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G-8 may be G-10
as India, China tipped to get in
Oil
price issue
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Tired Sensex
plonks 112 pts on weekend
Ms Namita Gautam (left), President, FICCI Ladies Organisation, and Begam Salma Ahmed, President, Women’s Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Pakistan, sign an MoU in New Delhi on Friday to promote trade between the two countries.
— Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal Leyland will
wheel down to Pakistan Special cover for
software exporters soon Industrial output
grows 9.4 pc Nabard allows
co-op banks to prepay loans Cellphones to be
Haier in India
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G-8 may be G-10 as India, China tipped to get in
Washington, June 11 There is “certainly a case for including countries like China and India,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at the end of the G-8 summit held in Sea Island, Georgia, yesterday. “We have already begun the process of outreach and I’m sure that will continue,” he was quoted as saying by British newspapers. Russian President Vladimir Putin said India and China’s participation in the G-8 Conference would make much sense. “India and China are huge countries, whose potential is growing energetically and intensively,” he was quoted by Russian news agency Itar-Tass as saying. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had said on the first day of talks that the leaders were considering inviting China and India into the G-8 fold. “It doesn’t make sense for us to talk about the economy of the future without the two countries that are protagonists on the world stage.” Mr Berlusconi said the leaders had discussed the strength of the Chinese economy and the fact that it was not constrained by the sort of labour laws that exist in the West. “But we said that we shouldn’t be afraid of China because it is a huge consumer market and the idea was put forward to call China and India to joint the G-8, making it G-9 or G-10.” The focus of the G-8 meeting, which ended yesterday, was the US-led broader Middle-East initiative to foster democracy in the region. This year, leaders of Arab states, including the interim Iraqi President Ayad Allawi, attended the meeting to discuss policies in the Middle East. A group of dignitaries from African states also joined the group for talks on issues such as fight against AIDS, poverty and trade.
— PTI
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Aiyar yet to meet PM as FM works on the nitty-gritty
New Delhi, June 11 “The Finance Ministry is still working on the figures that we had submitted to them. It is only when it has a look at the fiscal component that we will be able to go to the Prime Minister,” he told reporters here. Mr Aiyar’s comments came hours after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Petroleum Secretary B K Chaturvedi, now appointed the new Cabinet Secretary, was also present during the meeting. Mr Aiyar had earlier announced he, along with Chidambaram, would meet Singh on June 11 on the pricing mechanism. But Mr Aiyar is yet to meet the Prime Minister. Asked about the meeting with the PM, Mr Aiyar said: “To the best of my knowledge, the meeting has not been scheduled yet.” The new government is grappling with the $ 7 a barrel surge in crude oil prices and its impact on the oil companies, which have not been allowed to raise petrol and diesel prices since January and LPG and kerosene prices since April 2002. Asked if the new policy would be announced by June 15 as announced earlier, he said “we are working towards that deadline.”
— PTI
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Tired Sensex plonks 112 pts on weekend Mumbai, June 11 Sustained selling pressure saw the Sensex close below the 4,900-level at 4,833 points. The Sensex opened lower than the previous close at 4,931 and continued to move southwards throughout the day. Simultaneously the Nifty also lost 36 points to close at 1508. Banking scrips saw Oriental Bank, Bank of India and Punjab National Bank losing upwards of seven per cent. Bank of Baroda and Union Bank fell 4 per cent. Among public sector scrips, oil majors like BPCL, HPCL, IOC and IPCL all lost substantially. Even others like BHEL and ONGC shed around 2 per cent. According to a section of analysts investors have been selling heavily to mobilise funds for the forthcoming IPO of Tata Consultancy Services expected in the coming weeks. Market players expect the IPO to be priced attractively for investors.
