BackNeed To Know | MCD eyes revenue fromads on autos, taxis
Need To Know | MCD eyes revenue fromads on autos, taxis
Premium
New Delhi: Taxis and autorickshaws in Delhi may soon start sporting advertisements thanks to an ambitious revenue-earning scheme by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) .
The proposal is part of a 10-point project envisaged by MCD to increase its income from advertisements to Rs300 crore in the next fiscal.
“We will soon start the tendering process for the scheme to allow owners or operators of taxis, autorickshaws, radio taxis and other commercial four-wheelers to display advertisements on a revenue-sharing basis," Vijender Gupta, chairman of the standing committee, MCD, said.
— PTI
*********
Vedanta Aluminium for extra 1,200 acre land
Kolkata: Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources Plc., would seek an additional 1,200 acres of land from the West Bengal government for its proposed greenfield plant in the state.
A Vedanta official said the company had 200 acres of land under its possession at Bidhanbag in Asansol.
“We require another 1,000-1,200 acres. The government will facilitate in giving us the land," he said.
Vedanta Aluminium was in the process of setting up an alumina plant with a capacity of 0.65 million tonnes and a 1,500MW power plant in the state in the first phase.
— PTI
*********
ACC puts its expansion programme on hold
New Delhi: The country’s largest cement maker, ACC Ltd has indefinitely put on hold the Rs600 crore expansion programme of its ready-mix concrete business due to poor demand in the domestic market.
Besides, the company, which currently has 650 employees, had laid off 165 people last month.
Demand for ready-mix concrete, which is primarily used by developers in residential projects, has been constantly falling owing to a decline in sales in the property market and non-availability of lending for realty players.
— PTI
*********
Reliance’s Iran links invite American ire
Washington: Export-Import Bank of the US has come under attack from a group of US Congressmen for a “perfunctory" due diligence on India’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and failing to detect its ties with Iran.
The lawmakers asked the bank to get a commitment from the Indian firm on ceasing petrol shipments to Iran before releasing the undisbursed guarantees to RIL.
They have sought suspension of assistance by the bank, which has approved loan guarantees worth $900 million (Rs4,239 crore today) to the Indian company.
Criticising the guarantee given by the bank to the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL, they said, “Reliance has been a major supplier of refined petroleum products for Iran... Reliance at times has provided as much as 30% of Iran’s need for imported petroleum."
— PTI
*********
India keen to enlist itself in key Interpol database
New Delhi: India is likely to enlist itself in Interpol’s three key operational database services, including those which provide DNA and fingerprint information.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which represents the 187-member-strong international organization of police forces in India, has been using only Interpol’s ‘Nominal’ so far.
The ‘Nominal’ database has pictures and details of the wanted persons against whom Interpol has issued notices.
People familiar with the matter said the first service that the agency is eager to enlist itself in is the Interpol database on Stolen and Lost Travel Documents.
With access to this database, immigration officials would be able to carry out direct screening of passports and identity documents on real-time basis against Interpol’s global database of more than 16 million stolen and lost travel documents.
— PTI
*********
‘Housing demand likely to pick up in new year’
Mumbai: Housing demand, which has remained subdued in 2008 due to high prices and interest rates, is likely to pick up in the new year in the backdrop of a declining interest rate regime, LIC Housing Finance Ltd director and chief executive R.R. Nair said.
“Although there is a temporary slowdown, the demand for housing will increase in 2009," Nair said.
While he would not predict price movements in the realty sector, Nair said that there was a “possibility" of them increasing.
Advising buyers not to delay their home purchases in the hope of a fall in prices, Nair said, “Builders may start jacking up prices once they liquidate their inventories.
“To me, it appears that this is the right time (for home buys)," he said.
— PTI
*********
US bankruptcies up 30%, touch 1 million cases
New York: The US has seen a spurt in bankruptcy cases, with such filings jumping as much as 30% for the 12 months ended 30 September compared with the year-ago period.
According to the administrative office of the US courts, as many as 1.04 million bankruptcy cases were filed in federal courts across the country for the year to September.
For the nation’s federal judiciary, the fiscal year ends on 30 September.
Interestingly, September was the month in which as many as 757 bankruptcy cases (the highest of any 12-month period) were filed under Chapter 11 in business category filing before the US federal courts located across the country.
— PTI
*********
DoT to send note on 3G auction by Tuesday
New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will send a note by Tuesday on higher annual third-generation or 3G spectrum charges and number of blocks to be auctioned to the cabinet secretariat for a possible discussion in the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA).
A senior DoT official said the decision was taken at the Telecom Commission meeting on Friday to “bring it to the notice of the CCEA" and this is being done as a measure of precaution seeing the allegations in the 2G licence and spectrum allocation case.
— PTI
*********
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
