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| Kalyani Brakes Limited organises technical tour Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Aug 31: Kalyani Brakes Limited (KBX) of North region camp office Jammu organised a week long technical tour of automobile mechanics for awareness about modernization.......more Blue dart
inks regional MUMBAI, Aug 31: Leading integrated air express courier and logistics company Blue Dart today signed a regional.......more Three new
export promotion NEW DELHI, Aug 31: The Government today announced three new major export promotion schemes to boost exports.....more Glenmark
acquires NEW DELHI, Aug 31: Leading drugmaker Glenmark has acquired two FDA approved products from Clonmel Healthcare.....more |
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PNB earmarks Rs 227-cr to implement core banking solutions MUMBAI, Aug 31: State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) has earmarked Rs 227-crore to implement core banking solutions in its 2,000 branches by 2006, according to PNB Executive Director Dr K C Chakraborty........more PM for
curtailing NEW DELHI, Aug 30: Committing to a major policy overhaul for the small scale sector, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.....more Foreign
trade policy NEW DELHI, Aug 30: Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath will unveil tomorrow the five-year National Foreign....more ONGC
acquires BANGALORE, Aug 30: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) acquired a Canadian off-shore oilfield in west....more |
Kalyani Brakes Limited organises technical tour Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Aug 31: Kalyani Brakes Limited (KBX) of North region camp office Jammu organised a week long technical tour of automobile mechanics for awareness about modernization, working and brake system of automobiles at Jalgaon, Pune and Chakan KBX plants in Maharashtra State. P N Bhan, a senior officer of North region in Jammu stated that the programme was attended by a group of reputed automobile mechanics of Jammu province to take benefit of technical know how about the manufacturing of brake system used in various automobiles. The mechanics were imparted training about installation and repairing of brake system to their components. Ch. Alla Rakha, Bhushan Kumar, Kulvir Singh, Roop Lal, Amrik Singh, Mahinder Pual, Vijay Kumar, Mohan Lal, Kartar Singh attended the tour and training programme. Satish Dogra, Sales officer also accompanied the team for the purpose. |
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Blue dart inks regional alliance
agreement MUMBAI, Aug 31: Leading integrated air express courier and logistics company Blue Dart today signed a regional alliance agreement with the hayleys group of Sri Lanka which will result in covering 13,700 locations in India and 400 locations in Sri Lanka and support deliveries with real-time tracking systems. Announcing this here today, Blue Dart Express Ltd vice president (marketing projects) Tulsi Mirchandaney said that customers from Sri Lanka and India will now have access to the reliable and speedy transportation, distribution and delivery services for their documents, packages and critical supply chain needs between both countries. "This regional alliance agreement would be based on revenue sharing model on delivery charges. For time being, we have no plans to fly a seperate aircraft for Sri Lanka. But we will explore the plans later depending upon the growth of the load", she clarified. With 39 per cent market share, Blue Dart has presence in the SAARC region countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. This alliance will focus on enabling the Blue Dart brand experience through quality and dedicated express infrastructure to service the widest geographuical reach between the two countries. Hayleys is one of the largest Blue Chip conglomerates in Sri Lanka with a portfolion of globally competitive core business spanning transportation, logistics, coir, rubber, environment, agriculture, plantations, inland marketing, infrastructure, etc. (UNI) |
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Three new export promotion schemes introduced NEW DELHI, Aug 31: The Government today announced three new major export promotion schemes to boost exports from the country. Announcing the three new schemes, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath told mediapersons that a new scheme to accelerate growth of exports called "target plus" has been introduced. Two other schemes introduced are ‘Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana’ and ‘Served From India’ scheme. Under the ‘Target Plus’ scheme, exporters who have achieved a quantum growth in exports would be entitled to duty free credit based on incremental exports substantial higher than the general actual export target fixed. Since the export target fixed for 2004-05 is 16 per cent, the lower limit of performance for qualifying for rewards is pegged at 20 percent for current year. Rewards will be granted based on a tiered approach. For incremental growth of over 20 per cent, 25 per cent and 100 per cent, the duty free import credits wold be 5 percent, ten per cent and 15 per cent of fob value of incremental exports. The second scheme — Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana has been introduced to boost export of fruits, vegetables, flowers, minor forest produce and their value added products. Exports of these products shall qualify for duty