The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, August 06, 2005

`Weak monsoon' phase likely from next week
THE southwest monsoon is expected to go into a `weak phase' after the ongoing wet session in the north and the northwest draws to a close early next week. A similar lull phase that resembled a `break monsoon', without being officially ... More

AWARDS & HONOURS

Biotechnologist wins award
BANGALORE: Prof G. Padmanabhan, biotechnologist and former Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has been honoured with the Gujar Mal Modi Award for `Innovative Science and Technology' for the year 2005. Prof ... More

BMA invites nominations
BANGALORE: The Bangalore Management Association (BMA) has instituted the `Life Time Achievement Award-Management Excellence' for which it has invited nominations from organisations in Karnataka. The nominee would need to be a ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES

Ceiling on tax audits: Apex court stays Madras HC order
THE Supreme Court has stayed the Madras High Court order relating to the issues of fixing a ceiling on tax audit assignments and the minimum audit fees chargeable by the members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The ... More

ECONOMY

Agricultural income fell 7 pc in 2002-03; no fall in consumption
This was the comment of a cotton farmer owning about 35 acres of dry land in Amravati district Vidharbha, Maharashtra, after losing his crop two years in a row. After spending huge amounts of money on labour, seeds, fertiliser and pesticides, ... More

Inflation declines on fall in food prices
THE annual wholesale price index-based inflation rose 4.07 per cent during the week ended July 23, down from the previous week's 4.18 per cent. The dip in the year-on-year inflation was largely due to a fall in food prices and last year's high ... More

ELECTRONICS

Electronics for all
Workers busy handling consumer electronics goods at a shop in Kolkata. The densely populated city is amongst the biggest markets for consumer items in the ... More

Hi-tech show
Resistors displayed at the three-day `Cliktronica - 05', the electronics and IT hardware exhibition at Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Friday. The event is sponsored by the Government of Karnataka through the Department of Commerce and ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS

Cabinet nod for Customs co-operation pact with China
THE Union Cabinet has given its ex-post-facto approval for signing a Customs co-operation and mutual assistance agreement with China. The agreement would help in the availability of reliable, quick, and cost-effective information and ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

`India-South Korea bilateral trade likely to touch $6 b'
THE India-South Korea bilateral trade is expected to grow by over 30 per cent to reach the $6-billion mark in the current financial year, says a PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry analysis. This growth was 16 per cent last fiscal. The ... More

`India, China must come together for mutual benefit'
INDIA and China should collaborate rather than compete in investments for mutual benefit. Both are considered the fastest growing developing economies, represent the largest markets and need to improve the living standards of their people. This ... More

Cabinet okays signing of revised text of Bangkok Agreement
THE Union Cabinet has given its approval for adopting and signing the revised text of the Bangkok Agreement, which has been renamed as `Asia Pacific Trade Agreement'. The revised Agreement would promote and enhance cooperation through trade ... More

HEALTH

`Steps afoot for tribal healthcare'
IT is difficult to provide medicare to isolated and thinly populated tribal habitations and establishment of model Girijan colonies and villages may help solve the problem, according to the Chief Minister, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. The Chief ... More

Meet on HIV/AIDS at Ghanpur
HYDERABAD: Ichha (International Centre for Health HIV/AIDS) and the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin will organise the 11th annual International Continuing Medical Education programme on HIV/AIDS Update. The two-day ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE

Rail freight corridor: Gujarat seeks `ports-friendly' route
THE Gujarat Government has asked the Railway Ministry to consider a different route of the proposed Delhi-Mumbai dedicated rail freight corridor. "Instead of building the dedicated rail freight corridor between Delhi and Mumbai through ... More

`Lack of infrastructure in India a major concern'
THE growth path which India has been treading in the recent past has made global business houses look towards the country very favourably, but the lack of infrastructure is still a concern, according to a group of students from the Graduate ... More

AP CM promises better urban roads, more water schemes
THE State Government will accord priority to improving the civic amenities and living conditions in the towns, especially urban water schemes and roads, said the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy. He was addressing a public meeting at ... More

PETROLEUM

Indian team to visit China to explore energy cooperation
INDIA would look at joining hands with China for acquiring oil and gas properties in third countries, particularly in the Caspian region, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America, the Additional Secretary (International Cooperation), in the ... More

POWER

Rural electrification scheme — Power Ministry seeks 130 pc hike in allocation
THE Power Ministry has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Finance seeking a 130 per cent hike the allocation for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana for the current fiscal. As against Rs 1,100 crore earmarked for the programme during ... More

TAXATION

Punjab VAT Bill gets Union Cabinet nod
THE Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the introduction of a new Bill in Parliament to facilitate the extension of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act 2005 to the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The new Bill — The Punjab General Sales Tax (as ... More

