Promoters are likely to price them cautiously, thereby leaving value on the table for the primary investor.

IPO investing can be lucrative now

Business Standard

<P>One cement company that has been intriguing <I>Mudar Patherya</I> for the last few months is Sagar Cements.

Small is beautiful

India&rsquo;s stock market may fall by as much as 10 per cent within six months as company earnings fail to meet expectations, according to Pankaj Tibrewal, manager of the country&rsquo;s best performing equity fund this year.

Sensex may fall 10%

A global marketplace means that investors will link the performance of Sensex with that of the Dow.

The Dow psychology

A new concept will bring them together to develop new technologies

When farmers meet scientists

The burgeoning current account deficit cannot be controlled by doling out export sops and other measures suggested in the Budget

Time to scrap the annual trade policy

Banks should become active traders in govt securities

Leveraging the debt office

Govt must recognise that RTE is not working as it should

Whitewash, but no lessons

One day, when Chinua Achebe was a young boy, his teacher took the whole class outside for a change. They sat under the spreading branches of a mango tree; in its generous shade, the teacher began his lesson, drawing a map of Great Britain on the blackboard.The schoolchildren listened, and so did the village madman, Achebe wrote in a memoir. The teacher spoke of the history of Great Britain, and, suddenly, the madman interrupted. He wiped the blackboard clean; he took the chalk from the teacher; and he replaced the lesson on Britain with a long talk on the history of Ogidi, Achebe's hometown.Achebe was struck by two things: it was a madman who restored sanity and balance to the skewed history he and other Africans were taught, who reminded them that they, too, had a history; and that the teacher allowed space for the madman's stories of their village to be told.Achebe, who died this weekend at the age of 82, left behind not just a string of great books, from Things Fall Apart and Anthil

Achebe and the war of stories

Liabilities that arise from a contractual arrangement to deliver cash or another financial asset to another entity are classified as financial instrument. IFRS (IAS-39) requires that those liabilities should initially be measured at fair value. Initial fair value is normally the transaction price. IAS-39 assumes that the transaction price is the best evidence of fair value. However this will not always be the case. For example, the initial fair value of an interest-free or low interest loan is lower than the amount of the loan obtained by the entity. For example, if an entity has borrowed Rs 1,000 as interest-free loan from the government, repayable after ten years, the fair value of the liability is the present value of the amount received. PV is calculated by discounting that amount using the market rate of interest. If we assume that the entity could borrow the money from the market at an interest rate of ten percent per annum, the fair value of the loan is Rs.

Indian GAAP obscures debt, interest expenses

A recurring challenge in indirect taxes is that of double taxation of a single transaction.

Some transactions fall between service tax and VAT

The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has notified the procedures for claiming the duty credits under the Status Holder Incentive Scheme (SHIS). He has also issued a Policy Circular clarifying listing of supporting manufacturers in the duty credit scrips. He needs to clarify an important confusion regarding realisation of foreign exchange.

DGFT should clear confusion regarding realisation of forex

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is reported to have appealed a decision by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) that over-ruled the Bombay Stock Exchange&rsquo;s (BSE) refusal to issue an in-principle listing approval to a listed company.

SEBI appeal against its  listing power is improper

THE Supreme Court has severely criticised the Allahabad High Court for introducing &lsquo;novel&rsquo; methods to resolve disputes between a power company and consumers. It upheld the claim of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation of dues from Amausi Textile Mills Ltd. The high court had appointed one of its retired judges to settle the dispute between the parties over electricity bills. He filed a report in favour of the company. On appeal by the power company, the Supreme Court criticised the high court for &ldquo;summarily brushing aside&rdquo; the objections of the power company and blindly accepting the retired judge&rsquo;s decision. The Supreme Court pointed out that the textile mill had moved the consumer forum and the Electricity Ombudsman and failed in both places. Then the mill moved the high court five times.&nbsp; Ultimately it succeeded when the retired judge supported it.

High courts cannot invent methods to resolve disputes: SC

<P>The Supreme Court has ruled that criminal proceedings for issuing a cheque without sufficient balance in the account would be valid only if it is drawn for discharging a debt or liability.

SC ruling on Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act

The recent times have witnessed increasing disputes in the Transfer Pricing (TP) arena and the recent budget proposal to introduce Safe Har-bour Rules is an effective step to achi-eve certainty in this regard. &ldquo;Safe Har-bour&rdquo; means circumstances in which the Tax Authorities shall accept the transfer price declared by the assessee without undertaking a detailed scrutiny. Basic intention beh-ind the introduc-tion of the Rules, as spelt in the spe-ech of the Fina-nce Minister, is to reduce the impact of judgmental errors in determination of transfer price of international transactions.

Safe Harbour Rules - A step towards maturity

In a very recent decision, the Supreme Court (SC) has laid down the principles for claiming exemption under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (CSTA) with regard to the penultimate sale of goods by a dealer to an exporter, who effects the actual exports of goods from the country (State of Karnataka vs Azad Coach Builders Pvt Ltd 2010-VIL-12-SCB-CB).

Sales tax exemption on exports of goods

The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) gathers mountains of data to track income distribution. A shortcut: buy something in the Rs 30-50 range (soap, toothpaste) at a kirana store and hand over a high-denomination note. In South Delhi where I live, the shops change Rs 500 without blinking.

Devangshu Datta: Leave 'em alone with their land

In communications services, the high demand for spectrum compared with limited supply is well established. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) estimates demand in five years at 580 MHz, with current assignment to commercial operators at about 160 MHz. In this limited amount, fragmented spectrum holdings reduce efficiency, and broadband growth and availability have been abysmal.

Shyam Ponappa: Managing spectrum

My friend in Delhi was not his usual ebullient self on the phone the other morning. When I asked why the day had begun poorly for him, he said the reason was not he but the fellow who washed his car. Such people not turning up once in a while was par for the course, I said. No, he has turned up but he almost didn&rsquo;t make it, replied my friend.

Subir Roy: A law and order problem

India has been witness to the unedifying spectacle of the teachers&rsquo; association of its globally best known educational brand, the IITs, going on strike against their new pay and conditions of work. What bodes ill for the future is that the disaffection may continue. The minister concerned, Kapil Sibal, one of the best we have, is in no mood to seriously rethink matters though he has said he is open to considering greater autonomy for the IITs.

Subir Roy: A governance structure for IITs

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