IIMs hike fees
Mumbai: Students will have to shell out more for a two-year post-graduate management course at any of the Indian Institutes of Management. Most IIMs have already hiked fees by 5-43 per cent, while others plan to do so shortly.

After Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) hiked its post-graduate management course fee for this year from Rs1.75 lakh per annum to Rs2.5 lakh per annum, other IIMs are expected to follow suit.

At IIM-B, students will now have to shell out Rs5 lakh for their two-year post-graduate management programme.

IIM Lucknow is likely to raise its annual fee from the present Rs1.69 lakh to Rs1.84 lakh per annum.

IIM Lucknow plans to discuss the proposal to hike its fee in its upcoming board meeting in March. There could be a hike of Rs15,000 or above from its current cost of approximately Rs3.5 lakh according to faculty members at the institute.

While IIM Ahmedabad will take a decision on the same at its board meeting scheduled for March 31 this year, IIM Indore, which hiked its fee from Rs1.25 lakh a year to Rs1.50 lakh last year, says it has not yet decided on another fee hike.

IIM Kozhikode, however, will not increase the fee this year. The institute had increased the annual fee for its post-graduate course from Rs1.15 lakh to Rs1.50 lakh last year.
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Nandigram effect: Govt to stop acquiring land for private cos
New Delhi: The Nandigram SEZ has had a major fall-out. The Centre will soon table, in the current session of Parliament, a Bill that puts a virtual stop on future governmental acquisition of lands for private companies and restricts the definition of `public purpose' under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Government sources said the bill plans to dispense with Part VII of the Act, specifically dealing with governmental land acquisitions for `companies' (in the private sector). This is in contrast to those made on behalf of State-owned companies and departments, purportedly for `public purposes'.

"Once the amendment is carried out, there will be no Part VII. The Government would have no further role in acquisitions for corporates. An exception may be made in certain holdout case, where the latter has already bought 90 per cent or so of the required land. The holdout ratio for the Government to step in may be set between 10 and 30 per cent," the sources added.
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30 lakh tonne of wheat may be imported: Pawar
Pune: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the government may import about 30 lakh tonnes of wheat this year to feed public distribution system and undertake other social welfare measures. He added that the wheat crop this year is expected to be good with the yield expected around 72 million tonne.

The government has already permitted duty-free import of wheat till 2007-end to avoid any shortage of the grain due to the last year's experience of lower than estimated production.

The second advance estimate of the government puts the wheat output at 72.5 million tonne in 2006-07.
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Govt approves Rs850 crore sugar export subsidy
Pune: A relief package of Rs850 crore has been approved for sugar exports.

Announcing the government's decision to provide incentives for sugar export, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said sugar production this year was expected to be around 250 lakh tonne and the country had carry over stock of 40 lakh tonne from last year. The annual domestic requirement of the commodity was around 190 lakh tonne, he said.

Pawar said the central government would bear an expenditure of Rs1,300 per tonne for sugar to be exported by the states which had ports and Rs1,400 for those who were away from the coast.

He, however, said the incentive package for sugar exports had been referred to Election Commission for its approval in view of the coming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
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ADB says GDP growth to decelerate to 8 pc next fiscal
New Delhi: India's growth is likely to slow down to a moderate 8 pc next year against the expected 9.2 pc this year according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The bank said the slow down would result from monetary tightening measures to contain overheating as well as inadequate infrastructure.

In a report, 'Asian Development Outlook' released today, ADB said the economic growth will again pick up in 2008-09 to stand at 8.3 pc.

The situation could have been worse if the government had not taken fiscal consolidation measures, Narhari Rao, India chief economist, ADB, said.

ADB also forecast inflation to come down to a "tolerant" level of 5 pc in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 from the present over 6 pc as a result of tighter monetary policy, a rise in agricultural planting, an expected good spring harvest and cuts in import duties on key commodities.
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