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| 1,00000 vehicles sold Toyota celebrates achievement Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 31: Toyota Kirloskar Motors Private Limited has achieved its target of selling one lac......more Arise
launches Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Arise India Limited-a well known name in the home and electrical appliance industry in India, has launched India’s first LPG run-"Gas Geyser" with German technology. This geyser does not require electricity...more ICICI
OneSource names Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: ICICI One Source, one of the India’s largest third party Bussiness Process Outsourcing (BPO) services company....more NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Costly wheat, fruit, vegetable and other food items pushed up inflation rate to 5.01 per cent during the week.......more |
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Mega project of ‘Sahara City Homes’ launched Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The mega-project of Sahara City Homes, world’s largest chain of 217 cities across India, got underway with ‘bhoomipujan’ at the township of Indore in Madhya Pradesh today. ........more Luminous
launches Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Luminous Electronics Limited, a leading manufacturer of Luminous brand of home-utility and consumer durable products, today announced the launch of storage water heaters......more State Bank
of Indore INDORE, Oct 31: The State Bank of Indore registered a 128 per cent increase in net profit during this fiscal’s first half, with....more GDP to grow 7.1 pc in FY04: crisil-ASSOCHAM study NEW DELHI, Oct 31: India’s GDP is projected to grow 7.1 per cent this fiscal with the average inflation rate at 4.8 per cent....more |
1,00000 vehicles sold Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 31: Toyota Kirloskar Motors Private Limited has achieved its target of selling one lac vehicles in India earlier before the time frame set for the same. The company had set the target of selling its one lac vehicles all over India by 2005 whereas the targetted sale was touched in October 2003, i.e. fourteen months earlier before the time frame. This was informed by Mr Vikram Cairae, Assistant Manager of Toyota Kirloskar Motors Pvt Ltd, during a celebration function organised by the company, here last evening, in connection with the achievement. He said that after achieving the milestone, Toyota Motors was now gearing itself to touch the sale figure of one million vehicles in India by 2010 and the company was also concentrating on advertisement campaign. The advertisement campaign is required to clear some misconceptions about Toyota vehicles, particularly Qualis- hot cake of the company, among customers who have a wrong notion that the vehicle is costly, he explained. Mr Vikram informed that Toyota Motors was manufacturing 120 vehicles, including Qualis, Corolla and Camry, in India per day to maintain level of demand. The company has also rolled out limited edition of Qualis, recently, he added. Mr D K Batra, proprietor of Shree Toyota, dealer of Toyota Motors in J&K, said that market of Toyota vehicles in J&K was satisfactory and further picking up, particularly for the commercial segment. He claimed that there were no complaints in the Toyota vehicles even after they ply more than 1,00000 kilometers. To celebrate achievement of attaining the sale target, Toyota Motors organised a grand musical evening, here yesterday, exclusively for the Toyota customers. |
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Arise launches LPG run gas geyser Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Arise India Limited-a well known name in the home and electrical appliance industry in India, has launched India’s first LPG run-"Gas Geyser" with German technology. This geyser does not require electricity and saves 70 percent running cost in comparison to electric geysers. Unlike electric geysers, Arise Gas Geysers makes water available at comfortable and desired temperature instantly and there is no threat of electric shocks in this system. Manufactured in State of art technology plant, these geysers are as safe and easy to use as the cooking range at home and comes with features like fully automatic switches, Inbuilt 20 minutes timer, Inbuilt over heating safety features, Auto cut-off and third separate knob for summer and winter. Available in three models L-6, L-7, L-8 with the capacity of 6 Lt/min, 7 Lt/min and 8 Lt/min of hot water respectively and priced between Rs 3500 to Rs 6,000, these geysers are widely available through a strong dealer/distributor and service network of Arise all across the country. Avinash Jain, Managing Director, Arise India Limited says, "with the dawn of new millennium in India, industry has accelerated with the compulsion for bussiness transformation focused at being more competitive and more quality conscious. In Arise, the driving factors for change include gaining market leadership for its product by effective cost control, better customer service and building a sustainable bussiness house". "In the past, Arise has rightly focused on technology up-gradation and customer care. Globalisation has made it necessary to be cost effective with best quality thus enabling Arise to meet the challenges of international market. Out main aim is to compete with multinational and provide our nation best of the products the world has to offer. We feel proud in saying that we have successfully established our products in the market with best of quality, service and price for consumers", said Mr Jain. |
