The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, January 14, 2009

INDUSTRY & ECONOMY

REGULATORY BODIES & RULINGS: ‘Regulators must have say on auditors for MFs, insurers’
Auditor choice should be patterned on public sector banks model, says ICAI. New Delhi, Jan. 13 Call this the Satyam effect. The regulators of mutual funds and insurance industry – the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the ...

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES: Reliance KG gas at $4.2: Govt
Mumbai, Jan. 13 Natural gas from the Reliance Industries-controlled KG block would be available to all private and public sector at a price not less than $4.20/mmbtu, which has been fixed by the Government, said Mr Mohan Parasaran, ...

EXPORTS & IMPORTS: Cement cos buoyed as imports from Pakistan dry up
Countervailing duties make imports costlier. Mumbai, Jan. 13 Cement companies heaved a sigh of relief with imports from Pakistan almost grinding to a halt after the Government imposed a countervailing duty on ...

POWER: Solar Dynasty keen on setting up facility in India
Looking for a 50:50 partner for project. Ahmedabad, Jan. 13 Germany-based research & development company Solar Dynasty is looking for partners in India to set up its first manufacturing facility at a project cost of €50 million, ...

PETROLEUM: RIL seeks level playing field for restarting petro retail biz
Govt urged to free retail fuel pricing. New Delhi, Jan. 13 Despite the softening of the crude prices, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) wants to tread carefully before it re-opens its petroleum retail business. The company on Tuesday asked the ...

SOCIAL SECURITY: Indians posted abroad may get exemption from paying for social security
Pacts signed with Belgium, France and Germany. New Delhi, Jan. 13 There could be reasons to smile for Indian workers posted abroad and Indian companies having employees in foreign countries. These workers are likely to be exempted from paying a ...

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS: CordLife opens blood bank in Kolkata
Kolkata, Jan. 13 CordLife, a network of private cord blood banks, today launched a cord blood bank in Kolkata with a storage capacity for up to 1.5 lakh cord blood units, said Mr Steven Fang, Group Chief Executive Officer, CordLife Ltd. ...

POWER: US nuke team pushes for firm commitment on project sites
New Delhi, Jan. 13 In the scramble to grab a piece of the estimated $150 billion worth of equipment orders on offer in India’s newly-opened nuclear market, US players are trying hard to make up for ...

PHARMACEUTICALS: Price Waterhouse’s pharma clients keeping a close watch
Mumbai, Jan. 13 As investigations are underway into the role of Price Waterhouse in the fraud at Satyam, an element of unease seems to be creeping into the relationship that other companies have with the audit ...

RADIO/TV: News channel editors write to PM
New Delhi, Jan. 13 Top editors of leading television news channels have complained to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, against the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s move to amend laws to prohibit live coverage of crisis such ...

ENVIRONMENT: Green Building Council to open office in Kochi
Kochi, Jan. 13 The Kochi chapter of Indian Green Building Council will be launched by Mr A.K. Balan, Minister of Electricity, here on January ...

CINEMA: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ to release in theatres next week
New Delhi, Jan. 13 With four Golden Globe’s adding to its weight, the movie Slumdog Millionaire will finally hit Indian theatres on January ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: MCHI to host budget property expo
Mumbai, Jan. 13 The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry will hold a three-day exhibition ‘Budget Property 2009- Western Suburbs’ to showcase properties in the Rs 6 – 49 lakh range between January 16 ...

VENTURE CAPITAL: Aditya Birla enters private equity biz
Mumbai, Jan. 13 The Aditya Birla Group on Tuesday announced its entry into the private equity business, committing an investment of $ 100 million in its ‘Aditya Birla Private Equity Fund’, which has a targeted corpus of $ 250 ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: Work on hold
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HANDLOOM: Modified loom
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NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY: Tanfac wins tariff case
Tanfac Industries’ captive power plant is set to turn in higher revenue for the company with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission ruling in its favour categorising its waste heat recovery from sulphuric acid as ...

POWER: NTPC board clears Rs 6,000-cr investment
New Delhi, Jan. 13 State-run NTPC Ltd on Tuesday said it will invest Rs 6,037 crore in expansion and renovation schemes at three of its ...

RURAL DEVELOPMENT: Satyam fraud could hit rural BPO units
Hyderabad, Jan. 13 Besides casting doubts over the future of 53,000 jobs in cities, the Satyam fraud also hit vulnerable people in rural areas, who are working in rural BPOs set up by the ...

EVENTS: Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit: 8,500 MoUs signed
Ahmedabad, Jan. 13 The fourth Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit culminated with the signing of 8,500 Memorandums of understanding between the State of Gujarat and various domestic and international companies. The total intention ...

POWER: IDFC Projects, BHEL, GSECL to set up thermal plant
Mumbai, Jan. 13 IDFC Projects, BHEL and Gujarat State Energy Company Limited (GSCEL) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a 1600-MW thermal power plant at Sarkhadi, ...

EXPORTS & IMPORTS: Coir exports increase 4.8%
Kochi, Jan. 13 Coir exports achieved an incremental value of Rs 2.26 crore in December 2008 at Rs 49.37crore by way of total exports in value against the despatch of 12,170 tonnes in volume. ...

EDUCATION: Sam Santosh, Managing Director and CEO, Calsoft; Institute of Management Studies, IIT Madras
Chennai, Jan. 13 “Science is the key and scientific thinking is a must. It [science] may not come naturally, but has to be developed,” said Mr Sam Santhosh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing ...

FOREIGN TRADE: Kolkata TiE to forge biz links with UK
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EDUCATION: Hyderabad varsity convocation
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Mr Arjun Singh, will deliver the XI convocation address of the University of Hyderabad on January 17. All the candidates, who have been declared eligible for the award of various degrees either ...

Columnists: • B Venkatesh • C Gopinath • Bhanoji Rao • P.V. Indiresan