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Tuesday,
May 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Bajaj Auto net profit dips 57.2 pc
Steps to curb imports
Wheat rejection hits credibility
Water pricing authority needed: Assocham Bharti gets 2,100 cr from partners |
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Horse trainer’s tips on management Business
confidence improves Insolvency Bill on
the anvil Can’t sell cars with vegetables Ranbaxy launches
anti-AIDS drugs
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Bajaj Auto net profit dips 57.2 pc Mumbai, May 7 However, the company has recommended a dividend of Rs 8 per share for year 2000-01, the company President, Mr Rajiv Bajaj, told mediapersons here today. The company’s sales also recorded a fall by 6 per cent to Rs 3,963.94 crore as against Rs 4,215.55 crore the previous year. The drop in profit during the year 2000-01 was mainly attributed to the overall shrinkage of the geared scooter segment which registered a fall of 38 per cent. Income from investment of surplus funds was lower by Rs 141.12 crore (from Rs 405.06 crore in 1999-2000 to Rs 263.94
crore in 2000-01) mainly due to reduction in investible surplus funds (Rs 728 crore utilised for buyback of share, Rs 80 crore utilised for the voluntary retirement scheme). The company’s export turnover during the year amounted to Rs 135.1 crore as against Rs 137.8 crore during the year 1999-2000. The two-wheeler industry grew at a negative 0.4 per cent during the year 2000-01. The motor cycle segment witnessed the highest growth rate of 26 per cent while almost all other segments witnessed negative growth rates. While the industry growth in the motor cycle
segment during the year 2000-01 was 26 per cent, the company witnessed a growth of 65 per cent over the previous year improving its market share from 15.8 per cent in the year 1999-2000 to 20.8 per cent. To maintain this pace of growth and increase the market share, the company proposes to launch new products at various price points to spur the demand. The company recently launched “eliminator”, the chopper styled bike. This will be followed by the launch of “Acer” in first quarter of 2001-02 and “Pulsar”, a 175 cc bike in second half of 2001-02. The company plans to sell around six lakh motor cycles in the year 2001-02, the capacity for which has been created in the past year. With the opening of the insurance sector, the company has entered into joint venture agreements with Allianz AG German to set up two separate companies Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company and Allianz Bajaj Life Insurance Company. All the three phases of this project involving the installation of 112 windmills with a total capacity of 39.2 mw at Satara were completed during the year 2000-01. These windmills generated 2.97 crore units of electricity valued at around Rs 9.9 crore. Phase IV of the above project with an installed capacity of 20 MW is currently in progress at Kovadya Dongar in Ahmednagar district at a total cost of Rs 97 crore and is expected to completed during the current financial year. After completion of all phases around 80 per cent of the company’s current power requirements will be met. Apart from the various sales tax and income tax benefit that accrue, these captive generation plants are expected to lead to a substantial savings in power costs of the company.
UNI
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Steps to curb imports
New Delhi, May 7 The designated authority under the Commerce Ministry is taking immediate measures to reach out relief to all port destinations in the country with the help of 31 senior officials of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The Ministry of Small Scale Industry is examining ways to provide financial help to the small scale units to fight dumping into the country with the lifting of all quantitative barriers on imports. “We will designate one officer of the DGFT at each of the 31 port offices who will receive information about dumping on my behalf. These officers will work under my supervision and guidance,” Additional Secretary and Designated Authority in the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties L.V. Saptharishi said here at the launch of ‘antidumping-india.com’, promoted by leading advisory firm Strategic Law Group. Mr Saptharishi said the Development Commissioner in the SSI Ministry was in touch with him regarding a proposal for giving a financial help to the small industries in fighting the cases of dumping from abroad. The 15-member Expert Group comprisinig different stake-holders and legal luminaries will work under the chairmanship of Mr Saptharishi. India has so far initiated anti-dumping investigations in 89 cases out of which 41 relate to China. Likewise there are 36 cases slapped against
India in the overseas markets of Europe, USA etc. Asked to elaborate on the high number of cases against China, Mr Saptharishi said India was not targetting any specific country. He said India would be prepared to face any possible retaliation by China after it becomes member of the World Trade Organisation as long it is “rule based.” The Designated Authority denied reports
India was imposing non-tariff barriers. “We are taking remedial actions. These are not revenue generating measures,” he said. The Authority has not noted any rise in the number of anti-dumping cases after removal of the QRs from April 1. “I have only seven cases pending,” he said. Mr Sapharishi said often there was a “prevarication” about the dumping and anti-dumping. Setting the record straight, he said the antidumping arrangements provided under the WTO were meant for “providing relief to the domestic industry shout there be any distortion in the globalised trading scenario. Let that be clear,” he said. Consultant to Strategic Law Group Sharad Bhansali said the ‘antidumping-india.com’ will have a panel of experts to answer queries online relating to dumping. It will give an update on anti-dumping/countervailing cases against india and by India. There will be tips to file a petition and there would be links to related sites. Noted legal expert Krishnan Venugopal advised the Indian small scale firms to form associations to fight the anti-dumping cases which involve high expenses.
