Daily Excelsior...Business

Foreign exchange reserves rise by record USD 1.82 billion....

Delhi Govt to introduce Hepatitis awareness in curriculum .....

China scholars divided on yuan revaluation .....

Hyderabad based developer surprises encore software .....

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: Modi Paints and Varnish Works, a group company of Modi Industries Limited and leading player in paints, has launched its products in Jammu and Kashmir State.

The company has entered the State market with opening of its branch office at Jammu and appointing R R Traders as C&F Agency for Modi Paints. This was announced by Anuj Pasricha, CEO of the company, during formal launch of Modi Paints in the State, here last evening.

"After establishing itself as one of the largest and best selling paint companies in 11 States of the country, Modi Paints is entering the J&K market with ambitious growth plans," he said and listed wide range of the company products which include surface coatings like Acrylic Emulsion, Exterior Emulsions, Synthetic Enamles, Stoving Enamles, Industrial Finishes, Varnishes, Distempers, Primers, Exterior paints and others.

Mr Pachricha informed that Modi Paints has a production capacity of 5000 MT per annum with most modern machinery backed by high qualified and experienced staff. "Our persistent efforts is to maintain quality substantiated by a modern laboratory equipped with latest apparatus and instruments for quality testing at every stage of manufacturing," he said and assured best quality as well as service to customers.

Established in 1948, Modi Paints and Varnish Works is already one of the largest suppliers to Indian Railways, Defence, Roadways and lot of other industries for their need of surface coating.

"And now the company has introduced a complete range of high quality paints for home/decorative uses under brand name Modi Paints," said Mr H K Malhotra, Sales and Marketing Manager of Modi Paints, who was also present on the occasion.

Explaining strategy of the company for marketing of newly launched decorative paints, Mr Pasricha disclosed that a team of company officers will conduct an extensive survey of the State and organise meetings with architects to highlight the additional qualities of Modi Paints.

Anil Bhalla, Managing Director of R R Traders, who was also present on the occasion, exuded confidence over the success of Modi Paints in Jammu and Kashmir also.

Bush signs internet access tax ban into law

WASHINGTON, Dec 4: President George W Bush signed a bill that renews a ban on internet access taxes yesterday amid praise from lawmakers and trade groups who said the measure would encourage more people to sign up for high-speed broadband service.

Bush said repeatedly on the campaign trail this year that a ban on access taxes is crucial to reach his goal of universal broadband access by 2007, enabling more internet users to download video, music and other bandwidth-intensive content.

The ban on access taxes, in place since 1998, expired more than a year ago when congressional lawmakers could not agree whether to make it permanent or merely extend it for three years.

Backers at the time warned that internet use could suffer if tax-happy states imposed new surcharges on the monthly fees that internet providers like America online inc. Charge their customers.

But some senators said the ban would require states to raise taxes in other areas to make up for the millions of dollars they stand to lose as telephone service and other taxable activities migrate to the internet.

No states or local Governments imposed new internet taxes during the year the ban was not in effect.

Congress approved a compromise last month that extends the ban until 2007 and extends it to cover broadband service. Existing broadband taxes will be gradually phased out.

"It’s an important step forward in bridging the economic digital divide," said Sen George Allen, a Virginia republican and a bill sponsor who attended the signing ceremony at the White House complex.

"This measure will help make sure for those of lower income and those who live in small towns and rural areas that they can get connected more easily to broadband," he said.

Broadband costs between 30 and 50 per month, compared with as little as 9.95 per month for regular dial-up access.

Roughly 25 percent of US adults have broadband access, up from 14 percent in 2002, according to the nonprofit pew internet and American life project. Overall internet use during the same period has held steady at around 60 percent.

Several technology-industry trade groups also praised Bush’s action. (AGENCIES)

IBM reported to put its PC business up for sale

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 4: IBM is reportedly in talks to sell its personal computer business in a deal that could be worth up to 2 billion and would cap a gradual withdrawal from the business it helped to pioneer in 1981.

