Airlines
Draft policy guarantees traffic rights for AI, IA
THE draft civil aviation policy seeks to guarantee the use of traffic rights being utilised by Air India (AI) and Indian Airlines (IA) by these two airlines for five years after privatisation.
Air reservation providers form forum to globalise
FOUR of the leading providers of computerised reservation systems (CRS) for the Indian aviation sector announced the formation of the Indian CRS Forum (ICF) to oversee operations and bring them in line with global practices.
Banking and Finance
Credit guarantee scheme for SSIs being finalised
THE Government is finalising a credit guarantee scheme for providing loans up to Rs. 10 lakhs for the small and tiny industries sector.
Quesstionaire on bills discounting on RBI Net
THE Working Group on Bills Discounting, constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has devised a questionnaire on bills discounting addressed to customers for getting their responses pertaining to the terms of reference of the group.
Commodities
Fertiliser project import norms to be simplified
THE Government has decided to simplify the procedures for granting techno-economic clearance (TEC) for fertiliser project imports.
Major excise rules for sugar scrapped
AS a first step towards deleting commodity-specific excise rules which have become redundant, the Finance Ministry has scrapped ten-odd rules pertaining to sugar. Plans are also on to withdraw excise rules for a host of other commodities, including tyre
and cement, in the near term.
Corporate
Voest Alpine arm moved to Calcutta
VOEST Alpine Industrieanlagenbau GmbH (VAI), an Austrian outfit in the iron and steel industry, has shifted the base of its fully-owned subsidiary _ VAI Automation (P) Ltd _ to Calcutta from Jamshedpur.
Infosys gets award for best corporate governance
INFOSYS Technologies Ltd has been chosen for the National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance, 1999, announced by the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, in the Union Budget last year.
Meet on corporate governance today
THE Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) along with Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) is organising a conference on `Corporate Governance and Auditing Standards' on February 5, here.
US co seeks changes in NBFC divestment norms
ASSOCIATED First Capital Corporation (AFCC) of the US has urged the Government to relax NBFC norms in order to allow its downstream operating company in India to make the mandatory divestment of 25 per cent equity in favour of domestic partners at a late
r date _ within two years of the company's inception.
Courts
Rlys liable for wrongs by its employees: SC
IN a significant judgment, the Supreme Court has held that running of the Indian Railways is a commercial activity. ``The employees of the Union of India, who are deputed to run the Railways and to manage the establishments, including the railway station
s and Yatri Niwas, are essential components of the Government machinery, which carries on the commercial activity. If any such employee commits an act of tort, the Union Government, of which they are the employees, can, subject to other legal requirement
s being satisfied, be held vicariously liable in damages to the person wronged by those employees,'' the court observed.
Govt notification challenged in HC
A WRIT petition has been filed before the Karnataka High Court challenging the Notification No. FD 304 CSL 99(1) dated January 1, 2000, issued by the State Government, under Section 8-A(3) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, cancelling inter alia, the Notifi
cation No. FD 154 CSL 99, dated October 7, 1999 (Vikrant Tyres Ltd vs. State of Karnataka).
Economy
We're ready to bite the bullet: Sinha
INDICATING tough measures in the forthcoming Union Budget, the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, today said that the Government would adopt `hard options' to spur the economy.
GDP growth to slow at 5.9 pc on farm drop
THE Government has projected that the economy's growth for the current fiscal will be down to 5.9 per cent, compared to the 6.8 per cent growth registered in the previous fiscal.
Health
Need for stress on occupational health
A CONCERTED national effort is required to increase the spread of occupation and environmental health, according to Ms. Preetha Reddy, Managing Director of the Apollo Hospitals group.
Information Technology
Satyam Infoway to offer fresh ADS in three weeks
SATYAM Infoway Ltd, an Internet and e-commerce company, will complete its follow-on offering of fresh American depository shares (ADS) within three weeks. The company will raise another $150 millions to fund its recent acquisition and infrastructure expa
nsion plans.
Investment info site launched
SSKI, a equity solutions company, has launched its ``sharekhan.com'' a comprehensive Web site about investments.
Nasscom, McKinsey `plan to put India in top rung'
THE National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) and McKinsey have put in place a strategy to catapult India into one of the top five global locations for technology ventures in the world, said Mr. Dewang Mehta, President, Nasscom. M
r. Mehta was speaking on the venture capital scenario in the country, at the Nasscom 2000 IT conference here on Friday.
