The Hindu Business Line : Friday, January 12, 2007

NRIS
B.R. Shetty gets Pravasi award
Dr B.R. Shetty, Managing Director and CEO of New Medical Center Hospital and UAE Exchange Center IIC, has been conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award for the year 2007 in recognition for his services to Indian communities across the world. ... More

BUDGET
`Cut excise duty on pesticides to nil'
The Agrochemicals Policy Group (APG) has urged the Union Government for zero excise duty on pesticides, besides reducing various other taxes. These measures will help make pesticides affordable to the farmers. This, in turn, will lead to ... More

ECONOMY
Growth engine gathering steam
Gujarat, the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who charted the course of India's independence and reintegration into a nation, is on the roll again. The western coastal State, which accounts for only 5 per cent of the Indian ... More

Housing for common man in SEZ regime
Majority of mass housing colonies was constructed as Bombay Housing Colonies More

Infrastructure: Making rapid strides
Gujarat can today legitimately claim to be the growth engine of Indian economy. More

INFRASTRUCTURE
`Land acquisition must be transparent'
If industry wants to acquire land, the Government should act as an umpire and set broad guidelines to ensure that the transaction takes place in a transparent way. — MR JAIRAM RAMESH, MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMERCE More

Three SEZs, one airport to come up in Maharashtra
MIDC signs four agreements with IDFC, Feedback Ventures More

Petronet plans to build 2 additional LNG tanks at Dahej
Set to ink pact with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation More

PETROLEUM
Mercator Lines to foray into offshore oil exploration
Looking for global partners to form a consortium More

Secretaries panel likely to meet on Monday for NELP VI
To discuss issue of profit sharing in certain blocks More

PHARMACEUTICALS
GoM to study draft pharma policy
The Union Cabinet today forwarded the draft pharmaceutical policy to a Group of Ministers (GoM) for further consideration. The policy, which along with other measures seeks to bring essential medicines under price control, was ... More

POWER
Bidding process begins for transmission projects
14 large projects in line More

COAL
CIL devises new marketing strategy
Senior executives of Coal India Ltd (CIL), after an in-depth discussions today, devised a new marketing strategy under which the company will move gross calorific value (GCV)-based coal pricing from the existing useful heat value (UHV) regime by ... More

EDUCATION
TCS teams up with IIT Kanpur for tech course
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, for a postgraduate course in `Storage Computing Architecture'. The agreement, which is for a period of five years, will also ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
Yashoda group's 2nd medical unit
Yashoda group of hospitals has taken up the emergency medical services unit at the NTR domestic terminal of the Begumpet Airport, its second here. The first is at the international terminal. Inaugurating the unit, the Airport ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
P.S. Group aims at pan-India presence
The P.S. Group on Thursday announced plans to expand its footprint to places such as Chennai, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Pune and Jaipur. Over the next three years, the company will set up five shopping malls, 40 million sq. ft. in the form of ... More

GOLD & SILVER
`Launch of gold ETF may affect futures trading'
The launch of gold exchange traded funds (ETF) by mutual funds may affect futures trading in gold, apprehended commodity exchange officials. Currently, apart from buying physical gold, commodity futures market is the only avenue in the country ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Rajeev Chandrasekhar is FICCI's new Vice-President
Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Chairman and CEO of Bangalore-based Jupiter Capital, has been appointed Vice-President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry at the conclusion of its 79th annual general meeting held in the Capital ... More

DISINVESTMENT
Offloading of Govt stake in VSNL, PPL referred to GOM
The Union Cabinet has referred the issue regarding the offloading of remaining stake of Government in VSNL, PPL, and Jessop and Company to a Group of Ministers. This was told to reporters by the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
`FDI projected to exceed portfolio investments'
The Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister in its presentation on balance of payment (BoP) for the current year said that for the first time in several years the net foreign direct investment (FDI) is projected to be larger than portfolio ... More

Naza Motors of Malaysia to set up car plant near Chennai
Naza Motors, a Malaysia-based automobile company, is setting up a $150 million (Rs 675 crore) car plant at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, according to Mr Dato Seri Samy Vellu, Malaysia's Minister of Works. According to a press release from the ... More

Malaysian investors interested in TN
Malaysian investors in construction and IT have evinced interest in investing in Tamil Nadu, according to Dato Seri Samy Vellu, Malaysia's Minister for Works. A CII release, which quoted him addressing a luncheon meeting organised by it, said ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
MUMBAI DIARY
Ticket to the big market
An urban platform for rural artisans. More

HUMAN RESOURCES
Employability, not jobs, will be an issue: Khorakiwala
`FICCI will focus on education, health, water management' More

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Success through hi-quality designer cutlery
Cutlery has been one of the lowest priorities in the Indian kitchen and dining table and even those buying expensive crockery would not normally buy quality cutlery. More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Cabinet lifts sugar export ban
The Centre, on Thursday, lifted with `immediate effect' the ban on export of sugar from the country sans any quantity ceiling. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution had earlier proposed to free up exports up to a ... More