Nokia's India revenue falls 23 percent

Summary: Finnish phone maker saw its 2012 revenue in India drop 23 percent year-on-year from US$3.77 billion to US$2.87 billion, which it said was due to stiffer competition and currency fluctuation. 

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Nokia's annual revenue in India, its second biggest market after China, fell for the second consecutive year, with sales totaling about 2.23 billion euros (US$2.87 billion) in 2012 from all its business divisions including smartphone, network infrastructure, and maps. This was a 23 percent decrease from 2.92 billion euros (US$3.77 billion) in 2011, the Economic Times reported Sunday. The Finnish phone maker saw net sales in India hit 2.95 billion euros (US$3.81 billion) back in 2010.
 "The year 2012 was one of transition for Nokia," a Nokia spokesperson said. "While the first half of the year was challenging, our execution against a focused business strategy started to translate into financial results in the final three months of the year. Nokia is working at a new clock speed, and we look forward to delivering new and innovative solutions to consumers in India and globally in 2013." The company attributed the revenue drop to increased competition as well as currency fluctuation. Explaining the currency fluctuation, Nokia said the majority of its non-euro based sales was denominated in the US dollar, and having a presence in emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil, and Russia gave it substantial foreign exchange exposure. The Indian rupee depreciated by 2.3 percent against the euro, it added. Nokia highlighted that competition was intensifying not just in India, where various local mobile device manufacturers had emerged, but also across other emerging markets. "Success of such competitors could adversely affect sales of our mobile devices in various countries such as China, Indonesia, and India where we have been traditionally strong," the company said. According to data from Cyber-Media Research in October, Nokia was the overall top phone maker in India in the first half of 2012. Data from the India market research firm showed the phone maker held 22.2 percent share of the overall 102.4 million shipments in the country between January and June last year. But it noted that while Nokia held first place in feature phone shipments, it took second place in terms of smartphone shipments, losing the top spot to Samsung.

Punjab levies entry tax on vehicles bought from other states

CHANDIGARH: Buying motor vehicles, including car and bikes from other states, including UT Chandigarh will cost more for Punjab-based buyers, as the state government has levied entry tax on vehicles bought from other states and Union Territories (UT).
The decision is aimed at preventing loss of tax revenue because of differential VAT rates as Punjab government has been losing tax revenue to the tune of over Rs 125 crore every year annum due to lower VAT rates on vehicles prevailing in other states.

The Punjab cabinet on Friday gave nod to levy entry tax on motor vehicles and automobiles at a rate which is the difference of VAT rate in the state vis-a-vis tax paid while bringing vehicle from other states. "The main objective of levying entry tax is to plug the tax revenue loss caused due to vehicle being purchased from UT Chandigarh and Haryana by residents of Punjab. The state is facing a revenue loss of Rs 125 crore per annum because of differential tax rates," a senior official of Punjab excise and taxation department said on Saturday. The VAT rate on vehicles in UT Chandigarh stands at 12.5 per cent, while in Punjab it is 14.3 per cent. "There is a direct loss of 1.8 per cent of VAT on every vehicle purchased from Chandigarh," he said. He said in the last nine months, Punjab faced a tax revenue loss of Rs 90 crore as people from Punjab especially from Mohali bought huge number of vehicles including 12,000 four wheelers only from Chandigarh. People in other parts of Punjab, including Bathinda also prefer buying vehicles from Sirsa in Haryana where VAT rate is 13.2 per cent, lower than that of Punjab, he added. "With the levy of entry tax, there will be no difference in VAT rate on vehicles and the business will flow back to dealers in Punjab, especially in Mohali and ultimately it will boost the state revenue," he said. In an another move, the state government also raised VAT on cigarettes and cigars from 20.5 per cent to 50 per cent which is expected to yield revenue of Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer. Other states, including Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh have already raised VAT on these products to 65 per cent, 40 per cent, 50 per cent respectively. "We have also asked the Haryana government to raise VAT (20 per cent) on cigarettes and cigars so that there is no diversion of trade," he said. The Punjab government is already getting Rs 100 crore from tax on cigarettes and cigars.

