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| Mehr Cements appoints Ram Mohd as distributor for Mishriwala Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 20: Mehr Cements Pvt Ltd announced Mr Ram Mohd as distributor of Trikuta Cement at Khajuria Cement Store, Mishriwala. S Gurbachan Singh......more Syndicate bank net profit increases by 50.79 pc BANGALORE, Oct 20: Public sector Syndicate bank has registered a net profit of Rs 216.45 crore.....more BEL
expecting MACHILIPATNAM, (AP), Oct 20: Public sector Bharat Electronics Limited is expecting a further order of Rs 300 crore...more Malaysia’s outspoken PM hits rich nations at APEC BANGKOK, Oct 20: Malaysia’s outspoken Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, under fire for his recent comments.....more |
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J&K Bank launches Global Access Card Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 20: The Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited today launched "J&K Bank Global Access Card" in association with Master Card International.......more JPC
queries differences NEW DELHI, Oct 20: The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI),......more BSSL eyeing Rs 3000 cr turnover in 2 yrs NEW DELHI, Oct 20: The Rs 1,262-crore Bhushan Steel and Strips Ltd (BSSL) is aiming to double its revenue in two years....more European
shares LONDON, Oct 20; European shares were little changed early on Monday, although Novartis fell after the Swiss drug firm reported...more |
Mehr Cements appoints Ram Mohd
as Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 20: Mehr Cements Pvt Ltd announced Mr Ram Mohd as distributor of Trikuta Cement at Khajuria Cement Store, Mishriwala. S Gurbachan Singh was the chief guest of the function which was presided over by Mr T R Sharma (Company Manager), Sanjeev Pandey (Quality Control). Around 50 gifts were distributed among masons and local contractors of Bhalwal and Marh blocks. Later Mr Ram Mohd announced to give "Mason of the year" award on March 31, 2004, which will be elected by the committee for best performance. He also spoke about the quality and strength of Trikuta Cement. People praised Mr Ranjit Malhotra, MD/Proprietor of Trikuta Cement for establishing a Large Cement Plant in the area giving employment to hundreds of unemployed youth. The meeting was organized by Mehr Cements Private Limited. |
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Syndicate bank net profit increases by 50.79 pc BANGALORE, Oct 20: Public sector Syndicate bank has registered a net profit of Rs 216.45 crore during the half year ended September 30, 2003, an increase of 50.79 per cent over the corresponding period last year. The operating profit of the bank has recorded an increase of 67.85 per cent and it stood at Rs 442.91 crore as compared to Rs 265.80 crore during the same period previous year. The global business of the bank has reached a level of Rs 49,443 crore, while the domestic deposits increased by about 12.53 per cent and stood at Rs 30,963 crore as against Rs 27,384 crore during the corresponding period last year. The bank’s board, which met here, has decided to pay an interim dividend of 10 per cent subject to approval of the Reserve Bank of India. The cost of funds at 4.37 per cent and cost of deposit at 5.29 per cent was one of the lowest in the industry on account of high percentage of low cost deposits which have grown by 1.07 per cent to reach 39.18 per cent, according to a release here today. The capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.40 per cent as against 11.03 per cent as on March 2003. (UNI) |
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BEL expecting Rs 300 cr order for TIS from Defence Ministry MACHILIPATNAM, (AP), Oct 20: Public sector Bharat Electronics Limited is expecting a further order of Rs 300 crore from the Defence Ministry for supply of Thermal Imagers Systems (TIS) very soon. Already, the company had supplied Rs 150 crore worth TIS, which play a very vital role in detection of the enemy target during dark nights within range of five to 25 Km, company general manager, Machilipatnam unit, K Babu Rao told UNI here yesterday. TI (Bemt-0109 ), manufactured here, is a light-weight, hand-held, battery-powered thermal imaging camera, shaped and operated like a field binoculars and it uses the latest techonology for providing "sight in the night". TI extends vision beyond the visible wavelength into the far Infra Red (IR) by making visible the radiant energy of naturally emitted objects. The target is the object of interest which is to be detected, recognised and identified. The radiation from the target, after passing through the earth’s atmosphere, is picked up by the ir spectral wavelengths. TI gathers the IR radiation from the target. The opto mechanical scanner scans the scene in such a way that the detector dissects the image sequentially and completely. The detector senses the ir radiation received from the scanner and converts it into an electrical signal. In military IR applications, Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) detector offer greater versatility compared to other detectors as they can be used over a wide range