New rules for chit funds and deposit schemes Investing can be tricky. There are many fraudsters looking to trick investors with the lure of high returns. Let’s check out the new laws that can change this situation

Taking advantage of low financial literacy and greed of people looking for higher returns on their investments, many fraudulent deposit schemes and chit funds have collected huge amounts of money and vanished. In the last few years, we heard about alleged frauds relating to companies such as Sarada Group, Rose Valley, Gold Sukh, and SpeakAsia; in which many investors lost millions of rupees. Despite these and more, there is still no law that can recover the investors’ money. To curb such fraud deposit and chit funds schemes, the Union cabinet has given its nod to table The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018 in the Parliament. Let’s read more about the proposed Bill.

Need for the new Act

In the previous two Union Budget speeches, 2016-17 and 2017-18, the finance minister had stated the need for a comprehensive central legislation to deal with illicit deposit-taking schemes, citing rising instances of fraud involving such companies.

For starters, the Bill clearly defines ‘deposit takers’ of various schemes, to include all possible entities (including individuals) receiving or seeking deposits. At the same time, ‘deposits’ have been defined in a manner that the companies will not be able to say that the deposits collected are a part of their business revenue.

The Bill also contains provisions that prevent deposit takers from promoting, operating, issuing advertisements or accepting deposits in any unregulated deposit scheme (UDS). It proposes three different types of offences here, namely: running of UDS, fraudulent default in a regulated deposit scheme, and wrongful inducement in relation to a UDS. Heavy fines and punishments are also proposed. There is also provisions for repayment of deposits, attachment of properties and assets for repayment to depositors.

Once enacted, “This Act will not only prohibit unregulated deposit-taking activities but will also provide deterrent punishment for promoting or operating a UDS,” said Sangeeta Lakhi, partner, Rajani Associates. Although there are other legislations such as Companies Act, they have their own limitations. “We have seen many companies collect deposits from the public and then refuse to repay, claiming bad market or no funds. Companies and institutions running such schemes exploit existing regulatory gaps and lack of strict administrative measures to dupe poor and gullible people,” said Lakhi. The Bill tackles this by allowing authorities to act before a fraud takes place. “Existing legislations come into play after a fraud has occurred. The proposed law would prohibit Ponzi scheme frauds from occurring by banning all un-regularized deposit-taking schemes,” said Rajesh Narain Gupta, managing partner, SNG & Partners.

Amendments in Chit fund Act

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, till 31 October 2014 there were more than 5,000 listed chit fund companies in India. Some have even been running for over 100 years. However, the Chit Fund Act came up only in 1982. Before that, chit funds were not governed by any central law. Now, a chit fund company needs to obtain a certificate of incorporation (CIN) from the Registrar of Companies and then apply for registration with chit fund department of its respective state. You can verify the details of any chit fund company by looking up its CIN in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ website at www.mca.gov.in.

A shortcoming of this Act is that it vests the responsibility of framing the rules with the state governments. However, “A few state governments have not framed any rules to implement the central Act,” said Gupta.

There are other flaws in the existing Chit Fund Act. For instance, chit fund companies can collect subscriptions up to 10 times its net worth; it can legally conduct bids even when only two members of a group are present; there is no deposit insurance for investors; and there is no regulator. If a registered chit fund company files for bankruptcy, neither the government nor the Reserve Bank of India can help the investors.

Sometimes, money collected by chit funds is used for other businesses of the company. However, “Many investors are not aware of its risks ...and thus get taken in by promises of higher-than-market returns,” said Gupta.

The proposed Bill aims to overcome these loopholes. While it retains the requirement of at least two members for conducting a draw and preparing the minutes of the meeting, it proposes that the draw of chits must be recorded on video. Also, these two members may now join the proceedings via videoconferencing, and sign the minutes within 2 days, said Gupta. The Bill also proposes that state governments are to designate a competent authority to ensure repayment of deposits, in case of default.

However, some of the consumer activists doubt whether the new laws can check fraudulent deposit taking. “Unless the focus is on implementation without political interference and strengthening the judicial mechanism, any amendment to the law is not going to be of much help to the citizens,” said Jehangir Gai, a Mumbai-based consumer activist.

While there are quite a few financial schemes from registered companies in India, which have been running deposit schemes and chits funds for decades, Mint Money does not recommend investments in them.

