Brief description and current status of the Upcoming financial legislative initiatives!!

With an eye to growth through economic reforms, the government hopes to introduce at least seven financial legislations that found mention in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's budget speech. Following is a brief description and current status of these bills:  * The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008: Currently, the percentage of foreign holding in insurance companies is capped at 26 percent. This bill raises this limit to 49 percent. It allows for nationalised general insurance companies to raise funds from the capital markets and allows entry of foreign re-insurers. In addition, the bill permits the policyholder to name the beneficiary, while allowing an insurer to decline such a transfer. The bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in December 2008 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance in September 2009. The committee is yet to submit its report.  * Life Insurance Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2009: It amends the LIC Act, 1956 and proposes an increase in the paid up equity capital of LIC to Rs.100 crore from Rs.5 crore so that it meets the capital requirements as specified by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Currently, the LIC Act provides for the central government to guarantee the entire amount assured by life insurance policies. The bill permits the central government to determine the extent of the guarantee. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha in July 2009 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance, which submitted its report in March 2010.    * The revised Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill: It was first introduced in 2005. The authority was established in 2003 through an executive order but the bill makes it a statutory body. It establishes an authority to develop and regulate the new pension system (NPS), which provides old age income security for all individuals, including those in the unorganised sector and has been operationalised for new central government employees through a notification. It lapsed with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha. The original bill had been examined by the Committee on Finance, which had submitted its report in July 2005.  * Banking Laws Amendment Bill, 2011: This bill seeks to address the capital raising capacity of banks and strengthen the regulatory powers of the Reserve Bank of India. It has been listed for introduction in the budget Session 2011.  * Bill on Factoring and Assignment of Receivables: The bill will create a separate legal framework for provisions of factoring services in the country in order to facilitate increased credit access to the industry. It will also provide for receivable management. This bill has been listed for introduction in the budget session.  * The State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks Laws) Amendment Bill, 2009: It seeks to amend the State Bank of Hyderabad Act, 1956 and the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959. It seeks to amend the acts to reflect the transfer of ownership of the State Bank from the Reserve Bank to the central government. The bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha.  * Bills to amend RDBFI Act 1993 and SARFAESI Act 2002: These two bills seek to strengthen recovery mechanisms available to secured creditors. An additional objective would be to strengthen the securitisation and asset reconstruction market in the country. They are listed for introduction in the budget session. Other legislation that also found mention in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's budget speech include the Companies Bill, 2009, Direct Taxes Code, 2010 and GST.  * The Companies Bill, 2009 seeks to replace the Companies Act 1956 to change the regulations governing corporate structures and redefine corporate relationships. The Companies Bill, 2008 was drafted along the same lines but lapsed with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha. It provides for a single legal framework to comprehensively integrate principles of corporate governance and harmonise the company law framework. It was introduced in August 2009 and referred to the Standing Committee on Finance, which submitted its report in August 2010. The finance minister indicated that the proposed bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha in the budget session.  * Direct Taxes Code, 2010: This bill replaces the Income Tax Act, 1961, and seeks to create a new direct taxes framework. The code changes the current income tax slabs for individuals and corporate entities. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2009. The Standing Committee on Finance examined the bill and is likely to table its report in the budget session. * GST: The bill will introduce a goods and services tax to be applicable in all states across the country. This will be done through an amendment to the constitution

Source -- Sify News

Goods and Services Tax (Fully Explained)

What is GST? How does it work ?

