 |
| Thursday, November 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Sinha for level-playing field in
insurance Several Indian Americans’ firms on IRDA may clear
all applications Transporters face
bankruptcy BASF acquires Gujarat
company Clothes that get smarter than the
wearer PNB workers move HC for
pension option |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Portal in
Gurmukhi Pact for cotton
unit
Now private phone inquiry Hindujas lose
Express Apna Town in
Birmingham Hunt for talent 
|
|
Sinha for level-playing field in
insurance NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — The Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, today promised to provide a “level playing field” in the insurance sector in respect of tax rates. The opening up of the sector will give “strength and spread” to domestic capital markets into which some investments are expected to flow. “We have a (V.U. Eradi) committee working on tax rates. I would like to give an assurance of a level playing field to private and public sector companies. Whatever be the (tax) rates, it will be applicable to all of them,” Mr Sinha told the CII-organised 5th insurance summit here. Eradi committee which is going into the issue of taxing insurance companies, expected to earn sizeable profits, is expected to come out with its recommendations shortly. Stressing that the Indian stock markets were presently dependent on a few players, he said with the opening up of the insurance sector, some investments from insurance and pension funds would flow into the capital markets which would provide strength and spread to them. Emphasising that government was committed to push up economic growth to 9 per cent annually in the coming years, Mr Sinha said insurance and pension funds provided the answer for pushing up the investment substantially to realise the higher growth. For this high growth there has to be a “quantum jump in savings and this can only be through the insurance sector”, he said adding the sector also had the potential to provide “social security” which it has not been able to do in the last 50 years. Life Insurance Corporation has achieved a 40 per cent growth annually mainly by tapping substantial savings available in the rural areas of the country and this has proved wrong the popular perception that rural India did not offer enough potential for growth in the insurance sector, he said. With the opening up of the insurance sector, Mr Sinha said he 2 confident that the sector which accounted for a mere two per cent of GDP would grow five times to account for 10 per cent of GDP. The main objective of pushing growth rate to 9 per cent annually was to overcome the “scourge of poverty”, Mr Sinha said adding “this is the challenge and task before us” and opening up of the insurance sector was expected to generate fresh employment as it was a manpower based industry. Giving statistics on what positive impact the opening up would have on the economy, Mr Sinha said Life Insurance Corporation business was expected to go up from Rs 350 billion at present to Rs 74 billion by 2010. Likewise pension fund would go up from Rs 10 billion to Rs 140 billion by 2010, corporate non-life insurance from Rs 75 billion to Rs 375 billion, personal non-life insurance from Rs 5 billion to Rs 50 billion.
|
|
Several Indian Americans’ firms on Standard NEW YORK, Nov 22 — Several companies founded or headed by Indian Americans have made it to the first Standard 100 list brought out by The Industry Standard, a leading business publication, and Epoch Partners, a San Francisco-based investment bank. The Standard 100 focuses on the Internet economy and recognises the companies that it thinks are transforming the world market. The index is tracked on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol XIS. The Indian American companies include Art Technology Group headed by Jeet Singh, i2 Technologies led by Sanjiv Sidhu, Tibco founded by Vivek Ranadive, Exodus which was founded by a group of pioneering Indians in Silicon Valley, Sycamore Networks also a pioneer established by Indian Americans, Juniper Networks founded by Pradeep Sindhu, InfoSpace founded by Naveen Jain and headed by Arun Sarin, and Redback Networks run by Vivek Raghavan. The most interesting companies are making dramatic changes at their cores, the publication said. “We picked the 100 stocks we found most representative of the state of the Internet economy,” said Eric J. Savitz, Executive Editor for The Industry Standard. “The weightings will be adjusted annually, and the index will be reviewed quarterly, to ensure it continues to accurately reflect the Internet economy.” Jeet Singh’s Art Technology Group is valued at $4.2 billion and has close to 400 employees and helps companies create and manage Web client rapport. Its clients include Eastman Kodak, Sony and Sun Microsystems and its biggest competitor is BroadVision. Singh beat BroadVision, however, in securing the contract to run American Airlines’ Web site in July this year. Exodus, with a market capitalization of nearly $14 billion, is the leading Web hosting company in this country. It has clients like eBay, Excite, MSNBC and Yahoo. Based in Santa Clara, California, the company has nearly 2,000 employees. Sidhu’s i2, a B-2-B service provider that has a market cap of more than $34 billion, recently launched its flagship product, TradeMatrix, which allows clients and suppliers to conduct real-time transactions on the Internet. It also announced partnerships with Ariba and IBM and has major rivals like Commerce One and Oracle. Based in Dallas, Texas, i2 has some 5,000 employees. Naveen Jain’s InfoSpace, a content provider going heavily into wireless, is run by CEO Arun Sarin and is based in Redmond, Washington. With more than 1,000 employees, the company recently merged with Go2Net. It has a market cap of $4.7 billion. Pradeep Sindhu’s Juniper Networks is based in Sunnyvale, California, deals in high-speed routers and offers high-powered expertise to Internet and telecom service providers globally. Its main rivals are heavy hitters like Cisco, Lucent, and Nortel. The company has a market cap of almost $61.5 billion.
