The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, February 21, 2004

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
CCMB breakthrough could help cancer therapy
GENE silencing is the new pursuit of scientists out to exploit the dramatic promise raised by human genome mapping and understanding of genes. Success has already come the way of some in terms of silencing genes in plants and animals to ... More

DuPont sets up chair at IISc
DuPont has set up a chair at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, with an endowment of $100,000 (around Rs 50 lakh), according to a company release here. The first such chair to be set up by the company outside the US will address basic ... More

ECONOMY
Business confidence index soars on feel-good factor
THE pervasive feel-good factor sweeping the economy has its echoing effect on the barometers of business confidence index (BCI) which has witnessed an unprecedented spurt of 8.7 percentage points in a single survey period in the quarterly ... More

Fiscal reforms take a back seat in Karnataka
During the last financial year, the Government faced with mounting expenditure on account of the drought, which had resulted in the fiscal deficit overshooting the estimates. More

ENVIRONMENT
Canada striving for `clean air' mechanism
THE growth in emission of greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion, has been an area of concern. Though Canada produces less than two per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, the provincial and territorial ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Closer India-China trade ties stressed
STRESSING that India and China need to focus on increased cooperation in diverse fields such as agriculture and related activities, health, tourism, apart from manufacturing sectors and information technology, Mr S.N. Menon, Special Secretary, ... More

Sri Lankan trade centre to come up in Chennai
THE Sri Lanka Export Development Board is setting up a trade centre in Chennai to introduce Sri Lankan products to Indian markets. The board has leased over 20,000 sq ft space at Spencer's Plaza. Over a dozen manufacturers will set up shop at ... More

TN Chamber signs pacts with trade bodies of Sub-Saharan region, Dubai
THE Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TNCC&I) has signed a number of memoranda of understanding with trade and industry chambers in the Sub-Saharan African countries and Dubai for an increased exchange of relations. A twenty-two ... More

Getting Europe `ready' for investments in India
SOME 68 delegates from prominent European companies participated here this week, in `Get Ready for India' preparatory seminar. The original event, which will be held in New Delhi from March 24-26, has been organised by the European Commission ... More

PETROLEUM
IOC plans $100-m expansion of Sri Lanka unit
INDIAN Oil Corporation plans to invest around $100 million in Sri Lanka to expand its operations. The IOC Director for Marketing, Dr N.G. Kannan, told presspersons on Friday that the Sri Lanka IOC Ltd has drawn up a comprehensive blueprint ... More

Imported LNG price issue: Ball in PMO's court
THE issue of fixing the price for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) has finally landed in the Prime Minister's court. The Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to settle the ... More

POWER
Foundation laid for Jurala project
THE Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, has laid the foundation stone for the Priyadarshini Jurala Hydro Electric Scheme (JHES) involving construction of a 240 MW powerhouse at Jurala dam across river Krishna near Revulapally village in ... More

APTransco issues legal notice to Spectrum Power
THE Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APTransco) has issued a legal notice to Spectrum Power Generation Ltd (SPGL), an independent power project, to show cause why it "should not reduce" the capital cost of Rs 748.43 crore of the ... More

Stalemate over Tata Power's equity role in DVC project
TALKS between Tata Power Ltd (TPL) and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) on the Maithon Right Bank project are now in a stalemate stage over Tata Power's equity participation issue. Indications were that TPL was bargaining for a stake of around ... More

RADIO/TV
TRAI to decide on Indo-Pak series telecast next week
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is examining the issue of giving Prasar Bharati the terrestrial rights to the Indo-Pak series and will formulate its views in the next few days. The TRAI Chairman, Mr Pradip Baijal, told ... More

IBF wants ban on Indian channels in Pakistan to be lifted
THE Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has written to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to persuade the Pakistani Government to lift the ban on Indian television channels. After the Kargil operations, Indian television channels were ... More

EDUCATION
Macmillan plans extra thrust to Web-learning
MACMILLAN India Ltd is planning an additional thrust to its Web-learning business. Mr Rajiv Beri told Business Line here that the company was gearing up to provide Web-support to its school textbooks. "To begin with, Web support would ... More

