Exchange Rate of Foreign Currency Relating To Imported and Export Goods Notified

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), and in supersession of the notification of the Central Board of Excise and Customs No.53/2017-CUSTOMS (N.T.), dated 15^th  June, 2017, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Central Board of Excise and  Customs hereby determines that the rate of exchange of conversion of each of the foreign currencies specified in column (2) of each of Schedule I and  Schedule II annexed hereto, into Indian currency or vice versa, shall, with effect from 7^th July, 2017, be the rate mentioned against it in the corresponding entry in column (3) thereof, for the purpose of the said section, relating to imported and export goods.

SCHEDULE-I

Sl.No.	Foreign Currency	Rate of exchange of one unit of foreign currency equivalent to Indian rupees
(1)	(2)	(3)
		(a)		(b)
		(For Imported Goods)	(For Export Goods)
1.	Australian Dollar	50.20	48.30
2.	Bahrain Dinar	177.70	166.05
3.	Canadian Dollar	50.80	49.10
4.	Chinese Yuan	9.70	9.35
5.	Danish Kroner	10.05	9.70
6.	EURO	74.65	72.25
7.	Hong Kong Dollar	8.40	8.20
8.	Kuwait Dinar	221.10	206.55
9.	New Zealand Dollar	48.10	46.20
10.	Norwegian Kroner	7.85	7.55
11.	Pound Sterling	85.35	82.50
12.	Qatari Riyal	18.10	17.00
13.	Saudi Arabian Riyal	17.85	16.70
14.	Singapore Dollar	47.65	46.20
15.	South African Rand	5.00	4.65
16.	Swedish Kroner	7.75	7.50
17.	Swiss Franc	68.40	65.95
18.	UAE Dirham	18.25	17.05
19.	US Dollar	65.65	63.95

SCHEDULE-II

Sl.No.	Foreign Currency	Rate of exchange of 100 units of foreign currency equivalent to Indian rupees
(1)	(2)	(3)
		(a)		(b)
		(For Imported Goods)	(For Export Goods)
1.	Japanese Yen	58.30	56.35
2.	Kenya Shilling	64.65	60.40

Direct Tax Collections up to June, 2017 for F.Y. 2017-2018 stood at Rs.1,42 Lakh crore registering a Growth of 14.8% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year; Net direct tax collections represent 14.5% of the total Budget Estimates of Rs. 9.8 lakh crore for Direct Taxes for F.Y. 2017-18.

The provisional figures for Direct Tax collections up to June, 2017 show that net collections are at Rs. 1.42 lakh crore which is 14.8% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year. Net direct tax collections represent 14.5% of the total Budget Estimates of direct taxes for F.Y. 2017-18 (Rs. 9.8 lakh crore). 

While the gross collection under Corporate Income Tax (CIT) grew at 4.8%, the growth under Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Securities Transaction Tax (STT) is 12.9%. However, after adjusting for refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 22.4% while that in PIT is 8.5%. Refunds amounting to Rs.55,520 crore have been issued during April to June, 2017, which is 5.2% lower than the refunds issued during corresponding period of F.Y. 2016-17.

An amount of Rs. 58,783 crore has been received as Advance Tax up to 30th June, 2017 reflecting a growth of 11.9% over the Advance Tax payments of the corresponding period of last year. The growth in CorporateAdvance Tax is at 8.1% and that in Personal Advance Tax is at 40.3%.

Government of India in consultation with RBI decides to issue Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2017-18– Series II; Applications for the bond will be accepted from July 10, 2017 to July 14, 2017; The Bonds will be issued on July 28, 2017.

Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to issue Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017-18 – Series II. Applications for the bond will be accepted from July 10, 2017 to July 14, 2017. The Bonds will be issued on July 28, 2017. The Bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post offices and recognised stock exchanges viz., National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange. The features of the Bond are given below:

