Gold coins on Khalsa
CHANDIGARH, April 9 — Parekh Platinum Ltd has introduced a series of 24-carat gold coins to commemorate the 300 years of the birth of Khalsa.

Daewoo unveils new car NEW DELHI, April 9 — Daewoo Motors India Limited today unveiled its luxury car Nexia — the latest addition to the highly competitive mid-size segment.

Dealers offer 60,000 rebate on diesel Zen
NEW DELHI, April 9 — Faced with poor sales volume, Maruti Udyog Limited dealers are now offering a Rs 60,000 rebate on the Zen-D as a desperate attempt to clear stocks.

SIDBI wins Asian award
CHANDIGARH, April 9 — Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has won the prestigious Asian Banking Awards ‘99 for its entry “SIDBI Foundation for Micro Credit Programme” in the development finance product/programme category. The Asian Banking Awards ‘99 trophy was presented to Dr Sailendra Narain, MD of the bank at a function held at Manila (Philippines) today.

CII (NR) gets new chief
CHANDIGARH, April 9 — At the first meeting of the newly elected Regional Council of CII (North Region) for the year 1999-2000, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal and Mr Vinayak Chatterjee were elected Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively.

97-point loss on downhill journey
MUMBAI, April 9 — The withdrawal of AIADMK from the Coordination Committee of the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre dragged down sentiments at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), pushing down the sensex by 97 points following massive unloading by bull operators coupled with lack of buying support from domestic institutional investors here today.

Sinha denies report on Re depreciation

NEW DELHI, April 9 (PTI) — Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today denied that Finance Ministry ever recommended to the RBI that the rupee be depreciated as the exchange rate being overvalued.

“There is no such paper the Finance Ministry has sent to the RBI,” he said adding “it is not the job of the Finance Ministry to advise the RBI on what the par value of rupee or exchange value of rupee should be.”

(A newspaper report had said that on the basis of an internal estimate, the rupee should be ideally 43.70 to the dollar against its current level of 42.66 and this had been communicated to the RBI.)

Asked to comment on the report he said: “No, that is very irresponsible reporting.”

“All that we are interested in as a government and as a nation is to ensure that orderly condition prevail in the exchange market, as indeed in the stock market undue volatility should be avoided and the market forces in this framework should have their play,” Sinha told PTI.

“It is not for us to fix value of rupee. It is not for us to even suggest a value for rupee and about that I am very clear,” he asserted.

The rupee had depreciated by a whopping 27 paise on Tuesday, plunging to an over 7-month low of Rs 42.68/71 on a knee-jerk reaction to the political uncertainty over the AIADMK pulling its nominees from the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Grand to get new look
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, April 9 — The Grand Palace in Srinagar is all set to sport a new look and management with the owners of the popular holiday resort, Bharat Hotels Limited, deciding to operate the property as an inter-continental hotel.

An agreement to this effect was signed by the Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Hotels Limited, Mr Lalit Suri, and Mr J.T.Kuhlman, President, Inter-Continental/Crowne Hotels and Resorts.

Bharat Hotels, which has a tie up with the one of the world’s largest hotel chains in New Delhi, would be extending the collaboration to its properties in Mumbai, Goa and Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Suri said here today.

Announcing the new agreement, Mr Suri said the decision to provide international management to the palace resort in Srinagar signals the reemergence of the picturesque city as a prime tourist destination.

The very fact that several film makers have restarted shooting in Srinagar is testimony to the fact that normalcy is returning to the troubled valley. After Anil Kapoor, Amir Khan and Monisha Koirala, superstar Amitabh Bachchan was expected to be in Srinagar next month, he said.

The 122-room former palace residence of the Maharajas overlooking the Dal Lake is at under extensive restoration and it would be operated as an Inter-Continental resort in early 2000. There are 56 palace suites, 60 standard rooms and 10 cottages, two restaurants and bar, conference and meeting rooms.

Gold coins on Khalsa
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 9 — Parekh Platinum Ltd has introduced a series of 24-carat gold coins to commemorate the 300 years of the birth of Khalsa. The coins bear motifs related to Khanda, Ek Omkar, Golden Temple, Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh in different combinations. They are available in 1, 2, 5 and 10 grams. Branded “Pplatini” they come in sealed form with a certificate of purity of 999 fineness (24 carat) and carry a buy back guarantee. The company will donate Rs 5 per coin to gurdwaras from the sales proceeds to coins gurdwaras priced at Rs 520 (1 gm), Rs 1015 (2 gm), Rs 2475 (5 gm) and Rs 4895 (10 gm).

Escotel eyes Himachal
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 9 — Escotel will offer seamless cellular service from Punjab to Himachal Pradesh with Smart Roam which is available in Punjab and will soon be launched in Himachal Pradesh. Escotel, which has announced plans for its entry into Kalka, Bhiwani, Sirsa and Kaithal, is setting up infrastructure for this and is expected to provide full-fledged cellular services by July this year. According to Mr Deepak Khanna, Escotel’s Circle Operations Head, Haryana, the launch of service in Bhiwani, being an important link with Rohtak, will help customers who roam into Delhi as well as Rajasthan. Sirsa’s proximity with Punjab and Hisar enables customers to stay connected while travelling from Hisar to Punjab supported by Smart Roam service.

