Accountancy
AS is here to stay
Mukund M. Chitale on how Accounting Standards have become the cornerstone of financial information

Get the price right -- II
BEFORE implementing a penetration pricing strategy, a supplier must be certain that it has the production and distribution capabilities to meet the anticipated increase in demand.

Agriculture
Global rice firms up; wheat soft
WORLD rice trade in 2002 is likely to decline to 22.6 million tonnes, the lowest level since 1997, despite prospects of a continued growth in consumption. Trade in 2001 is estimated at 23.4 mt

Monsanto claims on Leader herbicide
THE US-based life sciences major, Monsanto, has claimed that its herbicide brand, Leader, has become the largest selling wheat herbicide in North India in terms of value and acreage covered.

An act that sows success
There has been much discussion in the recent years, both at the national and international levels, on the dichotomy between the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreemen t.

Airlines
3 Air India aircraft for Indian Airlines
After protracted negotiations of close to a year, Indian Airlines (IA) is finally set to acquire three Airbus A-300 B4 aircraft from Air India (AI) shortly.

Automobiles
Auto expo to focus on fuel options, safety
THE Sixth Auto Expo, organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) and the Society for Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), will focus on alternative fuels and road safety.

Panel wants Govt to drive auto sector growth
A working group of the Plan panel has said that a more pro-active role by the Government in formulating an appropriate policy framework in the automobile sector would go a long way in exalting the sector as ``a lever of industrial growth and employment".

Banking and Finance
Electronic bidding for gilts from Jan 15
THE negotiated dealing system (NDS), an electronic platform, that will facilitate dealings in the money and the Government securities market, will become operational from January 15.

Nationalised banks
The reported statement of the general secretary of AIBOC opposing the privatisation of nationalised banks is not in tune with the fast-changing economic situation in the country.

Book Review
Demystifying PR
The notion of public relations has often conveyed a sense of mystery to outsiders and its practitioners alike. Several attempts to define public relations and determine its precise role in the organisations it serves have yielded mixed results at best. A lack of exactness and increasing ambiguity about the central role of public relations has resulted in a steady erosion of its reputation as a profession and scholarly discipline.

On a wild rampage
Publishers: Permanent Black, Delhi, in association with Ranthambore Foundation

Creativity and Perception in Management
This book outlines the importance of creativity and innovation to todays organisation. The book attempts to articulate the role of perception in management and thereby redresses the balance in management thinking.

Good to Great
Can a good company become a great company and is so how? This book explores this whole new concept, backed by the same research standards that caused Built to Last to have such a lasting impact.

Bargain basics
HERE is a handy book from Dorling Kindersley titled Negotiating skills, authored by Tim Hindle. From this you can learn all you need to know about negotiating, from preparing your argument and briefing a team, to establishing the right atmosphere and clo sing a deal.

Commodities
Castor oil may rise on tight supplies
AFTER going through a protracted sluggish phase, the castor market is poised for some excitement with tightening supplies. With supply estimated to just about match the demand in 2002, castor oil prices are likely to rise in the coming months, a leading exporter said.

Spurt in gold, silver prices
AFTER prices plummeted early in the week to below $272 an ounce following selling pressure, gold began to rally by mid-week with the dollar softening slightly following Tuesdays 25 basis point US interest rate cut. The latest Comex commitment of traders showed that the net short position of large speculators (non-commercials) had fallen modestly during the week to December 4, by 6.6 tonnes to 31.2 tonnes.

ICAR help sought to boost Kerala coir sector
THE Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been urged to set up a coir technology research centre in Kerala to expedite the modernisation of the ailing coir industry in the State.

Consumer Notes
Saving on power
For a very long time the Tamil Nadu Regulatory Commission remained incomplete as the appointed chairman did not assume the responsibility and a few months ago one member retired. Today, it is functioning with one member. By the time this article goes to press one hopes the Chairman would have been appointed and also a member, who I hope will be a consumer activist.

Corporate
`Buoyancy is no pipe dream'
ELECTROSTEEL Castings Ltd (EC), Indias largest manufacturer of DI (ductile iron) and CI (cast iron) pipes, and a key stakeholder in the nations water infrastructure sector, is gearing up to face emerging competition. Relying solely on internal strengths built up over the years, and also capitalising on the advantage of being the first player in the market for DI pipes, the company has planned a relatively simple approach: Produce more from the same infrastructure, cut costs, increase the turnkey compone nt of turnover, command a value addition by making a differential product and adopt the right product mix.

Simhadri power project to go on stream soon
THE 1,000 MW Simhadri Thermal Power Project (STPP), National Thermal Power Corporations (NTPC) first coastal-based power plant, is set to be commissioned during 2002.

