The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, February 17, 2005

Prithvi 2005 to showcase electric auto models in Thiruvananthapuram
ENVIRONMENT-friendly models of four-, three- and two-wheeler vehicles that run on electricity will be showcased at the Prithvi 2005 - global eco-friendly summit that begins here on Saturday. Mr Sudarsan Maini, Chairman of the Maini Group, ... More

BUDGET

Rs 3,000-cr Plan outlay for Orissa
THE Annual Plan of Orissa for the next fiscal has been pegged at Rs 3,000 crore, inclusive of additional Central Assistance of Rs 68 crore for projects of special priority to the State. This was decided at a meeting between the Planning ... More

Ease export norms for agri products: CII
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII - AP) has asked the State Government to set up Agriculture Export Promotion Council to make the farming community aware of the potential in exports. In a pre-Budget wish list, the CII said export of ... More

Women's groups have great expectations from Budget
In its report, the expert committee had recommended ``a dissection of the Budget to translate gender commitments into budgetary commitments with a view to ensuring effective targeting of public spending.'' More

ENVIRONMENT

Kyoto Protocol comes into force — Investments to flow in for energy efficient projects
WITH the Kyoto Protocol coming into force from Wednesday, many sectors including small hydropower generation, biomass, municipal solid waste management and sugar mill-cogeneration projects are likely to receive investments from countries aiming ... More

Bengal pollution board to be rechristened
THE State Government has proposed to change the name of West Bengal Pollution Control Board to Environment Protection Agency to widen the domain of the latter's activity. Inaugurating Environment Fair 2005, the first-of-its-kind in the ... More

VUDA chief vows to protect old jail site
MR P.S.N. Raju, Chairman of the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA), who assumed charge recently, has assured the representatives of People for India that he would do everything possible to protect the decades-old trees on the old ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

India, Italy set trade target of 5 billion euros in two years
INDIA and Italy have set a bilateral trade target of five billion euros to be achieved within two years. This was indicated by the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, at a meeting of the India-Italy Business Forum. The annual ... More

SAARC small industries expo in Kolkata
THOUGH the recent political development in Nepal might have influenced postponing the SAARC Summit in Dhaka, such an issue has failed to dampen the spirit of the Federation of Associations of Cottage & Small Industries (FACSI). The first-ever .. More

FAPCCI to ink pact with Iran
HAVING led a trade delegation to Iran , the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) expects to enter into the first business pact with the Iranian industry shortly, the Federation President, Mr O.P. Goenka, said. ... More

HEALTH

Express way to spread AIDS awareness
The trains will travel 6,000 km and cover 30,000 villages. More

Cost-effective hip replacement surgery by Apollo Hospitals(Hyd)
WHEN Mr Robert Walter Beeney, 64, from the US, had to undergo hip replacement, he chose the advanced metal-on-metal surface replacement surgery, rather than the traditional procedure that involves more invasion. Mr Beeney did some research to ... More

Indo-US venture to launch cancer detection tools
GENETICS Specialties P Ltd, a new Indo-US venture in cancer diagnostic tool kits, was launched in Bangalore on Wednesday.It will introduce a range of genetic diagnostic kits and reagents to diagnostic labs and medical research institutions across ... More

PETROLEUM

GAIL deal for Tripura Gas
NEW DELHI: GAIL (India) Ltd has signed an agreement with Tripura Industrial Development Corp (TIDC) and Assam Gas Co Ltd (AGCL) to pick up 29 per cent stake in Tripura Natural Gas Co Ltd (TNGCL). The agreement was signed by GAIL's ... More

POWER

Kerala expert calls for change in PPA with NTPC
THE power purchase agreement (PPA) between the State Electricity Board and the National Thermal Power Corporation on Kayamkulam Thermal Power Station is expiring on February 28 and its renewal, according to an expert, with the existing terms and ... More

BHEL commissions Rihad power plant
BHARAT Heavy Electricals Ltd's 500-MW unit at National Thermal Power Corporation's Rihand power station in Uttar Pradesh has been commissioned. The engineering firm had bagged the main plant package contract valued at Rs 2,079 crore for the ... More

STEEL

To meet target of 110 mt by 2020 — Steel sector mulls raising Rs 8,000 crore annually
THE steel industry is looking for answers as to how debt in excess of Rs 8,000 crore a year can be raised consistently over the next 15 years. This is the amount that banks and other financial institutions will have to cough up if the steel ... More

Tata Steel completes NatSteel acquisition
TATA Steel, which had announced in August its $486.4-million acquisition of the Singapore-based NatSteel Ltd, on Wednesday informed the BSE that it completed the transaction minus one facility in China. The facility, one of three for NatSteel ... More

