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Keep weight- measure NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Automotive parts and accessories dealers are sore that despite their trade being of a special category,........more Hyundai mtr hit by strike over S Korea Labour laws SEOUL, Nov 26: Unionised workers at South Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai motor co. Held a one-day strike on Friday, taking the lead in an umbrella ......more Chernin’s news corp contract opens door to disney NEW YORK, Nov 26: Peter Chernin, widely discussed as a contender to take over .....more Rabi crop prospects brightens with rains NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Wide-spread rains of the last week are expected to improve rabi crop production significantly though they have damaged .........more |
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NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Inflation fell to 7.34 per cent during the week ended November 13 due to cheaper vegetables and other essential food and ........more After a decade, philips makes PCs again AMSTERDAM, Nov 26: After an absence of a decade, philips electronics is making personal computers again, the company said on Thursday. .......more Centre gives "in principle" clearance to up for SEZ NOIDA, Nov 26: The Centre has given an "in principle" clearance to the Uttar Pradesh Government for setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) .....more Tata steel chief criticises draft steel policy BANGALORE, Nov 26: Hitting on the environmental concerns that hindered the development of steel sector in the country, Tata Steel managing director B Muthuraman today called for an action.......more |
Keep weight- measure act away from auto-parts trade : Dealers NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Automotive parts and accessories dealers are sore that despite their trade being of a special category, has been governed by the provisions of the standards and measures (packaged commodities) rules, 1977 that has brought them avoidable harassment without giving any plausible protection to the consumers. In a representation to the Government, the dealers’ umbrella body- federation of All India Automobile Spareparts Dealers’ Associations said why spareparts are sold by the way of weighing them or as per measurements. Rather they are precision engineering products and manufactured through and for a technical networking. Offically categorsing them as general consumer items, marketed as packaged commodities is a sheer anomanly, said federation general secretary Pushpinder Singh adding that the auto-parts are packaged only to save the precsion products from damage and not to attract the consumers as in the case of other perishable item. Moreover, Mr Singh said the autoparts were not fast moving packaged products to be covered under the said act and 95 per cent of them make the inventory that lasts from one year to 10 years. Such inventory kept for a long period cannot be sold on the basis of Minimum Retail Price (MRP) printing of which on the package is mandatory under the rules. Since the inventory continue to become costly with the inclusion of recurring interest on the spent amount and other factors, the engineering items could be sold at MRP . Hence all these factors put the dealers to unnecessary harassment and least serve the purpose of protecting a consumer since the dealers have to circumvent all these rules to stay in business, Mr Singh said. The autoparts dealers and traders are generally small operators who become more susceptible to the greed’ of officials . The federation general secretary said the autoparts trade also be taken out of the purview of the act and dealers should also be allowed to deal in these items such as petrol, diesel, cooking gas, soft drinks and confectionary sold in the market without MRP. (UNI) |
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Hyundai mtr hit by strike over S Korea Labour laws SEOUL, Nov 26: Unionised workers at South Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai motor co. Held a one-day strike on Friday, taking the lead in an umbrella union group’s protest against proposed new Labour laws. Hyundai, which was hit by a costly wage dispute in June, said the stoppage would cost it 80 billion won ( 76 million) in lost production. Hyundai motor’s 42,000-strong union has often been at the forefront of South Korean labour disputes. Unionised staff make up just over two-thirds of Hyundai’s total workforce. Some 156,000 workers from 277 workplaces, members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), walked out on Friday to protest planned changes to labour laws that would allow companies to hire more temporary workers, the KCTU said. The KCTU, which has 620,000 members, is also demanding the government halt free trade talks with Japan. Hyundai affiliate, KIA motors corp., also joined the strike for six hours on Friday. Poor labour relations are one of the main hurdles threatening Hyundai’s goal of becoming a global top five auto maker by 2010. Analysts said a wage dispute in June triggered a near 14 percent rise in labour costs this year. Labour unrest is also a key deterrent to doing business in South Korea, foreign investors say, and part of the reason for the relatively low value of local shares, known as the "Korea discount". Hyundai’s union had threatened to strike until Monday, but limited its action to one day on advice from the