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Cabinet nod to IOC, IBP merger
Narayana Murthy peeved, quits as BIAL Chairman
TCS acquires FNS for $25 million
Assocham bullish on economy
NCMP allows divestment in sound PSUs: PC
FedEx to connect 4,348 cities
Salim group to set up motor cycle unit in WB
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COAI approaches govt against Tata Tele
Motorola sues incoming Nortel CEO Zafirovski
Hero Honda profit jumps to Rs 237.9 crore
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Cabinet nod to IOC, IBP merger
New Delhi, October 20 “It is clarified that proportionate foreign component of such an Indian company will also be counted towards the ceiling of 74 per cent but total holding of Indian public sector banks and Indian public sector financial institutions will be treated as Indian holding,” Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy told reporters after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here. To address the security concerns, the Cabinet decided that no Remote Access (RA) shall be provided to any equipment manufacturer or any other agency outside the country for any maintenance/repairs by the licensee except under certain conditions. Thus 74 per cent foreign investment can be made directly or indirectly in the operating company or through a holding company. Hence, the remaining 26 per cent will be owned by resident Indian citizen or an Indian company. The government has set a target of 250 million telephone connections by 2007. This requires an additional investment of about $20 billion. The Union Cabinet also approved the merger of petro retail IBP Co Ltd with its parent IndianOil Corp in a move that is expected to usher in better fiscal management and marketing strategies. “The Cabinet has approved the proposal,” Dr Reddy said. In another important decision, the Cabinet approved the proposal to repeal the existing Carriers Act, 1865 (Act 3 of 1865) and to enact the Carriage by Road Act, 2005, by introducing the Carriage by Road Bill, 2005. The Carriage by Roads Bill, 2005 will be introduced in the Parliament. The Cabinet also ratified the signing of the agreement between India and Mauritius on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which would improve the effectiveness of both countries in the investigation, prosecution and suppression of crime including crimes related to terrorism, through cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters Dr Reddy said Cabinet also gave its approval for signing and implementation of an agreement between India and the United Mexican states on exemption of visa for holders of diplomatic and official passports.
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Narayana Murthy peeved, quits as BIAL Chairman
Bangalore, October 20 In his resignation letter to Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, the Infosys Chairman has hit out at both coalition partners of the government — the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress. He has accused former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda of lacking “basic courtesy” for accusing him of not contributing anything towards the establishment of Bangalore International Airport. He has clearly shown his displeasure with the Chief Minister also for not “clarifying” his role in the airport project after Mr Deve Gowda’s outburst on Sunday last. Political observers say Mr Narayana Murthy’s resignation could force the state Congress as well as the Chief Minister to take a
stand. The issue is not just of Mr Gowda’s comment on the Infosys Chairman’s contribution to the international airport. This was a side remark in Mr Dewe Gowda’s outburst against Infosys , accusing it of indulging in land grabbing. He had also claimed that the state government wanted to favour Infosys by acquiring 845 acres of land for it in eight villages on the outskirts of the city and asked the Chief Minister to inquire why zoning rules were being bent to facilitate the company. Mr Dharam Singh had as usual commented a day later that he would look into the matter which meant the government would let the issue die a natural death. However, with the Infosys Chairman resigning as the Chairman of BIAL, the Chief Minister will have to take a decision whether he is to toe Mr Deve Gowda’s line on the issue of land allotment to Infosys. Mr Naryana Murthy, who was expected to speak on the issue of land allotment also, has confined himself to Mr Deve Gowda’s comments on the upcoming international airport. The letter says: “I wish he (Gowda) had asked me personally before going to the press, or talked to you (Dharam Singh) or ascertained it from members of the Board (of BIAL). I am disappointed that a former Prime Minister did not accord me this basic courtesy”. For the state Chief Minister, the Infosys Chairman has these words —“I am pained that leaders of the government like you did not even clarify my role in the company and the work done by me. I have spent an enormous amount of time and energy in interacting with the government in Delhi and the government here to make this happen. The records prove themselves.” The BIAL itself has repeatedly stood by the Infosys Chairman. BIAL CEO Albert Brunner has said on record several times that Mr Murthy opened several doors for the company at the Centre and that he was very pro-active as Chairman of the company. The inordinate delay in the start of the project, according to BIAL , is because the Airports Authority of India Act had to be amended and passed by Parliament as the Bangalore airport is going to be the first privately built and operated airport in the country. Meanwhile Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh said he would try to convince the Infosys Chairman to withdraw his resignation. When questioned as to what else he is going to do as Mr Murthy has also shown his displeasure at him, he said: “These things happen. We will try to sort them out.”
