The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, March 17, 2007

`A populist budget'
The Karnataka Budget for 2007-08 is populist with focus on social welfare, education and drinking water, according to Capt J.P. Menezes, President of the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). Capt Menezes told Business ... More

CEMENT
Cement makers to renegotiate price for AP housing projects
The cement requirement is for construction of around 54 lakh houses up to 2009, equally divided over the period starting 2006. More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES
Banks legally bound to make temporary hands permanent: HC
Though nationalised banks are institutions under Union Government, they did not cease to be establishments for purpose of definition of term "industrial establishment" under the TN Industrial Establishment (Conferment of Permanent Status to ... More

ECONOMY
`Average inflation for 2006-07 to be 5.4%'
The Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Friday said that he expected the average inflation for 2006-07 to be 5.4 per cent. This would be within the 5-5.5 per cent range projected by the RBI for 2006-07. Mr Chidambaram assured the Lok ... More

Central banks need to target inflation: Weber
Emerging economies like India, with high GDP and per capita growth are prone to the relative risks of high inflation, said Mr Axel Weber, Governing Council Member, European Central Bank. India's inflation for the week ended March 3 has risen to ... More

Wheat bonus may cost Centre over Rs 1,500 cr
The wheat being supplied at Rs 4.50 per kg to below-poverty-line families will actually cost the Centre around Rs 13.50 a kg. More

ENVIRONMENT
Treatment of hazardous wastes: HC `no' to environmentalists' plea
The Madras High Court has rejected a public interest litigation preferred by environmental protectionists and others in Thiruvallur District pleading for quashing a Tamil Nadu Government order dated May 17, 2005, notifying a site measuring 66 ... More

FOOD & DAIRY PRODUCTS
Biscuit cos to pass on excise duty benefits to consumers
Plan to increase pack volumes More

HEALTH
`Successful vaccine for HIV/AIDS unlikely before 2015'
A world-renowned immunologist has said that it is unlikely that we can have a successful vaccine for HIV/AIDS before 2015. Prof. Peter Doherty, a Nobel laureate from Australia, said new discoveries and new intellectual insights were needed to ... More

Kerala Govt plans to float co to procure medicines
Revenue land to be taken over from defaulters More

CII healthcare seminar today
The Confederation of Indian Industry is holding a one-day seminar on the healthcare industry at Hotel Park from 10.30 am on Saturday, according to Dr Saugat Mukherjee, Director, CII Andhra Pradesh. In a statement issued here on ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Price rise limit for non-scheduled drugs
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has revised the guidelines for non-scheduled drugs, and brought down the limit for annual price hikes from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. The remaining criteria would be the ... More

`Jawahar Pharma City attracting major cos'
Ramky to spend Rs 400 cr on infrastructure: CEO More

STEEL
Govt to examine issue of export duty on iron ore
`Govt still hopeful cement manufacturers will moderate prices' More

TAXATION
12.5% VAT imposed on tobacco
CST to be phased out in response to compensation package agreement More

AP sets commercial tax target
Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, has asked the officials of the Commercial Taxes Department to take measures to achieve the target of Rs 16,300 crore by the end of the current financial year. The target for next financial ... More

BREWERIES
`Higher tax on molasses won't cover revenue loss'
Imposition of 20 per cent tax on molasses will not help the Karnataka Government make up revenue losses it will suffer because of banning sale of arrack. A United Spirits official told Business Line that Karnataka should have pegged the ... More

EDUCATION
Australian co to offer migration services
IDP Education Australia, recruiter of international students for Australian universities, plans to offer migration services to Indian students in Australia by the end of 2007. Guidance As of now, the agency ... More

`Never stop learning to be successful'
`Always ask, listen and learn. One has to be proactive when it comes to learning things.' More

ICFAI IT school's placement
The average salary-package offer at the ICFAI School of Information Technology (ISIT) here is Rs 3.85 lakh. On the first day of Placements '07, the school recorded hundred per cent placements. About 20 corporates participated ... More

Australian varsity to tie up with Indian institutions
For student, faculty exchange programmes More

Guwahati HC notice to US institute
The High Court of Guwahati, Agartala Bench has admitted the petition filed by the ICFAI University, Tripura, giving notice to the CFA Institute of the US while directing the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Ministry of ... More

Enthralled
TURNAROUND STORY: The Minister for Railways, Mr Lalu Prasad, interacts with MBA students from the Universities of Texas and Virginia in the Capital on Friday. ... More

Course selection
A SCENE AT THE IDB Australia Education Fair at Taj Krishna in Hyderabad on Friday.

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Mantri Realty to invest Rs 800 cr in Hyderabad
Mantri Realty Ltd, the Mumbai-based real estate developer is entering the booming Hyderabad real estate sector with planned investments to the tune of Rs 800 crore in three major projects. The projects to be partially funded by equity and debt, ... More

LEATHER
Leather council plans roadshows to attract investments
The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) is looking to promote India as a brand to encourage foreign direct investment. Currently, there is no FDI in this industry. "To help attract foreign investment, we are planning roadshows in France and the UK ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Keeping in touch
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace, Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai, at an interaction with representatives of industrialists in Kochi on Friday. ... More

MINING & QUARRYING
Coal India, NTPC join hands for taking up mining projects
Biz development group set up to identify areas More

MINERALS
Orissa Govt in pellet-making pact with Brahmani
To set up 4 mt per annum complex More

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS
Raw jute prices decline on Bengal mills strike
Consumption during stir period down by 16 lakh bales More

EVENTS
Brain Awareness Week
As part of the Brain Awareness Week, a programme was organised by the Centre for Neurosciences, Department of Biotechnology of the Cochin University of Science and Technology, and West Side Hospital, Kochi, in association with ... More

INCOME TAX
Taxreach.net launches Web site
Tax consultancy company Taxreach.net has launched a Web site www.taxreach.net that offers free consultancy, tax tools, tax calculators and tax planning. According to a press release, the Web ... More

FBT on stock option plan: A tax on notional benefit that may not arise
By now, you might have heard many a sob about FBT on ESOP. Yet, when the collective discontent is wide, and the rancour runs deep, about the levy of fringe benefit tax (FBT) on employee stock option plans (ESOPs), it does pay to hear an expert ... More

Billionaires outside the tax loop
Two unrelated developments, happening as they did in the immediate aftermath of the Budget, made two telling revelations. The raid following a tip off provided by the random scrutiny of the return of one Hassan Ali Khan has revealed the ... More

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES
A route to medicinal plant product exports
Current thrust on creating model farms, simplifying export policies More

PEOPLE
Behuria re-elected SCOPE chief
The Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation, Mr Sarthak Behuria, has been re-elected as the Chairman of the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE). In a statement, IndianOil has said that Mr Behuria will hold office for two ... More