GST is a tax on goods and services with comprehensive and continuous chain of set-off benefits from the producer's point and service provider's point upto the retailer's level. It is essentially a tax only on value addition at each stage, and a supplier at each stage is permitted to set-off, through a tax credit mechanism, the GST paid on the purchase of goods and services as available for set-off on the GST to be paid on the supply of goods and services. The final consumer will thus bear only the GST charged by the last dealer in the supply chain, with set-off benefits at all the previous stages. The illustration shown below indicates, in terms of a hypothetical example with a manufacturer, one wholeseller and one retailer, how GST will work. Let us suppose that GST rate is 10%, with the manufacturer making value addition of Rs.30 on his purchases worth Rs.100 of input of goods and services used in the manufacturing process. The manufacturer will then pay net GST of Rs. 3 after setting-off Rs. 10 as GST paid on his inputs (i.e. Input Tax Credit) from gross GST of Rs. 13. The manufacturer sells the goods to the wholeseller. When the wholeseller sells the same goods after making value addition of (say), Rs. 20, he pays net GST of only Rs. 2, after setting-off of Input Tax Credit of Rs. 13 from the gross GST of Rs. 15 to the manufacturer. Similarly, when a retailer sells the same goods after a value addition of (say) Rs. 10, he pays net GST of only Re.1, after setting-off Rs.15 from his gross GST of Rs. 16 paid to wholeseller. Thus, the manufacturer, wholeseller and retailer have to pay only Rs. 6 (= Rs. 3+Rs. 2+Re. 1) as GST on the value addition along the entire value chain from the producer to the retailer, after setting-off GST paid at the earlier stages. The overall burden of GST on the goods is thus much less. This is shown in the table below. The same illustration will hold in the case of final service provider as well. Table Stage of supply chain Purchase value of Input Value addition Value at which supply of goods and services made to next stage Rate of GST GST on output Input Tax credit Net GST= GST on output - Input tax credit Manufacturer 100 30 130 10% 13 10 13-10 = 3 Whole seller 130 20 150 10% 15 13 15-13 = 2 Retailer 150 10 160 10% 16 15 16-15 = 1

Advantages of introduction of GST in India would be:

(1)speeds up economic union of India; (2)better compliance and revenue buoyancy; (3)replacing the cascading effect [tax on tax] created by existing indirect taxes; (4)tax incidence for consumers may fall; (5)lower transaction cost for final consumers; (6)by merging all levies on goods and services into one, GST acquires a very simple and transparent character; (7)uniformity in tax regime with only one or two tax rates across the supply chain as against multiple tax structure as of present; (8)efficiency in tax administration; (9)may widen tax base; (10)increased tax collections due to wide coverage of goods and services; and (11)improvement in cost competitiveness of goods and services in the international market.

What is the justification of GST ?

There was a burden of "tax on tax" in the pre-existing Central excise duty of the Government of India and sales tax system of the State Governments. The introduction of Central VAT (CENVAT) has removed the cascading burden of "tax on tax" to a good extent by providing a mechanism of "set off" for tax paid on inputs and services upto the stage of production, and has been an improvement over the pre-existing Central excise duty. Similarly, the introduction of VAT in the States has removed the cascading effect by giving set-off for tax paid on inputs as well as tax paid on previous purchases and has again been an improvement over the previous sales tax regime.      But both the CENVAT and the State VAT have certain incompleteness. The incompleteness in CENVAT is that it has yet not been extended to include chain of value addition in the distributive trade below the stage of production. It has also not included several Central taxes, such as Additional Excise Duties, Additional Customs Duty, Surcharges etc. in the overall framework of CENVAT, and thus kept the benefits of comprehensive input tax and service tax set-off out of the reach of manufacturers/ dealers. The introduction of GST will not only include comprehensively more indirect Central taxes and integrate goods and services taxes for set-off relief, but also capture certain value addition in the distributive trade.      Similarly, in the present State-level VAT scheme, CENVAT load on the goods has not yet been removed and the cascading effect of that part of tax burden has remained unrelieved. Moreover, there are several taxes in the States, such as, Luxury Tax, Entertainment Tax, etc. which have still not been subsumed in the VAT. Further, there has also not been any integration of VAT on goods with tax on services at the State level with removal of cascading effect of service tax. In addition, although the burden of Central Sales Tax (CST) on inter-State movement of goods has been lessened with reduction of CST rate from 4% to 2%, this burden has also not been fully phased out. With the introduction of GST at the State level, the additional burden of CENVAT and services tax would be comprehensively removed, and a continuous chain of set-off from the original producer's point and service provider's point upto the retailer's level would be established which would eliminate the burden of all cascading effects, including the burden of CENVAT and service tax. This is the essence of GST. Also, major Central and State taxes will get subsumed into GST which will reduce the multiplicity of taxes, and thus bring down the compliance cost. With GST, the burden of CST will also be phased out.      Thus GST is not simply VAT plus service tax, but a major improvement over the previous system of VAT and disjointed services tax - a justified step forward.

