Airlines
IA hikes fares by 15 pc -- Introduces `day return', `specific flight' concept
INDIAN Airlines on Friday announced a hike of up to 15 per cent in its rupee fares on select domestic sectors as part of its flexi-fare module which covers 68 of the 165 sectors on which the airline operates and comes into effect from May 25.
Bangalore international airport opening set for December 2004
THE S.M. Krishna Government has set a new timeframe for the proposed Bangalore international airport and expects to commission the Rs 1,300-crore project in December 2004.
Corporate
RPL offers exit route to shareholders thru GDR
RELIANCE Petroleum Ltd (RPL) on Friday announced an exit route to its shareholders through an international GDR offering. The company has offered to convert its existing equity shares into global depository receipts.
GACL issues 9.8 pc stake to Warburg Pincus for Rs 180 cr
EQUITY investor Warburg Pincus is making an initial investment of Rs 180 crore in Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd (GACL), in lieu of which the cement major is issuing a 9.8 per cent equity stake.
DCA amends accounting record rules
THE Department of Company Affairs (DCA) has issued four notifications amending the Cost Accounting Records (Chemical Industries) Rules, 1987, Cost Accounting Records (Engineering Industries) Rules, 1984, Cost Accounting Records (Motor vehicles) Rules, 19
97 and Cost Accounting Records (Steel Plant) Rules, 1990 with immediate effect.
Andersen's fairy tale
REPORTING on financial misdemeanours by US corporates in collusion with their auditors is threatening to become a full time job! All those being caught in the net of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are not fly-by-night operators out for a
kill, but big fish with a reputation to lose.
Courts
Court restrains NAIL from using the word `Lion'
THE Bombay High Court has disallowed the use of word `Lion' to the breakaway group of former unhappy members of International Association of Lions Clubs who floated separate club by the name of National Association of Indian Lions (NAIL).
Economy
Nothing anti-labour about reforms: PM
THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today said that there was anything ``anti-labour'' in the Government's proposed amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act and the Contract Labour Act.
Ex-chief secy may head pension reforms panel
THE former Chief Secretary of Karnataka, Mr B.K. Bhattacharya, may head the high-level expert group to be constituted by the Centre to suggest reforms in pensions scheme operative for the Government sector.
Foreign Trade
FICCI inks pact with Chinese SEZ
THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Guangdong Province Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Council for Promotion of International Trade have entered into an MoU to concretise the institutional arrangement between the ind
ustry and business of India and Guangdong Province for mutual benefit.
EDI: Customs Dept, CLA online link from June 1
THE electronic data interchange (EDI) system between the Central Licensing Authority (CLA) and the Customs Department would be operational from June 1, the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Mr N.L. Lakhanpal, said here today.
Information Technology
Satyam Info, RPG Netcom venture off
THE joint venture between Satyam Infoway Ltd and RPG Netcom Ltd for providing broadband Internet services through cable network has been called off.
PSU
SEBI to be consulted on VSNL open offer
THE disinvestment programme for VSNL whereby 25 per cent of the Government's stake in the company will fetch the winning bidder strategic control as well, will be completed in August.
Petroleum
Naik rules out hike in petro product prices
THE Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik, has ruled out any immediate hike in the prices of petroleum products in the context of the high global crude prices which are hovering at around $28 per barrel.
Politics
Hard times ahead
BAD times are ahead for the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and his NDA coalition Government. Not on account of his knee operation that is due in June and which will confine the Prime Minister in his Mumbai hospital room for a good two to three
weeks.
Shipping
Shipping board worried over stagnation of tonnage
THE National Shipping Board (NSB) at its 101st meeting here on Friday expressed concern over the stagnating of Indian shipping tonnage.
States
Uphill task for UDF Govt in Kerala
FOR the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government led by the Congress leader Mr A.K. Antony, which has assumed power in Kerala on Thursday, it is going to be an uneasy sail if it does not depart from the usual rhetorics of political expediency.
Nabard disburses Rs 76-cr refinance in Assam
DURING 2000-01, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) disbursed a total amount of Rs 76.13 crore as refinance to various banks in Assam. Mr K.V. Raghavulu, Chief General Manager of the bank, recently visiting the Sivasagar bran
ch, said that during the year Nabard also disbursed Rs 53 crore to the State under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for installation of shallow tube wells.
Task force on creation of job opportunities in J&K
THE Planning Commission has decided to set up a task force to suggest ways and means of creating additional job opportunities for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. The task force will have representatives from apex chambers of commerce, Planning Commission
and the Home Ministry.
Bengal CM for working relationship with Centre
THE new Left Front Ministry in West Bengal is all for a ``working relationship with the Centre, with or without Ms Mamata Banerjee'', the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said.
Inspection clinic for petrol vehicles
MUMBAI: Increase in vehicle population and the absence of a maintenance culture has added to the problem of pollution and safety, Mr K.K. Gandhi, Senior Advisor, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said.
Bengal Ministry sworn in
A 48-MEMBER Left Front Ministry with Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as Chief Minister was sworn in here on Friday by Mr Viren J.Shah, West Bengal's Governor, before a nearly 2000-strong assemblage, which included industrialists, artistes; but few political
rivals.
Stocks
SEBI report traces fund transfers to CSE brokers -- Ketan Parekh group firms implicated
KETAN Parekh group firms transferred nearly Rs 1,000 crore to Calcutta brokers between October 2000 and early March 2001 to pay up for the losses or marked-to-market margins, according to the preliminary report of the Securities & Exchange Board of India
(SEBI).
Singhvi retires from SEBI
THE capital market watchdog, SEBI, will be minus its head of investigations and surveillance department as the Senior Executive Director, Mr L.K. Singhvi's term in office comes to an end today.
Taxation
Shome report stresses on sales tax reform by States
THE Tenth Plan Tax Advisory Group headed by the Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Dr Parthasarathy Shome, is understood to have plumped for proactive and rational tax me
asures by the State Governments with a view to garnering more receipts.
Telecommunications
TRAI pegs WLL rental at Rs 450-550
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has fixed the monthly rentals for limited mobility basic services based on Wireless in Local Loop (WLL), at between Rs 450 and Rs 550.
Basic operators not full satisfied
ALTHOUGH not fully satisfied with the latest directive of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regarding rentals for limited mobility services, the basic telecom operators have found the order ``reasonable to a large extent''.
Textiles
`Steps soon to boost textile industry'
THE Government would strive to put in place a conducive policy environment that would enable the domestic textile industry to emerge stronger in the post-2004 period when all the existing quotas would be completely dismantled, the Textiles Secretary, Mr
Anil Kumar, said here.
