Agriculture
Coconut oil set to break geographical confines
COCONUT oil, considered a cosmetic medium for a number of soap, shampoo and hair oil manufacturers across the country, is set to break the geographical confines of Kerala as it looks to enter the more voluminous edible oil market. And the Kerala Governme nt is looking at no less an entity than the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to help them in the venture.

American Periscope
A great Customs barrier
IT WOULD be a fair statement to say that, by now, almost everything about British colonial rule in India has been written about. Perhaps there is still room for looking at the same facts with a different bias -- benign colonialism versus ardent nationali sm -- but the facts are all out. Well, not quite. I recently read a book by Roy Moxham (The Great Hedge of India, 2001, published by Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc, New York, 234 pages) that describes the story behind a hedge that served as a customs lin e whose primary purpose was to enforce a tax on salt. And these are new facts, not widely present in the public domain. When Mr Moxham says ``There are no previous books about the hedge'' he is not being immodest; he is just saying it the way it is.

Automobiles
Eicher Tractor hopes to turnaround this fiscal
EICHER Tractors is hoping to turnaround in the current financial year through a mix of manpower restructuring and launch of new products, its Managing Director, Mr R.C. Jain, said.

Banking and Finance
Krushi Bank directors' properties to be confiscated
IN a significant development, the Andhra Pradesh Government has stepped in and ordered the confiscation of properties owned by the Chairman and Directors of Board of the Hyderabad-based cooperative bank -- Krushi Bank -- which collapsed following a payme nt crisis.

Scotia to buy Indian arm's business -- To acquire partner's stake
BANK of Nova Scotia (Scotia Bank), the $221-billion Canadian banking major, will be buying out the entire business of its Indian non-banking subsidiary, Scotia Finance Private Ltd, via slump sale.

`Johri siphoned Rs 32.30 cr from Lucknow co-op bank'
CYBERSPACE Infosys' promoter, Mr A.K. Johri, who has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for share price manipulation, had invested Rs 21.41 crore in fictitious scrips by siphoning off funds from the Lucknow-based The City Cooperat ive Bank, according to a report prepared by the Reserve Bank of India.

IFCI mulls delisting to tighten purse strings
THE troubled financial institution, IFCI, struggling to stay afloat due to the huge pile of non-performing assets (NPAs), is planning to delist its equity shares from all or any of the stock exchanges at Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta and Ahmedabad as part of a cost cutting exercise.

Krushi bank triggers a run on other co-ops
ALARMED by the miseries being suffered by the depositors of Krushi Co-operative Urban Bank, the beleaguered Secunderabad-based bank which is currently being superseded by the Andhra Pradesh Registrar of Co-operative Societies, a large number of depositor s belonging to various urban co-operative banks (UCBs) in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad were on a panic withdrawal spree irrespective of the maturity schedules.

RBI dividend
The Reserve Bank of India is reported to have remitted a of Rs 9,350 crore to the Central Government as the return on the latter's original investment of Rs 5 crore in the share capital of the former. It works out to a mind-boggling yield of 1.87 lakh pe r cent!

Book Review
Reaching for the Knowledge Edge
How the Knowing Corporation Seeks, Shares & Uses Knowledge for Strategic Advantage

Computers on the team
Issues and Implication for Workers, Organisations and Human Resource Management

Between export and import
As a result of ``conviction that the recent proliferation of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) poses a considerable problem'', the authors and editors have put together many of the major analytical contributions which have appeared over nearly half-a- century since Jacob Viner's pioneering analysis of PTAs in 1950.

Marketing -- The Retro Revolution
RETROMARKETING is all around us whether it be retroproducts or retro advertising campaigns. This rise of retro indicates to some the end of marketing and the waning of creativity. This book demonstrates why the opposite is true and how the retro revoluti on is the harbinger of change and a revolution in marketing theory. New ideas invariably come in old packaging. This book unwraps this retro package, and in doing so, offers radically new ideas for the future. The author also shows that the implications of today's retro revolution are much more profound than what existing literature suggests.

Commodities
Gold firms up on weak $
GOLD firmed to a slightly higher $273-278 per ounce range last week even as the movement up and down within the range depended largely on the gyrations of the dollar which in turn reflected the mood generated by economic data released.