umbrella Labour group, a Hyundai union official said. "KCTU leaders met with ruling and opposition party officials and got an answer that lawmakers would not force through Parliamentary approval," said Chang-Gyu-Ho, a Hyundai union spokesman, explaining why the union had softened its stance. "They promised they would seek a solution through dialogue. But in case they try to pass the revised laws, we would respond with even stronger strike action." Difficult climate for strikes Labour unions have gained more influence since the entry into mainstream South Korean politics of the far-left Democratic Labour party in April. The KCTU’s former chairman Dan Byung-Ho was one of 10 party members elected to Parliament. But KCTU attempts to hold general strikes have failed to win wide public support this year given a sluggish economy. An unprecedented strike last week by public sector workers petered out after the administration of President Roh-Moo-Hyun took a tough line on what it called an illegal stoppage. The KCTU plans to demonstrate near the national Assembly later on Friday with unionised workers also due to stage other rallies around the country, a KCTU spokesman said. "We backed off this time," said Lee-Soo-Bong, a KCTU spokesman. "But if there are any signs of Parliamentary voting, member unions will launch a full strike again on Dec 2." Parliament is due to open its session on Monday to discuss the Labour law revisions. Unionised rail workers plan a walkout next Friday as part of a wider action against the planned new Labour laws. Hyundai shares fell 1.5 percent to 53,300 won, while the wider market was up 0.48 percent at 0401 gmt. Shares in KIA were also down 1.5 percent at 10,050 won. ( 1=1057.1 won) (AGENCIES) |
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Chernin’s news corp contract opens door to disney NEW YORK, Nov 26: Peter Chernin, widely discussed as a contender to take over as chief executive at Walt Disney Co., has signed a new contract with current employer news corp. That makes it easier for him to take the top job at another publicly traded company. The amended contract says Chernin must give six months’ notice if he wishes to leave to be chief executive at another firm, but only if that company’s shares are not publicly traded. In effect, that means Chernin would have to give six months’ notice if he planned to join a company that is a unit of another publicly traded entity, such as general electric co.’s NBC universal, but he would not have to give notice to become CEO at Disney, which is itself listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The amended contract, dated Aug 1, was made public in a filing with the US securities and exchange commission late on Wednesday. The contract signs up Chernin for five years in his current roles as president and chief operating officer of news corp. Chernin also serves on the company’s board. He gets a salary of 3.8 million a year with the opportunity to earn up to 25 million more in bonuses. Chernin gets a cash payment of 40 million if he is terminated without cause. The details of the new contract are likely to stir further speculation that Chernin is in the running to take over at disney. Disney’s board said in September it planned to find a replacement for 20-year CEO Michael Eisner by next June, following more than a year of shareholder protests. (AGENCIES) |
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Rabi crop prospects brightens with rains NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Wide-spread rains of the last week are expected to improve rabi crop production significantly though they have damaged standing crops in some areas. The annual foodgrains production is likely to touch 220 million tonnes during 2004-05. The rains, Indian Meteorological Department reports, have occurred in all parts of the country except central India. Rains have been particularly good in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Agricultural scientists feel that besides adding copious moisture to soil, these post-monsoon rains have reduced temperature and this would help growth of rabi plants. Rains in the monsoon season, which ended on 30th September, were below normal by 13 per cent, with as many as 13 out of 36 meteorological sub-divisions receiving deficient rains. The weather watch group, which met under the chairmanship of additional secretary R S Pandey to take stock of crop prospects, input supply position and weather conditions in the last week, has been informed that despite drought productivity of paddy and cotton in kharif this year has been satisfactory in irrigated areas such as Punjab. The WWG was also informed that reservoirs throughout the country are full by more than 80 per cent of the average except in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. The total live storage in 71 important reservoirs in different parts of the country was 84.58 billion cubic metre on October 1. This was 6.82 bcm more than last year s position on October 1, and 10.09 bcm less than the average of last 10 years storage. Taking note that adequate quantity of seed and fertilisers are available for the rabi season, the WWG has decided that fertiliser availability will be rigorously monitored in the coming months to avoid localised shortages. (UNI) |
