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| Sabena Airlines to start academy, maintenance unit in Nagpur NAGPUR, July 17: The Belgium-based Sabena Airlines has expressed its willingness to establish a base in the city ......more China's
biggest oilfield BEIJING, July 17: China's biggest oilfield, Daqing, exceeded its target in the first half of 2005, producing 22.66 million tonnes of oil (about 910,000 barrels .......more Top five
equity MF give NEW DELHI, July 17: Top performing equity mutual fund schemes like Taurus Discovery Stock, Reliance Media .........more GEA
welcomes service NEW DELHI, July 17: The Garment Exporters Association (GEA) today appreciated the government's decision reinstating .......more |
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JVs, outsourcing can double Indo-CEE trade to $ 1.7b by 2007 NEW DELHI, July 17: India's trade with the Central and East European (CEE) countries can .......more Syndicate
Bank public NEW DELHI, July 17: Syndicate Bank has priced its public offer at Rs 50 a share after the close of the issue, which was over-subscribed by almost 30 times.......more Salora to cash in on distribution biz; eyes 25 pc growth NEW DELHI, July 17: Homegrown durables major Salora International is betting big on its distribution business to achieve a 25 per cent year-on-year ........more India's
prosthetics NEW DELHI, July 17: With a rising demand from the world's war-torn regions like Afghanistan, ......more |
Sabena Airlines to start
academy, NAGPUR, July 17: The Belgium-based Sabena Airlines has expressed its willingness to establish a base in the city where the ambitious multi-model international passenger and cargo hub project called 'Mihan' is coming up, said Minister of State for Non-conventional Energy Sources Vilas Muttamwar. Talking to newspersons here yesterday, Mr Muttamwar, the Congress MP from Nagpur, said he had recently submitted a memorandum to Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh urging them to expedite the work of the project, which would help develop the backward region of Vidarbha. He said that the Sabena and US-based Boeing Inc are keen to set up aircraft maintenance base in Nagpur if infrastructure was made available to them. Sabena is also ready to begin a flight crew training academy within two months if a 10,000 sq ft of land is provided to them anywhere in the city. The Minister said the officials of these two aviation companies have promised to visit Nagpur in September this year to explore possibilities of setting up a maintenance base in the city. ''If both these projects are set up in Nagpur about 800 aircraft throughout the world can be repaired and maintained every year,'' he said. With the projects, he said about 20,000 unemployed engineers, technicians and other jobless persons would get employment. Mr Muttemwar said with the overcrowding of metropolitan airports, Nagpur airport alone has the capacity to absorb the air traffic and so it has become the most ideal location for aviation sector facilities. At present, all aviation companies in India put together operate 180 aircraft and new players that are slated to come into the sector have placed orders for another 300 new aircraft. In addition to other aircraft from neighbouring countries like Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the total aircraft available for maintenance would be close to 800 aircraft resulting in business in the range of Rs 1,500-2,000 crore. If the aircraft maintenance facility is set up in the proposed duty-free special economic zone, the city will become the cheapest aircraft maintenance hub, he added. (UNI) |
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China's biggest oilfield ahead of target -paper BEIJING, July 17: China's biggest oilfield, Daqing, exceeded its target in the first half of 2005, producing 22.66 million tonnes of oil (about 910,000 barrels per day), a newspaper reported. The field also produced 1.229 billion cubic metres (240 million cubic feet per day) of natural gas in the same period, the People's Daily said, giving no comparisons. Last year the field, which is operated by PetroChina Co. HK> , produced oil at a rate of 928,000 barrels per day and gas at 197 million cubic feet per day. The field's annual oil production target for the past 27 years had been 50 million tonnes, the paper said, without explaining how it had beaten a target by producing less than half of that in the first half of 2005. Proved oil reserves in the field had grown, the paper said. The proved remaining oil in the field was now estimated at almost 3.8 billion tonnes. Wang Yupu, chairman of the Daqing Oilfield Corp., said the company had introduced new extraction techniques to extend production life and improve efficiency. (Agency) |
