Liberty Shoes keen on breaking into telecom equipment space

CEO of Liberty Shoes, Adesh Gupta said, they hope to foray into the telecom space soon. However, he declined to confirm whether they have bid for ITI Limited, which manufactures and supplies telephone and communications equipment and parts. "It is a sensitive issue. We would prefer not to add any comments at this point in time. At an appropriate time we will come back to you," he said.

He however mentioned that any such bid would most likely be through the promoter entity and not the listed Liberty Shoes.

DTC introduced in LS; tax relief lower than original proposal

New Delhi: The government Monday introduced Direct Taxes Code (DTC), offering much lower benefits than in the original proposal that seeks to increase tax exemption on income from Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 2 lakh and fix the corporate tax at a flat 30 percent.

As per the Bill, income from Rs 2-5 lakh will be taxed at 10 percent; Rs 5-10 lakh at 20 percent and 30 percent thereafter.

The changes, when they take effect, will help save up to Rs 41,040 for people earning more than Rs 10 lakh a year.

The exemption on savings and as also payment of interest up to Rs 1.5 lakh on housing loan has been retained in the proposed DTC Bill.

While senior citizens will continue to enjoy greater tax exemption, women tax payers will lose their special status under the proposed Direct Taxes Code.

The Bill proposes to raise the tax exemption limit for senior citizens above 65 years to Rs 2.5 lakh per annum from Rs 2.4 lakh at present.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tabled the Bill in the Lok Sabha and it has been referred to select committee of Parliament for scrutiny.

Similarly, the exemption limit for senior citizens, is sought to be raised marginally to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 2.40 lakh now.

Currently, income from Rs 1.6-5 lakh attracts 10 percent tax; from Rs 5-8 lakh, 20 percent and beyond Rs 8 lakh, 30 percent.

The proposed tax slabs are much lower than originally suggested in the draft DTC bill -- 10 percent for Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, 20 per cent from Rs 10-25 lakh and 30 per cent for income above Rs 30 lakh.

According to estimates, an individual tax payer earning more than Rs 10 lakh would save up to Rs 41,040 annually.

The legislation also proposes to increase MAT from 18 percent to 20 percent of book profit of a company. It seeks to levy dividend distribution tax at 15 percent.

RIL acquires 14.12% in EIH for Rs 1021 crore

Reliance Industries has forayed into hospitality sector today. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Private Limited, it has acquired 14.12% in EIH for a total cost of Rs 1021 crore, reports CNBC-TV18.

“RIL’s subsidiary bought shares from Oberoi Hotels Private Limited and certain other promoters of EIH Limited,” says an official statement. It further says, "RIL has full faith in and would support the management of EIH and there is no change of management, operation or control of EIH.”

However, post-stake sale, there will be no change of management, operation or control of EIH Limited as per the RIL statement.

The stake buy works out to Rs 184 per share while the stock ended today at Rs 150 per share on the BSE.

Earlier, Analajit Singh of Max India, who also holds under 5% stake in EIH, was interested in hiking stake his share. However, talks failed over differences in valuations.

When contacted, ITC, which holds 14.98% stake in EIH, declined to comment on the deal. However, it reiterated that it will not make a hostile bid for EIH.

See Sensex at 22000 by year end: Deutsche Bank

Today, the Sensex closed at 18038.25 up 39.84 points or 0.22% and the Nifty ended up 6.75 points or 0.12% at 5415.45.

Ashwani Gujral, Technical Analyst says, 5,470 was a key level while the markets were coming down. “Today, we have kind of tested that level again and confirmed that this market now has downside momentum. So, in case 5,400 gets taken out, which is about the 50-day moving average, then the next level here should be 5,250 to 5,270. Clearly, we are in a correction and it’s likely that we underperform global markets in this period.”

However, Ajay Bagga, Head of Private Wealth Management (PWM) India, Deutsche Bank doesn’t expect a major correction. He sees Sensex at 22,000 by the end of the year. “We remain bullish on the Indian markets.”