The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, February 12, 2004

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
Hindustan Paper plans to convert wastes into energy
HINDUSTAN Paper Corporation (HPC) has initiated a move to generate power, although in a limited way, at its Nagaon Paper Mill (NPM) in Assam, utilising mill wastes including fly ash along with coal fines. The objective is to use entire dry fly ... More

ANTI-DUMPING
Dumping duty imposed on Korean EPDM
THE Finance Ministry has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on all imports of Ethylene Propylene Diene Rubber (EPDM) from South Korea. The definitive anti-dumping duty would be in effect till May 18, 2005, a revenue department official ... More

Eucalyptus oil units for dumping duty on Chinese imports
THE eucalyptus oil industry in the Nilgiris has decided to approach the Union Government to impose an anti-dumping duty of 150 per cent on Chinese oil imports in a bid to save the domestic industry. Eucalyptus oil producers and labourers in the ... More

BUDGET
Fiscal plan stress on rightsizing TN Govt — `Cutting down salary, pension expenditure critical'
THE Tamil Nadu Government feels reining in expenditure on salaries and pensions is critical if the State is to achieve fiscal correction and reduce revenue deficit to below 5 per cent of total revenue receipts by 2007-08, as part of its ... More

TN Govt makes reduction in stamp duty
THE Tamil Nadu Government has announced changes in the stamp duty structure following the recommendations of the Tax Reforms and Revenue Augmentation Commission headed by Dr Raja Chelliah. The 2004-05 Budget, presented today by the Finance ... More

TN: Agricultural I-T for plantation sector scrapped
THE Tamil Nadu Government has done away with agricultural income-tax for the plantation industry. Presenting the budget for 2004-05, the Finance Minister, Mr C. Ponnaiyan, said that the move was to support the industry and to save on cost of ... More

Industry hails TN budget
INDUSTRY associations on Wednesday welcomed the reduction in stamp duties and central sales tax on computer peripherals and rationalisation of commercial taxes in the Tamil Nadu Budget. The Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry said ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES
Deputationists have no legal right for absorption in foreign dept: HC
EMPLOYEES who had been sent on deputation to a different department did not have any right under service jurisprudence to continue in the foreign department, the Madras High Court has ruled. The claim of the 19 appellants, who were on ... More

NGO moves SC on starvation at Bengal tea gardens
THE West Bengal Network for Right to Food and Work, a non-governmental organisation, has alleged that more than 1,000 deaths have taken place during October-December 2003 on account of starvation in the tea gardens of Jalpaiguri district in North ... More

ECONOMY
$220-m IBRD loan for AP
THE World Bank has approved the Second Andhra Pradesh Economic Reform Loan/Credit to back the State's efforts to better socio-economic conditions and reduce poverty. This would be co-funded by the Department for International Development, UK. ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Commerce Dept `ready' to help industries with Rs 200-cr corpus
THE Department of Commerce has a whopping Rs 200-crore corpus available next year to help industries explore new export markets and take the `Made in India' brand into the big league abroad. "We have the money available and it is up to the ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Naidu lays foundation for IMG Bharata Academy
THE Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Wednesday, laid the foundation stone for the Rs 700-crore IMG Bharata Academy set to come up on a 400-acre site at Gachibowli, near the recently developed Swarnadhra Pradesh Sports ... More

PETROLEUM
MRPL gets nod to set up retail outlets
THE Government on Wednesday gave Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) permission to set up 500 outlets to retail petrol and diesel. The licence allows MRPL, a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), to market the mass ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Plan panel stresses on national policy for pharma industry
THE Planning Commission has underlined the need for a national policy and regulatory framework for the development of drugs and pharmaceutical industry and research on natural products. At a meeting of a committee presided over by the Planning ... More

PLASTICS
Fibre reinforced plastics industry set to grow 20%
THE fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) industry in India is set to grow 20 per cent this year, thanks to the increasing awareness of the material's benefits and the capacities that have come up in the recent years. The Indian FRP industry is today ... More

POWER
Nod for five power units in Kerala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Binani Industries and Sreelekshmi Electrosmeltors have, between themselves, been allowed to set up five captive minor hydroelectric projects on a build, own, operate and transfer basis for a period of 30 years. ... More

STEEL
`Cut in DEPB rates won't affect steel exports'
THE new rates announced for the steel sector under the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme are unlikely to impact the market. According to industry sources, while the rates have been reduced for all types of steel products — hot ... More

