The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Health expenditure in India
There are perceptions that government spending on health in India, which is low by international standards, has been further undermined during the period of economic liberalisation since the early 1990s. In the first of a two-article Macroscan on this subject, C. P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh examine the relative significance of public and private expenditure on health and the trends in Central Government expenditure. The next edition will analyse health expenditure by State governments in the recent past. More

Special problems, special solutions
Kerala economy has certain special characteristics that make it particularly vulnerable to external influences. More

ENVIRONMENT
Degremont estimates € 100 m by 2010 from Indian operations
Degremont, the French wastewater treatment technology company, estimates revenues of over € 100 million from its Indian operations by 2010. The company also plans to use its Indian subsidiary for its foreign operations. The Indian ... More

Forests will be protected, says Kerala Minister
Preservation of Kerala's forest cover is a priority for the State Government, the State Forests Minister, Mr Benoy Viswam, said. Speaking at a seminar on `Deforestation in Kerala', organised in the city today by the BBC World Service Trust and ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Economic mission to Italy
An Indian economic mission, which will visit Italy between November 5 and 8, hopes to convince Italian leather companies to look at India as a possible destination to outsource their manufacturing. The Union Commerce and Industry ... More

Union Bank in pact with DGFT
The bank's clients can make online payment of fees to DGFT More

Malaysia invites investments in pharma, chemicals
Bilateral trade records 17 pc growth More

Israel keen to set up mutual R&D fund with India
Israel is keen to set up a mutual research and development (R&D) fund with India. Under this fund, both nations could put in about $25 billion each to fund companies in R&D work, said Mr Tzakhi Selzer, Counsellor for Economic Affairs, Embass More

HEALTH
`Cut health insurance premium rate'
The Sattur Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called the revised rate of health insurance premium for citizens above 50 years as `abnormal' and sought a reasonable rate. The chamber Secretary, Mr P.T.K.A. Balasubramanian, in a ... More

`GSK drug may cut risk of developing diabetes'
The use of rosiglitazone medicine may reduce the risk of developing diabetes. In a result of a clinical trial discussed on Monday, the use of the medicine reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 62 per cent compared to a placebo among 5,269 ... More

Eli Lilly launches cancer drug
Eli Lilly and Company India today announced the launch of Alimta (pemetrexed disodium) for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) — a rare type of cancer that has strong correlation with ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Buddhadeb urges uniform land-use policy for SEZs
Bengal formul;ating new textile policy likely More

Infrastructure Financing — Accountability is not axiomatic
The Plan panel Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, wants forex reserves used to fund infrastructure projects. But what of accountability of which there is very little. That shoddy road or money frittered away will still disrupt the most axiom atic principles of financing, says ASHOAK UPADHYAY. More

Grand sight
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PETROLEUM
Indian crude basket drops below $60
`Refinery margins still a cause of concern' More

GIC eyes expansion in reinsuring energy risks
Many overseas players into offshore projects; premiums up 40 pc last year More

NF Rly not to be hit by Numaligarh refinery pipeline
Pipeline to facilitate evacuation of petro products at reduced cost More

Meeting on award of CBM remains inconclusive
The meeting of the empowered committee of secretaries on evaluation of bids for awarding 10 coal bed methane (CBM) blocks held today remained inconclusive. According to sources, the consultations are expected to resume on Wednesday. The Cabinet ... More

Withdraw strike, Deora appeals to petro-dealers
The Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, on Monday appealed to petroleum products — petrol and diesel — retail outlet dealers in Maharashtra to withdraw their strike so that consumers are not put to any difficulty. In his appeal to ... More

Petrol-pump dealers strike: Mumbaikars only partially hit
State Govt invokes ESMA from September 15 More

PHARMACEUTICALS
AP plans SEZ for pharma formulations
Aurobindo, Hetero Drugs have agreed to acquire 240 acres in the SEZ More

