Agriculture
RRL unit on agro-processing to go on stream
THE Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Bachi Singh Rawat, will dedicate the laboratory-cum-pilot building of the agro-processing division of the Regional Research Laboratory (RRL) here on Wednesday.

Surging rice procurement adds to FCI's woes
THE Government's problems of plenty on the foodgrain inventories front is showing signs of worsening further. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and State agencies have procured 49.64 lakh tonnes (lt) of rice for the Central pool during the ongoing 2001 -02 kharif marketing season (October-September) as on October 15, compared to the corresponding level of 28.23 lt a year ago.

Maize production making strides
MAIZE production in the country has scaled an all-time high of 11.86 million tonnes (mt) during the year 2000-01, close to the upper target of 12 mt set, according to Dr N.N. Singh, Project Director of Maize Research.

Airlines
More AI flights for Haj pilgrims
AIR INDIA (AI), negotiating its way through a civil aviation market depressed considerably by the September 11 attacks in the US, is expected to deploy more aircraft for Haj pilgrims from the country.

IA tinkering with Boeings to save forex
IN an effort to enhance the life of Alliance Airways Boeing 737-200 aircraft and save the company huge amounts of foreign exchange in repair costs, the Indian Airlines engineering department is currently carrying out structural modification called the `L ap Joint Modification' on an aircraft as part of major inspection work at Delhi airport.

Automobiles
Response to Sonata `good'
Hyundai Motor India Ltd is unfazed by the September blues when it suffered an 18 per cent drop in total car sales. It will watch the market trend in the next few months before taking a relook at its goal of selling 1,00,000 cars during the current fiscal .

Banking and Finance
FIs and banks
In "Universal Banking" (Business Line, October 15), the author has dispelled doubts on the liberal use of universal banking in place of commercial banking, and vice-versa. It is concluded that by converting FIs into universal banking, problems faced by F Is are being diverted and, perhaps, camouflaged.

Chemicals
Bid to go by treaty on chemical arms
WITH the world abuzz with talks of chemical and biological weapons, the Government has initiated steps to comply with the nitty gritties of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) treaty.

Commodities
More support mooted for coir industry
There is an urgent need to relieve the coir industry from the shackles of labour laws as it held good employment and export potential.

Corporate
HDFC meet today on raising FII cap
THE board of Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) will meet on Wednesday to consider raising the maximum permissible limit of investment for Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in the company's equity share capital, under the portfolio i nvestment scheme, from the current 49 per cent to 74 per cent.

`Bonus debentures will raise HLL's return on net worth'
THE scheme of issue of bonus debentures by Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) will ``significantly'' increase the company's return on net worth and reduce the cost of capital, said Mr M.S. Banga, Chairman of the company.

Adani group races full steam ahead, casts a wider net
IT has been one long roller-coaster ride for the 38-year-old Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, ever since he came on the trading horizon in 1994-95 with a business that barely breached the Rs 10 crore mark. The last seven years has seen the flag ship company, Adani Exports Ltd (AEL), leapfrog into the big league with turnover touching Rs 3,065 crore, and the Adani house integrate both backward and forward as also establish itself as a major presence on the Indian maritime sector.

Cabinet okays ordinance for buyback norms
THE Cabinet today approved the promulgation of the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2001. This ordinance seeks to amend Section 77A of the Companies Act, 1956. The new ordinance will now provide that the board of directors of the company would be authoris ed to approve buyback of the companies shares up to 10 per cent of its paid-up equity capital and free reserves without any special resolution.

Tata Sons to prevent delisting of CMC -- Open offer for CMC stake likely
TATA Sons may come out with a public equity offer for CMC Ltd to prevent the company from getting delisted in the event of the public shareholders opting to sell their holdings to the new management through the current open offer.

Economy
Financial sector on watch -- Advisory group for further reforms formed
THE Government has given notice of its intention to adopt a hands-on approach to tackle the problems in the domestic financial sector.

