Advertising & Marketing
Fiat Palio to build tempo with teaser ads
REMEMBER Digen Verma and Electra? These were icons of two teaser campaigns that had managed to create the requisite hype for the brands they represented -- Frooti and Kelvinator respectively -- not too long ago.

Agriculture
Soyabean output to fall despite higher acreage
SOYABEAN production is expected to fall to 51 lakh tonnes (lt) this year, from last year's level of 53.04 lt, notwithstanding an increase in acreage from 58.12 lakh hectares to 60.02 lakh hectares, according to the latest projections made by the Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA).

Soya crop in critical stage
THE soya crop in the country is in a critical phase at present and if there are no rains in a couple of days, the crop output is estimated to decline drastically. A prolonged dry spell is affecting the crop which currently at pod formation stage.

Airlines
Airlines taking cargo to US
A WEEK after terrorist attacks on the US, Air India and SwissCargo have started accepting cargo for the US. Other mainline players in the cargo market such as Air France, Cargolux and Alitalia will also be accepting in a few days, according to airline so urces.

AI sell-off may hit air-pocket -- Tatas keeping fingers crossed
THE global aviation scenario and the happenings in the US in the past week are likely to take a toll on the disinvestment of Air India (AI).

AI guidelines for US passengers
IN view of recent developments in flight movements to the US and the changed security procedures, Air India has requested passengers bound for the US and those travelling up to London on the same flights to report at the airports at least four hours befo re the departure time.

Air France steps up security
AIR France has tightened security on board all its national and international flights, further to the French Government's decisions aimed at reinforcing security measures in all public and air transport.

Aquaculture
AP mechanised boats back on sail
CALLING-OFF their month-long agitation, the mechanised fishing boat operators in Andhra Pradesh resumed operations from Tuesday.

India lags behind in fish farming
CHINA accounts for a significant 67 per cent of the global aquaculture production, relegating India to a distant second position with a meagre 6 per cent contribution.

Automobiles
Maruti market share goes up to 61 pc
MARUTI Udyog Ltd reinforced its position as the largest car manufacturer in the country despite the growing competition by significantly improving its market share to over 61 per cent in April-August, according to the latest industry data.

Talks with Escorts workers by month-end
EFFORTS to end the intensifying strike at tractor maker Escorts Ltd are underway with the Labour Commissioner of the Haryana Government slated to meet the striking workers by the month-end, company sources said today.

Scooter segment checks steep fall
THE scooter industry seems to have arrested the steep falls it had been experiencing through most of last year, although it is far from registering positive growth rates, latest industry data shows.

Auto sales continue to slide; mobikes only hope
MOTORCYCLE sales continued to be the only silverlining in an otherwise disappointing scenario for automobile sales in the first five months of the current financial year with most segments declining significantly, industry data shows.

Slowdown takes toll on CV
AN overall sluggishness in the economy, particularly in the industrial sector, has hurt the fortunes of the commercial vehicle industry with vehicle sales declining over six per cent year-on-year in April-August, data showed.

Vehicle import norms relaxed
THE Government has exempted certain special categories of importers from conforming to most of the conditions relating to import of vehicles that were specified in this year's Exim Policy.

Banking and Finance
Financial institutions
The IDBI, after pressure from the media over its liquidity-crunch, has stated that ``it is not experiencing any liquidity problem necessitating it to seek succour or a bail-out from the Government or any other agency''.

Breweries
12 foreign cos in race for BrewCo
TWELVE international brewers are in race for a strategic stake in BrewCo, a demerged beer only company of United Breweries Ltd.

Coal
CIL arm keen on overseas assignments
THE Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), an in-house mining consultancy organisation of Coal India Ltd (CIL), feels that there are good opportunities to secure consultancy jobs in Africa and Asia provided it gets support from the Centre as well as from Government-funding agencies.

Commodities
Further rise in gold prices likely to impact offtake
THE continuing uncertainty in the global arena following the terrorists attacks in the US has been driving gold prices to new recent highs but demand for the precious metal in India is likely to ebb, dealers and analysts said.

US attack dampens leather trading
WHILE the leather industry has already been witnessing sluggish trend in the recent weeks and exporters are waiting for fresh orders, the terrorist attack in the US has stunned the world trade including leather, since it is an export-oriented industry.

