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Thakur urges Bill Gates NEW DELHI, Sept 18: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare C P Thakur has urged .....more Delhi HC seeks more NEW DELHI, Sept 18: The Delhi High Court today asked a petitioner to substantiate allegations of stock market manipulation....more SSI Ltd to acquire US MUMBAI, Sept 18: Chennai-based SSI Ltd (SSI), an IT solutions company, is to acquire US-based ....more GIL converts its regional NEW DELHI, Sept 18: As part of its ongoing revamp, Gestetner India Limited (GIL).......more |
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Cable TV
operators must NEW DELHI, Sept 18: Close on the heels of Parliament passing the Cable TV Networks Amendment Bill giving more teeth to law, Prasar Bharati has notified that regional channels of doordardarshan should be received and re-transmitted compulsorily on prime band by Cable TV operators in addition to DD-I and DD-II in respective states.......more Mumabi third most HONG KONG, Sept 18: Mumbai was the third most expensive office market by mid-2000 after Japan and Hong Kong, a report said today......more Fitch Ratings India CALCUTTA, Sept 18: Fitch Ratings India has released its monthly economy update a research report .....more Grasim Industries draws KATHMANDU (NEPAL), Sept 18: Grasim Industries Limited, an Aditya Birla Group company, has...more |
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Thakur urges Bill Gates to set up health centre NEW DELHI, Sept 18: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare C P Thakur has urged Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates to set up a Centre of Excellence in India focussing on health care through information technology. In his letter addressed to Mr Gates during his recent visit to India, Dr Thakur has sought his fullest cooperation in promoting health care facilities in India with the help of information technology. He wrote that India had very strong built-up infrastructure in the information technology sector and hence it can be of immense help for providing better health care facilities even to the remotest corners in the country with the application of telemedicines. India also has a rich tradition of its own systems of medicine like Yoga, Naturopathy, Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani, he wrote, noting that the Government was making the best efforts to put the entire knowledge on websites so that maximum number of people in the world could reap the benefits of Indian Systems of Medicines. (UNI) |
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Delhi HC
seeks more material on stock market NEW DELHI, Sept 18: The Delhi High Court today asked a petitioner to substantiate allegations of stock market manipulation by foreign financial institutions, major brokers and big Indian companies with the active support of market regulator SEBI. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice D K Jain asked advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, who in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) sought investigation into the allegations, to place before it more material relating to alleged involvement of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in stock market manipulations. The court said it must be satisfied under which provision of law SEBI was giving waiver to FIIs and other big investors for trading without depositing margin amount of transaction as was being done by it in the case of small investors. Was SEBI controlling the market under some statutory rules and guidelines or on its own, the petitioner must satisfy the court on this aspect before seeking notice to respondents, the bench said. The court adjourned the hearing to September 27 after Sharma said he needed at least two days’ time to place the material before the court to show how the stock markets in the country were being "manipulated" by FIIs, big Indian companies and major brokers with active support of SEBI. There was no statutory rule under which SEBI could compel a set of investors to perform the obligations of transactions in a particular manner and waive of the conditions to others, sharma said adding it could not differentiate between the big and small investors. (PTI) |
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SSI Ltd to acquire US company for USD 63.65 mn MUMBAI, Sept 18: Chennai-based SSI Ltd (SSI), an IT solutions company, is to acquire US-based Albionorion LLC, for USD 63.65 million (about Rs 291 crore). ‘SSI proposes to use a combination of cash and stock deal to pay for the acquisition’, Company Chairman and CEO Suresh Kalapathi said here today following board approval for the move. On receiving necessary approvals, SSI would pay USD 20 million in cash and issue about usd 6.5 million Global Depository Shares (GDS), with each GDS being equivalent to 0.1 share, he said. ‘At the SEBI preferential price of around Rs 3,070 per share, the GDS issue will amount to usd 43.65 million’, he added. The transaction would lead to an equity dilution of about five per cent and expected to result in a substantial earning per share accretion, Kalapathi said. SSI would convene its extra-ordinary general meeting on October 12 for obtaining the shareholders’ approval, he added. (PTI) |
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GIL converts its regional branches to business units NEW DELHI, Sept 18: As part of its ongoing revamp, Gestetner India Limited (GIL), a subsidiary of the Britain-based Gestetner Holdings PLC, has converted its regional branches to strategic business units. Gestetner India, supplier of the parent company’s digital copiers, copy printers and other office automation products, has compressed its eleven regional units to four branches, which are given sole responsibility to cater to their respective areas, GIL Managing Director K Swetharanyan told mediapersons. Functions of the units, located in Delhi, Mumbai, Madras and Calcutta, will however be coordinated by the headquarters in the national capital. The revamp, which will conclude by November-end, will also lead to transfer of selling operations for low value products like duplicators from direct selling teams to dealers. However, the company will directly sell duplicators to the Government offices, Mr Swetharanyan said. Gestetner India expects that the revamp will result in a 25 to 30 per cent jump in its turnover this calendar year over Rs 63.45 crore last year, when the company’s revenue dwindled drastically. The company expects to increase its net profit this year by ten times of Rs 58.75 lakh that the company earned last year. Gestetner India had earned Rs four crore of net profit in 1998 but Kargil war and political instability at the Centre has eroded its earnings in 1999. The revenues nosedived last year because the company sells 75 per cent of its products to the Government sector. The revamp will change this composition also and the company is planning to sell as much products to the private sector as to the Government sector within two years. Within this year only, private sector will contribute to 30 per cent of the company’s sales, the GIL Managing Director said. The company has started exporting duplicators to Africa, West Asia, Bangladesh and Myanma this year and has already shipped products worth Rs five crore whereas the target was Rs two crore for 2000. The company has a plant in calcutta to manufacture duplicators. No other subsidiary of Gestetner holdings manufactures duplicators. The company has no plans to manufacture high value products due to low business volume, he said. Meanwhile, the company has launched a series of digital printer-copiers, including Mojito that prints 140 pages per minute in tandem. The company claims that it will price the products closer to their analogue counterparts, Mr Swetharanyan said. The company enjoys around 58 per cent market share in the segments it operates. It expects the digital office automation market to grow further as the analogue market is facing stagnation. Gestetner holdings owns 51 per cent stake in gestetner India with 49 per cent owned by the public. Gestetner holdings is the fully owned subsidiary of the Japan-based Ricoh. (UNI) |
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Cable TV operators must transmit reg DD channels NEW DELHI, Sept 18: Close on the heels of Parliament passing the Cable TV Networks Amendment Bill giving more teeth to law, Prasar Bharati has notified that regional channels of doordardarshan should be received and re-transmitted compulsorily on prime band by Cable TV operators in addition to DD-I and DD-II in respective states. The move is aimed at ensuring good quality reception of the regional channels of DD as also its two prime channels — DD-I and DD-II — by viewers. According to an official announcement, the notification states that cable operators would take only satellite signals, preferably digital signals of doordarshan channels for retransmission on their cable service by dish antenna/television receiver of not less than 12 feet diameter dish and not yagi antenna to ensure good quality reception. The notification also prohibits cable operators from transmitting any other channel on the same frequency band in which Doordarshan terrestrial channels are tranmitted. Besides, it asks the cable operators to use standard equipment to ensure good quality reception of DD channles up to tail-end subscribers comparable with other satellite channels. Government had earlier this month toughened laws to restrict telecasting of pirated films by cable operators and had brought into force an amended programme and advertising codes for TV channels. (PTI) |