21-yr-old CA aspirant fails exam, ends life

A 21-year-old Chartered Accountancy (CA) student allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself on Sunday morning after she failed to clear one of her exams. A suicide note in which she sought "forgiveness" from her mother was also recovered from her room in an East Delhi hostel. According to police, the incident was reported from a private hostel run from house number 87 in Laxmi Nagar where the student, identified as Upma Singh, was found hanging from the ceiling fan. Singh had moved to Delhi from her home in Bihar to prepare for her CA exams. "The girls used to live on rent on single-occupancy-per room basis. At 11.30 am, her friend — another CA student from Bangalore who lives in a room adjacent to Singh's — went there to borrow notes. She knocked a few times but when Singh did not respond, the friend peeped in through the window and saw her hanging by her dupatta," a senior official investigating the matter said. Singh's friend immediately alerted their landlord, Gangadas, who rushed upstairs, broke open the door and alerted police. Police suspect Singh had hanged herself either late Saturday night or in the wee hours of Sunday as her body had become very stiff when it was found. Her body has been preserved at Sabzi Mandi mortuary. Singh's friends told police that she had failed an exam held on February 5 and was very disturbed since then. She used to keep to herself and often broke down. "She was suffering from depression after failing the exam. In the suicide note, she apologised to her mother for failing and not being a good daughter," the officer said. Police have alerted Singh's family in Bihar. Her local guardian and a relative D K Singh, who retired from the Indian Army and lives in Palam, was also informed. "Upma's family belongs to Chhapra in Bihar. At 12 pm, I received a call from my home informing me about her suicide. She is from a very educated family and studied in Sarvodaya Vidyalya, where she was a scholarship student throughout. Her father used to be a government-school teacher but is paralysed now while her mother is a housewife," D K Singh told Newsline. Inquest proceedings under section 176 of CrPC have been initiated in the incident by officials of Shakarpur police station, which is located in East Delhi.

India remains top arms importer while China becomes fifth largest exporter

NEW DELHI: India remains the world's biggest weapons importer for the third year in a row, ahead of China, which has turned into an exporter and overtaken the UK as the world's fifth largest supplier, selling its military wares mainly to Pakistan, a report by a Swedish thinktank has revealed. More than half of the weapons exported by China are bought by Pakistan, which is now the world's third largest importer of weapons after India and China, the 2013 edition of the annual study by the highly regarded Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. The thinktank is regarded an authority in international defence expenditure and arms transfers. India replaced China as the world's leading importer of weapons in 2011 and has retained the distinction since. Despite criticism of its import dependency -India imports 70% of its armament needs - and failure to develop a defence industrial base at home by engaging the private sector, India accounted for 12% of global imports during 2008-12. During this period, India's imports were 109% higher than that of China, which was the second largest importer of weapons. The key difference between India and China has been that while the latter has used years of imports to develop a thriving domestic defence industrial base and become the world's fifth largest exporter of weapons, India's domestic defence industry remains a public sector monopoly and government policies keep the private sector out. "What we need to do is clear. India needs to become an exporter of weapons. India needs to develop indigenous weapons systems," said former chief of army staff, General (Retd) Shankar Roy Choudhury. "Government policy does not allow the private sector to come up. It does not allow export of weapons made in India. We have a network of state-owned defence production companies and ordnance factories. They have failed to produce anything new. It is the vested interest of the bureaucracy that is perpetuating this system," he added. During the five year period 2008-12, India's arms imports rose 59% from 2003-07. India's defence budget rose 5.31% year-on-year to Rs 2.03 lakh crore in 2013. About 42% of this amount is used for capital expenditure for the modernisation of India's Army, Navy and Air Force. Pakistan accounted for 55% of Chinese arms exports. According to SIPRI analysis, Pakistan is likely to remain the largest recipient of Chinese arms for years now as they have outstanding orders for combat aircraft, submarines and frigates. Algeria, Venezuela and Morocco are among other major customers for Chinese weapons. China's displacement of the UK from the list of world's top five weapons suppliers is the first change in the composition of this list since the end of cold war. "China's rise has been driven primarily by large-scale arms acquisitions by Pakistan," said Paul Holtom, director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme. "However, a number of recent deals indicate that China is establishing itself as a significant arms supplier to a growing number of important recipient states."