— IANS
|
|
IRDA may clear all applications NEW DELHI, Nov 22 (IANS) — India’s newly liberaliased insurance market watchdog hopes to clear by the middle of next month all the 12 applications filed by the private insurance companies for registration. “We have so far received 12 applications and out of these we have already approved registration of four companies. The rest will be cleared by the middle of December,” N. Rangachary, chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), said today. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the CII insurance summit organized. IRDA last month granted registration to Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Ltd., HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd. and Max New York Life Insurance, ending the 44-year-old state monopoly in the insurance sector. The authority, which was formalised after the enactment of the relevant legislation in December 1999, has also granted in-principle approval to ICICI Prudential Life and IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company. “We have asked ICICI Prudential to get clearance from RBI. We expect to clear the registration of the two companies in the next couple of weeks,” Rangachary said. IRDA has laid down that foreign companies can pick up a maximum of 26 per cent in a joint venture insurance company with the majority 74 per cent stake remaining with the domestic partner. Rangachary said IRDA would ensure that the expectations of the consumers were fully met by the companies in the liberalised insurance sector. “The implementation of liberalised insurance sector in India is going to be done through a series of regulations that will deal with the selection of players, valuation of assets and determination of solvency position of insurance companies,” he said. He said IRDA’s norms would conform to international equivalents and would help India to move from a highly regulated market to a market driven by supply and demand. IRDA would not interfere with company decisions on product categories and pricing. “We have no intention to tell the companies as to the products that have to be introduced and the prices of the products,” he said. The companies will, however, have to submit details of their products and prices with the authority before introducing them in the market. IRDA would give its clearance within 30 days of an application being filed, he said. “If an insurer is able to satisfy the authority that the pricing of the products would not be adverse, the company is entitled to market any products,” he said, adding that the insurer will have to produce a certificate from a recognised actuary on the implications of introducing a product. Brant Free, Senior Vice-President of US-based non-life insurance major The Chubb Corporation, said that India is poised to reap the benefits that a modern, innovative, financially solvent and consumer oriented insurance market could provide with a sound regulatory structure in place. “We strongly believe that good regulatory systems are good for us and good for our customers and are also essential to the vitality and viability of both national and international financial markets,” he said.
