The Hindu Business Line : Friday, March 18, 2005

Chidambaram promises `good news' on cash withdrawal tax
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Thursday hinted at a softening of the Budget proposal to impose 0.1 per cent tax on bank cash withdrawals of Rs 10,000 and more in a single day. "The tax (Banking Cash Transaction Tax) is not being ... More

FDA to put more baby products under scanner
IT may have come as a shock to parents across the country when the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked Johnson & Johnson to drop the mention of "baby" from its products meant for infants. But J&J's baby products could be just More

J&J to state its position soon
"OUR first responsibility is to doctors, mothers, fathers and all others who use our products and we are separately taking a series of steps to reassure them about the quality and safety of our products," Mr N.K. Ambwani, Managing ... More

IMF chief cautions against using forex reserves
TAPPING the country's foreign exchange reserves to fund infrastructure projects would be a mistake, according to Mr Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund. Addressing bankers and other delegates at a meeting organised ... More

TRAI explores ADC from SMS, Internet — Long distance tariffs may fall further
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has hinted at collecting access deficit charges (ADC) from non-voice applications such as short messaging (SMS), multi-media messaging (MMS), broadband service and Internet service providers. If ... More

Govt may jam hostile propaganda through media — Monitoring body to come under Home Ministry
THE Home Ministry jammers are likely to be activated to put an end to hostile television and radio broadcasts. To have a more effective screening of propaganda against the national interest, the Government has decided to move the Central ... More

Moody's may upgrade RIL rating
MOODY'S Investors Service has placed on review for possible upgrade the Ba2 ratings of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). The international rating agency said that the rating action has been prompted by RIL's improving operational fundamentals, ... More

Higher crude prices, FII selling spur broad-based decline
IT was a day when gainers were sparse, especially among large-cap stocks, as there was a broad-based decline in equities. Fears of oil prices remaining at higher levels than what was expected as crude for April delivery moving to a record high ... More

India Inc wants fringe benefit tax deferred
A SECTION of Corporate India on Thursday suggested that fringe benefit tax (FBT) be considered at the time of the introduction of the simplified Income Tax Bill. The FBT provisions are currently part of the Finance Bill 2005. The Finance ... More

Feather-derived plastic!
IF any one thought that chicken feathers are mere waste, think again. That's because soon you could commercially have plastic derived from feathers of chicken. Scientists of the Agricultural Research Service, an arm of the US Department of ... More