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Top five equity MF give double digit returns in a month NEW DELHI, July 17: Top performing equity mutual fund schemes like Taurus Discovery Stock, Reliance Media & entertainment Fund and LIC MF Growth Fund have give double digit returns over the past one month. With equity markets in a state of euphoria on the strength of a resumption in FII inflows, GDP growth above six per cent plus and a recovery in the monsoon, equity oriented mutual fund schemes are having a good run. These schemes which include a sectoral fund, a pure growth scheme and an equity linked tax savings scheme (ELSS) have given returns ranging between 8.73 per cent and as high as 17.81 per cent for the month ended July 14, 2005. This works out to annualised returns of a whopping 200 per cent for the top performing scheme Taurus Discovery Stock. The schemes of Creditcapital Asset Management Company Limited and Reliance Mutual Found dominate the top five rankings with each ofthese AMCs having two schemes each in the top five. The second scheme in the pecking order is a sectoral scheme focussed on the media sector-Reliance Media & Entertainment Fund. Its growth option has given returns of 16.86 per cent over the past one month. Reliance NRI Equity Fund is ranked fourth giving returns of 10.95 per cent. Taurus Libra Taxshield is the only ELSS scheme in the top five and is ranked third giving returns of 12.74 per cent. LIC MF growth Fund is the only public sector asset management company in the top five. The fund is ranked fifth providing returns of 8.73 per cent. The sectoral allocation of the top five schemes is a mixed bag with the top performing scheme Taurus Discovery Stock concentrated in entertainment (24.70 per cent of Net assets), finance (17.43 per cent) and the chemicals (13.87 per cent) sectors. Reliance Media & Entertainment Fund which is a sectoral play on the buzzing media sector has 61.31 per cent of its holdings concentrated on the entertainment sector while 9.16 per cent is held int he IT sector and 5.61 per cent is allocated to the printing and stationary sector. Reliance NRI Equity Fund which invests primarily is BSE 200 companies is focussed mainly on banks (17.06 per cent), auto and auto ancillaries (13.82 per cent) and Electronics (11.20 per cent). With interest rates on small savings schemes falling over the last four years mutual fund schemes are becoming an increasingly attractive option for small investors to park their savings. (PTI) |
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GEA welcomes service tax relief for exporters NEW DELHI, July 17: The Garment Exporters Association (GEA) today appreciated the government's decision reinstating exemption from service tax on transportation of export goods by air. The restoration of exemption will reduce transportation cost of export cargo immediately, said GEA president Sudhir Kharbanda, as air cargo agents will no longer pass on 10.2 per cent service tax levy to exporters. The notification by Central Board for Excise and Customs (CBEC) was issued on Friday. Service tax on air freight was introduced in budget 2004-05 but an exemption to exporters was allowed through a notification on September 17 last year. On March 1 this year, the exemption was nullified when several exemptions were withdrawn after the budget for 2005-06 was presented. (UNI) |
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JVs, outsourcing can double
Indo-CEE NEW DELHI, July 17: India's trade with the Central and East European (CEE) countries can be doubled to 1.7 billion dollars, with exports touching a billion dollars in less than three years, as expansion of the European Union presents opportunities for forging joint ventures and increased outsourcing of services, says a study. According to the study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) titled ''India-CEE Trade Linkages: Opportunities and Challenges'', the bilateral trade currently stands at 833 million dollars. With the economies of the Central and East European countries growing at 3.3 per cent and 5.8 per cent annually, respectively, the Indian companies feel there are tremendous opportunities for the domestic industry, especially after the accession of five CEE nations -- Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia -- to the European Union in May 2004. Two more countries, Bulgaria and Romania, will join EU in 2007. India's trade volume with each country can be doubled in less than three years following uniform trade regulations, uniform duty structure and common technical specification in countries that have joined the European Union. They saw a big possibility for entering into joint ventures in the CEE countries as well as outsourcing of services from these nations to India. To boost trade with CEE nations, The FICCI study said Indian banks should open their operations in this bloc and there should be direct air links with CEE countries, the study said. Visa issuance should be made simple for business applicants and a special cell created for issue of visa to those going for business promotional activities. Further, it calls for the setting up of a centralised business office where the business community can contact to initiate business. Exim Bank should extend at least 10 million dollar credit line between these countries, it said. Respondents also saw a major role that can be played by the respective Joint Business Councils (JBCs) for further expansion of trade and investment linkages. These opportunities, the FICCI study noted, can be exploited by Indian companies by setting up offices in these countries, forging joint ventures for production and marketing and appointing agents for introducing and familiarising Indian products in these markets. Further, developing regular contacts through participation in buyer-seller meets, enlisting in the local trade directories, advertising in local trade journals and media, and creating greater awareness about Indian products by participating in all their trade fairs will help cash in on these opportunities. However, 86 per cent of the respondent companies said trade barriers in the form of high import duties and complex customs procedures were acting as a major impediment. (UNI) |