|
|
Transporters face
bankruptcy LUDHIANA, Nov 22 — The recent hike in the prices of diesel and spare parts have drastically affected the business of private bus operators as well as the public sector buses, the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) and Punjab Roadways.The rates of high speed diesel have increased from Rs 6.95 to Rs 16.65 per litre between 1996 and 2000. The special road tax of Rs 3.49 per km and 31 paise per km as token tax are proving a heavy burden on their profit margins. At the time of increase in petroleum prices, the state government had announced the increase in fares, but it backtracked immediately from its decision reportedly buckling under the pressure of the public. The transport leaders have claimed the illegal operation of the trucks, tempoos and private Tata Sumos was affecting the passenger traffic in the buses. The number of buses in the state have also increased manifold in comparison to the proportionate increase in the passenger traffic in recent years. Further the free travelling of policemen, students and aged women have compounded the problem. It is alleged there has been a too much hike in the bus stand fees. Now the bus operators have to pay this fees anywhere between Rs 10-40 per round to the bus stand. But adequate facilities are not provided there. At present, there are 2578, 2400, and about 1100 buses of private operators, Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation, running on the roads in the state. In the private buses about seven lakh passengers are said to travel daily. The private bus operators claim that they have to spend Rs 4.73 per km on diesel and the total costs on an average are Rs 16.39 per km as against the average income of Rs 13 per km. The trade unions of the PRTC, Punjab Roadways and the private transporters have been agitating from a long time to increase the bus fares or decrease the special road tax. The government has not budged so far. Recently, a delegation of the owners of private bus companies met the Finance Minister, Mr Kamaljeet Singh. Mr Fateh Singh Libra, Mr Amarjeet Singh Bhatti, Mr Gurcharan Singh Sunam, Mr Ranjeet Singh Libra, Mr Birinder Singh Grewal, Sangrur, Mr Surinder Singh Barnala, Mr Charanjeet Singh Barnala, Mr Sikinder Singh Mansa, Mr Yadwinder Singh Jaiton, Mr Dimpi Dhelon, Mr Tara Singh Bhatti, Mr Ajit Singh Khatra, Patiala were the members of the delegation. After apprising him of the bad conditions of the transporters, the delegation met the Chief Minister. The CM asked them to meet him later on. Consequently, the delegation again had a meeting. Mr Avtar Singh Henri and Mr Jagdeesh Sahni, MLA of BJP also participated in the deliberations. The CM promised to announce a special package soon for the transport sector. The wait seems to be too long the bus operators. The government was earlier waiting the Central Government’s decision to roll-back the prices of the petroleum prices. However, after the decrease in the rates of kerosene and LPG, there does not seem to be any hope for the state government. The transporters have requested the CM to announce the package immediately, since it was no more feasible for them to run the buses. Otherwise the transport industry will collapse like the agriculture of Punjab, said these leaders. |
|
MUMBAI, Nov 22 (PTI) — German chemical BASF Ag has acquired a Gujarat-based company for an undisclosed amount in order to expand its polystyrene manufacturing and sales base in the country. The company, which has a polystyrene plant in Dahej, has been renamed as BASF Styrenics Private Ltd from Pushpa Polymers Pvt Ltd. “We are in the process of restarting operations in Dahej and we expect to market top quality products within four weeks”, company’s Styrenic Polymers Division head Werner Pratorius told reporters here today. As part of the deal, BASF would hold a majority stake in the new company with complete managerial and operational control, while few representatives of the Chatterjee group, the ex-promoters, company would also remain on the board, he said. Snowcem to issue
shares at Rs 110 MUMBAI (UNI) : Snowcem India Limited, manufacturer of exterior paints, has made its maiden entry into gold and silver fabrication jobs by acquiring an existing plant in Mumbai from G.K. Exim promoted by Mr G.K. Rathi. The consideration was in terms of issuing 45 lakh shares of Snowcem Rs 10 per share for cash at a premium of Rs 100 per share for a total sum of Rs 50 crore to the promoters of G.K. Exim. This would enhance the paid-up equity capital of Snowcem from Rs 10.5 crore to Rs 15 crore, said Mr B.M. Jhaveri, a director of Snowcem Limited.
