The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, March 03, 2004

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
TN likely to achieve windmill power target by year-end
STEPS are being taken by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to create necessary power evacuation facilities for the existing and prospective windmill developers by establishing new sub-stations, providing additional transformers and ... More

ECONOMY
World Bank demands hefty premiums — Govt move to prepay external debt faces rough weather
Prepayment has been used as an instrument for simultaneous correction in both the foreign exchange and in the domestic money markets. More

When less productivity is better than more for US
THE concern over jobs continues to haunt the US. It is fast becoming the campaign theme of the frontrunners for the Democratic Presidential candidacy, Mr John Kerry and Mr John Edwards. The issue is serious. While the economy grew 6 per cent ... More

Team-9 seeks closer Government-pvt sector cooperation
THE Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Digvijay Singh, has said that India and West Africa, under the new regional cooperation mechanism called Team-9 or Techno-Economic Approach for Africa-India Movement, are set to evolve stronger bonds ... More

FERTILISERS
Urea producers seek more clarity in pricing policy
THE Union Government has given an opportunity to old, non-gas-based urea units to modernise themselves by formulating a policy in tune with the process of decontrol of the industry. The new policy, announced by the Government on January 29, ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Jaitley sees new vistas in trade with Pak
URGING the business communities of India and Pakistan to forge alliances, the Minister for Commerce & Industry, Mr Arun Jaitley, said on Tuesday that the Government would actively facilitate all endeavours in this direction. Concurring that ... More

HEALTH
Blood sugar tests at half the cost at Ranbaxy centres
DIABETES patients can avail of the A1C test to monitor their blood glucose levels at almost half the cost, as part of a joint-initiative between Aventis Pharma Ltd and SRL Ranbaxy to raise the awareness on diabetes. The A1C standard is accepted ... More

PETROLEUM
ONGC identifies 28 spots for coal bed methane extraction
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation has identified 28 locations for drilling of coal bed methane, as part of its plan to drill 56 CBM wells in three years from last August. The company is in the process of hiring an international turnkey contractor ... More

Oil Ministry to seek PMO's help on `irrevocable taxes'
THE Petroleum Ministry is planning to seek the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to help compensate the public sector oil companies with `irrevocable taxes' from the exchequer for fiscal 2003-04, according to official sources. ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Kerala druggists on warpath over taxation
THE All-Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association (AKCDA) is on the warpath in protest against a budgetary proposal for shifting medicines to Schedule V of the Kerala General Sales Tax (KGST) Act and introducing a two-stage tax regime. The ... More

Patent challenges: Pharma cos walking a tightrope
"The companies factor in various parameters into their plans as they continue to walk the risky path, as a `hit' would translate into a jack-pot." More

Singapore company in consortium for Pharma City project
SEMBCORP Industries of Singapore will join the Hyderabad-based Ramky Group and the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) in a consortium to implement the Rs 350-crore Pharma City project near Visakhapatnam. The Ramky ... More

POWER
New co to handle fast breeder reactor programme
As part of technology development effort, the Department of Atomic Energy is already working on a 300-MW advanced heavy water reactor. More

APERC panel meets

STEEL
Prices of HR steel hiked
IN a move that may embarrass the Government, domestic steel manufacturers are understood to have implemented a hike in the prices of hot rolled (HR) steel by around Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 per tonne on Tuesday. This is despite the written undertaking ... More

SSI

Courses in Lathe and Milling

WATER
Acute water shortage in many places in Kerala
DROUGHT conditions prevailing mainly in the midlands and highlands have already resulted in acute drinking water shortage in several parts of the State. As the summer season has just begun, a serious crisis is feared in the months to come, if the ... More

EDUCATION
Kerala schools to hold annual exam on computers
PERHAPS for the first time in the country, an annual school examination is being conducted on computers, using specially developed software. Over five lakh ninth standard students in Kerala will log on to computers during this week to take their ... More

