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Delphi to
set up facility DETROIT, Mar 6: Delphi automotive systems, a major player in the Indian catalytic convertor market for passenger cars, is seriously considering to ......more New one-gigahertz WASHINGTON, Mar 6: Two powerful new microchips are due to hit the market this week, heralding the arrival of a new generation of computers, ....more JK Synthetics, MS Shoes NEW DELHI, Mar 6: JK Synthetics and the infamous Pawan Sachdeva promoted MS Shoes (East) Limited led the list of major private sector....more NEW DELHI, Mar 6: Amusement parks in India have according to 1998 projections grown to about 40 million US dollar-industry with a growth rate of ....more |
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Roll back foodgrains NEW DELHI, Mar 6: The BJP today found itself isolated on the issue of the hike in prices of foodgrains and fertilisers with all its allies in the National .....more 4 Indian ports identified COLOMBO, Mar 6: Four Indian ports have been identified for Sri Lanka’s export of tea and garments on a quota basis under the land-mark Indo-Sri ........more TVS-Suzuki to discontinue NEW DELHI, Mar 6: TVS-Suzuki Limited (TVSSL) has decided to discontinue production of its 100cc bike ‘Shaolin’.....more |
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Delphi to set up facility for 2-wheeler catalytic convertors DETROIT, Mar 6: Delphi automotive systems, a major player in the Indian catalytic convertor market for passenger cars, is seriously considering to set up a facility for making catcons for two-wheelers with the Supreme Court’s insistence on environmental norms offering fresh opportunities for the 30 billion US dollar company. "It (Supreme Court’s insistence) is a good opportunity for us...India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer - Bajaj Auto Limited has already approached us," Mr Don Runkel, part of the Delphi top management team, told UNI here. However, the two-wheeler facility - being mulled over - would not be exclusive to Bajaj Auto, Mr Runkel clarified. Delphi automotive, till recently a subsidiary of General Motors, was recently spun off into an independent company and has four manufacturing facilities in India. "As the automotive market grows in India, we would make use of the opportunities there," Delphi Automotive Systems Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President J T Battenberg III told UNI today, while comparing India vis-a-vis China. While Delphi with its worldwide presence in the automotive component market is trying to focus on the after-market products in many of the markets, it would be a long way before it brings its whole array of products to India. "Volumes have to justify our decision to set up a manufacturing facility in the after-market segment in India," Mr Dunkel, incharge of the vital Delphi Energy and Chassis Systems, said. The company has made a small beginning in the Indian after-market segment by sourcing the products from the Saudi Arabian and French markets. All the Delphi facilities in India focus on the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) segment with the bulk orders coming in from the country’s largest car-maker Maruti Udyog Limited. Delphi would be showcasing some of its advanced technology products like wire brakes and four-wheel steering system for big utility vehicles and its integrated safety systems at the prestigious SAE show beginning in the world motor city of detroit. Some of the new safety products include Radar-based sensors for cars which helps in applying brakes automatically in case of an emergency. The sensors can also warn the driver while he reverses the car. These products also include sensor-fit air bags which can change its velocity depending on the size of the occupant - be it a heavy person or a lightweight person. "A lot of electronic system takes care of this," senior company officials said. By virtue of its lineage, Delphi gets 70 per cent of its business from General Motors. "We want to bring this figure to 50 per cent in the near future now that we are an independent company," the officials said. (UNI) |
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New one-gigahertz microchips to hit market this week WASHINGTON, Mar 6: Two powerful new microchips are due to hit the market this week, heralding the arrival of a new generation of computers, according to an internet announcement. The microchips will land on the market days apart, following a bid by two companies, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and rival intel, to be the first to get a 1-ghz — One gig — PC processor out of the door first. Amd confirmed it is to start shipping its 1-ghz athlon processor today, while Intel is expected to release its 1-ghz Pentium III on Wednesday at the latest, according to an announcement posted on CNET, a specialised web site. In a press release, AMD said: Leading PC manufacturers will also make announcements on the availability of systems based on the 1 ghz amd athlon processor. The first commercially available systems based on the 1 ghz amd athlon processor will be available beginning Monday. The 1ghz athlon chip is expected to be used in Compaq Computers, while IBM and Hewlett Packard are likely to opt for the 1-ghz Pentium III, according to the document. Low-end athlon monitors are anticipated to start below 2,500 dollars. The tag for comparable Pentium III personal computers is likely to be 3,000 dollars. (AFP) |
