Agriculture
Call for united effort to help coconut growers
THE Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Shripad Naik, has called for a joint effort between the industry and Agriculture Department in Kerala to strengthen technology awareness and dissemination in the proposed technology mission on coconut for t he benefit of farmers.

Geo-botanical research
`Turning over a curry leaf' (Business Line, August 16) was interesting. According to this, extensive surveys using kadipatta plant as a geo-botanical guide have yielded information regarding deposits of minerals in North Kanara districts of Karnataka. Th e sensitivity of some plants to underground mineral deposits now being referred to as `geo-botanical' might have been used by people in ancient days to locate minerals, since there were no sophisticated equipment available then to locate them.

Agriculture policy
The agriculture sector is not getting enough attention. The operations on this front have become more expensive due to the use of costly inputs and crop failures/diseases. The low procurement prices and the lack of proper infrastructural facilities in vi llages are causing problems to farmers.

Airlines
Flights from India cancelled
PASSENGERS travelling from India to the US are likely to face difficulties for some time at least, with the US closing its airspace and Canada reportedly not allowing any detours to the US.

Automobiles
Leyland's August sales up 11.34%
ASHOK Leyland Ltd today said it sold 2,230 commercial vehicles in the domestic market in August, up 15.66 per cent from 1,928 vehicles sold a month earlier. August sales was up 11.34 per cent compared with 2,002 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago , the company said in a statement here.

Honda Siel rolls out new Accord variant
HONDA Siel Cars India Ltd today launched an upgraded version of its recently introduced Accord luxury car, called the Accord VTi-L, enriching its interiors with leather upholstery and improved features.

David Friedman to head Ford India
MR David Friedman, currently Vice-President, Finance and Systems, Ford India Ltd, is to take over as President and Managing Director of the company. He succeeds Mr Philip G. Spender, who is relocating to the US to become President of Auto Alliance Intern ational, Inc, a Ford Motor Company joint venture with Mazda.

Breweries
Shaw Wallace in expansion mode -- Scouting for global partner
SHAW Wallace has embarked on an expansion drive at four of its major capacities to enhance its brewing capacity by 50 per cent.

Coal
Paswan promises to revamp coal industry
THE Union Coal Ministry is looking into proposals to streamline the country's coal industry. They include merger of all the seven coal-producing subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd (CIL) into a single company as well as dismantling of CIL and having a regulat ory structure at the Ministry level as recommended by the Expenditure Reforms Committee headed by Mr K.P. Geetakrishnan.

Commodities
Palm oil dips on higher output forecast, poor export growth
HIGHER production prospects next two months, poor export growth and burgeoning stocks have already negated the gains palm oil market made during July and early August. Over the last four weeks, the palm group of oils have shed at least 30 per cent of the value, even as the market seems to have a further downside.

Dull trading continues in leather
CONTNUING with last week's sluggish trend, the leather market has opened a dull note this week. It is because of the slow movement, particularly in sheep nappa leather and due to reluctant buying of E.I. and wet blue goat leather by leading buying houses . This has led to a depressed mood among the skin merchants.

World pepper exports up
WORLD pepper exports during the first seven months of this year increased by 23 per cent to 1,17,465 tonnes as against 95,328 tonnes during the same period a year ago.

Corporate
Mather & Platt bullish on export market
MATHER and Platt India Ltd, part of Mr M.R. Chhabria's Jumbo group, has commissioned Rs 2.15-crore worth irrigation project for the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment in Thailand, according to a company press release.

Infar India in talks for marketing, promo pacts
INFAR India Ltd, still a 51 per cent subsidiary of Dutch major Akzo Nobel Pharma International BV, recently renamed as Organon Participation BV, has initiated a dialogue with other pharma companies for co-promotion and co-marketing of products.

Swagelok bets on Indian market
SWAGELOK, one of the largest privately-held companies manufacturing fluid system products, is awaiting the lifting of the US sanctions to increase its share in the $100-million market in India for its products.

Rallis India charting return to the black -- Operation `clean-up' underway
RALLIS India Ltd, expects, as of now, to end the financial year with a return to profits, said Mr Rajeev Dubey, CEO and Executive Director, at a news briefing following the company's annual general meeting here.

New V-P for British Gas
NEW DELHI: Mr Nigel Shaw has been appointed as new Vice-President of British Gas Group, India.

Mecon completes centrifuge project
THE Ranchi-based Mecon (Metallurgical Consultants) has successfully completed a geotechnical centrifuge project on a turnkey basis at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai.

Corporate India too shocked for words
THE commercial capital of the country shuddered in disbelief and anxiety as catastrophe unfolded before their very eyes on the television screen.

