Fact News

2019-06-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp8ZS-51xmo

"Health special" Kerala slaps total ban on tobacco-based products

2012-05-26T21:42:00.003-07:00

In a powerful reaffirmation of its commitment to public health, the Kerala government has imposed a blanket ban on the manufacturing and sale of gutka and pan masala (tobacco-based products) in the state.

Announcing this at a Press conference here on Friday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the state government had enforced the ban on gutka and pan masala under the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011. “Violators of the law can be imprisoned for up to six years and a fine of Rs500,000 will be imposed on them,” Chandy said.

“I have come across several oral cancer patients and in person realised the pain and trauma that they and their family members undergo.Though our state has advanced centres and experts for cancer care, use of gutka and pan masala is inviting unwarranted sufferings,” he said.

The increasing incidence of gutka-induced diseases like oral cancer prompted the government to act. “The government would spare no efforts to enforce the ban on gutka and pan masala and will take strong measures to maintain and improve the health of our people,” the chief minister said, hoping that this Kerala model in the public health would be another precedent.

Chandy had written to the prime minister in July seeking a total ban on gutka and pan masala across the country. The Federal Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in last week of April this year, replied that states had the jurisdiction to ban gutka and pan masala under the Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011. The Health Department initiated steps immediately in this regard following this.

The notification banning gutka and pan masala in Kerala issued by Commissioner of Food Safety, Kerala on 22 May prohibits the manufacture, storage, distribution and sales of these products that contain tobacco and nicotine, in whatsoever name it is available in the market today.

The chief minister pointed out that a coordinated effort was needed to strictly enforce the ban. “The ban will be successful only if it is implemented in both letter and spirit. We will work with all stakeholders — police, teachers, health personnel and voluntary associations to achieve this,” he said.

Health Minister V S Sivakumar, who was present in the Press briefing, said that the government was aware and concerned about the wide use of tobacco and nicotine in gutka and pan masala nowadays.

“The use of gutka and pan masala begins as a mouth freshener or stress reliever. But quickly, people get addicted to these products due to the tobacco and nicotine in them and very soon develop painful oral diseases,” he said. “Such products are not just favoured by people from poor socio-economic background; today school and college going students are the biggest victims.”

“The health ministry will work with the education department to ensure that the ban is strictly implemented and monitored with the help of three-tier committees formed for monitoring sale of tobacco products around schools,” the minister added. Tobacco-based gutka and paan masala is already banned in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.
source:khaleejtimes

"Fact News" India Successfully launched Its First Radar Imaging Satellite

2012-04-27T23:33:00.001-07:00

India on 26 April 2012 launched it’s first indigenous all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1). The satellite, whose images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, was launched successfully on board the PSLV-C19 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the satellite took ten years to be functional. The newly launched satellite can capture images of the earth during day and night as well as in cloudy conditions.

Thus far, India was dependent on a Canadian satellite for images as existing domestic remote sensing spacecraft are not able to capture images of earth during cloud cover. Besides use in the agriculture sector, RISAT-1 could also be used to keep round-the-clock vigil on the country's borders, but this satellite would not be used for defence applications as RISAT-2, primarily a spy spacecraft, is already doing that job.

RISAT-1 was launched using the state-of-the-art new Mission Control Centre for the first time after its inauguration by President Pratibha Patil in January 2012. ISRO used PSLV-XL, high-end version, only third such instance, for the launch of RISAT-1. The XL version was earlier used for Chandrayaan-1 and GSAT-12 missions.

The RISAT – 1 Launch is the 20th successive successful flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). India in April 2009 had launched an imported Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) with all weather capability. The satellite was bought from Israel for 110 million dollar largely for surveillance purposes.

A whopping 498 crore rupees were spent on the project. While the development of satellite took 378 crore rupees, 120 crore rupees were spent on building the rocket (PSLV-C19).

"Fact news" Wipro aiming to grow faster than industry average, says Kurien

2012-04-25T07:35:00.001-07:00

TK Kurien, the Chief Executive officer of India's third largest software services provider, Wipro, has said that the company is aiming to record a growth rate that is higher than industry average in the 2013 fiscal year.

The company has a respectable amount of projects in the pipeline and is also planning to announce a wage hike in 2013. It said that it expects revenue from IT services to be between US $ 1.52 and 1.55 billion in the first quarter. The company's fourth quarter net profit has increased 7.7 per cent to Rs 1,481 crore. The net sales of the company were up 19 per cent to Rs 9,836.3 crore.

The company had disappointed the market with a flat guidance for the first quarter but Kurien pointed out that the flat guidance is mainly due to the slowdown in the company's India business.

On projects in pipeline, he said that, "As far as our pipeline is concerned on a global basis, it remains robust. In Q1 of the calendar year which is our Q4, we saw a little bit of a slowdown in terms of proactive deals closing. But that is now behind us and we are seeing disclosures starting in our Q1.

To that extent, on a full year basis, looking at our pipeline, we are not unduly concerned about growth." Kurien also said that the company does not announce full year guidance and only said that Wipro will strive to grow ahead of the market.

"Fact News"Delhi has highest number of insomniac executives, survey

2012-04-07T23:32:00.001-07:00

According to a new survey, Delhi tops the list of the cities with most number of corporate employees suffering from insomnia.

The reasons for the high number of sleepless executives in city include high stress level and challenging working schedules. The national capital was ranked first by the survey followed by Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai.

The survey conducted by ASSOCHAM on the occasion of World Health Day, found that about 78 per cent of the corporate employees sleep less than six hours a day and this causes sleep disorders. It also found that women who sleep less face more problems than compared to men.

D S Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM said, “Loss of sleep has wide ranging effects including daytime fatigue, physical discomfort, psychological stress, performance deterioration, low-pain threshold and increased absenteeism.”

About 36 per cent of the sample population for the survey suffered from obesity while 21 per cent suffered from depression, according to the findings. Researchers had selected more than 200 employees in age bracket of 20 to 69 years from each of the city
Source:topnews.in

"Fact News" Larry Page published letter on Google+ marking one year as CEO

2012-04-06T23:36:00.001-07:00

The Chief Executive Officer of Google, Larry Page written a letter, which is posted at Google+ social network, to mark one year since he returned to the internet giant as its CEO.

Page said that his plans for the company are aimed at increasing the company's velocity, improving its focus and also focusing on big initiatives that have the power to change the world around. He pointed out that his priority as a CEO of the company is to provide a simpler, more intuitive experience to the customers across all its services so as to allow the users to find exactly what they need on the right time.

