The Hindu Business Line : Friday, August 02, 2002

Tax-free bonds cap may be set around Rs 10 lakh
THE Government is set to fix a liberal annual investment limit of over Rs 10 lakh on the new tax-free bonds announced by the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, on Wednesday. "We are looking at a ceiling which is four or five times the existing ... More

Tax-free bonds look appetising
MR Jaswant Singh's new tax-free bond is expected to be the best bet for investors in an otherwise depressed market, according to market watchers. The bonds are seen as an attractive opportunity as there is no cap on investment unlike the ... More

Personal finance exhibition
CHENNAI: The Intelligent Investor magazine (part of the Outlook group of publications) is holding a three-day `personal finance exhibition' at Rani Meyyammai and Raja Muthiah Halls, between August 2 and 4. More than 35 ... More

ECONOMY

Ministry devising steps to fine-tune services exports
THE Commerce Ministry is evolving a medium-term export strategy for the services sector which is WTO compatible and on the lines of the one announced for the commodities sector, Dr H.A.C. Prasad, Economic Adviser in the Ministry, told a meeting ... More

Strengthen info base on business cycles: RBI
The working group which was set up in October last, to suggest suitable approaches for research on relevant economic indicators, has also recommended in a report submitted to the RBI last month, that various theories of business cycles must be tested in the Indian context. More

Karnataka off-Budget borrowings stand at 3 pc of SDP
State Government officials said that attempts were being made to limit such borrowings. But this was becoming increasingly difficult. More

ENVIRONMENT

Idukki forests reel under encroachment
INDISCRIMINATE forest encroachment has reduced the tropical forest area and brought down the quantum of rainfall, apart from raising the temperature in Idukki district. The forest area in the district, considered to be among the highest in the ... More

PETROLEUM

Prices hiked for furnace oil, LSHS
PUBLIC sector oil companies have raised prices of furnace oil and low sulphur heavy stock from August 1. Prices of petrol and diesel, however, remain unchanged. Ex-refinery prices at Mumbai for naphtha were raised to Rs 13,380 per tonne from ... More

POWER

New role for KPCL chief

TAXATION

Service tax net cast wider
THE Finance Ministry has attempted to offset the revenue loss on account of the withdrawal of service tax on life insurance premium by bringing under the service tax net a host of fresh entities in the banking and financial sectors. It has ... More

WATER MANAGEMENT

`No plan to privatise Kerala Water Authority'

RADIO/TV

Plan panel pitches for review of DTH policy
THE Planning Commission has underscored the need to review the direct to home (DTH) policy, stating that in order to attract sizeable foreign direct investment (FDI), the existing cap of 20 per cent needs to be reviewed and relaxed. In the ... More

EDUCATION

Engineering courses
HYDERABAD: The Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology (CBIT), Edexcel, New Delhi, and the University of Wolverhampton, the UK, have signed an MoU to offer a B. Engg (Hons) in electronics and Communications at the international ... More

Malaysian team visits Anna varsity
CHENNAI: The high-level delegation from Malaysia, led by the Education Minister, Mr Y.B. Tan Sri Musa Bin Mohammed, visited Anna University and showed interest in getting Malaysian universities to collaborate with the Indian ... More

Delhi Public School keen on Chennai project
CHENNAI: The Delhi Public School is keen on setting up a school inside the Mahindra Industrial Park, being developed at Maraimalai Nagar, about 50 km south of Chennai. According to a press release from the Mahindra Industrial Park ... More

Quality Improvement Year for schools in Kerala

TWO/THREE WHEELERS

Hero Honda sales up 32 per cent in July
HERO Honda Motors Ltd has registered an increase of 32.07 per cent in sales volume during July. It sold 1,36,360 units of motorcycles during the month. This is up from 1,03,245 units sold during July 2001. Hero Honda has also achieved a ... More

FOODS & FOOD PROCESSING

Food processing services stopped

KNITWEAR & HOSIERY

Tirupur apparel park plan awaiting State Govt nod
THE knitwear industry's proposal for exclusive apparel park for the hosiery sector in Tirupur under the Central Government sponsored apparel park programme is hanging fire for want of sanction from the Tamil Nadu Government. The State ... More

