Sunday, February 28, 2010
Hockey World Cup: India win wam up game against Netherlands
New Delhi: India started their Hockey World Cup 2010 campaign on a high note, by beating Argentina and Netherlands in the warm up games. India beat Netherlands 2-1 in a practice match yesterday. The team had beaten Argentina by a similar margin earlier.
In the match against Netherlands, Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur scored the goals for for India, while Taeke Taekema converted a penalty for the Netherlands.
The Hockey World Cup 2010 will begin at Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi. India will take on arch-rival Pakistan in the first match.
Click Here for the Complete Schedule of Hockey World Cup 2010:
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BSNL offers Fastest Broadband Speed up to 24 Mbps
New Delhi: Breaking News! There is a big news for the customers, who want high-speed broadband service to beat the slow and pathetic speed. they witness in their day-to-day life. The state-owned telecom company, BSNL has launched the fastest-everbroadband service in India - up to 24 Mbps speed.
There will be two special packages - 16 Mbps and 24 Mbps. The 16 Mbps speed will be available to the customers, who reside within a distance of up to one km from the BSNL Exchange. It will cost Rs 4,999 per month.
The second one is 24 Mbps speed, which will be available to the customers, who reside within a distance of 500 metres from the BSNL Exchange. The plan will be available at Rs 9,999 per month.
This new high-speed broadband is being made available with Digital Subscriber Loop (VDSL) Technology. Unitl now, BSNL has been offering maximum speeds up to 8 Mbps.
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LG launches new Watch Phone at Rs 49,990
New Delhi: Breaking News! One of the leading mobile phone makers, LG has launched its new and stylish Watch Phone - GD910 - in the Indian market, which is priced at Rs 49,990. The cool gadget is meant for the higher class people because of its high price.
The stylish Watch Phone looks very stylish and has come up as an extra advantage to improve the personality of the users. It do
es have a Bluetooth headset and allows smooth communication.
The LG Watch Phone is built up of materials and elements from top brands. It's front has a scratch-proof tempered glass with a high-quality metal casing. The phone has a 13.9mm thick body and has 3G Video Telephony (VT) service and GSM Network capabilities.
The touch-screen enabled LG Watch Phone has a 7.2 Mbps 3G HSDPA, which allows high-speed data transfers and video phone calls with a built-in camera.
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paypal
Mumbai: Breaking News! In a big relief to the millions of IT Firms, Freelancers, Writers, SEOs and IT Developers, world's largest online money transfer service provider, PayPal has announced the resumption of local bank withdrawals to India.
The paypal announcement says that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed them to continue local bank withdrawals for settlements for exports of goods and services. All PayPal customers should be able to use the bank withdrawal service from March 3, 2010 onwards.
As part of the changes, the customers will be required to fill out a new field entitled 'Export Code' when they request a withdrawal. This information is required under the current laws of India in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions.
On Monday, March 1st, PayPal will be back in touch with its customers with specific instructions on how they can move their money into their bank accounts.
RBI has told PayPal that the online money transfer company needs specific approvals to allow personal remittances to India, which they currently do not have.
"Until PayPal gets these approvals, personal payments into India will remain suspended. However, if you are an exporter, you will continue to be able to use the PayPal service for payments of goods and services", said PayPal announcement.
All PayPal customers in India will now get purpose codes for export transactions and FIRCs (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificates). So, the payment and money transfers will become legit and there will be less scope for tax evasion and money laundering.
PayPal's India Head Farhad Irani has apologized for all inconvenience experienced by the customers in the past few weeks.
"We know the past few weeks have been difficult and I would like to assure you that we have been working tirelessly to resolve the situation and restore our service. PayPal’s highest priority is to always ensure we comply with all applicable regulations everywhere we do business around the world", he said.
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PM Manmohan Singh given a rousing welcome in Saudi Arabia
Riyadh: Breaking News! Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who arrived in Saudi Arabia on a state visit, was given a rousing welcome at the King Khaled International Airport, Riyadh. Dr. Singh is the first Prime Minister of India in 28 years to visit Saudi Arabia.
Only two Indian Prime Ministers had visited Saudi Arabia before. Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru visited the country in 1956 and then former PM Indira Gandhi visited Saudi Arabia in 1982.
The entire Saudi Arabia cabinet was present at the Airport when Dr. Singh's plane landed there. The Saudi team was led by the most powerful man in the cabinet, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.
Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who is the brother of King Abdullah,holds the charge of Defence Ministry, Civil Aviation Ministry and also is the first Deputy Prime Minister. Interior Minister and Governor of Riyadh Prince Abdul Aziz bin Mohammed bin Ayaf was also present at the Airport.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will be formally welcomed by King Abdullah on Sunday. When the Saudi King visited India as a Guest for Republic Day in 2006, Dr. Manmohan Singh offered a rare gesture and received him at the Airport.
This is not the first Saudi visit for Dr. Manmohan Singh. He had gone there in 1994 as the Finance Minister to attend a summit. India is looking forward to build a strategic and strong relationship with Saudi Arabia and improve its image in Gulf through the PM's visit.
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Opposition, UPA Allies want rollback in Fuel Prices
New Delhi: Breaking News! The UPA Government at the Centre, began to feel the heat, as some of its allies echoed the sentiments of the Opposition over the fuel price hike. The UPL allies Trinamool Congress and DMK are upset with the fuel price hike in Union Budget 2010 and want a rollback.
Trinamool Congress has already staged a protest in West Bengal over the fuel price hike. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has written a protest letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, seeking an immediate rollback.
DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi shot off letters to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to reconsider the decision to hike the fuel prices.
The Opposition BJP has already decided to raise the issue both in and outside Parliament and it has the backing of NDA allies, Left, Samajwadi Party, RJD and other political parties.
The Congress is in a dilemma over this issue, as it does not give a chance to the Opposition to hit back. Also, Congress is worried that BJP has received the support from parties like Left, RJD and Samajwadi Party.
On the other hand, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is adamant over his stand. He firmly ruled out any rollback in fuel prices. He has the support of the Prime Minister. It would be interesting to see if the Congress can afford to lose the support among the political parties and common people or force the FM to rollback the fuel prices.
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Chile Earthquake Toll rises to 300, 2 Million affected
Santiago (Agencies): Breaking News! Even as the biggest-ever search operation is still going on, the death toll in the massive earthquake in Chile, has gone up to 300. At least 1.5 million homes were damaged in the quake, which measured at 8.8 on the Richter scale.
According t
o President Chile's President, Michelle Bachelet, two million Chileans have been affected by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake. Santiago and Concepcion were worst-affected by the quake.
Many buildings were razed to the ground. Highways were blown into pieces and bridges collapsed, disrupting the communication and transportation.
Tsunami waves hit Chilean coast and New Zealand following the massive quake. Tsunami alerts in Australia and Russia were later downgraded as the threat passed.
According to the US Geological Survey, Chile has recorded more than 51 aftershocks ranging from 4.9 to 6.9 since the quake. The European Union (EU) has offered three million euros in immediate assistance to quake-hit Chile.
The United States and other countries have also assured help to Chile, if required. Rescue and relief operations are going on full swing in all affected areas in the qquake-hit Chile.
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IIT-Roorkee Student arrested for the murder of IIT-Delhi Female Student
Shimla: Breaking News! An IIT-Roorkee Student was held for the murder of an IIT-Delhi female student, who was found murdered in a hotel room in Shimla. The victim was identified as 22-year-old Pragati, a third-year student of textile engineering of IIT-Delhi.
Both Pragati and her friend, Gaurav Verma, a third-year architecture student of IIT-Roorkee, had checked into Rashik Hotel in Kaithu hotel on Friday night.
They had come from Delhi in a taxi. When they did not come out of the room for a long time, the hotel staff raised the alarm on Saturday morning.
The room was opened in the presence of the police and the girl was found murdered in a pool of blood. The boy had gone missing, but later was arrested in Haryana. Gaurav had reportedly consumed liquor and stabbed the girl into death.
Gaurav Verma hails from Manikapur in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh. Pragati was from Patna in Bihar. Two knives, a broken liquor bottle and a cake were recovered fromthe murder scene.
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CAT Online 2009 Results declared, Check Scores Online on Website
New Delhi: Breaking News! The much-awaited Common Admission Test (CAT) Online, 2009 results have been declared. Visit the CAT IIM Website at http://www.catiim.in/ to get your scorecard.
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While checking your score online, please make sure to have your CAT Registration Number and the email address you had supplied during CAT registration. If you are unable to locate your details, you may contact Candidate Care or call the Toll Free Number 1-800-103-9293. Further details may be asked for to verify your identity.
Out of the 2.42 lac students, who had registered for CAT Online 2009, only 2.16 lac finally appeared in the online test. Some students had to appear again because of technical glitches.
The CAT Online 2009 will be the gateway for the admission into 8 IIMs across the country. They are IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Indore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Lucknow, IIM Shillong and IIM Ranchi.
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Saturday, February 27, 2010
Fourth attack on Indians in Kabul since July 2008
Describing it as a 'heinous terrorist attack,' External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said as per the preliminary information provided by the Afghan government officials, 'up to nine Indians... have lost their lives.'