Consumer Notes
Rule of the road
A few days ago, the Deputy Commissioner (Traffic), Chennai, sent a note to school principals requesting them to dissuade parents from using overcrowded transport such as fish carts, auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws to send their wards to school. On the face of it, it is an innocuous request from an officer who wants to ensure the safety of school-going children. But to enforce this, we need to undo several wrongful practices that have been encouraged in the past.

Corporate
Modern cooks up a winning recipe
TIME was when Modern Bread was ubiquitous at retail shops. But three decades down the line, Modern Food Industries (I) Ltd is struggling to regain its place on the market-shelf. The Government disinvested 74 per cent in MFIL, in favour of Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), in February 2000.

IPL sets up pollution-free tunnel kiln
INDIA Potteries Ltd (IPL), an exporter and manufacturer of porcelain electrical insulators, has joined a select band of Indian outfits by installing a pollution-free oil-fired ceramic fibre-lined tunnel kiln.

BEML export order
BANGALORE: Bharat Earth Movers Ltd has bagged an export order valued at Rs 24 crore for supply of dumpers to Tunisia, according to a company release here.

BHEL package to improve transformers
THE Corporate Research and Development Division of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has developed a package for improving the overall efficiency of transformers.

Move for insolvency fund cess opposed
NEW DELHI: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has opposed the move of the Government to impose a cess on the turnover of companies for financing the proposed insolvency fund.

Henkel Spic gets MRTPC clean chit
THE Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) has cleared SPIC Fine Chemicals Ltd (SFCL), now Henkel Spic Ltd, from the charges of adopting and indulging in unfair trade practice (UTP) for trying to ``allure'' consumers through a scheme to promote sale of its product.

Skills for success
When The Business Workshop, New Delhi, conducted a workshop on emotional intelligence for executives, they called it `Survival Skills for the New Millennium.'

Shell may hike stake in venture with BPCL
THE shareholding pattern in Bharat Shell Ltd (BSL), a joint venture between BPCL and Shell, is expected to undergo a change soon.

Economy
The downgrading of India
FOR the Finance Minister to quarrel with such rating agencies as Standard & Poor's and Moody's on their assessments, is, indeed, very much like a sportsman quarreling with the umpire. He may be right in his view that the downgrading of India may not be q uite justified by all the objective conditions. But, it is the overall assessment that matters. The fact remains that in the international financial world, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder since creditworthiness is judged by the rating agencies an d not by the rated countries. Insurance companies, pension funds and so on in the US are strictly governed by the requirement that they go by the ratings given by the rating agencies for allocating their investments. The rating agencies have, therefore, a serious responsibility to their clientele, who are the investors for the US and other developed countries. They cannot afford to be swayed away by the angry reactions and responses of the Finance Ministers of the countries that are rated, and who may b e emotionally influenced.

Missing case for weaker dollar
A FORTNIGHT ago, I had written that the gulf between the rest of the world and the US remains as wide as ever, if not wider. However, the foreign exchange market decided that the gulf was beginning to narrow and pushed the US dollar down against the euro . The euro is a little shy of US cents 92, having started, a few weeks ago, from around 85 cents.

The equity hurdle
IN THEORY, economic `development' need not always be accompanied by an infusion of equity into the system unless a determined effort is made towards that end. In fact, much depends on the strategy of development adopted. In a very general sense, if the e ntire effort is devoted to increasing GDP, foreign exchange reserves, exports, etc., it can be said with some confidence that the equity aspect will be neglected. In other words, economic growth in terms of the indicators mentioned above will first lead to a condition where the gap between the rich and the poor will increase rapidly before it starts to shrink.

Bridging disinvestment shortfall -- Rs 2,850-cr RBI surplus payout to Govt's rescue
REALISING Rs 12,000 crore through disinvestment may seem a pipedream for the Centre as of now. But the Finance Ministry has found a way out to make up, partially at least, for the likely shortfall, courtesy a generous surplus payout from the Reserve Bank of India.

Meet to discuss key WTO issues
SHOULD India support the launch of a new Round of trade negotiations at the forthcoming Ministerial Conference at Doha in November? Would it help India to throw in the towel right away and toe the line of the European Union (EU) and the US in accepting t he launch of a new Round?

NMDC signs wage pact
HYDERABAD: The National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (NMDC), a public sector enterprise, has signed a long-term settlement of revision of wages and other allied benefits for its workmen.

