‘Indian VIP exemption list does not mirror US requirements’

October 14th, 2009 Democrats favor repealing exemption for insurersWASHINGTON — Frustrated with health insurers, Democratic lawmakers are calling for revoking the industry's antitrust exemption. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the health insurance industry wants to continue the monopoly that it enjoys in some states.

October 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore has been rated the best in South Asia in terms of visibility and scholarly papers on the net in the latest ranking of such institutions by Cybermetric Lab, the largest public research institution in Spain. The Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, the National Informatics Centre in Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai make up the top five universities in the subcontinent.

October 8th, 2009 KOLKATA - Birla Corp, the flagship company of the MP Birla Group, has been included in the "Best Under a Billion" list by the Forbes Magazine. Altogether 200 companies feature on the list picked up from more than 25,326 publicly listed firms with sales of less than $1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region, a Birla Corp release said Thursday.

October 1st, 2009 DHAKA - The Indian envoy to Bangladesh has offered to reduce the number of negative items on the bilateral trade list to facilitate commerce between the two neighbours. High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty has also mooted joint investments to boost bilateral trade between the two South Asian countries to offset the trade balance that is at present heavily tilted in New Delhi's favour.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Reliance Industries (RIL), Bharti Airtel, Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services are among the 13 Indian companies that have made it to the list of Forbes' 50 Best companies in the Asia-Pacific region. "Our list is a mix of giant, established companies this year which includes Australian miner BHP Billiton, Hong Kong conglomerate Noble Group and Indian oil and gas heavyweight RIL - and smaller outfits such as Agile Property Holdings, Anhui Conch Cement and Digital China Holdings," Forbes Asia said in a statement.

July 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday had a ready answer to the remarks by opposition leader Jaswant Singh last week that the income tax exemption in the budget was not enough to even buy a bottle of whiskey. "He should give up (whiskey) if he has not already given it up," Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, responding to Singh's remarks during the debate on the Finance Bill.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday proposed to increase the income tax exemption limit for senior citizens by Rs.15,000, for women and others by Rs.10,000 each, while keeping the corporate tax rate unchanged. The exemption limit will now be Rs.240,000 for senior citizens, Rs.190,000 for women and Rs.160,000 for others.

July 6th, 2009 BANGALORE - Salaried residents of Bangalore have welcomed the proposed increase in income tax exemption limits for women and others by Rs.10,000 and scrapping of the fringe benefit tax (FBT). Senior citizens in this IT hub are also happy with an increase in their tax exemption limit by Rs.15,000.

July 6th, 2009 In an effort to provide interim relief to small and marginal taxpayers and senior citizens, the Finance Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union Budget 2009-10 today. This years budget witnessed a gradual hike in the income tax exemption limit.

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 4th, 2009 LONDON - Legendary playwright William Shakespeare-known for his plays like 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Hamlet', etc.-has officially been named Britain's greatest national treasure in a new poll. The poll was sponsored by ice-cream makers Mivvi.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has called for cheap export credit and income tax exemption for export earnings for Indias garments exporters. At a meeting with Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran Wednesday, FICCI advocated credit for exporters at an interest rate of 7 percent, 100 percent exemption on income tax for export earnings for three years, initiation of skill development programmes, and reimbursement of duties to exporters.

June 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Representatives of the ailing export sector sought a slew of sops including a Rs.5,000-crore market development fund when they met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and top officials Tuesday as part of pre-budget consultations. The exporters' wish-list, apart from the bailout package in the form of a market development fund, also includes elimination of the fringe benefit tax, income tax exemption, reduction of interest rates, and speedier insurance and service tax refunds.

May 11th, 2009 LONDON - Darth Vader's comment - "Luke, I am your father" - in one of the Star Wars films is the most misquoted phrase by film fans, according to a poll. Vader's comment to Luke Skywalker in 'The Empire Strikes Back' has topped the list of the 'movie misquotes'.

April 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With $34 billion in sales from its oil and gas operations, Reliance Industries tops 47 Indian companies that figure in the Forbes list of the world's biggest 2,000 companies. Ranked 121st, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance also makes it to the list of top 200 companies with two other Indian entities, State Bank of India (150) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (152), in the list compiled by the US business magazine.