The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Weak monsoon revival belies expectations
MONSOON has revived but only just about, thanks to less-than-expected strength of the easterlies blowing in from the Bay of Bengal. Significantly, the seasonal weather system is feared to go into another weak phase from August 22 (Monday ... More

ECONOMY

Where the tsunami came as a blessing...
IT is with a little hesitation and embarrassment that social scientists and economists in Sri Lanka admit that the tsunami waves that ravaged the tiny country on December 26, 2004, "came as a bit of a mixed blessing" and helped the Sri Lankan ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS

Bangalore chamber sets up help desk for excise, customs
THE Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) has established a help centre at its premises for Central excise, customs and service tax. The centre has been set up to assist small taxpayers. The help centre would primarily provide an ... More

HEALTH

Bengal launches healthcare programme
WEST Bengal has launched a five-year reform and investment programme for the healthcare sector in the State with a committed grant of 100 million pounds sterling (about Rs 750 crore) from the Department for International Development (DFID) of the ... More

PETROLEUM

Will King Abdullah keep Saudi economy well-oiled?
WINDS OF change are set to sweep across the dunes of Saudi Arabia. With the death of King Fahd, his half-brother Abdullah, who has taken over, is expected to fan this wind so that the desert kingdom keeps pace with an ... More

Coal bed methane output at ONGC's Bokaro block to begin in 2008
COAL bed methane (CBM) from ONGC's Bokaro block — held jointly with Indian Oil (20 per cent) — will start flowing in 2008-09. The two major beneficiaries of the find are expected to be SAIL's Bokaro Steel Plant and the Damodar ... More

High-level panel to look into Bombay High fire
THE Petroleum Ministry would set up a high-level enquiry committee to look into the incidence of fire in Mumbai High North (MHN). The fire broke our on July 27 when ONGC's multi-purpose support vehicle (MSV), Samudra Suraksha collided with the ... More

STEEL

Exporting iron ore is against national interests: Tata Steel MD
ALLOWING exports of iron ore is "absolutely against national interests", Mr B. Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel, said today. Speaking to journalists of The Hindu group here, Mr Muthuraman said it was "a dangerous trend" to allow ... More

TAXATION

Tax revenues of VAT States up 15.3 pc in Q1
THE tax revenues of value-added tax (VAT) implementing States and Union Territories have increased by 15.3 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal, the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidamabarm, told the Rajya Sabha here on ... More

Govt collects Rs 583 cr from FBT in Q1
THE Union Government has collected nearly Rs 583 crore as fringe benefit tax (FBT) during the first quarter of the current financial year. The banking cash transaction tax (BCTT) realised during the same period stood at Rs 20 crore. Mr S.S. ... More

COAL

Shortfall at Talcher mines — Paradip port scouting for new sources for coal shipment
A slump in the production of coal in the Talcher mines of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd and the consequent drop in its coastal shipment has sent the Paradip Port Trust to look for new sources of supply. The Paradip Port Trust believes that coal from ... More

PERSONAL PRODUCTS

Consumer durables sales decline in H1
THE first half of the year has not given the domestic consumer electronics and durables industry much to cheer about. In fact, the two largest segments of the industry - colour televisions (CTV) and refrigerators - have seen a decline in ... More

RADIO/TV

DD's studio in Madurai
MADURAI: Doordharshan's third production studio in the State, established at a cost of Rs 9.90 crore, was inaugurated by the MP, Mr P. Mohan, here. The centrally air-conditioned production facility includes a studio of 150 sq meter with ... More

EDUCATION

Hyderabad varsity to set up centres of excellence
THE University of Hyderabad is setting up centres of excellence in nanotechnology and complex systems engineering and design with active participation of the industry. While the Systems Engineering Centre would be a joint venture between the ... More

ISB meet on manufacturing
HYDERABAD: The Indian School of Business (ISB) will host a summit on `Indian Manufacturing Competitiveness' at its campus on August 18-19. The conference is co-hosted by the ISB's Operations and Information Technology Department, the ... More

FOODS & FOOD PROCESSING

Perishable food items must be exempted from VAT: Minister
`The VAT on non-perishable food items should not be more than 4 per cent.' More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

Minister for sale of prime land in Mumbai to settle debts
THE Maharashtra's Minister for Excise and Environment, Mr Ganesh Naik, has a panacea for all the financial ills that plague the State Government. Mr Naik has said that prime property owned by the Government in Mumbai be put up for sale. This ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

BPO fraud report: Nasscom asks for more details
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) said on Tuesday that the Indian IT and BPO industries match worldwide standards in security and as strong upholders of data security, the sectors would work with the legal ... More

PACKAGING

Sugar industry upset over 100 pc jute packaging order
The industry is questioning the grounds for issuing the mandatory order that has come into effect from Aug 1. More

DISINVESTMENT

No strategic sale in profit-making PSUs, says Chidambaram
THE Government is to consider some other form for divesting its stake in profit making central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) instead of strategic sale of equity. The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, informed Parliament on Tuesday that ... More

EVENTS

CavinKare CEO to deliver BL Club lecture today
THE CEO and Executive Director of CavinKare, Mr K.S. Ramesh, will deliver the academic year's first BL Club lecture at Tiruchi's Bharathidasan Institute of Management on Wednesday. He will speak on the `Winning strategies of strong brands'. ... More

INCOME TAX

CBDT pegs cost inflation index for 2005-06 at `497'
THE Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has pegged the cost inflation index for the financial year 2005-06 at `497'. This index is useful for assesses in the computation of tax on long-term capital gains (for indexation purposes). The ... More

Expert panel to study roadmap for EET method of taxation
THE Government has set up a Committee of Experts to work out a roadmap for moving towards an Exempt Exempt Taxable (EET) method of taxation of savings instruments. The committee is likely to submit its report by October 31, 2005. This was ... More

Seminar on TDS
HYDERABAD: The Income Tax Department will hold a three-day seminar on Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) at the Dr Marri Chenna Reddy Institute of HRD from August 17. The seminar would explain the importance of TDS and its recent amendments. ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Bill introduced to abolish cess on agri-product exports
A Bill to discontinue the existing cess on the export of several agricultural products was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, here on Tuesday. Once this Bill is enacted, exporters would not be ... More

Exports up 27 pc in July at $7.2 b — Apr-July trade deficit widens to $13.97 b
THE country's exports during July 2005 notched up a 27 per cent growth at $7,234.41 million compared with $5,705.22 million in the corresponding month of 2004. Announcing the latest trade figures at a news conference here, the Union Minister ... More