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TCS acquires FNS for $25 million
Bangalore, October 20 TCS Chief Financial Officer S. Mahalingam said the latest acquisition would help TCS penetrate further into banking space as FNS was a core banking solutions vendor. He said the acquisition would further strengthen the range of TCS asset- based solutions for the banking industry. The acquisition is also likely to bring a number of global banking customers into the TCS fold. This is because FNS has offices spread out all over Asia with offices in Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta and Seoul, besides one in Australia. He said FNS was already being deployed by TCS for providing core banking solution to the State Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Indian Bank. FNS is an Australian company with a customer base of over 115 banks and financial institutions spread over 35 countries. Its annual turnover was estimated at Aus $29 million. It had staff strength of 190, including 150 in the development sector, and was based in Manila and Sydney.
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Assocham bullish on economy
New Delhi, October 20 “Fiscal 2005-06 will be the third consecutive year with the GDP growth of 7 per cent and above, thus giving the country an average economy bounce of 7.5 per cent for three years starting from fiscal 2003-04,” the survey of country’s top CEOs and MDs said. Over 80 per cent of the 250 CEOs and MDs in the ABB survey are optimistic about India achieving a GDP growth of over 7 per
cent. — UNI
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NCMP allows divestment in sound PSUs: PC
New Delhi, October 20 He said the UPA Government at the Centre did not continue with the previous NDA regime’s decision to privatise 13 PSUs as per the National Common Minimum Programme which “says that profit-making public sector enterprises will not be privatised”. However, that does not mean that a small portion of the equity in these enterprises could not be disinvested, the Finance Minister told BBC. He said there was a vast difference between outright sale, which would lead to privatisation, and disinvestment. His remarks assume significance against the backdrop of the government’s recent decision to put off disinvestment in BHEL, one of the navratna companies, which made the Left parties end their boycott of the UPA Coordination Committee meetings with the UPA.
— PTI
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FedEx to connect 4,348 cities
New Delhi, October 20 “We are investing in India by introducing a number of service improvements, including a new trucking network, almost doubling the number of employees, doubling the number of branded facilities and a new westbound flight from Delhi,” Hamdi A. Osman, FedEx Express Vice-President in West Asia, Indian Subcontinent and Africa, said.
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Salim group to set up motor cycle unit in WB
Kolkata, October 20 Speaking to newsmen after formally signing an agreement with the chief of the multi-billion dollar Salim group of Indonesia here this evening, the Chief Minister said the group would set up a wholly owned company called “Mahabharat Motor Cycle Manufacturing Company Private Limited” for the sale of 5000 motor cycles per month initially under the brand name of “Arjuna”. However, later the capacity would be upgraded to 60,000 motor cycles per annum before increasing the capacity to two lakh per annum. Following the signing of the agreement Mr Santossa handed over a cheque for Rs 3.82 crore covering the 60 per cent cost of the 65 acre of land sold by the state government to the Indonesian group for the proposed new unit. Tomorrow, the land would be formally handed over to the representative of the Salim group. Referring to the state of other joint venture projects with the Salim group, Mr Bhattacharjee said these included the construction of a health city, a knowledge city and industrial economic zone, besides a logistic hub and super expressway between Barrasat and Raichak.
— UNI
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COAI approaches govt against Tata Tele
New Delhi, October 20 In an October 18 letter to the Department of Telecom (DoT) Secretary J S Sarma, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director General T V Ramachandran said Tata Teleservices’ “non-stop mobile” plan allows non-revenue generating users to be included in subscriber base reported by the company. As per the scheme, although the subscriber will not be able to make outgoing calls after exhausting talk-time, he will be able to receive incoming calls for two years. Urging intervention in the matter, Mr Ramachandran said this new scheme offered by TTSL would result in a gross inflation of the subscriber base and violate the DoT guidelines for calculation of subscriber figures vide its letter dated August 29, 2005, and September 7, 2005. Further, he said spectrum is allocated on the basis of subscriber figures. “Reporting of incorrect and inflated subscriber figures will result in serious problems in the critical area of monitoring of efficient spectrum utilisation,” he added.
— UNI
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Motorola sues incoming Nortel CEO Zafirovski
New York, October 20 The lawsuit, which does not name Nortel as a defendant, alleges that Zafirovski broke agreements by accepting the top position with Nortel and that his new role will inevitably result in the disclosure of Motorola’s trade secrets. Motorola has asked for an injunction to prevent the executive from working for Nortel for two years. Brampton, Ontario-based, Nortel, which was the first to announce Motorola’s action, also said the lawsuit, filed in Illinois, sought to stop Zafirovski from soliciting or hiring Motorola employees.
— Reuters
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