The Hindu Business Line : Monday, October 11, 2004

OUTSOURCING
`Knowledge outsourcing a new career avenue'
KNOWLEDGE process outsourcing (KPO), which is estimated to jump from $1.3 billion (around Rs 5,954 crore) currently to a $25 billion (around Rs 114,500 crore) market in 2010, represents an important career avenue for the professionally qualified, ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
Mumbai Customs EDI a nightmare for importers
BOTH the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister of the country during their recent visits abroad tried to woo overseas businessmen and sell India as an attractive destination for direct investment, little realising how tough it is for businesses ... More

Coimbatore zone excise mop-up falls short by 22%
THE Central excise mop by the Coimbatore Zonal Commissionerate in the first six months of the current fiscal has fallen short by 22% of the targetfixed for the entire zone. While the targeted excise revenue for 2004-05 was fixed at Rs 3,707 ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Canada invites Indian investment
CANADA has called upon Indian businessmen to invest in the North American country that offers a variety of opportunities to immigrants to set up ventures. According to Lt Col. B.S. Sandhu, Chairman and Managing Director of WorldWide Immigration ... More

HEALTH
Drugs Controller allays fears over Vioxx variant
"No reports of side effects from `discriminate' use of Rofecoxib has been reported from any part of the country." More

INFRASTRUCTURE
When will Mangalore's second runway take off?
The proposed 8000-ft runway at Mangalore's Bajpe airport can help attract international flights, especially to West Asian countries, thus increasing the passenger traffic. But hurdles in land acquisition are hampering the project's progress. More

Thrust on infrastructure at biz meet
MANGALORE: The President of the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Mr A. Srinivasa Rao, has said that good infrastructure is essential for the development of business in any city. He was inaugurating a seminar on `action for ... More

PETROLEUM
LNG ship deployment pattern set for sea-change
MANY analysts are predicting a radical change in the deployment pattern of LNG ships, worldwide, in the next few years. In sharp contrast to the trend so far, more and more ships will be offered for spot and short-term ... More

UAE, Kuwait to hike oil production capacity
THE UAE and Kuwait plan to increase oil production capacity by nearly 3,00,000 bpd and 2,00,000 bpd respectively in the short term in a bid to stabilise the market, which has been rocked by high oil prices touching $53 per barrel prior to the ... More

POWER
Karnataka panchayats take over local power distribution
KARNATAKA, which has taken the lead in power sector reforms, has successfully added a dimension to it by embarking on an empowerment programme of the gram panchayat to reform the rural electricity distribution system. Through a pilot project ... More

STEEL
`Consolidation in global steel sector imminent'
GLOBAL steel industry is likely to witness mergers and takeovers of non-integrated players, as their operational profitability is under tremendous pressure from rising prices of raw materials such as iron ore and coking coal. Ingres, a division ... More

New GM at KIOCL
MANGALORE: Mr B. Loka Reddy assumed charge as General Manager (Production) of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL) at Kudremukh recently. A KIOCL press release said here on Saturday that earlier Mr Reddy was Additional General Manager ... More

TAXATION
Chennai zone targets Rs 1,650 cr in service tax
THE service tax collection target for Chennai zone has been more than doubled to Rs 1,650 crore for the fiscal ending March 31, 2005. Last year, the zone collected Rs 680 crore, said Dr J. Sridharan, Chief Commissioner of Central Excise. Till ... More

SSI
TIIC initiative to cut lending rates — Proposes pact with SIDBI, State Govt
THE Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation (TIIC) plans to enter into an agreement with SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India) and the State Government to bring down the cost of loans, according to officials. Through this and ... More

WATER
TDP demands withdrawal of GO on Srisailam reservoir
THE opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh has threatened to launch an agitation if the State Government did not withdraw its order pertaining to the increase of minimum draw down level (MDDL) of Srisailam Reservoir from 834 feet ... More

Mobile desalination plant at Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project
MADURAI: An indigenously developed prototype mobile reverse osmosis desalination plant, developed by the Hyderabad-based TATA Projects Ltd (TPL), has been put to operation at the technocrats colony of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, ... More

EDUCATION
New curriculum with industry-relevant skill-sets — Nasscom mulls pact with UGC
THE National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) is looking at entering into a memorandum of understanding with the University Grants Commission to help incorporate industry-relevant skill-sets as part of specific ... More

`Better scope for multimedia tech'
THE Chairman of the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Prof R. Natarajan, has said that multimedia technology, which is considered as a second wave in educational technology, may have a better chance of success due to the ... More

LEATHER
Exporters concern at tanneries' inefficiency
LEATHER exporters are concerned over the inefficiency in the tanning sector as it keeps production costs high, even as exports crossed $2 billion for the first time last fiscal. "The low productivity norms prevailing in the tanning sector is ... More

READYMADE GARMENTS
Apparel exporters seek more policy support from Govt
THE Centre will have to spruce up its act on policy and regulatory issues, if it expects apparel exporters to face international competition. According to the Apparels and Handloom Exporters Association, there are serious gaps in policy and ... More

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING
BL Club at Marthandam
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Change is the only constant in the era of LPG (liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation), said Dr M. K. Ramachandran Nair, Vice-Chancellor, Kerala University. He was delivering the valedictory address at the ... More

EVENTS

Engagements

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Shipping lines exempt from bank guarantees
THE Finance Ministry has exempted `shipping lines' from furnishing a bank guarantee for transhipment of export and import cargo from any of the gateway ports to feeder ports/inland container depots (ICDs)/container freight stations (CFS) and ... More

TOURISM
SIA to promote India as global tourist destination
IN an attempt to promote India as a tourist destination worldwide, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is to bring close to 70 travel agents from around the globe to India. The airlines General Manager, India, Mr B.K. Ong, told Business Line that ... More

Tourism package coming for Pathiramanal: Chandy
A TOURISM package will be launched at Pathiramanal near here, the Chief Minister, Mr Oomman Chandy, has said. He was replying to questions raised at a face-to-face programme here. The Chief Minister fielded a volley of questions as a large ... More

`Pleasure boating has vast scope in India'
THE leisure boat marketing has good potential in India as compared with other Asian countries in view of the stagnant leisure boating activities in the West, Mr Jyrki Jaama, General Manager, Simpson Marine (SEA), Singapore, has said. Speaking ... More

`Successful' Boat Show ends in Kochi
THE three-day India International Boat Show 2004, which attracted more than 60 exhibitors from India and abroad, concluded here today with serious trade enquiries worth Rs 70 crore from private as well as government agencies. Mr T.O. Sooraj, ... More