The Hindu Business Line : Monday, February 16, 2009

Tax holiday for export, IT units may continue
Changes in I-T rates unlikely in Interim Budget. New Delhi, Feb. 15 With the existing income tax rates likely to continue, expectations now centre on whether Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Minister in charge of Finance, will seek to amend the other ...

Doing an encore after 25 years!
New Delhi, Feb. 15 It was exactly a quarter of a century ago in February 1984 that Mr Pranab Mukherjee last presented a Finance Bill. His star was on the ascendant then but eight months later, after Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her ...

Countdown begins: The Fin... Most cos see value erosion after merger & acquisition deals
Tata Motors lost 82.04% following Jaguar-Land Rover deal. Of the 54 India companies involved in major (worth over $ 100 million) merger and acquisition deals – outbound, inbound and domestic – since 2005, only eight are doing well in ...

No slowdown effect on cement demand
Despatches helped by infrastructure, retail offtake. Has the cement industry managed to ward off the worst of the recent economic ...

Airlines mum on passing on gains
ATF PRICE CUT. New Delhi, Feb. 15 Domestic oil companies have reduced by more than 3.5 per cent the price that airlines have to pay for aviation turbine fuel (ATF) being procured during the last fortnight of this month, but domestic airlines are ...

Range-bound movement seen for benchmarks
Tinkering with policies here and there may not help alleviate problems. There has been a build up last week expecting a positive signal from the vote on account. But in a market dominated by traders, several players are now expecting that after ...

Essar eyes accessing HPCL’s Mundra-Delhi pipeline
‘Will help save on costs, maintain product quality and quantity’. New Delhi, Feb. 15 Essar Oil Ltd, the private sector refiner-cum-retailing company, is weighing the option of utilising capacity of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation ...

Budget should focus on fertiliser issue
The Budget season has come on without any of the insignias of the ritual — the industry/economists/labour consultations, which are more rites of passage than substance. However, lobbying seems to have started in right ...

Comex gold futures may rise
Gold futures, ended lower on Friday as fears of a financial meltdown receded. Firmer equities and news that the US was working on a programme to subsidise mortgages for homeowners before they fall into loan arrears also hit gold market ...

Gold on a bull run
Increase in demand for physical gold among investors. Mumbai, Feb 15 Commodity markets continue to remain volatile with players groping for direction. In recent weeks, across commodities, investor risk appetite has remained spasmodic. This has ...

A call for more sea-farers
A global campaign “Go to sea! A call for more seafarers” was recently launched by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to attract entrants to the shipping industry. This initiative has come at the right time, considering ...

Extend tax holiday for IT-ITeS
The information technology (IT) and information technology enabled services (ITeS) industry has performed splendidly well over the past decade. Availability of high quality skilled labour, low cost base and increasing advantage accruing from ...

North-West bracing for dry phase as rains lift
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15 Weather-making western disturbances bound for northwest India are set to take a break with an ‘exchange of guard’ across the border by semi-permanent parent weather systems. A resident trough ...