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| Toyota Kirloskar unleashes the landcruiser prado in India NEW DELHI, Nov 19: Auto major Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today launched its premium product the landcruiser......more NEW DELHI, Nov 19: Costlier petrol, diesel and LPG pushed up inflation to 7.76 per cent during the week ended.....more US-India
IT industry WASHINGTON, Nov 19: IT industry representatives from India and the US have come up with a set of recommenda.....more India,
Mayanmar trade KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19: Bilateral trade between India and Malaysia is expected to increased by about 48 per cent to.........more |
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Sophistication in a controlled way look for this winter NEW DELHI, Nov 19: The sophisticated look, either understated or strong, but making an impact in a controlled way is.........more Wipro
planning centres KOLKATA, Nov 19: IT giant Wipro is examining setting up centres in Goa and Coimbatore........more Sony chief
floats LONDON, Nov 19: The vice chairman of Japan’s Sony corp. said the company would consider spinning off its entertain.....more LUCKNOW, Nov 19: To cater to the burgeoning and maturing auto market in Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow is hosting the first........more |
Toyota Kirloskar unleashes the landcruiser prado in India NEW DELHI, Nov 19: Auto major Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today launched its premium product the landcruiser prado in the Indian market, spearheading its entry into the Suv market in the country. The five-door, 235 bhp Suv comes with an ex-showroom price tag of Rs 37.53 lakh in New Delhi, Rs 35.05 lakh in Mumbai, Rs 38.08 lakh in Bangalore and Rs 40.60 lakh in Chennai. Unveiling the vehicle, Toyota Kirloskar motor deputy managing director K K Swamy said, "we are delighted to launch the landcruiser prado in India. The landcruiser has a rich heritage that has helped build Toyota’s profile as a global leader in the automobile industry." The landcruiser comes equipped with the 1GR-Fe 4 litre, V6 engine, one of the world’s most powerful Suv engines. It is also fitted with cruise control, all time 4wd and a 5-speed automatic transmission for excellent fuel economy. Apart from this, the prado is also fitted with 17-inch aluminum wheels that give it a luxurious and sporty look while contributing to superior vehicle stability and handling. The premium suv segment in India has grown by 245 per cent over the past year and it has matured considerably. TKM, a joint venture between Toyota motor corporation and the Kirloskar group, has three models, the Corolla, the Camry and the Qualis on Indian roads. While the Corolla and the Qualis are market leaders in their respective segments, the Camry leads the wholly imported premium car segment. TKM sold 42,600 vehicles in fy 2003-04 with 9,500 units of the Corolla, 1,100 units of the Camry and 32,000 vehicles of the Qualis. (UNI) |
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NEW DELHI, Nov 19: Costlier petrol, diesel and LPG pushed up inflation to 7.76 per cent during the week ended november 6 amid fears that it could rise further in the coming weeks after the full effect of the second round of price hike in petro products during the period. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation surged by 0.70 per cent from the previous week’s level of 7.06 per cent even as there was decline in the prices of primary and manufactured products . The general price level stood at 5.18 per cent in the year ago period. According to market sources, the price hike in petroleum products effected from midnight of November four could have far reaching consquences due to delayed direct and indirect linkage of petroleum products’ price hike, especially that of diesel, which forms the bulk of transportation costs. As per the WPI data, there was nine per cent increase in the price of diesel, eight per cent for LPG and six per cent in petrol during the latest reported week. An economic thinktank IEG had cautioned that recent hike in petro-prices might lead to "spin-off" effects on the other commodities’ prices in the coming months. During the week in review, international oil markets saw volatility with prices once falling below 49 dollars and to later hover around 50 dollars. Government revised the point-to-point inflation to 8.15 per cent for the week ended September 11 as against the provisional 7.87 per cent. The WPI stood corrected at 189.7 points during the second week of September as compared to provisional figure of 189.2 points. With inflation hovering over 7 per cent since July mainly due to high global oil prices, Finance Minister P Chidambaram recently put the onus on states to cut sales tax on petroleum products to moderate inflation. During the latest reported week, the WPI was up by 0.4 per cent to 190.3 points despite cheaper non-food articles and some of the manufactured products, mainly food products and the index was 176.6 points in the year ago period. The index of mass consumption primary articles’ group fell by 0.3 per cent to 192.4 points even as food articles became costlier and it was 183.1 points in the previous year period. Food articles’ group index rose by 0.2 per cent to 192.3 due to higher prices of beef and buffalo meat (eight per cent), poultry chicken (five per cent), barley (two per cent) and moong and ragi (one per cent each). Prices, however, fell in the case of arhar and bajra (two per cent each) and maize and condiments and spices (one per cent each). The index for non-food articles’ plummetted by 1.4 per cent to 184.4 points due to cheaper soyabean (19 per cent), fodder (13 per cent), cotton seed (three per cent) and raw silk and raw cotton (one per cent each). But prices moved up for mesta (six per cent), copra and raw jute (four per cent), gingelly seed (three per cent), raw rubber (two per cent) and skins and groundnut seed (one per cent each). Besides costlier transport fuels and cooking gas, there was a 4.0 per cent hike in the price of furance oil, which pushed up substantially fuel, power, lights and lubricants’ group index by over 3.0 per cent to 291.3 points and it was 255.2 points in the year ago period. (PTI) |
