The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, June 24, 2004

BUDGET
CII calls for corporate tax rate cut, removal of surcharge — Makes a case for MAT abolition
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged the Government not only to reduce corporate tax rate from the existing 35 per cent to 30 per cent but also remove the surcharge of 2.5 per cent. In its pre-Budget memorandum, the chamber has ... More

No new taxes in farmer-centric AP Budget
THE State Finance Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, presented a farmer-centric Budget, with no fresh taxes for 2004-05 and an annual Plan outlay of Rs 13,291.20 crore. There's a substantial increase in the budgetary allocation for the agriculture and ... More

I've inherited a debt-trapped State: Rosaiah
"I feel sad that I have inherited a completely debt-trapped State, with adverse asset-liability ratio, lower GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) growth rate compared to the national average, eroded Human Development Index and a State with an ... More

`Ease import norms on second-hand machinery'
THE Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has urged the Government to allow small-scale industries (SSIs) to import second-hand machinery without any age limit under the export promotion capital goods (EPCG) scheme. The Exim policy ... More

CII for thrust on rural infrastructure
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged the Government to make the construction and concreting of village roads a major priority for 2004-05 by setting clear targets and financing plans. In its pre-Budget memorandum submitted to ... More

Support sectors that show promise: MCCIA
Mr Kirloskar said privatisation of tourist destinations was a fail-safe way to guarantee the promotion as well as protection of tourist assets of the country. He said the Centre should provide guidelines to States to invite private promoters to ident ify, develop and operate these destinations. More

ECONOMY
Core industries grow by 6.7 pc in April-May
THE official index of six infrastructure industries has registered a growth rate of 6.7 per cent during April-May 2003, which is higher than the 4.3 per cent level for April-May 2002. During May, the growth rate of the index at 5.1 per cent was ... More

Kerala Govt shifts focus to social sectors
FOCUSSED spending on tourism and IT, once described sunrise sectors that engaged the attention of the State Government, is now prompting introspection vis-a-vis pressing livelihood issues. Largely reflecting the new line of thinking, the Chief ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
`Levy excise duty on cotton bales instead of on yarn'
THE Member of Parliament from Dindigul Constituency (TN), Mr N.S.V. Chittan, has appealed to the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, to levy excise duty on cotton in pressing factories instead of levying the duty on yarn. In a ... More

PLASTICS
With all smiles
Kannada film actress Sudharani, along with the President of Symphony Polymers Pvt Ltd, Mr Sushil Jain, launching eco-friendly oxo-biodegradable plastics at a press conference in Bangalore on Wednesday. The new plastic film, which offers all the ... More

POWER
Chinese cos bid for Bengal projects
The projects are to be financed by the PFC which is extending concessional finance. More

NPC plans energy accounting system
THE National Productivity Council (NPC) is working on a pilot project to evolve a computerised energy accounting system that will help keep tabs on transmission and distribution of energy. The Rs 300-crore project, being implemented in Himachal ... More

MANAGEMENT
ISB doubles intake for 2005 class
THE Indian School of Business (ISB) has more than doubled its student intake for the class of 2005 up from 126 in its first batch to 276, with 25 per cent of them coming with international experience and 19 per cent women students. The ISB has ... More

BREWERIES
Karnataka may continue liquor biz with private IMFL dealers
THE new Karnataka Government is poised to give a fresh lease of life for the 230-odd private wholesale dealers in the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) trade. They were scheduled to exit the business by the month-end as per the decision taken ... More

RADIO/TV
Hathway denies ESPN claim on dues
HATHWAY Cable & Datacom Pvt Ltd, one of the two multi-system operators (MSOs) operating in Chennai, has termed as "blatantly wrong" the alleged claims made by ESPN-Star Sports that the former hasn't paid the sports channel its dues. "The true ... More

