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Lee Cooper shoes
to be made in Inflation touches
39-week high at 6.21 pc Personalised
financial planning gains ground |
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A model displays a creation by Dries Van Noten of Belgium as part of his fall winter 2004/2005 men's collection at Paris fashion week on Saturday. — Reuters
photo ‘Demolition
man’ Bove turns 2,200 tobacco
users die daily: NGOs tell govt to ratify treaty
Stock market rides roller
coaster
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Lee Cooper shoes to be made in Baddi: Musafir New Delhi, January 25 To this effect, a separate line of production is being set up at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh with specific focus on sport footwear. Launched in India in 1995 by M&B Footwear Pvt Ltd, Lee Cooper Shoes is at present importing its sport shoes from Malaysia. “However, once the plant at Baddi goes on steam, the quantum of import will come down significantly,” Managing Director M&B Footwear Inder Dev Singh Musafir told ‘The Tribune’ in an interview. “After having gained a firm foothold in the casual and semi-formal footwear market, Lee Cooper is foraying into the sports shoes and women’s wear segment,” Mr Musafir said. The new production facility at Baddi is expected to commence commercial production within four months. “This will be the second plant producing Lee Cooper shoes in India. We are also considering to set up another line of production at the first plant in Noida. Both the plants at present have a production capacity of 2,500 pairs of shoes per day,” Mr Musafir said. He, however, said the Lee Cooper sport shoes are unlikely to come into direct competition with the other international brands such as Reebok or Nike. “Our range of products will not be for professional sports. It is essentially for what is now being increasingly called fashion sports. These are shoes which can serve multiple purposes such as jogging and if somebody wants to play soccer, they are robust enough for that too,” he said. At the same time, Mr Musafir said the company has no plans to get into the professional sports wear category. “We have no plans to get into pro sports. That is not our niche area. Instead, we are trying to create a new category in the sport footwear segment”, he said. The company has also received licenses for marketing Lee Cooper shoes in neighbouring countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. “We have already started in Bangladesh and are talking to distributors in Nepal and Sri Lanka,” Mr Musafir said. For ensuring a better retail presence, the company has also entered into a tie-up with Bata. “This is the first time any casual/semi-formal brand has had a tie-up with Bata for marketing its shoes at the Bata stores”, he said. The rationale behind this tie-up is that “Bata wants a change in image from a typical school shoe manufacturer. The presence of our range of products in their stores will complement each other as opposed to coming into direct competition”. The company is also in the process of launching exclusive footwear stores “which will provide an international experience. It will not be like one of those run-of-the-mill stores. A dedicated design team is specially looking into this line of business”, he said. The organised shoe industry in India is to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore. But Mr Musafir pointed out that unless the government brings about a major tax rationalisation exercise, the unorganised industry will continue to tower over the branded category. The footwear industry attracts an excise duty of 16 per cent, which is not a prudent measure as shoes should be categorised as essential commodity. Mr Musafir, who is the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir, regretted that not many incentives had been provided by the Punjab Government to encourage setting up of industry in the state. “Punjab needs to have a more pro-active approach with existing business houses. There is enough opportunity for the state to cash in on the retail boom that is sweeping the economy,” he said. He said the Himachal Government has provided enough incentives to encourage investment in industry. “In fact, for the first time, we have experienced single window clearance while deciding to set up the plant at Baddi. There was some kind of a toss-up between Himachal and Uttaranchal. The fast track clearance provided by the Himachal Pradesh Government sealed the matter in favour of Baddi,” he said.
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Inflation touches 39-week high at 6.21 pc
New Delhi, January 25 It was just below the 4 per cent mark at 3.84 per cent during the corresponding week last year. The recent hike in the inflation rate was contrary to Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy’s comment that the rate should start falling now and was expected to be around 4.0-4.5 per cent by the end of the fiscal year to March 2004. However, the official wholesale price index rose marginally by 0.1 per cent to 177.9 points during the week ended January 10 from 177.7 in the previous week. The index for primary articles rose by 0.3 per cent to 181.8 points from 181.2 in the previous week.
