India News: February 2007

Service sector to get costlier in next budget
Friday, February 16, 2007 | MP

Services sector is likely to get costlier with an increase in the service taxes being proposed in the next budget. This will have an impact on services like telecom, air travel, cable, coaching, life insurance and others from next fiscal. The number of services covered by the service tax also may be increased. Services like legal, medical, sports, education, entertainment also will come under the tax net, if the states agree to impose tax on these services. Sources say that an increase in service tax by about 2 per cent is likely as the Finance Ministry plans to introduce goods and services tax (GST) by 2009-10.

Petrol, diesel prices cut by Rs 2, Re 1per lt
Thursday, February 15, 2007 | MP

In an effort to bring down the soaring inflation, the government today announced a cut in petrol and diesel prices by Rs two and Re one per litre, respectively. The slash in prices will come into effect from midnight tonight. The decison on the cut in prices was taken after a meeting held by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora. This is the second cut in the fuel prices in the last 3 months, the last cut being in last Novemeber.

India wins Goa ODI; Dravid in 10,000 club
Wednesday, February 14, 2007 | MP

India won the third cricket one dayer played at Goa against Srilanka with a 5 wicket victory. With the first one dayer washed off due to rains, India has now levelled the four match series 1-1. India's paceman Zaheer Khan gave an impressive show making a career-best of 5-42. He was awarded the Man of the Match award. Chasing 231 to win, India reached the target with 3 more overs to spare. Dhoni was the top scorer with an unbeaten 67. Dravid took 66 runs while Ganguly scored 48. With today's match Rahul Dravid also became the sixth batsman in the world and the third from India to reach the landmark of 10,000 runs. The final ODI which will decide the series win will be played at Visakapattanam on Saturday.

India, Pak to play friendly ODI at Lords
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 | MP

India and Pakistan are due to play a friendly one-day cricket match at the Lords in England on July 12th. The returns of the match would go for a charity mission headed by Prince Charles. The event will be organised jointly by England and Wales Cricket Board and is expected to draw huge crowds. "The Lords game is confirmed and it is not only for a good cause but will also provide Pakistani and Indians living in England to watch their teams in action at a neutral ground," tated a Pakistani cricket board official.

65 pc turnout for Punjab polls
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 | MP

Punjab assembly elections which took place today witnessed 65 per cent turnout with 1.66 crore voters casting their votes. After the initial hours of slow polling which started at 8 Am, the polling picked up gradually and sources indicate that the polling went off peaceful. About 65 per cent polling was reported for bye-election to Amritsar Lok Sabha seat where Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singhla of Congress contest against BJP candidate and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu.

India, Saudi to boost ties
Monday, February 12, 2007 | MP

India and Saudi Arabia has called upon for increased economic ties and bilateral trade between the two countries. This comes in wake of the Indian delegation headed by LS speaker Somnath Chatterjee visiting Saudi who also met with top level leaders including Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, Foreign Minister, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General. Besides attracting foreign investments, the two sides also have agreed to push the Delhi Declaration in the various sectors.

Vodafone offers $19.3 bn deal on Hutch-Essar
Monday, February 12, 2007 | MP

India's leading mobile telephony firm, Hutch-Essar deal took a major takeover with British telecom giant Vodafone turning out to be the top bidder for the stake in Hutch-Essar. Vodafone has bid with an offer of 19 billion dollars (Rs 85,000 crore) and proposed to partner Essar in the joint venture. The other key contender fort he bid was Anil Ambani group's Reliance Communications and the britian based Hinduja Group. Vodafone has currently 10pc stake in Bharti Airtel.

Inflation soars to 6.58pc
Friday, February 9, 2007 | MP

Inflation accelerated to the highest in at two years of 6.58 pc for the week ending January 27th. The rising prices of food essentials has pushed the inflation causing the 0.47 per cent increase in the rate within a week. Inflation was 6.11 per cent for the week closing January 20. However prices of food items like vegetables, eggs, meat, fish, milk, fruits and oil seeds went up significantly over the recent weeks. This has led to the Wholesale Price Index rising by 0.1 per cent to 208.8 from 208.5 per cent.

