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Infosys rings NASDAQ bell from Mysore
WB Govt unveils biggest infrastructure project
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Govt wants banks to serve havenots
Ranbaxy founder’s will dispute settled?
Hero Honda hikes prices by up to Rs 2,000
TDSAT directive to Bharti
IndiGo to take off on Aug 4
Corporate Results
Bank Account
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Infosys rings NASDAQ bell from Mysore
Mysore, July 31 It was an evening of emotions for the founders of the company as well as others present who cheered as electronic screens first registered Infosys on the exchange banner and then the market was opened electronically from here. The NASDAQ President and CEO, Mr Bob Greifeld, while speaking on the occasion, said it was not only the first opening from India, but was also physically the largest market opening with 3,000 participants. Speaking about the success achieved by Infosys, he said in 1999 when the company first registered on the exchange, its 100 shares could be got for $3,400. "Now it takes $50,000 to get those 100 shares, representing a 1,387 per cent return on investment". Mr Greifeld said though NASDAQ was US-based, India was increasingly becoming a driving force in the global economy and companies like Infosys were leading the charge. "Infosys had become a global partner of choice and is the definition of an innovative NASDAQ company". He said Infosys now had a market capitalisation of $22 billion. Infosys Chief Mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy said his mind went back to the winter day of 1981 when he sat down with four friends to chart out the company, what Infosys is today. We decided our objective would be to seek respect from each stake- holder rather than focusing on revenues and targets. We realised that revenues and market capitalisation would come later, he said. Mr Murthy said since 1999 revenue had gone up 18 times from $121 million to $2 billion in 2006. He said profits rose from $30 million to $550 million during this period. He said, "twenty-five years ago, we founded Infosys with a vision of global delivery model. That vision has been validated as the tide of globalisation has swept across the world and businesses are dramatically changing. Opening the NASDAQ market from India is not only a great honour for India, but illustrative of the emerging new world". Planning Commission Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Infosys had emerged as a trendsetter by setting an example of how a group of professionals could set standards of corporate governance by competing with the best in the world. |
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WB Govt unveils biggest infrastructure project
Kolkata, July 31 The agreement with a consortium of Indian and foreign promoters for building India's biggest infrastructure-cum-industrial project is estimated to cost up to Rs 90,000 crore. The agreement among the state government, the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and New Kolkata International Development Pvt Ltd (NKID) — a special purpose company promoted by the Salim group, the Universal Success group and Unitech — was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Among other things, the agreement envisages the setting up of a chemical industrial estate, a multi-product SEZ and a small and medium enterprises industrial estate, an expressway and a bridge. While declining to quantify the investment pending preparation of the detailed project report (DPR), the Chief Minister said that Rs 4,000 crore would be spent on building the expressway connecting North 24 Parganas district with East Midnapore, including the bridge over the Hooghly between Raichak in South 24 Parganas and Kukrahati in East Midnapore. “It is not possible to quantify the investments right now because DPRs will have to be made for each component of the projects,” Industry minister Nirupam Sen told newsmen after the signing ceremony. He said that another Rs 3,430 crore would be pumped in for building social infrastructure and increasing land productivity. On the agitation by opposition parties against handing over agricultural land to industries, the Chief Minister said as far as possible the acquisition of fertile land was carefully avoided. The Industry Minister said the state government was trying to acquire land with consensus. Many farmers at Singur where Tata Motors’ small car project would be set up were voluntarily handing over land, the Industry Minister claimed. Land acquisition in East Midnapore district, he said, would not be a problem since most of the land identified there was unfit for agriculture. Mr Sen said that the expressway and the two bridges would be completed by 2012. It would take 15 years to complete all projects.
