HOTELS
Hotel tariffs up on increased demand
AFTER two years of downturn, the fortunes of the hotel industry, not just in Chennai but also in other important centres, are looking up. The main business seems to be from the corporate sector (read, information technology and Business Process ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Karnataka Govt to focus on pending projects, urban infrastructure issues
THE State Chief Minister, Mr N. Dharam Singh, has reiterated his Government's resolve to take up urban infrastructure issues in right earnest and assured the industry that the pending projects in flyovers and strengthening the road network would ... More

PSU

POWER
NFC bags Rs 100-cr orders from new generation reactors
THE Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) has secured orders worth over Rs 100 crore to supply critical components and systems within the next two years, to the newer generation reactors such as the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) and the upscaled ... More

STEEL
Steel prices likely to rule firm, says ISA
STEEL prices are likely to remain firm for a long time to come, according to the President of the Indian Steel Alliance, Mr Moosa Raza. The Alliance is a body of five steel companies — SAIL, Essar, Ispat, Jindal and RINL. (Tata Steel ... More

SUGAR
Haryana to revise co-op sugar mills staff pay
THE Haryana Government has decided to revise the pay scales and allowances of the employees of co-operative sugar mills from July 1, 2004, thus meeting their long-standing demand. An official spokesman said that the decision to revise pay ... More

SSI
Karnataka Small-scale body's plea
BANGALORE: The Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association has criticised the abolition of Form 37 on industrial inputs and capital goods, which has imposed an additional tax burden on these goods. This has resulted in the incidence ... More

RADIO/TV
DTH players divided over compulsory sharing
PRASAR Bharati has not allowed the Subhash Chandra-promoted direct-to-home (DTH) platform to carry the signals of Doordarshan, which holds the exclusive rights to the Australia-India series. Dish TV, in turn, has asked its subscribers to tune ... More

EDUCATION
NITK convocation on Oct 9
MANGALORE: The second annual convocation of National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, will be held on October 9. An NITK press release said here on Thursday that Prof R. Natarajan, Chairman of AICTE, New Delhi, would ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Realty, the new financial instrument in making
The next big thing that is waiting to happen in the financial sector is funds earmarked exclusively for real estate. More

HANDLOOM
Handloom Expo from Oct 16 in Hyderabad
THE State Government in collaboration with the Development Commissioner of Handloom, New Delhi, is holding the National Handloom Expo-2004 in Hyderabad between October 16 and November 7. About 100 handloom cooperatives, corporations and ... More

MINING & QUARRYING
Ernakulam dist lifts ban on river sand mining
THE Ernakulam district administration has lifted the ban on sand mining from rivers, including the Muvattupuzha river, the Periyar and their tributaries in the district. The ban was in force from August 1. However, mining of sand from ... More

RESORTS & AMUSEMENT PARKS

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING
Reuters bets big on Bangalore unit
WITH the official opening of the finance business data centre of global news provider Reuters, a new avenue of outsourcing has opened for India. However certain challenges such as wage inflation, retention and training costs coupled with poor ... More

ECONOMICS
`Nobel' heroes of the dismal science
IT IS Nobel season. The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel or, in short, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for 2004 will be announced on October 11. It was instituted by the central ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE
Making a difference with a fistful of rice
A Boeing 747-400 from the Air India fleet will fly at an altitude of just 1,000 feet and will be escorted by two Su-30 fighter aircraft. More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Govt to focus on rural health
WITH the national common minimum programme (NCMP) focusing on health in the rural areas, the Health Minister, Dr A. Ramadoss, on Thursday held meetings with officials of the Prime Minister's Office, Central Ministries, State Governments as well ... More

EVENTS
`People of Indian origin to play larger role in development'
THESE are eventful days for some 21 million people of Indian origin (the Indian diaspora) spread over 110 countries with an estimated combined income of $160 billion as GOPIO (Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin) gathers momentum and ... More

Watch gazing
Visitors admiring the watches displayed at the International Watch Exhibition held at the World Trade Centre from October 7 to 10 in Mumbai.

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Pressing the advantages at India Investment Forum
THERE is more than one way of looking at the two-day meeting of the India Investment Forum organised by Euromoney Institutional Investor and hosted by Merrill Lynch and the State Bank of India Group. In the first place, Official India is ... More

Global meet on eco-friendly products in February
THE Swadeshi Science Movement (SSM) is proposing to hold `Prithvi 2005, the Global Eco Meet' that envisages a global convergence of eco-friendly products, technology and initiatives from 60 countries. Thiruvananthapuram will host the ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Tea import bill shoots up by Rs 39 cr
THE tea import bill in the first seven months of the current calendar has increased by Rs 39.05 crore (c.i.f value) over the same period a year ago. This happened despite a fall in the unit price because of the rise in volume of the imported ... More

WCO for early ratification of revised Kyoto convention on customs
THE World Customs Organisation (WCO) is keen on getting the revised Kyoto convention providing for an International Convention on Simplification and Harmonisation of Customs Procedures ratified as part of expediting trade facilitation measures ... More

Libya lifts ban on Indian tea imports
AFTER a five-year ban, Libya has opened its doors to Indian tea exporters this year. A 16-million kg market, Libya stopped importing from India allegedly in protest against the export of three million kg of `substandard teas' by a ... More