ECONOMY
Growth in tax revenues helps rein in fiscal deficit
BOLSTERED by a 20.12 per cent growth in net tax revenues, the Centre has managed to rein in its fiscal, revenue and primary deficit numbers so far during the current fiscal. During April-July 2004, the Centre's fiscal deficit — the gap ... More

ENVIRONMENT
CII-Kerala calls for conciliatory bid to tackle hazardous waste
`Confrontation in any manner between the stakeholders will not solve environmental concerns.' More

FERTILISERS
Centre mulls reopening HFC's Durgapur unit
WITH emerging prospects of coal-bed-methane, underground and surface coal gasification projects in the country's oldest coal mining in the State, the Centre is considering a proposal to re-open the closed fertiliser plant of Hindustan Fertiliser ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
FTA `rules of origin' notified
THE Finance Ministry on Tuesday notified the `interim rules of origin' for the early harvest scheme under the Indo-Thai Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The rules would come into force from September ... More

HEALTH
K&K Health in talks with banks for fitness finance
K&K Health Care (P) Ltd, the Delhi-based fitness and healthcare equipment manufacturing and marketing company, is currently negotiating with banks and lending institutions for providing finance to customers for the purchase of fitness and ... More

FitnessOne opens in Chennai today
FITNESSONE, a health and fitness club, will start functioning here from Wednesday. Spread over 12,000 sq.ft. of air-conditioned space, it will offer a range of imported equipment, which are among the best that a gym can offer, according to its ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Cybercity Magarpatta gets best infrastructure award
CYBERCITY Magarpatta, a four million sq. ft. software technology park that is part of the sprawling 400-acre `Magarpatta city' township in Pune, has been awarded the first prize at the Maharashtra IT Awards in the IT infrastructure category by ... More

PETROLEUM
HPCL stalls ONGC bid to buy out Mangalore Refinery stake — Fears losing `strategic business interest'
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation's move to buy out Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd's 16.95 per cent stake in Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd is facing an obstacle. According to sources, HPCL has reportedly made a fresh ... More

Only way for IBP to survive is to merge with IOC: Chairman
THE Chairman of IBP Co Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Mr M.S. Ramachandran, today presented a strong case in favour of the former's merger with the latter and said that was the only way to ensure the survival of IBP Co Ltd in the long ... More

IOC to boost capacity at Paradip refinery
INDIAN Oil Corporation Ltd is firming up plans to augment the capacity of its petrochemicals refinery project at Paradip and even embark upon the manufacture of value-added petrochemical products there, according to Mr M.S. Ramachandran, Chairman ... More

BPCL weighing merger of KRL with itself
BHARAT Petroleum Corporation Ltd is considering the possibility of merging its subsidiary Kochi Refineries Ltd with itself. A merger with KRL will add the subsidiary's refining profits to BPCL's balance sheet, according to senior officials. "We ... More

POWER
KSEB hopes to save Rs 800 cr this year
WITH the blessings of rain gods and effective water management, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) could do without thermal power from last May. As a result, during the current water year (June-May), the Board will be making a saving of ... More

TEXTILES
`Little for organised textile industry'
THOUGH the sectoral initiatives as promised by the Commerce Ministry would go a long way in strengthening the export potential of the traditional sectors including the textiles, the Ministry has not specifically spelt out anything for the ... More

WATER
Master plan to tap rainwater for irrigation in AP
THE Andhra Pradesh Government is preparing a Master Plan to tap all of rainwater and utilise the same for irrigation. Announcing this at a press conference here on Tuesday, Dr A. Chandra Sekhar, Minister for Minor Irrigation, said the idea was ... More

EXIM POLICY
Service tax goes for all exporters — Kamal Nath aims to double India's share of global trade by 2009
EXPORTERS of all goods and services, including those from domestic tariff area (DTA), have now been exempted from service tax. Also exporters with minimum turnover of Rs 5 crore and a sound track record have been exempted from furnishing bank ... More

It is now `Served from India' scheme
THE Foreign Trade Policy 2004-2009, unveiled by the Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, has revamped and recast the earlier duty-free entitlement certificate (DFEC) scheme into `Served from India' scheme. The new scheme seeks to create a ... More

Duty-free import of capital goods for agri units
THE new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) has a few new initiatives for agri-exporters, including allowing duty-free import of capital goods under the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme and providing duty credit entitlement to horticulture ... More