He also talked about a shakeup in the company's management team that saw elimination or consolidation of more than 30 products. "Google has so many opportunities that, unless we make some hard choices, we end up spreading ourselves too thin," he said.

Page said that the remaining services of the company including its flagship search service were given cleaner and a more beautiful look. He plans include integrating Google+ network into the company's other offerings such as search, Gmail and YouTube.

"I have always believed that technology should do the hard work discovery, organization, communication so users can do what makes them happiest: living and loving, not messing with annoying computers," he wrote.

He claimed that Google+ has more than 100 million users and the social networking platform is getting more active.

"Fact News" India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board became the 11th Member of MEDP

2012-04-06T06:57:00.001-07:00

India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was admitted as the 11th member of MEDP (Multinational Design Evaluation Programme) on 4 April 2012. The other members of this body are China, Finland, Japan, Korea, South Africa, USA, UK, Canada, France and Russia.

MDEP is a multinational initiative taken by national safety authorities to develop innovative approaches to leverage the resources and knowledge of the national regulatory authorities who are currently or will be tasked with the review of new reactor power plant designs.

It was launched in 2006 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the United States and the French Nuclear Safety Authority. The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) acts as the Technical Secretariat for the MDEP. The International Atomic Energy Agency participates in many of the MDEP activities, including the harmonisation efforts.

"Fact News" Geeta Kumari made a History, became the First Indian Woman Wrestler to Qualify for Olympics

2012-04-04T08:57:00.002-07:00

Geeta Kumari, the woman wrestler, won a gold in 55kg category at the ongoing Asian qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhastan. Geeta with this victory also made a history, as she became the first Indian woman wrestler to have ever qualified for the Olympics.

Women's wrestling was first introduced at the Olympics during the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The wrestler from Bhiwani in Haryana, overpowered Kyrgyzstan's Gulina in the first round. Then she went on to defeat Aiym Abdildina of Kazakhstan in the semifinal. In the final, the grappler thrashed her Korean challenger Ji-Eun Um to clinch the gold medal.

"Fact News" Star TV won the Broadcasting Rights of Indian Cricket Team

2012-04-03T01:23:00.000-07:00

The Rupert Murdoch-owned Star group has won the BCCI media rights for the next six years, board president N Srinivasan announced on Monday.

The Indian cricket board had a bitter parting last December with Nimbus that held the contract earlier.

Star TV on 2 April 2012 won the rights to broadcast Indian cricket for next six years in a bid to the tune of 3851 crore rupees. Rupert Murdoch owned Star TV won the bid defeating Sony which had offered 150 crore rupees less than the winning bid.

The rights include TV, Internet and Mobile broadcasting. The agreement will remain effective for a period of six years starting from from July 2012 to March 2018. The agreement gives Star TV rights to cover all home international matches and domestic tournaments involving Indian Cricket team. The right will not be applicable for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Star TV will pay around 40 crore rupees for each international match, which is 8 crore more than what was being paid by previous broadcaster Nimbus.

The bid for the broadcasting rights was necessitated as the BCCI had abruptly terminated its broadcasting agreement with Nimbus in December 2011, three years before it was due to expires, over the issues related to payment.

"Fact News" India hosted the BRICS Summit for the First Time on 29 March 2012

2012-03-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

India hosted the BRICS(Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit for the first time on 29 March 2012. It was the fourth BRICS summit. It was held in Indian capital New Delhi. The summit was participated by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The theme of the Summit was BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity. This was the first summit hosted by India.

The BRICS nations signed two major agreements during this summit. One was to boost trade among BRICS nations by offering trade in local currency. This will replace dollar as the main currency of trade among them. The other agreement was to set up a development bank on lines of multilateral lending agencies. Intra-BRICS trade is about 230 billion US dollars.

BRICS declaration(Delhi declaration) issued at the end of the summit says situation concerning Iran cannot be allowed to escalate into conflict. It said that the disastrous consequences of which will be in no one's interest. Declaration says BRICS recognises Iran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and supports resolution of issues through dialogue.

The fifth BRICS summit will be held in March-April 2013 in South Africa. The first summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009. The second summit was held in Brasilia, in April 2010. The third summit was held in Sanya, China in April 2011. BRICS was earlier known as BRIC. When South Africa joined the organisation in 2011 it became BRICS.
Source:jagran josh

"Sunday Special" The leading companies of India

2012-03-31T23:33:00.002-07:00

India Rank	Company	Industry	Revenue (billion $)	Profits (billion $)	Assets (billion $)	Market Value (billion $)
1	Indian Oil	India Oil & Gas Operations	68.83	0.51	37.19	16.74
2	Reliance Industries	India Oil & Gas Operations	58.90	2.91	63.84	69.36
3	Bharat Petroleum	India Oil & Gas Operations	34.10	0.12	15.00	4.41
4	State Bank of India	India Banking	32.44	2.13	369.56	27.21
5	Hindustan Petroleum	India Oil & Gas Operations	28.59	0.15	15.58	2.55
6	Tata Motors	India Consumer Durables	27.629	-0.49	23.131	7.93
7	Oil and Natural Gas Corporation	India Oil & Gas Operations	26.94	3.86	43.45	51.82
8	Tata Steel	India Materials	26.06	0.96	30.38	11.04
9	Hindalco Industries	India Materials	14.38	0.07	12.71	6.69
10	Coal India Limited	India Oil & Gas Operations	13.43	2.42	9.73	75.0
11	NTPC Limited	India Utilities	10.01	1.58	22.59	36.320
12	ICICI Bank	India Banking	13.812	0.70	119.69	21.07
13	Bharti Airtel	India Telecommunications Services	11.89	1.53	20.11	23.00
14	Larsen & Toubro	Construction	10.39	0.74	12.65	19.90
15	Essar Oil	India Oil and gas	9.61	1.22	10.98	19.57
16	Steel Authority of India	India Materials	8.39	1.22	10.98	19.57
17	Bharat Heavy Electricals	India Capital Goods	8.65	0.61	8.96	25.24
18	Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited	India Refinery	7.82	0.61	8.96	25.24
19	Maruti Suzuki India Limited	India Automotive	7.49	0.61	8.96	25.24
20	Tata Consultancy Services	India Software & Services	7.57	1.02	4.99	32.321
21	Mahindra & Mahindra	India Consumer Durables	7.39	0.27	7.37	5.96
22	GAIL	India Utilities	7.27	0.55	5.79	10.98
23	CPCL	India Oil & Gas	6.63	0.55	5.79	10.98
24	Sterlite Industries	India Optical	4.80	0.55	5.79	10.98
25	Wipro	India Software & Services	6.964	0.76	8.329	21.53
26	Punjab National Bank	India Banking	6.23	0.62	74.57	6.16
27	Infosys Technologies	India Software & Services	6.04	1.17	7.07	32.20
28	Bank of Baroda	India Banking	5.15	0.46	70.99	4.61
29	HDFC Bank	India Banking	5.585	0.44	65.483	16.83
30	Canara Bank	India Banking

This is a list of notable companies based in India. Eight Indian companies have been listed in the Fortune Global 500 ranking for 2011. The leading companies are in the second edition ofFortune India 500 ranking for 2011.

