The Hindu Business Line : Friday, August 05, 2005

Fresh rain spell in North likely from Saturday
WEDNESDAY'S well-marked low-pressure area over north Bay of Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh has been tracking a north-northwest course and has hurtled into a position over Jharkhand and adjoining north-interior Orissa on Thursday afternoon. ... More

Time to rejoice
Copious rains over the fortnight have put a green blanket on the State, which received deficient rainfall in the previous years. The livestock, the fields and the hydel projects have all been ... More

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY

ISMA signs pact with oil cos for ethanol supply
THE Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), on behalf of all State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs), on Thursday signed an agreement with the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) for sustained offtake of ethanol for blending it with ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS

Duty evasion in vegoil imports continues
THE ingenuity of the edible oil importers to beat the system to evade customs duty seems to have no limit. After exploring possibilities such as invoice manipulation (under-invoicing of imports) as also mis-declaration of goods and quality, they ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

`Non-tariff barriers must be transparent'
"With steady decrease in tariffs the world over, NTBs have become the chief instrument of regulating trade. The common objective is to limit imports." More

Kamal Nath to take up DEPB issue with PM
THE Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, on Thursday said the problems being faced by the industry on account of the misinterpretation of provisions concerning taxation of Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) and negative profits ... More

Malaysian Govt keen on trade ties with Kerala
THE Malaysian Government has offered to work with the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry to develop business ties during the recent visit of a chamber delegation to that country. Mr C. P. Jain, President of the chamber, who led the ... More

HEALTH

Food security vital for tribal health: Study
It was discovered that for want of food, tribals were selling off the mosquito nets given to them and exposing themselves to mosquitoes and malaria. More

HOTELS

Great shutdown
The 165-year-old Great Eastern Hotel is finally set with a closure deadline of September 30. One of the oldest hotels of the country stands high with its majestic building, structured during the British era. Nine bidders including ITC, Park ... More

PETROLEUM

Gas pipeline project — India may become consortium partner: Iran
INDIA may consider becoming a consortium partner, involving Iran and Pakistan, to build the proposed $7.4-billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to have a better say in the project. Speaking to presspersons at the conclusion of the two-day ... More

Panel for cut in petro products customs duty
THE Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas has recommended reduction in customs duty on petroleum products, especially petrol and diesel, to five per cent from 10 per cent, to bring it on par with the customs duty on ... More

POWER

Keen to enter nuclear power, if allowed: Tata
The recent Indo-US joint declaration on civil nuclear energy cooperation must have given a very strong indicator of things to come for Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata group, to have said what he did at the Tata Power AGM on Thursday. In ... More

No final word yet on regulator's powers: Shahi
UNDER fire from the Central and State power sector regulators, the Power Ministry on Thursday said that its reported move to dilute the regulatory establishment's tariff-setting power was only in a "proposal stage" and that the Centre was open to ... More

Bhakra Beas plans new units in HP, Uttaranchal
THE Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), which runs the hydroelectric power stations in the Bhakra-Nangal dam project, has proposed setting up new hydel projects in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal through a special purpose vehicle (SPV). ... More

Mescom launches `dedicated power' scheme
THE Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) has come out with a scheme for consumers to provide `dedicated power', if the consumer is ready to consume 25 per cent more power than the previous financial year. The scheme may benefit those ... More

AP plans to add 3,187 MW of power in five years
THE State Government, through Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation (AP Genco), has drawn up plans to add about 3,187 megawatts (MW) of power, investing about Rs 14,951 crore within five years. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, ... More

TAXATION

Panel against setting up of national tax tribunal
THE Government's proposal to set up a national tax tribunal (NTT) has not found favour with a Parliamentary panel. The department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on personnel, public grievances and law and justice has expressed ... More

APFTA stages protest against VAT
HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Federation of Textile Associations (APFTA) has expressed its protest on the imposition of value-added tax (VAT) on all textile items in the State effective from April 1, 2006. In a press release, the ... More

TEXTILES

Notification on setting up textile parks in 2 weeks
THE Union Textiles Secretary, Mr R. Poornalingam, today said that the notification for setting up 25 textile parks in the country in two years is expected to be issued in a week. The Cabinet committee has already approved the proposal forwarded ... More

Lack of insurance hits powerloom units
Coping with the losses can be doubly hard with the inability to make good the damage because of no insurance cover and fixing damaged machinery and property to get things back on track. More

SSI

Micro irrigation firms seek component price revision
THE Micro Irrigation Companies Committee of the Andhra Pradesh Micro Irrigation Project (APMIP-MICC), comprising all the 15 short-listed companies for implementing the micro irrigation projects in the State, has appealed to the Government to ... More

