ECONOMY
Kerala Govt lobbying banks to aid NRKs
THE State Government is hoping to get assistance from nationalised banks in financing a programme for "gainfully engaging" non-residents who are being wooed "like never before" to return and set up industries back home. Stating this, the ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
Excise exemption norms for industries eased — 'Units using second-hand machinery for expansion also eligible'
INDUSTRIAL units located in the North-East, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal can use second-hand machinery for undertaking "substantial expansion" and still qualify for the area-based excise exemption that has been granted by the More

TRAVEL & PLACES
Passports issued
KOCHI: The Regional Passport Office, Kochi has issued passports for applications received till November 12, 2003 where police verification has been completed. Passport have been despatched in the week ending January 23, 2004 informed the ... More

COAL

EXIM POLICY
Govt eases foreign trade norms — Free import of gold, silver; gold card scheme for exporters
IN a major fine-tuning exercise of the 2002-07 Export-Import (Exim) Policy, the Government on Wednesday announced a string of trade facilitation measures to bring down transaction cost with a view to consolidating and accelerating incremental ... More

Fertiliser export norms eased
THE Government on Wednesday liberalised the export of certain categories of nitrogen, phosphatic and potassic fertilisers, subject to certain conditions. These fertilisers were listed in the restricted category and exports were permitted only ... More

Gold trading comes to a halt as Govt liberalises imports
TRADING in the bullion market came to a standstill on Wednesday evening following removal of quantitative restrictions on import of gold and silver. The Union Commerce Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, while announcing modifications in the Exim ... More

Corporate India lauds mini-Exim Policy
THE captains of Indian industry and trade have hailed the Exim Policy initiatives announced by the Government as enhancing the country's export competitiveness, both in manufactured goods and in services export sectors. Commending the measure, ... More

No homologation for high-end car imports
INDIVIDUALS and companies seeking to purchase the latest high-end motor vehicles in the international market have reason to cheer. In the mini-Exim Policy announcement on Wednesday, import of cars having CIF value of $40,000 (approximately Rs ... More

Hotel industry welcomes Exim policy benefits
The discrimination between the rates charged by the five-star hotels and other categories would decrease. More

EDUCATION
`Exploit India's knowledge base to market education'
THE Director of the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Prof S.S. Murthy, has stressed the need for exploiting India's knowledge base to market its higher education system. Delivering a lecture on `Education in the globalised ... More

BEVERAGES
Final JPC report may suggest fresh norms for soft drinks
THE much-awaited panel of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), probing allegedly the high levels of pesticide content in soft drinks, finally seems to have arrived at a decision. While the final report of the JPC is expected to be submitted ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FDI inflow slowed during last fiscal: RBI report
INFLOWS of foreign direct investment have slowed down in 2002-03 in tune with the global scenario while Indian investments overseas in recent years have increased significantly reflecting the global outreach of Indian companies, according to the ... More

Change in FDI norms notified
THE Government has notified the revised foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, allowing 100 per cent FDI in petroleum product marketing through the automatic route. FDI up to 100 per cent is permitted on automatic route in oil exploration in ... More

Nalco Chemicals among FDI proposals cleared
THE proposal of the US-based Nalco Chemicals Company to acquire shares from the public shareholders of Ondeo Nalco India Ltd through public announcement and letter of offer involving foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 28.80 crore was among ... More

EVENTS
Leather show on `Spirit of 60s'
"SPIRIT of the 60s" is the theme for the annual leather show in Chennai scheduled for February 1. The event will showcase the work of 16 firms that have designed garment, shoes and accessories in keeping with the theme. Mr Md. Sadiq, a ... More

SOCIETY & DEVELOPMENT
British columnist smells a rat in DFID funding
A SENIOR British columnist has lashed out at his Government for huge DFID (Department for International Development) funding to Andhra Pradesh Government, which he alleged was aimed at making the State a laboratory for privatisation of public ... More

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Training for entrepreneurs
KOCHI: The Small Scale Industries Service Institute, Thrissur is organising a two-week training programme for entrepreneurs on Marketing management from Februaary 10. The programme is arranged in co-ordination with Canara Bank, ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Exports in December up 42 pc — Import rise widens trade deficit
THE country's exports gained renewed momentum growing by 42.68 per cent in December 2003 at $5.49 billion over $3.85 billion during the corresponding month in the previous year. However, with imports recording an equally robust growth of 44.95 ... More

EPCG scheme norms further liberalised
THE Commerce Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, has made the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme more attractive by further easing export obligation norms under the scheme, and extending the "duty-saved" formula to EPCG licences issued prior to ... More

e-fund transfer facility for exporters launched
EXPORTERS from the country can now file their export/import applications online, with the Government today launching a digital signature and electronic fund transfer facility. In order to encourage electronic filing of applications, the ... More

TOURISM
Domestic tourists throng Kerala: Survey
KERALA Tourism's efforts to attract more domestic tourists to the State appear to be yielding results. According to figures in the Economic Review-2003, prepared by the State Planning Board, a little over 55.6 lakh domestic tourists visited ... More

`Connect' to showcase efforts to promote tourism in Karnataka
THE tourism department has hit upon a concept of `land bank', which seeks to procure land through the Karnataka Industrial Infrastructure Development Board (KIADB) ideally suited for promoting tourism projects in different parts of the State, so ... More