Agriculture
Tough task ahead for farm scientists: Pant
THE Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr. K.C. Pant, has said that agricultural scientists are going to face challenges ``even more complex and difficult'' than what they have faced in the past to help feed the country's growing population.
Airlines
Divestment proposal -- AI staff demand job security
THE Air India Employees' Guild (AIEG) is in principle agreeable to privatisation of the airline, provided the workers are ensured job security and trade union rights are protected, according to its Regional Secretary, South India, Mr. R. Muthukumar.
IA to offer new services from June 25
INDIAN Airlines is to offer new services on the India-Thailand, India-Singapore and India-Qatar sector from June 25. This includes a once-a-week flight on the Chennai-Bangkok sector.
Banking and Finance
Repos auction
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India has announced a one-day repo and reverse repo auction under the liquidity adjustment facility on June 6.
Instant cash transfer scheme in Kerala
UAE Exchange and Financial Services Ltd has introduced the `instant money transfer service' in Kerala in order to transfer money from Gulf countries in association with UAE Exchange Centre LLC.
RBI to tighten FI monitoring
THE RBI is planning to further tighten the supervisory norms for financial institutions (FIs).
Commodities
Coffee Board panel to study retention plan
THE Coffee Board has set up a nine-member committee to work out the modalities for implementing the retention proposal in keeping with ACPC's two-year retention plan.
Corporate
Reforms-II for 8-10 pc growth, says Sinha -- ``Not just desirable but also do-able''
THE second generation economic reforms process will ensure that the nation will shift gears towards a healthy 8-10 per cent growth rate, the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, has reaffirmed.
FDI worth Rs 3,490 cr cleared
THE Government has cleared 95 cases envisaging foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs. 3,490 crores, including Probity Research & Services Ltd's proposed Rs. 537.50-crore ADR/ADS issue, a revision of the ADS-ADR size of Rediff.com India Ltd. and Rs. 55
0 crore GDS-GDR issue being planned by Aptech Ltd. Satyam Infoway's proposal to transfer 4,37,200 resident shares to foreign collaborators envisaging a FDI infusion of Rs. 217 crores was also given the go-ahead.
Karnataka signs MoUs with 5 cos
KARNATAKA kicked off its investment quest by signing MoUs with five companies during the Global Investors' Meet here on Monday.
Satyam Info picks up 25 pc stake in Cricinfo
SATYAM Infoway (Sify) has picked up a 25 per cent stake in the London-based Cricinfo Ltd, owner of the Web site, www.cricinfo.com, in an all-stock deal worth $ 37.5 millions (about Rs. 165 crores).
Indal to operate as separate entity
HINDALCO Industries Ltd (Hindalco), which will soon in full control of Indian Aluminium Company Ltd (Indal) with 74.62 per cent stake, has decided to allow Indal to operate as a separate corporate entity to ensure that its working culture does not get di
sturbed with the end of the direct association with Alcan Aluminium Company of Canada.
Indian Hotels to offer ESOS
INDIAN Hotels Company which owns the Taj Group of hotels has decided to offer an employee stock option scheme (ESOS).
`States must catch up with reform process'
MR. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Member, Planning Commission, stressed the need for States to catch up with the reforms process: ``There is a need not only for continued acceleration in growth by the progressive States but also a major improvement by the back
ward ones.''
Reliance to set up 7,500 info kiosks in Karnataka
THE Karnataka Government and Reliance Industries have set in motion a joint venture in e-governance to start 7,500 info kiosks all over the State.
UK defence cos keen on tie-ups
BRITISH defence equipment manufacturers are looking for technical and marketing tie-up with Indian partners. A group 30 UK companies are currently in India to explore possibilities of such alliances.
Karnataka `needs to improve infrastructure'
A STATE with a single `A' credit rating, much better financial prudence compared to its peers and growing per capita income of its masses -- there is little to complain about Karnataka for investors, Mr. R. Ravi Mohan, Managing Director, Crisil said at t
he Global Investors Meet on Monday.