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Syndicate Bank public offer priced at Rs 50 NEW DELHI, July 17: Syndicate Bank has priced its public offer at Rs 50 a share after the close of the issue, which was over-subscribed by almost 30 times. The Manipal-based bank received bids for Rs 6,000 crore as against the targeted Rs 250 crore. Banking sources said the issue would significantly improve the capital adequacy ratio of the bank and enable it to conform with the stringent Basle-II norms coming into effect from 2007. The bank has offered 5 crore shares to the public at a price range of Rs 46-50 and the issue was priced through the book building route. Half of the issue -- 2.5 crore shares -- were kept for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 15 per cent for non-institutional bidders, 35 per cent for retail investors. The bank is offering five million shares to its employees. Syndicate Bank's public offer comes after the successful issues of Punjab National Bank, Dena Bank, Allahabad Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce since last year. A few private banks like HDFC Bank, UTI Bank and Centurion Bank also raised capital in the last few months but they opted the overseas market of New York, London and Luxemburg. Another new generation Yes Bank tapped the domestic bourses through its IPO. (PTI) |
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Salora to cash in on distribution biz; eyes 25 pc growth NEW DELHI, July 17: Homegrown durables major Salora International is betting big on its distribution business to achieve a 25 per cent year-on-year growth in revenues, the fiscal. The company is in talks with a number of foreign players in IT, telecom and consumer electronics segments to bolster its distribution business, which already contributes nearly 65 per cent of its total turnover. ''We are in negotiations with a number of companies,'' Salora International Managing Director Gopal Jiwarajkar told UNI, without disclosing the names of the companies he was talking to. The distribution business was also the fastest growing division of the company, he added. Earlier this year, the company entered into a distribution and marketing tie-up with Korean digital audio video devices major Reigncom for its MP3 player iRiver, which was launched in the country over the weekend. Yesterday, it announced its newest partnership, with Malaysian durables firm MIM Resources for marketing its plasma and LCD TVs, digital audio and video systems, computers, communication products and air-conditioners under the brandname TEAC. It already distributes Sony Ericsson mobile phones, Acer computers, Xerox office equipment, Panasonic printers and Samsung peripherals through its 23-state strong distribution network. The company had started focusing on the distribution business after the sales of black and white TVs - its flagship business - started slumping. Though it shifted focus to manufacturing colour TVs, VCD and DVD players and components, these divisions failed to grab substantial market share. At present, the company sells only about 100,000 CTVs and exports a small number of 10,000 a year to SAARC countries. Components contribute only 15 per cent to its turnover and CTVs and VCD and DVD players 20 per cent. Mr Jiwarajkar, however, has a different view. ''We already had the distribution infrastructure in place. It was just a case of making use of an opportunity.'' (UNI) |
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India's prosthetics market to be $7.5 bn by 2009: study NEW DELHI, July 17: With a rising demand from the world's war-torn regions like Afghanistan, Iraq and several African countries, prosthetics or artificial body parts market in India is estimated to become a 7.5-billion-dollar sector by 2009 from 2.5 billion dollars at present, according to PHDCCI. Artificial limbs and joints will contribute to four-fifth of the overall growth of the market in the next five years time, it said, quoting a study to ascertain the potential of India's prosthetics market to meet the rising global demand for artificial body parts. The government, in order to ensure retaining the growth in the country's prosthetics sector, should set up a centralised nodal agency to procure and effectively market the indigenous products for enhanced exposure and penetration of foreign and domestic markets in the coming year, it added. The study, noting that a recent United Nations estimate said Iraq and Afghanistan had 59 and 40 landmines per square km respectively, said India was fast establishing its reputation as a source of some of the best yet cheap prosthetic devices in the world. A number of medical devices developed by Indian companies were fast proving to be world-class in quality and performance, it added. Bio-medical prosthetic devices are artificial replacements used in the human body to function as original parts. They are made of many classes of synthetic materials such as metals, polymers, ceramics, glasses, composite materials and natural materials such as polysaccharides, proteins, enzymes and lipids. In the case of India, the cost factor advantage vis-à-vis global competitors would enable to post an annual growth rate of 30 per cent in the next five years. While the imported prosthesis is priced at Rs 1.3 lakh, their Indian varieties cost only Rs 26,000. The price of indigenous artificial limbs costs range only between Rs 6000 and Rs 6500 as against Rs 45,000 for imported limbs. The industry chamber said India's premier organisations have been able to introduce new-age technologies and develop the country's first