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| Tuesday,
August 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Slowdown an opportunity for IT growth
Wheat exports at new low
E-mail viruses threaten to bring Internet to a halt |
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Ranbaxy checks odour problem
Mahavir Spinning ties up with A & E Bharti talks with
FIs for 3000 cr debt Crosslink unveils car
security products Corpn
Bank net up 24.80 pc TVS-Suzuki sales drop Escotel launches
Zip-Zap service
Tata Ind, Hughes may join hands
Kiran Karnik new
Nasscom chief
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Slowdown an opportunity for IT growth New Delhi, August 6 “When you have an economic slowdown, as you see in the US, it becomes an easier decision to take a step to outsource services - its actually harder to make those decision in good times than it is in tough times,” said Bob Hayward, Senior Vice President of Gartner. He said given the country’s skill sets, India is being seen as the logical outsourcing destination. “The e-services market has the potential of reaching $150 billion by the year 2008 and we see India taking a large chunk of this,” he said. The technology firm said slowdown in the US is not expected to impact the overall Indian IT sector over the next 12 months, despite close links between both. Some Indian IT companies will surely suffer, but many others will thrive, And, most will use this time to turn their attention to other markets and opportunities. The growth opportunity for India is that even if the technology sector in the US is depressed, the other large sectors of the US remain largely affected. Traditional businesses, other than software companies are increasingly looking at outsourcing their business offices in India. Moreover, the domestic Indian market is not facing some of the problems being faced by the economies like Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore. And, there is a reason to believe much bigger potential in the domestic demand for IT products and services. The IT spending in 1999-2000 the country was 8.67 billion and this grew to $ 12.2 billion in 2000-01. In the year 2000-01, the ICT is 1.8 per cent of India’s GDP and this is forecast to grow to three per cent by 2008. And, in 2005, the potential export of IT services may be as much as $ 40 billion. The global trend of net-liberated organisation would present an opportunity for Indian IT companies to be the base for outsource. The Gartner group said by the year 2006 net liberated organisation would go in for 75 per cent reduction in staff and 40 per cent reduction in cost. The net liberated organisation would focus of core areas and outsource other aspects which would reduce cost and staff strength. This would not only bring in efficiency but also increase profitability in the organisation. Mr Hayward said the Indian companies, who have cost, quality and experience, should go in for more intellectual property solution and packaged solutions which would help them reap huge profits in the future. |
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Wheat exports at new low New Delhi, August 6 “Wheat exports from India were anywhere between 50,000 to one lakh tonne last month as there were few takers for its produce due to bad publicity and fungus-related issues though contracts with myanmar could alter the scenario,” market sources said. They said the balance sheet was tighter with overall international demand increasing but there was not much interest in Indian wheat due to the presence of TCK and Karnal Bunt fungus which even African countries were not accepting. There was scope for exporting upto five lakh tonne wheat in the next six months to Myanmar though actual shipments would be much lower and depend on the deals made. Middle-East was currently well supplied as they had made good of the Iraq-rejected Indian wheat at discounted rates. Some consignments of a state trading enterprise (STE) were going to Malaysia from Tuticorin. Contrary to reports that an Indonesian firm Bhogisari had decided not to trade in Indian wheat, it had recently accepted a consignment of 29,000 tonnes. But Indonesian firms preferred to make payments through local banks which due to the political instability there, exporters were not ready to accept and wanted them to use credit facility of international banks. They were also demanding long-term credit which was available if they imported
American wheat. In any case, they were primarily rice eaters. Market sources said increasingly tough competition was also being faced from Ukraine and China for feed grade wheat. Though Ukrainian harvest begins this month, contracts are signed well in advance. In the adjoining regions, its produce was available at $ 97-98 cost and freight (C&F). Their crop had been heavily damaged due to rains but was exportable as feed grade and even Indian crop from
Punjab and Haryana had been affected on account of premature rains. Similarly, Chinese crop was also more competitive in South Korea due to lesser distance and was available at $ 107 C&F. India could score in a country like Philippines with which it had struck deals for mill grade exports. Pricing vis-a-vis other competitors was critical. Sources said since government was reluctant to reduce it below Rs 4300 per tonne and direct exports by private parties had not materialised, commission charged by STEs would matter a lot. Earlier there was a government fiat that commission charged by STEs for exports of private traders routed through them would be $ 2.5 a tonne but now the charges were negotiable, they added. Logistics were another issue which had hampered exports. Consistent rains and damages at Kandla port meant consignments had to wait for 25-30 days before being shipped.
