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| BPO backlash not to last long, says Wisner MUMBAI, Aug 5: Former US Ambassador to India and American International Group External Affairs vice president........more P G inks
pact with NEW DELHI, Aug 5: US-based procter and gamble has tied up with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.......more Inflation
has peaked: MUMBAI, Aug 5: Hinting at a reduction in pressure on prices, Chief Economic Advisor to the Union Government Ashok....more NTPC
billing NEW DELHI, Aug 5: National Thermal Power Corporation, facing non-payment of bills by a few states two-three years.....more |
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OVL-GAIL eye 50 pc stake of Daewoo in Myanmar gas block NEW DELHI, Aug 5: ONGC Videsh-GAIL India Consortium, which holds 30 per cent interest in recently-discovered gas.......more Ranbaxy
starts NEW DELHI, Aug 5: After the World Health Organisation’s decision to remove three generic......more Gold
loans, small MUMBAI, Aug 5: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the applicability of the....more Sony
suspends CTV NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Close on the heels of shutting down its audio manufacturing unit, consumer electronics firm Sony......more |
BPO backlash not to last long, says Wisner MUMBAI, Aug 5: Former US Ambassador to India and American International Group External Affairs vice president Frank G Wisner has clarified that the backlash on the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is not going to last long. The US business recognises outsourcing as essential if costs are to be contained and profits are to be maintained, Mr Wisner said while speaking on the sidelines of the Lalit Doshi memorial lecture here today. Mr Wisner pointed out that the debate on BPO promises to be hot and it is very political and will outlast national elections. Asked about the us legislation plans to curb outsourcing of jobs to India or other foreign countries, Mr Wisner said that there is no such serious move to pass legislation against BPO. But, he admitted, they were considering ways to check the outsourcing process. "There was no legislation to best of my knowledge passed by the states of America to curb outsourcing. But this cannot be the scenario for ever," he told UNI. Shrugging of the political stunts against the outsouring the jobs to India or other foreign countries, the former US Ambassador clarified that he personally favoured BPO. "As a test of what lies ahead, we are faced with the most serious issue in the history of our trade ties - the American debate over offshore outsourcing. It is one issue over which washington and New Delhi have little direct control. In the end, I believe Americans will move on and the logic of free markets will prevail," Mr Wisner noted during his lecture. Mr Wisner also said that Indians who have a stake in the outsourcing industry, must consider carefully how to associate themselves with the United States. "For outsourcing companies, as well as India’s top corporations, there are investment opportunities in the American market. To profit, one should invest there and be part of America’s growth," he added. In his lecture, Mr Wisner argued for an Indo-US free trade regime in services and said that a full trade agreement is too complex to negotiate for the moment, given national preoccupations with textile and agriculture. "A free trade agreement in services is a bold, new idea, not hitherto attempted. It would play to national strengths - Indian capacities in information and biotechnologies and American complimentary strengths in these fields, as well as in financial services, retailing, distribution and professional services like law, accounting," Mr Wisner added. (UNI) |
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P G inks pact with CSIR for collaborative research NEW DELHI, Aug 5: US-based procter and gamble has tied up with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to support acceleration of its ‘connect and develop’ (C"D) strategy for collaborative research launched in India in September 2003. The strategic partnership will lead to a range of collaborative research, using the rich and varied expertise of both organisations for mutual benefit, in beauty care, healthcare and fabric and home care among others. The letter of intent was signed by P G vice president (research and development) Shekhar Mitra and CSIR Director-General R A Mashelkar here. "We are confident that our partnership with CSIR and the combination of our two institution’s knowledge resource will help us create breakthrough innovations. CSIR’s strengths and experience will expand our ability to tap into new, breakthrough technologies and product opportunities that better serve the needs of our global consumers," Dr Mitra said in a statement. Dr Mashelkar said, "with this tie-up, we look forward to providing even greater value to P G in the field of research and technology in products and services." P G’s connect and develop programme was launched with the aim of exploring external collaborations to meet its global innovation and knowledge needs. "The vision of C"D is to help enhance existing global R and D strength through strategic collaborations and deliver superior products, cost effectively to consumers," the statement added. The 50 billion dollar P G is establishing a connect and develop hub in Bangalore to help develop collaborative partnerships with various Indian organisations, including research laboratories, academic institutions and companies. P G believes that India’s intellectual capital, technical and scientific expertise, and its world-class centers of excellence create a unique opportunity to accelerate its innovation capability. (UNI) |
