The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, June 15, 2006

CLIMATE & WEATHER
WEATHER FORECAST
Monsoon to revive as weak current by June 20
Consensus forecast by various numerical weather models indicate that the monsoon would revive by June 20 as a weak Arabian Sea current. Dr Akhilesh Gupta of the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) said copybook ... More

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
Call to defer decision on ethanol-blended petrol
Not enough material left for oil companies, says expert More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES
HC fixes June 21 for hearing of appeal by Lodha
A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Mr Justice P.C. Ghose and Mr Justice T.K. Dutt has fixed June 21 as final date of hearing of the appeal filed by Mr R.S. Lodha against the order of the Trial Judge, who appointed four ... More

ECONOMY
23 cr people still below poverty line: Survey
Percentage of BPL population down to 22 pc in 2004-05 More

Population to touch 1.4 billion by 2026
Longer life spans will see senior citizens more than doubling More

The interest rate paradox
In terms of the logic of demand and supply, an excess of the latter should see a decline in interest rates. This is not happening due to systemic deficiencies. On the contrary, taking the cue from the latest RBI action, banks are raising the lending and deposit rates. The price rise caused by costlier fuel prices cannot be controlled by tinkering with the interest rate. It can only be arrested by increasing supplies and curbing demand, both of which are difficult to do. More

Petro product sales rise 8.8% in May
The oil product sales rose by 8.8 per cent in May to 9.97 million tonnes (mt) from 9.17 mt in the same month last year. Diesel sales in May saw an increase of 15.1 per cent year-on-year , while petrol sales were up 13.1 per cent, according to ... More

Karnataka disburses 33 pc of World Bank funds
Portfolio performance places Karnataka as second best performing More

ENVIRONMENT
Earthly concerns
Don your cap of green and earn much goodwill for yourself! More

HOTELS
Radisson plans to set up 14 hotels in 18 months
Fourteen more Radisson hotels are likely to come up in India during the next 18 months, according to Mr Vikram Cotah, General Manager, Radisson GRT. He said that these projects are coming up in cites such as Hyderabad, Agra, and Bangalore, and ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
BMICP project: Promoters going ahead with soft launch
Even as the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project issue threatens to snowball into a political crisis in Karnataka, the promoters are going ahead with the opening of a small stretch of the peripheral road here on Friday. Nandi ... More

PETROLEUM
Natural gas to RNRL: Details sought from RIL
RNRL says supply cost same as that to NTPC More

Focus on local manpower in Assam Gas Cracker project
To expedite the Rs 5,460-crore Assam Gas Cracker Project (AGCP), officials from the Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, which is the nodal ministry coordinating the follow-up action, will soon meet Assam Government officials to finalise ... More

Maharashtra reduces ST on petrol, diesel
The Government of Maharashtra today reduced sales tax on petrol and diesel, effectively bringing down the price of petrol by 80 paise a litre and diesel by 30 paise a litre. This follows the Central Government's appeal to States to forgo the ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
No data exclusivity yet for pharma companies
Agro-chemical cos get the go-ahead for 3 years More

Biochemists' body elections
The Twin Cities Association of Biochemists (TAB) has announced that new office-bearers for 2006-08 were elected unanimously at its second AGM. They are Dr D. Suhasini of Apollo Hospitals (President), Dr Anjana Tiwari of Care ... More

Pharmexcil biz delegation to Europe
The Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) proposes to take a high-level business delegation to Hungary, Poland and Slovakia from July 2 to 9. In a press release issued here, the Council Executive Director, Dr ... More

TAXATION
Ex-Revenue Dept official to review service tax issues
The Finance Ministry said on Tuesday that it has decided to appoint Mr T.R. Rustagi, a former Revenue Department official, to undertake an "extensive review" of all circulars, instructions and clarifications on matters relating to levy and ... More

`Remove entry tax on petrol, diesel'
The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged the Karnataka Government to withdraw entry tax on petrol and diesel in the state. In a letter to the Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Mr B.S. Yediyurappa ... More

TEXTILES
Skilled manpower critical for textile sector: Textile Secretary
"Skilled manpower for the textile sector is a critical issue and is going to become more critical over the years. We are in talks with a number of organisations and will come up with a realistic policy for the sector in sometime," said Mr D.P. ... More

EDUCATION
Career Launcher plans chain of schools
Career Launcher, a test preparation and training solutions provider, plans to start a chain of about 100 schools across the country. The founder-Chairman, Mr Satya Narayanan R., said that some pilot schools are being set up at Hyderabad and ... More

Microsoft signs pact with Anna University
Access to tech solutions to faculty, students More

GEMS & JEWELLERY
2 Italian jewellers to set up shop here
Positive response received during jewellery show prompts them to establish presence in India More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
ESIC to set up own property maintenance division
In a major policy decision, the Employees State Insurance Corporation has decided to take away the responsibility of repair and maintenance of its hospitals and other facilities from the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the State Public ... More

Pune hospital to unveil Asia's only Siemens Beta site
The Pune-based Ruby Hall Clinic, a multi-speciality hospital, said on Wednesday that it is geared up to unveil a Rs 45-crore new cancer treatment unit. The Kamalnayan Bajaj Cancer Centre at the Zavaray Poonawala Cancer Building will be a ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
L&T inks jt venture agreement in Kuwait
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has signed a joint venture agreement with a subsidiary of the Kuwait-based Bader Al Mulla group. The new venture will be known as `Larsen & Toubro Kuwait Construction WLL' and will be registered as a local company in More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Bankers feel the heat of rising expenses
`We have to augment income, improve efficiency' More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
GSI to set up body for R&D, training
Geological Survey of India (GSI) has prepared a framework for setting up an autonomous body for research and development, training and consultancies. It would be discussed in different level before taking a decision, said Mr A.K.D. Jadhav, Mines ... More

MINING & QUARRYING
Sand theft
SAND MINING continues unabated in Ernakulam district with each load netting about Rs 4,000 and above in the market. Despite several restrictions, authorities are unable to check the illegal mining. ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES
Plan for human development
It is time the concept of public-private partnership is tried at primary and secondary education levels, with social empowerment and equality as the guiding principles. More

Ma Foi launches `job centres' in Mumbai
Plans to replicate model in Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and Pune More

EVENTS
Selling the India story in Tokyo
Kamal Nath urges Japan to tap investment opportunities More

INCOME TAX
Suo motu PAN issuance: Finance Ministry seeks field officers' views
The Finance Ministry has sought the views of its field officers in the Income-Tax Department on the matter of suo-motu issuance of permanent account numbers (PAN) in certain cases. The Centre had, through the Finance Act 2006 (Budget ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
`Inclusion of exporters in Specific Approval List by ECGC legal'
Action not arbitrary and did not amount to blacklisting: HC More

Mango exports to figure in talks with Japan
High on Kamal Nath's agenda More

ECONOMIC OFFENCES
Fake accompli
Spurious products result in an annual loss of around Rs 30,000 crore to the industry and Rs 15,000 crore to the Government. More