The Hindu Business Line : Friday, February 20, 2009

INDUSTRY & ECONOMY

CIGARETTES: Will it go up in smoke?
Women beedi workers of Solapur fear that anti-smoking initiatives will snuff out their livelihood.. “My mother was a beedi worker and my three sisters were beedi workers. From childhood I’ve been watching their sorry plight; call it ...

REGULATORY BODIES & RULINGS: SEBI to amend norms on pref share pricing
Mumbai, Feb. 19 The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is in the process of amending its Disclosure and Investor Protection guidelines to allow a preferential allotment of shares of Satyam Computer at a price that would fetch ...

BUSINESS MODELS: It’s innovative pricing in Bollywood
REVENUE-SHARING. Mumbai, Feb. 19 Although fewer Bollywood films may release in 2010, the liquidity crunch that has hit the world’s second largest film industry is making film production ...

ECONOMY: Bottom of the pyramid demographics
Population density dictates non-food items demand. Chennai, Feb. 19 Poorer States offer a better market for non-food items of consumption than richer States for products and services designed for, or easily accessed by, the bottom two-thirds of ...

CLIMATE & WEATHER: ‘Wind Atlas’ in the works
To enable harnessing more potential areas. New Delhi, Feb. 19 The Centre is in advanced stages of getting an ‘Indian Wind Atlas’ commissioned, which would identify windy locations across the country, and thereby, enable better ...

HEALTH: The promise of medical tourism
The Tourism Ministry has little reason to gloat over the six per cent growth in tourist arrivals during 2008 in the face of the global economic meltdown and the dampening effects of the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26 ...

SSI: Codissia terms TN budget ‘Chennai-centric’
‘No measures for building infrastructure in Coimbatore’. Coimbatore, Feb. 19 The Tamil Nadu Government’s budget for 2009-10 has drawn a mixed response from the industry associations in Coimbatore, with some welcoming the policy ...

RURAL DEVELOPMENT: ‘AP tops in sanctions, but lags in utilising funds’
Projects not prepared carefully and in a serious manner: Nabard. Hyderabad, Feb. 19 Andhra Pradesh has emerged the top gainer in RIDF (Rural Infrastructure Development Fund) sanctions by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development ...

EMPLOYMENT: Recession hits B-school placements
IIM-A, ESSEC Group discuss emerging situation. Ahmedabad, Feb. 19 With placements in business management schools under way, different trends are emerging both in the requirements of the companies as well as the choices of the students, said Mr ...

PETROLEUM: Oil India scraps Digboi project; refining plans on hold
Looking to acquire E&P assets overseas. Kolkata, Feb. 19 As an after-effect of the economic meltdown, Oil India Ltd (OIL) has scrapped its plan to set up a Rs 400-crore pilot coal-to-liquid (CTL) project at Digboi in Assam in a joint venture ...

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING: Media & entertainment sector set to grow 12.5% by 2013: Report
Mumbai, Feb. 19 The hum of recession could be heard over the din of optimism on the first day of the three-day annual event of FICCI Frames 2009 in Mumbai on Tuesday, as the Rs 58,400 crore Indian media and entertainment industry took stock ...

ECONOMY: Orissa’s annual Plan fixed at Rs 9,500 cr
The annual Plan of Orissa for 2009-10 has been pegged at Rs 9,500 crore at a meeting between the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the Finance Minister of Orissa, Mr P.C. Ghadai, here on ...

ECONOMY: Kerala’s GSDP growth at 10.42% in 2007-08
The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Kerala has grown by 10.42 per cent in 2007-08 at constant prices as against 11.1 per cent in the ...

HUMAN RESOURCES: State budget may include package for Gulf returnees
Can use funds raised as emigration deposit: Minister. Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 19 Expatriate workers, especially in the Gulf countries, who are forced to return to Kerala following loss of employment in the wake of the global economic slowdown, ...

POWER: ‘Bengal needs to switch from thermal power to other sources of energy’
Thermal power accounted for more than 94 per cent of the power generated in West Bengal and there was an urgent need to look for non-conventional sources of energy, the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said ...

PSU: Kerala working on package for PSUs
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 19 The Industries Minister, Mr Elamaram Kareem, has said that the State Government would work out a special package to extend support to public sector undertakings (PSUs) suffering from the recessionary trends in ...

PETROLEUM: Aviation fuel not to be ‘declared goods’ now
New Delhi, Feb. 19 The Centre has made it clear that it would not for the present proceed with the proposal of including aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in the list of declared ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: Theatre property for sale in Chennai
Chennai, Feb. 19 Udhayam Theatre Complex in Chennai is on the block with a reserve price of Rs ...

TAXATION: Tax return preparer scheme enlarged
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EXCISE AND CUSTOMS: Row over virgin olive oil duty ends
Chennai, Feb. 19 A row over imports of virgin olive oil, leading to spat between importers and Customs authorities over the duty for bringing in this oil into the country has ...

INFRASTRUCTURE: Stress on rural infrastructure development
Mangalore, Feb. 19 Expansion of banking facilities to the un-banked areas and the development of rural infrastructure are the need of the hour for the overall growth of rural India, according to Dr D. Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of ...

HEALTH: ‘Public-pvt partnership vital for healthcare system growth’
Public-private partnership is the way forward for the growth of the healthcare system in Tamil Nadu, according to Mr V.K. Subburaj, Principal Secretary, Health and Family ...

BUDGET: Karnataka to present ‘vote on account’ today
Bangalore, Feb. 19 With the Lok Sabha polls imminent, Karnataka is presenting a vote on account budget for the first four months of the financial year 2009-10 on February 20, with flexibility to present a supplementary budget ...

INFRASTRUCTURE: KSIDC signs pact with IL&FS IDC
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 19 The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has signed a memorandum of agreement with IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (IL&FS IDC) for development of industrial ...

LINGUISTICS: Inter-college literary fest
Mr K.G. Prabhakar, Director of MES group of institutions, has urged management students to have straight thinking to attain success in their chosen ...

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY: Suzlon installs 20 solar panels in Nashik
Mumbai, Feb. 19 Suzlon Energy Ltd has installed 20 solar power panels at its wind farm in Adwadi, Nashik. It is the first wind farm of the company to utilise solar energy to power its site ...

HUMAN RESOURCES: ‘CEOs looking for key skills from PR people’
Hyderabad, Feb. 19 The Union Government has been urged to impress upon foreign countries, especially the US, that Indians having H1B visas are losing jobs due to the global ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: Banks with exposure to Maytas form monitoring panel
Hyderabad, Feb. 19 Banks, both public sector and private, with exposure to the Maytas twins have reportedly formed a ‘core committee of bankers’ to monitor the developments in the crisis-hit ...