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Wednesday,
June 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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IT exports
to grow 28 pc Ranbaxy
plans R&D centre in N. America L-1 visa
curbs worry Nasscom Govt
imposes 10 pc TCS on scrap |
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Re gains
17 paise PHDCCI
draws up plan for J & K Don’t
transfer jobs to India: UK staff British
Counselling Narayana
Murthy joins ABC Board
SRF net
up 16.86pc
Dr
Reddy’s Lab wins case
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IT exports to grow 28 pc New Delhi, June 3 Nasscom has estimated that buoyed by the growth in the IT Enabled and Services (ITES) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) segments, software and services exports would touch $ 12 billion during the year. "The exports of IT software and services industry grew by 26.3 per cent year-on-year last fiscal to touch $ 9.5 billion mark. In FY 03-04 the IT exports are likely to grow by 26-28 per cent to touch $ 12 billion,'' Nasscom President Kiran Karnik said. In dollar terms exports of software services, products and technology services is expected to be $ 8.4 billion in 2003-04 as compared to 7.2 billion last fiscal. The exports of ITeS and BPO is expected to be somewhere around $ 3.6 billion this fiscal as compared to $ 2.3 billion in 02-03. "While software services, products and technology services are expected to grow by 17 per cent as compared to 18.3 per cent last fiscal, the ITeS and BPO exports are expected to grow by 54 per cent this
financial year as compared to 59 per cent in 02-03,'' Mr Karnik said. "Last two years might have been tough but a few good years can take us there. Situation keeps changing and we are keeping an eye on it. Some emerging sector of the industry with high growth rates, like ITeS and BPO, can enable the Indian IT industry to reach the target of 50 billion exports'' Mr Karnik said. He, however, cautioned that with time the margins of Indian IT
companies cold witness a downward trend. "From the highs of 30 per cent they are now in their late 20s and in next two to three years the figure will be in teens,'' Mr Karnik said. At the same time he suggested that the domestic IT industry has look beyond US to regions such as Europe and Japan for further growth. "To expand in BPO and call centres skills in other languages is essential to get work from non-English speaking world. We are producing only a few engineers in Micro-electronics at present. This figure needs to touch thousands in next two to three years,'' Mr Karnik said.
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Ranbaxy plans R&D centre in N. America
New Delhi, June 3 The company plans to spend 6 per cent of its total sales (over $ 54 million) for research and development this fiscal and hike it to 8-9 per cent in five years. “We have identified two molecules of which one will be selected. Once it is done, the development of synthetic peroxide anti-malarial drug will be developed in 5-7 years time,” Ranbaxy’s President (R&D) Rashmi Barbhaiya said at a press conference here. Ranbaxy’s team of scientist will work with researchers of University of Nebraska Medical Centre, Monash University and Swiss Tropical Institute. The Indian pharma company forged the partnership with MVV after Roche exited the venture for developing anti-malarial drug, which has a $ 250 million market worldwide. Elaborating on the proposed drug, Barbhaiya said the new molecule should ensure a short treatment period of 3 days for malaria and the cost of the product is expected to be much less than the presently used ‘Artemisinin’ derivatives, using naturally grown artemisia annua plants. Barbhaiya said the company will also have worldwide rights for registration and
commercialisation besides clinical and pharmaceutical development of the product.
PTI
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L-1 visa curbs worry Nasscom
New Delhi, June 3 “Issue of visa curbs is of great concern to us. Delay in visas or less number of visas will curtail the ability of Indian companies to operate in its largest market, US. We are in touch with various agencies to resolve the issues that led to the introduction of the bills,’’ Nasscom President Kiran Karnik said. Mr Karnik said that Nasscom was not very much worried about the bills in US state legislatures curbing outsourcing of government work but concerned about it as the government outsourcing was very limited. “The real cause of worry is visa curbs. We have been telling them that outsourcing will benefit American companies and economy,” he said. On May 19 US Senator John L Mica introduced a bill to slap curbs on L-1 visa. The visa allows companies to transfer employees from subsidiaries in foreign countries to the United States as long as the intracompany transferees have been employed with the company for at least six months. Once in the country, those employees can then be outsourced to other US firms. The bill bars the outsourcing of L-1 visa holders, similar to a provision contained in the H-1B visa programme. The number of H-1B visas for overseas professionals have also been cut. Of the 32,416 L-1 visas given in the first six months of 2003, Indians cornered over 10,000, according to reports. Indian companies appear to be using L-1 visas more. Wipro got 289 visas for its employees in 2000 and this year it already has taken 1,157 visas. Infosys has sought over 1,700 visas this year, up from 218 visas in 2000. Four states in the US - New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut and Washington - are planning to ban outsourcing of government contracts, and others are being pressured to impose limits on outsourcing.
UNI
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Govt imposes 10 pc TCS on scrap Ludhiana, June 3 According to Mr
P.D. Sharma, president, Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Punjab, "all industrial sectors are in panic as scrap plays a very important role in iron, steel, hosiery, yarn and paper industry". He pointed out, industries based on non-ferrous metals are also highly dependent on scrap. It was included in the Finance Bill of 2003 and Section 206-C was amended to include scrap in the list of liquor and forest products. Under the new order the seller has to deposit the collected amount of the tax to the government within seven days of the collection from the buyer. This means, the working capital of the industry shall be gradually reducing which will ultimately hit the liquidity. Mr Sharma said, although the margin of profit on scrap is very nominal, the volumes are very large which mean ten per cent deduction will come to a huge amount for the buyer.
