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EU slaps $611 m fine on Microsoft Microsoft was on Wednesday slapped with a record 497.2 million euros ($611.8 million) fine for violating the European Union antitrust law and ordered to take immediate steps to stop crushing software rivals.
Tatas-Reliance row ends
Bonds for OIL, ONGC issued
GM to outsource from India, says report
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Indo-Russian trade may rise to $5 billion
France warns Novartis on Aventis merger
Investors ignore remote areas
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EU slaps $611 m fine on Microsoft
Brussels, March 24 The EU executive said Microsoft must act within four months to change the way it does business in Europe because “the illegal behaviour is still going on.” The European Commission — the enforcer of EU competition law — levied the record fine, ordered the unbundling of Windows Media Player within 90 days and required that “complete and accurate” information be given to rival makers of computer servers within 120 days. The commission characterised Windows, which runs on more than 95 per cent of all personal computers, as a “near monopoly.” Microsoft spokesman Tom Brookes replied: “We believe the proposed settlement would have been better for European consumers.” Settlement talks ended last week. Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said in a statement: “Today’s decision restores the conditions for fair competition in the market concerned and establishes clear principles for the future conduct of a company with such a strong dominant position.” The commission will appoint a special monitoring trustee to ensure that Microsoft’s disclosures to rivals are “complete and accurate and that the two versions of Windows are equivalent in terms of performance.” The commission said its remedy “does not mean that consumers will obtain PCs and operating systems without media players. Most consumers purchase a PC from a PC manufacturer which already has put together on their behalf a bundle of an operating system and a media player.” The commission ruled that Microsoft bundled its own audiovisual player to damage such rivals as RealNetworks RealPlayer and Apple Computer Quicktime. Microsoft has said it would take the decision to European Union courts in Luxembourg and try to get the remedies delayed until final appeals are over, a process that could take four to seven years or more. Although that limits the impact of the decision, the commission has shown no inclination to slow two other investigations of Microsoft it now has underway. It will be able to cite the precedent from its decision on Wednesday in bringing the next cases, easing the way for quicker action, experts say. The decision to go for a broad remedy follows a decade of investigations and settlements on narrow issues without any formal findings against the software firm. A US appeals court ruled unanimously in a final 2001 decision that
Microsoft broke one antitrust rule, but critics say the remedies there
failed to encourage vigorous competition. — Reuters |
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Tatas-Reliance row ends
New Delhi, March 24 The Tatas-controlled
VSNL and FLAG, acquired recently by Reliance, today reached a settlement
in the presence of TRAI and the warring parties signed the minutes
stamping the agreement this evening. The agreement assumes importance
in the wake of Reliance’s earlier declaration of cutting down bandwidth
price by up to 70 per cent for the end users whereas VSNL offered
release of 17 STMs (a capacity totalling 1,000 Mbps) to global carrier
FLAG in case it had the capability and capacity to accept the same.
Terming as successful the talks between the two players, TRAI member D
P S Seth told PTI after chairing a six-hour long meeting of the
officials of the two companies that “VSNL will release 17 STMs within a
week... Reliance has accepted the proposal”. With this the release of
bottleneck facilities sought by Reliance had been achieved, Seth said but
added that commercial terms between the two would be decided by them.
Neither the Tatas nor Reliance officials were available for comments
immediately after the meeting. — PTI |
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Now pocket PC with built-in mobile phone
New Delhi, March 24 Designed for professionals, P300 is as small as any conventional
mobile phone but is powered with wireless capabilities and is equipped
with entertainment and multi-media features and is priced at Rs
35,999. “In India, there is a latent market of next generation
information-cum-communication devices. We will be the sole distributors
of these phones as well as provide after-sales services and hope to sell
12,000-15,000 units in six months following the launch of the phone in
April”, Capitel President Arvind Kapur said. Capitel Wireless is a part
of the Rs 250 crore Texim group and it started operations in early 2001
as a wireless solutions and infrastructure provider. In addition to
the multi-media ability, P300 also features a built-in tri-band GSM/
GPRS module. The product was being brought into India in technical
collaboration with the E-Ten Information Systems of the US. |
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Bonds for OIL, ONGC issued
New Delhi, March 24 “The special bonds have been issued
to the ONGC for Rs 257.60 crore and Oil India Limited (OIL) for Rs 91.03
crore,’’ an official release said. “The special bond will be
transferable and eligible for market ready-forward transactions but will
not be an eligible security for ready-forward transactions with the
Reserve Bank of India,’’ it said. |
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GM to outsource from India, says report
Washington, March 24 The move is part of a
cost-cutting programme which aims to slash GM’s manufacturing costs by
25 per cent by the end of 2005, an internal report of the company
said. GM, by sending $ 48 million worth white collar jobs to India and
Canada, is trying to keep up with “competitors who are driving
relentlessly to reduce costs,” the leaked report published by the
“Detroit News” said yesterday. The spending plan represents less than
1 per cent of the company’s annual manufacturing budget. The report
comes amid increasing protests in the US over the issue of outsourcing
during the election year. Meanwhile, on Monday, Democratic Governor of
Michigan, Jennifer Granholm signed two orders giving preferences for
state contracts to firms that employ workers in that state. Many auto
giants in the US are headquartered in Michigan and the Governor’s
decision is aimed at stemming the loss of manufacturing jobs in the
state and creating new ones, the report said. — PTI
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Indo-Russian trade may rise to $5 billion
New
Delhi, March 24 Mr Borisov Sergey, President of the OPORA Russian
delegation, said the current Indo-Russian trade is hovering around $ 1.4
billion for the past many years, that can be increased to over $ 5
billion in the next 2-3 years. He said, ''The Russian enterprises cover
only 20 per cent of about $ 25 billion annual market of garments. We are
mostly importing textiles from China, Taiwan, Korea and some European
countries. There is tremendous scope for Indian companies provided they
compete on price and quality front.” Mr Rajinder Sethi, Adviser to the
delegation, and a businessman working in Russia for the past 14 years,
said, ''In the present scenario, there is no place for inferior knitwear
garments of Ludhiana or other places exported during the erstwhile
Soviet Union. But they can supply T-shirts, trousers, woollens, blankets
and other home furnishing items keeping in mind the demand of new
generation.” He claimed that though direct textile exports from Indian
is not significant, but a large number of dealers and retail shops in
Moscow and St Petersburg are getting Indian products from European
countries like Germany and Hungary. Even Turkey has succeeded in
penetrating the Indian market. Mr Pavel Sigal, who is running a number
of boutiques in Moscow, maintained that about two-thirds of textile
units of the erstwhile Soviet Union had already closed down, since they
could no more avail of cheap supply of cotton from Uzbekistan. However,
the government was making efforts to revive some of these units.