— PTI |
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Reforms must for 8 pc growth: Montek
Mysore, July 31 Inaugurating a new block of the Software Development Centre here, Dr Ahluwalia said he was hopeful that reforms could make progress in coalition politics. “We have a diverse and plural society and even when you have a single- party government, different pluralistic views tend to be reflected. In such a scenario reforms cannot be designed by six technocrats. It is important to bring on board as many people as you can”. Dr Ahluwalia admitted that infrastructure continued to be a bottleneck as far as the manufacturing industry was concerned. It was the duty of the State to provide quality infrastructure. “The rest of the stuff can be left to private entrepreneurs”. When questioned on China as a threat, Dr Ahluwalia said the rise of China was extremely positive for India. China’s success was a demonstration that it was possible for a developing country to compete with the best. Infosys HR head TV Mohandas Pai said the Software Development Centre built at a cost of Rs 250 crore could seat 2,500 persons. |
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Govt wants banks to serve havenots
New Delhi, July 31 While ruling out the privatisation of core banking services of the nationalised banks, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the government and the RBI were working to provide banking services to landless labourers, the weaker sections and minorities through NGOs, self-help groups (SHGs), village knowledge centres and postal offices. The government is expected to come out with a roadmap in this connection soon. A 10-member committee constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard under the chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan is expected to submit its report by December. “Out of around 10 crore farm households alone, the banks have so far reached around 4.5 crore families, leaving small and marginal farmers and landless labourers at the mercy of money-lenders,” said a senior official in the Finance Ministry. He said during the current year the government had fixed a target of setting up 3.85 lakh SHGs in rural and urban areas to provide credit to landless labourers, women, marginal farmers and small entrepreneurs. The banks have been instructed, he said, to ensure adequate credit to the weaker sections through SHG models and joint responsibility groups in the case of landless labourers. The RBI has also issued draft guidelines to outsource banking services like identification of borrowers, delivery, recovery of and monitoring of credit disbursal to reputed agencies in the non-covered areas. Worried over the political consequences of continued farmers’ suicides also, the government has decided, said sources, to speed up the process of institutional disbursal. Official sources said the government was exploring the possibility of extending credit through post offices and a final decision in this regard was expected shortly. The government had called upon the banking managements to evolve innovative business models to reach these groups as part of social banking. However, they would have to pay the market rate of interest and no loans would be waived off. |
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Ranbaxy founder’s will dispute settled?
New Delhi, July 31 Malvinder’s mother, Nimmi Singh, and brother Shivinder Singh, representing the Parvinder Singh group of Ranbaxy, and Max chief Analjit Singh in a joint statement said that the two sides had reached an “amicable and final settlement with respect to all pending litigation, claims and disputes”. However, Bhai Mohan Singh’s second son, Manjit, said he was not a party to the settlement and hence would continue to challenge the probate of the will. “This settlement has got nothing to do with me. I will continue to fight for my legitimate rights,” Manjit Singh said. He said he would continue to challenge the probate of the will, which had been filed by Analjit Singh at the Tis Hazari Court. Manjit has been claiming his share from the assets, including immovable properties and shares of more than 30 companies, held by his late father. As per the settlement reached between the other two parties, all disputes and claims pertaining to the Delhi Guest House, properties at Aurangazeb Road and South End Lane; Ranbaxy shares; and the full acceptance of Bhai Mohan Singh’s registered will have been fully resolved. Following the settlement, all 33 complaints and suits, some of which go back to the early 1990s, in various courts are in the process of being withdrawn, the statement said. Although, both sides were in discussions earlier for an out-of-court settlement, matters took an ugly turn on July 4 when Nimmi Singh charged Analjit Singh with criminal intimidation. Analjit, in return, filed a defamation complaint in a Delhi court against his brother’s wife and nephews. The joint statement today, however, made it clear that the two sides have resolved all family issues, except the acceptance of Bhai Mohan Singh’s will by Bhai Manjit Singh.
— PTI |
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Hero Honda hikes prices by up to Rs 2,000
New Delhi, July 31 “The substantial increase in the prices of steel, aluminium and rubber was impacting our operating margins. To offset the increase in raw material costs we have announced a marginal price increase. This will positively impact our operating margins for the remaining quarters,” Hero Honda Motors Ltd Managing Director Pawan Munjal said in a statement. This decision had primarily been taken to compensate for the increased inflationary costs in raw materials - steel, aluminum, rubber, etc, it said. The new prices, ranging between Rs 500 and Rs 2000 across various models, would be effective from tomorrow. ‘CD Dawn’ will be costlier by Rs 1,000 while the prices of ‘Splendor plus’, ‘Passion Plus’ and ‘Achiever’ have been increased by Rs 750. Hero Honda’s best selling model ‘Splendor’ will see a hike of Rs 500 while the price of premium model ‘Karizma’ has been increased by Rs 2,000. There is no change in prices of ‘CD De luxe’, ‘Glamour’ and ‘Pleasure’, it said.