Ramco Sys ties up
with Check Point CHENNAI (PTI): Chennai-based Ramco Systems, market leaders in Information Security Solutions in India, has entered into an alliance with Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, to provide technical training and certification on Internet security products and services. The association would make the former an authorised training centre in this part of the country and the only certified testing centre in India, a release from Ramco Systems said here today. With the Internet getting all pervasive and with more and more businesses getting into the web, the need for security professionals is on the rise. Till now, companies had to send their engineers abroad to meet their training and skill-building requirements. |
|
Clothes that get smarter than the
wearer BRUSSELS, Nov 22 — Clothes that tell you you’ve forgotten your keys or warn you when your wallet is stolen. A jogging suit that puts you through your paces. It’s not the stuff of science fiction, but a five-year project by the Brussels-based research group Starlab to come up with a form of “intelligent clothing’’. “(The tracksuit) monitors you starting to run. It configures data on your heartbeat. It plays a certain type of music and adapts the rhythm of the music to push you harder or slow you down,’’ said Walter Van de Velde, head of the scientific think-tank whose embryonic designs could revolutionise clothing. “The mobile phone function in the clothing sends the data by e-mail to your sports club, which receives the report on your training by the time you’ve taken your shower.’’ For the uninitiated, Van de Velde’s outline evokes the workout from Hell: a relentless personal trainer and no way of cheating the results. But intelligent clothing need not just be practical, it could also indulge nostalgic yearnings, Van de Velde says. “I like the idea of clothing as memory, which accumulates part of the impression of the place you are staying, say, on holiday. It would record the freshness of the air, the background noise, it would take snapshots like a tourist.’’ He even suggests ‘’sound perfume’’ — heat sensors which would pick up the wearer’s mood, detecting panic or embarrassment, and play music via small speakers to match it. “The sound of the wind blowing could represent turbulence,’’ Van de Velde suggested. “As you relax it becomes gentler.’’ Artificial intelligence Known as the project’s godfather, Van de Velde left Brussels University where he was co-Director of the artificial intelligence unit, to help establish the new firm. Almost one year into its research, Starlab’s i-Wear showed off its first prototype at its elegant headquarters — an ornate former embassy where some 60 scientists from 28 countries work on projects ranging from artificial brains to time travel to intelligent clothing. At this initial stage, the prototype resembles a shirt composed of several layers with heat sensors and microphones tucked away in the cuffs and collar to measure light and sound. The researchers explain that by putting a computer chip in your car keys, which is then picked up and read by another in your shirt, the garment could easily recognise if this item was missing and alert the wearer. “We looked at everyday objects — batteries, mobile phones, laptops — and decided to integrate their function — sound, power, communications — into clothing,’’ Van de Velde said. Truly marketable? “In the long term, we are looking to integrate computing capabilities into the fabric and fibres themselves,’’ Van de Velde said. “The way the threads are woven would create different circuits.’’ He said scientists had already considered ways to “charge’’ these fibres such as using washing powder to deposit a conductant which would start generating power once it was exposed to light, or coating fibres with the same substance. But would intelligent clothing sell? Already, 10 international brands have sponsored Starlab’s i-Wear project and reaped the fruits of the research. Among these are well-known names such as sportswear’s Adidas , clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss and luggage maker Samsonite . “I believe there would be a market for young people, who would be interested in it, less as a useful thing, but as a gadget,’’ Van de Velde admitted. “It remains to be seen if it’s useful for everybody.’’
— Reuters
|
|
PNB workers move HC for
pension option NEW DELHI, Nov 22 — The Delhi High Court today issued notice to the Centre, RBI and Punjab National Bank on a petition by bank employees that the pension option should be extended once more and the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) should not be implemented before the disposal of the present scheme. The All India Punjab National Bank Workers Federation moved the court on the grounds seeking one more pension offer. A division bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice C M Nayyar and Justice MSA Siddiqui issued notice to the Reserve Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and the
Centre. |
|
HYDRERABAD, Nov 22 (UNI) — The Hyderabad-based Suryajyothi Infotech Limited (sjil) has launched Punjabiinfo.com, the first portal in Gurmukhi. According to a press release here, Punjabiinfo.com contains unique features like online booking of the Akandh Path (chanting from the holy book) in any Gurdwara of one’s choice. It also has online Shabad Kirtan and the Holy Gurbani. Besides e-mail chat, e-biz and a matrimonial section, the site also contains information on Punjabi food and history. Sjil is a total software consulting and developing firm providing state-of-the-art expertise in areas of consulting, designing, developing and testing software applications and project management. It also has offices at Dallas Texas with the name ‘Clavib’.
