Asia's modern boiler plant: Asia's first most-modern automatic and environment-friendly circulating fluidised bed combustion technology plant was unveiled on Dec 25 at Gujarat Industries Power Company's Surat lignite power plant at Mangrol. Managing director JN Singh said that this is the second lignite-based power plant in the country and thefirst to adopt modern technology for power generation in Asia. The company has outlined a Rs 1,500-crore investment plan, involving a power plant and a mining project.

EMRs to hike drug prices, say experts: Experts fear that the government's proposal to grant exclusive marketing rights (EMRs) to drugs and agrochemical products will result in prices of medicines shooting up, making it extremely difficult for poor people to afford them. In a country where a majority of the population does not have access to modern medicines even in the present patent regime in which drug prices are among the lowest in the world, medicines will go further out of reach of the poor under an EMR regime, they said. The country's poor and malnourished, who are most vulnerable to tropical diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, cholera and gastroenteritis, will be severely affected, experts feel.

India, Sri Lanka joint ventures: India and Sri Lanka can successfully float joint ventures in the areas of software,machine tools and education to take bilateral economic relations to a higher level, Ficci has said. Though there has been an increase in the number of domestic companies scouting Sri Lanka for joint ventures in tyre manufacture, plantations and setting up of hotels, the efforts should be diversified into other areas as well, the chamber said in a statement in the capital.

`Stagnation in service sectors disturbing': Stagnation in the growth of service sectors, especially real estate and public administration is "disturbing", according to Assocham. The share of real-estate services has declined from 4.6 per cent of GDP in 1987-88 to 2.8 per cent in 1996-97, Assocham has said in a study on "Accelerating growth of services sector".

New Delhi seeks funds to revive Iisco: India has formally sought Russia's consent in using funds from the rupee-rouble account to revive the ailing Indian Iron & Steel Company (Iisco) through a joint venture with the Russian company Tyazhpromexport "The use of therupee-rouble account for Iisco's revival was discussed during the Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov's visit to India early last week, and we are expecting a favourable reply from them soon," union steel minister Naveen Patnaik said.