Source:Wikipedia

"Saturday Special" RIM to target business customers, says CEO

2012-03-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

Canada-based,Research In MotionLtd. (RIM), which isthe makerof popular BlackBerrry family of smartphones, has said that it will focus on business customers.

Apple has been able to surpass rival Canada-based, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) in its home market for the first time in the smartphone market. Apple has overtaken RIM with its iPhone smartphones in terms of total shipments. RIM said that it will loose most of its consumer market share and will focus on business segment.

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins is taking aggressive steps to turn around the company. It will now return to its traditional strength area, the business market, where several users prefer the company due to safety.

Heins also said that the company has seen only limited success in the consumer market. BlackBerry has not really fallen from the top spot in so much as other smartphones have grown faster. iPhone smartphone, which is facing stiff competition from various Android as well as other devices globally, is emerging as the most preferred smartphone among users.

As part of the turnaround, David Yach, chief technology officer for software, and Jim Rowan, chief operating officer for global operations are set to leave the company. RIM said former co-CEO Jim Balsillie recently resigned from the board.

Source:topnews.in

"New 24" Petroleum ministry signs contracts for 16 oil and gas blocks

2012-03-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

The union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has signed Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) with 16 oil and gas blocks that were awarded under the IX round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has emerged as the biggest winner with six blocks. The government rejected a total of eight bids from the company due ot various reasons, including five for deep-sea blocks.

The government was offering 34 blocks including eight deepwater blocks, seven shallow water blocks, 11 on-land blocks, and eight Type-S on-land blocks under the NELP-IX. The government had received bids for 33 blocks on close of auction on March 28.

U. S.-based Deep Industries' Deep Energy won three onshore areas and Sankalp Oil and Natural Resources won three areas each. Focus Energy, Pratibha Oil and Natural Gas and Pan India Consultants won on-land block each in the auctions.

"There are some reservations regarding profit-sharing mechanism. Investment Multiple principle also creates its own sets of problems... In future this formula can be fine tuned," oil minister Jaipal Reddy said.

He said that the government signed 13 contracts with energy firms for blocks awarded under the ninth round of new exploration licensing policy.

Source:topnews.in

"News 24" Hu arrives in India, to meet Manmohan

2012-03-28T05:53:00.001-07:00

Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on a two-day visit to participate in the BRICS summit and to hold wide-ranging bilateral talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Chinese president is accompanied by a high-profile delegation comprising Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, State Councillor Dai Bingguo, senior ministers and business leaders.

Hu will meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday before participating in the BRICS summit next day.

Hu, along with the presidents of Russia, Brazil and South Africa, will attend a banquet hosted by President Pratibha Patil in the evening.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold bilaterals Thursday afternoon with the Chinese president that will cover various issues including bridging the trade deficit and fasttracking the new confidence-building measures.

The two leaders are expected to declare 2012 as the year of India-China friendship and unveil initiatives to bolster cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts.

India is expected is to raise the issue of huge imbalance in bilateral trade which has exceeded $70 billion, with the surplus heavily in China's favour.

Hu will speak at the plenary session of the 4th BRICS summit Thursday where he is expected to highlight China's position on global governance, sustainable development and ways to ramp up intra-BRICS trade and investment.

This will be the last visit to India by Hu as China goes in for a leadership succession later this year. He last came to India in 2006.

Hu Jintao's visit to India for the BRICS summit was greeted with protest banners and shuttered Tibetan shops.

Most shops in the town's suburb McLeodganj -- also known as 'Little Lhasa' -- downed their shutters as the community expressed its opposition to China's rule over Tibet.

The streets have been lined with banners and posters with photographs of those who have self-immolated themselves in Tibet.

A prayer session was held close to the official palace of the Dalai Lama.

India is home to around 100,000 Tibetans.

Source: IANS

TDC signs IT deal with TCS

2012-03-28T05:52:00.001-07:00

Danish telecoms operator TDC said it had entered a deal with Indian group Tata Consultancy Services to replace U.S. company CSC as its IT services provider.

TDC will begin its IT cooperation with Tata next week, chief operating officer Carsten Dilling told a news conference.

The contract will run for four years with a two-year extension option.

While Dilling did not offer an exact value of the deal, he said he would not reject a suggestion it was worth 2-3 billion Danish crowns.

Source:moneycontrol

"News 24" TRAI rules against telcos over fees

2012-03-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) plans to recommend that carriers be denied a refund of their licence fees if they lose or surrender permits, in a further blow to companies whose licences are set to be revoked after a court order.

The Supreme Court has ordered the withdrawal of 122 zonal telecoms licences awarded to eight carriers in a scandal-tainted 2008 sale. It has asked the government to reoffer the licences and radio spectrum via an open auction.

Norway's state-backed Telenor is one of the eight carriers affected, but market leaders such as Bharti Airtel and UK-based Vodafone are poised to benefit from that ruling.

Under current rules, one-time entry fees paid by operators when winning licences are "non-refundable". Some of the affected operators had suggested fees be refunded, or that they be offset against any payment due as a result of the upcoming auction.

In draft proposals released on Monday, the TRAI said it plans to recommend to the government that the entry fee remains non-refundable.

The government last year asked the regulator to give its proposals on an "exit policy" for carriers that want to quit operations.

The regulator said on Monday it would recommend to the government there was no need for a separate "exit policy" and to continue with rules that allow a telecom licensee to surrender licences by giving notice of at least 60 days.

The regulator's recommendations are not binding on the government.