|
|
Pact for cotton
unit CHANDIGARH, Nov 22 — Punjab Agro Industries Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understandig (MoU) with Mr Pankaj Kansil of Chandigarh for setting up an integrated cotton processing unit . The project is estimated to cost nearly Rs 115 crore. PAIC will contribute 15 per cent and private promoters 36 per cent towards the equity of the project. The processing unit which has been proposed to be set up near Derabassi, will have an installed capacity of 50 TPD of cotton ginning, 18 TPD of ring frame spinning, , 18 TPD of open end spinning and 25 TPD of yarn dyeing in Punjab. The proposed unit is expected to provide great assistance to the cotton growers of Punjab where the cotton production is 20 per cent of that of the country whereas the consumption in the state is only 6-7 per cent. The unit is also expected to provide direct and indirect employment to nearly 2,000 persons. |
cr
Now private phone inquiry NEW DELHI: Fed up with the non-cooperative attitude of operators on ‘197’? Want to know the best pizza shop in your area or looking for a blood bank at midnight? Try 2727271, claimed to be the country’s first private telephone information service, which was launched here today. “Dial India” will not only provide telephone numbers as is done by the directory service of MTNL, but also value-added services such as addresses, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of individuals and corporates “round the clock and free of cost”, its Managing Director Hemant Kaushik told reporters here. He said Dial India’s telephone lines are attached to an electronic automatic exchange which has series of hunting lines to ensure that the number does not remain engaged. The service would be extended to 25 major cities across the country by March 2001 and will be linked to Internet to enable world-wide access. The company has already invested Rs 50 lakh and plans to put in Rs 1.50 crore in the coming days. The company will generate income through direct marketing methods, wherein a nominal fee will be charged from private establishments.
— PTI Hindujas lose
Express LONDON, Nov 22 (PTI) — The publisher of celebrity lifestyle magazine “OK!” has agreed on a deal to buy Express newspapers of the UK for up to £ 125 million in cash. Magazine publisher Richard Desmond is thought to be keen to add United News and Media’s Daily Express, Sunday Express and Daily Star to his company Northern and Shell ahead of a stock market floatation next year. The Financial Times newspaper said the deal would be a blow to NRI businessmen Hinduja brothers who believed they were close to an agreement with United and were confident they were the preferred bidders with an indicative offer of £ 120 million. The deal will see the Express added to a stable housing soft porn titles Asian Babes and exotic stories and the fantasy channel, an adult TV channel.
— PTI Apna Town in
Birmingham LONDON: First it was an infatuation with the Nehru jacket, then it was the love affair with curry. Now some Birmingham councilors have decided the pull of the East is strong enough to give an Indian name to the suburbs of the British city. Despite opposition from traditionalists, parts of Birmingham Sparkbrook will shortly be labeled “Apna Town” (our town). The move will be formalised by Christmas when signs go up in that part of the Midlands, 100 miles (160 km) north of London, proclaiming Apna Town in English, Hindi, Gurmukhi and Urdu. Labor councillor Mick Rice said: We took the name to the local regeneration board and they said if that’s what residents wanted, that was fine. The signs have been ordered and it will all happen next month.”
— IANS Hunt for talent CHANDIGARH: Waiting to be discovered? Lucky Star Entertainment Ltd has decided to promote unrecognised but talented artistes through a talent hunt contest. Aspirants are required to send their demo tape to the Delhi-based company by December 3%. Selected finalists will be called for the zonal finals to be held in the four metros, wherein winners will be chosen in different categories. The final show will be held either in Mumbai or Delhi. The winners will be given an opportunity to record an album, which will be promoted and marketed by the company. Besides singers, the talent hunt is for models, actors and anchors. Mr Jerry Almeida, the company Vice-President, said there is no entrance or processing fee. The panel of judges include Chandraprakash Diwedi, Priyadarshan and Mrs Aruna Oswal. The company is a part of the Rs 4,000 crore Oswal group.
—TNS |
bb
PSEL MoU Coop week Overseas Bank IFC HelpAge |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
