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Chidambaram exempts salary class from filing IT returns
New Delhi: Finance minister P Chidambaram said that those who do not plan to file income tax returns by October 31, the last date set for the purpose, should do so since the Income Tax Department has adequate information of all nature of transactions that will help it to track tax evaders.

The salaried class however, may be spared from filing income-tax returns from next year provided there was no income from any other source.

Already the Government has been mandated to move towards paper-less filing of Tax Deduction at source from this year but this has been put off by a year as TIN has not become fully operational.

He said the IT Department has abundant data relating to 1,72,511 parties or individual entities with transaction in cash deposits of Rs10 lakhs or more in the fiscal, 3,23,563 credit card holders with expenditure of Rs2 lakhs or more a year, data pertaining to 4,96,600 parties with investment of Rs2 lakhs or more in mutual funds and transactions in immovable properties.
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Broadband growth outstrips expectations
New Delhi: The broadband users in the country are expected to touch 8 lakhs by the end of this year against the government's target of 30 lakh.

Pradip Baijal Chairman Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said, "Our growth in the broadband area is low and we would reach approximately 8 lakh users, from 6 lakh users a month back, by the end of this year", on the sidelines of a seminar organised by Nasscom here on Wednesday.

"There is a huge potential for the broadband in the rural areas where other means of communication are not that effective, and in comparison to South Korea and China we are way behind in broadband connectivity", he added.
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Tier II cities pitch for investments
Bangalore: As infrastructure worsens in the major metros across the country and hampers the expansion of IT companies in Bangalore, smaller cities in the state such as Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli are keen on attracting IT investments.

At BangaloreIT.in 2005, companies which have set up IT and BPO operations in these cities say these cities can offer everything that Bangalore does.

They say cities like Mysore, Hubli and Mangalore offer an excellent alternative to Bangalore. In terms of employee retention, Mysore has an advantage over Bangalore as people are not keen on relocating.
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Cabinet sanctions Rs.1,000 crore for pure science institutes
New Delhi: The Central government will set up two institutes on the lines of IITs to promote higher studies in pure sciences, which it says were left out in the technology race.

The Cabinet today approved Rs.1,000 crore for the ''Indian Institute of Science Education & Research'' to be built at Kolkata and Pune. The money is to be spent over seven years, Information & Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy said.

The IISERs would extend post graduate, doctorate and post doctorate courses with emphasis on advanced research in physics, chemistry, mathematics, life sciences, computer science, material sciences, environment and earth system sciences.

''These would start functioning from the next academic year,'' said Reddy. When fully established, the total strength of integrated Masters of Science programme in each institute would be 1,000 and of doctoral and post-doctoral programmes about 1,055.

The attempt is to encourage pure sciences as distinct from applied sciences, Reddy said, adding that the standards of pure sciences had fallen as the focus had been more on technology studies.

Research in such areas could generate significant intellectual properties that hold the potential to generate sizeable revenue, said a government statement.

Cabinet nod

• Bill to repeal Agricultural Produce Cess Act of 1940, Produce Cess Act of 1966. Bill, when approved by Parliament, would abolish cess on agricultural exports to make them more profitable, Union Minister Jaipal Reddy said.
  
• Classical language status to Sanskrit while raising the antiquity bar for conferring such status from 1,000 years to 1,500 years
  
• Bill to amend the Protection of Human Rights Act of 1993 that would provide NHRC right to take remedial measures of providing interim compensation to victims, announce relief and visit victims in prison.
  
• Changes in the Central Vigilance Commission Act and the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act to fix the membership of the committee that selects the CBI director. It would now include the secretary of the department that has administrative control of the bureau assisting Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Home Secy. Earlier, the panel had Personnel Secretary who was later dropped to make way for a secretary from Cabinet Secretariat.

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Economic growth could surpass 7 per cent this year: PM
New Delhi: Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh has forecast an economic growth of over 7 per cent this fiscal.He added that the slump in agriculture growth was affecting the overall GDP growth and asked farm scientists to help usher in the second green revolution. Dr Singh was speaking at the first National Conference on Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

Stating that agriculture contributes to 22 per cent of the GDP, the Prime Minister said the agricultural and extension research system played a pivotal role in the country's first green revolution.
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