The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, August 21, 2004

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
PM stresses on need to tap non-conventional energy
AMID surging international oil prices, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Friday said that efforts would be reduce reliance on crude oil by tapping the potential offered by renewable energy sources like hydro, biomass and solar ... More

Biodiesel union inks pact with UK-based co
THE Coimbatore District Jatropha Biodiesel Producers' Union has entered into an agreement with the UK-based D1 Oils Ltd for developing an India-based feedstock supply of jatropha seeds, processing and refining of the seeds and marketing of ... More

With new vigour
A street child with the banner brought by school children during a formation of a human chain to observe Rajiv Gandhi Renewable Energy Day at India Gate on Friday. — Ramesh Sharma ... More

ECONOMY
Core sector growth up 7.4 pc in July
THE slowdown in cement and steel sectors notwithstanding, the official six-industry infrastructure index has notched a higher year-on-year growth rate of 6 per cent during April-July 2004, compared with 4.2 per cent for the same period last ... More

Inflation scales up on costlier fuel, metals
THE annual wholesale price index-based inflation surged to a new three-and-a-half year high of 7.96 per cent during the week ended August 7, largely due to rise in fuel and metal prices, according to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce ... More

House panel urges steps to boost tax-GDP ratio
A PARLIAMENTARY Committee has expressed "grave concern" over the low tax-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in India compared not only to developed countries but many developing countries as well. The country's tax-GDP ratio slipped to 9.2 per ... More

Business Confidence Index drops 11.6 pc
THE Business Confidence Index (BCI) being monitored and tracked by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) to gauge corporate confidence factor, has dipped by 11.6 per centage points in the latest round over the previous ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
Classification row over palm oil import duty
CLASSIFICATION disputes are seemingly endemic to edible oils, more so with regard to palm oil. Crude palm oil (CPO) currently attracts a basic Customs duty of 65 per cent, while the duty is 75 per cent on both RBD (refined, bleached, ... More

FOREIGN TRADE
`SAFTA will be operational in 2006'
ADDRESSING the captains of Indian industry at the SAARC Economic Co-operation Conference here on Friday, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr E.V.K.S. Elangovan, said that he was confident that South Asian Free Trade Area ... More

PETROLEUM
ONGC to enter petrol retailing by fiscal-end
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation will enter the petroleum retailing business this fiscal. In the first phase, the company will open retail outlets under the ONGC brand name to be followed by outlets of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
`Excessive price control may result in drugs shortage'
REMEMBER how a clutch of Aspirin brands, including the popular Disprin, became scarce in the market about three years ago? Price control was the ostensible villain in that piece, making it unviable for companies to produce the drug and thus ... More

Pharma cos fear fall in investments
PHARMACEUTICAL majors are perturbed about the Government's intentions to monitor prices of drugs with a turnover of over Rs 1 crore. Top officials of companies expressed concerns about the growing Government intervention. According to Dr Brian ... More

POWER
Spread info on energy-efficient technology, says Kerala Chief Secy
EFFORTS need to be taken to provide members of the public with information on the techniques they can adopt to improve the efficiency of energy usage at home and work, and thus bring down overall energy consumption, said Mr Babu Jacob, Chief ... More

STEEL
Bid to curb inflation — Import duties on steel cut
IN a second round of fiscal measures to curb inflation, the Government on Friday announced reduction of Customs duty on non-alloy steel, melting scrap for iron and steel and ships for breaking. Customs duty on non-alloy steel has now been ... More

TEXTILES
Validity of textile export quotas extended
THE Ministry of Textiles has extended the time for validity of export quotas under the `ready-goods' entitlement category by two weeks. The last date for validity of the quotas originally fixed as August 14, has now been extended till August 31, ... More

SSI
TN match-box units to stop production
PRODUCTION of match-boxes and movement of match bundles are to be halted between August 26 and September 5. According to a meeting of the Match Traders and Manufactures Association, held at Kovilpatti, near here recently, the step is to prevent ... More

