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Friday,
December 6, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Nod to PNB, Nedungadi Bank merger
GM unveils Opel Vectra
Canadian project for wheat growers
Revive sops to units, CM told |
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Petrol pipeline sector opened up Pfizer inks pact for Protinex
Fortis ICU on wheels
Kesoram plans buy-back
Toshiba Tablet PC launched
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Nod to PNB, Nedungadi Bank merger
New Delhi, December 5 “The Board has approved the merger of Nedungadi Bank with PNB. We have to do the due diligence now,” PNB chairman S S Kohli told PTI but did not give the details. Banking sources, however, said PNB is not in favour of taking over liabilities of over Rs 35 crore while merging the troubled Nedungadi Bank with itself. The merger move follows the Reserve Bank notifying the draft scheme of amalgamation of Nedungadi Bank with PNB on November 14. The RBI had placed the Kerala-based bank under moratorium up to February 1, 2003, and restricted depositors from withdrawing more than Rs 5,000 in this period. The RBI also assured that the proposed amalgamation envisaged full protection of public deposits and it will make all efforts to complete the due process for the proposed merger as early as possible. The scheme was forwarded to both banks for their comments and suggestions or objections by November 30. The sources said PNB has informed the RBI that it will not like to take over liabilities over Rs 35 crore and intends to place its claim before the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation. Kohli said the merger is likely to be finalised by February next year in line with the RBI moratorium. PNB was shortlisted by the Banking Division under the Finance Ministry for taking over Nedungadi Bank in September. The proposed takeover, which is likely to be on the lines of the Bank of Baroda taking over Benaras State Bank, will increase PNB’s presence in southern part of the country while removing the uncertainty among depositors of Nedungadi Bank. PNB will gain additional 173 branches of Nedungadi Bank, of which over 110 branches are in Kerala, and a pool of NRI accounts. In terms of business, however, the Kozikode-based bank is expected to add only 2.24 per cent to PNB’s over Rs 1,00,000 crore business, measured in terms of deposits and advances. Nedungadi Bank had deposits of about Rs 1,400 crore and advances of over Rs 750 crore till March 2002. PNB deposits grew 9.1 per cent to Rs 66,680 crore till September, 2002, while advances grew by 16.3 per cent to Rs 34,450 crore. The bank posted a 24.9 per cent growth in the net profit at Rs 411.09 crore during the first half of this fiscal. PTI
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GM unveils Opel Vectra
New Delhi, December 5 “The car with 2.2 litre Ecotec petrol engine and interactive driving system would be premiered at Opel dealerships across the country from January 9 and available for deliveries immediately thereafter,” GM India President and Managing Director Aditya Vij told mediapersons here. The diesel version of the variant would follow the petrol version, which would be launched in 12 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore through 15 dealers, he added. The company would sell Vectra in the completely-built-unit CBU form. He, however, refused to disclose the price of Vectra. The base model of Vectra comes at around 19,000 euros in the European market, which translates into Rs 9,15,610. However, pricing of the new vehicle would not be as simplistic because of duty structure in India, GM India Vice-President-Marketing and Sales Vinay Dixit said. Vectra would compete with Mercedes C class with entry level price of around Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom), Ford Mondeo (around Rs 18 lakh), Toyota Camry (Rs 18 lakh), Honda Accord (Rs 16 lakh), and Hyundai Sonata (Rs 14 lakh). Price hike ruled out
The company also scotched speculations that it would hike prices of its vehicles Astra, Corsa and Swing-by two to three per cent in January. “Media reports in this connection are all speculative. We don’t have any plan of this sort,” General Motors India Vice-President (corporate affairs) P. Balendran told mediapersons. GM India would also launch other models, including MUV, next fiscal, but company officials refused to divulge details. UNI
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Canadian project for wheat growers Ludhiana, December 5 This proposed ACT project will be set up at Rs 50 crore with 40 per cent CEDA funding in the district. The project will help farmers to produce high quality wheat with an assured buyers market. Disclosing this here, Mr Douglas E. Campbell, President and CEO of Campbell Agri-Business Strategists Inc. (CABSI), said it will complete its project report for CEDA later this month and the project will be implemented soon afterwards. The technology transfer from Canada in the form of this project will result in automated handling terminals for collection storage and distribution of foodgrain from farmer to flour mill. The project will be set up in collaboration with Markfed, the Roller Flour Mill Association of Punjab and some other agencies, including financial institutions, this will be the first major step in the state to prepare the farmers to meet competition in terms of quality and productivity in the WTO scenario that comes into force from 2004. According to Mr Campbell, the project that will take the farmers from “bag to bulk” handling of wheat, as is done in most western countries and will save Rs 385 per tonne of grain handled as it will eliminate the cost of gunny bags, according to Mr Campbell. Initially, the project aims at setting up one plant where the farmers can bring their produce, but if proved successful, the project will be taken to other places such as Moga, Ferozepore and Amritsar. Markfed, Central Warehousing Corporation, Roller Flour Mill Association of Punjab, Rabo Bank, ICICI Bank and some other organisation will form the core-funding group with a 40 per cent short-term loan from CEDA. Initially the project will have a storing capacity of 15,000 tonnes at any point, but it will handle 1.5 lakh tonnes of wheat annually, worth about Rs 90 crore.
