Advertising & Marketing
Globalisation and consumer welfare
Advertising in developing countries is a major or even the main source of information about many new products, or products newly introduced into developing countries, and has been largely associated with the recent processes of globalisation in various p arts of the Third World.

Agriculture
Govt waging vain battle against foodgrain stocks
THE Government is desperate to get out of the messy responsibility of handling mountainous volumes of foodgrains. The embarrassing surplus of wheat and rice accumulated in the granaries of public agencies over the last few seasons is causing acute discom fort.

Minimum security to farmers essential: French diplomat
THE French Ambassador to India, Mr Bernard de Montferrand, today defended the European Union's common agricultural policy, saying that the European farmers needed to be shielded against volatility of prices and effects of variations in climate.

Airlines
Deccan expands copter operations
DECCAN Aviation (P) Ltd has expanded its copter operations with two small aircraft -- the Pilatus PC 12-- to cater to the growing charter market in India.

IA changes schedule for Thursday, Friday
INDIAN Airlines (IA) has combined/cancelled some of its flights from Mumbai for November 15 and 16 owing to the festival season and low demand, according to a statement on Tuesday.

Hyderabad-Delhi flight to resume
INDIAN Airlines (IA) is to restore the daily morning flight on the Hyderabad-Delhi sector from November 17. In a statement, the airlines said the flight will leave Hyderabad at 8 a.m. and arrive in Delhi at 10 a.m.

Automobiles
Indian CVs superior than Chinese, says SIAM study
THE Indian commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturers need not be as worried about cheap imports from China as their counterparts in the two-wheeler sector, as most Indian CVs are cost-competitive compared with Chinese vehicles, according to a recent study.

Daewoo denies liquidation
DAEWOO Motors India Limited (DMIL), subsidiary of South Korea's troubled Daewoo Motor Co, today said there has been no official move to liquidate the company. A South Korean newspaper had on Monday reported that the Indian car maker is facing liquidation with its capital having been eroded by losses.

Commodities
Coir exports up in Oct
COIR exports have shown signs of improvement in October 2001 raising the total exports to 38,585 tonnes valued at 176.20 crore during the first seven months of the current fiscal.

Corporate
BIFR directs AB Corp to sort out issues by Nov 16
THE ailing Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL) has been directed by the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) to sort out all outstanding issues with the Prasar Bharati, Bahubali Electronics Ltd (BEL), Excise Department and ESIC by N ovember 16.

Fewer companies registered in Sept
THE number of companies registered during September 2001 under the Companies Act, 1956 saw a decline when compared to last year. During September, 1,658 companies were registered under the Act as against 2,131 companies registered during the correspondin g month of the previous year.

Ondeo set to open Indian subsidiary
F'2RENCH water solutions company Ondeo, formerly Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (SLdE), expects to open a new chapter in India soon with a wholly-owned subsidiary and a fresh global identity.

Telcon to be global sourcing point for Euclid-Hitachi
TELCO Construction Equipment Company Ltd (Telcon), the 80:20 joint venture between Tata Engineering and Hitachi Construction Machinery, is set to become the global sourcing point of Euclid-Hitachi, for rear dumpers of 35-tonne and 40-tonne capacity.

Propmart ties up with UAE real estate co
POSITIONING itself as a real-estate solutions provider, Propmart Technologies is planning to expand its business reach to the UAE, Singapore and the UK. It is in talks with four construction and development companies in South-East Asia and elsewhere offe ring them a stake in its equity and has entered into a joint venture with `a large real-estate company' in the UAE, according to Mr John Kuruvilla, CEO and Managing Director.

ICSI corporate governance award
THE Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has initiated a `Corporate Governance Movement' with a view to enabling Indian corporates and institutions embrace the emerging ideal of best practices in corporate governance and stand tall along with the world's best.

KCTL charts plans for coal washing business
KARAM Chand Thapar & Bros (Coal Sales) Ltd (KCTL), the largest coal handling and distribution company in the private sector, feels that there are better opportunities in the coal washing business following the Centre's stipulation that no thermal power p lants would be allowed, from July, 2002, to use non-coking coal containing more than 34 per cent ash.