Last Published: Wed, Feb 28 2018. 08 09 AM IST livemint by Ashwini Kumar Sharma

First Published: Tue, Feb 27 2018. 05 17 PM IST

BEST CARTOON ;-NEW FOREIGN COMPANY FORMED BY LOOTERS AND FUGITIVES NAMED AS HINDUSTAN LEAVER

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS? IF YES THEN READ THIS: :-MIND BLOWING-DO NOT MISS LAST LINES

Husband takes his wife to play her first game of golf.

Of course, the wife promptly hacked her first shot right through the window of the biggest house adjacent to the course.

The husband shouted , "I warned you to be careful! Now we'll have to apologize and see how much your lousy drive is going to cost us."

So the couple walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

A warm voice said, "Come on in." When they opened the door they saw the damage that was done: glass was all over the place, and a broken antique bottle was lying on its side near the broken window.

A man reclining on the couch asked, "Are you the people that broke my window?"

"Uh...yeah, sir. We're sure sorry about that," the husband replied.

"Oh, no apology is necessary. Actually I want to thank you. You see, I'm a ghost, and I've been trapped in that bottle for a thousand years. Now that you've released me, I'm allowed to grant three wishes. I'll Give you each one wish, but if you don't mind, I'll keep the last one for myself."

"Wow, that's great!" the husband said. He pondered a moment and blurted out, "I'd like a million dollars a year for! the rest of my life."

"No problem," said the ghost. "You've got it, it's the least I can do. And I'll guarantee you a long, healthy life!"

"And now you, young lady, what do you want?" the ghost asked. "I'd like to own a gorgeous home complete with servants in every country in the world," she said. 

"Consider it done," the ghost said. "And your homes will always be safe from fire,burglary and natural disasters!"

"And now," the couple asked in unison, "what's your wish, ghost?"

" Well, since I've been trapped in that bottle and haven't been with a woman in more than a thousand years, my wish is to have your wife."

The husband looked at his wife and said, "honey, you know we both now have a fortune, and all those houses. What do you think?"

She mulled it over for a few moments and said, "You know, you're right. Considering our good fortune, I guess I wouldn't mind, but what about you, honey?"

"You know I love you sweetheart," said the husband.

"I'd do the same for you!" So the ghost and the woman went upstairs where they spent the rest of the afternoon. The ghost was insatiable. 

After about three hours of non-stop fun, the ghost looked directly into her eyes and asked, "How old are you and your husband?"

"Why, we're both 35," she responded breathlessly.

ghost smile –

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Really???

Thirty-five years old and both of you
still believe in ghosts???😂😂😂

WHY CAN'T OUR INDIAN GOVERNMENT FOLLOW SOUTH KOREAN WAY TO PUNISH SEX OFFENDERS

If you have multiple UANs, give up the old ones and merge all the PF accounts The very essence of UAN linked EPF account is to make the entire process of PF transfer, withdrawal transparent and convenient

I have an Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) account from my previous organisation. That account is linked to my Universal Account Number (UAN). I have a new EPF account from my present organisation, which is also linked to my UAN. When I see details associated with my UAN, I see both accounts. Do I need to transfer money from the previous account to the present account? I thought the point of UAN was that you could have multiple accounts and not bother with transferring.

—K. Ravi

As your UAN is already active, the complete summary of your EPF across various employers can be viewed online provided the UAN is common across all such employers. In case of a different UAN number which can be a possibility i.e. the new employer was not informed for the previous UAN and hence the employer mapped the EPF against a new UAN or for any other reason if a new UAN is created, then you need to surrender the old UAN and merge the EPF in the new UAN. And wherever you have multiple PF due to change of jobs, it becomes easy for you to track the same under the same UAN. However you should merge the EPF accounts together as that will make it even more simple and convenient with one consolidated statement. The very essence of UAN linked EPF account is to make the entire process of PF transfer, withdrawal transparent and convenient to do without any intervention of the employer.

My dad has a retirement corpus of about Rs4 lakh and we don’t have any other source of income. What can be done with this amount?

