro alloys stands revoked Income tax benefits: 50% accelerated depreciation to be allowed for commercial vehicles to be purchased on or after 1.1.2009 upto 31.03.2009 | Property firms to see buyers back in market | Duty Drawback benefits on items like fabrics, cycles, agri hand tools and certain types of yarn being hiked from September 1, 2008 | States allowed to raise Rs 30, 000 crore to revive demand | Corporate Bond Market: FII investment limit in rupee bond hiked from US$ 6 billion to US$ 15 billion | Top rated firms to get more FII money | RBI further cuts repo rate by 1% with immediate effect | Reverse repo rate reduced to 4% with immediate effect; CRR also cut by 50 basis points with effect from January 17 | Duty waiverr on metals may narrow price gap | Exports-related procedural issues: Finance Secretary to head panel; other Members are Secy, MoC and Secy, Revenue State | SA firm offers 33.5% stake to GMR Energy | Govts to get funds under JNNURM to buy buses for transport system | BSNL to invest Rs 1,600 crore | ECB guidelines further eased; 'all-in-cost' ceilings to be removed; Development of Integrated Townships to be eligible end-use for ECB | Geogit exits commodities trading space | Govt says no more stimulus package this fiscal now |Govt lowers brass scrap tariff by 20% | Zinc to attract 5% Customs duty; TMT bars 10%; Cement Spl CVD of 4% and equal to excise duty; Drawback rates hiked for cotton and woollen knitted fabrics | Coffee exports dip 17% in Q1 | Second Stimulus Package extends DEPB Scheme; gives drawback benefits to many items; Exemption from CVD on TMT bars removed; withdraws exemption from BCD on zinc and ferro alloys; hikes depreciation to 50% on commercial vehicles | Gold imports hit historic low | RBI reduces CRR by 50 basis points to inject addl liquidity of Rs 20,000 crore in system | Tribals hold rally against Tata Stee | ACC issues Addl Charge order at Secretary-level