SSI

SBI opens small enterprises credit cell at Coimbatore
STATE Bank of India has put into operation its small enterprises credit cell (SECC) for Coimbatore on Friday. The SECC being ushered in by the bank as part of its business process re-engineering is intended to cut down the turn-around-time ... More

EDUCATION

Children promise President a corruption-free India
Mr Kalam said parents and teachers played a great role in evolving children. It is not just education. Values too should be inculcated in the first 17 years. More

New B-school opens in Chennai
THE Vinayaka Missions Research Foundation, Salem, and Centennial College, Canada, have launched the Vinayaka Centennial Canadian Business School in Chennai. The school will offer courses in international business, human resources management and ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS

Sankara Nethralaya to research use of synthetic medium
VISION Research Foundation, the research wing of Sankara Nethralaya, Nichi-in Biosciences, an Indo-Japan joint venture, and Mebiol Inc, a Japanese biotechnology firm, will research the use of a synthetic medium developed by Mebiol to culture ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

Hiranandani group to enter Chennai real estate market
THE Mumbai-based Hiranandani group, a large real estate developer, is all set to enter the Chennai market with a project on the Old Mahabalipuram Road. According to reliable real estate industry sources, the Hiranandani group has acquired 100 ... More

L&T bid to teach masonry work from grass-root levels
SANTOSH Kumar slogs five to six hours a day in the hot sun doing masonry work. No, he does not work at a construction site, but at Larsen & Toubro's Construction Skills Training Institute (CSTI) in Chennai. The unemployed youth hailing from a .. More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS

Guidelines for stem cell research soon
A TASK force created by the Department of Biotechnology has evolved draft guidelines for stem cell research in the country and is set to finalise them within six to eight weeks. Speaking to newspersons after the inauguration of the Centre for ... More

Focus on gene chips & proteomics, says Kalam
INDIA has the potential to tap research opportunities in proteomics and bio-chips that can help understand biological processes and treat diseases. This is possible even though the country has missed the opportunity to partner in the human genome ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Parliament may take up Bill on DNA profiling
KEEPING in mind the unfolding potential of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) profiling in the country, Parliament is likely to take up a Bill this calendar year, facilitating storage, retrieval and dissemination of information on criminals and ... More

DISINVESTMENT

BHEL disinvestment proposal put on hold
THE Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Mr Santosh Mohan Dev, today said the Government has put on hold the proposal to sell a 10 per cent stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. Speaking at the sidelines of a ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

Power sector attracts over Rs 3,500-cr FDI
THE power sector has received over Rs 3,500 crore foreign direct investment since January 2002. The actual FDI inflows during January 2002 to May 2005 amounted to Rs 3,559.06 crore with Mauritius alone accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES

Find new applications of knowledge: Pitroda
THE National Knowledge Commission Chairman, Dr Sam Pitroda, has called upon intellectuals to find new applications of knowledge. "Today we must look for new methods of knowledge, new society, new sources of knowledge and then only we can ... More

LABOUR REFORMS

States may be allowed to enact labour laws in specific areas
THE Centre is considering empowering States to enact separate labour laws in specific areas such as special economic zones, according to the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath. Responding to questions from delegates at the 169th ... More

NEW PROJECTS

Pioneer Embroideries to acquire land in H.P.
MUMBAI: Pioneer Embroideries Ltd has completed the formalities required to acquire land at Kala Amb in Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh. It has received permission from the State's Single Window Clearance and Monitoring Authority for ... More

EVENTS

`Hone PR skills to succeed in emerging environment'
GOOD communication skills are the key for young Indian professionals to grab the opportunities emerging with increased investments in the country and globally, said the Speaker of the State Assembly, Mr K.R. Suresh Reddy. Though Indians are ... More

India keen to learn from European biz incubation experience
INDIA is keen on learning from the business incubation experiences of the UK, Germany and Sweden, to begin with. Six experts from these countries have been invited to share their views with stakeholders in the business incubation arena in India ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Efforts on to revive sops for cashew export
THE cashew industry is exploring all options, including legal, against the Union Commerce Ministry's decision to withdraw export benefits to cashew under the Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana (VKUY). After the announcement of these benefits to cashew, ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

IRDA relaxes norms for flood loss survey
AS a special case in view of the recent floods in Maharashtra and Gujarat, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has decided to temporarily raise the limit of losses required to be surveyed by a licensed surveyor and loss ... More

TOURISM

Each tourism project to get Rs 50 cr for development
TO give a big push to the tourism sector, the Government is formulating a new scheme that could see a quantum jump in the funds being made available for infrastructure development at tourism sites. The new scheme being drawn up by the Ministry ... More

PEOPLE

Cardio Society President
HYDERABAD: Dr Sunil Kapoor, Chief of Division of Cardiology at Care Hospital, has been unanimously elected as President of Cardiological Society of India (AP Chapter), according to a press release here. ... More

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