Pakistan News update
World News
World-News
Treasury releases draft mining tax bill
Jun 11th
By online business reporter Michael Janda
Updated June 10, 2011 16:40:00 The Federal Government has released its draft legislation for the Minerals Resource Rent Tax.On initial inspection, the bill seems to match the compromise reached between the Government and the major miners that ended the resource sector’s ad campaign against the original Resource Super Profits Tax proposed under Kevin Rudd’s leadership.
The explanatory material, which is more than 170 pages long, explains how the tax will be levied, giving several hypothetical examples for existing projects, new projects, joint ventures and companies with several projects mining the same resource.
The effective tax rate remains More >
Afghanistan faces ’2014 crisis’
Jun 11th
8 June 2011 Last updated at 11:14 GMT The report comes as the US considers reducing troop numbers in Afghanistan Afghanistan faces a financial crisis when foreign troops leave in 2014, Democrats on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee have warned.
The two-year study by the committee’s Democratic majority is to be released on Wednesday.
It calls for better use of the roughly $320m (£195m) in foreign aid the US spends every month in Afghanistan, with a focus on sustainability.
It concludes that misspent foreign aid can result in corruption.
It can also alter markets and undercut the ability of the Afghan government More >
New elements for periodic table
Jun 11th
8 June 2011 Last updated at 12:51 GMT Different teams have made claims for the discovery of new elements Two new elements have been added to the periodic table after a three-year review by the governing bodies of chemistry and physics.
The elements are currently unnamed, but they are both highly radioactive and exist for less than a second before decaying into lighter atoms.
The table is the official compendium of known elements, organised according to properties of their atomic structure.
Details have been published in the journal Pure and Applied Chemistry.
The review was conducted by a joint working party of the More >
Call to clarify details of draft tax bill
Jun 11th
Updated June 11, 2011 13:04:00
The West Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy says the release of the Federal Government’s draft mining tax bill has sparked concerns over which minerals will be hit by the tax.The Government released the draft legislation for the introduction of the Minerals Resource Rent Tax yesterday and is calling on the mining industry and tax professionals to respond to the document.
The chamber’s Reg Howard-Smith says he will be seeking some immediate clarification on wording within the bill.
“It talks about this tax mainly focussing on coal and iron ore and the inclusion of that word More >
Indigenous graziers sinking under export ban
Jun 11th
By Myles Morgan, Phoebe Stewart, Kristy O’Brien
Updated June 10, 2011 13:42:00 There are concerns the Federal Government’s ban on live exports to Indonesia will send Indigenous pastoralists out of business.There are more than 80 Indigenous properties spread across northern Australia that employ more than 700 people.
About 14,000 Aboriginal people live on or near the stations and rely on them for employment and basic services.
The Indigenous Land Corporation says Indigenous communities have worked hard to break into the mainstream cattle industry for more than a decade.
It says many of the cattle stations could fold because the cost of transporting animals More >
Samsonite raises $1.25bn in IPO
Jun 11th
10 June 2011 Last updated at 06:59 GMT Samsonite was founded in Denver, Colorado, in 1910 Samsonite is to raise US$1.25bn (£767m) in an initial public offering in Hong Kong, the BBC has learned.
The 100-year-old luggage maker will sell shares at HK$14.50 each, the low-end of a proposed price range, a person close to the deal told the BBC.
It is the latest foreign company to seek a Hong Kong listing. Fashion house Prada is looking to raise $2.6bn.
But the pricing of the Samsonite deal could mean that interest is not as strong as some had hoped.
Analysts said that the More >
Family, friends gather to farewell soldier
Jun 11th
Updated June 10, 2011 14:22:00
A funeral service for a Victorian soldier killed in Afghanistan last month has been held in Melbourne.Lieutenant Marcus Case, 27, was killed when a Chinook helicopter he was a passenger in crashed during a resupply mission.
Lieutenant Case had been in the military since 2002 and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan.
Family, friends and comrades gathered to pay their respects at a closed service at Saint Bedes Church in the Melbourne suburb of North Balwyn.
His family and friends say he was adventurous, dedicated and born to make a difference. They say he was a More >
Environment groups challenge new power plant
Jun 11th
Updated June 10, 2011 08:46:00
Environment groups will launch legal proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) today to stop the construction of a new coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley.The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) partially approved the HRL dual gas power station, on the grounds it will demonstrate best practice coal technology.
Mark Wakeham from Environment Victoria says the EPA has failed to consider alternatives to brown coal generation, when determining best practice energy production.
He says it will be an important test case which could prevent new coal-fired power plants from being built.
“It’s the first time a More >
Ludwig reserves judgement on MLA
Jun 11th
By Jeremy Thompson
Updated June 10, 2011 10:44:00 Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig has refused to express confidence in Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), in the wake of reports linking its directors with companies benefiting from grants it awarded.The Sydney Morning Herald reports that four meat processors – JBS Australia, Nippon, Rockdale and Teys – were awarded a third of MLA’s multi-million dollar research and development budget.
The newspaper says during that time, 2003 to 2008, representatives of all four companies sat on the MLA board.
But an MLA spokesman told the paper the directors were absent from meetings when grants involving their companies More >
Cattle export ban may cut farmland values
Jun 11th
Updated June 10, 2011 09:56:00
A rural land valuer says the price of grazing properties in north Queensland will drop after the Federal Government’s decision to suspend live exports to Indonesia.North Queensland agent Justin Smith says beef production will be seen as less profitable and interest in the sector will fall.
He says the rural property market has been soft since 2008 and the export suspension is another blow.
“Probably the last six months we had started to see a little bit more activity,” he said.
“But certainly in northern Australia we do anticipate that any purchasers that were in the market will More >
