Seamen serve strike notice on PF issue
Mumbai: Sea-Borne cargo movements to and from India may be affected with a section of seamen threatening to go on strike from August 31 to secure their demand for Government support to recoup the losses suffered by Seamen's Provident Fund (SPF). The National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI), one of the two seafarers unions, has served notices to the Union Government, and Indian and foreign shipping lines, informing its decision to launch direct action, said a union official.

The SPF had suffered a loss of over Rs.92 crore in the 'Home Trade' securities scam in 2002. Following the demand from seamen's unions, the NDA Government had worked out a scheme to bail out the troubled SPF. According to NUSI the scheme was approved by the Shipping Ministry and was awaiting Cabinet approval when elections were announced. The new Government is yet to take up the issue.
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Industrial output for Q1 up 7.6 percent
New Delhi: Industrial output grew by 7.6 per cent during the first quarter of the current financial year, as against a growth of 5.7 per cent registered during the same period last fiscal (April-June 2003). According to quick estimates of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) released here on Thursday by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, industrial growth during June this year was estimated at 7.3 per cent (6.7 per cent). The manufacturing sector grew by 7.9 per cent during the first quarter as against 6 per cent registered during the same period last fiscal, according to the estimates. During June alone, the sector grew by 8 per cent (6.9 per cent).

As per the "use-based" classification of the IIP, the growth rate during the first three months in the basic goods stood at 4.6 per cent (4.4 per cent). The segment grew by 2.9 per cent in June (5.5 per cent). The capital goods and the intermediate goods registered double-digit growth of 14.9 per cent and 10.4 per cent, respectively during the first quarter as against 8.4 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively during the same period last fiscal. Capital goods sector grew by 17.5 per cent (10.9 per cent), while the intermediate goods sector rose by 7.5 per cent (6.7 per cent).
The growth rates of consumer goods, consumer durables and consumer non-durables groups during the first quarter of this year stood at 5.9 per cent, 11 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively as against 9.4 per cent, 4 per cent and 11 per cent respectively. As many as 10 of the 17 two-digit industry groups have shown positive growth during June 2004, compared to the corresponding month last year.
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Thailand endorses FTA items
New Delhi: The Thai Cabinet has endorsed the 82 items in the Free Trade Agreement selected for "early harvest". Thailand's Minister of Science and Technology said the customs duty would be reduced by 50 per cent on these selected items with effect from September 1. The next reduction of 25 per cent would be effected from September 1, 2005 and with zero duty from September 1, 2006. The volume of trade is expected to increase from the existing $1.2 billion to $2.1 billion, which is the target.
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Net Direct tax collections up 50 percent
New Delhi: Net direct tax collections of the Central Government up to July 31 of the current fiscal stood at Rs.17, 787 crore, representing a nearly 50 per cent increase over the net collections in the same period last year. The Budget estimates for direct tax collections during 2004-05 has been pegged at Rs.1, 39,500 crore.
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Service tax collection up 88 per cent
New Delhi: Service tax collections of the Centre have increased by 87.87 per cent during the first four months of the current fiscal. According to sources the total service tax collected by the Union Government during April-July 2004 stood at Rs.3, 438.67 crore against Rs.1, 830.35 crore collected in the same period last year. For the month of July, the amount stood at Rs.1, 040.03 crore, up by 85.37 per cent from Rs.561.07 crore achieved in July 2003.
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Task Forces set up for recovery of tax arrears
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has constituted two task forces - for direct and indirect taxes - for quicker recovery of tax arrears. On the direct taxes front, at the operating level, Member (Revenue) of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) would head the task force and report to the Board.

As for indirect taxes, the task force would be headed by the Chief Commissioner (Tax Arrear Recovery) and would report to the Member (Customs/Central Excise).

An official release held that the move to constitute these two task forces is a fallout of the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram's announcement to launch a special drive to recover arrears of taxes.
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DD ties up for ICC Trophy and World Cup telecast
New Delhi: The Prasar Bharati board has decided to bid independently for the BCCI rights. The national broadcaster will submit a competitive bid in the next two days. The board has already set up an empowered committee to look into the issue. Along with this, DD has also been able to tie up for telecast rights for the forthcoming ICC Championship matches and the next World Cup to be held in West Indies. DD has entered into a revenue share agreement with WSG Nimbus, which has the rights to these events. Besides TV, Prasar Bharati has also acquired the radio rights to these tournaments.

DD has also managed to get the rights to the forthcoming Holland Cup. The Prasar Bharati board has also requested the Government to come up with a regulation that will ensure the public broadcaster access to such rights in a non-competitive process.
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