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| RComm, Orascom, Maxis in race to
acquire Hutch-Essar NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The race for acquiring India's third largest mobile services provider Hutch-Essar, has hotted up with Reliance Communications backed by an US equity funder, .. .........more Sharp rally in Instanex Skindia DR Index MUMBAI, Dec 15: The Instanex Skindia DR Index rallied sharply by 65.79 points or 2.92 per cent to 2,318.59 on December .......more Slum dev Akruti looks to mop up Rs 500 cr through IPO route NEW DELHI, Dec 15: After a good run of recently-listed realty players in the capital market, Mumbai-based infrastructure developer Akruti Nirman Ltd, which .......more Efforts on to electrify all households by 2012: Shinde NEW DELHI, Dec 15: All efforts are being made to ensure electrification of all households across the country by 2012, Power Minister ......more |
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NPAs come down in absolute terms:FM NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The amount of non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks have come down in absolute terms as well as in proportion to the total advances despite a ,........more 52 proposals pending clearance under Forest Act NEW DELHI, Dec 15: A total of 52 proposals for use of forest land for non-forestry purposes are pending clearance, Minister ......more ACC to incur Rs1,480cr capex for capacity expansion NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Leading cement maker ACC Ltd today said it will spend Rs 1,480 crore for augmenting the capacity of its new Wadi plant at Karnataka .......more ‘Dental Implant’ emerging in India : Expert CHENNAI, Dec 15: After heart implant and hip replacement, the ‘Dental Implant’ procedure, to prevent loss of teeth, is gaining ground in India and.........more |
RComm, Orascom, Maxis in race to acquire Hutch-Essar NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The race for acquiring India's third largest mobile services provider Hutch-Essar, has hotted up with Reliance Communications backed by an US equity funder, Egyptian telecom giant Orascom and Malaysia's Maxis believed to have thrown their hats into the ring. Hutch-Essar is understood to be valued between 13-14 billion dollars and a call for the suitor (rpt suitor) could be taken in less than a month, investment banking sources said. Hutchison Telecom International Ltd and corporate giant Essar, the two joint venture partners have declined to comment on speculations. (PTI) |
Sharp rally in Instanex Skindia DR Index MUMBAI, Dec 15: The Instanex Skindia DR Index rallied sharply by 65.79 points or 2.92 per cent to 2,318.59 on December 14 and the Dr Index P/E Ratio also improved to 28.08 from 27.36 previously, Instanex Instanex Capital release said here today. Following are the GDR and ADR rates for Dec 14 in US dollars with differences in percentage from the previous level given in brackets. Bajaj Auto (GDR) 57.25 (+2.28) Dr Reddy (ADR) 17.85 (+3.60) HDFC Bank (ADR) 74.73 (+4.07) Hindalco (GDR) 3.84 (+1.57) ICICI Bank (ADR) 40.01 (+4.36) Infosys Tech (ADR) 55.20 (+2.17) ITC (GDR) 3.95 (+0.51) L&T (GDR) 33.00 (+3.13) MTNL (ADR) 5.96 (+1.36) Ranbaxy Labs (GDR) 8.30 (UNCH) Reliance (GDR) 56.75 (+2.25) Satyam Comp (ADR) 23.79 (+3.61) SBI (GDR) 70.00 (+1.67) VSNL (ADR) 18.07 (+4.94) Wipro (ADR) 15.60 (+3.24)(PTI) |
Slum dev Akruti looks to mop up Rs 500 cr through IPO route NEW DELHI, Dec 15: After a good run of recently-listed realty players in the capital market, Mumbai-based infrastructure developer Akruti Nirman Ltd, which develops apartments for slum dwellers, is all set to raise about Rs 500 crore by going public. The company plans to utilise the proceeds of the IPO for part-funding its expansion plans and would join the bandwagon of infrastructure developers like Parsvnath, Sobha Developers and Lanco, who have collectively raised over Rs 2,500 crore from the markets this year. Akruti has filed the draft prospectus for its IPO with market regulator SEBI and expects to be open for subscription in January next year. "Akruti is planning to dilute 10 per cent stake through the IPO route and would raise around Rs 500 crore. The proceeds of the IPO would be utilised to fund the company’s expansion plans," Company Chairman Hemant Shah told PTI here. The company is presently working on as many as seven commercial projects entailing an investment of about Rs 800 crore. The company specialises in redeveloping slum land and building concrete houses for its habitants, while using excess land for other commercial projects like IT parks. Akruti, which has constructed concrete accomodation for more than 10,000 slum dwellers so far, had begun with a project in Maharashtra. Recently, it forayed into commercial projects, including mall development. (PTI) |
