The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, August 12, 2004

ANTI-DUMPING
Dumping duty on SBR to continue
THE Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry has recommended the continuance of definitive anti-dumping duty on imported Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) from Japan, South Korea and US, after undertaking a sunset review of its earlier ... More

ECONOMY
Welfare cuts - a testing time for Germany's Schroeder
GERMANY, the world's third largest economy - after the US and Japan and "locomotive" economy of Europe, is currently passing through a phase of deep uncertainty with high unemployment (over 10 per cent) and low ... More

Pawar rules out duty cut in sugar, edible oil
THE Union Food and Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, has ruled out reduction of import duty on sugar or edible oil in the light of possible domestic supply constraints arising from erratic monsoon. "There is no proposal to reduce import ... More

`Inflation reference point is important'
A FACTOR to be kept in mind when assessing the current inflation rate is the reference point used to calculate it, said Mr Naval Bir Kumar, Managing Director of Standard Chartered Asset Management Company. "Last year, the base number started ... More

Evolve policies to capture $600-b commodity market, says Mukesh
THE Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd, Mr Mukesh Ambani, has asked the Government to evolve economic policies, which would enable India to become a global player in commodities trade for products such as agriculture, ... More

Tinkering with customs duty will not help curb inflation
Nothing could be more damaging to the domestic oilseeds and sugar economy than a reduction in import duty at this point of time. More

ENVIRONMENT
`Coconut as carbon sink' campaign gaining wider acceptance
THE Asia-Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) has extended its support for a proposal seeking to get coconut declared eligible as `carbon sink' during the second commitment period of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. ... More

ITC environment programme aims for global standards
The environment, health and safety programme is on the corporate environment, occupational health and safety in all of ITC's manufacturing units and owned hotel properties. More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
Chidambaram meets Customs, Central excise settlement commission members
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Wednesday met Customs and Central excise Settlement Commission members. Informed sources said that the discussions revolved around the steps that could be initiated for making best use of the ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Indian trade fair in Lanka from Oct 13
THE Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre is organising the five-day Indian Trade Fair-2004 (ITF-2004) in Sri Lanka, beginning on October 13. The ITF, to be held at the expo facility in Colombo, would focus on diverse trade opportunities ... More

HEALTH
GlobeMed, Happy group join hands to train nurses for US
THE Virginia-headquartered global medical staffing major, GlobeMed Resources, has tied up with Happy e Services, a division of the Kolkata-based Happy Group of Companies, to provide training to Indian nurses and recruiting them to permanent ... More

MoU on telemedicine in Kerala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for implementing a telemedicine project in the State. The Secretary, Health, Mr E.K. Bharat ... More

Rheumatic Heart Club meet
KOTTAYAM: Rheumatic Heart Club, Kerala is organising its annual State conference at Hotel Nithya near Medical College Hospital, Kottayam on August 15. To coincide with the event, there will be a Continuing Medical Education programme on ... More

PETROLEUM
Differential pricing for natural gas on cards — Power, fertiliser sectors to enjoy lower rates
THE Petroleum Ministry is actively considering a proposal to allow Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to charge differential rates for the natural gas produced by it, with power and fertiliser plants enjoying a lower tariff relative to other ... More

Meet today to discuss oil PSU cross-holdings
THE Petroleum Ministry is set to review its informal ban on the unlocking of cross-holdings of Indian Oil Corporation, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and GAIL (India) Ltd in each other. The three public sector oil majors will be making a ... More

PM's help sought for Kochi LNG terminal
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Chief Minister, Mr A.K. Antony, has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister in getting an early sanction for the proposed LNG terminal project in Kochi. An official spokesman quoted Mr Antony stating in a ... More

OVL transfers stake to Sudapet
NEW DELHI: ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) will transfer 3 per cent of its stake in two Sudan oil blocks to Sudapet, Sudan's national oil company. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved OVL transferring 2 per cent ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Ocimum Pharmatracker
HYDERABAD: Ocimum Biosolutions, a life sciences contract research and development company, with operations in India and the US, has launched Pharmatracker, a library information management system (LIMS), for the pharmaceutical industry. ... More

POWER
FIs told to `fine-tune' services to make power projects viable
THE Union Power Minister, Mr P.M. Sayeed, has asked financial institutions lending to the power sector to "fine-tune" their services in line with the changing market conditions to make more projects viable. "The acid test for bankability of a ... More

