Agriculture
With excellent precipitation across India -- Plentiful showers raise kharif hopes
WHY only farmers, even industrialists are looking up to the skies for deliverance; and the weather gods have so far kept the hopes of a normal kharif agricultural production alive. The country is six weeks into the four-month south-west monsoon cycle and
the prospects of harvesting a satisfactory crop look bright on current reckoning.
Airlines
IA to seek further freeze on Vayudoot liabilities
INDIAN Airlines is to seek a further extension on the moratorium for repayments of liabilities of Rs 183 crore owed by the feeder airlines, Vayudoot.
Banking and Finance
IDFC wants to pay interest on debt at market rates
INFRASTRUCTURE Development Finance Co Ltd (IDFC) has requested that it be allowed to pay interest on the subordinated debt at market rates rather than linking the interest to the dividend declared by it.
UTI bail-out: Banks seek Govt guarantee
SOME commercial banks, willing to extend lines of credit to Unit Trust of India, have sought more comforts in the form of Government guarantee.
Corporate
SEBI bars Modipon from open offer -- Closing date extended by a week
THE Securities and Exchange Board of India today passed an order restraining Modipon, an M.K. Modi company, from participating in the open offer made by the Modi brothers, Mr B.K. Modi and Mr V.K. Modi, for 35 per cent equity in Modi Rubber Ltd.
Ethical, what business?
MOST Indian companies avoid taking tough performance decisions. They rely heavily on moral values rather than business-oriented values to motivate employees. And their skills to manage business do not match their will to do so.
Economy
Rainfall 19 pc above normal
THE weather gods are smiling on the country as the southwest monsoon continues to progress satisfactorily. As of July 11, the all-India area weighted rainfall was 19 per cent above normal.
Jalan confident of 6 pc growth
THE economy is estimated to grow by about six per cent during the current financial year, according to the Reserve Bank of India Governor, Dr Bimal Jalan.
Financial Performance
Haldia Petrochemicals Q1 sales up 20 pc
HALDIA Petrochemicals Ltd continued its steady improvement in performance in the first quarter of the current financial year by registering a 20 per cent increase in sales over the previous year. It has sold products worth Rs 2,000 crore since September
2000, when full-fledged commercial production started.
Hero Honda PAT, turnover up
HERO Honda Motors Ltd (HHML), the country's largest motorcycle manufacturer, has reported a 31 per cent jump in turnover for the quarter ended June this year. The turnover at Rs 951.99 crore (net of excise) was up from Rs 728.26 crore (net of excise) dur
ing the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Forex
RBI group for separate fund for forex clearing
creation of a separate guarantee fund for forex clearing by the Clearing Corporation of India (CCI) are among the major recommendations made to the RBI by its advisory group on Payments and Settlement System.
Information Technology
E-Parliament for a global cause
AFTER education, entertainment, trade, services and more, the Internet is now going to be the plank from where the world's policy-makers will network to solve global problems.
Infrastructure
Hyderabad airport: Model for land acquisition under study
FOLLOWING the decision to award the development of the Hyderabad international airport to the consortium headed by GMR Vasavi Infrastructure Ltd and its partner, Malaysian Airport Holding Berhad (MAHB), the Andhra Pradesh Government is now weighing the p
ossibility to adopting a flexible consensus award model.
Mutual Funds
US-64: Investors can hold on
THE bail-out package designed by Unit Trust of India (UTI) offers investors a chance to exit from the scheme at Rs 10 per unit in August or postpone their redemptions. This package is applicable only up to 3,000 units held by an unit-holder.
US-64 investors feel cheated
INVESTORS, long and short term, in Unit Trust of India's (UTI) largest scheme Unit Scheme-1964 (US-64) feel cheated by UTI's decision to repurchase the units at a price of Rs 10 per unit. The worst sufferers are those who invested in the scheme during th
e last few months before UTI closed the scheme for book closure in June and thereafter announced a shut period of six months.
