The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, February 23, 2005

AP CM says prudent fiscal management yielding results
PRUDENT fiscal management being put in place by the Andhra Pradesh Government is not only helping bring down revenue deficit, but was also helping better spending of available resources to people-oriented projects, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. ... More

ENVIRONMENT

Revamp of environment impact assessment likely
THE Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is in the process of re-engineering the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) with a view to remove bottlenecks. The re-engineering process would study the environmental clearance (EC) processes ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS

Discrepancy in Centre's revenues from edible oil
THERE seems to be a serious discrepancy between the value of edible oil imports into the country and the corresponding revenues earned by the Centre on these. According to the Finance Ministry, import of vegetable oils fetched the Centre Rs ... More

Finance Ministry defends MRP-based excise on drugs
WITH the Department of Chemicals and Fertilisers demanding an enhancement of the abatement level from 35 per cent to 40 per cent from the declared retail price of drugs for levy of excise duty, the Finance Ministry reiterated that the levels have ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

Austria hopes to boost trade with India
AUSTRIA is looking to increase bilateral trade with India to 1 billion euros next year from 500 million euros last year. The Austrian President, Dr Heinz Fischer, who is here, visited a number of Indian cities over the last week with a ... More

Govt initiates `impact' study of scheme under Indo-Thai FTA
THE Government has initiated an "impact assessment" study of the early harvest scheme (EHS) under the Indo-Thai Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the back of domestic industry apprehensions of a possible surge in exports from Thailand in the initial ... More

Sourcing from third countries — India, Pak can import from each other: Kamal Nath
Mr Kamal Nath said the bilateral trade had the potential to grow five-fold within a couple of years if right flexibilities were granted. More

HEALTH

IMA network with local bodies
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) will network with local bodies and Kudumbashree units in an initiative to inform the public about health issues. Announcing this, IMA representatives told reporters here that the ... More

HOTELS

Manhattan NRI Chatwal plans Dream hotels here
THE hospitality industry will have one more contender to deal with soon. Mr Sant Singh Chatwal, one of the most influential Indians of Manhattan and known to be close to the Clintons and the Democratic Party, is bringing his boutique hotels to ... More

POWER

CERC streamlines open access norms
THE Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has announced streamlining of the norms for seeking open access in inter-State transmission; the regulator has introduced a monthly timetable for advance reservation of transmission capacity. ... More

AP Genco plans new units
HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGenco) has saved Rs 120 crore through effective fuel management. It had consumed 0.7 kg of coal per Kilo Watt Hour of power and 0.56 mille litres of oil during 2003-04, ... More

TAXATION

AP tea traders seek cut in tax rate
THE Andhra Pradesh Tea Merchants Association urged the State Government to put tea under the 4 per cent tax category in the ensuing VAT regime, on par with the tax rates proposed to be imposed in tea producing States such as Assam and Tamil ... More

Assocham seeks to allay fears on VAT
THE Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) on Tuesday sought to allay the trading community's fears that the implementation of value-added tax (VAT) would complicate the present State tax regime. In a statement, the ... More

Laghu Udyog threatens stir over service tax on transport agencies
AFTER the nation-wide agitation by the trading community against the introduction of value added tax (VAT) from April 1, fresh trouble seems to be brewing for the Centre on the service tax front. Laghu Udyog Bharati, a body representing ... More

TEXTILES

India looks no match for China's textile prowess
Besides its mass production capacity in every category, China's fiscal policies are also supportive. More

SSI

Unmatched troubles
This unit in Peringala, 20 km from Kochi, is one of the 513 match splinter and veneer making units in Kerala that have been closed since February 15 due to paucity of softwood used for splinter-making. By a rough estimate, the splinter-making ... More

WATER

Move for eco-friendly desalination system
THE Executive Vice-President of the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment, Dr A.E. Muthunayagam, is working on an eco-friendly desalination system. He announced this while addressing a technical session on water conservation ... More

RADIO/TV

Coastal Karnataka to have TV channel
A MANGALORE-based television production house will soon launch `Namma TV', an 18-hour channel for the people of coastal Karnataka. The soft launch of the channel is slated for Thursday (February 24). Addressing newspersons here on Monday, ... More

EDUCATION

Hi-tech gadgets gathering dust
A HI-TECH system, meant to be used by the State Government to monitor attendance of children in schools, has turned out to be a non-starter. The State Government had purchased 4,700 personal digital assistants (PDAs), to be used in select ... More

Educational protest
Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) sitting in dharna in the Capital on Tuesday demanding Central legislation for professional colleges' admission and fee structure. ... More

MINING & QUARRYING

AP Govt policy to tap mining potential
EAST Godavari and Visakhapatnam have huge potential in the mining of precious and semi-precious stones, the State Minister for Mines and Geology, Ms P. Sabitha Reddy, said. The Government has evolved a policy to tap these resources. In the ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

FDI in news agencies opposed
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The United News of India Employees Federation (UNIEF) has opposed the move to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in news agencies. The proposed move will "only give rise to monopolisation of the news industry in the ... More

`US keen on investing in India'
US investments in India will grow, but this growth will be based on the extent to which India makes itself an attractive destination for investors, according to the US Ambassador in India, Mr David C. Mulford. Speaking at a press conference ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Gandhigram Rural Institute ties up with Intergraph
THE Intergraph Company, USA, has recognised the Department of Rural Development, The Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI) at Gandhigram, near here as registered research laboratory for a period of two years under the Intergraph Synergy ... More

EVENTS

Coimbatore gears up for The Hindu job fair
WITH time ticking for the opening of `The Hindu Opportunities Job Fair' here on Saturday, there is lot of excitement in the air. The importance of the event could be gauged from the fact that Coimbatore is the second place where The Hindu ... More

Chennai to host plastics expo from Friday
AN investment of $9.5 billion is expected in polymeric material to meet the increasing requirement in India, according to Dr Sushil K. Verma, Director General, Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology (CIPET). He said it is ... More

Japanese festival from today
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To mark 100 years of the Rotary movement, the Rotary Club of Thiruvananthapuram is organising a four-day Japanese Festival here from Wednesday. To be held in association with the alumni society of the ... More

Cos confirm participation
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thirty-one companies have confirmed their participation at `The Hindu Opportunities Fair 2005' to be conducted at the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex in Coimbatore on February 26 and 27. The following is the complete ... More

APAS annual convention
HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences' (APAS) annual convention, scheduled to be held at Bapatla on February 25, would focus on biotechnology. Three seminars would be held on agricultural biotechnology, environment ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Chilli leads spices export surge
CHILLI takes the top slot in export of spices, probably for the first time, with a record shipment of 1.14 lakh tonnes valued at Rs 421.21 crore during April-January 2004-05 as against a target of 75,000 tonnes, valued at Rs 315 crore, for the ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

DOD's tsunami warning systems in the works
Tamil Nadu on the East coast and Gujarat on the West are most at risk from tsunamis. More

Contributions to The Hindu Relief Fund

TOURISM

Vizag beach road gets a facelift
WHAT were once secluded, inaccessible spots on the beach road from here to Bheemunipatnam (25 km) have now become accessible thanks to the recent reconstruction of the road. They have now been turned into exquisite locales, with the ... More

PEOPLE

Kaye elected as US-India Business Council Chairman
The US-India Business Council on Tuesday announced the election of Mr Charles R. Kaye as Chairman of Board of Director of USIBC. Mr Kaye is the Co-President of Warburg Pincus LLC, a global private equity firm with substantial investments in ... More

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