—Vidhya Dayalan

You need to invest the retirement corpus. However, you cannot take too much risk with this money as this is his retirement corpus and there is no other source of income for him. We are also assuming that he does not have to contribute towards regular household monthly expenses. To start with, ensure that he has a medical insurance. Many websites and newspapers provide you a comprehensive comparison, which you can use to choose the one that suits your needs. You may cover him for a Rs1 lakh to Rs2 lakh of sum assured. And from the corpus available for investment, the focus has to be the inflation-adjusted returns. To achieve the same, some exposure to equity should be considered, that is, 20-30% via mutual funds. Within mutual funds, you can consider investing in balanced and large-cap equity funds. The investments are to be made in a staggered manner through a systematic transfer plan(STP). Here, the funds are invested in debt schemes, from where they are switched to your equity scheme over a predetermined time frame. And for the balance amount, which would be 70-80%, you can consider bank fixed deposits (FD). The FD can be split in three deposits spread over different time horizons to maintain liquidity.

I am in my late 30s and will retire at 55. I have invested Rs30 lakh in immovable property as a long term investment. However, in mutual funds the investment has so far yielded Rs12-15 lakh. I have two children (9 and 2 years old). Please suggest how much amount should I invest for my children’s higher education and marriage

—Deeraj Dhar

Whenever you compare two similar asset classes, it is recommended to compare them across the same time horizons to get the true picture. You have investment in real estate of Rs30 lakh; so check the current market price and adjust the cost price against the interest on housing loan if any, cost of brokerage and any other cost you may have incurred including registration charges. Do look at the time value of money as this would have been invested across different time periods. Likewise, do the same for SIP investment assuming the SIP is in equity asset class and then calculate their respective returns. It is not about which asset class is a good performer. It may happen that the SIP may be the underperformer and you may need to change the schemes or it could be also that real estate is an underperformer and then you may consider selling it off.

The amount to be invested for your children’s education and marriage as well as for your retirement will be based on how much you are planning to keep aside for all these goals Invest your surplus and increase it regularly as your income goes up. As your goals are all long term, do consider higher equity allocation.

Surya Bhatia is managing partner of Asset Managers. Queries and views at mintmoney@livemint.com.

First Published: Tue, Feb 27 2018. 05 17 PM IST LIVEMINT

Home » Money » Ask Mint Money An NRI’s domestic income from rental is liable to tax in India Rental income from house property situated in India is liable to income-tax in India

Last Published: Mon, Feb 26 2018. 04 59 PM IST livemint

While I live in South Africa, my mother used to live in India. I have inherited a house from her, which I want to rent out. What taxes will apply to this income?

—Rishab Sethi

Rental income from house property situated in India is liable to income-tax in India. The method of computing taxable rental income is prescribed under the income-tax law as follows:

Gross annual value less municipal taxes give the net annual value (NAV). Reduce standard deduction of 30% of NAV and interest on housing loan from this, which will then be the taxable rental income.

Gross annual value is higher of the following:

(a) Amount at which the property might reasonably be expected to be let out; or

(b) Actual rent received or receivable.

In other words, gross annual value compares the actual rent received or receivable with expected rent that the property would fetch.

Also, any repayment of principal amount against housing loan taken for such property is also eligible for deduction under section 80C (maximum deduction under this section is Rs1.5 lakh).

In your case, rental income from house property situated in India will be taxable in India. The taxable rental income will be calculated as discussed above. However, assuming you qualify as non resident in India, if your total taxable income in India (including rental income or any other source of income) does not exceed the maximum amount not chargeable to tax (Rs2.5 lakh), you are not liable to pay tax and file income-tax return in India.

Will repatriating funds from sale of a house in New Zealand attract taxes in India?

—Shikha Vaz

An individual qualifying as an ordinary resident (ROR) is taxable on the global income in India. However, an individual qualifying as non resident (NR or NOR) is taxable only on India-source income.

In case you qualify as an ROR in India, capital gain on sale of a house in New Zealand will be taxable in India, irrespective of whether the funds are repatriated to India or not. Applicable benefit under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India and New Zealand may be claimed in case of double taxation.

If you qualify as NOR in India, capital gain on sale of a house in New Zealand will not be taxable in India if the sale consideration is directly received outside India. Subsequent transfer of sale consideration to a bank account in India will not be taxable in India. If the sale consideration is directly received in a bank account in India, it will be taxable in India even if you qualify as NR/NOR in India.

I was an NRI from 2004. I want to come back and settle in India. I was an NRI for the 2017-18 fiscal and will get RNOR status for 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years. Does this mean after my return to India, while I am an RNOR for 2 years, I can still get tax benefits like I was getting as an NRI? Presently, my interest earnings from NRE fixed deposits are tax free.

