 |
| Friday, December 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Poor to World Bank: why ruin our health? MoU signed for
Sangrur plant Caller identification
facility in Muktsar AI to fly home NRIs’
bodies free of cost Pasupati mill workers
gherao GM, manager |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Zydus Cadila pact with
Bio-tech Consortium Viagra pill to cost
Rs 12 only IIMM awards for 3
Is handset war already over?
Skin: natural remedies
are kinder than creams
Open offer for Castrol India at 311.91
|
|
Poor to World Bank: why ruin our health? DHAKA, Dec 7 — Delegates at an international meet on public health here sharply criticised the World Bank for its healthcare policies, saying they were “devastating developing economies, lives of the poor and the public health system” while “favoring multinational pharmaceutical companies”. “The World Bank should be dismantled,” Antonio Tujan, a social activist from the Philippines, said. He alleged that the Bank’s policies in his country were aimed at “commercialisation and privatisation” of the healthcare system. “The poor have been marginalised and are languishing in poverty,” he claimed. Delegates from 95 countries are attending the People’s Health Assembly 2000. Tujan said less than 3 per cent of the $1.8 billion World Bank loan given to the Philippines was being spent on public health. “No medicine is better than bad medicine,” he said, calling for a rejection of the Bank’s policy prescriptions. “We don’t need charity but justice,” said Charles Mutasa of Zimbabwe, blaming the World Bank for a global economic system in which the African countries were “caught in a debt trap”. Thelma Narayan from India called the Bank an “undemocratic institution”. “The Bank functions with no transparency and is controlled by the United States, which dominates most of its decision-making. Who will take responsibility for the disruption in the lives of people and the deaths caused by the World Bank-promoted projects?” Narayan asked. Defending the institution, Richard Lee Skolnik, the World Bank’s South Asia Director for Health, Nutrition and Population, said: “What the Bank is trying to do is to overcome and address inadequate access and low quality of health services to people. The Bank is the largest financier of healthcare worldwide with an annual contribution of $1.5 billion focused on the poor.” Citing the examples of successful tuberculosis programmes being implemented in Bangladesh and India, Skolnik said, “These programmes are some of the largest in terms of monetary involvement. Deaths around the world have come down owing to these programmes.” The five-day assembly began on Monday at Savar, about 35 km west of capital Dhaka. It has been organised by the Gonoshasthya Kendra (Mass Health Centre). The delegates later demanded that the World Bank spend more money on health-related social welfare projects. They also called for more South-South cooperation to shake off dependence on loans from institutions like the World Bank and IMF. — IANS
|
|
MoU signed for
Sangrur plant CHANDIGARH, Dec 7 — Decks have been cleared for the setting up of the Sangrur Ammonia urea plant with the signing of an MoU involving an outlay of Rs 1,500 crore for the project. The MoU, the ground work for which was prepared during the recent visit of Mr Parkash Singh Badal to the USA was signed at his residence here last evening by Mr Eric Mayer on behalf of Quantum Industrial Partners and Mr Surya Kumar on behalf of Krupp Uhde GmbH and Mr Aditya Ghosh on behalf of Punjab Sangrur Fertilizers Limited. The Chief Minister emphasised that this project should be completed under a time-bound programme. He directed the state officers to extend all help for the speedy commissioning of the project. Mr Ramesh Inder Singh, Principal Secretary of the Chief Minister and Secretary Industries, said that the Sangrur plant will have the capacity to produce about 1500 MT of ammonia per day and about 2600 MT of urea per day. The main feed stock for this plant would be naphtha or liquefied natural gas. All the major oil companies — Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum — have agreed to supply naphtha. Once the oil refinery at Bathinda is in place, this project could obtain its supply from the refinery. In case this project is based on liquefied natural gas as its feed stock in that case even active discussions have taken place with multinationals in order to bring in liquefied natural gas to Punjab. Mr Eric Mayer, who represented Paul Soros Investment, stated that the Sangrur project will contribute to the welfare of Punjab. Mr S.S. Brar, Managing Director, PSIDC, said the project will meet the long-standing shortfall in the demand for fertiliser in the state. |
|
Caller identification
