The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, September 21, 2004

ECONOMY
Expert cautions on internal debt
INDIA'S escalating foreign exchange reserves are leading to a huge internal debt problem, according to renowned economist Lord Meghnad Desai. "The fact is that India's foreign exchange reserves are large and the people have forgotten that ... More

ENVIRONMENT
CII-Kerala stress on preventive eco-management
PREVENTIVE environmental management and integrated chemicals management dominated the group interactions at a workshop - Charter for Synergising Industry and Environment - organised by the CII-Kerala and the Local Area Environment Committee ... More

Minister to hold meeting on Pampa Action Plan
TO speed up implementation of the Pampa Action Plan, Mr Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, State Irrigation Minister, has called a meeting by the month-end. The Minister told Business Line that the Centre had sanctioned 13 schemes to be ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Trade pact talks with Chile likely in Oct
CALLING for greater India-Chile two-way trade, especially to correct the balance now in favour of Chile, Mr Jorge Heine, Ambassador of Chile to India, said here on Monday that negotiations are likely to begin in New Delhi next month between the ... More

HEALTH
9 ad agencies chosen for AIDS awareness campaign
THE Tamil Nadu AIDS Initiative (TAI), floated by Voluntary Health Services, a non-profit organisation, has chosen a panel of nine advertising agencies to take care of its information, education and communication needs. Euro RSCG, Grey ... More

A hearty gesture to ailing kids
SIXTY-year-old Raut, a cardiac patient from Orissa, came to Hyderabad for a bypass surgery. But after being admitted to Apollo Hospitals for pre-surgery check-ups, he had decided against going for the surgery. Instead, he wanted to spend the ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
Malaysian cos keen to invest in India
MALAYSIAN construction companies, having completed 21 projects in India worth $830 million, are keen to expand their participation in infrastructure projects including power supply, airport and port development. Malaysian companies are also keen ... More

POWER
`Electricity regulators have limited role to play'
THE Chairman of West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mr S.N. Ghosh, is uncertain about the usefulness of electricity regulatory commissions (ERCs) operating in different States, which were set up in compliance with the Electricity Act, ... More

Ryots' welfare panel chief favours slabs for free power
THE Chairperson of the Commission for Farmers' Welfare, set up by the Andhra Pradesh Government to look into the Agrarian crisis and the suicide of farmers, Ms Jayati Ghosh, has favoured a slab system for extending free power supply. This ... More

Centre bars Kerala from entering into direct PPAs
KERALA'S attempts to sign direct power purchase agreements (PPA) with mega power projects have come a cropper in view of its dismal record in power sector reforms. Sources said that the Union Ministry of Power disallowed at least two projects ... More

STEEL
`Find low-cost tech to tackle corrosion'
CORROSION control calls for a massive, co-ordinated effort by the research institutions and the user industries in the country with careful evaluation of the costs involved, according to Dr V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chairman of the ... More

TAXATION
Direct tax collections for April-Sept 15 period up 50 pc
NET direct tax collections of the Union Government have surged 50.7 per cent during April-September 15, 2004 at Rs 27,240 crore as against Rs 18,077 crore in same period last year. Tax collections during the first fortnight of this month has ... More

TECHNOLOGY
Nine Indians in MIT list of innovators
NINE Indians figure in the list of 100 top innovators under the age of 35, chosen by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review magazine for this year. The chosen 100 (TR100) represent a group that demonstrates that ... More

TEXTILES
`Value-added textile exports to surge in post-quota era'
THE Cotton Textiles Export Promotions Council (Texprocil), which is undergoing a re-orientation to transform itself from more of a regulatory body to a promotional body, sees Indian exports of value-added products, especially cotton made-ups, ... More

SSI
Assocham moots credit rating agency for SMEs
THE Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has called for the setting up of a credit rating agency for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in order to derisk the lending decision of the financial institutions including ... More

RADIO/TV
No clarity yet in cricket telecast controversy
CRICKET Australia has threatened to pull out of the four-test series against India slated to begin on October 6 as broadcast rights are still not in place, Mr K.K. Venugopal, Counsel for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told the ... More

EDUCATION
New Zealand woos Indian students
INDIAN students graduating with a New Zealand degree have the option to find work for two years after completion of the degree and also apply for permanent residence, according to Mr Peter Hobbs, Trade Commissioner in New Delhi, New Zealand High ... More

GSLV places Edusat in orbit successfully
TODAY was another important day for the Indian Space Research Organisation, as the GSLV-FO1 rocket took off into the skies as per plan and put its cargo, the Edusat satellite, into the designated orbital slot. The 1,950-kg Edusat is the ... More

NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING
`Newspapers have come back strongly fighting against odds'
NEWSPAPERS have made a strong comeback after a tough decade marked by economic recession, newsprint price crisis, new competitive challenges from cable and satellite broadcasting and the changes provoked by the rapid growth of the Internet. ... More

GENDER
`Centre committed to reservation for women in legislatures'
THE Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Mr Oscar Fernandes, has said that the Union Government is committed to providing reservation for women in Parliament and State legislatures. Inaugurating the decennial ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE
`Alternative Nobel' for Asghar Ali Engineer, Swami Agnivesh
THE Stockholm-based Right Livelihood Award Foundation, which met here for the first time outside Sweden in last 25 years, chose social worker Swami Agnivesh and Muslim scholar Asghar Ali Engineer for the 2004 honorary awards, which is referred to ... More

Bilateral aid to be accepted from G-8 countries
THE Government said on Monday that bilateral development assistance would be henceforth accepted from all G-8 countries, namely, the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, the Russian Federation as well as the European ... More

AP Govt to launch job scheme for the drought-hit
THE State Government will launch a wage employment scheme that would cover about 200 poor families in each village in 80 mandals of the drought-affected districts in the State soon. Touted as a step towards `food security', the schemes expects ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT
3rd Finance Commission formed in Kerala
Kerala is the first State to include panchayat projects under RIDF and it acknowledges Nabard's support to the idea. More

`More sectors under RIDF cover'
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has extended the scope of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to mini-hydel projects, drinking water, school buildings and public health ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Spices exports rise by Rs 230 cr in April-August
SPICES export increased substantially, both in terms of volume and value, during the first five months of the current fiscal with coriander crossing the target set for the current fiscal. Exports of chilli and turmeric have touched around 80 per ... More

Raw sugar imports under advance licence scheme — Govt may have to relax export obligations
Two years from now, stocks may be barely sufficient to meet domestic demand. More

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES
Haryana decides to undertake marketing of medicinal plants
THE Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, on Monday said that the Government would undertake the marketing of medicinal plants as part of its drive to promote their cultivation under the diversification programme. Presiding over ... More

TOURISM
Officials visit Halcyon Castle
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Chief Secretary, Mr Babu Jacob, led a high-level official delegation that visited the Halcyon Castle at Kovalam as part of initiating steps to take over the property situated by the side of the erstwhile ITDC beach ... More

Kovalam beach cleaned up
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of the observation of the International Coast Clean-up Day, the famed Kovalam beach here witnessed frenetic activity on Saturday. A team comprising more than 60 Coast Guard personnel and volunteer ... More

PEOPLE
New CGA at Finance Ministry
NEW DELHI: Mr H. Prabhakar Rao, a 1969 batch Indian Civil Accounts Service officer, has assumed charge as Controller-General of Accounts (CGA) at the Finance Ministry with effect from September 17. An official release said that Mr Rao ... More