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ICICI OneSource
names Gopalkrishnan as Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: ICICI One Source, one of the India’s largest third party Bussiness Process Outsourcing (BPO) services company, today announced the appointment of Raja Gopalkrishnan, 35, as Regional Director, North America, effective immediately. ICICI One Source offers contact center, transaction processing and other IT-enabled services to companies in the US, UK and Canada. Mr Gopalkrishnan would focus on managing and building on the company’s portfolio of clients in a number of industry verticals including financial services, healthcare and telecom. He was formerly vice-president, Insurance and Retail Banking, at ICICI OneSource. In this capacity, he directed the company’s business development initiatives in the insurance and retail banking industries and managed the migration of client processes to ICICI OneSource’s operational facilities in India. "In the past 12 months we have made major inroads into the financial services outsourcing market in US and Raja has been instrumental in driving that growth", said Ananda Mukerji, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI OneSource. "His leadership abilities, combined with the breadth and depth of his operational experience in banking, insurance and other areas, are key assets as we aggressively expand our financial services client base". Mr Gopalkrishanan joined ICICI OneSource in 2002 from BPO services provider EXL Service, Inc, a subsidiary of Conseco. Previously, he held management positions at Bank of America and global banking group ABN AMRO in India. |
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NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Costly wheat, fruit, vegetable and other food items pushed up inflation rate to 5.01 per cent during the week ended October 18, although prices of fuel and manufactured products came down. Inflation rate, which once again breached the 5.0 per cent mark from 4.95 per cent in the previous week, was much higher than 3.01 per cent a year ago. Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based on all commodities, however, remained unchanged at 175.9. The index was at 175.1 a year ago. The final WPI was at 173.8 during week-ended August 23, as against provisional figure of 173.6, while final inflation rate was at 3.82 per cent as against the provisional figure of 3.70 per cent. The overall price level inched up during the week mainly due to 0.8 per cent rise in prices of primary articles although fuel prices were cheaper by 0.7 per cent and manufactured products by 0.1 per cent. The index for primary articles rose 184.1 from 182.7 as food articles became costier by 1.1 per cent while non-food article prices went up by 0.2 per cent. Food article group index rose to 187.3 points from 185.3 due to costlier fish-marine (8.0 per cent), urad, condiments and spices (4.0 per cent each), fruits and vegetables (3.0 per cent), jowar and tea (2.0 per cent each), masur, eggs, arhar, wheat and bajra (1.0 per cent each). However, prices of coffee fell by 8.0 per cent, maize by 2.0 per cent, ragi and barley by 1.0 per cent each. Non-food articles group index rose to 181.6 from 181.3 due to rise in prices of soyabean (4.0 per cent), raw jute, rape and mustard seed (2.0 per cent each), linseed, tobacco, raw rubber and cotton seed (1.0 per cent each). However, sunflower was cheaper by 6.0 per cent, foddar by 3.0 per cent, mesta, groundnut seed and castor seed by 1.0 per cent each. Fuel, power, light and lubricant group index dipped to 253 during the week from 254.8 in the previous week on account of cheaper bitumen (5.0 per cent), high speed diesel oil (3.0 per cent), petrol (2.0 per cent), light diesel oil and furnace oil (1.0 per cent each). The index for manufactured products declined to 155.9 from 156 due to fall in prices of food products, chemicals, rubber and plastic products although textile and non-metallic minerals were costlier. Food products group index dipped by 0.8 per cent to 166.5 from 167.8 due to cheaper processed tea (26 per cent) and oil cakes (5.0 per cent). However, prices went up for gur by 3.0 per cent, while prices of rape, mustard oil and coconut oil was higher by 1.0 per cent each. Rubber and plastic products group index dipped by 1.2 per cent to 134.1 due to cheaper canvas footwear (17 per cent) and giant tyres (2.0 per cent). Chemicals and chemical products index fell by 0.1 per cent to 176.1 as trimethoprim was cheaper by 19 per cent. Textile index rose 1.0 per cent to 129.4 due to costly cotton yarn-hanks (5.0 per cent) and viscose staple fibre (1.0 per cent). However, woolen yarn was cheaper by 1.0 per cent. Cement prices surged by 1.0 per cent to push non-metallic mineral products group index by 0.4 per cent to 145.8. (PTI) |
