Agriculture
Food firms upbeat on Anuga fair prospects
INDIAN participation at Anuga global food fair, to be held in Cologne (Germany) from October 13 to 17, is expected to generate considerable customer interest despite the ongoing global economic slowdown. Indian companies are bracing up to meet the influx of visitors and potential buyers.

Fall in H1 coir exports
EXPORTS of coir and coir products during the first half of the current fiscal have shown a decline of Rs 8.86 crore to 144.16 crore from Rs 153.02 crore during the same period last fiscal.

Coconut oil futures trading next week
FUTURES trading in copra and coconut oil is expected to commence next week.

New rice hybrid from Aventis unit
HYBRID Rice International Ltd (HRI), a company of the Aventis group, has developed a long-duration rice hybrid 6444 which is said to have outyielded the highest-yielding conventional varieties in India.

50,000 t onions released for export
THE Government has announced the release of 50,000 tonnes of onions for export with effect from October 10 through the designated canalising agencies with the usual rider of minimum export price and the payment of refundable deposit.

Confusion on palm oil data
THE palm oil market which has been reeling under the impact of burdensome stocks and low prices for long will continue to face uncertainty for some more time until production and consumption prospects for 2001-02 (October-September) crystallise.

Airlines
Emirates judged best airline
EMIRATES Airline has been named the world's Best Medium Haul Airline 2001 by Business Travellers, the business travel magazine. Readers of the magazine voted the Dubai-based international carrier its clear winner, ahead of British Airways and Singapore A irlines.

Airbus `cautiously optimistic'
AIRBUS Industrie has reduced its aircraft production and imposed a freeze on recruitment on account of the slowdown impacting airline industry worldwide following September 11 attacks in the US.

Automobiles
GM, Automartindia tie up for used car business
GENERAL Motors India (GM) and Automartindia, leaders in used car business, have joined hands to promote buying and selling of used cars at all GM outlets.

Mondeo launch this year
FORD India Ltd's immediate focus is to maintain Ikon's position and launch Mondeo during the year, Mr David Friedman, President and Managing Director of the company said.

Maruti VRS finds 550 takers so far
THE first-ever voluntary retirement scheme of Maruti Udyog Ltd has already found 550 takers since its September 24 opening, lawyers said quoting a company statement to a civil court on Thursday.

Maruti enters fleet management business
QUICK on the heels of the approval by the company's board, Maruti Udyog Ltd has started talking to about 6 leading corporate houses in Delhi to offer its newly-floated fleet management business, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

Banking and Finance
Postal Dept to focus on retail financial services
ACROSS-the-counter retail financial services has emerged as a major business development initiative for the Department of Posts. The success achieved in such activity has prompted the Department to expand its portfolio of financial services over a period of time, according to Mr S.B. Bhattacharya, Principal Chief Post-Master General, Department of Posts (West Bengal circle).

Coal
Singareni mines conversion pays
BY integrating four difficult underground mines -- GK (Gauthamkhani)-8, GK-9, GK-10 and GK-11 inclines -- the State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Ltd has converted them into a single opencast mine as it has the potential to offer about 2 million ton nes per annum.

Corporate
Nilkamal ties up with US co
THE City-based Nilkamal Plastics today announced a joint venture with Alcoa Closure Systems International (Alcoa CSI) of the US to produce plastic closures.

Cooper Bussmann to invest Rs 10 cr for capacity hike
COOPER Bussmann India Pvt Ltd expects a four-fold increase in its operations. The company plans to invest Rs 10 crore in capacity expansion over the next two years and is confident of exporting Rs 50 crore per year from 2003-04, Mr Martin Mullin, Operati ons Director, Cooper (UK) Ltd, who is in-charge of India operations, told a news conference in Chennai on Thursday.

HLL bonus plan boosts Vashisti scrip volumes
THE scrip of Vashisti Detergents Ltd (VDL), an associate company of FMCG major Hindustan Lever Ltd, has been witnessing huge trading volumes in the past three trading sessions since HLL announced proposal to issue bonus debentures. However there has hard ly been increase in the VDL stock price.

Richard Rushton replaces Bagattini in SAB India
THE $4.2-billion South African Breweries (SAB) has changed its top guard in India. Mr Roy Bagattini, Managing Director of SAB India Ltd, is being replaced by Mr Richard Rushton, who currently heads the brewery major's Botswana operations.

HDFC raises stake in HOEC
MUMBAI: Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd now holds 10.7 per cent of the paid-up capital of Hindustan Oil Exploration Company, having acquired additional equity in the company from British Borneo Oil & Gas (Netherlands) B V.

Delay in land acquisition puts Hindalco project in trouble
THERE is some uncertainty over early implementation of Hindalco Industries Ltd's proposed greenfield integrated aluminium project in Orissa in view of land acquisition problems. The Rs 11,000-crore project has plans to set up a 660 MW capacity captive po wer plant, a 1.5 million tonne (mt) capacity alumina refinery and a 3,00,000 tonne capacity aluminium smelter.