"A few Indians have been injured, most of whom are reported to be out of danger. Arrangements are being made for their adequate and expeditious treatment, if necessary, by evacuating them to India," he said in a statement.
The Indians, who died in the incident included embassy staffers from consulates in Herat and Kandahar, a member of a medical mission and government officials, embassy sources said without giving their identity or breakup.
This is the fourth attack targeted at Indians in Kabul since July 2008 when 60 people, including four Indian embassy officials, were killed in a massive car bomb attack on the embassy building.
India and Afghanistan had pointed the finger at Pakistan for the July 2008 attack on the embassy, with reports suggesting that the Haqqani network had carried out the strike.
Strongly condemning the attack, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said it would not be allowed to hurt Afghan-Indian relations.
"Attacks on Indian citizens will not affect relations between India and Afghanistan," he said.
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6 Indians killed in 'barbaric' Kabul strike
In yet another attack on Indians in Afghanistan on Friday, Taliban terrorists targeted hotels, killing six Indians associated with developmental work in the country, including two Major rank army officers.
At least 10 others, including five Indian Army officers, were injured in a coordinated strike that killed 11 others, including locals and nationals from other countries.
The bombers, believed to be three in number, struck at the guesthouses, particularly at Park Residence, rented out by the Indian embassy for its staffers and those linked to India's developmental work in Afghanistan.
The deceased Indians were identified as Major Dr Laishram Jyotin Singh of Army Medical Corps, Major Deepak Yadav of Army Education Corps, engineer Bhola Ram, tabla player Nawab Khan, staffer of Kandahar Consulate Nitish Chibber and ITBP constable Roshan Lal, Indian embassy sources said.
Earlier, the government of India had put the number of those dead at nine, which highly placed sources said was incorrect as it was based on preliminary assessment of the Afghan interior ministry.
Jyotin Singh was in Afghanistan to train local doctors at the Indira Gandhi hospital while Deepak Yadav was teaching English at the Afghan Military Academy.
Nawab Khan, who was killed in the attack on Park Residence, was part of the three-member cultural troupe, which was sent by Indian Council for Cultural Relations to Afghanistan.
Bhola Ram was project director at Afghan Power Grid Corporation and was instrumental in bringing electricity to Kabul from Uzbekistan, sources said.
The project had been completed and Bhola Ram was in the process of handing over the responsibilities to Afghans for which they were being trained.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police constable Roshan Lal, 35, a resident of Himachal Pradesh was deployed as the security personnel at the Indian Consulate in Herat. He was on leave and in transit on his way back home.
Chibber was secretary at the Indian Consulate in Kandahar.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in telephone calls made to some foreign news wires.
The terrorists targeted those Indians who were engaged in helping Afghan people and building partnership between the two countries, Indian Ambassador Jayant Prasad said.
"It is the handiwork of enemies of Afghan people and friendship between people of India and Afghanistan," Prasad said.
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Quake in Chile, ripples in Asia
A massive earthquake rattled Chile early Saturday, killing at least 70 people, producing powerful aftershocks and triggering a tsunami, emerging reports indicate. The death toll is expected to go high.
Image: People gather on a Santiago street after the quake ravaged the city.
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Image: People gather on a Santiago street after the quake ravaged the city.
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'Indian docs serving under difficult conditions in Kabul'
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the death of medical personnel in the Kabul blast defined the risks Indian medical teams have to face while serving in Afghanistan.
"The medical fraternity in our country has been serving our people under very difficult conditions with great distinction," Singh said inaugurating the annual meeting of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgeons here.
"My thought goes to those members of the Indian Medical Mission in Kabul who, while serving the people of Afghanistan, particularly the women and children, used to visit Indira Gandhi Hospital there, perished in the terror attack yesterday," he said.
The Prime Minister said the incident shows the measure of uncertainty that Indian doctors work under and pointed out the risks faced by them while serving the people of Afghanistan.
"It is a measure of the commitment to relief of human suffering that the medical fraternity is known for all over the world," he said.
Taliban carried out coordinated suicide attacks at two hotels in Kabul killing up to nine Indians.
Singh said Indians were very proud of the reputation their doctors have earned both in the country and in every part of the world. "I am one of those who has personally benefited enormously from the expertise and skills of our doctors, especially cardio-thoracic surgeons".
Observing that one of the challenges before India was the increased incidence of heart and blood vessel diseases, Singh said these ailments affect all social classes, with the poor being particularly vulnerable.
Coronary heart disease is also manifesting itself in much younger age groups than in the past, he said.
"There is growing consensus within the medical fraternity that urgent measures need to be taken both from the preventive point of view as well as in relation to cardiac surgical care," he said adding that primary long-term strategy to cope with heart and blood vessel diseases should clearly be preventive in nature.
"We know that many of these diseases can be prevented or at least delayed to a very late age. In recent years, there has been increasing social awareness about health related issues.
"This is a positive development and the growing health consciousness particularly among young people is a big resource for those who manage public health care," he said.
Singh said while preventive efforts are of paramount importance, there will still be many who will need to undergo surgery for correction of their heart or blood vessel disease.
"Whether it is a little infant who needs a hole in the heart closed or a teenager or an adult who needs his blocked blood vessels bypassed, it is the prowess of the surgeon that makes the difference often between life and death," he said.
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"The medical fraternity in our country has been serving our people under very difficult conditions with great distinction," Singh said inaugurating the annual meeting of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgeons here.
"My thought goes to those members of the Indian Medical Mission in Kabul who, while serving the people of Afghanistan, particularly the women and children, used to visit Indira Gandhi Hospital there, perished in the terror attack yesterday," he said.
The Prime Minister said the incident shows the measure of uncertainty that Indian doctors work under and pointed out the risks faced by them while serving the people of Afghanistan.
"It is a measure of the commitment to relief of human suffering that the medical fraternity is known for all over the world," he said.
Taliban carried out coordinated suicide attacks at two hotels in Kabul killing up to nine Indians.
Singh said Indians were very proud of the reputation their doctors have earned both in the country and in every part of the world. "I am one of those who has personally benefited enormously from the expertise and skills of our doctors, especially cardio-thoracic surgeons".
Observing that one of the challenges before India was the increased incidence of heart and blood vessel diseases, Singh said these ailments affect all social classes, with the poor being particularly vulnerable.
Coronary heart disease is also manifesting itself in much younger age groups than in the past, he said.
"There is growing consensus within the medical fraternity that urgent measures need to be taken both from the preventive point of view as well as in relation to cardiac surgical care," he said adding that primary long-term strategy to cope with heart and blood vessel diseases should clearly be preventive in nature.
"We know that many of these diseases can be prevented or at least delayed to a very late age. In recent years, there has been increasing social awareness about health related issues.
"This is a positive development and the growing health consciousness particularly among young people is a big resource for those who manage public health care," he said.
Singh said while preventive efforts are of paramount importance, there will still be many who will need to undergo surgery for correction of their heart or blood vessel disease.
"Whether it is a little infant who needs a hole in the heart closed or a teenager or an adult who needs his blocked blood vessels bypassed, it is the prowess of the surgeon that makes the difference often between life and death," he said.
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There is no alternative to dialogue with Pak: PM
New Delhi: In his first comment on the recent talks with Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said there was "no alternative" to dialogue to resolve issues which "divide us" and that India was ready to discuss all matters including Kashmir in an atmosphere free from terror.
Singh said India seeks "peaceful and normal relations" with Pakistan and "in that quest we have consistently sought to engage those in Pakistan who are ready to work with us."
In an interview to Saudi journalists ahead of his visit to Riyadh that began today, he said it was in the common interest of India and Pakistan to cooperate in fighting the menace of terrorism which hurts both.
"There is no change in our position... We should be good neighbours. There is no alternative to dialogue to resolve the issues that divide us," he said.
Singh was responding when asked whether the decision to have Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan reflected a change in India's stand that the stalled peace process can resume only if Islamabad acts against the planners of the Mumbai attack.
To a question on talks with Pakistan, he said, "Today the primary issue is terrorism."
Asked how serious was the Pakistan Taliban threat to India, especially to Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said that as a neighbour, India could not remain immune to the rise of extremism and terrorism in Pakistan or on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Extremism and terrorism are major threats not only to India, but also to Pakistan, and all its other neighbours. It is in our collective interest that we resolutely oppose, resist and overcome terrorism and all those who nurture, sustain and give sanctuary to terrorists and extremist elements," Singh said.
Asked how the Kashmir issue be solved once and for all, the Prime Minister said India was "ready to discuss all issues with them (Pakistan) in an atmosphere free from terrorism."
He noted that Jammu and Kashmir and its people have repeatedly suffered due to terrorism from across the border.
"This has militated against the will of the people of the state, who have time and again voted in large numbers in democratic elections to unambiguously reject violence," he said.
Singh said the government has taken several measures for the development of Jammu and Kashmir, and for its people to live in peace and harmony, as in the rest of the country.
The government's decision to have Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan after a 14-month break caused by the Mumbai terror strike has come under sharp attack from the Opposition BJP.