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JK Synthetics, MS Shoes Ltd largest defaulters NEW DELHI, Mar 6: JK Synthetics and the infamous Pawan Sachdeva promoted MS Shoes (East) Limited led the list of major private sector defaulters of bank loans, accounting for bad loans of Rs 246.37 crore and Rs 134.53 crore respectively. Metal Box India Limited’s bad loans to bank and financial institutions amounted to Rs 131.42 crore, a list of bank loan defaulters released by the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) revealed. HMT international and HMT Limited together owe around Rs 77 crore to several banks and financial institutions, while the Rita Singh promoted companies — Mesco Airlines, Mesco Exports, Mesco Pharmaceuticals, Mideast India Limited and Mideast Integrated Steel — have a cumulative bad loan of Rs 34.36 crore. The Mittals-promoted Ispat Profiles (India) Limited’s bad loans amount to Rs 34.23 crore, while Reliance Ispat and Industries limited owe Rs 28.09 crore to banks and FIs and Reliance Silicones India Limited a total of Rs 23.16 crore, the list stated. Total bad loans today amount to Rs 58,000 crore. Of the Rs 246.37 crore bad loan credited to JK Synthetics’ account, the company owes Rs 82.50 crore to bank of Rajasthan, Kanpur, Rs 38.30 crore to Central Bank of India (Kanpur), Rs 29.18 crore to IDBI and Rs 28.84 crore to IFCI. Ms Shoes (East) owes Rs 64.22 crore to IDBI, Mumbai, Rs 20.47 crore to Allahabad Bank, Rs 19.02 crore to State Bank of Travancore among others. Meanwhile, Metal Box India’s owes Rs 52.46 crore to Syndicate Bank (Calcutta), Rs 32.96 crore to Bank of America NT, Rs 16.92 crore to State Bank of India, Calcutta and Rs 12.42 crore to state Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (Calcutta). The AIBEA list further revealed that among the public sector banks, State Bank of India accounts for the largest number of bad loans above Rs one crore. Around 911 account holders with the bank have erred in paying back the loans which amounted to Rs 5,976.87 crore. Among the financial institutions, IDBI’s bad loans (above Rs one crore) totalled to Rs 4,431.40 crore. Oman international bank topped the list in foreign and private sector banks with a total bad loan amount of Rs 397.37 crore from 12 parties. (UNI) |
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NEW DELHI, Mar 6: Amusement parks in India have according to 1998 projections grown to about 40 million US dollar-industry with a growth rate of one hundred per cent, while the 90 million US dollars family entertainment segment is expected to triple this year. As a result, India has managed to attract large investment in this market over the past few years. The Fourth India Amusement Expo being held at the Taj Palace hotel in the capital from March 15 has participation by some key players from overseas and the event is being co-sponsored by the American Embassy in India. It has been sponsored by the intergame and interpark and the American Amusement Machine Association has official endorsed endorsed the event. There will also be a seminar during the three-day meet which will be addressed by some experts from India and overseas including the United States. Show manager Pramod Krishna said recently that the business so far is only the tip of a potential iceberg and there are many Indian groups ready to join hands with co-partners from overseas to expand the concept in India. (UNI) |
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EU against sanctions on core labour standards NEW DELHI, Mar 6: In what is seen as a climb-down, European Union said today it was against sanctions on core labour standards whose linkage with trade has been totally opposed by developing countries leading to the collapse of the Seattle WTO conference. "We do not want sanctions. I repeat we do not want sanctions here (core labour standards)," visiting European Commissioner for Trade Pascal Lamy said, adding "we differ from United States on the issue of core labour standards. There are five ILO conventions on core labour standards including child labour and all we wanted was that these should be implemented as all member countries including India are signatories to them, and perhaps ILO and WTO could jointly work towards this end, Lamy told PTI. India has all along maintained that it is not against core labour standards in itself, but opposed to its abuse for trade purposes to deny market access to export from developing countries. But United States and several other industrialised nations pressed for its inclusion in the agenda for a new round of trade negotiations leading to the failure of Seattle meet in December last year. Lamy also said EU was opposed to multilateral agreement on investment just as India, but instead favoured putting in place "transparent and non-discriminatory" investment rules which he said was a "pre-condition" for larger FDI flow into countries like India. Favouring an agreement in the WTO about FDI and not about short-term capital movements, Lamy said "we are not asking for a right to invest." "We understand that India wants to control its level of market access for investment. What we want is transparency and non-discrimination" Lamy said. India had opposed Mai saying it could be acceptable only if movement of capital was linked to movement of professionals and semi-skilled workers to provide a level playing field to developing countries. Asked if India could expect to attract the targetted 10 billion dollar of FDI annually if India agreed to signing an investment agreement at WTO, Lamy said such an agreement would create necessary environment for more investment flow into India. India’s record of attracting FDI was dismal mainly because there was no transparent and non-discriminatory rules and if there was such a WTO agreement coupled improved domestic investment climate as in China, investors from industrialised nations would feel more confident and willing to invest in India. (PTI) |
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Roll back foodgrains price hike: NDA Allies NEW DELHI, Mar 6: The BJP today found itself isolated on the issue of the hike in prices of foodgrains and fertilisers with all its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) urging a roll back saying the proposed increase is against the poor. The allies, including Shiv Sena, TDP, Samata and INLD voiced their views in a memorandum presented to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee this morning and said that the increase in the issue price of foodgrains distributed through Targetted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and fertilizer prices by 15 per cent will hit the poor and farmers. The memorandum pointed out that the 2000-2001 budget has proposed a substantial reduction of about 12 per cent in food subsidy and 4.5 per cent in fertilzer subsidy. "Providing relief to the poor through