The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, November 13, 2004

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
Bio-diesel ventures seek for incentives
UPCOMING entrepreneurs engaged in the production of bio-diesel from non-edible vegetable oils are seeking incentives from the Government. While a litre of bio-diesel costs Rs 18.50, the prices of non-edible oils range from Rs 25 to Rs 35 per kg ... More

BUDGET
Make realistic assessment of fertiliser subsidy: FAI
PEEVED with the series of delayed decisions by the Centre on increasing the fertiliser subsidy allotment for the current year, that led to production cuts across most fertiliser units in the country earlier this year, the Fertiliser Association ... More

ECONOMY
Economic lessons from the hotspots of innovation
SILICON Valley, Ireland, Cambridge, Munich, Sophia Antipolis, Sweden, Israel, Taiwan and Bangalore — these are the places you would find mentioned in a new book, not as tourist destinations but as showcases of ... More

States face rising debt costs
STATES are faced with a big escalation in borrowing costs in the coming months with hardening of interest rates in the domestic bond markets. Sources said that States this year were expected to raise in excess of Rs 55,000 crore during the ... More

Inflation down at 7.06 pc
THE annual wholesale price index-based inflation rate dipped to 7.06 per cent for the week ended October 30, from the previous week's level of 7.38 per cent. It was 5.55 per cent in the year-ago period. During the latest reported week, the ... More

Madurai SHGs fare well
MADURAI: The Madurai Women Self-Help Group members excelled in the sale of handicrafts at the `Kolu exhibition' organised at Chennai between October 11 and 24 in connection with the Navarathri celebrations, selling products worth Rs 3.22 ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
SAFTA panel meet to discuss duty concessions
THE sixth meeting of the Committee of Experts on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) would be held here for three days beginning from December 2 in order to fine-tune individual member country's obligations and offers on duty concessions. This is ... More

Indo-Japan chamber plans to foster tie-ups between SMEs
THE Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry plans to foster relationship between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India and Japan, as it feels that there is enormous scope for improving ties between SMEs in the two countries. As a first . More

CIS envoys meet AP Chief Minister
A GROUP of Ambassadors representing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has invited the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to visit their respective countries to explore business opportunities. The delegation, ... More

HEALTH
New anti-depressant drug from Torrent
THE Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd has launched Duloxetine, a new-age anti-depressant under the brand name `Symbal'. The new drug claims to address not only the emotional aspects of depression like other available drugs, but also ... More

SSI
IT majors team up to offer `Multiply' for SMEs
ZENITH Computers, Microsoft, Intel and Samsung have come together to announce the launch of `Multiply', an IT solution targeted at SMEs that provides a cost-effective, multifunctional and complete infrastructure product package. This package ... More

CARS
Car sales up 31 pc in Oct
HELPED by lower interest rates and a spate of new model launches, passenger car sales jumped by 31.2 per cent in October 2004. A total of 73,770 units were sold in October over 56,222 units last October, according to data released by the ... More

AUTOMOBILE COMPONENTS
Battery industry hopes for early cut in lead import duty
DISTURBED by the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) initialled by India with Thailand and the recent withdrawal of anti-dumping duty on lead-acid batteries from Bangladesh, the domestic battery industry is now expecting an early reduction in import duty ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY
15-member panel to study structure of gold industry
THE Government has announced constitution of a 15-member high-powered Committee, headed by the Commerce Secretary to examine the regulatory structure of the gold industry and recommend measures within six weeks to make India a gold trading hub. ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Omaxe planning townships in smaller cities
WITH residential projects worth Rs 1,000 crore already in the pipeline, real estate company Omaxe is now planning townships in smaller cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur and Agra. "We are starting township projects in Jaipur, Lucknow and Agra. We ... More

TNHB fortunes on the rebound
TIMELY intervention at restructuring the Tamil Nadu Housing Board's (TNHB) policies and standardisation of procedures appears to have gone a long way in reversing the board's fortunes. The measures initiated in the last one year has, according ... More

LEATHER
India emerging as leather hub as export orders swell
INDIA, along with China, is emerging as the leather production and tanning hub for the $85-billion (around Rs 3,83,690 crore) world leather industry. With over 10 per cent of the raw material base of hides and skins, India is clearly becoming a ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
TN Chamber flays petro price hike
MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has strongly condemned the recent like in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG. In a statement, the chamber President, Mr S. Rethinavelu, has said that the hike would seriously impact ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
BrahMos, Akash, Trishul to be test fired soon
INDIAN defence scientists will conduct advanced flight tests of at least three missiles — BrahMos, Akash and Trishul — by the end of 2004, in their intensified efforts to convince the users to go in for induction of these indigenously ... More

ISRO, French space agency sign MoU
THE Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French Space Centre (CNES) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding for the development and implementation of the joint atmosphere satellite mission, Megha-Tropiques. Mr G. Madhavan ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE
AP bid to spread social safety net plan wider
THE Social Safety Net Programme (SSNP) of the Andhra Pradesh Government has set a target of covering 7,500 more employees who have gone on VRS by March 2006. The SSNP, a wing of Implementation Secretariat that is entrusted with the task of ... More

LABOUR REFORMS
`Pudukottai is child labour free'
MADURAI: The Pudukottai district will soon be declared ` Child labour-free', according to the District Collector, Mr Jatindranath Swain. December 2004 has been declared as the deadline for the declaration. As many as 36,405 factories and ... More

EVENTS
Trade fair to begin tomorrow
"The 14-day fair which would see China taking part in a big way as partner country and Brazil as focus country." More

Archives Week from Nov 25
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Department of Archives will observe Archives Week from November 25 in line with what is followed internationally. Announcing this here, an official spokesman said that this would be part of the larger ... More

CSI seminar for IT teachers
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram Chapter of the Computer Society of India (CSI) is teaming up with IBM India to organise a one-day seminar exclusively for IT teachers in schools and colleges. The seminar will be held on ... More

TOURISM
Multi-state cooperative society to promote tourism
TO tap the potential of tourism in Karnataka, Kerala and Goa, cooperatives of these States have come together to form a multi-state cooperative society. Bharathi Tourism Development Cooperative Ltd (BTDCL) with its headquarters at Panjim in ... More

ECONOMIC OFFENCES
Cabinet nod for forming Financial Intelligence Unit
IN a move to prevent and combat money laundering and related crimes, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the setting up of a Financial Intelligence Unit, India (FIU-IND). FIU-IND will co-ordinate and support the efforts of national and ... More