The government introduced a retrospective clarification to the Income-Tax (I-T) Act, 1961, virtually amending the law to ensure that cross-border transactions such as the $11.08 billion (around Rs55,735 crore today) Vodafone-Hutchison deal are taxable. The Supreme Court had ruled this deal as not being taxable in India. The amendment becomes crucial because a review petition by the government on this case is pending before the Supreme Court, which might now have...

-The Hindu   5.6 per cent of the households now comprise single couple There is a quantum jump in the number of families going nuclear in Andhra Pradesh in just about a decade (2001-2011) with 75.6 per cent of the households now comprising single couple, indicating a major societal shift from the traditional joint family system, Census 2011has revealed. The rate at which families are turning nuclear in the State could be gauged from...

-PTI About 58.8 per cent of households in Maharashtra have TV sets while 13.3 per cent have computer/laptop and 69.1 per cent have telephone/mobile in their households, as per the data on "housing, amenities and assets" in the 2011 census. The respective figures at national level are 47.2, 9.5 and 63.2 per cent, Ranjit Singh Deol, director Census operations, Maharashtra, told reporters in Mumbai. The share of households having two wheelers is 24.9...

The latest round of data on the 2011 Census shows that the country is exhibiting distinct signs of trading up as material living conditions improve for large sections of the population. Although this aggregate picture is not uniform across the country, analysts believe that the upward material mobility in society is creating the basis of a new consumer boom in the economy—serving up a perfect backdrop ahead of the presentation of...

-DNA Though known for its computer whizkids world over, the penetration of computers/ laptops in India is only 9.4% or less than one out of 10 households with only 3% having internet facility. The penetration of internet is 8% in urban as compared to less than 1% in rural area. The 2011 housing census figures released on Tuesday by the Registrar General of India threw up some interesting facts bringing out stark...