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Inflation has peaked: Ashok Lahiri MUMBAI, Aug 5: Hinting at a reduction in pressure on prices, Chief Economic Advisor to the Union Government Ashok Lahiri today said "inflation has peaked" and the recent rains will have a beneficial impact on the economy. Lahiri, who is here to attend the board meeting of securities and Exchange Board of India, said "it (inflation) has peaked". Inflation, which was on the rise in the previous three weeks, remained static at 6.52 per cent for the week ended July 17. The Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor, Rakesh Mohan, however, had said last week that the Apex Bank was not changing the inflation forecast of around five per cent as announced in the annual policy for 2004-05. He also said that there was an evidence of (global) commodity prices moderating. When asked about the impact of the recent rains, Lahiri said "it is good". "The sowing for the current crop season has been delayed only in a few areas as per the latest information available", he added. (PTI) |
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NTPC billing collection soars to 100 pc NEW DELHI, Aug 5: National Thermal Power Corporation, facing non-payment of bills by a few states two-three years back, has received all the money in the last 8-9 months, raising its corpus by Rs 7,000 crore, a key official said. Some states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have not defaulted on their payments to the NTPC since December last year, Additional Power Secretary Ajay Shanker said. This would help the Government utility execute its pending power diversification drive, Mr Shanker said. The power official said the percentage of the transmission and distribution losses have also been curtailed during the period, adding to the revenue collections of NTPC, he said. The company is also coming out with an IPO of up to Rs 2,000 crore by mid-September which would further add to its expansion drive. The NTPC management also improved its generating efficiency by introducing the required technical modifications in its generating plants all over the country. On the issue of the private sector participation in power generation, Mr Shanker said at an ASSOCHAM-sponsored seminar here that the Government will keep relying on its power producing utilities rather than hoping for higher private investments. (UNI) |
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OVL-GAIL eye 50 pc stake of
Daewoo in NEW DELHI, Aug 5: ONGC Videsh-GAIL India Consortium, which holds 30 per cent interest in recently-discovered gas field in offshore Myanmar, is eyeing 50 per cent stake of South Korean Daewoo International in an adjacent gas block. A team of senior officials from GAIL and OVL visited Yangon earlier this week to persuade the Myanmar Government to allocate them half of Daewoo’s 100 per cent holding in the A-3 block, which was recently awarded to the Korean firm. Block A-3 is adjacent to block A-1, where Daewoo-OVL-GAIL Consortium had made the shew (gold) discovery that had initial estimated recoverable reserves of between 4 trillion and 6 trillion cubic feet of gas and expect to find a further 7-12 TCF. "We are keen on a stake in A-3 block as gas from the two blocks can be tied to make transporting it in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by ships to India economically attractive," senior Government officials said. New Delhi is considering liquefying natural gas found in Myanmar at 160 degrees and then shipping it in special tankers as it received lukewarm response from Dhaka to the earlier proposal of laying a pipeline from Myanmar to India via Bangladesh for transporting its share of gas in A-1. "If our share from Myanmar is 10 million standard cubic meters per day, then shipping the gas as lng would become economically viable," the officials said adding value-added products like c2/c3 and LNG can be extracted at Myanmar port before shipping the lean gas. Yangon has not yet responded on the matter. The 6780 sq-km block A-3 is believed to hold similar resources to A-1, in which ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of oil and natural gas corp, is a 20 per cent partner. Gas utility GAIL has 10 per cent stake. Drilling in the block is slated to begin in 2006 after seismic studies, officials said. "A combined liquefication plant for blocks A-1 and A-3 can be set up and LNG exported to India, Japan and Korea. If Myanmar consents, construction of LNG facility may start by 2007," they said. India is prepared to invest in an LNG project in Myanmar provided the gas reserves are sufficient to justify it. Both LNG and value-added C2/C3 and LPG can be shipped to east cost of India. Meanwhile, Daewoo and its co-venturers are working towards bringing on stream gas in block A-1 by 2009 following appraisal work and additional exploration due to be completed by the end of next year. Daewoo (60 per cent), OVL (20 per cent), kogas of Korea (10 per cent) and GAIL (10 per cent) plan to spend 40 million dollar on drilling programme that involves drilling eight appraisal and exploration wells between October and March 2005. "Two other potentially giant structures, understood to be named Shew Phyu and NGWE, have been identified and these are expected to be drilled as part of the upcoming project," the officials said. (PTI) |
