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Mumbai, March 15 The BSE Sensex today crashed by 180 points to the year’s lowest level and closed at 5,520.60 points as selling pressure continued almost unabated after early gains and subsequent decline from the higher levels as trading progressed through the day.
India calls for
agreement with Pakistan
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Jet, Sahara
flights to Colombo on March 22 Maruti rolls out
cheaper Versa
Privatise IA: CMD
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Govt loses Rs 6,000 cr, says Sitaram Yechuri Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 15 “It is disturbing, the manner in which shares are being sold in the ONGC and GAIL which surely undervalues the prices and leads to a huge national loss. This loss estimated to Rs 5000 or Rs 6000 crore on a conservative estimate of comparison between price earning per share as compared to similar international companies,” Sitaram Yechuri, Politburo member told reporters here. Continuing its series “Lies, damned lies and statistics” countering the claims of the “India Shining” campaign, the party said despite the oil PSUs having earned a huge combined profit of Rs 23,251 crore in 2002-03, the government has undertaken aggressive disinvestment of several strategic units. The country’s dependence on crude oil imports has gone up three times since the BJP-led NDA took power. The imports have gone up from 27.3 million tonnes in 1995-96 to 78.7 million tonnes in 2001-02. However, the domestic production during the period fell by 3 million tonne from 35.2 million tonnes in 1995-96. This is despite the fact that 90 exploration blocks were awarded through global tender. Further, the prices of kerosene, petrol,
diesel during the past five years have gone up substantially. |
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A proud moment for India, say bankers
New Delhi, March 15 “There was enough appetite in the market and the ONGC issue
satisfied it to some extent... otherwise the (stock) markets could have
been overheated... This was the right time for the issue,” DSP Merrill
Lynch Chairman, Hemendra Kothari told PTI. “The (permission for
issuing) participatory notes was a big help... We are thankful to
SEBI... This instrument enabled us to attract some of the big global
energy and oil funds,” Kothari said but declined to name the funds. Uday
Kotak, Chairman of Kotak Mahindra, the lead manager for the public offer
said “the ONGC (success) is a proud moment for India, Indians and Indian
capital market. We have come a long way from the Rs 1,000 crore Maruti
issue to the Rs 10,000 crore ONGC issue”. “The total bids received for
the issue are valued at Rs 60,000 crore making it the largest ever
oversubscription for the biggest ever issue of India’s biggest company,”
Kotak told PTI. The government today offered to sell 10 per cent stake
in the ONGC for Rs 750 a piece raising Rs 10,500 crore in the process
and thus overshooting this years revised disinvestment target of Rs
14,500 crore. — PTI |
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Loses 180 points
Mumbai, March 15 Brokers said all 30 scrips of the BSE Sensex were trading in the red towards close. The Sensex was trading 194.42 points lower at 5,505.98 during the day’s low, having come off the days high of 5,764.20. The NSE S&P CNX Nifty Index plummeted by 49 to 1,763.40 points at end of the session. They pointed out that the undertone of the market appeared extremely bearish in afternoon trades in the absence of buying interest from any quarter. The mood in the market turned cautious after a firm opening amid concerns that income-tax considerations towards the end of the fiscal year may keep some investors away from the market in the short term. Besides, with the general elections imminent, players are likely to take a wait-and-watch approach before making a long-term call on the market. Tata Steel declined further from Rs 400.60 to Rs 399 as selling continued on the counter in the last half-hour. After touching a high of Rs 425 in early trades, the Tata Steel stock slipped and continued to decline for the rest of the session. Close to 62-lakh Tata Steel shares were traded on exchanges, brokers added. The ONGC moved lower from Rs
797.50 to Rs 787.35. The ONGC stock came off its days high of Rs 822
after early gains. The government priced the public offer, which was
concluded on Saturday, at Rs 750 per share. — UNI
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India calls for agreement with Pakistan film industry Mumbai, March 15 The creativity of the Indian and Pakistani entertainment
industries together can unleash a new force from the subcontinent’s
entertainment industry, Prasad said. “The geographical closeness
between the two countries should be utilised for the creative well-being
of both the nations,” Prasad said in his inaugural address at the Ficci
Frames 2004 convention in Mumbai Prasad said Pakistan has contributed
much to the flowering of Bollywood and cited crossborder influences like
entertainment personalities, Parveen Babi, Adnan Sami and Gulam Ali.
In all some 30 delegates from Pakistan are in Mumbai to attend the
Ficci Frames convention. The delegation includes the Pakistan Film
Producers Association chairman, prominent producers and directors,
artistes and technicians. The Pakistani delegation will also visit film
studios to get a first-hand experience of the Indian film industry.
