 |
|
Fulfil promises, garment exporters to Chautala New Delhi, April 14 Haryana exporters, who have helped the state to cross exports worth Rs 11,000-crore mark, have asked Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala to fulfil his promises before expecting any support in the coming elections.
Rising steel prices hit bicycle units
IOC to roll out hydrogen-CNG run buses
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bharti Infotel to offer higher bandwidth
Domino’s Pizza Inc., the second-largest U.S. pizza chain, on Tuesday announced a long-awaited plan to go public, setting itself up to cash in on recent investor enthusiasm over restaurant stocks.
Jerry Rao is new Nasscom chief
|
|
Fulfil promises, garment exporters to Chautala Manoj Kumar Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 14 Mr Chand K. Anand, President, All-India Garment Exporters Common Cause Guild, said, “Despite infrastructure development, the Chief Minister has failed to fulfil various promises made during his meetings with industry representatives.” The promises include setting up a garment cluster in Gurgaon, improvement in public transport system in the industrial estates, upgrading of technical education, abolition of discriminatory taxes like local area development tax, and to set up “coordination mechanism” between the exporters and state machinery. The exporters said Mr Chautala had promised to facilitate the growth of exports, but without any result. For instance, he had promised to lower power tariff by checking power pilferage. Nothing has been done in this regard. At present, Mr M.K. Jain, a garment exporter from Gurgaon, said “We are paying the highest tariff in the North India due to power pilferage worth over Rs 1,000 crore annually in the state. It is adversely affecting our cost of production and exports.” Garment exporters claimed that amid rupee appreciation, they are finding it difficult to meet ‘‘international standards’’ of providing mandatory services like canteens and other services to their staff. Despite the Chief Minister’s assurance to allow them to cover the additional floor area, they were asked by the Haryana State and Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) to pay exorbitant charges for this purpose. They said the state government had failed to take up the issue of garment cluster project with the Centre, though garment exports from the state had crossed over Rs 1,000 crore. With over 100 export units, Gurgaon has emerged as a major centre of readymade garments. Scientific instruments
exporters, with an annual business of over Rs 100 crore in Ambala
district, have also been pleading with the state government to take up
the issue of cluster project with the Centre. |
|
Rising steel prices hit bicycle units
Ludhiana, April 14 The price of bicycle had been
raised three times during the past four months according to Mr Onkar
Singh Pahwa, Managing Director of Avon Cycles. The first increase in the
bicycle price was made in January, second in February by Rs 45 and the
third rise in April by Rs 35. The ex-factory price of standard
roadster at present is Rs 1,340 per bicycle. Mr Pahwa said the market
is not accepting the rise in the prices of the bicycle and as a result
there was also a fall in the sale of bicycle. The new price will be
accepted gradually, he said. Mr Ajit Singh Kular, Convener, Steel
Consumers Form, said the sale of bicycles had fallen by 15 or 20 per
cent. The steel prices had been witnessing an upward trend without any
break since 2002 and there was a record increase of Rs 3,000 per tonne
in one month during 2003. Because of the financial crunch, the bicycle
and cycle parts manufacturers are not getting the payments from their
dealers. The bicycle and cycle parts industry of Ludhiana has also been
hit by the labour strike during the past few months. Labour problem is
still persisting here. The production in the bicycle units has not yet
come to normal. |
|
NDA kept 65 tonnes of gold with England bank: Swamy
Madurai, April
14 In a statement, he said the RBI had deposited 18 per cent
of its stock in the Bank of England which paid only 0.6 per cent
interest on the gold deposit, treating it as short term deposit, though
normal returns to gold deposits elsewhere will be 5 per cent. The
country will lose about $1.5 billion a year. He demanded an enquiry by
the Chief Vigilance Commissioner. — PTI |
|
IOC to roll out hydrogen-CNG run buses
New Delhi, April 14 State-run Indian Oil Corp,
that is preparing a ‘Hydrogen Blue Print’, will begin manufacturing
hydrogen at either its Mathura or Panipat refineries and use the mixture
of compressed natural gas and hydrogen initially in company-run buses.
“No engine modification is needed if 8-10 per cent of hydrogen is
mixed with CNG. We plan to mix hydrogen and CNG in 1:10 ratio and use
the doped fuel to run our buses at either of the refineries on an
experimental basis,” IOC chairman M S Ramachandran told PTI here. The
Rs 100 crore hydrogen fuel initiative is to reverse India’s growing
dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology for commercially
viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells to run cars, trucks, homes and
businesses with no pollution or greenhouse gases. “We are working on
the technologies and infrastructure to produce, store and distribute
hydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation,” he
said. Ramachandran said upto 30 per cent hydrogen can be doped with
CNG with minor modification in vehicle engine but the most challenging
aspect would be cutting the cost of production, its transportation and
storage. The cost involved in producing hydrogen is four times of that
involved in diesel. IOC is the lead partner in the hydrogen
initiatives. Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) is providing Rs 50
crore for the initiative while the remaining is being chipped in by oil
companies, Ramachandran said. “Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are
currently very expensive and worldover research is being done to bring
down the cost,” he said. If the experiment at Mathura or Panipat is
successful, it would be replicated in Delhi and Mumbai where the entire
transport fleet is run on CNG. This would improve India’s energy
security by significantly reducing the need for imported oil, as well as
help clean our air and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said. —
PTI |
|
Bharti Infotel to offer higher bandwidth
New Delhi, April 14 Bharti Infotel has deployed the Internet Protocol based Multi
Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) backbone network solution. MPLS is a
hybrid networking technology that combines high-speed performance with
security, scalability and reliability. It also helps in the provisioning
of several revenue generating services such as bandwidth on demand,
managed services and intelligent routing of voice, data and other
mission critical traffic. |
|
Anti-diarrhoeal drug by Ind-Swift
Chandigarh,
April 14 Mr V.K. Mehta, said the “launching of Nitazoxanide is a
part of company’s business plan of introducing products for the first
time in India. Most of the available therapies have low cure rates.” |
|
RBI mulls cheque truncation project for Delhi
Mumbai, April 14 “One of the crucial challenges created by RTGS would be the
need for banks to ensure that the funds ultimately reach the actual
beneficiary. Banks need to see that RTGS services are offered at more
and more branches, without adding to inter-branch reconciliation
problems, which is an area of concern,” RBI executive director R B
Barman said at a seminar organised by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)
here. In the first phase, RTGS would be available in 3,000 branches.