—Lalita Puri

Residential status under the income-tax law is different from the exchange control law. Under the income-tax law, residential status is determined based on your physical presence in India in the current financial year (FY) (1 April to 31 March) and preceding 10 FYs. Thus, for financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, you will be taxable only on your India-sourced income, as a non-resident or resident not ordinarily resident (RNOR). However, the taxability of interest income from non-resident (external) (NRE) account earned in India is dependent on residential status under exchange control law.

Once you return to India, you may qualify as ‘person resident in India’ under the exchange control law. Accordingly, you have to notify the bank of change in residential status, to designate the NRE account to resident account or transfer the funds to resident foreign currency (RFC) account, at your discretion.

Interest on NRE deposit accounts is exempt till the individual qualifies as ‘person resident outside India’ as per exchange control law. Once the individual qualifies as ‘person resident in India’ on return to India, interest income from NRE deposit account is taxable in India. Interest income from resident account or RFC account is considered India-sourced income and taxable in India. However, interest earned on the deposits in foreign currency (RFC) account are exempt from tax in India if the individual qualifies to be a non-resident or RNOR in India.

Queries and views at mintmoney@livemint.com

Sonu Iyer is tax partner and people advisory services leader, EY India

View: Every year the same old story — Punish the honest, let the dishonest make merry

By TV Mohandas Pai & S Krishnan 

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had promised to tackle the problem of black money and evasion by people who don’t declare their entire income, and expand the taxpayer base. 

However, in his Budget 2017 speech, he only blamed citizens by stating, “We can conclude that we are largely a tax non-compliant society. The predominance of cash in the economy makes it possible for the people to evade their taxes. When too many people evade taxes, the burden of their share falls on those who are honest and compliant.” 

And he only increased the tax burden on honest taxpayers. People who have been honest by following the law and declaring their true income are penalised with a higher amount of tax every year. In 2016, the finance minister increased surcharge by 3% on individuals having income above Rs 1crore. In 2017, he levied a surcharge of 10% on individuals whose annual taxable income is between 50 lakh and Rs 1crore. 

This year, he introduced a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 for providing relief to salaried taxpayers and pensioners, in lieu of two other allowances. The net benefit from standard deduction is only Rs 5,800 per salaried employee. At the same time, he has increased the cess on income tax by 1%, which will reduce the net benefit from standard deduction. Salaried employees earning an annual salary of Rs 5.80 lakh and more will pay more taxes. 

The salaried class has become the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg. Honest taxpayers who have declared their full income are made to pay more tax for being honest, while people who have not declared their true income are only subject to admonition. In Budget 2018, Jaitley said, “Income-tax data analysis suggests that major portion of personal income-tax collection comes from the salaried class. 

For assessment year 2016-17, 1.89 crore salaried individuals have filed their returns and have paid total tax of Rs 1.44 lakh crore, which works out to average tax payment of Rs 76,306 per individual salaried taxpayer. As against this, 1.88 crore individual business taxpayers including professionals paid total tax of Rs 48,000 crore, which works out to an average tax payment of Rs 25,753 per individual.” 

Indian Divided Family Under the presumptive tax scheme, the income-tax department (ITD) has only received an average tax payment of Rs 7,000 from individual, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and firms, and Rs 35,000 from professionals for 2016-17. Not surprisingly, this remained a statement without any concrete steps to force tax evaders from the business and professional community to pay more taxes and to widen the taxpayer base. 

On the corporate side, Jaitley in his Budget 2015 promised to reduce corporate tax (CT) rate from 30% to 25%, with corresponding withdrawal of exemptions over the next four years. He then withdrew many exemptions. In his Budget 2017 proposals, he only announced a reduction in CT rate to 25% for smaller companies with an annual turnover of less than Rs 50 crore in 2015-16. 

This year, he extended the CT rate of 25% to companies with an annual turnover up to Rs 250 crore in 2016-17.He has not reduced the CT rate for large companies. This affects their competitiveness with global companies who pay a lower corporate tax rate in their home countries. 

The worldwide average statutory corporate income-tax rate is about 23%, measured across 202 tax jurisdictions. The effective tax rate (ETR) — inclusive of surcharge and education cess — of the corporate sector in India was 23.22% in 2013-14, 24.67% in 2014-15, 28.24% in 2015-16, and 26.89% in 2016-17. The ETR has increased by 3.67% since 2013-14, amounting to Rs 46,427 crore, and maybe more now. 

