Airlines
Norms for grant of permit for air charter operations
THE Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued instructions for the minimum requirement for grant of permit to operate non-scheduled air transport services (charter operations).
Banking and Finance
Exim Bank pact with Israel
EXIM Bank of India has signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with three top Israeli banks to explore the feasibility of setting up bilateral lines of credit to finance bilateral trade.
Move to cut guarantee fee for ADB loans
THE Finance Ministry is planning to slash the sovereign guarantee fee for Asian Development Bank (ADB) loans, aggregating $ 200 millions, to three Indian institutions on the condition that the benefit of lower fees is passed on to the borrowers.
Corporate
`Suppression' of price-sensitive information -- HSE issues show cause notice to DRL
PRESUMING that the management of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (DRL) has been suppressing the price sensitive information with regard to the exact financial impact of the indefinite strike at its formulations unit-II, the Hyderabad Stock Exchange (HSE) se
rved a strongly-worded show cause notice on the DRL management on Wednesday.
Japanese hotel major to foray into Bangalore
JAPANESE major Nikko Hotels International is planning its 200-room five-star hotel project near the International Tech Park here.
Courts
Contributions towards Employees' State Insurance Fund - Production incentive not wages, rules SC
IN Whirlpool of India Ltd. vs. Employees' State Insurance Corporation (Civil Appeal No. 1983 of 2000 decided on March 8, 2000), a three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Mr. Justice S.B. Majmudar, Mr. Justice S.N. Phukan and Mr. Justice Y.K. Sa
bharwal allowed the appeal of Whirlpool against the judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and restoring the judgment of the Employees' Insurance Court.
Foreign Trade
India-EU ties gain strength
THE first-ever India-European Union Summit ended here today with a declaration to beef up bilateral economic and political relations on a firmer footing and an agenda for action setting out the areas of cooperation on a durable basis.
Whither free trade?
DESPITE the oft-repeated talk of free trade and the `mantra' of globalisation -- of the world becoming one big global village in the years to come -- being chanted at regular intervals by representatives of the developed world, it is becoming increasing
ly clear that the rich nations will ensure that two divergent sets of rules are always at play in matters pertaining to world trade.
Information Technology
Sify now plans Indian IPO
SATYAM Infoway Ltd (Sify), which has listed on the Nasdaq, now plans an equity offering in the Indian capital markets.
`Unclear policies upset British Telecom plans'
BRITISH Telecom (BT) is holding back all possible investments in Indian businesses owing to uncertainty of Government policy and lack of a proper regulatory mechanism in the sector.
Industry, education tie-up initiative
IN an industry-academic interactive initiative, four members of the Hyderabad Software Exporters Association - Portalplayer Private Ltd, Vantel Technologies, Qualcore Logics Ltd, and Orillion India Ltd _ have agreed to come together. They have adopted Va
savi Engineering College for strengthening its education infrastructure.
Insurance
Insurance products' distribution -- SBI to rope in associate banks
THE might of the State Bank group would be fully unleashed in the insurance market, with the parent bank, State Bank of India, deciding to rope in its associate banks to distribute the products to be offered by its insurance subsidiary.
Miscellaneous
New housing Act mooted
A NEW model Housing Board Act that would combine the advantages available to a corporatised body and the advantages inherent in an agency enjoying sovereign powers of the State should be enacted, housing ministers and secretaries have recommended.
Global meet on rural diversification
THE Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, is organising a two-day international workshop on rural poverty, diversification and access to natural resources in the context of sustainable livelihood in collaboration with Overseas Deve
lopment Institute (ODI), London.
Signs of rainfall activity picking up
PROSPECTS of rainfall activity in soya-growing regions of eastern Madhya Pradesh, Vidharbha and Saurastra regions have increased with the south-west monsoon showing signs of picking up steam.
Mutual Funds
IDBI adds MF option for bond holders
IDBI has given another option to the holders of the deep discount bonds 1996, whereby they can opt for investing in the bond schemes of IDBI Principal AMC.
PSU
Meet on IA global advisor today -- Delhi Centaur gears up to utilise `opportunity'
THE Air India subsidiary, the Delhi Centaur, is looking forward to the scheduled meeting of the high-powered inter-ministerial group (IMG) on Thursday and the day after to decide on a Global Advisor for the airline as an opportunity to hard sell the faci
lities available at the hotel.
Petroleum
Gas output to be doubled in K-G basin
GAS production in the Krishna-Godavari basin would be doubled in a year from the current four million cubic metres a day to eight million cubic metres and many more gas-based units can come up in the area, according to Mr. E. Ponnuswamy, Union Minister o
f State for Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Policy
Privatisation programme -- Govt wary of creating pvt sector monopolies
THE Government would factor in the possibility of the emergence of private sector monopolies before deciding on the privatisation of certain central public sector undertakings that were slated for disinvestment during the current fiscal, the Minister in-
charge of the Department of Disinvestment, Mr. Arun Jaitley, said here on Wednesday.
States
Karnataka panel clears 10 proposals
THE high-level committee on industrial projects in Karnataka today cleared ten proposals including three industrial, six power and five tourism proposals.
Tidel Park plans consultancy co
TIDEL Park Ltd, which is putting up a Rs. 338-crore software park in Chennai, plans to set up a consultancy company, Tidel Technical Services (TTS), that will provide consultancy to those wanting to set up software parks.
Karnataka may buy power from neighbours to meet shortage
THE Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation has begun examining the option of tapping power capacity in the neighbouring States to meet the peaking deficits.
Stocks
BSE suspends trading in Vakrangee
THE Bombay Stock Exchange today suspended trading in shares of Vakrangee Softwares Ltd (VSL), a Mumbai-based software solutions provider, and shut up the trading terminal of one broker.
CSE to exclude 13 scrips from specified group
THE Calcutta Stock Exchange has decided to exclude 13 scrips from its specified group, Mr. Tapas Datta, Executive Director, informed members today. The revamp would be effective from July 21.
Taxation
PAN cards to be issued from Aug 1
THE Income-Tax Department will allot permanent account numbers (PAN) and issue PAN cards from August 1, Mr. Dhananjaya Kumar, Minister of State for Finance, said here on Wednesday.
Expert panel to study taxation of services
THE Government has notified the constitution of a seven-member expert group headed by Dr. Govind Rao, Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Change, to examine various aspects related to taxation of services.
Tax collections up 60 pc
DIRECT tax collections up to June 17 was 60 per cent more than the collections during the corresponding period in 1999, reflecting the buoyancy, according to the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Dhananjaya Kumar.
Technology
ISRO plans 70 satellite missions
THE Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned as many as 70 satellite missions over the next 10 years, about 20 per cent of which will have a mandate to study specific processes related to the earth.
Telecommunications
DTS steps for speedy pvt data network clearances
THE Department of Telecom Services (DTS) has taken several measures to expedite the sanction and availability of data communications links particularly with regard to setting up of private data networks.
