It gives me euphoric feeling in bringing before you the third issue of Fulcrum for the academic year 2004-05. Last two issues evoked great response from all across the academia and industry. This issue is relatively a shorter one due to students engagements in examinations. Still, I am sure you will appreciate it like earlier issues and shower your blessings in terms of constructive suggestions.

Due to relentless efforts from management, faculty team and students, period March-June again proved to be a shining success for institute. PIM students team has brought an international accolade by bagging prestigious prize in International case-study competition organized by Amity Business School, Noida. PIM's quest for cementing ties with industry once again soared with three Management Development Programmes. Hallmark of any B-school is its successful placement. In this regard, PIM stood at the forefront with 15 campus Interviews by National & International giants.

Foreign Universities & Academic institutions have started knocking the door in India. It has already created ripples in the academic world. Therefore, the coming years shall be more challenging for the Indian academic community. We firmly believe that it will improve the overall quality of education in terms of contents, pedagogy, research, exchange programmes, placements etc.

Pacific institute has also geared itself in terms of infrastructure, faculty, library, and forging international tie ups. Magazine Dalal street has already included PIM in top 150 management colleges of the country. Once again we promise to all our stake holders that we shall not leave any stone unturned to occupy a position among the top 50 B-Schools of country. It is rightly said.

Leading corporate & other related incidents which had profound impact on Indian industry and society as a whole were Chidambaram's Dream budget, implementation of "Hybrid Value Added Tax" covering entire country barring few states, Visit of Chinese and Pakistani Supremo, Hillarious one year completion of UPA government, fraud perpetration by Emphasis employees & former employees, swapping of John Wright with Greg Chappal, Adwani's historic comment on Jinnah leading to tacit dissent & further open revolt, peaceful settlement of Ambani feud, entry of retail giant TESCO in India, rise of NRI L.N. Mittal to No. 3rd position in the billionaire club of world, Presidential rule in Bihar, Irani Committee report for reforms in Companies Act, high profile resignation of Wipro Vice Chairman Vivek Paul, passage of Right to Information (RTI) bill, missing tigers in Rajasthan and on the solemn side, demise of Sunil Dutt.

With the optimism and hope in mind that the rain god (Indra) will shower his blessing in form of torrential rains this region we conclude this issue.

1. A Growth target of 7-8% of G.D.P.

2. Infrastructure and agriculture to be the focus area.

3. Sector with maximum employment potential to get government attention.

4. Peak custom duty rate on non agri products decreased from 20% to 15 %

5. VAT implementation from 1st April.

Midday meal scheme out lay has been increased to Rs 3010 Cr.
Integrated child development scheme out lay has been increased to Rs. 3,142 Cr.
Outlay on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has been doubled to Rs. 7, 156 Cr.
National rural employment guarantee scheme's out lay has been increased to Rs. 11,000 Cr. from 4, 020Cr.
Two new schemes National rural health issue with an out lay of Rs. 1,86 Cr and a scheme for SC/ST with an
outlay of Rs. 6, 253 Cr. have been started

7. Tax slabs and rates
upto Rs. 1 lakh* Nil, Rs 1 lakh -Rs 1.5 lakh -10%, Rs 1.5 lakh -Rs 2.5 lakh -20%, over Rs 2.5 lakh -30%
*No tax upto Rs 1.25 lakh for women and Rs 1.5 lakh for senior citizen
10% surcharge on income over Rs 10 lakh, 2% educational cess applicable in both the cases.

8. Section 88 and 80 L abolished, Rs. 1 lakh deduction under sec. 80 C.

9. Fringe benefit tax introduced., Corporate tax rate down from 36.6% to 33.7%.

10. Cash with drawal of Rs. 20,000 or more per day to attract 0.1% tax.

11. Rs. 10,000 sub limit on ELSS investment for tax benefit removed.

12. Rs. 1 lakh per annum in ELSS qualify for 80C deduction.

13. Transaction tax on redemption from equally oriented funds up from 0.15% to 0.2%

14. Gold ETF to debut. Now one can invest in gold without constraint of holding it in physical form.

15. RBI free to set SLR and CRR levels.

16. Excise duty on tyres reduced form 24%to 16% ., Custom duty on non ferrous metal down to 5% from 10%.

17. Items that have become cheaper.

LPG, Kerosene, Tea, Edible Oil. Vanaspati, Air Conditioners, Tyres & Tubes, Imported PCs, Plasma TVs Hi-Fi Audio/ DVD player, Leather goods & garments, foreign garment brand

18. Items that have become dearer.

Flat in large apartment complex., Branded Jewellery., Cigarette/Gutka/Paan Masala., Imported Liquor. Following services have also become costlier

Club membership
Recruitment firm
Denting & Painting
Video & Audio taping service

Value Added Tax is one of the most far reaching tax reforms in India since independence. Throughout the world VAT has been implemented in 130 countries. It has found itself difficult to sail through in the United States but it has proven to be a case of rags to riches for Ireland, Russia & Estonia.

VAT or Value Added Tax is a multistage sales tax levied on Value Added and is collected at each stage of the production & distribution process. Some of the important features of VAT are

It covers 550 goods and there are only two basic tax rates of 4% and 12.5 %
270 items are at 4% and 232 items are at 12.5 %
Gold and Silver are taxed at a special rate of 1%
Traders with a turn over of up to Rs. 0.5mn will be completely outside VAT.
Products like liquor, lottery ticket, petrol, diesel, air fuel and other motion spirit are kept outside VAT.

It is more complicated More administrative work will be involved since tax liability will be based on input apart form value of total turnover. It may cause inflation Traders feel that there should be a moderate rate between upper & lower limit. Since many commodities have been placed under 12.5% rate which is very high.

Fierce opposition from trading community had been another obstacle in VAT implementation VAT has been nicknamed as Very Agitated Traders. According to them it would lead to inflation and would hit the consumers as well as the trade. They have also opposed the stringent penal provision and non availability of inter state transaction . One reason which is not cited but is very much there is the fear of revealing their true incomes, some thing they are not used to.

The first quarter results show that the efforts of the empowerment committee and its chairman Asim Dasgupta who had individually advised states for VAT has not gone futile. The initial performance has at least dismissed any fear of a roll back. Revenue is satisfactory if not spectacular and traders resistance is on wane .

There is a revenue growth of 15% in most of the states. States like Delhi and Orissa has gained by 30% and 35% respectively. State like Andhra Pradesh has suffered less which reflects administrative un preparedness. The loss in 1st quarter is less than half of the anticipated Rs. 10, 000 Cr. The center will open a special account to compensate states for loss. In the first year 100% of the loss will be compensated. In the second year 75% and in the third 50% of the loss will be compensated.

Looking back in the history, it is seen that prior to Independence, the Indian exports were mainly aimed at the development of the industries in the imperial economy (Great Britain) at the cost of industrialization in the colonial economy (India). With Independence, India started to think of its own development through becoming self-sufficient and self-reliant. Thus, the brilliant move of devising a commercial strategy which, focused on import substitution and export promotion was made. The formation of Export Policy Resolution in 1970 devised a very important platform for the export-import policies which were to come in the later years. To put India on the road to fast track development in the field of exports, which interestingly is a major contributor to the economy, initiatives in the form of export incentives were taken by the government. These incentives come in the form of various schemes ranging from duty drawback, DEPB, DFRC, Advance License, sector specific promotional schemes like Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Scheme, Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana, etc. These incentives have made their contribution by taking India to a very high stature in the world trade. According to the economic survey for 2003-2004, India has become the 31Sf leading country in the world trade. Currently, the share of India stands to a meager 0.8% in the global trade. Under the visionary leadership of Kamal Nath, the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, India aims to attain nearly 1.5% of share of the global pie. Under the New Foreign Trade 2004-2009, a plethora of measures have been taken to give a push to the sector. For instance, new schemes have been launched ( Target Plus, Vishes Krishi Upaj Yojna),the institutional structure is being strengthened ( Board of Trade has been revamped. State has been given a say in the various issues), categorization of the status holders as " Star Export Houses" with ranks from " One Star" to "Five Star" has been initiated. These are just a few steps taken to boost Indian exports. But, this must also be kept in mind that all these schemes, initiatives must be compatible to the WTO.This is necessary in the light of the opening up of the economy. Keeping up with the WTO norms many of the incentives schemes have to be reframed, In fact it is advisable to come up with a model scheme which takes care of the guidelines framed by the WTO. All the above efforts will see light only with a collaborative effort of the government and the beneficiaries, i.e., the exporting community. A country can reach any heights when the policymakers frame only such policies which involve the suggestions of the policy-bearers too .A step in this direction is the recent invitation by the government for the formation of a model scheme to stay competitive. This is like a drop in the vast ocean of efforts that need to be taken to stay ahead of countries like China which are giving a tough competition to India. By moving along these guidelines it can be ensured that the day when Indian exports will make a mark in the world is not too far. "Made in India" will also sound as prestigious as "Made in USA".