Even as the government grapples with a surge in prices, a three-year old initiative to recast the index that measures wholesale prices is not getting anywhere fast. The revised index is likely to take at least another year to implement and may spill over into the tenure of the next government.
No less than 4.5 million government employees will soon have more money in their pockets. And they can thank Justice Bellur Narayanaswamy Srikrishna for it. Still, public records do not have much information on the man.
The Defence sector is unhappy with the Sixth Pay Commission. The points of discontent include the fact that the Military Service Pay will only begin from the date of acceptance of the award possibly 3 months from now even as their civilian counterparts will get salary arrears from January 2006 onwards. Defence officers want to be compensated for the interim period vis--vis their civilian colleagues. They are also unhappy with the quantification of arduous service conditions.
Sam Pitroda-backed Vavasi Telegence's request for unused radio frequency to be allotted to launch mobile services across the country is unlikely to be met by the department of telecommunication because it said international technology specifications for this wireless technology do not exist. Instead, DoT is considering the option of allotting the company spectrum in the 400 to 430 MHz band, radio frequencies that are currently not used for mobile services in India.
Tasked with gathering over Rs 6,87,715 crore (or nearly $168 billion) as revenue receipts in 2008-09, the two agencies the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) will be headed by a succession of bureaucrats with unusually short tenures.
Mauritius has rejected compensation of Rs 500 crore to plug loopholes in double taxation avoidance treaty. Mauritius accounts for nearly half of all foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to India. With the tightening of tax laws, India attempted to amend the treaty. Due to the treaty, India was suffering over Rs 4,000 crore loss annually for some years in terms of revenue foregone on account of the capital gains exemption for investors routing their funds through Mauritius.
Some large companies said the measure would broaden and deepen the equity cult in the country, but feel that a blanket 25 per cent minimum public shareholding norm should not be applied indiscriminately to all companies. The ministry had floated the paper on February 1 and asked for public comments by the month-end. The minimum public shareholding limit now is 10 per cent.
The central government is likely to announce a restructuring-cum-revival package for Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL), the largest public sector shipyard, at a cost of around Rs 830 crore (Rs 8.3 billion) in the coming Budget.
Even as the debate over off-Budget liabilities continues, former finance ministry bureaucrats and leading economists say it's time the government went beyond the targets in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.
The $100-million fund, which has the option to raise a further $200 million, will benefit small and medium enterprises engaged in defence production.
Mumbai rail service may get a facelift as the Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav announces the Phase II of developmental plans this Budget.
The European Union has drawn up an initial negative list of 416 tradeable items on which it does not intend to provide duty cuts as part of the proposed free trade agreement with India
Russian Prime Minister Victor Zubkov, who arrives in New Delhi on February 12, is leading a delegation of over 150 CEOs
Move aimed at reducing tax exemptions ahead of Budget 2008-09.
The commerce ministry has endorsed India Inc's stand against signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with China until it becomes a market economy that follows transparent pricing of manufactured goods and services.
At present, the FDI limit for FM radio companies is 20 per cent. A senior Trai official has indicated that it could recommend an increase between 26 and 74 per cent.
Central ministries as a whole are expected to get an increase of only 15 per cent in gross budgetary support for 2008-09, much lower than the 62 per cent increase they had demanded.
India's booming mobile services market will see investments of over Rs 100,000 crore (around $24 billion) by 2010, the fastest investment ramp-up seen in any telecom market globally even as analysts predict a bruising battle that will see tariffs fall sharply.
With anti-competitive practices of global pharma companies increasingly coming under regulatory scrutiny internationally, Indian public interest groups and the domestic medicine makers complain that India's competitive laws are not equipped to face a similar situation of monopoly in the sales of patent protected medicines in the country.
The measures are part of a package of nine concessions that were suggested by the commerce ministry around eight weeks ago and are awaiting cabinet approval.
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