Source:moneycontrol

"Sunday Special"Government approves allotment of 16 oil and gas exploration blocks

2012-03-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

India's union cabinet has given its approval to the awarding of 16 oil and gas blocks, according to a new statement issued by the government.

The number of oil and gas blocks for which the allocation has been approved is half of the blocks offered under its ninth exploration-licensing round. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs The government has received 33 out of 34 blocks that were put under an auction in March 2011.

According to the release, 8 of the blocks are deepwater, 7 are shallow water and 19 are located onshore. The government did not announce names of successful companies. The CCEA had received recommendations of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECS) saying the cabinet committee should approve awarding of 16 blocks to the first ranked or single bidder.

The cabinet did not given its approval to the allotment of 14 blocks due to lower profit petroleum to the government under the Ninth Round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). The statement did not specify information for the remaining three blocks for which the bids were received by the government. It also announced the cancellation of award to local firms of two blocks that were offered in the eight round.
Source:topnews.in

"Saturday Special"World Bank offers $500 million loan for education in India

2012-03-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

The World Bank has offered $500 million interest-free credit to India for improving the standards of secondary education, an official statement said Friday.

The World Bank Thursday approved the credit that will help the Indian government's efforts to make good quality education "available, accessible and affordable to all young persons at the secondary level (grades 9 and 10)."

The project will support all activities as envisioned in the $12.9 billion Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) programme, a flagship government of India programme for gradual universalisation of secondary education, the World Bank said in a statement.

"This World Bank project will support the objectives and activities of RMSA.
It will facilitate a whole set of mechanisms built around identifying what is needed to improve the quality of secondary education," said Venu Rajamony, joint secretary, economic affairs in India's finance ministry.

The project will be financed by a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) -- the World Bank's concessionary lending arm - which provides interest-free loans with 25 years to maturity and a grace period of five years.

The money will be used for setting up libraries, computer laboratories, upgrading primary schools in to secondary schools and providing training to teachers. In addition, expansion, repair and renovation will take place in some 60,000 existing government secondary schools; some 44,000 upper primary schools will be upgraded into secondary schools; and about 11,000 new secondary and senior secondary schools will come up mainly in underserved areas.

Efforts will also be made to strengthen the role of local bodies in school management, which can, over time, lead to greater accountability and improved outcomes, the World Bank said. "RMSA is a young programme which is expected to grow rapidly and hence it is an opportunity for the World Bank to support the government of India in building effective systems as the programme expands while improving quality," said Roberto Zagha, World Bank country director for India.

Zagha pointed out that a major concern in India these days was the issue of quality education. "Mere improvement in access, if it is of differential quality, may not be conducive for inclusive growth. Recent international research confirms that improved quality - measured by cognitive skills - is important in determining future income and contribution to economic growth," he said.

"Hence the country needs all their young people to get good quality secondary education," Zagha added. The World Bank's funded project is designed to meet critical needs in secondary education.

"First, to make sure that secondary education expands in such a way that quality and equity are enhanced at the same time; second, to develop and evaluate innovative approaches to secondary education; and, third, to leverage World Bank resources to help the government address systemic issues in the sector."
Source:Times of India

"Thusday special"Apple claims selling 3 million new iPad tablets

2012-03-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

Technology giant, Apple has claimed that it has sold more than 3 million units of the latest version of its iPad tablet computer since its launch on 16 March.

The new iPad, which was launched in the US market and nine other countries on Friday, has sold more than 3 million units in the few days in different counties due to high demand. Apple CEO Tim Cook had said in a conference call yesterday that the new version of the tablet sold in “record” numbers. Philip Schiller, the company’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing had claimed on Apple’s Website that the weekend had produced the best iPad launch ever. Ahead of the launch, Apple had claimed that it finished the pre-order stock of the third generation iPad tablet computer.

Apple spokesperson Trudy Miller has said that re-order volume for the new iPad has been "off the charts" and the stock for pre-orders has already been exhausted. The newest iPad tablet comes in several versions starting at $499, which is the same price for the iPad 2 at the time of its launch in the previous year. Apple generally releases a new tablet at the same price as the pervious version and reduces the price of the earlier version.
Source:topnews.in

"Wednesday Special":India surpasses china to become world's biggest arms importer

2012-03-20T02:05:00.000-07:00

According to figures, India has surpassed to become the biggest imports of arms from other countries in the world.

India accounted for 10 per cent of global arms sales volumes, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). It showed that India's imports of “major conventional weapons” from 2007 to 2011 increased 38 per cent. India is likely to spend more than $100 billion on weapons and systems in the next 15 years, according to estimates. SIPRI also pointed out that India was followed by China and Pakistan who accounted for 5 per cent of the global arms import each. The report said that Pakistan received delivery of a large number of combat aircrafts during this period including 50 JF-17s from China and 30 F-16s from US. The report outlined that China, which was the biggest arms imported fell to the forth place due to the development of its domestic capabilities in arms building. The country is now the world’s sixth largest world exporter of weapons behind the US, Russia, Germany, France and UK. It appears that China’s arms export are rising but mainly it is because Pakistan is buying more from the country. However, China has not achieved major success in any other market. Source:topnews.in

Survey by the American think tank:Tata Steel, Wipro among world's most ethical

2012-03-18T01:53:00.001-07:00

Tata Steel and Wipro have been named among the world's most ethical companies by the American think tank, Ethisphere Institute, company officials said. These are the only two Indian companies to have featured in the 2012 list of World's Most Ethical Companies prepared by US-based Ethisphere Institute. "It is a great honour for Tata Steel to be recognised under such an important and prestigious parameter. Ethical business principles and practices have been the key differentiators of Tata Group and Tata Steel since inception," said H. M. Nerurkar, managing director, Tata Steel. Ethisphere's annual list of the World's Most Ethical Companies (WME) recognises companies that truly go beyond making statements and conduct business ethically by translating words into action. The Ethisphere Institute's annual WME Companies list revealed that 145 companies in countries like the US, Great Britain, Japan, Portugal and India stood out for setting high standards of employee behaviour and conduct. Ethisphere evaluated about 5,000 global companies, including those in Standard & Poor's 500 index, on reputation, corporate citizenship, culture and other qualities.

"Budget Special"Union Budget 2012-13: A summary

2012-03-17T03:27:00.000-07:00

The Union Budget 2012-13 presented by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Lok Sabha.

