Accountancy
Take a bigger helping
When it comes to paying themselves, directors need not be shy but they do have to be fair, says Bob Baxt.

Shun TV
MONDAY through Friday nights, don't call me between 9-30 and 10, as I have started watching an unending saga on the small screen. Waste of time, you may say, as a fellow professional, but the problem is that I am flooded with questions from my clients an d their relatives and their relatives.

Calling the bluff
The chances of booking those who infringe trademarks is easier when there is greater risk of the customer being misled, says S. Murlidharan, citing an apex court judgment.

Agriculture
Medicinal plants cultivation project -- In STEP with Aditya Biotech
IN an initiative that could well become a harbinger of partnerships with private industry, the Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park (STEP) of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-KGP), has joined hands with Aditya Biotech Pvt Ltd for a medicinal plantation project at Gopali near here. With this, STEP (IIT-KGP) has achieved the distinction of being the first one, out of 16 located across the country, to take such an initiative.

Wheat sale for export of processed products -- Flour mills seek FCI stocks cheap
PURSUANT to the Centre's announcement permitting the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to sell 20 lakh tonnes of wheat to roller flour mills for export of processed products, the industry is lobbying the Government for sale at a fairly low price.

Record global oilseeds production likely
OVER the last five years, global output of oilseeds has been consistently expanding by 7-8 lakh tonnes annually, while global annual vegetable oil production increase has slowed down from about 5 million tonnes (mt) four years ago to about 2 mt now.

Airlines
Airlines baiting foreign-bound pupils
ACROSS the country, the brightest and best are packing their bags, learning to eat with fork and spoon, and reading books on Western etiquette. Like the migratory birds that come this way, once a year, the great Indian migration starts around this time o f the year.

Air Sahara to draw up new business plan -- Fresh look at fleet route expansion
AIR Sahara (AS) proposes to draw up a new business plan which will entail a fresh look at fleet and route expansion and strategies to capture a larger portion of the domestic market at its board meeting which is scheduled to be held shortly.

Automobiles
Hyundai launches two variants of Sonata
HYUNDAI Motor India Ltd (HMIL) formally launched its luxury sedan -- the Hyundai Sonata -- in two variants. The variants, GLS and GOLD, are competitively at Rs 11.90 lakhs and Rs 13.10 lakhs respectively, ex-showroom in Delhi.

GM used car exchange scheme launch by Dec
GENERAL Motors India plans to get into the used car business, with its OK 5-Star used car exchange programme. This programme is likely to be launched by December in major locations in the country.

Passenger car sales zoom 30%
PASSENGER car sales in June this year spurted by over 30 per cent as compared to sales during the corresponding month in the previous year. However, the June 2001 sales at 48,243 units was lower than the previous month's sales of 54,202 units.

Commercial vehicles sales accelerate
COMMERCIAL vehicle sales volumes have picked up in June, making it the best month in this fiscal so far. But the volumes are still lower compared to the same period last year. Total commercial vehicle sales fell by 7.89 per cent to 10,937 in June 2001 co mpared to June 2000.

TVS-Suzuki drops behind
JUNE 2001 was a tough month for TVS-Suzuki. Sales of its two-wheelers fell sharply in two of the three segments -- motorcycles and mopeds.

Banking and Finance
Banks promise support to UTI
EIGHT large nationalised banks have assured liquidity support to Unit Trust of India (UTI) to tide over the redemption pressure on US-64.

Commodities
Thrust to widen coconut-based products
THE next time whe3n you order a soft drink to garnish your alcoholic beverage, you might be given the new choice of coconut water-based lemonade. Or when you ask for a can of cola from the road-side parlour, you will be given a new option of cooling your throat with chilled coconut water served in aluminium cans.

End-use certification for industrial-grade palm oil -- Questions remain over Customs bond
EXACTLY three months after Business Line exposed certain loopholes in the customs tariff (BL April 13, 2001) whereby a few importers have been able to get away with clearing what they describe as ``industrial grade palm oil'' and pay a low rate of duty _ 35 per cent ad valorem, against 75 per cent prescribed for edible grade palm oil _ the Ministry of Finance has woken up to the realities of the situation.

Corporate
Computation of book profit -- No adjustments needed for statutory norms: ICAI
ACCOUNTANTS certifying the computation of book profit under Section 115JB of the Income-Tax Act need not make adjustments for the statutory qualifications in the accounts examined by them.