TPDS and for farmers through fertilzer subsidy is one aspect on which there is wider political consensus," the memorandum said and added that the reduction in fertilizer subsidy will adversely affect farmers throughout the country. "The hike in issue prices of foodgrains will particularly place unbearable burden on the states with extensive TPDS commitments," it added. The Government has proposed to increase urea prices by 15 per cent in the budget. It had also proposed to increase foodgrains prices issued under PDS including BPL category in an effort to reduce food subsidy. However, the allocation of foodgrains to the bpl catagory has been doubled from ten kg to 20 kg per family. The memorandum said that the increase in fertilizer prices would also led to escalation in the prices of foodgrains, causing further burden on the states on account of their commitment to TPDS. "In view of the consequences of proposals, we urge upon your good self (Prime Minister) to reconsider the proposals for increasing the issue prices of foodgrains for TPDS and fertilzer price hike so as not to effect any increase in their prices," the memorandum said. The memorandum was signed by TDP leader K Yerran Naidu, JD-U leader D P Yadav, Mr Raghunath Jha of Samata Party, Mr Vaiko of MDMK, M P D Elangovan of PMK, Mr C Kuppusami of DMK, Dr Sushil Indora of INLD, Trilochan Singh of Akali Dal, Mr S Thirunavukarasu of MGR-ADMK and Mr Anant Geete of Shiv Sena. (UNI) |
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4 Indian ports identified for Lanka’s export of tea, garments COLOMBO, Mar 6: Four Indian ports have been identified for Sri Lanka’s export of tea and garments on a quota basis under the land-mark Indo-Sri Lanka free trade agreement which has become opera-tional on March one. For tea, the designated ports are Calcutta and Cochin and for garments if will be Mumbai and Chennai. Indian High Commission’s Commercial Counsellor R Swaminathan said here today that exports of these two items will have to be channeled through the designated ports for monitoring purpose. Under the free trade agreement, Sri Lanka has been given a quota of 15 million kg of tea and 8 million pieces of garments of which 6 million pieces must be made out of using Indian fabric at a duty concedssion of 50 per cent. Mr Swaminathan estimates that if Sri Lanka could maximise the potential in these two products alone, foreign exchange earning to the tune of 70 to 80 million US dollars could be realised. Official research, however, predicts that Sri Lanka’s exports to India currently at 47 million dollars could increase to a minimum of 150 million dollars and a maximum of 250 million dollars in three years. As per the agreement now in operation, India will remove its applicable customs tariff over a period of three years subject to a negative list and Sri Lanka in return will remove tariff on imports from India over a period of 8 years. On 1000 items, India will not be charging import duty, and for the remaining items (about 3500) 50 per cent duty concession will be given with immediate effect and 100 per cent concession by year 2003. Textile items would be given 25 per cent duty concession upto 2003 and 8 million garment pieces will enjoy 50 per cent reduction from the prevailing duty. Around 434 items in the negative list of India will not enjoy and any duty concessions but could be exported at tariff applicable under Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status by Sri Lanka as being part of the SAARC. Sri Lanka will not impose import duties on 300 items essentially raw materials from India. A 50 per cent duty concession will be given for about 900 items, which after 2003 will be duty free. For the remaining items (about 2500) duties will be reduced. Sri Lanka’s negative list include 1200 items including fisheries and livestock products and selected industrial products. The Indo-Sri Lanka free trade agreement was signed between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister A B Vajpayee on December 28, 1998. After a gap of more than one year, it became operation from March 1 this year. (UNI) |
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TVS-Suzuki to discontinue Shaolin, relaunch Spectra NEW DELHI, Mar 6: TVS-Suzuki Limited (TVSSL) has decided to discontinue production of its 100cc bike ‘Shaolin’ and renew focus on the scooter market with the relaunch of its 4-stroke model Spectra next month. In addition, an upgraded version of the Spectra will be unveiled in October along with a refurbished version of its recently-introduced 4-stroke motorcycle ‘Fiero’, company Chairman and Managing Director Venu Srinivasan told UNI here. "There were some problems with the scooter which we are working on and we will rectify. We are reworking the model and will do the needed changes—both positioning and otherwise," he said. TVS-Suzuki, a joint venture between TVS Group and Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, had forayed into the scooter segment in September 1998 with the Spectra. However, the model had failed to evoke a good response from the market. Regarding Shaolin, the first motorcycle in India to sport a 5-speed gearbox, he said, the bike had also failed to generate much interest in the market. With the sales figure for the product being on the lowest ebb, the company has now decided to withdraw the bike from the market. The new Spectra, with electric start as a standard feature and an improved engine delivering 9bhp power, would be launched next month. The company had unveiled its first 4-stroke bike Fiero at the recently -held Auto Expo 2000 and announced that the bike would roll out in April, sporting a below Rs 50,000 price tag. The 150cc 12 bhp Suzuki Fiero, which delivers a fuel efficiency of 58 kmpl, has digital ignition, vibration dampensers, auto decompression as some of its exclusive features. The company expects to sell around 50,000-70,000 units in the 2000-01 fiscal. In addition, 12 new 4-stroke bi-wheelers, including bikes, scooters and mopeds, would be launched over the next two years. The company has two plants - one at Hosur, Tamil Nadu and the other in Mysore. (UNI) |
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