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Huge losses due to BT cotton seeds: Karnataka farmers Bangalore, June 27: Karnataka on Friday declared that the new genetically modified BT cotton seeds being used by its farmers were a failure. State agriculture minister VS Koujalgi said the transgenic seeds, developed and marketed by mulinational seed giant Monsanto, had not shown any of the promised results even a year after its use was approved by the Central government. "In the beginning, we were thinking it will give better yield and involve less use of pesticides, so that it will be more profitable and economical . But when I contacted the farmers, I realised they are not happy. The yield is not much. Only thing they can do is save on the pesticide but the per hectare yield is not good," Koujalgi said. Farmers across the state have been continuously protesting against the utilisation of this seed. Most say they were misled by Monsanto and ended up with huge losses. Monsanto, however, denied the charges, saying its own surveys prove otherwise. Oracle and Sun combine to resist Microsoft in India Bangalore, June 27: The Indian arms of the global infotech giants Sun Microsystem and Oracle are bringing the battle to India for the low-cost computing and 70 million dollars worth NT-based server markets challenging Microsoft's dominance. The two firms announced the partership as part of the global alliance to open new markets in Bangalore on Thursday. Bhaskar Pramanik, Managing Director of Sun Microsystem, said the two firms will focus on the low-cost computing market where Microsoft currently has the largest market share. "These are two distinct announcements, one of which is the concept of low-cost computing and how Sun and Oracle together can build a low cost computing element which people can use to build big system. And what we are focusing there is the whole Microsost Windows's market place," said Pramanik. He also said that the partership will focus on banking, financial services, insurance (BFSI) and telecom sectors by offering open-source based solutions which will bring down the price by seventy to eighty percent. Shourie opens CII office in Shanghai (Go To Top) New Delhi, June 26: Inaugurating the CII East Asia office in Shanghai on Thursday, Arun Shourie, Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technology and Disinvestment, congratulated the organisation and said that "it should focus on building a strong research competence to help Indian industry learn more about China, and also to learn from China. The CII's information conduit can help Indian companies become more competitive in entering and expanding in the Chinese market." The establishment of a CII office in Shanghai will help serve as a reference point for the Indian and Chinese business communities. Speaking on the occasion, Indian ambassador to China Shivshankar Menon said, "This is the right time as well as the right place for CII to establish an office in China to facilitate India-China business relations." The Chinese envoy to India, Hua Junduo, also welcomed the setting up of the CII office in Shanghai and commended "the role of CII to further economic and business ties between India and China," according to a press release. Coinciding with the opening of the office, CII has also set up the 'India Club' to boost SME co-operation. The club aims to provide a platform for enhancing trade and investment, and accentuating strategic partnerships between Indian and Chinese businesses. Stiff competition to Indian tea in Pakistan (Go To Top) Islamabad, June 25: India's high tea prices and stiff competition from other producers are likely to thwart Indian chances of winning a large chunk of the world's third-largest tea market in Pakistan, traders said on Tuesday. An Indian Tea Association trade delegation will promote Indian tea during a five-day visit in an attempt to secure a slice of Pakistan's 140 million kg annual tea market. But traders in Pakistan expressed scepticism that the group will be able to make much headway when they arrive on June 28 as the first Indian trade delegation to visit Islamabad since tensions between the two nuclear powers began easing in April. "They are constantly trying to penetrate our market, but with very little success because of quality and price factors," the News quoted Farooq Khawaja, a tea importer in Karachi, as saying. "If the Indian government subsidised its tea for Pakistan- specific export, then there would be a breakthrough, otherwise I am not at all hopeful." In 2001, Pakistan imported 3.1 to 3.3 million kg of low-quality tea from India, but trade was halted when rail, road and air links were blocked after an attack on the Indian parliament that was blamed on Pakistan-based militants late that year. Khawaja said tea prices in India, the world's biggest tea producer, were kept artificially high due to the reluctance of the Indian government to allow free competition in its domestic market. "India should first open its market to foreign leaves to determine fairer export prices before trying to enter our market," he added. Traders said Indian tea would face stiff competition from African leaves, which virtually dominate Pakistan's market, where low quality makes up about 15 per cent of total tea imports. "Taste for African tea has developed in Pakistan over the years, its quality and price both are acceptable here," said another tea importer in Karachi. Kenya, Pakistan's biggest tea