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Friday,
September 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Oil close to year-high as OPEC extends curbs
Metro to export two-wheeler tyres |
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It’s their lifestyle Lone Indian on Forbes’ rich list Direct tax collection slows down
AirTel gift for Haryana
Spice slashes Quicky price
Kala Amb to have fruit park
‘Upgradation must for industry’
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Oil close to year-high as OPEC extends curbs
London, September 19 Benchmark Brent crude softened eight cents to $28.24 on London's International Petroleum Exchange, within a dollar of year-high touched last week. U.S. light sweet crude was also eight cents weaker at $29.40. After a brief meeting in Osaka, Japan, ministers of OPEC said they were maintaining stiff limits, arguing prices were fair for both OPEC and the big oil users in the West. "The prices are OK for producers and consumers," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters. "This is not a decision we took lightly. We had to take account of many uncertainties, including Iraq," he added. Oil inventories, which have been declining in the USA ahead of the peak winter demand, were not low enough to cause concern, he said. Some industry analysts disagree and have warned that the prices could climb back above $30 a barrel, damaging the fragile global economy, when energy demand increases during winter in the northern hemisphere. "The market data is absolutely screaming for more crude oil, but OPEC is failing to get a grip on this situation," said Paul Horsnell of investment bank J.P. Morgan. The immediate impact of the OPEC decision was limited because it had been expected, but traders said anticipation of a U.S. attack on Iraq was having a stronger effect on the prices. Mark Head, broker at Fimat International Banque, said: "The big issue is still the Gulf. A lot of people still believe there is going to be military action very soon." Iraq fear factor As fears of attack reached a peak last week prices spiked to year-high, with Brent climbing over the $29 a barrel mark and U.S. crude rising above $30. Levels fell sharply earlier this week as the threat of a U.S. military attack on Iraq appeared to recede on news of Baghdad's offer to re-admit weapons inspectors. But the USA is maintaining the pressure. The White House was preparing on Thursday a draft resolution it hopes Congress will adopt to sanction possible unilateral action against the Gulf oil exporter. Analysts said the war premium in the oil prices had given OPEC a dangerous excuse to leave quotas unchanged, despite sliding crude inventories.
Reuters
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3 new flights for Frankfurt New Delhi, September 19 This was stated by Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawz Hussain, who is leading a high level delegation to Canada, during a meeting with Canadian Transport Minister David M. Collenette in Ottawa yesterday. The new flights will start operations from December 8, Mr Hussain said. The ministers noted the need for feel-safe civil aviation security systems in view of the increased threats, and the strong security apparatus in place in the two countries to ensure this. The multi-lateral cooperation through the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) was appreciated and bilateral exchange of information was also agreed upon. The significant potential for economic cooperation was discussed. Syed Shahnawaz Hussain mentioned that Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd had already signed a MoU with Canadian company CHC Helicopter International Incorporated. The Indian programme for restructuring of major airports to upgrade them to the highest international standards, with private sector investment and management, and the Canadian experience of private sector involvement in infrastructure development were also discussed. The Indian delegation currently visiting Canada is scheduled to have further meetings in Montreal and Toronto. Minister Hussain and Minister Collenette expressed satisfaction on the fruitful talks.
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Metro to export two-wheeler tyres New Delhi, September 19 According to the long-term agreement signed between both the companies, Metro Tyres will manufacture motor cycle, scooter and moped tyres under the brand name “Continental” to be marketed worldwide by Continental. This is for the first time Continental is outsourcing two-wheeler tyres from any Indian tyre manufacturer. Metro already have an existing off-take agreement with Continental in the bicycle tyre segment. To produce world class two-wheeler tyre as per Continental’s specific requirements, Metro is setting up a new manufacturing line at its new plant in Ludhiana machineries which were imported last year from Sweden at a cost of Rs 40 crore. The company is investing another Rs 20 crore in this plant having a production capacity of 50,000 tyres and 50,000 tubes per month and the entire production will be exported to Continental. This is expected to translate into an additional export income of around Rs 25 crore for Metro, Managing Director of Metro Tyres Rummy Chhabra said. On being asked about the company’s plans for the domestic market, Mr Chhabra said at present the company is targeting the international OEM and replacement market. Metro’s foray into two-wheeler tyres comes immediately after the company’s recent foray into the sports wheels segment. Metro Tyres has an installed capacity to produce around 1.5 lakh tyres and 1.5 lakh tubes for bicycles per day.
