The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, January 13, 2005

Water then, fire now!
A burnt fibre boat lies in Royapuram in Chennai where fishermen and fish vendors live. The slum caught fire two weeks after tsunami devastated the area. No death was reported because most of the families were staying in relief camps. ... More

BUDGET

Economists for lowering customs duties
ECONOMISTS have urged the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, to reduce the peak rate of customs duty from the existing 20 per cent to 5 per cent over a four-year period. In their deliberations with Mr Chidambaram, as part of the latter's ... More

Trade unions call for allocating more funds in social sectors
THE major trade unions on Wednesday urged the Government for allocating more funds in social sectors including 10 per cent of the Budget on education, social security for agricultural, unorganised and organised workers. In their pre-Budget ... More

Pharma body seeks higher level of abatement
IN the wake of the Finance Ministry levying excise duty on the retail price of medicines instead of levying excise on the manufacturing cost, the pharmaceutical industry has been seeking a higher level of abatement, up from the present 35 per ... More

ECONOMY

Gujarat to attract investments over Rs 87,000 crore
GUJARAT is set to attract investments exceeding Rs 87,000 crore in the next three to five years with leading industrial houses announcing major expansion plans for the State at the ongoing Vibrant Gujarat festival here. Leading corporate ... More

Industrial output grows 7.9 pc in November
INDIAN industry continues to be on a roll, with the official Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registering a year-on-year increase of 7.9 per cent in November 2004 against 8.2 per cent recorded during the same month of the previous year. ... More

APInvest set up
THE Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, on Wednesday announced the formation of APInvest, a nodal agency designed to aid in all-round development of the State while attracting investments and providing a single window interface to ... More

`Single window' in Kerala for investments above Rs 25 cr
THE State Government is introducing a single-window clearance mechanism for all investment proposals of Rs 25 crore and above. The Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, told newspersons after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that such investors need ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

`Market access key to boost India-UK cooperation'
MARKET access into India is extremely important and New Delhi should do all it can to strengthen it. This was stated by Ms Patricia Hewitt, the UK Cabinet Minister for Trade and Industry, while speaking to a group of reporters in Kolkata today. ... More

HEALTH

`Phase I trial of AIDS vaccine soon'
AMCHI Pune is adding another feather to its cap with the credit going to Ms Pravin Ankalasarya, trained at the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV), developing the AIDS vaccine. She along with the US-based Targeted Genetics ... More

PETROLEUM

K-G deepwater blocks: Australian co bags ONGC contract
ONGC has awarded turnkey contract for the `integrated development of deepwater blocks in Krishna-Godavari offshore' to Clough Engineering Ltd of Australia. The fields are expected to produce one million tonne of low sulphur crude oil and six ... More

Gujarat State Petro postpones online gas trading
GUJARAT State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPC) has postponed online trading of natural gas on the multi-commodities exchanges. The company was to commence online gas trading in December 2004. The petroleum corporation, which was in talks ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS

`Outsourcing orders' by pharma cos take a beating
THE Finance Ministry's decision of levying excise duty on retail price of drugs instead of manufacturing cost seems to have started taking a toll on companies undertaking third party production. Ahlcon Parenterals Ltd, which manufactures ... More

Pharma cos in tax-free zone to continue enjoying tax holiday
PHARMACEUTICAL companies that have set up manufacturing bases in the hills of Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, can cool their heels. The Finance Ministry's recent notification levying excise duty on the retail price of medicaments is unlikely to ... More

Levying MRP-based excise — Pharma industry warns of increase in prices
AN increase in the price of medicines is around the corner, if the Government goes through with its recent notification on levying excise duty on maximum retail price (MRP), caution pharma industry officials. Reacting to the recent note on ... More

POWER

Essar Power to hike Hazira plant capacity
ESSAR Power Ltd (EPL) is setting up a 1,500-MW plant at Hazira that already has a 515-MW plant. This will take EPL's aggregate capacity at Hazira to 2,015 MW. The plant, which qualifies as a megapower project, is expected to cost some Rs 4,000 ... More

TAXATION

Reddy moots capping FII inflows — But not in favour of the move at this stage
DR Y.V. REDDY, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, today called upon the Government to have an option to impose a ceiling on FII inflows or even taxing them. However, he later clarified that the RBI was not in favour of imposing such a ceiling at ... More

The surge and participatory notes
THE RBI Governor's concerns on foreign institutional investment (FII) flows have to be viewed in the context of recent gyrations in the country's equity markets. Two facets of FII flows in recent times stand out. One, there has been a surge in ... More

`No plan to tax inflows'
THE Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Wednesday said that there was no proposal to tax foreign institutional inflows, setting at rest fears over such a possibility in the wake of the comments made by the Reserve Bank of India ... More

What they say
THE RBI Governor, Dr Y.V. Reddy, suggested monitoring quality and quantity of FII inflows and selective ceilings for the same, probably through the taxation route. ``The announcement by the RBI Governor would play a part in determining future ... More

Kerala to join VAT from April 1
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State will join its counterparts in the rest of the country in switching over to the value-added tax (VAT) regime from April 1 onwards. Announcing this, an official spokesman said here that that the State would ... More

Indo-Japan talks to revise DTAA

TEXTILES

Textile export to quota countries in Jan-Dec up 5.48 pc
THE new year has begun on a promising note for Indian apparel exporters, with the latest export figures to quota countries for January-December 2004 having grown by 5.48 per cent in quantity terms and 11.86 per cent in dollar value terms. This ... More

