|
Illegal patent of Indian wheat revoked
PSIDC decisions to boost units
Electronic component exports up
Now, cuddle up on board
IndianOil cancels LPG distributorships in J&K
Samtel to invest Rs 140 crore
|
|
Letter by donor enough proof of gift
Market update
Bulls continue the party with gains
|
Illegal patent of Indian wheat revoked
New Delhi, October 10 "This victory will go a long way to save the rights of the farmers in India," they said. The multinational corporation Monsanto was unable to file a contest against the petition challenging the patent in its favour. The three organisations - Bharat Krishak Samaj (BKS) and Nandanya of India and Greenpeace of Germany - had taken the initiative to fight for Indian farmers to save Indian wheat variety - Naphal - which was patented in EPO in Munich, Germany. The fighters against this bio-piracy had unitedly filed their opposition challenging the unjustified patenting of the product in EPO on January 27, 2004. The patent on an Indian wheat variety was granted to the Monsanto on May 21, 2003. BKS president Krishan Bir Chaudhary said Monsanto got this patent by transferring genes from an Indian wheat landrace Naphal to their Galahad-7 wheat variety. They claimed this act of theft as an "invention". Dr Chaudhary said, "This patent was a blatant example of bio-piracy as it forfeited the rights of Indian farmers and dismissed hundreds of years of hard field work of Indian peasantry.
— UNI |
PSIDC decisions to boost units
Chandigarh, October 10 Earlier, the corporation was charging interest up to 21 per cent. A decision to this effect was taken at the PSIDC Board of Directors meeting held last week under the chairmanship of the new incumbent, Mr O.P Soni. These reductions will be given only to companies that are paying on time as on March 31, 2004. The PSIDC also decided to give concessions to defaulting companies. These include substantial reduction in rate of interest, changing lower rate of interest for future and longer repayment period, subject to their viability. |
Electronic component exports up
New Delhi, October 10 “In value terms, export of electronic components has increased from Rs 2,400 crore ($ 496 million) in 2002-03 to Rs 3,755 crore ($ 816 million) in 2003-04. More significantly, almost 50 per cent of the total production of
electronic component constituted 49 per cent of the total electronics hardware export from the country,” said Mr D.K. Sareen, Executive Director, ESC. The industry is hopeful that it would be able to maintain the growth rate this year as well, thanks to the firming of the demand. He said the major items in the electronic components included CD recordables, picture tubes, solar cell/ photovoltaic cells, unpopulated printed circuit boards, digital video disks, connectors, semi-conductor devices and ferrites resistors. The export of CD recordable has almost doubled during 2003-04. |
Now, cuddle up on board
London, October 10 The move is the realisation of a dream of Virgin’s owner Richard Branson, who wanted to give passengers a chance to get “closer together” on long trips, ‘The Sunday Times’ reported. Critics, however, believe that Virgin is overstepping the boundaries of taste and decency and could end up angering more passengers than it pleases. “This is unnecessary and unfortunate,” Ann Widdecombe, former shadow Home Secretary, told the newspaper. “There is an immense issue of public decency here because there are other passengers who will not wish to see or hear such things.” According to the report, travellers can take advantage of the double-beds on three Boeing 747s that fly trans-Atlantic routes out of Heathrow. The airline has fitted four double-beds in the central section of its Upper Class suites. Normally they are adjacent seats divided by a partition. But at night, the partition can be removed, the seats converted into flat beds and the space
in between filled with a mattress. Prices start at around £2,000 per person on a return trip to New York and there are already rumours that Virgin is considering installing condom machines on its aircraft, the report said. “We have a lot of honeymoon couples who fly on Virgin, and a lot of couples who have been together for many years. There is no reason why they shouldn’t cuddle up on board like they would at home,” Branson said.
