Budget gives fillip to R&D in science

September 30th, 2009 Worker misconduct cases rise at science foundationARLINGTON, Va. — A watchdog tasked with stopping fraud involving taxpayer-funded science grants says it has been forced to spend time addressing government employee misconduct, much of it involving pornography.

September 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Charusita Chakravarti of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Santosh G. Honavar of L.V.

July 9th, 2009 LONDON - Despite the economic slowdown, the Indian government plans to hike its science budget, with special emphasis on developing semi-cryogenic rocket engines, building a space capsule to carry a two-person crew into space by 2015 and for setting up the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System. According to a report in Nature News, India will spend 289 billion rupees on research and development this year, 19 percent more than last year, according to the budget for 2009-2010 announced on July 6.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday reduced duties on large cars while unveiling the 2009-10 budget proposals. A leading NGO said this would increase air pollution in a big way.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the first general budget at 11am today in Lok Sabha. This is the first general budget of the UPA government after coming to power for second term.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a bid to give a fillip to the current round of auction of hydrocarbon assets, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday extended the tax exemption on profits in the natural gas sector. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas has been seeking tax holiday to the natural gas sector since last year, when the 2008 auction deadline had been postponed many times due to confusion over this issue.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With a view to giving a fillip to the tourism industry, which is witnessing a downturn due to the global meltdown, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated Rs.1,070 crore to the sector in the union budget he presented in parliament Monday. Mukherjee also announced custom duty exemption for water and snow equipment to boost adventure tourism.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's fiscal budget has risen from Rs.193 crores to over Rs.10 lakh crores in the 63 years since independence of the country in 1947, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha Monday. "Madam speaker, I am happy to announce that for the first time, the budget estimates have crossed Rs.10 lakh crores.

July 5th, 2009 BANGALORE - As a sunrise industry, the biotechnology sector is looking up to the national budget, to be presented in parliament by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday, for a fillip in times of global recession and slowdown in the Indian economy. The government must incentivise R&D (research and development), especially in the biotechnology sector by providing a tax holiday for five years on any new product developed in-house, Biocon India chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told IANS here.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in parliament house Friday morning to present her ministry's budget for this fiscal, promising to address the demands of the average passenger. "My budget will be of the people, by the people and for the people," Banerjee told reporters before leaving for parliament house to present the railway budget in Lok Sabha, the lower house.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the railway budget would be a "pro-people" budget. "It will be a pro-people budget, a simple budget, people's budget," Banerjee said after an all-party meeting here.

June 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian IT hardware industry has called for parity in the countervailing duty (CVD) and service tax, levied on IT hardware products, in a pre-budget memorandum submitted to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. It is strongly recommended that the rate of service tax be aligned to that of the excise duty/CVD to avoid structural anomalies, the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) said in a statement Wednesday.

May 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The first phase journey of arguably the worlds largest mobile science and technology museum concluded Saturday at the capital's Safdurjung railway station after a 182-day-long trip covering 51 cities of the country. The second phase will kick off from Ahmedabad August 12.

January 2nd, 2009 SHILLONG - While announcing a doubling of the investment in science from one to two percent of the national income, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday urged the Indian industry to invest in research and development aimed at boosting science and technology so that young minds are attracted to seeking a career in science. 'We need a new wave of investment from the private sector so that young people will be encouraged to seek a career in science,' the prime minister said while inaugurating the 96th Indian Science Congress at the Northeastern Hill University here.

December 22nd, 2008 NEW DELHI - The government is setting up a Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) to promote basic research work in science and engineering, the Lok Sabha was informed Tuesday. The SERB will be an autonomous body and a bill in this regard was passed by the Lok Sabha Dec 19, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told the Lok Sabha.