Agriculture
Horticulture farms planned in wastelands
THE Tamil Nadu Government would take up a massive programme of wasteland development, under which 20 lakh hectares of wasteland would be developed by creating horticulture farms.
Airlines
IA, Jet fare war unlikely on Delhi-Mumbai route
THERE is unlikely to be a fare war this time round on the Delhi-Mumbai and Mumbai-Delhi sectors, as was witnessed during 1999, with Jet Airways (JA) not showing any signs of lowering its fares.
3-year freeze likely on AI equity resale
THE shareholder's agreement for sale of Government equity in Air India (AI) is likely to prohibit the further sale of equity by the successful bidder to another bidder for a period of three years.
Automobiles
No plans to launch cars in luxury segment: Maruti MD
MARUTI Udyog Ltd, the leading car manufacturer in the country, does not intend launching a car for the time being in, what is called, the `D' segment or the premium luxury segment.
Corporate
FIs still out of Modi open offer
THE financial institutions (FIs) continued to be a spoke in the wheel of the Modi brothers' attempts to seize management control of Modi Rubber Ltd (MRL).
Iron ore mining, uranium public utility services
THE Government has declared services in the iron ore mining industry as a public utility service under the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 for another six months from July 10, 2001.
SPIC to get dues from KNPC soon
SOUTHERN Petrochemical Industries Corporation's claim of Rs 58.65 crore from Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), is likely to get settled shortly, SPIC's Vice-Chairman, Mr P.R. Sundaravadivelu, said today.
Industry not pinning hopes on Agra summit
INDIA Inc is disappointed that there is going to be no economic content in the talks between the Indian Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, and Pakistan's President, General Musharaff, and consequently, does not have high expectations of the Agra Summit.
Economy
Assocham plea on `economic NPAs'
THE Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has called for concerted efforts to convert many of the non-performing assets in the economy into performing ones. The chamber is of the view that such a move is warranted to accelerate
the growth momentum of the country.
Implement projects that have been cleared: CII
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will urge the Government to implement (or help implement) the projects that have been cleared and finances tied up. It wants 20 projects in different sectors of infrastructure to be identified and their implemen
tation monitored closely and regularly, Mr Sanjiv Goenka, President, CII, told journalists here today.
Mining Ministers meet today
THE Ministers of Mines from various States will meet here tomorrow at a conference convened by the Union Minister for Mines and Minerals, Mr Sunder Lal Patwa, to deliberate on ways to generate higher growth rates in the sector.
Foreign Trade
Hand in hand
Indian and Pakistani flags adorning Rashtrapati Bhavan on the eve of President Musharraf's historic visit to India.
India, Thailand ratify pact on investments
INDIA and Thailand today ratified an agreement to protect and promote bilateral investments. The instruments of ratification were exchanged by the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, and Thailand's Foreign Minister, Mr Surakiart Sathirathai.
`Indo-US trade ties have plateaued, need new push'
THE existing robust political relationship between India and the US should also get adequately reflected in the commercial ties between them, according to Mr Albert Thibault, Charge d'Affairs a.i of the US.
Export growth target scaled down to 12 pc
AFTER the first quarter of the current fiscal and after carefully monitoring the external situation and domestic dismal industrial scenario, the Commerce Ministry today set an export growth target of 12 per cent in dollar terms at $49.7 billion for 2001-
02, the final year of the Ninth Plan (1997-2002).
Information Technology
No more investment in IT, says Murdoch
MR James Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of the Hong Kong-based Star Group Ltd, on Friday ruled out any further investments in the IT and broadcasting sectors although he was happy with the Indian operations of Star and positive about the Indian technology sec
tor.
Mutual Funds
Banks agree to give UTI loans at sub-PLR
PUBLIC sector banks have indicated their willingness to provide a soft loan to the Unit Trust of India (UTI) at interest rates below their Prime Lending Rates (PLR) to support the package under preparation for the bail-out of the troubled US-64 scheme. T
he loans would be provided against the pledge of securities held by the trust.
Onus of US-64 revamp package on UTI board: Sinha
THE Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, today said that the onus of finalising the package for the US 64 investors was on the UTI board.
BoB sanctions Rs 300-cr credit line to UTI
BANK of Baroda (BoB) has sanctioned a Rs 300-crore line of credit to Unit Trust of India (UTI), senior a bank official said.
PSU
SEBI asked to amend rules on takeover norms
THE Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has requested SEBI to amend the takeover regulations to provide for change of management control, as soon as the Government transfers its shareholding to a strategic partner.