Will GST be levied in addition to the existing taxes? No, the introduction of GST will replace the various taxes presently being levied by Central & State Government(s). The CGST will subsume following taxes levied by Central government: - • Central excise duty (Cenvat), • Service tax, • Additional duties of customs; • Central sales tax And SGST will subsume following taxes levied by State Government: - • Value-added tax (VAT), • Entertainment tax, • Luxury tax, • Octroi, • Lottery taxes, • Electricity duty, • State surcharges related to supply of goods and services & • Purchase tax.

Will prices go up after the implementation of GST? In fact, the prices of commodities are expected to come down in the long run as dealers will be allowed to avail the CENVAT credit of Excise duty paid by Manufacturers and more over he will be allowed to avail the CENVAT credit of tax paid on services also. This passing of the benefits of reduced tax incidence to consumers by slashing the prices of goods will definitely reduce the prices.

What are the implications of GST on imports and exports? Imports would be subject to GST. Exports, however, will be zero-rated, meaning exporters of goods and services need not pay GST on their exports. GST paid by them on the procurement of goods and services will be refunded as similar to the present scenario.

History of GST around the Globe: - France was the first country which introduced a comprehensive goods and service tax Regime in 1954. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) is proposed to be a comprehensive indirect tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods as well as services at a national level. The GST rate in various countries ranges from 5 per cent in Taiwan to 25 per cent in Denmark. In the late 1980s, the federal government of Canada replaced its MST (Manufacturer’s Sale Tax) with a new value-added sales tax called the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The basic motive behind this reform was to introduce a new nationally harmonized sales tax which would replace individual provincial sales taxes (PST), and both the levels of government would share the revenues generated there from. Subsequent negotiations to harmonize the provincial and national sales taxes proved unsuccessful for the Canadian Government. Various provinces challenged the introduction of national sales tax on the ground that the federal government was exceeding its constitutional powers by operating in a taxation field historically reserved for the provinces. But as a result of constructive efforts by the Canadian Government National Sales Tax was implemented in 1989-90. In Australia It was introduced by the Howard Government on 1 July 2000, replacing the previous Federal wholesale sales tax system and designed to phase out a number of various State and Territory Government taxes, duties and levies such as banking taxes and stamp duty. This proved a milestone in the taxonomy of Australia. Today, it has spread to about 150 countries.

Before parting and to bring an end to this article we summarize that GST is a harmonized consumption tax system, whose introduction will bring an end to a varied number of Indirect taxes presently being levied by Central Government and State Government. The proposed date of Introduction of GST has been announced by the Government to be 1st April, 2010. Till now Government has not yet issued any Draft of GST model or various provisions to be applied, all we can do is to wait for the Draft to release. Till then we can only predict the outlook of the GST model in India and nothing can be said with utmost certainty. Further we would bring in light that the Finance Ministers categorical statement in Parliament regarding GST implementation on April 1, 2010 clearly indicates the Governments clear and incessant intention towards bringing this tax regime by its due date. Accordingly, based on indications, as also on the basis of our subsequent interactions with senior Government Officials, we believe that the April 1, 2010 timeline for introduction of the dual GST will be duly met and we must welcome this new levy as this is the future of forthcoming India.

IRDA wins ULIP battle: Govt to amend laws to revive sales

NEW DELHI: Insurance industry regulator Irda has emerged the victor in a high-profile tussle over the regulation of so-called unit-linked insurance plans or Ulips, with the government ruling that it and not the market watchdog Sebi would oversee the product.

The government is “clarifying by way of an explanation that life insurance business shall include any unit-linked insurance policy or scripts or any such instruments,’’ said a statement from the press information bureau. “This would set at rest all the issues regarding Ulips between the two financial regulators.’’

The government promulgated an ordinance late on Friday to amend four major laws that could revive the sale of Ulips and force the mutual fund industry to look for new avenues to get investors.

Cloud computing showers TCS with big business

For Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s biggest software exporter that competes with multinational rivals IBM and Accenture, the cloud has started raining business, and is set to account for nearly 10% of its new business together with product revenues over the next few years.

