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NDA govt wanted to sell telecom giants, says minister
Health insurance sector set for robust growth
Pharma sector
Branded furniture market grows |
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Sky-bus all set to be commercialised
Pesticide unit’s closure ordered
Q. I, a retired person, had taken a housing loan of Rs 2.20 lakh from the Union Bank of India, Mohali, on March 2003 to build first floor of my house. My son is a co-sponsor for loan, which was sanctioned jointly. My son has repaid Rs 1.0 lakh in April 2004 out of his savings.
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NDA govt wanted to sell telecom giants, says minister
Patna, September 19 Dr Ahmed said he and Telecommunications Minister Dayanidhi Maran after assuming office, had come across such papers which spoke volumes of previous government's preparations for sale of these two public sector giants to private hands. He said the Vajpayee government's eagerness to sell government-owned companies to private sector, was "common knowledge since long." Informing that the government was motivating Indian companies to manufacture mobile sets, Dr Ahmed said a meeting with representatives of the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA) was held in Delhi recently to hammer out a work plan to involve Indian companies in manufacturing mobile sets. He said Rs 600 crore was being paid to foreign companies for the purchase of mobile sets. The new government's initiative was intended at plugging this cash outflow from the country. The government would also provide incentives to attract domestic companies for this purpose and tax holiday was one of them. The discussions were on for the proposed merger of BSNL and MTNL with an open mind, he added. Dr Ahmed said his ministry had fixed a target of 200 million phone connections by 2007. At present, there are 85 million telephone connections. He said 20 lakh mobile connections were being given by the BSNL, MTNL and private companies in the country every month. Reacting on the tariff war between mobile service providers, Dr Ahmed said it was good for the industry as monopolistic tendency was a matter of past and would also benefit the subscribers.
— UNI
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Health insurance sector set for robust growth New Delhi, September 19 The robust growth in health insurance is expected as lifestyle diseases like cancer and strokes are set to account for nearly 30 per cent of in-patient ailments and HIV infections likely to rise significantly by 2010. The insurable population in India has been assessed at 250 million and if around 6 per cent against the current 2 per cent of the country's population goes in for health insurance in the next five years, estimating an average of Rs 1,000 per person as the premium amount annually, it would mean a health insurance industry worth Rs 25,000 crore. In order to attract greater number of Indians to go in for healthcare insurance, the insurance products would have to broaden their scope in a big way beyond hospitalisation and cover domiciliary treatment, ensure how fairly and inclusively the cover is offered and how far community rated premiums are established. The PHDCCI study highlighted that one of the major stumbling blocks in the growth of health insurance sector in the country is that there is no pure health insurance player in the market and the non-life insurers are just offering group policies and the companies doing life policies tend to add in critical illness riders, thus diluting the usefulness of health insurance to the end users. Finally, as in the West, health insurance companies would have to develop influence and capacity as bulk purchaser or medical and hospital services to impact on quality and cost and provide greater understanding about Indian health and illness behaviours, patterns of utilisation of care and intra family priorities for accessing medical care.
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Delhi HC relief to Glaxo
New Delhi, September 19 Confirming the interim injunction granted in favour of Glaxo SmithKline, Justice Vikramajit Sen said, “I am satisfied that Glaxo SmithKline has established prima facie case justifying the issuance of ad interim injunction”. “I find it difficult to accept that a party could have adopted a trade mark strikingly and deceptively similar to another mark which has been in the market for several years and is a commercial success purely by chance or coincidence, or in order to describe their product,” the Judge said. Observing that Delhi-based firm Faith Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd and its marketing arm Samson Laboratories Ltd were well aware that the trademark, Zentel, had carved out a niche as a de-worming drug, the court said, “their adoption of the trade name, Fentel, for a similar or identical medical remedy must be viewed as dishonest”. Zydus Cadila
Drug maker Zydus Cadila has launched 43 drugs in the French market and announced it would launch another 20 products by December. The products were launched in six broad therapeutic categories — cardiovascular, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, pain management, Type-II diabetes and anti-infective, the Ahmedabad-based generics major said.
Wockhardt
Pharma major Wockhardt Ltd plans to launch a foreign currency convertible bond issue worth $100 million. The Mumbai-based drugmaker said, in a statement, the issue is subject to the approval of the board of directors and shareholders of the company.
— Agencies
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Branded furniture market grows New Delhi, September 19 An increase in overall foreign direct investment (FDI) and the need to provide quality furnishings for commercial spaces are also pushing the furniture sales. Although the Indian furniture industry is dominated by the unorganised sector, which accounts for almost 85 per cent, the sudden increase in the number of foreign branded furniture stores in the country reflects the Indian psyche is fast changing to accept the upmarket niche and exclusive furniture. And this, according to Mr Nitin Bhayana, Vice-President (Retail), Interiors Espania, one of the leading furniture brands from Spain, is only going to grow further as more and more persons are getting interested in the branded furniture market. Seeing the growth of the branded furniture market in India Interiors Espania, which offers a whole range of furniture and lighting solutions, has gone about opening stores across the country. Talking about the latest brand from their company, Wenge range, which was first introduced at the Milan furniture fair just a few months ago, he said it is made from special African wood.
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Sky-bus all set to be commercialised
New Delhi, September 19 “Having put to rest doubts that the sky-bus suspension can carry heavy loads without shaking, we are now ready to offer the technology for commercial use,” said Mr B. Rajaram, managing director of Konkan Railway Corp and inventor of the technology. “We have also been able to prove that our sky-bus technology is very cost effective,” he said. “The 1.6-km test track with four coaches and two driving bogey have been set up at a cost of under Rs.500 million ($10.89 million) - the sanctioned amount,” Mr Rajaram said. After the first successful run on August 25, the sky bus has had two subsequent test runs. The last one was on September 15 when some 120 persons travelled in each of the two coaches of the auto pilot transport system at 60 km per hour.
— IANS
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Pesticide unit’s closure ordered
Shimla, September 19 The announcement was made over the weekend at Baddi, an upcoming industrial town near Chandigarh. "During our visit to several units we found that many of them were violating the environment protection norms," said Mr S.S. Negi, member secretary of the state pollution control board. Besides closing down one unit, 15 more, including three run by the state government, were given a fortnight to take corrective measures. The unit ordered to close down produced pesticides and allegedly released toxic wastes into Sarsa river in Solan district.
— IANS
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Bankers threaten strike on October 5 New Delhi, September 19 The bank unions’ are demanding 20 per cent increase in wages against the 9.5 per cent being offered by IBA, besides pension and appointment on compassionate grounds.
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Two-wheeler sales surge
New Delhi, September 19 Two-wheeler sales in the domestic market, second-biggest in the world after China, reached 23.3 lakh units during April-August 2004 over 20.6 lakh units during the year-ago period, data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed.
— PTI
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