Accountancy
IRDA chief asks ICAI to reorient syllabus
THE Chairman of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA), Mr. N. Rangachary, on Thursday told the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) that the institute had to accept accounting firms from other countries practicing in Ind
ia.
Airlines
AI to retender for A-310 dry lease
AIR INDIA (AI) will shortly refloat global tenders for the dry lease of 3-5 Airbus A-310 aircraft to operate additional flights, including services to the Gulf sector, senior airline officials said.
IA sees low bookings on Varanasi-Kathmandu sector
THE Indian Airlines service between Varanasi and Kathmandu, which begins operations from July 1, is reporting mixed booking loads, unlike the recently reintroduced flights between Delhi, Calcutta and Kathmandu which reported passenger loads in excess of
80 per cent from day one.
Automobiles
Tata Engg `confident' on Indica
WHILE most passenger car manufacturers have revised their sales estimates downward consequent to the slowdown in the automobile industry, Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co Ltd (Telco), manufacturer of the Tata Indica, is still confident of selling 90,00
0 cars during the current financial year.
Banking and Finance
RBI streamlines norms for NBFCs, RNBCs
NON-BANKING finance companies have been permitted to accept deposits from the relatives of the directors subject to adequate disclosure to the depositors in this regard, outside the purview of public deposits.
Commodities
Maran assures support in clearing tobacco stocks
THE tobacco industry, faced with teething problems in stock clearance at auctions, has been assured of all support by the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran.
Corporate
Reliance raises offer price for BSES
RELIANCE Industries Ltd, together with its subsidiary, Reliance Power Ventures Ltd, today revised upwards its open offer price for acquisition of 20 per cent shares of BSES Ltd to Rs. 255 per share from the earlier offer price of Rs. 234.60.
ICICI plans holding co for e-com arms
ICICI Ltd plans to form a holding company for all its e-commerce subsidiaries and list it on the overseas bourses at a later date.
Tata Steel Q1 output, sales up
AN increase of 13 per cent in domestic sales and four per cent in exports marks the operations of Tata Steel in the first quarter to June of the current financial year.
RIL, OIL pact in July for Assam cracker
THE gas supply agreement for the Assam Gas Cracker Project will be signed by the first week of July between Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL).
CUMI earmarks Rs. 31.83 cr for buyback
Murugappa group, has earmarked a sum of Rs. 31.83 crores for buying back 27,67,000 shares representing 23 per cent of its paid-up capital. The amount of Rs. 31.83 crores represents 25 per cent of the company's share capital and free reserves.
Dadlani to head Hindustan Dorr
AS part of its on-going process to attract professionals in top positions in the companies in India, the Dubai-based Jumbo Group of Mr. M.R. Chhabria has been able to appoint three MDs in the past six months. The latest appointee is Mr. Suresh Dadlani, w
ho has taken over as MD of Hindustan Dorr Oliver Ltd (HDOL).
MRPL incurs Rs 300 cr net loss
MANGALORE Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has reported a net loss of Rs. 300 crores for the financial year ended March 31, 2000. The company had recorded a profit of Rs. 14.06 crores for the same period last year.
UTI Chairman is SHCIL chief
STOCK Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL) has got a new chief after a gap of about nine months. The board of directors at a meeting held here on Friday appointed Unit Trust of India Chairman, Mr. P.S. Subramanyam, as the non-executive Chairman of SH
CIL.
Economy
Govt cuts EPF rate to 11 pc -- Ignores trustees' recommendation
IN an unprecedented move, the Government has reduced the interest on Employees Provident Fund (EPF) deposits from 12 per cent to 11 per cent with effect from April 1, overruling the recommendation of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the EPF Organis
ation (EPFO) not to effect any cut for the current fiscal.
GDP growth estimate raised to 6.4 pc
THE Government has revised upwards its estimate of growth in the country's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 1999-2000 to 6.4 per cent, as against the earlier estimate of 5.9 per cent.
`Specialised court for IPR issues soon'
THE Government will set up an Intellectual Property Appellate Board as a specialised court to deal only with intellectual property related issues, the Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Ajit K
umar, has said.
Transaction value-based excise assessment from today
THE `transaction value-based excise assessment', announced in the 2000-01 Budget, will come into effect from Saturday, with the Finance Ministry outlining the manner in which value will be determined in cases, where excisable goods do not fall under the
ambit of the new system.
Excise and customs law
Excise record norms relaxed
MANUFACTURERS would no longer be required to maintain statutory excise records with the Finance Ministry switching over to the system of accepting private records.
Health
Consortium to set up DNA chip tech unit
INDIAN pharma major Biological E, global drug giant Amersham Pharmacia, and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), the country's leading biotech lab, have come together to establish India's first `DNA Chip' technology facility in Hyderabad
.
Impact
Bhagyanagar Metals: Buyback beckons
SOME near-term interest may emerge in the Bhagyanagar Metals' stock following the specifics of the second buyback proposal by the company.