35,000 tax notices on way; FM asks defaulters to clear dues

New Delhi, Mar 14, 2013 (PTI)

Dangling carrot and stick, the Income Tax Department today issued notices to 35,000 more assessees for failure to file tax returns while Finance Minister P Chidambaram offered them a penalty waiver if they chose to clear their dues. 

 The government's initiatives have already borne fruits with 10,000 assessees filing returns and clearing their dues, he told reporters here. The action of the tax authorities come on top of notices sent to 70,000 assessees recently for recovery of tax dues to shore up revenues which it is feared may fall short of the budget estimates in the current financial year. "A polite letter was sent to 35,000 such persons in the first lot. Two weeks ago we have sent letters, another lot of 35,000 persons. Today letters are being issued to a third lot of 35,000 persons," Chidambaram said. He gave an assurance that the I-T department would take a benign view of assessees volunteering to file returns and clear their dues and interest. "The tax authorities can take a benign view and waive the penalty. They have done so in numerous cases in the past. This is your opportunity to file your returns, pay your tax and interest, if any, and apply for waiver of penalty," he said urging the assessees to pay advance tax by tomorrow. "To those who have not filed their I-T returns so far, either for current year or for previous years, I have one simple message--it behoves you to file returns, it behoves you to pay advance tax by tomorrow," he said. The last date for paying the final instalment of advance tax is March 15 for corporates as well as individuals. Chidambaram said the steps taken by the tax department to check evasion is reaping results as 10,000 assessees, of the 70,000 to whom notices were sent, have disclosed their income and filed taxes on receiving the letter. "These letters have had salutary effect. Over 10,000 recipients, of the first two lots of letters, have filed their returns and paid their tax dues," Chidambaram said. The revenue department is tapping each and every source of revenue to achieve the Rs 5.65 lakh crore collection target under the direct taxes category for this fiscal that ends on March 31. He said 13.5 lakh returns have been filed between February 10 and March 10, an increase of over 15 per cent over 10.81 lakh returns filed during the similar period last year. Till March 10, 2013, 1.77 crore returns have been filed representing an increase of 35 per cent. As on March 10, 2012, a total of 1.35 crore returns had been e-filed, he added. "I am inferring that our approach is paying dividend. I am happy with the change of attitude and I hope many thousands more will voluntary file their returns and pay the tax dues, especially the Advance Tax tomorrow," Chidambaram said. The Minister said he had introduced provisions for improving compliance for payment of Service Tax in his Budget. "It is my hope that a very large proportion of 10 lakh registered assessees who have not filed returns and who do not file returns currently will take advantage of this opportunity," Chidambaram said. The government's policy, he emphasised is clarity in tax laws, a stable tax regime and non-adversarial tax administration, a fair mechanism for dispute resolution and an independent judiciary. Consistent with this approach, he said both CBDT and CBEC have been persuading the tax paying community to voluntarily comply with tax laws and pay the taxes due. "There are many potential tax payers who have not filed returns so far for any assessment year. There are many who have stopped filing returns. These are described as non filers and stop filers. Our effort is to persuade them to file their returns," he added.