IBM, now the no. 3 PC maker behind dell inc. And Hewlett-Packard Co., is likely to include all of its desktop, laptop and notebook computers in the sale, which could earn it between 1 billion and 2 billion, the New York Times reported yesterday, citing people close to the negotiations.

Hong Kong-based Lenovo group ltd., China’s top PC maker, and at least one other company are said to be in talks with international business machines corp., the times reported.

IBM declined to comment. "It’s IBM’s practice not to comment on rumor or speculation," company spokesman ED Barbini said.

Officials of Lenovo in Hong Kong and Beijing could not be reached for comment.

IBM has exited the low-margin storage and memory chip businesses in recent years, while investing in what it sees as strategic growth areas like computer services and software.

Instead of focusing on individual computer users, IBM in recent years has returned its focus to the powerful machines known as servers that organizations use to run everything from basic web sites to big-business or Governmental operations. These computers range from PC-based servers to classic mainframes.

Gartner inc., a leading research firm, earlier this week forecast that three of the top 10 personal computer makers would exit the market by 2007, citing slower growth rates and narrower profit margins. It did not name any companies.

"If IBM is exiting PCs, management is likely making a long-term call that PCs are commodities," Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Milunovich wrote in a note to clients.

Shares of IBM rose 1.4 percent to 97.08 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. Shares of ibm have surged 15 percent since the company reported third-quarter results in mid-October. They are up 4.5 percent on the year.

IBM may still keep a hand in PCs

Wall Street analysts, several of whom have called on IBM for years to divest its PC business, hailed the potential move. But some believe IBM may seek to keep its hand in the business, whether or not it hands off production to another company.

Several analysts argued that IBM should preserve its ability to sell IBM-branded pcs to corporate clients as a foot in the door to sell higher-value gear like servers and data storage.

"Big blue may not elect to sell the entire business and could (instead) structure a creative deal in pieces or in terms of distribution," UBS analyst ben reitzes wrote to clients.

The IBM PC was first introduced in 1981. Its first portable computer debuted in 1984.

IBM’s thinkpad laptops are the leading brand of commercial notebook computers. IBM holds a 14 percent share of a market estimated to be worth 11 billion, IDC estimates.

IBM ranks a distant third behind dell and HP in the desktop pc market — a 16.8 billion market. In the late 1990s, IBM withdrew from the consumer PC market in the United States.

IBM, based in Armonk, New York, sold its PC production operations in the United States to contract manufacturer Sanmina-SCI two years ago.

It also relies for PC desktop and notebook production on contractors such as solectron corp. And Tawian’s Wistron and Quanta computer.

Since 1994, China’s second-biggest domestic PC maker, Great Wall Technology Co Ltd., has operated a series of joint ventures with IBM in China to manufacture IBM desktops, storage and other products.

IBM and great wall operate a personal computer production joint venture in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen that employs some 4,000 people. A great wall spokesman in Shenzhen was not immediately available to comment.

Bloomberg news reported that IBM had hired Merrill Lynch Co to find a buyer for its PC business, citing a person familiar with the situation. Neither IBM nor Merrill would comment on the report.

The possible deal with Lenovo, which controls more than a quarter of China’s PC market, follows Chinese media reports three weeks ago that Lenovo was preparing to set up a joint venture with IBM.

Lenovo said in April that it would likely enter the international market through acquisitions, and that financing an acquisition "would not be a major problem." (AGENCIES)

Stocks to stabilise at higher level as profit
booking to check rally

MUMBAI, Dec 4: Stock indices which shot through the roof to hit all-time highs in the previous week are expected to stabilise around the current high levels with profit-booking in blue chips holding the market within range, brokers and analysts said.

Although all the fundamentals still remain positive, the market could be caught between spirited buying by foregin funds and profit-booking by domestic funds/local operators, Vijay Saraf, chief operating officer at the Centrum Securities Ltd, said.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which ended the week at 6322.76 points, just 38.77 points lower than its all-time high of 6361.53, could hit new record highs during the week but is likely to be confined to 200-point range of 6225 and 6425 points, he added.

