The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, February 23, 2006

TUCS employees seek compensation for handling PDS
THE employees of the century-old TUCS (Triplicane Urban Cooperative Society) have represented to the Tamil Nadu Government seeking payment of service charge for each family ration card the cooperative handles in the public distribution system ... More

TN Chamber wants State to withdraw Resale Tax
TRADE and industry feel let down over the recent announcement of relief measures and schemes by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. Despite being instrumental in collection of Commercial Taxes of Rs 15,000 crore per year, their demands have not been ... More

`Scrap benchmark pricing for imported shuttle-less looms'
THE Tamil Nadu Powerloom Federation, a forum for small-scale powerloom owners, has urged the Centre to do away with benchmark pricing for used, shuttle-less looms (weaving machines) imported under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme. The ... More

ObjectFrontier's second centre
CHENNAI: ObjectFrontier Software, a US-based software development company, has set up a primary offshore development centre at Ascendas, the International Tech Park in Chennai. The centre is slated to be inaugurated on February 23, ... More

ANDHRA PRADESH

Allow poultry vehicles, AP tells neighbours
THE Andhra Pradesh Government has appealed to neighbouring States to allow poultry vehicles from the State to enter those States. Reiterating that there is no bird flu in the State, the Government has decided to write letters to the Governments ... More

Tech SEZ to come up near hardware park in Hyderabad
A 300-acre site has been earmarked for a technology special economic zone (SEZ) close to the Hardware Park and Fab City projects near Hyderabad. The State Minister for IT, Communication and Infrastructure, Ms Sabita Reddy, said that 18 ... More

Andhra Bank `Maha Mela' under way
ANDHRA Bank is conducting AB Maha Mela from February 20 to March 20 to achieve its business turnover target of Rs 56,000 crore. During the month, the bank will focus on deposit mobilisation, retail lending and fee-based financial services. At a ... More

BIFT looking for global tie-ups
BADRUKA Institute of Foreign Trade (BIFT) is looking for tie-ups with academic institutes of world repute to offer valueadded courses to its students. "We are in talks with Nanyang Technological University to offer short-time modules in ... More

AIABOF office-bearers
HYDERABAD: The All India Andhra Bank Officers' Federation (AIABOF), affiliated to the All India Bank Officers' Confederation, has announced that new office bearers were elected for the Federation for two years' term through postal ballot. ... More

Post-harvest tech expo in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: The city will host a three-day national conference-cum-expo on post-harvest technologies from March 3 at the HITEX expo facility at Madhapur. The Post Harvest 2006 will focus on logistics, storage, packaging and marketing of ... More

SBH opens another branch
HYDERABAD: State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) has announced the opening of its 940th branch at Pebbair in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh. In a press release here, the bank said the branch starts with Core Banking Solution enabling ... More

Expedite RWS schemes: YSR
HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has directed the officials of the Rural Development Ministry to complete all the pending RWS (rural water supply) schemes supported by the National Bank for ... More

AP to amend Excise Act
The move is aimed at plugging loopholes in the tax collection mechanism and categorising different varieties of liquors. More

Windfall for fisherfolk
Traditional fishermen venture out into the sea at the crack of dawn in Visakhapatnam as the demand for fish has increased with people opting to stay away from chicken due to the bird flu scare. Most chicken shops in the city remained closed and ... More

Textile traders protest VAT imposition in AP
ABOUT 80,000 textiles shop owners across Andhra Pradesh downed shutters on Wednesday, protesting against imposition of four per cent value-added tax on `made-ups'. They demanded that the Government withdraw the amendment made to the Act that ... More

KERALA

Kochi petrochem project — GAIL seeks sops from Kerala Govt
At the official-level meeting, the Kerala Government has reportedly assured GAIL that it would consider favourably the fiscal benefits to make the petrochemical project viable. More

Greying Kerala
The State has the largest number of elderly people as compared to other States. As per the expert committee headed by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, the elderly (60-plus) accounts for 10.84 per cent and the average life ... More

Idbipaisabuilder launched in Kochi
IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd has launched its online investment portal idbipaisabuilder.in at Kochi, targeting retail investors. The advanced online trading portal is built with the objective of providing easy and informed investing ... More

No going back on budget airliner, says CM
THE State Government intends to persist with the Air Kerala budget airliner project despite the none-too-encouraging response it has elicited from the Centre. Announcing this to newspersons, the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, said here on ... More

US Technology on mega talent search
THE Technopark-based US Technology International has announced a talent search contest titled `Brains@War' in 80 engineering and MCA colleges in Kerala. To be a recurring annual programme, this will be dovetailed with the IT/BPO player's ... More

`Updating of professional knowledge is essential'
UPDATING knowledge in every field is essential especially for professional practice such as chartered accountancy, medicine and legal, according to Mr Justice M. Ramachandran of the Kerala High Court. Inaugurating the one-day continuous ... More

`Pakistan' hits troubled waters in Lakshadweep
`PAKISTAN' has landed in trouble. The crew of a container feeder vessel that bears this name found themselves in the police net when they disembarked at Lakshadweep during a voyage on Tuesday. Some of the members of the crew, fascinated by the ... More

`Mammootty@Akshaya'
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cine actor Mammootty will be formally installed as the designated goodwill ambassador of Akshaya e-literacy project at a function here, which will be aired to all 14 district headquarters via ... More

Donation to PM's fund
KOCHI: As per the resolution adopted unanimously at the dissolution conference of the erstwhile Nedungadi Bank Staff Federation, the Federation has donated Rs 6.74 lakh to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. At a special function held ... More

KSRTC strike plan dropped
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have called off their plan to go on an indefinite strike from midnight on Wednesday. This follows an understanding reached after talks held between the ... More

OTHER STATES

Uttaranchal Plan size fixed at Rs 4,000 cr
THE annual plan size of Uttaranchal for the next fiscal year 2006-07 has been fixed at Rs 4,000 crore, inclusive of special assistance of Rs 200 crore for projects of priority to the State. At a meeting convened by the Planning Commission ... More

MAHARASHTRA

Bird flu: Five-star hotels keeping guests informed
FIVE-STAR hotels in the city have decided to put precaution ahead of hasty action, as reports of Government action to prevent the spread of disease flow in. An official with a star hotel said their guests - the majority of whom are from ... More

Capote: The two sides of writing
"HOT islands and buried gold, diving deep in fire-blue seas towards sunken treasure — such dreams were gone. Gone, too, was `Perry O'Parsons,' the name invented for the singing sensation of stage and screen that he had half-seriously ... More