The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, November 20, 2004

CLIMATE & WEATHER
Bountiful reverse monsoon makes up for past deficit
ALMOST 50 days after the end of a deficit southwest monsoon, some of the worst affected regions of the country are relishing the ongoing spell of rain generated by regional weather systems. The precipitation in the northwest may continue for ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES
Plan to use technology in judicial system
THE Union Government is preparing a paper on the use of technology in the judicial system that would be laid before the Cabinet in six months, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Kapil Sibal, said here. "We have asked the ... More

ECONOMY
PM envisions 7.5 pc growth in `India 2015'
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Friday spoke about his vision of `India 2015' and spelt out the recipe to achieve his "modest" dream while warning the people of the pitfalls that stand in the way. India, he said, could achieve a ... More

Inflation up on costlier petro products
A surge in the prices of petroleum products pushed up the annual wholesale price index-based inflation (WPI) rate 7.76 per cent for the week ended November 6. The year-on-year inflation index shot up from the previous week's level of 7.06 per ... More

Former CM Naidu to attend Lahore meet
HYDERABAD: The former Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, would deliver the valedictory address on `Managing Challenges - The Andhra Pradesh experience' at the South Asian Management Forum-2004 to be held in Lahore on December ... More

FOOD & DAIRY PRODUCTS
Biscuit makers seek excise duty waiver
PLAGUED with under-utilised capacities and steadily rising input costs and unable to raise prices, biscuit manufacturers have sought an excise-free regime. In a pre-Budget memorandum submitted to the Government, the Federation of Biscuit ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Indo-Russian panel identifies oil, gas & IT as key business areas
INDIA'S trade and investment with the Russian Federation will get a boost with the Joint Inter-Governmental Commission identifying oil, gas, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, construction and IT as the key focus sectors for business in the two ... More

RBI okays trade with Myanmar in freely convertible currency
THE Reserve Bank of India today said that trade transactions with Myanmar can be settled in any freely convertible currency, in addition to the existing Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism. The apex bank said in a notification to all banks ... More

Sweden keen on expanding trade ties with India
INDIA is already home to several Swedish multinationals such as Volvo, ABB and SKF and there are more firms waiting to join the India bandwagon, according to the Swedish Ambassador to India, Ms Inga Eriksson Fogh. "Many new Swedish firms are ... More

Joint study group mooted for India-Russia trade pact
FOLLOWING a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement India and Singapore signed, New Delhi has proposed the setting up of a joint study group on a similarpact with the Russian Federation too with a view to boosting bilateral trade and ... More

HEALTH
`No privatising health services'
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Health Minister, Mr K.K. Ramachandran, has said that there is no question of privatising, any services now being offered by the Government hospitals, under pressure from the World Bank. Talking to newspersons ... More

HOTELS
As more hotels come up in Chennai, average room rates may dip
WITH two more business class hotels, Hotel-Palm Chennai and Traders Hotel, set to open in the city, hoteliers fear that the increase in supply would hit the average room rate (ARR). The two new hotels between them will bring 400 rooms into the ... More

PSU
`New board for PSU restructuring soon'
THE Government is all set to formally establish the proposed Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises during the current month for which the necessary recommendations have been sent to the Prime Minister, said the Minister for Heavy ... More

KMML production data
KOCHI: The State-owned Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd has said that its cumulative production since inception recorded three lakh tonne. The fact that KMML has not lost a single manday due to labour strikes should be sufficient reason ... More

PETROLEUM
ONGC best oil co in Asia: Survey
NEW DELHI: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has been rated the best oil and gas company in Asia by US magazine Global Finance. While the magazine's seventh annual survey of regional players and global leaders picked ONGC ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
More withdrawals from WHO list; US scrutiny — Indian pharma companies face testing times
ANOTHER week came to a close, but not on a happy note for a clutch of Indian drug companies which felt the heat for different reasons. The Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs has withdrawn all six of its antiretroviral drugs (anti-AIDS medicines) ... More

POWER
Genco mulls 500 MW unit at Bhoopalapally
ANDHRA Pradesh Generation Corporation Ltd (AP Genco), the power generation corporation in the State, may consider construction of a single 500 MW unit at Bhoopalapally instead of two units of 250 MW each, following suggestions by the Chief ... More

TAXATION
Offloading bad assets — High stamp duties a dampener for banks, FIs
HIGH stamp duties in the country have begun hampering banks and financial institutions' proposals to exit from non-performing assets. Banking sources said high duties escalated the cost for stressed asset buyers. As a result, most of the ... More

Centre to take up ATF tax issue with States
IN an effort to accommodate more passengers from Jammu and Kashmir, the Haj quota has been increased to 82,000 from the earlier 72,000 and Saudi Arabian Airlines has been requested to provide more seats for Haj pilgrims, the Minister for Civil ... More

TEXTILES
Funds crunch shrinks textile research bodies' scope
The declining inflow of funds has forced them to only concentrate on consultancies, and research has taken a beating. More