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It’s their lifestyle
New York, September 19 The latest tale of greed and excess has focused on the disgraced former chief executive of Tyco International Dennis Kozlowski who allegedly used company funds for purchases ranging from a $ 6,000 shower curtain to a swanky $ 7 million Manhattan apartment. According to a Tyco report submitted to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the “King of perks,” as Kozlowski was dubbed by New York daily Newsday, also spent company $ 2,200 on a gilt metal waste basket and $ 15,000 on an antique umbrella stand in the shape of a French poodle. Fury over the revelations was hardly assuaged by the insistence of Kozlowski’s interior decorator, Wendy Valliere, that the umbrella holder was a bargain. “It’s not just some stupid dog umbrella stand,” Valliere told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s very unique, beautiful piece.” With tens of thousands of American small investors having had their savings wiped out by malfeasance at the likes of Enron, WorldCom and Adelphia — all of which have filed for bankruptcy — the sort of extravagance displayed by Kozlowski has become prime fodder for the US media. Even corporate golden boys like Jack Welch, the retired CEO of General Electric, have been dragged into the fray. Welch modified his post-retirement benefits last week following claims by his estranged wife that he was making use of a luxury GE-owned apartment in Manhattan as well as a corporate jet, and enjoyed trips to the opera and baseball games at the company’s expense. Welch, who built GE into the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalisation, denied many of the claims but acknowledged that in the current climate elements of his GE benefits may appear inappropriate. “In today’s reality, my 1996 employment contract could be misportrayed as an excessive retirement package,” he said. Other examples of CEO opulence abound. Fired WorldCom chief financial officer Scott Sullivan used the multi-million dollar mansion he is having built in Florida as collateral to post bail prior to his upcoming fraud trial. Adelphia founder John Rigas and his sons Timothy and Michael are also out on bail on the charges of looting their cable company and turning it into their own “personal piggy bank.” Prosecutors charge the Rigas with spending $ 12.8 dollars of Adelphia funds to build a golf course in Pennsylvania. The Rigas family had three private planes at their disposal paid for by Adelphia. This week the SEC will consider requiring mutual fund and other investment managers for the first time to disclose how they vote shares in their portfolios in corporate proxy contests. AFP
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Lone Indian on Forbes’ rich list
New York, September 19 While several Indian Americans used to be on Forbes lists during the IT bubble, now it is only seasoned venture capitalist and the man purported to have a Midas touch, Vinod Khosla, who made it to the list at 391. But the ranking is more interesting in terms of those out rather than those in. Big names like Steve Case of AOL Time Warner Inc and home décor queen Martha Stewart are out of the running, but traditional company CEOs like Samuel Johnson of Johnson & Johnson are in. Some of the Indian Americans who featured prominently in 2000 list were absent this time. Sanjiv Sidhu, CEO and founder of i2 Technologies, was 24th in 2000 on this same list, with a worth of $9.8 billion. In 2000, Gururaj Desh Deshpande of Sycamore Networks was assessed at $7.3 billion. Today, he is nowhere on that list with the company facing many hurdles. Pradeep Sindhu of Juniper Networks was ranked 104th in 2000 with a net worth of $2.5 billion. And Naveen Jain of InfoSpace was then ranked 121st on the list with a worth of $2.2 billion. So much for the worth of paper money. Khosla, 47, a partner at the venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems, ranks 391st, making it on the borderline wealth of $550 million, the cut-off point for the list. A Stanford University graduate who lives in Menlo Park, California, Khosla was born in New Delhi. Son of a defence forces personnel, he graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, got a masters degree from Carnegie Mellon and then did a masters in business administration from Stanford. Khosla met Andy Bechtolsheim at Stanford and they founded Sun Microsystems in 1982. In 1984, he joined Kleiner Perkins and has invested in several Indian American companies, among them Juniper Networks founded by Pradeep Sindhu.
IANS
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Direct tax collection slows down
New Delhi, September 19 While the net direct tax collection grew by 22.62 per cent to Rs 12,517 crore during April-July, it slumped to 8.6 per cent at Rs 17,381 crore till September 15, Finance Ministry officials told PTI here today. The collection of corporate tax grew by 8.9 per cent to Rs 5,464 crore during April-September 15 and income tax was up by 8.5 per cent at Rs 11,917 crore, the officials said. Till July, corporate tax mop-up stood at Rs 4,018 crore and was 8.3 per cent of the Budget estimate for 2002-03, while income tax mop-up was up by only 8.9 per cent to Rs 8,407 crore. The direct tax collection increased by Rs 1,374 crore to Rs 17,381 crore during five-and-half-months from Rs 16,007 crore collected in the year-ago period.
PTI
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AirTel gift for Haryana
Chandigarh, September 19 AirTel Magic is thus the first and only pre-paid card with pre-activated roaming facility in the state. AirTel Magic customers can now choose to roam at all times without having to activate and deactivate roaming on their pre-paid card and without paying any monthly rental or fee for it. TNS
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Spice slashes Quicky price
Chandigarh, September 19 Speaking on the reduction in the price of Spice Quicky, Mr Ashok Goyal, Executive Director, Spice Telecom said, “Spice Telecom, has always focused on offering great value for money to our new and existing subscribers through highly competitive tariffs and pricing structure.
TNS
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Kala Amb to have fruit park Kangra, September 19 Disclosing this here today H.P. Industries Minister Kishori Lal told media persons that this would help in generating employment opportunities. It would also boost the economy of these areas at Kala Amb, the processing park would house a number of industrial units and would be first of its kind. He said in Kangra district, too, Nagni had been selected for setting up of an industry but the big industrial houses wanted incentives from the state government which were beyond the reach of the state government so that project could not be
materialised.
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