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NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Inflation fell to 7.34 per cent during the week ended November 13 due to cheaper vegetables and other essential food and manufactured products even though fuel became costlier. The inflation based on wholesale price index fell to 7.34 per cent from 7.76 per cent a week ago but was still significantly higher than 5.42 per cent in the year-ago period. The WPI fell by 0.2 per cent to 190 points from the previous week’s level of 190.3, but was higher than 177 in the year-ago period. The inflation rate stood corrected at 7.86 per cent as against the provisional figure of 7.8 per cent during the week ended September 18, while WPI was revised to 189.4 from 189.3. The price level fell by 0.42 per cent during the week ended November 13 as essential primary food and non-food articles became cheaper by 0.4 per cent and prices of manufactured products moved down by 0.2 per cent. But fuel prices rose by 0.1 per cent. Primary articles group index fell to 191.6 from 192.4 in the previous week. The group index for food articles was down by 0.2 per cent to 192 points due to lower prices of beef and buffalo (7 per cent), tea and barley (2 per cent each) and fruits & vegetables, urad, gram and arhar (1 per cent each). However, prices rose for fish marine (4 per cent), bajra, condiments & spices, and ragi (1 per cent each). Non-food articles group index fell by 0.2 per cent to 184.1 points mainly due to lower prices of cotton seed (3 per cent) and raw cotton (1 per cent). Prices rose for raw jute (3 per cent), foddar and castor seed (2 per cent each), raw silk, copra and gingelly seed (1 per cent each). Minerals group index declined by 9.1 per cent to 271.8 points owing to lower prices of chromite (17 per cent), iron ore (12 per cent) and gypsum (4 per cent). However, prices were up for magnesite (22 per cent), steatite (9 per cent), limestone (8 per cent), fire clay (3 per cent) and vermiculite & barytes (1 per cent each). A whopping 14 per cent hike in prices of aviation turbine fuel pushed up the fuel, power, light and lubricants group index by 0.1 per cent to 291.6 points. It stood at 255.2 a year ago. The heavy-weighted manufactured products group index declined by 0.2 per cent to 166.8 points due to cheaper food products and textiles, even as chemicals, non-metallic mineral products and machinery became costlier. The index was 157.4 in the year-ago period. (PTI) |
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After a decade, philips makes PCs again AMSTERDAM, Nov 26: After an absence of a decade, philips electronics is making personal computers again, the company said on Thursday. The Netherlands-based electronics conglomerate, which abandoned the PC business in the early 1990s after suffering big losses, quietly introduced six models together with British retailer dixons earlier this week. The Dutch company said it had not wanted to draw attention to a "soft" launch of products that would only be available in a limited number of shops in six European countries, including Britain, Ireland, Spain, Italy and nordic countries. "It is a tactical decision to take an opportunity that came along," a spokesman said. The deal with dixons means philips has found another retail outlet for the internet-connected products it has co-branded streamium. The PCs, branded philips-freeline, have been preconfigured to work with other streamium products, so consumers can simply stream music from their PCs to their hi-fi set or television over a wireless connection. Until now, philips aimed to sell streamium products through telecoms companies as part of a broadband internet bundle. Otherwise the philips computers are standard items that run the same hardware and software as other PCs. Philips itself is already a major supplier of displays and CD and DVD drives to computer makers such as dell and Hewlett-packard, with whom it will now also compete. The PC business is still a cut-throat industry where profit margins are thin or absent, except in the case of a few top players including dell, windows and office software maker microsoft and pentium microprocessor producer intel. Philips is the world’s biggest lighting maker, a top three hospital equipment maker, Europe’s biggest consumer electronics producer and the region’s number three in semiconductors. (AGENCIES) |
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Centre gives "in principle" clearance to up for SEZ NOIDA, Nov 26: The Centre has given an "in principle" clearance to the Uttar Pradesh Government for setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) here that will come up on 1,000 hectares of land along the expressway. The Centre’s clearance was given early this month after Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had taken up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and followed up by Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Council Chairman Amar Singh with Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. The Union Government has now now asked for a detailed project report, for which Noida authority had sent teams of officials to Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat to study the working of the SEZs there and incorportate their "best features" in Noida, authority’s Chief Executive Officer Dev Dutt told PTI today. He said the Central Government had earlier in April rejected the UP Government’s proposal for the SEZ in Noida in an area of 1,000 acres following which the State Government reframed the proposal that will now now be spread over 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres). The