We are not worried about AirAsia: SpiceJet CEO

Mumbai March 17, 2013 Last Updated at 17:24 IST
 

AirAsia plans to launch India operations from later this year from Chennai base using 3-4 airbus A320 planes

SpiceJet is not worried about AirAsia's foray into India and is planning to expand its Bombardier Q-400 fleet , airline's chief executive officer Neil Mills said on Sunday. AirAsia plans to launch India operations from later this year from Chennai base using 3-4 airbus A320 planes. AirAsia's launch of service will bring it into head on competition with SpiceJet which commands 30% seat capacity from Chennai market. "This is not Malaysia. AirAsia has been aggressive in its historic markets like Malaysia and Indonesia but in Japan and Phillippines it has not grown much. The airline management will be logical (about pricing in India) and they have to answer to their shareholders. Moreover airlines in India are not allowed to charge a fee for baggage or preferential seats. The Aircraft Rules of 1937 do not allow it." Mills said referring to AirAsia's reliance on ancillary revenue. "We run a relatively low cost efficient operations. We have a strong balance sheet and we will be able to face competition. The biggest impact will be on those airlines with weak balance sheets and high debts,'' he said. "It is not an easy environment to operate and grow,'' he said referring to high cost of operations in India. SpiceJet has a mix fleet of turbo prop Bombardier Q-400s and Boeing 737s. In the third quarter FY 2013 it reported Rs 102 crore profit. "We have 15 Q-400 planes and we may add five more Q-400s this year. We are evaluating the plan. These could be either on lease or purchase," he said, "There is not enough supply on tier II-III routes and there is high demand. We have achieved break even on these routes,'' he added. The airline is also planning to expand its international routes and at present is exploring routes in Gulf and CIS countries. "Price of fuel continues to remain high and it will be brave to make a demand growth forecast. We were expecting some relief in taxes on aviation turbine fuel in the budget and are disappointed that has not come through. Irrational pricing is on and with two main players offering discount fares for travel in June. Why would you do that when demand for travel in June is usually good. We too will have too match the fare levels," he said.

Indirect tax collections rise by 20% in Apr-Feb

New Delhi  March 14, 2013

 The Budget targeted 27% growth in the indirect tax collections in 2012-13 financial year

Indirect tax collections has registered growth of 20% to Rs 4.17 lakh crore in April-February period of the ongoing fiscal. The Budget targetted 27% growth in the indirect tax collections in 2012-13 financial year. The excise duty collection during April-February period totalled Rs 1.54 lakh crore, while customs duty mop up was at Rs 1.5 lakh crore, according to sources in the tax department. The service tax collection was Rs 1.13 lakh crore during the period. The government had fixed the target of indirect tax collection, comprising customs, excise and service tax, at Rs 5.05 lakh crore for the current fiscal, an increase of about 27% from 2011-12 target. In February, the indirect tax collection was Rs 41,000 crore. Meanwhile, macroeconomic data has shown initial signs of recovery. After declining for two months in a row, industrial output in January grew by 2.4%. As per the IIP data, the industrial production has recorded an increase of 1% during the 10-month period (April-January 2012-13), down from 3.4% in the same period of 2011-12. RBI is scheduled to announce its mid-quarter review of monetary policy on March 19 and there is widespread expectation that the central bank will cut policy rates to boost growth prospects.

Corporates rampantly using bogus bills to evade taxes: CBDT

Mar 13, 2013
 The country's apex tax body, the CBDT or Central Board of Direct Taxes has expressed concern over the rampant involvement of corporates amongst other entities in a hawala racket where bogus bills are used to suppress taxable income. Speaking to ET NOW, KV Chowdary, Member, Investigation, CBDT said, "It is a disturbing trend, there is no doubt about it. So far, we have verified bogus billing of Rs 7000 crore in Maharashtra based on leads from the sales tax department and our independent probe. We expect the scale of the racket to be around Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000 crore. Overall, we have found similar trends elsewhere also. Obtaining bogus bills and creating different layers to route transactions appears to be the common feature of tax evasion."