Highlights of Foreign Trade Policy
It is for the first time that a comprehensive Foreign Trade Policy is being notified. The Foreign Trade Policy takes an integrated view of the overall development of India's foreign trade. The objective of the Foreign Trade Policy is ... More

Facilitation of exports will be the prime focus: DGFT
THE Foreign Trade Policy (2004-09) aims at augmenting the country's exports of both goods and services in order to ensure employment opportunities with export facilitation being the focus of the policy, the Director General of Foreign Trade ... More

`Export target challenging, but achievable' — New scheme soon to replace duty entitlement passbook, says Kamal Nath
THE Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, on Tuesday said that the goal of pushing up the country's merchandise exports to 1.5 per cent of world trade by 2009 was challenging but not insurmountable. During 2003-04, India's ... More

Leather sector hails concessions
THE $2-billion Indian leather export industry is upbeat about the relaxations offered in the import norms on a slew of input items in the Foreign Trade Policy. According to industry players, the steps would lead to enhanced competitiveness of the ... More

`Free warehousing zones to make India a trading hub'
The Free Trade and Warehousing Zones proposed in the Foreign Trade Policy would make India a veritable trading hub after Dubai which had emerged as the world's biggest warehousing/trading centre, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal ... More

A shot in the arm for exports: India Inc
INDIA Inc has welcomed the Foreign Trade policy unveiled by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, by and large. Simultaneously, the industry chambers have expressed hope that they would find adequate representation in the ... More

Exporters, trade bodies welcome new policy
VARIOUS exporters and trade bodies have welcomed the five-year Foreign Trade Policy announced by the Commerce Ministry on Tuesday. Mr S.L. Deoras, Managing Director, Tata International Ltd and co-chairman of the National Committee on Exports of ... More

FAPCCI hails Foreign Trade Policy
THE Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) has welcomed the Foreign Trade Policy announced by Mr Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, on Tuesday. "It is a well thought out holistic approach," Mr ... More

RADIO/TV
A CAS of status quo in Chennai
THE conditional access system (CAS) is one-year-old in Chennai today but the city's television viewing populace still doesn't seem fascinated by set-top boxes — devices that help access pay channels. According to estimates, over 40,000 ... More

EDUCATION
Pravara college ties up with Adelaide varsity
THE Pravara Rural Education Society of Loni in Ahmednagar has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of Adelaide, Australia, for an educational partnership with their engineering colleges in all disciplines. The ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY
Jewellery sector confident of achieving $16-b export target
THE domestic gems and jewellery industry is expected to achieve the export target of $16 billion by the year 2007 set by the Commerce Ministry following the special focus initiatives announced in the Foreign Trade Policy on Tuesday. ``We must ... More

LEATHER
Leather units hail proposals
THE leather industry has welcomed the Foreign Trade Policy. Both leather garment and leather shoe manufacturers said the proposals would help them become more cost-competitive. Mr M. Rafeeque Ahmed, Chairman of Farida Group, which makes shoes, ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

CINEMA
Govt can subsidise Kannada films, says theatre body
IN a bid to end the imbroglio concerning the film industry in the State, the Karnataka Cinema Theatre Owners' Association has drafted an "Interim Resolution", which, if implemented, will work "towards the betterment of the Kannada film ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
`Bengal a role model in rural sanitation'
WHEN it comes rural sanitation, West Bengal shows the way not only to the country but also to the entire developing world. In a joint press conference, UNICEF and West Bengal Government on Tuesday announced that the State had become a model ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS

EVENTS

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
New Foreign Trade Policy — Going for the big league
In a clear signal that economic reforms are back on track, the thrust of the New Foreign Trade Policy is on export promotion, moving away from quantitative restrictions and improving competitiveness of industry to meet global market requirements. But will there be real change on the ground in terms of quick and seamless implementation, ask Pravakar Sahoo and Geethanjali Nataraj. More

A macro policy with micro focus too
THE approach and content of the National Foreign Trade Policy (NFTP) should enthuse everyone in the export business. By addressing a large number of their concerns to the extent possible, such as reducing the ... More

TOURISM
JWT plans segmented campaign to promote Pondicherry Tourism
"The idea of weekend holidays in Pondicherry will be aggressively promoted among potential domestic tourists." More