Liebert was off our track, says Tata Power MD
TATA Liebert Ltd has changed its name to Emerson Network Power India Pvt Ltd following Emerson buying out Tatas stake in the company.

Employee woes
In `Survivor still at sea?' (Business Line, August 27) the problem of those employees left behind in a company or institution that sends off employees on one pretext or the other were discussed. This pink-slip syndrome can be practised only in the privat e sector and that too where unions are not so strong or are passive.

Economy
Better institutions key to poverty reduction: IBRD
WEAK institutions such as tangled laws, corrupt courts, deeply biased credit systems and elaborate business registration requirements hurt poor people and hinder development, according to the World Development Report 2002: Building Institutions for Marke ts.

Unctad appeal for bold Africa policy
AS Africa's experiments with structural adjustment programmes prescribed by the World Bank and the IMF have not been successful in establishing the conditions for sustained growth, a bold vision is now needed in policy design and implementation to pull A frica out of the woods.

FCI's remake of a disaster
THE TRAGEDY of over 20 starvation deaths in Kashipur region of Raigarh district of Orissa has come as a shock to the entire nation. There is suddenly a realisation that Indian economics is not only about BSE index, rate of inflation, percentage of fiscal deficit and rates of interest. The issue is far more stark and primitive because people are dying unable to get food to eat.

For stastitics -- correct and reliable
COLLECTION of numerical data for the purpose of understanding the behaviour of various socio-economic variables has a long history. The Indian statistical system has over the years built an elaborate statistical infrastructure to capture the wide variety of data generated by a large and decentralised economy. However, due to its over-dependence on the administrative set up and traditional records, the system has not been able to keep pace with the demands of statistical requirements.

State-specific nodal officers appointed for FDI implementation
THE Government has appointed senior officials of the Industry Ministry as Nodal Officers for specific States to follow up the implementation of pending FDI proposals. The Ministry has put the names and telephone numbers of the official concerned for each State on its Web site.

Editorial
Holding the mirror
BY CHRONICLING in its report the various malpractices -- circular trading, use of benami brokers, misuse of ALBM/badla and depository pool accounts, fictitious trades, misuse of OCBs, sharp practices by some FIIs and so on -- SEBI has drawn pointed atten tion to its own inability to curb such acts. Beyond listing the malpractices, there has to be punitive action in concert with other investigating agencies. There must be some credible effort at disgorging the inappropriately generated profits. Of course there may be some action, once the Joint Parliamentary Committee finishes its probe of the `stock market scam'. But nothing immediately.

Fast track
Ranbaxy: In the pink of health
RANBAXY has been a quiet gainer in the stock market of late. The stock currently trades around Rs 663, up by 11 per cent over the last fortnight. The buying in Ranbaxy perhaps has a lot to do with the developments in the market for generic drugs in the U S. The parallel rise in the share price of Ranbaxy's peers, Dr Reddy's Labs and Cipla, too can be traced to developments in the US generic market and implications for Indian companies.

Floriculture
Kerala floriculture model smells success
THE Department of Biotechnology (DBT)-funded floriculture programme in Thiruvananthapuram district has set an example for similar, though mostly unsuccessful, initiatives in the Government and corporate sector by demonstrating how strict monitoring, regu lar feedback and prompt follow-up action can ensure success for a community-based project.

Foreign Trade
Imports of sensitive `war room' items continue to fall
CONTINUING the negative trend, imports of 300 sensitive items being monitored by the ``war room'' set up by an inter-Ministerial committee in the post-QR period amounted to Rs 3,034 crore in the first four months of the current fiscal, against Rs 3,663 c rore for the corresponding months of 2000.

Forex
Rupee falls further, closes at 47.42/43
THE rupee continued its free fall today hitting a new low of 47.48 to the dollar before recovering slightly to close at 47.42/43 on increased demand for greenback.

Hotels
Action against Grieves Hotels
NEW DELHI: The Department of Company Affairs (DCA) has ordered prosecution against Grieves Hotels Ltd, Delhi, and its directors in default for violation of Section 62 and 63 of the Companies Act, 1956 relating to mis-statement by companies.

Miscellaneous
Of animal bonding
HAVE you ever wondered why animal lovers are not like other normal people. They tend to think of their pets as one of their own babies and tend to treat them like one too.

Petroleum
We have gone beyond McKinsey recommendations: ONGC chief
Only four months since he took over as the Chairman and Managing Director of the public sector oil giant, ONGC, Mr Subir Raha has already earned the reputation of being a hard taskmaster. ONGC abounds with stories of the his various dressing-downs, his penchant for perfection and accountability. He is, for example, said to have riven the public relations department for not standardising the company's logo and for continuing to mention 'Connaught Circus' instead of 'Indira Gandhi Chowk' in ONGC's addres s.