To a separate question on welfare of Indians living in the Gulf region, Singh today said steps are being taken to ensure better regulation of the recruitment process.
He said welfare of Indians living in the Gulf region was a matter of "high priority" for his Government and some steps have already been taken to address their grievances.
"At the Indian end, we are in the process of reforming our own procedures, including better regulation of the recruitment process," he told the Saudi journalists.
There are over five million Indian workers in the Gulf region out of which almost two million live and work in Saudi Arabia alone.
"We are extremely proud of the fact that the Indian community in the Gulf region has been contributing to the socio-economic development of the region. The welfare of such a large overseas Indian community is a matter of high priority for my government," Singh said.
The Prime Minister said the governments of several Gulf Cooperation Council countries have themselves set up mechanisms such as grievance redressal bodies and labour courts that are working closely with Indian officials.
"We have also put in place arrangements in all Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, to respond to workers' grievances," he said.
"These include a 24-hour helpline, temporary shelters, counselling centres, and strengthened Community Welfare Wings in our diplomatic Missions," he said.
The Gulf region has been the preferred destination of most of the poor and lower middle class workers, who are prone to exploitation.
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Friday, February 26, 2010
IT industry reacts to Budget 2010
The Finance Minister has given us a pragmatic forward looking budget that provides clarity to business
. We appreciate the clarification on Section 10AA and the Direct Tax Code, implementation date. The changes to the personal income tax are very beneficial to all professionals and is in line with overall simplification theme.”
Ambrish BAKAYA, Director- Corporate Affairs, Nokia India
We would like to thank the government on its proposal to extend the benefit of exemption of Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD) of 4% on parts imported for manufacturing mobile handsets from July 06, 2010 to March 31, 2011.
The Union Budget 2010 has also responded positively to the industry’s request on manufacturing of parts and accessories of mobile handsets in India. The budget proposes to remove the 24% import duty on components/raw material imported for manufacture of batteries, chargers and other part and accessories.
The will help bring more investment in the area to the country and encourage domestic manufacture of parts and accessories. We believe these moves are extremely encouraging to the category, and will help catalyze India’s emergence as a global telecom manufacturing hub.
Separately, the move towards exempting the Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD) of 4% on import mobile handsets is also a very welcome step. This duty was hitherto refundable on payment of VAT; this step will make the entire process of handset imports much simpler, facilitating better cash flow in the industry.”
Ananda Mukerji, MD&CEO, Firstsource Solutions Limited.
It’s a balanced and overall positive budget. Given fiscal constraints, the continued investment in infrastructure, education and health is a good sign. However 14 -16% growth in investment in historically hugely underinvested areas like primary education and healthcare is not going to be enough for sustained development in the long run and it would have been good to see bolder steps in this area. Commitment to a clear target of fiscal reduction and a roadmap of getting there is a laudable effort. While the fine print will have to be examined the Government’s stated intention to ease the refund of service tax credits to BPO units is also good to hear.
A clear disappointment is the lack of extension of STPI benefits given the huge role mid-sized IT and BPO companies play in employment generation in the country. This clearly has the risk of reducing India's attraction as a global outsourcing destination. Another retrograde step is increase in MAT. Though for Firstsource specifically this has very little cashflow impact since part of our revenues in any case attract deduction at source.
Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel
I must congratulate the Finance Minister and the government for a pragmatic, broad based and inclusive budget. Despite an abnormal south-west monsoon hampering kharif crop resulting in negative growth in the agriculture sector and double digit food inflation, the fiscal deficit has been restricted to 6.9%.
A long term focus on aggressive fiscal deficit reduction, addressal of government borrowings and continued focus on reforms redefines our budget as a process rather than an event.
The disposable income benefits to the "aam aadmi" - both in urban and rural India - should stimulate demand for service sectors like telecom which in turn contribute handsomely towards the economic growth of this country.
Manoj Chugh, President, India and SAARC, EMC Coporation
We are pleased at the earnest effort to introduce GST from April 2011. The continued focus on deployment of Information Technology for mission mode projects like commercial taxes augur well. Increased budget for the UID and the formation of the technical advisory group under the able leadership of Nandan Nilekani is laudable. We are also happy to see significant enhancement in funding for education and rural and urban infrastructure, which will drive demand for Information Technology.
Vikas Khanvelkar, MD, DesignTech Systems Ltd
Budget has nothing new for the IT Industry. 2% increase in excise duty on all the products will not have a very significant adverse impact on the demand and hence the production. Rise in petrol and diesel prices will increase the inflation which is already very high.
Substantial increase in the budget allocations for “Infrastructure and Energy” segments is a really good move which will create positive impact on the GDP and Economy in the long run by addressing long pending pain areas of the industry.
GST has been postponed to 1st April 2011 as anticipated. Industry will have to keep dealing with multiple level taxation structure for one more year.
Kapil Dev Singh, Country Manager, IDC
The finance minister is very optimistic about India’s growth. The expectation of Indian achieving 10% growth, in the near future, points to the domestic market consumption being the key driver.
The trend of domestic IT growth surpassing the IT exports growth is more certain, especially with the current focus on the domestic market and measures that will leave more in the hands of the consumer.
The broad based growth in various industry segments will have a derived effect on the IT market. This coupled with government’s commitment to spend on IT will augur well for the IT players focused on the domestic market.
Ashok Chandak, senior director, global sales and marketing, NXP Semiconductors
The current budget is a well balanced budget and the Finance Minister has clearly been focused on the banking industry, rural and agricultural sectors as well as infrastructure, along with giving a boost to investors and entrepreneurs. With regards to the semiconductor industry, it is a welcome step with a focus on financial inclusion, solar semiconductors, Research and Development and further enabling the use of smart cards and identification technologies at various levels.
The allocation of Rs 1,900 crore to the UIDAI for 2010-2011 would provide an effective platform for inclusive growth and enable the participation of the rural population integrating them with various social welfare schemes and development. The assignment of Rs 100 crore each for the Financial inclusion (FIF) and the Financial Inclusion Technology Fund and fillip to Business Correspondent concept will further enable to provide banking and insurance services to the bottom of the pyramid backed by a technology platform. All these initiatives could enable the use of smart cards and identification technologies like Near Field Communication to realize their true potential, as in the case of the earlier financial inclusion projects by various banks and during the pilot phases of the Multipurpose national identification projects supported by NXP.
Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, MAIT
“We are glad that the Hon’ble Finance Minister has unveiled the roadmap for GST with a definite date for implementation ie April, 2011. Unification of the rate on excise duty and the service tax has been a step in the right direction towards implementation of the GST. The rate of service tax as well as that of excise duty will now be 10%. This will also help mitigate the issue of CENVAT overflow for manufacture of IT products in the country.”
Elaborating on the outcome, he added, “Exemption of Special additional Duty (SAD) on pre-packaged goods for retail is also a welcome step as refunds for SAD were not forthcoming. However, to sustain hardware manufacturing in the country in the long run, it is critical that SAD on the input components be exempted as well.”
“It is heartening that the Hon’ble Finance Minister has recognised the strong potential of the electronics industry and its role in energy generation. In this regard, the announcement of concessional customs duty of 5 percent on machinery, equipment etc. for setting up photovoltaic and solar thermal power generating units is welcome”, added Mehta.
“Lastly, MAIT welcomes the setting up of the Technology Advisory Group under the chairmanship of Mr Nandan Nilekani for monitoring effective IT implementation in projects of National eminence. Timely completion of IT implementation in Government projects is not only critical to the growth and development of the country but also essential for delivering services to the citizens”, mentioned Mehta.
WS Mukund, MD, Acer India.
"It’s been a fairly balanced, yet progressive Budget. Focus on Education, Health and Infrastructure, with enhanced allocations, do pave the way for building a vibrant & competitive India.
For the PC industry there are some positives in terms of scope for adoption of IT in initiatives such as the Financial Inclusion Fund project to extend Banking to more habitats and scaling up of the Smart card projects in Health Insurance. That a Tech Advisory Group is being set up under the leadership of Nandan Nilekeni is another pointer to rapid adoption of IT projects in the areas of Taxation, Pension, Treasury, Infrastructure and GST.
For the PC industry, which had shown a de-growth in the year 2009-10, the roll back of Excise/CVD to 10% is a big dampener.
Also some of the inconsistencies that have been highlighted for redressal the last many months, such as MRP based abatement, phased reduction of CST to 1% (made all the more acute due to GST being postponed to the next fiscal) as also lack of any bold policy initiatives to make Broadband more pervasive and affordable, continue to persist. "
Surjeet Singh, Chief Financial Officer, Patni
“Increase in MAT from 15% to 18% on book profits would result in higher outgo of cash in the short term and would affect Indian corporates adversely. However this impact has been cushioned to a large extent by lowering of corporate surcharge from 10.0% to 7.5%. We welcome a higher percentage of weighted deduction on in-house R&D which has been increased to 200% from 150% as it will incentivize IT companies’ innovation focus.