In the week ended December 3, the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rewrote history with both the key indices — sensex and nifty—hitting all-time highs, driven by huge foreign fund inflows and sharp fall in crude oil prices.

The sensex and nifty broke all previous records to hit an all-time high of 63.61.53 points and 2011.90 points respectively in intra-day trades on Friday.

Sensex ended the week up 287.73 points or 4.77 percent at 6,322.76, while the CNX nifty jumped 95.15 points or 5.01 percent to settle at 1,996.20.

The sensex surged in three out of the five trading sessions—spurted up 123 points on Monday, gained 77 points on Tuesday and rallied of 101 points on Thursday, while it eased mildly by 6.46 points on Wednesday and 5.67 points on Friday.

Turnover improved sharply during the week after market galloped. The average daily turnover on BSE for the week was Rs 2,406 crore, much higher than the average daily turnover of Rs 1,984 crore a week back. (UNI)

FX kitty swells USD 1.8 bln to historic high
of USD 126.9 billion

MUMBAI, Dec 4: Flooding foreign fund inflows into the zooming stock markets and higher valuation of non-US currencies pushed up the foreign exchange reserve of the country by a whopping US dollar (USD) 1.825 billion to a new record high of USD 126.923 billion during the week ended November 26.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s latest weekly statistics report, the ever-increasing foreign currency assets which spurted up by USD 1.812 billion during the week to a historic high of USD 121.208 billion was the major contributor to the forex reserve growth, while the remaining USD 13 million was factored in by the rise in reserve positions in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to USD 1.359 billion from USD 1.346 billion.

Gold reserve and Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), however, remained unchanged at USD 4.351 billion and USD five million respectively.

The RBI said the foreign currency assets, expressed in USD terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies like euro, yen and pound sterling held in the reserve.

Sustained foreign fund inflows which hit a record USD 7.56 billion in the calender year so far, surpassing the earlier record of USD 6.59 billion set in 2003, was the main trigger for the surge in the forex reserve, dealers said.

The sharp upvaluation of non-US currencies held in the reserve after the greenback fell to record lows against euro and multi-year low versus the yen on news that Russia may consider boosting the share of euros in its USD 100 billion-plus foreign currency reserves also fuelled the rise in forex reserve.

The loans and advances of the Central Government continued to be nil while that of the State Governments dropped by Rs 223 crore to Rs 4,254 crore during the same week. (UNI)

Foreign exchange reserves rise by record USD 1.82 billion

MUMBAI, Dec 4: Heavy investment inflows and revaluation of currencies led to a surge in the country’s foreign exchange by a record US dollar 1.82 billion during the week ending November 26, 2004.

The inflows propelled the foreign exchange reserves to rise by US dollar 1.826 million for the week under review to USD 1,26,923 million, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s weekly statistical supplement released today.

The foreign exchange Kitty during the last month has seen inflows of USD 5.73 billion.

Foreign currency assets were also up by USD 1,812 million to touch USD 1,21,208 million, the RBI said.

Remittances of export proceeds, foreign institutional investments and revaluation of international currencies, including the US dollar, contributed to the spurt in reserves, analysts said.

Gold and special drawing rights remained static at USD 4,351 million and USD five million respectively, it said.

India’s Reserve Tranche Position with the International Monetary Fund grew further by USD nine million to reach USD 1,359 million, it said.

Loans and advances to the Central Government had a nil balance while that to State Governments fell by Rs 223 crore to Rs 4,264 crore, the RBI said. (PTI)

Delhi Govt to introduce Hepatitis awareness in curriculum

NEW DELHI, Dec 4: Taking into account the high number of deaths due to Hepatitis B and C and other diseases in the national capital, Delhi Government is contemplating use of schools as an effective channel to spread awareness on the issue among children and parents.

"We need to introduce basic information about the disease, which are relevant in the current social melieu and are a cause of concern among general population, in the school curriculum so as to educate both the students and parents," Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit said here observing `Hepatitis day’ today.

The proposed move would help spread awareness among the general public through text books as besides students their parents also go through the books, she said.

The Chief Minister also felt a need to combine Hepatitis awareness with HIV campaign.