SKF to focus on maintenance
SKF, the bearings manufacturer, is promoting the concept of proper servicing and maintenance of bearings so that companies are able to bring down machine downtime.

Don't post it...er... the `card'
THE postman's role in the everyday life of the common man may get larger if the postal department successfully implements a proposal currently on the drawing board. The Department of Posts (DoP) is mulling over a proposal to introduce a pre-paid, `omnibu s card.'

Economy
UN paints grim picture of world economy
EVEN as the Indian authorities are perturbed over the perceptible decline in the country's exports in the current fiscal, the United Nations (UN) has forecast that the volume of international trade is expected to register ``virtually no growth'' this yea r but is likely to increase by 4 to 5 per cent in 2002.

CMIE scales down growth rate to 6 pc
THE Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has scaled down its projection on real GDP growth in 2001-02 to six per cent from its July forcast of 6.3 per cent.

Are fears of global recession real?
ECONOMISTS and business analysts around the world are coming to terms with the fact that the global economy has arguably entered a period of recession and uncertainty. The collapse of communism had ushered in a globalised economy in the 1990s triggering an expansion in world trade and a great volume of American investments into developing countries. The remarkable economic growth of the past decade was indeed, in part, due to the globalisation of trade that removed barriers between countries. From the end of 2000, there has been a marked stagnation in most economies, raising serous fears about the onset of a slowdown.

Policy of national interest
NATIONAL interest can change a countrys policy. This is how the Pakistani President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has defended his decision to support America. His is a brazen statement because the Taliban is a creation of Pakistan. It gave the Afghan irregular s military and economic assistance to come to power. Even the Pakistani forces fought against what is known as the Northern Alliance to confine it to only 10 per cent of Afghanistan.

World Bank shift gears unobtrusively
WITH the Washington Consensus of policy-based lending strategy of the Bretton Woods institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank increasingly under siege from a growing number of disaffected countries, the protest demonstration s by anti-globalisation campaigners continue to hog the headlines wherever these development institutions congregate.

UAE steps up drive against money laundering
THE UAE authorities have over the past week initiated measures that demonstrate a tough stand against money laundering. They have capped stiff central bank directives to money changers on fund transfers issued a few days back with the official announceme nt on Tuesday of the UAE Cabinet's approval of the anti-money laundering law.

Environment
PETA ties up with police in 10 States
PEOPLE for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the US-based animal rights group, has now teamed up with the police in 10 Indian States to launch a training programme which, the organisation feels, will enable police to be better equipped to handle viola tions of anti-cruelty laws.

Fast track
HDFC: Strong, sound investments
HOUSING Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) is the country's largest housing finance entity. The company's balance sheet size, over Rs 10,000 crore, gives it an opportunity to channel a sizable corpus into investments such as equity shares and debt.

Fertilisers
Dhindsa urges fertiliser sector to raise efficiency
THE Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers, Mr S.S. Dhindsa, said that the Government has tried to simplify and rationalise the procedure not only relating to the mode of payment of concession to the fertiliser industry but also the certification of sales by State Governments.

Financial Performance
Ranbaxy net up 68 per cent
RANBAXY Laboratories Ltd (RLL) has recorded a sales of Rs 538.3 crore for the third quarter ended September 30, 2001, a rise of 16 per cent from Rs 464.1 crore registered in the same period in the previous year.

TVS-Suzuki Q2 net dips to Rs 10.39 cr
TWO-WHEELER maker TVS-Suzuki Ltd today reported a net profit of Rs 10.39 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001, a fall of 48.67 per cent from Rs 20.24 crore posted in the quarter ended September 30, 2000.

Foreign Trade
Dumping duty on yarn, Analgin
THE Union Finance Ministry has imposed provisional anti-dumping duty on all imports of acrylic yarn from Nepal.

Impact
GlaxoSmithKline - VRS is no big deal
GLAXOSMITHKLINE'S decision to go ahead with a VRS programme for about 622 employees in unlikely to have an immediate impact on its share price. The VRS is in keeping with the company's desire to eliminate superfluous cost, but a change in its valuation c an come about only when its sales show signs of picking up. - BL Research Bureau

Hind Oil - No open offer implication
HDFC'S proposal to acquire 1.3 million shares in Hindustan Oil Exploration from overseas promoter British Borneo Oil and Gas BV, may not leave a material impact on the stock price of the latter.

Insurance
Insurance cos asked to set up catastrophe a\c
THE Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has directed all the general insurance companies both public and private sector to create a catastrophe reserve account (CRA).