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Ranbaxy starts new tests after
WHO removes NEW DELHI, Aug 5: After the World Health Organisation’s decision to remove three generic HIV/AIDS drugs of Ranbaxy labs from its recommended list due to quality concerns, India’s top drugmaker today said it had started new equivalence studies and suspended business with the independent laboratory that carried out the original tests. The WHO said, in a statement yesterday, Ranbaxy has not proved that the medicines are biologically equivalent to patented drugs. The Geneva-based UN agency said it was dropping the three Ranbaxy products because the laboratory, which had carried out bioequivalence studies, did not meet international standards of good clinical and laboratory practices. The antiretrovirals in question are a triple-combination pill containing lamivudine, stavudine and nevirapine in two different strengths and a tablet of lamivudine plus zidovudine. The three medicines from Ranbaxy will not be reinstated until the company submits data from new studies providing "unequivocal evidence" of bioequivalence with the originals, the who said. Reacting to it, Ranbaxy said it was working to address the issue by carrying out new tests. The Indian pharma major said an audit was carried out recently by who on an independent Contract Research Organisation (CRO) in India, which conducts bio-equivalence studies for many international pharmaceutical companies. During the audit, certain anomalies were observed in data handling and non-compliance with good clinical and laboratory practices relating to the bio-equivalence studies carried out by the CRO on three of company’s Anti Retro Virals (ARV). "While these anomalies are investigated, all further outsourcing work to this CRO has been suspended by the company," Ranbaxy added. Besides initiating work on new bio-equivalence studies on these three products, Ranbaxy said it is also providing all necessary cooperation to WHO on its HIV franchise. The WHO decision is a setback for Ranbaxy, which recently announced plans to file its anti-AIDS drugs with the US Food and Drug Administration under a new fast-track approval scheme before the end of 2004.(PTI) |
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Gold loans, small loans brought under 90-day NPA norm MUMBAI, Aug 5: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the applicability of the 90-day loan impairment norm to gold loans and small loans up to Rs 1 lakh with effect from the year ending March 31, 2005. In a circular to the Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs), RBI said that these institutions would be required to classify an asset as non-performing if interest and installment of principal remain overdue for a period of more than 90 days without any exception. The decision was taken with a view to strengthening the financial health of the UCBs and achieving regulatory convergence of the prudential norms applicable to various players in the sector. In May last year, RBI had advised the banks to classify an asset as non-performing if the interest and installment of principal remained overdue for a period of more than 90 days with effect from the year ended March 31, 2004. However, both gold loans and small loans upto Rs 1 lakh were exempted from the 90-day norm for loan impairment and continued to be governed by the 180-day rule for classification as NPA. (UNI) |
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Sony suspends CTV production;
aims 50 pc NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Close on the heels of shutting down its audio manufacturing unit, consumer electronics firm Sony India has suspended production of colour television facility and said it was evaluating whether to close down the CTV unit. "We are evaluating the viability of the CTV manufacturing unit in India. At this moment, we cannot say whether the company will contine with the unit," its general manager (sales and marketing) Mohit Parasher said launching `wega’ technology to enhance picture quality of its TV sets. The wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony corp of Japan, has invested Rs 80 crore in India and aims 50 per cent topline growth this fiscal over Rs 800 crore which will come from CTV and digital imaging products. Sony India, which has an impressive 45 per cent market share in audio products, closed down the audio manufacturing unit in June this year. "We have given VRS to our employees, who used to work for the audio plant," he said. At present, the company imports CTVs from a number of countries, including Thailand. In view of India’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Thailand coming into force, the company may start bulk import of CTVs from that country. (PTI) |