UNI
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Wheat rejection hits credibility New Delhi, May 7 “Though we have received no official intimation from reports received the consignment of wheat was found to be bacterially infected on arrival at Baghdad,” Iraqi Ambassador Salah Al-Mukhtar told IANS. “We will be more vigilant against any such incident as it has serious implications for our agriculture system.” Al-Mukhtar said while the consignment exported by Vishal Overseas Enterprises was cleared as per norms by a Mumbai-based private company appointed by the Grain Board of Iraq for pre-shipment inspection, “proper precaution to safeguard the quality of the wheat during the long shipment, which takes over two weeks, may not have been taken. This may have led to the development of bacterial infection in the consignment.” “But for the condition of the wheat, why should we reject the consignment. Bacterial infection in the wheat has serious implications for the whole Iraqi agriculture system. The safety of our agriculture system is more important than trade, which can always be sourced from another country,” said Al-Mukhtar. Under the strategic agreement signed with the Indian government, it is a clear condition that the quality of wheat would be checked again on arrival at Baghdad. “The Indian government officials have intimated their dismay at the development which has injured the credibility of the country,” said Iraqi Ambassador. On the Indian government proposal to send a high-level team to Baghdad to probe the incident, the Ambassador said so far “no one has contacted the embassy for the getting visas.” The Indian team to be sent to Iraq will comprise representatives from the Food Ministry, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) that is responsible for procurement and storage of grain and the State Trading Corporation (STC). The matter is of utmost concern to the government, which is keen to enhance wheat export to reduce the problem of storage of the surplus stock, in addition to the fresh procurement in process. The buffer stock of foodgrains had peaked to 46.8 million tonnes at end-February 2001. The consignment was dispatched to Iraq as part of the food-for-oil programme under the auspices of the United Nations. Iraq was to import 350,000 tonnes of wheat through the Grain Board of Iraq under the programme. The exports were to be undertaken by the STC along with seven other exporters. The FCI was to release the wheat to the STC, which was playing a facilitator. As such, Vishal Overseas Enterprises was allowed to export 35,000 tonnes.
