Govt to follow national hardware policy suggestions
New Delhi: Finance Minister Jaswant Singh may give a major thrust to the computer hardware sector in the Budget for 2004-05. While the Customs duty on finished equipment may be reduced to 20 per cent from the peak rate of 35 per cent now, the Budget is also set to reduce the excise duty on personal computers. At the same time, the government will ask the state governments to reduce octroi and sales tax to bring down the overall tax component in personal computers. Taxes and various other duties constitute about 40 per cent of the price of a personal computer.

According to senior government officials, the government will consider the key recommendations of the proposed National Computer Hardware Policy, drafted under instruction by the Prime Minister's Office, while framing the Budget.
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Govt asks banks to formalise rating agency for SSIs
Mumbai: The central government has sounded out public sector banks about floating a credit rating agency to exclusively assess the credit worthiness of small scale industry (SSI). The need to start an agency has been felt as SSIs cannot afford the fees charged by the big four rating agencies — Crisil, Icra, Care and Fitch.

The availability of credit and the interest rate charged to SSIs hinges on their credit worthiness. In this regard the credit assessment made by a agency could facilitate the process of obtaining financial assistance from banks and institutions. "The government is keen to work out a solution to the problem of credit rating of SSIs and is considering setting up a mechanism for enabling these units to get their credit rating done," B S Minhas, secretary to the government of India, ministry of small scale industries and agro and rural industries.
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Nedungadi Bank case: Panel clean chit to RBI
New Delhi: The Justice Y V Chandrachud committee that went into the mismanagement of Nedungadi Bank, has held the then chairman of the bank, R K Banthia, responsible but gave a clean chit to the Reserve Bank in dealing with the issue. "After the perusal of RBI's documents relating to the case, Justice Chandrachud has confirmed it was the (then) chairman of the Nedungadi Bank, who misled the board and the nominee director," government said in its action taken report (ATR) on the recommendations of joint parliamentary committee, which probed the stock scam of 2001.

Giving a clean chit to the banking regulator, the ATR said the expert committee concluded that the responsibility for inappropriate and fraudulent activities undertaken contrary to prevailing banking norms and guidelines for equity investments was that of the (former) chairman and the management of the Nedungadi Bank and not that of RBI.
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