indigenous artificial hand that costs 30 times less than an imported motorised hand. ''One indicator for such a rapid growth for the sector is the marked growth in the orthopedic surgeries registered in the country in the past five years. This trend is related to India's demographic changes, reflecting a growing number of elderly in the population,'' the study noted. It has been estimated that five to six lakh orthopedic surgeries were being performed in the country every year. With sedentary life-style on the rise, this number is expected to grow by 6 per cent annually in the next four years. Such trends ''are going to push the demand'' for prosthetics like crutches, surgical belts and trusses, splints and other fracture appliances, artificial body parts and other appliances that are worn, carried or implanted in the body to compensate for a defect or disability significantly. With a hyper growth in aesthetic or the cosmetic dentistry, the country's global reach and domestic performance would significantly contribute in growth of the sector in India. Giving the example of Jaipur foot, the study has elaborated that after proving to be a success in the country in providing low-cost efficient artificial limbs to the underprivileged, this artificial foot has been able to play a major role in making its presence felt in Afghanistan in the last two years. (UNI) |
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LIC sees Rs 1,000 bln premium in
FY06, to NEW DELHI, July 17: Life Insurance Corporation is targeting over 30 per cent growth in total premium income at Rs 1,00,000 crore this fiscal through a slew of product launches and stepping up its marketing efforts. LIC targets about 50 per cent growth in premium income at over Rs 18,000 crore from new businesses alone, its chairman A K Shukla told PTI here. Till June, he said the first premium income was up by over 60 per cent. "We are targeting a total premium of about Rs 1,00,000 crore this fiscal as against Rs 75,000 crore in the last fiscal," Shukla said. To attain the ambitious target, LIC plans to come up with a slew of new schemes including a unit-linked whole-life insurance plan 'Jeevan Plus' and two-three variants of traditional products. After the resounding success of its previous ULIP -- Bima Plus and Future Plus, the corporation plans to launch Jeevan Plus in a month or so. ULIPs contributed to 42 per cent of LIC's new businesses last fiscal, Shukla said, adding the growth is expected to be maintained this year also. The insurer is focusing on widening policyholders base rather than run after a niche segment that can give it hefty premium growth. "We are targeting 38 per cent growth in the number of policies," he said. LIC is now considering to engage a large chunk of its 60,000 odd Class-III staff in selling its products for which it has obtained permission from the Finance Ministry. Country's biggest life insurer is also exploring foraying into Australia, New Zealand, Botswana and Egypt, Shukla said. However, the plans are at conceptual stage and no decision has been taken in this regard, he clarified. The corporation has already applied for license from Saudi Arabia authority to set up Indo-Saudi Insurance, a joint venture between LIC, LIC International (Bahrain) and New India Assurance and Al Hoiker Group of Saudi Arabia. The 40 per cent of the Rs 114 crore paid-up capital for the joint venture in Saudi Arabia is expected to be met through an IPO. Government has provided Rs 280 crore to LIC in the budget for the seed capital required for the overseas ventures. To expand its reach, LIC is also planning to set up satellite offices in areas where it does not have any branch. These offices will be linked to the main branch through IT network, he said. "We are planning to open 29 such offices this fiscal," Shukla said, adding the offices will be small ones in 700-800 sq feet area and manned by a few employees. The life insurer has more than 2,000 branch offices across the country. LIC, which improved its market share to 81.17 per cent in April from 78 per cent last fiscal, saw erosion in its market share by almost five per cent in May, according to a data released by IRDA. LIC, which has close to 11 lakh agents, settled more than one crore individual claims last fiscal with outstanding claims constituting just 0.13 per cent of the total, Shukla said. (PTI) |
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US outsourcing Maths coaching
from India NEW DELHI, July 17: From gurukuls to computers, the business of education has come a long way. And the fee too has travelled over ages to turn from modest dakshina to dollars. India pioneered the concept of zero and the West is now again looking at the country for tutoring its students in the complex subject of Mathematics. Internet has come handy this time as Indian teachers are solving problems of US students online, albeit without the chalk and the talk. Educomp Datamatics, an education technology company, is providing online Maths tutors to students in the US and at a fraction of the cost of American teachers. ''We charge 20 dollars per hour for online maths coaching. Today, over 100 people visit our website everyday and our teachers help them solve their problems,'' Educomp CEO Shantanu Prakash told UNI. He said the company does not use voice service. ''The tutor and student communicate only by writing on the whiteboard as they go through the stages of solving a problem.'' The whiteboard technology allows the user to collaborate in real time with others via graphic information. Explaining the reasons behind this ''education process outsourcing'', Mr Prakash said, ''It makes sense for many reasons. One, the fees of tutors is very high in the US. Secondly, Indians, on the whole, tend to be good at Maths.'' Pointing out that there is a shortage of almost two million Maths teachers in the US, he said: ''We are bridging this gap.'' And on the back of this new age Maths outsourcing, Educomp is looking at revenues of around Rs 4 crore this fiscal. ''Our overall revenue target for 2005-06 is Rs 51 crore, out of which around Rs 4 crore will come from this e-learning initiative,'' he said. American tuition companies, known as Supplemental Education Service providers, are far more expensive, charging around 40 dollars an hour. Mr Prakash said there was no other Indian company providing similar services.