STEEL
Steel makers tie up coking coal supplies till 2005
INDIAN steel manufacturers have entered into a number of forward contracts in the international market for sourcing coking coal in the price range of $105-140 f.o.b. per tonne. According to industry sources, Steel Authority of India Ltd ... More

Steel import duty may be cut to ensure supplies
IN order to increase the availability of steel in the domestic market and control prices, the Government may consider reduction of import duty on steel. According to sources, the Government is contemplating a further reduction in the import ... More

TEXTILES
Revamped NTC revival package on cards
EVEN as the Government has raised, through its own guaranteed bonds, Rs 1,800 crore to meet the obligations of voluntary retirement schemes, revival and modernisation of the mills under the National Textile Corporation (NTC), efforts are under ... More

SSI
SIEMA urges PM's intervention to check rising input prices
`Frequent rise in raw material prices will hit the small-scale sector very harshly.' More

TERRORISM
Bomb-hoax
People standing outside in panic following a bomb threat in the Spencer Plaza (Phase-1) building in Chennai. A search by a bomb squad and sniffer dogs proved the bomb threat call to be a hoax. ... More

RADIO/TV
TRAI moots revenue sharing for FM radio
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday suggested allowing existing private FM radio operators to migrate from a licence-fee regime to a revenue-sharing agreement. It has, however, remained silent on hiking the foreign ... More

EDUCATION
Kerala govt monitors collateral-free education loan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government has set up a monitoring mechanism that will review the sanction of collateral-free education loans of up to Rs 4 lakh. Announcing this, an official spokesman said here that the loans would be ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
Apollo-Gleneagles to set up 2 more hospitals in India
APOLLO-Gleneagles Hospitals Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between Apollo Hospitals Ltd and Parkway Group of Singapore, has planned two more hospitals in the country. The group's first hospital is located here. Mr Joshua M. Goh, Director of ... More

Apollo Hospitals, Yemeni co pact
CHENNAI: Apollo Hospitals has announced that it has entered into a partnership with Yemen's Hayel Saeed Anam Group to provide advisory services to the latter's hospital project. A company release said that it would provide consultancy ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
High-rise job
Women labourers set out to work in Chennai where despite water shortage and rising material costs, the construction industry is booming.

BIO-TECH & GENETICS
Biotech league racing towards $1-b mark
THE bio picture seems to be getting bigger and better. The domestic biotechnology industry, seen as the next big thing after information technology, is set to cross the magic figure of $1 billion in revenue this year, as per a latest survey. A ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Business incubation meet to encourage innovation
IN order to encourage innovation and share the best incubator management practices adopted globally, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), along with Info Dev Program of World Bank, University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Federation ... More

DISINVESTMENT
TELK disinvestment: Kerala Minister holds talks with Left leader
The Left favours entering into an agreement with ZTR of Ukraine, which accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the total supplies of transformers in the world. More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
IOB keen to finance self-help groups
Indian Overseas Bank is keen on extending financial assistance to self-help groups, Mr S.C. Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, has said. He was addressing a meeting of self-help groups from five coastal districts here on Wednesday after ... More

Village bazaars in Pudukottai
MADURAI: The Pudukottai district administration has initiated steps to start village bazaars to market products manufactured by self-help groups. According to the District Rural Development Agency Project Officer, Mr P. Selvarajan, the ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES
Recruitment agencies form association in Hyderabad
PROFESSIONAL recruitment firms have joined hands under the banner Executive Recruiters Association (ERA), to find ways of streamlining the job market, especially in the New Economy sector, which is witnessing a boom. A mismatch in demand and ... More

`Spiritual, emotional quotient key to biz leadership'
IT is not just IQ (intelligence quotient) that Indian business leaders need. They must cultivate EQ (emotional quotient) and SQ (spiritual quotient) to emerge as better leaders, said Mr K.N. Shenoy, Vice-Chairman, Volvo India Private Ltd. Mr ... More

EVENTS

In Hyderabad today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
As trade awaits cut in tariff rate — Palm oil imports reduced to a trickle
NOT a single tonne of palm oil has been booked for import since the beginning of this month. And its shipments into the country have been reduced to a trickle from the second half of June. "The current situation is in view of the trade waiting ... More

TOURISM
TTDC ties up with Apollo Hospitals
THE Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) has tied up with Apollo Hospitals to launch a 15 per cent discount coupon on the Apollo preventive health check to promote Tamil Nadu as a healthcare destination. The preventive health check ... More