facility in Muktsar MOGA, Dec 7 (UNI) — Punjab Telecommunication Department will provide Caller Identification Display facility in Muktsar district by the end of this month. This was announced by the Chief General Manager, Telecom, Punjab Circle while presiding over the telecom advisory meeting of the Circle at Chandigarh yesterday. Giving details of the meeting here today, member of the Punjab Telephone Advisory Committee, Gurdas Girdhar said that subscribers of telephone exchanges of Muktsar, Malout, Gidderabha, Bhai Ke Kera, Kotli Abloo and Chak Sherwala will soon be allowed to deposit their bills in the branches of Punjab and Sind Bank. Mr Girdhar said the department has also decided to layout Optical Fibre Cables in the rural exchanges of Harike Kalan, Kauni, Khirkianwala, Malan, Kotli Sanghar, Bhalaiana, Fattanwala, Kakhanwali, Ramgarh Choughan and Khandewali, and added that layout will be completed by the end of this month. |
|
AI to fly home NRIs’
bodies free of cost DUBAI, Dec 7 (PTI) — Indian expatriates here can now be sure of getting back to their motherland for the last rites as Air India would carry bodies of
NRI's dying here to their home town in India, free of cost. An Air India official said the offer, however, is subject to recommendation of the Indian embassy or the Indian consulate regarding the financial status of the diseased. Indian Airlines operating from Sharjah has already introduced free carriage of bodies of Indians and the
NRI associations here have been appealing to the national carrier to follow suit. Until now Air India gave a 50 per cent discount of the fare charge to carry bodies to any destination in India. In many cases the bodies were kept in mortuary as the relatives or friends of the diseased could not raise money for the fare. |
|
Pasupati mill workers
gherao GM, manager REWARI, Dec 7 — Owing to the workers’ agitation, the situation has once again become tense in Pasupati Spinning and Weaving Mills at Kapriwas in the Dharuhera Industrial Estate. The 18-day-old slowdown agitation of the workers took a grave and violent turn on Tuesday when over 100 workers led by their union leaders forcibly entered the office and gheraoed the General Manager, Mr R.K. Garg, and the Manager, Mr Ashok Yadav. It was lifted only after police intervention. The workers have been demanding the payment of 20 per cent bonus as well as increase in emoluments. Meanwhile, the Director, Mr V.K. Jain and the Joint Managing Director, Mr Y.C. Gupta, at a press conference here yesterday said the management had already paid to the workers 10 point 5 per cent bonus as per the bilateral agreement of Oct 25 and had also made it known to their union leaders that their demand of 20 per cent bonus was totally illegitimate.
|
|
Zydus Cadila pact with
Bio-tech Consortium NEW DELHI, Dec 7 — Zydus Cadila’s diagnostic division, Zydus Pathline, will be the first in India to manufacture and market the diagnostic kit to detect reproductive hormones like Pregnanediol Glucuronide (PdG), Estrone Glucuronide (EIG), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) from urine specimens. It will also manufacture diagnostic kits for the detection of Dengue, Japanese Encephalitis and West Nile infections for the first time in India. The group has already signed the agreement papers with Bio-tech Consortium India Ltd., for the technology transfer of these diagnostic kits. The development of indigenous diagnostic technologies marks a successful foray into low cost healthcare tools through bio-tech research. The test system to detect the reproductive hormones in urine is mainly used to monitor ovulation in IVF clinics. The kit has been developed indigenously by the Mumbai-based Institute for Research in Reproduction (IRR). This technique is non-invasive and does not require serial pricks or withdrawal of blood.
|
|
Viagra pill to cost
Rs 12 only NEW DELHI, Dec 7 (PTI) — Close on the heels of the launch of Glycodin Activ cough and flu tablets, Alembic Ltd today said it is awaiting the Drug Controller General of India’s nod to introduce Viagra in India at a price 40 times lower than that in the USA. The company, currently exploring possibilities to enter the biotech and herbal segments, has also kept options open for mergers and acquisitions in the face of WTO’s new patent regime coming into effect from 2005. Before such consolidations, Alembic is planning to expand its product portfolio in bulk drugs, formulations and other new products including reproductive drug Viagra. The company had applied to the DCGI six months ago. Other companies that have applied for the product includes Ranbaxy, Cadilla, Cipla and Sun Pharma. The Viagra pill is expected to cost around Rs 12 in the Indian market as against the price tag of $ 10 attached by US companies in that country.
