The Hindu Business Line : Friday, February 03, 2006

Rural employment scheme launched — People assured of 100 days of work in a year
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council of United Progressive Alliance, Ms Sonia Gandhi, on Thursday launched an employment guarantee scheme that would give people a legal right to get 100 days ... More

Aspirant nurses can now take US board test here
THE National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) of the US has included India in the new list of foreign centres where NCLEX-RN, the registered nurse (RN) examination for domestic nurse licensure purposes, will be conducted henceforth. ... More

CLIMATE & WEATHER

Anomalous warm weather engulfs north, central India
ANOMALOUS WARM weather has come to pervade most parts of the country, much before the last western disturbance with its pronouncedly cold nip has announced its arrival along the northwestern border. The resultant convective activity triggered ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES

Reliance Airport moves court against award
THE modernisation plan for Delhi and Mumbai airports faced its first major legal hurdle on Thursday with the Reliance Airport Developers Private Ltd filing a petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the award of the modernisation contract. ... More

ECONOMY

Households in eastern States conservative in borrowing: Survey
THE households in the eastern States of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam and the rural areas of Orissa seem to be more conservative in borrowing than those in the other States. According to a report by the National Sample Survey ... More

Manipur annual Plan fixed at Rs 1,160 cr
THE annual Plan for Manipur for the year 2006-07 has been finalised at Rs 1,160 crore, which is inclusive of Rs 419 crore for special reconstruction plan and projects of priority to the State. This was decided here on Thursday at a meeting ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

`India, EU determined to boost trade ties'
THERE is delightful poignancy about Commerce Minister Mr Kamal Nath's visit to Europe in Davos and London. On Wednesday, rounding off his meeting with Mr Peter Mandelson, European Union's Trade Commissioner, both of them in a joint statement ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE

Fears on Kakinada SEZ allayed
KAKINADA: Allotment of land to the proposed special economic zone and the refinery will in no way come in the way of bringing Kakinada on the main rail route and in fact these projects may "act as a catalyst for the fulfilment of the ... More

Monorail project: To cover 300 km in 18 corridors
WITHIN the next fortnight, bids would have been submitted for both the components of one of the most ambitious public transport projects being taken up by a State Government - the monorail project for Chennai. Earlier this month, the Tamil ... More

PETROLEUM

PSL executes HPCL order for pipes
PSL Ltd said it has completed the supply of 736 km pipes for the Mundra-Delhi Product Pipeline project of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd on January 31, ahead of schedule. The company said it was able to execute the order ahead of time ... More

BPCL mulls early IPO to part-finance Bina refinery
BPCL is now working hard for the financial closure of Bina Refinery - taken up through its subsidiary Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL) - so that it can be wrapped up by March 31, 2005. The company is also considering an early IPO to ... More

Deora hints at relief for oil cos in Budget
THE bleeding oil marketing companies (OMCs) can expect some relief in the forthcoming Union Budget, with the Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli S. Deora, expecting some changes in the tax structure for the oil sector. The Petroleum Minister said, "I ... More

Oil Ministry hopes to get contracted 5 mt LNG from Iran — But talks for additional 2.5 mt may be tough
WITH the UN referral issue creating uncertainty about India's future relations with Iran, the Petroleum Ministry is fairly assured of the supply of five-million-tonne contracted liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran. Putting to rest ... More

STEEL

RITES prepares report on rail link for Tata, Posco mines
RAIL India Technical & Economic Services (RITES) will prepare feasibility reports on rail infrastructure for the steel plants being set up by Tata Steel in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, and by Posco, the Korean steel giant, in ... More

TEXTILES

Power tariff cut buoys TN powerloom sector
THE Tamil Nadu Government's announcement of power tariff reduction for powerloom weavers has buoyed the mood among powerloom operators across the State. "Power being a major input, a lower power tariff would definitely bring down the production ... More

SSI

Seminar on IT in SSI sector
COIMBATORE: National Small Industries Corporation Ltd (NSIC) has proposed to hold a seminar on the usage of information technology in the small-scale sector here on February 6. The seminar will focus on enabling the SSI sector's ... More

