The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, February 15, 2003

`More awareness needed for preventing chemical accidents'
THERE is a strong need to increase the awareness of safety standards at shop floor levels in the chemical industry, according to Mr Ravi Kant, Member Secretary, West Bengal Pollution Control Board. Addressing a one-day seminar on the prevention ... More

ECONOMY

Chamber presses for common Indian market
THE President of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Mr R.K. Somany, has said that the apex body had recently briefed the BJP President, Mr Venkaiah Naidu, over the need for having a `common Indian market'. Speaking at a meeting ... More

ENVIRONMENT

NGRI to add environment division
THE National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), here has decided to add a new division, which will focus on Environmental Geophysics from April, 2003, according to its Director, Dr V.P. Dimri. The institute along with the National ... More

FERTILISERS

`New urea pricing policy to be transparent on subsidies'
The new urea pricing policy is likely to result in savings in subsidy expenditure and promote the efficient use of scarce energy resources, the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Dr Chhattrapal Singh, said. More

PETROLEUM

Reliance strikes gas off Kutch
GUJARAT, which had somewhat slipped as a gas producing region following recent finds in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin, may be in for a fresh lease of life, as significant gas finds are on the anvil in many parts of the State. Leading this ... More

Modi, Naik skip CII Petrominex meet
THERE seemed no signs of a thaw in the ongoing spat between the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The State's first international mining and petroleum exhibition became the latest venue for ... More

RIL unlikely to take stake in K-G basin blocks
THERE was no likelihood of the Reliance group becoming an equity partner in the KG OSN 2001/3 block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, awarded to the consortium led by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), according to Mr Jean Paul Roy, ... More

`Speed' launched in Kerala

POWER

Pursue power reforms, PM tells Karnataka
THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has called upon the State Government to actively pursue power sector reforms and initiate action to reduce the high transmission and distribution losses. Inaugurating the high voltage director ... More

TAXATION

States seek `permanent' compensation for VAT
Maharashtra received about Rs 1,800 crore from Central Sales Tax, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat about Rs 1,000 crore each, West Bengal about Rs 800 crore and Andhra Pradesh about Rs 700 crore. The total CST collection in the country is about Rs 15,000 crore . More

Central sales tax may not be abolished at one go
IT'S almost official now that the coming Budget will not fully eliminate the four per cent Central Sales Tax (CST) levied on inter-State movement of goods and the development of a common national market through a genuine Value Added Tax (VAT) ... More

WATER

Kerala, TN keen on settling rows
THE ministerial level talks between a visiting Tamil Nadu delegation and the Kerala Government have demonstrated a common desire for an early settlement to the inter-State river water issues that have cropped up in recent times. The meeting ... More

Water purifiers see a clean opportunity
ONE man's meat is another's poison can well be said in the context of the bottled water controversy. Even as the ripples seem far from receding on whether the pesticide-residue in packaged drinking water is a reason for concern — the ... More

Conducted tours of treatment plants

COAL

Global coal suppliers bullish on Indian market
Coal producers in Indonesia, Australia, South Africa and China are ramping up their production anticipating a steady growth in India's imports. Coking coal suppliers are especially buoyant, as the Indian steel industry continues to lean heavily on im ports to meet its needs. More

Bengal keen on joint ventures for coal mining
THE West Bengal Government is keen on entering into joint ventures for coal mining, Mr Nirupam Sen, the State Industry Minister, has said. Speaking to reporters after inauguration of a sponge iron unit at Purulia on Thursday, he said that the ... More

BREWERIES

Liquor policy soon, says Kerala Minister
THE Minister for Finance and Excise, Mr K. Sankaranarayanan, has said that the State Government would soon come out with its liquor policy for the coming fiscal. Responding to a point of order raised by a member of the Opposition in the State ... More

EDUCATION

Laptop in the classroom
In an era when human beings are pitted against the computer all the time, the question before educationists today is whether a laptop is necessary in the classroom. More

Sylvan Universities to begin first semester in Aug
THE Sylvan International Universities (SIU) is setting up the South Asia International Institute in Hyderabad this year and will initially concentrate on providing education in computer science, telecommunications and electronics engineering, ... More

MANPOWER

Schemes for NRKs

DISINVESTMENT

Simultaneous domestic, ADR offering in BPCL proposed
THE Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) has decided to sell 20 per cent Government equity in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) in the American markets through an American Depository Receipt (ADR). Simultaneously, a sale of 15 per cent has been ... More

WTO

WTO scores in transparency
THE first Global Accountability Report has given high marks to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), ranking it third on access to online information, eighth on member control and fourth overall among 18 inter-Governmental organisations, ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE

ATA plans community development projects
THE American Telugu Association (ATA) is planning to implement various community development programmes in Andhra Pradesh during the next two years with an outlay of over Rs 4 crore. The association had spent Rs 4 crore on similar projects in ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Grasso draws up plan for networking villages
The organisation has undertaken a programme to link villages in all 17 districts of the State through a self-employment scheme. More

Rs 20 crore for six Tumkur towns

EVENTS

Police action, thru the lens
AN anteroom in a football stadium is perhaps not the most appropriate venue for an exhibition of photographs. But strangely enough, the austere surroundings of a basement room in Thiruvananthapuram's Chandrashekaran Nair Stadium tend to enhance ... More

KMA convention

Welding symposium from Feb. 22

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

APIDC to focus on ITES, biotech projects
THE Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (APIDC) is concentrating on promoting IT-enabled services and biotech projects in the State and the entrepreneurs outside Hyderabad should also make use of the opportunities in the two vital ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

RBI eases credit ceiling under EEFC accounts
THE Reserve Bank of India has lifted the ceiling on credit granted by exporters to their overseas buyers from their EEFC accounts. In a circular to authorised dealers, the RBI has said that this relaxation was being granted under the Exchange ... More

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