US consulate slashes visa fees, promises interviews in one week
Mumbai: The US government has removed the
Rs 2,223 reciprocal issuance fee for all non-immigrant visas for Indian citizens, which comes to 30 pc of the total visa cost while Indians intending to travel to the US can now get visa appointments within a week, US ambassador to India David C Mulford, said.

While the visa issuance fee has been waived to restructure the system, the applicants will still be required to pay the $100 non-refundable application fee before scheduling a visa interview.

India, China, Mexico and Brazil send the maximum tourists to the US and the number of non-immigrant visas issued by the consulate general in Mumbai almost doubled from 6,246 in November 2005 to 11,109 in October this year.
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JNPT slashes container handling charges
Mumbai: Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), the country's largest port that handles over 58 per cent of the country's traffic, has slashed container handling and vessel-related charges by 15 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.

This decision was taken by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, which sets tariffs for major ports under the central government. The authority is also expected to announce tariff revisions in other central government-controlled ports, which include Kolkata, Mumbai and Goa.

The new tariffs at JNPT come into effect from December, will benefit shipping lines and shippers by giving a saving of over
Rs500 crore to Rs1,000 crore for trade.

Industry experts say the move will result in a cost reduction of over Rs450 per container for shippers. Large shipping liners are able to carry over 6,000 containers.

It will also make JNPT attractive vis-à-vis international port terminals in Dubai, Singapore and Colombo.

JNPT will also be able to offer container handling at prices 50 per cent lower than minor ports controlled by international private players in India, which handle over 25 per cent of the total shipping traffic.

These include ports like Pipavav, controlled by Maersk, and Mundra, controlled by Dubai Ports, in Gujarat.
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India adds 4.7-million GSM users in October
New Delhi: India has added 4.7-million GSM subscribers in October boosting its user base to 134.23 million, an industry association has announced.

India's total number of wireless services users also surged after telecoms officials ruled that customers opting for fixed wireless phones, based on GSM and CDMA technology, would also be counted as mobile users.
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Government approves proposed law on foreign funding
New Delhi: The government has approved a proposed law that bars organisations, including those of a political nature, electronic media houses and journalists from receiving foreign funding.

The new legislation, titled the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Bill of 2006, was cleared by the Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and will be introduced in Parliament's forthcoming winter session.

The proposed Bill repeals the 30-year old Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act of 1976 and arms enforcement agencies with more power to regulate donations from abroad.

The additional groups or persons who will be barred from receiving foreign funding include organisations of a political nature, associations or companies engaged in production or broadcast of audio news or audio-visual news or current affairs programmes through electronic mode or any other mode of mass communication.

This also includes correspondents or columnists, cartoonists, editors, owners of associations or companies relating to mass communication. According to the new Bill, amounts received from any foreign source as a fee or payment for services rendered would be excluded from the definition of foreign contributions. proposed.
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