The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, February 20, 2005

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado — Luxury on and off the road
YOU believe in working hard and playing hard. You want to test your limits at the boardroom and in the great outdoors. You want to live life to the fullest. You do everything in style. You believe in making a youthful, ... More

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY

Wind energy body seeks new tax incentive system
THE Indian Wind Energy Association (InWEA) has sought a performance-based tax incentive system to attract greater investments in wind energy sector and make the electricity generated more affordable. "The existing provision of income deduction ... More

ECONOMY

NCAER business confidence index rises again
THE business confidence index (BCI) of the Indian industry, both the private and the public sector, has shown a slight improvement, according to the latest round of survey for January 2005 undertaken by the National Council for Applied Economic ... More

ENVIRONMENT

Eco meet Prithvi 2005 opens
DEALING with the challenges facing the environment requires a concerted effort by all stakeholders, said Mr R.L. Bhatia, Kerala Governor. He made this remark while inaugurating the eco meet Prithvi 2005 in the city. Mr Bhatia expressed hope ... More

`India becoming favoured target for CDM projects'
INDIA is the leading country in terms of the number of projects that have been accorded the host country approval and under consideration by the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) Executive Board, as per the provisions of Kyoto Protocol, the ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

FAPCCI, Austrian chamber sign pact to boost trade
THE Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) has signed an agreement with the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Vienna) here on Friday. The memorandum of understanding is aimed at "fostering friendship and to ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE

ICT bags contract in Ethiopia
NEW DELHI: Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats (ICT) has bagged a project for upgrading a 264-km road in Ethiopia that connects northern agriculture areas with the port of Sudan. The more than $8,00,000-consultancy work involves ... More

PETROLEUM

OVL signs pact with Kazakh gas firm
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan state-owned firm KazMunayGas, to concretise the development of specific exploration and production projects in Kazakhstan. ``The MoU will enable the two firms to ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS

Chemists to restock psychotropic drugs after Govt assurance
CONSUMERS across the country will be able to access their stocks of epilepsy or anti-depressant drugs, with chemists completely calling off their decision to stop stocking psychotropic drugs. The truce follows an assurance from the Centre to ... More

POWER

Arunachal hydel project may be scaled down on Chinese concern
THE ambitious 11,000-MW Siang Upper project — which would have been the country's largest power project and the world's third largest — is likely to be scaled down to around 5,000 MW, mainly due to environmental concerns raised by ... More

TAXATION

Taxing changes on the cards
THE ghost of the Kelkar Committee reforms has come to haunt the salaried class. In a bid to reform the personal tax law, the Finance Minister may implement some of the recommendations made by the Committee in 2002, and ... More

Commerce Ministry favours scrapping of export cess
THE Commerce Ministry, internally, is in favour of removal of all kinds of export cess slapped on various items, some of which date back to 50-60 years, like that for mica exports. Speaking to newspersons here, after addressing an export ... More

TEXTILES

Texprocil to open US office in April
THE Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil) is setting up a representative office/showroom in the US. The office, to be set up in New York, will be in place by April. Texprocil sources told Business Line that India is keen ... More

EDUCATION

Indo-Italian hubs for IT, maths
THE B.M. Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad and the University of Udine, Italy have set up the International Institute of Applicable Mathematics and Information Sciences, with two hubs at the respective campuses. The International Institute would ... More

BEVERAGES

Soft drink majors gear up to beat the heat
THE coming summer season could be `do or die' for the soft drink industry. Hence, it is leaving no stone unturned while gearing up for the peak season from March to October. Despite increasing prices in the second half of last year, Coca-Cola ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Jewellery exporters get more time to repay loans against gold
EXPORTERS of jewellery have been provided with some flexibility in terms of the pricing of gold and an extended period for the repayment of loans against gold. In a circular to all commercial banks, the Reserve Bank of India has said that the ... More

Unanimity over oilseeds import still eluding industry
THE Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar's recent statement that the Government is open to liberalising import of oilseeds so as to help utilise the large idle crushing capacity within the country has created a lot of expectation among oilseed ... More

Traditional items propel high export growth in H1
TRADITIONAL items such as agri and allied products, gem and jewellery, chemicals and engineering goods, which account for slightly above 58 per cent of the country's export basket have done exceeding well to push the first half growth of the ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

Contributions to The Hindu Relief Fund

TOURISM

Jonty Rhodes to field for CC Africa
THE eco-safari operator from Africa, Conservation Corporation Africa has signed popular South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes as its ambassador to India. Late last year, CC Africa had entered into a three-way joint venture with Taj Hotels ... More

GoM moots visa-on-arrival for select countries
IN order to encourage tourist inflow, the Group of Ministers on Tourism Industry and Trade has recommended visa-on-arrival for selected countries on an experimental basis in Delhi and Mumbai. The group has also recommended increase in air seat ... More