Corporate
DCA clarifies on appointment of auditor
THE Department of Company Affairs (DCA) has clarified that the provisions of sub-clauses (a) to (c) of Sub-section 1 of Section 224 A of the Companies' Act, 1956, relating to appointment of auditor in certain cases with the approval of the company by spe cial resolution are not mutually exclusive.

Kirloskar bags Rs 444-cr order for mega pump
THE Pune-based Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (KBL) has bagged a Rs 444-crore order from Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam to instal what is probably the world's largest pumping system, to supply drinking water to an estimated 30 million people in the drought-prone S aurashtra region of Gujarat.

Nalco divestment in backburner
DESPITE all the discussions on disinvestment of the Government's stake in National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), a sell-off is unlikely to happen, according to sources familiar with the developments. At least, not in the foreseeable future.

Siemens divests stake in arm
MUMBAI: Siemens Ltd on Tuesday announced it had divested part of its stake in Siemens Public Communication Networks Ltd (SPCNL) as part of a buyback announced by SPCNL.

Nicco fears `substantial loss'
NICCO Corporation Ltd has ruled out the possibility of getting back to the dividend list on its operations during the fiscal ending March 31, 2002.

V.C. Burman to continue as Dabur India Chairman
MR V.C. Burman, Chairman, Dabur India Ltd, who was to hand over charge to Mr G.C. Burman, will continue as the Chairman of the company, following the latter's recent and untimely demise.

Unfair trade practice charge -- MRTPC dismisses review application of Reliance
THE Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) has dismissed the review application filed by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on the commission's cease and desist order of March 26, 1999.

Kusum Products closes shop
KUSUM Products Ltd (KPL), manufacturers of vanaspati, has suspended operations at its Rishra plant following a scuffle between a section of factory workers and management personnel on September 10, according to a spokesman of the company.

Buyback norms set to be liberalised further
THE Government is set to further liberalise the existing provisions relating to buy-back of shares under the Companies Act for a short period, in what is seen as another attempt to talk up the market.

Divesting equity holdings in unlisted subsidiary -- Sponsored ADR, GDR plan to be relaxed
THE Finance Ministry has decided to liberalise the sponsored American depository receipts (ADR) and global depository receipt (GDR) programme to enable Indian corporates disinvest abroad their equity holdings in a unlisted subsidiary.

Lesson in human values for India Inc
THE Vijay Mallyas and Sudhir Jalans of Indian business, fed with an overdose of capital market volatility and corporate governance in recent times, were today treated to a different kind of medicine, courtesy the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Geoffrey Manners may merge with Wyeth Lederle
WYETH Lederle India Ltd is exploring the possibility of merger of its associate company Geoffrey Manners & Co. Ltd with it.

Economy
UNCTAD fears sharp fall in FDI flow
EVEN as foreign direct investment (FDI) grew last year by 18 per cent, faster than other economic aggregates like world production, capital formation and trade, reaching a record $1.3 trillion, such FDI flows are likely to decline this year.

`China in WTO is good for India'
WHAT does China's entry to the World Trade Organisation mean to India?

India luckless in the FDI game
THAT Hong Kong virtually rode on a foreign direct investment boom last year with a massive $64 billion in inflows, developing Asia's FDI inflow was a record $143 billion, is axiomatic. Against this spectacular show of Chinese market-savvy, India garnered $4.50 billion in 2000 as per the Indian authorities' admission.

Editorial
Fall halted?
THESE ARE EXTRAORDINARY times. If it was a Disaster Monday, it was Relief Tuesday. The lower-than-expected fall in Dow and Nasdaq obviously helped sentiment across Europe and Asia. If there was no ``patriotic rally'' on Wall Street, when it resumed tradi ng on Monday after a four-day shutdown, it was because investors were too unnerved.

Education
New Zealand varsities woo Indians
THIS year, more than 1,500 Indian students will enrol at various universities in New Zealand, according to Mr Peter Healy, Trade Commissioner Counsellor, New Zealand High Commission in India. He was speaking to Business Line at the New Zealand Education Fair in Bangalore today.

Environment
Ram Naik hails SC ruling on CNG issue
THE Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Ram Naik, has welcomed the clarification given by the Supreme Court in the hearing on the CNG issue to the effect that four stroke engine autos using unleaded low benzene petrol can be registered in the Nati onal Capital Territory (NCT).

