The Hindu Business Line : Friday, July 27, 2007

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Cotton tech scheme covers 1,100 farmers in Vidarbha
Coimbatore, July 26 The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry’s Cotton Development and Research Association (CITI-CDRA) has taken up cotton production technology demonstration to the 1,100 farmers in Buldhana district in the Vidarbha ... More

SOCIAL SECURITY
Cabinet okays amending Payment of Gratuity Act
New Delhi, July 26 The Government is to extend the Payment of Gratuity Act to teachers in educational institutions. The Union Cabinet today approved the introduction of a Bill in the coming session of Parliament to amend section 2(e) of ... More

ECONOMY
NCAER biz confidence index down 13.4 points
Lower rating of investment climate has contributed more to the fall More

EAC’s optimism
As with elections, the economy scene is getting cluttered with forecasts. The latest think-tank to join in is the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) which held an unprecedented media conference in the capital last week to ... More

Shortfall in funds transfer to Kerala local bodies: Report
There was a shortfall in funds transfer to the local self government institutions (LSGIs) in Kerala under the decentralised planning programme over the last few years.The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for ... More

ENVIRONMENT
NTPC, ADB sign joint venture deal for green power foray
New Delhi, July 26 NTPC Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) to set up a joint venture company for foraying into the renewable power generation. NTPC and other government ... More

‘Ammonium nitrate no threat’
Visakhapatnam, June 26 A public hearing will be conducted on ammonium nitrate storage at the warehouse of Sravan Shipping here on July 31, according to Mr G. Sambasiva Rao, Managing Director. He said at a press meet here on Thursday that till ... More

FERTILISERS
BARC tech turns urban waste into organic manure
Benefit to farmers practising organic farming More

FOREIGN TRADE
‘India, US must dismantle trade barriers’
New Delhi, July 26 India and the US should work together to remove trade barriers to increase bilateral trade and investment flows. This was stated by the Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Dr Ajay ... More

Mitsui, Marubeni eye investments in India
New Delhi, July 26 Japan’s Mitsui & Company, and Marubeni Corporation are interested to invest in the transport and power sectors in India. This was conveyed to Mr Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State (Industry), by Mr. N Ohasi, ... More

HEALTH
Doctors’ body decries cut in CGHS tariff
Andhra Pradesh Speciality Hospitals Association is up in arms against the recent downward revision of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) tariffs and is planning to submit representation to the Union Ministry of ... More

PSU
Select PSUs can now invest in equity mutual funds
Up to 30% of surplus funds can be parked in public sector MFs only More

PETROLEUM
Crude oil, natural gas output in June dips
New Delhi, July 26 The country’s crude oil production in June was 1.6 per cent lower than the May output and 1.8 per cent less compared with the same month last year. The natural gas production was down 3.8 per cent during the month ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Ranbaxy, GSK settle Valtrex patent row
Pact allows Indian co to launch generic in US in 2009 More

POWER
KSEB mulls thermal plant in Orissa
After Centre’s nod to draw coal from Baitarani mines More

10,000 MW captive power project proposals submitted to TN
Coimbatore, July 26 Applications seeking clearance for individual captive power projects with generation capacity equivalent to 10,000 MW have been filed with the Tamil Nadu Government. These projects awaited clearance from the Tamil ... More

STEEL
Steel scion, the cynosure
Laxmi Mittal may be the undisputed king of the steel industry, but he has competition developing at home! At a function in the Petroleum Ministry when he handed over a Rs 500-crore cheque for the Bhatinda refinery, though Laxmi Mittal gave the ... More

TAXATION
CST collections rise 8.88%
Central Sales Tax (CST) collections recorded a 8.88 per cent increase in fiscal 2006-07 to Rs 19,749.21 crore compared with Rs 18,138.18 crore collected in fiscal 2005-06.This growth rate is somewhat below expectations and also much ... More

WATER
Reservoir levels rise in Kerala
Water levels in major reservoirs in the State have registered further rise when compared to those recorded a week ago. According to the figures released by the Central Water Commission for the week ending July 23, the level had gone up from ... More

EDUCATION
SMART school biz programmes
Hyderabad, July 26 SMART ICBM Business School is offering full time and part time programmes in Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Computer Applications (MCA). The campus, located in ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
Global Hospitals launching Bangalore unit
Bangalore, July 26 BGS Global Hospital, the 500-bed Bangalore venture of the Global Hospitals, is opening next month and will offer a specialised liver transplant facility, officials said here. The Rs 150-crore greenfield ... More

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING
The Hindu Theatre Festival
Four international plays and eight Indian plays is what one can look forward to in this year’s edition of The Hindu Metroplus Theatre Festival, an-eleven day event starting August 2. Theatre groups from New York (Awaken ... More

IPR
Data protection for agro-chemicals
Nearly 40 months ago (in February 2004), the Government had set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals to “consider the steps to be taken by the Government in the ... More

RAILWAYS
ER to spend Rs 33 cr on infrastructure
Awaits nod for Kolkata-Dhaka service More

INCOME TAX
‘IT returns will not be accepted at post offices’
New Delhi, July 26 The Finance Ministry has decided to discontinue with immediate effect the scheme for accepting income-tax returns through certain designated post offices of the country. A finance ministry official said post offices ... More

Taxing questions
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had reasons to be upset with the media recently. Coming come out of a long meeting with top revenue officers, he was loath to brief the press on the discussions. “What’s the point,” he said ... More

More salaried people opting for e-filing of returns
New Delhi, July 26 The electronic filing of income-tax returns by salaried and proprietary concerns appear to be gaining momentum, with the Tax Department so far receiving about 45,000 returns this fiscal through this route.For salaried ... More

Special arrangements for I-T returns
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has directed the income-tax offices across the country to make special arrangements to receive income-tax returns from July 25 to July 31. A statement said that income-tax offices would remain open on July ... More

Rush hour
More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Faster certification for imported cement
New Delhi, July 26 In order to bridge the gap between demand and supply of cement in the country, the Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) has put the process of certification of foreign cement manufacturers on the fast track. Certification would ... More

Scrapping of sugar exports release order upsets industry
Chennai, July 26 Sugar exporters need not get release orders from the Centre anymore to ship consignments abroad. A notification to this effect has been issued but the sugar industry feels it will have an adverse impact. According to ... More