The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, August 25, 2004

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
Technology council to help Grasim cut fuel costs by 25%
GRASIM is in talks with a Government body, Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), to acquire a technology that would enable it to use refuse derived fuel (RDF) instead of coal as fuel in its cement plants. With this ... More

Wind turbine generator installed near Koodangulam
MADURAI: A wind turbine generator at a cost of Rs 11 crore has been installed at Chetticulam near Koodangulam in Tirunelveli district and will be commissioned shortly. The generator is capable of producing 2 MW power and is designed and ... More

ECONOMY
Germany trapped in an economic cauldron
AS concern grows over the current health of German economy, there are more signs of deepening public discontent, particularly in East German economic region, which was ruled by Communists prior to Germany's ... More

ENVIRONMENT
Siruthuli plans Rs 25-cr project to save Noyyal river
A RS 25-crore project to revive the Noyyal river, which runs for about 160 km from Coimbatore to Karur district, where it merges with the Cauvery, has been drawn up by Siruthuli. As part its fund-raising efforts, Siruthuli will organise a dance ... More

SC panel for closure of Hind Insecticides unit — Proposes Rs 2.5-cr fine for polluting river
A MONITORING Committee on Hazardous Waste set up by the Supreme Court has recommended that the public sector Hindustan Insecticides Ltd (HIL) at Eloor near here should be closed down in view of the environmental pollution it creates. The ... More

Drive to check industrial pollution in Haryana
THE Haryana State Pollution Control Board has ecided to constitute a State-level Environmental Grievances Committee and a Regional Environmental Grievances Committee to control industrial pollution in the State. According to the PCB ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
PM to head infrastructure panel — Promises simpler tax compliance regime
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday announced the setting up of a high-level committee on infrastructure to monitor the progress in all key projects. Inaugurating the JRD Tata Centenary Celebration organised by Assocham, the Prime ... More

`Bombay Plan still relevant'
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, shared his thoughts on the relevance of the `Bombay Plan' in the current scenario while delivering the inaugural address at the JRD Tata centenary celebration on Tuesday. "As a student of economics in the ... More

CII summit on public-private partnerships
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (Southern Region) in association with the Karnataka Government will hold SUMINFRA 2004, a two-day summit on "Sustainable PPPs (public private partnerships) in Infrastructure" from September 2 in ... More

FIEO hails setting up of infrastructure panel
THE Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has welcomed the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh's announcement on setting up of a Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure to monitor the progress of all key infrastructure projects. In a ... More

Pvt investment in infrastructure still below par: Study
DESPITE the thrust on involving the private sector in infrastructure development through public-private partnerships, private sector investments are still below par, according to a paper prepared by the Confederation of Indian industry (CII). ... More

PETROLEUM
Reliance to reimburse Rs 100 cr to oil marketing cos
THE Petroleum Ministry has decided that the public sector oil marketing companies (OMC) be reimbursed the `terminalling' charges paid by the companies to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for purchase of LPG from its 31 million tonne Jamnagar ... More

TAXATION
Kerala: Commercial tax dept to issue electronic ID cards
THE Commercial Taxes Department of Kerala is to issue electronic identity cards to all dealers registered under the KGST Act. The project, designed to streamline tax administration, has been mooted by the Centre for Taxation Studies (CTS), an ... More

No service tax on truck operators: Chidambaram
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Tuesday assured the striking truck owners and operators that the Government had no intention to impose service tax on them. "No service tax is being imposed, or will be imposed on truck owners or ... More

States to decide on Kelkar tax package in a month
STATE Governments are likely to firm up over the next month their views on the acceptability of the tax reform package proposed by the Task Force on Implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM). "The report of ... More

TEXTILES
`Textile cos must form clusters to face Chinese export threat'
DEVELOPING clusters, empowering the small and medium enterprises and establishing Indian textile brands are some of the solutions to the threat of being swamped by Chinese exports in the global market, according to Mr R.C.M. Reddy, Secretary, ... More

EDUCATION
IIM-Kozhikode to take in more students
THE Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode plans to increase its student intake from the present 130 to 300 for the post-graduate programme. On the lines of the Student Exchange Programmes which send students to business schools abroad, the ... More

Scholarly peace
A student delegation from Lahore University, on a goodwill visit to India, interacting with IIMB students in Bangalore on Tuesday.

CARS
Smart planning leads to drop in car inventory levels
WHILE car makers in the US are doling out huge incentives to clear out bloated inventories, some smart thinking and an auto boom have have ensured that dealers in India carry less than half the inventory than they did a year ago. A year ago, ... More

AUTOMOBILE COMPONENTS
`Fake auto spares market near $1 b'
DESPITE producing high-quality auto components in India, counterfeit spare makers are thriving in the country, with the market for fake parts estimated at close to $1 billion (around Rs 4,700 crore). ``Counterfeit spares account for as much as ... More

HANDLOOM
Madurai united handloom workers' union plea to bring down yarn prices
THE Madurai United Handloom Workers Union has appealed to the Centre to bring down the price of yarn. In a resolution adopted at the executive committee meeting held here recently, the union has noted that the increase in the price of yarn ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS
CII team to study best biotech practices
CII is organising a study mission on biotechnology on August 26 and 27 to showcase the best practices and people-related issues in leading biotech companies. A 19-member delegation from nine companies and an educational institution will hold a ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Taking tech to rural communities
TILL a year ago Neelamma was a non-descript middle-aged housewife like many others in her village Yamanur near Kuppam. Today she is known as the village photographer, not only in her hamlet but also in several neighbouring ones. Courtesy: ... More

E-COMMERCE & E-BUSINESS
Now, book Indian Airlines ticket online
WANT to buy a ticket on Indian Airlines (IA) flights without the hassles of going to the reservation offices or running to some agents? All you have to do now is just `click the mouse', from the cool confines of your home or your workplace in ... More

Kuoni launches revamped e-booking platform
KUONI Travel Group India on Tuesday announced the launch of a refurbished e-booking platform for providing negotiated hotel rates to customers. The platform - Resnet - is expected to add around Rs 100 crore annually to the company's topline over ... More

EVENTS

In Hyderabad today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Dip in tea export earnings
DATA on export realisations from various countries clearly indicate that every kg of tea shipped out during the first four months of the current calendar year lost Rs 15 on an average compared to last year. Tea exports for the first four months ... More

ECONOMIC OFFENCES
Experts flay proposed clause on abetting tax evasion
DIRECT tax experts at a recent national workshop sought a relook at the proposed insertion of a new Section 277A in the Act, as per the Finance Bill 2004, which provides for criminal prosecution against any person who wilfully does something with ... More