The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, April 12, 2007

BUDGET
States take a cue from Centre in gender budgeting
After the Centre, it is the turn of the States to take to gender budgeting. While Madhya Pradesh, taking a cue from the Centre, has incorporated gender budgeting as part of its 2007-08 annual Budget exercise, Kerala, Karnataka and Bihar are ... More

ECONOMY
Old perception still haunts domestic, foreign investors, says Survey
Quality of education is a major problem, and "political insurgency and infiltration problems still prevail". More

ENVIRONMENT
Factor carbon emissions into fuel costs
"Biopower compares favourably with other renewables such as wind and hydel as also fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas if the environmental impact is factored in." — MR BANMALI AGRAWALA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WÄRTSILÄ INDIA More

FOREIGN TRADE
India, Thailand wrapping up tariff negotiations by June
Move may propel bilateral trade to $10 b by 2010 More

US trade team to visit Kolkata
The US Trade Representative Ambassador, Ms Susan C. Schwab, will lead a high-level delegation to Kolkata on April 14 to assess key trade issues in the India's eastern region, according to a press release issued by the American ... More

HEALTH
Vasan Eye Care plans new centres
Vasan Eye Care is in the process of setting up four more latest eye care hospitals in four districts in the state shortly. Addressing a press meet in connection with the completion of one year of its Kochi centre, Dr A.M. Arun, ... More

HOTELS
Hotel sector may see Rs 52,000-cr investment
Over the next two years, close to 80,000 hotel rooms are expected to come up in various categories across the country, according to Mr M.N. Javed, Deputy Director-General, Union Ministry of Tourism. Currently, India has some 1,975 hotels with ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Chennai port lines up Rs 1,500-cr investments
Clocks 13% rise in cargo handling last fiscal More

PETROLEUM
IOC may partner Reliance for city gas distribution
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) is in talks with Reliance Industries Ltd to source natural gas for distribution in cities. The gas would be sourced from the upcoming KG basin fields of Reliance. IOC could even consider entering into a joint ... More

ONGC board okays proposals worth Rs 3,819 cr
Nod for gas feed for Tripura power plant More

Drop strike plan, Deora tells petro dealers
The Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, has urged the dealers of petroleum products — petrol and diesel — to call off their proposed agitation and decision to close retail outlets on April 13. At a meeting here with the ... More

POWER
Naphtha-based power projects may see a new lease of life
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's (CERC) proposal to increase the maximum rate at which States can overdraw power from the electricity grid could ensure that expensive naphtha-based and other liquid fuel projects that are lying idle ... More

`Power conservation vital for industry'
Conservation of power and energy, both at domestic and industrial level, was the need of the hour, according to Mr M.K. De, Chairman and Managing Director, West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. Mr De, who is also the Chairman ... More

SSI
A milder regulation for SMEs
The IASB has issued the draft of a proposed accounting standard for SMEs. Its aim is to provide a simplified, self-contained set of accounting principles that are appropriate for smaller, non-listed companies. More

SMEs optimistic on growth: UPS study
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could be shortly joining the India business success story. According to an annual study conducted by UPS called UPS Asia Business Monitor, 81 per cent of Indian SMEs are optimistic about the country's ... More

RADIO/TV
Big FM to enter Tirupati
Big 92.7 FM, the radio station from Adlabs Films Pvt Ltd, will be launched in Tirupati shortly, making it the city's first private FM station, according to a press ... More

RComm, Sun TV ink pact for mobile content
Reliance Communications has entered into an "exclusive long-term agreement" with Sun Network Ltd to broadcast the company's television content on mobile handsets with GPRS and video viewing capability. Initially, content from the Sun TV channel ... More

CARS
Passenger car sales up 3% in March
The domestic passenger car sales registered almost 3 per cent growth with sales of 1,14,195 units in March 2007 against 1,10,978 units in March 2006. As per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) estimates, Overall, analysts ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Hiranandani plans Rs 2,000-cr township in Chennai
Will have one million sq ft of high-end office space More

TEXTILE MACHINERY
Rieter gets FIPB nod for going it alone in India
Rieter, the Swiss textile machinery major, has got its investment plans for India back on track. The company, which was faced with a stumbling block in the form of its Indian joint venture partner Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) invoking Press Note 1 ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
ISRO's 1-m imagery in market soon
Will be sold at affordable prices to users More

`Space varsity proposal awaiting Govt nod'
ISRO says its `catch-them-young' proposal targeted at Plus-2 students will give it a captive talent of 150 a year. The ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, on Wednesday said the space university, proposed to start from this academic year at ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Land acquisition woes may delay Metro Rail's Garia project
A delay in the completion of the Tollygunje-Garia extension (8.5 km mainly on elevated tracks) work of Metro Rail, Kolkata is likely owing to land acquisition problems, with the Appellate Authority not available for taking up the appeals arising ... More

Financial inclusion in Kodagu
Chikmagalur district to be covered soon More

INCOME TAX
`Settlement Commission must handle complex I-T search cases'
For speedy settlement and proper revenue recovery More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Seedling import norms dampen strawberry prospects
4 million rootstocks from California needed for next season More

Tea exports down in volume, earnings
Though unit price increases, volume falls short More

SICK UNITS
Decks cleared for BHPV takeover
Concessions include transfer of title of land measuring 393.86 acres as gift title deed to BHPV, waiver of sales tax arrears of Rs 42.16 crore and waiver of dues towards water tax. More