The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Call for balance between local and global forces
WHILE the world economy is increasingly moving towards centralising tendencies, strategies for local economic development have become all the more crucial. Vigorous and conscious initiatives for local economic development are critical for ... More

Annual Plan of Chhattisgarh fixed at Rs 4,275 cr
THE annual Plan of Chhattisgarh for 2005-06 has been fixed at Rs 4,275 crore at a meeting here on Monday between the Planning Commission, Deputy Chairman, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the State Chief Minister, Mr Raman Singh. In his ... More

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS

Chidambaram unveils iCERT digital signature project
THE Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidamabaram, on Monday launched the iCERT project by becoming the first recipient of the digital signature certificate from the Directorate General of Systems in the Customs and Central Excise Department, which ... More

Pilot project for e-payment of customs duty on Jan 27
THE Customs Department will launch a pilot project for e-payment of customs duty on January 27, at Air Cargo, Bangalore, through the State Bank of India, the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, announced here today. Speaking at a ... More

HEALTH

Hyderabad hospital performs rare heart surgery
IN a rare surgery, doctors at the Mahavir Hospital here performed a bypass surgery on a 55-year-old man with multiple blocks in his heart, which was on the right side along with the stomach. The doctors performed coronary artery bypass on ... More

Pak girl undergoes surgery in KIMS
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ayesha Shahbaz, a 13-year-old girl from Lahore in Pakistan, diagnosed with an abnormal hole in the heart, underwent surgery at the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) hospital here on Sunday. A team of ... More

Meet on LASIK surgery in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: The LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad, is conducting a `patient information forum' on LASIK surgery on Wednesday (January 26), at the Institute premises. Dr M.S. Sridhar and Dr Prashant Garg, Consultants, Cornea ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE

Kinfra to organise lectures
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: AS part its 12th anniversary celebrations, Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) will organise a series of lectures. Dr Abid Hussain, former member of the Planning Commission and former ... More

PETROLEUM

Petro product sales grow 1.5 pc in Dec
SALES of oil products recorded a flat growth of 1.5 per cent last month. Diesel sales, considered an indicator of economic growth, recorded a marginal slowdown, with a fall of 0.6 per cent in December 2004. Diesel volumes sold through retail ... More

Reliance looks at various modes to transport petro products inland
RELIANCE Industries Ltd is examining a combination of transportation modes to transport its petroleum products to various inland destinations. Thus, the company has before it a proposal for laying a 300-km long pipeline between Haldia and ... More

`Structural changes needed to correct oil PSU distortions'
THE Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Synergy in Energy, Mr V. Krishnamurthy, feels that certain structural changes are required to correct the distortions that have cropped up in the structure of oil PSUs. "Historically, oil PSUs have been ... More

STEEL

VSP capacity to be raised soon: CM
THE capacity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd) will be doubled in due course of time and the State Government will persuade the Centre to clear the proposal, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy, has said. He ... More

TEXTILES

SIMA decries cut in duty drawback rates
THE Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) has lamented the downward revision in the export incentive schemes such as the DEPB and the duty drawback in quick succession and said the changes would cause a setback to textile exports. The ad ... More

SSI

SISI training programme in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: The Small Industries Service Institute (SISI), Hyderabad is organising a 30-day training programme on chemical and instrumental analysis from February 1 for educated, unemployed youth. The programme is aimed at providing ... More

RADIO/TV

Tamil channels ride high on dubbed English movies
SUN TV, leader in the Tamil general entertainment space, has started airing English movies dubbed in Tamil, in what is seen as a response to rival Star Vijay's success with such films last year. The flagship channel of the Sun Network on ... More

EDUCATION

New strategies for higher education mooted
GLOBALISATION of higher education must be considered as an opportunity for the higher education system in the country to grow stronger and meet the aspirations and demands of the younger generation, according to Prof Arun Nigavekar, Chairman of ... More

CIE to expand presence
HYDERABAD: The University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), a UK-based assessments and qualifications organisation, has decided to expand its presence in India. According to Mr Mark Bartholomew, CIE's Regional Manager for ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS

APIDC to set up separate cell to promote biotech
ANDHRA PRADESH Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (APIDC) will set up a separate cell to promote biotechnology in the State. A cell to attract non-resident Indians to invest in the State is also mooted. Mr S. Indrasain Reddy, who assumed ... More

IPR

`Changes to Patent Act in the interest of consumers, industry'
THE Government today reiterated that the amendments to the Patents Act were made keeping in mind the interests of the consumer and the domestic industry. In an interactive session organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and ... More

`Scrap Patents Ordinance'
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), a leading non-government organisation, has demanded the withdrawal of the Patent Rules Amendment Ordinance. A resolution to this effect was passed at the meeting of the ... More

EVENTS

`Stonemart 2005' to open on Jan 28
THE third India `Stonemart 2005' opens on January 28 at Jaipur. Stonemart 2005, the super market of stones and stone products is a fair organised by the Centre for Development of Stones (CDOS), with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce ... More

In Hyderabad today

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Relief for exporters sourcing indigenously
EXPORTERS looking to undertake indigenous sourcing of inputs or capital goods under various export promotion schemes may have reason to cheer. As part of its efforts to bring down transaction costs, the Department of Commerce has now held that ... More

Dip in December garment exports
THE maximum utilisation of textile product quotas till November 2004 in certain categories and some ban clamped on a few categories have together caused the garments exports to decline both in volume and in value from India during the final month ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

Survey finds upheavals, subsidence in Andamans
PRELIMINARY observations by the Survey of India (SOI) of the tsunami-hit Andaman and Nicobar region suggest that while some islands have had upheavals, others experienced subsidence. The movements of the islands have not been uniform either in ... More

Murugappa group offer to fishermen hit by tsunami
A.M.M. Foundation of the Murugappa group, which has spent more than Rs 2.5 crore towards tsunami relief, is offering fishermen technology to build synthetic catamarans, and other technologies developed by the Sri A.M.M. Murugappa Chettiar ... More

Survival International concerned over poaching in Jarawa reserves
SURVIVAL International has sent a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands expressing concern about poaching in Jarawa reserves. Mr Stephen Corry, Director-General of the organisation wrote, "Survival has received ... More

ZSI study on tsunami impact on marine system
THE Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has undertaken a survey along the Indian Coast starting from Gulf of Mannar, to study the impact of tsunami on marine eco-system, including reef and mangroves. According to the Joint Director of ZSI, Dr K. ... More

Contributions to The Hindu Relief Fund

TOURISM

Hospitality training programme unveiled in AP
AS part of a nation-wide hospitality campaignthe Union Minister of Tourism has unveiled the Athithi Devo Bhavah programme in Andhra Pradesh. Taxi drivers, dhaba staffers, people manning petrol pumps and tourist guides will be ... More

Buddhist conclave in Guntur
HYDERABAD: About two lakh Buddhists from all over the world will gather at the popular Buddhist site Amaravathi, near Guntur, early next year. Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader, will arrive in the State some six weeks ahead of the ... More