Equity Shares and Capital

 A company may attract outsiders to join the company and provide intellectual assets like patents, skills etc. in return of shares in the company. Such type of shares are known as sweat-equity shares.

Share Premium (Securities Premium) can be used for: (1) Issuing fully paid bonus shares - the premium capitalizes free shares, (2) Writing off preliminary expenses of incorporation, and (3) Writing off discount or commission on issue of shares/debentures. These are the only statutory uses under company law - it cannot be distributed as dividend.

Unclaimed dividend represents dividends declared by the company but not claimed by shareholders within the specified period (usually 7 years). Since this is a liability that the company owes to shareholders but remains unpaid, it is classified under Current Liabilities in the balance sheet. It is not a secured creditor claim (no security is involved), nor is it a provision (provisions are for estimated liabilities, not actual declared dividends).

When shares are forfeited (non-payment of allotment/call money) and later reissued, the Share Forfeiture Account balance represents the amount received from shareholders initially. After adjusting for any loss on reissue (if reissued at discount), the remaining credit balance in Share Forfeiture Account is transferred to Capital Reserve Account. Capital Reserve is created from capital profits and cannot be distributed as dividends. Reserve Capital is different - it's the portion of uncalled share capital that can be called only in winding up.

When a bonus issue is declared, shares are issued to existing shareholders free of cost by capitalizing reserves. This affects two balance sheet heads: (i) Share Capital increases as new shares are issued, and (ii) Reserves and Surplus decreases as the amount is transferred from reserves (like Securities Premium, General Reserve, etc.) to Share Capital account. Current Liabilities and Provisions are not affected because bonus issue is a capitalization of reserves, not a transaction involving current liabilities. The total shareholders' equity remains unchanged, only its composition changes.

Stock is the aggregate of fully paid up shares legally consolidated.

Both (i) and (ii) are the correct statements.

The Union Budget 2008-09 proposed raising the short-term capital gains tax from 10% to 15%. This increase was part of broader tax measures and aimed to align short-term gains taxation with other income categories. Options A (10% to 12%), B (12% to 15%), and D (retained at 10%) do not match the budget proposal.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, consolidated its stake in Tata Investment Corporation Ltd to around 55% in 2008, making it a subsidiary. This was part of Tata's corporate restructuring to strengthen control over its investment arm.

India has 24 recognized stock exchanges (also called share markets) approved by SEBI, including major ones like BSE, NSE, and regional exchanges across cities. This number has varied over time as some exchanges have merged or closed, but 24 represents the historical count of approved exchanges. The major exchanges are in Mumbai (BSE, NSE), with others in cities like Kolkata, Delhi, and Chennai.

The RIL (Reliance Industries Limited) and RPL (Reliance Petroleum Limited) merger had a swap ratio of 1:11. This meant shareholders received 1 share of RIL for every 11 shares of RPL held.

The RIL-RPL merger in 2002 had a swap ratio of 1:11, meaning one share of RPL would be exchanged for 11 shares of RIL. This ratio was determined based on the relative valuations of both companies at the time of merger. The merger was significant in India's corporate landscape as it combined Reliance Industries' petrochemical business with Reliance Petroleum's refining operations.