 |
|
Boeing offers new planes to Air-India
PNB Chairman for more advances to SSI sector
Model Yana Gupta holds a digital camera during the launch of Canon’s range of 28 products in New Delhi on Tuesday. — Tribune
photo by Mukesh Aggarwal |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Hero Honda sales jump 27 per cent
Reliance launches WWE chain
Industrial growth falls to 4.9 pc
Virbhadra woos investment
Harsh measures needed to pull HP out of debt trap
Ranbaxy withdraws painkiller
Reva plans fuel cell hydrogen cars
PFC may foray
into insurance
Kolkata Port Trust plans SEZ
|
|
Boeing offers new planes to Air-India
New Delhi, April 12 “Our aircraft — Boeing 777-200 ER (long range), B 777-300 ER (extended range) and 787-8 Dreamliners are perfectly suited for Air-India’s plans and have competitive advantages over our competitors (Airbus Industrie),” Dinesh A Keskar, Senior Vice-President (Sales) of Boeing, told reporters here. He said his company was in talks with almost all Indian carriers, including Jet Airways, Air Sahara and SpiceJet, for these and other aircraft for their domestic and international operations. Asked why Jet Airways selected A340-300 to fly to London, Mr Keskar said Boeing aircraft were not available in the lease market and added he was “not sure at this stage” as to which aircraft the private airline would fly to New York. The 777-200 LR planes could be used to fly non-stop from India to any point in the USA, thereby reducing flying time considerably. America’s Continental Airlines, which plans to launch such a non-stop direct service from here in November, would operate the 777-200 ERs. The yet-to-be-launched 787-8 Dreamliner would be able to fly 1,500 nautical miles more than its competitors, opening vistas on the new non-stop routes like Delhi-New York, Mumbai- San Francisco and Bangalore-Sydney. Mr Keskar claimed the 787-8 aircraft would consume much less fuel than the competing Airbus planes and present new interior environment with wider seats and aisles and other conveniences.
— PTI
|
|
To help train Indian pilots
The Boeing Company, looking to grab a piece of cake of the burgeoning Indian civil aviation sector, today said it was willing to extend a hand in training the Indian pilots to tide over the shortage which the sector is presently facing and which is expected to get compounded in the near future.
With more areas opening up for both public sector as well as the private sector airlines, Boeing, which sees a potentially $ 35 billion market in India in the next 20 years, said that it can help provide training the new pilots to get them accustomed to its aircraft. With the government revising its air bilaterals with a large number of countries, the air traffic to and from India is expected to grow tremendously in the near future.
— TNS
|
|
PNB Chairman for more advances to SSI sector
Chandigarh, April 12 The banks, he said, were focusing on technological upgradation with a view to providing its customers more efficient services and optimising the opportunities of cross-selling of products. ``PNB has already provided connectivity to 1,063 branches in the country by making them online under its `core banking solutions (CBS)' programme , but the target is to provide online connectivity to as many as 1,800 branches by March next year,'' he added. He said progress has already been made in recovering NPAs under the Securitisation Act as `` it has created legal as well as moral pressures on defaulting borrowers.'' In fact, the NPAs have come down substantially, from Rs 1,10,000 crore to Rs 53,000 crore. It has come down from 16 per cent five years back to 6-7 per cent now. Mr Kohli said going by the success of the farmer's training centre at Sacha Khera in Jind district of Haryana, 13-14 more such centres would be set up in the country during the current financial year. Meanwhile, the bank disbursed loans of Rs 1,816 crore to the agriculture sector in the state from December 2003 to December 2004. The advances have risen from 13 per cent in March 2000 to 19 per cent now. And the bank disbursed loans of Rs 5,404 crore during this period. Talking about the performance of the banks, Mr Kohli said that 67 new branches of commercial and Regional Rural Banks were opened in the state during the review period, thus raising the total number of branches from 1,558 to 1,625. The total deposits of the bank increased from Rs 25,686 crore as on December 2003 to Rs 34, 578 crore as on December 2004. In agriculture sector, the advances increased from Rs 3,755 crore as on December 2003 to Rs 5,616 crore as on December 2004 during this period. Advances to small-scale industries registered a significant growth of 13.5 per cent or Rs 324 crore during the review period, from Rs 2,399 crore to Rs 2,723 crore. Presiding over the meeting, Chaudhary Birender Singh, Finance Minister, Haryana, called upon the banks to discuss power-related schemes to reduce the transmission and distribution costs. Earlier, the General Manager of the bank, Mr B.P Chopra, mentioned about the performance of the bank under various schemes. He said of the total 85 agri clinics in the state, PNB alone has financed 57 such clinics. In Jind, the bank has financed 10 out of the 14 agri clinics whereas in Hisar it has financed 9 of the 10 agri clinics.