supplier, accounted for 50 per cent of its legal tea imports, with African countries as a whole supplying 72 per cent. Pakistan also buys tea from Bangladesh, Indonesia and China. It imported around 120 million kg of tea worth 12.6 billion rupees through legal channels during fiscal year 2002/03 (July/June), while the remaining demand was filled by smuggled tea. Khawaja Saeed, the Chairman of Pakistan's Tea Association, said local blenders and some multinational companies looked to south Indian low-quality tea for mixing and blending. Foreign tea blenders in Pakistan, who also have a presence in India, hope improved ties between the countries will spur imports of Indian tea and pave the way for joint ventures in this trade. CII, China trade council sign MoU ; Nathu La to re-open (Go To Top) New Delhi, June 24: Anand Mahindra, president of CII, signed a memorandum of understanding with Wan Jifei, chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, in Beijing on Tuesday. This MoU aims to foster friendship between the two countries and provide a fillip to bilateral trade and investment, according to a press release. It gains even greater significance in the light of new developments between India and China. Mahindra welcomed the agreements between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Chinese Premier Wen Jintao who signed a declaration on the principles for relations and comprehensive cooperation between India and China in Beijing early this morning. This was followed by the signing of a landmark Border Trade Agreement between External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Chinese Commerce Minster Lu Fuyuan, that reopens the ancient trade pass at Nathu La in Sikkim. The CII inked the MoU with the CCPIT pushing forward its five-point agenda to work towards the achievement of the trade target of 10 billion dollars. Indian companies upbeat on China potential: CII survey (Go To Top) New Delhi, June 21: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conducted a survey of some leading Indian companies in China to assess the growing relationship between industry in India and China. The survey, conducted on the eve of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China, points to the growing number of business arrangements between companies in India and China. Anand Mahindra, CII President, Confederation of Indian Industry, is leading a 40-member delegation to China. Indian companies are very positive about doing business in China. Most companies felt that China as a market cannot be ignored and to service a large domestic market in China, it will be very important to be present there. The sectors which have tremendous potential for growth for Indian companies in future are IT and IT enabled services, steel, financial services, consumer goods, auto and auto components, telecommunication, oil and gas, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, plastic materials and resins and food packaging equipment. Govt approves Maruti share cut-off price (Go To Top) New Delhi, June 21: The government on Saturday approved a cut-off price of 125 rupees per share for divestment of its 25 per cent stake in car maker Maruti. The Initial Public Offer (IPO), priced at a minimum premium of 110 rupees for a share of five rupees each, had received a huge response and was oversubscribed 10 times, a rarity in the primary market in recent years. "The floor had been mandated by the CCB at 115 per share but because of the enthusiastic response, the floor price now, the price at which the shares are being accepted, now is 125," Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie said on Saturday during a video conferencing from Malaysia. The government also decided to retain the 10 per cent oversubscription as a result of which the total sale of equity would be 79.4 million shares. Shourie said the government expects to mop up 9.93 billion rupees from the sale of its 25 per cent stake in Maruti. "For about 7.94 crore (79.4 million) shares, the government will receive about 993 crores (9.93 million)," Shourie said. In response to the phenomenal interest evinced by small or retail investors, the ratio of allocation of shares has been revised from the proposed 25 per cent to 60 per cent for individuals. Consequently, the quota for financial institutions came down from the original intended 60 per cent to 40 per cent. Of the total 60 per cent allocation to individuals, 15 per cent would be given to high net- worth applicants who have put in bids for over 1,000 shares each. "It was the Prime Minister's wish and also the Finance Minister's and Deputy Prime Minister also felt that it is very good to reward the retail investors. They have shown so much faith that we got over 300,000 applications. So we we have reversed the ratio. So, now 60 percent would be retail and 40 percent will be kept for institutional investors," Shourie said. As a result of the oversubscription, the government equity in the joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan would come down to marginally over 17 per cent, which would be divested within a year. The government had ceded majority control to Suzuki last year by foregoing participation in preferential issue for a consideration of a control premium of 10 billion rupees. Economic situation comfortable, says RBI Governor (Go To Top) Bangalore, June 16: India's economic situation is comfortable despite the overhang of a drought last year and a sluggish global