IAF to buy 40 Russian Sukhoi jets
Thursday, February 8, 2007 | MP

To upgrade the nation's combat capability the Indian Air Force (IAF) has announced its decision to acquire a large number of new fighter and other aircrafts over the next few years. This even includes acquisition of 40 Sukhoi-30 fighter jets from Russia. A contract to buy the new Sukhoi jets would be signed soon with Russia, said IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi. The deal of each of these aircraft would cost around US $40 million. India also plans on the acquisition of the 126 multi-role combat aircrafts and the entire order is likely to be purchased from a single foreign vendor.

Tata chief set for an F-16 ride
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 | MP

Tata group chairman, Ratan Tata is all set to fly an F-16 fighter jet during the country's biggest air show event, Aero India which kickoffed in Bangalore today. Tata said he received a letter from US based aviation major and F-16 makers, Lockheed Martin, and has agreed to fly in the jet which is scheduled for Feb 8th. "Flying is a passion for me and I am looking forward to fly the F-16. I feel very great to fly. It will be an honour," said Tata who seems to be excited with the offer.

PM wins Indian of the Year award
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 | MP

Indian Prime Minister and economist Dr. Manmohan Singh was chosen for the title of CNN-IBN's Indian of the Year award. He was chosen as the winner for his capabilities for leading India and transforming the country into brand India under his leadership. He emerged as the best leader among all categories and was not only adjudged by the jury but also by the public who voted for him."It’s a great honour to be the recipient of this award. I’m grateful to all those who voted me the Indian of the Year. But I feel very humbled", said PM while honoured with the award. The other top contenders for the award included Ratan Tata, Jeev Milkha Singh, Pepsico chief Indra Nooyi, Raj Kumar Hirani, Arvind Kejriwal.

India for medium unmanned aerial vehicles
Monday, February 5, 2007 | MP

India's sceintific advisory and DRDO chief has said that India would develop build medium and long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles by jointly participating with an industry partner. To build advance components for UAVs industrial support in Defence services is needed and Indian industries in this field are already being approached to partner in these efforts. "We have taken action already to develop medium and long endurance UAVs to be jointly developed with the industry partner," said the senior official on the sidelines of an international aerospace seminar.

Sehwag, Munaf recalled for ODI against SL
Sunday, February 4, 2007 | MP

The struggling Indian batsman Virender Sehwag along with paceman Munaf Patel has been recalled to the Indian squad for the first two ODI matches against Sri Lanka. Shewag who was dropped for the series against West Indies would now be under the scanner during the Lanka series on which the selectors would probably assess his performance ahead of the final World Cup squad that is to be announced on Feb 12th. Munaf Patel who also missed the WI series is also returning after an ankle injury while Suresh Raina, Ramesh Powar and Gautam Gambhir were dropped from the 15-member squad.

Govt moves for ordinance for live sports feed
Saturday, February 3, 2007 | MP

The Union Government is promugulating an ordinance to ensure that live sports feed are shared with the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati. After the telecast row over the recent India-West Indies ODI series, there were criticism from cricket lovers across the country for not allowing live feeds on DD. The govt's decision has come at a time ahead of the India- SriLanka series and private broadcasters who have purchased the telecast rights at high costs are not happy with the move and have even warned to take legal action.

US, Russian military fleet to showcase in Aero India
Friday, February 2, 2007 | MP

The country's biggest air show event, Aero-India 2007 that is scheduled from Feb 7th to be held in Bangalore will showcase some sophisticated military jets from the US and the Russia. Russia along with their various fighter aircrafts will be displaying their latest version of fighter plane MiG-35 and is keen to sell their fighter planes to India. "It will be for the first time that the final version of MiG-35 fighter will be displayed," said a Russian official. US is also participating with a large fleet of aircrafts including the F-18 and F-16.

6 shortlisted for Indian of the Year title
Thursday, February 1, 2007 | MP

The 'Indian of the Year 2006' award instituted by the media channel, CNN-IBN has shortlisted 6 Indians as nominees for the title. After a series of public votes and debates, the following six were selected among 36 personalities from varied backgrounds. The candidates shortlisted are Jeev Milkha Singh (Sports), Dr. Manmohan Singh (Politics), Ratan Tata (Business), Indra Nooyi (Global Indian), Rajkumar Hirani (Entertainment) and Arvind Kejriwal (Public Service). The the winner of the award will be announced on February 6 at the historic Safdarjung Tomb in New Delhi.