We appreciate the setting up of Technology Advisory Group along with substantial outlay for UID project. This group will help in accelerated execution of large strategic Government IT projects thereby benefiting IT companies. Budget also proposes to ease the process of refund of service tax credit for exporters of services which will hopefully streamline the current cumbersome process. Tax reduction on account of changed tax slabs for individuals will also benefit the industry indirectly.
However Budget has not addressed IT Industry’s demand for extension of Tax holiday under STPI scheme as per Section 10 (A) of Income Tax Act which is a significant negative for the Industry.
Ramesh A Vaswani, Ex Vice Chairman, Intex Technologies
The FM has done a commendable job of partially withdrawing the stimulus by balancing this with various schemes which should accelerate GDP growth. The focus on the rural economy with substantial & higher allocations will more than make up for the slack in demand, if any, due to the marginal increase in the excise duty rate.
This budget will lead to an increase in the feel good factor which is believed to play an important role in increasing the demand of consumer products.
It is very heartening to note that the cost of mobile phones will come down and will further boost demand and encourage local manufacturing.
I am disappointed, however, by the lack of adequate attention to promote the local manufacturing of IT hardware and to increase domestic consumption of PC.I feel that the economy now requires for inclusive growth not only inputs in agriculture and rural infrastructure but also in IT literacy and IT infrastructure.
India has been talked of as a knowledge economy. And a knowledge commission was also set up to chalk out various initiatives. The small increase of weighted average expenditure deduction on in-house R & D from 1.5 to 2 % only encourages ongoing R&D activities. The FM could have thought of additional incentives to lure large foreign corporations and research institutions to set up their facilities in India.
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. We appreciate the clarification on Section 10AA and the Direct Tax Code, implementation date. The changes to the personal income tax are very beneficial to all professionals and is in line with overall simplification theme.”
Ambrish BAKAYA, Director- Corporate Affairs, Nokia India
We would like to thank the government on its proposal to extend the benefit of exemption of Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD) of 4% on parts imported for manufacturing mobile handsets from July 06, 2010 to March 31, 2011.
The Union Budget 2010 has also responded positively to the industry’s request on manufacturing of parts and accessories of mobile handsets in India. The budget proposes to remove the 24% import duty on components/raw material imported for manufacture of batteries, chargers and other part and accessories.
The will help bring more investment in the area to the country and encourage domestic manufacture of parts and accessories. We believe these moves are extremely encouraging to the category, and will help catalyze India’s emergence as a global telecom manufacturing hub.
Separately, the move towards exempting the Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD) of 4% on import mobile handsets is also a very welcome step. This duty was hitherto refundable on payment of VAT; this step will make the entire process of handset imports much simpler, facilitating better cash flow in the industry.”
Ananda Mukerji, MD&CEO, Firstsource Solutions Limited.
It’s a balanced and overall positive budget. Given fiscal constraints, the continued investment in infrastructure, education and health is a good sign. However 14 -16% growth in investment in historically hugely underinvested areas like primary education and healthcare is not going to be enough for sustained development in the long run and it would have been good to see bolder steps in this area. Commitment to a clear target of fiscal reduction and a roadmap of getting there is a laudable effort. While the fine print will have to be examined the Government’s stated intention to ease the refund of service tax credits to BPO units is also good to hear.
A clear disappointment is the lack of extension of STPI benefits given the huge role mid-sized IT and BPO companies play in employment generation in the country. This clearly has the risk of reducing India's attraction as a global outsourcing destination. Another retrograde step is increase in MAT. Though for Firstsource specifically this has very little cashflow impact since part of our revenues in any case attract deduction at source.
Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel
I must congratulate the Finance Minister and the government for a pragmatic, broad based and inclusive budget. Despite an abnormal south-west monsoon hampering kharif crop resulting in negative growth in the agriculture sector and double digit food inflation, the fiscal deficit has been restricted to 6.9%.
A long term focus on aggressive fiscal deficit reduction, addressal of government borrowings and continued focus on reforms redefines our budget as a process rather than an event.
The disposable income benefits to the "aam aadmi" - both in urban and rural India - should stimulate demand for service sectors like telecom which in turn contribute handsomely towards the economic growth of this country.
Manoj Chugh, President, India and SAARC, EMC Coporation
We are pleased at the earnest effort to introduce GST from April 2011. The continued focus on deployment of Information Technology for mission mode projects like commercial taxes augur well. Increased budget for the UID and the formation of the technical advisory group under the able leadership of Nandan Nilekani is laudable. We are also happy to see significant enhancement in funding for education and rural and urban infrastructure, which will drive demand for Information Technology.
Vikas Khanvelkar, MD, DesignTech Systems Ltd
Budget has nothing new for the IT Industry. 2% increase in excise duty on all the products will not have a very significant adverse impact on the demand and hence the production. Rise in petrol and diesel prices will increase the inflation which is already very high.
Substantial increase in the budget allocations for “Infrastructure and Energy” segments is a really good move which will create positive impact on the GDP and Economy in the long run by addressing long pending pain areas of the industry.
GST has been postponed to 1st April 2011 as anticipated. Industry will have to keep dealing with multiple level taxation structure for one more year.
Kapil Dev Singh, Country Manager, IDC
The finance minister is very optimistic about India’s growth. The expectation of Indian achieving 10% growth, in the near future, points to the domestic market consumption being the key driver.
The trend of domestic IT growth surpassing the IT exports growth is more certain, especially with the current focus on the domestic market and measures that will leave more in the hands of the consumer.
The broad based growth in various industry segments will have a derived effect on the IT market. This coupled with government’s commitment to spend on IT will augur well for the IT players focused on the domestic market.
Ashok Chandak, senior director, global sales and marketing, NXP Semiconductors
The current budget is a well balanced budget and the Finance Minister has clearly been focused on the banking industry, rural and agricultural sectors as well as infrastructure, along with giving a boost to investors and entrepreneurs. With regards to the semiconductor industry, it is a welcome step with a focus on financial inclusion, solar semiconductors, Research and Development and further enabling the use of smart cards and identification technologies at various levels.
The allocation of Rs 1,900 crore to the UIDAI for 2010-2011 would provide an effective platform for inclusive growth and enable the participation of the rural population integrating them with various social welfare schemes and development. The assignment of Rs 100 crore each for the Financial inclusion (FIF) and the Financial Inclusion Technology Fund and fillip to Business Correspondent concept will further enable to provide banking and insurance services to the bottom of the pyramid backed by a technology platform. All these initiatives could enable the use of smart cards and identification technologies like Near Field Communication to realize their true potential, as in the case of the earlier financial inclusion projects by various banks and during the pilot phases of the Multipurpose national identification projects supported by NXP.
Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, MAIT
“We are glad that the Hon’ble Finance Minister has unveiled the roadmap for GST with a definite date for implementation ie April, 2011. Unification of the rate on excise duty and the service tax has been a step in the right direction towards implementation of the GST. The rate of service tax as well as that of excise duty will now be 10%. This will also help mitigate the issue of CENVAT overflow for manufacture of IT products in the country.”
Elaborating on the outcome, he added, “Exemption of Special additional Duty (SAD) on pre-packaged goods for retail is also a welcome step as refunds for SAD were not forthcoming. However, to sustain hardware manufacturing in the country in the long run, it is critical that SAD on the input components be exempted as well.”
“It is heartening that the Hon’ble Finance Minister has recognised the strong potential of the electronics industry and its role in energy generation. In this regard, the announcement of concessional customs duty of 5 percent on machinery, equipment etc. for setting up photovoltaic and solar thermal power generating units is welcome”, added Mehta.
“Lastly, MAIT welcomes the setting up of the Technology Advisory Group under the chairmanship of Mr Nandan Nilekani for monitoring effective IT implementation in projects of National eminence. Timely completion of IT implementation in Government projects is not only critical to the growth and development of the country but also essential for delivering services to the citizens”, mentioned Mehta.
WS Mukund, MD, Acer India.
"It’s been a fairly balanced, yet progressive Budget. Focus on Education, Health and Infrastructure, with enhanced allocations, do pave the way for building a vibrant & competitive India.
For the PC industry there are some positives in terms of scope for adoption of IT in initiatives such as the Financial Inclusion Fund project to extend Banking to more habitats and scaling up of the Smart card projects in Health Insurance. That a Tech Advisory Group is being set up under the leadership of Nandan Nilekeni is another pointer to rapid adoption of IT projects in the areas of Taxation, Pension, Treasury, Infrastructure and GST.
For the PC industry, which had shown a de-growth in the year 2009-10, the roll back of Excise/CVD to 10% is a big dampener.
Also some of the inconsistencies that have been highlighted for redressal the last many months, such as MRP based abatement, phased reduction of CST to 1% (made all the more acute due to GST being postponed to the next fiscal) as also lack of any bold policy initiatives to make Broadband more pervasive and affordable, continue to persist. "
Surjeet Singh, Chief Financial Officer, Patni
“Increase in MAT from 15% to 18% on book profits would result in higher outgo of cash in the short term and would affect Indian corporates adversely. However this impact has been cushioned to a large extent by lowering of corporate surcharge from 10.0% to 7.5%. We welcome a higher percentage of weighted deduction on in-house R&D which has been increased to 200% from 150% as it will incentivize IT companies’ innovation focus.