PSU
Mining lease extension for KIOCL gathers support
WITH the July 24 deadline for the extension of a mining lease for Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL) fast approaching, the Kudremukh Shram Shakthi Sanghatan (affiliated to the Hind Mazdoor Sabha) has decided to air its own views on the `national inte
rests' which it thinks are involved in the issue. According to the Sanghatan, `The wide publicity being given to the issue has made it necessary to react.'
Policy
ATM at post offices in the offing
WHOEVER thought that the dingy-old post office would become the most-sought-after premises, especially by the new age banks. Biggies such as ICICI and UTI are in talks with the Department of Posts (DoP) to permit them to set up ATM counters within its pr
emises.
Politics
Agra summit labours over Kashmir -- Vajpayee, Musharraf yield nothing in verbal match
WELL over six hours after the visiting Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, rescheduled his departure from Agra to continue discussions with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the outcome of the historic summit meeting between the estrange
d neighbours remains in doubt. Speculation continues to hold the field in an environment of complete opacity about the status of the talks.
Waiting for the right click
Photographers and TV cameramen waiting outside the hotel in Agra where the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, are holding talks.
Power
MoUs signed for gas-based power plant in Bengal
THE West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd on Monday signed two separate memorandums of understanding, paving the way for setting up the region's first gas-based power plant at Sagardighi in Murshidabad district.
SSI
Call for infrastructure development fund for SSEs
THE Study Group on Policy for Small-Scale Industries (SSIs), headed by Mr S.P. Gupta, Member of the Planning Commision, has recommended setting up of an Infrastructure Development Fund of the order of Rs 2,000 crore for small-scale enterprises.
AP mango jelly units told to take up mechanisation
MANGO jelly units in the vicinity of Kakinada and elsewhere in East Godavari district have to take up mechanisation to survive in the changed scenario and the financial institutions have to assist the traditional hundred-year-old industry liberally in th
is venture, Mr K.V. Tirumala Rao, Chief Consultant of Andhra Pradesh Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation Ltd (APITCO), has said.
States
States agree on time limits for mineral concessions
THE State Ministers of Mining and Geology have reached a consensus about fixing the time limit for grant of mineral concessions and timely dereservation of idle areas reserved for exploration and exploitation by the public sector. This, they felt, will i
ncrease opportunities for the private sector, both domestic and foreign, to participate in the development of the mining industry in a big way.
Kerala flood damage seen at Rs 300 cr
MONSOON-related flood which ravaged Kerala over the past one month has accounted for 105 lives and is believed to have forced a Rs 300-crore hit on the State economy with the agricultural and social infrastructure sectors sharing most of the impact.
Stocks
Law Ministry's views sought on demutualisation of SEs
THE Union Finance Ministry has referred the issue of demutualisation of stock exchanges to the Law Ministry, seeking the latter's view whether an amendment to the Securities Contract Regulation Act is necessary for demutualisation purpose or not, accordi
ng to informed sources.
Broker-director's complicity in CSE scam comes to light
THE Joint Parliamentary Committee has come to know that on March 7, a day before the so-called payment crisis surfaced at the Calcutta Stock Exchange, a broker-director had purchased HFCL and DSQ Software scrips worth around Rs 14 crore through the CSE's
official system much after the trading session was over.
Taxation
CBDT notification
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified new return forms SARAL ITS-2 and SARAL ITS-3. SARAL ITS-2 is applicable for non-corporate assessees not claiming exemption and having income from business or profession. SARAL ITS-3 is appl
icable for non-corporate assessees not claiming exemption and not having income from business or profession. -- Our Bureau
Telecommunications
Bharti buys SpiceCell
THE consolidation wave sweeping through the Indian telecom sector continues unabated. Even before the ink dried on the last month's BPL-Batata merger, the Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Enterprises today announced it had acquired Kolkata's cellular operato
r, SpiceCell, in an all-cash deal.