MSOs ask TRAI to make CAS mandatory
MSO Alliance, a group of six Multi System Operators (MSOs), will submit a memorandum on conditional access system (CAS) to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in a day or two requesting it to mandate CAS implementation across the ... More

EDUCATION
Online practice exams for students launched
THOMSON Prometric, a provider of technology-enabled testing and assessment services and part of The Thomson Corporation, on Wednesday announced a three-year agreement with the Institute of Advanced Computing and Management (IACM) to launch ... More

IIML to retain fee structure; expands scholarship base
THE Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow (IIML) has decided to continue charging an annual fee of Rs 1.3 lakh this year while announcing a tuition fee waiver on Wednesday for all students whose family income is below Rs 2 lakh a year. The ... More

Online Nalsar courses
HYDERABAD: The Nalsar (National Academy of Legal Studies and Research) University of Law has announced a one-year non-residential and Web-based Post-Graduate Diploma in Patents Law, Cyber Laws, Media Laws and International Humanitarian ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Raheja arm sets up shop in Chennai
RMZ Corp, a part of the Raheja Group, which has operations in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, has entered the Chennai market with two customised buildings for IT and information technology enabled services. Mr Christopher de Costa, Executive ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
CII-Karnataka draws 7-point agenda to improve industrial climate
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (Karnataka) has come out with a seven-point agenda for the Government to improve industrial climate in the State. In a pre-Budget memorandum submitted to the Government, the Chamber has suggested linking ... More

CII seeks other ways to fund power supply
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII-AP) has asked the State Government to work on an alternative method of funding power subsidy. Welcoming the focus on irrigation, agriculture and infrastructure development in the State's Budget for the ... More

Automation sector forms association
EIGHT leading industrial automation players accounting for 80 per cent of the market, announced today the formation of the Automation Industry Association (AIA) with its primary aim being to increase knowledge and awareness levels about the ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
DoS to finalise SatNav contract; foreign bidders in fray
THE Department of Space (DoS) is to finalise a contract for ground-based equipment for the demonstration phase of the country's ambitious satellite navigation (SatNav) project. The first beneficiary will be civil aviation. In the race for the ... More

WTO
US hopes for breakthrough in WTO talks — `India likely to be tough bargainer in agriculture'
THE US said on Wednesday that it was "hopeful" that a framework agreement would be reached in the coming weeks to take forward the stalled talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) while admitting that India was going to be a "tough bargainer" ... More

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS
Assurance to TU leaders — PM to take up PF rate with Labour, Finance Ministers
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has assured labour leaders from all over the country that he would take a decision on their demand for raising the interest rate on provident fund (PF) only after taking up the issue with the Ministers of ... More

EVENTS

In Hyderabad today

INCOME TAX
Tax experts raise concern over loan, cash credit in scrutiny cases
DIRECT tax experts, debating the import ofSection 68 (which concerns circumstances under which the assessing officer may consider loan or cash credit as income of an assessee) at various fora have expressed concern over the areas of dispute that ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Kerala pineapples to hit US shelves
THE prospects of pineapple exports from Kerala look brighter than ever with new processing units coming up in the state, targeting the US market, experts have said. "No other pineapple can match the sweetness of the Mauritius variety we have in ... More

TOURISM
And now an oil massage on houseboats
IT is an all-alluring tourist package: backwaters, houseboat and ayurveda, under the pounding force of monsoon rains. Starting this season, traditional rice boats of Kerala, plying on the backwaters have begun to offer rejuvenating ayurveda ... More

Malaysia woos Indian MICE market
IN a bid to tap the growing domestic meeting, incentives, conference and exhibition (MICE) industry, Tourism Malaysia announced the launch of its MICE campaign in India. In a statement, Tourism Malaysia has said along with its supporting ... More

Full steam ahead
A speedboat carrying tourists cruise through the Kochi backwaters. High-tech boats equipped with modern facilities are much in demand these days with operators charging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 a day. With the number of foreign tourists ... More