— PTI |
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TDSAT directive to Bharti
New Delhi, July 31 Bharti had contended that it was entitled to carry long-distance call traffic on its own up to the point where its network was available —a move which would have resulted in huge savings to the company on payment of interconnection charges to BSNL. As per the licence agreement, BSNL was to provide national and intercircle links to the customers of Bharti Telnet. Through their interconnection agreement, Bharti was also connecting calls made by its subscribers to the BSNL's network on revenue share basis. Later, a dispute arose over the terms and conditions of the
agreement. — PTI |
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IndiGo to take off on Aug 4
New Delhi, July 31 Promoted by InterGlobe Enterprises, Indigo had stunned the world by placing an order for 100 single-aisle Airbus A320s valued at $6 billion at the Le Bourget air show a year ago. The airline has taken the delivery of its first new aircraft with a single-class configuration of 180 seats. By December, 2007, IndiGo’s fleet will comprise 15 aircraft. From August 10, it will add a non-stop daily service between Delhi and Pune, with the same aircraft continuing up to Bangalore. InterGlobe Managing director Rahul Bhatia said the airline would serve Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Imphal, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune with its first four aircraft. |
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ONGC share sale helps IOC get into black
New Delhi, July 31 "Net loss before consideration of one-time profit from sale of ONGC shares in April-June quarter is Rs 1,444.26 crore," IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria told reporters here. After accruing a net gain of Rs 3,224.78 crore from the sale of shares of ONGC, which IOC had acquired few years ago, the company posted a net profit of Rs 1,780.52 crore as against a net loss of Rs 57.93 crore in the first quarter of 2005-06 fiscal. Mr Behuria said IOC was losing Rs 100 crore per day on selling petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene below the cost of production. Despite the June 5 hike in auto fuel prices, IOC is losing Rs 6.31 per litre on petrol, Rs 8.25 on diesel, Rs 18.69 a litre on kerosene and Rs 166 per LPG cylinder, he said adding the oil bonds promised by the government as part of the package to mitigate the impact of surging oil prices, had not been given to the oil companies. "We expect about Rs 7,000 crore worth of oil bonds for two quarter (April-June and July-September) to be issued by mid-October," he said. IOC turnover increased 25.56 cent to Rs 53,164 crore for the quarter ended June 30, from Rs 42,340 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago, Mr Behuria said. Hindustan Lever
FMCG giant Hindustan Lever Ltd has posted net profit of Rs 371.33 crore, an increase of 35.1 per cent, for the second quarter ended June 30. The company said net sales during the period were Rs 3,052.07 crore, an increase of 8.7 per cent. HLL has also decided to pay an interim dividend of Rs 3 per share of Re 1each for 2006, “There has been a continuing sales growth of 12 per cent in the FMCG sector, 13.9 per cent in HPC business and 3.9 per cent in foods. In the 12 per cent FMCG growth, two-third of the growth came from Volumes,” HLL Director (Finance) D. Sundaram said. Reliance Comm net up
Reliance Communications Ltd has announced a net profit of Rs 531 crore for the first quarter of the current fiscal on increasing subscriber figures and networks expansion. Incidentally, the company had posted a net loss of Rs 250 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. The company was in pre-operative stage as on June 30, 2005, and the figures relating to the quarter ended June 30, 2006, are not comparable. In the latest quarter, the company's total revenue rose to Rs 3,250 crore from Rs 2,280 crore in the year-ago period, posting an increase of 42 per cent. BEL net grows
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has reported a 6 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 60.27 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2006, as compared to Rs 56.59 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The total income increased 2 per cent, from Rs 508.94 crore, for the Q1 FY06, to Rs 521.51 crore for Q1 FY07, the company said. Grasim Industries
Grasim Industries Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 311.9 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, as against Rs 250.9 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, a rise of 24.3
per cent. The total revenues in the quarter grew by 20.8 per cent at Rs 1,877 crore as against Rs 1,553.3 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2005. The consolidated net profit rose by 47 per cent at Rs 435.3 crore during the reporting quarter as against Rs 296.1 crore during the corresponding quarter last year. Nestle India
Nestle India Ltd has posted a decline of 2.10 per cent in net profit at Rs 81.03 crore for the quarter ended June 30, as compared to Rs 82.77 crore for the same quarter in
2005-06. The total income (net of excise) of the company increased 9.90 per cent to Rs 685.59 crore for quarter ended June 30, from
Rs 623.78 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago. BHEL net soars 85 pc
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has recorded 85 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 236.7 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal 2006-07 as against Rs 127.9 crore posted during the corresponding period in last fiscal year. Income from operations surged 36.56 per cent to Rs. 2887.3 crore against Rs. 2114.3 crore in the same period in the previous year. At the end of the first quarter of 2006-07, BHEL’s order book stands at Rs 39,300 crore for execution in the current fiscal and beyond.
