The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, October 01, 2005

IIM B students get pre-placement offers
NEARLY six months before the placement season begins, students of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, have already got a spate of preplacement offers. The 180-student Class of 2006 already has 15 Day Zero preplacement offers and 11 Day ... More

CLIMATE & WEATHER

Southwest monsoon draws to a close
Cloudiness over Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is expected to clear up in another 48 hours and the rains will subside. More

ECONOMY

Despite reduced rankings — `EU economies manage to keep ahead of India, China'

Despite high growth rates, China and India have yet a long way to go to match European competitive edge.

Both countries have yet to go through basic economic, trading and monetary reforms backed by drastic cut in cumbersome bureaucracy and efforts to improve infrastructure. More

Economy logs 8.1 pc growth in Q1 — Manufacturing defies predictions; services up 11.3%
BELYING negative projections, the Government today presented an impressive economic report card that shows that the economy grew 8.1 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal, against 7.6 per cent in April-June 2004. The higher growth ... More

Current account balance turns negative again
THE current account balance, which turned in a modest surplus in the quarter ended March 2005, has turned negative again. For the quarter ended June 2005, current account deficit was about $6.2 billion. Robust increases in both merchandise ... More

Chidambaram looks at 8 pc plus GDP growth in medium term — `Immediate priority must be to stimulate growth in agriculture'
EXUDING optimism over the growth prospects for the rest of the year, the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has said that his aim is to ensure over eight per cent GDP growth in the medium term. "In the medium term, my goal is to grow at over ... More

India gains in global growth index — Finland retains top slot in World Economic Forum rankings
MOVING up by five places, India has been ranked in the 50th position, right after China, in the growth competitiveness index rankings 2005 of the World Economic Forum (WEF). With China having dropped three places to the 49th position, both ... More

ONGC asked to share Rs 2,830-cr subsidy burden in Q2
THE Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has asked ONGC to share Rs 2,830-crore subsidy burden in the second quarter. With this, the company will share a subsidy bill of Rs 5,706 crore during the first half of 2005-06. This is against a ... More

Inflation rises on costly manufactured products
Chromite prices up 35%; barytes rates up 21%. More

China short of crude, but self-sufficient in energy
THE world worries about the effect of China's large and rapidly escalating demand for oil. But this, says Mr Zhang Guobao, Vice-Chairman of China's economic planning agency NDRC, misses the larger picture. China self-supplied 94 per cent of its ... More

External debt declines $1.3 billion
THE country's external debt declined by $1.3 billion during the three-month period between March 31 and June 30. The total external debt stood at $122.1 billion at the end of June against $123.4 billion at the end of March, according to a ... More

ENVIRONMENT

An eco-friendly houseboat
ARIES Marine and Engineering Services, Sharjah, has introduced an eco-friendly solar-powered houseboat - BOTEL — in the India International Boat Show 2005 here on Friday. Considered as an alternative to the traditional houseboats, ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

Pact signed to boost Indo-Australian trade
CHENNAI: Business SA, an Adelaide-based Australian trade association, has signed an agreement with the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce to strengthen trade between the two regions. The agreement provides for exchange of trade ... More

Biz delegation leaves for Senegal, Ghana
IN order to provide a fillip to Government's initiatives for tapping the African markets and for economic cooperation between the two regions, an eight-member business delegation left for Senegal and Ghana recently. According to the Associated ... More

HEALTH

Curing Hepatitis C: Early detection, awareness play key roles
"WHEN I was told that I have liver cirrhosis, I was shocked. Liver cirrhosis is mostly related to consumption of alcohol and I never drink," says Ms Sharda Gupta recalling her emotions after taking a test to detect Hepatitis C. More than nine ... More

PETROLEUM

Govt, industry confident of Euro-II deadline
THE Government and the domestic oil refiners are confident of meeting the deadline of October 1 for introduction of Euro-II fuel in the remaining States which had not converted to this type of fuel earlier. Industry sources said that as per ... More

`Petro price hike not enough to arrest oil marketing cos losses'
THE recent price hike and the proposed oil bonds by the Government may not be enough to arrest the losses of oil marketing companies (OMCs). The partial increase on two petroleum products — petrol and diesel prices — by Rs 3 and Rs ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS

`India ideal for clinical trials'
INDIA is an attractive destination for clinical research for pharmaceutical companies seeking faster and more efficient ways to test drugs, said the latest World Investment Report released by Unctad. The report has estimated that firms can ... More