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France warns Novartis on Aventis merger
Paris, March 24 Investors said the warning, which came a day after
Novartis said a neutral stance by the French Government was a
pre-condition to formal talks with Franco-German Aventis, would probably
lead the Swiss group to back away from its merger plan. That would
increase the likelihood that French peer Sanofi-Synthelabo, which
launched a 46 billion euro ($56.54 billion) hostile bid for Aventis in
January, ultimately succeeds in taking over its larger rival. Aventis
has been fighting that bid, but the government has said it favours an
all-French deal that would create a strong national champion and the
world’s third largest drugs company. “The Prime Minister is very
attentive to France’s national and strategic interests,” said an
official close to the French Prime Minister’s office following a Cabinet
meeting on Wednesday. Novartis, Aventis and Sanofi all declined to
comment on the French Government’s remarks.
Novartis may pull
out Seeking to fend off the Sanofi bid, Aventis has turned to Novartis
in recent weeks in the hope the Swiss group could serve as a “white
knight” bidder. Novartis announced on Tuesday that the business case for
a merger with Aventis was sound. The combination, which would be number
two in the global league, could lead to a spin-off of non-core products
into a new entity that would preserve jobs, notably in France and
Germany, Novartis said. A deal with Aventis would give Novartis the
chance to build a leading position in cancer, diabetes and heart
disease—three of the world’s top killers—and expand its marketing reach
in the United States, Europe and Japan. But the company made clear its
plan hinged on the French Government not interfering. France signalled
its preference for a deal between Sanofi and Aventis last week when
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin called Aventis a strategic French
asset because of its role in creating vaccines to combat
bio-terrorism. An official source said the government doubted that
Novartis would continue to pursue its merger plans and questioned
whether that plan would have been acceptable to Aventis. “We don’t get
the impression that Novartis really wants to go all the way and we doubt
whether its plan would be acceptable for Aventis and its staff,” the
source said. Investors said Sanofi, whose offer currently values
Aventis at 45 billion euros, would have to sweeten its bid to seal the
deal. Aventis shares are currently trading at a 10 per cent premium to
the Sanofi offer. “This is a political problem and since the government
is not giving in, Novartis will pull out and Sanofi should win, perhaps
by raising its offer slightly,” said Jacques-Antoine Bretteil, a fund
manager at Paris-based International Capital Gestion. If push came to
shove and Novartis decided to ignore France’s stance, experts said the
government had some legal options at its disposal to thwart the Swiss
firm, although most viewed these options with scepticism. — Reuters |
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Investors ignore remote areas
Solan, March 24 While there are less or
no takers for remote sites, investors seeking to set up industries along
national highways like Baddi, Barotiwala, Parwanoo as well as Nalagarh
in district Solan has completely ignored the earmarked sites in the
district. As many as 448 small and tiny units and another 141 medium
and large industries have got registered in Baddi alone. With the
maximum demand is for Baddi the area has already been exhausted, opined
officials in the Industries Department. Nalagarh and other highway sites
were emerging as the next best options. There are as many as 13 sites
earmarked for industrial development in the district. A site of 769.1
bighas at Dhabota is still awaiting clearance from the Forest Department
as the area falls under forest and attracts the provisions of the Forest
Conservation Act, 1980, for diversion for a non-forestry purpose of
setting up of industries. Another area of 556 bighas at Banelgi which
is undeveloped with regard to infrastructure development has also found
just a few takers. With industrialists preferring the developed areas to
set up their ventures not many are inclined to turn to the remote areas.
Another reason cited for this lack of preference is the fact that a
remotely located site will enhance cost of transportation of raw
materials and finished products to the markets taking up the product
value. After spending Rs 84,000 for development of an approach road at
Mamlig, officials in the Industries Department hope to attract investors
here. Another 51 bighas at Vaknaghat has been sent to the Director,
Industries, for fixation of land prices and subsequent sale of
industrial plots there. Not much interest has been shown by investors
at these sites. This has disappointed the locals who had surrendered
their land for industrial development in the hope of finding gainful
employment in the industrial ventures. Officials opined that the
government should contemplate more incentives to investors in the remote
and tribal areas in its new state policy. While this can attract
investors to the hitherto undeveloped regions, it can also lead to
development of these remote areas and a balanced industrial growth.
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Swaraj tractor launched
Chandigarh, March 24 More than 201 tractors were delivered to
customers in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal on the first day itself. Mr
Yash Mahajan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, PTL, said: “Swaraj’s
philosophy has been of providing good quality products with distinctive
features at reasonable prices.” Mr A.M. Sawhney, Director (Marketing),
claimed that the tractor qualified Bharat Term II norms.
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