They include focus on domestic demand driven growth recovery; create conditions for rapid revival of high growth in private investment; address supply bottlenecks in agriculture, energy and transport sectors particularly in coal, power, national highways, railways and civil aviation; intervene decisively to address the problem of malnutrition especially in the 200 high-burden districts and expedite coordinated implementation of decisions being taken to improve delivery systems , governance, and transparency; and address the problem of black money and corruption in public life. Mukherjee said that India's GDP growth in 2012-13 is expected to be 7.6 per cent +/-0.25 per cent. He said that in 2011-12, India's GDP is estimated to grow at 6.9 per cent after having grown at the rate of 8.4 per cent in each of the two preceding years He said though the global crisis had affected India, it still remains among the front runners in economic growth. Mukherjee said the slowdown is primarily due to deceleration in industrial growth. Stating that the headline inflation remained high for most part of the year, the Finance Minister expressed hope that it will moderate further in the next few months and remain stable thereafter. FM laid emphasis on striking a balance between fiscal consolidation and strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals. He announced introduction of amendments to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 (FRBM Act) as part of the Finance Bill 2012. He said that concept of "Effective Revenue Deficit" and "Medium Term Expenditure Framework" statement are two important features of Amendment to FRBM Act in the direction of expenditure reforms. This statement shall set forth a three year rolling targets for expenditure indicatoRs The Finance Minister called for a need to have a close look at the growth of revenue expenditure, particularly, on subsidies. He announced that from 2012-13 while subsidies related to food and for administering the Food Security Act will be fully provided for, all other subsidies would be funded to the extent that they can be borne by the economy without any adverse implications. He said that the Government will endeavor to restrict the expenditure on central subsidies under 2 per cent of GDP in 2012-13and over the next three years, it would be further brought down to 1.75 per cent of GDP. Finance Minister said that based on recommendations of the Task Force headed by Nandan Nilekani, a mobile-based Fertilizer Management System has been designed to provide end-to-end information on movement of fertilizers and subsidies which will be rolled out nation-wide during 2012. He said that transfer of subsidy to the retailer and eventually to the farmers will be implemented in subsequent phases which will benefit 12 crore farmer families. On the tax reforms, the Finance Minister said that the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill will be enacted at the earliest after expeditious examination of the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. He said drafting of model legislation for Centre and State Goods and Services Tax (GST) in concert with States is under progress. He added that the GST network will be set up as a National Information Utility and will become operational by August 2012. On the disinvestment policy, Mukherjee said that the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are being given a level playing field vis-à-vis private sector with regard to practices like buy-backs and listing at stock exchange. Stating that while in 2011-12, the Government will raise about Rs 14,000crore from disinvestment as against a target of Rs 40,000 crore, the Finance Minister proposed to raise Rs 30,000 crore through disinvestment in 2012-13. He said at least 51 per cent ownership and management of CPSEs will remain with the government. Calling for strengthening investment environment, Mukherjee said that efforts are on to arrive at a broad-based consensus in respect of decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail up to 51 per cent. He proposed to introduce a new scheme called Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme to allow for income tax deduction of 50 per cent to new retail investors who invest up to Rs 50,000 directly in equities and whose annual income is below Rs 10 lakh. The scheme will have a lock-in period of 3 years Regarding capital markets, the Finance Minister proposed to allow Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) to access Indian Corporate Bond market. He also proposed simplifying the process of Initial Public Offer (IPO). Pranab Mukherjee said that the government is committed to protect the financial health of Public Sector Banks and Financial Institutions. He proposed to provide Rs 15,888 crore for capitalization of Public Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks and other financial institutions including NABARD. He added that a Central Know Your Customer (KYC) depositary will be developed in 2012-13 to avoid multiplicity of registration and data upkeep. The Finance Minister informed that out of 73,000 identified habitations that were to be covered under "Swabhimaan" campaign for providing banking facilities by March 2012, about 70,000 habitations have been covered while the rest are likely to be covered by March 31, 2012.He added that as a next step Ultra Small Branches are being set up at these habitations. In 2012-13, Swabhimaan campaign will be extended to more habitations. Emphasizing on infrastructure and industrial development, Mukherjee said that during the 12th Plan, infrastructure investment will go up to Rs 50 lakh crore with half of this expected from private sector. Stating that in 2011-12 tax free bonds for Rs 30,000 crore were announced for financing infrastructure projects, he proposed to double it to raise Rs 60,000 crore in 2012-13. The Minister proposed to allow External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) to part finance Rupee debt of existing power projects. The Finance Minister announced a target of covering 8,800 km. under NHDP next year and increase in allocation of the Road Transport and Highways Ministry by14 per cent to Rs 25,360 crore in 2012-13. He proposed to permit ECB for working capital requirements of the Airline Industry for a period of one year, subject to a total ceiling of US dollar 1 billion to address the immediate financial concerns of the Civil Aviation Sector.He added that a proposal to allow foreign airlines to participate up to 49 per cent in the equity of an air transport undertaking is under active consideration. Expressing concern over shortage in housing sector, the Finance Minister proposed various measures to address the shortage of housing for low income groups in major cities and towns including ECB for low cost housing projects and setting up of a Credit Guarantee Trust Fund. Regarding textile sector, the Finance Minister announced setting up of two more mega clusters, one to cover Prakasam and Guntur districts in Andhra Pradesh and other for Godda and neighboring districts in Jharkhand in addition to 4 mega handloom clusters already operationalized. He also proposed setting up of three Weavers Service Centres, one each in Mizoram, Nagaland and Jharkhand. The Minister proposed aRs 500 crore pilot scheme in twelfth plan for promotion and application of Geo-textiles in the North East.A powerloom Mega Cluster will be set up in Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra. FM proposed to set up a Rs 5000 crore India Opportunities Venture Fund with SIDBI to enhance availability of equity to micro, small and medium enterprises. Stating that agriculture will continue to be a priority for the government, Mukherjee proposed an increase by 18 per cent to Rs 20,208 crore in the total Plan Outlay for the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation in 2012-13. He said that the outlay for Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is being increased to Rs 9217 crore in 2012-13. Underlining importance of timely access to affordable credit for farmers, the Finance Minister proposed to raise the target for agricultural credit to Rs 5,75,000 crore, which represents an increase of Rs 1,00,000 crore over the target for the current year. He said that a short term RRB Credit Refinance Fund is being set up to enhance the capacity of Regional Rural Banks to disburse short term crop loans to the small and marginal farmeRs He added that Kisan Credit Card Scheme will be modified to make it a smart card which can be used at ATMs. The Financed Minister said that in order to have a better out reach of the food processing sector, a new centrally sponsored scheme titled National Mission on Food Processing will be started in cooperation with the States in 2012-13. Minister proposed an increase of 18 per cent to Rs 37,113crore for Scheduled Castes Sub Plan and an increase of 17.6 per cent to Rs 21,710 crore for Tribal Sub Plan during 2012-13. Regarding food security, Mukherjee said that National Food Security Bill 2011 is before Parliamentary Standing Committee. He said a multi-sectoral programme to address maternal and child malnutrition in selected 200 high burdened districts is being rolled out during 2012-13. He further said that an allocation of Rs 15,850 crore has been made for ICDS scheme which is an increase of 58% and Rs 11,937 crore for National Programme of Mid-Day Meals in schools for the year 2012-13. He added that an allocation of Rs 750 crore is