POWER

APERC proposal for fixing wheeling charges, tariffs
THE Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has come out with a draft proposal to determine wheeling and retail supply charges, inviting suggestions by October 22. According to a statement from the APERC, the multi-year tariff ... More

TAXATION

Leasing of aircraft could get dearer from today
THE leasing of aircraft and engines could become dearer from Saturday with the six-month exemption period provided by the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram on payment of withholding tax on such leasing ending today. The decision to impose ... More

CII urges TN to implement VAT early
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tamil Nadu, has urged the Tamil Nadu Government to implement value-added tax (VAT) in the State at the earliest. In a statement, the CII said that in view of the recent reports of BJP-ruled States ... More

CONSULTING

RK Swamy floats new consulting division
R K Swamy BBDO has launched a speciality consulting group — Collage — in the areas of branding, design and creative services. According to a press release from the agency, the group will be separate from the agency's mainline ... More

PAPER, BOARD & NEWSPRINT

Paper mills to raise prices
KOLKATA: Almost all large paper mills have decided to revise prices of writing and printing paper to neutralise the impact of the recent price hike petroleum products, which are used for manufacturing paper. The revision of paper prices ... More

TEXTILE MACHINERY

Textile machinery production up 25 pc
THE production of textile machinery, their parts and accessories went up last fiscal by 25 per cent to Rs 1,668 crore from Rs 1,341 crore in the previous fiscal. This was due to higher investments on modernisation/re-equipment of plant and ... More

PAINTS

Paint companies likely to hike prices post-festive season
WITH crude oil prices showing no signs of receding, paint companies are likely to go in for a price hike after the festive season. Mr Subir Bose, Managing Director, Berger Paints, said that the company would increase prices by about three to ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

India attracted $5-b FDI in 2004, says Unctad
The report foresees Chinese, Indian and Korean firms accounting for an increasing proportion of an expected continued growth in FDI outflows from the Asia and Oceania region during 2005. More

FDI inflows into developing nations up 40%: Unctad
THE UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) foresees favourable prospects for foreign direct investment (FDI) worldwide this year. Even at $648 billion, world FDI flows in 2004 saw a slight rebound after three years of plummeting ... More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Tread warily on MFI loans; but spare a thought for rural poor
MFIs have access to collateral free, soft interest loans that comes with almost no conditionalities — on an unlimited scale today. The money mela of MFIs in the rural areas looks more than a trifle scary. More

Computer Revolution in AP villages
A GROUP of illiterate women from the Addakal mandal in Mahboobnagar district gave a PowerPoint presentation to Mr Brad Smith, Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of Microsoft Corporation, explaining how information technology transformed ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES

Team Healthcare nurses training centre to match US, UK needs
TEAM Healthcare World (THW), a wholly owned subsidiary of the US-based Innovative HealthCare Group Inc (IHG), has adopted a sustainable model to grow its venture of staffing nurses to the UK and US markets. The company has invested ... More

LABOUR REFORMS

Laid-off workers may get higher compensation — Govt plans to amend Industrial Disputes Act
THE Government is planning to amend the Industrial Disputes Act to increase the compensation for laid-off workers. Simultaneously, it is working on a proposal to keep out units employing up to 300 workers from the purview of the Act. The plan ... More

INTERVIEW

`Govt must refund service tax to exporters thro' drawback route'
THE Indian garment industry has been in the thick of news after the end of the quota regime at the inception of 2005 when it was plagued by conflicting statistics about its export performance as the months rolled by — those from DGCI&S, ... More

EVENTS

Blood donation camp today
HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh AIDS Control Society (APSACS) is organising a blood donation camp at Visweswarayya Bhavan in Khairatabad, marking the Blood Donation Day. "Over 500 students and youth are expected to donate and support the ... More

Time to remember
More

INCOME TAX

CBDT extends stay
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the stay on all assessments and recovery proceedings related to assessments reopened specifically to reassess the claim for deduction under Section 80HHC of the Income-Tax ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Maharashtra's plastic bag ban may impact exports from entire country
As per the Basel Convention, to which India is a signatory, if a country prohibits a particular article, either on the production or consumption front, that country cannot trade in that product internationally. More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

Settle flood claims soon, says Deshmukh
THE Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, has made an appeal to insurance companies to settle all the claims arising out of the recent floods in the State at the earliest. Mr Deshmukh said the State had suffered losses of about Rs ... More

TOURISM

Tourism awards for hotels
HYDERABAD: Green Park Hotel has won the `Best four star hotel' award instituted by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) for the third consecutive time. Mr K.V. Madhu Nair, Vice-President (Operations) of Green Park ... More

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