|
|
Cellular operators to approach TRAI
New Delhi, April 12 “ADC would be applicable at rates which are similar to international and long- distance calls depending on the nature of the roamer. It will have a very negligible impact on cellular companies. There is enormous margin in roaming tariffs and I do not see tariffs going up”, TRAI Chairman Pradip Baijal told newspersons here. Chairman of Bharti Tele-Ventures Sunil Mittal, however, said that cellular operators would write to TRAI against the decision as it represented a “cess on roaming”. In a statement issued yesterday, TRAI had said that all calls from national roaming subscribers would be treated as STD calls while those of global roaming users would be accounted as incoming international calls for access deficit charge (ADC) calculation purpose. All calls from the national roaming subscribers shall be treated as long- distance calls and all calls from international roaming subscribers shall be treated as incoming international call for ADC purposes. Meanwhile, Mr Mittal said today that Airtel was targetting a subscriber base of 50 million “in the next few years” and would establish 10,000 base stations during the next 12 months. Mr Mittal also announced the launch of Airtel One India Challenge, a car rally across 7,000 km to commemorate the brand’s presence in all 23 telecom circles.
|
|
Reliance launches WWE chain
Mumbai, April 12 The largest chain of retail network from a single telecom operator in the country will be supported by the existing 240 Reliance Web World stores in operation across 110 cities, Chief Operating Officer(COO) K P Nanavaty today said, adding the WWEs are the ''first serious attempt at complete customer lifecycle management''. The new service, Mr Nanavaty said, will give the user a totally new experience in the digital age as with this
initiative, Reliance will hand-hold the customer for all telecommunication needs throughout the customer's life span. According to Mr Ajay Baijal, Group Head, Channel Business (Wireless) at Reliance Infocomm, the WWE model would ensure personalised relationship-building with a small, manageable customer base with each shop serving as a hub to ensure an enhanced customer value and experience. All WWEs and WebWorlds are linked through the company's wireless Internet connectivity for instant coordination. The chain of stores would be centrally monitored from Reliance Infocomm headquarters at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC), Navi Mumbai.
— UNI
|
|
Hero Honda sales jump 27 per cent
New Delhi, April 12 India’s biggest two-wheeler company today said its turnover rose 26 per cent to Rs 7,563 crore in the past financial year from Rs 5,997 crore a year ago, while net profit grew 11 per cent to Rs 810 crore from Rs 728 crore in 2003-04. Hero Honda’s profit fell 2 per cent to Rs 207 crore in the past fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, 2005 from Rs 211 crore a year earlier, though sales continued to grow in the world’s number two motorbike market after China. It sold 6,85,419 motor cycles in the January-March quarter, up 15.6 per cent from a year ago. The bike major also announced 1,000 per cent dividend for the last fiscal, which would entail an outgo of Rs 399.38 crore. During 2004-05, Hero Honda strengthened its bike market share at 50 per cent, up from 48 per cent in the previous fiscal, and garnered 40 per cent market share in the overall two-wheeler industry. Meanwhile, the company today said it is all set to change gear and launch scooters next year, even though its plan to set up third plant is nowhere in sight. ''We will launch Honda-designed scooters in India in the last quarter of the current fiscal. We have not decided models as yet but will hit the roads next year,'' Hero Honda Managing Director Pawan Kant Munjal said today. Besides, Hero Honda will also introduce new bike models and variants in 2005-06.
— UNI
|
|
|
Canon launches digital cameras
New Delhi, April 12 "Altogether 50 new products would be launched this year to enable the company reach the targeted topline of Rs 330 crore in 2005,’’ said Canon India President and CEO Alan Grant today. He said the launch of new products would be supported by extensive advertising and marketing campaigns, for which the company has earmarked Rs 20 crore for the current calendar year. He disclosed that the Foreign Investments Promotion Board has granted permission to the company to operate in Bhutan provided all transactions are carried out in foreign convertible currency and profits from Bhutan are repatriated to the Indian subsidiary. ‘’It makes more sense for Canon to service Bhutan through the Indian arm,’’ he said adding that Canon India would re-export products imported from Singapore to Bhutan. It would also set up its distribution, marketing and after-sales networks in the country. It was also setting up exclusive ‘Digiclick’ outlets throughout the country to promote the digital and DV cameras. Eight Digiclick outlets had already come up in major cities, three of them in Delhi, and their number was expected to go up to 30 by year-end, he added.