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Banks to go on strike on August 24 NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Banks all over the country will observe a one-day strike on August 24 in protest against the delay in settlement of wage negotiations. "Indian Banks Association (the bank management body) has been demonstrating a rigid and unreasonable attitude in the wage negotiations and endeavouring hard to delay the wage settlement", the Delhi convenor of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) V K Gupta said in a statement. The UFBU, the umbrella group of nine bank unions, will also hold mass rallies outside various banks in New Delhi, the statement said. The bank unions are holding lunch hour demonstrations from today, Gupta said. Gupta said the strike call for August 9, given by the State Bank of India has been deferred. (PTI) |
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OIl targets 3.40 MMTPA production GUWAHATI, Aug 5: OIl India Limited (OIL) has set a crude oil production target of 3.40 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) in the current fiscal as it has been expanding to new areas with some significant discoveries. OIl has been presently producing 3.22 MMTPA and the new target, including the 1,62,000 meterage of drilling target, can be achieved following new discoveries and optimum use of resources, OIL sources said. Two charter-hired rigs were being planned to be engaged to achieve this, the sources said. The sources said the recently upgraded "schedule a" category PSU, OIL is all set to record highest ever crude oil production in the current financial year. Despite various impediments, the company is confident of achieving its production targets, meet its diversification plans, expand its operations in Newer areas within and outside north east and most importantly consolidate its position as one of the leading national OIL companies of the country, the sources added. Meanwhile, in the wake of the unprecedented floods that have devastated large parts of Assam, OIL handed over a cheque of Rs 40 lakh towards Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The employees and officers of the company have also decided to contribute from their salary towards the flood relief fund. For the first time, OIL will drill two horizontal wells this year for enhanced production from Hapjan and Makum fields. Extensive development drilling activities were being initiated for the exploration of the newly discovered structure in north Chandmari area after the successful competition and production from the existing well. Additional six new wells have been earmarked for drilling in this fields in the immediate future, out which 2 will be completed this year to enhance the potential build up. As part of its socio-economic activities, the company has also embarked on a massive self-employment generation project christened as Rupantar, which is aimed at helping the upper Assam area to develop into a successful agro-based industry belt. The project, which is a collaborative effort between OIL and the state institute of rural development, Assam, aims to create self-employment avenues and promote entrepreneurship in the region towards generating sustainable sources of livelihood. The company is contributing the state’s share of Rs 3 crores in a project worth Rs 15 crore being implemented by State Institute of Rural Development, Assam and aims to generate employment avenues for 1000 self help groups and 10000 families under the Special Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarajgar Yojna, the sources said. OIL also sustains four refineries in the state by supplying crude OIL for their operations. These refineries in turn make substantial contributions both directly and indirectly to the state exchequer. Added to this, the gas based industries in the power and fertilizer sectors that were sustained by natural gas were produced by the company. (UNI) |
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TRAI favours Reliance,
discriminating between NEW DELHI, Aug 5: The Cellular Operators Association of India (COEI) has charged telecom regulator TRAI with discriminating between service providers, saying Reliance is being allowed to offer lower tariffs in Chennai and rest of Tamil Nadu while VSNL was asked to withdraw a similar offer in May last. In a letter to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal, COAI pointed out that Reliance was offering retail tariff to consumers on the basis of a "weighted average iuc charge" while VSNL was disallowed from offering a wholesale IUC charge to other service providers on the same weighted average basis. TRAI had told VSNL that "there is no provision to offer carriage charges on weighted average basis". However, when COAI petitioned TRAI in June against "predatory and non-IUC compliant tariffs" being offered by Reliance infocomm in the above circles, the telecom regulator said that compliance of tariffs would mean that the service provider should be able to meet the IUC expenses on a weighted average basis. "We are perplexed to note that the authority has applied different yardsticks to different service providers on the issue of weighted average IUC charges," COAI said in the letter, a copy of which was received by UNI here. VSNL had offered weighted average carriage charge of 60 paise per minute for all distance slabs to mobilefirst and was asked by TRAI to withdraw the offer. In June, Reliance had slashed tariff rates by 40 to 60 per cent for its customers in the Tamil Nadu and Chennai circles. The authority must share the workings and the detais that it has relied on to conclude that the tariffs being offered by Reliance in these circles are compliant on a weighted average basis, COAI said. (UNI) |
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