Funding of expansion plans -- Eduquity in talks with venture capitalists
EDUQUITY Career Technologies Pvt Ltd, the Bangalore-based HR assessment company, is planning to raise between Rs 15-20 crore in the second round to fund its expansion plans.

Elgi Equipments hopeful of 10-15 pc revenue growth
THE compressor and automotive equipment major, Elgi Equipments Ltd (EEL), Coimbatore, hopes to log a 10 per cent to 15 per cent topline revenue growth aided by higher volume of sale of products such as diesel engines where it is eyeing the automobile OE market.

Elgi escapes US-64 freeze -- Denies insider information
IN a case of escape by a proverbial whisker, Coimbatore based Elgi Equipments Ltd (EEL) has been able to withdraw a huge investment made in the beleaguered US-64 scheme before the freeze on withdrawal was slapped by the UTI.

`More cos must prospect for bio-resources'
EVEN as the domestic biotech industry, targets sales of $36 billion by 2008, more companies need to participate in the process of prospecting for bio-resources, Dr Manju Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, has said here.

Corporate debt recast package finalised
THE Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have finalised the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) system under which a Rs 20-crore floor limit has been set for aggregate exposure of banks and financial institutions (FI) for a corporate to be enter tained for restructuring.

Colgate Palmolive to pay special dividend
COLGATE Palmolive (India) Ltd today announced a special one-time dividend of Rs 4.75 per share.

Zee goes interactive to hog frame
TIRED of all the game shows. Go for the interactives which now are set to become a reality. Come August and Zee's brand new interactive show `Aap Jo Bole Hai To Hai, Aap Jo Bole Naa To Naa' will go on air, in a bid to give rivals Star and Sony a run for their money.

Saregama Broadcast to set up studios, equipment
AS part of its plans to tap the business potential offered by private radio channels, Saregama Broadcast Software (SBS), a division of Saregama India, proposes to set up studios and equipment as part of the package for running the radio stations on behal f of the clients.

Usha to offload 49 pc in Koshika to NRI
THE Usha group has decided to offload 49 per cent of its stake in Koshika Telecom to US-based NRI, Mr. Chiranjiv Kathuria, and his associates for $ 120 million.

Industry to present views on managerial remuneration today
THE Government has convened a meeting with representatives of industry on Thursday to thrash out various contentious issues on payment of managerial remuneration by companies.

`Yaadein' distribution
MUMBAI: Mukta Arts Ltd has informed BSE that it has contracted the Domestic Theatrical rights of Yaadein, with various distributors in their respective territories (except Mumbai) for a total amount of Rs 8.44 crore.

Courts
Writ against master plan for Chennai dismissed
THE Madras High Court has held that it was not possible to consult each and every one in regard to the finalisation of the master plan for Chennai; notice in the dailies and publicity through other media can only be given and one has to act as per law.

Economy
New accounting standards to prevent frauds
LEADING financial and accounting experts along with the chief executive officers of the corporate houses had a detailed discussion on the new accounting standards here on Tuesday at a seminar on `corporate governance, prevention of frauds and transfer pr icing.' It was organised jointly by auditing and consultancy major KPMG Peat Marwick and Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The disinvestment dilemmas
THAT India has not been able to realise much out of disinvestment of public sector equities down the years despite setting up of ambitious target on this count year after year is by now familiar.

Steep fall in pvt investment
MUMBAI: Projects investment by the Indian private sector has shown an unprecedented decline in the first quarter of 2001-02. The three major industrial sectors, manufacturing, mining and electricity, recorded a negative growth. The service sector was the only one to buck this trend.

Mineral production index up
NEW DELHI: The total value of mineral production in the country during May this year was Rs 4473 crore, Rs 286 crore more than Rs 4187 crore in April. This does not include atomic and minor minerals.

US-64 imbroglio -- Are banks and FIs the milch cows?
THE Finance Ministry will most likely ask a consortium of banks and financial institutions, perhaps led by the LIC, to bail out the beleaguered UTI, consequent on its US-64 fiasco. This move raises several far-reaching issues.