 
“In two-three quarters, we will hopefully put out our cloud revenues separately,” said N Chandrasekaran, chief executive officer of TCS. As part of its strategy to arrest linear, employee-led growth that requires hiring additional staff for handling new business, TCS plans to offer standardised solutions across the areas of insurance and banking to multiple customers using same resources.

“We should get 10% of the incremental revenues from cloud in one of the quarters next year, then we’ll start reporting the numbers separately,” he added.

Tata Motors is ready to unveil world’s cheapest car in the US market next week.

Tata Motors is ready to unveil world’s cheapest car in the US market next week. The car is being readied for sale in the US market which will comply with its safety and emission norms making the car a bit pricier. The US version of Tata Nano will cost about $8000 which will meet all the US regulations for safety as well as CO2 emission.

The Nano, with a MH 04 ED 7015 licence plate, is on its maiden trip to the US and was unveiled at the Detroit Science Centre in Detroit on Friday. The car will be in the US market for one year where it will be showcased at the Tata Technologies North American headquarters in Novi, Michigan. This place is only a few miles away from the Detroit Auto Show where most of the auto makers are displaying their latest models at the event. The Nano would also be showcased at New York's Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum on February 18.

However, the price is completely speculative as the officials involved in the Tata Nano declined to put a figure for the price at which the car will be showcased in the US market. Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group, indicated that the car will be ready to be sold in American market in next three years. At the price of $8000, the car will have enough competition from Toyota Yaris and Ford Focus which are extremely competitive brands in the American market.

However, what most companies are lauding about the Nano, is not the price but the innovativeness that has gone into making this ca

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Rural Development Budget - Indian Interim Budget 2009, Rural Development Sector

The Indian Government continues to accord highest priority to rural development. A number of programmes have been designed to help improve the living conditions of the rural population. The programs designated under the Indian Interim Budget 2009 are:

(i) The Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). The RIDF is the main instrument to channel bank funds for financing

rural infrastructure, through State Governments. The corpus of RIDF was increased from Rs.5,500 crore in 2003-04 to Rs.14 thousand crore for the year 2008-09 to ensure greater availability of funds for its activities. A separate window for rural roads was created under RIDF with a corpus of Rs.4 thousand crore for each of the last three years.

(ii) Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY). Given the importance of housing for the weaker sectors of the rural population, 60 lakh houses were to be constructed under the Indira Awaas Yojana by 2008-09. In the period between 2005-06 and December 2008, 60.12 lakh houses have already been constructed.

(iii) Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Scheme (PEAIS). The PEAIS is an existing scheme under the central sector plan which has been recognized as a powerful instrument to incentivise States to empower the Panchayats and put in place accountability systems to make their functioning transparent and efficient. The Interim Budget acknowledges the need to build in incentives for encouraging States to devolve funds, functions and functionaries and set up an institutional framework for such devolution. The Indian Government has proposed to substantially expand the scheme through State allocations.

(iv) Project Arrow. The Department of Posts has launched “Project Arrow” to revitalize its core operations and to provide new technology enabled services to both rural and urban Indians. So far this has been successfully implemented in 500 post offices in the country. This Project will receive full government support as it will enhance the services offered to India and will also lay the foundation for a vibrant delivery mechanism for many social sector schemes such as Pensions, and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

The primary components of capital receipts include loans brought up by Government of India from public, termed as market loans. Some of the other components of capital receipts include borrowings by Government from Reserve Bank and loans obtained from foreign governments and bodies.

The primary components of capital payments include capital expenditure on acquisition of assets like equipment, machinery, land and buildings. Capital payments also include transactions in the Public Account and investments in shares.

Budget: A brief look

In a nutshell, the India Budget depicts receipts and expenses along with full details of tax revenues and other receipts. The budget also explains the revenue deficit, gross fiscal deficit and the gross primary deficit of the Central Government.

Agriculture Budget

Since the majority of the Indian population are dependent on Agriculture for their livelihood, the India Budget places an emphasis on agriculture. The main objective is to be self-sufficient in food. India also aims to offer cheaper credit to farmers as part of an ongoing scheme to bring farmers into the banking system.