Norms for PSU bidders issued
THE Government today formally issued the guidelines prescribing the qualification criteria for bidders seeking to acquire a stake in public sector enterprises (PSEs) as part of the disinvestment process.
Norms for PSU sell-off advisors
THE Government today issued separate guidelines prescribing the qualification criteria for parties interested to act as advisors to the Government for disinvestment transactions.
Pharmaceuticals
Eli Lilly to put India on its bulk drugs sourcing map
ELI Lilly and Co, a subsidiary of the pharma MNC, expects to make India a global source for its bulk drugs. And while the first signs of this will be evident in six months, the company seeks to increase India's export role as more drugs go off patents, M
r Rajiv Gulati, Managing Director, told reporters here today.
Policy
Finance Ministry clears new debt revamp scheme
THE Ministry of Finance has cleared a new Corporation Debt Restructuring (CDR) mechanism which will usher in a new voluntary mechanism between the borrowers and lenders to restructure ailing but potentially viable corporate entities.
Politics
US Senate confirms Blackwill as Ambassador to India
NEW DELHI: The US Senate has unanimously confirmed Mr Robert D. Blackwill as the new United States Ambassador to India.
States
Karnataka may allow IPPs to bid for distribution cos
THE Karnataka Government is expected to permit independent power producers (IPPs) to bid for the distribution companies (DisCos) proposed to be privatised after unbundling of the State-owned utility.
CII hails emphasis on pvt investment in Kerala Budget
THE Confederation of Indian Industry, Southern Region, has welcomed the emphasis being given on private investment in the Kerala Budget, saying that the Government has finally realised the rapid growth of industries in the neighbouring States through pri
vate participation.
Recovery rates on services dismal in Karnataka: Study
A SECTORAL study on Karnataka has found that recovery rates on various services have sunk to dismal levels during the 1991-99 period.
Andaman & Nicobar annual Plan at Rs 370 cr
THE annual Plan for Andaman and Nicobar Islands for 2001-02 has been fixed at Rs 370 crore at a meeting between the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Mr K.C. Pant and the Lt. Governor Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Mr N.N. Jha.
Karnataka signs MoU for urban governance
IN a step that will pave the way for fiscal discipline in the Bangalore Nagar Palike (BMP), the Karnataka Government entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which a framework will be created for financial and performance parameters of the
BMP will be linked to Government financial assistance and facilitation.
ICICI-Kinfra conceives projects worth Rs 2,000 cr
ICICI-Kinfra, the joint venture between ICICI Ltd and the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra), has conceived projects worth Rs 2,000 crore spread over the next five years.
Environmental directory in the offing
COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) is in the process of formulating an `ambient air quality zoning atlas' for Coimbatore and its environs.
TN likely to frame policy for manufacturing sector
THE Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa, on Friday said the Government would consider a proposal from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to formulate a separate policy for the manufacturing sector. She also agreed to look into a suggestion
to set up a CII-Government task force.
Rs 448-cr deficit in Kerala budget -- Proposals to mobilise Rs 456.40-cr addl funds
ADDITIONAL resource mobilisation proposals to mop up Rs 456.40 crore, enactment of a Private Sector Participation (PSP) Act, formation of an Industrial Growth Fund and a labour legislation to protect investors and households from unfair labour practices
are some of the highlights of the revised Kerala budget for 2001-2002.
Stocks
`Debate, must for market reforms'
THE representatives of BSE Brokers' Forum (Forum) and the association of NSE members in India (ANMI) on Friday said capital markets reforms are being announced in the country without considering its impact on the markets.
Mandatory rolling settlement will enhance liquidity: NSE MD
THOUGH fears have been voiced over the adverse fall out of the introduction of compulsory rolling settlement on stock markets, the trading volume and liquidity are set to go up, according to Mr Ravi Narain, Managing Director, National Stock Exchange (NSE
), Mumbai.
ASE to continue protest against SEBI decisions
THE Ahmedabad Stock Exchange (ASE) Brokers Association, which met here today to chart out the future course of action, has decided to keep off trading on Monday and Tuesday.
Telecommunications
$ 250-m Vizag-Penang cable link on cards
A VITAL $250-million underground submarine cable connectivity project to provide high bandwidth linking up India and Malaysia at Penang has been planned by the Andhra Pradesh Government in league with a consortium of Malaysian companies.
Transport
Need for relook at rail probe options
A REVIEW of the provisions for inquiries into accidents should be a logical extension of the decision to constitute a Rs 17,000-crore Railway Safety corpus, which was made last week at a meeting presided over by the Prime Minister.