of wavelength. MCT sensors are to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures (liquid nitrogen temperatures) for high efficiency and low noise performance. The output of the detector provides a measure of the temperature of the object in the scene. The signal and image processing system converts these signals into images that can be seen on the visual display. TI also provides "vision" even in total darkness and in extreme hostile conditions. Unlike radar, a TI system does not radiate any signal and it is "undetectable" (passive). This advantage of the TI system far outweighs all other advantages of alternative technologies. The Machilipatnam unit has obtained world record in manufacturing of TI, which was recently examined by the Indian Army Chief. The Machilipatnam unit, which has a workforce of 420 and had a turnover of Rs 275 crore last year, is ranked third among the nine units of the BEL. Mr Rao said that the company spent five per cent of its profits on research and development every year. In connection with the golden jubilee of the company, the general manager announced Rs 10 lakh for Kuchipudi Siddhendra Kalakshetram for the development of the art. BEL, which supplied equipment and components for the defence services and public sector organisations like Prasar Bharathi, BSNL and ISRO, had a turnover of Rs 2570 crore last year. (UNI) |
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Malaysia’s outspoken PM hits rich nations at APEC BANGKOK, Oct 20: Malaysia’s outspoken Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, under fire for his recent comments on jews, took a swipe at rich nations today for seeking to exploit the developing world through unfair trade deals. Mahathir, attending his last major summit before retiring after 22 years in power, said global trade talks collapsed last month because the agenda favoured wealthy western countries. "We are ready to be exploited, but we must be fairly exploited," he told business leaders meeting on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok. The frequently controversial Malaysian leader made no reference to the firestorm sparked by his remark last week that a Jewish lobby controlled western powers. The White House denounced his comments as "hate-filled" today US. President George W Bush and Mahathir were expected to be in the same room at a session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and there were indications bush might publicly condemn the remarks. Mahathir provoked an outcry when he told an Islamic summit last week that the Jewish people had an influence in the world that far outweighed their numbers. "The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy," Mahathir said. The United States, Israel and the European union accused Mahathir of anti-semitism, prompting him to fire back a charge of double standards last week. "It’s not the first time that he’s made outrageous remarks, and those remarks were hate-filled remarks," White House spokesman Scott Mcclellan told reporters covering Bush’s visit. "People of all faiths should condemn those outrageous remarks," he said today. Mahathir, known commonly at home as the "old man", was born under British Colonial rule and has been haunted by the fear that Malaysia could slip back into economic re-colonisation. Mahathir today compared the push for global free trade to the colonial era when rich countries used military force to secure trading rights from the developing world. "Today, we cannot really send gunboats to ensure that we can trade with the nation. So we have the WTO and an agenda of interest to the people who proposed the agenda, namely the rich countries," he said. APEC leaders meeting today and tomorrow in Bangkok are expected to throw their weight behind measures to restart the so-called Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks. Several members of APEC were among the developed and developing countries that clashed bitterly in Cancun, Mexico, last month over how to pull down trade barriers. "We have been haggling over the agenda for some time and we in the developing countries find that we are losing out," Mahathir said. "The stress should be fair trade, rather than free trade. Fair trade can be free, but free trade can be unfair," he added. Using South Korea as a blueprint, Mahathir transformed Malaysia from an agrarian backwater into one of the world’s top 20 trading nations, with a national auto industry and major exports of tin, rubber and other commodities. Mahathir, who spent his career courting foreign capital to fuel his country’s rapid industrialisation, chided business leaders for seeking free access "to every corner of the globe". "There is this thing called national pride," he said. "We would like to own something of our own. We would like to have a small automobile industry and be able to say, look this car was built by us." (AGENCIES) |
