The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, June 30, 2004

BUDGET
Company secretaries seek tax sops to stay competitive
WITH the possible opening up of the services sector, company secretary professionals have pitched in for greater tax sops to remain competitive. "In this context, it is necessary to boost Indian professional services' market penetration ... More

CEMENT
Cement companies adopt innovative cost-cutting measures
FOR cement companies innovation may be the key to cost competitiveness. Hence, larger cement companies such as Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja are seen to be shifting to a number of innovative cost-cutting measures to enhance bottomlines. These ... More

ECONOMY
IMD predicts normal rainfall in July — Lull to end by Sunday; repeat of 2002 ruled out
AFTER the good round of showers during the pre-monsoon period (March-May) and the opening month of the Southwest monsoon season (June-September), the country is expected to receive normal rainfall in July as well. According to the India ... More

Dry spell leaves farmers worried
ALTHOUGH 31 out of the 36 meteorological subdivisions of the country have received excess to normal rainfall till June 23 as per official rainfall statistics, field reports from some important States in the western and southern parts of the ... More

RBI policy review may be sooner than later
A copy of the RBI Annual and Policy Statement for the current fiscal was circulated to all scheduled commercial banks on May 18 - weeks before the Finance Minister is scheduled to present the Budget for 2004/05. The report concludes with ... More

ENVIRONMENT
EIC gets 6 months more
THE Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has decided to extend support for its Environmental Information Centre (EIC) initiative by another six months. This was disclosed by the MoEF Secretary, Dr Prodipto Ghosh, at a workshop. organised ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
Plea to exempt refined rice bran oil from excise duty
WHILE manufacture of refined vegetable oils is subject to excise duty at the rate of Rs 1,000 a tonne, the solvent extraction industry has made out a case for exempting refined rice bran oil from such levy. The pre-budget memorandum of the ... More

CBEC nod for 6 service tax commissionerates
THE Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), it appears, is finally giving service tax the importance that it deserves. The Board has now given its assent for the setting up of six independent service tax commissionerates in the country. ... More

HEALTH
PSU insurers unhappy with TPAs — Mounting claims ratio, poor customer service
FACED with mounting claims ratio on mediclaim policies, the four public sector insurers have sought a complete review of the functioning of Third Party Administrators (TPAs). Sources said that all the four PSU insurers - New India ... More

SUT offers cancer care scheme thru post offices
THE Thiruvananthapuram-based SUT Super Specialty Hospitals Ltd has entered into an agreement with the Department of Posts, for distribution of an SUT product, Life Time Cancer Care Scheme, through select post offices in Kerala. A memorandum of ... More

Apollo Hospitals seeks telemedicine connectivity from Madurai
A SATELLITE-AIDED global telemedicine connectivity is to be sought by the Apollo Speciality Hospitals (ASH) here from the Indian Space Research Organisation to enable people from the southern districts avail themselves expert medical opinion from ... More

Care plan for free heart surgeries to destitute children
GIVING a new lease of life for destitute children suffering from heart ailments, Care Foundation has launched a programme to conduct surgeries free of cost with help from donors and philanthropic groups. Gift of Life Inc, a philanthropic ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE

KINFRA made nodal agency for ASIDE scheme

PSU

Kerala announces guidelines on bonus for PSUs

POWER
AP asks BPL Power to achieve financial closure by July 7
THE Andhra Pradesh Government will be asking BPL to achieve financial closure of its 2x260-MW coal-based power project at Ramagundam by July 7 as per the final version of the power purchase agreement (PPA) between the company and the Transmission ... More

Global, domestic majors bid for Kochi LNG terminal
GLOBAL energy majors, Shell, Gaz de France (GDF) and Petronas, and domestic companies, ONGC, Petronet LNG Ltd and GAIL (India), are in the fray for supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to National Thermal Power Corporation's proposed capacity ... More

CAG lists loss due to closure of KSEB thermal power plants
THE under-utilisation of the capacity of two thermal plants owned by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has resulted in extra avoidable cost of Rs 351.28 crore, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The CAG ... More

Karnataka, AP emerge big buyers of DVC power
ANDHRA Pradesh and Karnataka have emerged as major customers of the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), which earned Rs 265 crore through power exports in 2003-04. DVC, which last revised its tariffs in September 2000, has one of the lowest ... More