Sl. No.	Item	Details
1	Product name	Sovereign Gold Bond 2017-18 – Series II
2	Issuance	To be issued by Reserve Bank India on behalf of the Government of India.
3	Eligibility	The Bonds will be restricted for sale to resident Indian entities including individuals, HUFs, Trusts, Universities and Charitable Institutions.
4	Denomination	The Bonds will be denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram.
5	Tenor	The tenor of the Bond will be for a period of 8 years with exit option from 5th year to be exercised on the interest payment dates.
6	Minimum size	Minimum permissible investment will be 1 gram of gold.
7	Maximum limit	The maximum amount subscribed by an entity will not be more than 500 grams per person per fiscal year (April-March). A self-declaration to this effect will be obtained.
8	Joint holder	In case of joint holding, the investment limit of 500 grams will be applied to the first applicant only.
9	Issue price	Price of Bond will be fixed in Indian Rupees on the basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Limited for the week (Monday to Friday) preceding the subscription period. The issue price of the Gold Bonds will be ` 50 per gram less than the nominal value.
10	Payment option	Payment for the Bonds will be through cash payment (upto a maximum of Rs. 20,000) or demand draft or cheque or electronic banking.
11	Issuance form	The Gold Bonds will be issued as Government of India Stocks under GS Act, 2006. The investors will be issued a Holding Certificate for the same. The Bonds are eligible for conversion into demat form.
12	Redemption price	The redemption price will be in Indian Rupees based on previous week’s (Monday-Friday) simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by IBJA.
13	Sales channel	Bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post offices as may be notified and recognised stock exchanges viz., National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange, either directly or through agents.
14	Interest rate	The investors will be compensated at a fixed rate of 2.50 per cent per annum payable semi-annually on the nominal value.
15	Collateral	Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is to be set equal to ordinary gold loan mandated by the Reserve Bank from time to time.
16	KYC Documentation	Know-your-customer (KYC) norms will be the same as that for purchase of physical gold. KYC documents such as Voter ID, Aadhaar card/PAN or TAN /Passport will be required.
17	Tax treatment	The interest on Gold Bonds shall be taxable as per the provision of Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961). The capital gains tax arising on redemption of SGB to an individual has been exempted. The indexation benefits will be provided to long term capital gains arising to any person on transfer of bond
18	Tradability	Bonds will be tradable on stock exchanges within a fortnight of the issuance on a date as notified by the RBI.
19	SLR eligibility	The Bonds will be eligible for Statutory Liquidity Ratio purposes.
20	Commission	Commission for distribution of the bond shall be paid at the rate of 1% of the total subscription received  by  the  receiving offices and receiving offices shall share at least 50% of the commission so received with the agents or sub agents for the business procured through them.

‘Modern Lifestyle is The Reason for The Condition of Our Forests, Rivers, Air and Land”: Dr Harsh Vardhan

“The condition of our forests, rivers, air and land is a matter of serious concern for us.  The reason for this is the modern lifestyle adopted by us”, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said.   Leading the plantation drive at District Park, Paschim Vihar to mark Van Mahotsav celebrations here today, the Minister said, “Plants are another form of God, they give us free oxygen and absorb carbon-dioxide”.  He added that climate change and global warming are burning issues of the world and attempts are being made at various levels to resolve these issues. Dr. Harsh Vardhan pointed out that in this fight against global warming and climate change, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi figures among the prominent leaders of the world.  He also said that the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was established at the initiative of Shri Narendra Modi and with the cooperation of France, ISA’s office was established in Gurugram and funds have been made available.

“Environment protection is connected to our culture, but we have forgotten this cultural heritage”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.  He also emphasised that had we continued with this heritage of protection of environment, today we could have presented a big example before the world. 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also paid rich tributes to Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.  He said that today is the birth anniversary of one of the great sons of India.  “His life was full of sacrifice, he devoted his life and gave a new direction to politics”, the Minister said.

Dr Harsh Vardhan also recalled the contribution of former Environment Minister, Shri Anil Madhav Dave, to environmental issues.  He said that today is Dave ji’s birth anniversary and also reminisced that Dave ji used to say that if one wants to remember him, one should plant saplings. 

Defence Minister releases Booklet highlighting efforts to achieve Self-Reliance in Defence Production

Defence Minister Shri Arun Jaitley released a booklet here today highlighting efforts made by Department of Defence Production in the last three years in pursuance of self-reliance in defence sector. It is a compilation of the achievements of the Department of Defence Production in the field of indigenous production of weapon systems/platforms and policy initiatives undertaken in the past three years.

Ever since the launch of ‘Make in India’ initiative in September 2014, the focus has been to improve the business environment by easing processes to do business, encourage participation of Indian public and private sectors in defence production and promote innovation and indigenous development of equipment and weapon platforms.

The booklet mentions a number of policy initiatives which have been taken by the Department of Defence Production. These are relaxation in Foreign Direct Investment policy, providing exchange rate variation protection to domestic industry, level-playing field to private sector in terms of excise duty/custom duty at par with public sector, liberalising licensing policy and extending the validity of industrial licensing to 15 years, streamlining defence offset guidelines and restoring services as an avenue for discharge of offsets. It also includes facilitating exports by issuing NOC online, hosting procedure for issue of NOC and list of military stores in public domain besides doing away with end-user certificate, revising make procedure to promote design and development, promulgating green channel policy, categorising certain Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) products as non-core, aligning payment terms of Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), etc. It also mentions about ‘Make in India’ portal for defence production which is a very industry-friendly website covering all policy procedural issues.

