New Delhi, May 14
After the primary steelmakers like Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and SAIL, decided to slash prices of steel products, the secondary steelmakers today followed suit. Secondary steel, which is used in small products like cycles, spare parts etc is also going to see a price reduction of Rs 4,000 per tonne with immediate effect.

Secondary steel manufacturers like Bhushan Steel, National Steel and others, who met the steel secretary today, said they would reduce the prices by Rs 4,000 per tonne and hold this price for the next three months.

Meanwhile, steel secretary R.S. Pandey, today said the government was examining the request by the steel industry to lower export duty. He reemphasised the point that the reduction of prices by steelmakers was conditional and that the government had never assured to lower export duty.

Among the major secondary producers who have decided to slash their prices, include Bhushan Steel, National Steel, Surya Steel and Maharashtra seamless. The price cut effected by them would help in containing high prices of cold rolled, galvanised steel, tubes and pipes.

The steel secretary said due to the current fiscal measures taken by the government prices of long steel products have come down by 20 per cent, and the prices of flat products have also shown a decline.

Chandigarh, May 14
Financial inclusion and priority sector lending is not high on the priority list of the private banks, as most of them have failed to float zero balance ‘no-frills’ accounts.

The RBI has made it mandatory for all banks operating in the country — private as well as public sector — to open no-frills accounts, so as to bring the maximum people in the fold of the banking sector. These accounts should preferably have a zero balance or a minimum balance. According to RBI, the no-frills account can be opened by just giving a proof of identification, bypassing the KYC (know your customer) norms meant for opening a normal savings or current account.

Inquiries made by The Tribune reveal that though the private sector banks have floated no-frills accounts, they have kept a minimum balance of anything between Rs 250-Rs 500. Most of these private banks have not floated no-frills accounts with a zero balance, though most public sector banks offer to start an account with a zero balance. Interestingly, most of the banks — HSBC, ICICI Bank, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab, also impose transaction charges (ranging from Rs 100- Rs 500 on no-frills account holders, beyond the stipulated free transactions within a quarter.

None of banks have set aside the KYC norms and demand a PAN card, ration card, driving licence or passport as an identity proof. Since these no-frills accounts are meant for the lowest strata of the society, they generally do not have the above mentioned identity proof, and hence are ‘ineligible’ to open an account in the private sector banks.

Sources in the State Level Bankers Committee in Punjab and Haryana informed TNS that inspite of repeated reminders, most private sector banks have not been popularising these accounts and do not have any account holders under this scheme. An official in SLBC, Haryana, said they have also been giving repeated reminders to these banks to send data on the no-frills accounts, but to no avail. “Till date, we have received data that these banks have opened just 646 accounts, as compared to lakhs of no-frills accounts opened by public sector banks in the state,” he said.

The situation is no different in Punjab, where officials in SLBC say that other than HDFC, ICICI Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab, none of the other private sector banks have opened these no-frills accounts.

New Delhi, May 14
The Department of Telecom (DoT) may overlook the suggestion of telecom regulator TRAI and permit additional players, including foreign ones, in 3G telecom services.

DoT is expected to overlook the suggestion that the 3G spectrum allocation be restricted only to the existing players as it feels that this would restrict the inflow of revenue. DoT apparently feels that allowing additional players and the foreign ones also would not only increase competition but give it higher revenues while auctioning the spectrum.

TRAI had recommended that foreign players should not be allowed to enter 3G services at this juncture as that will have serious implications for the Indian telecom sector.

TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra had also shot off a letter to the finance ministry cautioning about the move to allow foreign players.

This incidentally, had also angered the DoT officials, who were of the view that the department had only sought the suggestion from the regulator and the final authority on the decision rested with it.

DoT is likely to announce final guidelines on 3G telecom services, including number of players who can participate, over the next few days.

DoT feels that currently there are about 9-10 mobile operators in each circle. With more players in the fray, government would be in a position to earn extra at the time of auctioning of 3G spectrum. However, it would put a rider on foreign players who would have to bid for 3G spectrum only if they have an Indian partner as per the permissible FDI limit of 74 per cent. 

Ludhiana, May 14
In a bid to cater to the growing demand for certification of diamonds in the country, the International Gemological Institute (IGI) plans to set up its exclusive certification centres in Punjab and Chandigarh soon.

Managing director of IGI Tehmasp Printer told The Tribune that North being the biggest market in the country, the institute was laying a special focus on this region. "Certification of diamonds, unlike gold, is still not mandatory in India. However, the last few years have recorded a multiple rise in demand and it is quite risky to make heavy investments in diamonds without knowing whether they are genuine. Buyers, particularly in this region, are getting increasingly aware of this need and to fulfil this requirement we intend to set up our exclusive centres apart from providing certification to companies engaged in diamond jewellery business."

The global certification company has provided certification to Ganpati Jewellers, who today opened their exclusive showroom here offering such diamond jewellery.

Dehra Dun, May 14
The vice-president of Amway India (northern region), Bhuvan Kapur, has said that inflation in India would not affect their products. He said: “Since their company gets supply of all ingredients, used in manufacturing, from the US, the price rise in India has no impact over their products”. "That is why, prices of our products have been consistent for the past so many years", he echoed.

Making these disclosures, while announcing the completion of 10 years of Amway's operations in India, here today, Kapur said, "Now we are stepping into an area, we have not ventured in earlier. The consumers will now get products like coconut oil, amla hair oil, shaving cream, hair cream and disposable razors, put in category of 'Great Value Products', having the quintessential Amway guarantee for quality."