Daewoo unveils new car
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, April 9 — Daewoo Motors India Limited (DMIL) today unveiled its luxury car Nexia — the latest addition to the highly competitive mid-size segment.

The Nexia, which will be on display at the Mumbai Auto Show beginning April 10, 1999, has already been launched in European markets, a company statement said.

The launch of the Nexia follows DIML’s announcement to unveil four variants of its small car — Matiz — and in effect bringing about a slash in prices.

The ex-factory price of the car has been fixed at Rs 6,17,234 and the ex-showroom price for Delhi is fixed at Rs 6,55,630. Order acceptance for the Nexia will start from April 12, 1999 and deliveries will begin in May, on a first-come, first serve basis, the company statement said.

Dealers offer 60,000 rebate on
diesel Zen

NEW DELHI, April 9 (UNI) — Faced with poor sales volume, Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) dealers are now offering a Rs 60,000 rebate on the Zen-D as a desperate attempt to clear stocks.

Company dealers told UNI here that Zen-D, the only diesel vehicle from MUL stable, has been a non-mover since its launch in September last year.

“Even the Rs 37,000 drop in the price-tag of the vehicle recently has failed to work wonders on its embarrassingly low sales figures. Now we have to clear stocks and are so offering these massive rebates,” a leading dealer said.

The Zen Diesel is currently priced at Rs 4,26,052 (ex-showroom) in Delhi.

Prior to this, the dealers had offered a Rs 35,000 rebate on the Esteem models.

SIDBI wins Asian award
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 9 — Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has won the prestigious Asian Banking Awards ‘99 for its entry “SIDBI Foundation for Micro Credit Programme” in the development finance product/programme category. The Asian Banking Awards ‘99 trophy was presented to Dr Sailendra Narain, MD of the bank at a function held at Manila (Philippines) today.

This is an outstanding achievement by SIDBI in getting the ‘Special Award’ considering the fact that 142 projects from 13 countries were vying for the awards. The awardees for other categories this year included ABN Amro Bank, Bank of East Asia, China Trust Commercial Bank, Development Bank of Philippines, Hong Kong Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and United Overseas Bank.

CII (NR) gets new chief
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 9 — At the first meeting of the newly elected Regional Council of CII (North Region) for the year 1999-2000, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal and Mr Vinayak Chatterjee were elected Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively.

Mr Munjal is the Executive Director (Project) of the Hero group and was the Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Sub-Committee of the CII (North Region) last year. Earlier, he was President of the Ludhiana Management Association.

Mr Vinayak Chatterjee is the Chairman of Feedback Ventures Ltd. He has been a member of the Regional Council of the CII (North Region) as well as the Chairman of the CII (North Region) Infrastructure Sub-Committee.

He was nominated in February 1998 by the World Economic Forum in Davos as one of the hundred global leaders of tomorrow.

97-point loss on downhill journey

MUMBAI, April 9 (UNI) — The withdrawal of AIADMK from the Coordination Committee of the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre dragged down sentiments at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), pushing down the sensex by 97 points following massive unloading by bull operators coupled with lack of buying support from domestic institutional investors here today.

Reflecting the bearish mood, the 30-share BSE sensex opened at 3543.24 points which happens to be the day’s high, fell sharply by 120 points and touched an-intra day low of 3423.84 before closing at 3441.19 points, showing a net loss of 96.98 points from the previous close of 3538.17 points.

The SP CNX Nifty at the National Stock Exchange also declined by 26.95 points to 993.40 points from the previous close of 1020.35 points. According to market sources, punters at the stock markets have lost all hopes of re-approachements between the AIADMK and BJP following the AIADMK’s new decision.

Leading BSE brokers said that bulls who were in huge outstanding positions worth Rs 1600 crore, reportedly sold shares worth Rs 300 crore. This is the second major setback, the market has suffered in this week due to political uncertainty.

The market has suffered first major setback on Monday as the BSE sensex lost nearly 167 points when the AIADMK decided to withdraw two of its Ministers from the Union Cabinet. The political uncertainty continues to cast its shadow on the market. Out of two trading sessions, the market reported moderate to heavy losses on speculative selling pressure from bull operators.

Besides, ACC, Zee TV, Hero Honda, Hind Lever and select shares from Pharma like Novartis, Cipla, Pfizer, E. Merck none of the scrip could register gain in the falling market today, dealers said.

The market even responded negatively to the better results from software giant Infosys Technology which posted an impressive net profit at Rs 135 crore for the year ended March 31, 1999 compared to Rs 60 crore in the last year. The scrip lost substantially like other Info-Tech shares, dealers said. Being, the last day at the BSE nobody preferred to take position in such a bad time when the foreign institutional investors (FIIs), and Indian financial institutions preferred to take a wait and watch attitude, opined Mr Shrikant Chauhan, Executive dealer at the Motilal Oswal Securities, a broking firm at the BSE.

