The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, September 04, 2004

ANTI-DUMPING
Dumping probe on citric acid from China, Korea, Ukraine
THE Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry has initiated an anti-dumping probe on all imports of citric acid from China, South Korea and Ukraine. The domestic manufacturers of citric acid have, in the recent years, been crying foul over ... More

ECONOMY
Inflation breaches 8 pc barrier
THE annual wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rate has breached yet another psychological barrier, touching a three-and-a-half-year high of 8.17 per cent for the week ended August 21. The last time that the year-on-year rate hovered ... More

Bonds rally despite surge in inflation
CONTRARY to expectations that the domestic debt market would tank following the inflation rate surging to a four-year high at 8.17 per cent, bond prices rallied by over one rupee across maturities leading to a softening in the yields of many ... More

PM reconstitutes trade, industry council
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has reconstituted his Council on Trade and Industry. The new members of the council are Mr V. Krishnamurty, Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Keshub Mahindra, Mr R.P. Goenka, Mr Azim Premji, Mr N.R. ... More

Industrial houses keen on investing in AP: CM
ALMOST all the representatives of the 13 industrial houses with whom the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, had one-to-one meetings on Wednesday at the `SUMINFRA-2004', organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at Bangalore, ... More

ENVIRONMENT
Green activists call for separate monitoring body
ENVIRONMENTAL activists on Friday called for the setting up of an independent monitoring and evaluation body, comprising community and civil society representatives that can ensure environmental sensitivity in decision-making regarding various ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Ministry bid to upgrade facilities — CWC panel inspects three land customs stations in Bengal
THE Commerce Ministry, in a bid to expand trade with Bangladesh through land border routes, has launched a fresh initiative to upgrade the three land customs stations (LCS) of Hilli, Mahadipur and Phulbari in North Bengal. As part of this ... More

Kamal Nath to chair Asean-India consultations
THE Union Commerce & Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, would co-chair the third ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Economic Ministers (AEM)-India Consultations scheduled to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 5. During the ... More

HOTELS
Dubai to host India hotel convention from Sept 9
IN a bid to attract foreign investment from the UAE, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) is going to hold its 40th annual convention in Dubai. The three-day convention, which will begin from September 9, has plans . More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Public-private partnership ideal for core sector: Experts
ASIA, where Government played major role in infrastructure development, had a rich potential to adopt public-private-partnership (PPP) to reduce financial and management risks and provide a modern and cost effective delivery system to ... More

Good infrastructure vital for attracting FDI: Montek
INDIAN infrastructure needs a major facelift, said the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, while addressing an interactive meeting organised by the FICCI here on Friday. "In recent years, lack of quality ... More

PETROLEUM
ONGC Videsh to buy stake in Ivory Coast block
ONGC Videsh Ltd, wholly owned subsidiary of ONGC Ltd, has reached an agreement with Vanco Energy Company of US to buy 30 per cent stake in an exploratory block in offshore Ivory Coast. This will mark ONGC's first acquisition in Western Africa. ... More

Indian Oil plans retail foray into South Africa
AFTER establishing its presence in the petroleum retail markets of Sri Lanka and Mauritius, Indian Oil Corporation is now evaluating opportunities to enter South Africa. The company is also in talks for setting up a retail joint venture with ... More

IOC raises $220-m loan for crude imports
IOC has inked a loan agreement with BNP Paribas (Singapore) and Bank of America (Taiwan) to raise short-term loans of $100 million and $120 million, respectively, to facilitate financing of oil imports. The loan agreement, according to an IOC ... More

IBP bets on moving LNG by road
IBP Ltd plans a "side-door" entry into the LNG supply business. The oil company plans to invest Rs 15 crore in buying cryogenic containers costing Rs 30 lakh each for a pilot project to supply LNG to remote areas of Gujarat not connected by gas ... More

POWER
Jindal Power's Raigarh project phase I achieves financial closure
JINDAL Power Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), on Thursday announced the financial closure for the first phase of its 1,000 MW power project at Raigarh. The first phase would comprise two units of 250 MW each, ... More

NHPC contract for VA Tech
THE National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has awarded a work contract to VA Tech Hydro India Pvt Ltd for a electro-mechanical job in the 132-mw Teesta (low dam-III) hydel power project in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. The work ... More

TEXTILES
`Indian textiles can wear it well in US'
"If the hurdles are removed fast, economic growth could be achieved faster." More

WATER
Ion Exchange to tap rural water purification market
AFTER tapping the industrial and home segment in urban areas, the Rs 182-crore Ion Exchange company, known for its retail product Zero B, aims to tap water-purifying requirements of the rural market. "The water purifying market potential for ... More

TERRORISM
Back home happily
Indian truckers Sukhdev Singh, Antaryami and Tilak Raj, who were released by their captors in Iraq, after their arrival in the Capital on Friday.