free credit entitlement equivalent to 5 per cent of fob value of exports. The entitlement will of freely transferable and can be used for import of variety of inputs and goods. The third scheme — served from India — has been designed to accelerate growth in exports of services so as to create a powerful and unique "Served From India" brand instantly recognied and respected the world over. The new scheme replaces the earlier duty free replenishment certificate scheme, which has been revamped and re-cast into the new scheme. Individual service provides, who can earn foreign exchange of at least Rs five lakh and other service providers, who can earn foreign exchange of at least Rs ten lakh will be eligible for a duty credit entitlement of 10 per cent of total foreign exchange earned by them. In case of stand-alone restaurants, the entitlement shall be 20 percent, whereas in case of hotels, it shall be five per cent. Hotel and restaurants can use their duty credit entitlement for import of food items and alcoholic beverages. (UNI) |
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Glenmark acquires FDA approved drugs from Clonmel NEW DELHI, Aug 31: Leading drugmaker Glenmark has acquired two FDA approved products from Clonmel Healthcare Ltd, a subsidiary of German Pharma Major Stada, through its wholly-owned subsidiary in US Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc. The acquisition included the complete regulatory filing assets of two drugs, which were most recently marketed by Esi Lederle. The 50-million dollar products have limited generic competition in the US market. "The acquisition accelerates our product growth plan in the US. It also advances the introduction and launch of our commercial front end and the Glenmark label in the US marketplace," Glenmark pharmaceutical Inc CEO Jeffrey Weiss said in a statement. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd Managing Director Glenn Saldanha said the current acquisition would help advance the USFDA inspection of the company’s new formulations plant at Goa. It will also further its ability to launch and deliver products in the regulated markets under the Glenmark label. Recently, Glenmark’s US arm also filed its first complete para 3 Anda under its own label. The product has a generic market size of approximately 200 million dollars in the US. Glenmark expects to capture approximately 25 per cent market share for each product within one year from launch. It plans to file 8-10 Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) in the current financial year. In addition to product filings, Glenmark also has a tie-up with KV pharmaceuticals, a leading US specialty company, for the development and marketing of 8 additional andas. Under this pact, the products will be developed by Glenmark and filed and commercialised by KV under a joint label, the statement added. (UNI) |
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PNB earmarks Rs 227-cr to
implement MUMBAI, Aug 31: State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) has earmarked Rs 227-crore to implement core banking solutions in its 2,000 branches by 2006, according to PNB Executive Director Dr K C Chakraborty. Speaking on sidelines of it seminar organised by NASSCOM here today, Dr Chakraborty — who has joined PNB yesterday — said that the bank has already implemented core banking solutions in its 680 branches. "The total cost of implementing finacles — the core banking solutions designed by Infosys technologies — in 2,000 branches may incur around Rs 500-crore to Rs 600-crore. We are looking cost-effective solutions which will give us better connectivity", said Dr Chakraborty. Dr Chakraborty said that the bank is aiming at providing the benefits of core banking solutions to the rural branches though it will be an expensive proposition. PNB has total 4,026 branches and there is no rural branches has come under centralised banking solutions in the recent drive of linking 680 branches into finacles net. Sources said that the bank is exploring feasible option of taking servers to implement the core banking solutions. "At present, we are taking the server facility from Reliance Infocomm, BSNL, MTNL, etc. For the purpose of connecting rural branches, we need partner who can offer the server facility in the rural side of the country. However, we are planning to take the service through a transparent manner", sources told UNI. (UNI) |
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| PM for curtailing inspector raj; new
policy for SSIs on anvil NEW DELHI, Aug 30: Committing to a major policy overhaul for the small scale sector, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said if policies of the past have not worked well, they should be "discarded" and asked the SSI ministry to expedite the proposed single law and curtail inspector raj. "If policies of the past have not worked well, we should be prepared to discard them," Singh said at the convention of small scale industries while pointing out that the debate on small vs large businesses called for "innovative thinking" to bolster the growth of SSIs. Highlighting the significance of SSIs as "key to our success in employment", he said "I understand that the ministry of SSI is working on a single law for the sector. Let us finalise this shortly and bring it before Parliament." Admitting that the policy of reservations would not be enough to protect the SSIs from the global competition, particularly in the shape of international trade, Singh