The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, April 21, 2004

CLIMATE & WEATHER
`Kerala not reliable choice for monsoon variability studies'
TWO leading US-based academicians have expressed doubts whether the choice of rainfall in a single Indian State is adequate to characterise inter-annual variability in monsoon transitions, which occur on a planetary scale. According to Dr John ... More

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
NEG Micon unveils `largest' wind turbine
FROM a distance, a number of wind turbines are visible, their blades rotating at a rhythmic speed. The afternoon is hot. The Toyota Qualis swerves off the asphalted road on to a mud track. The drive for the next few minutes is bumpy. On either ... More

ECONOMY
Inflation to remain `below 5 per cent'
INFLATION should remain below 5 per cent during 2004-05, the Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Dr Ashok Lahiri, has said. "India is a very inflation-averse economy. I will be surprised if inflation is above 5 per cent in 2004-05. It ... More

ENVIRONMENT
Garbage trucks soon with GPS/GIS equipment
THIS is not meant to be a cruel joke on the hapless biker who gets showered with muck from a dirty, smelly garbage truck that happens to overtake him. At least, not in the Capital, where the municipal authorities are planning to make the entire ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
CII agenda to boost trade ties with GCC
THE CII agenda for economic and industrial cooperation with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries that focuses on the strong role that can be played by the private sector to boost India's bilateral economic ties with the six GCC states, ... More

TAXATION
Tax collections cross Budget estimates — On target nearly after a decade, says Finance Secretary
THE Centre on Tuesday reported that revenue collections for fiscal 2003-04 have exceeded Budget estimates for the first time since 1995-96. The provisional figures for the fiscal ended March 31, 2004, have put total collections at Rs 2,52,162 ... More

RADIO/TV
TRAI issues 2nd consultation paper on CAS
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come up with a second consultation paper on Conditional Access System (CAS), which flags off issues related to making the system mandatory, whether to allow pay channels to carry advertisements ... More

AUTOMOBILE COMPONENTS
France sees strong market for Indian automotives
WITH India having crossed the figure of million in sales during the last fiscal, France sees the market becoming stronger for automotives thereby the demand for components. France could extend its technology for components manufacturing. On ... More

CINEMA
Kerala film industry in soup
FROM its heady days of super hits and critically acclaimed movies, Malayalam film industry has come a long way downhill, plagued by internal fights, mounting expenses and piracy. The plight of the industry is so bad that 2004 may see just about ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
`Velugu' project for lac extraction yields good returns in AP
IN the tribal heartlands of Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh, for the landless people surviving on what the forests generate, a new farm activity promoted by the intervention of the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) has raised ... More

EVENTS

In Thiruvananthapuram today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Hardware exports up 66 pc in Dec
ELECTRONICS hardware exports registered a 66 per cent jump in December 2003, and is poised to grow at an accelerated pace during 2003-04. Mr Kamal Vachani, Regional Director for the UAE and Middle East of Electronics and Computer Software ... More