Airlines
AI draws up plan to improve revenues
AIR India has drawn up an action plan to improve its revenues. This includes categorisation of routes into core routes on which the airline operates with its own aircraft and crew, while withdrawing frequency from loss-making routes and redeploying the r
eleased aircraft on profit-making sectors, according to the AI Managing Director, Mr. Michael Mascarenhas.
AAI net put at Rs 211 cr
THE Airports Authority of India (AAI) has generated an estimated revenue of Rs. 1,691 crores and earned an estimated post-tax profit of Rs. 211 crores during 1999-2000, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr. Sharad Yadav, has said.
AI seeks to import fuel on its own
IN an effort to shore up its bottomline and protect itself from the fluctuation in international prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), Air India is looking at the possibility of importing fuel directly on its own.
Banking and Finance
Clearing operations hit in Mumbai
THE RBI, on Thursday, suspended clearing operations in Mumbai, following thin attendance due to heavy rains in the city.
Commodities
MNC smell fragrance, local don't
MNCs' penchant for the desi cottage sector seems to be on the rise. A few years back, Pepsi bit into the -- bhujia -- market and now HLL has come sniffing after the Rs. 1,000-crore agarbathi fragrance.
TN weavers plan to stop buying cotton yarn
POWERLOOM cloth producers in key weaving centres in Tamil Nadu are planning to stop procurement of cotton yarn from Friday with a view to voicing their opposition to the increase in cotton yarn prices.
Corporate
HFCL acquires Page Point
HIMACHAL Futuristic Communication Ltd (HFCL) has acquired Page Point, Motorola's paging service venture of Motorola in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, making it the country's largest paging service provider with a consumer base of nearly two lakh
s.
`Well-defined competition law needed'
THERE is need for a well-defined competition law and an effective and pragmatic competition commission to act as a watchdog for the introduction and maintenance of a competition policy, according to Mr. G.P. Goenka, President of Federation of Indian Cham
bers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
FIs funding foreign cos acquisitions `unfair'
THE financial institutions and banks should not fund foreign companies for their Indian acquisitions as it would not be in the best interest of the country, according to Mr. G.P. Goenka, President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (
FICCI).
Thomas Cook in talks for merger with TCI
THOMAS Cook (India) Ltd is exploring the possibility of a merger with Travel Corporation of (India) Ltd (TCI), or even acquiring it, according to a combined press release from the two companies issued here on Thursday.
Oberoi calls for `tourism vision'
REVIEWING the performance of the Indian Travel and Tourism industry during 1999-2000, Mr. P.R.S. Oberoi, Vice-Chairman & MD of EIH Ltd, in the company's annual report, has called for a ``Tourism Vision for India 2020''.
`Health Ministry will oppose sell off in Hindustan Latex'
THE Union Health Ministry will oppose the move for disinvestment in the public sector, Hindustan Latex Ltd (HLL).
Timken takes up project for small bearings
TIMKEN India Ltd (erstwhile Tata Timken Ltd) has embarked upon a Rs. 16-crore project to add small bearings to its product range. To be completed in the course of this year, the project will enable Timken to manufacture tapered roller bearings with a bor
e size of 35 mm and less. The company's annual production will rise by about one million bearings, according to the directors' report for 1999-2000.
Courts
SC ruling on power of board after wind-up order
FOR invoking the applicability of Section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (`the Act') it has to be established that an inquiry under Section 16 is pending or any scheme referred to under Section 17 is under preparation
or sanctioned scheme is pending.
Economy
No worry on fiscal front: Govt
THE Government's policy managers today held that all was well with the fisc and dismissed apprehensions over both the depletion in forex reserves and rise in the inflation rate.
Borrowings outlook uncertain despite buoyancy in collection
THOUGH the gross tax collections have surged 24 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal, there are doubts whether this would translate into any massive reduction in the Government's borrowing programme for the current fiscal.