proposed for Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls, SABLA. The allocation for rural drinking water and sanitation is proposed to be increased by over 27 per cent to Rs 14,000 crore and for Pradhan Mantri Road SadakYojana by 20 per cent to Rs 24,000 crore in 2012-13. He proposed to enhance the allocation under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to Rs 20,000 crore with Rs 5,000 crore exclusively earmarked for .creating warehousing facilities. The Finance Minister proposed an increase in allocation by 21.7 per cent for Right to Education – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to Rs 25,555 crore and by 29 per cent for Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan to Rs 3,124 crore. He proposed to set up a Credit Guarantee Fund to ensure better flow of funds to students. Regarding health sector he proposed an increase in allocation for NRHM to Rs 20,822 crore in 2012-13. He also said that National Urban Health Mission is being launched. The Finance Minister said that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has had a positive impact. He proposed an allocation of Rs 3915 crore for National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) which represents an increase of 34 per cent. He proposed to provide Rs 200 crore to enlarge the corpus to Rs 300 crore of the Women's SHG's Development Fund. He said the fund will also support the objectives of Aajeevika i.e. NRLM and will empower women SHGs to access bank credit. He also proposed to establish a Bharat Livelihoods Foundation of India through Aajeevika which will support and scale up civil society initiatives and interventions particularly in the tribal regions covering around 170 districts. Allocation under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) is proposed to be raised by 37 per cent to Rs 8447 crore. Under the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme for BPL beneficiaries, the monthly pension amount per person is being raised from Rs 200 to Rs 300. FM announced a provision of Rs 1,93,407crore for Defence Services including Rs 79,579 crore for capital expenditure. He said the allocation is based on present needs and any further requirement would be met. Addressing governance related issues, Mukherjee said adequate funds are proposed to be allocated to complete enrollments of another 40 crore persons under UID Mission. Outlining the steps taken by the Government to address the issue of black money, the Minister proposed to lay a White Paper on Black Money in the current session of Parliament. In the Budget estimates for 2012-13, the Gross Tax Receipts are estimated at Rs 10, 77,612 crore which is an increase of 15.6 per cent over the Budget Estimates and 19.5 per cent over the revised estimates for 2011-12. After devolution to States, the net tax to the Centre in 2012-13 is estimated at Rs 7,71,071crore. The Non Tax Revenue Receipts are estimated at Rs 1,64,614crore and Non-debt Capital Receipts at Rs 41,650 crore. The total expenditure for 2012-13 is budgeted at Rs 14,90,925 crore. Of this Rs 5,21,025crore is the Plan Expenditure while Rs 9,69,900 crore is budgeted as Non Plan Expenditure. The tax proposals are guided by the need to move towards the Direct Tax Code(DTC) in the case of direct taxes and Goods & Services Tax (GST) in the case of indirect taxes. Individual income up to Rs 2 lakh will be free from income tax; income upto Rs 1.8 lakh was exempt in 2011-12. Income above Rs 5 lakh and upto Rs 10 lakh now carries tax at the rate of 20 per cent; the 20% tax slab was from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh in 2011-12. A deduction of up to Rs 10,000 is now available for interest from savings bank accounts. Within the existing limit for deduction allowed for health insurance, a deduction of up to Rs 5000 is being allowed for preventive health check-up. Senior citizens not having income from business will now not need to pay advance tax. While no changes have been made in corporate taxes, the budget proposes a number of measures to promote investment in specific sectors. In order to provide low cost funds to some stressed infrastructure sectors, withholding tax on interest payments on external borrowings (ECBs) is being reduced from 20 percent to 5 per cent for 3 years. These sectors are – power, airlines, roads and bridges, ports and shipyards, affordable housing, fertilizer, and dam. Investment linked deduction of capital expenditure in some businesses is proposed to be provided at 150 per cent as against the current rate of 100 per cent. These sectors include cold chain facility, warehouses for storing foodgrain, hospitals, fertilizers and affordable housing. Bee keeping, container freight and warehousing for storage of sugar will now also be eligible for investment linked deduction. The budget also proposes weighted deduction for R&D expenditure, agri-extension services and expenditure on skill development in the manufacturing sector. For small and medium enterprises (SMEs) the turnover limit for compulsory tax audit of accounts as well as for presumptive taxation is proposed to be raised from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore. In order to augment funds for SMEs, sale of residential property will be exempt from capital gains tax, if the proceeds are used for purchase of plant and machinery, etc. A General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) is being introduced in order to counter aggressive tax avoidance. Securities transaction tax (STT) is being reduced by 20 per cent on cash delivery transactions, from 0.125% to 0.1%. Alternative Minimum Tax is proposed to be levied from all persons, other than companies, claiming profit linked deductions. The Finance Minister has proposed a series of measures to deter the generation and use of unaccounted money. In the case of assets held abroad, compulsory reporting is being introduced and assessment up to 16 years will now be allowed to be re-opened. Tax will be collected at source on trading in coal, lignite and iron ore; purchase of bullion or jewellery above Rs 2 lakh in cash; and transfer of immovable property (other than agricultural land) above a specified threshold. Unexplained money, credits, investments, expenditures etc. will be taxed at the highest rate of 30 per cent irrespective of the slab of income. The Finance Minister has made an effort to widen the service tax base, strengthen its enforcement and bring it as close as possible to the central excise. A common simplified registration form and a common return are being introduced for central excise and service tax. All services will now attract service tax, except those in the negative list. The negative list has 17 heads and includes specified services provided by the government or local authorities, and services in the fields of education, renting of residential dwellings, entertainment and amusement,public transportation, agriculture and animal husbandry. A number of other services including health care, and services provided by charities, independent journalist, sport persons, performing artists in folk and classical arts, etc are exempt from service tax. Film industry also gets tax exemption on copyrights relating to recording of cinematographic films. Service tax rate is being increased from 10 per cent to 12 per cent, with consequential change in rates for services that have individual tax rates. The standard rate of excise duty for non-petroleum goods is also being raised from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. No change is proposed in peak rate of customs duty of 10 per cent on non-agricultural goods. The Budget offers relief to different sectors of economy, especially those under stress. Import of equipment for fertilizer projects are being fully exempted from basic customs duty of 5 per cent for 3 years Basic customs duty is also being lowered for a number of equipment used in agriculture and related areas. In the realm of infrastructure, customs relief is being given to power, coal and railways sectors while steam coal gets full customs duty exemption for 2 years (with the concessional counter-veiling duty of 1 per cent), natural gas, LNG and certain uranium fuel get full duty exemption this year. Different levels of duty concessions are being provided to help mining, railways, roads, civil aviation, manufacturing, health and nutrition and environment. So as to help modernization of the textile industry, a number of equipment are being fully exempted from basic customs duty, and lower customs duty is being proposed for some other items used by the textile industry. Customs duty is being raised for gold bars and coins of certain categories, platinum and gold ore. Customs duty is to be imposed on coloured gem stones. Excise duty on certain categories of cigarettes and bidis, pan masala and chewing tobacco is being increased. Customs duty is being increased on completely built large cars/ SUVs/ MUVs of value exceeding $40,000. Silver jewellery will now be fully exempt from excise duty. Unbranded precious metal jewellery will attract excise duty on the lines of branded jewellery. Operations are being simplified and measures taken to minimize impact of this provision on small artisans and goldsmiths. While direct tax proposals in the Budget will result in a net revenue loss of Rs 4,500crore, indirect taxes will result in a net revenue gain of Rs 45,940 crore. Thus, the tax proposals will lead to a net gain of Rs 41,440crore. (With PIB inputs)