— UNI
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Personalised financial planning gains ground Ludhiana, January 25 Available in the West till recently, personal financial planning and investment advisors are fast gaining popularity here. “Financial planning is akin to getting a customised fit for your clothing from your tailor who understands and appreciates your needs and requirements as compared to buying an expensive readymade garment that always has something bothering you,” says Mr Rajesh Handa, a Panchkula-based expert with an MBA (Finance). He claims to have introduced the concept of personal financial planning in the region. In an interview with ‘The Tribune’, Mr Handa said with all world economies headed in one direction, financial needs and commitments of individuals have become different and need individual attention as no two persons have the same financial aspirations, incomes, needs and obligations. “Based on the risk profile and the saving capacity of an individual, the goals are prioritised, asset allocation is set out and financial products suggested for achieving the stated goals.” Customised financial planning goes much beyond planning life and medical insurance needs, children’s education/marriage, planning for a house, comfortable retirement, etc. Individuals can now with help achieve to plan strategies that will help them improve their living standards like keeping pace with the latest automobiles and gadgets in the market. Mr Handa says, “A financial planner today helps a client review his financial situation, risk assessment and quantifiable identification of future goals.” Mr Handa says that products like bank fixed deposits and the intricacies of the alternative financial products have made professional advice indispensable. Financial planners are different from financial advisors, who are trained only in specific areas. Planning involves a totalitarian approach and is free from biases towards any specific financial product. He suggests diversification and asset allocation based on need and risk profile as the twin keys to any investment portfolio. Financial planning, holds more relevance for the 25-50 age segment. For every five years you postpone savings, you need to double savings to reach the same target.
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Men’s fashion: pretty look out, masculine in
Paris, January 25 Men will be comfortable in their own skin next winter no matter what their type, whether it be the dapper bankers at Louis Vuitton, the romantic souls of Dries van Noten, Yohji Yamamoto’s artists or Karl Lagerfeld’s dandies. At Vuitton, US designer Marc Jacobs emphasised the timeless importance of a luxurious, clean-cut suit with a series of models in charcoal gray and basic black. Briefcases in lizard skin or sharkskin completed the look. Jacobs offered several more laid-back options for weekends on the town- casual tweed jackets, wool coats and a long overcoat in gray Scottish plaid. Belgium’s van Noten also created a dressy silhouette and fitted suit jackets but the overall effect was softer, with nods to German romanticism like satin and ribbon linings, Prussian coats and muted hues from gray to forest green. Yamamoto, who is celebrating his 20th year of men’s catwalk shows in the French capital, used lots of colour, especially red- both in accent pieces and as a total look to contrast with his inimitable black coats and jackets. The Japanese designer added a dash of humor to his show, reminding men that fashion is not all about suits and dress shirts and is not just for the young, using professional and non-professional models of all ages and sizes. The British ska group Madness, formed in 1979, and the French punk band Metal Urbain (Urban Metal), created in 1976, brought an unusual flair to Yamamoto’s normally sedate runway presentations.
— AFP
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‘Demolition man’ Bove turns to Coke, Pepsi
Palakkad, January 25 And the ‘demolition man’ threatens to make it as fierce as he always did in the past, whether it was ‘invading’ the French Army outpost or demolishing the McDonald’s food joint. The celebrity-activist has decided on the new international campaign after seeing in person the water exploitation and pollution by Coke plant at Plachimada and the tribal resistance during his stay there as part of the recent water conference. The French activist told UNI that he, along with his farmers and other organisations, would stage demonstrations before the Coke and Pepsi companies the world over. “Firstly, it is going to be information campaign. We got information on how the Coke people are stealing water and now we will tell the people in public meetings in all big cities and ask Coke to stop this. If not, we will ask the people to boycott the products of these transnational corporations,’’ he said. In the 1970s, he and his wife Alice were among the leaders of a successful campaign to defend the starkly beautiful Larzac plateau outside Millau against plans to extend a military camp there. In 1987, he helped set up the Peasant Confederation (Confederation Paysanne), whose aim has been to champion the cause of small producers against the interests of big business and agricultural barons. In 1976, he was jailed for three weeks for invading a military outpost. But he finally drove the Army out to safeguard the farming lands and win world-wide accolade. “We are going to launch a huge movement. Wherever we go, which ever country we go, we will now talk about the criminal things the Coke is doing here,’’ he said adding that mass public meetings would be held in all parts of Europe and America to highlight this. Bove (50) is an instantly recognisable figure, with his bushy moustache and pipe-smoking habit, who pops up wherever there is an ecological axe to be ground. His moustache earned him the nickname ‘Asterix,’ after the famed comic strip character. In 1988, Bove and the CP organised an event in Paris — ‘Plowing the Champs Elysees’ — by ploughing the park under the Eiffel Tower to protest against the European Union’s farm policies. And, in a move that earned him global fame and a six-week stay in prison, Bove organised and helped in the partial demolition of a half-constructed McDonald’s in his hometown of Millau in 1999. “We are living in dangerous times. Water is a big problem. If it goes on for 50 years, we will not survive on the face of the earth,’’ Bove cautioned. Admitting that the stir was only in its initial phase, he said they would be able to take on the cola giants as more and more people and organisations joined