FDI worth Rs 1,465 cr cleared
THE Government has cleared 45 cases of foreign direct investment (FDI) worth around Rs. 1,465 crores, including a Rs. 880 crore ADR issue of pharmaceutical major Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.
Textile imports from WTO nations -- EC to lift lingering curbs on 62 categories
IN a significant step, the European Commission has agreed on Wednesday to propose elimination of all lingering restrictions on imports of 62 categories of textile and clothing products from other World Trade Organisation (WTO) countries.
Two more schemes devised to improve tax compliance
AFTER Saral and Samman, its now Suvidha and Sahayata for tax payers. The Revenue Department has devised two more schemes to improve tax compliance and more importantly ensure a hassle free environment for tax payers.
Aid, self-reliance incompatible: Y.V. Reddy
``GOVERNMENT guarantees in the external sector should be abjured and the next step towards self-reliance should be freedom from aid while continuing careful management of current and capital account to ward off any need for exceptional financing in futur
e,'' the RBI Deputy Governor, Dr. Y.V. Reddy, said here today.
Information Technology
Star TV takes 20 pc stake in indiaproperties
STAR TV has invested in indiaproperties.com for 20 per cent share in the company. This was announced today by India's real estate e-market, indiaproperties.com.
`Apple Distinguished School' set up in TN
WITHIN three years of its inception, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology (MCET) at Pollachi near here has earned the distinction of being the first educational institution in India and among the SAARC countries to have established the `A
pple Distinguished School'.
Astrology portal launched
KAASHYAP Radiant Systems Ltd, a Chennai-based IT company, on Wednesday launched www.vedicfuture.com, a portal on vedic astrology. The portal was launched by C. Subramaniam, former Governor of Maharashtra.
AP clears use of Ku-band
THE Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has cleared the proposal to use Ku-band facility for promoting the use of Information Technology for distance education, telemedicine, agricultural extension, e-governance and awareness-building exercise among self-help groups.
ITC plans to hive off IT division
IN an attempt to harness the growth opportunities available in the Information Technology (IT) sector in a more synergistic manner, ITC Ltd, on Thursday, said it plans to restructure its IT business by hiving off the company's information systems divisio
n into a separate, wholly-owned, subsidiary.
Miscellaneous
Counselling sessions for students
MADURAI: The Madurai District Tiny and Small-Scale Industries' Association (Maditssia), along with the Continuing Education Cell of the Tamil nadu Polytechnic and Canara Bank have decided to organise model counseling sessions for the students in and arou
nd Madurai seeking admission to the engineering degree courses on July 16 (Sunday) at Madurai Corporation-Maditssia Auditorium, near Madurai Corporation Office.
PSU
Plan to allign IBP equity sale to APM dismantling
THE Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has proposed that the sale of Government equity in IBP Ltd to a strategic investor should be `aligned' with the scheduled dismantling of the Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) in the oil sector in April 2002.
States
Anti-pipeline activists to seek legal remedy
FARMERS and environmentalists of 18 villages in Dakshina Kannada district have taken a decision to file a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court against the proposed 364-km petroleum product pipeline from Mangalore to Bangalore.
Mumbai swamped by deluge -- Rain claims over 60 lives
DIVERSITY, often cited as Mumbai's charm, struck a macabre note on Thursday with incessant rains claiming over 60 lives even as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex breached the 5,000-mark and flooded streets turned make-shift swimming pools for happy
children.
Stocks
SEBI imposes incremental margin on ALBM -- Exchanges told to disclose daily net open positions of 500 scrips
THE SEBI-promoted Risk Management Group, which met today, decided to extend the incremental carry forward margins to cover the Automated Borrowing and Lending Mechanism (ALBM) of NSCCL.
Telecommunications
Decision on NLD services deferred
THE full Telecom Commission on Thursday had to defer a decision on opening up of the National Long-Distance (NLD) telephone services owing to differences between representatives of other Ministries as well as the Planning Commission on the issue of numbe
r of players that should be permitted in the sector.