|
|
IIMM awards for 3 CHANDIGARH, Dec 7 — The Indian Institute of Materials Management, Chandigarh branch has bagged three national awards at the national convention of the institute in New Delhi in which over 600 delegates participated from India and abroad. Mr Tej K. Magazine was conferred with the “distinguished member award-2000”, Mr Vikram Patil adjudged the “best branch Chairman”, Dr A.K. Saihjpal declared the “best faculty”. The awards were presented by Dr Attila Chikan, President, International Federation of Purchasing & Materials Management (IFPMM). |
Is handset war already over? HONG KONG, Dec 7 (Reuters) — As wireless manufacturers and equipment makers from around the world try to outdo each other at a huge telecommunications conference being held here this week, Japan is silently stealing the show with its handsets. “Everyone else here is showing plastic prototypes in displays, but we are the only ones with working models,’’ says Takeshi Natsuno, one of the main architects of NTT DoComo Inc’s hugely successful ‘i-mode’ Internet system for mobile phones, which have more than 14 million users browsing the web on business card-sized screens. In his hand is a new blue and silver 503 series
I-mode cell phone built by sony corp set to go on sale next month. The folding phone is Java-enabled and comes with a TFT (thin film transistor) colour display, the brightest on the market. Manufacturers of handsets — also called mobile phones, cell phones, handyphones — are lining up to wage a battle over a share of the next growth market, identified as third-generation, or 3G, services that will send and receive data over airwaves at speeds capable of delivering video and CD-quality sound. NEC Corp has developed a 3G handheld phone that will go on sale when DoComo begins broadband mobile internet services over its WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multimple Access) standard next May, the first company to do so. By contrast, Motorola Inc the world’s second biggest cell phone maker after Nokia also has a working WCDMA prototype at the show, but it hasn’t been scaled down yet and takes up four litres of space. NEC, one of the main suppliers of current generation
I-mode phones for DoComo, is confident the global pie for mobile handsets is about to be carved up in its favour. “This is a great chance,’’ said Hideyuki Tsunoda, General Manager of NEC’s handset division, as he looks over to DoComo’s exhibition next door. Tsunoda says NEC will aggressively market its cell phones in Europe as DoComo pushes into the market with partner KPN Telecom.
I-mode services are set to begin in Europe next year ahead of 3G services at a later stage. North American
I-mode services are just a step behind, but are now possible through the recent $9.8 billion alliance between NTT DoComo and AT&T Wireless Group. The 3G race Other Japanese cell phone manufacturers are close behind. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, which operates the Panasonic brand, has indicated it will beef up research, development, and manufacturing of cell phones in Britain. Sanyo Electric Co also makes cell phones and key components such as batteries, an area where it leads. Fujitsu Ltd makes phones and the infrastructure such as the stationary equipment that communicates with cell phones over airwaves. A DoComo employee demonstrates new Java-enabled phones, which offer more interactive content thanks to the flexible Internet Java language. On an
I-mode Web-based fishing game — entertainment sites are the most popular — the phone vibrates when a fish catches the hook, and is ready to be reeled in through the jog-shuttle dial. Such functionality, analysts say, is still beyond the reach of the other big global names in mobile phone manufacturing. Unless Sweden’s Ericsson, France’s Alcatel and Dutch group Philips tie up with their technologically advanced counterparts, Europe’s manufacturers will be left behind, analysts warn. There may be a way out. Sun Microsystems Inc’s Java System will be compatible on any operating system for handsets — which virtually act as mini-computers these days. “It can be deployed on any type of environment,’’ said Nicholas Lorain, Senior Product Manager of the wireless division. “Handset manufacturers like Java.’’