MICO begins optimisation work on common rail system
THE Rs 1,600-crore auto component major, MICO, has begun optimisation work of the recently launched common rail system on Indian engines at the MICO Application Centre here.

Isagro completes acquisition of RPG Life Sciences
ISAGRO Asia, a subsidiary of Isagro SPA of Italy, announced that it has completed the acquisition of the agrochemical activities of RPG Life Sciences Ltd.

Rehabilitation of sick cos -- Bill must pass the equity test
PARLIAMENT will soon be scrutinising the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2001. The debate and the Bill's passage will determine if its choice inspires India to go grow with three important principles, of equity and unbending impartiality; the primacy of huma n resource over physical assets; and the internalisation of social and economic responsibility.

A little Chinese light this time
THIS Diwali, people will be using a little Chinese help to light up their homes and ward off evil spirits.

Medical equipment exports grow 229 pc
INDIA's exports of instruments, office and medical equipment has registered a growth of 229 per cent in 2000-01 to touch Rs 560 crore over Rs 170 crore in the previous year, the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) has said.

Coca-Cola ties up with Himjal
CLOSE on the heels of its tie up with the Hello brand of water in Chennai, Coca-Cola India (CCI) has tied up with Himjal Beverages (promoted by the Mittal's group of Kolkata) to contract manufacture packaged water for the company in Andhra Pradesh. This is the third major contract manufacturing tie-up Coca-Cola has had in Andhra Pradesh during the last one year.

Ear to the ground
Tatas' active in Tata Chem
TATAS are increasing their stake in various group companies. This time, it is Tata Chemicals. The talk in the market is that Tatas are increasing their stake in Tata Chemicals through the creeping acquisition route. With lower promoter's stake of around 30 per cent, the Tatas' are taking advantage of the low share price to increase their stake. Tata Chemicals scrip on Tuesday ended 2.66 per cent higher at Rs 40.50 on the BSE and on the NSE it ended at 40.65, up 2.65 per cent. Dealers said the Tata's are expected to take advantage of the liberalised takeover code, which enables promoters to buy up to 10 per cent compared to five per cent earlier, from the market through the creeping acquisition route.

Economy
FICCI wants WTO to acat on SPS issues
THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has expressed disappointment over the delay in decisions by World Trade Organisation on some key sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues which are of immediate concern to developing countri es.

Efforts on to streamline FDI -- New royalty structure, tripartite meets on cards
THE Government is considering a host of initiatives to streamline the inflow of foreign investments in various sectors. These include some changes in existing provisions to attract more investors as well as new initiatives like sector-specific tripartite meetings to accelerate implementation of approved projects.

RBI concern over rise in guarantees of States
THE outstanding guarantees extended by 17 major States aggregated Rs 1,24,813 crore at the end of March 2000, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

Downsizing the government
The Central Government, with a nearly 5-million-strong workforce is the biggest employer. The wages, allowances, perks and pension of the employees amount to a sizeable portion of the budget. The half-yearly increases in Dearness Allowance and Dearness R elief costs the government around Rs 300 crore.

Editorial
Enhanced competition
THE TELECOM REGULATORY Authority of India (TRAI) has done well in recommending the opening up of international long distance telephony service in the country. Though the VSNL monopoly over the service was slated to end by March 2002, the nature of compet ition that would be allowed in its aftermath was shrouded in some uncertainty. Even that has been cleared with the TRAI recommending free entry of players. There are some minimum capital adequacy norms and commitments on roll out of requisite infrastruct ure, but these should ensure that only credible players enter the market.

Environment
Farmers oppose Petronet pipeline
THE Koyyuru grama panchayat, on behalf of the environmentalist and farmers organisations opposing the laying of the Mangalore-Bangalore pipeline, has filed a petition in the Belthangady civil court. The panchayats contention is that there has been a viol ation of the Panchayat Raj Act since Petronet, which is implementing the project, has not sought permit from any panchayats along the route of the pipeline.

