The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Contract research organisations join hands
CONTRACT research organisations in the country have formed an association to share best practices, establish benchmarks, tap global opportunities and advocate for the industry. A core group representing the contract research industry met here ... More

NRIS

Bank of Baroda hikes FCNR interest rates
BANK of Baroda has revised upwards the interest rates on NRE term deposits effective April 4. It has also revised interest rates on FCNR (B) deposits with effect from April 4. ... More

SBT hikes NRI deposit rates
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has raised the interest rates for NRE savings bank, FCNR (expect pound sterling), RFC and NRE term deposits with effect from April 1. The new interest rate for RFC deposits for one year ... More

Union Bank raises rates
MUMBAI: Union Bank of India has raised FCNR (B) and rupee NRE term deposits interest rates for various maturities from April 7.

ANTI-DUMPING

Govt keen on hiking FDI cap on insurance — Germany may review dumping duties on Indian goods
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Tuesday reiterated the Government's intention to raise the foreign direct investment cap in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from the present 26 per cent. "The intention is to raise the insurance ... More

CEMENT

Cement majors report rise in despatches
CEMENT majors have reported increase in despatches ranging from 5.44 per cent to around 10 per cent for the year ended March 31, 2005. Associated Cement Companies said its despatches of 165.69 lakh tonnes are the highest ever achieved by the ... More

ECONOMY

Full Plan panel meet stresses need to raise tax/GDP ratios
THE meeting of the full Planning Commission today zeroed in on raising the tax/GDP ratios both at the Centre and the States in order to meet the requirements of public expenditure, which would be necessary to meet the many commitments of the ... More

Tenth Plan growth rate may miss target: Manmohan
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday said that despite several positive features in the economy, there were also signs that it was not on track to achieve many of the important targets of the Tenth Five Year Plan. Addressing a ... More

`India must liberalise services regime'
THE US Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) has asked India to come up with a just, fair and equitable programme of liberalisation of services, particularly in the financial sector, so that meaningful negotiations can take place at India's ... More

NMCC report - a sneak preview: `India must leverage large buying for tech transfer'
THE National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) has recommended in its report that when organisations such as Defence, Railways, Air India and Indian Airlines buy their requirements from abroad, they should insist on some transfer of ... More

Kerala must act quickly to rein in spending: Expert
KERALA will continue to have blind faith in the Fiscal Responsibility Act and give up control over its purse strings at its own peril, according to a leading public finance expert. The act by itself will be of no use in solving the ... More

ENVIRONMENT

`Public hearings' on pollution caused by pharma units today
THE Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) has decided to conduct a `public hearing' tomorrow on the pollution problems being faced by the public in five districts of the State, where 92 pharmaceutical units were directed to be closed ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

Cut transaction costs: PHD Chamber
THE Foreign Trade Policy, to be announced this week, should aim at removing procedural hurdles and reducing high transaction costs faced by Indian exporters to help enhance the competitiveness of Indian products in the world market, the PHD ... More

HEALTH

DD to air soap to increase AIDS awareness
EARLY, this year, the Star Group had committed itself to the cause of HIV/AIDS and had agreed to incorporate information creatively in its popular programmes. Now, national broadcaster, Doodarshan will soon start airing a daily soap on the ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS

Nigeria blacklists 11 Indian drug cos
THE bogey of a fake medicines has surfaced again, but this time, on Nigerian shores. Eleven Indian companies have been blacklisted by the Nigerian regulatory authority for the alleged supply of counterfeit drugs. However, the Indian ... More

`Patents Act will not lead to hike in drug prices'
THE Government has reiterated that the passing of the Patents (Third Amendment) Act 2005 will not lead to any hike in drug prices as there are enough safeguards in the legislation. The Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, in a message ... More

Pharmexcil steps in for trouble-shooting
FOLLOWING the decision of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control of Nigeria (Nafdac) to place some Indian pharmaceutical companies on an `alert list of banned suppliers' for supply of counterfeit drugs to Nigeria, the ... More

POWER

BHEL,TCS develop software for power stations
`POWER Pack' — a software jointly developed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to aid in asset management of power generating stations, is proving to be a hit with power developers both in the country ... More

APGenco rules out power cut in summer
WITH the rabi operations set to be completed in the State in about 15 days, the Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation Ltd (APGenco) has given an assurance that there would be no power cuts during the summer months. Addressing a press conference ... More

Central nod for power project in Kerala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Centre has extended its in-principle approval to a Rs 337-crore project for electrification of 879 villages in the State. This was the outcome of a videoconferencing session the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, ... More

TAXATION

VAT hits live chicken exports to Kerala
LIVE chicken movement from Tamil Nadu to Kerala has been affected for the last one week in view of the poultry traders objecting to 12.5 per cent value- added tax (VAT) being imposed by Kerala on live birds brought from Tamil Nadu. According ... More