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J&K Bank launches Global Access Card Excelsior Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 20: The Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited today launched "J&K Bank Global Access Card" in association with Master Card International. The card is a debit-cum- ATM Card and provides on-line access to savings and current accounts. State’s Finance Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Baig launched this card at an impressive function held here. The Minister also inaugurated two branches at Mayur Vihar and Vikas Marg. Present on the occasion were J&K Bank Chairman, Mr MY Khan and Mr Nitin Gupta, General Manager Master card International. Speaking on the occasion , Mr Khan said that "it is our constant endeavor to offer World Class IT oriented products and services to the customers including the latest convenient delivery channels". This card, Mr Khan said will have a vide accessibility and acceptability in the country and abroad and around 60,000 point of sale terminals available at merchant establishments across the country and eight million worldwide besides 4700 ATMs in the country and eight lakh ATMs globally. In his speech, Mr Nitin Gupta said that " Mastero offers card holders the benefit of convenience, reach and control over money". He said that J&K Bank Global Access Card offers high value features including global validity, additional security features with PIN, no annual fee or transaction fee at JK Bank ATM’s and no transaction fee at Merchant Establishments. |
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JPC queries differences in results of CFTRI and CFI with CSE NEW DELHI, Oct 20: The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, and Central Food Laboratory (CFI), Kolkata, were today asked by the JPC to explain why their sample test results on pesticide residues in soft drinks were at variance with the ones conducts by the centre for science and environment. The officials of the two institutes told the JPC, looking into the pesticide residues in soft drinks and other products containing water, that they were not the same samples that were tested by the CSE, sources said. Following the observation by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) that pesticide level in water in soft drinks in India were high, two sets of samples were sent to CFTRI and CFI for analysis. Both the laboratories observed that Malathion, which was alleged to be 87 times the EU limit as per the CSE report, was found to be totally absent in all the samples. Health Minister Sushma Swaraj had told Parliament that following the CSE report, Government collected samples for analysis from the market for the 12 brands of soft drinks belonging to the same bottling units from which CSE had collected the samples. CFTRI reported that out of 12 samples, pesticide residues were below the EU limits in three samples. In the remaining nine, they were found above the limits. An analysis on the number of times the residues are higher varying from 1.2. To 5.22. (PTI) |
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BSSL eyeing Rs 3000 cr turnover in 2 yrs NEW DELHI, Oct 20: The Rs 1,262-crore Bhushan Steel and Strips Ltd (BSSL) is aiming to double its revenue in two years and achieve a turnover of Rs 3,000 crore by 2004-05 on the back of increased production and steel exports through its recently-commissioned plant at Khopoli near Mumbai. With the commissioning of the state-of-the-art new facility at Khopoli in August, Bhushan is planning to produce 2.5 lakh tonnes of steel in the first phase of operation and increase the production level up to five lakh tonnes. "At present, 40 per cent of the new facility is functional and we expect its complete commissioning by March next. In the first six months of its operation, we hope a business worth Rs 300 crore. "When the Rs 486-crore plant gets fully operational, its turnover will be around Rs 800 crore," BSSL Executive Director V R Sharma told UNI. The new plant will produce CRCA coils and sheets, galvanized coils and sheets, precision tubes, ERW tubes and CDW (cold drawn) for automobile applications. BSSL, through its Sahibabad plant in Uttar Pradesh, produces five lakh tonnes steel and 20 per cent of this is exported to USA, China, the Gulf, South Asian and African countries. "Our turnover from the Sahibabad plant will rise to Rs 1,600 crore this fiscal from the present Rs 1,262 crore," he said. Mr Sharma pointed out that the Khopoli plant will make the company’s exports more attractive as the company has decided to export 60 per cent of the total production. Bhushan steel, which increased exports from Rs 140 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 300 crore in the last fiscal, will raise exports to Rs 450 crore by the end of current financial year, he said adding that the company has already exported steel worth Rs 126 crore in the first half of this fiscal. Besides, Mr Sharma pointed out, the company is exploring the possibilities for expanding marketing network for its specialised steel products across the globe. Asked about the possible tie-up with German steel major Martin-Miller, the BSSL Exeutive Director said, "we are in talks with Martin Miller to enter into an allaince for technical collaboration next month. We have worked out modalities and modus operandi of the strategic tie-up. The formation of the joint venture is in the final stages." Under the alliance, Martin Miller will provide technical know how to BSSL on a royalty