Insipid show by big-ticket export items in April-May
TRADITIONALLY sure-fire big-ticket export items such as chemical and related products, engineering goods and textiles, which together account for slightly half of the aggregate exports, have let down in the first two months of the current fiscal, notchi ng up a negative -7.64 per cent growth in dollar terms.

Cap likely on States tapping global funds
THE Finance Ministry is considering a proposal to cap the number of States which can access multilateral funds annually at two. Only those States which show considerable improvement in fiscal performance are likely to figure in the pruned list, according to senior Government officials.

Economic policy
This refers to `Fear not the slowdown -- PM' (Business Line August 16). In the article, the Prime Minister has been quoted as saying that the liberalisation policy has benefited India/people.

Editorial
States fail
IT WAS A welcome interlude in Parliament the other day when some of the members raised the issue of there being too much of hunger in the midst of too much of food. It was an issue not many of them would like to talk about strongly as it would invariably drag their State governments into the picture -- not a comforting prospect. The Prime Minister, in his Independence Day speech, had boasted about the overflowing foodgrains stocks and of further augmenting the storage capacity. He, however, failed to pu t the issue in perspective. He mentioned other paradoxes but not this all-important one: The surplus food not reaching the poorest. May be he knew this reference would hurt his allies more.

Environment
`I will talk eco, energy issues in India' -- Ms Satu Hassi, Finland's Minister for Environment
Ms Satu Hassi is the Minister for Environment as well as the Minister for Development Cooperation in Finland. Politically, she represents the Green Party in the coalition led by Social Democrats. During her visit to India between August 28 and September 1, the Minister hopes to combine the functions of both her portfolios, and start the process of development cooperation for environmental technologies.

The Padre tragedy -- Progress at what price?
THEY say `progress' comes with a `price'. But what price progress if it brings with it fatal diseases, as the story of Padre illustrates. The people of this remote village, in the northern-most district of Kerala's Malabar region, Kasargod, bordering Kar nataka, looked to the `Green Revolution' -- this time around not in wheat or rice, as in Punjab and Haryana, but through cashew cultivation. And the harbinger of that progress was the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) which ventured into corporate f arming of cashew with ``high-input technology'' to harvest unlimited nuts and profits.

Concern on changing climes
The rains never stopped in Kerala this year. Almost. And in the unceasing downpour there were freak incidents. Wells disappeared. The pier of the railway bridge over Kadalundi river sank just as a passenger train was passing over it, killing more than 50 passengers.

Fertilisers
Nagarjuna Agrichem to make fungicides
NAGARJUNA Agrichem Ltd (NAL), belonging to the Nagarjuna group, has developed indigenous technology to produce two fungicides, triclazole and propiconazole.

Health
On a `lonely' planet
In our exercise-session, during the simplest of stretches, Sonali would grimace, shut her eyes tightly as if in excruciating pain. Her zero threshold of physical tolerance troubled me considering she has practised yoga and is a strong swimmer. It was whe n she constantly spoke about missing her parental family, her husband's aloof nature, more so, her increased grimaces when her teenaged son went off to Germany that the penny dropped and I realised the cause -- loneliness.

Information Technology
In your domain...
Just when you thought that the Internet has exhausted its stock of online surprises, out pops this one. The latest buzz on the Internet centres around the most sacred area of the World Wide Web -- domain registration. A new player on the block, it is hav ing the ground rules of domain registration rewritten, which means that the heady days of the .com, .org and .net monopoly are almost over.

Cracker of a match for dapper Delhi hacker
THE story of the dapper young Delhi geek, Ankit Fadia, (carried in these columns on Friday, August 17), having authored a book on ethical hacking at the tender age of 16, must have warmed the cockles of an intensely reclusive but prodigiously talented ma ster programmer and self-confessed hacker, Richard Stallman, known better these days the world over as pioneer of the free software movement.

