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Bhalla inaugurates Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, May 8: MLA Gandhi Nagar Mr Raman Bhalla today inaugurated M/s Sukhmani Motors at Trikuta Nagar—an authorised dealer of Hero ....more Archies launch kid’s stationery in Jammu Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, May 8: Archies Greetings and Gifts Limited, the market leaders in greeting cards industry having 550 Archies Galleries spanning across the . ......more HPCL, BPCL divestment needs approval from Parliament NEW DELHI, May 8: A Parliamentary Committee today asked the Government to seek approval of Parliament before privatising oil refiners .....more DCC charts out novel business model to challenge FMCG majors NEW DELHI, May 8: Newly-launched concept marketing firm Dalmiya Consumer Care (DCC) is charting out a consumer-centric........more |
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Hyderabadi pearls, Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, May 8: Now Hyderabadi pearls, beads, jews and stones of every need are available under one roof in Jammu at an affordable prices......more RBI for clean currency notes policy, asks bankers not to staple notes Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, May 8: In its pursuit of clean note policy, the Reserve Bank of India has directed the bankers to provide clean and fresh currency . ......more SC
revokes provisional NEW DELHI, May 8: In a major setback to Modiluft’s plans to restart its airline operations, the Supreme Court has revoked the provisional No......more OPAL
to launch premium NEW DELHI, May 8: OPEL industries, which has a tie up with a citizen watches subsidiary - rhythm - for clocks,.....more |
Bhalla inaugurates Sukhmani Motors at Trikuta Nagar Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, May 8: MLA Gandhi Nagar Mr Raman Bhalla today inaugurated M/s Sukhmani Motors at Trikuta Nagar—an authorised dealer of Hero Majestic Limited for Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Suman Kumar, Deputy General Manager and Mr Tejinder Singh, Senior Manager of Majestic Auto Limited were also present on the occasion as guest of honour and special guest. Both the officers of the company expressed satisfaction and wished M/s Sukhmani Motors a grand success. They informed that although more than 10 lakh vehicles manufactured by Majestic Auto Limited are already on the road but with the help of four stroke 72 cc Hero Panther Vehicle (Both super and deluxe models), the number of vehicles is likely to be increased. "The future of these vehicles is very bright as the new model Hero Effy is going to be launched in a month or so", they said and added that Hero Effy will be citibike and will become favourite to the younger generation and ladies segment of customers. All this widened range will definitely help Majestic Auto to lead to a bright future both in rural and urban areas. They said that company is fully commanding in the field of Health Equipments—Hero Jogger, Hero Stepper, Hero Twistepro, Hero Allegro and a Magnetic Exerciser and will continue to attract the customers. They further said that initially frequent demonstrations will be organised by the dealer with the assistance of an experienced company’s representative from time to time. Mr M Pillai, Senior Manager Service was also present on the occasion. |
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Archies launch kid’s stationery in Jammu Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, May 8: Archies Greetings and Gifts Limited, the market leaders in greeting cards industry having 550 Archies Galleries spanning across the country have diversified into Archies Kids Stationery for Little Artists. Archies have come up with crayons- available in 2 variations, wax crayons and plastic crayons. Very child friendly, these crayons are easy to hold, non-toxic and can be erased and sharpened easily. Available in various sizes ranging from regular jumbo to extra long, they are packed in delightful boxes, that surely attract kids. crayons will be joined by funky erasers, naughty pencils, creating drawing books and lots more in the kids stationery range. M/s Gujral Enterprizes, Residency Road Jammu are their super distributors for Jammu and Kashmir. The products are available on Departmental Stores, Stationery shops and galleries. And these products will make a distinct mark in the existing market. |
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HPCL, BPCL divestment needs approval from Parliament NEW DELHI, May 8: A Parliamentary Committee today asked the Government to seek approval of Parliament before privatising oil refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd as the two were nationalised through an act of Parliament. "This (disinvestment) signals a departure from the declared policy (of keeping the strategically important oil sector under state control). A departure from the declared policy cannot be made through the Government’s executive decision and it is required to be endorsed by Parliament," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on petroleum said. The Committee, in its report tabled in Parliament today, said BPCL and HPCL were nationalised in 1970s through an act of Parliament in view of their strategic importance and a reversal of the decision should be approved by the same body. It said the ESSO (acquisition of undertakings in India) Act, 1974 and Burmah-Shell (acquistiion of undertaking in India) Act, 1976, which created HPCL and BPCL, had stated that "the oil industry is far too important for the economic development of the country and for national security... It will be politically wrong and econmomically incorrect to leave its control in the hands of the private companies." "Government should formally declare oil sector as a strategic sector and oil companies should be taken out of the list of PSUS slated for disinvestment," the Committee, headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, said in its report. Eight companies including Royal/Dutch Shell, BP AMOCO, Saudi Aramco, Petronas of Malaysia, Reliance Industries and ESSAR group are in fray for acquiring Government’s 34.01 per cent stake in HPCL.(PTI) |