basis. With this alliance, Bhushan steel will have an edge over other competitiors by having world class technical expertise and it will open new business avenues for the domestic company by capturing new clients, Mr Sharma added. BSSL, which had a six-year technical collaboration with Sumitomo Metal Industries (SMI) of Japan from 1997 to 2003, has extended its allinace for the next six years with smi — a 10 billion dollar company having a capacity to produce 11 million tonnes steel annually. Under the Japanese alliance, he explained, Sumitomo shall further extend to BSSL the process know-how for manufacturing automotive steel sheets and also supply hot rolled coils for producing CRCA for the automotive industry. "With increasing volumes from the two plants, BSSL needs a back-up. So, we will go in for backward integration by venturing into hot rolled projects," he added. (UNI) |
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European shares flat Novartis off, Peugeot gains LONDON, Oct 20; European shares were little changed early on Monday, although Novartis fell after the Swiss drug firm reported in-line quarterly numbers but said operating margins will dip this year. French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen rose smartly even though it warned on profits for the second time in three months on Monday and posted a dip in quarterly turnover as it battles a rocky auto market and the impact of a strong euro. Dealers said a profit warning had been anticipated to some extent. Deutsche Telekom shares also gained after Europe’s biggest telecoms carrier was quoted as saying it expected core profits to come in slightly higher than earlier targeted. Legal General, the UK life assurer, advanced after posting an eight percent rise in third-quarter sales and said market conditions were steadily improving. By 0710 GMT, the FTSE eurotop 300 index was flat at 916 points. Recently, the pan-european blue-chip benchmark has been trying to match its 8-1/2 month high of around 931 points reached in early September. The narrower DJ euro stoxx 50 index shed 0.13 percent to 2,547 points. In the media sector, UK broadcaster Carlton came out in support of its beleaguered chairman Michael Green, the target of shareholders who want an independent chairman after Carlton Merges with Granada. Carlton said it "regrets it is unable to comply" with requests to replace green as the chairman designate of the merged Carlton and Granada, which will be called ITV PLV. Shares in both firms were unchanged. Meanwhile, shares in transiciel were suspended pending a statement. A French newspaper reported that computer services group cap Gemini was poised to make a takeover bid for transiciel. Cap Gemini shares were also suspended. (AGENCIES) |
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Reduce tariff- railways, defence tell MERC MUMBAI, Oct 20: The railways and defence establishments today urged Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to reduce the tariff of the costly electricity supplied by Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) to a reasonable level. During the public hearing on the proposed tariff revision of MSEB and other utilities in Maharashtra for 2003-04, Mr R J Mehrotra, a senior electrical engineer of central railways, told MERC’s three-member bench, chaired by P Subramanian, that MSEB has proposed to supply power to the railways at the rate of Rs 4.40 per unit which is 157.3 per cent more than the cost of power purchased from Central Government agencies. Whereas, Mr Mehrotra said that the MSEB in its tariff revision proposal has projected to buy power from central generating agencies - NTPC and NPC - at the cost of Rs 2.05 per unit. "A reasonable amount of profit can be added to fix the railway tariff," he said. The senior railway official said that the electricity tariff should be brought down in the interest of railway travellers. Referring to the cross subsidy, Mr Mehrotra said that it has been worked out that cross subsidy for railway is being increased to Rs 111.72 crore in the proposed tariff as against Rs 97.13 crore in the year 2002-03. While the "Electricity Act 2003 stipulates gradual reduction in cross subsidy, the component has been increased", he pointed out. He drew the attention of the MERC members that that as per the Electricity Act 2003, railways could buy power from central Government agencies after adding wheeling charges and surchages towards subsidy. . Presenting the case of railways before MERC, Mr Mehrotra said that railway consumes 2.45 per cent of the MSEB’s total unit sold, revenue generation is 3.40 per cent of the total revenue earned by the board during the year 2002-03. Similarly, he said that the overall Transmission and Distribution (TD) losses of the board is 38.59 per cent as against 6.6 per cent TD losses of the railways. Arguing on behalf of Miliary Engineering Service (MES), responsible for developing infrastructure for defence, Brigadier V K Sharma, Chief Engineer of Navy said that MSEB need to reduce power tariff supplied to MES by around Re 1 per unit. He said that MSEB supplies electricity to MES in different place ranging from Rs 2.2 to Rs 3.5 per unit. Stating the reduction of tariff would