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2 more MPs cry foul over misuse of letterheads
Competition gets fierce in mobike segment
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Lower textiles exports
admitted
India’s first DTH TV launched
Subroto Roy: I am disease-free
Minelli takes off shoes
BSNL slashes modem charges
A silk saree that fits into matchbox
IIP stood at 8.8 pc in April
Inflation hits two -month low
Bombay Dyeing net down by 50 pc
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2 more MPs cry foul over misuse of letterheads
New Delhi, June 10 Letters were apparently a part of mud slinging campaign in the ongoing ownership battle between Mukesh Ambani and his younger brother, Anil. The demand for probe came in the middle of an enquiry being conducted by the Home Ministry into letters purportedly written by some MPs and politicians to the Prime Minister questioning the role of the officials owing allegiance to Anil. Responding to a query from Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil about a letter reportedly written by him as MP Padmanava Behra wrote back saying that he was not a Member of Parliament since May last year and that his “letter pad was misused.” According to a copy of a communication sent to the Reliance Official in question, Mr Behra said: “I have already replied to Shivraj Patil in which I have confirmed that I am not an MP since May 16, 2004.” The government had started looking into affair in April when a communication purportedly written by MPs to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh started doing rounds prompting some Parliamentarians to demand a probe into the forgery. In the meanwhile, two MPs Nikhil Kumar Choudhary and Thavarchand Gehlot have written to Manmohan Singh to order an official enquiry to find as to who forged their letter-heads and signatures while disassociating themselves from the wrangle in the Ambani family. These letters follow a demand by Lok Sabha MP from Orissa Sugrib Singh for an “official enquiry”
Reliance raises
$ 350 million
Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has raised $ 350 million through multi-currency term loan facility to fund ongoing capital expenditure programme. The loan facility received an overwhelming response from the market and as a consequence, the company decided to increase the size of the issue from the initial $ 250 million to $ 350 million. The facility was fully underwritten by the mandated lead arrangers including ABN Amro Bank, Bank of America and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. In total, 34 banks from 13 countries participated in the facility, RIL said in a statement here today.
— PTI
S&P caution
Amid progress in negotiations for a settlement between Ambani brothers over Reliance group’s ownership issues, global rating agency Standard and Poor’s today cautioned that any substantial cash payment made out of RIL could impact the group’s flagship company adversely. “RIL’s business and financial profiles could weaken materially if the settlement involves substantial cash payments by RIL, resulting in increased financial leverage or a transfer of any of its core oil refining and petrochemical businesses,” the agency said in Reliance rating statement from Singapore. “A potential settlement of the differences between the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of RIL (BB+/Stable), as reported by the media, is by itself not expected to have an immediate impact on the rating,” it said while quoting media reports on the possibilities of settlement between Mukesh and his younger brother Anil in the next few weeks. However, it said that if the settlement entails a carved out and transfer of the group’s telecommunication business along with power and energy business to the Vice Chairman as reported by media, then it is not expected to harm RIL and even have a positive bearing on the flagship company.
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Competition gets fierce in mobike segment
Mumbai, June 10 Priced at Rs 60,000 (ex-showroom, New Delhi), Avenger is a sibling to the company’s top-end Eliminator model, which has been phased out and will be rolled out fitted with the Pulsar’s 180 cc DTS-I engine and a reworked frame designed to give it a better drive, said an official press release here. The Avenger, a typically low-slung bike, will be manufactured at the state-of-the-art Chakan plant. Bajaj Auto’s Chairman Rahul Bajaj said: “Once again our R&D team has stood up to the occasion and come out with a class leader product comparable to the best available internationally. The company hopes to sell 3,000 units of the bike from August this year,” Mr Bajaj said.
Yamaha’s new Fazer
Striving to stall sagging sales, Yamaha Motors India Pvt Ltd today said it would pump in Rs 150 to 200 crore over the next three years to hike its production capacity and introduce new models to cross sales figure of one million units by 2009. “The company would be expanding its existing production capacity at Faridabad, Haryana and Surajpur (UP) to 5 lakh units per year from the existing 3 lakh units. This would need about Rs 70 to 80 crore,” Yamaha CEO and Managing Director H Yanagi said while unveiling new variants of its model, Fazer. Mr Yanagi said the company also planned to roll out three-four new products by the end of this year in a bid “to claim 10 per cent share of the highly competitive bike market”.
Variant of TVS Star
Leading two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor Company has launched a new variant of its entry-level 4-stroke motor cycle TVS Star, Deluxe. Priced at Rs 32,490 (ex-showroom onwards, Uttar Pradesh) and Rs 30,990 (ex-showroom, Delhi), the 100-cc bike will now be available in three colours — black, blue and red.
