FEBRUARY 17 ,2012: BUDGET 2012: TAX REBATE ON 3-YEAR BANK FDS LIKELY
Following concerted pressure from banks, the finance ministry has agreed to consider a proposal to reduce the lock-in period for bank deposit eligible for tax rebate to three years from five years.
If this proposal finds its way into next month's budget, it will make bank fixed deposits, which currently fetch an annual return more than 9%, an attractive savings option for individuals, and bring them on par with equity-linked tax saving schemes of mutual funds and tax-free bonds.
FEBRUARY 16,2012:MARKETS END LOWER AMID WEAK GLOBAL CUES
Indian stocks markets ended lower on Thursday on the back of profit booking, amid weak Asian and European cues, after three straight days of gains.
The BSE benchmark index-Sensex closed at 18,154 down 48 points and the 50-share Nifty shed 10 points to end at 5,522 levels.
FEBRUARY 15TH 2012:INDIA PC MARKET DIPS 6.5% IN Q4 2011: GARTNER
The combined desk-based and mobile PC market in IndiA totaled nearly 2.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 6.5 per cent decline from the same period in 2010, according to research firm Gartner.
"The hard-disk drive (HDD) shortage due to the floods in Thailand significantly impacted the desktop market which declined 18 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011," Gartner Principal Research Analyst Vishal Tripathi said in a statement.
FEBRUARY 14,2012:OUTSOURCING IS AN OVERUSED TERM: PAUL COBY
Paul Coby, director of information technology at John Lewis, was one of the early members of British Airway's, IT team that saw its captive unit in India grow.
He believes the outsourcing model of moving people or the entire IT system to a third-party vendor is no more valid and vendors need to be partners with the customer.
The models that Were scene in emerging in the 1990s, evolved as a reaction to technology.Many felt technology was rather expensive and was not the core.
Mr Coby also acknowledged that players like IBM and others were considered to be the ones who would take away the load. Technology became commoditized. Increasing focus should be on partnership model
FEBRUARY 13,2012: INDIAN IT INDUSTRY TO HIRE 200,000 FOR FY13
The Indian IT industry will continue to be a net hirer, even as it battles global uncertainty, said the industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).
For the financial year 2013, the industry will hire around 200,000 of which 100,000 students have already received offer letters. The industry would end FY12 by hiring 230,000.
FEBRUARY 12,2012:RESERVE BANK RAISES BANK RATE TO 9.5%
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) realigned the bank rate to marginal standing facility (MSF) rate in one-time technical adjustment. The bank rate now stands at 9.5 per cent as against six per cent earlier.
Any change in the MSF rate will lead to revision in the bank rate accordingly. The MSF rate is linked to the policy rate or repo rate, which is at 8.5 per cent.