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DCC charts out novel business model to challenge FMCG majors NEW DELHI, May 8: Newly-launched concept marketing firm Dalmiya Consumer Care (DCC) is charting out a consumer-centric business model to challenge the FMCG majors in the domestic market with a slew of innovatively-packaged products in the Rs 50,000-crore oral gratification space. "A variety of foods and beverages are in the offing which will be reasonably priced and pegged on the health platform. "Several products are currently in the process of research and testing and they are likely to hit the market by July," DCC Managing Director and CEO Sudershan Banerjee told UNI here. DCC from the Rs 1,200-crore Dalmiya group will offer a range of confectionery products among other foods and beverages. Without divulging details, he said these could range from ‘Nimbu pani’, ‘Biscuits’ and ‘Gur-based Snacks’ to even the good old ‘Chyawanprash’. Mr Banerjee assured that the products would carry a price advantage over rivals like HLL, Dabur and Britannia in various categories and they would come with a health tag. "Each product will be novel, thoroughly researched, and good for health as well," he claimed. Describing export potential in neighbouring countries as well as to Indian Diaspora worldwide as tremendous, he said manufacturing would either be outsourced or undertaken locally. The company would not have any headquarters but would function through central business support office with regional offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad and business infrastructure in all the States. "At present, we are building a company with novel marketing concepts aimed at delivering responsibly to consumers, internal associates and all stakeholders," Mr Banerjee said. Contaray to FMCG firms’ excessive Reliance on advertising for product promotion, he explained that DCC would follow a grass-root approach with a direct line-of-sight to consumers across every level in the company. "We will go for consumer insighting programme, which will drive internal associates, trade partners and frontline managers, to win the customers. "DCC is targetting a new segment — urban consumers with a rural mindset — where seeing is believing and advertising holds no water," he added. Elaborating the marketing strategy, the DCC Chief said the company’s cempetitive edge would come from resolute focus on listening to consumers consistently, comprehending their needs and offering them a superior price/value equation with distribution efficiency. Pointing out that most FMCG companies were following "value for money" concept to attract the consumers, Mr Banerjee said DCC will adopt ‘money for value’ approach, redefine the price/value equation and implement modern distribution logistics to ensure that its products are affordable and available at the point of need. "We are taking up the gauntlet knowing bumps on the road ahead, but we have to find ways to make a mark against the veteran FMCG firms," he added.(UNI) |
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Hyderabadi pearls, stones available in Jammu Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, May 8: Now Hyderabadi pearls, beads, jews and stones of every need are available under one roof in Jammu at an affordable prices. The customers need not to scan so many shops for all these things but have to just pay a visit to Shree Ganpati Jewellers at Raghunath Chowk to get all things under one roof that too at attractive prices. The first of its kind showroom for Hyderabadi pearls, beads and jews was today inaugurated by Mr Ved Mahajan, Member Legislative Council (MLC). After inaugurating the showroom, Mr Mahajan enquired about the Hyderabadi things and said that the opening of the showroom will not only cater to the needs of the Jammuites but also of the pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine. The owners of the show-room have already made arrangements with a few famous astrologers to give the right opinion of the stars and their remedies through stones. |
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RBI for clean currency notes policy, asks bankers not to staple notes Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, May 8: In its pursuit of clean note policy, the Reserve Bank of India has directed the bankers to provide clean and fresh currency notes to public and advised them not to staple notes in future. The Deputy Governor of the RBI, Mr Vepa Kamesam while inaugurating the Currency Verification and Processing System (CVPS) at Jammu office of RBI here today said that Government of India and the RBI has decided to do away with the practice of stapling of notes, because stapling and multiple stapling of notes and note packets is a major factor for soilage and mutilation of currency notes. The public too, had been resenting stapling of notes. Mr Kamesam said that initiative of non-stapling of fresh notes was taken in 1996 and now the fresh notes supplied by the note printing presses are no longer stapled. Further recounting the benefits of non-stapling, the Deputy Governor stated that apart from increasing the life of currency notes, non-stapling of notes facilitated use of table-top sorting machines at bank branches for sorting of notes. They also helped mechanised processing of notes at the CVPS at RBI offices. Clarifying the public concern of the possibility of tampering when the note packets were not stapled, the Deputy Governor pointed out that when not stapled, note packets were secured by paper/ polythene bands. Moreover, members of public could always count the notes while accepting them. Both banks and public, therefore, need to move away from staple pins, he added. It may be recalled that Dr Bimal Jalal, Governor RBI announced ‘ Clean Note Policy’ in January 1999. Elaborating this policy, the Deputy Governor said that for effective execution of ‘ Clean Note Policy’, withdrawing soiled notes from circulation was an important as pumping of fresh notes into circulation. With the currency verification and Processing System installation, the capacity of RBI for disposal of soiled notes had considerably increased. The simultaneously pumping in fresh notes in circulation with the help of additional capacity of too currency printing presses of RBI, the demand for fresh notes of the public was expected to be adequately met, he maintained. The RBI authorities also issued fresh instructions to all the Banks to implement the policy of the RBI and issue fresh notes to public. It asked to tender soiled notes to the RBI in unstapled condition, use bands instead of staple pins, issue only clean notes to members of public, open select currency chest branches on Sundays to provide coins and exchange facility to public and to provide unrestricted facility for exchange of soiled and mutilated notes to members of public. He further directed that menace of soiled and mutilated currency notes could be totally wiped out, if banks and public helped the RBI implement its clean note policy. He also exhorted the people to get their Ashoka Pillar series notes exchanged from the banks. The RBI also advised the public not to write on the currency notes. |
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SC revokes provisional NOC to Modiluft to restart operations NEW DELHI, May 8: In a major setback to Modiluft’s plans to restart its airline operations, the Supreme Court has revoked the provisional No Objection Certificate (NOC) granted to the company on the basis of an interim order of the Delhi High Court. Allowing an appeal of the Union Government, a bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice B P Singh said the High Court could not have granted a final relief through an inter9 ORDER and added "the NOC which is said to have been issued provisionally stands revoked." The Apex Court, while setting aside the interim order, directed the High Court to hear the matter and give a final judgement without being influenced by the observations made in this order. Appearing for the Centre, Attorney General Soli Sorabjee contended that the relief granted by the High Court, though interim in nature, was beyond the ambit of the writ petition itself, apart from being in the nature of final relief. The bone of contention between the Union Government and Modiluft was that the airline was collecting Inland Air Travel Tax (IATT) from its passengers as an agent of the Government but had not deposited the same. This led to the Government detaining aircraft of the airline which were leased from Air UK Leasing Ltd (AUL). AUL later deposited Rs 12.5 crores with the Government to take the aircraft out of India. (PTI) |
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OPAL to launch premium writing instruments and leather goods NEW DELHI, May 8: OPEL industries, which has a tie up with a citizen watches subsidiary - rhythm - for clocks, has now decided to launch premium writing instruments and leather accessories. "Our premium clocks have done well in the Indian market since the launch in 1996. Now we plan to launch premium writing instruments and leather accessories in September," OPAL industries managing director Subhash Gujar said here yesterday. The components for writing instruments, like our clocks, will be sourced from best names in the business from all over the world, Mr Gujar said. For leather accessories the embellishments like buckles would be sourced from companies in Italy and France, he said. "We plan to develop an Indian brand in premium products," Mr Gujar said. The company already has an understanding with rhythm of Japan. The movement of clocks are sourced from rhythm while the Japanese company has promised not to launch their products in Indian market without OPAL concurrence. OPAL recorded a turnover of Rs 20 crore last year and this year it is expecting a growth of 50 per cent. For higher sales the company is expecting its exclusive showrooms to do contribute much. It already has three showrooms and plans to open four more in Delhi, Kolkata, Indore and Chennai by June 1. (UNI) NIFT to lend expertise to north-east artisans KOLKATA, May 8; The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will provide consultation regarding patenting of traditional handicraft of the North-East. The Apex Institute of Fashion under the union textile ministry would appoint experts on the subject to provide advice and carry on formalities. "We have received formal approval from the department of handicrafts and the process will be initiated shortly," NIFT Director B V Somasekhar told UNI here. The project is a part of the NIFT’s efforts to provide the artisans of the North-East the much-needed support regarding ownership of their products and designs. Dr Somesekhar said, "the documentation of the programme has been completed. The outside experts for consultancy will shortly be appointed." He hoped that the effort would help the artisans avoid the dilution of ownership of the designs and the products and also deal with the geograpical indication act to protect the designs origin. The institute has also undertaken several projects in the region to help the artisans. He said the institute was also providing specialised consultation services to the Governments of Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for development of handloom industry. "We are also carrying out projects in Shatipur-Phulia and Murshidabad in West Bengal for revival of ‘Baluchuri’. We are engaged in similar projects in North Bengal," the NIFT Director added.