IANS
Water pricing authority needed: Assocham New Delhi, May 7 In a paper on water and irrigation imperatives to develop Indian agriculture sector, Assocham has stated that for integrated development of water resources, there is need for continued government funding on an enhanced scale for major projects and instilling financial discipline and prioritisation of projects for channelising the funds. Central assistance to major projects should be projectwise instead of being part of the overall plan assistance. The urgency for reforms in water pricing and availability arises because India’s yield rates are very low compared to the world average. India’s rank in terms of yield rate of the 12 major crops varies from 35 to 98 in the world. The Chamber has pointed out that high and increasing proportion of ground water as a source of irrigation makes it less sustainable in the long run. Heavy electricity and diesel subsidies to offset the cost disadvantage for the ground water vis-a-vis surface water make the unregulated water markets dangerously short-sighted, resulting in over-exploitation of ground water in several parts of the country. The cropping intensity index is targeted to increase from 134.2 in 1997 to 151 in 2020 implying an increase in the total cropped area from 190.5 mn.ha. to 211.4 mn.ha. during the period. The area under foodgrains is targeted to remain almost the same in absolute terms but decline as a proportion of total cropped area from 65.2 per cent in 1997 to 59.1 per cent in 2020. Assocham has argued that considerable scope of creating new capacity for irrigation exists in the major and medium irrigation projects. Compared to the ultimate potential of 58.5 mn.ha., so far only 33 mn.ha. capacity is created. These schemes involve huge budgets and long delays on account of submergence of land and hence settlement and rehabilitation of the affected people. These issues have to be resolved soon and in a uniform way to ensure that the future development of agriculture does not suffer. There is a need for a National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy for Project Affected People. Public investment on a large scale for such major/medium
irrigation-cum-hydro-power project is urgently required. Policies are urgently needed to discourage and punish disastrous proliferation of wells violating the density and other technical norms. Water markets need to be regulated in most of the states. Sanctioning of loans at cheaper rates and granting permissions of new wells have to be rigorously reviewed and technical norms and parameters have to be strictly adhered to. There is, however, some scope for expanding the capacity in the minor irrigation sector because even now about 13 per cent villages are not electrified, it noted.
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Bharti gets 2,100 cr from partners New Delhi, May 7 “Singapore Telecom and Warbug Pincus have invested $ 200 million each in the company. Bharti has also attracted funds from other key investors such as AIF Funds Management which has invested $ 35 million. IFC which put in $ 20 million and New York Life with $ 5 million,” group Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti group, Mr Sunil Mittal, told reporters here. Refusing to give the new shareholding pattern, he said Bharti would retain the majority equity stake. Bharti, he said, also planned to go for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise an additional $ 200 million at an appropriate time in the future. Whether it would be domestic or international market or both would depend on the market conditions, he said. He said the funds raised would be used for the implementation of the company’s strategic growth plans which include establishing new mobile telecom ventures, development projects comprising national long distance (NLD) operations, funds synergistic acquisition and expansion of company’s services. Singtel has about 28 per cent stake in the Bharti Televentures prior to the current contribution of $ 200 million, Mr Lung Chien Ping, Vice-President (International Finance and Operations) of Singtel, said. With the infusion of 200 million dollar, Singtel’s exposure in the Bharti Televentures has gone up to $ 650 million, Mr Mittal said. While in case of Warburg Pincus, the total investment in Bharti group is close to $ 300 million. With the new funding from foreign partners, Bharti can raise upto $ one billion debt from the market, Mr Mittal said, adding that fresh funds of $ 460 million would be spent during the current financial year. Major projects include the launch of basic telecom services into eight circles, for which it has received letters of intent, long distance, bidding for fourth cellular slot and others. Bharti Enterprises has already invested about $ 600 million in their existing telecom ventures. In addition, the company has also assigned over $ one billion for new projects across all segments of the telecom sector in India. On the ongoing controversy on the wireless local loop (WLL), he said they accept the decision of the government would not move the legal forum against it. We have presence in all the segments of telecom sector — cellular, basic, WLL — and any decision would be beneficial to the company, he said.
