1. Weekly News Submitted by: ParneetKaur

2. Reliance Mutual Funds Unveils NFO Reliance Mutual Fund announced the launch of new fund offer (NFO) for Small Cap Fund, which will invest in small cap companies The NFO will open on August 26 and close on September 9. The scheme purpose to invest at least 65% of amount in equity and equity related instruments of small cap companies, which may go up to 100% of the amount.

3. Religare Promoters To Make Open Offer For Additional 20% Stake Religare enterprises made an open offer to company share holder at Rs.475 a share, which will increase there stake further by 20% The offer open on October 13 and will close on November 1. Promoter said that they will infuse the 857 crore by the way of fresh share issue , preferential allotment and warrant conversion

4. Toyota to start trial production of Etios in Sept. Toyota today said it will start trial production of its much anticipated small car 'Etios' for the Indian market The Japanese car major, which is present in India through a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group, is investing Rs 3,200 crore to set up its second manufacturing facility in Bangalore to roll out its first small car in India by December.

5. Cont…. The company will launch both hatchback and sedan under the Etios series with 1.2 litre and 1.5 litre petrol engines respectively. However, the firm later said that it would look into opportunities of introducing a diesel variant also. TKM had reported over seven per cent growth in its sales in India last year at 55,497 units and is expecting a jump of 15-20 per cent in 2010.

6. Corporates to welcome 30% cap on tax but increase in MAT rate a dampener With the draft bill for the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) now cleared by the Union Cabinet and set to be tabled before Parliament on Monday, it seems almost certain that the DTC deadline will be met. While the revised discussion paper released earlier for public discussion did indicate a calibration of tax rates to make up for the loss in the tax kitty, little did the individual taxpayer expect that the tax slabs would largely be aligned to the current slabs! Preliminary news reports indicate that the basic exemption limit has been marginally increased to Rs 2 lakh (Rs 2.5 lakh for senior citizens and women). Currently the exemption limit stands at Rs 1.6 lakh (Rs 2.4 lakh for senior citizens and Rs 1.9 lakh for women).

7. Cont. The tax slabs as announced on Thursday have been have been fixed as: 10% for income between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, 20% for income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh and 30% for income over Rs 10 lakh. Currently, the lowest tax rate is 10% for those earning income between Rs 1.6 lakh and Rs 5 lakh and 20% for those earning income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 8 lakh. The highest marginal tax rate stands at 30% for income above Rs 8 lakh. The DTC had made some bold announcements of reducing the tax rates for individuals. For instance, the maximum marginal rate of 30% would have applied only on income above Rs 25 lakh.

8. Cont…. However, it should also be recalled that DTC had called for the EET (exempt-exempt-tax)regime, which was largely diluted by the revised discussion paper. With the continuance of the EEE (exempt-exempt-exempt)system in most instances, it is likely that the tax rates could not be reduced to the extent as originally intended. On the corporate tax front, it appears that the tax rate has been increased to 30% (including education cess and surcharge) from 25% proposed in the DTC.

9. Ford to storm Indian market with eight new models, create export hub US auto giant Ford Motor said it would storm the fast-growing Indian market with eight new models and turn the nation into an export hub for its popular locally made Figo hatchback. Ford, which has invested one billion dollars in the country in the past decade, is seeking to overtake global rivals in penetrating the Indian market where car sales have been hitting record highs as the economy recovers.

10. Cont…. Ford announced separately plans to invest 350 million dollars with Japanese partner Mazda Motor Corp in their pick-up truck venture in Thailand, "reaffirming our ongoing strategic relationship." Ford officials told media the company aimed to make the new cars for the Indian market locally and they would be in high volume segments such as the popular small car category, which accounts for around 70 percent of new sales. Sales of vehicles in India, still one of the world's least penetrated auto markets, have grown at an average annual rate of 17 percent over the past five years.