 When asked to elaborate on the involvement of corporates in the ongoing probe, Chowdary added, "It would be difficult to name one or two corporates. There are several corporates who have availed these bills. The hawala racket is spread across all sectors, manufacturing and steel to name a few. Basically, if the billing itself is not genuine and there is an intent to evade tax, the sector is not very relevant. It is only the naming of the bill giver which may change. For example, if its a software company which is availing bogus bills, then they may like to take the bill in the name of another software company." Chowdary also indicated that in cases where bogus billing has been detected, a number of corporates have come forward voluntarily in a bid to revise their IT returns. "Some of these are direct cases of inflation of expenditure and inflation of purchases. Quite a few corporates want to come out of this situation and we would welcome them to come and clean up their accounts," he adds. Chowdary says similar trends have been detected in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Delhi but adds that the magnitude of the racket appears to be very large in Maharashtra. He doesn't rule out stern action against corporates who do not co-operate with the income tax department. "If an assesse has done activities which amount to either furnishing of inaccurate particulars or concealment of income, then the penalty will follow and in appropriate cases, prosecution cases will also follow," he says. The CBDT is looking at a non-intrusive way of widening the tax base and raising revenues and Chowdary says work has begun on that front. "In the case of taxpayers who have not filed their returns, we have sent two batches of 35,000 letters to them. The next batch of 35000 letters is on its way."

Spanco gets notice for service tax evasion of Rs 27 crore

MUMBAI: The service tax department has detected a case of tax evasion running into nearly Rs 27 crore. A senior official of the service tax department said the case is murkier, considering that it is an issue in which the company has defaulted on depositing service tax after collecting it from clients. The tax department has sent a notice to Spanco, a Mumbai-based company, which is in the business of providing technology infrastructure. The notice was addressed to group company Spanco BPO.

Shiva worship not a religious act, income tax tribunal says

MUMBAI: Lord Shiva, Hanuman and goddess Durga do not represent any particular religion but are regarded as supernatural powers of the universe, the Nagpur income tax appellate tribunal has said. The observation came when the tribunal was hearing an appeal by Nagpur-based Shiv Mandir Devstan Panch Committee Sanstan against an income tax commissioner's order denying it tax exemption on grounds that more than 5% of its expenditure was incurred on religious activities.

RBI asks banks to issue debit, credit cards with photo

NEW DELHI: Banks have been advised by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider issuing debit and credit cards with photographs of the cardholders to prevent misuse of stolen cards, the Lok Sabha was informed today. "Banks have been advised by the RBI that, with a view to reducing the instances of misuse of lost/stolen cards, they may consider issuing cards with photographs of the cardholders or any other advanced methods that may evolve from time to time," minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena said. He said in the written reply that as regards credit cards, banks have been advised by the RBI to also consider cards with PIN and signature laminated cards or any other advanced methods.

Government has launched drive against fake Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
15-March-2013 16:13 IST
Drive Against Fake Pan Cards


The Government has launched drive against fake Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards. As a continuous process, in order to know the genuineness of Know Your Customer (KYC) documents on Proof of Identity (POI) and Proof of Address (POA), third party field verification is conducted after allotment of PAN. The information of failed KYC verification is made available to field formations of Department to mark the event in respect of PAN as ‘FAKE’ through Assessee Information System (AIS) application software.



Also, check on duplicate allotment of PANs to existing PAN allottees is an inbuilt feature of PAN allotment software process which works as a continuous process.



The following is the number of PAN marked as Fake:

Year                          - No. of cases marked ‘FAKE’

Before 1.4.2009       - 136

2009-10                    - 37

2010-11                    - 56

2011-12                    - 100

2012-13 (till date)    - 180

Total                         - 509

Of the total PAN allotment, 96.35% PAN allotments are under the category of “Individual” applicants and maximum fake/duplicates are also observed under individual category. For uniquely identifying the PAN allotted and to overcome the problems of fake PANs, issue of more than one PAN to an individual and to clean up the PAN database duplicates, capturing of Aadhaar in revised PAN application from 49A has been started on voluntary basis. 3,04,452 unique Aadhaar numbers have been seeded/incorporated into PAN database. For KYC strengthening, the format of certificate of Identity/Address issued by MP/MLA/Municipal Counselor/Gazetted officer has been prescribed.





