'As the world goes digital, we cannot afford to be left behind.'
Inflation is affecting consumer spending and advertisers say they will now spend only on media which gives them the highest measurable returns. TV, for instance, grabs the biggest ad pie due to its mass appeal and the ready availability of TRPs, used to assess its returns.
Ficci has demanded cuts in excise duties and interest rates to lift the manufacturing sector. It also calls for appropriate raw material policies.
My only request to the finance minister is to allow retailers to adjust the service tax on all inputs such as rent and telephone against the sales tax we collect from consumers. We will be relieved to that extent, says BS Nagesh.
The Reserve Bank of India will soon appoint an external agency to assess the claims of complete financial inclusion in different states of the country.
Clearly not. But to take the case of the Indian airline industry which is in the news, its fleet must be cut by a fifth but it can't do this unless it also has the right to fire workers.
Iran's Finance Minister was here. And he lists the reasons why is country holds great promise for Indian companies willing to do business with his country.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to visit Iran soon, said Manbir Singh, India's ambassador to Iran.
Reeling under severe credit crunch, the Indian industry on Friday welcomed the decision of Reserve Bank of India to cut CRR rate by another 100 basis points but said the government and the central bank need to take more steps such as slashing interest rates to restore market confidence.
Rajya Sabha member and former Chairman of Prime Minister's Economic Panel C Rangarajan on Monday said he expects inflation to ease to 10 per cent by December. He said inflation last year was moderate almost at the end of December, so base effect will be to heighten inflation in the current year.
'RBI and the economy will gain tremendously from Urjit Patel's experience in both private and public sectors'
"We have always said if the WTO Director General feels there is a chance for (another) opening, then we will be prepared to come again to Geneva," Commerce Secretary G K Pillai told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci-CUTS conference in New Delhi. A marathon meeting of 30 trade ministers failed to reach a common ground when they met in Geneva between July 21-29 on an issue of the level of protection for developing countries in case of import surge.
Stating that India has not made much progress since the Beijing Olympics, Ajit Sharan, Secretary - Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), said that India needs to become a sporting nation if it has do well in big event.
Reforms in the Indian economy have brought about a change in the nature, role and functioning of industry chambers and their membership, both in terms of composition and numbers.
"Whatever may be the political undercurrents, the economy, and the markets, are bound to go forward at its own pace. It will get bigger and better. Our challenge is to keep it safe (for the benefit of investors)," the Sebi chief said.
In spite of the Orient snub, Tatas are still negotiating with them for the hotel takeover as well as scouting other US cities for luxury hotels.
Oil companies have welcomed the hike in petrol and diesel as it will help them cut losses on sale of fuel.
"My offer to the US is that they should reduce their subsidy by just one dollar and we have a deal," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday at a conference on globalisation, organised by FICCI and University of Oxford.
Marigold has been in the making for a long time.
According to sources the proposal has been scuppered by the British commerce ministry, which was not consulted, and which is the sectoral ministry for trade and investment.
The Budget proposal to upgrade ITIs to train workers in specific skills should help meet industry demand.
NITI Aayog recommendations cite the need for greater industry-academia collaboration to meet skill demand
The IT department of West Bengal is in the process of negotiations with some animation companies to set up an animation park in Kolkata. The state IT department initiative to set up incubation centres in Kolkata, Siliguri and Durgapur aimed to make West Bengal among the top three Indian IT states in revenue terms by 2010.
The media and entertainment industry in 2007 grew by an estimated 17 per cent over the previous year to touch Rs 51,300 crore (Rs 513 billion), according to a recent Ficci-PwC 2008 report. However, this is 6 percentage points lower than the 23 per cent growth registered in 2006. All the major segments within the M&E industry, comprising TV, film and print, will see a year-on-year fall in their growth rates going by the report estimates for 2007.
Around 11,500 ingredients have been put on the website for the public opinion.
Pharmaceutical major Wockhardt is looking at foraying into Japan either through exports or by setting up a manufacturing base.
Maharashtra topped the chart in terms of attractiveness at sub-national level in a weighted index calculated on the basis of individual ranking provided by participants of Ficci FDI Survey 2006.
The risk of non-performing assets, challenges of the knowledge economy and need for scale in the banking sector are issues needing immediate attention as India moves to a higher growth trajectory, he said.
The US on Tuesday made a strong case for pushing forward the civil nuclear agreement with India to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increase use of alternative sources to achieve energy security.
While the country is liaising with other countries through free trade agreements, the Indian manufacturing industry is gradually losing its grip over the domestic market due to inverted Customs duty structure, a Ficci survey has said.
In the absence of progress on services negotiations in the WTO, India is sending a team of officials to Europe to strike a deal in the services area with the EU under the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement.
The DMK parliamentary party appears to be a house divided, reports R Rajagopalan.
The government on Thursday revised its target of power capacity addition to 90,000 MW in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12), up by 11,423 MW from the earlier estimate of 78,577 MW, in order to meet the growing demand of electricity in the country.
Volcker said while some countries responded well to his findings, many others, particularly smaller nations, have not taken steps to deal with corruption.
The US on Tuesday said India must play a leadership role for achieving a global trade-liberalising agreement among 150 WTO members under the Doha Round of negotiations.
The two countries would be signing an MoU to foster research cooperation in biotechnology, the visiting premier said, addressing Indian industry captains at a conference organised by business chambers CII, FICCI and Assocham. \n\n
The Indo-Thai free trade agreement is likely to be signed by September. The agreement will initially cover goods and include services and investment at a later stage.
The Indian industry on Wednesday offered to play the peacemaker in the land row in West Bengal, parts of which have been witnessing violent protests by farmers against acquisition of land for industrial purposes.
The finance minister said while contribution of primary and fuel items to inflation has declined of late, certain manufacturing items are leading to its rise.
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