DPR to be submitted to the Centre would allocate 35 per cent of the 1000 hectare area for industry, 150 for commercial purposes, 200 hectares for recreational activities and 250 for residential purposes. The Noida board which met on November 20 has decided to go for land acquisition for which work will start after the State Government notifies the authority as the executing agency for acquisition and development. Dutt said the authority was proposing to appoint a consultant for the project after which an expression of interest and the DPR would be submitted to the Government of India for final approval. A development commissioner for the project would also be appointed. Noida officials will also make a presentation to Industrial Development Council Chairman Amar Singh and Industrial Development Commissioner Ravi Mathur on the project. The UP Government will also constitute a special authority for the SEZ under a State Government law. (PTI) |
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Tata steel chief criticises draft steel policy BANGALORE, Nov 26: Hitting on the environmental concerns that hindered the development of steel sector in the country, Tata Steel managing director B Muthuraman today called for an action oriented vision that could enable India produce 250 million tonnes of steel within the next 25 years. Referring to the draft steel policy which he had received a couple of days ago, he said the policy stated a vision but it lacked details about the necessary action to achieve the goals. Speaking after releasing a book on "India’s legendary wootz steel" at the National Institute of Advanced Studies here, he said judging by the current policies and trends in production it would be extremely difficult even to produce 120 to 130 million tonnes as envisioned. There was need for a long range plan, encompassing issues relating to environment. Even though the God had endowed the country with raw material, coal and natural gas for steel production, it had not been possible for it to make the best use of it and emerge a major steel producer, he added. Stressing that steel was "a perfect engine for the growth of the Indian economy," he said the country could not afford to miss the opportunity. Mr Muthuraman said from about 100,000 tonnes 97 years ago, the country was currently producing about 37 to 38 million tonnes, while rest of the world had overtaken it. India had mastered the steel-making technology 300 years before the birth of christ, but it lacked the vision to commercialise production of steel. ‘’we need courage, conviction and a vision for the next 50 years on steel,’’ he said. The action for the future must be drawn up now without buckling under the short-term views on environmental concerns. If afforestation must me taken up to replace the forests that would be lost due to mining of iron ore, a plan should be drawn up and implemented now itself, he added. Ever since the first steel unit was set up in Jamshedpur by the Tatas in 1907, the country had remained under the shackles of the British for 47 years and in the subsequent 47 years it had shackled itself in steel production. Only after the liberalisation was implemented in 1991 did the industry thrive, he pointed out. Narrating the manner in which Japan had developed its steel sector, Mr Muthuraman said the best example at present was China whose pace of steel production was ten times faster than that of India. "China is moving ahead with a bleeding speed and its production this year is expected to be 300 million tonnes," he said, adding that the consumtpion of one Chinese city, Shanghai, amounted to the total Indian production. Stating that steel would dominate the global economy for several decades, he said the current production of about 1500 million tonnes was far less when compared to the demand for over 2500 million tonnes. (UNI) |
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Samsung, LG dig deep in India’s mobile gold rush SEOUL, Nov 26: South Korea’s Samsung and LG, already challenging top handset maker Nokia in the world’s biggest markets, are taking the fight to the fastest-growing market, offering fancy phones and aggressive marketing in India. Rock bottom tariffs, a room-to-boom phone ownership rate of just four in 100 people and galloping demand have attracted global players such as nokia nokiv.He , motorola mot.N , samsung electronics 005930.Ks and LG electronics 066570.Ks to India’s 2.5 billion market. "The Indian market is growing rapidly and the mobile penetration rate is still low. It’s got great potential," song Sauk-Hun, a gartner analyst based in Seoul, told . "India is a market that Samsung and LG really care about because of the sheer volume that’s involved." About 1.6 million users sign up each month, and the 45-million subscriber base is forecast to more than double by December 2005, with call rates as low as 2 US cents a minute. Song estimates more than 37 million mobile phones will be sold in India in 2005, with the annual number likely to rise to 50 million by 2008. Korean firms entered India late, but Samsung quickly built market share with stylish phones and colour screens aimed at the high-margin sector, while lg aimed for the low- to middle range. nokia’s offerings cross the spectrum, but it has stuck mainly to low- to medium-priced bar phones. "The Koreans are very serious contenders for the leadership position in India as they have demonstrated the ability to take share away in an exploding market," said