Decade of transition, structural change
FOR India's industrial economy, the 1990s has been a period of transition and structural change. Since the launching of the economic reforms in 1991 and the gradual opening up to external competition, the economic environment transformed dramatically. Fo llowing the virtual dismantling of licensing and easing of production, pricing and distribution controls, there has been a transition from a controlled to a market-oriented economy. While this gave the industry greater freedom of operation, external comp etition took away the high level of protection it enjoyed since Independence.

Reversing the slump
Now that the euphoria and despair -- in that order -- over the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit has died down, it's high time that the BJP-led NDA Government switched off its `diplomatic exercises' mode and got down to the more serious and immediate business of correction of the economy.

Editorial
Coal confusion
THE RECOMMENDATION OF the Expenditure Reforms Commission that Coal India Ltd should be wound up in three stages over two years appears to have been made in haste. This is not to suggest that structural changes in the public sector coal set-up, compatible with the reforms regime, should not be brought about.

Fast track
Positive changes ahead
THE Indian equity market is in the midst of earth shattering changes. We are into the third week of the big move into rolling settlement; almost every stock that counted in terms of investor interest has been moved into rolling settlement.

Financial Performance
L&T first quarter net zooms to Rs 65 crore
LARSEN & Toubro Ltd has registered a 244.65 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 65.07 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2001, against Rs 18.88 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

E Merck net up 10.12 pc
E MERCK (India) Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 12.51 crore for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001, a 10.12 per cent increase over Rs 11.36 crore for the same period last year.

Tata Steel Q1 net falls 80 pc on slowdown
TATA Steel has ended the first quarter of 2001-2002 with an 80 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 20.80 crore as compared to Rs 101.40 crore in the year-ago period.

Foreign Trade
28 pc rise in Indo-British trade volume
INFORMATION technology (IT), environment technology, financial services, agri-businesses and food processing are among the sectors having potential for greater economic co-operation between India and Britain, according to Mr John Dennis, Director of Trad e & Investment Promotion in India, British High Commission.

DGFT tells States to boost exports
MANY of the States in the country seem to be hesitating to promote exports in a major scale on the fear that they would lose income since the entire earnings on exports were not shared by the Centre with the State Governments, according to the Director-G eneral of Foreign Trade, Mr N.L. Lakhanpal.

Health
ILO project on HIV\AIDS at workplace
IN response to the fact that 23 million workers worldwide are living with HIV\AIDS and there are 3.5 million in Asia alone, the International Labour Organisation will be launching a Code of Practice in the workplace and a special project on it in India o n Thursday.

Hotels
Indian Hotels in talks with SIA arm for joint venture
INDIAN Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) today informed that it is in negotiations with Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd (SATS) to form a new joint venture company that will handle IHCL's air catering business.

Impact
Mukta Arts: Already a priced show
THE sale of the domestic theatre rights for Yaadein by Mukta Arts may not lead to any significant improvement in the valuation of the stock. The stock has gained close to 50 per cent in the last two months and further upside from the present levels in th e short-term appears unlikely.

Silverline: No silver lining here
FOR the stock of Silverline Industries, yet another uncertainty has emerged in the form of a possible large cash outflow. The integration of the process of merger of SeraNova Inc of the US with Silverline Industries could lead to a outflow of around Rs 2 75 crore for Silverline.

Tisco: Steel in tumult
THE Tata Steel stock may trade with a downward bias following indications of a sharp cut in production in the July to September 2001 period. The production at its new cold-rolled mill is to be slashed by 30 per cent to 70,000 tonnes per annum from one la kh tonne per annum.

Information Technology
Maars Software merger with Mascon Global off
THE proposed merger between of the Chennai-based Maars Software International Ltd and Mascon Global Ltd has been called off.

Speed Post via Speednet
INDIA Post will soon be launching Speednet, a Web-based track and trace package for Speed Post.

Need for restructuring
The slump in the domestic IT industry has highlighted the need for restructuring the sector. Economic ups and downs are an integral part of every sector. Therefore, they cannot be yardsticks to judge performance, since several other factors need to be co nsidered for such an evaluation. So, there seems to be no justification in viewing the IT industry in isolation.

Management
`Conation' leaders
``LEADERS are born, not made'' is a familiar saying. Like all cliches, there is some truth in this though it cannot be taken literally. The charisma, inspirational qualities, ways of handling people, combine to produce a natural leader. According to mana gement writers, Warren Bennis and Bud Vanus, about 250 definitions have been produced on `leadership'. And the basic requirements have been summarised that leaders must be: `One of us'; `most of us', and the best of us'.