said this necessitated a "paradigm" shift in the policy framework. There is an urgent need to address key issues of credit and marketing support, technology upgradation and infrastructure development in the SSI clusters, he said. Singh regretted the sector was not getting enough credit despite banks being flush with money. Singh said various initiatives like the credit guarantee trust and a credit linked capital subsidy scheme were launched in the recent years to help small enterprises with new credit schemes and higher limits for loan eligibility, but availability of credit still remained a problem. "Even as bankers exercise their commercial judgement, they must also pay heed to the development dimension of lending to small enterprises," the Prime Minister said. Government is also setting up a National Commission to examine the problems facing enterprises in the unorganised and informal sector, he said adding this Commission would have a comprehensive mandate to examine and review existing institutional mechanisms for supporting small enterprises. In an era of increasingly globalised world with tariff barriers, there is a need to examine the implications of these on all enterprises, particularly the small scale and cottage sectors. It needs to be seen whether protection in the form of reservation of items for production in SSIs is an adequate mechanism to enable the sector thrive, he said adding "while reservation can protect from domestic competition, it will not protect them from international competition." This is the reality one must reckon with, he said adding "trade is a substitute for domestic competition." Given the future scenario of trade-driven competition, the efforts of all Government agencies must to be towards enhancing the capabilities of SSI enterprises to face competition, Singh said. "There is an urgent need to work out effective promotional measures which will enhance efficiency and productivity of these enterprises," he said. The policies, whether for technological upgradation, marketing support or credit support, must evolve approaches which are flexible enough to adjust to the requirement of each sector and cluster, the Prime Minister said. Recognising the importance of the SSI sector, not only in its contribution to India’s GDP but also for its stellar performance in exports and generating employment, he said employment is a key thrust area of our Government. "While we will be enhancing investment in agriculture to improve both yields and incomes, given the imbalance between the proportion of GDP accounted for by agriculture and that of people working in it, if we have to eradicate poverty, we need to boost our manufacturing sector which alone can absorb workers on a massive scale," Singh said. "The key to our success in employment lies in the success of the SSI sector," he added. Earlier, SSI Minister Mahabir Prasad said about one lakh units of SSIs get registered every year but only 50,000 credit accounts are opened with banks. On the contrary, credit accounts have come down to 17 lakh in 2003 from 26 lakh in 1999, he said adding this reflects the acute credit problems being faced by the SSI. (PTI) |
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Foreign trade policy to unveil today NEW DELHI, Aug 30: Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath will unveil tomorrow the five-year National Foreign Trade Policy (NFTP), laying the UPA Government’s roadmap for India to achieve one per cent of the global trade by incentivising exports in thrust areas and making import-procedures hassle-free. The NFTP will cut short and replace the NDA Government’s 2002-2007 Export-Import (EXIM) policy, only after two years of operations since the Manmohan Singh Government would like to have its own imprint on an economic policy, which is second only to the budget in importance. While the previous Government had announced the five-year policy, the version containing annual changes was to be unveiled on March 31, 2004. However, the policy could not be announced because of the general elections. After spending 100 days in office, the Commerce and Industry Minister is likely to meet at least some of the demands of the exporting community included in the wish list sent to him, among others, by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). Exporters, who had feared that their much-preferred Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme could be dropped under pressure from the Finance Ministry and the compulsions of the World Trade Organisation, can breath easy since the duty-neutralisation scheme is likely to continue at least in the near future. However, it remains to be seen whether the DEPB rates are finetuned with other schemes like duty drawback scheme as desired by the Finance Ministry. The textile sector which is going to go quota-free in the export market from January, 2005 had insisted that the DEPB should continue since they would be entering the crucial make-or-break phase in the next four months. Exporters have high hopes on the Government since this would be its first foreign trade policy. "I see promise of refreshingly different policy framework as the Commerce and Industry Minister has indicated", FIEO president M Rafeeque Ahmed said on the eve of the policy release. The industry sources expect special packages to boost exports from sectors like agriculture, handicraft, handloom, textile and leather. In the agricultural sector, there could be a special package for fruits, vegetables, flowers