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Yangon to offer India exploration block in the north
New Delhi: The army junta ruling at Yangon has agreed to consider giving Indian oil firms a role in their hydrocarbon hunt in the northern region without going through international bidding and initiate the process of importing diesel from Assam as a pilot project.

The move to grant an exploration block on nomination basis will be initiated after Yangon goes through the report of a geological study of the area being conducted by India. The report is ready and will be submitted shortly, oil minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said after meeting his Myanmar counterpart Lun Thi on Wednesday.

India has offered a $20-million loan to Myanmar for refurbishing its Thanlyin refinery. The money will be utilised by Yangon locally and only part of it will go towards paying for some specialised services from Indian oil firms.

The two sides have also agreed to weigh options of laying a shallow-water pipeline as well as shipping gas in liquefied or compressed form from Myanmar's A1, A3 and other blocks to "quickly monetise the gas".
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Govt. notifies guidelines for foreign investment in print media
New Delhi: The Government has notified on Wednesday the changes in the print media guidelines, which was approved by the Cabinet in mid-June. The guidelines seek to facilitate greater foreign presence in the print media through printing of facsimile editions of foreign newspapers and periodicals, and enhancement of the syndication limits in Indian newspapers.

As per the new guidelines for foreign investment in print media, investments by Non-Resident Indians, Overseas Corporate Bodies, Persons of Indian Origin and portfolio investments by recognised Foreign Institutional Investors will be permitted within the existing ceiling. Earlier, only foreign direct investment (FDI) was allowed.

Foreign investment will be allowed only in cases where equity held by the largest Indian shareholder is at least 51 per cent of the paid-up equity excluding that held by public sector banks and public financial institutions.

The guidelines for publishing facsimile editions of foreign newspapers mandate that the company owning the publication register itself with the Registrar of Companies and at least three-fourth of the directors on the Board of Directors of the new entity and all key executives and editorial staff be resident Indians. The facsimile edition cannot carry any advertisements aimed at Indian readers in any form. Nor can it carry any locally-generated content/India-specific content that is not simultaneously published in the original edition of the foreign newspaper.
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IMD: Rain forecast normal for July
New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast on Wednesday that the rainfall during the current month would be normal, at 97 per cent of the long period average (LPA) with a model error of plus or minus nine per cent.

This bodes well for the agriculture sector as July is the crucial month for the kharif crop. Out of the four monsoon months from June to September, July is the month of maximum rainfall. The monsoon turned out to be deficient last year mainly on account of suppressed rainfall during the month because of an unexpected development of El Nino.

IMD also issued region-wise seasonal forecasts: the rainfall is likely to be 97 per cent of the LPA in the south peninsula and the north-east, 95 per cent of the LPA in the north-west and 102 per cent of LPA in central India. The forecasts are with a model error of plus or minus eight per cent.

South peninsula comprises Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The north-east region covers West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkand, besides the north-eastern States.

The north-west region consists of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

The central Indian region covers Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa and Goa.

In addition, IMD issued an updated forecast for the prospects of rainfall during the monsoon season as a whole and for the country in its entirety: the rainfall is likely to be 98 per cent of the long period average with a model error of plus or minus four per cent.
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Chidambaram: Direct tax revenues to touch 5 per cent of GDP
New Delhi: The Union government, in its bid to shore up revenues, has asked the income tax department to concentrate on the top 100 taxpayers in each commissionerate. The minister also asked the taxmen to work out strategies to increase tax collection to 5 per cent of the GDP.

Addressing tax commissioners, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said they should also check on the double taxation avoidance treaties with other countries, as many industry houses tend to use these as tax shelters.

"In 2005-06, the direct tax-GDP ratio is expected to cross 5 per cent," Chidambaram said. For the first time, direct taxes as a proportion of GDP crossed the 4-per-cent-mark in 2004-05.

The minister was confident that direct taxes would exceed indirect taxes - customs and excise duties - this year. "These are important turning points in tax collections in India. Like in any other developed country, direct taxes will increasingly play a larger role," he said. So far, direct tax collections this year had been good.

Chidambaram also said the investigative methods being adopted must graduate from "blunt" instruments of search and seizure to "sharper" intelligent methods using information technology.

The finance minister emphasised the need to train income tax officials in international tax laws. In the wake of increasing double taxation avoidance agreements with other countries, the minister said tax officials should have good understanding of tax laws of other countries in order to tackle those who were misusing the treaties to merely evade taxes.
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