SSI

Global meet on SMEs in Kochi next month
ALUMNI Society of Association of Overseas Technical Scholarships (AOTS) is organising a global small and medium enterprises (SMEs) meet here during 7-13 February, bringing together delegates from 14 countries and entrepreneurs in Kerala. AOTS ... More

WATER

Water management meet begins today
KEY issues relating to future development and management of water resources are expected to figure prominently during the two-day World Bank-aided workshop beginning here on Thursday. The workshop — `Challenges for Water Development and ... More

RADIO/TV

Asianet hails TRAI decision
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Asianet Satellite Communications has welcomed the direction given by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to Zee Turner to restore signals. An Asianet spokesperson said here that TRAI had ruled that Zee ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY

Gem & jewellery exports rise 43 pc in April-August
TRADITIONAL export items such as gems and jewellery, chemicals and related products, engineering goods and textiles, which account for 67 per cent of the country's aggregate exports clocked double-digit growth during the first five months of the ... More

HANDLOOM

A long yarn
Weavers at work at an isolated place in Palakkad. Fake handloom units are springing up all over Kerala, posing serious threat to genuine units, including those in the co-operative sector. The fake units have managed to pocket sizable government ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS

E&Y to identify joint venture partner for Gujarat biotech park
The State Government hopes to locate the private partner for the Rs 54-crore biotech park by March this year. More

National meet on bioinformatics in Thiruvananthapuram
THE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is organising a two-day national seminar on bioinformatics (BIOS 2005) here on Monday and Tuesday next. The IEEE International President, Mr Cleon Anderson, will inaugurate the ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft R&D centre takes off — Signs MoU with Govt for GIS mapping
IN the wake of the recent tsunami disaster, the Government is racing along to put in place a geographic information system (GIS). To enable this, it entered into a pact with Microsoft Research India (MSRI) here on Wednesday. Inaugurating ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Facelift for major districts roads in Karnataka
MANGALORE: A workshop on `scientific re-modification of major district roads' will be held in Mangalore on Thursday, according to the Superintending Engineer of Public Works Department, Mangalore Circle, Mr Guruprasad. He told ... More

EVENTS

Lead from the front, urges Ratan Tata
THE Chairman of the Investment Commission, Mr Ratan Tata, has urged the entrepreneurs present at the CII Partnership Summit to set before them the task of leading every front instead of following others. He was addressing a session on ... More

Govt to create knowledge commission: PM
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday declared the Government's decision to create a `knowledge commission', to "strengthen the roots and sinews of our capacity and capability-building, so that we are better prepared for the ... More

A marathon gesture
The dabbawallas (tiffin carriers) of Mumbai will take part in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon to be held on January 16. The event, which raises funds for various charities, will also support the cause of needy dabbawallas. ... More

IIM Lucknow's Manfest begins tomorrow
THE annual event of Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIML) - Manfest 2005 - will see participants grilling their minds on live consulting assignments from Tata Motors, Reliance Infocomm, and Reckitt Benckiser. With an expected ... More

In Hyderabad today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Sesame exporters bag 3,731-t order from South Korea
SESAME exporters have bagged 52 per cent or 3,731 tonnes of the total export orders of 6,731 tonnes from South Korea, beginning this year. The order was awarded to four merchant exporters across the country. Of this, Awadh Exports and ... More

Exports up 23.41 pcin April-December
INDIA'S merchandise goods exports has registered a 23.41 per cent increase in dollar terms during the first three quarters of the current fiscal (April-Dec 2004) to touch $53.50 billion as against $43.35 billion recorded in the same period in ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

Tsunami-hit beaches beckon tourists
`The negative impact of the tsunami will be exacerbated if tourists cancel or postpone visits to the Asian region.' More

`Design saves Koodankulam from tsunami'
THE Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, coming up on the coast of the Tirunelveli district, has not been affected by the December 26 tsunami devastation, according to the Project Director, Mr S.K. Agrawal. The project is coming up in an elevated ... More

NETworking for tsunami relief
CHENNAI-BASED BridgeOverTW, an online media solutions firm, has joined hands with leading Indian Internet media firms to help raise funds for Irish Red Cross towards tsunami relief. BridgeOverTW was approached by Mr George Thomas, Media ... More

Call to retain CRZ regulations
IN the wake of the recent tsunami tragedy, there is a growing demand for abandoning the forthcoming amendments to the CRZ regulations. It is high time that the Government seriously considered revising its earlier decision of amending the ... More

US Indians keen to pitch in for tsunami-affected
ASSOCIATIONS of Indian nationals in the US have told the Tamil Nadu Government that they are prepared to adopt a village in some of the areas affected by tsunami. The associations have asked the Government to allot land for this ... More

Nagarjuna Construction to adopt 50 boys
HYDERABAD: Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd (NCCL) has offered to adopt 50 boys, in the age group of 5 to 10 years, orphaned by the recent tsunami through the Sirisha Memorial Charitable Trust (SMCT) promoted by the company's Chairman, ... More

Contributions to The Hindu Relief Fund

TOURISM

Tsunami-hit beaches beckon tourists
`The negative impact of the tsunami will be exacerbated if tourists cancel or postpone visits to the Asian region.' More

Kochi Boat Show from Sept 30
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Tourism has announced that the next India International Boat Show will be held in Kochi from September 30 to October 2 this year. The event will focus on the growing domestic boating and marine industry market, ... More

ECONOMIC OFFENCES

Plea to check duty evasion by EOUs in rough marble imports
THE marble processing and trading industry has urged the Commerce Ministry to probe into the `misuse' by export-oriented units (EOUs) in importing restricted items. The Silvassa Marble Manufacturers' Association, in a letter to the Commerce ... More

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