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Mega project of ‘Sahara City Homes’ launched Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The mega-project of Sahara City Homes, world’s largest chain of 217 cities across India, got underway with ‘bhoomipujan’ at the township of Indore in Madhya Pradesh today. The ‘bhoomipujan’ marks the commencement of building and development activities of the mega-township project undertaken by Sahara Infrastructure & Housing, to provide international class living experiences and residential facilities to the masses, including residential flats, security systems, central parks, shopping and entertainment plazas, schools, hospitals and so on. Sahara City homes-217 cities with a total plan of 7.25 lac houses is likely to generate labour employment worth over Rs 10,494 crore. The estimated direct contribution to the Government will be to the tune of Rs 3,982 cr in terms of Sales Tax alone, in addition Rs 12,148 cr will be paid as the stamp duty & Registration fee by the end of the project. Executive Director Worker Sahara Infrastructure and Housing —Mr I Ahmed while speaking on the occasion said, " it is matter of great pride for us that the start of Sahara city homes, which is our mission has taken place today with Bhoomipujan of Indore. Inspired by the grand vision of Saharasri, Sahara City Homes is all set to revolutionize the modern value added living, by providing a dream life style to its residents. " A highlighting feature of these townships is the enchanting ambience with 55-60 % area dedicated to well-maintained greenery, extensive landscaping and tasteful manicured open spaces. Recreation and entertainment will be provided in all Sahara City Homes with the star attraction being mini-sea-shore, multiplex & water parks, Each city will also boast of a club equipped with indoor game facilities, swimming pool and gymnasium. A huge central park and playground spread over an area of 7 lakh sq ft (app) for outdoor games like cricket, hockey and football is also a common feature in all the cities. Apart from shopping plazas, Sahara city homes will have extensive parking space, separate kids’ park & entertainment zones are added attractions. All these amenities in the walled townships are backed up by well integrated infrastructure and efficient transport facility including petrol filling stations, 12 to 24 mts well lit metallic roads, piped cooking gas (LPG) supply to individual units together with organised civic amenities. Earthquake resistance construction will conform to the norms of Bureau of Indian Standards for earthquake resistance construction . There will be a choice of six type of ranging from one room apartment Varindavani, 2 room —Gandhar, 3 room—Malhar, and 3 room Deepak in G+2 & S+5 Apartments while there are also choices of 5 room and 6 room Duplex houses Bahar & Yamuna. These will be available in the price range of Rs 900-2100 per sq ft, starting from Rs 4.5 lakhs onwards. In J&K only one such city is be developed. With total project cost of Rs 1,24,000 crore, it has another projects under its banner including Rs 34,000 cr Amby Valley Sahara Lake City & Sunderbans project. |
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Luminous launches storage water heaters Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Luminous Electronics Limited, a leading manufacturer of Luminous brand of home-utility and consumer durable products, today announced the launch of storage water heaters. The storage water heater comes with CFC-Free PUF Insulation that results in the ultra-high efficiency. It also makes the water heater fire-resistant, ensures minimum heat loss and keeps the water hot for a longer period of time. The storage water heater from Luminous priced between Rs 3290 to Rs 5690 in a capacity of 6 liters to 35 liters has some unique safety features like Thermal Cut-Out, Pressure Release Valve, Fusible Plugs and Neon Lamps. Its inner tank is made from 99.5 percent pure eletrolytic copper/stainless steel and tested as per BIS specifications equally suitable for soft and hard water. Further it has special direct emersion type, mineral filled, extra long ISI marked heating elements gives the luminous water heater the edge of higher efficiency. Besides these advanced technological features, these come with superior quality durable and rust-proof powder-coated finish that can enliven the locks of the bathrooms. "This range of water heaters reiterates our commitment to deliver the best of the breed products to the consumers at affordable price. The electric geyser comes with remarkable safety features and are designed to suit Indian needs", said Navneet Kapoor, Managing Director, Luminous Electronic Limited. Luminous Electronics Limited set up in 1992, a leading manufacturer of Luminous brand of home utility and consumer durable products. These products are manufactured at a State-of-the-art manufacturing plant located at New Delhi. Luminous products are sold through more than 4000 dealers nationalwide and also exported to over a dozen countries worldwide. The Luminous Electronic Limited has achieved ISO 9001 certification from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) of USA. |
