The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, March 09, 2005

NRKs, exporters oppose Air India move to curtail flights to Dubai
NON-RESIDENT Keralites and the exporting community are up in arms against Air India's move to withdraw two of the seven weekly flights operating in the Thiruvananthapuram-Dubai sector from the forthcoming summer schedule and a proposal for an ... More

AUTOMOBILES

Refiners not ready to supply BS-II diesel from April 1 — Auto industry worried that new vehicle norms deadline may change
THE domestic automobile industry's rendezvous with April's new vehicle norms is turning out to be truly worrisome with the oil industry unable to supply higher grade diesel by the switchover deadline and manufacturers already into making vehicles ... More

ECONOMY

World Bank team calls on AP CM
HYDERABAD: A World Bank team headed by its Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of Development Economics, Mr Francois Bourguignon, called on the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, on Tuesday. The Chief Minister explained to ... More

HEALTH

Many hospitals do not follow waste disposal rules: Fedcot survey
THE Federation of Consumer Organisations of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry (Fedcot) has found, in a survey conducted by it, that still many hospitals in the State do not follow waste disposal rules. It has urged the Government to strictly enforce the ... More

`India, Pak must look for bilateral ties in healthcare'
AFTER cricket diplomacy, healthcare is now the new area of cooperation between India and Pakistan. Areas of mutual cooperation in the health sector by India and Pakistan must be identified in order to become developed nations "collectively" as ... More

Kerala Govt warns drug wholesalers on strike
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government is contemplating action, including suspension of licences, against wholesale drug dealers who have gone on strike. An official spokesman said here that the Health Minister, Mr K.K. Ramachandran, ... More

Interventional launches stent
BANGALORE: Interventional Technologies P Ltd has launched its drug eluting stent. The stent, COSTAR, has been devised for use in minimal invasive interventions for coronary angioplasty. The company said the stent has been clinically ... More

HOTELS

InterGlobe-Accor to set up economy hotels
INTERGLOBE Hotels, a 60:40 joint venture between Interglobe Enterprises and Accor Asia Pacific, will invest in and develop a minimum of 25 `Ibis' brand economy hotels across India and South Asia over the next 10-12 years. The ventures envisage ... More

POWER

NTPC likely to bid for gas blocks under fifth round
The 20 blocks on offer comprise six deep-water, two shallow-water and 12 on-land blocks covering a sedimentary area of around 1,09,210 sq km. More

TAXATION

GST is better than VAT system, say experts
A WELL-KNOWN expert on Value Added Tax (VAT) has expressed serious apprehensions on its positive impact, stating that fundamentals have been heavily sacrificed. The State-level VAT is going to add to price rise. The reasons are that State ... More

FIEO sore over service tax proposals
EXPORTERS are concerned over the recent steps of the Government on the service tax front that would further add to their transaction cost, thereby impacting the competitiveness of exports. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) ... More

WATER

Testing of pipelines for Tirupur industrial water project begins
THE countdown for private initiative to supply water to Tirupur textile processing industries has begun with the trial running of water for testing the pipelines by the two engineering contractors companies, engaged for the Rs 1,023-crore ... More

`World Bank may help resolve Baglihar row'
THE Union Water Resources Minister, Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, is hopeful that World Bank mediation would help find a tangible solution between India and Pakistan on disputes relating to the Baglihar Dam across the Chenab River in Kashmir. ... More

EDUCATION

MAHE launches programme to create Rs 300-cr endowment
THE Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), a deemed university, has launched a programme of creating an endowment of Rs 300 crore. Addressing presspersons at Manipal in Udupi district on Tuesday, the MAHE Vice-Chancellor, Dr H.S. Ballal, ... More

Audio-conferencing facility for SSLC exams launched
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Department of Education has launched an audio-conferencing facility to monitor the conduct of the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations that get under way in the State from Wednesday. It is for ... More

FOODS & FOOD PROCESSING

A chip in cost
With the prices of raw banana dipping in the market, banana chip vendors have chipped in with a price cut and this favoured snack is now on offer at Rs 70 a kg.

GEMS & JEWELLERY

Silver zone planned near Kolhapur
KOLHAPUR'S claim to fame, they say, rests on chillies, chappals and wrestlers, but soon there may be a silver lining to this outlook. The State Government is planning to set up an exclusive silver zone at Hupri near Kolhapur. Hupri town is ... More

DMCC opens jewellery unit to boost Dubai's output
DUBAI Metals & Commodities Centre (DMCC) has opened a purpose built Jewellery & Gemplex manufacturing facility for international and regional jewellery manufacturers on a freehold basis. The project is expected to increase Dubai's capacity fo More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS

Metropolis plans clinical trial centres, seeks pvt investment
METROPOLIS Health Services, a Rs 45-crore company that runs a chain of diagnostic laboratories across the country, plans to set up facilities for conducting clinical trials. `Clinical trials' are tests done of new drugs on animals and human ... More

JUTE

Buddhadeb asks jute sector to diversify
THE West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has advised jute mill owners in the State to diversify their production to non-traditional items if they want to remain in the business. The Chief Minister said that there had been ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

`Need for new anti-malarials'
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The spurt in the prevalence of drug-resistant plasmodium has entailed the need for developing new anti-malarials, according to Prof A. Surolia, Chairman of the Molecular Biophysics Unit at Indian Institute of Science ... More

GENDER

National award for two women scientists
ON International Women's Day (March 8), two women scientists, Dr K. Seethalakshmi and Dr Mira Shiva, have been selected for the National Award for Women's Development Through Application of Science and Technology for the year 2004. Dr K. ... More

Meet highlights women's role in influencing society
"IT is the sketch showing a dead buffalo," said a rustic woman, when shown a map of India and asked to name what she saw. "And remember," said Dr Kiran Bedi, recalling the incident, "this was just 25 km away from the Delhi airport." That little ... More

EVENTS

BL, Rotary Club corporate quiz on March 13
THE Rotary Club of Madras will conduct The Hindu Business Line Corporate Quiz on March 13, at Chennai's Taj Coromandel, to commemorate the centennial year of Rotary International. On offer are laptops, computer peripherals, getaways to ... More

How the consumer can be queen ...
Marketers can look to five categories of modern women: Tanya Telegenic, Nisha New-Age, Fitness Farah, Nayantara NGO and Pool-to-School Sita. More

Minister urges norms for beauty industry
WITH the growth in the wellness and beauty industry comes the need for self-regulation, the Union Minister of State for Tourism, Ms Renuka Choudhury, has said. As more people visit salons for treatments and makeovers, the time has come to ... More

INCOME TAX

Filing of returns may be made mandatory for more persons
FILING of income-tax returns may become mandatory for more persons in the coming days. The Finance Ministry is not averse to identifying more provisions that enable assessees to get away without filing any return of income on account of the ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Vegoil imports up in Feb
Tight supplies and hopes of a cut in import duty in the Budget sparked heavy purchases. More

Revenue Dept okays fast-track clearance scheme for EoUs
THE Revenue Department has at long last approved the fast-track clearance scheme for export-oriented units (EoUs), announced in the new foreign trade policy on August 31, 2004, after accommodating the changes suggested by the Directorate-General ... More

TOURISM

Spain woos Indian tourists
SPAIN is keen on attracting more Indian tourists, the Spanish Ambassador to India, Mr Rafael Conde, has said. "We would like all Indians who take a European holiday to consider Spain as an option. We have come a long way. Our primary objective ... More

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