The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, January 13, 2004

ECONOMY
Manufacturing propels IIP to 7.4 pc in Nov
The growth was higher for all the three sectors constituting the general IIP — manufacturing(8.1 per cent (4.3), mining 4.1 per cent (3.7) and electricity 4.3 per cent (3.5). More

CMIE raises GDP forecast to 8.2 pc
THE Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE) has raised its GDP growth forecast for financial year 2003-04 to 8.2 per cent from an earlier expected 7.4 per cent and said there is a possibility it could be even higher. A CMIE release ... More

The secret of Jaswant's confidence
EVEN as the Union Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, generously handed out goodies to all sections of the society in two consecutive instalments this week despite taking a hit of anything Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,500 crore in revenue in a full year, ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
Customs, excise mop-up rises 9.3 pc in Apr-Dec
CUSTOMS and excise collections in the first nine months of the current fiscal increased by 9.3 per cent to Rs 99,380.86 crore as compared to mobilisation of Rs 90,942.61 crore achieved in the same period during the previous year. The excise and ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
'Indo-British trade ties at their best'
The United Kingdom is the third largest investor in India. The important factor is that British companies are major players in India's service sector, for example in banking, insurance and education. On the other side, India is a growing ... More

Talks under way to establish Indo-UAE healthcare ties
MOVES are under way to establish long-term mutual co-operation between leading Indian healthcare institutions and UAE medical institutions in the public and the private sectors. Import of Indian drugs, joint ventures and training programmes ... More

PETROLEUM
Oil tankers off the road in Tamil Nadu
PUBLIC sector oil companies in the process of renewing their contract for road transport of petroleum products in Tamil Nadu, through common tendering, are faced with sulking tanker-truckers who, aggrieved over the new hire rates, refrained from ... More

POWER
NTPC, NPC to introduce fixed tariffs
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) have decided to offer power at a fixed tariff in a particular area irrespective of which unit supplies power. Currently, each generating unit charges a different ... More

NTPC plans euro bonds to raise $200 m
NATIONAL Thermal Power Corporation is planning to approach the euro bond market to raise $200 million, with a repayment tenor of seven years. The funds will be used to finance its power generation capacity addition programme. This the first ... More

Bescom's liquidity position to improve gradually: Icra
THE State-owned power distribution company, Bangalore Electric Supply Company (Bescom), has been projected by a credit rating agency to improve its liquidity position gradually. In its assessment of the company, Icra has assigned Bescom `LA', ... More

SSI

TN Chamber hails proposals for SSIs

KSIA plea to Mangalore Corpn

WATER
HCC bags Rs 843-cr water pipeline order in AP
HINDUSTAN Construction Co Ltd (HCC) has bagged a Rs 843-crore order for construction of a water pipeline project for lifting of water from Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. HCC has emerged as the lowest bidder, elbowing aside the other two bidders - ... More

COAL
Further amendment to coal mines Act will be kept in abeyance: Mamata
FURTHER amendment of the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act will be kept in abeyance till a consensus on this issue is reached with the Central trade unions operating in the public sector mines, according to the Union Minister of Coal and Mines, Ms ... More

EDUCATION
XLRI marketing fair to go online
THE marketing fair at XLRI Jamshedpur, which has completed 25 years, will be extended to the Internet. The B-School is working on what is being billed as e-marketing fair. It has also lined up a new concept - a Marketing Lab - that the ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY
De Beers hikes rough diamond prices by 3 pc
DE BEERS' Diamond Trading Company (DTC) has hiked rough diamond prices by an average of 3 per cent in most categories with effect from January 12-16, 2004 sight, according to Rapaport Diamond Report. The price increase reflects the underlying ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
AP offers land for expansion — NIMS upgradation work launched
THE Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ms Sushma Swaraj, today launched the upgradation works of the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) under the `Pradhan Manthri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana' at a cost of Rs 150 crore. Ms ... More

LEATHER
Leather goods exports slip
EXPORTS of leather goods during the first five months of the current fiscal year stood at $797.02 million which was 3.1 per cent lower than that of the same period in 2001-02. Leather footwear and leather goods and non-leather footwear were ... More

`Raise footwear MRP limit for excise exemption'
THE All-India Federation of Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters has urged the Government to enhance the maximum retail price (MRP) limit for excise exemption on footwear from Rs 125 per pair to Rs 300 per pair. In its representation to the ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS
Foundation laid for biotech incubator in Hyderabad
THE Union Minister for Human Resources Development, Science & Technology, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi on Monday laid the foundation stone for the country's first biotechnology incubator in Hyderabad. The Incubator, being set up with an initial ... More

GENDER
`Every woman is a potential leader'
LEADERS of international organisations joined over 150 national and international participants at the Indian School of Business (ISB) for the first Executive Women's Initiative Conference and emphasised that women can make better leaders. The ... More

DISINVESTMENT
EoIs invited for for 74 pc stake of Hindustan Paper
THE Disinvestment Ministry on Monday invited expressions of interest (EoI) from potential buyers for the Government's 74 per cent stake in the un-listed State-owned Hindustan Paper Corporation. After the proposed disinvestment, the ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
Vijaydimon FDI proposal among 28 cleared
THE Union Government on Monday cleared 28 foreign investment proposals totalling Rs 224.42 crore, which includes a Rs 100-crore investment plan by Singapore-based Vijaydimon Pte Ltd for transfer of shares from resident to non-resident (NRI) as ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Community info centres to be set up in J&K
THE Union Government has decided to set up Community Information Centres (CIC) across Jammu and Kashmir, replicating the `successful' experiment in the North-East. "We are going to do it right away," a senior Department of Information ... More

Stop preparing development plans for villages: Kurien
FIFTY years of growth and development in the country have not been adequate, according to Dr Verghese Kurien, the author of the White Revolution in the country and the architect of Operation Flood. Holding the Government and the bureaucracy ... More

NGO motivates youth to explore job opportunities in villages
BHAGAVATHULA Charitable Trust (BCT), a prominent NGO working in the villages of Visakhapatnam district for rural development for the past 27 years, has launched a drive to educate the rural youth on the need to corner the leaders of all political ... More

US students to `serve and learn' thru Darshn
THE Kerala-based NGO, Darshn has been chosen by the University of Washington as a partner in its programme "serve and learning" aimed at developing good world-class citizens by sending selected American students to various developing ... More

EVENTS
IIM Lucknow to host Manfest from Jan 16
THE Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow will host its three-day annual management festival, `Manfest 2004' from January 16. "The event aims to provide a platform for interaction among management students and the pillars of industry. ... More

Kochi to host global buyer-seller meet
THE Department of Industries, Kerala, is organising an international buyer-seller meet — B2B Kerala 2004 — to showcase the manufacturing capabilities of the State in 10 select areas. The meet is being organised in Kochi from ... More

CII to organise career fair next month
INDUSTRY and institution will be coming together on a common platform here next month to open up and promote `new career alternatives'. The three-day fair-cum-conference will enable students, institutions and industry to size up each other ... More

In Hyderabad today

INCOME TAX
Date extended for e-filing of TDS returns
THE Finance Ministry has extended the last date for filing of tax deduction at source (TDS) returns on computer media to March 31, 2004. The extension has been given in respect of the tax deducted in the `previous year' 2002-03. An official ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Supplies to SEZs — Ministry freezes duty drawback payments
THE Finance Ministry has put on hold its earlier instructions allowing duty-drawback payments to be made on supplies from Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) units to units in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The move comes in the wake of the Revenue ... More