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Agriculture Cooperatives in India national organizations banks

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)

The National Cooperative Development Corporation(NCDC) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1963 as a statutory Corporation under the Ministry of AgricultureFunctions

National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) The objects of the NAFED shall be to organise, promote and develop marketing, processing and storage of agricultural, horticultural and forest produce, distribution of agricultural machinery, implements and other inputs, undertake inter-State, import and export trade, wholesale or retail as the case may be and to act and assist for technical advice in agricultural production for the promotion and the working of its members and cooperative marketing, processing and supply societies in India.

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Gujaratis cash in on gold boom in UK

RAJKOT/LONDON (Commodity Online): Leicester in London is a place where Gujaratis from Rajkot city represent a good percentage of the population.

In the recent times what the Leicester witnessing is that the Gujaratis, whose business acumen can any Jew in the world, are cashing in on the gold boom.

With recession and job losses, Gujaratis in the east Midlands town of Leicester have been flocking to jewellery shops to cash in on rising prices of gold, selling their rings, chains and even dental braces made of gold.

The price of gold reached an all-time high of 757 pounds an ounce earlier this month, and scrap gold dealers are reported to be offering up to 100 pounds for a set of braces.

Jewellers are worried that they will be left with a lot of stock if the price drops. In the east Midlands town of Leicester comprises several jewellery shops.

Advertisements on television, radio and in newspapers have alerted people to current prices of gold and jewellers say that has placed them into a buyers’ market.

The Golden Mile in Leicester is reputed to be a major centre for jewellery in Europe, and jewellers there have close links with the jewellery industry in Gujarat.

Market is so volatile and the price is changing all the time but people are aware that gold prices are very high right now. But people are not buying, they just want to sell it.

The London Lingual Orthodontic Clinic is among the many that have witnessed a rising demand for gold braces.

Previously the braces were sent away to be recycled. But with gold prices rising, patients have increasingly asked if they can keep their braces and convert them into small items of jewellery or get them melted down.

As customers are happy that their jewellery is fetching high prices, jewellers are concerned about the impact it will have on them.

cOURTESY-----

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance initiates LifeTime Maxima

It’s a new initiative from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance again, the exceedingly renowned company today launched ICICI Prudential LifeTime Maxima, a wealth solution based on the \'Trigger Portfolio\' strategy.

The \'Trigger Portfolio\' strategy enables a client to reserve profits made in the equity market and protects them from any future market instability. It is to be noted that the gains are transferred to a liquid fund (Money Market Fund) thus ensuring that any precariousness in future does not wear down the importance of the accumulated profits.

"This innovative product, based on the \'Trigger Portfolio\' strategy allows customers to maintain a pre-defined asset allocation structure and take advantage of substantial swings in the equity market," ICICI Prudential Life Senior Vice President and Head (Products and Sales), Pranav Mishra, told.

As indicated by the \'Trigger Portfolio\' strategy, the investments would at first be distributed between two funds--Multi Cap Growth Fund (equity oriented fund) and Income Fund (debt oriented fund) in a 75:25 proportion. The funds would be re-balanced or reallocated in the portfolio rooted in a pre-defined \'trigger event\', a 15 per cent upward or downward movement in NAV of Multi Cap Growth Fund. The product, as well, provides the customer an option to choose a fixed portfolio strategy.

dO u kNOW

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company happens to be a joint venture between ICICI Bank, which is one of India\'s foremost financial services companies, and Prudential plc, which is a leading international financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. ICICI Prudential began the operations in December 2000. At the moment, this company has in excess of 2100 branches, which include 1,116 micro-offices, over 290,000 advisors and 18 banc assurance partners.

On the other hand, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is the first life insurer in India that received a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA (Ind) from Fitch ratings.

RIL to decide on Lyondell bid today: Sources

India’s energy giant Reliance Industries (RIL) will take a call on submitting a final bid for bankrupt Dutch petrochemical company LyondellBasell (LB) today, sources close to the development told CNBC-TV18’s Nayantara Rai.
Sources say the company is now concerned about LB’s high debt — pegged at about USD 27 billion — with the company’s lenders having the right to hike interest rates to 12% and many having done so.

It is learnt that after RIL carried out due diligence — it had earlier submitted a preliminary bid for the company prior to due diligence — new emerging facts about LB’s state could be a cause of worry.