Fast track
Buybacks, the only solace now
IN an unprecedented plunge, the US Dow Jones industrial average, opening after four days of closure shed 685 points or 7 per cent to settle at 8,921 points, its lowest close since December 18, 1998.

Forex
Rupee's fall: Driven by speculation
THE likely impact of the US war against terrorism on India's oil import bill seems exaggerated. The panic among the foreign institutional investors and their withdrawals also look out of proportion though their assessment of the condition of the economy with no signs of a revival may not be inaccurate. But if the FIIs are safeguarding their positions because they expect the Indian economy to be hit harder than the others, they are thinking too much. It is more speculation than good assessment. An unstab le and volatile exchange rate regime can scare away potential foreign investors. The first ones to go are the portfolio investors, as is happening now.

Impact
Ballarpur: Consolidation positive, but...
THE Ballarpur Industries stock may trade in a sluggish manner despite the proposed consolidation of the paper business within the group. The acquisition and a merger of BILT Graphic Paper (the erstwhile Sinar Mas) may strengthen the position of the compa ny in the paper industry. This approach may also ensure that benefits flow to shareholders of BILT than to a private company in the group.

Castrol: Tying up loose ends
THE proposed merger of Castrol India and Tata-BP Lubricants may not have any significant influence in the valuation of the stock. The plan is more or less on expected lines following the global level developments involving the BP Amoco.

Siemens: One-time cash flow
THE one time cash inflow for Siemens may not have a bearing on the stock price. The company would get a one time flow of Rs 13.14 crore from a sale of stake in an associate company.

Information Technology
Hard life for `soft' bunch at new port of call
KARTHIK, a 25-year-old computer science graduate, is desperate to get a job. But due to the economic slowdown, he is unable to find a job to match his qualifications. Frustrated, Karthik (name changed) is willing to work as a quay crane operator at the C hennai Container Terminal Ltd (CCTL).

Infrastructure
Ministers' panel on rural, urban housing
THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has decided to constitute a Group of Ministers (GoM) to consider various issues pertaining to rural and urban housing. The GoM has to come up with specific action plans within a month. It will comprise the Fi nance Minister, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission,the Rural Development, Urban development and Law Ministers.

Mutual Funds
Tech funds hit new lows
THE falling stock market, driven by heavy selling by institutions, which has particularly hit technology stocks, has taken a serious toll on tech funds. Their net asset values (NAVs) have touched new lows during the last few days.

UTI sells Kvaerner shares
MUMBAI: Unit Trust of India (UTI) has sold 81,200 shares comprising 1.76 per cent of Kvaerner Cementation India Ltd on August 10 at Rs 151 per share.

PSU
Price bids called for CMC, HTL
AMIDST setbacks on Air India, Indian Airlines and IPCL, the Government has called for price bids from bidders who had expressed interest in acquiring a controlling stake in CMC and HTL.

`Hidden hurdle' blocks Maruti sell-off
THE Union Government's disinvestment plan in the joint venture car-maker, Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), has bumped into a ``hidden hurdle,'' delaying the appointment of the three independent valuers and the completion of the proposed rights offering by Septemb er.

`PMO must drive disinvestment process'
THE process of disinvestment adopted by the Government, if it has to have some steam, should be directly overseen by the Prime Minister's office, according to Mr Raghu Mody, President of Assocham and Chairman of the Rasoi group.

Pesticides
With Government granaries overflowing -- Pesticide units see big stake
THE Pesticides Manufacturers and Formulators Association of India (PMFAI) believes that its role in the upkeep of grain stocks has never been more felt than now when serious doubts are being raised over the quality maintained by the FCI godowns which are reportedly bursting at the seams.

Petroleum
Subsidy policy: Pvt LPG cos threaten to quit
FOLLOWING the Governments inability to implement the declared policy regarding the phased withdrawal of subsidy on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), six leading private LPG marketers are thinking in terms of quitting Indian operations.

Prices of 3 petro products hiked
DOMESTIC oil companies have hiked prices of decontrolled petroleum products following the rise in prices in the international market.

Pharmaceuticals
US court chucks patent case against Ranbaxy
THE US Appeals Court has apparently turned down GlaxoSmithkline Plc's appeal seeking a re-hearing in a patent infringement case against Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc (RPI).

Zydus buys `Aten' for Rs 75 cr
AHMEDABAD-based Zydus Cadila Ltd has acquired the anti-hypertensive brand `Aten' of Kopran Ltd for a consideration of Rs 75 crore.