Sinha hints at deficit slippage -- `Reforms not on hold'
THE Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, has hinted at a slippage in the Centre's fiscal deficit target for 2001-02, even as he ruled out any ``alarmist projections'' on this score.

Borrow less, Plan panel tells States
THE Planning Commission has expressed serious concern over the brittle state of finances of the State Governments, triggered off by a borrowing binge during the first four years of the Ninth Plan (1997-2002) with no worthwhile bid to raise their own reso urces to fund development programmes.

Rural development holds the key to recovery: PM -- Corporates urged to take up development work
THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, calling for an effective public-private partnership to strengthen the development of rural areas, urged Indian companies to earmark a far greater proportion of their profits for social activities in rural and backward areas.

Electronics
Crown TV makes a comeback
CROWN TV, one of the oldest indigenous brands in colour and black & white television sets, has relaunched its product portfolio, specially targeting the middle and lower-end segment.

Financial Performance
Exide net slides to Rs 12.25 cr in Q2
KOLKATA: Exide Industries Ltd has reported a gross sales at Rs 251.26 crores for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001. Operating profit at Rs 39.44 crores (Rs 40.23 crores) declined by a marginal two per cent. The profit before tax at Rs 15.4 cror es (Rs 16.8 crores) and profit after tax at Rs 12.25 crores (Rs 14.03 crores) also showed a decline.

Natco Pharma register loss
HYDERABAD: NATCO Pharma Ltd has registered a fall both in sales turnover and net profit for the second quarter of the current fiscal ended September 30, 2001.

Just matches expectations
WITH a net profit growth of 19.8 per cent for the quarter ended September 2001 (after netting out the impact of business re-organisation measures), Hindustan Lever has managed to just about match market expectations. But this growth rate has been buttres sed by a host of non-operational incomes and expenses.

Hind Lever Q3 net up 20.5 pc -- Advertising support boosts growth
CONSUMER goods major Hindustan Lever Ltd has ended the third quarter of the current fiscal with a 20.5 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 399.16 crore as against Rs 331.16 crore in the previous corresponding period. This includes profits from exceptio nal items of Rs 21.51 crore.

Tata Power net up at Rs 242 cr
TATA Power has recorded a 74 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 242 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 as against Rs 139 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2000.

Foreign Trade
Exporters urged to perform better
NEW DELHI: The Indian exporting community should tap the immense potential that exists for project exports to the South East Asian and SAARC countries, CIS countries, Africa and Latin America besides the West Asia, according to Mr Rajiv Prasad Rudy, Mini ster of State for Commerce and Industry.

Impact
Godrej Consumer: Positive move
GODREJ Consumer's decision to step up its dividend payout may infuse positive sentiment in the stock in the near term. The company has pegged its interim dividend rate at Rs 2 per share.

Nirma: Not a help
NIRMA'S decision to embark on another capacity expansion of its soda ash plant at a cost of Rs 110 crore may not help the valuation of the stock in the near term. The company proposes to finance this project, which will peg up soda ash capacities from 4. 2 lakh tpa to 6.5 lakh tpa, through debt and internal accruals. The company has just commissioned the second stream of its earlier soda ash plant in September 2000.

Insurance
Insurance ethics
Recently, there was an advertisement in both print and electronic media that a customer purchasing two soap bars, is entitled to some gifts. One of the gifts being offered is a Rs one-lakh insurance cover through a single premium policy issued by ICICI-P rudential Insurance company.

Miscellaneous
Can economics blend identities and avoid clashes?
THE Nobel Committee, in awarding the literature prize to Sir Vidyadhar Naipaul, has referred appreciatingly to his portrayal of suppressed civilisations. Is not Vidya better than Vidia? The latter term, probably, refers to people in India and the Islamic and African world, including his own Trinidad. Naipaul frequently refers to the barbaric components of the post-colonial civilisations, that are politically liberated but have not been able to lift up themselves to the living standards and cultural patt erns of the Western developed countries. Further, people in these civilisations do not want to give up their pasts. To completely be absorbed by the West would mean that they have to give up their history and their roots. Those among these civilisations, who are able to achieve success in the Western world and enjoy a measure of stability and comfort, are always afraid of the larger numbers hiding in the bush around them.