The collective net loss of Rs 21,395 crore by public sector banks (PSBs) in 2016-17 has also contributed to the reduction of ETR to 26.89%. Nine of the 21 PSBs reported losses during 2016-17. Officials are taking the excuse that exemptions are still not withered away, while the ETR and tax payments have, indeed, gone up because of withdrawal of exemptions. While there has been an increase in ETR, the FM has still not kept his promise and broken the trust that the taxpayer had in his promise. 

Honesty is the Cleft Policy In Budget 2018, Jaitley said there is premium on honesty. But honest taxpayers who have declared true income of more than Rs 1crore, and salaried taxpayers, have not seen much benefit. And people who have declared income between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1crore do have to pay much higher taxes than before. 

But dishonest people who don’t declare their income fully don’t seem to have been hurt. It is hoped that the FM rectifies this and ensures that there is a premium on honesty. In truth, there is a discount on honesty today. 

Pai is chairman, Aarin Capital Partners, and Krishnan is a tax consultant. Views expressed are personal. 

Read more at:
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/63085228.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Unpledged assets of Singh brothers to be used to repay Daiichi's award

By 

Prabha Raghavan

, ET Bureau|

Feb 26, 2018, 02.35 PM IST

The Delhi High Court has decided to attach all unencumbered assets disclosed by two companies controlled by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh so that Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo can recover a Rs3,500-crore international arbitration award from them. 

The court's latest order asks that a warrant be issued to attach the unpledged assets of RHC Holding Pvt Ltd and Oscar Investments Ltd. It also said that the companies cannot use some bank accounts they had disclosed as part of their assets, except for paying salaries and making statutory payments. 

The court has also passed a 'Garnishee Order' so that any debts owed to the two companies could be directed towards paying the award. 

Other individual respondents in this case, including the Singhs, also have to furnish an up-to-date list of their assets that are not pledged by the next hearing on March 23. 

The court's status quo order preventing the brothers and 12 other respondents from dealing with assets disclosed during earlier proceedings continues until this date as well.

Read more at:
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/63078899.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

GTL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED:-INTERESTED PARTIES HOLDING SHARE PRICE LIKE CHICKEN NECK.WILL IT FLY ONE DAY? JUST WAIT FOR 10 TO 12 DAYS MORE.

I am writing about this company due to my interest in Financial Management and being an occasional Faculty on some Institutes imparting training on Financial Management.

1.The price of share has been held hostage by the interested parties who want to just en cash completion of SDR process by Mid March 2018 and want to grab as many shares as possible before that.

2.To retain 26% Equity holding to sabotage any Special resolution by the JLF.

3.Now even for removal of Independent Directors Special resolution is required.

4.Present promoters will never like to dilute control over this GEM of coming years.

5.The company is serving its debt in time and hence no NCLT fear as per RBI new guidelines.

6.Massive Data downloading in coming years due to push on Digitization.

7.Govt will like to reach Voters thru every nook and corner by  Telecom revolution only.

8.Reduction in costs of tower operations thru Drone usage.

9.Slowly all Telecom towers are getting hooked up to main grid and thus converting their towers as green Towers at low cost.

10.Once Interested parties release the neck of this Golden Chicken it will fly but wait for that moment.

Bollywood actor Sridevi passes away Sridevi passed away on Saturday night after a cardiac arrest, confirmed her brother-in-law Sanjay Kapoor. She was 54. The first female superstar of Bollywood was reportedly with her husband Boney Kapoor and daughter Khushi at the time of death.

Bollywood actor Sridevi passed away on Saturday night after a cardiac arrest, confirmed her brother-in-law Sanjay Kapoor. She was 54. “Yes, it is true that Sridevi passed away. I just landed here, I was in Dubai and now I am flying back to Dubai. It happened roughly around 11.00-11.30. I don’t know more details yet,” Sanjay confirmed the news to indianexpress.com. Sridevi was reportedly with her husband Boney Kapoor and daughter Khushi at the time of death. They were with the entire Kapoor family in UAE to attend the wedding ceremony of Mohit Marwah.

Born as Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan, Sridevi worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films before entering Hindi films. She started acting in the late 1960s, but her performance in Malayalam film Poombata (1971) won her the state award for best child artist. Sridevi made her Bollywood debut as a child artist in Julie (1975). Her first adult role was at the age of 13 in Tamil film Moondru Mudichu (1976). Sridevi went on to become one of the biggest female stars India ever had. The government of India awarded her Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour, in 2013.