EDUCATION
13 management schools in top AIMA league
THIRTEEN management institutes including four Indian Institutes of Management have been rated as the best category of business schools in the country by the All India Management Association (AIMA). The Indian Institutes of Management and the ... More

Experts call for reworking of engg syllabus for soft skills in AP
ACADEMICIANS and IT industry representatives favoured a concerted effort to rework not only the syllabus for various engineering faculties in the State engineering colleges, but also concurrently develop communication and soft skills, which are ... More

CARS
Citroen watching the road to India
FRENCH maker PSA Peugeot Citroen is currently studying the Indian market to introduce its Citroen range of compact cars in the country.Industry officials point out that the company is in the process of identifying dealers to introduce its cars ... More

FOODS & FOOD PROCESSING
UK food forum to tie up with Malabar Chamber
THE UK-based East Midlands Ethnic Food Forum (EMEFF) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Malabar Chamber of Commerce to encourage bilateral trade and investment in the food-processing sector. The MoU aims at exchange of information ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
`Reduce stamp duty to boost real estate sector'
THERE is a shortage of at least 31 million houses in the country and over the next 10-15 years, around Rs 2 lakh crore of annual investment is needed to overcome the shortage. Addressing a CII seminar on southern real estate sector, the ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
FICCI moots offering incentives to cos employing SC/ST
THE Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has suggested that instead of compulsory job reservations in the private sector for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the Government may consider offering incentives ... More

SOPA urges Centre to restrain oil cos from hiking hexane price
THE Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA) has urged the Union Government to restrain oil companies from hiking the prices of food grade hexane, used in processing oilseeds. In a letter to the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural ... More

Kapuria is ACMA president
NEW DELHI: Mr Deep Kapuria, Managing Director, Hi-Tech Gears, has been appointed as the President of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA). Mr Kapuria is the only appointment in the history of ACMA to be re-elected ... More

READYMADE GARMENTS
As quotas go, so do apparel export firms
IT'S a case of apparel export firms doing the disappearing act, and quite literally so. From a total of around 33,000 apparel export firms registered with the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) about five years ago, the number of firms has ... More

Concern over import of used readymade garments
IF the used textile machinery import has already been a hot topic for debate in the textile sector, one more item of import has been added to the points of debate - import of used readymade goods into India. The South India Small Spinners' ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
New mapping policy on cards
INDIA may soon have a new mapping policy in place that would help kick off the implementation of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The NSDI would basically facilitate availability of geospatial data like roads, presence of ... More

GENDER

Vocational courses for women

NHRC seeks report from AP Govt

SMALL SAVINGS
Give savings a break
R. Anand on the need for continuing tax incentives for savings More

WTO
`WTO regime will favour chartered accountants'
THE chartered accountants in India will be the major gainers in the new WTO regime beginning next year, in view of the new areas emerging in accounting and auditing practices, Mr Sunil Goyal, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of ... More

IPR
Novartis' patent held valid; Dr Reddy's withdraws case
THE global pharma major, Novartis AG, announced on Friday that it had prevailed in its US patent infringement lawsuit with Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. The lawsuit pertained to the oral antifungal agent, Lamisil Tablets (terbinafine ... More

EVENTS

Garment fair from Sept. 11

INCOME TAX
The TDS screw gets tightened
T. C. A. Ramanujam on the pluses and minuses in the revised TDS regime More

Invalidity in focus
Mohan R. Lavi discusses a case relating to invalid returns More

Electronic filing of IT returns soon in Karnataka
IN a bid to make filing of income-tax people-friendly, the I-T Department is considering a proposal on electronic filing. According to the Commissioner of Income-Tax (Appeals), Mangalore, Mr Aravind Pinto, the department is planning to ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Tea output dips 9 pc; exports increase 22%
THE fortunes of the tea industry appear to be brightening with a nine per cent production fall in the first seven months of 2004 and a simultaneous 22 per cent increase in exports. According to statistics released by the Tea Board, production ... More

More exporters invoice in euros
EVEN as the rupee has fallen sharply against the dollar, euro invoicing by domestic exporters has continued to rise. Bankers here said that some of the large garment exporters have also begun shifting to the euro. So far only some of the ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES
Input subsidy for AP ryots in drought-hit regions
AS a part of the drought relief measures, the State Government has prepared a contingency plan that includes a provision of input subsidy to farmers, distribution of subsidised fodder seed, supply of drinking water in villages, generation of ... More

TOURISM
VLCC plans foray into health tourism next year
The company has identified a plot at Delhi and will seek Rs 150-crore funding for setting up a residential spa. More