Efforts on to electrify all households by 2012: Shinde NEW DELHI, Dec 15: All efforts are being made to ensure electrification of all households across the country by 2012, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told the Lok Sabha today. "We expect rural electrification programme to be completed by 2009 and every household in the country will have access to power by 2012," he said during Question Hour. Shinde said 27 states participating in the implementation of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaram Yojana (RGGVY), except Delhi and Goa, have formulated and submitted 575 draft detailed project reports (DPRs) involving an outlay of Rs 28772.31 crore covering 546 districts. "Sanction has been accorded to 317 DPRs for 316 districts involving an outlay of Rs 11514.23 crore covering electrification of 69534 un-electrified or de-electrified villages and intensive electrification of 165124 villages in 27 states," he said. He said 'in-principal' approval has been accorded to 144 projects for 136 districts for electrification of 21105 un-electrified villages and intensive electrification of 88829 electrified villages involving an outlay of Rs 5892 crore to take up preliminary activities till tender evaluation. Shinde said the implementating states so far have availed Rs 2480.41 crore under sanctioned RGGVY projects. (PTI) |
NPAs come down in absolute terms:FM NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The amount of non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks have come down in absolute terms as well as in proportion to the total advances despite a substantial growth in advances made by them, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today. "I want to dispel the impression that NPAs are rising. NPAs are not mounting. Both gross NPAs and net NPAs have declined in absloute numbers as well as in proportion to the total advances," he said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour. Despite increase in the outstanding gross advances of public sector banks from Rs 5.78 lakh crore in March 2003 to Rs 11.35 lakh crore in March 2006, gross NPAs of banks have come down from Rs 54,090 crore to Rs 42,106 crore over the same period. The percentage of NPAs to gross advances had declined from 9.4 to 3.7 per cent, Chidambaram said. The recoveries of NPAs made in 2005-06 were Rs 23,210 crore, including Rs 8,833 crore written off due to compromises arrived at between the banks and parties which have taken credit, he said. Responding to a question by Sujan Chakraborty (CPI-M), Chidambaram said the list of defaulters was published only when a suit was filed by a defaulter. Asked by CPI(M) leader Rupchand Pal whether the government proposed to monitor the end-use of the money loaned by banks to check its use in speculative activities, he said there was no proposal to do so as the Board of Directors of these banks were tasked to monitor the end-use of credit. To a question whether banks were eyeing foreign capital to bridge the liquidity crunch arising out of NPAs, the Minister said the current level of gross NPAs did not significantly impact the liquidity of the banks. (PTI) |
52 proposals pending clearance under Forest Act NEW DELHI, Dec 15: A total of 52 proposals for use of forest land for non-forestry purposes are pending clearance, Minister of State for Environment and Forest Namo Narain Meena informed the Rajya Sabha today. "In all 52, proposals are pending clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act," he said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour. On receipt of proposals from state or Union Territory governments for use of forest land for non-forestry purposes, the Forest Advisory Committee deliberates and decides on this. "Presently, 31 proposals received from the Government of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are at different stages of processing," he said adding 384 forest villages have been converted into revenue villages in Madhya Pradesh. "Further conversion of forest villages into revenue villages has been kept in abeyance till the ban imposed by the Supreme Court on dereservation of forest land is lifted," he said. To a seprate question, Environment and Forest Minister A Raja said in a written reply that there are 2690 forest villages in the country, highest number of 925 being in Madhya Pradesh. Assam has 499 and Chhattisgarh 421. Gujarat has 194 forest villages, Uttaranchal 142 and West Bengal 170. In all, Rs 59.33 crore had been sanctioned for development of 347 forest villages in 2006-07. In 2005-06, Rs 191.81 crore was sanctioned for 1832 forest villages, he said. (PTI) |