Her most remarkable films include Sadma, Chandni, Himmatwala, ChaalBaaz, Mr India, Nagina, Mawali, Tohfa and Gumrah among others. After working in Judaai, she took a 15-year break from movies only to be back to winning hearts in her second innings with English Vinglish in 2012. She was last seen in 2017 film MOM.

Sridevi’s most memorable onscreen pairing was with her real-life brother-in-law Anil Kapoor, while her most successful films were produced by husband Boney Kapoor.

Sridevi is survived by Boney Kapoor and two daughters – Janhvi and Khushi. She was Boney’s second wife. Her elder daughter Janhvi is set to make her Bollywood debut this year with Karan Johar’s directorial Dhadak.

3rd T20I updates: Indian Men beat SA in 7-run thriller, win series 2-1

February 25, 2018

Mithali, Shikha star as India beat SA by 54 runs to win T20I series 3-1

Last updated on: February 24, 2018 21:48 IST

IMAGE: Champions! Indian women celebrate with the coveted trophy. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images/File

Indian women accomplished a 'historic double' as they outclassed South Africa women by 54 runs in the fifth and final Twenty20 International to clinch the series 3-1, in Cape Town, on Saturday.

After Mithali Raj led the side to a 2-1 series win in the ODIs, it was Harmanpreet Kaur's turn to lift the trophy as they become the first cricket team to win two formats in the Rainbow nation.

 

It was Mithali's (62 off 50 balls) experience complemented by youthful exuberance of Jemimah Rodrigues (44 off 34 balls) that enabled India to register par score of 166 for four in 20 overs.

South Africa were never in the match as they were skittled out for 112 in 18 overs with veteran Rumeli Dhar (3/26 in 4 overs) making a mark in the very second match on her return to the side after six years.

IMAGE: Fast bowler Shikha Pandey, right, and wicket-keeper Sushma Verma celebrate. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images/File

Shikha Pandey (3/16 in 4 overs) was certainly the best bowler on view while left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (3/26 in 3 overs) had an easy job with the top half blown away by the seamers.

The win also showed that Indian women's performance in the ICC ODI World Cup wasn't a mere flash in pan and the women showed little rustiness even though they played their first series in seven months.

The big positive was winning a T20 series -- a format where the Indian women have not done well traditionally.

"It was a two-paced track to bat on but it became easier to play shots at the later stages. But it's always nice to be among runs," Raj, who scored 192 runs in four innings with three half-centuries, said after the match. She won both 'Player of the Match and Series' award for her consistent scores.

IMAGE: Senior batsman Mithali Raj made 62 to prop India's score. Photograph: BCCI/Twitter

Skipper Harmanpreet on her part spoke about how the series win will bolster their confidence as they get ready to take on Australia and England at home.

"I thought we were 20 runs short but our bowlers performed exceptionally. I thought Mithali di and Jemi (Jemimah) batted well. I though Shikha and PY (Poonam Yadav) really bowled well," the skipper said.

Mithali started with a couple of boundaries off seamer Shabnim Ismail before launching onto medium pacer Masabata Klaas. She hit another couple of sixes -- one off off-break bowler Raisibe Ntozakhe and other off rival captain Dane van Niekerk -- both over long-on.

She first hit a boundary and then lofted her over long-off for the first six.

Along with 17 year old Jemimah, Mithali added 98 runs for the second wicket.

The most talked about teenager in women's cricket circuit, Jemimah played her first innings of note at the international level and despite being pint-sized, she packed a punch in her shots.

Rodrigues also punished Ntozakhe hitting her through cover for a boundary and also a six over mid-wicket.

When Ismail came for her second spell, the teen sensation lofted her effortlessly over long-on for a six.

Interestingly, Mithali had made her one day international debut (June, 1999), 15 months before Jemimah was born in September 2000.