PTI |
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E-mail viruses threaten to bring Internet to a halt THE
Internet is in danger of grinding to a halt if e-mail-borne virus attacks continue to escalate, a leading computer security expert has warned. Alex Shipp, senior anti-virus technologist with the widely respected British firm, MessageLabs, said the global computer networks upon which the internet is based could be brought to a halt by the sheer volume of infected material circulating in cyberspace. Mr Shipp also claimed that traditional desktop-based protection methods could no longer cope with the onslaught of new, rapidly propagating e-mail-borne infections. This public intervention from a senior frontline expert will increase concern about the significant rise in virus activity in recent months, and the growing technical sophistication of the people writing them. Last week, US authorities issued dire warnings to computer users to protect their machines against the Code Red virus. The predictions of Internet meltdown, however, failed to materialise. Email-borne viruses account for more than 90 per cent of outbreaks. Consultants Price water house Coopers say viruses could cost businesses more than $ 1.3 trillion by the end of next year. In the last fortnight, one email virus, SirCam, has risen from obscurity to become the most common, most sophisticated and most resilient virus in history. It is rampaging across millions of computers. The number of e-mails infected by a virus being picked up by Message Labs has risen above the one in 400 mark. When the company launched three years ago, the rate was about one in 1,500. Mr Shipp blamed home users and small businesses. “All the emails we are stopping are from people using domestic internet providers like Hotmail and Freeserve. These are people who do not have the expertise to realise that their anti-virus protection is either non-existent or badly needs updating. They just can’t keep up with the amount of stuff that is coming at them now.’’ But Ross Anderson, reader in security engineering at Cambridge university, said the blame for the growth in viruses should be aimed not at users, but at software companies who had failed to build adequate protection into their products. The Guardian |
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Ranbaxy checks odour problem Chandigarh, August 6 The company has invested Rs 50 lakh to check the problem. A meting between the management of Ranbaxy and eight senior representatives of all Mohali associations was recently held at the company’s Mohali plant to get a final view of the developments in this direction. The associations assessed the situation and found it satisfactory, company sources said. Dr Naresh Kumar, Vice-President, Ranbaxy Lab said ‘‘there is no problem that exists after these preventive measures have been undertaken”. Mr A.S. Shyan, Senior Vice-President, Citizen Welfare Council, SAS Nagar represented the people of Mohali. In his statement during the meeting, he said, ‘‘We appreciate that the management of Ranbaxy started taking action immediately once the problem was recognised. By the end of July, they were able to bring the foul smelling gases within the permissible limits’’.
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Mahavir Spinning ties up with A & E Chandigarh, August 6 A&E has strong presence for the supply of sewing thread in the USA, China and India which are the major manufacturers of garments. The licensing agreement provides the company with the right to manufacture and market various products under its brand names and colour numbers. The company will be entitled to use A&E’s registered trade marks like D-Core, Perma Core, Perma Spun and A&E Logo, etc. With this part, the company’s sewing thread will get support in effectively positioning its products against the major thread competitions in the prestigious industrial segments. |
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Bharti talks with FIs for 3000 cr debt New Delhi, August 6 “The group is in talks with some financial instituions and banks for raising a loan of upto Rs 3000 crore, which would mainly be used for expanding our network in cellular, basic and proposed long distance operations,” Akhil Gupta, Joint Managing Director of Bharti said. Mr Gupta said that the structure of the loan would be finalised soon. He, however, declined to divulge the name of FIs that the company was in talks with. Estimating the total cost of expansion in the three telecom segments at about Rs 6000 crore, Gupta said that the proposed Rs 3000 crore debt would support part of the expansion plans. The balance Rs 3000 crore has already been tied-up by Bharti through equity, he added. In May this year, the company announced it had received additional equity investment of $ 460 million from various global partners including $ 200 million each from Singapore Telecom and Warbug Pincus. Bharti had also attracted funds from other key investors such as AIF Funds Management Ltd which invested $ 35 million, IFC which put in $ 20 million and New York Life with $ 5 million. The mopping up of debt follows the company’s plans to expand its telecom network for which it has secured eight new cellular circles in the latest round of bidding.
PTI |
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Crosslink unveils car
security products Chandigarh, August 6 Wheels’ products like remote car security systems, power windows, car curtains and other luxurious car accessories are already being sold in 22 countries worldwide. The
company's turnover stood over 60 million Malaysian Ringitt in 2000. The company supplies its products to a number of auto giants like Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Mazda, Nissan, Citron, Peugeot etc. Wheels products had made their niche in countries like Australia, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand etc. With the launch at Chandigarh the company intends to establish potential customer base in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Chandigarh. The next launch will be at Delhi, UP and Rajasthan. Mr Vipul Saihgal, General Manager, said the car lovers will be able to choose from a range of different type of remotes that will be compatible with all systems. Mr Saihgal said the company plans to launch residential/industrial autogate system, domestic security systems, remote car curtains, access and proximity entry systems, reverse warning sensors, etc very shortly in Indian market. Among others present were Mr Albert Tan, MD, Wheels Electronics Malaysia, Mr Henry K Sia, MD, Crosslink, Singapore and Mr Mohan Babbar, Mr K.S. Juneja, both Directors, Crosslink Wheels. |
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Corpn
Bank net up 24.80 pc Chandigarh,
August 6 The total net profit for 2000-01
reached Rs 261.84 crore. “The bank is planning to install 250 more
ATMs in major centres of the country by March 2002”, said Mr Gupta. |
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TVS-Suzuki sales drop Bangalore, August 6 Mopeds sales volume, however, grew to 26,115 units in July, as against 25,761 units in June, the company said in a release here today. TSL moped volumes are recovering steadily in the three southern states as well as northern markets, showing a “clear resurgence” for the product. TVS Scooty, which is currently the largest selling product in the scooterette segment showed sales of 15,138 units.
PTI |
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Escotel launches
Zip-Zap service Chandigarh, August 6 Zip-Zap will allow the customers to access a host of value-added services like news updates, mobile banking, sending and receiving e-mails, stock quotes, cricket scores, railway reservation status, etc. The service will be available for both "Lets Talk" and "Smartfone" customers with SMS facility. There will be no extra charges and the customer has to pay only for the SMS sent, stated a company release. Meanwhile Company Chairman Rajan Nanda said: "Escorts now has a presence in seven circles and is thus emerging as the fourth largest cellular player covering 310 million population". |
bb
CII committee Grasim Ind FCI Manager Nirlep |
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