Policy
Cabinet okays Cycle Corpn, MAPL wind-up
THE Union Cabinet today approved the winding-up of Maharashtra Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (MAPL) and Cycle Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL).

Cabinet to take up labour reforms: PM
THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today said issues concerning labour sector reforms would be taken up by the Cabinet shortly.

Cabinet approves 2 pc hike in DA
THE Cabinet has approved a two per cent increase in dearness allowance (DA) to Central Government employees with effect from July 1, 2001. The new rate will be 45 per cent.

Power
CLP Power-Tata moot package to kick-start thermal project
THE CLP Power-Tata combine, promoters of the Mangalore Power Company, has put forward a new financial security package in a bid to kick-start the jinxed 1,013 MW thermal project.

Radio/TV
BBC's apology
IN AN extraordinary public display of submissiveness and contrition, the Director-General of the BBC, Mr Greg Dyke, has apologised for the special edition of Question Time, telecast live on September 13, two days after the barbaric attacks on the World T rade Center and the Pentagon. He has taken his aides to task for an ``inappropriate'' programme of which the anchor was Mr David Dimbleby, who enjoys popular appeal as a professional of high calibre in his line.

Rubber
Rubber Board sets up 35 quality centres
RUBBER Board has started 35 community processing-cum-technology transfer centres in various parts of the country to manufacture high quality sheets of international standards.

Rubber markets at standstill
The rubber markets at Kochi and Kottayam have almost come to a standstill after the announcement of the minimum support price for rubber as traders were unwilling to buy at this price. There has been no trading in sheet rubber, which accounts for 85 per cent of the country's rubber production. However, nominal trading has been reported in block and latex rubber.

States
Karnataka: Global film festival may be postponed
BANGALORE: The International Film Festival being held here next month may be postponed if the Centre accepts Karnataka's suggestion. The State Government has decided to ask the Directorate of Film Festivals to postpone the event by a couple of months in view of the drought conditions prevailing in the State.

Status symbol
A dhaba owner on the Delhi-Lucknow highway taking an afternoon siesta with his prized possessions by his side.

Centre okays Keltron' tool room project
THE Centre has cleared a Rs 14.41-crore tool room project of the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (Keltron).

Cabinet okays Rs 10,000 cr to boost rural job scheme
THE Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) involving an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore during the current fiscal.

Continued mining at Kudremukh sparks protest
FARMERS, environmentalists and representatives of other groups at the receiving end of various developmental activities on Tuesday conducted a rally in Mangalore to protest against the continuation of mining in Kudremukh.

Tibetan spiritual leader in Kolkata
Sister Nirmala, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, welcomes the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in Kolkata on Tuesday. The Dalai Lama visited the tomb of Mother Teresa and took part in a brief prayer.

Steel
More to your edible oil than meets the stomach
THE refined oil or vanaspati or whatever edible oil that you may be buying, packed in those 16-litre tins, may land you in trouble any day. For, after pouring the contents, if you cut open the tin, you may be shocked to find that the inside surface is pa inted, displaying the name or logo of some foreign company. These paints are poisonous, and therefore, deadly.

Stocks
US markets: Boosted by active trading
AMERICA Inc responded with a resounding vote of confidence in the world's giant economy when Wall Street went back to business. There was brisk trading in the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, leaving behind a week of terror, horror, shock and anger, w hich steeled the nation to fight a long war to safeguard its liberty and way of life.

Equities perk up on bargain-hunting
MUMBAI: STOCK prices on local bourses shrugged off the biggest single-day fall in distant Dow Jones industrial average and bounced back with a vengeance. Many blue-chips, which hit new 52-week lows on Monday, staged modest gains pushing the benchmark BSE -30 share sensitive index (Sensex) up to an intra-day high of 2814, gaining 133 points from the previous close.

Tech stocks witness strong volumes
AFTER shedding 15.79 per cent or 502.65 points since the terrorist attack on the US, the stock market raised some hopes with a smart turnaround on Tuesday, mainly on support from the FIs. The market broadly ignored the overnight steep fall at Wall Street which it already factored in since the US markets remained closed after the attack.

Margin trading -- Bank finance for shares gets nod
MARGIN trading in equities has been allowed. The RBI and SEBI today decided to allow banks to finance brokers for margin trading in shares.