Nasdaq is bustling with liquidity, says Balfour
THE Nasdaq Stock Market Inc., the apex market for technology stocks in the US, is vibrant and bustling with liquidity, says Mr. Charles Balfour, Senior Vice-President, Nasdaq Stock Market and Managing Director, Nasdaq International.
Systems America, Indian arm to merge; plan IDRs
THE $ 20-million Systems America Inc and $ 0.8-million Systems America (India) have decided to merge under one global entity and are actively pursuing a possible issue of Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs) to raise funds to support its massive expansion p
rojects in India.
Miscellaneous
`Work-ex' bolsters B-School students' prospects
EVEN though B-schools are gung ho about their successful attempts to place students, corporates are known to lament on how they have had to make incumbents ``unlearn'' what they had learnt in their classrooms. And would `undoing the mindset' become twice
as difficult for people with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and work-experience to boot?
Enact bio-diversity Bill, says law panel
THE 15th Law Commission of India, in its 171st report, has recommended the enactment of the Biological Diversity Bill, 2000, to establish a National Bio-diversity Authority. The States and Union Territories will establish corresponding State or Union Ter
ritory bio-diversity boards.
East zone Customs collections up 18 pc for first 10 months
INDIRECT tax collections (both Central excise and Customs) in the east zone has shown a record increase during the first 10 months of the current financial year. Talking to presspersons here on Friday, Mr. B.P. Srivastava, Chief Commissioner, Customs and
Central excise, Kanpur, holding additional charge of the east zone comprising West Bengal, Orissa, and the North-Eastern States, said Customs collections have grown by 18 per cent (up to January) at Rs. 3,520 crores and excise by 15.17 per cent at Rs. 3
,688 crores.
Govt weighing options on Ennore Port debt-equity
THE Union Government is exploring several options for firming up the debt-equity structure of Ennore Port Ltd including conversion of the $150.15-million Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan into debt and equity and converting the cost of land owned by the
Government as its share of equity, a top official has said.
Port equipment makers pin hopes on Budget
MAJOR manufacturers of port equipment are pinning hopes on the forthcoming Budget. The Budget, they expect, will offer incentives to the infrastructure sector including the port sector to generate enough business for them.
Power
CRL-Cochin Ambalamugal project cleared: Naik
THE Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has given clearance for the 500-MW power project which is to be executed between Cochin Refineries Ltd and the Cochin Ambalamugal Energy Co. at an expenditure of Rs. 2,500 crores.
States
AP doctors join bandwagon opposing FDI in tobacco
THE question of allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in tobacco continues to haunt the Industry Ministry. The Government seems to have come under severe pressure by the anti-FDI lobbyists and anti-smoking voluntary organisations which are against any
more investments in tobacco.
Neyveli power generation hit
POWER generation at the Neyveli thermal station - II (TS-II) has been hit by more than 50 per cent following an agitation by nearly 3,000 executives.
CII signs MoU with engineering college
THE Confederation of Indian Industry's Coimbatore zonal unit has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kumaraguru College of Technology (KCT).
KAPL to open `ayurgrams'
THE private sector Kerala Ayurveda Pharmacy Ltd (KAPL), an ayurvedic drug manufacturing unit based at Athani, has embarked upon setting up `Ayurgrams', treatment-oriented resorts in various parts of the country.
Bengal bid to tap wind energy
WEST BENGAL will join the country's wind energy map from April 2000, beginning with a small project of two MW at Frasergunj, a coastal location 133 km South from here.
`IBRD commits Rs 12,000-cr assistance to Karnataka'
THE World Bank has agreed in principle to extend an assistance of Rs. 10,000-12,000 crores to Karnataka for different sectoral improvement programme. The commitment from the World Bank follows clearance of the State's requirement by the Centre, accordin
g to the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna.
Steel
Steel seminar from Feb 7-8
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Steel is organising a two-day seminar on `Indian steel industry _ International perspective' on February 7 and 8, in collaboration with Metal Bulletin, a global publication from London.
Taxation
Excise duty categorisation likely to be reshuffled
THE Finance Ministry is considering reshuffling the excise duty categorisation for a host of items in the forthcoming budget, even as it is likely to retain the three ad valorem rates of 8 per cent, 16 per cent and 24 per cent.
Textiles
Garment exporters urged to access new markets
THE Indian garment industry should become multi-locational and a world-class player in all respects by forging strategic alliances for accessing new markets and technology, the Union Textile Minister, Mr. Kashiram Rana, has said.
