Govt to export eight MT of foodgrains
New Delhi: The government has targetted to export eight million tonnes of foodgrains during the current financial year, food minister Shanta Kumar told the Rajya Sabha.

He said 7.3 million tonnes of foodgrains have already been exported to 16 countries and the target will be met soon.

Kumar said India's position was seventh in the list of 27 exporting nations.

He said the exported foodgrains included eight lakh tonnes of basmati rice and added the government had not fixed any minimum price for the export of basmati rice to the European Union.
Back to News Review index page  

Entertainment industry to grow by 20%
Mumbai: The entertainment industry is expected to grow by 15-20 per cent annually in the next five years, according to an Arthur Andersen report.

Televisions share in the total revenues is estimated to increase to 65 per cent over the next five years from the current 50 per cent. The entertainment industrys size has grown to about Rs 12,800 crore in 2001.

Arthur Andersen will be presenting the report on the status and feature of entertainment industry at the Ficci convention here on 15 March.

Though television is increasingly becoming the medium of entertainment for the country, the film industry is expected to grow annually by at least 15 per cent for the next five years.

Pay-TV revenues will grow annually at 25 per cent for the next five years even as there is an increasing trend towards bouquetisation. Subscription revenues will see a substantial jump and will account for 35 per cent share in the total revenues over the next five years.
Back to News Review index page  

Lankan Air to begin daily service to Thiruvananthapuram
New Delhi: Srilankan Airlines will operate flights between Thiruvananthapuram and Colombo daily, up from the five-time-a-week service offered in its summer timetable, which comes into effect from 31 March.

The airline will offer a daily service to Thiruvananthapuram with common departure times for onward and return flights. Departure for onward flights from Colombo will be at 8.45 a.m. and departure for return flights from Thiruvananthapuram will be at 10.45 a.m.
Back to News Review index page  

TRAI hikes rentals, lowers ISD rates
New Delhi: Commercial basic phone users will have to pay higher monthly rentals, Rs 40-60 more, from 1 April. They will also get fewer free calls, 30 per month in urban areas against 60 earlier and 45 instead of current 75, in rural belts.

Non-commercial subscribers will not be impacted by the hike or free call limits. Callers will benefit, however, from lower international call rates, which will fall by 15-20 per cent.

The new changes, envisaged in the Telecom Tariff Order of 1999, were to be implemented in three tranches and the telecom regulator, TRAI, notified the final tranche on 14 March.

For international calls, TRAI has lowered the ceiling that will lead to a decline in call charges.

For instance, for calls to the US, the new ceiling will lower the ISD rates from about Rs 48 to about Rs 41 per minute.
Back to News Review index page