|
Skin: natural remedies
are kinder than creams LONDON: The modern trend of seeking complementary alternatives to conventional medication is especially evident when it comes to choosing creams to heal wounds and tackle problems. Although they can be very effective in clearing up skin conditions like eczema, many people are now turning away from corticosteroid-based dermatological preparations, partly because they can cause the skin to thin and weaken and partly because parents are often averse to exposing their children to pharmaceutical drugs. If you prefer to use natural remedies for skin problems, you no longer need to root around in health-food stores, as tea tree oil and calendula preparations — two of the most popular and effective plant remedies — can now be found among the lotions and potions stocked by many supermarkets, as well as high-street pharmacies. Applying tea tree oil to cold sores can have a beneficial effect, with many patients finding that the symptoms of the herpes simplex virus, the cold sores and associated tingling feeling, disappear after only a few days to use. Tea tree oil’s antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic and antifungal properties manifest themselves strongly in laboratory conditions, although there is still some concern that clinical studies into claims that it clears up a wide variety of skin problems, from acne to minor burns, are still in their infancy. Anecdotally, however, many people find that treating such skin infections as boils, warts, corns, insect bites and even ringworm, with tea tree oil — either in the form of a proprietary preparation or a home-made cream containing five drops of essential oil to one teaspoon of base cream — three times a day, can give convincing results. In addition, dabbing outbreaks of athlete’s foot with a tincture made up of three drops of tea tree essential oil to 12 drops of carrier oil can be very effective. Some practitioners also recommend tea tree oil pessaries for the treatment of vaginal infections like thrush. Another often-used complementary remedy for skin conditions, Calendula officinalis, the common marigold, is native to southern Europe, and is now cultivated in temperate regions around the world. The flowers are harvested as they open in early summer and are dried in the shade before being made up into a herbal preparation. Because it is above all a remedy for dermatological conditions, calendula is mainly found in skin creams or ointments to treat minor cuts, grazes and burns, neppy rash and cradle cap, to nipples that have become sore from breast-feeding. It’s also commonly used as a tincture, which medicinal herbalists advocate for the treatment of eczema and acne, and as an infused oil to rub on inflamed or dry skin. Herbalista also recommend calendula for the treatment of digestive disorders like irritable-bowel syndorme and gastritis, as well as for such chronic fungal infections as thrush. Again, I would only advocate ingesting calendula under professional supervision. If, after using tea tree or calendula for a while, your
symptoms don’t improve, consult your doctor or a registered medicinal herbalist. No doubt you’ll receive two completely different opinions, and the echoice is yours, but I would be inclined to opt for plant remedies over
conventional preparations. As long as they are used appropriately, they can be far kinder on your body than many proprietary drugs. — Observer News Service |
Open offer for Castrol India at 311.91 Castrol Ltd (Castrol
UK), a wholly owned subsidiary of BP Amco Plc (BP Amco) proposes to make an offer to acquire
2,47,00691 fully paid-up equity shares of Castrol India of face value of Rs 10 each representing 20 per cent of the equity capital of Castrol at a price of Rs 311.91 per fully paid-up equity share from the shareholders of Castrol India. Castrol India turned distinctly bullish on mad rush of buyers. JM Morgan Stanley on behalf of Castrol Ltd and
BP Amco Plc has informed about the proposed acquisition to the Bombay Stock Exchange
(BSE). Zee Telefilms was the star performer and appreciated handsomely partly aiding the Sensex upsurge. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have generally been net sellers in the past few days. HDFC Bank has tied up with Airtel to extend its mobile banking facility in Karnataka. S.
Kumars Synfabs Ltd has changed its name to S. Kumars Nationwide Limited. The company is now concentrating on marketing, distribution, and extensive brand building. The Directors of
Swil Ltd have approved the restructuring scheme. According to the approved swap ratio, a member of the company whose name will appear in the register of members on the record date, to be fixed for this purpose, will receive one equity share of the company of Rs 10 each fully paid-up against every four fully paid-up equity shares held by such members of the company. TVS-Suzuki has said it will focus on the growing motorcycle segment to boost profitability in 2001-02. The Chennai-based firm had posted a turnover of Rs 1541.77 crore during 1999-2000 while the profit before tax was Rs 118.31 crore. Earlier, TVS-Suzuki Chairman Venu Srinivisan had said the company would have no change in profits in the fiscal (2000-01) even though the turnover would increase by about 20 to 25 per cent to about Rs 2,000 crore. FDI inflows into the country are estimated to have touched $ 3.58 billion during the first 10 months of the current year, with investments of $ 626.7 million coming in October alone, the highest for any month in 2000. Pinnacle Systems: Global leader in video editing solutions Pinnacle Systems announced on Thursday the launch of Indian operations and said it might also make India a production base in the near future. PowerGen India: Hong Kong-based power company CLP Power International (CLP-PI) will acquire a controlling stake in UK-based Powergen’s Paguthan power station in Gujarat.
— Agencies |
bb
Insurance PC monitors Manoj Kohli Lasalle SBI camp BPL products Used cars |
 |
| 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 | |