Hepatitis B and C claim about 50,000 lives every years in Delhi itself. While the countrywide figure stands as tall as about 3 lakh people, head gastroenterology department at G B Pant Hospital, Professor S K Sarin said.

"About 40 million people in the country are infected with either of the two types of Hepatitis which pose a huge threat as the infection is even more dangerous than AIDS," he said.

AIDS, so far, has claimed about 50,000 lives in the country while about 3,000 people die every month only due to liver infections, head at the gastroenterology department at All India Institute of Medical Science Dr S K Acharya said.

People need to be equally careful in taking preventive steps to contain the spread of AIDS as Hepatitis B and C are more deadly, he said. (PTI)

China scholars divided on yuan revaluation

BEIJING, Dec 4: The time is not right to reform China’s currency regime and pressure on the yuan can be eased by means other than a revaluation, a Chinese researcher said in a commentary published on Saturday.

The column by Yi Xianrong, a scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was carried in the state-run China business weekly, and comes at a time of growing speculation Beijing could allow the currency, pegged at about 8.28 to the dollar, to rise.

"... One can only deduce that the reasons used to urge China to appreciate the renminbi are not solid enough," Yi said in the English-language article.

"The steep rise in foreign exchange reserves and the trade surplus are still putting more pressure on appreciating the yuan, but the pressure can be eased by several other means," he said.

But his article contradicted an analysis by he fan, a member of the same institute, published in another state-run newspaper on Friday that said an exchange rate adjustment would help the economy and improve China’s global standing.

The conflicting views come as China’s leaders gather for an annual closed-door economic work meeting that is expected to chart the country’s economic course for the coming year.

An article in Wen Wei Po, a Beijing-backed Hong Kong newspaper, said the meeting was unlikely to result in an any sudden changes in the Yuan, echoing analysts’ views.

"Observers here hold the view this working conference will be unlikely to make any appreciation or devaluation or man-made adjustment, but will further perfect the mechanisms on the Renminbi exchange rate," the newspaper said.

"Next year, the state administration of foreign exchange will continue to strengthen its guidance and management of inflows of foreign currency to prevent the impact of short-term capital," it said.

The secretive meeting is expected to conclude on Sunday.

Beijing has pledged to make the yuan more flexible through gradual reforms over time, but has rejected calls for a one-off revaluation.

Analysts have said a more likely scenario would be a slight widening of its narrow trading band or pegging the yuan to a basket of currencies, including the dollar, euro and yen.

Countries like the United States have urged China to let the yuan move more freely, saying the current peg to the dollar is too low and makes chinese exports unfairly cheap.

But Yi’s commentary said the real competitive edge for China’s exports came from the low cost of labour, not the value of the yuan.

"It is necessary to be prudent and, at any time, refrain from introducing new uncertainties to the market. The exchange rate of renminbi must remain stable," he said. (AGENCIES)

Hyderabad based developer surprises encore software

BANGALORE, Dec 4: In less than 72 hrs after encore software, the developers of the simputer, a hand held computer, released all software development tools under an open source license they were able to witness the power of the open source development process.

Gopal Vijayaraghavan, a Hyderabad-based Dotgnu developer used these tools to port his work to the encore simputer, thereby providing .Net support on this platform.

Encore quoting Mr Vijayaragavan in a release here today said that encore’s release of their tools under an open source license had provided all the tools necessary to complete the port.

Encore software’s CEO Vinay Deshpande said that while they expected quick results of encore’s open-sourcing the development kit (which includes the hardware schematics of the encore simputer), the speed of the port both astonished and delighted him. "We are already hearing of other projects and applications looking into porting to the encore simputer. We are delighted to be able to support President Kalam’s clarion call to embrace open source."

An astonished Atul Chitnis, organiser of the Linux Bangalore/2004 conference where the tools were released said, "I threw the challenge as a joke, the bet being a cup of coffee. Gopal borrowed a pc at the conference, and finally an encore simputer, and came to me on the third day, saying that I now owed him a cup of coffee. It took a few seconds before the enormity of that statement hit me." (UNI)