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State Bank of Indore records 128 pc hike in profit INDORE, Oct 31: The State Bank of Indore registered a 128 per cent increase in net profit during this fiscal’s first half, with the figure touching the Rs 85.37-crore mark from Rs 37.50 crore in the corresponding period last year. At a meeting yesterday, the institution’s Chief General Manager R Gopalan informed the board of directors that the operating profit was Rs 258.04 crore, 64.19 per cent more than last year’s Rs 157.16 crore. Total income swelled by 17.92 per cent and reached Rs 693.16 crore as against the previous Rs 587.78 crore. Mr Gopalan said that a major component in total income was Rs 520.14 crore earned from interest. Total deposits crossed the Rs 10,000-crore mark, increasing from Rs 9,216.81 crore as on March 31, 2003 to Rs 10,097.46 crore at the end of Q2. Until the end of September 2003, the bank extended credit amounting to Rs 2,624.09 crore to the priority sector. The ministry of small-scale industries has awarded a trophy, for 2002-3, to the bank for excellence in lending to SSI. (UNI) |
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GDP to grow 7.1 pc in FY04: crisil-ASSOCHAM study NEW DELHI, Oct 31: India’s GDP is projected to grow 7.1 per cent this fiscal with the average inflation rate at 4.8 per cent, according to a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) and crisil centre for economic research. The study pegged the GDP growth rate of agriculture at 7.3 per cent, industrial 6.3 per cent and services at 7.5 per cent. "The rebound in agriculture is matched by steady performance on the industrial front. In FY03, industry grew at 6 per cent despite the huge negative swing in agriculture. "This is because it was driven by a construction boom, which in turn was propelled by two factors. Falling interest rates contributed to the huge rise in demand for housing, while the implementation of the highways development programme represented a welcome return of public capital spending," the study said. The study said that apart from favourable long-term consequences, its immediate impact would be to boost demand for a variety of manufactured goods. "Being particularly labour-intensive, construction also has the advantage of generating income at the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder, which helps fuel demand for mass consumption goods. "While these factors have pleatued this year, they continue to provide enough ballast for the industrial sector to maintain reasonable, although not spectacular, rates of growth," it said. Services seem to be maintaining course, unperturbed by the swings in agriculture and industry. Last year, a noticeable decline in the inflation rate for services contributed to the buoyancy in demand for services this year, services inflation seems to be catching up with the rest of the economy and is therefore likely to dampen growth somewhat. Nevertheless, it will remain the fastest growing segment of the economy, the study said. "Inflation rates were rising through the second half of FY03, driven by commodity prices as a consequence of the monsoons and oil prices due to the conflict in Iraq. "Both these factors are docile now. Commodity prices should come down following this year’ s monsoons and, while oil prices are not very low, there are no expectations of significant increases. "It has expected the average inflation rate for FY04 to be 4.8 per cent, with the end of the year rate being 2.9 per cent,"according to the study. It said lower interest rates provided a double dividend to government finances. "Obviously, its own interest payments decline. However, in addition to this, lower interest rates this year have contributed significantly to the taxable profits of the corporate sector, which has been performing well in terms of sales and earnings across a range of sectors. "The consequence has been a surge in direct tax collections, with no surprises expected on the expenditure front, the fiscal deficit is not likely to overshoot the budget estimates of 5.6 per cent by very much in fact, the entire difference between our forecast and the budget estimate can be explained by a shortfall in disinvestment proceeds, which will miss the target by a large amount," it said. The study expected interest rates to remain at current levels for the rest of the year the monetary policy announcement on November 3 may push the short end of the yield curve down somewhat, but yields at the long run are extremely low and an upward correction is likely. "Risk promises as measured by the interest rate differentials between higher-rated and lower-rated corporate bonds, have shown a narrowing during FY04." On the recent appreciation of the rupee, it said, "however, while the forces of appreciation are still significant, there are also signs that counter-forces are emerging. "FII holdings are now virtually exclusively in equity and their end-of-year profit taking will see increased demand for foreign currency. Exports are slowing down, while imports are keeping pace with the industrial recovery, leading to a rebalancing of the current account. "Obvious arbitrate opportunities, like non-resident deposit schemes, have been capped. And, US interest rates are likely to move up, driven by a combination of economic recovery and increased government borrowing." The study expected the rupee to remain in the range of Rs 45-46 to the US dollar in the current monetary and interest rate scenario. (UNI) |
