The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, September 08, 2004

EMPLOYMENT
700 Indian workers lose jobs in Abu Dhabi as co shuts shop
OVER 700 Indian workers are among1,700 employees of an Abu Dhabi-based contracting company who have been left jobless with months of unpaid wages after the expatriate Lebanese partner of the firm absconded in July. ... More

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
YSR sees bright future for bio-diesel plantations — Jatropha seeds to be paid Rs 6 per kg
THE industry in Andhra Pradesh had agreed to pay Rs 6 per kg of jatropha seed instead of Rs 5 in an immediate response to the appeal of the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to increase the price so that the farmers would be encouraged ... More

ANTI-DUMPING
Mid-term review of dumping duty on Vitamin A begins
THE Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry has initiated mid-term review of the definitive anti-dumping duty imposed on imported Vitamin A Palmitate originating in or exported from the European Union (EU), Georgia and Singapore. In an ... More

ECONOMY
Inflation: Emerging economies different
WHEN it comes to reporting inflation, we are better off than the US. Our price indices are updated weekly, whereas there they do it only once a month. Thus, Indian bond traders have the luxury (if one could call it that) of chewing inflation ... More

Jaswant Singh faults Govt on inflation
BY ascribing the rising inflation to `extraneous factors', the Centre has been trying `transfer responsibility' for inflation that has galloped past the 8 per cent mark, according to Mr Jaswant Singh, former Finance Minister. In a brief chat ... More

Religion is the word
WHAT has been feared till now is official; that the Muslims of India have grown at the highest rate in the decade between 1991-2001 at 36 per cent. This is a 1.5 per cent rise over the 1991 census data. The religion wise classification of the ... More

ENVIRONMENT
Environment Ministry failing in its role, say NGOs
A NATIONAL network of 50 environmental organisations and individuals has charged the Ministry of Environment and Forests with being the weak link in environmental protection, and instead, pandering to "market-based instruments" in recent ... More

Kochi civic panel moots creation of environment divn
THE executive committee of the Paristithi Bhavan of the Kochi Corporation has come up with a proposal to set up an Environment Division (ED) in the Corporation. One of the main tasks assigned to the ED is the environment and ecological impact ... More

HEALTH
New vistas in TB treatment
A NEW molecule discovered by the Indian scientists for the treatment of tuberculosis promises to bring down the treatment time down to two months from the present 6-8 months. The partnership, which has secured patent protection in India and the ... More

Cheap cochlear implants from AP naval laboratory
THE Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) here and the Andhra University College of Engineering have undertaken a joint project to develop an inexpensive cochlear (ear) implant, which will appreciably improve the hearing capacity of ... More

Health cover for Andhra Bank credit cardholders
ANDHRA Bank has decided to offer health insurance facility to its credit cardholders in alliance with United India Insurance Company. The facility, AB Arogyadaan, is intended at taking care of the medical bills consequent to hospitalisation ... More

Global fund for AIDS calls for more corporate proposals
TATA Steel's proposal to extend its HIV/AIDS programme from its workforce to the community in Jamshedpur was not able to avail itself of funds from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria - despite the merits of the proposal. ... More

PETROLEUM
GSPC hopes to start online gas trading by December
ONLINE trading of gas on the National Commodities Exchange is expected to begin by December. According to Mr C.K. Koshy, Managing Director, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPC), the initiative led by GSPC and its subsidiary Gujarat ... More

Cooking crisis
Workers take in the sun on a truck carrying a load of LPG cylinders. The Centre has cut supply by 25 to 40 per cent to gas agencies on reports of gross misuse of domestic LPG by restaurants and vehicle users. Door delivery has shrunk and agencies ... More

PLASTICS
Plastic goods, polymers at loggerheads
"The global naphtha prices have increased only 9.5 per cent in the last nine months but the prices of PP, HDPE and LLDPE have increased from 30-40 per cent in the domestic market." More

POWER
HC restrains TNERC from reopening power pacts issue
THE Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission's order directing the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to fix "fair price" for the power purchased by it from independent power producers has been stayed by the Madras High Court. The interim stay ... More

TAXATION
Gulf NRIs urge withdrawal of proposal to tax deposits
GULF non-resident Indians (NRIs) are urging the Indian Government to completely withdraw the tax proposal on NRE deposits, which has been postponed to April 2005, as it may drive away investors and cause losses for low ... More

TEXTILES
It's back home for textile exporters as quotas go
IT'S a homecoming of sorts for several Indian textile exporters. With the quota regime in global textile and clothing trade set to be phased out in three months, a number of textile exporters who had set up base in countries such as Nepal, ... More

EDUCATION
National meet on school computer study in Chennai
OVER 20 State governments will share their experiences in computer education in schools at a two-day national conference on `Computer education in schools - the challenges and strategies for a total solution,' being organised by Tamil Nadu ... More

Singapore woos Indian students
BOASTING its proximity and cultural resonance to India, Singapore has launched an aggressive campaign to woo Indian students with attractive offers to enrol in its educational institutions. Encouraged by an overwhelming response to its ... More

Paris Biz School in tie-up talks with ICFAI Press
ESSEC Paris Business School, one of the oldest universities in the world currently focusing on management training in Europe, is considering alliances with the ICFAI University Press (IUP) in the areas of research and publication, according to ... More

EMC (Kerala) to support projects
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Energy Management Centre (EMC), an autonomous body under the State Government, is planning to extend support for projects being proposed by diploma-level, graduate and post-graduate students as part of its efforts ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Sigma to set up Rs 120-cr shopping mall in Bangalore
THE Sigma Group, which is setting up a multiplex in Bangalore, plans to set up a six-lakh sq ft shopping mall worth Rs 120 crore in the city. The Sigma Group Managing Director, Mr H.S. Bedi, told Business Line that the shopping mall ... More

Dubai firm keen on executing infrastructure projects in AP
EMAAR Properties, a public, joint sector company from Dubai, has expressed interest in developing world-class infrastructure projects in Andhra Pradesh. It is already in the process of firming up plans for a convention centre and an integrated ... More

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS
Parliament march planned by All-India State Government Employees Federation
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The All-India State Government Employees Federation has decided to hold a Parliament March on December 7 and submit a memorandum featuring five crore signatures to the Centre in support of the demand for a legal ... More

EVENTS
Sustainable development tops energy meet agenda
THE crucial issue of the world's energy future being delivered in a sustainable manner took centre stage at the tri-annual World Energy Congress (WEC). Besides sustainable development, there were two critical issues that went hand in hand, yet ... More

`People-centred' draft policy on service delivery ready
The Government is expected to play a proactive role to facilitate optimal implementation of the policy. More

In Hyderabad today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Edible oil imports top 4 lakh t in Aug
BUOYED by seasonal pressure, edible oil imports during August 2004 increased to 4.01 lakh tonnes (lt), up from 2.92 lt of the previous month. According to preliminary import data made available to Business Line by the industry portal ... More

Exporters taking forward cover
AFTER waiting for almost three months, exporters have now begun taking forward cover in anticipation of large foreign currency inflows. Banking sources said the inflows, which dropped to as low as $25 million a day in July till mid-August, had ... More

Plan to rebate education cess on export goods
AFTER the recent euphoria over the foreign trade policy for 2004-2009, the exporting community has more good news coming its way. The Finance Ministry has now come up with procedures to rebate the two per cent education cess paid by exporters on ... More