— Agencies
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Lower textiles exports admitted
Chandigarh, June 10 He was speaking at an interactive session with senior representatives of the textile industry organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Punjab State Council here today. The secretary said the government, to encourage the textile sector, has allocated Rs 435 crore as the subsidy amount, compared to Rs 250 crore during the last year. Categorically pointing out that the government had no plans to extend the subsidy to the textile sector as of now, he said if investments were made as required then the government could extend it. The Indian textile industry needs to be more innovative and competitive in the post-MFA period. On being asked about the growth in the international market, he admitted that there was a decline of 7 per cent in the export figure of textile sector from the country. Data till May 2005 reveals that the exports have declined whereas the imports have increased, he further mentioned. He pointed out that the figures reveal that the industry is still to perform up to the expected level. The Indian industrial house should but retail chains across the world as owning brad names was best way of value addition. “The success mantra for the textile sector should not be what China is doing, we should invent and adopt our own mantras for success,” said Mr
Poornalingam. Giving the example of self sustenance of textile cluster in
Tirupur, the secretary said that in the Indian context there were problems in the areas of infrastructure, labour laws, power cuts but the industry should be innovative and visionary than just worrying about these constraints. A number of suggestions were also made to Secretary, Textiles, include the patenting of Pashmina brand, accelerating power reforms, simplification of labour laws, modernisation of machinery and processes, additional investment in technology, providing the benchmarked exposures and strengthening the existing infrastructure.
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India’s first DTH TV launched
New Delhi, June 10 Oscar DTH TV will be available in two models-DTH 20 and DTH 20V at Rs 7,990 and Rs 8,290, respectively. Currently available in 20-inch TV sets, Oscar will be ready with the full range of DTH sets (including 14 inch and 21 inch) in the next three months, says Mr Satish Verma, Chairman of Oscar Group. By keeping a relatively small differential of Rs 2,000-2,500 between a normal TV and their DTH set, the company is upbeat about the sales target. The TV has a storage capacity of over 5,000 channels, Currently, there are around 35 channels that are free-to-air and available via DTH. In the next one year, the number of free-to-air channels are expected to go up to 90. Oscar is also chalking out plans to export their DTH TV sets to West Asia.
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Subroto Roy: I am disease-free
New Delhi, June 10 He asserted that he was “absolutely disease- free” and denied that his Rs 50,000- crore business empire was under a political scanner or pressure. Mr Roy ,who had been facing rumours of having AIDS and even that he was dead, said he was making himself fit enough to devote his energy to the development of the group, which had interests in para-banking, aviation and media. Hitting out at his detractors who spread rumours that he was dead, the business tycoon appealed to the government to enact a law rumour-
mongers, on the lines of ones against thieves and criminals.
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Minelli takes off shoes
London, June 10 However, a leading Hindu organisation said that despite the withdrawal of sale of shoes by French company Minelli it would go ahead with a rally outside the French Embassy here on Sunday to protest against the shoe manufacturer’s failure to “apologise” to Hindus and also to condemn “religious intolerance” in France. “Minelli, though agreed to withdraw the offensive shoes, has not apologised to Hindus,” Mr Ramesh Kallidai, Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said today. “Besides, the protest is against the religious intolerance practiced in France where the French government has refused to accord the status of a bonafide religion to Hindu temples, thus denying them legitimate tax benefits enjoyed by other religions,” he said. The Hindu Forum of Britain has asked Hindus worldwide to boycott all French goods and participate en masse in the protest rally outside the French Embassy here on Sunday.
— PTI
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BSNL slashes modem charges
New Delhi, June 10 The installation charges are waived off if the customer opts to purchase the modem. However, the
tariff remains unchanged as the Telecom PSU maintained a plan of Rs 500 to Rs 3,300 for residences and Rs 1,200 to Rs 9,000 for
businesses. — UNI
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A silk saree that fits into matchbox
Hyderabad, June 10 Nalla Paramdhamulu, an award-winning artist, folds the saree made of silk, just 12 times to fit into the matchbox. Paramdhamulu put in over four months of painstaking effort to make the saree, a similar feat he had accomplished two years ago. He had received the Master Craftsmen’s Award from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam last year. He was chosen for this award for his earlier effort that also fits into a matchbox. The Films Division of India has made a 14-language documentary on Paramdhamulu and his work. Recognitions keep Paramdhamulu going, who now says he is prepared to sell his latest saree, which will be the costliest in the world, but has not got any help from the Andhra Pradesh state government. “My ambition is to create a saree worth 30 million rupees and had sent the project report to the state and the Centre, and then to the President. The President’s office replied to my offer and directed the state’s Chief Secretary to do the needful. But there was no response. If the government does not do anything, I will mobilise funds from the public on my own,” he said.
— ANI
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IIP stood at 8.8 pc in April
New Delhi, June 10 The manufacturing sector grew by 10 per cent as compared to 8.8 per cent in the monthly review
period. Growth in the mining sector came down to 3.1 per cent in April, 2005, from 9.1 per cent during the same month last year while growth for electricity also came down to 3 per cent as compared to 10.3 per cent, according to the Quick Estimates of IIP released today.
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Inflation hits two -month low
New Delhi, June 10 Inflation stood at 5.61 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous
year. The wholesale price index for the week ended May 28 rose by 0.1 per cent to 192.2.
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