Govt to set up service price index
New Delhi: The government is planning to set up a service price index (SPI) on the lines of the wholesale price index (WPI) and the consumer price index (CPI) to track the movement of prices in the services sector which contributes around 55 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) at present.

The index will capture the price movements of various services rendered such as insurance, banking, transport and communication. The weightage of these services will be decided in the index during deliberations a member of the expert committee said.

The price movement in the proposed SPI could be reflected in the rate of inflation.

The terms of reference of the committee includes providing guidance, deciding on the scope, coverage and give technical guidance on developing the index.
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India Inc wants autonomy for IIMs
Mumbai: While the government is considering a new Bill to make the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) answerable to Parliament, India Inc says the time has now come to grant complete autonomy to these institutes and set up an independent regulator to oversee the education sector.

The IIMs should be granted autonomy and they should not depend on the government for funds," said Rahul Bajaj, chairman of Bajaj group and a member of Parliament.

Apart from imposing a quota on the seats for socially disadvantaged, the Human Resource Development Ministry is also planning an Institutes of Management Bill which would follow a similar law made under the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 under which the IITs operate.

A committee consisting of HRD minister, leader of opposition or a top educationist should appoint the regulator which would oversee the entire education sector, Bajaj suggested.

Bajaj, who said he favoured merit over quotas in IIMs and IITs, said the students should be encouraged to take loans to pay for the IIT, IIM fees instead of the government keeping the fees low artificially.
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IIMs to release general students list, quota list to come out later
Ahmedabad: Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will release the admission list for students from the general list - comprising all castes and reserved seats for Scheduled castes and tribes - over the weekend, according to previous schedules.

But IIMs will keep on hold admissions to the seats that have been added till the Supreme Court announces its verdict on May 8.

The IIMs have welcomed the government's decision to let them release the admission lists without the OBC quota. In all, IIMs will declare admissions for 1350 seats. 157 seats will be taken up later.

IIM Ahmedabad said it would release the list on Friday if it received an official notification by then, while IIM Bangalore said it would release the list on Friday or Saturday.
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