`Poor infrastructure has hit ore exports'
INDIA'S export potential for iron ore will not be affected, even while the steel production capacity is increasing. Only a third of the 601 leased mines are in production and the consumption is much less than the overall production of ore. ... More

Tubes expo in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Messe Duesseldorf of Germany and its Indian subsidiary, CIDEX Trade Fairs, will be holding a three-day Tube India International 2005 at the premises of the Hyderabad International Trade Expositions (HITEX) here from Friday. ... More

TAXATION

Tax collections in Karnataka fall short of estimates
TAX collections in Karnataka are short of at least Rs 364 crore from the budgeted estimates of the current fiscal year. State Government data showed that the collections during the first seven months for this fiscal year (2004-05) was Rs 8,200 ... More

Meeting on service tax on goods transport agency ends in impasse
THE first meeting of the Government appointed committee for service tax on goods transport agency services ended today in an impasse, with traders continuing to oppose the move to shift liability of payment of service tax on them even though they ... More

Taxing affair
Photographers engaged in their work at a public function in Kochi on Wednesday. The State Government has imposed tax on services of professional photographers, freelancers and photographers working under institutions other than the media. Only ... More

SSI

`Strengthen role of small enterprises'
THE President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI), Mr M. Macky Hashim, on Wednesday indicated that the income gap between South Asian countries and the developed world would widen further unless steps are taken by the governments . More

RADIO/TV

Broadcasting industry for regulator to monitor content
THE broadcasting industry on Wednesday indicated that it is in favour of setting up an autonomous regulator to monitor content. However, it stressed that channels must exercise restraint and self-regulation on the quality of programmes being ... More

EDUCATION

Kerala Chapter to conduct classes for AMIE exams
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Institution of Engineers (India), Kerala State Centre, proposes to conduct classes for students appearing for the AMIE Section A and Section B examinations. According to Mr N. Rajkumar, Honorary Secretary of the ... More

IIT Roorkee joins Oracle Initiative
ORACLE India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Oracle Corporation, announced today that IIT Roorkee has become the 42nd educational institution in India to join the Oracle Academic Initiative. "With this, Oracle software grants to Indian ... More

Andhra Bank in pact with ICFAI for education loans
CLOSE on the heels of emerging as the second leading Indian bank in educational loans, Andhra Bank has entered into another alliance with the ICFAI University for extending education loans to its students at concessional interest rates. The ... More

IICT director gets award
HYDERABAD: Dr J.S. Yadav, Director, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), has been selected for the Goyal Award for the year 2003 by the Kurukshetra University. The award carries a prize of Rs 1 lakh, a medal and citation. It ... More

Technical education council to wield whip on errant institutions
THE All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) is getting tough with private engineering colleges and technical institutions that are lacking in basic infrastructure or compromising on the salary of teaching staff. The council has also ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY

Ganjam jewellery expo in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Ganjam Nagappa and Sons, a Bangalore-based jewellery company, will hold an exhibition of platinum and diamond jewellery in Hyderabad on February 19-20 at Taj Krishna. According to a release, the expo would showcase jewellery ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS

Global docs
When Mr and Ms Schmidt (name changed) landed in Bangalore from Germany, an airport pick-up, a helpful escort and a linguist were waiting for them. Their destination seemed designed for cheer, with a landscaped park, fountains and personalised ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

Mill lands: Many issues yet to be resolved in Mumbai
WITH 595 acres of prime real estate in central Mumbai at stake, resolving the issue of textile mill lands in the city has acquired mammoth proportions. This assumes significance especially with the lack of mill worker representation on the ... More

WTO

US keen to end WTO Doha round successfully
THE United States has signalled its determination and commitment to complete a global trade agreement in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) before the end of 2006. This is feasible, provided negotiators cross a series of mileposts along the way, ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

A magnificent response
The Hindu wishes to thank and commend its readers and well-wishers for their magnificent response to the tsunami calamity - they have expressed their solidarity with the victims through tremendously generous contributions ... More

Contributions to The Hindu Relief Fund

TOURISM

Kerala Govt okays `vazhioram' project
THE State Government has approved in principle the implementation of Kerala Tourism's `vazhioram' project to build high-quality wayside amenities along the State's highways and waterways. According to the Government Order, the project is to be ... More

Post-poll violence won't hit J&K tourism: Minister
The Tourism Department was out on a mission to "remove the fear psychosis" and assured tourists that Kashmir was a safe place. More

BIMSTEC tourism meet from Feb 21
NEW DELHI: The three-day meeting of the Tourism Ministers of BIMSTEC countries (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Co-operation) will open in Kolkata on February 21. The meeting will discuss the joint marketing ... More