Kerala envisages 25,000 SSI units a year
A study has revealed that the main problems faced by entrepreneurs in the State were deficient working capital and bureaucratic hassles. More

EDUCATION

Placement for first batch of Great Lakes students
ALL students in the first batch graduating from the Chennai-based Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) have been placed. According to a press release, the highest salary offered was Rs 17 lakh by British Telecom; the average salary was ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS

`SRMC in talks to acquire Malar Hospitals'
SRI Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, which is run by a trust organisation, is in talks to buy Malar Hospitals Ltd, according to sources close to the negotiations. Malar Hospitals Ltd is a listed company and has a 250-bed ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

Parsvnath group launches multiplex-mall in Ghaziabad
THE Parsvnath group, a real estate developer, today launched Parsvnath MMX, a multiplex-cum-shopping mall, in Mohan Nagar in Ghaziabad. The cineplex and the food court in the complex will be run by the Mansingh group. The complex is spread ... More

Fire Dept NOC through e-Seva centres
BUILDERS of high-rise structures need not wait for months any more to get NOC (no objection certificate) from the Fire Department. They can get the certificate through any of the 246 e-Seva centres in the State. Cutting short a cumbersome ... More

PRECIOUS METALS

Spot gold may correct lower
SPOT gold prices rallied higher helped by a recovering Euro climbing to a two-month high, which makes dollar priced gold more attractive for investors. Fund and institutional buying has also lent support after some important technical levels were ... More

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING

Supplements get 25-40 pc of main issue readership: NRS
RELEASING further data on psychographics, supplements and non-conventional media, NRS 2005 reveals that the reach of supplements varies between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of the main issue readership. In fact, the differences are sharp along ... More

EVENTS

Knowledge Commission to come out with first report by Oct
THE National Knowledge Commission, set up under the chairmanship of Mr Sam Pitroda, will come out with the first set of recommendations by October 2005. Speaking to newspersons after a meeting with Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Pitroda ... More

National panel for fire, emergency service likely
DO you know how far we are from a comfortable number of fire stations, firemen and fire-fighting and rescue vehicles? Hold your breath! India falls short of 97.45 per cent of the prescribed number of fire stations and 96.28 per cent of ... More

K-Circle quiz contests
HYDERABAD: The K-Circle annual quiz contests would be held here on Saturday, August 6. The Outlook K-Circle Schools Quiz would be in the morning and the Outlook K-Circle Trophy, which is open to colleges, clubs and corporates would be ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Coffee exports may dip to 10-year low — Growers, traders hold back stocks anticipating higher price
COFFEE exports are likely to decline to a 10-year low this calendar year as growers and traders hold back stocks in anticipation of better prices, according to Mr Ramesh Rajah, President of Coffee Exporters Association of India. In the first ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

Chidambaram asks insurers to settle claims quickly
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Thursday directed the Chairmen and Managing Director of the four public sector general insurance companies that claims below Rs 50,000, arising out of the recent flooding in Mumbai and other parts of ... More

Bank account opening norms simplified in flood-hit areas
THE Reserve Bank of India has instructed banks to observe minimum formalities for opening accounts for flood-affected persons, in a press release issued on Thursday. The bank may open the account if another account-holder introduces the ... More

Assocham chief calls for effective disaster management plan
A SPECIAL fund to upgrade urban infrastructure and an effective disaster management plan are needed urgently, according to the Assocham President, Mr M.K. Sanghi. He made the suggestion in the context of the damage to life and property in the ... More

`No disruption to SHCIL services despite Mumbai rains'
THE incessant rains in Mumbai during last week might have had cascading troubles of connectivity failure, power interruption and loss of communication link, forcing several organisations to fail in offering services to their customers. But, ... More

Bhiwandi floods hit textile companies hard
LAST week's floods in Bhiwandi, a transhipment hub that is growing in popularity because of its proximity to Mumbai, have inflicted huge losses to local godowns. While the losses are huge across all industries, the textile industry perhaps had ... More

Pune facing drugs shortage
THE massive loss suffered by pharmaceutical companies whose warehouses were submerged in water during the recent Mumbai rains, is beginning to have its fall-out with cities like Pune experiencing shortage of drugs and medications, which are ... More

Minister announces relief measures in Kolhapur
THE torrential rains lashing Maharashtra in the last few days devastated around 569 villages and seven tehsils in Kolhapur, Mr Harshvardhan Patil, Minister of State for Marketing and Employment Guarentee Scheme, said. Talking to newspersons, he ... More

`Power sector loss at Rs 20-25 cr'
DAMAGE to the power distribution and transmission infrastructure in Maharashtra due to the recent floods, as per preliminary estimates, is in the Rs 20-25-crore range, Mr Sanjay Bhatia, Managing Director, Maharashtra State Electricity ... More