Agriculture
Post-QR import surge won't be allowed: Govt
THE Government today sought to assure growers and the domestic industry that suitable mechanisms including tariff as well as `safeguard measures' were available with it to protect their interests in case of a sudden surge in imports after the complete di
smantling of quantitative restrictions (QRs) from April 1.
Banking and Finance
ICICI to offload stake in bank
ICICI has decided to relent to the pressure from the Reserve Bank of India and dilute its stake in ICICI Bank.
Budget
Why the hype and hoopla over Budget
ON Wednesday, as the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, will rise to present the 2001-2002 Budget in Parliament, a familiar train of events will get under way in pockets of the economy.
Mamata: Soft now, hard later?
WITH the Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, expected to present a soft budget, a mid-course correction in tariffs cannot be ruled out in the ensuing fiscal.
`Budget must carry forward reforms'
THE 2001-02 Budget should have as its components accelerated disinvestment programmes, measures to control the fiscal deficit, increased spending on creating infrastructure and removal of dividend tax.
Corporate
Godrej Soaps acquires brands
GODREJ Soaps has acquired its brands for toilet soaps, chemicals, soaps, cosmetics and other products manufactured and marketed and/or distributed by it from its holding company, Godrej & Boyce. The price for acquiring the trademarks is Rs 180 million.
Patent hunters haunt ashwagandha
AFTER neem, turmeric and karela, the latest target of patent hunters across the world is ashwagandha, a wonder plant predominantly found in India. Widely used for its therapeutic value, ashwagandha has been present in ayurvedic formulations for centuries
.
IDBI to fund film industry soon
THE Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) will soon announce a scheme to finance the film industry.
MCF union strike `postponed'
THE strike called by the MCF Workers' Union, which was supposed to start on Saturday, has been ``postponed'' and ``conciliatory talks'' are currently going on in Mangalore, according to management sources in the UB groups' Mangalore Chemicals and Fertili
sers (MCF).
Economy
Reforms are meant to help workers: PM
THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has allayed fears on the adverse impact of disinvestment on the workers, and said that economic reforms are meant to help the workers and not to hurt them.
ILO seeks consensus on reforms process
THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) is `helping' the Second National Labour Commission with `a lot of documentation' on how issues of `reforming' the economy are being dealt with in countries such as Malaysia and South Korea, according to Ms Mary
Johnson, Director of the ILO for India and Bhutan.
Food & Dairy Products
Enriched basmati rice to hit markets in March
DAAWAT Gold enriched basmati rice, the vitamin-enhanced basmati rice from rice-processing and trading company, LT Overseas Ltd, is slated to hit the domestic market by the end of March.
Foreign Trade
Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference -- `New round should not be a prerequisite for success'
THE success of the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Qatar this year should not be contingent to the holding of a new Round or a launch of a new Round or an announcement of the launch of a new Round of multilateral trade negotiations.
Belarus keen on industry tie-ups
A CONSORTIUM of powder metallurgy and new materials, BPMC, from Belarus is keen on forging technology transfer collaborations with Indian industry and research centres, according to its Director-General, Prof E.A. Doroshkovich.
Forex
Forex reserves touch new high
THE country's forex reserves have risen to a new high of $41.694 billion for the week ended February 16, up $10 million from $41.684 billion in the previous week.
Information Technology
Nihar Infoway gets 51 pc stake in Winquest
NIHAR Infoway Ltd, a Hyderabad-based IT services company, has announced that it has acquired a 51 per cent stake in the San Jose-based Winquest Consultants Inc, and plans to make it a US subsidiary.
Are we prepared for e-governance?
IT'S something every State Government loves to talk about and set aside funds for, but how ready are we for e-governance?
Management
Season for rich pickings
IT is that time of the year when students at the Indian Institutes of Management pick and choose from the buffet of employers for lucrative jobs. This weekend, IIM-Bangalore, is seeing students turned out smartly and employers with their best offers.
Power
MSEB to seek more time to pay DPC dues
THE Maharashtra State Electricity Board will ask Enron's Dabhol Power Company (DPC) for extra time to pay its remaining December dues. MSEB, on Friday, paid Rs 50.86 crore to DPC as part of the bill.
High capacity power supply corridors on the anvil
INDIA is set to develop `high capacity power transmission corridors' in line with the capacity expansion and the patterns of generation.
States
Special cell for boosting N-E exports
THE Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Murasoli Maran, has said that he expected a sizable allocation of funds in the forthcoming Union Budget for development of export-related infrastructure in the States. The scheme, with an initial corpus of
Rs 100 crore, was announced in the last Exim Policy.
Karnataka stirs biotech recipe
KARNATAKA on Saturday unveiled its ambitious Biotechnology Policy, hoping to reap from it what infotech did to the State in the last decade.
Rajasthan seeks pvt investment in medicare
THE Rajasthan Government prefers total privatisation to the joint sector concept, according the State Industry and Energy Minister, Dr Chandra Bhan.
Stocks
23 new scrips in BSE A group
THE Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Saturday expanded the list of specified `A' group securities by shifting 23 scrips from the existing `B1' group securities. With this addition, the A group will now comprise a total of 165 scrips which will be eligible
for carry forward and borrowing and lending system BLESS.
Sugar
Mandated study to be basis for molasses policy
THE Union Government has recently mandated a consultancy firm to look into the scope for manufacturing more value-added products from the huge molasses that India produces every year. It is understood that the study would be the basis for a policy framew
ork on molasses.
Telecommunications
`Private cellular industry will have to think it big'
WITH enormous financial and infrastructural strengths, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is a competitor that private cellular operators cannot ignore. Many are now scouting for suitable alliances to take on this giant.
Textiles
`Govt armed to check cheap textile imports' -- Several options available
THE Union Minister of State for Textiles, Mr Dhananjaya Kumar, has allayed the fears of domestic textile manufacturers over cheap textile imports, saying the country is adequately armed to check dumping of textile goods by outsiders under the 2004 quota-
free market condition.
Transport
S Rly hopes to stay on conversion track
IT has been a successful fiscal for the Southern Railway (SR), not only in getting the committed funds from the Railway Board but also in spending most of them on various projects.
