Advertising & Marketing
Peoplemeter leaks arrive in Chennai
EVEN as the broadcasting industry is just coming to terms with the leakage of lists of households in Mumbai where peoplemeters were placed, similar lists of households in Chennai are also doing the rounds today.
Cigarettes
Poor nations contribute bulk of world smokers
THE number of smokers in the world is estimated to increase from the current level of 1.1 billion to 1.6 billion by 2025. Though there is a decline in the consumption of cigarettes in the developed countries, smoking is increasing in the developing natio
ns.
Corporate
Bidders concerned over VSNL valuation
AS the deadline for VSNL's loss of monopoly looms closer and the deadline for its disinvestment recedes further, prospective bidders for the 25 per cent stake in VSNL are finding their target less and less attractive.
WorldSpace launches BPL sat receivers
WORLDSPACE Corporation will begin its multimedia services shortly in India, its Chairman and CEO, Mr Noah Samara, said. It is talking to several Indian companies for manufacturing the PC cards which enable the multimedia facility.
`Tata Tea concentrating on reducing debt portfolio'
TATA Tea Ltd wishes to become the world's largest integrated tea company within the next five years, but for now, it is concentrating hard on reduction of its debt portfolio and interest burden to become more cost-competitive.
`Financial recast for manufacturing must'
IT will be six to eight quarters before the manufacturing sector in the country is able to resolve the various issues it is facing and start to build competitiveness, according to Mr K.V. Kamath, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Ltd.
Amitabh quit for his own reasons: Tejpal
MR AMITABH Bachchan's AB Corp is planning to go public and this would have led to a conflict of interest if the actor was to continue on the board of another media company, said Mr Tarun Tejpal, Editor, Tehelka.com, said accounting for Mr Bachchan quitti
ng the board of his controversial company.
Courts
Consumer forum sends warrant to PF Commissioner in Chennai
A NON-BAILABLE arrest warrant has been issued by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chennai (South), against the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner for default in complying with the order of the forum directing the PF Commissioner to settl
e the claims of a subscriber within the stipulated time.
Economy
McKinsey report pegs 13-point reforms plan
AT a time when the Union Government is virtually at its wit's end to devise ways to halt the industrial slowdown and accelerate economic growth, any reforms package assuring a 10 per cent annual GDP growth must be music to the ears of policy-makers.
US support for market reform
THE US Ambassador to India, Mr Robert D. Blackwill, today announced the beginning of a US-backed second phase of assistance to financial markets reform in India.
Sinha expects recovery after investment hike
THE Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, has expressed his hope that the economic downturn will be reversed with the step up in investment in key areas that have been identified at the initiative of the Prime Minister.
Foreign Trade
Call for freeing Indo-Pak trade
INDIAN and Pakistani businesses have called for freeing of trade between the two countries to enhance business relations in view of the fact that legal bilateral trade between the two was only a fraction of illegal or indirect trade between them.
Health
Ayurvedic centre coming up in AP
THE Department of Tourism and Culture has paved the way for the introduction of the Kerala ayurvedic medicine systems in Andhra Pradesh by Santhigiri Ayurveda & Siddha Vaidyasala of Thiruvanthapuram at ``Pragati Sparsh'', a health village at Proddutur, 3
5 km from here.
Information Technology
HP pulls out of CMC race
COMPUTING giant Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) has withdrawn from participating in the disinvestment of State-owned CMC Ltd, citing ``limited synergies'' between the two companies.
DD Metro goes romantic
INDIAN version of Mills and Boon, a handful of serials from the National Film Development Corporation (NDFC), may be among the fare that Doordarshan Metro will dole out as part of the new programming schedule.
Infrastructure
Chhattisgarh in talks with China for power project
THE Government of Chhattisgarh has negotiated a 500 MW power plant deal with China for construction of a power plant in the State. This was revealed by Chief Minister, Mr Ajit Jogi, at an interactive meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here on Thursday.
Mutual Funds
UTI real estate holdings may go into reserve fund
THE Unit Trust of India (UTI) is likely to transfer its real estate holdings aggregating over Rs 800 crore to the trust's development reserve fund (DRF). The move is a precursor to bringing the Unit Scheme-1964 (US-64), UTI's largest scheme, to make it l
inked to the net asset value (NAV).
Paper/Packaging
Decks being cleared for reopening of Punalur mill
THE prospects for the reopening of Punalur paper mill, which has been lying closed for nearly 14 years, have brightened with most of the key issues in the way of a final settlement being sorted out.
Petroleum
`Continued LPG subsidy spells doom for pvt marketeers'
THE Indian LPG Industries Association has said that the Government has not kept up its promise of withdrawing subsidy on LPG, which has led to its members making ``thunderous losses''.
Pharmaceuticals
Wockhardt buys out Rhein in jt venture
THE Mumbai-based drug maker, Wockhardt Ltd, has bought out its partner, Rhein Biotech GmbH in the 50:50 joint venture company - Wockhardt Rhein Biopharm Ltd - in a non-cash deal.
Power
KPTCL signs pact for power from Ennore scheme
THE Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with Power Trading Corporation (PTC), making a commitment to offtake 300 MW from Ennore LNG project in 2005-06.
AP seeks 300 MW from Centre
THE Andhra Pradesh Government has requested the Centre to arrange for emergency power assistance of 300 MW to the State till the end of September and help tide over the crisis.
`Enron will complete second phase'
ENRON Corporation has given a commitment that it will complete the second phase of the Dabhol power project despite having said that it will exit from India, the Director-General of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mr Tarun Das, said here on Wedne
sday.
States
Bengal telecom circle sets higher revenue target
THE West Bengal Telecom Circle of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has targeted a revenue of Rs 429 crore in the current fiscal. In 2000-2001, BSNL's West Bengal circle generated a revenue of Rs 310 crore, according to Mr R.V. Datar, Chief General Manager
of BSNL's West Bengal Circle.
Food-for-work grains released
UNDER ``food-for-work'' programme during 2001-02, about 18.41 lakh tonnes of foodgrains have been released to the drought/flood and natural calamity affected States namely, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Raj
asthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.
Stocks
SEBI puts scam onus on broker, FII, OCB nexus -- `No regulation, monitoring of funds flow'
THE Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has established a clear nexus between brokers, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and overseas corporate bodies (OCBs) which led to the crash in stock prices soon after Budget 2001-2002 in its interim
report on the stock scam.
SEBI wants OCBs out of markets
THE Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has recommended a ban on investments by overseas corporate bodies (OCB) in the domestic capital markets, following evidence of large-scale irregularities in their dealings.
Taxation
Net direct tax mop-up may fall way short of target
A MASSIVE shortfall in the Centre's budgeted net direct tax collections of Rs 85,275 crore seems almost certain going by the trends during the first five months of the current fiscal.
Textiles
TN textile workers seek interim relief
THE textile workers trade unions have asked the Tamil Nadu Government to come out with an interim relief for the textile workers pending settlement of the wage dispute.
Transport
`Rly electrification will help cut fuel costs'
WHILE the debate on electric traction versus diesel, from the viability standpoint, still continues to rage among railway experts, opinions seem to converge over the viewpoint that electrification on the Indian Railways should be sustained, so that fuel
costs in the long range can be contained. It is broadly agreed that in the case of railways, a primary energy source other than oil was now available within the country in the form of electricity generated by coal-based power houses and hydel power units
.
