Zambia suspended export duty on gemstones

According to the supplement to the Republic of Zambia Government Gazatte, dated December 13, 2019, Statutory Instrument 82 of 2019 of The Customs & Excise Act, Customs & Excise on precious stone export duty is being suspended.

In exercise of powers contained in section 89 of the Customs & Excise Act, the order is made & that says, 1: This order may be cited as the Customs & Excise (Precious Stones) (Export Duty) (Suspension) Order, 2019 & shall come into operation on January 01, 2020. 2: The export duty payable on precious stones of heading 71.03 specified in the Schedule is suspended to free.

Entrepreneurship Development through skill

The National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 envisages enabling entrepreneurship Eco-System by catalyzing and co-ordinating entrepreneurship efforts across the country to ensure sizeable and measurable outcomes. In order to achieve the targets and objectives of the Policy, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) started its flagship scheme, ‘Pradhan Mantri Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyan (PM-YUVA)’ in April, 2017.

Third Pre-Budget Consultations held

Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, held third Pre-Budget Consultations with stakeholder Groups from Industry, Trade and Services Sectors in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21 here today.

The main areas of discussion during the aforesaid meeting included regulatory environment impacting private investment, measures for promotion of exports amidst rising protectionist tendencies, Industrial production, logistics, Media & Entertainment services & IT & IT enabled services among others.

Along with the Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by Shri Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Finance Secretary, Shri Rajeev Kumar, Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Economic Affairs,  Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Shri Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Shri Anup Wadhanwan, Secretary Department of Commerce, Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT, Shri P.K. Das, Chairman, CBIC, Dr K.V. Subramanian, CEA and other senior officials of Ministry of Finance.

With a view to give boost to Indian economy, the representatives of Industry, Services and Trade Sectors submitted several suggestions concerning Ease of doing business  for going concern by reduction of compliance burden , reduction of tax litigation, allowing self-certification in low risk industry, decriminalisation of Tax and Company Laws, reduction of cost of equity capital, simplification and rationalisation with regards to duties and labour laws, adoption of international standards of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Export Development funds for helping MSME exporters , ease of investment flow into manufacturing sector.

Representatives of Industry, Services and trade Sectors included Shri Vikram Kirloskar, President, CIL, Shri Sandip Somany, President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Shri Deepak Sood, Secretary General ASSOCHAM , Shri Ashish Vaid President, IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shri DK Aggarwal , President , PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry,  Shri Animesh Saxena, President, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises, Shri Ajay Sahai, DG & CEO, FIEO, Shri C Veeramani, IGIDR, Shri Pramod Kumar Agrawal, chairman, GJEPC, Shri Rajeev Singh, Director General, ICC, Shri C.R. Janardhana, President, FKCCI, Shri Panaruna Aqeel Ahmed, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports, Shri V. Venugopal, President, Cochin Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Shri  Padmanabh Sinha, Chairman, IVCA, Ms. Rajni Aggrawal, President, Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE), Shri Sachin Taparia, Chairman & CEO, Local Circles India Pvt. Ltd, Shri Aswani Mahajan,  Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Shri Govind Lale, Laghu Udyog Bharathi, Shri Jitendra Gupta, Laghu Udyog Bharathi .

Planageo confirms gold reserves

A study carried out in the last three months under the National Geography Plan (Planageo) confirmed the existence of reserves for gold and diamond exploration in the Cuima commune, Caála (Huambo) municipality, considered in colonial times as the iron zone, which served to foster the economic sector.

The information was given to Angop, by the administrator of Cuima commune, Henrique Silvério, noting that the results of recent studies indicate the possibility of exploring these two important ores, gold and diamond-for the national economy.

Diamond cooperatives at risk losing license

Diamond cooperatives, which within two years do not turn out to be competitive and do not contribute with tax revenues, will lose their exploration license, the National Director of Mineral Resources, Angola, Andre Buta said.

GoGold Announces Net Income

GoGold Resources announces the financial results for the quarter and year ending September 30, 2019 with record revenue of $27.0 million from the sale of 1,758,307 silver equivalent ounces during the year. Record revenue of $27.0 million shows an increase of 28% from prior year’s record, from the sale of 1,005,899 silver and 8,752 gold ounces, at a realized price of $15.33 per silver equivalent ounce.

Record production of 1,781,080 silver equivalent ounces is an increase of 37% from prior year’s record & net income of $8.1 million. Over all gain on sale of Santa Gertrudis royalty of $11.8 million. Net working capital of $13.1 million is available to fund operations and future exploration at Los Ricos.

Doxa SUB 200 comes with 6 dial colors

Orange for Professional, yellow for Diving star, navy blue for Caribbean, turquoise for Aquamarine, silver for Sea rambler and black for Shark hunter: DOXA introduces a comprehensive range of SUB 200 diving watches with a choice of six vibrant dial colors and, a first for DOXA, a tone-on-tone FKM rubber strap that matches the dial color.

Built from the highest-quality 316L stainless steel, the 42 mm SUB 200 initially came with beads of rice bracelet, also in highest-quality 316L stainless steel, with folding clasp and exclusive DOXA Fish logo. This heritage bracelet naturally remains available as well.

GST Council’s decisions at 38 Meeting

The 38th meeting of the GST Council met under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman here today. The meeting was also attended by the Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Thakur besides Finance Ministers of States & UTs and senior officers of Ministry of Finance.  The GST Council recommended the following:

i: 1.Grievance Redressal Committees (GRC) will be constituted at Zonal/State level with both CGST and SGST officers and including representatives of trade and industry and other GST stakeholders (GST practitioners and GSTN etc.). These committees will address grievances of specific/ general nature of taxpayers at the Zonal/ State level.

DeBeers cycle valued US$425mn

De Beers Group today announced the value of rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auctions) for the tenth sales cycle of 2019. De Beers Group today announced the value of rough diamond sales for the tenth sales cycle of 2019: US$425 million (provisional).

Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “Following continued polished diamond price stability in the lead up to the final sales cycle of the year, we saw further signs of steady demand for rough diamonds during Sight 10.” 

Kiran Gems Wins Esteemed IGJ Award for 11 Consecutive Years

Kiran Gems, the World’s Largest Manufacturer of Natural diamonds, has been recognized for its outstanding performance in 2 coveted categories of IGJ Awards.  The year 2019 marked Kiran Gems’ 11th Consecutive win for ranking FIRST in the category of Cut & Polished Diamonds – Highest Turnover and Highest Taxpayer Company for the 3rd consecutive year at this prestigious event.

45th Edition of India Gem & Jewellery Awards///2018 was held on December 18, 2019, in Delhi. Organized by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, the Awards aim to recognize and felicitate the excellent, outstanding performances of India’s gemstone and jewellery exporters. Shri Piyush Goyal - Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry as the Chief Guest and Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe – Member of Parliament from Maharashtra was guest of honour attended the ceremony.