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US-India IT
industry come up with data WASHINGTON, Nov 19: IT industry representatives from India and the US have come up with a set of recommendations for their respective Governments on data privacy at a meeting conducted here by the US-India High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG). The HTCG sponsored the meeting as part of its efforts to bring public and private sectors to identify issues that need to be addressed immediately. The group will submit its recommendations to the HTCG’s Government-to-Government group. The recommendations include those dealing with political, legal and market place issues. It called for more us involvement in the consultation processes on proposed amendments to the Indian Information Technology 2000 Act. Mr A K Chakravarti, Advisor in the Department of Information Technology called on US officials to share their expertise with the Indian Government on how the IT Act can be improved to better address data privacy and security issues. Mr Joseph Alhadeff, vice president of the Global Public Policy said if properly amended the act would meet many data privacy requirements of the market space. IT was also recommended that the US privacy experts should hold legal workshops in India. There was also need for increased interaction between the two Governments, speakers said. Some suggested that anytime a US state passed a law that affected international business, the Indian industry should be made aware of IT. One speaker drew attention to the inadequate international agreements between the US and India on investigation and information sharing between law enforcement agencies of the two countries to prosecute privacy breaches. More than 120 senior representatives from US and Indian businesses, along with officials from the two Government, also discussed expanding business opportunities in the defense technology and Information Technology areas. "Today’s dialogue generated many practical recommendations that will help the United States and India continue to develop a robust level of high-technology trade, said under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Kenneth I Juster. Participants in the defense technology roundtable explored US and Indian Government policies concerning defense cooperation and procurement, as well as issues confronting US companies interested in the Indian market. During the data privacy roundtable that took place yesterday, participants focused on various approaches to protecting data, an issue that is critical to the continued growth of Information Technology industries. During the roundtable discussions, industry participants developed concrete policy recommendations for the US and Indian Governments, which were presented to the Government officials during the luncheon session. The forum also included a session on explaining various aspects of the US dual-use and munitions licensing processes and informing US and Indian industry about their responsibilities under US laws and regulations. "Technology and innovation are vital to competitiveness, critical to sustaining economic growth, and creating increased opportunities for international collaboration. The US-India relationship will benefit from today’s dialogue," said under Secretary of Commerce for Technology Phillip J bond. The dialogue was the fourth public-private event held under the auspices of the HTCG. The HTCG was initiated in November 2002 as a result of a commitment between President George W Bush and then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to stimulate high-technology commerce between the two countries. (UNI) |
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India, Mayanmar trade to up 48 pc this year KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19: Bilateral trade between India and Malaysia is expected to increased by about 48 per cent to 4.5 billion dollars this year, said the Indian High Commissioner Mr R L Narayan. Speaking at the launch of the Malaysia-India Economic Conference 2005 (MIEC 2005). Malaysian Prime Minister Mr Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will inaugurate the conference on January 17. Mr Narayan said Indian exports to Malaysia would expand by about 25 per cent to about 1.5 billion dollars and imports would increase to about three billion dollars. "We hope by December we would touch around 4.5 billion dollars which would make Malaysia by far our largest trading partner in ASEAN," the Malaysian news agency Bernama reported quoting Mr Narayan. "We are looking at Malaysia as a serious economic partner. We have estimated that our requirement of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) would be in the range of 150 billion dollars for infrastructure development alone in the next 10 years. So there is vast opportunity and in fact we do not have any barriers to FDI," he said. "We have fast approvals and we are inviting FDI from