Miscellaneous
Redefining power and femininity
THERE was little possibility that the shy and self-effacing woman would ever take up leadership at the Washington Post, the newspaper her wealthy father had snapped up at a bankruptcy auction in 1933.

David come to town
`Goli' soda, the bottled drink with a marble stopper, for long a rural favourite, is increasingly seen at Bangalore street corners holding its own against the onslaught of majors such as Cola-Cola, Pepsi. Priced at Rs 3, it is offered as an instant conco ction of wholesome herbs such as ginger, pepper, fresh lime etc.

Snapshots of the future?
With the bride and groom gone for the day, two girls turn the spotlight on themselves as they pose for their mother at a wedding in Chennai.

Mutual Funds
UTI holding in HFCL at 12.42 pc
UNIT Trust of India, as on June 30 this year, held 97,91,814 shares of Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL) out of the company's total issued and paid-up capital of 7,88,22,155.

UTI measures
The article ``Package deal for investors eludes UTI'', (Business Line, July 15) dwells on the measures the UTI is adopting to mitigate the troubles of investors who had reposed their faith in it.

PSU
Govt to earmark 6.31 pc stake for CMC staff -- Prospective partner to get only 51 pc
IN a shift from its earlier proposal, the Government is now planning to earmark 6.31 per cent of its stake in CMC Ltd to the company's employees and divest only 51 per cent to a strategic partner through the disinvestment route.

Pharmaceuticals
Shantha Biotech in talks with Chiron for AIDS vaccine
THE US pharmaceutical major, Chiron, has approached the Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics Pvt Ltd, for the production of an AIDS vaccine in India.

Shantha Bio defers IPO, listing plans -- In talks with 3 cos for contract R&D
THE Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics is in talks with three foreign pharmaceutical companies to take up contract research and development. The company has also deferred its plans to raise money and list at the Indian and overseas bourses.

Clinical trial norms on cards
THE Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is expected to come out with a set of norms to monitor clinical practices for drug research in the country.

Policy
Reforms panel for abolishing 82 posts
THE Expenditure Reforms Commission (ERC) has recommended abolition of 82 posts in four Government departments, including fertilisers, chemicals and petrochemicals, petroleum and steel, merger of the fertilisers department with that of chemicals and petro chemicals, closure of sick PSUs under these departments and abolition of the post of Additional Secretary in the Petroleum Ministry.

Cabinet okays Mineral Bill's introduction in Parliament
THE Union Cabinet today approved the introduction of the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Bill 2001 in Parliament. The Bill provides for regulation and development of mineral resources in the territorial waters, continental shelves and exclusive economic zones of India.

Politics
A summit unconquered?
ON THE night before Gen Pervez Musharraf's fruitless visit to India, CNN's Q&A focussed on Kashmir; Mr Karan Thapar was talking to Hurriyat leader, Mr Umar Farooq, on Hard Talk India (BBC World); Mr Arun Jaitley was on STAR News talking of how India was full of hope at this initiative for peace; Ms Sushma Swaraj was on Aaj Tak saying that India was not at all defensive; Mr K. Natwar Singh of CWC was pointing out that if we could not have a breakthrough, we should at least not have a breakdown; and Mr Vi nod Mehta was on Zee News, ignoring all calls for a commercial break to announce that we have a great tradition of hospitality and should therefore give the general a ``good reception''.

Why involve Pakistan?
This refers to the editorial, `Agony in Agra' (Business Line, July 18). One was always fascinated by the Pakistani stand vis-a-vis Kashmir, this summit notwithstanding.

Power
SHV Energy to freeze investments till dismantling of APM
SHV Energy India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Dutch multinational SHV Gas, has decided to freeze its investments in the country till the dismantling of the administered price mechanism (APM) on petroleum products.

`Power sector needs $200-b investment'
THE power sector requires investments worth $200 billion, including investments in transmission and distribution networks, the Union Power Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, has said.

Dabhol files SLP in apex court
DABHOL Power Company (DPC) today filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the jurisdiction of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to resolve its dispute with the State electricity board, DPC spokesperson has confirmed.

