The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, July 02, 2005

`Country to receive near-normal rainfall'
THE 15-per cent deficiency in average rainfall in the country is expected to be made up by the first week of July. "The country will receive near normal rainfall and the monsoon will make up for the 15-per cent deficiency till today by July 5 ... More

Second `low' evolving over Bay of Bengal
THE National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) has sensed `favourable' conditions in the Bay of Bengal indicating the formation of a possible low-pressure area, the second of the season, within the next two to three days. ... More

Foaming fury
A monsoon fed sea throws up foam around the area adjoining the Vizhinjam harbour on Friday morning.

ECONOMY

Inflation falls to 4.1 pc on lower textile prices
THE annual wholesale price index-based inflation dipped to 4.1 per cent during the week ended June 18, from the previous week's 4.33 per cent. The 0.23-per cent dip in growth was mainly on account of last year's high base and lower textile ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS

Excise Dept sets up `Help Centre' in Kolkata
IN keeping with the recent directive of the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, the Commissionerate of Central Excise and Service Tax, Kolkata, has set up a `Help Centre for Taxpayers', outside the department at the premises of The Bengal ... More

Cochin Customs opens help centre
THE State Industries Minister, Mr V.K. Ebrahim Kunju, inaugurated the help centre of Cochin Customs on Friday. The centre is located at the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building, Mattancherry for which the chamber has provided all ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE

SETHUSAMUDRAM PROJECT: A BUSINESS LINE FEATURE

A canal that's more than a waterway
According to an L&T Ramboll report, between 1860 and 1922 as many as nine proposals were formulated for cutting a canal across the narrow strip of land mostly through the Rameswaram island to connect the Gulf of Mannar with Palk Bay. More

A shot in the arm for coastal shipping
THE Rs 2,400-crore Sethusamudram ship canal project (SSCP) will help develop coastal shipping in the country, according tothe Union Minister for Shipping, Mr T.R. Baalu. So far, coastal shipping has not flourished and developed in the country ... More

All roads lead to Madurai
A GALAXY of leaders from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre led by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council, Ms Sonia Gandhi, will participate in the programme in ... More

Cabinet okay for Greater Hyderabad
THE State Cabinet on Friday approved the creation of Greater Hyderabad by merging the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad with 12 municipalities within the twin cities and eight villages and has approved a plan to invest Rs 800 crore to strengthen ... More

On the beaten path
A group of daily commuters of the six villages from Hatgacha to Hatishala, a 12-km stretch in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, struggling to cross a road that has been battered by rains. It is only a 35-km drive from the central part ... More

PETROLEUM

ONGC keen on stake in GSPC gas find
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has expressed interest for a stake in the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) gas find. GSPC has struck gas with an estimated outflow of 20 trillion cubic feet in the Krishna-Godavari basin ... More

POWER

AP Govt bids to tap JBIC aid for Krishnapatnam project
THE State Government plans to negotiate with the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) to fund the Rs 8,000-crore, 800x2 MW Krishnapatnam coal based power plant. The State Government is in the process of mobilising about Rs 3,200 ... More

`Spare Mescom consumers of tariff hike': Kanara Chamber
THE Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged the Karnataka Government not to increase electricity tariff for the consumers of Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) Ltd. In a letter to the Chief Minister, Mr N. Dharam ... More

STEEL

Steel majors cut prices on rising inventories
CLOSE on the heels of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) slashing product prices, steel majors Tata Steel, Essar Steel and Ispat Industries on Friday announced a cut in their prices by around seven to eight per cent on account of rising ... More

TEXTILES

Small foreign buyers make it big for textile exporters
FOLLOWING the dismantling of the textile quota regime, the smaller textile retailers from the developed countries are emerging as the main customers for domestic textile and garment exporters. Even as big textile retailing giants have ... More

SSI

Govt working on special credit plan for SMEs
THE Finance Ministry is working on a special credit plan for small and medium sector enterprises and will announce the policy this month. Speaking at the centenary celebrations of the public sector Canara Bank here on Friday, the Union Finance ... More

APSFC gives spot approvals
HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh State Financial Corporation (APSFC) has given on the spot in-principle approval to 60 projects involving a financial assistance of Rs 149.64 crore on the first day of the month-long `Entrepreneurs Awareness ... More

EDUCATION

MMA to launch centres for education, biz development
THE Madras Management Association (MMA) will launch a centre for continuing education to offer short-term courses in management and another for business development. Addressing the valedictory of MMA's annual general meeting at which the first ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS

SVIMS-Tirupati to be upgraded
THE facilities at the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), Tirupati, would be upgraded with an investment of Rs 120 crore. The amount will be shared equally by the State Government and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Leading luminaries to take part in Hyderabad Science Congress
IN addition to the galaxy of scientists, Nobel laureates and leading public figures, who will attend the 93rd edition of the Indian Science Congress to be held in Hyderabad during January 3-7, 2006, six young Indian scientists will be awarded at ... More

DISINVESTMENT

Stalemate over BHEL divestment continues
UNCERTAINTY over the Government's move to divest stake in BHEL continued on Friday, with a meeting between UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, and Left leaders not resulting in any immediate decision. "Ms Sonia Gandhi, after hearing the Left ... More

Naidu opposes BHEL disinvestment
VISAKHAPATNAM: The President of the Telugu Desam Party, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, said he was totally opposed to disinvestment in BHEL. His party would oppose attempts to reduce Government stake in profit-making PSUs, he said at a press ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

FDI entry in retail will not displace `mom and pop' shops: Kamal Nath
The question was whether the conventional street-corner outfits would be able to handle the technology challenges of cold chains, packaging or logistics. More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

TRAI calls for sops to boost rural telephony
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has said that the Government needs to increase the level of competition in the rural sector by offering incentives to telecom service providers. In a study paper on the growth potential in ... More

AP to get Rs 124 cr under NFFWP
THE Centre has sanctioned a fresh assistance of Rs 124 crore for Andhra Pradesh under the National Food For Work Programme (NFFWP) for the year 2005-06. According to a State Government press release, the assistance will be in the form of cash ... More

INCOME TAX

Marginal rise in Kerala's tax collection
INCOME-TAX collections from Kerala went up marginally in 2004-05 to Rs 1,724 crore from the previous fiscal, according to Mr B. Ravibalan, Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax. In 2003-04, income-tax collections in the State stood at Rs 1,712 ... More

Addl funds sanctioned to computerise I-T Dept
THE Union Cabinet on Thursday approved an additional expenditure of Rs 442.03 crore for the full computerisation of the Income-Tax Department. This amount is in addition to the earlier sanctioned amount of Rs 251.56 crore in December 2002. The ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

June vegoil imports in downward mode
AFTER unusually large imports in April and May, vegetable oil arrivals into the country showed a sharp downward correction in June. According to initial data made available to Business Line by the industry portal, Oilmandi.com, last ... More

Spices exports fall in April-May
INCREASED availability from other origins seems to have pushed down the exports of chilli, coriander etc in April-May this year compared to the last fiscal. Export of chilli had dropped to 22,000 tonnes valued at Rs 75.90 crore from 26,762 ... More