How the margin trading system works
IN margin trading, an investor can buy ``approved'' shares by paying upfront part of the money and the rest being funded by the bank. By this, the investor can increase his equity purchasing power to buy more stocks without fully paying for it.

Yielding investments
Due to the prevailing economic and market factors, identifying a worthy and yielding investment strategy has become a very difficult. Under the present scenario, the articles `Buying low, selling high' and `Blind strategies may not work' (Business Line, September 2) suggest a valuable investment plan. They also provide noteworthy details on scrips that have touched new lows and highs in the past three years and their upward or downward reactions after such falls or gains.

Technical Analysis
Bears retreat
BEARS were unable to extend their pressure on Tuesday. Bulls made a comeback after a long span of time. The movement in the Nifty was around 42 points. It closed with a gain of 28 points with respect to Monday's close. The sentiment reading of the tradab le counters remains bearish.

Technology
NSIC working on brand promotion initiative
NATIONAL Small Industries Corporation Ltd (NSIC) has engaged a consultant to go into the issue of brand promotion for the products manufactured by the small-scale industries (SSI) sector to help it meet competition from cheaper imports in the post WTO-re gime.

NCBS: Recognition of sorts
THE Bangalore-based National Centre for Biological Sciences) is still to decide whether to apply to the US National Institute of Health (NIH) for funding its research on stem cells.

Stem cell research: The new cutting edge
THE Indian software industry may have dropped the ball, partly because its elbow was jostled by the market and partly because it fumbled. But there seems to be a fair chance of the country running with the biotech ball with two domestic entities -- Relia nce Life Sciences Pvt Ltd (RLS) and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) -- being included by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in its list of ten institutions in five countries that possibly have some of the 60-odd human embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federally funded research.

Telecommunications
Bharti gets 89.5 pc stake in SkyCell
BHARTI Enterprises has acquired a dominating controlling majority stake of 89.5 per cent in SkyCell Ltd, one of the cellular service providers in Chennai.

Instrumentation Ltd assured of 10 pc BSNL orders
THE Union Cabinet has decided to reserve 10 per cent orders by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to the extent of 3.3 lakh telephone line exchanges each year for Instrumentation Ltd (IL). BSNL would also provide advance to IL to the tune of 50 per cent of the order value along with placement of orders.

COAI `not poaching' basic territory
THE Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has refuted the allegations by the basic operators that they are losing hundreds of crores of rupees on intra-circle long-distance calls because these are being carried by the cellular operators at more affordable rates.

Terrorism
Crusade against terrorism -- Mixed utilitarian and ethical angles
THERE have been two sorts of reactions in India to the efforts by the US to constitute a worldwide coalition against terrorism. One reaction is that India should join this coalition and actively participate. The second is that India, while sympathising w ith the US's losses consequent to the horrible events of September 11, should not join the above coalition. Strangely, the political parties and leaders who have taken the second stand are partly in the same boat as the Pakistan Government, which does no t want India and Israel to be associated in the US-led war against terrorism. The Indian Government has reacted positively to the creation of a world wide coalition. It is aware that terrorism from external sources can potentially destabilise the Indian polity. No single country can fight organised terrorist movements with world wide links.

Promises may undo Musharraf
THE US authorities seem to be increasingly focussing, inter alia, on the likely involvement of Osama bin Laden in the terrorist incidents in the US on September 11, which President George Bush has described as the beginning of the first war of the new mi llennium.

A flying terrorist US intelligence chose to ignore
EVIDENCE that terrorist groups were recruiting pilots trained in the United States was available two years ago -- but seems to have been ignored by that country's intelligence services.

Cabinet observes silence for terrorist victims
The Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, and his Cabinet colleagues observing a two-minute silence, to express solidarity with the US victims of terrorist attacks, on Tuesday.

Where were you when it happened?
AFTER President John F. Kennedy was shot in the US, every conversation around the world started with, `where were you when it happened?'

Politics of terrorism
This refers to `The politics of terrorism' (Business LineF301, September 13). The article put things in proper perspective in that terrorism, wherever perpetrated, is to be condemned. As implied, it is indeed a period of introspection for the US -- it sh ould put into perspective the way it looks at the world and vice-versa.

Textiles
TN textile workers seek implementation of wage order
TEXTILE workers unions have asked the mill managements in the State to implement the Tamil Nadu government's recent order awarding the interim relief (IR) to the textile mill workers within two weeks.

Source:Business Line