The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, December 20, 2008

INDUSTRY & ECONOMY

PETROLEUM: Oil exploration cos face heat as crude drops below $35
‘Refining margins could be under pressure’. Mumbai, Dec. 19 Share prices of major oil and gas exploration companies have dipped sharply on the back of the continued slide in international crude oil price after it touched an all-time ...

ECONOMY: Economy will need another booster dose next fiscal
Implement stimulus package properly, says Montek. New Delhi, Dec. 19 The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Friday reiterated the need to properly implement the fiscal stimulus package announced by the ...

ECONOMY: Raghuram Rajan warns against going back to ‘old system’
Chennai, Dec. 19 Dr Raghuram Rajan, economist and member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, on Friday warned against the dangers of going back to the old system of economic management, where enterprises ...

HUMAN RESOURCES: PM: 20 new IITs, 7 IIMs, 30 Central varsities on cards
Chennai, Dec. 19 The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today said that apart from the proposed eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, the Government proposed to set up another ...

POWER: IIT alumnus who got an early whiff of N-opportunity
PM Dimensions, India’s only trainer in sector. Mumbai, Dec. 19 About 18 months ago when the Indo-US nuclear deal started hitting the headlines, Mr Makrand Rajadhyaksha scented an ...

TERRORISM: Oberoi staff working overtime for Sunday reopening
Mumbai, Dec. 19 The mood at the Oberoi and Trident hotels in Mumbai is distinctly buoyant even while the terror attacks are fresh in ...

URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Approval for Chennai Metro Rail funding soon
Grant for second desalination plant will also be cleared. The Centre will clear the funding for the Rs 14,600-crore Chennai Metro Rail project and the second desalination plant for Chennai, according to Mr Jaipal Reddy, Urban ...

URBAN DEVELOPMENT: HMDA asked to cut development charges
Areas in erstwhile HUDA limits but now under HMDA to get 75% concession. Hyderabad, Dec. 19 The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, directed the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) to reduce development ...

EDUCATION: Mythili Kesavasamy, Associate Professor, Asian School of Business, Thiruvananthapuram; University Institute of Technology, Kottarakara
Soft skills are among the most essential competencies in any aspiring manager’s skill set. Yet, they are the hardest to acquire and the most difficult to practise unless they become habits, said Ms Mythili Kesavasamy, Associate ...

ECONOMY: Indirect tax issues in fiscal package
The multidimensional stimulus package recently announced by the Government includes several noteworthy components on indirect taxes. Foremost amongst them is the reduction of the ad valorem excise duty rates on nearly ...

HUMAN RESOURCES: ‘Cos need a clear policy on talent management’
Coimbatore, Dec. 19 “There is no dearth of talent pool in India, but what most companies fail to do is draw a roadmap in the talent management space or do succession planning,” Mr Rajiv Krishnan, Managing Director, ...

EDUCATION: Satbir Silas, Chief Electoral Officer and Secretary (Elections), Delhi Government; Greater Noida Institute of Management
Greater Noida (UP), Dec. 19 Mentoring is relevant in today’s times more than ever before and corporates should hand-hold young managers so that they can don the corporate ...

EDUCATION: IIM-A board reviews RC Bhargava panel report
Ahmedabad, Dec. 19 The board of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, which debated the RC Bhargava Committee report extensively at its meeting, was unable to arrive at an official response to ...

PETROLEUM: UPA allies urge Govt to reduce petrol, diesel prices further
New Delhi, Dec. 19 The Government will look into demands for further cut in domestic prices of petrol and diesel, the Lok Sabha was informed ...

AUTOMOBILES: Banks consider cutting auto loan rates by next week
New Delhi, Dec. 19 Banks are likely to take a decision on a cut of up to one per cent in auto loan rates up during next ...

ECONOMIC OFFENCES: Bill for tougher anti-corruption law
New Delhi, Dec 19 A Bill seeking to amend the existing Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, to insert a new Chapter empowering the special judge to attach before judgement the property acquired by holders of public office through corrupt means, ...

PETROLEUM: Avoidable turbulence
It should surprise no one that the States have unanimously rejected the Centre’s proposal of granting “declared goods” status to aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to help revive the airline industry. For quite a while, the major ...

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS: Nasscom eyes tie-ups with varsities to train manpower
Ahmedabad, Dec.19 Nasscom is looking to tie up with Universities in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa to train manpower for direct recruitment to IT firms, said Mr Ganesh Natarajan, Vice-Chairman, Nasscom, and global Chief Executive ...

EDUCATION: Nasscom eyes tie-ups with varsities to train manpower
Ahmedabad, Dec.19 Nasscom is looking to tie up with Universities in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa to train manpower for direct recruitment to IT firms, said Mr Ganesh Natarajan, Vice-Chairman, Nasscom, and global Chief Executive ...

URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Pune’s new development plan hanging fire
Surveys for new plan expected to get over by Oct 2009. Pune, Dec. 19 The development plan (DP) for Pune is dragging its feet, says the real-estate sector. The earlier one expired in 2007 and the new one is still not in place. Surveys for the ...

ECONOMY: All human challenges have become global challenges: PM
New Delhi, Dec. 19 The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Friday said that although all human challenges today have become global challenges, “the unfortunate fact is our responses remains national or at best ...

INFRASTRUCTURE: Fitch suggest innovative approach to infra funding
‘Look at long-term perspective with economic fluctuations’. Hyderabad, Dec. 19 Rating agency Fitch has suggested that the approach to infrastructure finance calls for change to ensure project ...

INFRASTRUCTURE: Slow progress in 12 SEZs, says Parsvnath
Work hit by land acquisition issues. Delhi-based real estate company Parsvnath Developers on Friday said that work on 12 of its proposed Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is proceeding at a slow pace as the land acquisition for those projects was ...

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: ‘Innovations must add value to be effective’
Ahmedabad, Dec. 19 Entrepreneurship has little to do with availability of social capital and more to do with an organisation’s internal culture, said Mr Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder, Chairperson and Managing Director, Rediff.com, at ...

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES: HC: Collection of coral reef from sea for commercial purpose not permissible under law
Chennai, Dec. 19 Collection of coral reef from the sea for commercial use was not permissible under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ...

EVENTS: IRMA to host meet on empowering panchayat bodies
Ahmedabad, Dec. 19 ‘Issues before the Finance Commission: Empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI)’ is the theme of a conference to be held at Institute of Rural Management Anand on December 22 and ...

TEXTILES: Bleak times loom over textile sector
Coimbatore, Dec. 19 A number of workers in the textile and garment manufacturing sector in Tamil Nadu have been rendered jobless, with mills closing down operations or operating at sub-optimal capacity due to the energy crisis and ...

EVENTS: Delicious Taj
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TOURISM: Homely treat
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EVENTS: Development issues
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EXPORTS & IMPORTS: Plea to impose import duty on palm group of oils
Mumbai, Dec. 19 The Solvent Extractor Association (SEA) has urged the Government to impose import duty of 30 per cent on palm oil, 37.5 per cent on RBD palmolein and 30 per cent on crude sunflower oil, besides raising duty on refined soyabean ...

ECONOMY: Higher public investment to stimulate demand in economy
New Delhi, Dec. 19 Justifying the Government’s move to ask for a substantially large grant from Parliament during 2008-09, the Union Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Friday said that the demand for additional cash outgo of about ...