WATER
Rainwater harvesting at Eramalloor
KOCHI: The South Indian Bank, as part of its village centric development programme, has set up a rainwater harvesting project at Chellanam panchayat near here in association with Women Initiative Network (WIN), Eramalloor. The project, ... More

COAL
CIL sets its sights on coal gas
THE conventional method of exploiting coal reserves is set to change in the coming years as State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) is keen on producing natural gas from coal instead of producing only raw coal. Though the Coal Ministry has directed ... More

RADIO/TV
ESPN-Star, Zee in slanging match over cricket telecast
EVEN as the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) ponders over the coveted cricket telecast rights for the next four years, the two top bidders, ESPN-Star Sports and Zee Telefilms, are engaged in a game of allegations and ... More

Govt examining issues on lapsed convergence Bill
THE Government is examining various issues relating to the lapsed Convergence Bill including whether or not to have a single regulator to deal with carriage and content. A final view would be taken early next year. "The Bill was considered in ... More

EDUCATION
MoUs with foreign varsities: Govt withdraws norms
INDIAN universities no longer need to get clearances from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) before entering into collaborations with foreign universities. The Government on Friday withdrew some of the guidelines issued in 2003 ... More

US management students see better scope in India
REAMS of paper have been written on India's role in the global economic scene. And also about how hundreds of Americans have been `Bangalored' (term used for getting laid off because of outsourcing to the IT city), thus creating a backlash in the ... More

NID, IIM to promote start-ups
AHMEDABAD: Ahmedabad-based National institute of Design (NID) has tied up with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) to promote new up-start enterprises through the use of common facilities for product design and development. The ... More

AIR-CONDITIONERS & REFRIGERATORS
Refrigerator sales way behind projections
"The revival of the monsoon during the latter part of the season might just help the sector post a growth of 5 per cent." More

GEMS & JEWELLERY
Urban co-ops unhappy with 90-day norm for gold loans
THE recent circular of the Reserve Bank of India directing the urban cooperative banks (UCBs) to implement a 90-day NPA norm for gold loans with effect from March 31, 2005, has come as a surprise to those in this sector. "A humane approach is ... More

MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS
Healthcare on Hiranandanis' radar
"IT was not even a dream that Hiranandanis will create a hospital some day," says 87-year old Dr L.H. Hiranandani, a Padmabushan award winner and renowned ENT surgeon. But having recently established the 130-bed multi-speciality Dr L.H. ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Gold medal for AP scientist
HYDERABAD: Dr U.C. Kulshrestha, scientist, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, has been selected for the `M.S. Krishnan Gold Medal' by the Indian Geophysical Union (IGU), for the year 2004. The medal would be ... More

CINEMA
Telugu film industry to bear the brunt of Karnataka ban
THE Telugu film industry is in for a big jolt with the ban on direct release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka coming into force last Friday. The ban, announced by the Karnataka Film Producers Association and some other local groups, bars ... More

EVENTS

In Hyderabad today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Tea import bill rises 83 pc to Rs 13 cr
THE volume of tea import in the first quarter of this year has increased significantly despite a marginal fall in the unit price of the landed tea. According to industry sources, India imported 2,116 tonnes of tea at an average c.i.f price of ... More

TOURISM
Tourism hubs to come up in 31 villages
THE Government has identified 31 villages across the country to be developed as tourism hubs. Besides developing infrastructure in and around these villages, art, culture, handicrafts and other traditional heritage will be showcased with the ... More

`Tourism set to account for 35% of Uttaranchal GDP in 5 yrs'
THE Uttaranchal Government is going all out to ensure that the tourism sector contributes to around 35 per cent of the State's gross domestic product within the next five years. At present, tourism sector accounts for 20 per cent of ... More

Bid to sell TN as tourist spot `paying'
A THREE-PRONGED strategy adopted by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) to hard-sell Tamil Nadu as a preferred tourist destination among domestic and international tourists, seems to be paying off with a jump in tourist ... More

Tourism meet in Delhi
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) will hold its fifth Global Travel and Tourism Summit in New Delhi in April 2005. The Capital was selected as the host city for the event by the WTTC's executive committee, ... More