The booklet also mentions that Ordnance Factories and DPSUs, working under the administrative control of Department of Defence Production, have not only enhanced their production from ₹ 44,000/- crore to ₹ 56,000/- crore but have also delivered many state-of-the-art platforms to the Armed Forces, including Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’, Surface to Air Missile System ‘ Akash’ . During the last three years, 128 industrial licences have been issued.

Other highlights are, all naval ships and submarines on order are being constructed in Indian shipyards and percentage of capital procurement from Indian vendors has gone up from 47 to 61 in the last three years.

A number of steps are being taken to augment production capacity by DPSUs, such as infrastructure building for Mine Counter Measure Vessel at Goa Shipyard Ltd., new helicopter manufacturing facility at Tumakuru, second production line for Dhruv at Kanpur, manufacturing capacity for T-90 and PINAKA Rockets and manufacturing facilities for Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) at Ibrahimpatnam, Hyderabad.

Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Wreckage Located

On 04 Jul 17, an ALH of helicopter unit based at Tezpur had gone missing while carrying out an HADR mission near Itanagar. The helicopter had carried out five sorties evacuating stranded people near Itanagar due to landslides between Naharlagun and Sagalee. There were three crew members and a Arunachal Pradesh police personnel on board, when the aircraft was reported missing at approx 1550 hrs. While the search and rescue operations were initiated immediately, however the process was hampered frequently due to bad weather in the area. 

Joint rescue teams of Army, NDRF, Arunachal Pradesh Police and IAF were launched to locate the helicopter. The Arunachal Pradesh Police team spotted the wreckage of the helicopter in the evening of 05 Jul 17. On 06 Jul 17 morning, rescue parties comprising IAF Garuds and medical team, Army, NDRF were able to reach the crash site alongwith the Arunachal Pradesh Police team who had sited the wreckage. The bodies of three personnel have been recovered so far. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident. 

Dr Mahesh Sharma participates in ‘Second Meeting of BRICS Culture Ministers’ in Tianjin, China

Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Culture and Tourism has said that India attaches importance to its engagements with BRICS which has emerged as a valuable forum for consultation, coordination and cooperation on contemporary global issues of mutual interest and has helped promote mutual understanding. Addressing at the “Second Meeting of BRICS Culture Ministers” in Tianjin, China today, he said that India held the BRICS Chairmanship in 2016 and hosted the 8th BRIGS Summit on 15-16 October, 2016 in Goa under the theme ‘Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions’. Each of the BRICS country possesses rich cultural heritage and traditions and we share goodwill, understanding, respect and interest for each other's cultural heritage. This respect and interest will in times to come contribute towards developing even stronger bonds of friendship, empathy and cooperation.

Dr Sharma said that India will work with China and other BRICS countries on Chair's priority areas, viz Global economic partnership, global governance, people-to-people exchanges, macroeconomic coordination, Agenda 2030, International peace and stability, open world economy, IMF reform, media, sports, education, traditional medicines, and exchanges among students and scholars and culture. India has bilateral cultural agreements and specific cultural exchange programmes with each of the BRIGS countries. We have been showcasing our rich cultural heritage through Festivals of India organized in China and South Africa already. Preparations are afoot to organize a similar festival in Brazil in September this year and in Russia in the early next year.

The Minister said that today we are in the midst of a tremendous shift in the way of growth and modernization, but Libraries continue to play a central role in providing open and free access to information and ideas. As gateways to knowledge and culture, libraries play a fundamental role in society. The resources and services they offer, create opportunities for learning, support literacy and education, and help shape the new ideas and perspectives that are central to a creative and innovative society.

He said that the museum, as an institution tells the story of man the world over and how humanity has survived in its environment over the years. It houses things created by nature and by man and in our modem society, it houses the cultural soul of the nation. It holds the cultural wealth of the nation in trust for all generations and by its function and unique position, it has become the cultural conscience of the nation. The National Museum of India has since been organizing exhibitions overseas. Presently, an exhibition on “Across the Silk Road: Gupta Sculptures and their Chinese Counterparts during 400-700 AD” is on show in various Museums of China since September, 2016.

Dr Sharma said that under Cultural Mapping of India Scheme, a web portal has been developed for collection of online data from artistes for cultural mapping, which will serve as an artist repository. A sub scheme as a National Mission on Cultural Mapping and Roadmap with a Financial Outlay of Rs 469.40 crore for 2017-2018, 2018-2019 & 2019-2020 has been approved under the umbrella of "Kala Sanskrit! Vikas Yojna".