The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, June 24, 2009

INDUSTRY & ECONOMY

EXPORTS & IMPORTS: Duty-free import regime ushered for 2,202 items from Singapore
Tariffs slashed on 539 agreed items. New Delhi, June 23 India has knocked off import duties on 2,202 items as part of its tariff elimination commitments under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with ...

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING: Global crisis: Study says Indian media coverage scores over Europe, US
New Delhi, June 23 The Indian media does not share in the blame attributed to the Western media for doing a poor job of warning the public of the economic crisis, according to a ...

URBAN DEVELOPMENT: New slum development scheme to cover 74 cities
Rs 1.5 lakh Central assistance to be given to each family. Barely a fortnight after the President’s address to Parliament outlining the new Government’s development priorities, work is under way on translating some of these goals ...

PETROLEUM: Oil refiners wary of Q2
Fuel losses projected to touch Rs 51,000 crore. Mumbai, June 23 Oil refiners are apprehensive that the second quarter of this fiscal could be “extremely difficult” if the Centre does not hike prices of petrol ...

PSU: Govt to go ahead with tie-ups of Central and State PSUs
Kareem launches NTPC-TELK joint venture operations. Kochi, June 23 In order to tide over the crisis being faced by the State public sector units, the State Government has initiated steps for tie-ups between various Central and State PSUs, Mr ...

ECONOMY: Kerala revising BPL list
The Kerala Government is revising the list of below-the-poverty line (BPL) families in the State, which will be published in July, according to the Minister for Local Administration, Mr Paloli ...

FOREIGN TRADE: Israeli firm to set up dairy, pesticide units in AP
The Israeli Ambassador to India, Mr Mark Sofer, today said that an Israeli company is all set to establish one of the largest dairy projects in the world in Andhra ...

POWER: Centre’s 100-day power plan: 5,653 MW capacity addition
New Delhi, June 23 The Centre is targeting the commissioning of a power capacity addition of over 5,500 MW in its 100-day ...

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS: CII Young Indian team on exploratory visit to UK
Bangalore, June 23 The Young Indian (Yi) chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry is leading a 15-member delegation to the UK on June ...

INVESTMENTS: ‘Coimbatore is promising destination for investors’
La Salle makes a case for branding. Coimbatore, June 23 While Coimbatore has emerged as an ideal IT destination, textile hub and educational centre, there has been no concerted effort to create a brand for the city in the minds of target ...

PSU: HAL forms unified helicopter complex to cater to growing business
Bangalore, June 23 Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has recast all its helicopter-related activities that were spread across units under a new, unified Helicopter ...

REGULATORY BODIES & RULINGS: DoT slaps fine on mobile operators
Subscribers without proper ID documents found on their networks. New Delhi, June 23 The Department of Telecom has imposed a penalty on mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Bharat Sanchar Nigam ...

FOREIGN TRADE: Dubai Airport Freezone eyes Indian investors
Hopes to have over 150 companies by 2010-end. Bangalore, June 23 To expand its business, Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZ) is looking at India as a potential investor ...

ECONOMY: Profits from BRIC to tow GM out of slump
Ahmedabad, June 23 The BRIC nations are the fastest growing markets for General Motors and profits from these countries will be leveraged to pull the parent company in US out of the current slump, said Mr P. Balendran, Vice-President, ...

BUDGET: Budget cues
With barely two weeks to go for the new Government’s first Budget and a month before the next monetary policy review by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the economy offers some clues on what policymakers should do. So far there have been ...

INFRASTRUCTURE: Mumbai airport all set to take on the monsoon
ACTION STATIONS. Mumbai, June 23 Preparations to tackle monsoon snarls at the Mumbai airport are in full swing. Standard procedures have been complied with and steps have been taken to minimise the impact of emergency ...

VENTURE CAPITAL: Clean tech may attract $3.5 b from pvt equities
New Delhi, June 23 Mr Sajjan Jindal, President, Assocham, said clean technology is expected to attract an investment of $3.5 billion in the next few years from private equity players and ...

