 |
|
|
Semi-conductor policy soon, says Manmohan
OBC offers micro-finance at 9 pc in Punjab
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CST phase-out: VAT panel reaches pact
Aviation Notes
Investor Guidance
|
|
Semi-conductor policy soon, says Manmohan
Sriperumbudur, November 4 Inaugurating the Singapore-based Flextronics Industrial Park here, he said the government would also come out with an electronics and IT hardware manufacturing policy. "Our government will follow a forward looking policy regime that will continue to encourage the telecom sector and promote new investments, create new employment and generate new business opportunities," he said. Dr Singh said with the commissioning of the Flextronics facility, Sriperumbudur was poised to emerge as a world-class manufacturing township for the electronics and IT sector. Congress President Sonia Gandhi said India has a long way to go before it could bridge the digital divide and convert it into digital dividend. She said the establishment of major companies like this in Sriperumbudur was a fitting tribute to her late husband Rajiv Gandhi who heralded a new revolution in the Indian telecom sector. Electronic manufacturing services provider Flextronics' new facility would have a total area of eight million sq feet and of which one million had been completed. Mike McNamara, CEO of Flextronics said the company had committed a total investment of $200 million to the Tamil Nadu government, spread over a period of five years. Remarking that Brand India had begun to make its mark on the world stage, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the UPA Government would do all that was required to realise the goal of making India 'the workshop of the world.' Laying the foundation stone for the Rs 470-crore Global Automotive Research at Oragadam, near here, he said both Indian and foreign firms were contributing to make India an automotive and industrial powerhouse and a global manufacturing hub. Dr Singh expressed the hope that the National Centre would push the automobile sector in the state and southern region to new frontiers both domestic and international. He described the setting up of the Global Automotive Research Centre under NATRP as a ''new chapter'' in the history of the country. The National Automotive Testing and Research and Development Infrastructure Project under the Ministry of Heavy Industries would cost Rs 1,718 crore all over India and Rs 470 crore in Tamil Nadu. The centre of excellence here was coming up on an area of 304 acres. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said the automotive sector in the state would create five lakh new job opportunities over the next 10 years. He said the state had so far attracted an investment of about $1 billion in the automotive industry and created employment to about 80,000 workers. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ms Sonia Gandhi also visited Nokia's manufacturing facility here and handed over commemorative Nokia handsets to two of its earliest employees as the company reached the milestone of manufacturing 20 million handsets. The company achieved the feat of making so many handsets in a record 11 months since it began commercial production in January this year. Nokia announced it would be shipping its 20 millionth mobile handset from its facility this November. — Agencies
|
|
OBC offers micro-finance at 9 pc in Punjab
New Delhi, November 4 “Following the pattern of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the OBC has launched grameen projects in places like Dehradun in Uttaranchal, Bathinda and Ferozepur in Punjab, Hanumangarh in Rajasthan besides in West Bengal and Orissa. We offer micro-finance to the poor people through self-help groups (SHGs) and directly to the individual at their door-step at 9 per cent annual interest rate,” Mr G.K. Sachdeva, General Manager, OBC told The Tribune. Mr Sachdeva, who is handling the Grameen Project of OBC India venture initiated in 1995, said the project aimed to alleviate poverty among the weaker sections in rural areas. The bank also provides training to these rural people in using locally available raw material to produce markertable products like pickles and jams. This in return increases self-employment and adds in increasing their income levels. Unlike other banks, he said, the bank has taken micro-financing as corporate responsibility, presently covering 287 villages through 67 branches. The bank has appointed its own officials at the branch level to administer the programme in an effective manner. “We have so far disbursed Rs 21.27 crore benefiting around 19,000 beneficiaries, and set up 3,668 SHGs by June this year. The group members have also contributed Rs 4.85 crore through their own savings, which are also utilised for extending credit the members,” said Mr Sachdeva, adding the repayment was satisfactory and Rs 8.32 crore was outstanding. Under the programme, the bank has set up the SHGs at the village having a membership of 10 to 15 rural households. Initially, the group, comprising 90 per cent of women, collects Rs 5 to Rs 10 per week from each member for the first six months and later gets a loan from the bank depending upon own savings and group activities. The bank offers up to Rs 15,000 loan to an individual directly or through the SHG, said Mr Sachdeva, to set up small ventures to earn livelihood or for other purposes. The loan can be extended, he said, up to Rs 50,000 once the payments are cleared for the first loan. The OBC has reported a 50 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 249 crore in the second quarter, which ended on September 30, compared with Rs 155 crore in the same period last fiscal. Referring to bank’s plans in micro-finance, Mr Sachdeva said: “We will soon initiate identification of beneficiaries through biometrics’ mapping for which bank is in talks with some companies to purchase machines, apart from updating countrywide data through central processing system (CPS). Once this is done, the project will be extended on big way in other states as well ”.