BREWERIES

Mallya hits out at UK whisky body for lobbying against Indian-made liquor
Mr Mallya said there was no reason for European manufacturers to oppose whisky made from ingredients other than cereals. More

EDUCATION

Coaching classes for IES
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Centre of the Institution of Engineers (India) proposes to conduct coaching classes for the Indian Engineering Services (IES) 2006 examination. Classes will be held in the civil, mechanical, ... More

`Technopreneur' lecture sessions in Kochi
KEEPING in mind the growing corporate aspirations of the new generation of engineers, the Model Engineering College, Thrikkakara, has organised `Technopreneur 2006' in Kochi. The event, organised in association with Young Indians, the social ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

Ambanis keen to do business in Bengal: CM
THE Ambani brothers are interested in doing business in West Bengal, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief Minister, told a meeting organised by FICCI on Thursday. While Mr Anil Ambani is expected to visit Kolkata later this month for an IT ... More

READYMADE GARMENTS

Exporters booking space in Irrungatukottai apparel park
MOST of the space at the 125-acre apparel park at Irrungatukottai in Kanchipuram district has been allotted to exporters. About 30 exporters have booked space and construction of some of the apparel factories have also started, according to ... More

TEXTILE MACHINERY

Spinning sector keen to import machinery from dismantled European plants
AFTER imports of used weaving machines, now there is demand for import of second-hand spinning machinery. Many South-based textile industries are keen to import the second-hand ring spinning frames offered by textile units in Europe that are ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Preservation of food thru irradiation gains utility
HIGHLIGHTING the role of nuclear technology in agriculture, food and health, the Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Dr Anil K. Kakodkar, on Thursday said that preservation of food using irradiation has gained utility in the ... More

CREDIT RATING

Crisil, ICRA to offer IPO grading services — Fitch to `wait and watch'
LEADING rating agencies Crisil Ltd and ICRA Ltd are set to launch the grading of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the domestic market, after market regulator SEBI decided to allow grading of IPOs to provide investors with additional information ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE

A shining corner of India
Now their children can study longer and more housework gets done in the evenings. A small hamlet near Mumbai recently got its first light bulb ever, thanks to a unique effort by two former IITians. More

EVENTS

Seminar on outsourcing at Kochi
KOCHI: The West Coast Employers Federation, as part of its golden jubilee year, is organising a seminar on `Outsourcing - The Mantra for Survival' here on Saturday. Mr R. C. Mall, Executive Director, A. P. Paper Mills Ltd, Hyderabad, ... More

Refractory congress at Vizag
VISAKHAPATNAM: The two-day India International Refractory Congress, being jointly organised by the Visakhapatnam steel plant and the Vizag chapter of the Indian Institute of Metals, will begin in the plant on Friday. The Indian Ceramic ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Govt resorts to duty-free wheat import — To curb rising prices, STC to buy 5 lakh tonnes
AFTER a gap of almost six years, India will enter the world market to buy wheat. The country will import five lakh tonnes (lt) this year to curb the rising wheat prices, especially in the South. The public sector State Trading Corporation ... More

Over 45 pc dip in Nov-Jan vegoil imports
JANUARY saw a further decline in vegetable oil imports. According to preliminary data made available to Business Line by the industry portal Oilmandi.com, arrivals last month totalled 1.88 lakh tonnes comprising approximately 70,000 tonnes ... More

TOURISM

Emirates to promote Kerala tourism
EMIRATES, the Dubai-based airline, will promote Kerala as a tourist destination through its subsidiary, Emirates Holidays. The Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline group, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al- Maktoum, said here on Thursday ... More

Make tourism Central subject, increase Plan outlay: IACC
THE Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) has called for increasing the Plan outlay for the tourism sector to Rs 2,000 crore in the forthcoming Budget. In Budget 2005-06, the tourism sector was allotted Rs 796 crore which it considers ... More