and minor forest produce. As for as the industry sector, the policy is likely to contain a package for the automotive components since they would be affected significantly by the free trade agreement with Thailand. Interestingly, the early harvest of the Thailand FTA is signed a day before the release of the NFTP. The exporting community is also hopeful about their demands being met in regard to domestic units, exporting more than 75 per cent of their production, being treated at par with the export-oriented units. It is expecting reduction in threshold limit of Rs 25 crore and minimum growth of 25 per cent prescribed for availing the DEPB benefits. The policy will play a crucial role in achieving the 16 per cent growth target in exports in the current financial year and continuing the momentum in the next four years. (UNI) |
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ONGC acquires west Australian company BANGALORE, Aug 30: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) acquired a Canadian off-shore oilfield in west Australia yesterday, its Chairman and Managing Director Subir Raha announced today. Speaking to newspersons here after entering into a MoU with the Karnataka Government on a project in Mangalore to invest Rs 25,000 crore, he, however, declined to divulge further details such as the amount involved in the acquisition and the name of the company. The stock exchanges in London, Toronto and Mumbai would be making the announcements simultaneously, he added. To a question, Mr Raha said the investment involved several million dollars. ONGC’s overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Limited, had already acquired 11 properties in ten countries. (UNI) |
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75 pc concession in trains for defence personnel widows NEW DELHI, Aug 30: The railways would grant 75 per cent concession from September 6 to widows of defence personnel killed in terrorist-action for travel in the second and the sleeper class of trains. The concession will be admissible without distance limit in basic mail and express fares only and not in other charges like reservation fee, superfast surcharge and safety surchage, an official release said here today. The concessions will be granted directly by the station masters/station managers on submitting a photocopy of identity card issued by District Sainik Boards, Ministry of Defence. The decision to grant the concession follows the announcement by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in his budget speech on July 6, 2004, it said. (PTI) |
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Aairtel launches services in UP (east) LUCKNOW, Aug 30: Country’s largest private GSM cellular operator Airtel launched its services in the Uttar Pradesh (east) telecom circle here today. Under the post-paid scheme, customers would have to pay 50 paise per minute for a local call to Airtel or any other mobile network while a local call to landline would cost Rs 1.50 per minute. While for pre-paid customers, Re one per minute has been fixed for a local call made to another Airtel subscriber while Rs 2.25 per minute would be the cost for a local call made to any other mobile network or landline phone. (UNI) |
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North Bengal plastic industry seeks HPL’s help SILIGURI, Aug 30: Faced with the growing challenge of parallel market of smuggled goods, the North Bengal Plastic Federation (NBPF) has sought the help of the Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL) to save the ailing plastic manufacturing industry in the region. NBPF president Ratan Kumar Bihani said the plastic manufacturing units in north Bengal were facing twin attacks from the "underground market" of smuggled goods and the ban on production, sale and use of plastic carry bags in the hills and plains of Darjeeling. Mr Bihani was addressing an interactive session with local manufacturers and HPL bosses here on Saturday. Siliguri, the gateway of the northeast, was flooded with smuggled goods imported clandestinely from neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh, he said. According to District Industry Centre Joint Director A K Palit, Siliguri had about 65 registered plastic units between 1990 to 2004. Of them, 20 per cent had closed down due to various reasons. HPL vice-president Ujjal Dey said his company had decided to set up a stock yard in north Bengal to provide quality raw materials to the plastic industries here. He said his company had given priority to the state’s downstream industries in supplying raw materials for quality products, adding that the company’s naptha cracker unit had set a target of producing about 640 tonne by 2006, an increase of 220 tonnes by 2000. He said after HPL entered the state market the import of plastic products in the eastern region touched 50 per cent from 100,000 tonne because of its competent price. HPL’s Environment Manager (eastern region) D K Chatterjee said his company would soon approach the state government regarding the banning of plastic carry bags in darjeeling, stating that better waste management was the need of the hour. He said without plastic no modern development could take place, adding only waste management was solution against littering and pollution. Though the local administration has banned manufacturing of plastic carry bags, plastic bags were being smuggled from Nepal, he added. (UNI) |
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