IDBI to advertise for change of guard at Real Value Appliances
THE Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has been directed by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) to advertise for change in management of Real Value Appliances Ltd (RVAL).

Singer India board okays 1:1 rights
THE Board of Directors of Singer India has approved rights issue of equity shares in the ratio of 1:1 at the nominal price of Rs 10 per share.

It's all a question of AWARENESS
I had known about the importance of Non Judgmental Awareness (NJA) for a long time. After all, a prominent therapeutical process in Psychology Gestalt Therapy, and an entire system of philosophy Zen Buddhism are based on it.

The Gandhian corporate
Do you think it will sell? Standing behind a rickety wooden desk in a dusty, drab room, contemplating a slightly loud green-and- red paper mache bowl, Sukanya Bharatram looks distinctly out of place. The lady after all is Vivek (Benetton) Bharatrams wife . She is an MBA from Italy. She runs an IT business with her husband. What is she doing in an old, run-down Gandhian complex that houses abandoned girls?

25 CEOs-to-be under one roof
TWENTY-FIVE would-be CEOs have come together under one roof here to interact, discuss and learn how to manage radical performance improvement.

Economy
Inequality, globalisation and a social framework
IN 1999, the World Bank President, Mr James Wolfensohn, observed of the global financial market: `At the level of people, the system is not working'.

Asset reconstruction companies -- Lessons from international experience
THOUGH there has been a considerable decline in banks non-performing assets over the last three years, the improvement has slowed down and the NPA levels remain high compared to international standards. The RBIs latest Report on the Trend and Progress of Banking has rightly observed that an effective resolution of the problem of NPAs is hampered on account of a sizeable overhang component arising form infirmities in the existing process of debt recovery, inadequate legal provisions on pre-closure and ba nkruptcy and difficulties in the execution of court decree!

Reducing poverty by sharing infrastructure
ERROR is to communication engineers what poverty is to economists. A little over 50 years ago, Claude Shannon showed that while it is impossible to have zero errors in the transmission of information, it is possible to make the probability of errors as c lose to zero as desired. Similarly, while we may not eliminate poverty altogether, we should be able to make the incidence of poverty too as little as desired.

`Indians spend more on transport, communication'
COMMUNICATION, transport and healthcare are claiming a larger chunk of household expenditure in India while the proportion spent on food, housing and other items is declining, according to an analysis done by the Global Econometric Modeling (GEM) Group o f Frost & Sullivan.

`No plan to cut rate on small savings'
THE Government currently has no plans to cut the interest rates on small savings, the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, has said. Mr Sinha was speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of a conference.

Manufacturing sector bears brunt of slowdown: CII study
THE downturn witnessed in the manufacturing sector during the first and second quarters of the year due to overall slowdown in the economy continued to affect major segments in the third quarter even as some sectors showed signs of revival by the end of the current fiscal.

Editorial
Losing power
THE POWER SECTOR woes runneth over. While the power-managers grapple with the Dabhol issue, the US energy firm Mirant has decided drop its projects here, including the 3,960 MW Hirma joint venture in Orissa, citing lack of market reforms. It had give n enough notice of its intentions earlier when it said that with the Dabhol issue unresolved it would be difficult to reach financial closure for Hirma.

Foreign Trade
Export promotion in India -- Learning from the US
THE Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Murasoli Maran, has set up a high-level committee to evolve a five-year exim policy which would be in line with the Tenth Plan period (2002-2007). It would review the existing policies and procedures and sugge st steps to rationalise the schemes and identify measures for short- and long-term plans to increase exports. The 12-member committee, headed by the former Commerce Secretary, Mr P. P. Prabhu, includes representatives from export promotion councils, comm odity boards as well as industry and trade.

Hotels
Food and more
The Oberoi, New Delhi recently hosted a festival with a difference at the Kandahar. This one has meant to tickle both the mind and the palate. Using foods from both the Eastern and the Western tradition which are revered for their aphrodisiacal qualities , culinary aficionado Jiggs Kalra and Master Chef Pankaj Mehra, along with Mohammad Usman from the gharana of Lucknows famed kebab king, Tundey Mian, and Mohammed Ilyas put together an epicures delight that evoked both curiosity and its share of titillat ing conversation.

Insurance
GTF, Coface join hands for credit insurance
GLOBAL Trade Finance (GTF), a joint venture of Exim Bank of India, German bank West LB and IFC, has tied up with Coface, the French export credit insurance group, to provide credit insurance service to Indian exporters.

