Among a host of things, the Centre is planning to empower stock exchanges to collect the duty and pass it on to the states. This will be a major shift from the existing structure where states directly collect the duty, whose rate varies from one state to another.
Areva has 60-Mw of biomass-based power capacity in India. It is looking to also tap the market for nuclear power in a big way.
The country will get more voice in decision-making at IMF.
The long-pending issue of seizure of Indian generic drugs by European Union countries has been resolved, with the EU accepting India's position and agreeing to amend the rules to plug the loopholes that led to the seizure of shipments.
Reliance Industries Ltd's legal battle over the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to impose 21 per cent value-added tax on gas is holding up supply to NTPC's two power plants and Indian Oil Corporation's Mathura refinery, despite a group of ministers making allocation to them.
A recent decision of the high court in Chennai on the levy of service tax on software sale has made the Union finance ministry hopeful of a similar verdict in the case of copyright services.
The empowered committee of state finance ministers has approved the position paper of the Centre on the information technology network for the proposed indirect tax regime.
Last week, Chandra Shekhar Verma did something rather uncharacteristic for a state-owned company chieftain, especially one reputed to be a stickler for rules. The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) chairman - its youngest ever - openly criticised the government.
If the waxy crude oil from Cairn's Mangala field in Rajasthan's Barmer area could get the company such high valuations, the prospects of other companies producing higher-grade crude oil or natural gas certainly brighten.
The income-tax department intends to bring individuals under the ambit of the proposed controlled-foreign companies (CFCs).
In a counter affidavit filed in the court, the department has said that temporary transfer of rights to copy in a limited manner will be chargeable to service tax.
GAIL India chairman and managing director B C Tripathi said the availability and possibility of gas has changed with the change in government policy.
In an attempt to get states to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by next April, the Centre has softened its stance on most proposals in the draft Constitutional Amendment Bill that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hopes to pilot in the monsoon session.
Says banks strong enough to tackle the problem on their own
But contentious areas like special economic zones, capital gains and Ulips may see changes
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had asked officials in his ministry to finalise the draft by August 20 so that it could be in Parliament before the session concluded on August 27, said a finance ministry official.
In an interview with Ajay Modi & Jyoti Mukul, ONGC chairman R S Sharma says uncertainties continue in the business even after decontrol of petrol prices.
The changes to the original draft of the Direct Taxes Code are going to cost taxpayers, with the government planning to significantly alter the slabs.
The finance ministry introduced the tax for the first time on July 1, 2010. PVR Pictures, in its petition, alleged that copyrights are treated as goods and the transfer of copyrights are treated as sale of goods, which falls within the domain of taxation by states under Article 246, and not the Union.
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