Tax mopup rises

New Delhi, April 23: The government has collected over Rs 3,09,000 crore and expects to garner Rs 3,000 crore more in direct taxes for 2007-08. The direct tax collection is 38 per cent more than the previous fiscal, Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman P.K. Misra said on the sidelines of an Assocham seminar here. It also exceeds the government’s revised target of Rs 3,04,000 crore for 2007-08.

Jaguar deal

Washington, April 23: Tata Motors’ $2.3-billion deal to acquire car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company has received approval from the US anti-trust authorities. The US Federal Trade Commission has given its go-ahead to Tata Motors to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor, according to a notice posted on the website of the commission.

Rural banks

New Delhi, April 23: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said his ministry would take up the issue of resuming licensing of local area banks with the RBI. The banks were launched to meet credit needs in rural and semi-urban areas. Chidambaram, as part of the former United Front government, had conceived local area banks over a decade ago.

Infy buy

New Delhi, April 23: Infosys Technologies has bought advanced know-how from an Australian company to enhance the features of its banking software product Finacle.

Energy funds

New Delhi, April 23: A Norway-based private equity fund will invest Rs 400 crore in India’s energy sector. The Indo-Nordic private equity was launched last week in Norway’s capital Oslo by Indian ambassador Mahesh Sachdev.

ICICI move

New Delhi, April 23: The ICICI Bank has skipped annual promotions and bonus payouts to employees this year.

Steel prices

Calcutta, April 23: Ispat Industries and Essar Steel have joined Tata Steel and SAIL in holding steel prices at their current levels for another two to three months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s request in Jamshedpur yesterday.