Coking coal supplies — High-level SAIL, RINL team leaves for Australia
TO address the coking coal problem faced by the steel plants of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) here, a high-level team of officials left for Australia on Wednesday from New Delhi, according to Mr B.K ... More

SSI
SSI clearances, norms to be simplified in TN
THE Tamil Nadu Government proposes to simplify clearances and procedures for small-scale industries, and facilitate upgradation and modernisation of industries. Announcing the proposals in the budget for 2004-05, the Finance Minister, Mr C. ... More

BREWERIES
Karnataka restructures excise levies on IMFL
THE Karnataka Government has restructured excise levies on low-end Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) rendering it cheaper by almost Rs 6 on 180 ml packs. The price slab for IMFL will now start at Rs 26.50 for a nip instead of Rs 32 earlier. ... More

EDUCATION
Taking on HRD Ministry — IIMA student leads way for Class of 2004
IT fell upon a student of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), to become the voice of 2004 batch as he joined hands with a Delhi-based lawyer and an alumni of IIM, Bangalore, to file a PIL in the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking ... More

`We don't want IIMs to be mere appendages of Govt'
"THE IIM student community has never demanded a fee reduction. We are willing to pay for excellent facilities like the highly favourable student-faculty ratio, well-equipped libraries and IT facilities which we are privy to. We are deeply ... More

Over 100 cos to participate in IIMB campus placements
OVER a 100 companies have confirmed their participation at the campus placements for the graduating batch of 2004 at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, according to Mr Ganesh N. Prabhu, Associate Professor and Chairperson, Placements, ... More

AUTOMOBILE COMPONENTS
Batteries set to power `living space' on wheels
AUTOMOTIVE battery manufacturers are standing by as automakers invest huge sums in equipping cars to make real living spaces of them. The move to break down the conventional SLI (start, lighting, ignition) functions to multiple battery sources ... More

Tenneco to buy more auto parts from India
TENNECO Automotive, a global auto components producer and supplier, intends to step up its purchases from India, the company's Senior Vice-President (Global Supply Chain Management), Mr Paul Schultz, told Business Line. Tenneco, a ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
CII centres in Tiruchi zone
MADURAI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has decided to install computerised information centres in five select villages in the Tiruchi zone. According to Mr R. Ganesan, Chairman, CII (Tiruchi zone), these centres are to be ... More

READYMADE GARMENTS
Apparel council resents cut in DEPB rates
THE readymade garment industry is sore over the steep reduction in the rates of Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) provided to neutralise duty on imported inputs for apparel exporters, following the recent reduction in peak customs duty from 25 to ... More

DISINVESTMENT
IPCL: Sale document to be filed this week
THE Government will soon approach the Registrar of Companies with the offer document for the sale of its residual equity in Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL) following the final clearance of the public offer by SEBI. "The sale ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Bengal to set up market facilities for rural artisans
IN order to open up marketing and exports avenues for rural artisans, handicraft items and SSI products, the West Bengal Government is setting up common market facilities at the district level. The State Director of Cottage and Small ... More

INDUSTRIAL POLICY
Kerala Govt thrust on development of industrial clusters in State
THE State Government has prepared a roadmap for sustainable development of as many as 44 industrial clusters during the Tenth Plan Period. The State Planning Board has already approved the development strategy, which is modelled on the pattern ... More

EVENTS
Intec expo from Feb 18
THE seventh edition of the Industrial Trade Fair - Intec 2004 - organised by the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) at the trade fair complex is slated between February 18 and 24. Conducted every alternate year ... More

Meet on land administration system today
TOP revenue officials and land administrators, representing 17 States and the Union Government, will gather at the two-day national symposium on `contemporary trends in cadastral surveys and maintenance of land records' beginning on ... More

Fair to allay bird flu scare
SEVERAL film personalities, doctors and politicians will gather at People's Plaza on the Necklace Road on February 15 to say chick and egg! Coming to the rescue of the poultry industry in the State that is rattled by the "unfounded" fears of ... More

In Hyderabad today

CONSUMERISM
Kerala Govt plans consumer awareness drive
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Mr G. Karthikeyan, has said that the State Government has taken decisive steps to strengthen the consumer awareness movement in the State. An official spokesman quoted him as ... More

TOURISM
APTDC plan one-stop shop for tourism
GIVING a boost to the tourism infrastructure in the State, the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has taken up the Rs 22-crore Paryatak Bhavan, which will be made a one-stop shop for all tourism needs. The project, slated to ... More