Speaking to The Tribune about company's expansion plans, he said 'Great Value Products' would be company's second phase of growth. He said after having identified the most successful products in market, they have come up with products, as mentioned above that will compete the market leaders.

Further informing that Amway was looking to come up with a new aggressive strategy for the burgeoning semi-urban market, Kapur said, "Our plan is to expand the product basket keeping in mind this section of market, which is still predominantly a price- sensitive market."

He revealed that over the past 10 years, the company has grown from Rs 91 crore in 1998 to Rs 800 crore in last financial year. "By the end of this year (December), we are expecting the figure to touch Rs 1,000-crore mark", he asserted.

It may be mentioned that Amway India is a wholly owned subsidiary of $7.2 billion Amway Corp, USA, one of the largest direct selling companies in the world. 

New Delhi, May 14
The first three months of this year have turned out to be good for the IT and IT-enabled services sector as they have emerged as the preferred space for Venture Capital (VC) investments. The sector has attracted over two-third of the total deals worth $144 million.

According to a latest report by research firm Venture Intelligence Service, the Information Technology and IT-Enabled Services (IT & ITES) has industry retained its status as the overwhelming favourite among Venture Capital investors during Q1 '08 and has attracted 14 deals worth about $87 million.

However, there has been a sharp decline in the overall investments. During the quarter, Venture Capital firms have invested $144 million through 21 deals, compared to the corresponding period in 2007, which had recorded 28 deals worth $173 million.

The maximum VC investment was attracted by online travel portal Cleartrip.com of about $18.5 million from DAG Ventures.

Further, Deeya Energy attracted ($15 million) investment from New Enterprise Association, Soham Renewable Energy ($15 million) from D E Shaw and Ikya Human Capital ($8 million) from India Equity Partners.

However, there has been a significant growth in terms of the deal size of the investments. Online services companies dominated the quarter accounting for a 75 per cent share of the invested capital.

New Delhi, May 14
Men are preferred bosses as they are faster in decision making and liberal in awarding functional autonomy to their subordinates, a survey by industry body Assocham says.

A survey on 'Preference of bosses in emerging corporate culture', in which about 2,500 executives participated, about 68 per cent of them showed preference for male bosses as they give more operational freedom at work, while the remaining 32 per cent did not have any preference.

According to the survey, 1,450 female and male executives would be too happy to have male bosses. Interestingly, of the 68 per cent executives who voted for male bosses, two-third of them were female, while the remaining one-third were male, an Assocham spokesperson said.

The majority of executives who voted for male bosses, argued that women approach work with more emotion than men and their concentration towards work is not complete because of various factors such as motherhood that more often than not keeps them divided.

Consequently, neither the assigned work is accomplished nor job satisfaction derived by the subordinates and leads to breeding of discontentment among the juniors, the survey said.

Of the remaining 32 per cent of the respondents who had participated in the survey said it does not matter that the boss is a male or female; "The better the bosses, the longer the stability factor.

On working with strict bosses, majority of the executives said they would opt for an early exit as today there are immense opportunities available, the survey added. — PTI

BRIEFLY

GSK in pact with Japanese Co
Mumbai: Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharma on Wednesday said it has entered into an agreement with Daiichi Sankyo India Pharma Limited (DSIPL), for jointly promoting the anti-hypertensive drug Olmesartan Medoxomil and its combination products. DSIPL is a subsidiary of Japan-based Daiichi Sanko Company Limited.— PTI

ArcelorMittal’s India CEO
London: World's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal has appointed Vijay Bhatnagar as the new CEO for its India operations. Bhatnagar, who is also appointed as the executive vice-president, will replace the current CEO Sanak Mishra. — PTI

Lloyd Electric buyout
New Delhi: Lloyd Electric and Engineering Ltd on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Luvata Czech in Prague through its Special Purpose Vehicle - Lloyd Coils Czech. Luvata Czech is the leading manufacturer of coils serving the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration for customers throughout Europe. — PTI

Toyota Kirloskar Dy MD quits
New Delhi: Toyota Kirloskar Motor's deputy managing director, K K Swamy, who has been an integral part of the company's projects and operations for over a decade, has resigned with plans to join another car maker, Volkswagen. A Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) spokesperson who confirmed the development said, "He has left the company for better prospects." — PTI

Percept to raise Rs 1,500 cr
Mumbai: Multi-media company Percept will raise Rs 1,500 crore from a combination of equity, IPO and debt to expand and strengthen key areas of business in entertainment, media and communications and scale up its contents and IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) businesses. — UNI

Syndicate Bank net up 18.43%
Bangalore: Syndicate Bank on Wednesday reported 18.43 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 848 crore for 2007-08 as against Rs 716 crore in the previous fiscal. Manipal-headquartered bank recorded a year-on-year growth of 21.98 per cent under global business to Rs 1,60,368 crore from Rs 1,31,473 crore, its executive Director George Joseph told a news conference here.— PTI

PNB’s overseas plans
New Delhi: PNB on Wednesday said it was in the process of starting overseas operations in four locations in the immediate future. "We are looking at Norway, Dubai, Shanghai and Singapore for having bank's presence in the immediate future," PNB's chairman and managing director K.C. Chakrabarty said. — PTI