FIPB okays Grant Investrade's offer to Intel Pacific
THE Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared the issue of a 49 per cent stake to Intel Pacific by Grant Investrade, a subsidiary of Hinduja Finance Corporation, for a consideration of $ 49.23 millions.
Economy
Rs 1,000-crore annual grant sought for NRF
THE Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises has sought Rs. 1,000-crore annually from the Ministry of Finance for the National Renewal Fund (NRF).
Representations against freeing FDI in trading
THE Government has received representations from various quarters against permitting FDI in retail trading, according to an official press release issued on Monday.
Forex
Enforcement powers for FEMA probes notified
THE powers of the senior officers of the Directorate of Enforcement, who will investigate contraventions under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), have now been brought on par with that of income-tax authorities under Income Tax Act, 1961.
Infrastructure
As SBI, IDFC lower lending rate -- ANZ Grindlays not to fund UP bypass project
ANZ Grindlays Bank has backed out of funding the Rs. 100-crore Moradabad bypass project on NH-24 in Uttar Pradesh following a last-minute lowering of interest rates by other lenders -- Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) and State Bank of
India (SBI) from 13.75 per cent to 13.25 per cent.
Miscellaneous
ICWAI drafts development plan
ALLOWING online payment of fees, mandatory enrolment in continuing professional education programmes for members and organising campus interviews for students form part of a 14-month draft development plan mooted by the Institute of Cost & Works Accounta
nts of India (ICWAI).
IMF chief to meet Sinha
THE Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr. Horst Kohler, is scheduled to discuss with the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, and other senior Government officials, recent trends in economic growth and fiscal reform measures be
ing undertaken both at the Central and State levels.
Hazy allegations
COME end-May and early June each year, and the blistering sun scorches one and all in the capital to the core. And as if the killing heat is not bad enough, there's always a haze of dust hanging in the air like a pall of gloom that makes matters wors
e.
PSU
Efforts to put coal PSUs on revival path
THE new Union Minister of State in charge of coal, Mr. N.T. Shanmugham, is keen on the revival of the public sector coal companies within a specific timeframe, particularly Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), a sick subsidiary of Coal India Ltd which employs o
ver 1.2 lakh workers.
Petroleum
`Diesel exports only at right price'
THE State-owned oil companies will try to export diesel and petrol in view of the surplus position of both the products, according to the Petroleum Minister, Mr. Ram Naik. However, in the case of diesel, he added that the product would be sold only if th
e international market price is right.
Orders to check fuel adulteration
TO check adulteration in automobile fuels, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas today issued two control orders under the Essential Commodities Act, 1956.
Policy
Sinha all praise for Karnataka's fiscal policies
THE State Government's efforts to woo the global investor received a shot in the arm on Monday with the Union Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, himself vouchsafing for the State's fiscal prudence.
Power
Input-output norms notified for 17 new items
THE Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has notified the standard input-output norms for 17 new items, while simultaneously announcing fifteen amendments/corrections to extant norms of different product groups.
States
TN reform in tax laws pays
THE process of liberalisation introduced by the Tamil Nadu Government in the tax laws has started bearing fruit. The State has been catapulted to the second rank in the country for netting the highest commercial taxes revenue.
Petronet pipeline project Kerala leg delayed
INORDINATE delay in starting the work on the 147-km stretch in Kerala of the 295-km pipeline from BPCL installation at Irimpanam here to Karur in Tamil Nadu is expected to prolong the commissioning of the Rs. 535-crore project by about three months.
Bengal Govt spots departments for e-governance
WITHIN five months of announcing an IT policy, the West Bengal Government has taken firm steps towards introducing e-governance, identifying the departments where computerisation will be introduced in a significant manner to improve administration.
IPPs waiting for escrow in TN - Crisil to do comparative study on tariffs
THE Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) has asked Crisil Advisory Services to do a comparative study of the tariffs of some independent power projects that are waiting for escrow cover.
Stocks
Sensex surges, closes with marginal gains
SHARE prices continued to move northwards today with infotech companies leading the 200-point surge in the first half of the trading session on the BSE.