Are SEBs unviable or are they weighed down by social costs?
DIVERSE views were expressed by experts in the power sector at the inaugural session of a national seminar on `Draft Electricity Bill - 2000' being organised here.

Meet on power management
POWER Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) are organising a two-day international conference on `Global participation in Indian national grid, energy management and convergence' on A ugust 17 in Mumbai.

Rubber
Rubber woes
A woman worker taps rubber at work in a plantation in Kerala's Kannur district. Though prices of natural rubber has shown some recovery, especially with the RSS 4 rising to Rs 3,375 per tonne, the turnover tax imposed by the Kerala Government last week c ould have an adverse impact on the trade.

States
Kerala Govt announces tax concessions
THE Finance Minister, Mr K. Sankaranarayanan, has announced concessions totalling Rs 15 crore in the proposals contained in the revised Kerala Budget for 2001-2002.

Plea against extending Kudremukh mining lease
WITH exactly a week's time left for the Kudremukh Iron Ore Co's mining lease, environmentalists here have said any extension of the lease would be illegal.

Plea for international convention centre in Hyderabad
THE need for providing a convention facility in Hyderabad with the help of the private sector to attract international conferences involving thousands of delegates was stressed here at a meeting of the India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) on Wednesda y.

SSI decry TNEB directive
MADURAI: The small-scale sector here is concerned at the recent directive of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to pay an additional current consumption deposit (ACCD) before July 20.

Local body poll results an eye-opener for TDP
SIMMERING discontent seems to be brewing within the ruling Telugu Desam Party circles in Andhra Pradesh over the party's poor performance in the local body elections.

Steel
Tata Steel ranked best in world by WSD
Tata Steel has emerged as the world's leading steel maker in a study carried out by World Steel Dynamics (WSD).

Tata Steel cuts output at cold rolling plant
FACED with subdued demand for its cold-rolled steel, Tata Steel has cut back production at its cold rolling plant to 70,000 tonnes per month as against its capacity of 120,000 tonnes for the quarter July-September 2001.

Steel Ministry closes down Hyderabad office
THE Steel Ministry has downed shutters on the Office of the Regional Development Commissioner for Iron and Steel (RDCI&S) located here with effect from July 1.

Stocks
Wipro on song; RIL, HLL, ITC drift
AFTER remaining flat in the last couple of days, the stock markets did move, but on the negative side, on Wednesday as the old-economy stocks, particularly Reliance Industries, ITC and Hindustan Lever Ltd, caved in to selling pressure.

Lyons Range
KOLKATA: THE Calcutta Stock Exchange on Wednesday saw the CSE-50 index slip on depressed sentiment. The index, touching a low of 116.74, closed at 123.98 points against the previous closing of 125.43.

Tea
Weekly Kochi tea auction postponed
THE leaf sale at the Kochi tea auction scheduled to be held on Wednesday has been postponed in view of the State-wide hartal by traders against the imposition of turnover tax (TOT) in the recent Kerala Budget. The sale will be held on Thursday.

Technical Analysis
Bear domination
WEDNESDAY'S trading witnessed a bear domination. However, the trend in the index remained sideways. The intra-day movement in Nifty was around 20 points. Bears gained around 13 points from the day's trading. The bulls were unable to make any recovery dur ing the day. The market sentiment reading of the tradable counters remained bearish.

Telecommunications
Spectrum pricing -- DoT challenges jurisdiction of appellate tribunal
THE Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has challenged the jurisdiction of the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on matters relating to the spectrum charges.

Fourth cell licence for VSNL -- Cell operators may move to get stay vacated
A COUPLE of private cellular operators are likely to challenge yesterday's interim order of the Bombay High Court which restrained the Government from making a final decision on the award of the fourth cellular operator licences.

Textiles
Cotton yarn export dips 14 pc
COTTON yarn export during the first six months of the calender year 2001 was down by 14 per cent. The total shipment of all count yarn during this period went down to 248.17 million kgs valued at Rs 3,195 crore compared to 289.18 million kgs valued at R s 3476 crore.

Travel & Places
Rustic getaways to soothe the soul
GOING away from Mumbai into villages to be back after a few days is something like walking in and out of an air-conditioned room. One is uncomfortable with both and a long spell at one place generally ends up with a headache.

Source:Business Line