The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, March 01, 2007

A menu with little spice
The stock markets crashed, the individual taxpayer remained unhappy and the corporate sector felt left out. That, in a nutshell, is the story at the end of the day that saw the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, present the 2007-08 Budget, the ... More

No extra burden on corporates: Chidambaram
`Growth story is intact, I expect economy to grow at 9%' More

Bears run amok on Dalal Street
B-days are associated with a high degree of volatility in the Indian markets and today was no different. There was a splash of red across global market indices on Tuesday following the clampdown by the Chinese Government on illegal investment. ... More

Looking beyond market gyrations
Budget and stocks More

Larger overseas pie, but a blow for liquid funds
Budget 2007 has an unexpected package of proposals for the mutual fund industry, with a mixed impact on players. On the positive side, it opens up new avenues for fund houses to expand their product suite through new infrastructure funds and ... More

Income-tax: Marginal benefit
In the current year, there has been better tax compliance by individuals. I hope this trend will continue. The current slabs and rates of personal income tax (PIT) were introduced only two years ago. They ... More

Dividend tax on MFs investing in money markets raised
The Union Budget has marked up the dividend distribution tax (DDT) on mutual funds investing in money market and liquid markets to 25 per cent for all investors. The Finance Minister said the funds enjoy concessional tax rates allowing for huge ... More

Farm sector unlikely to witness dramatic change
Buckling under continual attack from all directions over its inability to contain inflation, fuelled mainly by shortage of essential food products, the Government seems to be keen to project a pro-poor image. Agriculture is the main challenge, ... More

Tax disadvantage after Rs 5.10 lakh
Budget 2007 provides for increase in basic exemption limit of Rs 10,000 for personal income tax. The basic limit for women assessees has been enhanced to Rs 1.45 lakh and for senior citizens the limit has been pegged up at Rs 1.95 lakh. For ... More

Govt freezes wheat, rice futures
Move seen to curb inflation, procure for buffer stocks More

Nasscom disappointed; to take up concerns with Govt
`MAT proposal to be hard on small cos; FDI may be hit' More

Telecom tariffs to fall with single levy regime
But ringtones, downloads will get dearer More

Drugs sector unhappy with lukewarm treatment
Finance Minister Mr P.Chidambaram has not managed to seize the moment, according to heavyweights of the pharmaceutical industry. Though happy that Budget 2007-08 has extended the 150 per cent weighted deduction on expenditure incurred on ... More

A mixed package for oil and gas industry
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Sensex sees biggest fall on Budget day in last 5 years
The Budget failed to enthuse market participants on a choppy day and the Sensex has shed close to 540.74 points to 12,938.09. It was the biggest fall since the May 18, 2006 correction and it was the lowest close since December 12, 2006. This ... More

`Move on cement will be counterproductive'
Cement stocks dwindle on selling pressure More