Horse trainer’s tips on management London Now Manchester Business School has come up with ``intelligent horsemanship’’ as way of inspiring corporate leaders to improve their management skills. Businesses as big as Alcatel, the French telecommunications company, have taken managers on the course and believe it works. The firm sent 10 of its UK-based executive team to a pilot leadership development programme run by the MBS, linked to intelligent horsemanship. Professor John Arnold, Dean and Director of Manchester Business School, got the idea while his wife was studying ``horse whispering’’ with British professional equestrian horse trainer Kelly Marks. The techniques involved inspired Professor Arnold to consider how managers and executives often rise to senior positions of responsibility without having learned to deal effectively with people, much less lead them. What he found were methods pioneered by California horse trainer Monty Roberts, which include establishing leadership, sending clear signals, building trust and turning difficult horses into co-operative ones. MBS decided to study how such methods could transfer to people management, in a project run by Professor Tudor Rickards, MBS professor of creativity and innovation. So how did the team from Alcatel find it? Even after having the principles of intelligent horsemanship explained to them, none of the participants could have been quite prepared for what Kelly Marks was to show them. Separated by a fenced pen, they watched as Ms Marks followed the movements of an untrained horse that had never been saddled or ridden. The horse thrashed out and hesitated at first, then slowly approached the trainer. When he put his head next to hers, she turned and stroked the animal, explaining that these reassuring moves would establish a ``safety zone’’ around herself. Ms Marks added that within minutes, as long as she did nothing to send out a threatening message, the horse would feel it could always go to her when it needed help. ``If a horse is frightened it can’t operate as well, and I believe it is the same with people. When you are bullied, you might do what your boss expects for a while but as soon as you get an opportunity to kick out, you will take it,’’ Ms Marks says. ``I could definitely make it do what I want through intimidation and even pain. But with a horse trained that way, as soon as you let down your guard or drop the whip, the horse will lash out. ``It is the same with human behaviour. You may be able to compel people to do things, but if they are not inspired by you, you will not get the performance.’’ The training method certainly rang a few bells for Tudor Rickards. He saw the possibility of researching and teaching the parallels between intelligent horsemanship and creative leadership. He says: ``Horse whispering will be an innovative contribution to executive leadership and MBA programmes. The techniques will help people abandon over-aggressive management styles and improve both corporate communications and harmonise organisational culture.’’ He adds: ``Many people think there are only two ways of motivating people, the carrot and the stick. This course aims to teach people how best to treat each other. If I could take every corporate executive and put them through a few sessions in the pen with a horse, their understanding of trust would be elevated to such an extent that they would go back into their workplace with a whole new
confidence.” By arrangement with The Guardian
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Business
confidence improves New Delhi, May 7 Reponses from more than 1,000 companies suggest greater optimism about overall economic conditions and financial position of firms in the next six months. The index, however, varies with the company’s size. Companies with a turnover between Rs 10 crore and Rs 500 crore show improved optimism. On the other hand, firms with less than Rs 10 crore and above Rs 500 crore turnover have turned less optimistic. Business sentiment is up for firms in the consumer non-durables and intermediate sectors. Firms expect greater competition and reduced exports in the next six months. Costs of energy and labour are not expected to increase in the coming months, nor are pre-tax profits. Positive responses to the Budget 2001 proposals sharply outweighed the adverse reaction. At the same time, majority of the respondents believe that various budgetary measures would have no impact on their business.
UNI |
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Insolvency Bill on
the anvil New Delhi, May 7 Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function, Mr Jaitley, who is also in charge of company affairs, said the Bill would soon be taken to the Cabinet for its approval. Mr Jaitley said his ministry has sent its recommendations on the proposal for creating an investor protection fund with a corpus of about Rs 500 crore. The Fund aimed to enhance investor confidence will come into existence soon, he said. While favouring minimal governmental control in the IT sector, Mr Jaitley did not rule out a regulatory law relating to the IT sector. Adding a note of caution, however, Mr Jaitley said there is a “strange interactive” relationship between law and technology adding that cyber laws should be evolved only in pace with the fast changing technology. Mr Jaitley was speaking after inaugurating the sixth E-Academy, a division of ITL Education Solutions Ltd, in the capital.
UNI
Can’t sell cars with vegetables Offenburg, Germany, May 7 The Edeka supermarkets in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg were offering customers a “shopping basket’’ of goodies, such as a holiday and a Fiat Punto for 12,519 Euros ($ 11,170). The actual cars were to come from a Berlin car dealer’s yard. We’re getting a huge response. It’s a madhouse out there,’’ said spokesman Duschan Gert for the 400 shops. Fiat, however, went to court, seeking an injunction against the special offer. Almost all cars in Germany are sold via dealers with franchises from the different manufacturers. The Edeka spokesman said he had “no idea why” Fiat was opposed and said Fiat’s German office had taken part in planning the special offer. Fiat denied this. Last year Edeka was forced to abandon a similar special offer of cut-price Smart cars after manufacturer DaimlerChrysler refused supplies. The project did, however, win enormous publicity for Edeka.