Pharmaceuticals
Toxicity tests for drugs, molecules -- Dr Reddy's approaches Reliance Life Sciences
PHARMA major Dr Reddy's Laboratories has approached Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) for conducting toxicity tests for its upcoming drugs and molecules. However, whether RLS will take up the offer, is yet to be confirmed.

Plantations
Planters urge Govt to modify policies
THE core issue facing the plantation industry is ``high cost and low realisation'', according to Mr E.K. Joseph, President, United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI), and he called for Government initiatives to modify certain policies to he lp the industry to be globally competitive.

Commodities boards revamp mooted
THE present industrial downturn is a temporary situation assured Mr L.V. Saptharishi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, expressing confidence about the future.

Global coffee festival in Bangalore
IN their bid to change the impression about the quality of Indian coffee and place the Indian mild arabicas and superior robustas on a much higher platform on the world map, the Coffee Board and the United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI) have decided to organise the India International Coffee Festival at Bangalore.

Policy
Nizam's funds in NatWest Bank -- Cabinet nod for out-of-court settlement with Pakistan
THE Union Cabinet today approved a proposal to pursue an out-of-court settlement with Pakistan and the heirs of Nizam of Hyderabad on the matter of funds lying with the NatWest Bank.

President's nod for eight Bills
THE President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, has given his assent to eight Bills. The Bills are the Electricity Regulatory Commissions (Amendment) Bill, 2001, the Judicial Administration Laws (Repeal) Bill, 2001, the Warehousing Corporation (Amendments) Bill, 2001, the Indian Railways Companies (Repeal) Bill, 2001, the Railways Companies (Substitution of Parties in Civil Proceedings) Repeal Bill, 2001, the Hyderabad Export Duties (Validation) Repeal Bill, 2001, the Food Corporations (Amendments) Bill, 2001 and the Live-Stock Importation (Amendment) Bill, 2001.

Politics
Mandir or Mandal, Mr Rajnath Singh?
INTERESTING time are ahead in the political arena of Uttar Pradesh with all the 102 Samajwadi party MLAs resigning en masse on Tuesday. This decision was obviously taken by the Samajwadi Party chief, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, to force the BJP Government's hand in dissolving the House and holding elections by October 2001, something the Opposition has been demanding.

Saffronisation
IT is doubtful whether media persons realise the harm they cause by the repeated use of certain words to make innocuous happenings assume ghoulish overtones. The harm lies in deliberately creating prejudice and confusion in the minds of the average reade r of their reports or watchers of their programmes on TV channels on matters of no more than ordinary significance. The latest addition to this kind of distorted lexicon is saffronisation.

The politics of race
IF an international conference were discussing political freedom in the 1980s, would the US have objected if participants had singled out ``only one country in the world'', the Soviet Union, for ``censure and abuse''? Would Washington have expected a sim ilar meet on fascism not to point to Nazi Germany because that would have amounted to accusing just one nation?

Power
Southern power grid collapses
The southern regional power grid suffered a serious disturbance around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, tripping all hydel and thermal power generating stations in Andhra Pradesh besides some units in Karnataka.

HC disallows DPC from invoking LC
THE Mumbai High Court on Tuesday upheld the Maharashtra State Electricity Board's (MSEB) plea to disallow Dabhol Power Company from invoking a letter of credit of Rs 136 crore. The HC will hear the companies on September 14.

States
AP may reschedule power supply to farm sector
THE Andhra Pradesh Government is likely to reschedule power supply to the farm sector from the recently announced 12 hours to a nine-hour structure following dwindling inflows into major reservoirs and consequent fall in hydel generation.

Bihar annual Plan at Rs 2,644 cr
BIHAR's annual plan for the current fiscal has been fixed at Rs 2,644 crore at a meeting between the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr K.C. Pant, and the State Chief Minister, Ms Rabri Devi.

A hosiery dream in tatters
THE story of the Madurai Hosiery SIDCO Industrial Estate at Uranganpatti, near here, is a dream gone sour.

Andhra Pradesh: Prajay Engg's Celebrity Club
HYDERABAD: Prajay Engineering Syndicate Ltd, engaged in real estate business, is establishing `Celebrity Club' in an extent of about 12 acres near Shamirpet, about 20 km from here.

Ganja crop destroyed in AP
HYDERABAD: Ganja plantations in six acres roughly worth Rs. 4.45 crores have been destroyed by prohibition and excise officials of Medak district.