We appreciate the setting up of Technology Advisory Group along with substantial outlay for UID project. This group will help in accelerated execution of large strategic Government IT projects thereby benefiting IT companies. Budget also proposes to ease the process of refund of service tax credit for exporters of services which will hopefully streamline the current cumbersome process. Tax reduction on account of changed tax slabs for individuals will also benefit the industry indirectly.
However Budget has not addressed IT Industry’s demand for extension of Tax holiday under STPI scheme as per Section 10 (A) of Income Tax Act which is a significant negative for the Industry.
Ramesh A Vaswani, Ex Vice Chairman, Intex Technologies
The FM has done a commendable job of partially withdrawing the stimulus by balancing this with various schemes which should accelerate GDP growth. The focus on the rural economy with substantial & higher allocations will more than make up for the slack in demand, if any, due to the marginal increase in the excise duty rate.
This budget will lead to an increase in the feel good factor which is believed to play an important role in increasing the demand of consumer products.
It is very heartening to note that the cost of mobile phones will come down and will further boost demand and encourage local manufacturing.
I am disappointed, however, by the lack of adequate attention to promote the local manufacturing of IT hardware and to increase domestic consumption of PC.I feel that the economy now requires for inclusive growth not only inputs in agriculture and rural infrastructure but also in IT literacy and IT infrastructure.
India has been talked of as a knowledge economy. And a knowledge commission was also set up to chalk out various initiatives. The small increase of weighted average expenditure deduction on in-house R & D from 1.5 to 2 % only encourages ongoing R&D activities. The FM could have thought of additional incentives to lure large foreign corporations and research institutions to set up their facilities in India.
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Union Budget 2010: No audit for Rs 60 lakh business
NEW DELHI: Life will be easier for small enterprises earning annual revenue up to Rs 60 lakh or a independent professional with gross receipts
up to Rs 15 lakh as they no more have to get their accounts audited.
According to the Budget 2010-11, a businessman will not have to get his accounts audited if his sales are less than Rs 60 lakh a year. Earlier, the limit was Rs 40 lakh.
Likewise, for an independent professional, it has been revised upward from Rs 10 lakh in the Budget proposals.
"I, as Finance Minister, had introduced these limits in my budget of 1984. It is high time to reduce the compliance burden on small taxpayers," Pranab Mukherjee said in his Budget speech.
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According to the Budget 2010-11, a businessman will not have to get his accounts audited if his sales are less than Rs 60 lakh a year. Earlier, the limit was Rs 40 lakh.
Likewise, for an independent professional, it has been revised upward from Rs 10 lakh in the Budget proposals.
"I, as Finance Minister, had introduced these limits in my budget of 1984. It is high time to reduce the compliance burden on small taxpayers," Pranab Mukherjee said in his Budget speech.
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Did You Know? Interesting Facts about India's Budget
With Pranab Mukherjee is all set to announce the Union Budget 2010-2011, here is a look at some interesting facts about India's budget and our nation's financial growth.
On November 26, 1947 R.K. Shanmukham Chetty had presented the first budget of Independent India. But actually it was a review of the economy and no new taxes were proposed as the budget day for 1948-49 was just 95 days away.From then onwards an interim budget began to mean a budget for a short period.
Chetty resigned a few days later due to differences with Prime Minister Nehru.
K.C. Neogy then took charge of the Finance portfolio and held that office for just 35 days.
John Mathai became the third Finance Minister of India presenting the budget for 1950-51, the first budget for the Republic of India.
The next Finance Minister, C.D. Deshmukh presented the first budget in the first elected Parliament on the basis of adult franchise.
Budget papers began to be prepared in Hindi from 1955-56.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010
CM congratulates Sachin Tendulkar
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has congratulated batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar for scoring the first ever double century and setting up a record in the world cricket during yesterday's One-day-international against South Africa in Gwaliar.
In a statement, Dr Nishank said considering the fact that Sachin has many records in his kitty, the new record should not surprise us. He expressed hope that the master blaster will continue to set new records.
Meanwhile, cricketlovers here celebrated Sachin's double century against South Africa yesterday. The people expressed joy over the record.
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Bollywood congratulates Sachin Tendulkar
Ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has made India proud by scoring double century at ODI in Gwalior opposite South Africa. He is the first batsman to score double ton in one day. Fraternities from various walks of life congratulated the greatest icon of cricket. Bollywood is also not far behind to congratulate the God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar.
Vivek Oberoi tweets; If cricket is a religion…then Sachin is a God. Preity Zinta said, Sachin Tendulkar is incredible and showed a stunning performance. Lyricist Javed Akhtar in his golden word said, Sachin is a great player and he deserves Bharat Ratna. Shilpa Shetty quips, Sachin is an icon. Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan also congratulated the gem of Indian cricket for the greatest achievement.
Sachin Tendulkar has recreated cricket history by scoring double century in 147 balls. This particular day will be written in golden letters in the history of cricket.
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Karunanidhi congratulates Sachin Tendulkar
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Thursday congratulated the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar for setting a world record by hammering a double century in One Day International cricket.
“On behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu I convey our good wishes to you on creating a world record by scoring double century in one day internationals at Gwalior. We are highly delighted that you have surpassed all the previous records in this regard”, he said in a telegram sent to the Mumbai Cricket Association.
On Sachin dedicating his epic knock to the people of India, Karunanidhi said cricket-lovers all over the country were extremely happy for his choice of words.
“To be precise, I wish to say that this great nation feels very much proud of you”, he said.
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
FDA finds controversial diabetes drug a risk to heart; sold in India
Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market.
The reports, obtained by The New York Times, say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart. Avandia, intended to treat Type 2 diabetes, is known as rosiglitazone and was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009.
“Rosiglitazone should be removed from the market,” one of the reports, written by Dr David Graham and Dr Kate Gelperin of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), concludes. Both authors recommended that Avandia be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, experts in India hope that the US report will prompt the Health Ministry to take some “definitive action”. The drug is being prescribed for lakhs of diabetics in India.
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The reports, obtained by The New York Times, say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart. Avandia, intended to treat Type 2 diabetes, is known as rosiglitazone and was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009.
“Rosiglitazone should be removed from the market,” one of the reports, written by Dr David Graham and Dr Kate Gelperin of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), concludes. Both authors recommended that Avandia be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, experts in India hope that the US report will prompt the Health Ministry to take some “definitive action”. The drug is being prescribed for lakhs of diabetics in India.
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Telangana: Student dies after self-immolation
Hyderabad: A 19-year-old student, who set himself on fire during protests over the Telangana issue, succumbed to his burns at a hospital here early Sunday.A police officer said Siripur Yadaiah, who sustained 80 percent burns, died at Apollo DRDO Hospital.
Yadaiah, a class 12 student of New Nobel Junior College in the city, set himself ablaze at about 2.00 pm Saturday at the main gate of Osmania University when the police stopped hundreds of students from marching towards the assembly to lay siege.
A resident of neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, Yadaiah poured kerosene and set himself on fire, shouting the slogan 'Jai Telangana'. The youth, who was immediately engulfed in flames, ran towards policemen standing at a barricade as hundreds watched in shock.
Eye witnesses said he fell down after running for about 50 metres and the policemen tried to put out the flames. He was taken to the hospital, where he succumbed after battling for his life for nearly 12 hours.
The police shifted Yadaiah's body to his native Nagaram village after autopsy and handed it over to relatives.
A suicide note recovered from his bag revealed that he had come prepared to take the extreme step at the university, the nerve centre of Telangana movement where another student committed suicide on January 19.
In the suicide note written in Telugu, Yadaiah said he was an orphan and had lost his parents in childhood.
"I was hopeful of getting a job in separate Telangana state but it appears that the separate state will not be formed. I am laying down my life for the cause of Telangana and many more will do so till the goal is achieved," the note said.
Leaders of students' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and pro-Telangana parties reached the village to attend the last rites of Yadaiah.
Meanwhile, the university campus remained tense after students-police clashes in and around the campus Saturday evening. The students staged angry demonstrations after Yadaiah's self-immolation. They pelted stones on policemen, who retaliated with baton-charge.
Police Saturday foiled the JAC's plan to lay siege to the assembly demanding resignation of all elected representatives from Telangana to protest terms of Srikrishna panel formed by the Central government to look into the Telangana issue.
Pro-Telangana parties have rejected the terms of reference saying they were not favourable to formation of Telangana state, which was promised by the central government through a statement on December 9 last year.
IANS
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Saturday, February 20, 2010
Calculate interest on S/B deposit daily: RBI
| In what would bring cheers to savings account holders, the RBI on Friday asked banks to start calculating interest rates on savings accounts on a daily basis from April 1. | |
  The move will enable saving bank account holders to earn better interest rates since banks currently calculate interest on these accounts on the lowest available balance, from 11th and the last date of a month.“We advise that payment of interest on savings accounts may be made by banks on a daily product basis with effect from April 1,” RBI said in a notification, which also asks banks to ensure a smooth transition and work out the modalities in this regard. Earlier banks had urged RBI to postpone the move. “We requested them to either reduce the savings rate or postpone the implementation. It will affect our margins and profit,” Indian Banks Association chairman M V Nair had said. Currently, interest rates on saving accounts are de-regulated, barring up to Rs 2 lakh. The RBI only administers interest rates on saving bank deposits up to Rs 2 lakh, and for deposits above this amount, banks are free to give any interest rates. | |
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Small plane is crashed into tax offices in Texas
AUSTIN (Reuters) - An apparently disgruntled man crashed a small plane into a federal building housing U.S. tax offices in Austin, Texas on Thursday in what local officials said was likely a deliberate attack.
