 |
|
MNCs may boycott IT fair over infrastructure issue
Metal scrap import norms tightened
L&T to build bridges for Army |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Samsung launches festival bonanza AVIATION
NOTES A-I’s facelift move may draw flak
Setting
off losses against gains not under banker’s purview
|
|
Accept credit guarantee of our banks, New Delhi, October 9 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed hope that "Indian representatives in Geneva will be more forthcoming in Geneva". Stating that India should recognise Russia as a market economy, he said even China, the USA and the European Union (EU) considers Russia as a market economy. He also called for visa norms to be eased between the two countries. "Despite good political relationships, our visa ties are not as liberal as with countries with which we do not enjoy relations as good as with India. I hope we will be able to sign an agreement that brings it at par with the visa relationships we have with Italy, France and Germany, during the visit of President Putin", he said while addressing members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here. He urged India to accept credit guarantees extended by Russian banks and recognise the market status of the Russian economy. Mr Lavrov hailed Indian banking reforms and opening of a representative office by Indian banks in Moscow but said, "We expect India to consider accepting guarantees of Russian banks. We believe the Reserve Bank of India and Russian Central bank are taking steps in this regard." Banking community cooperation was necessary for healthy bilateral trade, he said. He said the growth of bilateral trade had been hampered due to non-acceptance of credit guarantee extended by Russian banks, when the same had been accepted by leading Western nations. The minister said economic cooperation was the key component for a strategic partnership and added that Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to India in December was expected to give a boost to specific projects in various areas. He said India-Russia economic linkages would further improve by establishing direct links between Russian provinces and Indian States as "this arrangement would provide a fillip to the small and medium enterprises of both the countries". The minister also called for improving the transport infrastructure between the two countries and said, "the proposed North-South International Transport Corridor, connecting South Asia with Russia and the countries of West Europe is a step in this direction." He said growing bilateral trade and investment were vital components of the strategic relationship. At present India-Russia bilateral trade stood at $ 1.7 billion, which was 1.5 per cent of the Russia's, total trade. He also said the current difficulties in boosting bilateral trade existed "because the Russian economy is turning into a market economy." He said though Russia had a presence in large scale projects in Indian energy, civil aviation, IT and infrastructure development, a large number of companies were still willing to participate in new projects. He said India utilised Russian technology and expertise in the construction of the $ 2 billion plus Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, which was proceeding ahead of schedule.
|
|
MNCs may boycott IT fair over infrastructure issue Bangalore, October 9 An informal forum known as the Bangalore Forum of IT companies (BFIT), which has a membership of 15 companies, including Philips Software, Novell, Motorola, Bosch, Sasken and the like, have indicated their desire to boycott, fed up with the lack of action by the state government on the infrastructure front — read roads primarily, and public transportation and quality amenities. “What we want to see is some action, not just words and platitudes,” said a BFIT executive. It is not just IT companies. Evens ordinary citizens, only sometimes mobilised by the organised citizen groups, have taken to the streets, protesting bad roads and delayed fly-over construction activities by blocking traffic and taking out rallies. Last week students and staff of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, blocked the Bannerghatta Road leading to the IIM-B protesting against its atrocious condition. It may be recalled that a few weeks ago, Wipro chief Azim Premji had said Wipro might have to shift operations out of Bangalore if infrastructure is not improved. While Infosys Chief Narayana Murhty has avoided making direct confrontationist statements this time on the grounds that it may not serve any purpose, Infosys has made its concerns known too. It was Mr. Murthy, who in the ’90s, led a team of Infosys staff to fill in potholes on Hosur road leading to the Electronics city! In fact, the Chief Minister met all IT captains in a high profile breakfast meeting, where much was promised. Nobody is impressed though. The government’s public works department has even been making several announcements about new road repair projects for Bangalore city, link roads around the city for decongestion, and upgradation of state highways. But these are mere announcements of intentions, and major loans will be required for these projects. The fact that people are not seeing work being done, and are not hopeful of much improvement appear to indicate the generally low level of credibility that the state government has to contend with.
|
|
Karnataka responds
The Karnataka government has started responding to the IT companies' criticism that Bangalore's roads and other infrastructure is in disrepair, promising that the city's roads, at least, will have been repaired and decongested by the end of October. Karnataka IT Secretary K N Shankaralinge Gowda told reporters here today that the civic agencies had begun work at a fast pace to complete road repairs. Besides the IT department was in consultations with the police to ‘defer’ the movement of trucks during peak hours in the morning and evening to reduce traffic, he added.
— PTI
|
|
Metal scrap import norms tightened New Delhi, October 9 A notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said the import of metallic waste and scrap would be permitted only in shredded or compacted form. Unshredded and uncompacted waste would be allowed only after a major inspection at major ports and the Inland Container Depot in Tughlaqabad. Earlier, metal scrap was allowed to be imported without any license even though they were subject to certain norms.
|
|
L&T to build bridges for Army
Chennai, October 9 Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Ltd, the country’s biggest infrastructure building company, has announced a new factory near Kancheepuram that will manufacture moveable military bridges and launchers. L&T chairman A.M. Naik made the announcement on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the company and its engineering construction & contracts (ECC) division celebrations on the outskirts of Chennai. The bridge factory will be one of the two new L&T factories in Tamil Nadu being set up on the occasion of the anniversary. “Work on the bridge factory will start in three months and within three years it is expected to bring in revenue of Rs.1 billion ($22 million),” Mr Naik said. On its 20-acre new facility, L&T plans to build flexible aluminium bridges that can be transported on armoured vehicles and trailers. The company hopes to start by employing nearly 700 persons. This number will go up within a few years. “If it is successful, we hope to sell these river bridges outside, to Africa and other countries”, Naik said.
— IANS
|
|
Samsung launches festival bonanza Chandigarh, October 9 Under the scheme, which will continue all over India till November 25, consumers have been assured a gift on purchase of any Samsung product, the company's Director, Sales, Mr Ravinder Zutshi, said here today. Gifts that can be won under the scheme include projection TVs, mobile phones, DVD players, Titan fast-track glares, touch-screen landline phones, portable irons and Britannica Encyclopedia CD pack. The company has also come up with a novel method for winners to know the result of the number on scratch cards issued along with the purchases. The unique 16-digit alphanumeric code on the card can be SMSed to the company and the buyers would know within few minutes the gift won by them. About 7 lakh numbers have already been encoded in the company's server. To execute the scheme, Samsung India has set a sales target of Rs 550 crore during the bonanza period, out of which Rs 75 crore is expected to be generated from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The target for total sales during the 2004-05 fiscal has been pegged at Rs 5,200 crore. It was stated to be Rs 3,700 crore during 2003-04.
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
bb
Forex reserves Special trading Gold prices Airtel UTI MF office Treasury bills |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In video (
An
exhibition of non- traditional jewellery.