No spl entrance test in Kerala

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
`Real estate boom in metros riding on BPO'
REAL estate in key Indian metros has boomed due to the growth of the business process outsourcing (BPO) business, according to a survey by international real estate consultants, Jones Lang LaSalle. The country had seen a meteoric rise in BPO ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS
Govt wary about allowing Chinese biotech imports
THE threat from the dragon in the biotech sector is real and the Government has decided to be extra-cautious in granting approvals to Indian companies planning to import molecules from China. Consider the applications placed before the Genetic ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
`Second version of Brahmos to be tested in 2-3 years'
THE second version of Brahmos, an Air launched missile to strike land targets, is all set to be developed under the Indo-Russian collaborative initiative, according to Dr Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of ... More

DISINVESTMENT
IBP floor price to be declared today
THE Government will announce the floor price of IBP Co Ltd for its proposed offer for sale of 5.75 million shares on Saturday. The public offer will open on February 23 and close on March 1, a merchant banker associated with the process said ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
Nitrex Mauritius among 35 FDI proposals cleared
NITREX Mauritius Ltd's plan to acquire 99.88 per cent stake in the Delhi-based Fragrant & Flavour Chemicals India and subscribe up to 100 per cent of the company's preference shares involving a combined inflow of Rs 142.34 crore foreign direct .. More

SOCIAL WELFARE
Cabinet clears insurance plan for Anganwadi staff
IN a bid to provide risk coverage for workers in the unorganised sector, the Cabinet on Friday cleared a subsidised insurance scheme for the 12.18 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers. Under the insurance scheme, each worker would be covered ... More

LABOUR REFORMS
`Growth of all sections key to become economic powerhouse'
TO become a global economic powerhouse, the key challenge is to grow in a manner that can ensure that all sections of society are part of this growth pattern, according to Mr Herman van der Iaan, Director, ILO Sub-regional Office. He said ... More

EVENTS
Thai expo in September
A THREE-day `Thailand Exhibition-2004' will be held in the second week of September in Hyderabad. The expo will enable Thailand create a demand for its products and also identify potential partners. "The objective is to facilitate ... More

B2B prospects impress foreign delegates
The WHO is in the process of making a format for the standardisation of herbal and traditional medicines from around the world. The completion of this process would help ayurvedic and herbal products from Kerala to access markets abroad under the lab el of medicines. More

Seminar on rural growth in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry is organising a seminar on `Rural development - Opportunities and challenges' here on Saturday. "The aim is to create awareness among non-governmental ... More

In Hyderabad today

INCOME TAX
SC upholds judicial autonomy of ITAT
IN a recent landmark judgment, the Supreme Court, while upholding the judicial autonomy of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), has quashed the notification issued by the Union Government taking away the powers of the ITAT President to ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Cabinet curbs export of high-grade iron ore
THE Union Cabinet on Friday imposed certain quantitative restrictions on the export of high-grade iron ore, namely Fe-65, according to informed sources. Currently, India exports around seven to eight million tonnes of high-grade iron ore to ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES
Centre okays drought aid to Karnataka, Maharashtra
THE Union Government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 249.68 crore as drought relief assistance for Karnataka and Rs 33.21 crore for Maharashtra. The aid sanctions from the National Calamity Contingency Fund followed the recommendations of the ... More

Central team arrives in Kerala to assess drought impact

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES
Kerala CM to inaugurate Ayurveda congress
THE Chennai-based Cholayil Ayurvedic Health and Research Academy is organising a National Ayurveda Congress in Thiruvananthapuram on February 21 and 22. The Chief Minister, Mr A.K. Antony, will inaugurate the conference, said Dr V.P. Sidhan, ... More

TOURISM
Ford plans `religious tourism project' in Bengal — Vedic planetarium in Mayapur on cards
MR Alfred Brush Ford, great grandson of Henry Ford and Senior Trustee of Ford Motor Company Fund, today said a "religious tourism project" would be set up at Mayapur in Nadia district, 140 km from Kolkata. Mayapur houses the world-famous ISKCON ... More