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Revive sops to units, CM told Hoshiarpur, December 5 The preliminary report of the third industrial census being conducted by the Central Government has found that more than 30 per cent industrial units in the district are sick. Due to the withdrawal of the incentives like sales tax exemption and subsidy on investment, the setting up of new industrial units has come to a standstill. According to sources, the state government had not provided subsidy for investment even to those units which had been sanctioned the same after 1996. With the proposal to provide tradeable bonds to these industrialists in lieu of cash subsidy and due to the withdrawal of incentives, no large or medium scale unit had been registered during this fiscal.
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Petrol pipeline sector opened up
New Delhi, December 5 The decision, aimed at boosting the pipeline sector, will increase the product transportation to 45 per cent in the next two to three years from the current 32 per cent. The notification in this regard was tabled in the Lok Sabha today by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Santosh Kumar
Gangwar. Announcement of new policy guidelines for grant of right of user in land for laying product pipeline is expected to facilitate expeditious clearance of pipeline projects like Central India pipeline,
Chennai-Madurai pipeline and pipelines from West Coast connecting the south central Indian markets. UNI
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Pfizer inks pact for Protinex
New Delhi, December 5 The arrangement involves a phased sharing of revenue and profits over a three-year period in addition to outright consideration of $ 7 million to Pfizer India, a company executive told UNI. As per the agreement, a source said, Pfizer India will continue to provide manufacturing support for the Protinex brand in the country during this period. Besides, there is a cooperation deal with EAC whose core business being nutrition. The acquisition is likely to give a fillip to the existing infant food business of the Danish company.
UNI
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Fortis ICU on wheels
Chandigarh, December 5 Equipped, with the state-of-the-art life-saving and monitoring equipment, these ambulances are manned by trained doctors and nursing staff. The doctors in these special ambulances will be in constant touch with senior doctors at Fortis, so that appropriate treatment can be started as soon as a patient is picked up. According to Dr R.V. Karanjekar, Medical Director, Fortis Heart Institute, the initial minutes are very critical for saving a patient’s life in a medical emergency. To avail the services of this of this 24-hour “Mobile ICU” ambulance people can call at 0172-396700.
TNS
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Kesoram plans buy-back Kolkata, December 5 A meeting of the Board of Directors has been convened on December 9 to determine the specific price and the method of the proposed buy-back, a senior official said. The official refused to comment on the price of the proposed buy-back, saying the Board will take a decision on that. Market sources estimated it to be in the region of Rs 25 to 30 per share considering its average price during the past six months. Kesoram shares, which were not being traded over the past couple of months, recorded 1000 trades on Monday at CSE and closed at Rs 27.
Bids for PTL invited The Punjab Government yesterday invited bids for sale of its stake in Punjab Tractors. The state government, which holds a 23.49 per cent stake in the company through the PSIDC, plans to disinvest its entire equity through “strategic sale to a strategic investor”, official sources said. Financial institutions are the majority stakeholder in PTL with a 43.16 per cent stake while 19.74 per cent equity is with the public, they said. All interested bidders should have a minimum networth of Rs 200 crore and submit their expressions of interest by January 15, 2002, the sources added. KPMG India is the financial adviser for the proposed disinvestment.
Ranbaxy gets nod for Amoxicillin Ranbaxy Laboratories said today it has
received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market antibiotic Amoxicillin. The company has got approval for oral suspension of 200mg/5ml and 400mg/5ml which has been deemed therapeutically equivalent to the one manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, a Ranbaxy statement said here. Amoxicillin is ranked second in antibiotic sales in the US market estimated at $ 235.4 million.
NIIT on a revival path NIIT is on a revival path having continuously posted improvement in revenue and operating profit for three consecutive quarters. The company is expected to post fourth quarter results for September 30 later this week.
Nestle pays Rs 18 per share Nestle India
Board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 18 per equity share for the year 2002. The dividend is subject to deduction of applicable tax at source, the company informed the BSE today.
PTI, UNI
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Toshiba Tablet PC launched New Delhi, December 5 Toshiba’s new Portege 3500 series combines the power of a wireless business Notebook with the versatility of a Tablet PC with a configuration of Pentium III processor with 1.33 Ghz speed, a company release said here. The Toshiba Tablet PC is priced at Rs 2 lakh.
PTI Mumbai-Chandigarh flight starts NEW
DELHI: Jet Airways will operate a direct flight between Mumbai and Chandigarh and an additional flight on the Delhi-Jaipur sector from today till January 10, 2003. The new flights will be offered to meet the rise in passenger traffic in view of the festive season, the airline said in a release here.
PTI
Microsoft, Uttaranchal sign pact DEHRA
DUN: The state government yesterday signed an MoU with Microsoft Corporation (India), for jointly developing and deploying an array of technology solutions for e-governance in the state. The MoU was signed by state IT Secretary Amarendra Sinha and President of Microsoft Corporation (India) Rajiv Nair.
OC
5-star status for Remson Geysers CHANDIGARH: The BIS has awarded a five-star status to Remson Geysers — the most energy saving geyser among 10 leading brands. At a press conference, Mr Rajiv Wadhera, DGM, Remson Ltd, disclosed here today that the company was granted the status as per the tests conducted by the BIS to measure energy consumption of the brands.
TNS
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Plan for students Industrial policy OBC kisan cards Nabard loans PSB branch Club Mahindra Agriculture loans IT for J&K |
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