Management
Competitive advantage: Alternative scenarios
COMPETITIVE advantage is now an accepted buzzword in the strategic management jargon. Michael Porter of Harvard Business School elaborated on this concept in Competitive Strategy, CS, (1980), Competitive Advantage, CA, (1985) and The Competitive Advantag e of Nations, CAN, (1990), apart from articles in professional journals. In CS (1980), Porter developed the concept for the domestic performance of industries and firms.

Mutual Funds
UTI offloads PSI Data shares
MUMBAI: Unit Trust of India (UTI) has sold 76,923 shares of PSI Data Systems, representing 1.02 per cent of the equity capital of the company. UTI has sold the block of shares at a price of Rs 186.80 per share to the acquirer, Indian Rayon & Industries L td, against an open offer made by them, UTI said in a press statement on Tuesday. -- Our Bureau

UTI reduces retirement age for officers to 58
UNIT Trust of India (UTI) has decided to reduce the retirement age of its officers by two years from the current retirement age of 60 years to 58 years.

Petroleum
Essar Oil to invite offers from retailers
ESSAR Oil Ltd plans to ``shortly'' invite expressions of interest (EOI) from petroleum product dealers across the country for setting up retail outlets.

LPG supply to remote areas -- Freight subsidy put at Rs 1,000 cr post-APM
THE freight subsidy involved in supply of LPG and kerosene to `far flung' areas will be of the order of Rs. 1,000 crore per annum once the administered pricing mechanism is dismantled in April 2002, according to Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik.

Pharmaceuticals
Ranbaxy: Market reaction misplaced
RANBAXY Laboratories' third quarter result (June-September 2001) was below the equity market's expectations and consequently, the company's share price crashed by over 3 per cent to Rs 654.10 on Thursday.

Policy
Govt may add more teeth to Benami Act
NEARLY 13 years after its passage in Parliament, the Government is toying with the idea of ``giving more teeth'' to the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act 1988. This may require an amendment to the existing legislation and formulating rules which matc h the provisions of the Act.

Politics
Vision thing
I now understand why the senior Mr George Bush, when he was the US President, was riled by the `vision thing'. Everybody -- beginning from the perennial schoolboy to the pontificating academic -- is mouthing it. It ranks next only to `paradigm', `strateg ic', `transparency' and other buzzwords spewed by people from the top of their heads without thinking.

The opiate
DO TERRORISTS make good rulers? I know they are good at terror but do they actually administer the country they have won over by terrorism? Do they feed and educate the people they rule? We know from their latest statements that they love dying while the Americans love living. It is much harder to live than to die.

Power
Arbitration proceedings -- Dabhol gets restraint order from UK court
THE Commercial Court of London has given an ex-parte order restraining the Maharashtra Government from filing a suit in India challenging the international arbitration proceedings initiated by Dabhol Power Company (DPC).

Jump in AP hydel power generation
THERE is a quantum jump in hydel power generation in Andhra Pradesh following heavy inflows into the Srisalam reservoir on account of wide spread rains in the State during the past few days.

Minister renews call for arresting power theft
THE Union Power Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, has renewed the Government's call for the need to arrest power theft saying sustained saving on this count could help in adding 1 lakh mega watt (MW) in 20 years.

Meet on power distribution today
THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has said that the most critical problem ailing the power sector emanates from the mismanagement of its distribution. Noting that the real challenge lies in reforming the distribution syst em, it said that only a viable distribution business can restore the health of the sector.

Bengal SEB eyes more Japanese soft loans
THE West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB), which is now implementing a Rs 871-crore programme aided by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC, erstwhile OECF), is keen on getting more such soft loans to improve its system.

Radio/TV
B4U Television plans IPO next year
In a bid to raise funds, B4U Television Network is planning to go in for an initial public offering (IPO) in the third quarter of 2002, Mr Ravi Gupta, CEO, B4U Worldwide, said.

Prasar Bharati to mine its past
PRASAR Bharati has realised that preserving history is also a good way to generate revenues.

States
Birla institute to set up centre in Goa
THE Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, will set up a centre in Goa at a cost of Rs 80 crore.

Tax sops for Great Mall of Hyderabad
TWO per cent incentive on life time tax on all motor vehicles purchased from the Great Mall, four per cent sales tax cut on colour TVs, flexible timings and permission for discotheques are among incentives announced by Andhra Pradesh Government on Thursd ay.

Karnataka plans statute for unorganised labour
KARNATAKA is contemplating legislation for unorganised labour with safety net as the key ingredient of the plan, Minister for Labour, Mr A.M. Hindasgeri, said here on Thursday.

85 arsenic removal units to be set up in Bengal
FOUR foreign funding agencies have joined hands with the environmental engineering cell of Bengal Engineering College to install 85 arsenic-removing units in the three districts of West Bengal and conduct necessary health and hygienic education programme s for people affected by arsenic.