(UNI) SC seeks responses of Centre, Delhi Govt on CNG price hike NEW DELHI, May 8: Seeking to resolve the controversy over alleged manipulated price hike of compressed natural gas (CNG), the Supreme Court today asked the Petroleum Ministry and the Delhi Government to file their responses on affidavits of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) defending the hike. A bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice Arijit Pasayat sought the responses when amicus curiae Harish Salve charged IGL, the sole distributor of CNG in capital, of playing with figures to justify the steep hike of price from Rs 13.11 per kg to Rs 16.83 per kg. On the allegation of the Delhi Government’s counsel Wasim Quadri that IGL had issued unwritten instruction not to give vehicles more than a certain quantity of CNG, which was denied by IGL, the court directed IGL to give a public notice within a day or two announcing that there was no such restriction on vehicles filling their gas tanks. Salve said the price calculation was based on requirement of buses determined at 70 kg per day per bus, but the IGL has hiked the price saying the average intake of each bus was around 50 kg per day. He said IGL had never disputed the requirement of 70kg per day per bus but suddenly quoted a market survey to justify the price hike. Appearing for IGL, senior advocate P Chidambaram said that though the compression capacity of IGL at present was around 12 lakh kg CNG, the dispensation was seven lakh kg. The price hike was based on actual sales figures and not on surmises, he said and expressed the company’s willingness to submit their records for independent auditing. The matter would now be heard in July. (PTI) India against protectionist tendencies against skilled movt LONDON,May 08: India today lashed out at "protectionist" tendencies in some parts of the world against movement of its skilled professionals particularly in sectors ranging from tourism to it and education. "Globalisation, more than anything else, is about people. The movement of persons, especially skilled professionals, has emerged as an important aspect of the current discussion on Globalisation," K C Pant, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and Co-Chairman, Indo-UK round table said today. Making his opening remarks at the two-day sixth India-UK round table at the salubrious ambience of the Cotswolds in Worcestershire about 90 Km from here, Pant said: "this is a vast area, and has an impact on sectors ranging from tourism to technology and education. There are concerns in India that the success of our software industry may be generating protectionist impulses in some parts of the world. "We should, in a wired globe, ensure that just as freedom of capital and location are ensured for the manufacturing sector, the freedom of movement of professionals should be ensured for the software and other knowledge based sectors." While Pant is leading the Indian Delegation at the two-day deliberations, lord Swraj Paul, NRI industrialist and Ambassador for Overseas British business is leading the UK side. He is also the Co-Chairman of the round table. The UK Delegation includes Judith Brown, Professor of Commonwealth Studies Balliol College Oxford, Christopher Low, Chief Executive India region standard chartered, Patrick French, author, Sir David Goodall, former British High Commissioner to India, Richard Lambert, former Chief Editor, Financial Times, Sir Mark Tully, broadcaster and Sir Rob Young, British High Commissioner to India. The Indian Delegation includes Mohd. Hamid Ansari, Vice Chancellor of Aligarh University, Ronen Sen, India’s High Commissioner to the UK, several businessmen like Ashok Ganguly, media persons, academicians and senior bureaucrats. Apart from an overall review of the global situation and bilateral relations the main themes for discussions include the future of multilateralism and multilateral institutions and trade and investment. Noting that the Indo-UK partnership has been greatly strengthened by the increased frequency of consultations at the highest political levels, pant said: "All these have led to an increasingly better understanding of each other’s views on issues of interest to both of us and also helped to foster linkages in areas such as counter-terrorism, intelligence-sharing and defence cooperation. "The excellent state of our bilateral relations has in fact highlighted the need and the possibility of leveraging our relationship to be of value in the broader international political and economic context as well. "We in India regard UK’s unstinting support to India’s candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council as a reflection of this growing confidence in each other, not just as bilateral but also as global partners." (PTI) Govt concerned and watchful over rising inflation: Jaswant NEW DELHI, May 8: Expressing concern over rise in inflation, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh today said macro economic situation remained "comfortable" in 2002-03, and the adverse impact of Iraq war was likely to get "neutralised" further when the country gets a normal monsoon this year. "The Finance Ministry is concerned and watchful over the increasing rate of inflation but there is no reason for alarm," Singh told the parliamentary consultative committee here today. He said the major contributing factors to the rise in inflation rate was the rise in oil prices due to Gulf war, drought effect on edible oils and better prices in manufacturing sector. Addressing the meeting on ‘Gulf war — impact on growth and inflation’, Singh said "the macro economic situation in 2002-03 remained comfortable despite drought, uncertainty on external front and delayed global recovery." The Finance Ministry had conducted a study in September 2002 to assess the likely consequences of Gulf war, he said, adding "the impact of war was already on the reverse gear with global oil prices falling to 35 dollar per barrel and six months futures in crude oil touching 22 dollar per barrel." "The effect of Gulf war on our economy could be further neutralised with a normal monsoon this year, as projected by the meteorological department," he said. (PTI) |
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