The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, June 09, 2004

AUTOMOBILES
Industry cries foul over seat norms for SUVs
CONTROVERSY over the third row of seats in sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) refuses to die down, with a certain section of the automobile industry dubbing the move to set safety norms as an attempt to impose ... More

BUDGET
Basic players want duty cut on fixed wireless terminals
THE Association of Basic Telecom Operators (ABTO) has sought reduction of duties on the fixed wireless terminals to 5 per cent, in order to bring them at par with that levied on mobile handsets. At present, fixed wireless terminals are ... More

ECONOMY
Manmohan Singh to head CCEA
THE new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government has constituted the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh. The other members are the Finance Minister, Mr P. ... More

`Rein in fiscal deficit to let economy grow'
THE Indian economy will grow only at six per cent over the next five years as against the target of seven to eight per cent unless the Government reins in fiscal deficit and raises investment to improve the physical and social infrastructure in ... More

ENVIRONMENT
National symposium on agro-ecosystem at Thiruvananthapuram
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Coastal Agro-ecosystem Directorate, part of the National Agriculture Technology Project (NATP) funded by the World Bank and operating at the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, is ... More

HEALTH
Spl packages from Image Hospitals
IMAGE Hospitals, a Hyderabad-based super-speciality, corporate hospitals, has announced seven special health packages priced at Rs 100 each, beginning June 10 and up to August 31 during all working days. During this period, a special 50 per ... More

PSU
Indian Oil tops profitable PSU list
AMONG the 240 Central public sector undertakings (CPSUs), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has notched up the highest turnover of Rs 1,23,628 crore during fiscal 2002-03, while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which was fourth in terms of ... More

Kerala Civil Supplies turnover up
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Civil Supplies Corporation recorded a turnover of Rs 450 crore during the last financial year, said Mr G. Karthikeyan, Minister for Food and Culture. Addressing a press conference in the city, he said this ... More

POWER
Bengal drops plan for more SEB revamp
EFFORTS to further restructure the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) in tune with the Electricity Act 2003 hit a major roadblock on Tuesday with the Left Front Cabinet deciding to drop it from its agenda. Sources said that some ... More

STEEL
Steel body seeks import duty cut on inputs
THE Indian Steel Alliance (ISA), in its 2004-05 Budget wish-list submitted to the Government, has suggested an across-the-board reduction in import duty on all raw materials used for making steel. It has suggested that imports may be allowed at a ... More

WATER
Trial run of Godavari water project soon
THE Visakhapatnam industrial water supply project for diversion of 5 tmc feet of Godavari waters from here to Visakhapatnam through the Yeleru canal, being executed by Larsen and Toubro, is in an advanced stage and the company is expecting to ... More

COAL
SECL not for allocating new virgin blocks to end users
SOUTH Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), a profit-making subsidiary of Coal India (CIL), is understood to have expressed reservations about further allocating any new virgin coal blocks under the company's command area, for captive mining by the ... More

EXIM POLICY
Assocham advocates pragmatic Exim Policy
THE Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has advocated a pragmatic Exim Policy, which gives priority to areas such as employment generation, promotion of agro and rural sectors as well as initiatives to boost services and ... More

EDUCATION
Fee cut issue: IIM boards to meet again next week
THE boards of the various Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will meet during June 14-23 to arrive at a possible solution on the controversial fee cut issue. The directors of the six IIMs on Tuesday met the Education Secretary, Mr S.C. ... More

Scholarship for IIITM-K librarian
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mr Sainul Abideen, Librarian of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala (IIITM-K), Thiruvananthapuram, has been awarded the VLIR (Vlaamse Inter Universitaire Raad, or the Flemish Inter ... More

AIR-CONDITIONERS & REFRIGERATORS
Refrigerator sector looks at double-digit growth
THE last few years have seen stiff competition for leadership in the Indian refrigerator market, especially among Whirlpool, Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd (EKL), Godrej, LG and Samsung. After experiencing marginal growth for some years now, the ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Construction stocks back in the reckoning
ENGINEERING and constructions companies are back on the buy list of the market players on the back of good order positions by these companies and the new Government's thrust on infrastructure. Some of the stocks that are on the rise are Era ... More

LEATHER
Fallout of Chennai port strike — Leather footwear exports may be hit
THE recent 13-day labour strike at the container terminal in Chennai port that affected container movement may have dented the reputation of leather footwear exporters in the region as they struggled to cope with delivery deadlines. Footwear ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS
Bio-tech counters in limelight
THE pharma industry has always been the more visible cousin, but the bio-tech segment is soon catching up as the "best bet" in an otherwise volatile market. This was evident from stocks such as Biocon, Jupiter Biosciences and Panacea Biotec, ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
CSIR-New Millennium project to develop novel fungicides
A consortium of industry, national laboratories and university has taken up the project of developing novel fungicides with potential applications in the agrochemical sector. While Rallis India represents the industry, the Indian Institute ... More

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING
IHT: Govt files caveat in anticipation of stay
THE Government has filed a caveat at a civil court in Hyderabad in anticipation of a stay petition filed by Midram Publication Private Ltd, which publishes International Herald Tribune (IHT). Sources in the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ... More

GENDER
Relief at last
SHE toiled for years at a salary of Rs 25 per month. Now in her twilight years (if she is still alive, that is) she just might get justice. Hers was a name that no one could recollect, but all of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Ministry were numbed ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FDI in aviation sector — Govt to consult investors
THE Government plans to hold consultations with investors before taking a final decision on whether to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) into the domestic aviation sector. In an informal chat with select newspersons here on Tuesday, the ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
IRDA licences for Kerala rural women
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Insurance Company has sewn up an arrangement with the Kudumbasree poverty eradication project of the State Government under which educated unemployed women from rural areas will be suitably trained to take ... More

LABOUR REFORMS
Quotas for jobs in pvt sector by July 30?
THE Maharashtra Government expects to enforce 52 per cent reservations in the private sector, hopefully by July 30 and, if required, serious and genuine issues if raised by the corporates would be addressed in earnest. There are no indications ... More

NGO unveils initiative for informal labourers
MAYA (Movement for Alternatives and Youth Awareness), a Bangalore-based NGO, today launched LabourNet, an institutional network of informal sector workforce and related markets. The initiative seeks to build collective enterprises of the ... More

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS
Scrap World Bank policies, says CITU
THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has demanded that the World Bank policies, which proved to be detrimental to the interests of workers, be scraped forthwith. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Mr S. Veeraiah, General ... More

INCOME TAX
Payment of Income-Tax dues
MUMBAI: The Income-Tax department has authorised 844 computerised branches of public sector and private sector banks in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to accept payment of income-tax dues. Among these branches, 790 belong to the public sector, 23 ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Groundnut oil exports top 1 lakh t
GROUNDNUT oil exports during this oil calendar year (November 2003-October 2004) have crossed one lakh tonnes. The export earnings from this commodity till May have been put at over Rs 500 crore. Groundnut oil exports are expected to settle ... More

Oilseeds sector in fix over lack of export data
DELAY in processing data/export statistics at the Director General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), Kolkata is preventing the oilseeds industry from getting a clear picture of the export scenario. DGCIS is the nodal agency for ... More

DGFT modifies renewal norms for status holder certificates
IN a procedural relief for corporates that are involved in exports in a big way, the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has modified its earlier norm relating to automatic renewal of status holder certificates that expired on March 31 this ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES
Kerala Govt chalks out action plan to check rain havoc
EVEN as the south-west monsoon continued to batter the northern districts, the State Government raised its guard against calamities and the possible breakout of infectious diseases. The Revenue Minister, Mr K.M. Mani, has announced that an ... More