enable MES to save Rs 4.17 crore annually, Brigadiar Sharma said that the TD losses charges should be passed to defence establishments as MSEB is a bulk supplier to the MES. And, MES supplies electricity to the different category of consumers, he said. Brigadier Sharma said that MES supplies electricity to domestic, hospitals and workshops free of cost, which is almost 80 per cent. He said that good and reliable supply of power to the defence establishments is necessary for safeguard of the country. He said that MES can be a separate distribution licensee in the defence area under the new Electricity Act. Among others, the representatives of farmers associations, industry associations and consumers associations also spoke on this occasion. Earlier, merc held public hearings in Nagpur and Pune on the MSEB’s tariff revision proposal for 2003-04. (UNI) |
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$10 bn trade target with china well within reach: Jaitley NEW DELHI, Oct 20; Buoyed by growth in bilateral trade with China during the first eight months this year, Government today exuded confidence in achieving the 10 billion dollars target set for next year. "When the Indian and Chinese premiers set the target of 10 billion dollars of bilateral trade recently, it seemed ambitious, but now it is well within reach. By the end of this calender year, bilateral trade will reach seven billion dollars," Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley said. Bilateral trade with China grew to five billion dollars last year from two billion dollars earlier, and it would reach 10 billion dollars next year, he told reporters after addressing a joint meeting of Indo-Romanian commission. The minister, who returned from China recently after inaugurating a ‘Made-in-India’ show there, said 71 investment proposals were being considered by Beijing. Asked about the fears being raised by the domestic auto component manufacturers with regard to the free trade agreement, he said "all issues are being taken care of but the idea is to give a fillip to the trade. By 2011, when the agreement comes into effect, the auto ancillary industry would have grown much bigger". Many multi-national auto makers have set shop in India, and they largely source components from domestic component makers. The Indian Auto Ancillary Industry has progressed so well that there was no need to fear, he added. (PTI) |
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IMF affirms S Korea economy to recover from yr-end SEOUL, Oct 20: The International Monetary Fund representative in Seoul reaffirmed on Monday its view that South Korea’s economy was likely to recover toward the end of this year after recent slow growth, hit by weak consumption. Kenneth Kang said South Korea’s gross domestic product growth rate was expected to recover to 4.5 to 5.0 percent next year after posting a much lower 2.5 percent rise this year. South Korea’s 2002 GDP was up 6.3 percent on the previous full year. "Based on our most recent world economic outlook, we expect the economy to begin to recover toward the end of this year, led by exports and stabilisation in consumption," Kang told reporters. Kang met reporters on Monday to explain a planned bi-annual policy consultative meeting between the IMF and the South Korean Government from November 5 to 18. In an interview , President Roh Moo-Hyun also said on Friday the economy, the fourth-largest in Asia, had bottomed out and was set for recovery toward the end of this year or early next year. Kang said the IMF might present fresh views on the South Korean economy, which slipped into its first recession in five years in the first half, after the meeting ended. Last week the Central Bank, an influential Government think-tank and the World Bank separately downgraded their forecasts for South Korea’s GDP growth this year to as low as 2.6 percent. (AGENCIES) Petronas targets
Indonesia’s downstream JAKARTA, Oct 20: Malaysia’s state-owned Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) plans to invest 100 million dollars a year to enter Indonesia’s downstream petroleum sector, news reports said on Monday. "The downstream sector is our long term target in Indonesia ... We plan to spend more than 100 million each year here to support our downstream business," Petronas President Hasan Marican said. Marican made the announcement on sunday after presiding over the launch of its syntium and sprinta brand engine lubricating oils on the Indonesian market, reported the Jakarta Post. The launch marked Petronas’s first step into Indonesia’s downstream petroleum sector - comprising crude oil processing, fuel transportation, storage and distribution - which is scheduled to be liberalized next year. Under Indonesia’s oil and gas law passed in 2001, the country’s state-owned Pertamina National Petroleum Company will lose its current monopoly on domestic fuel distribution in November, 2005. "We have expressed our interest in the fuel station business and we have agreed to use Pertamina’s products," said Marican, who added that Petronas had already made similar investments in the downstream petroleum sector in South Africa. (DPA) |
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