Two people were taken to the hospital after the crash that set ablaze the seven-story building, Austin fire officials said. The pilot, identified by law enforcement sources as Joseph Andrew Stack, was found dead.
The incident renewed fears of domestic terrorism and gaps in security for private aircraft. The White House said it had no reason to believe there was a link to foreign terrorism and that President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation.
It was probably "a deliberate attack by one individual acting alone," Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said, downplaying the threat of more attacks.
U.S. Representative Michael McCaul of Texas called it "a deliberate and intentional attack against a federal building."
A rambling note posted on the Internet and signed "Joe Stack" spelled out problems he had with the Internal Revenue Service tax agency. A law enforcement source said authorities were investigating the note.
"Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well," the note said. It was not possible to independently determine the authenticity of the note, dated February 18, or its authorship.
In the note, Stack complained that he ran afoul of U.S. tax laws when he failed to file a return after not earning any income one year. He also said in the note that he had trouble resolving some undocumented income.
CNN reported the pilot had set his own house in Austin on fire before taking off in the plane and crashing it into the building at about 10 a.m. CST (1600 GMT). The authorities were also investigating that report, the law enforcement source said.
The plane, identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a single-engine Piper Cherokee, took off from the airport in nearby Georgetown and was flying under rules that did not require the pilot to maintain contact with air controllers.
SUICIDE NOTE
A Piper aircraft was registered to Joseph Stack under a Lincoln, California, address, according to the FAA's registry. In the note, Joe Stack said he had moved to Austin from California.
The damaged building housed IRS offices with about 190 employees, including the criminal investigation division as well as auditors and tax collectors, according to agency officials. It sits across the street from an FBI office.
As a precaution, two F-16 fighter aircraft were scrambled after the crash and patrolled above the Texas state capital, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command which is responsible for guarding U.S. airspace.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, whose department includes the IRS, expressed concerns about the incident during an appearance in North Carolina. "We are closely monitoring the situation," he said, adding the crash "is of deep concern to me."
The attack is not the first on the IRS, which periodically draws the wrath of taxpayers.
The crash and burned out building also brought back memories of the September 11, 2001, attacks in which hijackers crashed commercial jetliners into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington.
"It's something that has exposed a weakness we've seen since 9-11 -- airplanes can fly into buildings," McCaul said.
In a separate incident on Thursday, a United Airlines flight from Denver to San Francisco was diverted to Salt Lake City because of a threatening note found aboard, according to local airport officials. The passengers, luggage and plane were rechecked and the flight was cleared to continue.
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Income tax officer who led Koda scam probe transferred
A senior Income Tax officer, who led the department in unearthing the multi-crore rupee scam allegedly involving former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda has been transferred.
Ujjwal Choudhary, who till now was the Director (IT-Investigation) at Patna and was in Chaibasa for the last three days overseeing the second wave of raids, will take over as Chief Income Tax Commissioner in Patna.
He replaced Ajay Kumar who was made Director (IT-Investigation), 28 others were also transferred.
"It is a lateral posting. The present rank is also of the Commissioner's rank," Choudhary told PTI.
He ducked a query when asked whether he was happy with the new posting saying he was still a Commissioner rank officer.
Choudhary had overseen raids in 70 premises of Madhu Koda and several of his associates on October 31 last year.
The join raids by the IT, led by Chowdhury, and the ED had unearthed allegedly illegal investments and Hawala transactions of Rs 2000 crore.
He was also conducting another set of raids that began on February 16 in 70 places in thirteen cities across the country. A senior IT officer said documents relating to crores of rupees had been seized during the latest raids.
Senior BJP leader Saryu Roy criticised the Union government for transferring Ujjwal Chaudhary and said it was done to "hush up" corruption by big politicians.
Ujjwal Choudhary, who till now was the Director (IT-Investigation) at Patna and was in Chaibasa for the last three days overseeing the second wave of raids, will take over as Chief Income Tax Commissioner in Patna.
He replaced Ajay Kumar who was made Director (IT-Investigation), 28 others were also transferred.
"It is a lateral posting. The present rank is also of the Commissioner's rank," Choudhary told PTI.
He ducked a query when asked whether he was happy with the new posting saying he was still a Commissioner rank officer.
Choudhary had overseen raids in 70 premises of Madhu Koda and several of his associates on October 31 last year.
The join raids by the IT, led by Chowdhury, and the ED had unearthed allegedly illegal investments and Hawala transactions of Rs 2000 crore.
He was also conducting another set of raids that began on February 16 in 70 places in thirteen cities across the country. A senior IT officer said documents relating to crores of rupees had been seized during the latest raids.
Senior BJP leader Saryu Roy criticised the Union government for transferring Ujjwal Chaudhary and said it was done to "hush up" corruption by big politicians.
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SC stays renewal of mining licences in Aravallis
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the renewal of over 150 pending mining licences and ordered satellite images to be taken of the entire 15,000 square km of Aravalli hill ranges to gauge the “devastation” caused by illegal mining carried on in violation of a 2002 ban.
The Special Forest Bench led by CJI K G Balakrishnan stayed the renewal of 157 mining licences until the court gauges the ecological deprivation from the satellite images.
Most of these miners were allegedly operating on the sole pretext that they had given applications for renewal, while in fact their licences had expired, the Bench found. “Such persons should not carry on with mining operations. Their lease applications are pending for a long time. We restrain them from operating any further,” the court ordered.
Justice S H Kapadia said it was time the apex court changed track from “trying to balance development work with conservation of forests” in mining cases and give sole and primary focus on rehabilitation of the environment. ENS
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Hyderabad/Kadapa, Feb. 19: There was pandemonium in the AP Assembly over alleged irregularities in the supply of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilisers and seeds to Balaji Fertilisers, a company reportedly owned by the Kadapa Mayor, Mr Ravindranath Reddy, who is the brother-in-law of the late Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.
The Opposition parties including the TD, PR, CPI(M) and CPI staged a walkout in protest when their demand for a House Committee to inquire into the irregularities was turned down by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Nadendla Manohar.
The demand for a House committee was first raised by senior Congress MLA, Mr D.L. Ravindra Reddy, causing embarrassment to the government. In all, the House was adjourned twice in a span of two hours over the issue.
Mr Ravindra Reddy, who entered politics in the late 70s, was all along an associate of YSR, but suddenly turned tables against the late CM’s family.
Some MLAs met the Rajya Sabha member, Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, and discussed the issue. The agriculture minister, Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy, met the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, the PCC chief, Mr D. Srinivas and Dr Ramachandra Rao and explained to them there was no truth in the allegations of Dr Ravindra Reddy and showed them the relevant files.
In Kadapa, the mayor, Mr P. Ravindranath Reddy, denied any irregularities in allocation of fertilisers to his factory.
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Friday, February 19, 2010
Inspectors' sons raped Surat teen, made MMS
Three young men, convicted for kidnapping and gangraping a 16-year-old girl in Surat in Gujarat, have been sentenced to life imprisonment. A Sessions court in Surat found them guilty based on the testimonies of the victim, her friend and 29 other witnesses.
The convicted men - 22-year-old Shahid Saiyed, 21-year-old Tariq Saiyed, and 33-year-old Abu Bakr - were arrested on June 12 last year - the same day within hours of the incident.
This is an example of speedy justice delivered - within seven months of the crime, and it's significant because two of the accused are sons of police Inspectors from the region.
Also, this a rare case in which rapists have been sentenced to life.
"The court has accepted all evidence presented before it and has sentenced all three accused to life and fined them Rs 1 lakh each," said Public Prosecutor Nayan Sukhadiya.
On June 12, 2008, the victim and her boyfriend - both school students - were sitting outside their tutorial early morning, waiting for the classes to begin. Just then Shahid Saiyad, Tarik Saiyad and Abu Bakr Shiekh came in a car.
The boys said they were policemen and asked the students to get into the car. They gangraped the girl on the back seat and later dropped both of them back.
While delivering the judgement, judge R P Dholaria said: "It's not just a crime against an individual, but against the entire society. It cannot be let off with minimum punishment. The court cannot consider the plea that the accused are young. It's a demonic act that deserves maximum punishment."
This a regular court that has delivered a fast-track trial and could well serve as a precedent for other cases of sexual crimes in the country.
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The convicted men - 22-year-old Shahid Saiyed, 21-year-old Tariq Saiyed, and 33-year-old Abu Bakr - were arrested on June 12 last year - the same day within hours of the incident.
This is an example of speedy justice delivered - within seven months of the crime, and it's significant because two of the accused are sons of police Inspectors from the region.