India's cement industry weathers downturn

The glue that holds the infrastructure sector is cement and the growth of Cement Industry is directly linked to the growth of infrastructure sector. India today is the second fastest growing economy in the world with the cement and construction sector being the prime movers. The Indian cement industry with a total installed capacity of 219 million tonnes is the second largest producer in the world and has been growing at a rate of 9 to 10 per cent per annum. With a large percentage of Indian population being below the age of 25, the construction activity is expected to make a significant contribution in the context of growing housing needs, development of roads and other infrastructure, urbanization, etc.

It is the construction sector which shares the blame of global economic slowdown leading to slackening of demand for housing; but withstanding that hard time, our cement sector is still growing at a 10 per cent when compared to the global average of 5 per cent. Indian Industry is fortunate in having an active support and services of the National Council for Cement & Building Materials with an excellent R&D Infrastructure and invaluable intellectual capital.

In a recent International Seminar on Cement & Building Materials in New Delhi, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, said: “In spite of global slowdown and reduction in demand, cement industry needs to be complimented for weathering the downturn and recording a commendable growth of around 8 per cent in 2007-08 as well as in 2008-09. In the current year 2009-10 so far, the pace of growth of cement industry has accelerated significantly above double digit.”

rEAD MORE -http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Indias-cement-industry-weathers-downturn-23827-3-1.html

VW aims to capture 10% of India’s car market

Volkswagen AG, Europe’s biggest carmaker, said it aims to capture as much as 10% of India’s car market in four to six years as it boosts sales in emerging-markets.
The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company will sell cars under three brands, including Skoda AS and Audi AG, to achieve its targets, it said in a statement in Chakan, near Pune.
Production of its Polo compact car began yesterday at the plant, which opened earlier this year. Volkswagen will start selling the cars in March, challenging partner Suzuki Motor Corporation, the maker of half of all cars sold in India.
“The Pune plant is a key element in Volkswagen’s strategy for India,” said Jochem Heizman, a member of the company’s management board. India’s car market holds “enormous potential” for the German carmaker, he said.

Read More --http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=331616&version=1&template_id=40&parent_id=22

India's role in rising Asia-Pacific Oil demand

DUBLIN (Commodity Online): In recent times, the oil consumption in Asia Pacific region is showing tremendous growth while production is not meeting requirements in most countries leading to larger imports, according to Research and Markets.

Quoting from the latest India Oil & Gas Report from BMI, the research agency said that India will account for 13.19% of Asia Pacific regional oil demand by 2014, while providing 10.48% of supply.

Asia Pacific regional oil use of 21.40mn barrels per day (b/d) in 2001 reached an estimated 25.44mn b/d in 2009. It should average 25.93mn b/d in 2010, then rise to around 28.99mn b/d by 2014. Regional oil production was just under 8.41mn b/d in 2001, and averaged an estimated 8.50mn b/d in 2009. It is set to increase to 8.59mn b/d by 2014.

In 2001, the region was importing an average 12.99mn b/d of oil. This total had risen to an estimated 16.94mn b/d in 2009, and is forecast to reach 20.41mn b/d by 2014. The principal importers will be China, Japan, India and South Korea. By 2014, the only net exporter will be Malaysia In terms of natural gas, in 2009 the region consumed an estimated 459bn cubic metres (bcm) and demand of 582bcm is targeted for 2014

Read more http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Indias-role-in-rising-Asia-Pacific-Oil-demand-23767-3-1.html

Alok Bharadwaj conferred the CMO of the Yr 2009 award

New Delhi: The US based Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, having a presence across 100 countries and over 20,000 global executives today conferred the important Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the Year award to Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India in the Office Automation Category. The conference on marketing held in Indore is the first by the CMO India Council, under the guidance of its US partners.

Hershey may launch $17 bn bid for Cadbury: Report

Hershey Co. may make a $17 billion bid for UK candy company Cadbury PLC, topping the recent $16.5 billion hostile offer by Kraft Foods Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The bid wouldn’t be ready for two weeks and the terms are in flux, the newspaper says people close to the matter have said.

40,000 cr sanctioned for rural development: FM

Baharampore(WB): Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Centre has sanctioned an amount of Rs 40,000 crore for rural development in the country. 

"I would request every state to utilise the fund on rural development properly. The fund is mainly meant for the development of health, electricity, road and other infrastructure in the villages," Mukherjee said while inaugurating a arsenic-free drinking water scheme at Lalgola in Murshidabad district. 