DPA
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Ranbaxy launches anti-AIDS drugs New Delhi, May 7 “We have introduced three formulations in the market and will add five more to our portfolio in July,” Mr J.M. Khanna, President (R&D), Ranbaxy Laboratories told PTI. Ranbaxy which will have a total of eight drugs in its portfolio of anti-AIDS formulations by July has priced them nearly 5 per cent lower than market leader Cipla’s version of drugs to garner a share of the Rs 120 crore market. While a 10-tablet strip of Cipla’s lamividine and zidovudine (Tuovir) costs Rs 510, Ranbaxy’s virocomb is priced Rs 500. Its version of zidovudine (zydovir) costs Rs 300 for a strip of 10 tablets, Ranbaxy’s Viro-Z is priced at Rs 260. RELIANCE
PETRO: Reliance Petroleum (RPL), Essar Oil (EOL) and Aditya Birla group-promoted Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals (MRPL) have sought marketing rights for controlled petroleum products before deregulation of the sector in April, 2002. The companies, in a recent presentation to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, wanted marketing rights immediately “so that when the transition period is over and full deregulation sets in, they would be well prepared for the same as development of required infrastructure would take time,” highly placed official sources said. While RPL has made a case for setting up retail outlets in excess of 1,500, Essar said it had identified 1,700 locations all over the country for setting up retail outlets. MRPL mentioned that they had identified 1800 locations. Reliance Industries Vice-Chairman, Mukesh Ambani, has been selected for the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Businessman award for the year 2000-2001. HEG today declared a 17 per cent increase in sales at Rs 552.62 crore with a net profit up 32 per cent at Rs 40.11 crore for the year ending March 31, 2001, and announced a 20 per cent dividend. The company, whose major sales revenue comes via exports, also declared a 38 per cent increase in exports during the year under review. In 1999-2000, the company posted Rs 472.21 crore sales with a net profit pegged at Rs 30.39 crore. ITL
Education Solutions
said today it would set up nine more computer training centres during the current fiscal as part of its move to open 15 centres during the year. “e Academy, which is the centre for advanced learning of ITL Education will open nine more centres during the year from the current six centres,” Mohit Shah, Director, Marketing and Communications, said here. The expansion will be in Delhi and the National Capital Region areas, he said. INDIAN SEAMLESS: The Board of Indian Seamless Metal Tubes has approved a proposal to offer a of maximum 11 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each to International Finance Corporation through the private placement route. The price of the shares to be issued to IFC would be determined according to SEBI guidelines. BHEL has achieved a major breakthrough on the export front by bagging the first order for a state-of-the-art compressor package from the United Kingdom. The contract from the Oil and Natural Gas Services Group Ltd, the UK, is under the United Nations ‘oil for food’ programme. AUROBINDO PHARMA
today launched “imunus-aurobindo,” a new-division to fight against AIDS and HIV related diseases. Srinivas Lanka, Director, Aurobindo Pharma told newsmen here that “we took this challenge and brought down the cost of therapy Rs 4320 per month from Rs 10,000 per month”. Subex Systems, the telecom software company, reported 106 per cent increase in net profit for the financial year ending March 31, to Rs 1027.72 lakh. The revenues for the same period has grown to Rs 5523.82 lakh up from Rs 3121.44 lakh during the corresponding period last fiscal. MTNL: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is investing $ 250 to 300 milion for its ventures in Asia and Africa. The operation is in preparation to make MTNL a strong telecom services and infrastructure provider.
PTI, UNI |
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Markfed meet SBP loan schemes Corpn Bank BHEL CII delegation IBM server New IFCI ED Iron pills A P Technosis |
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