Also, this a rare case in which rapists have been sentenced to life.
"The court has accepted all evidence presented before it and has sentenced all three accused to life and fined them Rs 1 lakh each," said Public Prosecutor Nayan Sukhadiya.
On June 12, 2008, the victim and her boyfriend - both school students - were sitting outside their tutorial early morning, waiting for the classes to begin. Just then Shahid Saiyad, Tarik Saiyad and Abu Bakr Shiekh came in a car.
The boys said they were policemen and asked the students to get into the car. They gangraped the girl on the back seat and later dropped both of them back.
While delivering the judgement, judge R P Dholaria said: "It's not just a crime against an individual, but against the entire society. It cannot be let off with minimum punishment. The court cannot consider the plea that the accused are young. It's a demonic act that deserves maximum punishment."
This a regular court that has delivered a fast-track trial and could well serve as a precedent for other cases of sexual crimes in the country.
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Supreme Court stays withdrawal of forces from Osmania University campus
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed till February 23 the Andhra Pradesh High Court order directing withdrawal of Central paramilitary forces from Osmania University campus, the hotbed of the Telangana agitation.
A bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and T.S. Thakur, however, directed the state Home Secretary to ensure that the paramilitary forces are not allowed to misbehave in any manner with the students at the campus.
The apex court said the paramilitary forces shall operate strictly under the personal supervision of the Home Secretary.
The apex court passed the order on an appeal filed by the Andhra Pradesh government, challenging the High Court’s direction to withdraw the paramilitary forces from the campus.
The State government has also alleged that they strongly suspect that Maoists have infiltrated the movement and perhaps are inside the campus among the students.
However, this allegation was rebutted by Counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the students.
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Kirsten confident of a strong Indian finish
Kolkata, Feb. 17 -- A message from a fan that was flashed on the big screen in the afternoon said GOD MUST BE SOUTH AFRICAN. Gary Kirsten and his boys will be happy if god remains neutral on Thursday. Weather had the last word here and the India coach was disappointed with the time lost in the morning. Play was supposed to start 18 minutes early on Wednesday, at 8.57 am, to make up for the overs lost to bad light on the third day. However, overnight rain meant play began at 10.30 am. While the square was covered, there appeared to be some problem with the bowlers' run up at the High Court end. "Obviously, this morning when we arrived here, we could have played. It was disappointing not to be on the field then. That's the way it is... we can't fight weather, but it would have been handy to have 50 overs today," Kirsten said. However, the coach, who was seen having an animated discussion with curator Prabir Mukherjee after the rain-interruption, refused to comment on the facilities at Eden. Instead, he chose to focus on the positives, like the "three wickets" India took and hopefully needing 40 or 50 overs to capture the rest on Thursday.
Jaques Kallis, who lost his wicket before a rain interruption in the second session, said: "I guess we were all hoping for a bit of rain. I think we will have a full day tomorrow. The pitch is still good for batting and what better opportunity will they have than score some runs on a day like this (the final day)."
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Tiger Woods to apologize, discuss future on Friday
Tiger Woods, the superstar golfer who took an indefinite break from the game in December after admitting marital infidelity, will make a public statement on Friday to discuss his playing future.
The world number one has been in hiding since the tawdry revelations about his personal life erupted after a minor car accident in the middle of the night outside his Florida home in November. It was a stunning fall from grace for the most marketable figure in sport and one of the world's most recognizable athletes.
American Woods, a 14-times major champion, will address a small gathering of reporters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) on Friday, his manager said.
"Tiger plans to discuss his past and his future and he plans to apologize for his behaviour," Mark Steinberg said in an email to Reuters.
"While Tiger feels that what happened is fundamentally a matter between he and his wife, he also recognizes that he has hurt and let down a lot of other people who were close to him.
"He also let down his fans. He wants to begin the process of making amends and that's what he's going to discuss."
Woods, the greatest player of his generation and arguably of all time, became engulfed in a media frenzy following the bizarre pre-dawn car crash on Nov. 27.
With his squeaky-clean image torn asunder by a series of allegations over his private life, he reportedly got treatment for sex addiction in Mississippi.
LIVING APART
Woods, 34, has since returned to his Orlando home where he and his Swedish wife, Elin, are believed to be living apart.
Woods has given no timetable for his likely return to competition.
Many pundits have predicted he will be back for the March 11-14 WGC-CA Championship in Miami, Florida while others are banking on him delaying his comeback until the U.S. Masters in April.
Augusta National, permanent home of the Masters, would provide him with the most tightly screened media contingent on the Tour, and golf fans are well aware that winning majors has been the driving force in his career.
Sponsors and organisers have been counting the days before his return. The absence of Woods from events where he usually plays generally drives down television ratings by 50 percent.
Woods, believed to be the world's wealthiest athlete, was estimated to earn about $100 million a year before his adultery scandal cost him corporate sponsors.
However Forbes said his remaining sponsor deals with Nike Inc, Electronic Arts Inc and Procter & Gamble Co's Gillette brand would allow him to remain the world's highest paid athlete this year.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Nike said: "Our position remains the same ... Nike fully supports Tiger and his family through this difficult time. We respect his privacy. We look forward to him returning to golf."
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FACTBOX - The top 10 country holders of gold reserves
The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said it would shortly begin selling 191.3 tonnes of gold in the open market under a program approved last year to boost its resources for lending.
The open-market sales are a part of a programme launched last year and, until now, gold has been made available to central banks on a first-come-first-serve basis.
So far, India -- the world's biggest consumer of gold -- Mauritius and Sri Lanka have purchased a total of 212 tonnes of gold from the IMF.
The IMF announced last year it would sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock, to diversify its sources of income and increase low-cost lending to poor.
For a graphic of gold as a percentage of total reserves for the top holders by country, click http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/0210/GLD_TPHLD0210.gif
The 10 countries with the highest levels of gold holdings by December 2009 (in tonnes):
Dec 2009 March 2009 % of reserves
All countries 26,780.0 26,349.4 10.2
United States 8,133.5 8,133.5 68.7
Germany 3,407.6 3,412.6 64.6
Italy 2,451.8 2,451.8 63.4
France 2,435.4 2,487.1 64.2
China 1,054.0 1,054.0 1.5
Switzerland 1,040.1 1,040.1 28.8
Japan 765.2 765.2 2.4
Netherlands 612.5 612.5 51.7
Russia 607.7 523.7 4.7
India 557.7 357.7 6.4
The percentage of reserves is as calculated by the World Gold Council. The value of gold holdings is calculated using the end-October gold price of $1,040 per troy ounce.
Source: World Gold Council.
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Food prices rise for 4th week running
Food inflation rose for the fourth straight week in early February, heightening worries that it was driving up headline inflation past official forecasts and increasing the chance of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) pushing up rates.
The food price index rose 17.97 percent in the 12 months to Feb. 6, higher than an annual rise of 17.94 percent in the previous week, data released on Thursday showed.
The fuel price index rose an annual 9.89 percent in the same week, down from a rise of 10.4 percent on year the previous week.
A persistent rise in food and fuel prices along with a pick up in manufacturing prices are expected to push headline inflation from 8.56 percent in January to 10 percent by March, according to analysts and chief statistician Pronab Sen.
The wholesale price inflation has already leapt over the central bank's revised end-March inflation forecast of 8.5 percent.
Inflation in manufacturing picked up to 6.55 percent from about 5 percent in December, a sign that inflationary pressures were spreading to other sectors of the economy.
"I do not expect headline inflation to come down near term," said Kevin Grice, an economist with Capital Economics in London.
"Base effects should continue to work through, food price pressures will probably stay high for a time while price pressures from the rapid economic upswing will continue to come through too."
A relentless build-up in price pressure is also putting pressure on the RBI to take sterner measures like raising rates ahead of its April policy review.
The RBI is widely expected to raise borrowing rates at its April review after surprising markets with a bigger-than-expected rise in banks' cash reserve requirements in January.
On Wednesday, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said food prices have started to ease and will dip further next month, while Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said higher food prices continue to be a worry.
The government last month ordered the sale of stocked grain and extended duty-free sugar imports by nine months and remained hopeful that higher food supplies would moderate food prices.
However, the result on the ground has been slow, putting the Congress-led government under immense political pressure to find a solution to prevent any drift in its poor urban support base.
SCENARIOS - Scope of possible fiscal roll backs in budget
With the economy picking up steam, winding down the fiscal stimulus may be the central theme in the federal budget scheduled to be presented on Feb. 26.
The government has provided fiscal stimulus worth about 1.86 trillion rupees ($40 billion) in tax concessions and a further $4 billion in new spending since 2008, but this has strained the deficit and borrowing.
Here are some possible scenarios for the budget and its policy and market impact:
PARTIAL WITHDRAWAL OF FISCAL STIMULUS
A partial rollback would help the government bring down the fiscal deficit to it forecast of 5.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2010/11 from a projected 6.8 percent in the current fiscal year.
But the gross market borrowing figure for 2010/11 could still touch 4.61 trillion rupees ($100 billion) because of higher redemptions, according to a Reuters poll of 28 economists.