Lending a helping hand
Labourers helping each other to make a stand for their construction work in New Delhi.

Where the dollar calls the tune
IT has been raining dollars and pounds in Kerala. A veritable deluge of foreign currency.

Kolkata Inc ready for Dalai Lama
HE means different things to different people. Some think he is the living Buddha. But he only sees himself as a Buddhist monk. He is the Dalai Lama. Dalai is Mongolian for ocean, Lama, being the Tibetan for spiritual teacher.

Stocks
Conversion to corporate entities -- SEBI changes stand on brokers' turnover fees
THE Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked stock brokers to pay the turnover fees for the five years from the date of corporatisation of individual cards. The change in SEBI's thinking on the calculation of relevant five-years period is li kely to affect a few hundred brokers who converted their individual memberships into corporate entities before December 31, 1997.

Lyons Range
THE Calcutta Stock Exchange on Tuesday saw the Satyam Computer share close at Rs 171.40, up by 1.69 per cent.

Interest down to a trickle in refining cos
THE bourses set a new 32-month closing low for the second day in a row on Tuesday, amid fears that foreign fund inflows could dwindle or turn negative for the rest of the year. That worry sent the rupee to a lifetime-low of 47.48 per dollar, triggering more gloom for stocks.

ONGC mulls NYSE listing
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd and its wholly-owned subsidiary, ONGC Videsh Ltd, are likely to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Taxation
Sinha meets Customs, I-T Commissioners
THE Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, today met with the Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise as well as the Commissioners of Income-Tax of the western region.

Tea
Sakthivel re-elected TEA President
COIMBATORE: Mr A. Sakthivel of Poppys group of companies has been re-elected President of the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA). He will hold office for a three-year term.

Tea sector staff told to bite the bullet on bonus issue
AFTER an industry-wide statement by all the organisations, the members of the Tea Association of India (TAI) have reiterated their inability to pay high bonus and further added that some of them will not be able to pay even the minimum statutory amount.

Accenture tea report by Dec
IN a bid to strengthen the country's tea exports, the Tea Board has assigned the task of undertaking a study of the situation to the technology management consultant firm Accenture.

Technical Analysis
Bear domination
RIGHT from the initial hours of Tuesday's trading the bears were in total control of the market. Bulls were unable to make any recovery during the day. The intra-day movement in the index was around 17 points. It closed with a loss of 6 points with respe ct to Monday's close. The sentiment reading of the tradable counters continues to remain bearish.

Technology
Evergreen `diesel'
BIO-FUELS have been around and known for ages. Over 100 years ago, Rudolf Diesel, too, had experimented with groundnut oil. One such non-edible oil from the humble Pongamia glabra (Honge, in Kannada; Pongam, in Tamil) is emerging as a viable bio-alternat ive to diesel.

Renewable energy concepts in the US
ALTERNATIVE energy sources as substitutes for coal, oil and other fossil fuels, have been the subjects of intense research in the US for some time now and, in some cases, have attained near-tangible stages of development. Among the primary reasons drivin g the aggressive efforts to identify new energy sources are:

Telecommunications
Stop extra levy on ISPs, basic operators told
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed all basic service operators to stop levying any additional charge for interconnection between Internet Service Providers (ISP) and private data networks.

McKinsey predicts high tide for broadband wave
THE broadband revolution is set to break in India. Star is gung-ho about broadband while Sony promises to launch several new channels and a host of interactive shows. But it's going to be a long haul before broadcasters actually start raking in the moola h, global consultancy major McKinsey has said in a report.

Textiles
Strong dollar causes havoc in US cotton textile sector
THE strong dollar caused a surge in cotton textile and apparels into America, decimating the US cotton textile industry in recent times, according to Mr William B. Dunavant, leader of a 10-member US cotton delegation currently touring India.

TN textile workers welcome interim relief announcement
THE Tamil Nadu Government awarding an interim relief to the State's textile mill workers and referring the wages dispute to an industrial disputes tribunal has not come as big a surprise as the Government's announcement in the matter was, to some extent, an anticipated one.

Travel & Places
PM to open conference on tourism today
THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will inaugurate the State Tourism Ministers' meet here today which is to discuss the draft national tourism policy perspective plan for tourism development and other related issues.

Tyres
Dunlop may source tyres from Nepal
WITH production at the Sahaganj and Ambattur factories having come to a halt, Dunlop India Ltd (DIL), in a bid to keep the Dunlop brands alive in the market, proposes to outsource tyres from Nepal under contract manufacturing arrangement and supply the s ame in the domestic market.

Source:Business Line