ACC to incur Rs1,480cr capex for capacity expansion NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Leading cement maker ACC Ltd today said it will spend Rs 1,480 crore for augmenting the capacity of its new Wadi plant at Karnataka by three million tonnes per annum. The company has received approval of its board for the capital expenditure, it said in a statement. The company reported 3.31 per cent and 2.7 per cent increase in cement production and cement despatches respectively, during the month of November. The cement production stood at 1.56 million tonnes in the month as against 1.51 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. (UNI) |
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‘Dental Implant’ emerging in India : Expert CHENNAI, Dec 15: After heart implant and hip replacement, the ‘Dental Implant’ procedure, to prevent loss of teeth, is gaining ground in India and fast emerging as a potential tourism revenue earner. Describing the ‘Dental Implant’ as the single greatest leap in dental technology, leading dental surgeon Dr Vijailakshmi Acharya told reporters here yesterday that dental implant was the modern answer to the ancient problem of teeth loss. It could be done on patients even upto the age of 85 and patients from overseas are now looking for India as it is cost effective. "In India it will cost about one fourth or one fifth of the cost in western countries like US", she said adding that Dental tourism was all set to take over in the future, with a lot of overseas patients coming to India, especially to Chennai for treatment. Citing projections on dental tourism, Dr Vijailakshmi, who had performed about 1000 implants, including 40 to 50 per cent on foreign patients, said from the utilisation point it was less than 0.5 per cent. The increase in the number of foreign patients it was expected to grow by five to eight per cent, before touching 15 to 20 per cent in the next five years, she said. "A majority of the 1000 patients on whom implants were done, were performed in the last two years", she adds. Describing the implant procedure, which can be done by giving local anaesthesia to patients, she said the implants were made of Titanium which would serve as the roots of the tooth that was lost. "Dental implants have brought a revolutionary change in the way missing teeth are replaced, because they are permanently fixed by titanium bonds naturally to the jaw bone. The artificial teeth made of ceramic will be placed on the implant, which also gives better facial look to patients. To spread this exciting development in the field of Dentistry, Dr Vijailakshmi, who runs a state-of-the-art dental clinic in the city, has tied up with Dr Shankar Iyer of American Academy of Implant Dentistry to start AAID Maxicourse to train dentists on implants. The 300-hour course spread over ten months and costing Rs 2.7 lakh, has got good response after it was launched in Chennai and New Delhi with licensed dentists from all over the country and from South East Asian countries like Sri lanka, Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Dubai attending it. "It will be launched in Mumbai next year", Dr Shanker, who was also present, said. (UNI) |
India to overtake China in GDP growth in 2007: Credit Suisse NEW DELHI, Dec 15: India is set to surpass China as the fastest-growing economy in Asia next year on the back of increasing consumer demand and public investment in infrastructure, global research firm Credit Suisse has said. In its December forecast, the firm upgraded India’s economic growth rate to 9.5 per cent in 2006 from 8.5 per cent projected in September this year. The economy would grow by 10 per cent in 2007 and 10.5 per cent rate in 2008, it added. "Our most significant growth upgrade for 2007 is in India from 8.5 per cent to 10 per cent, surpassing China to become the top growth performer in the region," Credit Suisse research analyst Dong Tao said in the report. Besides, external liquidity in India remained a concern and interest rates could go up. The report also singled out India on external liquidity concerns and said most countries in the region maintained robust current account surpluses. The agency also increased the projected growth rate for China in 2007 to 9.9 per cent from 9.5 per cent forecast in September. Chinese economy is likely to grow at 10.4 per cent in 2006, it said. "The overall Asian outlook for growth will weaken a little in 2007 compared to 2006, but strong domestic demand and some form of disconnect to the US demand should mean that Asia’s growth stays relatively healthy," the report said. It raised Asia’s growth forecast to 7.9 per cent for 2007 from 7.4 per cent projected earlier, compared to a revised 8.2 per cent for 2006. In 2008, regional growth is pegged at 8.3 per cent, the report said. (PTI) |