That would be broadly in line with what the central bank seems to have factored in. It has said it expected gross borrowing to be "slightly higher" than this year's record 4.51 trillion rupees.
Such an outcome would cement expectations that the central bank continue to unwind its loose policy and raise interest rates by 25 to 50 basis points at its April review following last month's rise in banks' required reserves.
The government may start unwinding its stimulus by hiking factory gate duties -- effectively a tax on manufactured goods -- by about 2 percentage points for sectors such as automobiles, consumer durables, and metals, which are now growing at 20-45 percent in annualised terms.
The government may also raise service tax by 2 percentage points or bring more services under the tax net.
This would yield the government around $9 billion in revenue and would go some way in bringing the deficit down just below 5.5 percent of the GDP.
Lower duties may remain in slow sectors like textiles, food products, beverages, paper, non-mineral metals and other export-oriented sectors, where growth is still below 5 percent.
PROBABILITY: High
MARKET IMPACT: Very limited, given that both a partial unwinding of tax breaks and a moderate policy rate tightening are priced in.
COMPLETE ROLLBACK OF FISCAL STIMULUS
Record industrial growth of 16.8 percent in December has increased speculation a rollback could be more extensive than markets expect, though policymakers believe the recovery is still uneven and driven largely by the stimulus.
A complete reversal would mean factory gate rates going up by 6 percentage points and service tax rate by 2 percentage points to pre-crisis levels. This would fetch the government over $21 billion in revenue, pushing down the fiscal deficit to below 5.2 percent of GDP and gross borrowing even below the 4 trillion rupees mark.
But such radical action may endanger the recovery in the sectors, which are showing only tentative signs of revival. It also runs the risk of fanning inflation, as companies may choose to pass on the higher tax burden on to consumers.
Such a risk might prompt the central bank to act to anchor inflationary expectations, but it may opt for not more than a 25 basis point rate rise, wary of possible slowing in demand due to a higher tax burden.
PROBABILITY: Unlikely
MARKET IMPACT: Analysts say the stock markets may slide if the government decides to completely roll back the stimulus measures but bond traders say bond yields may not be much affected by the move.
NO ROLLBACK OF STIMULUS
Theoretically, with the advance estimates suggesting an annual economic growth of 7.2 percent in the current fiscal year, the government could bet on higher tax revenues to beat the loss of revenue through fiscal concessions.
Another revenue stream could be stake sales where the government hopes to raise nearly $7 billion.
But the decision to keep all of the crisis schemes in place would still leave a huge fiscal and funding holes driving both the fiscal deficit and borrowing well above current levels.
Analysts say under such scenario the deficit could stay above 6 percent and gross borrowing could climb above 4.8 trillion rupees ($104 billion), pushing up bond yields.
Much higher government borrowing could crowd out corporate borrowers and might prompt the central bank to delay rate increases until later in the year to help the government raise funds in the markets.
Indian federal bond yields hit 16-month highs of 7.97 percent on Monday on concerns about heavy government debt supply.
PROBABILITY: Very unlikely.
MARKET IMPACT: Analysts who track the bond markets closely say yields will spike but may be capped at 8 percent on expectation that the central bank might delay a rate rise.
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Govt approves $173.2 mln injection in Air India
The government has approved an injection of 8 billion rupees ($173.2 million) into national carrier Air India, a cabinet spokeswoman said on Thursday.
ANALYSIS - Budget risks disappointing on fiscal disciplineAnything less than a strong show of deficit-slashing intent in the budget, to be unveiled on Feb. 26, is likely to disappoint investors.
With its economy booming anew, India is well-positioned to wean itself from aggressive deficit spending that risks driving up funding costs, crowding out private borrowing and scaring away overseas investment desperately needed to fund infrastructure.
"If you can't do fiscal consolidation when the economy is strong, when can you do it? This is the time to do it," Stephen Roach, Asia chairman of Morgan Stanley, said recently in Mumbai.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is widely expected to initiate a gradual pull-back of stimulus measures when he unveils the budget for the next financial year on Feb 26, but will stop short of curtailing spending or borrowing.
Instead, Mukherjee will hope accelerating growth, improved tax receipts and the sale of government assets provide enough new revenue to avoid unpopular spending cuts and yet allow him to lower a deficit poised to hit 6.8 percent of GDP this year, which would be a 16-year high.
Inflation approaching double-digits, meanwhile, is expected to prompt the central bank to raise interest rates by late April, bringing up borrowing costs and adding pressure to cut the deficit.
New Delhi is on track to borrow a record 4.51 trillion rupees ($98 billion) in the current fiscal year, and market expectations are for higher borrowing in the new year, with a Reuters poll forecasting a 2.2 percent pickup.
India has set a target of cutting its fiscal deficit to 5.5 percent of GDP in the new fiscal year, with analysts polled by Reuters forecasting 5.6 percent. Including state-level shortfalls, the total is now roughly 10 percent.
That is by far the highest among the BRIC group of emerging economic powers. China's fiscal deficit is forecast this year to be 2 percent of GDP, while Brazil's will be 1.1 percent and Russia's 3.2 percent, International Monetary Fund data show.
Missing the deficit target or borrowing more than investors expect would send bond yields higher and convey a negative message to markets choking on government debt.
"The key for this budget is...fiscal deficit and I would say it's not just the next year's target, but the road map going ahead," said A. Prasanna, economist at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership in Mumbai.
"If the government can have a credible plan and they can communicate it, I think that will be the best thing for financial markets," he said.
BINGE BORROWER
Asia's third-largest economy is forecast to grow at about 7.5 percent in the fiscal year that ends March 31 and accelerate in the year through March 2011.
Still, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government is reluctant to make drastic cuts in support measures when recovery remains uneven, with stimulus accounting for much of the recent rebound. A still-cloudy global outlook adds to the caution.
Politics also constrains the government from making tough choices that would alienate a Congress party voter base that is predominantly rural and poor.
For example, the government is expected only to partially adopt, at most, recent recommendations by a committee to introduce market pricing for gasoline, diesel and cooking fuel.
A surge in global food and energy prices that added to India's subsidy burden would thus pose an added threat to deficit-reduction efforts.
RISING REVENUE
To grow revenue, India may partially reverse cuts in excise taxes put in place to help tide makers of cars, cement and other goods through the downturn, according to Edelweiss Securities.
It will also look to sell off stakes in government companies such as Steel Authority of India Ltd, Coal India and BSNL, which economists expect to fetch roughly $6.5 billion in the new financial year. Success or failure of the sales is a swing factor on the revenue side of the government ledger.
Deepali Bharghava, economist at ING Vysya Bank, expects the deficit to be trimmed to 5.8 percent of GDP, with 11 percent growth in spending and a 15 percent rise in budgeted tax revenue.
"Disinvestment will be very key," she said.
With foreigners the biggest buyers of new Indian shares, a collapse in global risk appetite would undermine stake sale plans, thwarting deficit-cutting efforts.
New Delhi also hopes the delayed sale of 3G mobile licenses brings a few billion dollars into government coffers.
Few major new policy initiatives are expected in the budget, which is a much-anticipated event in India each year.
Mukherjee is likely to unveil a roadmap for implementing a nationwide goods and services tax, which has been delayed beyond its earlier April 1 target start date.
He may also outline further plans for the sale of stakes in government companies and third-generation mobile phone spectrum.
Otherwise, he will probably announce small-bore moves to begin rolling back tax breaks that were part of the stimulus.
Spending programmes, including rural social schemes that sustained demand during the downturn, will remain in place.
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Defiant Amla century makes India wait
South Africa's Hashim Amla struck a defiant century to keep hosts India waiting for a second-test victory that would level the series on Thursday.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh took three wickets in a sensational 13-over spell, with eight maidens and conceding just nine runs, to leave South Africa struggling at 250 for seven at tea, still 97 behind, on the last day.
Amla, who made 114 in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 106 and left-hander Wayne Parnell was not out on a chancy 22.
Harbhajan dismissed overnight batsman Ashwell Prince for 23, JP Duminy for six and Dale Steyn for one in a spell that destroyed South Africa's middle-order after the tourists resumed on 115 for three.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra took his third wicket of the innings when he had AB de Villiers lbw for three just before lunch.
South Africa, 1-0 up in the series, are bidding for their first series victory in India in a decade and to reclaim the number one ranking from the hosts.
Indian spearhead Zaheer Khan did not take the field in the morning after straining his quadricep on the fourth day when only 34.1 overs had been possible due to rain and bad light.
The overnight pair of Amla and Prince stuck out 26.4 overs before Harbhajan struck when the off-spinner had Prince playing loosely to be caught at mid-off.
Mishra had de Villiers leg before with a googly and Harbhajan fired out left-hander Duminy and Steyn leg before in quick succession after lunch.
Amla, who hit a double century in the first test at Nagpur that the tourists won by an innings, batted beautifully.
Amla forged a partnership of 70 with left-handed Parnell, who was lucky to be dropped on 13 by Suresh Raina at gully off pacer Ishant Sharma in the first over of the second new ball.
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