This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri S.S. Palanimanickam in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.





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RBI likely to cut key policy rates by 0.25%: Experts

Taking cue from declining core inflation levels and sluggish growth trends, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut key policy rates by 0.25 per cent in its mid-quarter review on March 19, global investment banking majors have said.

Even if RBI cuts rates on Tuesday, the tone of monetary policy guidance is unlikely to change significantly, they said, adding that policy guidance is likely to be "cautious".

According to global banking giants HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citigroup, Barclays and Credit Suisse, RBI is likely to slash the repo, or short-term lending, rate in its review meeting.

The factors that are likely to act in favour of a slash in rate cuts include a narrower February trade deficit, adherence to the fiscal deficit target in FY 2013, a slowdown in GDP growth to decade-low levels, and a fall in core inflation to below 4 per cent for the first time since April, 2010.

"Though wholesale price-based inflation at 6.84 per cent in February was marginally higher than expected, we maintain our view of a 0.25 per cent reduction in the repo rate to 7.50 per cent next week," Standard Chartered economist Anubhuti Sahay said in report.

Barclays Capital economist Siddhartha Sanyal in a research note said that "if the increase in LPG and diesel were not implemented, then we estimate that WPI inflation for February would have been close to 6.3 per cent, underpinning the downward trajectory that started in October 2012".

Citi India Chief Economist Rohini Malkani said: "We maintain our view of a modest 0.50 per cent easing in rates in 2013, with a 0.25 per cent cut on March 19."

Lingering inflation pressures and the still wide current account deficit limits the scope of RBI to ease monetary policy, experts believe.

The current account deficit (CAD) represents the difference between inflows and outflows of foreign currency.

The CAD had touched a record high of 5.4 percent of GDP in the July-September quarter.

"Headline WPI inflation rose more than expected due to increases in administered fuel prices. However, core inflation continued to ease, which will help pave the way for another RBI rate cut next week," HSBC Chief Economist (India and ASEAN) Leif Eskesen said.

7 things you should know about PPF

Want to invest in Public Provident Fund (PPF) but not sure how it works? Read this space to know 7 important things that you should know about PPF.

1. PPF - a government backed long term small savings scheme


Public Provident Fund (PPF) is a scheme of the Central Government, framed under the PPF Act of 1968. Briefly, the PPF is a government backed, long term small savings scheme which was initially started by the Government because it wanted to provide retirement security to self-employed individuals and workers in the unorganized sector.

It is today the most popular investment made by Indian citizens. If you are keen on a safe investment, a decent rate of return, tax benefits (deduction and tax free interest) and have a long term investment horizon, then the PPF is for you. It is a disciplined investment avenue as your money is blocked for 15 years.

2. How do I open a PPF account? What should I keep in mind when opening my PPF account?

Head over to your nearest State Bank of India branch, or a branch of any of State Bank’s subsidiaries. You can also open an account in select nationalized banks, and the post office. Fill in the form, attach a photograph, state your PAN Number, and you’re done. Once your formalities are completed, you will receive a pass book which will record all your PPF transactions.

At any point in your life, you are allowed to have only 1 PPF account in your name. You can also have an account in the name of a minor child of whom you are the parent / guardian. However that will be the child’s account, you will simply be the guardian. You can never have a joint account.
If at any time it is seen that you have more than 1 account in your own name, the second account will be deactivated, and only your principal will be returned to you.

If you have a General provident Fund account, or an Employees Provident Fund account, you can still have a PPF account there is no restriction.

3. Can an NRI open a PPF account?

The rule of 25th July, 2003 states that ‘Non Resident Indians are not eligible to open an account under the PPF Scheme’. However ‘Provided that if a resident who subsequently becomes a Non Resident during the currency of the maturity period prescribed under the PPF scheme may continue to subscribe to the Fund till its maturity, on a Non Repatriation Basis.’
So if you open it as an RI, and during the 15 year tenure become an NRI, you can continue to invest, but on a non-repatriable basis.

