The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, February 14, 2004

CLIMATE & WEATHER
Rains skip Malappuram
KOLLAM recorded `excess rain' for the 11-day-period ending February 11, while Palakkad, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad districts joined it in totting up record wet spells during the latter six days of the period, according to the Agromet Advisory ... More

AUTOMOBILES
Car sales jump 31 pc in January
THE New Year and an abundance of newer models to choose from in the car market helped passenger car sales jump by 31.1 per cent in January to 71,875 units from 54,813 units in the same month last year. Car-makers including Maruti, Tata Motors, ... More

BUDGET
TN budget hailed
MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Merchants' Association has hailed the 2004-05 budget. Mr P. Subhash Chandra Bose, Joint Secretary of the association, in a release to the press, has said that the budget has several growth-oriented ... More

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
Consumer electronics majors slash prices
CLOSE on the heels of the Finance Ministry announcing reduction in peak rate of customs duty by five per cent, from 25 per cent to 20 per cent, and abolition of the Special Additional Duty (SAD) of four per cent, a section of consumer ... More

ECONOMY
World Bank to step up aid next fiscal
THE World Bank on Friday indicated higher assistance to India next fiscal from close to $2 billion this fiscal based on optimism that the country would be able to sustain the GDP growth rate of eight per cent. ``We are optimistic that the ... More

Industrial investments rise 30 pc in 2003
OVERALL industrial investments in the country during calendar 2003 have been the highest since 1997. According to estimates made available by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Friday, total funds sanctioned by the all-India financial ... More

Emulate South, Delhi CM tells northern States
THE Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, has advised industrialists based in northern States to look southwards instead of China for achieving a quantum jump in industrial growth rates. She also mooted the concept of a `Common Economic ... More

Visa violations charge against Indian IT firms — US citizens' earnings unharmed
INDIAN IT firms, including Infosys, TCS and Wipro, have been accused by certain `labour organisations' in the US of violating US L-1 visa conditions, and depriving US citizens of jobs. If that were indeed the case, one would have expected to ... More

PETROLEUM
Oil Ministry moots 10% bank guarantee for pipeline projects
THE Petroleum Ministry is planning to seek a bank guarantee from corporates interested in setting up product pipelines across the country. This comes in the wake of several leading petroleum companies proposing to set up pipelines parallel and ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Growth prospects propel pharma stocks
GOOD growth prospects and expectations of sustained positive news flow from pharma companies, saw their stocks gain momentum on the bourses on Friday. Brokers said the immediate catalyst for the feel good factor has been the recent ... More

Pharmexcil elects administration panel
THE steering committee members of Pharmexcil, the newly-formed export promotion council exclusively for pharmaceuticals, has elected a Committee of Administration to take care of initial operations of the council. In a release here on Friday, ... More

PLASTICS
`Exploit domestic market for composite materials'
INDIAN composite materials industry should aim to exploit the domestic market because the growth opportunities within the country are huge, the Vice-President at Owens Corning, US, Mr Steve Nowak, has said. Inaugurating the International ... More

POWER
RP Goenka group plans to expand power unit in Bengal
THE RP Goenka group is planning to make fresh investments in a 500-MW power plant that it proposes to set up in West Bengal. Talking to the press after meeting the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, at the State ... More

STEEL
Kalam urges steel industry to focus on value-addition
THE President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on Friday urged the steel industry to focus on value-addition with a view to ensuring optimal utilisation of resources and higher realisations. Speaking at a function held here to mark 75 years of ... More

TEXTILES
Textile exporters sore over DEPB rates
A downward revision in DEPB rates would result in loss to exporters since they cannot renegotiate prices with buyers. More

Salem yarn-dyed fabric weavers apply for patent
THE yarn-dyed fabric producers of Salem in the decentralised powerloom sector, who stand out in weaving cotton sarees and other clothing materials made of pre-processed/dyed yarns, have sought to get the woven fabric varieties manufactured by ... More

India against textiles quota with EU enlargement
INDIA has taken up with the European Union (EU) on the latter's proposal to impose quotas, consequent upon the enlargement of EU from 15 members to 25 members in May, since the introduction of new quotas would be "inconsistent" with the ... More

SSI
Collateral-free lending: Mindset is the hurdle
WHY has the credit guarantee scheme, brought in to enable small-scale units to borrow without having to pledge any asset as security, not taken off? In the three years till January, the disbursements under the scheme amounted to around Rs 165 ... More