various countries," he assured the Malaysians. The MIEC 2005, to be held at Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel, is themed "India - an emerging economic giant". More than one thousand delegates including overseas participants comprising chief executive officers, managers, financial controllers, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), financial institutions as well as analysts, economists and businessmen, are expected at the conference, organising chairman Mr Chua Jui Meng said. It is being organised by the National SMI Consultative Center (NASMIC) which would send a delegation to India on November to promote the conference, according to Malaysian news reports today. Mr Chua said the conference would focus on the latest developments under the new leadership of the two countries, the Macro perspective of Malaysia’s and India’s economic growth, the prospect towards Malaysia’s economy and Malaysia as India’s gateway to the ASEAN region. (UNI) |
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Sophistication in a controlled way look for this winter NEW DELHI, Nov 19: The sophisticated look, either understated or strong, but making an impact in a controlled way is what designers Shobhna and Vijay Arora prescribe for this season. The designer duo showcased their winter collection 2004-05 here yesterday. A red backdrop teamed with a blue foreground and western classical music presented a perfect ambience for the collection, inspired by the barouque era, specially the palace of versailles. The collection had heavy usage of the traditional jaamewar embroidery with a blend of silk and tissue using intricate ektaar resham embroidery with crystals, dabka with dull gold sequins. The ensembles, which moved beyond mundane utilitarianism into a contemporary avatar, for both women and men, flaunted the style and shimmer of couture, created using exquisite Swarovski crystals set amidst various hand craft techniques. Swarovski crystals embellished on a bed of sequins on garments like ponchos, kaftans and sarees gave the outfits a glamorous and chic look. With respect to silhouettes, Shobhna and Vijay used shades of aqua, pista, rust and gold in women’s jackets, sarees and knee length kurtas teamed with churidars to give the garments a sophisticated look. The age old technique of Lucknow chikankari had also been rendered on the garments using moorish architecture, Chinese emblems and parsi embroidery on sarees, women’s full length coats and kurtas with churidars in Fuschia, Tangerine, Salmon, Aubergine and Peach. The designer duo clad their men in Chikankari inspired kurtas, sherwanis and shirts made in motifs of moorish architecture and Chinese emblems giving them a contemporary feel. The collection consisted largely of sherwanis and kurtas made in silk using heavy jaamewar embroidery in gold and beige. Those enthralled by the show admitted that it was very different from others as the designs were aesthetically correct. "I liked the designs because despite being traditional, they were wearable and also contemporary feel," Varun Bahl, a visitor to the show said. Fashion connoisseur Poonam Bhagat said the combination of tradition with elements of contemporary styling for the women’s wear was fresh. "The garments were simple and yet effective," she added. (UNI) |
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Wipro planning centres in Goa, Coimbatore KOLKATA, Nov 19: IT giant Wipro is examining setting up centres in Goa and Coimbatore. Talking to reporters after the inauguartion of the company’s Kolkata Development Centre at the sector V of Salt Lake here today, Wipro-spectramind chief executive Raman Roy said, Wipro is looking into setting up centres in Goa and Coimbatore. Apart from the Kolkata centre, Wipro already has development centres in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Mysore and Mumbai, besides units in the US, UK, Finland, Sweden, Germany and Japan. Talking about the Kolkata Development Centre, set up at a planned investement of about Rs 200 crore, Mr Roy said, right now we are having 1,000 people working here. However, this Centre has the capacity of recruiting 7,000 people. Though the company is ready to hire 3,000 people tomorrow as the demand is so high, the right kind of talent is still a constraint, he said. Mr Roy also expected that the Kolkata Development Centre might reach the breakeven point within this fiscal only. Talking about the sorts of business to be handled in their sector V unit, he said, we will mainly do transcation proceedings and customer servicing among other jobs. He, however, did not hide his anguish over the recurring bandhs in the state. Referring to the recent strike in the state on November 17, he said, bandh is, undoubtedly, a major concern. The customers are having their concern and reservation. Mr Roy said Wipro presently recruits 2,000 people per month and wants to increase the capacity. (UNI) |
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Sony chief floats idea of entertainment spin-off: Report LONDON, Nov 19: The vice chairman of Japan’s Sony corp. said the company would consider spinning off its entertainment assets as a separately quoted business, a UK newspaper reported on Friday. Howard Stringer, who is also chairman and chief executive officer, Sony Corporation of America, said it was "worth considering" a flotation of the international film, music and television operations. "It is very speculative and premature to think about it, and the market can change, but you never say no to anything," he told the the times newspaper of the UK in an interview. Sony’s entertainment assets include recorded music, motion pictures and television. The company reported a 31 percent rise in quarterly profit on Oct 29 after a boost from the hit movie "Spider-Man 2." (AGENCIES) |
