Agriculture
Wheat procurement crosses 15 mt
WHEAT procurement by Government agencies during the ongoing 2001-02 rabi marketing season (April-June) has crossed the 15 million tonne (mt) mark. At this rate, procurement is likely to surpass last season's all-time high of 16.36 m.t, notwithstanding th
e country's wheat production registering a fall from 75.6 m.t to 68.5 m.t.
Airlines
No immediate plans on fares, says Jet -- IA flexi-fares may be delayed
JET Airways has no immediate plans to announce any changes in its fare structure even as there are hints that there may be a delay of a few days in Indian Airlines implementing its flexi-fare module for which permission has been granted by the Ministry o
f Civil Aviation.
Automobiles
Maruti on the service highway
AS part of its strategy to further strengthen its service network and to cater to the increasing number of domestic tourists travelling by road, Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) has drawn up plans to set up company authorised service stations along eight major hig
hways of the country during the current fiscal.
Banking and Finance
`Remarkable improvement' in performance -- Fund needs of weak banks to be reassessed: Sinha
THE Government would reassess the recapitalisation requirement of the three weak banks -- Indian Bank, United Bank of India and UCO bank -- in view of their improved performance during the previous fiscal, the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, has sai
d.
Chairman, RBI nominee appointment -- Shareholders' group of United Western for EGM
A GROUP of 14 shareholders of the Satara-based United Western Bank Ltd (UWB) have requisitioned for convening an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders. The EGM is requisitioned for appointment of a nominee of the Reserve Bank of India and a
ppointment of an independent Chairman of UWB.
Commodities
Coffee industry seeks PM intervention for relief
THE beleaguered domestic coffee industry with dismal export prospects and structural problems plaguing it in the face of stagnant crop for the past five years, on Wednesday presented a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for his im
mediate intervention to save the interests of the small coffee growers.
Corporate
Balaji Tele, Nine Network merger plans off
THE Boards of Balaji Telefilms Ltd and Nine Network Entertainment India Pvt Ltd in their separate meetings have decided not to proceed with the proposed merger.
Apeejay launches Paul Foundation
THE Apeejay Surrendra Group today announced the launch of The Paul Foundation with a corpus of Rs 4 crore to support deserving and needy students who are pursuing academic goals in India and abroad.
HDFC increases stake in bank
HOUSING Development Finance Co (HDFC) has increased its stake in HDFC Bank from 10.48 per cent to 15.95 per cent, according to a notice sent to the stock exchange by the bank.
Economy
Intel among 28 FDI proposals cleared
THE Government has cleared 28 proposals foreign direct investments (FDI) of which 14 account for fresh foreign currency inflow of Rs 226 crore. The other 14 deals with amendments to existing foreign currency approvals or acquisitions of one foreign partn
er's holdings by another foreign entity.
Cabinet opens FDI floodgates -- Defence freed for private sector investment
IN a major drive to attract foreign investment, the Union Cabinet today threw open the gates to foreign direct investment (FDI) by hiking the limits in telecom, banks, drugs and pharmaceuticals, airports, development of townships, hotels and tourism, cou
rier services, mass rapid transport system, defence and courier services.
`Govt won't hesitate to protect farmers'
THE Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, has said the Government would not hesitate to consider further hikes in customs duties on agricultural products to discourage imports.
`Export growth may decline by 4 pc'
THE country's exports might witness a lower growth of 14 to 16 per cent in 2001-02, as against 19 per cent last year, said Mr Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.
PM to open labour meet on May 18
THE Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, will inaugurate the 37th seventh session of the Indian Labour Conference (ILC) here on May 18. The two-day conference will discuss the impact of globalisation on industry, labour and employment.
Fiscal deficit to be higher at 5.3 pc
THE Government is set to post a higher fiscal deficit of 5.3 per cent during 2000-01 primarily on account of the massive shortfall in tax receipts estimated to be over Rs 8,000 crore. The slippage is 0.2 per cent above the targeted level of 5.1 per cent
of the GDP.
`Shortfall in direct tax mop up surprises me'
THE following is the text of the interview with the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha.
Foreign Trade
Strive to raise exports, urges Omar
THE Government has urged the exporting community to strive for raising the country's share of world trade from the current meagre level of 0.7 per cent.
Relax rules of origin: Assocham
NEW DELHI: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has called for relaxation of rules of origin to enable a shift in the unofficial trade that takes place within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) re
gion to the official channels.
Policy
New additional secy in PMO
NEW DELHI: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr Prodipto Ghosh, IAS, as Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office.
Power
`Power policy changes for more pvt role'
THE Government has set itself the goal of providing electricity to all by 2012, which entails addition of nearly 1,00,000 MW to the existing capacity and an investment of nearly Rs 7,00,000 crore on generation, transmission and distribution, the Power Se
cretary, Mr A.K. Basu, said here on Wednesday.
Centre to back Maharashtra on tariff talks with Enron
THE Centre has conveyed that it would support the Maharashtra Government on the contentious issue of tariff renegotiations with Enron for power purchase from Dabhol Power Company (DPC).
Shipping
100 pc FDI in shipping allowed
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Shipping on Wednesday said that 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) has been permitted in shipping sector.
States
Wreckage of chopper found
THE Education Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Mr D. Natung, is among the seven people killed in the crash of the Pawan Hans Dauphin helicopter, the wreckage of which was discovered on today.
Govt move on edible oil imports irks TN traders
THE Centre's announcement, first restricting the import points of edible oil, and then partially relaxing its decision, has hit the Tamil Nadu edible oil trade, according to trade sources.
Horses, mules & boats make up election machinery in Bengal
HORSES, mules and boats would be pressed into service to reach men and materials to the far-flung polling stations in West Bengal where the elections to the State Assembly is set to be held on Thursday.
Periodic revision mechanism for user charges in AP
THE Andhra Pradesh Government, which has recently decided to augment additional resources to make various developmental schemes self-supportive, plans to make user-charges index-linked which will have automatic periodic revision mechanism.
Lok Adalat Bench for AP Transco
HYDERABAD: A permanent Bench of the Lok Adalat, set up exclusively for settling disputes pertaining to Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (AP Transco), was inaugurated here on Wednesday.
Crude Bomb explodes in New Delhi
Military personnel inspecting the site opposite to the Sena Bhawan in the Capital where a crude bomb exploded on Wednesday.
Steel
UNDP to aid steel re-rolling mills' upgradation programme
THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Steel Ministry have joined hands to bring about a qualitative change in the operations of steel re-rolling mills, which over the years have become victims of technological obsolescence.
Stocks
Derivatives panel discusses norms for stock options
THE SEBI technical group on derivatives, which met on Wednesday, discussed the criteria for selecting stocks for stock options.
Kartik Parekh granted bail
MR Kartik K. Parekh, relative of the stock broker, Mr Ketan Parekh, and one of the accused in the case related to defrauding Bank of India to the tune of Rs 137 crore, was granted bail on Wednesday.
Stock broker commits suicide in Mumbai
A stock broker, Mr Bimal S. Gandhi, committed suicide by hanging on Tuesday night in his apartment at Harbour Heights in Colaba, according to police sources.
Textiles
Garment export to non-quota markets -- Govt restores shipping bill certification
THE Union Government has reintroduced shipping bill certification by export promotion councils for garment and knitwear exported to non-quota countries and items that are not under quota restraint.