— TNS, Agencies |
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PNB to hike home, retail loan rates
New Delhi, July 31 Meanwhile, the bank said it would raise up to Rs 2,200 crore tier I and tier II capital. PNB Chairman S.C. Gupta said with cost of funds rising after the RBI hiked short-term rates last week and pressure on profitability, the bank has to revise the lending rates, including for home, personal and other retail loans. Meanwhile, the bank has posted a net profit of Rs 367.52 crore for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 358.16 crore for the corresponding quarter last financial year, an increase of 2.61 per cent. The bank said its total income had increased from Rs 2,542.79 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, to Rs 2,921.80 crore for the same quarter this year. Further, the bank's Board has declared a final dividend of 60 per cent which is equivalent to Rs 6 per share for FY-06. This is an addition to the interim dividend of 30 per cent at Rs 3 per share paid on December 19, 2005. With the declaration of the final dividend, the total dividend for FY-06 is 90 per cent. BOB Q1 net up
The Bank of Baroda has posted a 4.06 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 163.32 crore for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 156.94 crore for the corresponding quarter in 2005-06. Total income increased by 22.05 per cent to Rs 2297.62 crore for the first quarter in 2006-07 from Rs 1882.01 crore in Q1 FY 05-06. Andhra Bank
Andhra Bank has posted an increase of 36.69 per cent in net profit at Rs 116.41 crore for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 85.16 crore for the same quarter in 2005-06. Total income increased by 24.09 per cent to Rs 861.75 crore for the quarter ended June 30 from Rs 694.43 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. OBC Q1 net up two-fold
The Oriental Bank of Commerce today reported an over two-fold increase in net profit at Rs 94.02 crore for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 43.53 crore for the corresponding quarter in 2005-06. Total income rose to Rs 1304.02 crore for the first quarter in 2006-07, up 20.39 per cent from Rs 1083.10 crore in the year-ago period. Jammu & Kashmir Bank
Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd has posted an increase of 28.77 per cent in net profit at Rs 62.38 crore for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 48.44 crore for the same quarter in 2005-06. The total income increased by 7.01 per cent to Rs 481.85 crore for the quarter ended June 30, from Rs 450.26 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago. Corporation Bank
Corporation Bank has posted a 16 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 144.24 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2006, as compared to Rs 123.52 crore for the same period last year. The total income was up by 19 per cent to Rs 917.59 crore for Q1 FY07, from Rs 766.35 crore for Q1 FY06. The bank reported a 7 per cent hike in net profit at Rs 100.27 crore for 04 FY06 as against Rs 107.57 crore for 04 FY05. IndusInd Bank
IndusInd Bank has announced its revised interest rates on domestic term deposits, under which the bank will charge an 8 per cent interest rate for a term of 270 days to below 1 year. The rates, effective from 27 July, 2006, are — 7 days to 14 days - 4.75 per cent, 15 days to 30 days - 5.5 per cent, 31 days to 60 days - 5.5 per cent, 61 days to 90 days - 5.75 per cent, 91 days to 180 days - 6 per cent, 181 days to 269 days - 6.5 per cent, and 270 days to below 1 year - 8 per cent. Meanwhile, the bank has posted a drop of 80.15 per cent in its net profit at Rs 8.01 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, as compared to Rs 40.36 crore for the same quarter last year. However, the bank’s total income went up by 11.51 per cent to Rs 390.14 crore in Q1 FY07 as compared to Rs 349.86 crore in Q1 Fy06. — TNS, Agencies |
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Phase 1 of footwear
park completed
Jhajjar, July 31 This park, being set up with an investment of Rs 1200 crore, would generate employment for about 25,000 youths. The HSIDC Director clarified that Reliance Industries would purchase land for its SEZ directly from farmers. The state government would only ensure smooth sailing for the SEZ. |
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Rupee strengthens
Mumbai, July 31 |
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CPI-IW up by two points
Shimla, July 31 |
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