The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, October 12, 2004

CLIMATE & WEATHER
Rain and snow in the North
THE southwest monsoon may have withdrawn from almost half of the Indian landmass, but the skies in the north have become active again, leading to rain and snow at various places in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. This sudden surge in ... More

AUTOMOBILES
Auto industry revs up capacity expansion plans
THE auto brigade seems to be in capacity expansion mode. While Maruti Udyog's announcement of its Rs 6,000-crore investment plan with parent Suzuki Motor Corporation may be making headlines, a host of other big-ticket capex investments have been ... More

ECONOMY
Kerala identifies priority areas for next annual plan
IMPROVING production and productivity, maximum utilisation of value addition opportunities and raising income in the agriculture and allied sectors are some of the priority areas for the 2005-06 annual plan of the State Government. Another ... More

ENVIRONMENT
Units using HCFCs to be regulated
SMALL-SCALE Industries (SSIs), consuming and handling Carbontetrachloride (CTC) and Hydrochlorofluoro Carbons (HCFCs) in the State have to register with the Small Industries Service Institute (SISI), Hyderabad. This is inline with the `Ozone ... More

Stiff resistance to Kakinada ship-breaking project
LOK Satta, led by the former IAS officer, Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, and several other organisations have condemned the Government proposal to permit ship-breaking on the Kakinada beach and urged it to give it up respecting the public opinion. ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
Import of metallic scrap — Finance Ministry opposes DGFT alteration of policy
THE Finance Ministry on Monday said that import of "uncompacted loose metallic scrap" should not be allowed through any major ports or inland container depots (ICDs) as it would not be possible for Customs officials to detect explosives in heavy ... More

HEALTH
Population Commission in Health Ministry's fold
THE Planning Commission is back in the focus. After the controversy surrounding the appointment of foreign consultants, it is now the turn of the National Population Commission to move over to the Ministry for Health and Family Welfare. A ... More

India may join hands with Singapore, Thailand for Asian healthcare hub
WITH Singapore and Thailand going all out to promote themselves as healthcare destinations in Asia — a clutch of Indian healthcare institutions have mooted the idea of an Asian healthcare hub. The idea being that the three countries can ... More

HOTELS
`Hotels can import furniture under EPCG scheme'
THE Government clarified on Monday that hotels could import furniture under the export promotion capital goods (EPCG) scheme. This clarification, according to a senior official of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), comes in the ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Pharma summit to discuss patent issues
CHALLENGES facing the domestic drug industry, including the changing dynamics of the product patent regime that comes into force in 2005, will be deliberated at the two-day Pharma Summit 2004 that kicks off in Mumbai on Tuesday. From projecting ... More

POWER
Captive power plants at industrial parks — Maharashtra Govt plan may trip MSEB
"This will destroy MSEB. Roughly 56 per cent of our revenues come from industrial customers and more than 90 per cent of these customers are located at the MIDCs. " More

TAXATION
Finance Ministry panel moots phase-out of CST — But non-committal on time frame
THE Finance Ministry appointed seven-member expert technical committee on value added tax (VAT) is trying to play it safe. Without spelling out the modalities for phasing out the central sales tax (CST), the committee is set to only recommend ... More

Coimbatore zone service tax target at Rs 523 crore
THE service tax targeted from Coimbatore Central Excise zone for 2004-05 is put at Rs 523 crore. Against this, the tax collected up to August 2004 is Rs 103 crore, which is 40 per cent higher than the tax collected for the corresponding ... More

Assocham moots plan for zero per cent CST
THE Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has proposed a two-pronged strategy to the Government underlining the need to either reduce central sales tax (CST) to zero per cent or replace it by pre-paid VAT (PVAT) to ... More

TEXTILES
End of textile quota regime certain
THE imminent end to quota regime in global trade in textiles and clothing now looks a certainty despite the last-ditch bid by low-cost suppliers to spearhead postponement of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) beyond 2004 at the recent ... More

EDUCATION
NITIE annual fest Prerana from Oct 15
NITIE, the Government-run technology institute here, will organise its annual B-school festival Prerana between October 15 and 17. The event, now into its 10th year, serves as a platform that brings together academicians, intellectuals, ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY
Jewels of India to feature 90-carat `tamarind'
THE sixth edition of `Jewels of India' will have more than 100 participants from all over the country and abroad. The exhibition will be held here between October 16 and 19. The major attractions at the show this year are the Burmese Rubies ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
US cancer institute scouts for `alternative' medicine
AT a time when the Indian healthcare industry is emerging an international hub of medical tourism, the National Institute of Cancer (NCI) of the US is looking for therapeutic answers to cancer in alternative medicine systems in the ... More

Kolkata's AMRI to upgrade cancer centre
THE Kolkata-based Advanced Medicare and Research Institute (AMRI) has taken up a Rs 60-crore project to upgrade its cancer treatment centre and add new facilities in neurosurgery and cardio surgery departments. Brig. S.B. Purakayastha (Retd), ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS

RGCB training programme

GENDER
`Provide women scientists with flexi-timings, mid-career breaks'
IDENTIFYING the factors that prevent Indian women from opting for science careers, a committee set up by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) has suggested remedial measures such as providing flexible working hours, mid-career breaks and ... More

New scheme to help women entrepreneurs in AP
WOMEN entrepreneurs have some good news. Very soon, a new scheme that is claimed to be more `friendly', will bring in the much needed financial support to launch bold projects. A woman's organisation, a national bank, credit guarantee fund and ... More

DISINVESTMENT
Disinvestment panel to be wound up
THE Congress-led UPA Government has decided to wind-up the Disinvestment Commission. However, a body to advise the Government on disinvestment, among other things, would be re-invented through the formation of a Board for Reconstruction of Public ... More

Disinvestment policy under review, Centre tells SC
THE Congress-led UPA Government has informed the Supreme Court that it was reviewing the disinvestment policy pursued by the previous NDA regime. A submission to this effect was made by the Attorney General, Mr Milon Banerjee, during the ... More

Comprehensive policy on disinvestment soon
THE Government is planning to come out with a comprehensive policy on disinvestment shortly, the Union Minister for Law and Justice, Mr H.R. Bhardwaj, said here today. Speaking at a conference, Mr Bhardwaj said such a policy measure had become ... More

EVENTS
NISIET to host 2-day workshop
HYDERABAD: The National Institute of Small Industry Extension Training (NISIET) will host a two-day State level workshop on `Effective service delivery to the people with active participation of non-Governmental organisations (NGOs)' from ... More

Seminar on valuation at Thiruvananthapuram

In Hyderabad today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Exporter-importer forum formed in Coimbatore
MEMBERS belonging to diverse goods manufacture and service industries in Coimbatore district have floated a new forum under the banner of Coimbatore District Exporters and Importers Association (CDEIA). According to the members, with the ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES
AP CM for Delhi today; to seek drought aid
THE Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, will on his visit to New Delhi on Tuesday seek a cash assistance of Rs 1,093 crore from the National Calamity Contingency Fund and 20 lakh tonnes of rice under the SGRY (Special Component) for wage ... More