The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, March 06, 2004

AWARDS & HONOURS
`Star of India awards'
HYDERABAD: The city-based Vishwabharathy Foundation has announced `Star of India Awards.' The awards will be presented to Prof U.R. Rao, former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation; Dr Rajesh Sharma, Managing Director of ... More

IICT Director bags award
HYDERABAD: The Director of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, has been honoured with the Vigyan Gaurav Samman Award for 2003-04 of the Government of Uttar Pradesh for contributions to the advancement of ... More

Dr B.M. Choudary gets AP Scientist Award
HYDERABAD: Dr B.M. Choudary, Deputy Director, IICT has been honoured with the `Andhra Pradesh Scientist Award-2004', by the State Council of Science & Technology in recognition of his contributions in the field of Chemistry. He has ... More

ECONOMY
`Strong pound is no cause of worry for UK economy'
THE appreciating pound sterling is not a cause for worry to the British economy, according to Mr Paul Fisher, Head (Reserves Management), Bank of England. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a function organised by the Forex Association ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
'IBSA system to boost regional cooperation'
THE IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) trilateral cooperation mechanism is poised to change the dynamics of economic development in the region due to enhanced relationship between the three countries. According to the Minister for External ... More

HEALTH
Medical meet on preterm foetuses in Thiruvananthapuram
SWASTHI, a one-day Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme on `Obstetric and Neonatal Dilemmas of Preterm & Growth Restricted Foetuses' will be held here on Sunday at the Hotel Residency Tower. The CME programme, jointly hosted by SUT ... More

Ranbaxy launches first prescription drug in the UK
RANBAXY Laboratories Ltd has launched its first branded prescription medicine, Visclair Tablets, in the UK. The brand will be promoted to health professionals by the Ranbaxy respiratory sales team.Visclair is a mucolytic drug that aids the ... More

JB Chem lines up hectic schedule for coming year
IT looks like an active year ahead for the Mumbai-based JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals (JBCPL), which is poised to file up to six Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) per year in the US market. And this, even as the company expects to get ... More

Live and let live
HIV positive State level leaders protesting for their charter of demands, while taking part in a four-day conference organised by Indian Network of People Living with HIV (INP+), in Kolkata,on Friday. The Chennai-based INP+ has a State level ... More

Eye donation camp at Ernakulam
KOCHI: The World Malayalee Council has launched an eye donation campaign in Ernakulam district with a view to collecting pledges from 1.5 lakh prospective donors. The campaign named "Jyothirgamaya — donation of three lakh eyes" was ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Order to Kochi Corporation
KOCHI: The Ombudsman for Local Self Government has directed the Kochi Corporation to remove all unauthorised bunks from the city streets. He has also asked the Corporation Secretary to furnish a status report on the number of authorised ... More

PETROLEUM
Oil, gas scrips gain from interest in ONGC offer
AN overwhelming response to the ONGC public issue provided a fillip to the oil and gas sector scrips on Friday. Almost all oil and gas scrips posted gains. Brokers maintained that rumours of Mr Warren Buffet, the American investor, having bid ... More

Shell India in talks for gas sales from Hazira
SHELL India is in talks with Torrent Power Generation Ltd and fertiliser majors Kribhco and RCF Ltd for selling gas to be imported at its upcoming 2.5 million-tonne LNG import terminal at Hazira, in Gujarat, said a senior Shell official. "We ... More

Gujarat Gas supply for 5 more cities
GUJARAT Gas Company Ltd, a subsidiary of British Gas India plans to expand its city gas distribution business outside Gujarat. GGCL, the largest retail gas distribution company in Gujarat, plans to set up piped natural gas networks in three ... More

LNG pricing issue referred to Pant
THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has referred the issue of fixing the price for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported by Petronet to the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr K.C. Pant. It is now left to Mr Pant to help the ... More

STEEL
Decline in scrap availability — Additional sponge iron capacity to be set up
IT is boom time for the domestic sponge iron industry, thanks largely to the depleting availability of scrap. In the next three years, an additional 16.28-million tonnes per annum (m.t.p.a.) sponge iron capacity is slated to be set up in the ... More

TAXATION
20 more items come under Fifth Schedule of KGST
THE State Government has issued a notification bringing under the purview of the Fifth Schedule of the Kerala General Sales Tax (KGST) a list of 20 more products. Announcing this, a spokesman said here that the two-stage tax is being evolved ... More

Service tax collection in April-Jan surges 75 pc
SERVICE tax mopped up in the first 10 months of the current fiscal surged 75.60 per cent to Rs 5,972 crore, raising hopes in North Block that the revised estimate of Rs 8,300 crore for 2003-04 is well within reach. The Centre had mobilised Rs ... More

SSI
Cluster development centre set up in Hyderabad
THE country's first National Resource Centre for Cluster Development (NRCD), to boost manufacturing in small and medium enterprises, has been set up at the National Institute of Small Industry Extension Training (NISIET) in Hyderabad. The Union ... More

WATER
Failure to provide safe drinking water — Infrastructure report raps Chennai Metrowater
AN article in the recently published `India Infrastructure Report 2004' has criticised Chennai Metrowater for its failure to provide safe drinking water to the city's residents. The article, written by Mr Joel Ruet, is on `Water in Urban India: ... More

CARS
DC Design on the Go at Geneva
AFTER positive reviews to the DC Infidel and Gala, Dilip Chhabria's DC Design has unveiled the sportscar DC Go at the ongoing Geneva Motor Show. Go is a prototype developed for the UK-based Noble Moy Automotive. It is equipped with an alloy ... More

DISINVESTMENT
ONGC offer opens in style — Oversubscribed 2 times on first day
THE sale of 10 per cent of ONGC shares — the largest-ever public issue in the country — was fully subscribed within 10 minutes of the opening of the offer. Unconfirmed reports said legendary investor Mr Warren Buffet put in large ... More

ONGC public offer: `A good deal for retail'
WITH institutional investors lapping up the ONGC stock within minutes of the issue hitting the market, a highly elated Government feels that retail investors should now see value in the scrip and subscribe to the offer for making it a grand ... More

Strategic sale route to be revived after SC verdict — PSUs' offers to redefine approach to capital market: Shourie
THE Disinvestment Minister, Mr Arun Shourie, said the success of the six public offers of IPCL, CMC Ltd, IBP Co Ltd, Dredging Corporation, Gail (India) Ltd and ONGC will "redefine India's approach and perception of capital markets." "We have ... More

IPR
Workshop on IPR in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: The National University of Law (Nalsar) and the Andhra Pradesh Press Academy will organise a workshop on intellectual property law, with a special focus on copyright on March 13 at the Press Club, Hyderabad. Copyright — ... More

TOURISM
Tourism industry buoyancy `to continue'
THE travel industry in India is buoyant with domestic and outbound tourism set to rise in the coming months. Besides growth, the industry is also going through structural changes such as tour operators spreading their risk, Incredible India ... More

Rs 500 cr earmarked to promote tourism
A SUM of Rs 500 crore has been earmarked to promote tourism in the country, Mr C.R.V. Rao, Regional Director (South), India Tourism, Government of India, has said. In his inaugural address delivered at a two-day training programme on `Capacity ... More