— PTI |
How to shoo tension that comes with big money
New Delhi, October 10 “To use an Indian term,” Lall told IANS in New Delhi, “my mantra is — believe in karma like a good Indian and also be absolutely perfect in discipline.” The twin combination changed Dharambir Lall to Lord Bill Lall of Woodlands, chartered accountant, civil servant, adviser to the British Government and self-made millionaire. Lall is now in India to promote his second book “Rich Man, Happy Man”, a how-to-book on making money without heartburn. The 200-page book being published in India by Full Circle is replete with advice on how to lead a good life and keep away the anxieties that come with earning big money. “I’ve always felt that most people who earn a lot of money don’t really seem to enjoy their wealth,” said Lall, who sold his consultancy business about two years ago for £ 1.5 million. “I wanted to tell all these people that money making is not necessarily fraught with so much tension,” said the man whose company has 700 clients and offices stretched from the Isle of Man to Dubai. So the book has special portions on how to relax, where to relax and methods of planning in a quick relaxation period during a busy workday. Drawing from ancient Hindu scriptures, Lall asks his readers to believe “I am one and I want to be manifold.” Born in Kolkata, Lall moved to Austria and then Britain to study management. He has worked for KPMG, Dunlop, the British Ministry of Defence and PricewaterhouseCooper. Lall was the first person from an ethnic background to be elected Chair of the Newham Chamber of Commerce and was recently honoured by the University of East London with an honorary doctorate in business administration. In 2001, Lall published his first book, “How to Grow Rich — And Enjoy Life”. He said times had become far easier for new entrepreneurs in the West. “Around 33 per cent of all business in Britain today is run by people of ethnic origin. So the problems that I faced — like notices on windows saying ‘No Coloured’ — are not there anymore. “I believe this is the age to be rich and be happy at the same time.”
— IANS |
IndianOil cancels LPG distributorships in J&K
Jammu, October 10 "IndianOil has definitely cancelled the appointment of 35 distributors of Indane LPG in Ladakh, Kashmir and Jammu regions," the IOC sources said. These distributorships of Indane were appointed by the previous NDA government, they said. "We have been asked to send cancellation notices to 35 distributors in J&K by the headquarters," they said. Without giving any reason about the
cancellation, they said, "We cannot speak about the decision taken at the level of head office".
— PTI
|
Samtel to invest Rs 140 crore
New Delhi, October 10 According to Mr Satish Kaura, CMD, Samtel Colour, “The company has decided to make the investment as it is encouraged by new orders and robust demand.” Samtel is also in the process of establishing its fourth production line at the Ghaziabad plant at a cost of Rs 110 crore for manufacturing 29" super flat CPTs. The company’s net profit for the July-September quarter surged a whopping 369 per cent to Rs 14.68 crore against Rs 3.13 crore in the year-ago period, as a result of volume growth and improved productivity, Mr Kaura said. |
by Lalit Batra Bulls continue the party with gains Bulls continued their party for another week and the Indian bourses closed with gains last week. Sensex gained 1.4 per cent for the week to close at 5757, whereas Nifty gained 43 points to close the week at 1817. The trigger for buying was the expectation of strong second quarter results to be declared by the corporate this week and an overwhelming response to the National Thermal Power Corporation’s initial public offer. Strong GDP growth and “seemingly” tamed inflation (7.38 per cent) also added to the sentiment. The market shrugged off a surge in the global crude oil price to a new record high of above $ 53 a barrel. In the coming weeks, market is expected to witness a lot of volatility as expectations which have already been built into the current stock prices would get aligned when the actual results are declared. Though we are bullish on the markets in the long term, we expect the market to correct itself in the short term as the run-up in the last couple of months has been very steep and fast. Spiralling oil prices continue to be a cause of serious concern and have a potential to deflate the booming economies, if not reined in immediately. We, therefore, recommend that the investor should book profits now and re-enter when the market corrects itself. Steel
Steel stocks continued their rally on the back of expectations of strong September quarter results. The Steel Authority of India (Sail) gained 6.9 per cent for the week at Rs 51. The steel stocks have had a dream run since April last year on the back of strong demand for steel and hence buoyant steel prices. While prices have cooled in the Asian region, economic recovery in the USA and European Union have lent support to the steel cycle, helping the steel prices to stay firm. |
bb
Reliance Info PNB Ranbaxy tie-up Nominated |
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 | |