4. When is the best time to invest in PPF account?

The best time to invest is between the 1st and the 5th of any month, preferably April each year. Interest is calculated for the calendar month on the lowest balance at credit of your account, between the close of the 5th day and the end of the month, and is credited at the end of every year.

5. Is a Loan against PPF account allowed?

Yes loan facility is available against a PPF account. The first loan can be taken in the third year of opening the account i.e., if the account is opened during the year 2010-11, the first loan can be taken during the year 2012-2013. The loan amount will be restricted to 25% of the balance including interest for the year 2010-11 in the account as on 31/3/2011. The loan must be repaid in a maximum of 36 EMIs. You can take a second loan against your PPF account before the end of your sixth financial year, but your second loan can be taken only once your first loan is fully settled.

6. Are withdrawals from PPF account allowed?

Any time after the expiry of the 5th year from the date that the initial subscription is made, you become eligible to withdraw an amount of not more than 50% of the previous year’s balance or of the 4th year immediately preceding the year of withdrawal, whichever is less. If you have taken any loan on your PPF, this also gets factored in and reduces your balance. You cannot make more than a single withdrawal in the year. You need to apply with Form C for any withdrawals.

7. What happens after PPF account matures?

You have 3 choices.

Either you can withdraw your maturity amount, or you can extend your account by a 5 year block, as many times as you want and make fresh contributions, or you can extend the account without making any further contributions, and continue to earn interest on it every year.
If you decide to withdraw your money, your maturity value is exempt from tax.
If you decide to extend your account and continue making fresh contributions, you can extend it for a block of 5 years at a time, as many times as you want, you can also make withdrawals from the account, up to 60% of the account balance that was there at the beginning of the extended period. Just remember, if you choose to extend your account, submit the necessary documentation for extension before one year passes from the maturity date.
If you choose to extend your account without making any fresh contributions, you can do so. In this case, any amount can be withdrawn without any restriction; however you can only withdraw once per year. The balance will continue to earn interest till it is withdrawn.

Do not forget, there may be lots of things you may not know about your PPF account. 

 

Reliance MF declares dividend under various schemes

Reliance Mutual Fund has declared dividend under various open ended schemes, the record date for which is fixed on March 19, 2013. The quantum of dividend will be on the face value of Rs 10 per unit.

Reliance Short Term Fund Dividend Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 0.2200

Reliance Short Term Fund - Direct Plan Dividend Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 0.1300

Reliance Money Manager Fund - Retail Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 20.3776

Reliance Money Manager Fund - Quarterly Dividend Option: 19.1995

Reliance Money Manager Fund - Direct Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 18.6323

Reliance Income Fund Dividend Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 0.4430

Reliance Income Fund - Direct Plan - Dividend Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 0.1924

Reliance Floating Rate Fund - Short Term Plan - Dividend Plan Quarterly Dividend Option: 0.1757

Reliance Floating Rate Fund - Short Term Plan - Direct Plan - Dividend Plan -Quarterly Dividend Option: 0.0986

Reliance Liquid Fund - Treasury Plan - Retail Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 22.9925

Reliance Liquid Fund - Treasury Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 20.8181

Reliance Liquid Fund - Treasury Plan - Direct Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 18.0079

Reliance Liquid Fund - Cash Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 19.4070

Reliance Liquid Fund - Cash Plan - Direct Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 13.9462

Reliance Liquidity Fund - Dividend Plan - Quarterly Dividend Option: 20.4046

Reliance Income Fund - Dividend Plan - Half Yearly Dividend Option: 0.6705

Reliance Income Fund - Direct Plan - Dividend Plan - Half Yearly Dividend Option: 0.0189

Reliance Income Fund - Dividend Plan - Annual Dividend Option: 1.3678

Reliance Income Fund - Direct Plan - Dividend Plan - Annual Dividend Option: 0.2793