The Union Finance minister said only six lakh people have been provided arsenic free water. More people should be benefited, he said. 

Mukherjee also inaugurated a Congress workers camp at Jangipur, his constituency. 

He urged Congress workers to tell the people about the different welfare schemes initiated by the Centre for the development of common people.

Press Releases

17 Nov 2009 JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA APPRECIATES CEMENT INDUSTRY’S EFFORTS IN ACHIEVING IMPRESSIVE GROWTH – INAUGU .... 16 Nov 2009 STC PRESENTS DIVIDEND CHEQUE TO ANAND SHARMA 15 Nov 2009 JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA TO INAUGURATE INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON CEMENT & BUILDING MATERIALS ON NOVEMBER .... 15 Nov 2009 GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN HONOURS Dr. KRISHNAMURTHY 13 Nov 2009 INDIA-SOUTH AFRICA TRADE BASKET TO BE WIDENED SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER MEETS ANAND SHARMA 12 Nov 2009 INDIA’S GOODS AND SERVICES EXPORTS TO DOUBLE BY 2014: ANAND SHARMA INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT EXPANDS BY 10 .... 11 Nov 2009 IMPORT OF SENSITIVE ITEMS DURING APRIL AUGUST 09

Indian billionaires bounce back: Forbes- Hindustan Times

Indian billionaires bounce back: Forbes- Hindustan Times

The number of billionaires in India almost doubled in the past 12 months to 52, mainly thanks to a recovery in global stock markets, a richlist from US magazine Forbes showed on Thursday.

"Happy days are definitely back again for India's richest," said Naazneen Karmali, India editor for Forbes Asia, in a statement accompanying the India Richlist survey.

"This year's list shows yet again that when conditions in the financial markets and the economy are right, India has the scale and resources to produce billionaires faster than most of the countries on Earth."

A rebound in the Mumbai stock exchange, which is up 76 per cent since the start of the year, and continuing economic growth helped enrich the mostly male list of company owners, whose accumulated net worth is equivalent to a quarter of India's gross domestic product.

Last year, the number of billionaires halved to just 27, from 54 in 2007.

"In terms of absolute fortune, we are not at the level we had," Karmali said: "We're back to 52, but in terms of wealth we have not recovered yet."

The head of India's biggest company Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, is once again the wealthiest person in India. His net worth is estimated at 32 billion dollars, an increase of 54 per cent from 2008.

In second place is steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who is worth 30 billion dollars, up 46 per cent from a year earlier, Forbes said.

Mukesh Ambani's estranged brother Anil is in third place with 17.5 billion dollars, 40 per cent higher than before.

The richest newcomers were two brothers from energy group Torrent Power -- Sudhir and Samir Mehta -- whose collective wealth was ranked 23rd at 2.02 billion dollars.

The magazine also underlined the higher concentration of wealth in India compared with China.

The 100 richest Chinese are worth 170 billion dollars, less than their Indian equivalents at 276 billion dollars.

India’s Foreign Trade Data : August, 2009

EXPORTS & IMPORTS  : (US $ Million)
(PROVISIONAL)
	AUGUST	APRIL-AUGUST
EXPORTS(including re-exports)
2008-2009	17724	92959
2009-2010	14289	64129
%Growth 2009-2010/ 2008-2009	-19.4	-31.0
IMPORTS
2008-2009	33512	153691
2009-2010	22661	102300
%Growth 2009-2010/ 2008-2009	-32.4	-33.4
TRADE BALANCE
2008-2009	-15787	-60732
2009-2010	-8372	-38171
EXPORTS & IMPORTS  : (Rs. Crore)
(PROVISIONAL)	AUGUST	APRIL-AUGUST
EXPORTS(including re-exports)
2008-2009	76103	391841
2009-2010	69066	311715
%Growth 2009-2010/ 2008-2009	-9.2	-20.4
IMPORTS
2008-2009	143890	648041
2009-2010	109533	497108
%Growth 2009-2010/ 2008-2009	-23.9	-23.3
TRADE BALANCE
2008-2009	-67787	-256200
2009-2010	-40467	-185393
Figures for 2008-09 are the latest revised whereas figures for 2009-10 are provisional