Govt. abolishes cess on agri and marine product exports
New Delhi: The government has abolished cess on exports of agriculture and marine products. Though the move will entail a loss of Rs.110 crore by way of revdenue, it is also expected to increase competitiveness by lowering export prices by 0.5%.

The cess laws (repealing and amending) Bill, 2005, passed by the Parliament on Wednesday, will abolish cess on coffee, tobacco, spices, marine and agricultural products. Agricultural products include flowers, fruits and vegetables, non-Basmati rice, animal products and other processed food. So far there was no existing export cess on either tea, wheat or Basmati rice.

Minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said that the levy of cess not only increased the costs for exporters, but also led to procedural hassles because of catering to related formalities.
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Southwest monsoon progressing well
Thiruvananthapuram: The southwest monsoon has progressed into more parts of the Southeast and Southwest Bay of Bengal, the South Andaman Islands and most parts of the Andaman Sea.
According to a forecast put out by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), conditions are favourable for its further advance into the East-Central Bay within the next 24 hours.

Moisture is building continuously, lower level wind flow is getting stronger and large-scale rainfall activity is becoming persistent over South Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea region into the weekend.
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