Personal secretariats
IN any organisation, irrespective of whether it is part of government or private or public sector, the personal secretariat of its head occupies a pivotal position. The head himself, whether a Minister, chairman or chief executive, takes particular care to select his secretariat staff, enjoying his absolute confidence and trust, and attuned to his temperament, preferences and interests.

Mutual Funds
Prudential ICICI's new scheme
PRUDENTIAL ICICI Mutual Fund is launching a short-term plan, an additional scheme under the income plan. The open-ended scheme will invest in various kinds of debt securities like bonds, debentures, gilts etc.

PSU
IBP equity sell-off fresh norms finalised -- Investment of Rs 2000 cr delinked from inflation, depreciation
THE Government has finalised fresh norms for bidding for the sale of equity stake of 33.6 per cent in IBP Ltd, by de-linking the mandatory investment norm of Rs 2,000 crore from inflation and rupee depreciation over time.

Govt puts off VSNL bidding
THE Government has decided to put off the bidding for disinvestment in Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) till the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) comes out with its recommendations on international long-distance operations (ILDO).

10 pc divestment in NTPC proposed
THE Ministry of Disinvestment has moved a proposal to offload up to 10 per cent of Government equity in National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to institutional investors and high net worth private investors.

Suzuki approval for Maruti road-map has Shourie upbeat
THE programme to disinvest Government stake in Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) is expected to pick up steam, as the road-map drawn for the purpose has been accepted in full by Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) of Japan, Mr Arun Shourie, Union Minister for Disinvestm ent and Development of North-East, has said.

Pharmaceuticals
Marketing Ciprofloxacin -- Glaxo ties up with Ranbaxy, Cipla
GLAXOSMITHKLINE has joined hands with Cipla and Ranbaxy to co-market Ranbaxy's once-a-day (OD) formulation of Ciprofloxacin.

US FDA clearance for Dr Reddy's drug
HYDERABAD: Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (DRL) has announced here on Tuesday that it has received the final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Enalapril Maleate and Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) tablets of 5 mg/12.5 mg and 10 mg/25 mg.

Policy
`Demystify Govt functioning: Panel
THE air of secrecy that exists in Government functioning ought to be lifted if monitoring and evaluation (M&A) system is to be effective for a range of social sector development schemes aimed at employment generation, poverty alleviation, improving stand ards of health, education, women's participation currently running to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore a year.

Mining policy
Your editorial,"Unearthing new policy"(Business Line, October,15) pointing out the advantages of the establishment of large independent mining complexes, has emphasised that the Centre and

Politics
Global coalition later, home front now
THE latest statement from the Osama bin Laden network, the al Qaeda which has not been refuted puts on record what the rest of Indians had suspected and Kashmiris had always known. Asking the US to keep off Kashmir, its spokesman said: Stop your suppor t for the Hindus against the Muslims in Kashmir.

Power
WBSEB moots new law to check power theft
A SEPARATE legislation is being mooted by the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) to check power theft, according to Dr G.D. Gautama, Chairman, WBSEB.

Rubber
Rubber market remains flat
WITH a section of the rubber traders continuing to keep down their shutters closed, the rubber market on Tuesday was flat.

States
`Fresh strategy needed to end child poverty'
EFFORTS to eradicate child poverty bear fruit if they are linked to the general strategies to end poverty and provide safety nets, Dr C. Rangarajan, Governor, said here on Tuesday.

Sinha convenes meet to review credit flow to N-E States
THE Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, will review credit flow to the North-Eastern States at a meeting to be held in Shillong on Friday. The CMDs of about a dozen public sector banks having substantial presence in the region are scheduled to att end the meeting.