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Re gains
17 paise
Mumbai, June 3 The domestic currency opened stronger at 47.09/11, steadily rose during the course of the session as exporters stepped up dollar supplies and importers stayed on the sidelines after the greenback once again slipped in the overseas markets, dealers said. The rupee closed at a one-week high of 46.95/96, gaining a whopping 17 paise from 47.12/14 of its Monday’s close. As a result of the dollar’s strong rally in the overseas market in the last few days, domestic banks and corporates had built over dollar positions while exporters held back dollar remittance. The RBI today fixed the reference rate for US dollar at 47.03, down by 13 paise from Monday’s fix of 47.16.
UNI
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PHDCCI draws up plan for J & K
New Delhi, June 3 The plan by the chamber, which espouses the cause of the industry in many Northern states, including Jammu and Kashmir, focuses on taking advantage of the abundant natural resources and rigorous implementation of the Central Government incentive packages . The recommendations of the suggested programme include development of a comprehensive information technology policy, a nodal agency for the sports goods sector and
establishment of a state walnut commodity board and special incentives for willon growers. ''The state government should give special emphasis to build infrastructure, handicrafts, electronics and software, sports goods, tourism, horticulture and agro and food processing as part of its development strategy to help achieve its target of creating 1 million jobs in the next two years particularly for educated unemployed youth,'' the PHDCCI says.
UNI
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Don’t transfer jobs to India: UK staff
London, June 3 But now workers in Britain have threatened strike over further loss of jobs because calls are being handled increasingly in India. Thousands of jobs with directory enquiries at British Telecom (BT) are at risk over transfer of jobs to India. The Communication Workers Union's annual conference in Bournemouth voted unanimously on Monday to ballot on industrial action if BT exports any more jobs. Union leaders say 2,00,000 jobs across the economy could be transferred abroad by companies in the next 10 years. The threat comes in the face of BT's plans to move about 2,200 jobs to Bangalore by the end of next year. Union leaders say BT pays Indian staff 80 pence an hour, compared to £6 an hour in Britain. Average pay in India is £3,000 a year instead of £15,000 in Britain. The union said BT is planning to "shed its national identity and culture" and that callers ringing directory inquiry and information services were unaware that they were being answered some 8,000 km away. Mark Taggart, a member of the union executive, said banks and other financial institutions already using centres in India order staff to watch soaps, including "Coronation Street" and "EastEnders", to learn local accents and chat about the previous night's television with customers. Dialling codes prompted local weather conditions to appear on screens, to allow staff in another continent to know whether it was sunny or raining in Britain. "There's no altruism here, it's crude exploitation and it's simply about making more profit," said Taggart. "Most companies are currently turning to India, but it can soon be Malaysia or China. We will continue to protest and, if necessary, we will strike." BT said it had no plans to move jobs on top of the 2,200, and told the union it was prepared to negotiate an agreement on best practice in India, insisting it would guarantee staff pay rates and conditions above the norm there. The 2,200 Bangalore jobs include some new positions, but BT has already announced the transfer of 700 directory inquiry and 300 billing jobs to India, including some provided by contractors, The Guardian reports. It employs 30,000 staff in 34 Britain centres, including the areas such as Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Dudley and Newport, where the investment has replaced manufacturing
jobs. IANS
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British Counselling “Thirty years ago, students went overseas to study because it was fun. Now it’s a necessity. Everything is globalised.” — is exactly what is believed at British Counselling & Educational Services (BCES, a unit of British Admissions Abroad Pvt Ltd.) In the world dominated by cutthroat competition, choosing the right field of study is certainly one of the most crucial decisions. BCES is the place that helps students in taking this crucial decision. BCES is an organisation that indeed has everything to offer to students educational needs abroad. The institute has journeyed over six years with its main objective of providing professional and technical counselling services and helping students with the best future career prospects in the leading Universities/Colleges of the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Malaysia, Malta, Thailand, Estonia, Spain and Poland. We are representing over 60 Universities and Colleges across the world. BCES was founded in July 1997 by Mr Nilesh Tandon and Mr Puneet Singh Sawhney, It is a service-oriented company and specialises in assisting students and parents comprehensively. BCES has the reputation of being the best and this is not believed by us but by the students, parents and indeed the Universities and colleges we represent. Counselling in Patiala June 4, Yamunanagar June 5 and Chandigarh June 6. British Counselling and Educational Services Gurgaon Ph: 0124-2252408, 2252469, 2250505
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Narayana Murthy joins ABC Board
New Delhi, June 3 |
The government's plan to offload a 25 per cent stake in BPCL through American depository receipts has hit a roadblock because the corporation's board will be subject to American law. Dr Reddy's Laboratories board has approved the merger of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Zenovus Biotech, with the company and closure of its diagnostic business. The merger and closure decisions were taken at its meeting held on May 30. Hind Lever Chemicals has posted a 36.6 per cent decline in the net profit at Rs 30.03 crore in FY 2002-03 compared to Rs 47.35 crore posted in the previous fiscal. The board has recommended a dividend of 137.5 per cent for the year. Dabur Foods, wholly-owned subsidiary of Dabur India, is set to ink another distribution tie-up, and this time in tea sector with Dilmah— Ceylon's freshest and finest tea. Dilmah is touted to be the third largest tea brand globally. Reliance Industries yesterday announced
a hike in polymer prices while cutting fibre intermediates prices for
June, 2003.
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