Poll India: 2004
Vajpayee sums it up: Pyade se pit gaya wazir…
New Delhi: Asked for his reflections on the just concluded elections by the Indian Express yesterday, the outgoing PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee recited a poem from his collection.

The opening paragraph of the poem perhaps sums up the situation aptly - politically as well as personally - for the ex- PM.

"Chaurahe pe loot-ta chir,
Pyade se pit gaya wazir
Chaloon aakhri chaal, ki baazi chor virakti rachaon main?
Rah kon si jaaon main…"

Honour lost at busy crossroads,
Knights defeated by pawns:
Do I make my final move, or do I withdraw from battle?
What road should I go down…

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Manmohan: India needs strong public and private sectors
New Delhi: The Prime Minister-elect, Dr Manmohan Singh has said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government would not privatise strong public sector companies (PSUs) and that the Government holding in public sector banks would not be allowed to fall below 51 per cent. He, however, said that PSU banks would not be barred from raising capital through the public offer route provided government equity remains above 51 per cent.

The outgoing National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government had aggressively pressed ahead with its disinvestment programme, and had also introduced a Bill to allow the reduction of Government holding in PSU banks to 33 per cent. Dr Singh said the privatisation route would be resorted to only in cases where the PSUs are not able to "compete on an equal footing with the private sector or become a drag on the exchequer." The Prime Minister-designate said the main stress of reforms would be on providing education and health for all, improving environment, housing for millions of slum dwellers and increasing agriculture production.
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A July presentation for the Budget likely
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry expects the 2004-05 Union Budget presentation to take place around the first or second week of July. The vote-on-account, tabled as part of the outgoing government's interim budget of February 3, enables meeting all essential expenditures till July 31.
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Auto component makers eye Russia
New Delhi: Major Russian vehicle manufacturers such as KAMAZ, Lada and GAZ have shown keen interest in sourcing automotive components from India and also in catalysing JVs and technology tie-ups in component manufacturing activity. In fact, a senior purchase delegation from KAMAZ had visited the Auto Expo held in January this year and had made a preliminary assessment of the Indian suppliers and their capability to supply to the heavy commercial vehicle industry in Russia. Subsequently, KAMAZ has invited ACMA to visit Russia and hold discussions on outsourcing possibilities.

In response, a 25-member delegation from ACMA, led by its President, Mr K.V. Shetty, will be visiting Russia next week. This mission is being organised by ACMA in close association with the newly established Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) office in Moscow and with the Indian embassy in Russia. The delegation is scheduled to meet KAMAZ, Lada, GAZ and ZIL, who are some of the foremost commercial vehicle and passenger car manufacturers in Russia, and also their local component suppliers. CEOs from 24 leading auto component manufacturers from India will be participating in this ACMA mission.
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NASSCOM: Outsourced technical support CAGR to be at 9.6 per cent
Hyderabad: The National Association of Software Services Companies (Nasscom) has held that the worldwide demand for third-party technical support and help desk services is expected to reach $23 billion by 2008, displaying a combined compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6 per cent.

Citing latest data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), the Nasscom update stated that the worldwide market for outsourced technical support services will increase from $11.1 billion in 2003 to $16.9 billion in 2008, representing a CAGR of 8.8 per cent wherein the US will continue to dominate the demand for outsourced technical support and help desk services and will continue to outpace other regions of the world.
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EOUs seek parity with SEZs
New Delhi: The Confederation of Export Units representing 100 per cent export-oriented units (EOUs) spread across the country on Thursday pleaded for "a level-playing field" between EOUs and the units located in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). This is with a view to end the regime of discriminatory export support measures extended to the latter. The CEU representations said the sunset clause of withdrawal of Section 10-B from Income Tax must be deleted forthwith, and the whole profits from EOU should be exempt regardless whether the profits flow from export or from sale in the domestic tariff area (DTA), as DTA sale also forms part of the EOU scheme.

Secondly, the proposed SEZ Act should be converted into SEZ and EOU Act since both the policies of SEZ and EOU are born out of the same principles as also the same statutory authority governs both. Thirdly, exemption from service tax has only been extended to SEZ units and SEZ developers. Stating that the Government made huge investment for development of infrastructure for SEZs, they said EOUs have created their own infrastructure. Hence, 100 per cent EOUs should also be exempt from payment of service tax.
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