Economy & Business 

Government clearing decks
for foreign hedge funds

What is India News Service, July 29, 2004, 1700 hrs IST

THE Ministry of Finance and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are busy scratching the sheen off participatory notes (PNs) while they prepare to put up the welcome sign for foreign hedge funds to enter the Indian capital market in a big way. 

Senior Finance Ministry officials said that easing of the registration norms for FIIs as promised by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his Budget speech would be aimed primarily to attract hedge funds to register directly with SEBI instead of routing their investment through PNs.

Left may come down on EPF rates: Trade unions affiliated to the Left intend to climb down from their demand of 12 per cent interest rate on employment provident fund to 9-9.5 per cent. 

ICAI to write to GTB auditors: Even as the Reserve Bank of India's letter alleging "misconduct" by statutory auditors of Global Trust Bank (GTB) does not constitute a formal complaint, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) intends to write to the auditors.

Campus virtual tour: Wipro's new campus Spread over a 17-acre plot, Kolkata Centre will be the IT major's biggest training facility outside B'lore

Bristol-Myers Squibb coming: The New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is re-entering the Indian market after a gap of two decades. The $21 billion firm, one of the world\92s top 10 pharmaceutical companies, will be re-entering India through its wholly-owned subsidiary.

Ambanis, Ruias in race for PGCIL project: They are face to face once again after a long gap. The Ambanis and the Ruias have emerged as the final contenders for Rs 500-crore Koldam transmission project of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.

I-T Dept may wield survey powers to widen tax base: Faced with a diktat from the P Chidambaram to go after non-salaried tax evaders, the Chief Commissioners of Income-Tax (CCITs) have hit upon the idea of utilising the powers of survey under the I-T law.

'Transfer' holding up bank wage pact: It all boils down to mobility. That's the word holding up a wage agreement between public sector bank managements and unions. Put simply, managements want the freedom to transfer clerks anywhere in the country. Labour unions disagree.
 

Overall:

Government welcoming hedge funds: It is doing everything to encourage hedge funds to come into India in a big way.

Left may climb down on PF interest issue: Unions affiliated to the Left may give up their insistence on 12 per cent interest on the employee provident fund. 

IT officials may use survey tool: The finance minister wants them to catch the non-salaried class.