 |
Tuesday,
January 29, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Slow
progress of reforms can hit relations: Blackwill Maruti
Udyog hikes prices
Apollo
Tyres net at 5.97 cr |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Compaq launches
‘Blade server’
Now send
SMS to landline phone SBP to
review interest rate for rice millers HP to
introduce IT for horticulture development
|
|
Slow progress of reforms can hit relations: Blackwill New Delhi, January 28 "In the US-India economic domain, we have yet to take the current that is transforming our bilateral relationship", US Ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill told a meeting organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in India and Indo-American Chamber of Commerce. Striking a note of caution that the slow progress of economic reforms in India could hit Indo-US relations, Mr Blackwill said with each passing session of Parliament in which legislative action is not taken to implement economic reforms, India’s timeline before it realises its full economic potential is extended. "From the American experience, I can testify that it takes more than policy pronouncements and good intentions to produce positive government actions," he added. He said the Indo-US bilateral trade figures too were disappointing. While India’s exports to the United States have steadily expanded since the mid-1990s (from $5.7 billion in 1995 to $10.7 billion in 2000) US trade flows to India since 1995 have stagnated ($3.3 billion in 1995 to $3.7 billion in 2000). Listing out the commercial problems, the Ambassador said the high tariff walls-at 30 per cent India’s average tariff ranks among the highest in the world-blunts trade. Similarly non-tariff barriers like onerous labeling requirements for pre-packaged goods, compulsory detention and laboratory testing of every imported food product stunts trade. Tariff rationalisation and intellectual property rights protection were other areas of concern about which Mr Blackwill spoke. The US Ambassador said from the perspective of the foreign investor, innumerable rolls of red tapes stretching to the horizon were a major deterrent to investment. Questioning the need for government approvals of foreign direct investment in the first place, Mr Blackwill said barring a few areas of the economy like defence and atomic research, it should be done away with. Citing the example of the United States, he said the US received $316 billion in 2000, while China took in nearly $41 billion. In India, the figure was $4.5 billion. Mr Blackwill said the Dabhol dispute had jolted confidence of the investing community in India and there was a perception that India may not be ready yet for big time international investment. "I hear a frequent buzz from the United States that the sanctity of contract may now be in doubt here, a concern that can spell death to potential investments. I hear this often from the giants of American business...Therefore sooner the Dabhol matter is resolved and we can put it behind us, the better." |
|
Maruti Udyog hikes prices
New Delhi, January 28 “The prices of select models have been revised upwards by between 0.85 per cent to 3.87 per cent from today,” Maruti officials told PTI here. While price of Maruti 800 Standard variant has been increased by Rs 3,753 to Rs 2.21 lakh (ex- showroom Delhi), the Ex version has witnessed a Rs 8,677 hike at Rs 2.52 lakh, the officials said. The Maruti 800 DLX price has also been upped by Rs 8,835 to Rs 2.73 lakh, they added. The Omni five-seater variant price stands increased by Rs 2,307 at Rs 2.26 lakh. The prices of the two Esteem variants — LX and VX have gone up by Rs 4,161 and Rs 4,696 to Rs 4.95 lakh and Rs 5.44 lakh, respectively, the officials said. However, Maruti’s other vehicles in the competitive “B” segment like Zen, WagonR and Alto have been spared from the price hike along with premium mid-size car Baleno, station wagon Baleno Altura and the latest offering Versa. “Our effort is to break even this year. Our target is to neutralise the Rs 269 crore net loss incurred during 2000-01,” Maruti Managing Director Jagdish Khattar was earlier quoted as saying. During April-September 2000-01, Maruti had suffered a net loss of Rs 104 crore. Last fiscal, the company’s net loss climbed to Rs 269 crore over a turnover of Rs 9,250 crore, the first time in its 17-year history. This was mainly due to a 9 per cent drop in car sales which stood at 3.36 lakh units during April-March 2000-01. Sales during April-December 2001, however, went up by 3.9 per cent to 2.3 lakh cars. This was against a 2.4 per cent drop in total car industry sales at 3.94 lakh cars during the period. Maruti, a 50:50 venture between the Government of India and Japan’s Suzuki Motor Company, is in the midst of a major drive to cut costs by Rs 300 crore in this financial year.
PTI
|
Compaq launches ‘Blade server’
Houston, January 28 Compaq ProLiant BI e-Class, or “Blade server,” is an ultra-thin machine that piles all chips and a hard drive onto one board the size of a long book, rather than current pizza-box-size models. That lets users put several servers into a smaller space. The servers are used to manage web pages and run security firewalls to bar unauthorized access. Compaq’s smaller servers will allow 280 servers per standard rack, compared to 42 that a rack typically
handles. Bloomberg Samsung to make ACs in Noida New
Delhi Samsung has invested $ 8.5 million in setting up manufacturing twin lines for washing machines and air conditioners in India, a senior Samsung India official said here, adding that another Rs 25 crore has been earmarked for the company’s home appliances range this year.
PTI Market complex at Dhalli Shimla The project was being implemented in Shimla district in the first phase and later it will be extended to Kangra, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts. Mr Dhumal said his government was giving-priority to providing marketing facilities for agricultural produce to ensure remunerative returns to farmers. Six markets in Arki, Namhol, Sarahan, Koti, Takoli and Dharampur had already been set up at a cost of Rs 6.68 crore, while work on markets in Nadaun, Bilaspur, Dhanotu, Solan, Rajgarh and Banalgi was in progress.
TNS
|
|
Now send SMS to landline phone
Chandigarh, January 28 Ready to be launched tomorrow, a Spice subscriber will only have to type a message, which will be sent to a landline telephone user. The message will be converted into voice and sender will also be given feedback about the delivery of the message. The subscriber will be able to send SMS to landline phone users in English only, Mr Swaran Bajaj, Deputy General Manager, Spice Telecom, said. In case of no response from the landline phone user, the process of sending the message will be repeated five times at the intervals of five minutes, 10 minutes and then-half an hour. A user will pay Rs 2.50 for the
message sent through Spice mobile to landline. In case one has the SMS package, one pays Rs 2.50 per message sent through Spice mobile to the landline phone, whereas in case one does not have, an additional Rs 1.50 will have to be paid. While outside Punjab, the Spice subscriber who has availed roaming, pays Rs 2.50 per message and an additional Rs 3, outside the country, the additional amount varies between Rs 8 and Rs 10.
TNS
|
|
SBP to review interest rate for rice millers Bathinda, January 28 Mr Purwar, who also met representatives of the Rice Mill Association at Jalalabad, promised that the rate of interest on the loans advanced to their units might be reviewed and management would also try to reduce it.
|
|
HP to introduce IT for horticulture development Shimla, January 28 According to Mr Narendera Bragta, Minister of State for Horticulture, Rs 25 lakh will be spent during the year 2001-02 for computerisation of the department of horticulture from the state to the district level. This will help not only in the introduction of e-governance for improvement of efficiency of the department, but shall also help in online transfer of information on the departmental schemes and horticulture technologies to the farmers. Mr Bragta was speaking at the state level meeting of the officers of the department of horticulture here today.
|
bb
ICICI Bank Markfed prizes Lord Krishna Bank Corp Kar Suvidha Bank of India |
 |
| 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 | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
