Business News: General

As the Sixth Pay Commission prepares to submit its report on March 20, a fortnight before deadline, the Finance Ministry has started working its numbers considering an average 20% increase in salaries of Central government employees.

The government has been reiterating its focus on maintaining a balance between managing inflation with growth but it seems to be struggling on both fronts - inflation crossed 5% last week and the latest industrial output numbers released today show a sharp slowdown in growth.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that "there is scope for interest rates to drop." In a post-Budget interaction with the National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry, he said that interest rates continue to be the most effective way to contain inflation, notably when capital inflows remain robust.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex plunged by 571 points in early trade on Monday on heavy selling by funds triggered by weak global trend.

What are the implications of the new income tax laws on your personal finance? A panel of experts demystify what Budget 2008 means to your wallet and your money on CNN-IBN's special show Budget and Personal Finance .

As a part of our award-wining campaign, Axe The Tax, CNN-IBN went to the Finance Ministry to present a proposal on five tax laws that should be amended. But balancing the views of people could be a difficult task for the Finance Minister in what will be his last full term budget in the UPA , ahead of the general elections.

There is good news for borrowers. Home and car loans are set to get cheaper after SBI and three other public sector banks cut interest rates, raising expectations that private banks will now follow suit.

The house rent allowance is non-uniform across the country. Residents of metros - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkota - get a higher tax benefit than those in cities like Bangalore or Hyderabad. However, the rents of Bangalore and Hyderbad are often steeper. Many want a change in this outdated tax law.

Tax exemption on conveyance allowance has not been keeping up with the times. Thanks to a decade-old provision, the amount exempt is a pittance compared to the cost of travel today. For most salaried persons, the exemption is to the tune of Rs 800 a month on conveyance allowance.

Setting the stage for a much-needed debate on the practice of TV channels, anchors and media professionals "recommending hot stocks" to investors, outgoing chairman of the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Meleveethil Damodaran has raised serious questions about the media's role in "talking up" or "talking down" a stock.

It is official now. The final tiger census figures released today show a sharp dip. There are now 1,411 tigers as compared to 3,508 in 1997. In 1972, a year before Project Tiger was launched, there were 1,827 tigers in India.

Reliance Power, which awed Dalal Street investors last month with its Rs 11,000 crore initial public offer (IPO) and got record bids worth Rs 7,50,000 crore, "shocked" investors with a poor debut today when it listed on the stock exchange for the first time.

The Uttar Pradesh police today claimed to have averted an attack on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with the arrest of six Lashkar-e-Toiba militants who were also said to be involved in the attack on the CRPF centre at Rampur on New Year's night.

Unattached business travelers know that when the meetings end and the hotel bars open, lonely business travelers are up for lingering over a meal with a stranger.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex plummeted by 523 points, its biggest loss in the last two weeks, with software and metal stocks falling on reports of contraction in US service industry.

It has been a tough year for banks, with credit off-take slowing down. home loans are now becoming cheaper, for after HDFC slashed its rates, two more banks are softening theirs. State-run Canara Bank has become the first PSU bank to cut home loan rates by 25 basis points across all tenures. The quarter percentage cut will be applicable for both existing and new customers.

The budget is round the corner and the Indian taxpayer might be in for a rude shock. Union Finance Minister P Chidambram has said in an interview to Network 18's Menaka Doshi in Davos that tax cuts are not very likely.

Home sales and land transactions that had already slowed down over the last six months are expected to dry up further as real estate stocks were among the biggest losers in the market mayhem seen over the past 14 days. Most property stocks fell 25 per cent since the stock market correction set in on January 10.

Stocks look very weak. This is hardly a surprise considering the impact of the credit crunch and the prospect of a U.S. recession. However, the fall looks hardly enough, considering the circumstances.

New Delhi: New Year has brought reason for mutual fund investors to cheer. There will be no entry fee on applications filed directly to asset management companies.