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Economy
& Business
Inflation
zooms past 8 per cent
What
is India News Service, September 03, 2004, 1600 hrs IST
Inflation shot up to a four-year high at
8.17 per cent for the week ended August 21 despite a number of steps, including duty cuts on petroleum products and steel, taken by the government to rein in prices.
The WPI rose by 0.2% to 188 points with all the major indices of primary articles, fuels and manufactured products moving up. It was 173.8 points in the previous year period.
Chief economic advisor Ashok Lahiri refused to comment on the latest data saying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may address it tomorrow at his press conference.
Analysts said the latest inflation figures have not factored in the influence of the truckers' strike, which had started on August 21, fear of whose prolongation had pushed up prices of essential commodities.
Insurance
scheme for poor soon, says FM: An affordable and comprehensive
insurance scheme to cover both life and non-life risks of the poor
will be launched shortly. Indicating this, Finance Minister P
Chidambaram said \93a more universal product, which will bring in
more poor people under cover will be launched soon\94.
DoT
for retaining access deficit charges on incoming ISD calls:
Contrary to the views of the telecom regulator, the Government is
not in favour of reducing access deficit charges (ADC) on incoming
international long-distance calls.
Level telecom,
says Tata: Ratan Tata has lambasted the government for protecting BSNL.
The Tata group chairman said the government was treating VSNL like a step child despite the opening up of the telecom sector.
Music industry seeks audio software status: The Indian music industry has
urged the Central government to re-classify music on audio cassettes and compact discs and DVDs as \93intellectual property software\94, saying the current tax regime was contributing to the music industry\92s woes which was already under attack from audio pirates.
Audio cassettes and CDs are now classified as \93electrical and electronic machinery\94 attracting a higher rate of sales tax.
Govt backs buyout of Dabhol foreign lenders:
THE Government has finally drawn up its strategy to tackle the Dabhol project imbroglio. On Thursday, the Cabinet decided to constitute an empowered group of ministers (GoM) to resolve the issue.
The 2,184-MW project switched off supply and sale of power two years ago following a dispute over despatch schedules and payment liabilities.
RBI allows shifting of securities:
The Reserve Bank of India has given commercial banks some respite
against the hardening yields in the domestic debt markets, by
allowing them to transfer securities in excess of the prescribed 25
per cent limit, in the Held to Maturity category.
TVS
Motor plans subsidiary in south-east Asia: TVS
Motor will launch a new entry level 100 cc motorcycle by Oct and
expects to sell 40,000 units of the bike every month from April.
Co-op
banks get more time to meet norms: Reserve Bank of India
Governor Dr Y.V. Reddy has assured urban co-operative banks that
they will be provided with reasonable opportunity and justifiable
time to comply with regulatory prescriptions.
Govt
assures all help to auto sector to face FTAs, RTAs: Assuring
help to auto component industry in dealing with FTAs and RTAs, Govt
said formalities for setting up an R&D centre would be completed
soon.
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Corporate
Reliance
Info unveils post-paid plan Joy 499: Reliance Infocomm, which
started the price war in mid-August with its new prepaid tariffs,
has now announced new postpaid tariff plans.
File
original wills, HC tells G P Birla: Justice K J Sengupta of the
Calcutta High Court today dismissed two petitions filed by G.P.
Birla, K.N. Tapuria and P.K. Khaitan seeking to file a notarised
photocopy of the wills of M.P. Birla and his wife, Priyamvada Birla.
Reliance
hikes polymer prices on high input costs: Reliance
has raised the prices of polymer products from August 28, due to
rising costs of inputs and high international polymer prices.
Maruti
procurement goes global: The country's largest automaker Maruti
Udyog is embarking on a procurement programme to source components
globally from the most competitive suppliers.
Ashok
Leyland to roll out BS III vehicles from Jan: Ashok Leyland Ltd
has drawn up plans to roll out the entire range of Bharat Stage (BS)
III compliant vehicles from January 2005 to meet the Union
Government's pollution control norms.
Rabo
India raises Rs 1 bn via floaters: Rabo
India Finance has raised Rs 1 bn through an issue of floating rate
bonds. The issue has been subscribed to by mutual funds.
TVS
to launch entry-level bike this month-end: TVS Motor is set to
launch an entry-level motorcycle `TVS Star' by the end of this month
and has earmarked an investment of about Rs 200 crore towards new
product development this fiscal.
Hi-Tech,
US partner to make parts for General Motors: Leading auto
components maker, Hi-Tech Gears, along with its US partner Getrag
Gears, is jointly developing components for supply to General
Motors.
International
Top economies see slowdown:
Global manufacturing activity cooled in August with a synchronised slowdown in all leading economies, survey data suggested yesterday.
Following unexpected declines in Japan on Tuesday, purchasing manager indices in the US, the eurozone and the UK all fell by more than the market expected.
Intel
surprised by \91retreating\92 consumers: Intel warned that
revenues and profit margins will be lower than expected in the
current quarter due to weak demand for personal computers and
inventory reductions by computer makers.
Indian-American
working on low cost computers: Dr Raj Reddy of Carnegie Mellon
University has teamed up with chip and PC makers to make computers
cheaper and easier to handle.
Overall:
Inflation shot up:
All indices are zooming north, and
the prime minister is expected to make a statement tomorrow.
Poor may get special insurance:
The finance minister spoke of bringing the masses under the
protection of an insurance umbrella.
Birlas suffered a setback in will case: A court dismissed
the plea that the will was fake.
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