Greens oppose KIOCL mining
WITH the Union Minister of State for Steel, Mr. Braja Kishore Tripathy, having made clear the Centre's intention to allow Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL) to mine in the Western Ghats for another 20 years, environmental groups in the Dakshina Kanna da are up in arms.The environmentalists have warned of a `fight-to-the-finish' if the Centre goes ahead with its policies, which have proved detrimental to the interests of small farmers.

Foreign Trade
The Doha ivory tower
THE Report on the course of world trade in 2000 presented by the WTO about the same time as the Doha ministerial meeting is a grim pointer to the probable worse tidings ahead of the world economy in the immediate future. The Report draws attention to the 12.5 per cent increase in the value of world trade in 2000 but also notes that in the first half of 2001, the rate of increase was just 1 per cent.

Hotels
Prudent debt management has helped Indian Hotels in a tough environment
THE Indian hotel industry, like its counterparts elsewhere in the world, is going through tough times, courtesy the global recession and the fallout of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US. Mr Zubin Dubash, Executive Director, Indian Hotels Compa ny Ltd (IHCL), which owns the Taj group of hotels, took time off to talk to Business Line about the current sectoral scenario and its impact on IHCL. Excerpts:

Bharat bags Bangalore Ashok on lease
BHARAT Hotels has clinched the deal to operate ITDC's Hotel Ashok at Bangalore on a long-term structured contract on lease-cum-management basis for an initial payment of Rs 4.11 crore.

Impact
IPCL: Paving the way
THE decision of the Government to renew the divestment process in Indian Petrochemicals Corporation (IPCL) should clear the mist hanging over the company's future direction.

Monsanto India: Uncertainty ahead
INDICATIONS that global parent Pharmacia may sell off its remaining stake in the agrochemicals business of Monsanto Inc (at the global level), may contribute to a subdued trend in the Monsanto India stock on the bourses. Pharmacia acquired Monsanto's agr ochemical business as a part of its global acquisition of life sciences major Monsanto last year.

Information Technology
Incentives for Bengal IT units
THE West Bengal Government on Tuesday handed over a Diwali gift to the IT industry announcing a set of incentives specially for the sector.

Miscellaneous
Designs on Diwali
A pencil sparkler in rotation forms the outline of the traditional Diwali lamp. It takes about seven seconds to achieve this.

Off the ticker
Block deals in Swaraj Engines
interesting trading behaviour. Swaraj Engines and Birla Corp witnessed block deals in the demat segment while Dhanlaxmi Cotex registered its new 52-week high during the day's trading.

On the hedge
Dealers turn to puts
The bearish sentiment in the spot market rubbed off on the derivatives segment on Tuesday's trading at the National Stock Exchange. The following are some of the pointers from the day's trading:

PSU
IPCL divestment: A forward move at last
INDIAN Petrochemical Corporation Ltd (IPCL) divestment has come a full circle. The Cabinet Committee on Disinvestments (CCD) decision that the Government would offload almost its entire stake of 59.47 per cent stake in IPCL nails the endless attempts by all and sundry to spike the petrochemical companys divestment in the past. This included a late in the day decision to carve up the company into three separate entities based on their geographic locations.

IPCL sell-off in 2 stages
THE Union Government has decided to sell 51 per cent equity in Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL) in two stages in a fresh plan that will make the Government exit totally from the petrochemicals major in three years.

Litany of complaints
Whether we work in the public sector or private sector, we enjoy tearing our lives apart, grumbling about what we dont have and finding fault with anything and everything?

Paper/Packaging
Coastal Paper Mill workers on strike
THE workers of Coastal Paper Mill at Kadiam village near here are on strike since November 8 demanding a bonus of 20 per cent as against the statutory minimum of 8.33 per cent declared by the management and the conciliation attempts have failed so far.

Petroleum
Oil cos profits down to a trickle
FALLING refining margins and low volumes have affected profits of major oil refining companies in the second quarter this fiscal.