AP Govt invokes ESMA on druggists
THE five-day strike by chemists and druggists in Andhra Pradesh took a serious turn on Tuesday with the State Government invoking ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act) and threatening to cancel the licences of druggists. The Andhra Pradesh ... More

TEXTILES

Comptex meet to focus on global competitiveness
POST-ATC (Agreement on Textiles and Clothing), the domestic textile industry is likely to attract large investments both from domestic and foreign sources. The textile industry contributes 4 per cent of national GDP and 20 per cent of ... More

EU, US may clamp down on Chinese textile exports — Windfall likely for Indian cos
EVENTS scheduled to happen halfway across the globe during the course of the week could have a big bearing on the business prospects of Indian textile exporters. A crucial meeting of the European Commission, the European Union's executive ... More

COAL

SECL to sell coal through e-auctions
FOLLOWING in the footsteps of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), the largest subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL), has begun to sell coal through the `e-auction' route on a trial basis. The company will now organise ... More

RADIO/TV

Tune in
As the FM and satellite radio services grow in popularity, many private radio service providers are coming up to meet the demand.

EDUCATION

Maritime varsity to take shape this fiscal
THE proposed Indian Maritime University, which will be bringing all the maritime training institutes in the country under its umbrella, will begin to take shape in the current fiscal. Mr G.S. Sahni, Director-General of Shipping, told ... More

CARS

New emission norms lead to shake-out in diesel car segment
THE changeover to the more stringent Bharat Stage III emission norm for passenger cars, which came into effect from April 1, has quietly led to a shakeout in the diesel passenger car segment. The new norms are so severe that quite a few of the ... More

FOODS & FOOD PROCESSING

GoM approves draft of Integrated Food Law
THE Group of Ministers (GoM) today approved the draft of the Integrated Food Law, thus paving the way for merger, amendment or repealing of the 15 separate laws that currently govern the country's food sector. The law also proposes to empower a ... More

LEATHER

Leather footwear cos seek parity on tax treatment
FOLLOWING the implementation of the value-added tax (VAT) regime, prices of leather footwear could go up by 8-10 per cent on account of higher incidence of taxation, according to the leather sector players. Seeking parity with the 4 per cent ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS

Task force to seek funds for stem cell research
FOUR years after it came from the back stage of domestic labs, stem cell research in the country can look forward to some new lines of support. The special national task force has proposed a sizeable `priority fund' of unmentioned size to ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

First mapping satellite to be launched in May
The satellite will place India among the front-runners in the world to have an exclusive satellite capability in cartography. More

CINEMA

Film studio inaugurated at Hyderabad
SURESH Productions and Ramanaidu Studio have opened Spirit, a cine support facility offering wide-ranging services including digital and special effects technologies for filmmakers and the entertainment industry worldwide. Mr Barrie Osborne, ... More

IPR

Need to bring handicrafts under IPR highlighted
GLOBALISATION should be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat, according to the former Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Mr Shahid Ali Khan. He said the future belongs to the two lions of ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE

STEP for mainstreaming of tribal communities
THE Sustainable Tribal Empowerment Project (STEP), supported by the European Union, has proposed mainstreaming of tribal communities and their access to service providers. "This is critical to ensure matching of basic community needs with ... More

Package ready for project affected families in AP
THE State Government has worked out a relief and rehabilitation plan for the families, which would be displaced, consequent to the construction of large irrigation projects planned under the Jala Yagnam initiative. The Cabinet had recently ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Nabard projects Rs 29,423 cr for priority sectors in AP
THE National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has projected a potential of Rs 29,423 crore for agriculture and allied activities and other priority sectors in Andhra Pradesh during 2005-06. The projection represents a growth ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Edible oil imports seen rising 5 lakh t
THE country's edible oil imports are likely to increase by five lakh tonnes. The increase in imports is actually being capped by a recovery in the rabi oilseeds crop. "Despite soyabean crop production being cut by the industry and mustard crop ... More

`Enough forex reserves to meet crude import needs'
THE Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, on Tuesday said that the rising global crude oil prices and severe volatility in the international oil market was a matter of concern, but India has sufficient foreign exchange reserves to meet its ... More

TOURISM

Pune tour planners reinvent travel idiom
For an estimated Rs 2.50 lakh, the Khatus promise clients a 19-day holiday, which will take them across and beyond the Arctic Circle. More

Welcome signs in tourism sector: Minister
KERALA'S tourism and hospitality sector is performing well, with many hotels in the State enjoying very high occupancy during the current season, the Kerala Tourism Minister, Mr K.C. Venugopal, has said. At a press conference in the city on ... More