(UNI) |
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Houston trade delegation to visit India in September HOUSTAN, July 17: A trade and business development delegation from Houston will visit India in September in an attempt to bolster commercial opportunities for its companies, including export prospects and joint ventures. Led by Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, the team will aim at strengthening US-India bonds by opening government doors and providing networking opportunities to Houston businesses. The delegation's visit to New Delhi and Mumbai from September 24 to October 1 has been organised by the Greater Houston Partnership, which is dedicated to building economic prosperity in the region. Besides one-on-one meetings, the purpose of the visit will be to facilitate meetings with government and business leaders and provide networking opportunities in an effort to encourage business links, partnerships and joint ventures, Manager of International Business Greater Houston Partnership Adam Gibson told PTI. The US is already India's largest trading partner and over 30 Houston companies have Indian subsidiaries, executive director of Houston's Indo-American Chamber of Commerce Jagdip Ahluwalia said. "The mission is a key opportunity for Houston companies to establish strategic contacts and alliances in this vast nation of natural and human resources", Pat Lee Foley of Greater Houston Partnership said. The visit plans to arrange business meetings and networking receptions hosted by the US Ambassador and relevant trade associations in India. The mission has the agreements of support, in principle, from US Department of Commerce Houston Export Assistance Centre, the Consulate General of India, Texas Governor's Office of International Business, Indo American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, Confederation of Indian Industries and India-US Business Council. (PTI) 'Inflation to ease to 4 pc by Sep; may rise to 5 pc by Dec' NEW DELHI, July 17: An unlikely pass-through of high global oil prices and easing steel and farm product prices are expected to hold wholesale inflation at near 4.0 per cent till September, from where it may rise to 5.0 per cent by December, according to credit rating agency ICRA. "With steel prices set to ease further, good monsoon rains likely to soften agricultural product prices and the pass-through of higher crude petroleum prices to refined products unlikely, WPI inflation appears set to stay around 4.0 per cent for the rest of the summer 2005," ICRA said in its latest Money and Finance review. It said manufactured goods showed inflation of 3.5 per cent, down significantly from the level of 5.4 per cent a mere two months ago (end of April 2005) and expected it to fall well below 3.0 per cent in July, August and September, before rising subsequently. Finding that manufactured products prices had not risen in May through June, ICRA said in the coming months there does not appear to be much likelihood of the overall price index for manufactured products to increase much on a net basis. This notwithstanding the fact that prices for some manufactured products (such as cement) are likely to increase in line with strong demand and rising manufacturing costs, the credit rating agency said. However, these would be offset to an extent by the likely softening of steel prices and and general competitive pressure arising from global supply networks, which drive enterprises to try and absorb cost increases through productivity gains in order to preserve market share. "The recent softness in international steel prices, which has been transmitted to domestic markets via price reduction, may see further paring down of the contribution of steel to inflation," ICRA said. On movement of prices at the retail front, ICRA said inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Non- Manual Employees (CPI-UNME) and that by Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) were now converging at around five per cent level. Inflation measured by the CPI-UNME in May 2005 stayed at 4.2 per cent, unchanged from that of the previous month. The CPI-IW dropped off in May 2005 to 3.7 per cent from the five per cent of the previous month. These may be compared with the average for the second half of 2004-05, which was 3.9 per cent for CPI-UNME and 4.2 per cent for CPI-IW, indicating no significant change in the direction of consumer price inflation. However, it said if retail petroleum prices are revised upward, WPI inflation would once again move ahead, since the weight of petro-products in the consumer price indices was much smaller that that in the WPI. (PTI) |
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