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NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Inflation declined to 5.16 per cent for the week ended December 2 from 5.30 per cent in the previous week mainly due to a fall in the prices of fuel and food items. The wholesale price-based inflation stood at 4.44 per cent during the corresponding week last year. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities fell by 0.4 per cent to 207.8 points as against 197.6 points a year ago. The Government revised upward the final inflation figure to 5.36 per cent for the week ended October 7, as compared to the provisional 5.16 per cent, while the WPI stood corrected at 208.3 points as against the earlier estimate of 207.9 points. (PTI) Administration installs condom vending machines CHANDIGARH, Dec 13: Acting swiftly after a survey by a Government hospital said majority of girls did not practise safe sex, the administration here installed condom vending machines in different parts of the city in its bid to sensitise the vulnerable population against AIDS. The recent survey conducted by the Department of Community Medicine of Government Medical College and Hospital pointed that over 70 per cent girls did not practice safe sex. The survey was carried out in 12 colleges covering 981 students. "We have decided to install condom vending machines in at least 22 areas, including Panjab University, as teenagers have become more sexually active in the city. We have already installed ten machines and the response is tremendous. Sex is no longer is taboo here," said an official of the State AIDS Control Society here. The new corporate culture reflected in the number of call centres and BPOs lately striking roots in the twin capital of Punjab and Haryana has also redefined sexual behaviour among the youth, he said. "Like in any other metro, pre-marital sex is on the rise in Chandigarh as people are getting accustomed to late nights, a phenomenon unheard of in the city five years ago,"he said. The administration has also decided to set up a "condom bar" in the city. The concept would be the first of its kind in the country. To be set up by the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation at an arts centre, Kalagram, it would display condoms of different colours for sale and spread the message of safe sex among youngsters visiting the bar. The city falls in the "high-risk" AIDS group alongwith Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, as per the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) surveillance report from 1986 to 2006. There are an estimated 1,934 HIV/Aids cases in Chandigarh. While the number is 665 in Haryana, 454 persons have been affected by the disease in Punjab. "Those using the condom vending machines mostly fall between the 15 and 20 age group. An element of caution thus must be induced among the adolescent youth," a senior Chandigarh administration official said. The vending machines installed have to be refilled each day, some every six hours. "The machines dispense three different types of condoms priced between Rs 5 and Rs 15," the official said. Not lagging behind, NGOs too have jumped on the condom bandwagon in the city by staging street plays with titles like "Condom Raja Bajaye AIDS Ka Baja." highlighting the main causes of spreading HIV/Aids. (PTI) |
More changes in weapon technology in future: Army Chief HYDERABAD, Dec 15: Army Chief General JJ Singh today asserted that there will be more dramatic changes in weapon technology and the nature of warfare in the near future. Reviewing the Combined Graduation parade of Air Force Academy here, Gen Singh said that the present decade was expected to see more dramatic changes in weapon technology and the very nature of warfares. Airpower has revolutionised all other forms of warfare and it has undergone profound changes with ever-accelerating advances in technology, he added. Calling on the cadets to be a part of the changes, the COAS said ‘it is essential for you to acquire a full understanding and knowledge of the applications on new technologies in order to be able to exploit the true potential of Airpower". Stating that the cadets have not only assimilated professional skills of a high order but also developed personal attributes of leadership, discipline and determination during the training, he told them to strive to build further upon intrinsic qualities of leadership, integrity and selflessness to the point where the interests of the country, the service and their subordinates take priority over their own interests. (UNI) |
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