The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, March 31, 2005

US' offer may help India to renew talks with other nuclear powers
INDIA may finally cease to be an untouchable as a nuclear power if the US' offer to supply the country nuclear energy technology, takes off. It may in fact help India renew talks for acquiring technology from other nuclear powers such as Russia ... More

AWARDS & HONOURS

Vivek Oberoi returns `inappropriate' award
CRUSADERS against tobacco consumption have won a battle of sorts — the `brave' Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi has been persuaded to return an award conferred on him by leading cigarette manufacturer Godfrey Phillips India (GPI). Even the ... More

ECONOMY

BPL ratio declines in AP
HYDERABAD: The percentage of population below poverty line in Andhra Pradesh has declined from 48.86 in 1973-74 to 15.77 in 1999-2000, according to the State Finance Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah. Replying to a question in Legislative Assembly ... More

PETROCHEMICALS

TIDCO invites EoIs for naphtha project
THE Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), a State Government undertaking, has invited expression of interest from those engaged in the hydrocarbon and petrochemicals sectors for a naphtha cracker project. It has asked the ... More

PETROLEUM

Record volume in MCX crude oil April contract
AFTER witnessing a record delivery performance and settlement in the gold and silver contracts, Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) has registered a record daily turnover of Rs 114.90 crore in the crude oil April contract as on March 23 with ... More

POWER

Coal India-NLC combine plans large thermal power projects
COAL India Ltd (CIL) has decided to enter into the power generation business jointly with Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC). To begin with, a 2,000-MW capacity thermal power plant is to be set up at the pithead of one of the mines located in the ... More

STEEL

Steel prices to go up by 7-8 pc from tomorrow
PRIMARY steel manufacturers are all set to increase prices of all grades of steel products from April 1. Though the exact quantum of increase would be finalised by some of them only on Thursday, indications are that it would be in the range of ... More

Arcelor forges ahead on new steel capacity in India — Move follows output cut in Europe by 1 mt
LUXEMBOURG-BASED Arcelor, the world's second-largest steel maker, has informed the Ministry of Steel that it wants to participate in the expansion of the Indian steel sector. India has set a target of increasing its steel production capacity ... More

TAXATION

Mixed response to VAT bandh
THE State-wide bandh on Wednesday by traders against the `piecemeal' implementation of VAT (Value Added Tax) evoked mixed response. However, AP Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Trade (APFCCT) claimed that the bandh was total throughout ... More

VAT uncertainty haunts consumer durables majors
"Major segments such as refrigerator and colour televisions (CTVs) have seen a dip in sales." More

Anti-VAT stir keeps most shutters down in Kerala
SHOPS and business establishments in the entire Ernakulam district and Kochi city remained closed on Wednesday following the three-day strike by the traders protesting the implementation of VAT from April 1. Reports from various centres ... More

Protest against VAT
A cyclist passes by closed shops in Mumbai on Wednesday. Traders had called for a nation-wide strike in protest against VAT.

Service tax issue: KCCI decides to continue with non-compliance
THE emergency meeting of the members of the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Wednesday decided to continue with the non-compliance movement against service tax on transport of goods by road. These members are on a ... More

FAPCCI clarifies on bandh
HYDERABAD: The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) on Wednesday clarified that it had not called for a State-wide bandh against the value-added tax (VAT). In fact, the Chambers was not against the ... More

Uneasy calm
An aged businessman peeps out of his shop at Feelkhana at Begumpet in Hyderabad on Wednesday as the market wears a deserted look due to the trade bandh to protest the implementation of VAT from April ... More

Trade, industry asked to register for service tax
THE Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TNCC&I) has called upon trade and industrial organisations required to pay service tax on lorry freight charges to register themselves with the Service Tax Section in the Central Excise Department More

Calcutta HC declines to grant stay on VAT implementation
A DIVISION Bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Mr Justice V.S. Sirpurkar, Chief Justice and Mr Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly today refused to grant any order of stay against VAT implementation from April 1. The Bench directed the parties to ... More

Rubber market closed on VAT protest
THE spot rubber market remained closed on Wednesday. Joining with the agitation launched by the Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti to protest against the implementation of VAT in the State, the rubber dealers also have decided to abstain from ... More

TEXTILES

China January textile, clothing exports to US up 65 pc in value
CHINESE Customs data show a 65 per cent increase in value terms for textiles and clothing exports to the US for January over the level achieved in January 2004. The US is China's biggest market for textiles and clothing. Meanwhile, exports to ... More

SSI

Govt to focus more on khadi sector
THE Union Minister for SSI, Mr Mahabir Prasad, on Monday said the Government was taking new initiatives to sharpen its focus on the khadi and village industries sector to increase rural employment. Talking to presspersons here, Mr Prasad said ... More

TRAVEL & PLACES

Canadian High Commission opens 9 visa application centres
THE Canadian High Commission has opened nine visa application centres across the country to enable easier access for applicants. The centres will be located in Bangalore, New Delhi, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad ... More

WATER

AP: Cloud-seeding to be tendered
FOLLOWING the advice of international experts on continuation of cloud-seeding programme, the State Government will soon issue a notification seeking international and national bids to take up the programme from June 10 this year. A programme ... More

EDUCATION

European B-School may open facility in India
EUROPEAN Business School (EBS), a business school with university status in Germany, hopes to start a business school in India, for which a team from the university is now on a tour of the country. Based in Oestrich-Winkel near Frankfurt, EBS ... More

AUTOMOBILE COMPONENTS

AFL launches logistics solution for auto component sector
AS the D-day for the implementation of value-added tax (VAT) draws near, a question uppermost in the minds of suppliers of auto components spread across many locations is how to reach out to their OEM clients who are concentrated in a few centres ... More

MINING & QUARRYING

Refinery, mining projects to be revived
Construction of the joint venture refinery would recommence in April and be completed by October 2007. More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Dakshina Kannada credit plan outlay at Rs 1,451 cr
PRIORITY sector credit constitutes 75 per cent of the total credit plan for Dakshina Kannada district for 2005-06. The district credit plan for 2005-06 envisages a total outlay of Rs 1,451.28 crore. Of this, Rs 1,082 crore has been earmarked for ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES

Those grand job ads
From the humdrum to the flamboyant, recruitment ads have come a long way. Catalyst takes a look at this transformation. More

EVENTS

Meet on mechanical engg at Coimbatore
A two-day national conference on the `Latest trends in mechanical engineering' is being organised by the Dr Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology on April 1 and 2. The Executive Vice-President of L&T, Mr K. Surendra, will inaugurate .. More

Lighting products expo in Sept
THE Indian Society of Lighting Engineers (ISLE) would organise the fifth Light India International Exhibition and Conference (Lii 2005) in New Delhi in September. The Lii 2005 is focussed on lighting products, systems and technologies in ... More

Orthopaedic surgeons' conference from April 1 in Mangalore
THE Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA), in association with the Karnataka Orthopaedic Association, the K.S. Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA) and Tejasvini Hospital, Mangalore, will host a national orthopaedic surgeons' conference in Mangalore ... More

In Hyderabad today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Exporters plan dharna over DEPB issue
STUNG by the demand of the tax authorities in retrospectively taxing the duty entitlement passbook credit (DEPB) given to them for promotion of exports, the exporters all over the country are on the war path, threatening to stage a dharna here on ... More

TOURISM

Singapore Tourism opens Delhi office
THE Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Wednesday announced the opening of its New Delhi Regional Office as part of its efforts to strengthen its marketing in the country. This is its third office in India "In 2004, Singapore welcomed a record ... More

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