MSEB capacity expansion hinges on LNG supply tender
FOLLOWING the example of NTPC, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) has floated an LNG-supply tender for buying natural gas through international competitive bidding. MSEB's plans to add another 440 MW to its 852-MW Uran power plant ... More

STEEL
Steel-producing nations favour subsidy cut
IN a high-level meeting on steel that was held under the aegis of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris and concluded today, major steel producing countries have reaffirmed their interest in reaching an agreement ... More

RADIO/TV
CASe of a different trap
BROADCASTERS and multi-system operators (MSOs), who act as a link between the former and the television viewers, always seem to have differences over payment, more so during a big event or programme. Jog your memory, and you will remember how ... More

EDUCATION
Govt withdraws IIM fee cut order
THE ongoing controversy over the fees of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) has been resolved with the Government deciding to withdraw the NDA Government's directive calling for a major cut in fees. After meeting the IIM Chairmen and ... More

MEDICAL & SURGICAL EQUIPMENTS
Philips unveils device to treat heart attack
CONSUMERS may soon be able to deal with a "sudden heart attack", even before a doctor gets to the venue, thanks to `HeartStart' - a device from Philips that delivers electric shocks to the heart. Philips Medical Systems (PMS) has rolled out ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
New President for GMCI
BANGALORE: MR S. Chandrasekhar, Managing Director of Bhoruka Power Corporation Ltd, has been elected President of the Greater Mysore Chamber of Industry (GMCI), at its annual general meeting held here on Tuesday. Mr Anand Koppar, ... More

German expertise on technical offer

BIO-TECH & GENETICS
India, US sign pact for agri-biotech research
IN order to improve productivity and nutritional quality of agricultural produce, India and the US have signed a five-year agreement in the area of agri-biotech research. A letter of intent was signed by the Minister of State for Science and ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
CCMB cracks Roopkund mystery
THE skeletons are finally out of the closet of the mysterious remains of `a set of ancient humans' near the snow-clad Roopkund Lake in the Himalayan heights of Uttaranchal. Who were those 200-odd people buried in and around the 5,029-metre high ... More

TRADING
Trading houses meet Kamal Nath
MAJOR trading houses and star trading houses have pitched for policy-related support with the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, by way of their wish-list in the run-up to the forthcoming Union Budget 2004-05 and the subsequent ... More

SMALL SAVINGS
Decision on EPF interest rate today
THE Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will meet here on Wednesday to decide the rate of interest on deposits of Employment Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers for fiscal 2004-05. The meeting will ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
China tops US in FDI inflows: Study
THE Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study has found that China overtook the US as the biggest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2003. Announcing this news, the BBC went on to add that 2003 was a quiet one ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
PM for `Chinese model' of rural business hubs
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has proposed creation of rural business hubs on the lines of the Chinese model and a revamp of different rural development programmes to make agriculture an engine of growth. "We must examine our rural ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES
HR services growing at 20 pc per annum, says Ma Foi chief
HUMAN resources services will provide a boost to India's economy , like oil and gas did to Gulf economies, and the sector is growing at a healthy rate of 20 per cent per annum, Mr K. Pandia Rajan, the CEO of Ma Foi, the Chennai-based ... More

EVENTS

Seminar on renewable energy to be held at Kochi

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Vanaspati import quota period extended
THE Government has given a further three-month reprieve for utilisation of the zero-duty one-lakh-tonne (lt) annual vanaspati import quota from Nepal for 2003-04. Simultaneously, it has made it clear that the State Trade Corporation (STC), ... More

TOURISM
3-day World Tourism meet from July 8
ABOUT 200 representatives from 40 countries are expected to attend the 73rd meeting of World Tourism Organisation's (WTO) Executive Council meeting to be held in the city for three days beginning July 8. The agenda for the meeting includes the ... More

Tourism Malaysia eyes MICE market with road show
THE Deputy Director General, Tourism Malaysia, Mr Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg, on Tuesday expressed concern that the travel agents had decided to stay away from Tourism Malaysia road show to protest against the bank guarantee imposed by the ... More