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LUCKNOW, Nov 19: To cater to the burgeoning and maturing auto market in Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow is hosting the first ever auto show in the state. Top automobile majors are participating in the ‘up auto show 2004’ to showcase their wares in the five-day extravaganza. A bevy of new car and two-wheeler models from the stables of Tata motors, maruti, Hindustan motors, Swaraj Mazda, Skoda, Hero Honda, Yamaha, Bajaj, Kinetic, Fiat and Scooters India are on display. The event was inaugurated last evening by up Agriculture Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav. Finance, insurance, oil and engineering companies associated with the automobile industry such as mico, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Gulf Oil, Motul, Amara Raja batteries, Goodyear and Bosch have also set up stalls at the show. According to a study, up has a high ratio of personally owned vehicles besides rising demand of heavy duty commercial, industrial and agricultural motorisation. Accordingly, up is a high potential market for the industry mainly due to the weak public transport system in the state. The show aims at bringing major auto and finance companies at one stop and create awareness about different players in the segment and their latest offerings. (UNI) |
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China nov Diesel imports highest since 1999 SINGAPORE, Nov 19: China, the world’s second-biggest energy user, has boosted its diesel imports in November to at least 450,000 tonnes, the highest level since early 1999, to build up domestic supplies, traders said on Friday. The purchases, more than four times October’s estimated volume, will also provide line fill for an oil products’ pipeline slated for start-up early next year, traders said. (AGENCIES) |
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‘Quami Ekta week’ begins in Haryana CHANDIGARH, Nov 19: Haryana Chief Secretary Sunil Aahuja today urged the people to maintain communal amity so as to strengthen the cultural fibre of the country and give a befitting reply to the forces of terrorism, which were trying to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the country. He speaking at a function organised at Haryana Civil Secretariat, here to celebrate ‘Quami Ektga Diwas’ on the occasion of birthday of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He also administered the national integration pledge to the officials present on the occasion and urged them to follow it in letter and spirit. The national integration pledge reads,"I solemnly pledge to work with dedication to preserve and strengthen the freedom and integrity of the nation. "I further affirm that I shall never resort to violence and that I will continue to endeavour towards settlement of all differences and disputes relating to religion, language, region or other political or economic grievances by peaceful and constitutional, means". He also paid floral tributes to Gandhi. A number of officials and senior officers of the State Government were present on the occasion. The week long celebrations of ‘Quami Ekta Week’ have also commenced today. Each day of the week would be observed as a special day, while the national integration day has been observed today. (PTI) |
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Skindia DR, P/E, premium indices in limelight MUMBAI, Nov 19: The Instanex Skindia Depository Receipts (DR) index showed gains of 0.36 per cent at 1,124.17 points on November 18 against 1,120.11 of the previous day’s trading. According to a daily update provided by the city-based Instanex Capital Consultants Pvt Ltd, the Skindia DR Index P/E, also saw a northward trend of 0.41 per cent to 20.03 points from 19.95. Similarly, the Skindia DR index premium shot up sharply by 3.26 percent to 23.82 percent from 23.07 percent during the same period. Out of the 15 GDRs/ADRs, eight gained and seven lost ground. HDFC bank (ADR), MTNL (ADR) and infosys tech (ADR) were the top gainers, while Bajaj auto (GDR), ITC (GDR) and Wipro (ADR) were prominent among the losers, the release added. (UNI) Haryana impose ban on export of bricks SONEPAT, Nov 19: The Haryana Government has imposed a complete ban on the export of bricks from the state to other neighbouring states with immediate effect. According to official sources here today, this step had been taken to check the persistent shortage of bricks in view of the closure of brick kilns and profiteering of the brick kiln owners in the state particularly in the districts bordering Delhi, UP, Rajasthan and Punjab. The State Government had also directed the authorities of the food and supplies department to implement the decision strictly and ensure the availability of the bricks at the control price for the on-going development works in the state. It has also directed them to inform the brick kilns owners in their respective areas through notices about the imposing of ban on the export of bricks by the State Government. Meanwhile, the demand of bricks had gone up manifold on account of the closure of brick kilns and the man-made shortage of the bricks. Though the State Government he fixed the price of bricks at the rate of Rs 1,650 per thousand but the bricks are available in the market at Rs 2,250 per thousand or more. (PTI) |
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