Sinha announces rollback
New Delhi: Finance minister announced rollbacks in some of the key proposals of Budget 2002.

Moving the finance bill 2002, for consideration in the Lok Sabha, Sinha partially restored the rebate in income-tax under Section 88 to 15 per cent for incomes between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.

The original proposal had reduced the tax rebate in this bracket from 20 to 10 per cent. The rebate for those with incomes upto Rs 1.5 lakh has been restored to the original 20 per cent.

The other major changes announced include the scrapping of the proposed 5 per cent service tax on life insurance premium, abolishing the proposed 4 per cent excise duty on spare parts and accessories of bicyles, hand pumps, toys and umbrellas, and the removal of subscription to a telephone line as a criterion for mandatorily filing I-T returns under the one-by-six scheme. The provision relating to cellphone ownership, though, has been retained.

The finance minister announced that a notification would be issued shortly lifting the ceiling of Rs 2 lakh for investment by retired employees of both public and private sector in tax-free government relief bonds, which carry an interest rate of 8 per cent.
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Sebi moots central listing authority
New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India has mooted a central listing authority to look into listing agreements and carry out due diligence of companies while seeking more powers to punish wrong-doers.

Today a company can list in a small stock exchange like Pune and get automatically listed in BSE and NSE.

The proposal is in view of the lacklustre trade and dismal financial performance of thousands of companies that are listed in the country's 23 stock exchanges.

The regulator also sought more powers to enforce its regulations and higher penalty limits for non-compliance.
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