ICFAI announces national faculty development programmes
AIMED at helping academicians update themselves with current developments in the economy, the ICFAI University has announced a series of three-day residential national faculty development programmes for academicians from across the country. ... More

TELEVISION SETS
`Flat-screen TV segment all set for rapid growth'
WITH an average price decline of about 8 per cent to 10 per cent every year in the sector, the domestic colour television market is fast moving up the value chain in terms of technology and design. According to industry watchers, while the share ... More

ELECTRICAL GOODS
Eye-catchers
Fancy lamps attached to telephone stands being displayed for sale on a pavement in Kochi. The products, manufactured in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, are priced between Rs 125 and 150 ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Mumbai to host CoreNet summit
MORE than 250 leaders of the world's corporate real estate industry are expected to gather in Mumbai from March 22 to 24 for the CoreNet Global India Summit. CoreNet Global, the world's largest association of corporate real estate executives, ... More

METALS
Plea for duty cut on non-ferrous metals
THE Bombay Metal Exchange (BME) on Tuesday urged the Union Government to reduce the custom duty by 10 per cent and excise duty rates from 16 per cent to 8 per cent on copper and other non-ferrous metals such as zinc and aluminium under chapter ... More

GENDER
Siri project: Empowering women through SHGs
IN its endeavour to make poor rural people self-reliant, Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) has taken up various programmes. Women empowerment through self-help groups (SHGs) is the objective of Siri Gramodyoga Samsthe, ... More

DISINVESTMENT
SEBI nod for ONGC participatory notes
THE Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has informed the Government that the associates of book-running lead managers can be allowed to issue participatory notes for the public offer for sale of 10 per cent equity in ONGC, which is set ... More

IBP offer price at Rs 620 likely
THE Ministry of Disinvestment has favoured a selling price of Rs 620 per share for investors to the IPO of IBP Ltd., with retail investors getting it at a discount of five per cent, which would help the Government mobilise about Rs 352 ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
As part of community service initiatives
SBI set to adopt a village in Maharashtra
JALKE, the dusty little village tucked away in the heart of rural Maharashtra in the district of Jalgaon, is about to have its fortunes turned with help from the country's biggest bank, the State Bank of India. Jalke with a population of 800 ... More

EVENTS
CII meet on ayurveda research in Kochi
THE Confederation of Indian Industry, Kerala, in association with the Kerala Ayurveda Pharmacy Ltd (KAPL), is organising an intellectual conclave on `Ayurvedic Research Methodology' here on Sunday. The conclave will focus on contemporary ... More

Plastic workshop in Madurai

Meet on biz prospects in UAE

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Coffee exporters shy away from booking orders
A SHRUNKEN crop size and an anticipated further hardening of the rupee against the dollar has prompted coffee exporters to shy away from booking forward orders for the current calendar year. This has resulted in an estimated 20 per cent ... More

50% fee cut only for applicants using digital signatures: DGFT
IN a bid to widen the use of digital signatures among the exporting community, the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said that the 50 per cent fee waiver benefit would be available from April 1 only to those applicants who use the ... More

SEZ scheme implementation date postponed
THE implementation of the much-touted special economic zones (SEZ) scheme continues to face teething problems, with the Finance Ministry once again postponing the date from which the scheme would come into force. Official sources said that the ... More

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES

Ayurvedic drug trial by Nagarjuna group

TOURISM
Wi-Fi makes presence felt at tourism spots
AFTER corporate houses such as Satyam and Infosys, campuses such as the Indian School of Business and corporate boardrooms such as ITC, Wi-Fi or wireless fidelity deployment that helps provide a wireless field to users offering Internet access is ... More

World Travel India's 2nd edition next year
THE second edition of World Travel India (WTI), an international travel and tourism event, is scheduled for February 2005. The inaugural edition of the event, which hopes to support the growth of travel sector, was held in the city last month. ... More