Management
Labouring thru labour laws
The paper on personnel management and industrial laws envisages conceptual knowledge of the labour laws and the principles of personnel management relevant for handling labour-related issues. The candidates are expected to apprise themselves with the rel evant provisions of the enactments. Presentation is of paramount importance in tackling questions related to personnel management. The following are the model answers for the June 2001 question paper:

How to attract women
Sean Purcell explains how successful marketeers use segmentation of their products to appeal to specific customer groups

Miscellaneous
The cow and all that
RELAX! This is not a ruse to saffronise the column by smuggling into it gomata, cow protection or cow worship. The only whiff of saffron will be when I mention Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee later in the piece. Nor is this a prelude to a write-up on the mad cow disease. That disease is now overshadowed by a mad snake disease. If you think, by a process of elimination, that I am going to expatiate on sacred cows of government, industry, academia or business, well, you will again be disappointed. All that I am g oing to do is to let you savour what a candidate in a competitive examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), no less, had to say on the plain and simple cow. Here, believe it or not, are some extracts:

Blockbuster bucks trend
When `Gadar -- Ek Prem Katha', a love story set in the time of Partition, was released on June 15, no one -- producer for Zee Telefilms, Nittin Keni, director Anil Sharma, lead star Sunny Deol, assorted trade pundits, seasoned film critics -- had any ide a that the film, which revisits such a turbulent time in recent history, would create box-office history.

Reaching out
The widows of Vrindavan have often been a poignant subject for documentary films, media articles and bytes. But how often have there been effective interventions to better their lives?

The channel juggernaut
Ad revenues are falling. Competition is hotting up. The weak-hearted -- and weak-pocketed -- are falling by the wayside. Still, every second day, one hears of a new channel coming up, promising to change the face of Indian television. Like Javed Akhthar put it at Confederation of Indian Industry's Entermedia conference on August 7, ``Everyone wants to be in two businesses -- his own, and show business!''

Memory truths and myths
THERE is now increasing evidence that our memory may not only be far better than we ever thought but may in fact be perfect.

Mutual Funds
Consolidation, need of the hour
``On most valuation parameters, the Indian market is obviously cheap, but at a time when psychology has come to dominate valuations, it appears that the market needs to go through a period of consolidation first to calm a lot of frayed nerves.'' This is how Morgan Stanley's portfolio manager ends his latest missive to unitholders.

Paper/Packaging
Domestic paper industry in a jam
THE domestic paper industry and trade are in rough weather in the wake of the continuous fall in prices of pulp and paper in the international market during the last couple of months. Paper mills are being obliged to cut ex-mill price of paper and paper products while traders are unwilling to take deliveries from the mills apprehending a loss if the price falls further.

Pharmaceuticals
Shantha Biotech hit by exclusion from Gates project
SHANTHA Biotechnics, the first indigenous producer of genetically engineered Hepatitis B vaccine in the country which is currently depending entirely on this single product, seems to have been badly hit by the decision of the Andhra Pradesh Government no t to consider two of the State-based Hepatitis B producers for the Rs 125-crore worth vaccination programme funded by the Bill Gates Foundation.

Cephalexin: Prices head southwards
CEPHALEXIN is a commonly prescribed antibiotic in India. The price of Cephalexin has declined by about Rs 250 (6.75 per cent) over the last year to currently hover around Rs 3,450 per kg.

Policy
Blowing hot & cold over steel policy
A COUPLE of months ago, when the Government came out with a draft steel policy, the unexpected happened.

States
Tamil Virtual varsity to handle Tamil IT unit
THE Tamil Nadu Government has said all matters relating to the Certification Committee of Kani Thamizh Sangam, looked after by Elcot (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu), shall hitherto be handled by the Tamil Virtual University (TVU).

Food subsidy `misdirected'
THAT the white paper on the financial status of the Tamil Nadu Government tabled in the Assembly on Saturday would paint a grim picture was expected, but what is more revealing is that the subsidy is often misdirected or has failed to reach the beneficia ry.

TN cell to outline steps for VAT implementation
THE Tamil Nadu Government has constituted a value-added tax (VAT) cell to analyse the implications of shifting to a VAT regime, and to outline the steps needed to implement VAT, the Finance Minister, Mr C. Ponnaiyan, announced in the Assembly.

The new Mattanchery bridge
The new Mattanchery bridge, constructed by Gammon India Ltd on a BOT basis for the first time in Kerala, will be opened for vehicular traffic on Monday. The 490-metre-long bridge, which connects the Kochi port with mainland, will cater to the needs of co ntainer traffic originating from southern parts of the State.

Uncertainty over Almatti hydro project
THE Almatti hydro-electric power project, promoted by the State-owned Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) is faced with uncertainty as the State Government now realising that the project power tariffs are likely to be close to that of liquid fuel proj ects.

