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Thursday,
June 5, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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SBI to
merge branches of subsidiaries R&D
facility for auto ancillaries NIIT
evaluates expansion plans Laid-off
staff of Him Process face RBI order
on stapling of notes criticised
Bikes’
sale to grow fastest
Hillary
brand ambassador for Tourism
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SBI to merge branches of subsidiaries
New Delhi, June 4 Although merger of the subsidiaries with the parent bank does not seem imminent at present, top SBI officials told PTI the country’s biggest bank intends to merge branches, which are closely located and redundant, in near future as part of plans to rationalise operations and reduce costs. “In the first phase, we will go for swapping of branches among the different subsidiaries. In the next phase, we will go for branch mergers,” they said. For instance, State Bank of Patiala will swap branches with State Bank of Hyderabad as the two banks are concentrated in the northern and southern part but want to have presence across the country. Ruling out direct merger of its arms with the parent SBI, the officials said “it seems difficult due to diverse culture inculcated in each of the subsidiaries.” Apart from having a nationwide presence, SBI has its arms spread over the country through its seven associates — State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Indore, State Bank of Saurashtra, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Travancore. The officials said the bank is already in the process of merging treasury operations accounting for over Rs 1,20,000 crore. In the near future, treasury operations will be handled from SBI’s head office in Mumbai, they said. In the last few years, treasury operations have yielded hefty profits for SBI and its associates with fall in interest rates and rise in government security prices. Moreover, SBI officials said the bank has decided to integrate all its associates in terms of the technology upgradation for which it plans to invest Rs 500 crore within the next few years. The technology upgradation that is being implemented in collaboration with IT major Tata Consultacy is aimed at inter-connecting all the branches and ATMs of SBI. Following the technology integration, the ATM cards issued by associate banks can be used in 1,600 odd SBI outlets as well, they added. The bank has also decided to sell the life insurance products of SBI Life through the branches of its associate banks, which would enable them to shore up non-interest income to a great extent while deploying excess staff productively.
PTI
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R&D facility for auto ancillaries Patiala, June 4 The bank has decided to open an R and D facility for the auto ancillary units which include at least 3,000 units. It has roped in three other public sector banks to take this initiative. Disclosing the scheme at a press conference here, Bank Managing Director A K Das said under the special scheme for the auto ancillary units, they would be given both financial assistance and R and D help. Mr Das the bank had also launched schemes for the agriculture sector which had borne fruit. He said the “Him Harit” scheme launched by the bank in Himachal Pradesh had seen loans being given to as many as 12,000 farmers. He said the bank had committed itself to the agriculture sector in Punjab also under the Sanjhi Kheti scheme. He said under the scheme farmers growing potatos for the Pepsi company in Punjab were being given a loan of Rs 1.50 lakh each without any security. He said earlier this loan amount was only Rs 25,000. Mr Das said besides this the bank was coordinating with Punjab Agro to give loans to citrus farmers in Hoshiarpur district besides other parts of the state. The Managing Director disclosed that the bank was in the process was brining down its Non Performing Assets to zero by next year. He said the Net NPA percentage stood at 1.49 per cent presently which was one of the lowest in the country.
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NIIT evaluates expansion plans
New Delhi, June 4 The expansion of own facilities, he said would also entail increase in manpower besides infrastructure. “The requirements will be serviced by either hiring people or contracting and subcontracting jobs.
UNI
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Laid-off staff of Him Process face bleak future Kumarhatti, June 4 In 1996 Him Process had leased the plant to the HPMC. When the HPMC had left the plant it had 22 employees, including 12 of Him Process on its roll with 60 contract workers. The trouble started when the management of Him Process had decided to take back this profit making plant that had manufactured standard popular brands of juices, squashes, pickles and fruit jams. However, the fund-starved Him Process management had failed to run the plant and the plant remained closed from the date the HPMC closed its office. Though the HPMC employees had shifted to other plants of the HPMC in the state, however, the Him Process employees became unemployed. Since July, all these employees have been staying at Jabli in the hope that one day the plant would start. Only a driver of Him Process has got job on deputation in the HP Agro Industries. “From the past nearly one year we have taken loans and funds to meet the requirement of our families in the hope that one-day we will get justice”, they rued. “All our hopes have now set on the Congress government”. The state government has reportedly doing efforts to restart the plant. Mr T.D. Negi, Registrar of the Cooperative Societies, has said a week back a meeting was held along with the Secretary, Horticulture and the MD, HPMC, regarding the closed plant. The decision to restart the closed plant would be taken soon. Mr J.P. Negi, Secretary, Horticulture, could not be contacted despite repeated efforts. However, Mr J.R. Gachtha, MD, HPMC, did not divulge more details about the matter.
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RBI order on stapling of notes criticised
Kolkata, June 4 Protesting against the aggressive campaign of the RBI authorities and mounting internal pressure on all commercial banks and other entities to accept note packets with strings and paper bands instead of the age old stapling system, UFBU Convenor Ashok Dutta told newspersons here today that this was being done following RBI’s decision to go for a totally mechanised system for the verification of currency notes endangering the employment of more than 5000 employees associated with similar jobs. Some of the leading government departments and corporate houses which deal with crores of rupees every day have urged the RBI to immediately revert back to the old stapling sytem for the security reason, the UFBU Convenor pointed out. Before resorting to any other method to press for the demand the UFBU representatives would sit with RBI Governor Bimal Jalan in Mumbai on June 9 in an effort to find a mutually accepted alternative solution, Mr Dutta said.
UNI
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Super sticky tape
New Delhi, June 4 A team led by Andre Geim of the University of Manchester has now produced a postage-stamp-sized piece of synthetic tape covered in millions of protruding plastic polymer ‘hairs’ each of which is just two thousandths of a millimetre high. This allows the “hairs” to get extremely close to the molecules that make up a surface.
PTI
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Bikes’ sale to grow fastest
New York, June 4 Among the personal transportation vehicles, the motor cycle segment would grow the fastest followed by passenger cars and sale receive boost from cuts in excise duty, new model launches, higher disposable incomes and a changing consumer mindset, said the survey conducted by Frost and Sullivan. The entry of international companies and new technologies had significantly altered the market dynamics in the last few years and increased number of market participants particularly in the passenger car segment was giving rise to excess capacities and forcing price competition, it said. “The auto industry today is a buyer’s market and the general economic slowdown makes it vital for industry participants to stay ahead of demand trends,” said Frost and Sullivan industry analyst Abhijeet Dey. “While urban users shift away from economy range cars to higher “B” segment cars, the former will be pushed into the semi-urban and rural markets,” Dey predicted. The shift toward multi-axle vehicles was another positive trend, the survey said. Multi-axles offered much better operating economics than the single-axle and their higher cost meant higher revenues for truck manufacturers. “Gradually a three-tier structure like in developed countries will be established,” said Dey. “This structure consists of long-haul trucks on highways, medium commercial vehicles for rounds of cities and towns and light commercial vehicles to deliver goods to the rural areas.” The increased private participation would offer near-bankrupt state transport corporations a chance to replace their aging fleets and invigorate the mass transport system, the survey said. The demand for tractors would also rise as states build their rural infrastructure. “Industry participants, especially component manufacturers, need to plan to optimise opportunities in this transitional market,” said Dey.
PTI
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