The Hindu Business Line : Friday, March 09, 2007

CLIMATE & WEATHER
Potato, jeera futures up on rain forecast
Rain forecast over the next three to four days in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh pushed up jeera, potato and mustardseed futures on NCDEX. Potato futures on NCDEX hit the upper circuit of 4 per cent at Rs 663.50 per quintal. Similarly, ... More

NRIS
Sahara launches single-window service platform for NRIs
Global offices are being set up in Singapore, London, San Francisco, etc. More

BUDGET
How FMs have been spraying Budgets with DDT
Successive Finance Ministers have realised that measured spraying of DDT — Dividend Distribution Tax — in Budgets is like providing a huge tax net over an entire corporate sector. More

BL Budget Talk in Madurai
For the second year in succession, `Business Line Budget Talk - 2007', a threadbare discussion on the Union Budget 2007-08, will be held here at the Tamilnadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Auditorium on Saturday. The panel members ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES
Legal skills programme
The British Council, Cardiff University and Nalsar University of Law are jointly organising the `Law teaching and legal research skills programme' for law teachers in South India. The three-day programme, which begins on March 9 ... More

HC refuses to stay ADB loan deal
Centre, State Govt asked to file affidavits More

ECONOMY
Kerala records 8% growth
`Overall debt position improved in last three years' More

ENVIRONMENT
Sustainability Report: ITC among first 10 in the world
ITC Ltd has emerged as the first corporate from India to find a place among the first 10 companies in the world to publish its Sustainability Report in compliance with the latest G3 Guidelines of the Netherlands-based Global Reporting Initiative ... More

Vizag green forum warns against beach sand mining
State Govt asked to reconsider decision on lease More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
`Excise proposal on textile machinery a disincentive'
Industry upset over this Budget proposal More

HEALTH
It is all in the mind... or is it?
There is a question in one of the Upanishads. `They say the eye is the organ of sight; and the ear the organ of hearing? So how is it that when the mind is otherwise occupied, the eye sees not, the ear hears not?' A good question. And a useful ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Foreign exchange reserves — Is the glass half full or half empty?
With India's forex reserves inching towards the $200-billion mark, there is the view that the cornucopia should be used more effectively, in creating infrastructure. Rather than do that, the Government ought to revamp the regulatory framework and all ow investors to realise the true potential of the infrastructure sector, says ASHOAK UPADHYAY. More

A humane rehab policy for land outsees on the anvil: PM
Govt steadfast in its pursuit of inclusive growth More

PSU
Excellence award for Midhani
The Hyderabad based Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (Midhani), an enterprise under the Ministry of Defence Production, won the silver trophy of "Scope Award for excellence and outstanding contribution to the Public Sector Management-Special Institutional ... More

POWER
Bhilwara bags hydropower projects in Arunachal
`Group has set a vision of achieving 1,500-MW capacity by 2012' More

TAXATION
HC upholds Govt fiat on advance tax
The Kerala High Court upheld the two Government circulars issued under the provisions of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act directing that the tax be collected at the check-posts in advance on consignments of certain "evasion-prone" goods. Mr ... More

I-T collections go up by 49% in AP
The Income Tax Department has registered collections to the tune of Rs 7,301 crore up to February 2007 in Andhra Pradesh as against Rs 4,900 crore in the corresponding period last year, showing a growth of 49 per cent. This formed 75 per cent ... More

Chidambaram defends move on settlement panel provisions
Main aim is to cut down time in case disposal More

SSI
German small units keen on more business ties
Saarland team meets Bengal officials to identify jt venture areas More

TYRES
Jump in import of Chinese radial tyres
`Replacement market driving radialisation' More

Tyre makers urged to participate in rubber futures
FMC PLEA More

COAL
Duty-free coking coal imports — A blow to environment
The Finance Minister's statement that India will continue not to be a major contributor to greenhouse gases is contradicted by his concession to coal importers. More

EDUCATION
Education system revamp: Pitroda seeks national debate
Mr Sam Pitroda, Chairman of National Knowledge Commission, has called for national-level discussion on the recommendations made by the commission for a thorough revamp of education system in the country. Only public opinion could bring pressure ... More

`Training, retaining employees biggest test for companies'
Technology shrinking the world, capitalism becoming all-pervasive and the liberalisation process gaining momentum in India and reaching a stage of irreversibility are the present trends seen in India and the world over, said Mr M. Venkataraman, ... More

JUTE
Bengal jute industry strike called off
The 63-day strike in the jute industry in West Bengal was called off on Thursday after several rounds of tripartite meetings involving trade unions, mill managements and the State Government. All the 20 trade unions representing workers and ... More

GENDER
Taking a stand
FOR A CAUSE: Citizens form a human chain at the Gateway of India in Mumbai on Thursday on the occasion of Women's Day. As an initiative against dowry, they pledged their support to this anti-dowry campaign by forming a human chain. ... More

DISINVESTMENT
Manmohan urges more PSEs to go public
`Seize opportunities for mergers and acquisitions' More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
WIRE Group set to invest $1 b in India
To develop commercial space in the next few years More

Hutch Essar is `FDI-compliant'
Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL) said on Wednesday that the allegations levelled by an Indian consumer group that the Hong Kong-based company held more stake in mobile firm Hutch-Essar than what was permitted under the FDI policy was ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Pvt telecom operators vying for rural areas
Willing to roll out services with minimum Govt subsidy More

Shelter and... a future
In a sleepy village near Mumbai, one individual has quietly and tirelessly worked to transform the lives of many young people from the poorest of poor families. More

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
US visa process to be streamlined further
Business travellers, students to benefit; direct investment triples in six years More

INCOME TAX
Matrix Vice-Chairman pays Rs 26.4 cr as tax
Mr Nimmagadda Prasad, Vice-Chairman of Matrix Laboratories Ltd, has emerged as the highest taxpayer in the `individuals' category' in Andhra Pradesh with a payment of Rs 26.40 crore for the financial year 2007-08. According to Mr D.V. Dharmik, ... More

`Refund must be made within 30 days of filing of return'
A common problem that the Budget could have addressed, but did not, is of delayed income-tax refunds, frets Mr Prakash Hegde, Principal Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Statutorily, an intimation of assessment and tax refund is to be ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Export councils asked to prepare country specific plans
The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, has asked all Export Promotion Councils and Commodity Boards to prepare country-specific strategies to tap the growing trade potential of emerging markets. Presiding over the fourth ... More

60% leaf teas unsold at Coonoor auctions
Nearly 60 per cent of the leaf grades offered for sale by the various brokers at the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) auctions went unsold on Thursday. This is the first auction to take place under VAT, after the intervention of the ... More

TOURISM
Health tourism meet in Kochi on March 23-26
A four-day international conference and exhibition on health tourism, styled Kerala Health Tourism - 2007, will be held in Kochi from March 23 to 26. The event, jointly organised by the Kerala State Tourism Department and the Confederation of ... More

STANDARDS & BENCHMARKS
Quality tag for Bharti unit
Enterprise Services Corporate, a business division of Bharti Airtel Ltd, has been conferred the TL9000 certification for quality management system for its mobile, fixed line and data services. The scope of the certification ... More