Hyderabad to host 10-day consumer expo
SUPREMO Trade Fairs (STF), the Bangalore-based organiser of consumer exhibitions and fairs, is conducting a major 10-day Consumer Exposition covering hundreds of national and multinational brands here from October 18.

Stocks
`DSE funds, reserves, surplus overstated by Rs 6.02 cr'
DELHI Stock Exchange Association Ltd (DSE) has all the reason to amalgamate with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) following sharp erosion in its income stream and decline in profit (excess of income over expenditure) for the year ended March 31, 2001.

New molecule development talk propels Glenmark stock
GLENMARK Pharmaceuticals has been the latest among pharma stocks to capture the attention of investors on the bourses. At a time when most other stock prices have fallen, the Glenmark stock has gone up over 50 per cent in the last month.

Cosmo Ferrites spurts ahead of HY results
Quite a few low profile stocks attracted market attention on Tuesday, both in terms of price and volumes. The following is the list of such stocks.

BSE suspends trading in 7 IT scrips
THE Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has decided to suspend trading in the scrips of seven software companies, of which six belong to Hyderabad, which failed to comply with the provisions of the listing agreement.

Option premium up in Nifty October calls
TRADING in the derivatives segment reflected the bullishness in the spot market. Consider the Nifty October 960 and 940 calls. Volumes in the October 960 Nifty calls amounted to 274 contracts. With this, the open interest in the options currently stands at 403 contracts. The option premium on 960 calls was up 100 per cent at Rs 15.90. The premium on the 940 calls closed 86 per cent up at Rs 29.95. The bullish sentiment also resulted in a sharp drop in option premium on the Nifty 900 puts, which is curre ntly deep out-of-the-money.

Technology stocks shore up the sentiment
The market closed on a positive note for the sixth straight day. After opening at 2978.11 points, the Sensex moved up to touch a high of 3002 and went into the negative territory during midday. A late buying in the technology stocks helped the Sensex rec over ground to end the day at 2992.46, up 16.16 points over the Monday's close.

Digital up on divorce talk?
Digital Global, a subsidiary of Compaq, was in the limelight on the bourses, with the stock being locked in the 10 per cent upper circuit. It ended at Rs 292.80 on the BSE and Rs 292.55 on the NSE. Market observers feel that Digital Global could be a ben eficiary in the event the global merger of HP-Compaq does not materialise. Market talk revolved around international media reports saying that Matrix Asset Advisors have written to the boards of HP and Compaq to reconsider the merger. On back of this, th ere were good purchases in the counter by FIIs and mutual funds.

Taxation
I-T street directories to zoom in on defaulters
THE assessment procedures adopted by the Income-Tax Department are now set to undergo a qualitative change, and become more focussed.

Tax pros seek extension of filing dates
The Direct Taxes Professionals' Association (DTPA) has urged the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to restore the due dates that existed prior to the Finance Act 2001 for filing of income-tax returns.

VAT regime needs to be finetuned, says industry
FIXATION of revenue-neutral rates by State Governments under the value-added tax (VAT) regime, continuation of sales tax incentives, mismatch between input tax and final tax, and treatment of Central sales tax were some concerns expressed by industry rep resentatives at a workshop on VAT organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (Southern Region) in Chennai on Tuesday.

Tea
No takers for Niligiris tea
TEA traders in the Nilgiris have complained of a drop in the demand for the teas with them.

Technical Analysis
Bulls dominate
THE Nifty moved narrowly for the third successive trading day. However, the bulls managed to capitalise on the day's move. Nifty moved within a band of 10 points. It closed with a gain of seven points over the previous close. The sentiment reading of the tradable counters continues to be strongly bullish.

Transport
Rail staff to get 57 days' wages as bonus
THE Ministry of Railways has announced a productivity-linked bonus for non-gazetted employees equivalent to 57 days' wages for the financial year 2000-2001. The bonus was the equivalent of 54 days' wages during the previous year.

Source:Business Line