The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, November 02, 2004

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Indo-German pact for funding project-based research
THE Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) and , have decided to shift the focus in joint science and technology initiatives from individual-based to project-oriented research funding. Accordingly, ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
Filing of annual statement: Directive to excisable goods manufacturers
THE Government on Monday asked manufacturers of goods who paid an excise duty of Rs 1 crore and above in the preceding financial year, to file by November 30 the Annual Financial Information Statement (AFIS) of the succeeding fiscal. ... More

FERTILISERS
Little progress in fertiliser cos' plan for joint LNG facility
THE proposed mega alliance of domestic fertiliser manufacturers, spearheaded by the two giant fertiliser co-operatives, Iffco and Kribcho, for setting up their own LNG sourcing and regassification facility for meeting the industry's feedstock ... More

HOTELS
Assocham moots `land banks' for hotel industry
IN a bid to create a vibrant tourism sector, the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has mooted a proposal for the creation of a chain of `land-banks' all over the country for the allocation of preferential land sites ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Industry wants corporation head for Coimbatore
TWO major organisations representing industries here have sought government intervention in appointing a new commissioner for the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation (CMC), a post that has been vacant even five months after the previous incumbent's ... More

AP Govt allays industry's fears on infrastructure
ALLAYING the apprehensions of the global industrial and investment community that the industrial growth might now take a backseat with the changed priorities of the new Government in Andhra Pradesh towards agricultural economy, the Chief ... More

Urban development schemes under one umbrella planned
THE Urban Development Ministry is planning to bring the Centrally-sponsored schemes of infrastructure development in mega cities and the Integrated Development of Small and Medium Town scheme under one umbrella. The Ministry also proposes to ... More

PETROLEUM
Govt confident of passing petroleum regulatory Bill
THE Union Government expects the Petroleum Regulatory Board Bill to be passed in the winter session of Parliament. "We are confident," Mr M.S. Srinivasan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum, told journalists here, on the sidelines of ... More

Govt must watch oil price situation closely, says Rakesh Mohan
THE former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Dr Rakesh Mohan, who assumed office as the Economic Affairs Secretary on Monday, said the Government has to keep a close watch on the oil price situation. He said that fundamentals of the ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Indigenous rabies vaccine launched in AP
SERUM Institute of India Ltd, a leading manufacturer of vaccines, has launched India's first Human Diploid Cell (HDC) rabies vaccine in the Andhra Pradesh market. HDC vaccine, regarded globally as `gold standard' in rabies vaccines, is tissue ... More

POWER
MSEB plans fresh tender to buy gas
PLAGUED by a growing deficit in power demand and supply in the State, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board plans to call for a second round of tenders for buying regassified or liquefied natural gas through international competitive bidding. ... More

APTransco asks farmers to shift to irrigated dry crops
TRANSMISSION Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (APTransco) has asked the farmers to shift to "irrigated dry (ID) crops" from paddy cultivation in the ensuing rabi season. In an appeal to the 23.5-lakh agricultural power consumers, Ms Rachel ... More

New sub-station at Thumba on stream
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has commissioned a 110-kV sub-station at Thumba. This is the third 110 kV sub-station to become part of the transmission network in the State, since the Government announced ... More

SSI
`Indian SME products have promising future in EU'
THE prevailing market situation in the European Union (EU) countries indicates that the Indian SME products have a promising future there, according to Dr P.M. Mathew, Director, Institute of Small Enterprises Development (ISED). Though the EU ... More

SSI convention in Bangalore
BANGALORE: The Small Industries Service Institute will hold its first entrepreneurship and development-oriented convention on November 6. The convention would disseminate technology and commercial information on herbal and medicinal ... More

TRAVEL & PLACES
India, Uzbek keen to relax visa norms
INDIA and Uzbekistan are keen to liberalise the visa regime between the two countries in order to facilitate trade and encourage people-to-people contact. This was informed by the Uzbek Foreign Minister, Dr Sodik S. Safoev, while addressing ... More

RADIO/TV
Star, Sahara reach compromise on logo
AS part of a compromise with the Sahara Group, the Star group on Monday agreed to change the logo of its new channel from January 1, 2005 by adding the word `STAR' to its insignia `ONE.' The Sahara Group had dragged Star to the Delhi High Court ... More

