Package meets strategy

The western donors and multilateral financial institutions on Thursday pledged $6 billions to meet India’s “continued need of high quality long-term development assistance for the year 1994-95.” The assistance pledged this year at the annual Aid India Consortium, unlike in previous years, did not include fast disbursing assistance which the Indian delegation told the donors was no longer required in line with the country’s redefined borrowing strategy of becoming a ‘discerning and discriminating borrower of quality assistance to maximise soft loan.”

Nine pacts signed with Russia

India and Russia on Thursday agreed to co-operate in combating terrorism including that supported from outside and signed nine agreements including one on joint venture military aviation firm, asserting that their military ties were not directed against any third nation. The Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, and the Russian President, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, signed two historic declarations after their summit meeting in which they came down heavily on efforts to promote aggressive nationalism and religious fanaticism. There was no breakthrough in the issue of New Delhi’s estimated $10 billions debt to the ex-Soviet Union.

Service tax from today

The new service tax on telephones, general insurance and stock brokerage, proposed in this year’s budget, will be levied from tomorrow (July 1). A Finance Ministry press note issued here on Thursday said that exemption from the tax will be granted to certain class of services to be provided by insurers and telephone authorities and notified separately.

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