The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, February 25, 2004

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
Ratan Tata to head panel to assist hydrogen board
THE Minister for Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES), Mr Karia Munda, has constituted a steering group under the chairmanship of Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons. The brief of the steering group, set up to assist the National Hydrogen ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES
Chess launches legal system
CHENNAI: Chess Management Services, a Chennai-based legal compliance certification company, has launched Lex Certification. The product will assess processes and systems within companies to address legal requirement and calibrate systems ... More

ECONOMY
Network industries to drive economy, says Kelkar
THE real drivers of the economy will be the network industries such as roads, electricity, telecommunications and water apart from agriculture, which will play a pivotal role in all round development, said Mr Vijay Kelkar, Advisor, Ministry of ... More

Rural India not shining at all: Economist
THE Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may feel that "India is shining" but from an economist's point of view, "rural India is not shining." According to Prof S. Mahendra Dev, Director of the Centre for Economic Social Studies (CESS), rural India is ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
Customs collection target in sight; excise may be hit
THE Government's decision to bet high on growth in volume of imports to meet its Customs duty collections target for 2003-04 appears to be paying rich dividends. Up to January 31, 2004 the Centre has mobilised Rs 40,240 crore through Customs ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Cochin Chamber interacts with Thai trade team
THE Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised an interactive session with the Special Task Force, Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand, here. Welcoming the delegation , the President of the chamber, Mr N.R. ... More

Assocham sees good potential for bilateral trade with UAE
THE Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) expects bilateral trade between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to cross the $5-billion mark soon. According to the chamber, there has been a substantive increase in ... More

ICSI seeks piece of trade opportunity with Singapore
COMPANY Secretaries have spotted a huge opportunity in the proposed free trade agreement between India and Singapore. The Central Council of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India is proposing to pitch for inclusion of the profession in ... More

HEALTH
AP to offer free treatment to AIDS patients from Apr 1
THE Andhra Pradesh Government is launching a programme to offer free treatment to AIDS patients from April1. The Government's plan is in line with the `3 by 5 initiative' being taken up by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is aimed at ... More

POWER
NTPC, Gujarat Govt pact for power project at Pipavav
NATIONAL Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat Government to set up a 2,000 MW power generation project at Pipavav, Gujarat. The project will operate on liquefied natural gas ... More

STEEL
Govt to cut DEPB rates for steel again
IN a move that will dampen steel exports, the Government has decided to further reduce the rates of Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme applicable for steel. The DEPB scheme allows exporters to get benefit against the export value. This ... More

TEXTILES
`Textile sector will post $87-b business by 2010'
THE potential growth opportunity opening up for India's textile sector will turn it churning $87-billion business by the year 2010, with export business alone accounting for $40 billion. The exponential growth over the next five years would ... More

WATER
Mineral water or general water?
THE Andhra Pradesh Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers' Association has appealed to the public not to patronise units that have not obtained the mandatory ISI certification. In a statement issued here on Tuesday, Mr K.V.K.S. Prasada Rao, ... More

RADIO/TV
Digital radios for fishermen
IN six months' time, if the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has its way, fishermen along the long coastline of India, could be in for small mercies in the form digital radios. These low-cost digital radios while entertaining fishermen ... More

Ministry may denotify CAS
THE Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry is likely to back the recommendation made by the broadcast regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on deferring the implementation of the conditional access system (CAS) in ... More

EDUCATION
Corporate sector resents IIM fee reduction
WHILE the Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, has been vociferous in his criticism against the Human Resources Development Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi's decision in the IIM fee matter, other voices in the corporate ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Cos want 10-year excise sop for new industrial units in Kutch
A SECTION of the corporate sector has called for a 10-year excise holiday on new industrial units being set up in the earthquake-hit Kutch district of Gujarat. Besides, they are also looking for a host of incentives that have been offered to ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Advanced radar network in the offing
THE Centre is firming up plans to put in place an advanced radar network, which will equip the country to go beyond cyclone warning alone, the Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Prof. V.S. Ramamurthy, said here. Currently, ... More

ISRO plans not hit by blast; probe report in 10 days
A DAY after an explosion ripped through the Sriharikota launch centre, ISRO has said that its upcoming programmes will not be set back. It has confirmed that six persons died and put the material damage at Rs 70 lakh. The organisation has named ... More