Textile industry gets a fillip through TUFS
THE upbeat mood in the domestic textile fraternity is amply reflected in the industry's rapidly increasing offtake from the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), launched by the Government to give a leg up to the industry in view of the ... More

Call for reforms in textile industry to meet global challenge
THE domestic textile industry would have to undertake considerable internal reforms and work towards increasing labour productivity for India to garner a larger share of the $200-billion global textiles market in the post- MFA regime, according ... More

WATER
Special cell to woo private sector in water management
THE Union Government on Friday announced creation of a special cell in the Water Resources Ministry to attract private sector participation in water management and fine-tune the National Water Policy. The cell would strive to attract private ... More

Need for efficient water management stressed
THE National Water Development Agency (Union Ministry of Water Resources) said that inter-linking of rivers would go a long way in meeting the growing demand for water in the country where the distribution of water is spread ... More

RADIO/TV
TRAI favours revenue share regime in FM radio services
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has favoured migration to a revenue share arrangement from the licence fee regime in FM radio broadcasting. The Government, on the contrary, has been in favour of continuing with the existing ... More

EDUCATION
UK course at Image Hospitals
HYDERABAD: The city-based Image Hospitals hosted the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh's (UK) seventh overseas postgraduate course in general surgery during November 15 and 19. The course prepared surgical trainees appearing for ... More

HCV/LCV/TRACTORS
`Vehicle makers must be more vendor-friendly'
VEHICLE manufacturers should be partners to components suppliers in both good and bad times, said Mr Suresh Krishna, Chairman and Managing Director, Sundram Fasteners. Speaking at a conference on supply chain management in the automotive ... More

BEVERAGES
CSE blames panel for delay in fixing pesticide residue norms
THE Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Friday alleged that the Central Committee for Food Standards (CCFS), which was to finalise pesticide residue norms for soft drinks, has delayed in taking a final decision by referring the matter to ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY
Gem, jewellery exports up 34 pc in H1
THE country's gem and jewellery exports have increased by 34 per cent to $8,100 million during April-October from $6,049.31 million last year. The increase has been primarily because of generic growth in overseas sales; partly contributed by ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Allow high-cost debt repayment at minimal charges: PHDCCI
THE PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry today urged the RBI Governor to direct banks and financial institutions (FIs) to allow corporates retire their high-cost borrowings with minimal charges. This process will not only reduce interest ... More

Assocham moots self-contained Service Tax Act
THE Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) on Friday called for a separate self-contained Service Tax Act, fixing different threshold limits and maintaining a maximum limit of 8 per cent. In a note submitted to the Government, ... More

SMALL SAVINGS
Parliamentary panel to discuss EPFO functioning
NEW DELHI: The functioning of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) would be the singular item for discussion in the meeting of the Parliamentary consultative committee of the Ministry of Labour set for December 14. The ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
CVC International among FDI proposals worth Rs 181 cr cleared
CVC International Investment Management Group's proposal to acquire resident shareholding of Punjab-based Nectar Lifescience Ltd as well as acquire fresh shares in the company with foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 41.88 crore was among ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE
YSR launches schemes for youth welfare, land development
THE Andhra Pradesh Government on Friday announced the launch of the Rajiv Yuva Shakthi Scheme, an empowerment programme that seeks to provide one lakh jobs to the youth before the end of this fiscal and will involve an outlay of Rs 321 crore. It ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Intel to help expand rural IT penetration
INTEL Corporation on Thursday announced a partnership with the Ministry of Communications and IT to create solutions for making technology more accessible to teachers in India, especially in the rural areas, as also to develop `computing ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES
Call to integrate HR practices with business processes
SPEAKERS at a seminar on `Strategic HR-Aligning with business to drive results', organised by CII-Kerala, have called upon integrating alternative HR practices with business processes to provide competitive edge. Mr J.N. Amrolia, Chairman, HR ... More

EVENTS

In Hyderabad today

INCOME TAX
New book on simplified I-T rules, case laws released
RELEASING the 13th edition of the book `How to Handle Income-Tax Problems', jointly authored by Prof N.P. Jain and Mr Dilip Loyalka, here on Friday at the `Aayakar Bhawan', Mr N.P. Sengupta, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax-1, Kolkata, said the ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Notification issued on rubber exports subsidy — Sops for all grades cut by half for current fiscal
THE Centre issued a notification on Friday on subsidy for the export of various grades of natural rubber. However, it has cut the subsidy by half for the current fiscal. The subsidy for export of RSS has been cut from Rs 3.50 per kg to Rs 1.75, ... More

PEOPLE
New EPCH Vice-Chairman
NEW DELHI: The Managing Director of Orient Arts and Crafts, Mr Dinesh Kumar, has been elected as the new Vice-Chairman of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH). Mr Kumar has been associated with handicraft exports for ... More