DISINVESTMENT

Punjab to sell entire stake in Puncom
THE Congress Government in Punjab is following what Mr Arun Shourie, the Union Disinvestment Minister, is doing at the Centre, perhaps even more aggressively. The State Government has decided to sell the entire stake of 69.7 per cent held by ... More

HC extends order on Jessop sell-off
MR Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta of the Calcutta High Court has extended the interim order directing the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) not to take any final decision regarding disinvestment of shares of Jessop & Co Ltd ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE

Action plan for AP co-op finance corpn

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Nabard agrees to Rs 400-cr assistance for TN
THE National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has agreed to increase the assistance to Tamil Nadu under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to Rs 400 crore during 2002-03, against the originally planned amount of ... More

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS

Vigil by technical staff of DD, AIR

EVENTS

Narayana Murthy on how to run a govt
When he started Infosys Technologies in 1981, Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy believed that if he put "public good ahead of private good" he and his company would succeed. That theory has now been proved right. And Mr Murthy believes it's time our ... More

ICICI Bank property show begins today
ICICI Bank Home would offer spot sanctions for home loans on the displayed properties. The customers opting for a spot loan would get advantages such as a reduced interest rate of 10.75 per cent on adjustable rate loans and an offer of zero processin g fee for the loans, which are usually up to 0.5 per cent of the loan amount. More

Home loan festival from Vibank
BANGALORE: Vibank Housing Finance Ltd, a subsidiary of Vijaya Bank, will launch a 10-day `Own Your Home Festival' on August 22 when all its 10 branches spread across the country will woo buyers with comprehensive guidance with regard to ... More

Swarovski crystal fest begins today
BANGALORE: Beginning August 2, Swarovski's three-day Crystal Fest will be held in Bangalore. An exclusive preview of the new Swarovski collection, Crystal Moments and Silver Crystal, forms part of the festival. In addition, Crystal Fest ... More

SSI expo
HYDERABAD: The Small Industries Service Institute (SISI), here has invited participation from small-scale units in the forthcoming AAPEX exhibition to be held in Las Vegas, US, during November. The fair is one of the popular and ... More

INCOME TAX

Tune into the FM
THE first tranche of giveaways that Mr Jaswant Singh has offered to the harried taxpayers is made of two major components, namely the 80L cap and the TDS cut-off. Section 80L is about deductions in respect of interest of certain securities, ... More

I-T staff in Kolkata get set for last-minute rush
THE expected rush for filing of income-tax returns on July 31, the originally scheduled last date, has not materialised. On the contrary, there was less than usual crowd at the I-T counters. Talking to Business Line here on Thursday, Mr ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Q1 export growth at 11.3%
IN line with the export target of 12 per cent fixed for the current fiscal, the country's first quarter export (April - June) notched up a growth of 11.29 per cent at $11,525.45 million, against $10,356.40 million in the comparable months of ... More

China edging out Indian exports to Japan: FICCI
INCREASED competition from China and slowdown in the Japanese economy might be the reasons for the fall in Indian exports to Japan, according to a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) study. Currently, Japan is ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

Drought situation `alarming'
THE current drought situation in the country is more alarming than what prevailed in 1987. "It is very alarming because the drought spread is very wide", says Dr Panjab Singh, Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research ... More

AP Govt declares 836 mandals drought-hit
FOLLOWING the delay in monsoon and widespread dry weather across the State, the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Thursday declared 836 mandals out of 1,126 in the State as drought affected and sought a Rs 810-crore assistance package from the Centre to ... More

TOURISM

Study on backwater tourism under way
IN a bid to preserve the State's ecosystems and to sustain its tourism potential, Kerala's Tourism Department has commissioned a study on the development of its ecologically fragile backwaters. The Kerala Tourism Secretary, Mr T. Balakrishnan, ... More

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Govt mulling refined oil customs duty cut?

Drought situation `alarming'

Tax-free bonds look appetising

Cleansing the electoral process

Gangster economics

Striving for a bone bank

In Depth
Gender Justice

Simple Economics

Small Investor

Looking back
Jul. 21-Jul. 27
Shortage of vouchers — I-T salary refunds date extended

Signs of revival in project investment scenario

Core industries post 5.7 growth in Q1

El Nino flies in face of Kerala experience

Country facing worst drought in over 10 years: Ajit Singh

Are States falling into a deeper debt trap?

FM operators hit a roadblock