Alpesh Shah, principal at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Analysts say samsung and LG have won a following by aggressively hawking flip-tops and clamshells with polyphonic ring tones and colour screens. "Both have a lot more advertising and marketing spend compared to other players," added Shah, who is based in Bombay. No precise market data is available, but analysts say nokia, with an estimated 45 percent share, is still leading. Even so, samsung is the largest player in the colour screens and photo-snapping handset niche, selling 100,000 units a month. With more than half of India’s billion-plus population below age 25, the market is ripe for experimentation and new technologies. "The future is colour and cameras. Mobile phones are now a tool for entertainment as well as connectivity in terms of voice and data," said Praveen Valecha, product group head at LG India. Over the past two years, the Korean firms have piggybacked on a huge expansion drive by Reliance Infocomm Ltd., the CDMA-based mobile services arm of the Reliance reli.Bo group that tops the Indian market. Reliance, which has more than 10 million users, is expanding its network to 5,000 towns from 1,100 at present, and analysts say half the firm’s CDMA handset purchases are through LG. LG first shipped CDMA handsets to India in late 2002, followed by colour handsets in April 2003 and camera phones in January 2004. By March it had over half of India’s CDMA market. LG aims to sell 3 million handsets in India in 2004, or about 7 percent of its global volume sales, said a spokeswoman. Samsung India expects to sell 2.8 million mobile phones in 2004, up from 2.5 million last year. Analysts expect handset revenue to rise 16.6 percent on the year to about 350 million. Nokia has fought back by entering the CDMA market and also by offering a larger menu of low-priced mobile phones in a market where more than 60 percent of phones sell for about 70. Samsung, the third-largest mobile phone maker after nokia and motorola, raised its global market share to 13.5 percent in the third quarter from 11.2 percent a year ago, according to strategy analytics. LG, meanwhile, overtook Japanese-Swedish joint venture sony ericsson 6758.T ericb.St as the fifth largest. Its share rose to 7 percent from 5.7 percent. The South Korean firms enjoy another edge — their nationwide distributor and retail presence in the domestic consumer durables market. "What we are seeing in other markets such as China and Singapore is that consumer electronics chains are being used very, very effectively for handset sales," said Kobita Desai, gartner’s principal analyst in India. BCG’s Shah says South Korean firms with leadership positions in the 4 billion consumer electronics market have changed the dynamics of the booming sector. European firms have been in India for years, Shah said. "But they have not been aggressive in their aspirations. Samsung and LG have changed the landscape and price points completely," Shah added. Both companies are now setting up plants to manufacture phones in India. Although samsung’s investment plans are not known, LG will plough 60 million into a mobile phone plant that will make 20 million GSM and CDMA phones a year by 2010. Half of those would be earmarked for export. "There is the huge domestic market to cater to," said Gartner’s Desai. "And in the longer run, the opportunity to address the needs of the global market is there." (AGENCIES) |
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Book on legendary wootz steel released BANGALORE, Nov 26: Ancient India had led the world in producing high grade steel which even the west could master only a 1000 years later. The steel known as, Wootz, was produced in the country 300 years before the birth of christ. Wootz was europeanisation of the word ‘Ukku’ for steel in south Indian languages, according to a book on India’s legendary Wootz steel: an advanced material of the ancient world." Authored by Dr Sharada Srinivasan of the National Institute of Advanced Studies and Prof Srinivasa Ranganathan of Indian Institute of Science, the book, commissioned by the Tata Steel, was released here today to commemorate the twin centenaries of the leading lights of the house of Tatas, JN Tata and JRD Tata. The novelty of Wootz lay in the fact that it was an ultra high carbon steel with 1.5 per cent carbon with special properties. However, in Europe only lower carbon steel with less than 0.8 per cent carbon was made. The high grade steel made in India was much sought after across the oceans in west Asia to make a naturally patterned sword blade, the ‘Damascus’ blade, which was as beautiful as it was devastating, the book observed. Wootz steel was also known as Damascus steel, bulat and ondanique (derived from the Arab term Hinduwani meaning Indian steel). European travellers had from 17th century onwards observed cakes of Wootz steel being made by crucible process in southern India. According to Dr Srinivasan, ‘Ukku’ might have been derived from the word ‘Ekku’ found in a more than 2000-year-old classical Tamil Sangam poetry. Wootz had also been mentioned by Walter Scott in his book "Talisman,’ a fictionalised encounter during the 12th century crusades between King Saladin of Egypt and King Richard of England where Saladin sliced a pillow with his superior Damascus blade made from Wootz steel. The book was released by Tata steel managing director B Muthuraman. (UNI) |
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