Quick tax refund

New Delhi, Dec. 14: Income-tax refunds may take less time than usual as the government has asked the I-T department to soon process refund claims of up to Rs 25,000 for every assessee whose tax is deducted at source (TDS) for 2007-08. “The income-tax department has instructed the field formations to accept the TDS payer’s claim, with certain exceptions ... where the refund computed does not exceed Rs 25,000,” a finance ministry official said.

Auto aid

Washington, Dec. 14: White House officials have asked not to expect an announcement today or on Monday on a possible plan to prevent the collapse of the US auto industry. The Bush administration is considering ways to provide emergency aid to General Motors and Chrysler that can run out of cash within weeks without government help.

Tiger Beer

New Delhi, Dec. 14: Asia Pacific Breweries, the maker of Tiger Beer, will enter Bengal in a month as part of its pan-India expansion plans. The company is present in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Small laptop

New Delhi, Dec. 14: San Diego-based wireless communications major Qualcomm will launch its small laptop, Kayak, in India in the second half of next year. Priced at Rs 10,000, the laptops are primarily used for accessing Internet services.

Bajaj stake

New Delhi, Dec. 14: Bajaj Auto Ltd has raised its stake in Austrian sports bike maker KTM to 25 per cent and is looking to increase it further.