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INDIA
BUSINESS WORLD -
AUGUST 2004
THE MONTH THAT WAS
ECONOMIC
& LEGAL NEWS DCA
OPPOSES CHANGES IN COMPANIES ACT TO SUIT ONE SECTOR:
The Department of Company Affairs (DCA) has officially opposed
amending the Companies Act to enable the government to have
a golden share in private telecom companies
INCOME FROM DATA PROVIDED ABROAD ELIGIBLE FOR TAX SOPS: Income received by an Indian company as payment for providing
information to a foreign company on the Indian market, is
entitled to the tax benefits…
FEES PAID BY PARENT
FIRMS ABROAD NOT TAXABLE HERE: The AAR has held that
commission and retainer fees payable to such foreign entities,
for securing business from abroad, will not be taxable in
India. CERTAIN
APPLICATIONS OF SOFTWARE THAT HAVE HARDWARE ELEMENTS CAN BE
PATENTED: Even as software per se would continue to
be outside the purview of patenting, embedded software as
well as software/hardware combinations would qualify for patents,
if they fulfil specified novelty conditions.
CABINET CLEARS
AMENDMENTS TO.SECURITIES ACT: The union cabinet has
approved amendments to Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act,
1956 to enable de mutualisation and corporatisation of stock
exchanges. BUILDERS
TO FACE REALITY CHECK AS GOVT PLANS REALTY BILL
People stacking away their hard-earned savings to buy their
dream houses will soon get protection from those shady real
estate builders. DEPB
TO TAKE DEMAT ROUTE: Dematerialisation may not be
restricted to just shares or TDS certificates. MAKE
TAX PROVISION, IF YOU FUNCTION OFFSHORE: So far, GE,
or Microsoft, or for that matter any other US company, does
not have to provide in its books for the tax liabilities,
in respect of the 'un remitted profits' earned by its subsidiaries
in other countries including India. EPF
INTEREST RATE CUT TO 8.5%: The Central Board of Trustees
(CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
today declared an "interim rate of interest" for
FY05 at 8.5%, against expectations of a higher interest rate
in view of rising inflation.
BUSINESS
NEWS
MAHARASHTRA
STATE WAIVES DUTY ON WINES: The state government,
in a measure to encourage wine producers, has waived the excise
duty, currently levied at a rate of 50% of the manufacturing
cost, for a ten-year period from September '01. SBI,
JK BANK SNIP RATES ON SHORT-TERM DEPOSITS: banks are
reducing the interest rates on short-term deposits. INTEL
MICROPROCESSOR TO BE DESIGNED IN INDIA: Intel's largest
design centre outside the US , India centre is now learnt
to be working on designing a microprocessor completely in
India. JANUARY
2005 ALL QUOTAS IN GLOBAL TEXTILE TRADE TO BE ABOLISHED:
The big race for the global textile market will kick off in
January 2005, when all quotas in the global textile trade
will be abolished and exporters will have a free run of the
markets in the developed West. MORE
FOREIGN JOBS FOR INDIAN PROFESSIONALS: In
return for the proposed improved offers by the West, India
may need to relax controls on foreign investment in sensitive
sectors like telecom and insurance, though this is not enshrined
in the agreement, sources said. RELIANCE
DUMPS JAMNAGAR POWER PROJECT: Reliance Power Ltd,
a Reliance group company, has dropped its Rs 2,000 crore petcoke-based
power generation project in Jamnagar.
MUMBAI'S TOP 100
COMPANIES PAY 31% MORE ADVANCE TAX IN APR-JUN: Corporate
tax collection is on the rise. The advance tax paid by Mumbai's
100 large companies, who account for 40% of the country's
corporate tax collection, has increased by 30.7% as compared
with last year's April-June period. C&W
TO INVEST $10 MN IN INDIAN OPS: British telecom firm
Cable & Wireless (C&W) said it would invest $10 million
in expanding its Indian operations over the next 18 months.
NEW
DEVELOPMENTS AND JOINT VENTURES
GESTETNER
MERGES WITH RICOH: Domestic office automation giants
Gestetner India and Ricoh India have announced their merger
into a single entity. FIPB
REJECTS PROPOSAL FOR UAL MERGER WITH SEAGRAM: Foreign
Investment and Promotion Board(FIPB) has put a spoke in liquor
major Pernod Ricard's plans to merge United Agencies (UAL)
with Seagram India. VEDANTA
PAYS $48M FOR KONKOLA MINES: Vedanta Resources, the
London-listed metals and mining group, has announced the acquisition
of the 51% controlling stake in Konkola Copper Mines (KMC)
in Zambia for a total cash consideration of $48.2m MITTALS
ENTER DEAL WITH NIGERIAN GOVT TO MANAGE 2.2MT STEEL PLANT:
The promoters of Ispat Industries, Pramod Mittal and Vinod
Mittal, are taking over the management of the 2.2 m tonnes
Ajaokuta Steel plant in Nigeria. POLYPLEX'S
THAI UNIT TO SET UP $45-M FILM FACILITY IN TURKEY: Domestic
companies with a global footprint are finding better valuations
overseas than on home turf. Polyplex Corp, the fifth-largest
manufacturer of metalised polyester packaging film in the
world SOME
VISAS TO BE EXTENDED IN THE U.S.: Thousands of Indians
working in the US were recently told they would have to travel
to the country's embassies abroad to renew their visas , so
that they could be interviewed and finger printed, as the
US' new visa policy requires. MICROSOFT
TRIALS FOR NO-FRILLS XP: Microsoft is rolling out
trials for developing a low-cost Windows XP edition in India
in a couple of months.
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