RADIO/TV
Jupiter Capital to invest Rs 100 cr
Jupiter Capital, a venture of Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, will invest Rs 100 crore in the next two years in its FM radio channel, publishing and for launching a music label. Radio Indigo's Chief Operating Officer, Mr Sanjay ... More

KNITWEAR & HOSIERY
Hosiery town goes still
KNITWEAR LABOUR'S STRIKE: Garment manufacturing activity came to a halt in the hosiery exporting town of Tirupur on Monday with over 2.5 lakh knitwear industry workers staying away from work in response to a one-day strike called by major ... More

GLASS
After clear glass, Saint-Gobain moves up the value chain
Introduces products in interior and exterior glass segments More

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING
`Monopolistic trends in press not desirable'
India, which is a vast, diverse, pluralistic society, needs a great number of newspapers in English as well as Indian languages and therefore monopolistic trends are not desirable, said Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-chief of The Hindu. He was ... More

Seraja offers new app for citizen journalists
The tool may be available in November More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FDI proposals worth Rs 992 cr cleared
The Government on Monday approved Rs 405 crore foreign direct investment (FDI) by BG Energy Holdings Ltd for setting up three wholly owned subsidiaries in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, with Rs 135 crore investment in ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES
UK prospects waning for Indian nurses
Only nurses for critical care segment being recruited More

Adecco, Tata Institute sign pact
HR services firm Adecco and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) have signed an MoU to establish a research and policy advocacy programme. The Adecco-TISS Labour Market Research Initiative (ATLMRI) will be located at the TISS ... More

MedRP launches Kochi operations
MedRP International, a medical staffing firm, has launched its Kochi operations in association with Gapuz NCLEX Training Centre, Philippines and Info Vision IELTS Training Centre, Kochi. MedRP is a medical staffing firm providing ... More

Be globally competitive, students urged
Indians work but not hard enough. Koreans, Chinese and Sri Lankan Tamils work harder. In addition, most of the Indian workers are not disciplined, so how can I give mission-critical jobs to them, said Mr R. Shekar, Executive Vice-President ... More

LABOUR REFORMS
OECD urges India to ease labour laws
Working on economic survey of India More

INCOME TAX
IOB unveils new tax saving deposit scheme
Indian Overseas Bank has rolled out a new tax saving deposit scheme with a free personal accident insurance cover for Rs 1 lakh. Interest rate under this scheme will be 8.15 per cent for regular depositors and one per cent ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Output shortfall, rising prices may hit chilli exports
Shipments may decline by 10-12 per cent this fiscal More

Imported wheat arrivals top 12 lakh tonnes
More than a fifth of the total 55-lakh tonnes (lt) of imported wheat contracted by the State Trading Corporation of India (STC) on the Union Government account has, so far, arrived in the country's ports. As per the latest official information, ... More

Edible oil imports down in August
Domestic offtake sluggish More

Cotton textile exports cross target
Cotton textiles exports during 2005-06 have exceeded the $4.2-billion target set by the Ministry of Textiles for the financial year with total shipments reaching $4.87 billion. All the three components in the cotton textiles ... More

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES
Tourism award for Somatheeram
The Somatheeram Ayurvedic Hospital and Yoga Centre at Kovalam near here has bagged the State tourism award for the Best Classified Ayurveda Centre. This is for the seventh time that Somatheeram has won this award, a spokesman for ... More

Ayurveda manual
The Minister for Health, Mr Anbumani Ramadoss, with the Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, releasing the fifth volume of `The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India' at Red Cross Society in the Capital on Monday. The Ayurveda ... More

TOURISM
Uttaranchal seeks KSINC help to boost tourism
A team of officials from KSINC will soon visit Uttaranchal to get a first-hand understanding of the water-based tourism potential there. More

STANDARDS & BENCHMARKS
Seminar on ISO certification
The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), in association with Karnataka Council for Technological Upgradation, conducted a seminar on `ISO 9001:2000' and `HACCP Certification' in Mangalore on Monday. Inaugurating the ... More