ICAI plans newer accounting standards
Kolkata: In order to be in sync with international trends ands practices the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) plans to come up with newer accounting standards, covering miscellaneous issues.

A number of accounting standards are already in place while efforts are on to include other critical topics within their fold. The ICAI, given this backdrop, is looking forward to add to few more to its suite of standards in the foreseeable future.

The Board of IFAC recently cleared a programme aimed at providing guidance material for use in SME audits. The latest guidance (expected to be based on the international standards) is likely to come by end-December. Among the proposals being weighed by the chartered accountants' organisation is one that relates to provision of greater recognition to those who have passed the inter test.
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Sri Lanka allows oil exploration by India and China
Colombo: Sri Lanka has permitted India and China to explore oil along the north-western sea belt and the first phase of it is scheduled to begin in the Gulf of Mannar in August 2007 according to Sri Lankan newspaper 'Daily News'. According to the daily the Petroleum Resources Development Minister, A H M Fowzie said that two of the six blocks earmarked for oil exploration in the north western sea waters would be entrusted to India and China for oil exploration.
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BSNL reduces roaming charges
Hyderabad: BSNL has reduced roaming charges from the present Rs2 per minute to Re1 to provide roaming facility to those who frequently visit other States. The new plan (Plan 490) would be available to users of Cell One and One India customers. Calls made to land lines and all mobile networks including STD calls would cost only Re1 and there would be no charge for incoming calls, a press release said.
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Mobile entertainment to touch $5 billion mark
New Delhi: Mobile entertainment will soon become a $5 billion business in India over the next two years according to experts at VAS (value added service) India 2006 conference.

Dilip Singh, CEO, Telenity, said value added services were providing 10 per cent of the total revenues for telecom operators at present but is expected to touch 20-30 per cent per annum in the near future. Globally the mobile phone industry was already raking in $585 billion as revenues from value added services.

Location services, messaging, entertainment and business productivity were the four areas in which VAS was making a huge difference to work and leisure said Singh while speaking at the VAS conference.
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Bangladesh unable to accept Tata deal
Dhaka: Bangladesh Industries Minister Motiur Rahman Nizami said that a coming election made it difficult to accept a $3 billion investment proposal by the Tata group, even though the deal was good for the country.

Bangladesh's next parliamentary election is due in January 2007. The main opposition party Awami League may also boycott the polls, which could plunge the country into chaos.
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Jharkhand denies Mittal applied for mining lease
New Delhi: Soon after L N Mittal announced plans to set up a plant in Orissa, confusion has have broken out over the mining issues in Jharkhand where the mines minister Madhu Kora said that the state government had not received any application from the Mittal group for iron ore mine lease, power and land acquisition.
Senior officials of Mittal Steel replied that there was no question of filing an application when the state had not even identified suitable iron ore mines for the project.

L N Mittal also said that things were not moving quickly in Jharkhand and the company would initiate the project that provided better infrastructure and faster clearances.

Jharkhand, however, feels that the state was doing all in its capacity to see an early start of the Mittal project.
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New EU standards may hit electronic goods manufacturers
Mumbai: Exports of electrical and electronic goods to the European Union (EU) from India could fall by as much as thirty per cent because of EU's new restrictions on hazardous substance content in electrical and electronic appliances.

The restrictions could cost India around Rs1,500 crore worth of exports, sources in the Indian Electrical and Electronics and Manufacturers Association (IEEA) say.

India earned around Rs4,500 crore from exports of machinery and electrical products in 2005-6 accounting for about 3 per cent in total foreign trade. The European Union accounted for Rs1,500 crore of the sector's exports, making it the second largest market after the United States.

The regulations require a maximum concentration of 0.1 per cent by weight of many environmentally hazardous substances such as lead, chromium and mercury that were inevitable in the production of electrical products.

As per the RoHS directive, all the member states of European Union will have to ensure that all new electrical & electronic equipment in the European markets should not contain the restricted substances, which are toxic.

Material will be purchased from the market & tested for the RoHS compliance by authorised enforcement agencies. In case it is found non-conforming, the product will be banned throughout Europe.

A heavy fine will also be imposed on the producer, which may differ from country to country.

Large manufacturers like Larsen and Touburo (L&T) and Crompton Greaves have already prepared for the regulation issued in 2005, but many small and medium-sized companies have so far failed to comply.
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