Futec Colour TV launched in N-E
FUTEC Colour TV, the leader in the `B' segment Colour TV market in the country, was launched in the North Eastern market by its manufacturer, Harpreet Colour Vision. Introducing the product, Mr H. Malhotra, Managing Director of the company, said ``It has always been our aim to provide the middle class with value for money product. That is why Futec is packed with international quality features and priced very reasonably''.

Steel
SAIL proposal to revive IISCO with Finance Ministry
THE Union Steel Ministry has forwarded to the Union Finance Ministry a fresh proposal from Steel Authority of India Ltd aimed at reviving the sick Indian Iron & Steel Company Ltd (IISCO).

Steel bins and scaffoldings to uplift industry
THE Union Steel Ministry and the Joint Plant Committee have together initiated steps aimed at facilitating increased consumption of steel, especially in construction and in the rural markets.

Stocks
IT buying interest keeps indices in positive territory
THE bulls managed to keep control over the market despite some disappointing news from the earnings front. There was some sustained buying interest in the technology sector.

Sensex shares post-Sept 11 -- Market cap slides, trading volumes up
EXACTLY one month after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the bloodbath which took place across stock markets globally, the Indian capital market is witnessing hectic buying interest. Thanks to the perception of share prices bottoming ou t.

Securities scam -- JPC records evidence against Parekh, Daga
THE Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the securities scam on Tuesday took on record evidence against Mr Kamal Parekh, former Calcutta Stock Exchange President, and Mr K.K. Daga, Vice-President, regarding their ``complicity'' in suppressing crucial in formation for five days.

Devanand Pai elected MgSE chief
THE council of management of the Mangalore Stock Exchange (MgSE) has unanimously elected Mr K. Devanand Pai, as President of the exchange for 2001-2002.

Taxation
Market players asked to comply with tax laws
INCOME-Tax searches on share brokers during the year beginning April 1, 2001, has revealed undisclosed income of about Rs 1,200 crore, according to a press release from the Office of the Director-General of Income-Tax (Investigation), Mumbai (DGIT).

Tea
Tea exports to touch 200 mkg
NEW DELHI: Tea exports from the country is expected to touch a level of about 200 million kilogram during 2001-02 despite the general demand sluggishness in the world markets, according to Mr N.K. Das, Chairman, Tea Board.

CTCs in demand at Guwahati sale
THE CTC offerings this week at Guwahati met with better demand. Selected good Assams continued to sell around last levels. Medium and better medium varieties saw both withdrawals and selective enquiry at easier levels. Cheaper Assam brokens and all cacha rs met with better demand but levels continued to record an easier trend.

Technical Analysis
Bulls march ahead
FOR the second successive trading day, the bulls were in total control of the market on Thursday. The bears were left stranded. The movement in Nifty was around 19 points. It closed with a gain of 15 points with respect to Wednesday's close. The sent iment of the market continues to remain bullish.

Telecommunications
MTNL, BSNL in long distance talks
PUBLIC sector telecom majors Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) are in talks to form a joint venture for offering international long distance services once Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) monopoly ends in April 20 02.

Row over limited mobility tech
THE Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are at loggerheads over the technology to be used for rolling out limited mobility (WLL) services across the country.

Terrorism
Regional war with global reach
THE air and missile attacks the US has launched on Afghanistan will have far-reaching implications for regional and global security. In the short term, its effects on the world economy, already drifting toward a recession, will be destabilising for many nations, especially the developing countries. The US President, Mr George W. Bush, has repeatedly emphasised over the last three weeks that what Washington wanted was not merely a revenge for the attacks on its citadels of power and prosperity and making Americans feel insecure in their own homeland, but to wage a long, relentless war against terrorism with its global ramifications. It is designed to be a war, not in the conventional sense, but one that relies on all instruments political, diplomatic, intelligence sharing, freezing of the financial assets of terrorist outfits and military operations to achieve the goal of eliminating terrorism from the face of the earth..

Textiles
Textile exports target can be met: Rana
THE Union Textile Minister, Mr Kashiram Rana, has expressed optimism that despite the slowdown in textile exports and the prevailing war-like situation, the $13.7-billion export target for the year could be achieved by the Indian textile sector.

Garment exporters seek `Samadhan' scheme
Garment exporters have sent out a plea for the introduction of a `Samadhan' scheme to settle disputes involving the exporters and the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) in cases where earnest money deposit/ bank guarantees (EMD/ BG) extended by the former for their shipments were impounded.

Rana to meet textile export bodies
THE Union Textiles Minister, Mr Kashiram Rana, has proposed to convene a meeting of representatives of the various textile export promotion councils on October 15 to review the export performance up to September 2001 vis-a-vis the targets for the current year.

Tyres
Truck, bus tyre output continues to decline
TRUCK and bus tyre production registered a sharp decline in August 2001 to 6.79 lakh tyres, the lowest production performance during the current fiscal.

Source:Business Line