Brief Scores:

India women:  166/4 in 20 overs (Mithali Raj 62 off 50 balls, Jemimah Rodrigues 44 off 34 balls; Harmanpreet Kaur 27 off 17 balls) vs South Africa women: 112 all out in 18 overs. (M Kapp 27, C Tryon 25; S Pandey 3/16, R Dhar 3/26)

INDIAN PASSPORT RULES YOU NEED TO KNOW

• DOCUMENTATION FOR PROOF OF BIRTH

As per old rules, submission of a birth certificate was compulsory for all applicants born on or after 26th January 1989. But the new rules have bought in some relaxation in this regards. Now, any of the following documents containing the Date of Birth (DOB) of the applicant will suffice:

• Birth Certificate (BC) issued by the Registrar of births and deaths or the Municipal Corporation or any other approved authority to register the birth of a child born in India
• Transfer/school leaving/matriculation certificate issued by the school last attended/recognized educational board
• PAN card
• Aadhar card/E-aadhar
• The copy of the service record of the applicant’s (of govt. servants) or the pay pension order (of retired govt. employees), duly attested/in-charge of the administration of the concerned ministry/certified by the officer/ department of the applicant
• Driving license
• Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India
• A copy of policy bond issued by the public life insurance companies

• DETAILS OF PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN:

In a welcome move, the new passport rules has done away with the mandate requiring names of both parents at the time of application. An applicant now only needs to provide the name of either one of the parents or the legal guardian. This makes it easier for children with single parents or orphans to apply for a passport. For spiritually oriented people like Sadhus/Sanyasis, there have provisions made for them to mention the name of their spiritual leader in place of their biological parents.

• ANNEXES

The total number of annexes has been reduced from 15 to 9. Annexes A, C, D, E, J, and K have been eliminated and some of them have also been merged. Lesser annexes means less worry for people to collate documentation.

• ATTESTATION

While all annexes needed attestation from a Notary/Executive Magistrate/First Class Judicial Magistrate previously, henceforth all these annexes can now be in the form of a self-declaration from the applicant on plain paper. This means no running around for attestation that one had to do previously.

• MARRIED/DIVORCED PERSONS:

The need for a marriage certificate has been discontinued (along with annexure K). Also, in case of a divorce the applicant will not be required to provide the name of their spouse. This is another interesting change that has been made taking into consideration changing societal norms.

• WORK RELATED URGENT PASSPORTS:
  In case of urgent passports, if a government employee is not able to procure the NOC (no objection certificate) or identity certificate from their employer’s side, they can submit a self-declaration stating that they have given a prior intimation letter to their employer informing that they are applying for an ordinary passport to a passport issuing authority.

Drought-hit Cape Town pushes 'Day Zero', but water crisis looms South Africa has declared a national disaster over the drought afflicted southern and western regions, including Cape Town.

Moneycontrol News
Feb 23, 2018 03:06 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com @moneycontrolcom

On Tuesday, South Africa's drought-hit Cape Town moved its estimate for 'Day Zero' to July 9 from June 4 due to a decline in water usage. Day Zero refers to a point when taps are expected to run dry. (Reuters)

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According to the South African Weather Service, two of the driest seasons ever recorded for the city happened in the last three years: In 2015 when 549 mm (21 inches) fell and last year - the driest year on record - when annual rainfall totaled 499 mm. (Reuters)

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South Africa has declared a national disaster over the drought afflicted southern and western regions, including Cape Town, which means the government could spend more money and resources to deal with the crisis. (Reuters)

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Cape Town residents have cut collective water consumption by more than half in the last three years, as the city targets a daily consumption rate of no more than 450 million litres. Already, they are being forced to line up overnight to stock up on water in South Africa’s second largest economic hub and tourism attraction. (Reuters)

After Nirav Modi, Delhi-based diamond exporter booked for Rs 389-crore Oriental Bank loan fraud After Choksi and Modi, Another diamond jewellery exporter booked for loan fraud

PTI@moneycontrolcom 24th Feb 2018

After Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, the CBI has registered a case against a Delhi-based diamond jewellery exporter for an alleged bank loan fraud to the tune of Rs 389.85 crore towards Oriental Bank of Commerce.The CBI has booked Dwarka Das Seth International Pvt Ltd for the alleged fraud.Six months after the public sector bank filed a complaint with the CBI, the agency booked the company, and Sabhya Seth, Reeta Seth, Krishna Kumar Singh, Ravi Singh - all directors of the firm - and another company named Dwarka Das Seth SEZ Incorporation.

The company has availed various credit facilities from OBC between 2007-12, which swelled to Rs 389 crore during the period.It was found by the bank that the company was using Letters of Credit (LoCs) to pay off other creditors against the purchae of gold and other precious stone and transfer gold and funds outside the country using fictitious transactions, the bank complaint, now part of the CBI FIR, alleged.The company was also engaging in business transactions with non existent entities, it said.