EDUCATION
Decision on double degrees from VTU soon: VC
THE Vice-Chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belgaum, Dr Balaveera Reddy, has said that VTU will soon take a decision on awarding double degrees to its students. This will enable them to face the challenges of the corporate ... More

Study trip
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An arduous trudge
Children on their way to school in Munnar. In the high ranges of Idukki district, density of schools is very low and children trek up to 8 km to reach the school everyday. ... More

UCMAS programme at Kochi
KOCHI: UCMAS, an ISO 9001-2000 certified training programme, has conducted two live demonstrations in Mattanchery and Fort Kochi to create public awareness of the UCMAS concept. UCMAS (Universal Concept Mental Arithmetic System) is ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY
Gem institute, export bodies to set up research centre
The centre will carry out research and development activities especially for synthetic diamond and high pressure high temperature treated diamonds. More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
Major hospital groups to invest in Gurgaon Medicity
ALL the major hospital groups such as Fortis Healthcare, Escorts Heart Institute and Apollo Hospitals are making huge investments in setting up super-speciality healthcare facilities in the country's first Medicity. This healthcare facility in ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Coal shortage: Tile makers' body seeks Govt intervention
THE All India Brick and Tiles Manufacturers' Federation (AIBTMF), the sole brick and tiles manufacturers' federation in the country, has decided to discontinue operations unless the Government takes some action on the acute shortage of coal and ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
`Bill allowing 100% FDI in infrastructure on cards'
INVITING the captains of Japanese industry to take a fresh look at trade and investment opportunities in India, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, on Monday said, "We are particularly eager to get investments in ... More

WTO
EU plans to eliminate textile quotas soon
AS part of implementing one of the key commitments at the end of the last WTO Trade Round ("Uruguay Round") in 1994, the European Commission (EC) has adopted a proposal for the elimination of the quotas applying on imports of textile and clothing ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Distribution of land is not enough: YSR
THE Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has said that mere distribution of land to the poor is not enough to improve their standard of living. The land distributed has to be developed so that the beneficiary could make a living out of it, ... More

How much of surplus land is available?
WHAT is the extent of surplus agricultural land available in Andhra Pradesh for distribution to the landless poor? The figure might run into lakhs of acres, if we go by the contention of CPI Maoist leaders, who are currently on a land ... More

EVENTS
Greentech annual meet begins on Nov 4
GREENTECH Foundation, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation engaged in environmental education and research, is holding its fifth annual conference and exhibition on `Environment Management' from November 4. The three-day event, slated to be ... More

SOCIETY & DEVELOPMENT
Editors, Ministries meet on social sector agenda from Nov 3
ABOUT 300 editors, columnists and senior correspondents would participate in the Fifth Editors' Conference on social sector issues, being held here from November 3-5. The conference, to be inaugurated by the Union Minister for Rural ... More

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
`Deliver value to all stakeholders first before owner benefits'
THE biggest mistake that budding entrepreneurs commit is indulging themselves as soon as they make some money rather than satisfying other stakeholders in a business, said Mr C.K. Ranganathan, Chairman & Managing Director, CavinKare Pvt Ltd. He . More

INCOME TAX
Taxing effort
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`CBDT must withdraw orders on provisional attachment of property'
THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has urged the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to withdraw its recent instructions on provisional attachment of property, claiming that such instructions are "harsh and in ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Fears on delay in cargo clearance with EDI allayed
SENIOR Customs officials in Mumbai sought to allay fears of the liquid bulk importers and exporters that implementation of EDI system for processing of export-import documents would continue to result in delays. The officials told a meeting of ... More

TOURISM
Pilgrim's Progress
TRADITIONALLY, pilgrim travellers have been the mainstay of the tourism industry in India. While precise disaggregated figures are difficult to come by, it is likely that the pilgrimage tourism sector still constitutes the chunk of travel ... More

STANDARDS & BENCHMARKS
`Indian BPO cos match global standards'
INDIAN BPO players are now achieving globally recognised standards in customer satisfaction, quality and people satisfaction, according to a Nasscom-QAI report, released on Monday. However, in order to sustain growth and performance, the industry ... More

PEOPLE
Purushothaman is President of FHRAI
THE Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) has elected Mr M.P. Purushothaman, Chairman and Managing Director of The Empee Hotels Ltd, as the President for 2004-05. According to an official release, Mr Purushothaman ... More