The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, August 30, 2008

INDUSTRY & ECONOMY

ECONOMY: Weak manufacturing drags down economic growth
GDP growth at 7.9% slowest in the last 14 quarters. New Delhi, Aug. 29 The near halving of manufacturing sector growth in the first quarter of this fiscal has led to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth decelerating to 7.9 ...

ECONOMY: Dip in inflation drives Sensex up 516 points
Mumbai, Aug. 29 The benchmark indices moved up by 3.5 per cent on Friday aided by lower inflation numbers and a positive sentiment in the global markets. ...

VENTURE CAPITAL: Foreign VC fund norms on radar
At an Assocham-organised event at the launch of the Venture Capital Association of India, a senior Finance Ministry official spoke of developing a mechanism to regulate foreign venture capital funds (VC funds) and private equity funds , ...

BREWERIES: Boom attracts wine importers, Govt policies drive them away
Three of them closed down operations during last quarter. Bangalore, Aug. 29 Even as the wine industry witnesses a boom in the country, there are quite a few importers who are shutting down their operations because of fluctuating policies of ...

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY: No takers for solar thermal projects in TN
Deadline for submitting bids ends. No bidders responded to the global tender called by the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA) for proposals to set up solar thermal power generation projects in the ...

FOREIGN TRADE: India-Asean pact’s negative list covers mostly farm goods
New Delhi, Aug. 29 India’s negative lists from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations in the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) under which no tariff concessions would be exchanged cover mostly agricultural products, ...

TOURISM: Consultant hired for Kerala’s responsible tourism initiative
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 29 Kerala Tourism’s responsible tourism initiative is set to gather steam with the appointment of a consultant to assist in implementing pilot projects in four destinations in the State. ...

EXPORTS & IMPORTS: Sugar exporters against move to remove sops
Rising prices in the domestic markets raise Govt concern. Mumbai, Aug. 29 Sugar exporters have expressed their dissension over the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram’s suggestion to discontinue the subvention (grant of money) given to ...

FOREIGN TRADE: North Rhine–Westphalia opens office in Pune
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has become the first German federal state to have its own branch office in Pune. Mr Karl-Uwe Butof, Director General, Ministry for Economic Affairs, NRW, opened NRW Invest India here on Friday. ...

SSI: Coindia opens raw material bank near Coimbatore
Coimbatore, Aug. 29 Coimbatore Industrial Infrastructure Association (Coindia), which had taken up the Coimbatore industrial cluster project, has stepped in to meet the raw material requirements of small scale industrial units in the region by ...

POWER: L&T betting big on power, railway biz unit
Doubles capacity of automation system centre. Mumbai, Aug. 29 Larsen and Toubro anticipates revenues in excess of Rs 4,300 crore annually from the power segment by 2011-12 and over Rs 2,000 crore business a year in two years from its railway ...

RADIO/TV: SAB to reposition itself as family-oriented comedy channel
New Delhi, Aug. 29 Multi Screen Media’s SAB TV is repositioning itself as a family-oriented comedy channel with the hope that men continue to watch its programmes for the comedy and women let them watch it. Because, at the end of the ...

SOCIAL SECURITY: Make pension facility available to all citizens: Chidambaram
Mumbai, Aug. 29 The Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority is likely to design pension schemes tailored for the private citizen on the lines of the New Pension Scheme for government employees that were introduced in ...

TOURISM: Kerala tourism revenue up 25%
Mumbai, Aug 29 For 2007-08, revenue from tourism in Kerala increased by 25.28 per cent at Rs 11,433 crore over the previous year. International tourist increased by 20.37 per cent while domestic tourist increased by 5.92 per cent, said Mr M. ...

TOURISM: Temporary marina for Ocean Race
Kochi, Aug. 29 Ocean Blue Marinas and Boat Haven, Mumbai, will build temporary marina for the berthing of world’s fastest racing yachts during their stopover at Kochi Port. ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: Tata BlueScope offering quick-to-install homes
Launches colour-coated steel building products. Hyderabad, Aug. 29 Want to own a ‘next generation’, steel framed, small home that would be ready in just a week? You should call Tata Bluescope Steel, the company which is promoting ...

POWER: Indian Energy Exchange records over 18,000 MW trade on Aug 8
Mumbai, Aug. 29 Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), which completed two months of operations, has recorded a total volume of 251 million units with a trading of 58 MW on day one touching the highest transaction of over 18,000 MW on August 8. ...

GEMS & JEWELLERY: Jewellers' meet in Mangalore

NATURAL CALAMITIES: Rain havoc

SSI: Karnataka small industries seek suitable exit option
Mangalore, Aug. 29 Representatives from small-scale industries have urged the Karnataka Government to formulate suitable exit option for people in the sector. ...

NATURAL CALAMITIES: Lalu Prasad announces Rs 90-cr aid for flood victims
New Delhi, Aug 29 The Union Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, on Friday announced an assistance of over Rs 90 crore from the Railway Minister Relief Fund (RMRF) to over 20 lakh people affected by flood in Kosi river in ...

EDUCATION: Park College inks MoU with Florida varsity
Coimbatore, Aug. 29 Park Global School of Business Excellence, based at Coimbatore and Chennai, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Florida International University’s (FIU) Chapman Graduate School of Business for exchange ...

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES: Ensure free traffic flow on Durgapur highway: HC
Mr Justice Patheriya on Friday directed the National Highway Authority of India to ensure that there was free flow of vehicles through the Durgapur Express Highway with the help of authorities ...

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS: New drawback rates announced
New Delhi, Aug. 29 The Finance Ministry has revised the all-industry drawback rates for 2008-09. The revised rates would come into effect from September 1 this ...

SSI: Valgen’s ERP tool for SMEs
Chennai, Aug 29 The Chennai-based IT solutions provider Valgen Business Solutions (VBS) on Friday introduced ‘eSas’, an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution based on software as a service. ...

PACKAGING: Packaging summit on Sept 19-20

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS: Dock workers seek wage settlement before Deepavali
Kochi, Aug 29 The representatives of five major federations have urged the Chairman of the Indian Ports Association (IPA) to finalise the long pending wage revision of port and dock workers effective before the ensuing Deepavali and pooja ...