Fertiliser stocks: Lowered prices
THE downward revision of retention prices payable to fertiliser companies following a reassessment of capacities by the Government may lead to a continuation of the sluggish price trends in the stocks in this sector.
Gulshan Sugars: Three-way split
THE proposed three-way split of Gulshan Sugars may not have any significant influence on the valuation of the stock.
Information Technology
For Mahajan the next destination is China
AFTER Singapore, the US, and the Europe, the Union Information Technology Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan's latest overseas destination is China.
IBM gets Indian patent for software
IBM, the global computer giant has obtained an Indian patent for a software product for management of software programmes in a data processing system.
Infrastructure
2 bids for Bangalore intl airport project -- It's Siemens, Hochtief consortia
ONLY two German consortia have finally retained interest in the Rs. 1,500-crore Bangalore international airport project. At the end of the day today when the bids were opened there were only two.
Miscellaneous
Arvind Mills posts Rs 271 cr net loss
AHMEDABAD: Arvind Mills Ltd (AML) has seen its bottomline plunge to a net loss position of Rs. 271.43 crores during 1999-00 against a net profit of Rs. 14.47 crores in 1998-99. This poor performance came on an enhanced net sales of Rs. 1,215.97 crores wh
ich went up from Rs. 906.38 crores in the previous year. The other income was at Rs. 35.23 crores (Rs. 45.68 crores).
PM's pat for `Maharaja'
AFTER receiving brick bats from the travelling public, Air India has received praise from none other than the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee.
JTC may draw up plan for TN hi-tech park
JTC International, Singapore is likely to get the mandate to do the masterplanning for the proposed hi-tech industrial park at Nanguneri, near Tuticorin.
Match-fixing: `Cheating offence compoundable'
THE Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, has clarified that the controversy arising out of cricket `match-fixing', has taken an ugly turn with many a reputation being tarnished, based on his statement, it may lead to a
long-drawn litigations without any result.
Mutual Funds
Anagram MF scheme wound up
ANAGRAM Mutual Fund today formally closed the books of its maiden and only scheme _ Anagram Income Scheme-97 (AIS-97). It is said to be the first such closure in the country's mutual funds industry.
PSU
Transparent chaos
EVEN as the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) accorded `in-principle' approval last week for equity divestment in and privatisation of a host of PSUs to achieve the Rs. 10,000-crore target set for the current fiscal, the ground realities, a
s far as the actual implementation is concerned, are far removed from the apparent show of an exercise in transparency.
Petrochemicals
Indo Rama hikes product prices
INDO Rama Synthetics (I) Ltd (IRSL) on Friday announced the revised prices for its products that would be applicable from July 1.
Power
To expedite fast-track power projects -- Counter-guarantee norms may be relaxed
IN a bid to expedite the remaining four `fast track' power projects, the Centre is planning to relax its terms for issuance of the counter-guarantee cover to the project promoters against power purchase default by State governments.
States
Global Investors' Meet ends -- Potential investments at Rs 27,700 cr for Karnataka
KARNATAKA'S ambitious investors' month drew to a close on Friday with a tally of record 250 investment promises -- big and small.
TN policy to lure pvt funds for industrial park ventures
THE Tamil Nadu Government plans to formulate policy to encourage private sector participation in industrial park projects. It also plans to set up a statutory authority to oversee the industrial parks.
Eight States vie for mega chemical industrial estates
EIGHT Indian coastal States -- Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Orissa, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu -- are vying for providing the ideal location to set up a dedicated mega chemical industrial estate for the chemicals and petrochem
ical industry.
FINER plea to redress woes
THE Federation of Industries and Commerce of North-Eastern Region (FINER), in a memorandum to the Chairman of the Standing Committee of Parliament, Ministry of External Affairs, demanded an early solution to the major problems of the North-Eastern region
.
Farm sector thrust to develop Assam
THE North-East Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NECCI) has identified agriculture as one of the thrust areas for development of Assam and has drawn up a series of programmes in this respect. The first programme is a national-level seminar here on `Devel
opment of Agro-products: Key to North-East's Prosperity' on July 6 and 7.
Gammon India to execute Assam hydel project
THE 100-MW Karbi Langpi hydro electric project, which is more known here as the high jinxed project of the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB), never to be completed since 1979, has finally been assigned once again to Gammon India Ltd (GIL) for completi
on by March 2003.
KPTCL, regulatory panel lock horns over licensing
THE Stated-owned transmission company and the regulatory commission in the State have locked horns over the licensing provisions.
Telecommunications
Panel on bandwidth, leased circuits cleared
THE Telecom Commission has approved the setting up of a standing committee on overseeing the provisioning of leased circuits and bandwidth requirements of the Department of Telecom Services (DTS), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) as well as the rest
of the telecom industry.
Fixed telephony norms by the month-end
THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will bring out its guidelines pertaining to licensing issues for fixed service providers by the end of July.