HUMAN RESOURCES: Deloitte India offers career customisation option for staff
Mr Dhananjay Bansod, Chief People Officer, Deloitte India, has at least four per cent of his workforce on a professional see-saw. While some are dialling down their job roles and responsibilities, others are dialling up and ready to ...

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES: HC directs employer to reimburse medical expenses
Inadequate facilities in plantation. Chennai, June 23 The claim of a plantation worker in Tamil Nadu for reimbursement of medical expenses incurred in a private hospital was to be conceded, the Madras High Court has held. However, the Court made ...

POWER: High goals
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POWER: Power billing
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EDUCATION: ‘Some papers of Ramanujan still unsolved’
“Some of the original works done by Srinivasa Ramanujan, which are unsolved, are well-preserved at Madras University. Only a few, however, are interested in taking up research work on his formulas, which can be used in ...

DOUBLE TAXATION TREATIES: Double taxation pact with Myanmar to take effect from April 2010
The double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) between India and Myanmar will come into effect in India from April 1, 2010, a revenue department official ...

METALS: ‘Industry must focus on zinc mining’
With global meltdown hitting hard, it is time to invest in exploration and mining of zinc, according to Mr P. Parvathisem, former Chairman and Managing Director of Nalco and ...

EMPLOYMENT: IIPM places 2,300 students
Despite being a challenging year for the most B-schools, the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) has managed to place a total of 2,300 students. A record 750 companies visited the campus and the average salary stood at Rs 4.2 ...

POWER: Mandatory energy efficiency rating for cars soon
Hyderabad, June 23 The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) will make it mandatory for four products to display energy efficiency star ratings from January ...

TAXATION: Ways to raise revenues
The Finance Minister faces a situation fraught with uncertainties even as he prepares his proposals for Budget 2009-10. The macroeconomic environment now, both at home and abroad, appears to be slightly better than when he presented the ...

BUDGET: Restore parity in taxation under new pension scheme
All Central government employees who joined service after 2004 would stand to lose in terms of tax benefits under the new pension scheme. Contribution to the new pension scheme is tax deductible under Section 80CCD of the Income Tax ...

BUDGET: Strengthen farm sector
The growth in agriculture sector is crucial to maintaining the GDP momentum. Agriculture income affects the lives of nearly 700 million Indians. Higher food prices and food security will continue to be areas of concern for ...

BUDGET: Give a guiding hand, not crutch
In these testing times, the Government needs to adopt a proactive role. Industry does not require a crutch — it needs a firm guiding hand. What we need the Finance Minister to address are larger issues such as removing bureaucratic ...

BUDGET: Incentivise investments
The Indian economy has been one of the better performers in the world in recent years. However, driving growth in challenging times is the agenda of the government at the moment. For India to lead the global economy, the need of the hour ...

BUDGET: Focus on implementable policies
The Finance Minister should focus on clear-cut, implementable policies within the timeframe so that the budgetary provisions can be made accordingly. The priority areas can be decided from the database available with the Government. This would ...

BUDGET: Cut excise for CFLs
The Finance Minister must exempt compact fluorescent lamps from the current excise tax rate of 4 per cent and this would not only lower consumer prices but also promote the usage of the energy-efficient lamps and help ...

BUDGET: Ensure welfare of people and revenue for exchequer
The Finance Minister must prepare the Budget in such a way that he can get considerable revenue for the exchequer and also achieve maximum social and economic welfare. Focussing on indirect taxes, he could tax commodities that have ...

BUDGET: Raise 80C investment cap to Rs 5 lakh
Tax planning is a coherent part of any financial plan. Everybody, whether salaried or a businessman, is interested in minimising the tax liability. The Income-Tax Act allows certain deductions while calculating the taxable income. At ...

BUDGET: Raise the IT exemption limit
Despite inflation drifting to -1.6 per cent, middle-class housewives are left with no money to save as their expenses on essentials — vegetables, fruits and grocery — have trebled in the last one year. With mobile phones and ...

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS: FKCCI export awards
The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), on Tuesday, presented export awards for the fourth consecutive year to exporters of the State. Mangalore Refinery and Chemicals Ltd bagged the ‘star exporter’ ...