EU open to Indian software experts

BONN, (PTI): The European Union (EU) has expressed its willingness to review rules that obstruct the movement of Indian software professionals to Europe and to have a “fresh look” at its policy on exports from developing countries.

The 15-member EU, India’s largest trading partner is also keen to have a continuous high-level dialogue with New Delhi on trade, economic and financial matters, a senior European Commission (EU) official told PTI from Brussels.

E-secure

NEW DELHI, (PTI): HCL Comnet has launched E-secure offering a range of comprehensive security solutions to the information of large, medium and small enterprises.

Most organisations are exposed to unauthorised access into their vital information resources through a web of computer hackers and are often faced with loss of money, reputation and even life. E-secure of HCL Comnet will provide the necessary security against such threats.

Voice telephony

NEW DELHI, (PTI): Alcatel has launched in India its Internet private communication exchange that can carry both voice, data and mobile communications for large and medium corporates.

The private branch exchange (PBX) of Alcatel “4400 IP-PCX” which is being marketed globally for large and medium enterprises both traditional voice communications was a major step in integrating voice and date communications in India.

Server market

NEW DELHI, (PTI): Contrary to the widespread belief that the Indian server market is on the growth curve following large scale deployment of high-end computer machines by corporates, the market has actually shrunk by 15 per cent during 1998. International Data Corporation (IDC) reveals.

The Indian server market, which generated a revenue of $ 212 million in 1997, registered a negative growth of 14.9 per cent and posted a turnover of around $ 180 million in 1998.

Wipro

BANGALORE, (PTI): Wipro has announced the formation of a subsidiary, Wipro Net Ltd, to provide Internet services across the country and said it will launch its services from June next.

Wipro Net, currently providing messaging, file transfer and enhanced fax services to over 500 corporate customers, will roll out its Internet service in phases from next June.

Wipro Net, incorporated on April 1, had obtained national Internet service provider (ISP) license from DoT in December last.

Infosys pays 50 pc
BANGALORE, April 9 (UNI) — Leading IT industry Infosys has declared a dividend of 50 per cent, 5 per cent more than the last year. According to the audited results released here today, the share holders would get Rs 5 per share. For the current year fluctuation in the exchange rates, compared with exchange rates as on March 31, 1998, have led to an increase in total income of Rs 9.36 crore and profit before tax of Rs 4.40 crore. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999, such exchange rate fluctuations led to an increase in total income of Rs 31.73 crore and profit before tax of Rs 13.72 crore.

RIL denies move on Glycol

NEW DELHI, April 9 (PTI) — Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today ruled out buying sick company S.M. Dyechem Glycol division. The petrochemical major in a statement said “Reliance Industries denies any intention of acquiring the Mone-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) plant of S.M. Dyechem”. Statement follows reports in press today of RIL plans to buy the Glycol division of S.M. Dyechem.

GAIL records 43 pc growth

SIBSAGAR, (Assam), April 9 (UNI) — Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has crossed a total turnover of Rs 6800 crore during 1998-99 compared to Rs 5736 crore the previous year. Official sources said GAIL’s gross operating margin has increased to Rs 1486 crore from Rs 1041 crore in the preceding year recording a growth of about 43 per cent with net profit for the company would be about Rs 1000 crore for 1998-99. This achievement enabled the company to meet all the physical and financial MoU targets in the areas of turnover and profit.

Ashok Leyland sales dip 6.63 pc

NEW DELHI, April 9 (UNI) — Ashok Leyland Limited, the second largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the country, has sold 29,456 vehicles for the year ending March 31, 1999, a fall of 6.63 per cent. Last fiscal, the Hinduja group company had sold 31,547 vehicles. In the medium duty vehicles segment, the company could sell only 26,817 vehicles, a dip of 5.4 per cent over the last year, a press release said. On the exports front, the company could just manage to cross last year’s achievement of 2,148 vehicles by exporting 2,168 vehicles.

Bharat Hotels profits fall

NEW DELHI, April 9 (UNI) — Faced with a major slump in the hospitality sector, the Delhi-based Bharat Hotels Limited (BHL) is likely to see over 40 per cent drop in turnover and net profit during the 1998-99 fiscal. Net profit for 1997-98 had dropped by over 5 per cent drop. The profit after interest and depreciation for the year stood at Rs 38.27 crore as against Rs 40.51 crore in the previous year. The board of directors had then declared a 20 per cent dividend for the year.

Gestetner turnover up 18 pc
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 9 — Gestetner India Limited (GIL) has registered a 173 per cent increase in sales and a 269 per cent increase in profitability over the last five years. In 1998 GIL’s turnover increased by 18 per cent to stand at Rs 61.44 crore as compared to Rs 52.10 crore in 1997. Highlighting the company’s financial performance since 1994, Mr Hemant Sharma, V.P. Finance, GIL said “the company has made a remarkable turnaround since 1994 as can be seen by the fact that the company’s sales have grown by 173 per cent to stand at Rs 62 crore in 1998.