"Budget Special" Union Budget 2012-13: Income tax exemption limit raised to Rs 2 lakh

2012-03-16T02:39:00.000-07:00

Giving some relief to tax payers, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today proposed raising the income tax exemption limit for individuals to Rs 2 lakh per annum from Rs 1.80 lakh. Unveiling the Budget proposals for 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha, he also increased the limit to Rs 10 lakh under the 20 per cent tax slab. The current limit is Rs 8 lakh. "My proposals on direct taxes are estimated to result in a net revenue loss of Rs 4,500 crore for the year," Mukherjee said. The Budget also exempt up to Rs 10,000 of interest income from tax. Individual will have to pay 10 per cent tax on income between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh; 20 per cent between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh; and 30 per cent for above Rs 10 lakh. Mukherjee said increasing the exemption limit is a move towards implementation of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC). The standing committee of Parliament that has scrutinised the DTC Bill had suggested raising the tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh. The exemption limit for the senior citizens between 60 and 80 years of age will be Rs 2.50 lakh; 10 per cent will be levied on income between Rs 2.5-5 lakh, 20 per cent between Rs 5-10 lakh and 30 per cent above Rs 10 lakh. For very senior citizens (80 years and above), the income tax exemption limit will be Rs 5 lakh; 20 per cent will be levied on income between Rs 5-10 lakh and 30 per cent for above Rs 10 lakh. On implementation of DTC, Mukherjee said, "We received the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on March 9, 2012. We will examine the report expeditiously and take steps for enactment of DTC at the earliest." The DTC Bill seeks to replace the half-a-century-old Income Tax Act, 1961. The savings bank account deductions, Mukherjee said, will help small tax payers. "This would help a large number of small tax payers with salary income of up to Rs 5 lakh and interest from savings bank accounts up to Rs 10,000, as they would not be required to file income tax returns," Mukherjee said.

"Budget Special"Budget 2012: Highlights

2012-03-16T02:29:00.000-07:00

5% customs duty exempted on fertiliser plant

Import of aircraft parts exempt from customs duty

Reduced customs duty on cigarettes

Thermal power projects exempt from customs for 2 yrs

LNG exempt from customs duty

Income tax on income above Rs 10 lakh at 30%

Income tax on income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh at 20%

Upper limit raised from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for 20% bracket

Automated shuttle looms exempted from customs duty

Income tax on income between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh at 10%

Some infra construction services exempted from service tax

Full exemption on customs duty on coal

Large cars excise duty raised from 22% to 24%

Service tax raised from 10%-12%

No change in peak customs duty

Common tax code for service tax and excise

Compulsory reporting of assets held abroad

FY13 net market borrowing at Rs 4.8 lakh cr

Weighted tax exemptions for in house R&D for extended by another 5 years

BROKERAGE STOCKS: IndiaInfoline and Religare Enterprises flat at Rs 73.65 and Rs 385, respectively

All services to be taxed except 17

Tables a white paper on black money issue

No change in corporate tax rates

STT reduced 20% on delivery transactions

Non-plan expenditure at Rs 9.7 lakh cr

Remove cascading effect of dividend distribution tax

Witholding tax reduced to 5% from 20%

Personal income tax exemption limit for general category raised to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1.8 lakh

Standard Chartered IDR hits 20% circuit on IDR fungibility announcement

FY13 fiscal deficit at 5.1%

Fiscal deficit at 5.9% in FY12

Gross tax estimates at 10.6% of GDP

Non-tax revenue receipts pegged at Rs 1.64 lakh cr

TOP GAINERS ON SENSEX: BHEL, ICICI Bank, Coal India, Wipro and ITC

Directorate of Criminal Investigation has been constituted

Rural development fund of 20,000 cr

Govt aims to trim subsidy burden

Rs 20,000 cr to be spent on rural infrastructure development, including Rs 5,000 cr for creating warehousing facilities

Dedicated exchange of information cell is needed

Rs 25,555 cr for Right to Education allocated in FY13; interest rates on loans to women self help groups slashed

Market Update: Sensex 17,698 (up 22 points); Nifty 5394 (up 14 points)

1 lakh 93,000 cr has been allocated for the defence sector

CNX Pharma Index jumps 0.7% at 4,930. Proposes Rs 15,888 cr for capitlisation of PSUs

Funds to be provided to women self help group.