Though Indian films are not legally allowed to be screened in
Pakistan, pirated versions are popular in the neighboring country
causing immense losses, Bollywood insiders say. Actress Reema, billed
as Pakistan’s Aishwarya Rai, is roping Indian singers for her own film
venture. Mahesh Bhatt has signed a Pakistani actress, Meera, for his new
venture, Nigahain. According to Prasad, the government intends to
continue further liberalisation for film makers in order to make India
the destination of filmmaking in the world. Prasad said Goa was an
ideal location for shooting of movies in India and with international
film festival to be in that state this year; it would get a much-needed
global attention.
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India, Pak join hands to market basmati Mumbai, March 15 Speaking at a business interaction as a part of business delegation organised by the Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) here, Pakistan Federal Export Board member and former chairman of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Rahim Janoo said the All-India Rice Exporters Association agreed with REAP to set up a six member-committee that would meet at least thrice a year to address the issues of basmati marketing. “India and Pakistan will be having three members each and the first meeting will be held at Lahore soon. This committee could settle the issues like preferential market access in the EU and Brand Registration issues in the US, etc”, he said. According to
the delegation, Pakistan is planning to buy 5,00,000 tonne of rice from
India to meet its export commitments in June when domestic stocks will
be low. — UNI |
| Jet, Sahara flights to Colombo on March 22
New Delhi, March 15 And big brother Jet Airways will follow the day next, said Chief
Operating Officer Peter Luethi. Low-cost carrier Air Deccan will join
the party with flights from Mumbai to Colombo by March-end, said its
Managing Director G.R. Gopinath. All of them have won approvals from
the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to launch flights to
Sri Lanka and are set to demolish the monopoly of government-owned
carriers to fly abroad. “We are becoming international for the first
time,” said Mr Bose. “As the Indian aviation sector grows, the national
economy will get a boost with greater trade and investments.” After
years of slump in the aviation business, he said, the years 04 and 05
are going to be the best of times. Still, nearly 80 per cent of 12
million air passengers in the country during a year are business
travellers with tourists accounting for just over 16 per cent. Both Jet
and Sahara plan to connect Bangalore and Mumbai with Colombo in the next
two months. In its proposal to the DGCA, Jet had asked for a total of 27
flights to Colombo while Sahara asked for 20 flights a week to Colombo
from Indian destinations. They have also sought the government
permission to fly to Dhaka and Kathmandu as well which is likely to come
by April or May. However, they are not interested in flying to Maldives
and Pakistan due to low traffic projections. Jet has 46 per cent
domestic market share with 255 daily flights to 40 destinations. Its
fleet consists of 33 Boeing 737s and eight 62-seater ATR 72-500
turbo-prop aircraft. Sahara flies to 19 destinations across the
country. It operates 120 flights daily with a seat capacity of 12,220.
The fleet includes new generation Boeing 737-400s, 737-700s and 737-800s
besides CRJ-200 jets. The launch of these new flights by private
operators will also intensify competition for Indian Airlines and Sri
Lankan Airways in the days to come. There are about 60 unutilised
bilateral entitlements for Colombo. — UNI |
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Maruti rolls out cheaper Versa
New Delhi, March 15 Multi-purpose vehicle (MPV)
Versa has been priced at Rs 3.27 lakh (ex-showoom, Delhi), a Maruti
statement said here. The company has sold 7,000 units of Versa since
its launch. The new five-seater Versa can also be used by the tourism
industry and unlike the other three seven-seater versions of the car,
the new vehicle has larger room for luggage.
GM to launch Tavera this
year General Motors India said today it will launch Chevrolet Tavera in
the second quarter of 2004 to take on competition from multi-purpose
vehicles like Scorpio and Qualis. Despite a lack of “quality” choice,
MUV sales touched 83,000 units in 2003, a 47 per cent rise over 2002.
Sales in the segment should touch 1 lakh units this year, a GMI
statement said here. The Tavera will be powered by a diesel engine
technology from Isuzu, it said. More and more people are viewing the
MUV as an alternative to a car, fuelling growth in the category which is
largely dominated by Toyota’s Qualis and Mahindra and Mahindra’s
homegrown Scorpio. Besides, the Indian arm of the world’s biggest
carmaker will also launch a slew of vehicles under the Chevrolet
brandname. GMI aims to double sales in 2004 over nearly 1,50,000 units
sold in 2003. — PTI
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New Delhi, March 15 Low growth rate in passenger traffic, excess capacity and high cost of operations resulted in a net loss at Rs 196.56 crore during 02-03. “There is need to encourage disinvestment prospects and enhance the airline’s valuation,” Mr Arora said, while addressing a seminar organised by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). The Naresh Chandra Committee
has recommended privatisation of government-owned IA and Air-India
(AI) and suggested up to 49 per cent foreign equity with approval of
the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). — UNI |
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