KOLKATA: The political agitation at Singur near the Tata Motors project site cast its shadow on the operations of another automobile company, that of Hindustan Motors Ltd.

The C. K. Birla group company on Wednesday put up a notice at its factory gate shutting down its production for a day.

An official spokesperson of the C. K. Birla group (which controls HM) said that the factory had advanced its weekly off from Saturday to Wednesday in view of the congestion on the Durgapur Expressway.

Bs Reporter / Mumbai August 28, 2008, 5:59 IST

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani today backed the Tata group's Nano car project, saying industry and politicians need to work together for the country's industrial growth.

"A fear psychosis is being created to slow down certain projects of national importance,' Ambani said, adding that the "political move' will be counter-productive for the country's economic growth, its global image as well as the ability to attract investments from across the world.

Bs Reporter / Kolkata August 28, 2008, 5:57 IST

A meeting scheduled between the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) officials and vendors of Tata Motors' Nano project at Singur for tomorrow, which was expected to break the continuing impasse, has been cancelled.

A vendor said that Tata Motors had sent a mail that a meeting with the West Bengal commerce and industry secretary was scheduled for tomorrow. However the meeting now stands cancelled, said another vendor. A Tata Motors spokesperson said that the company was not involved in the meeting.

Car makers are not doing enough to meet the European Union's proposed targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions, with several Japanese car brands facing the biggest challenge to make the grade, a report said on Tuesday.

Overall, car makers will have to cut CO2 emissions by 17 percent to reach the proposed goals for 2012, the report by environment group T&E said.
French and Italian car makers are furthest along that road, while Germany's luxury BMW brand is making the fastest moves to catch up, added the report, based on European Commission sales data from 18 EU countries.

HYDERABAD

Chennai-based Murugappa group will foray into e-bike segment to tap the prospective demand for electric vehicles.

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday asked the developed bloc to get real about global trade issues.

He also expressed the Centre's willingness to play "a facilitating role' to prevent any adverse impact on the investment climate in West Bengal in the current context of a controversy over the Tata Group's Nano-car project there.

Bs Reporter / Kolkata August 27, 2008, 4:25 IST

No return of land to farmers, CM reiterates.

Buddhadeb BhattacharjeeIn a sharp deviation from his party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today described gheraos, the practice of disrupting work by intimidating managements, as "illegal and immoral' and said he was opposed to bandhs, or full-scale closure of state services.

Tanzania plans to have about 300 cars running on a hybrid of petrol and compressed natural gas in Dar es Salaam by March 2009, a senior government petroleum official said on Tuesday.

It also plans to build three gas filling stations in the same period.
The east African economy has proven natural gas deposits of about 3.3 trillion cubic feet and is trying to use it to blunt the effects of high international fuel prices.

SINGUR STALEMATE CONTINUES TO ROCK POLITICS AND ECONOMY
Shishir Prashant / Dehradun August 27, 2008, 0:38 IST

The B C Khanduri government seems to be in no hurry to provide concession on lease rent as well as some more land to Tata Motors at the Pantnagar industrial estate.

A high-level meeting, held yesterday, took no decision on the demands of the auto major and instead left it to the chief minister. However, top officials here said a positive note would soon be put before the state cabinet to take a final decision.

Bs Reporter / Kolkata August 27, 2008, 0:35 IST

Sajjan Jindal, vice-chairman and managing director of JSW Steel and one of West Bengal's most valued investors, said that he would have compensated unwilling farmers with double the land