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Israel renews contacts with Palestinians: Report JERUSALEM, Oct 31: After nearly three months of a complete freeze in the peace process, Israel is renewing its contacts with the Palestinians, Israel radio reported today morning. The report said Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz would meet with senior Palestinian officials as early as next week. The radio quoted a senior Government official in Jerusalem as saying Israel would take steps to enable Palestinian premier Ahmed Qureia to consolidate his Government, but make no compromise on security matters. The report came after premier Ariel Sharon said last night in tel Aviv that Israel was willing to resume talks with the Palestinians. "Israel is standing at the opening of a new opportunity," he was quoted as saying. Israel had previously said it would not deal with any Government which Palestinian President Yasser Arafat continued to control behind the scenes. On Tuesday, Qureia accepted a request by Arafat to form a new Government. The term of the one-month emergency mini-cabinet he heads expires on November 4. Israeli-Palestinian talks were broken off following teh August 19 suicide attack on a Jerusalem bus which killed more than 20 people. (DPA) |
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PCCW seeks HK 4 bln refinancing loan—basis point HONG KONG, Oct 31: PCCW-HKT Telephone Ltd is seeking HK 4 billion ( 512.8 million) in debt financing, two months after closing its last deal, debt market news service basis point said on Friday. PCCW-HKT, the main operating unit of Hong Kong’s dominant fixed-line carrier PCCW Ltd, has sent indicative term sheets to banks, asking for a HK 4 billion, five-year revolving credit, said basis point. Officials from pccw were not immediately available for comment. Banks were tight-lipped about the pricing, but the borrower was rumoured to be asking for a mandated price in the low- to mid-60 basis points, basis point said. Among the banks rumoured to be considering the deal were bank of east Asia, Bayerische Landesbank and HSBC, it added. The funds would be used to refinance outstanding bilateral loans. PCCW-HKT completed a HK 2.8 billion, two-tranche deal in August — a HK 1.4 billion, seven-year loan and a HK 1.4 billion, seven-year revolving credit. PCCW, which has net debt of about 3.8 billion, incurred its debt when it bought the city’s former monopoly fixed-line carrier, Hongkong Telecom Co Ltd, for 28.5 billion in 2000. PCCW shares were down 0.88 percent to HK 5.6 by Friday midday. (AGENCIES) |
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Chongtong tea estate declares lock out DARJEELING, Oct 31: Barely 24 hours after suspension of work in the Glenburn tea estate, the Chongtong tea garden in Darjeeling was declared locked out by the management from yesterday, according to Tea Board of India sources. The Chongtong tea garden management put up a notice at the gate declaring the lock out. The reason was not mentioned, the sources said. After three days of holiday, the workers were supposed to join work on Wednesday but they did not turn up. This might have forced the management to declare a lock out, the sources said. The Glenburn Tea estate at Runglee Rungliot was also under suspension of work from Wednesday after two officials were manhandled and confined last week. Efforts were on by the district administration to reopen the two gardens, sources said. Workers of these gardens in Kurseong staged a demonstration in front of the sub-divisional office demanding reopening the gardens. Though the Sephoydhura garden was not declared locked out, over the past two years the garden often remained closed. The Jogmaya garden has been closed since September 12. Kurseong SDO B Das Gupta has assured the workers that he would take initiative with the management to reopen the closed tea estates. (UNI). Inflation rate to be below 5 pc this year: Dr Lahiri NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The Government today said there was no need for concern at the rising inflation rate and expected it would turn soft in the the coming months. "We expect the inflation rate to decelerate and hope it to be below the five per cent this year," Finance Ministry Chief Economic Adviser Ashok Lahiri said. Speaking at a seminar ‘Indian economy 2003-04: a stocktaking’ organised by ASSOCHAM, Dr Lahiri said many enabling factors were there which would lead to a fall in the inflation rate. The Reserve Bank of India expects inflation to be in the range of 5-5.5 per cent during this fiscal. The inflation rate, which slid below the five per cent mark at 4.95 per cent during the week ended October 11, yet again moved up for the week ending October 18, touching 5.01 per cent. On April 6, it had touched this fiscal’s high at 6.47 per cent before dropping down to 3.70 per cent in late August. However, in September-October it again moved up, hovering around the 5 per cent mark. (UNI) |
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