CINEMA
Rajshri to scale up film production
AN intermittent player on the Bollywood scene until now, the Rajshri Group is scaling up film production and distribution during 2004. "We are planning to scale up film production as well as distribution during 2004 as we see there is a lot ... More

PRINTING
Printing sector sees scope for outsourcing from West
AFTER information technology and health sectors, it is printing technology that's counting on huge potential for outsourcing from the West. According to Mr P. Hanumanth Rao, President of Hitech Printers Association (AP) and Chairman of Pragathi ... More

DISINVESTMENT
Sharp dip in disinvestment cos' stocks
SHARE prices of companies lined up for disinvestment have declined sharply from their yearly highs, contrary to the share movement in the earlier disinvestment process. Brokers said the decline in share value this time around was on account of ... More

Govt fixes price band of Rs 385-400 for DCI shares
THE Government has fixed a price band ranging between Rs 385 and Rs 400 per share for sale of 56 lakh shares worth 20 per cent of the equity in the state-run Dredging Corporation of India (DCI). Retail investors who subscribe to the issue would ... More

SMALL SAVINGS
Rationalisation of small savings schemes planned
THE Reserve Bank of India's advisory committee on administered interest rates is considering the rationalisation of the number of small savings instruments offered by the Government and also the tax treatment on such schemes. In its first ... More

INDUSTRIAL POLICY
Kerala: Govt notifies single-window clearance board
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government has notified the setting up of single-window clearance boards for the industrial park projects of the Small-Scale Industries Development Corporation. The respective District Collector will be the ... More

EVENTS
President calls for `knowledge management grid'
THE President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on Tuesday called upon the agencies involved with digitisation of data to set up a knowledge management grid that would be available to people through different Indian languages. The existing archives of ... More

BioAsia 2004 to focus on co-op with global bodies
BIOASIA 2004, the three-day day bio-business forum will begin here on February 26, is likely to witness the formation of an umbrella body of biotech associations in Asia, which will help in networking and advocacy. About 500 delegates from 24 ... More

Kinfra lecture postponed
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) has announced that the one-day seminar and the `KINFRA lecture' scheduled to be held on February 26 as part of the `KINFRA Day' celebrations has been ... More

HRD programme in Kochi

In Hyderabad today

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Gelli plans Rs 100-cr `turnaround fund' — To help entrepreneurs revive their projects
GENUINE entrepreneurs caught up in financial mess owing to factors well beyond their control and desperately looking for a helping hand to turn around their enterprises can soon expect to get a major fillip if the `Turnaround Fund' being planned ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES
Drought may hit Maharashtra grapes output
SEVERE drought conditions in the Sangli, Solapur belts have resulted in 25-30 per cent drop in the Maharashtra's grape production this year. The drop in production is likely to hurt its export of the fruit from the State, Mr Rohit Pandhare, ... More

TOURISM
SAARC tourism meet may discuss common visa
WITH India and Pakistan on one hand and Sri Lankan Government and LTTE on the other talking peace, South Asia is looking ahead to promote tourism in the region in a major way. When the Tourism Secretaries of SAARC (South Asian Association for ... More

Karnataka Tourism Dept ropes in Vasundhara Das, Rahul Dravid as brand ambassadors
THE Karnataka Tourism Department has raised a two-member celebrity team — cricket icon, Rahul Dravid, and singer and cine actress, Vasundhara Das, — to act as its brand ambassador to promote the State as a preferred destination among ... More

Singapore Tourism opens visitors' centre in Chennai
THE Singapore Tourism Board (STB) plans to come out with India-specific packages and has opened its second Singapore Visitors' Centre in Chennai to focus on the South. Mr Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive, STB, said visitors' ... More

ECONOMIC OFFENCES
Tax evasion in pepper trade to cost Kerala Rs 10 crore
RAMPANT tax evasion in pepper trade in Kerala is to deprive the State of total tax revenue of an estimated Rs 10 crore in the current fiscal, according to pepper trade sources here. Introduction of `C Form' and `F Form' has led to large-scale ... More

PEOPLE
Dr Mashelkar on WHO commission
DR R.A. Mashelkar, Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has been appointed the Vice-Chairman of a commission on Intellectual Property Rights, innovation and public health set up by the World Health ... More