Briefs

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was cleared yesterday by the Council of State, the government's legal advisory arm, to proceed with forwarding the list of 11 NBTC members for royal endorsement.

Atchaporn Jarujinda, secretary of the Council of State, said the probe of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) into the alleged irregularities in the process of selecting the final candidates for the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has no effect, as the probe remains at the initial stage.

The Council of State would submit its opinion to the Cabinet's secretariat today, he said.

The government consulted with the Council of State after the DSI was assigned to look into complaints that the process of selecting the final 44 NBTC contestants appeared to be unlawful.

The DSI's involvement had made the prime minister hesitate to submit the list of NBTC members for royal endorsement.

The 11 commissioners elected their chairman and two vice chairmen on Monday after the Senate appointed them last week.

The Senate secretariat is expected to submit their names to the premier by this coming Monday.

Decision on orbital slots delayed

The Cabinet yesterday delayed to next week the Information Communication Technology Ministry's proposal to assign satellite operator Thaicom to help maintain the country's right to reserve the 120 degrees east and 50.5 degrees east longitude orbital slots.

The Cabinet decided not to consider the proposal and the ministry's proposed method to maintain the 120 degrees slot because of the need to hear more opinions on the case from some state agencies.

Diesel tax suspended

Pongpanu Svetarundra, director-general of the Excise Department, said yesterday that the Cabinet had approved the suspension of the diesel tax for three more months until December 31.

The tax exemption on diesel sales was implemented by the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, while the new government also cut the Oil Fund levy on diesel sales by Bt3 per litre to keep the retail price low.

The Revenue Department also extended the tax exemption for community enterprises for three years until December 2013. Eligible enterprises must have revenues of no more than Bt1.8 million per year.

Petrochem project

Toyo-Thai Corporation has received a letter of intent from Bangkok Synthetics Group's subsidiary for a petrochemical project in Thailand worth US$110 million to $130 million (Bt3.3 billion to Bt3.9 billion).

The scope of work includes engineering, procurement and construction, according to Toyo-Thai's filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday.