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| HUDCO Niwas announces further reduction in interest rates Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 6: HUDCO Niwas has announced further reduction in interest rates of upto 0.75 percent and reduction.......more BSNL
to introduce KOLKATA, Nov 6: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited will introduce cellular service in this city on November 23, Minister......more China,
ASEAN aim BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov 6: China and ten southeast Asian countries agreed at a regional summit in Brunei today......more ICICI
consortium DUBAI, Nov 6: A consortium of India’s ICICI has acquired for 10 million dollars software development firm Insyst Technologies, a key software and IT. ....more |
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P K Agarwal takes over as Director
(Marketing) IOCL Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Mr Pravin Kumar Agarwal has taken over as Director (Marketing) of India’s only Fortune Global 500 Company, Indian Oil Corporation Limited.......more BPL
announces alliance BANGALORE, Nov 6: Consumer electronics giant BPL today announced its strategic alliance with the German Loewe AG to launch its . ..... more Pak
to supply UAVs DUBAI, Nov 6: Pakistan’s National Defence Complex (NDC), a Government-owned institution producing high-tech weapon systems, plans to supply sophisticated Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to countries in .....more New round at Doha NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Ahead of Doha ministerial meeting later this week, Britain today agreed with........more |
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BSNL to introduce cellular service on November 23 KOLKATA, Nov 6: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited will introduce cellular service in this city on November 23, Minister of State for Communication Tapan Sikdar today said. "We are conducting the sound testing which have so far worked out well. We want to enter into a healthy competition with the private cellular service providers," Mr Sikdar said. He was speaking at the inauguration of a telephone exchange at the Raj Bhavan here. The minister said all big residential housing estates and commercial centres in the city would now have their own telephone exchange. "This will ensure uninterrupted service to the consumers," he said. "The BSNL is extending optical fibre connectivity to important buildings for extending optical fibre facility to the customers’ premises. One hundred more buildings will be included in this access network scheme in the next five months," he said. (UNI) |
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China, ASEAN aim to create free trade area in 10 yrs BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov 6: China and ten southeast Asian countries agreed at a regional summit in Brunei today to create a free trade area within 10 years, which they hope will propel their economies to new heights. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji took the decision along with counterparts from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to hitch their economies together. "What we are aiming for is the biggest free trade area in the world with 1.7 billion people and it will be closer to two billion when it comes into effect," said Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, who as host and chairman read the closing statement from the summit. A report was tabled recommending the free trade area eventually should be extended to include the other two north Asian neighbours, Japan and Korea, who also attended the summit known as ASEAN"3. But that will only be considered at next year’s summit in Cambodia, and for now all the focus was on the burgeoning relationship with China. "China and ASEAN have decided that within 10 years they will establish a free trade area," China’s Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. And ASEAN and Chinese officials have been instructed to begin negotiations at once. China and ASEAN have identified five areas as key to their future cooperation and efforts — agriculture, the it industry, human resources, and future investment as well as investment in the Mekong river basin, Wang said. For the first three quarters of 2001, bilateral trade between ASEAN and China reached US 30.3 billion, an increase of 6.8 percent over the same period last year, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. But Sultan Hassanal said the combined free trade area would create a bloc with a GDP of 2 trillion and a two-way trade of 1.23 trillion. (REUTERS) |
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ICICI consortium acquires Dubai software firm DUBAI, Nov 6: A consortium of India’s ICICI has acquired for 10 million dollars software development firm Insyst Technologies, a key software and IT solutions provider for the insurance industry in the Middle East and African. The acquisition of the Dubai Internet City (DIC)-based firm was made by Tricolour Infotech (t3i) and ICICI Infotech. T3I is a venture between ICICI and Emirates Bank. Under the deal, T3I will take over Insyst’s operating businesses in the Middle East, its intellectual property rights and development centres in Chennai and Mumbai. Hari Padmanabhan, President and Chief Executive of Insyst said the deal would be structured over a three-year period. In the latter trenches, the financing could involve share options. "The immediate benefit for Insyst through this deal is our ability to reach a global market through ICICI’s network. They have a very strong presence in the US and South East Asia," he said. ICICI Infotech, part of the 18 billion dollar ICICI group, has current sales of 75 million dollars with operational subsidiaries in New York and Singapore and a branch in London. Insyst has its strengths in developing oracle-based solutions and add-ons for ERP and the insurance sector. Currently, 40 per cent of its revenue comes from the UAE with the rest from other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and overseas markets. Apart from the base in DIC, Insyst operates a major development centre in Chennai and a support centre in Mumbai. (UNI) |
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P K Agarwal takes over as Director (Marketing) IOCL Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Mr Pravin Kumar Agarwal has taken over as Director (Marketing) of India’s only Fortune Global 500 Company, Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Mr Agarwal takes over from Mr O N Marwaha, who superannuated after over three decades of service in Corporation. Mr P K Agarwal will lead the Marketing Division of Indian Oil at a crucial time when the oil industry is poised for restructuring with the proposed dismantling of the Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) by April next year. Prior to joining the Indian Oil Board, Mr Agarwal was Executive Director of the Oil Coordination Committee (OCC) of the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Marketing Division of IOC has by far the biggest infrastructure facilities in the Indian oil industry and this includes four regional offices in the metro cities, 15 state offices, 45 divisional offices, 35 Indane LPG Area offices, 186 Bulk storage terminals and depots, 92 aviation fuel stations, 71 Indane LPG bottling plants besides over 20,000 sales point which are spread across the length and breadth of the country. Mr Agarwal has over three decades of experience in the Indian oil industry having joined the IOC in its formative years. He has a rich and varied experience in Marketing Operations, sales, lubes marketing, planning and corporate finance etc. As Executive Director of OCC in his last assignment, he was involved in the preparation of the blue print developed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for the proposed dismantling of the APM which is expected by April 2002. Mr Agarwal also participated in several national and international conferences where he has presented techno-commercial papers on various subjects related to petroleum industry. |
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BPL announces alliance with German Loewe AG BANGALORE, Nov 6: Consumer electronics giant BPL today announced its strategic alliance with the German Loewe AG to launch its high end television under the BPL-Loewe in India. Speaking to newspersons here, BPL Chief Eperating Officer Ajay Baijal (Entertainment Electronics Business Group) said the tie up was a part of the company’s efforts in bringing the best and latest in international technology to India. The two companies, with their combined creative might, come with the ultimate top-of-the-line video display solutions for the home entertainment market in India, he added. He said the BPL-Loewe brand televisions would be available in six models with screen size ranging from 29 inches to 33 inches with flat tubes. Each model was integrated with eight bit digital 100 hz technology for crystal clear pictures, full picture in picture, digital noise control and satellite upgrade options. He said the top-of-the-line models were incorporated with state-of-the-art technology featuring an interactive electronic instruction manual, digital picture correction technologies such as Digital Line Interpolation (DLI), digital line control, wireless audio, multimedia and digital movie mode. Replying to queries, he said the target sales for the BPL-Loewe brand of TVs in India was estimated at 0.5 per cent of the total colour television market. Initial business expected would be around Rs 15 crore and would expand to Rs 50 crore in two or three years. Last year, BPL had sold its one million colour televisions in the domestic market and this year’s target was 1.25 million. The company had the capacity to manufacture 2.25 million colour televisions per year, he added. He said the ultimate objective was to have co-development of television with loewe and supply softwares to their hardwares. Several areas had already been identified in this regard and discussions were underway, he added. He said an exclusive distribution and retailing strategy would be created as these models were built with the latest technology and its branding would therefore adopt a niche focus. (UNI) |
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Pak to supply UAVs to Asia, Gulf region DUBAI, Nov 6: Pakistan’s National Defence Complex (NDC), a Government-owned institution producing high-tech weapon systems, plans to supply sophisticated Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to countries in Asia and the Gulf region. "We are holding serious negotiations with some countries in these regions and expect the deals to be finalised soon," a company spokesman said at the Dubai 2001 Air Show. The NDC, a subsidiary of the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCON), in making UAVs with reconnaissance and surveillance capability for defence markets abroad after finding them acceptable to the Pakistan Air Force, the Gulf today reports quoting the spokesman as having said. The NDC, which participated at the recently-concluded international defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi, is using the Dubai airshow to explore markets for its state-of-the-art weapon systems. Group captain (retired) Ijaz A Khan, NDC’s General Manager for Marketing, said it has developed tactical weapons and has the capability of reverse engineering and manufacturing complex electro-mechanical systems at competitive prices. Besides Vector MK-2, Nishan MK2 and Hornet MK-5 UAVs, the NDC products include cluster bomb units, combined effect munitions and anti-armour bombs, naval ground mines, military batteries, anti-armour tandem warhead and defence electronics. The NDC also provides services such as design and development of missile systems and software for Turnkey defence projects. At present, the NDC is working to upgrade anti-tank and anti-ship missiles to improve the penetration range and extend their life by 10 years. It is also developing multiple-launch rocket systems and working on improved longer range and high endurance UAVs. (UNI) |
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New round at Doha only after
consensus NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Ahead of Doha ministerial meeting later this week, Britain today agreed with India that a new trade round could be launched only when a consensus was arrived at among all the 142 WTO member countries. "We cannot be absolutely confident (of a new round being launched at Doha). This decision has to come on the basis of a consensus among the members," a senior British diplomat told PTI here. The comments assume significance as it conforms to India’s position that negotiations for a new round should not be started unless there is a consensus among all WTO members. US and EU had warned India that it would be isolated if it did not agree to a new round. John Dennis, Director of Trade and Investment Promotion Counsellor (economic and commercial) with the Commission said a number of countries including the UK would be coming to Doha with a constructive approach to launch a fresh round of mandated negotiations. He expected India to adopt such a constructive approach. But, failure to arrive at a consensus on new round would be very damaging to the world economy which was increasingly coming in the grip of a slowdown particularly after September 11 terrorists attack on US, he said. "Our particular concern is that failure at Doha would take the forward momentum away from WTO and increase regional trade blocs and countries like India which are not part of any trade blocs would suffer the most," he said. (PTI) |
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