|
|
CST phase-out: VAT panel reaches pact
New Delhi, November 4 The empowered committee on VAT will meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram next month to discuss with him the panel's proposal on the package, committee Chairman Asim Dasgupta told reporters here after the panel's meeting that lasted over six hours. The panel will meet Finance Minister before the next scheduled meeting of VAT panel on December 12. “We don’t have much time left for phasing out of the CST. So, agreement on compensation package with the Union Finance Ministry has to be reached expeditiously,” he said. — PTI
|
|
AAI fails to provide medical care at airports
by K.R. Wadhwaney It is sad that airports, including international ones, are not adequately equipped with medical facilities. Recently, a passenger returning to Mumbai on an international flight suffered from heart attack. But he died as he could not be administered prompt treatment at the airport. It is not understood why the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should be so callous to passengers and other users. It has an over-flowing kitty raised from users. What is dismaying is that while it does not cater to the needs of passengers but it does spend money on a ‘meaningless’ cricket tournament at a small centre like Udaipur to satisfy whims and fancies of a few ‘social climbers’. Shortly, fog will descend on the northern region. The traffic will then become chaotic as flights will be diverted or delayed. The Instrument Landing System of different categories has been installed at the Delhi airport but it is either unoperational or it cannot be of use to the pilots, who have not undergone that particular training. Passengers suffer. Tourists’ schedule goes haywire. Airlines sustain heavy losses in providing hotels and compensation to harried passengers. There are fist-fights and brawls. But the AAI remains a mere mute observer. As the construction work for upgrading airports at Delhi and Mumbai has been entrusted to private bodies, there is more unrest among staff, who have opted for the AAI. Pilferage of baggage has increased. Loaders are demanding exhorbitant money from passengers. Recently, a trainee-pilot of the Indira Gandhi Uran Academy (Raebareli) flying a UP Government aircraft with merely one passenger on board kept the transmission frequency busy for as long as 10 minutes. The more air traffic controller (ATC) impressed upon the student-pilot to stop using frequency, the less he was willing to budge. Quite a few flights, including an ‘ambulance flight’ ferrying a critically-ill person, were inordinately delayed because of this. For long the AAI and the ATC have been on different wave-lengths. Indiscipline has reached such low levels that erring pilots and ATCs go scot-free even for major violations. There is no room in Indian skies. While the national carriers are in doldrums because of a paucity in fleet, private airlines have been sustaining heavy losses owing to exorbitant overhead expenses. Amidst this unstable scenario, another liquor baron has reported to occupy a pie in crowded Indian skies. A fleet of Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets will operate flights, among other routes, on the Delhi-Chandigarh sector. The route is busy provided overhead expenses are kept under check. The prospective airline has not yet spelt out the fare-structure. Unlike other no-frill carriers, it is likely to provide meals and other facilities to passengers on board the flights. Like no-frill carriers, some helicopter services in Himachal Pradesh and North-Eastern region are being planned. The helicopter tourism may be the need of the hour. But maintenance should be the watch-word to prevent mishaps. In recent years, many precious lives have been lost because of the indifferent maintenance of corporate planes and helicopters.
|
|
Deduction on family pension has a cap of Rs 15,000
by A.N. Shanbhag
Q: I am an old man of 75 years residing abroad since long. Before Financial Year 2005-06 I was visiting India every year but never stayed more than 175 days. Due to medical reason I have decided to settle in India. So, I have some queries regarding taxation purpose. — K. H. Singh A: Yes, standard deduction is deleted but family pension which attracted a deduction similar to standard deduction has not fortunately been touched. Where the spouse of an employee gets a pension after the demise of an employee, Sec. 57(iia) grants deduction of 331/3 per cent with a ceiling of Rs 15,000. Cost of acquisition Q: I am holding equity shares in Co-A of face value of Rs 10 each at a cost of Rs 100 per share. Pursuant to scheme of demerger of Co-A duly sanctioned by high court, the face value of share of Rs. 10 of Co-A was re organised to Rs 5 and I got share of face value of Rs 5 in Co-B. The cost of Rs 100 was allocated by me in the ratio of 1: 1 in its books since face value of Rs 10 was divided into two Cos — A and B in equal proportion and after apportionment, cost in my books of per share in Co-A is Rs 50 and cost of per share in Co-B is Rs 50. As per scheme circulated to shareholders, net worth of Co-A, pre demerger as well as net worth of Co-B arising out of demerger has not been given. And, hence, I can allocate the cost based on face value of shares post
demerger. — Dilip A: It is not possible for any company to effect demerging without having and declaring the ratio of assets allocated. You may directly write to the company to get the answer. Explanation-iii of Sec 48 states, “indexed cost of acquisition” means an amount which bears to the cost of acquisition the same proportion as Cost Inflation Index for the year in which the asset is transferred bears to the Cost Inflation Index for the first year in which the asset was held by the assessee or for the year beginning on the 1st day of April, 1981, whichever is later.” The first year in which Co-B shares were held by you is the year of demerger and that for Co-A shares is the date when the original shares of face value Rs 10 of Co-A. If these have gained the status of long-term capital gains, the status of Co-B shares is also long-term since its status flows from that of Co-A shares. The authors may be contacted at wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com
|
Package for electronics, IT RBI norms on bank outsourcing |
|||||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