WATER
Want water now? Condense it from thin air
THERE is a gentleman in town selling a machine that produces water out of thin air. No. He is not P.C. Sorcar. His business card says he is Joseph Lee Kong Chian, Managing Director, Excel Water Technology (Asia) Pte Ltd. And, there is no magic ... More

BEVERAGES
Panel to set new norms for pesticide limits in soft drinks
THE Central Committee on Food Standards (CCFS), which met the Health Ministry today to set new standards for food products, has recommended that water used in soft drinks should conform to the same norms as those set for packaged water, Ministry ... More

FOODS & FOOD PROCESSING
Rs 1 cr to promote God's Own Curry
AS part of a global marketing strategy for food products, the State Government has allocated Rs 1 crore for promoting and creating a brand image for Kerala cuisine abroad, said Mr P.H. Kurian, Secretary, Investment Promotion Board and Managing ... More

MEDICAL & SURGICAL EQUIPMENTS
Medical expo showcases latest gizmos
SHOWING the power of convergence of information technology and medical know- ledge, HospiMedica-2004 put on a display a range of medical equipment that promises to change the way we count our pulse rate or offer ventilation. Stepahanie, a ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
Madras Medical Mission ties up with African hospitals
THE Madras Medical Mission (MMM) heart hospital has signed a series of agreements with hospitals in African countries. This will result in an increased flow of patients from Africa to the hospital and purchase of medicines and equipment by the ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Challenging task
For the first time, the Construction Workers' Training Institute trained 21 physically challenged persons in construction trades like masonry, carpentry etc. in ... More

RESORTS & AMUSEMENT PARKS
Senora Beach Resorts to be ready by May
SENORA Beach Resorts and Club at Sagar Nagar here will be ready to commence commercial operations by May. Mr D. Raghurama Raju, Director, said at a press meet that the implementation of the Rs 4-crore project had been delayed by an year or so, ... More

CINEMA
`Animation industry must not rely on US products'
AN industry should be based on education and not on training, according to Mr Niam Scanlan, Director of the School of Media, Arts Institute at Bournemouth, UK. His reference is to the fact that the Indian animation industry is looking at ... More

PRINTING
Anderson Printing installs hi-tech printing system
ANDERSON Printing House Pvt Ltd has entered country's elite printing club with its recent installation of computer-to-plate technology system from Heidelberg India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Heidelberger AG of Germany. According Mr N.K. ... More

DISINVESTMENT
IPCL public offer from Feb 20
THE public offer by Government for the sale of its residual equity in Reliance-controlled IPCL will begin on February 20 followed by CMC Ltd and IPCL in the next three days. The Government plans to mop-up Rs 14,500 crore from stake sale in six ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
World Bank funded project in TN
MADURAI: A pilot project of Sakthi, a World Bank-funded project, would be implemented in each village in eight districts from June onwards, Mr N. Murugesan, Consultant for Communications, Sakthi-World Bank Project, has said. Addressing ... More

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS
Private bus operators defer proposal — KSRTC staff agree to call off strike
EMPLOYEES of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have conditionally agreed to call off the strike from February 19 on the basis of understanding reached with the Transport Minister, Mr R. Balakrishna Pillai, who held conciliatory ... More

EVENTS

Hyderabad engagements

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
New MDA norms to stress on 4 focus countries
THE revised Market Development Assistance (MDA) guidelines drawn up by the Commerce Ministry, scheduled to come into effect from April 1, will entail a renewed thrust on four focus countries, and accordingly prune travel grants for direct ... More

Tap CIS nations to sell lac-based products: Study
The National Centre for Trade Information (NCTI) has said that since India does not figure as a major supplier of lac and lac-based products to any of the CIS countries, except Russia, there was an urgent need to formulate an aggressive strategy ... More

Cut in DEPB rates may affect engg exports
The DEPB rate provided a level playing field to the exporters and by reducing it, the Government was seriously undermining their competitiveness in the international markets. More

NATURAL CALAMITIES
Drought to squeeze rice production in Palakkad
SEVERE drought conditions prevailing in Palakkad district, the second granary of the State after Kuttanad, is set to squeeze rice production in this area by 34 per cent of its normal production of around 2.5 lakh tonnes. According to official ... More