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Mumabi third most expensive office market HONG KONG, Sept 18: Mumbai was the third most expensive office market by mid-2000 after Japan and Hong Kong, a report said today. Mumbai, with a net effective occupancy cost of 69.51 dollars per sqare foot, dropped to third most expensive office market by mid-2000, followed by Taipei at 55.55 dollars, New Delhi at 51.22 dollars, Seoul 48.42 dollars, Singapore 44.19 dollars, Sydney 41.85 dollars, and Beijing 32.77 dollars, global real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield said in a report. At 94.80 US dollars per square foot, Hong Kong resumed -following the Asian economic crisis - its position as the second most expensive office market in the region. Tokyo, was the most expensive with a net effective occupancy cost of 149.17 dollars per square foot, the report said. The recovery in Asia’s property market is expected to gain momentum and many prime office markets in Asia have rebounded strongly from the bottom of the cycle, it said. "The dramatic expansion in the new economy sector globally is a key factor, driving office demand in Asia," the report said, referring to growth related to the boom in the internet and information technology. Hong kong will experience exceptionally strong rental growth due to the "new economy," the report said, adding Hong Kong’s net effective occupancy cost has increased 54.2 per cent from the beginning of this year, the largest increase of any market. (APF) |
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Fitch Ratings India releases monthly economy update CALCUTTA, Sept 18: Fitch Ratings India has released its monthly economy update a research report highlighting and analysing the performance of the economy and its various sectors, a study of the Indian software exports sector and the implications of crude price movement. The annual report of the Reserve Bank of India also confirmed Fitch ratings’ fears of the growing fiscal deficit. According to the report, the combined gross fiscal deficit of the Centre and the States had increased by 2.5 per cent to 9.9 per cent of the GDP, as against the budgeted estimate of 7.4 per cent. Indian exports during the month of July showed signs of a slowdown as exports in dollar terms rose by 16.46 per cent (lower than 30 per cent growth recorded during each of the months in the first quarter. Despite this, the cumulative growth in exports during the first four months was 25.43 per cent, much higher than the growth of 4.04 per cent recorded during the same period in 1999-2000, a Fitch release here today said. (UNI) |
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Grasim Industries draws up 5-yr revamping plan KATHMANDU (NEPAL), Sept 18: Grasim Industries Limited, an Aditya Birla Group company, has announced a major revamping plan for their premium brands to double its turnover in five years and introduced all seasons, a wool-branded fabric, over the weekend here. Announcing the relaunch of the Grasim brand, group executive president Vikram Rao said at a news conference, "brand, distribution and product development are key focus areas for Grasim." Mr Rao also said that the company’s main thrust is on consistency in quality and its aim is to achieve world class standards and sustain them. All seasons - a wool branded fabric - would be warm in winters and cool in summers and the fabric is a major breakthrough in the suiting industry and the consumers will have a rich look and feel of wool in their fabric throughout the year, he said. The new logo for Grasim was also launched to don a fresh identity giving Grasim suiting a fresh look and changing many significant aspects related to the brand. The Rs 300-crore Grasim industries will not carry the word Gwalior futurely as it has been rechristened as Grasim suitings because a city’s name could not be registered, he added. Mr Rao said with the fabrics and apparels business with the new positioning and promotional kitty of Rs 15 crore, Grasim would be taking on the prime target audiences of males in the age group of 25-45 years. Constant innovation and introduction of new products and designs is going to be the key element of the marketing strategy for Grasim in future, he said, adding the company is setting up a state-of -the-art design studio in New Delhi to be headed by European designer Sean Chiles. The design studio, being set up at a cost of Rs one crore and expected to be operational by November this year, will forecast the colour and fashion trends for the national and international markets developing more than 7,000 new designs, two new collections every year and six new patterns twice a year. It has rationalised its entire range into five new collections which would bring the latest designs and plain qualities in both synthetic and worsted ranges. Group Executive President said "we have to constantly innovate to stay ahead of competition and become the customer’s first choice. Of the total Rs 4,000 crore worsted suiting market, Grasim would try to be at number two or three positions if not at one." The company is also going to introduce high quality fabric from Italy as milano collection for some exclusive outlets. The entire promotional communication and new product range of Grasim would sport the new logo and totally refurbished packaging. The company is also beefing up its distribution network. Grasim industries has set a target to achieve a growth of 15 to 20 per cent in the current year and double its turnover in the five years despite the extremely difficult conditions prevailing throughout the textile industry.(UNI) |
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