NRHM allocation hiked to Rs 20,820 cr

IPO equity offer above Rs 10 crore will have to be made electronically in capital market reforms

FY13 Mid-day meals scheme outlay at Rs 11,937 cr

Rs 15,888 cr to be provided for capitalisation of public sector and regional rural banks and NABARD

Tax free bonds of Rs 10,000 cr for IRFC

UID allocation at 14,232 cr in FY13

Infrastructure investment in 12th Plan to go up to Rs 50 lakh crore; half of it to come from pvt sector: FM

PHARMA SHARES: Parabolic Drugs jumps 6%, Medi Caps gains 5.7%, Piramal Life Sciences up 2.3%

Agri credit target raised to 5.75 lakh cr

Securities Transaction Tax (STT) may be abolished

FDI of 49% in aviation under active consideration

DTC Implementation deferred Sensex touches a high of 17,871. Index now up 133 pts at 17,806

Allow ECB for low cost housing projects

IMG to review coal allocation blocks

7,300 km of road projects awarded in FY12

Coal India advised t sign FSA with Power plants

Irrigation eligible for viability gap funding

Pilot project for direct transfer of subsidiary for kerosene has been initiated in Alwar, Rajasthan

81 out of 82 RRBs move to core banking solutions

To move national housing amendment bill

Propose central KYC depository

Direct Tax Code (DTC) Bill to be enacted at the earliest, says FM

To increase investments in infra through PPP

Infrastructure go upto 50 lakh cr

10% of IPO above Rs 10 cr

To introduce new laws for micro finance companies

Qualified foreign investors allowed to invest in corporate bond market

Rs 50,000 tax exemption for retail investors

RETAIL SHARES: Brandhouse Retail gain 6.6%, V2 Retail up 3.6%, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons and Trent up 1-3% each.

Two way fungibility of Indian depositary receipts

Qualified foreign investors allowed to invest in corporate bond market

To reach more retail investors in small towns

New Rajiv Gandhi Equity scheme to allow for 50% deduction to small investors

OMC shares gain. HPCL up 1.6% at Rs 298, BPCL up 1% at Rs 673, IOC up 1.8% at Rs 277

To encourage role of saving- new scheme-Rajiv Ganghi scheme has been introduced

PSU banks gain. Bank of India up 2.5%, followed by Indian Bank, State Bank of Mysore and Allahabad Bank Effort on for FDI in multi-brand retail

Min 51% govt ownership in PSUs to remain

Rs 30,000 cr for divestment in FY13

Fast track policy decisions

Central subsidies to be under 2% of GDP

To examine parliamentary panel report on DTC

Structure of GST networks approved by state FMs

Markets surge to day's high. Sensex up 151 points at 17,826. Nifty up 51 points at 5,431

Realty and bankex surge nearly 2% each to 1,856 and 12,425, respectively

Working for direct subsidy transfer in case of LPG and kerosene

Direct transfer of subsidy to retailer and farmer

Subsidy for food security to be fully provided

Need to raise tax-GDP ratio

Will make some amendment in FRBM ACT

FRBM implementation back on track

Fiscal balance deteriorated due to subsidy

Avg price of crude to exceed $115 dollar/barrel in 2012

Current account deficit at 6.3% of GDP in FY12

Avg price of crude to exceed $115 dollar/barrel in 2012

7.6% GDP growth in FY13

Current account deficit at 6.3% of GDP in FY12

Have identified 5 objectives that need to be addressed: FM

India has successfully achieved diversified exports and imports markets

India's manufacturing sector is recovering

Expects headline inflation to moderate going forward, and then stabilise

To address supply bottleneck in agriculture

India's GDP to grow 6.9%

Need to address problem of black money

Necessary to take hard decisions now

India's manufacturing sector is recovering

Agriculture, services continue to do well, suggesting that industry is the laggard

We had to battle double digit inflation

This year's performance has been diappointing

GDP seen growing at 6.9% in FY12 after doing 8.4% preceding two years

Opposition obstructs the Budget speech

It was a year of recovery interrupted for the Indian economy: FM

Pranab Mukherjee starts 2012 Union Budget Speech

Fertiliser shares gain on Budget allocation hopes

"I.T. Special"Dell plans over 20 data centers in Asia as customers look to cloud

2012-03-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

Dell plans to set up over 20 data centers in Asia to meet growing demand from customers for a mix of private and public clouds, the head of the company's Asia Pacific and Japan region said. The company's first data center in the region is likely to come up in India for customers in the country, said Amit Midha, Dell's president for APJ, on Wednesday. The pace of investment in these data centers will depend on the growth in demand, and the need for clearances in some countries including China, he said. It has become important to locate data centers in key countries in the region because of local regulations relating to movement of data outside a country, Midha said. Customers want both a private and public cloud, and Dell wants to be able to provide them offerings on both sides, Midha said. "This is a transition which will run for several years to come," he added.

The company is also seeing demand for its equipment and design services for the large number of data centers that are coming up in the region particularly in China. The country is building up a large number of data centers for use by government, and companies including startups, Midha said. Dell also started rolling out its services delivery capability in the region from the middle of last year: Until recently it was largely focused on the U.S. and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) regions. Most of last year was an investment phase for services which is likely to continue this year, Midha said. "This is an area that would be bearing fruits for us probably in the second half of next year," he said. As it expands in services in Asia, the company also plans to tap into its 23,000 staff in India, of which a significant number work in services such as application outsourcing and projects, but have so far been working on outsourcing for customers in the U.S. and EMEA, Midha said. China is also likely to be a hub for delivery of services in the region, particularly for Korea, Japan, and the local market. Services accounted for 10 to 12 percent of the company's revenue of $12.7 billion from the region in the last fiscal year, but its share will not see a big shift this year, as all of Dell's businesses are growing fast in the region, Midha said. A more dramatic shift in the share of services can be expected in say about three years, he added. As more and more people are joining the middle class in Asia, and companies in the region plan to go global, there is a great opportunity for Dell, according to Midha. A boom in mobile phones is for example creating large demand for server capacity. Dell's Asia Pacific and Japan revenue grew 10 percent in its fourth fiscal quarter ended Feb. 3, 2012, including 15 percent growth from China. For the fiscal year, revenue in the region grew 13 percent, while revenue from China grew 20 percent. The company added some 1,000 new staff in the region in sales and marketing alone in the last fiscal year. About 600 of these are specialists who are focused on understanding and meeting customers requirements. "We are not leading with pricing or a product specification," Midha said