them. — UNI
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| 2,200 tobacco users die daily: NGOs tell govt to ratify treaty
New Delhi, January 25 “India has the highest number of oral cancer cases and 90 per cent of them are tobacco related. Since, it has been affecting developing countries far more than industrialised countries, the government should act swiftly before it is too late,” Regional Coordinator of the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) for Asia and the Middle East, Bejon Misra, told PTI. Situation in India assumes greater significance as about 65 per cent of men use some form of tobacco, he said. According to the WHO estimates, by the year 2030, tobacco use would cause 10 million deaths globally of which 70 per cent would be in developing countries, he said. As per the figures the government spends about four times money on the treatment of the people with tobacco related illnesses. There was a need to prioritise human health much above tax benefits due to tobacco, Misra said. NATT, a network of 75 NGOs from more than 50 countries, is working for a strong, enforceable
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Initiated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the FCTC bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and protects public health policy from tobacco industry interference, he said.
— PTI
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Stock market rides roller coaster Last week , the market witnessed almost unprecedented ups and downs. It was on the cards that the market would undergo technical correction but no one expected it to take the form of the bear movement from a high of 6249 points on the Sensex on January 9 to 5594 points last week. The market went down by 655 points (about 10.5 per cent).
Last Friday, however, during the afternoon session the market took a sharp turnaround and the Sensex went up by 223 points, closing at 5817 points (about 4 per cent). It looked as if the stock market was riding a roller coaster with its sharp ups and downs, shake-ups and thrills both during its intra-day trading and overall trading pattern. The market’s sharp decline can be attributed to the heavy selling of shares by the big brokers due to payment crisis and by the banks on margin calls to traders and investors who could not respond to them for want of funds. Another reason was the rumour that SEBI had decided to put a ban on Participatory Notes (PNs). It was feared that this would lead to withdrawal of FIIs and heavy selling in shares covered by PNs. PNs are like contract notes issued by the registered FIIs to their clients abroad. But the upside came when it was known that the SEBI’s ban on PNs would not apply with retrospective effect. At the close of the market on Friday, this was confirmed when SEBI clarified that PNs would be permitted only to regulatory entities. In other words, the ban would be applicable only to entities which are domicile in places without recognised regulatory bodies. The PNs that have been issued to unregulated entities will have to wind up or allowed to expire on maturity. In any case they will lapse even if they are permitted beyond five years. Another factor which led to the revival in the market was the upgrading of India’s foreign currency rating by Moody’s Investor Services, a leading international Credit rating agency. Now the rating is Baa3 from Bal. Baa3 stands for investment grade and stable foreign currency position. The Sensex closed at 3048 points on March 31, 2003 and it stood at 5816.64 points when the market closed last Friday. In other words, even after touching a high of 6245 points on January 9 and losing 655 points last week, it is 2769.64 points higher than it was on March 31, 2003. During the period of technical correction last week almost all blue chip equity shares suffered sharp falls in their market prices in spite of excellent 3rd quarterly result announced by Tata Motors, Tisco, Wipro, Satyam, among others. It now appears that on Tuesday, this week, the market would open in bright sunshine with a rise in the market prices all round. The economy is doing very well and some agencies have even projected the GDP growth rate at 8 per cent. It has been stated that the Sensex would close at around 7000 points during the financial year 2004-05 provided the monsoon is
favourable. Investors should stay invested rather than sell fundamentally strong equity shares. Profit-booking may be done only after the market touches 6000 plus range on the Sensex. |
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Gone are the days when you were at the
mercy of financial institutions to safeguard your financial future and plan ways
to guide your bank balance. From a handful of options such as fixed deposits,
life insurance, education funds, mutual funds, retirement plans, etc offered by
large financial institutions, planning has acquired new dimensions.
Having carved a niche in the organised shoe industry in India, British footwear brand Lee Cooper is expecting the sports shoe category to provide the next big push to the brand in the country.