The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, November 04, 2003

Time range for farm weather forecasts to be enhanced
THE New Delhi-based National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), specialising in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, is working on strategy for progressively enhancing the time range of its weather predictions for farmers ... More

ECONOMY

CII revises growth rate up to 7.2%
A GOOD spell of monsoon and the return of the feel-good factor have induced CII to upwardly revise its GDP growth rate estimate for 2003-04 to 7.2 per cent at the least. The pre-monsoon projection was 6.5-6.8 per cent. The second half of the ... More

ENVIRONMENT

India becoming dumping ground for world mercury: CSE
WARNING bells were sounded here on Monday with experts pointing out that toxic mercury imports into India have increased six-fold in the last seven years. While the rest of the world was phasing out mercury because of public health concerns - ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

EU Heads of Mission meet in Mumbai
AS part of the run-up to the fourth India-European Union summit scheduled in New Delhi on November 29, Ambassadors from 21 EU countries based in Delhi met in Mumbai on Monday to discuss and review a clutch of issues related to trade and political ... More

Iran keen to boost bilateral trade ties with India
Iran's young and skilled workforce, abundant raw materials and infrastructure were conducive for Indo-Iranian businesses business co-operation, the Minister said More

HEALTH

`Make AIDS drugs affordable at home first'
TWO years ago, pharma major Cipla had let the cat among the pigeons when it made anti-AIDS drugs available at about a thirtieth of the US price, forcing multinationals to follow suit in the interest of patients in Africa. A week ago, three ... More

`Telemedicine can bridge the healthcare divide'
THE paradox of healthcare in India is that it is not accessible to almost 80 per cent of the population while the remaining 20 per cent are treated at hospitals that can be counted among the world's best. Dr Alok Roy, Chairman, Healthcare ... More

PETROLEUM

GAIL's separate gas trading co by 2008
GAIL (India) Ltd has begun its journey towards separating gas trading business from its core business, gas transmission. The process is expected to be completed, and a separate company for gas trading created, by 2008, when the Rs 20,000-crore ... More

New tariff regime in offing for petro pipeline scheme
The new tariff system seeks to delink the pipeline tariff from the cost of any alternative mode of transport. The new tariff regime plans to peg it around the prime lending rate (PLR) and represents the cap on tariff. More

POWER

Chhattisgarh may adopt AP model for power reforms
CHHATTISGARH, whose team of technical, administrative and financial experts is currently touring various States for studying the successful power sector reforms, may adopt the best practices of Andhra Pradesh in power sector reforms, according to ... More

Govt to pay Rs 200-cr subsidy to TNEB
THE State Government has decided to pay Rs 200-crore subsidy to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to partly compensate for losses due to low hydel generation, the Finance Minister, Mr C. Ponnaiyan, announced in the Assembly ... More

Karnataka to dilute stake in BESCom
AFTER vacillating for more than two years, the Karnataka Government has decided to take up equity dilution in the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCom) before the end of the current fiscal year. The Principal Secretary for Energy, Mr ... More

Reliance, Essar apply for power trading licence
RELIANCE Industries Ltd and Essar Energy are among the six applicants who have applied for licence to venture into power trading. The other companies include Power Trading Corporation (PTC), Trans Power Ltd, Koila Energy and Adani Group, ... More

TAXATION

National Tax Tribunal ruffles legal feathers — AIFTP to contest Ordinance provisions
ALL mega tax payers of the country must be prepared to travel to the five places where the Benches of the recently constituted National Tax Tribunal (NTT) will be set up, if they are thinking of filing a tax appeal. Did we hear someone say ... More

Kerala HC rules against fee for renewal of registrations
A DIVISION Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday declared `unconstitutional' Section 14(5) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act 1963 to the extent that it required all the traders to pay a fixed amount as fee for getting their registration ... More

TEXTILES

Steps to make textile sector competitive
THE Union Textile Minister, Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, on Monday promised that the Government would come up with more steps to make the Indian textile and apparel sector competitive in the post-quota regime beginning January 1,2005. He was ... More

SSI

Naidu promises help to SSIs
HYDERABAD: The Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, has promised to provide a conducive environment for facilitating technology tie-ups and market linkages. In a message to the gathering, which celebrated SSI Day here on Monday, he ... More

WATER

Desalination project to be expedited
THE Tamil Nadu Government is keen on expediting a desalination project to tackle water shortage in Chennai, the Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa, said in the Assembly today. Intervening during Question Hour, she said that 10 companies have ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS

Bengal sacks 2 medicos for attack on scribes
CONSEQUENT to Sunday's attack mounted on journalists and policemen by rampaging doctors, the West Bengal Government today sacked two house staff and recommended the suspension from internship of two others believed to be involved in the incident, ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

India Inc expresses disappointment
"We see this Credit Policy as one that emphasises continuity," said Mr Anand Mahindra, President of CII. More

CINEMA

CII to discuss ways to market Indian films abroad
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will host `CineMint: A fresh look at film marketing' here on November 21-22 to focus on the mechanics and benefits of marketing films to international audiences. The two-day summit, which will include ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Nabard plan for Tirunelveli
THE Potential-Linked Credit Plan for the Tirunelveli district, prepared by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) envisages for 2004-05 a sum of Rs 564.62 crore. The plan has allocated Rs 369.72 crore for the primary ... More

Credit outlay for Virudhunagar
MADURAI: A total credit outlay of Rs 647.09 crore has been envisaged in the potential-linked credit plan prepared by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) for Virudhunagar district for 2004-05. The non-farm ... More

DWCRA Bazaar draws crowds
HYDERABAD: The month-long DWCRA (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas) Bazaar-cum-Regional Saras, jointly sponsored by the State and Union Governments has registered sales worth Rs 40 crore. The fact that one lakh people ... More

EVENTS

Business fest at IIT Powai
INDIAN Institute of Technology, Powai is organising a business fest, `Avenues' featuring a vintage car exhibition, a business quiz, adventure camp and an innovation fair on November 8-9. The quiz will be conducted by Mr Siddhartha Basu. In the ... More

Texas Instruments to hold quiz in Bangalore

AAI celebrates vigilance awareness week

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Despite poor show by traditional items — Exports rise 11 pc in Q1
THE 11 per cent growth in exports during the first quarter of the current fiscal was notwithstanding the negative export performance by traditional export items such as agriculture and allied products, textiles and gems and jewellery which ... More

Exporters feel let down
EXPORTERS have held that the Credit and Monetary Policy review statement of the Reserve Bank of India Governor, Dr Y.V. Reddy, has done "nothing substantial" to address their problems, especially those arising from the appreciation of the rupee ... More

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES

Herbal cultivation training programme

TOURISM

Parasailing on Krishna river
VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation is introducing parasailing on the Krishna river, upstream of the Prakasam barrage, from the second week of this month to attract tourists. Currently, trials are being ... More

Tourist resort development corporations to be merged in Kerala
THE State Government has decided to merge Bekal Resorts Development Corporation (BRDC) and Tourist Resorts Kerala Ltd (TRKL). Confirming the merger, Mr T. Balakrishnan, Secretary-Tourism, pointed out that the move made sense given the high ... More

STANDARDS & BENCHMARKS

Knorr Annapurna `safe'

Comments & Letters to the Editor to: bleditor@thehindu.co.in
Subscribe to: Business Line