Miscellaneous
Travel Truths are strange contradictions
ARCHILOCUS, the soldier poet of Paros, said in 750 B.C.: I am two things. A fighter who follows the master of battles and one who understands the gift of the muses love.

On a rebound
THE US was hitherto the ultimate haven and an inveterate defender of free market economy and the private sector. Big Government, like Big Brother of George Orwell's famous novel 1984, was suspect. Every President since Herbert Hoover started his innings with a swipe at Government, pledging to put it in its place.

Success is for the best
First-time distributor Surender Suneja is an anxious man. He has spent a long time, since 1984, in the video business, buying and selling rights of movies for the home viewing segment. Now that he has decided to take the plunge into the uncertain waters of distribution for the theatrical circuit, he is learning that the rules of this game are much more complicated. Theatre owners insist on an advance (this would not apply to established distributors who have old links with exhibitors), last minute glitc hes prevent the prints from reaching the preview theatre, and now that Bawandar, Jagmohan Mundhras much-talked about film is doing the rounds, he is carefully tracking the movement of the box office.

Its winning time
The Regional Abilympics covering Northern and Central states was held recently at New Delhi to highlight the vocational skills of persons with disabilities. The National Abilympics Association of India (NAAI) is introducing Abilympics for the first time in the country and also using the opportunity to select contestants for the National Abilympics scheduled for the next year. The winners from the National Abilympics will participate in the 6th International Abilympics which is scheduled to be held in No vember 2003 in New Delhi.

Playing it out
We're evaluated in everything we do. We've been evaluated through school and college, we are being evaluated by our friends, spouses, children, in our social circles; by everyone we come into contact with. Any action we take is evaluated by its results. Even something as mundane as our ability to cross the road without incident is being constantly evaluated.

Mutual Funds
A few bright spots on the horizon
THESE are interesting times for equity funds. Last month, which saw a 400-point rally in the stock markets, brought home a lot of good news for the equity investor. The pace of change, however, has been quite erratic this month, and it remains to be seen how these funds perform in the run-up to the New Year.

Petroleum
Digboi, 100, still alive and kicking
"DIG BOY, DIG", shouted the Canadian Engineer, Mr W L Lake, at his men as they watched elephants emerging out of the dense forest with oil stains on their feet. So the story goes about how Digboi township, in the north-eastern corner of the country, got its name, a place that ultimately grew into Indias as well as Asias first petroleum refinery and perhaps the worlds second such outfit.

Policy
SEBI: A case of power failure?
A FEW weeks ago, a draft Cabinet note, which had proposed several amendments to the SEBI Act, was returned to the Finance Ministry by the Cabinet Secretariat, seeking more clarity.

Politics
Operation Vijay
This refers to `CAG fires salvo at Operation Vijay deals; uproar in House' (Business Line, December 12). It was not expected that as a result of the Kargil war, financial irregularities would have occurred, as pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor-G eneral of India.

Power
Reinsurers shun Tanir Bhavi project
NEW India Assurance Company Ltd (NIACL) has failed to attract reinsurance cover for the 220 MW barge-mounted Tanir Bhavi Power Company Ltd.

NTPC rules out gas-based plant in Bengal in 10th Plan
THE National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has ruled out the possibility of setting up any gas-based power plant in West Bengal during the 10th Plan.

TN: `Power'ful at last?
Water and power-starved Tamil Nadu will heave a sigh of relief with the Koodankulam Atomic Power Project (KAPP) now poised to take off. It is heartening to hear that the new nuclear power plant (VVER type) will follow a different route of using enriched uranium as fuel, and light water as moderator and coolant, which will help bring down the cost of production to Rs 3.10 per unit.

Radio/TV
Zee seen gaining with Turner deal
THOUGH the much-awaited sale of strategic stake by Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL) has not come through, ZTL tying up with Turner International (India) Private Ltd for setting up a joint venture for distribution and trade marketing is a smart move, equity analys ts tracking media sector say.

States
Dance beat at Pune
When Delhi-based danseuse Leela Samson and her troupe Spanda performed against the backdrop of the Peshwari eras magnificent fort, the Shaniwarwada in Pune recently, it was a dream come true for the Pune Vyaspeeth, an organisation that has made it its mi ssion to make the city a tourism destination.

State Govt bonds on tap may soon become a reality
THE Government and the Reserve Bank of India are planning to put the bonds floated by State Governments on tap, in an effort to exert pressure on them to improve their fiscal management, according to senior Government officials.

Gujarat heading into debt trap; moots austerity measures
THE Gujarat Government, its claims of being the foremost State in the industrialisation race notwithstanding, seems to be at the end of its tether on the financial front. Running on borrowed capital, the Gujarat finance machinery appears to be in a strat egic drift with its total outstandings at the end of the last fiscal reading at over Rs 27,000 crore.