Natural gas prices, import parity link by April
THE Government has in-principle agreed to link domestic natural gas prices to 100 per cent import parity pricing by April 1, 2002, according to Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik.

Pharmaceuticals
DRL to observe Diabetes Day thru Livizi.com
DR Reddy's Laboratories Ltd will commemorate the World Diabetes Day through its recently launched e-healthcare initiative -- Livizi.com.

Plantations
Cardamom prices drop on weak demand
Cardamom prices dropped by Rs 25-30 a kg on weak demand last week and since then are maintaining the level at the major auction centres in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Krishna's sops for coffee growers -- Karnataka suspends farm income tax
THE Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, gave in partly to coffee growers demands and announced the suspension of the agricultural income tax for coffee planters for one year. The tax will be collected after a year, in instalments, he told the Karn ataka Planters Association annual conference held in Bangalore.

Pepper prices rise on `technical squeeze'
SPOT pepper prices moved up by Rs 100 a quintal on Tuesday at the terminal market here on some buying support from the exporters. The futures also showed a marginal rise.

Politics
The Indian Muslims trial by fire
SOON after the bombing of Afghanistan began, one of the favourite topics for the Indian media was splitting the Indian Muslim population into what hacks loved to call fundamentalists and moderates. While the Muslims of India were asked to stand up and id entify themselves as belonging to one camp or the other, there was an interesting debate on television. Poet and script-writer, Mr Javed Akhtar, was asked a ridiculous question.

Code for MPs, MLAs
THE entire country will welcome the initiative taken by the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr G. M. C. Balayogi, to convene a high-level conference of leaders of political parties, presiding officers of State Assemblies and the chief whips, to formulate a code of co nduct for MPs and MLAs, both within and outside the precincts of Central and State legislatures.

Power
'Corporate investment hinges on power projects'
STRICT implementation of power projects would be the vital factor spurring project investments in the current year. Capital spending in the year 2001-02 would depend on ``strict adherence to the implementation of power projects as scheduled,'' according to the Reserve Bank of India.

Rubber
Rubber market weakens
SHEET rubber market weakened further on Tuesday with RSS 4 declining to Rs 28.00 from Rs 28.50 per kg on Monday and ungraded rubber to Rs 26.25 from Rs 26.50. Block rubber ISNR 20 also fell to Rs 26.75 from Rs 27.00 per kg. However, moderate trading took place in latex 60 per cent, arresting a slide from Mondays price of Rs 25 per kg.

Shipping
`LNG Laxmi' to bring prosperity to SCI
A DIWALI gift is on the way to State-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) when a consortium takes possession of a 137,000 cubic metre capacity LNG tanker from Japan's Mitsubushi yard on Thursday (November 15) after weathering a last minute financial storm.

States
TN urges cement manufacturers to bring down prices
THE Tamil Nadu Government has urged cement manufacturers to reduce cement prices at a meeting between industry representatives and the Industry Minister, Mr K. Pandurangan, according to a State Government press release.

Bengal seeks SEZ status for Jewellery Park
THE West Bengal Government is pressing the Centre for according the special economic zone (SEZ) status to the Gems and Jewellery Park project that it is now being implemented.

TN transport unions to intensify stir
THE trade unions leading the State-run Transport Corporation workers have decided to escalate their agitation from Thursday unless the Government announces a 20 per cent bonus and ex-gratia, according to a press release from the joint council of the trad e unions.

Linkage 2001 to focus on vendor development
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in league with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Andhra Pradesh Government, is organising a two-day conference -- Linkage 2001.

AP to empty Prakasham barrage
THE Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to empty the Prakasham barrage to facilitate inspection of its foundations following reports about its safety concerns and directed the Vijayawada Thermal Power Station to make alternative arrangements to get wat er for its 1,260 MW thermal power plant.

JJ Gold House opens hallmarking centre
JJ Gold House has launched the first gold hallmarking and assaying centre in Kolkata. The centre will cater to the 21 certified jewellers across the city, a press release issued here mentioned.