Time ripe for power sector reforms in TN
IS the AIADMK Government laying the ground for power sector reforms in Tamil Nadu? It would appear so, as the white paper on the State's finances, tabled in the Assembly on Saturday, confirms what was always speculated upon -- the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board's financial health, and the ability of the State Government to continue supporting the electricity board in the absence of an economic rationale in fixing tariffs.

`PSUs drain on TN resources'
THE Tamil Nadu Government's investments in public sector enterprises have fetched insignificant receipts while it has to resort to high cost borrowings from the markets, according to the white paper on the State Government's finances, tabled in the Assem bly.

Enforcing agencies
The tragic incident in the Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives factory at Katpadi, where more than 25 people were killed, should not be seen in isolation.

Stocks
Nasdaq link may prove Achilles' heel
THE equity markets are likely to remain rangebound, and may tank initially on the back of the Nasdaq closing at a four-month low on Friday.

Taxation
Laid and adopted
I AM A student of CA. I have a doubt. Under Section 210 of the Companies Act, the accounts are required to be laid before the annual general meeting (AGM). No provision exists to require adoption of accounts by members. In the above circumstances, is it the statutory position that audit report can be given for a particular year only after the annual accounts of the previous year are adopted by the members? Can the accounts be rejected or modified by members?

Bond barter
OUR company has been selling coal to APSEB for several years now. Like most of the SEBs, APSEB too is not in good financial shape. Whenever it is in a bind, it has wriggled out of the situation by allotting to us, as also to other suppliers, `Vidyut Bond s' in lieu of the outstandings. In my view, in our financial statements, we should not classify these bonds under `investments' for the simple reason that our board of directors did not take a conscious decision to invest in these bonds but had no option but to acquiesce in the decision of the APSEB to allot bonds. In my view, these bonds should be disclosed in the balance-sheet under ``money at call and short notice'' or under some other suitable head. Please advise.

Less salary
A WORKING partner has been paid a salary of Rs 12,000 whereas the partnership deed permits Rs 18,000. Can the assessing officer disallow the entire expenditure on the ground that it is not in terms of the partnership deed?

House talk
I HAVE leased the house owned by me to my employer who in turn has given possession of that house to me by way of rent-free accommodation. Will I be assessed both under `income from house property' as also under `income from salary'?

Tea
CTCs ease at Kochi auction
A GOOD general demand resulted in the spurting of prices of almost all varieties of tea at the Kochi tea auction.

Technical Analysis
Malaysian palm oil amidst correction
Malaysia's palm oil futures saw prices correcting quite sharply last week on profit taking and absence of fresh leads. Traders, have expected this kind of correction after the market started dropping after making new highs. Palm oil futures climbed to it s highest level in 22 months last week and was mainly driven by concerns that supplies may be hit in the coming months due to adverse weather.

Upward correction due in NY cotton
Cotton futures slipped at Friday's close a little lower after trading in a narrow range the entire week. Lack of market-moving news kept the turnover thin and prices range-bound. The trade had been expecting a record cotton crop in the US and the USDA re ports simply confirmed those fears. Rains were too late to save drought-stressed Texas crops as the rains may have been too little, too late for many drought-stressed row crops in the region.

Textiles
TN textile workers stir from today
EVEN as the Joint Action Council (JAC) of Textile Trade Unions has decided to go ahead with the indefinite strike from Monday, to press the textile workers wage, the Government has invited the unions for another round of negotiations on August 28.

Travel & Places
Driven by design
A product of the famed Art Centre in California, this 47-year-old entrepreneur incorporated DC Design in 1993 to provide design-related services to the automotive industry. His company has successfully handled product designs from the 100cc Honda motorcy cle to the top-line E class Mercedes Benz. It has a built-up competency supported by over 400 employees spread over two locations of 100,000 sq ft. The company's focus has been on Design & Prototyping (with over 450 original rolling prototypes as well as 70 full ground up, a record) and Customising (creating individual design definitions).

An English holiday
The first surprise was the sunshine. This wasn't meant to happen, I thought to myself as I got into the little Nissan rented from Budget Rent A Car and settled down, seat belt secured, bags in the hold, and a road map of Britain safety in place.

Source:Business Line