The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will shortly initiate an enquiry into the Rs. 700-crore scam involving companies which privately placed equity with individual investors through the promoters’ quota route. There are a number of companies both in the North and West which made such private placements and which have subsequently gone public. They include S. R Industries Ltd, Mewat Zinc, Smelters India, Modi Mirrless, Hoflland Finance, Thapar Oils & Fats and McMilan.

INSAT-2 C launched successfully

Telecommunication and broadcast services got a major shot in the arm with the successful launch of India’s complete communications satellite, EMSAT-2C, by launch vehicle ‘Ariane’ from Kourou in French Guyana early on Thursday. For the first time, India would have a KU-band fixed satellite service as well as S-band mobile satellite services. With this, the reach of TV will extend trans-border, virtually throughout Asia. Scientists at the Master Control Facility (MCE), of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bangalore, have begun receiving signals from the satellite, placed in the geostationary orbit.

‘Minimum tax rate for corporates, if necessary’

A minimum tax rate may have to be fixed for the corporate sector if companies continue to avoid paying taxes, according to the Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman, Mr. N. Rangachari. At a function organised here by the Triplicane Cultural Academy to felicitate him, Mr. Rangachari said many companies which made large profits and paid dividends of 55-60 per cent did not pay tax. “We may have to examine whether we should not bring back minimum tax,” he said.

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