AP: Second phone connection for Re 1
THE Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, through its AP telecom circle, has announced a scheme wherein a second telephone connection can be acquired for just Re 1.

AP seeks more rice for food-for-work scheme
THE Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Tuesday requested the Centre to allot additional quantity of 3.42 lakh metric tonnes of rice from Food Corporation of India to Andhra Pradesh and extend food for work programme to support up to June 15, 200 2.

Stocks
Cement stocks come under bear pressure
Another plane crash in the run up to Thanksgiving Day seems to have further spread the contagion of a jinxed US economy to the Indian capital markets. As a result, the 30-share bellwether BSE Sensitive index opened on a rather dour note at 3093.78 points , over Monday's close of 3094.14 points. The index moved in a narrow range, touching an intra-day high of 3101.58 points and mopping the day's low at 3059.42, to close at 3077.19 points or a 0.05 per cent decrease.

VSNL falls 10 pc
The shares of Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) fell by ten per cent today. Brokers said the stock lost ground following the TRAI recommendation of open competition for International Long Distance (ILD) services from April 2002.

CSE to maintain tight rein on risks
The Calcutta Stock Exchange is attempting to ``discipline'' its members regarding their open positions in the rolling settlement. Mr N. Dasgupta, acting Executive Director, told Business Line that ``CSE is bent on maintaining a tight rein on both liquid and net risks, even at the cost of volumes''.

Sugar
Govt allows raw sugar exports
THE Government has decided to allow exports of raw sugar from the country. While the existing export-import policy permits free exports of sugar, this facility is, however, extended only to plantation white sugar and not raw (unrefined) sugar.

3 exchanges get nod for sugar futures: Free-sale quota to mills on quarterly basis
THE Government has given permission to three exchanges to conduct forward/futures trading in sugar. The approved exchanges are e-commodities Ltd, Mumbai, NCS Infotech Ltd, Hyderabad, and e-sugarindia, Mumbai.

Taxation
Industry concern over VAT - II
YET another important issue in the context of VAT is the incentive scheme of the States. In an attempt to do away with the incentive war between States, it was agreed by the Empowered Committee (EC) of State Finance Ministers that commencing January 1, 2 000, sales tax-based incentives would be done away with for new projects.

Technical Analysis
Bears dominate
The bears dominated the trading on Tuesday. The market sentiment of the tradable list stands neutral. Thus favoring neither the bulls nor the bears. Bull domination on Wednesday is likely to change the sentiment in favour of the bulls. In case of be ar domination, the sentiment is likely to change bearish. The top traded counter in the stock futures segment was Sathyam Computer.

Telecommunications
VSNL fears backdoor entry of resellers
VIDESH Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) is apprehensive that the entry fee of Rs 25 crore and bank guarantee of the same amount for prospective long-distance telephony might allow for backdoor entry of international telephony resellers, something it had proteste d vehemently to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) when the regulator was inviting suggestions on the issue.

Govt may not accept TRAI plan
THE Government is unlikely to accept the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) regarding eligibility norms for companies seeking to venture into international long distance operations (ILDO).

FICCI calls for level field in telecom sector
THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has urged the Union Minister for Communciations, Mr Pramod Mahajan, to remove anomalies in the telecom policy and ensure a level playing field for all operators.

Textiles
Knitwear attracts cut-off price
EVEN as several garment categories were unable to exhaust the quantities offered under the `Ready goods' (first-come-first-served) quota channel opened on November 9, knitwear items seem to have bucked the trend of slow movement in exports.

Compulsory power audit
This refers to the letter, `Textile Mills' (Business Line, November 8, 2001). The letter was absolutely correct, asking for a level-playing field for the regular mills. For, day after day, the regular mills' economy is dwindling because of the small spin ners. In this aspect, the contention is absolutely correct.

Travel & Places
India wooing tourists from Gulf region
TOURISTS could be looking at Asia and South East Asia including India with increased interest in the coming months because of reports of racial profiling in Western countries in the aftermath of the US attacks.

Source:Business Line