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These Pak women mean business New Delhi, June 11 “Outside world may see President Musharraf as a dictator but the fact is that due to his liberal economic policies and modern outlook, he is quite popular among people, especially the business class,” says Ms Mehreen Elahi, CEO, Majmua Group and Editor of Art Pakistan Magazine. Talking to The Tribune, delegation members claimed the present regime in Pakistan was promoting investment in various sectors like textile, auto, entertainment and retail sector. “Like in Delhi, one cannot ignore the emergence of sprawling malls, multiplexes, and entry of international brands such as Pizza Hut, McDonald and others in Lahore and Karachi,” said Ms Elahi. As against the general impression that women in Pakistan were not allowed to work independently, these young entrepreneurs said they did not face any such problem. “ We are working successfully as fashion designers, exporters, TV artists without any difficulty there. The working environment for women enterprises has changed there over the years,” she added. The delegation is led by Ms Salma Ahmed, national president and CEO of Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Pakistan and former member of Parliament of Pakistan. Other members include Ms Farzana Rahman, Editor, Women’s Year Book, Shaheen Salahuddin, Head of Current Affairs and
Anchor, Indus Television and Ms Shaiyanne Malik, Fashion Designer among others. “I am highly impressed by Sonia Gandhi, her renunciation of power and peaceful change in the regime in India. It makes us women proud when we see how Ms Gandhi brought back the Congress to power,” said Ms Ahmed after signing an MoU with Namita Gautam, President, FICCI Ladies Organisation here today. She hoped that new government would continue the process of peaceful dialogue between the two countries. As a part of the understanding, the two parties have agreed to initiate measures to foster friendship and understanding between the businesswomen and promote cooperation in trade, investment, services and women empowerment.
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Leyland will wheel down to Pakistan
Chennai, June 11 The company had already established contacts with some bus operators in Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan for export of buses, its Managing Director R Seshasayee told a press conference here. It was also making a “determined” bid to enter the Chinese market, but the rules there were making it difficult for the company to have an early entry, he said. Already, the company had tested vehicles fitted with Chinese spares and was waiting for an opportunity to enter the country, he said. On its plans, he said Ashok Leyland would launch some of its new generation vehicles like a tractor fitted with J engines and a factory developed intercentury coach with 180 hp engines in August next. The company has posted a net profit of Rs 87.32 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2004, as compared to a net profit to Rs 66.34 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2003, an increase of 31.62 per cent. The board of directors of Ashok Leyland has recommended a dividend of 75 per cent for FY 2004.
— PTI
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Special cover for software exporters soon Chennai, June 11 The ECGC chairman and managing director, Mr P.M.A. Hakeem, told journalists here: “We are placing the policy before our board of directors soon. It will hopefully be announced by the end of July. We have to give a mandatory one month’s notice to the IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) for any new product.” The ECGC provides export credit insurance and trade-related services, and its customers are exporters and banks that advance funds for exports. Mr. Hakeem said discussions had been going on with software exporters for some time, and a policy to cover software services had been on the anvil for some time. He said there was a need for an exclusive insurance policy for software exports and added: “We have identified certain risks and problems related to procedures associated with software exports.” Citing some examples, Mr. Hakeem said there had been instances when software professionals sent abroad to deliver services and products were suddenly turned away from some countries due to problems like numerical restrictions on employment visas. However, the companies which had placed the orders could not be blamed if they did not effect payment and such specific problems encountered in software exports required a fresh look at the risks involved and the nature of the policy required to cover them, he felt. Mr. Hakeem said the ECGC was also contemplating to design a policy for export of medical services, following requests from the health care industry. The proposal was awaiting formal approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and he hoped it would come through.
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Industrial output grows 9.4 pc New Delhi, June 11 The quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for April, 2004, which was released today by the government, showed today that the General Index stood at 190.3, which is higher by 9.4 per cent as compared to the level of April, 2003.
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Nabard allows co-op banks to prepay loans New Delhi, June 11 This announcement was made by Nabard chairperson Ranjana Kumar at a function of the National Cooperative Union of India here today. She said, “we have asked cooperative banks to prepay high cost loans of the past and take fresh credit at the prevailing lower interest rate.” She said it would make many cooperatives financially viable. The prepayment scheme assumed importance in the backdrop of deteriorating financial health of most cooperatives in the country.
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Cellphones to be Haier in India
Chennai, June 11 “We have pen-phones, camera-phones and other models which are aimed at high-end customers,” Mr Pranay Dhabhai, director, Haier Appliances India, said.
— PTI
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Inflation up Titan dividend NHPC dividend Fiscal deficit New Lancer BoB profit Dr Reddy’s Karnataka Bank |
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Anti G-8 Summit demonstrators are shoved off the F.J. Torras Causeway onto the sidewalk during a protest march to St. Simons Island, Ga., on Thursday. Authorities pushed the marchers off the causeway on to the side of the road but allowed them to continue their march peacefully.
St. Simons Island is adjacent to the exclusive Sea Island resort where G-8 and African leaders are meeting. — AP/PTI
photo