Banks have to bring into the RTGS map, a large number of their branches,
which were all inter-connected through a robust communication system, he
said. Apart from operative staff, adequate customer education was also
a vital ingredient if the benefits of RTGS were to percolate ultimately
in the form of improved customer service, the RBI official said. RBI
Chief General Manager R Gandhi said, at present, only State Bank of
India, HDFC Bank, Saraswat Bank and Standard Chartered Bank were
conducting inter-bank transactions with settlements aggregating Rs
600-1,000 crore per day on RTGS and another 20 banks, including Union
Bank, ICICI Bank and BNP Paribas would join the system in a few days.
Some of the other entities are Central Bank of India, Corporation
Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank, he said. The
system would have around 120 participants, including banks and primary
dealers, by June, he added. Another important development is that RBI is
expected to kick off the pilot project on cheque truncation, which
eliminates physical movement of cheques, in Delhi over the next 9 to 12
months. “We have invited tenders from parties for developing the
necessary software for cheque truncation,” Reserve Bank of India Chief
General Manager R. Gandhi told newspersons on the sidelines of a seminar
organised by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) here today. — PTI |
|
Reliance largest wealth creator, says study
New Delhi, April 14 Its market
capitalisation has increased from Rs 44,362 crore as on March 31, 2003
to Rs 94,968 crore by March 31, 2004. Tata Group and the Bharti Group
are the second and third amongst the ‘largest wealth creators’ in the
private sector. The Tata Group’s market capitalisation increased by Rs
36,964 crore while telecom major Bharti Group rose by Rs 23,463 crore.
The ‘Top 10’ largest wealth creators’ - Groups for the Year 2003-04
added market capitalisation worth Rs 1,80,391 crore. Amongst the
‘Individual Companies Category’, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)
emerged as the ‘largest wealth creator’ amongst the private sector
companies. During the 12 month period ended on March 31, 2004, RIL - the
flagship company of the Reliance Group, has witnessed its market
capitalisation surge by Rs 36,529 crore. Its market capitalisation has
increased from Rs 38,603 crore as on March 31,2003 to Rs 75,132 crore on
March 31, 2004. At the second position, Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited
has added wealth in terms of market capitalisation to the tune of Rs
23,417 crore followed by Tata Motors at the third slot at Rs 11,866
crore. The ‘Top 10’ largest wealth creators’ - Individual Companies
Category added market capitalisation worth Rs 1,35,915 crore. In the
‘Top 10’ Individual Companies Category, two Reliance Group companies
(Reliance Industries Limited ranked first and Reliance Energy Limited
ranked fourth) and two Tata Group companies (Tata Motors ranked third
and Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited ranked eighth) emerged in the
‘Largest Wealth Creators List’, according to a study by Business Today
magazine and consulting firm A.T. Kearney. In the Group Category, the
Reliance Group’s market capitalisation increased from Rs 44,362 crore
last year (March 31 2003) to Rs 94,968 crore for the year ended March
31, 2004, while Tata Group’s market capitalisation has increased from Rs
20,699 crore to Rs 57,664 crore. The other wealth creators in terms of
market capitalisation during the year 2003-04 were, the Bharti Group’s
whose market capitalisation surged by Rs 23,463 crore from Rs 5,245
crore to Rs 28,708 crore on March 31, 2004, Aditya Birla Group (Rs
13,277 crore), which stood fourth while housing major, Housing
Development Finance Corporation (Rs 11,935 crore) stood fifth. At the
sixth rank was cigarettes and FMCG major ITC Group (Rs 10,815 crore)
followed by the banking sector major ICICI Group (Rs 10,105 crore) at
the seventh slot. |
|
Domino’s Pizza to go public New York, April 14 Domino’s, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, plans to sell as much as $300 million in common stock to the public, it said in a statement. Details of how many shares the company plans to offer and an estimated price per share are expected in future filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A spokeswoman for Domino’s said the company was in a “quiet period” and could not provide further details on the IPO. Private equity firm Bain Capital, which controls 49 per cent of Domino’s, was considering a Domino’s IPO as much as two years ago, sources told Reuters at the time. Bain acquired its stake in Domino’s in 1998, when company founder Thomas Monaghan retired, leaving the company in the hands of its current chairman and CEO, David Brandon. Monaghan still controls almost 27 per cent of the company. One restaurant industry expert said Domino’s
timing for the offering was perfect, considering the recent run-up in
restaurant stocks on the back of strengthening consumer confidence. —
Reuters |
|
Jerry Rao is new Nasscom chief
New Delhi, April 14 Mr S. Ramadorai, CEO of Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS), has been appointed Vice-Chairman, Nasscom for
2004-05. Welcoming Mr Rao, President of Nasscom Kiran Karnik said, “We
are delighted to have Mr Jerry Rao as the new Chairman of Nasscom. Mr
Jerry has been actively involved in the activities of Nasscom. — UNI |
bb
US Ambassador
Georgia Tea
Union Bank TVS Motor
Voltas Rajasthan bank Free SMS plan Cholamandalam |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Video