Stocks
Sentiment may take a hit with shoot-outs
THE equities market is set to face yet another spell of uncertainty. Buoyed by the second quarter corporate results, the market had been on an upswing for quite a while after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. But the shootout in Parliame nt last week has once again dampened market sentiment.

Sugar
Sugar hits 4-year low as cane prices rise
THE proposed shift from the existing monthly to a quarterly release mechanism for free-sale sugar with effect from January has led to a perceptible weakening of open market sugar prices. The declining price realisation on sugar, together with rising cane prices payable to growers, has meant that the industrys margins have been squeezed like never before in recent times.

Taxation
FICCI for pruning corporate tax rate, MAT withdrawal
THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has sought a reduction in the existing corporate tax rate of 35 per cent, withdrawal of the minimum alternative tax (MAT) and broadening of income-tax bands as part of its ten-point agend a on direct tax reforms.

Looking at a gift horse
CAN a company give gifts to its shareholders attending its annual general meeting? -- Gurudath Kaiwar, e-mail

A 10-question teaser
REACT to the following propositions, which are either: a) true, b) false, c) right, subject to qualification, or d) none of these. Mark (a), (b), (c) and (d) and check with reference to the suggested answers.

Tea
Tea prices up on demand at Kochi sale
A GOOD general demand resulted in the spurting of prices of almost all varieties of tea at the Kochi tea auction.

Technical Analysis
Sharp correction dip likely in palm oil
Malaysian palm oil futures on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, or MDEX, closed marginally higher on Friday on late short covering ahead of a long weekend. The exchange will be closed Monday through Wednesday next week for the muslim holy festival, Ramz an. The week saw prices move in a narrow range due to players liquidating their positions ahead of next weeks holidays.

Bull flag pattern emerging in NY Cotton
Cotton futures, after a sluggish week, rallied sharply Friday with the most active March contract bouncing off a five- week low to end the day up 6.1 per cent at 37.30 cents. Squaring up of positions before the year end was expected by funds to have a ne gative impact on the market.

Technology
Still Life
A model of a dinosaur on display at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technology Institute in Bangalore. The 18-foot model can perform nine different movements and is digitally programmed for sound. Ten people worked for three months on the dinosaur, which cost Rs.10 lakh.

Terrorism
December 13: Who is to blame?
THE December 13 attack on Parliament on December 13 is a challenge to the free world, not only in India. The national leadership has accepted the challenge, and many governments have supported it.

December 13 and after
EVEN WHILE lauding the remarkable reflexes and the bravery of the security personnel who prevented the terrorists from gaining access to the sanctum sanctorum of the Parliament House on December 13, one has to note that the incident highlights once again the unsatisfactory manner in which we continue to deal with terrorism sponsored from Pakistan.

Investigators crack contours of Parliament attack
INTELLIGENCE officials in New Delhi said today that they had arrived at a near-closure of investigations into the December 13 suicide squad attack on Parliament.

Textiles
Synthetic fibre sector seeks `rational tariff'
THE Association of Synthetic Fibre Industry (ASFI) has urged the Central Government to fix tariff values for partially oriented yarn (POY), polyester filament yarn (PFY), polyester staple fibre (PSF), nylon filament yarn (NFY), nylon tyre cord fabric (NT CF) and textile grade chips to eliminate the threat of cheap imports.

Transport
Rlys to transfer telecom assets to subsidiary
DECKS have been cleared for RailTel Corporation (RCIL) to acquire all the telecom assets of the Railways and take on lease the Railways' right of way (RoW), with both parties signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) late last week.

Travel & Places
Seeking a city's soul
Berlin, with its post-modern, eye-catching, futuristic architecture bang in the middle of bullet-marked buildings, brings to mind a red lipstick gash on a willing but ravaged whore.

A city with a vision
It was certainly not the best season to visit Chandigarh, but I discovered that even in the month of June, the city, known for its fine eco-balance, was pleasant and inviting. The pink acacia was in bloom and the well-kept roundabouts were full of flower s.

A beach and bash resort
Sporting that hard to resist sun and fun culture so typical of South-East Asia, Pattaya is a resort that draws tourists like a giant magnet. Amidst all the life and zest on the seaside it takes a while to realise whether it is a big, medium or small reso rt. Its the kind of place that provides visitors one frame at a time, moment to moment. But theres plenty happening under the sun and under the stars.

Kerala, Karnataka pact on tourism
THE Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) has reached an understanding with the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) for conducting business together and to compliment reservations on their online web facility through booking c ounters of both the corporations.

Source:Business Line