|
|
Industrial growth falls to 4.9 pc
New Delhi, April 12 The cumulative growth during April-February, 2004-05 over the corresponding period of 2003-04 in the three sectors have been 4.0 per cent, 8.7 per cent and 5.3 per cent, respectively, with the overall growth in the General Index being 8.1 per cent As many as 15 of the 17 two-digit industry groups have shown positive growth during the month of February 2005 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
|
|
|
Mumbai, April 12 On a visit to showcase the investment potential of Himachal to industrialists in Mumbai, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the future investment would be directed at improving infrastructure including roads communication and hydel power generation. The state intends to take up two major infrastructure projects namely the Kalka-Shimla highway worth approximately Rs 500 crore and the Chandigarh-Dharamsala expressway worth Rs 700 crore, Mr Virbhadra Singh told reporters. These highways would reduce the travelling time considerably and improve connectivity with major towns of the state, the Chief Minister said. On the power front, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the state had a potential to generate 22000 MW of power through its natural resources, mainly water. The state had been able to tap just over 6000 MW so far and was inviting investors to participate in power projects. “Himachal Pradesh has abundant power and will not face a shortage for at least next 100 years,” he said. Addressing delegates at CII-organised interaction with industry, Mr Virbhadra Singh, said owing to the Central Government’s special incentive package and the state government’s new industrial policy, Himachal was fast becoming the most preferred destination for business and enterprise. Mr Virbhadra Singh said that investors in the information technology and bio-technology sectors would be given out-of-turn priority and special assistance by the state administration to facilitate the setting up of new projects. “In terms of industrial growth, we have identified IT, BT, pharma and agro-processing sectors as the keys sectors and my government will make every effort for the convenience of investors in these sectors,” assured the Chief Minister during the meeting with CII members. — PTI
|
|
|
Harsh measures needed to pull HP out of debt trap Shimla, April 12 The people of the state will have to pay for the populist policies and reluctance of successive governments to generate resources. Instead of compressing expenditure and mobilising additional resources the state had been resorting to market borrowings to meet its day-to-day expenses for the past more than a decade. As a result the revenue deficit, fiscal deficit and outstanding debt have grown beyond sustainable levels. The fact that the ratio of tax revenues to the GSDP (gross state domestic product) has remained stagnant at 6 per cent since 1990-91 clearly indicates that the efforts to generate resources have been far from adequate. Further, the non-tax revenues have also not shown any dynamism even though the institutional expansion of health, education, animal husbandry and other sectors has been quite impressive. In fact, the ratio of non-tax revenue to the GSDP has come down from 2 to 1 per cent over the period.
|
|
Ranbaxy withdraws painkiller
New Delhi, April 12 Ranbaxy said it was voluntarily withdrawing the drug. Pfizer suspended Bextra sales after the US Food and Drug Administration and European regulators said the risk of serious
side effects outweighed the drug’s benefits.
|
|
Reva plans fuel cell hydrogen cars
Bangalore, April 12 The RECC would use its electric vehicle technology to develop hydrogen fuel cell cars with fuel cell stacks, to be supplied by the Hydrogenics Corporation. In the first phase, two fuel cell hydrogen powered cars would be developed, after which a fleet of 10-20 fuel cell hydrogen-powered cars would be rolled out, a Reva press note said here today. Reva was India’s first company to develop the prototype of a fuel cell powered car, a technology hitherto attempted only by a few auto giants worldwide. Reva’s fuel cell prototype was unveiled by President APJ Abdul Kalam on June 30, 2004, in New Delhi.
— UNI
|
|
PFC may foray
into insurance
New Delhi, April 12 “We have set up an internal group that is studying the option of entering the insurance or the banking sector. The company is looking at different options like whether to have a joint venture or to a buy a stake in the existing bank or insurance company,” said Mr Arvind Jadhav, CMD, PFC Ltd., here today. Mr Jadhav Said: “The company will soon bring out an initial public offering (IPO) in the market after clearance from the Cabinet possibly by month end.
|
|
Kolkata Port Trust plans SEZ
Kolkata, April 12 KoPT Chairman Anup Chanda said after a meeting with the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BNCCI) members here today that a formal request had been sent to the Union Commerce Ministry for the necessary green signal.
— UNI
|
bb
OBC chief Essel Propack Ascent Fund Travel Mart New CEO Dishnet |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
The quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the month of February 2005, which was released here today by the Central Statistical Organisation, showed that the indices for the mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors for the month of February 2005 stood at 151.5, 218.9, and 170.5, respectively, with the corresponding growths of (-)2.3 per cent, 6.2 per cent and (-)0.9 per cent as compared to February 2004. 