economy, Reserve Bank Governor Bimal Jalan said on Monday. "India is among the fastest growing countries despite drought, despite all the other problems associated with the world economy," Jalan told reporters on the margins of an annual meeting of the Asian Clearing Union in Bangalore. "There is tremendous amount of confidence given on the external sector. The policies being pursued by many of our member countries are simlar to those which we had initiated so many years ago," he added. India's foreign exchange reserves stood at a record 81.7 billion dollars on June 6, latest data from the central bank showed. Strong exports are likely to see the country clock a surplus on its current account in the last financial year to March 2003, analysts say. The Reserve Bank of India expects the economy to grow by around six percent in the year to March 2004, sharply up from 4.4 percent in the past year, when the worst drought in 15 years choked agricultural growth and cut into rural incomes that feed industry. The fiscal deficit, however, remains worrying, analysts say. India aims to reduce its fiscal deficit to 5.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2003/04 from 5.9 percent in the previous year. Infosys chief to stay put (Go To Top) Bangalore, June 15: Indian IT tzar N Narayana Murthy on Saturday said he would continue to be the chairman of Infosys Technologies. Murthy's statements come in the wake of media reports that he was planning to step down from office to take up a diplomatic assignment. "I will continue to be the chairman of the board, I will continue to be chief mentor. I will continue to serve the company till the retirement age which is 60. I am 56 and 10 months now....unless I am mentally or physically incapacitated, I will continue to serve the company to the best of my abilities," Murthy told reporters after attending a company meeting in Bangalore. The Nasdaq-listed Infosys is ranked as India's second largest software exporter behind privately-held Tata Consultancy Services. Infosys has about 300 clients globally including Bank of America and Citigroup and employs about 14,000 people, mostly based in India. Infosys posted a net profit of 2.56 billion rupees or earning per share of 38.22 rupees, in the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, compared with 2.06 billion rupees, or 31.02 rupees a share, in the year-ago period. 14 per cent jump in arrival of foreign tourists, claims Jagmohan (Go To Top) Siliguri, June 14: As far as tourism is concerned, India seems to have come out of the shadow of 11 September 2001. According to Union Tourism Minister Jagmohan, the influx of tourists from abroad has gone up by 14 per cent, raising the foreign exchange earnings by 16 percent. Jagmohan was speaking after opening the four-day North East Tourism Conclave - 2003 here on Saturday. He pointed out that more and more travellers from the Middle East are turning towards India since visa restrictions have been tightened in USA and European countries since the attack on the WTC. The tourism department on its part is cashing in on the opportunity by taking steps to attract visitors from that region. And since the Centre decided to continue the leave travel concession, the number of domestic tourists has also increased by 25 millions, the minister added. Kalam presents STPI prizes, Tata wins Company of the Year award (Go To Top) New Delhi, June 13: President APJ Abdul Kalam gave away the annual STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) national awards for the year 2000- 2001 and 2001-2002 at Vigyan Bhavan here on Friday. The STPI awards recognise the contribution of companies in the export of software and services. These awards acknowledege both value turnover and growth. In total, 11 awards were presented, including the National Company of the Year and the SME Growth Rate awards. Addressing the eminent gathering, Minister of Communication, IT and Disinvestment Arun Shourie said, "The Indian entreprenuers have changed the world's preception about India. I believe they have also changed the perception of how India sees itself. Their achievements assure us that we can face the world with great confidence, even as we open up. Their achievement is of such scale that the rest of the world is now seeking protection against their enterprise, skills and their achievements". Tata Consultancy Services got the Company of the Year award for the year 2001-2002, whereas Infosys Technologies and Wipro were number two and number three in terms software exports. After presenting the awards, President Kalam, said "a function like this will generate lot of interest which will further enhance exports by the IT industry. The exponential growth in IT business is directly related to how much innovation and research results we continuosly inject to invigorate the industry." He added: "We need to attain self reliance in infrastructure, software sector with knowledege products, where domain applications can be developed and deployed for the services sector. It is essential channelise our services from the industry, academic institutions and research organisations and setting up information centres in collaberation with each other in different parts of the country. These centres would continuously feed the technologies to the industry. Students community is a big resource and IT industry in their own interest have to equip the educational institutions to harness the power of student community." CII to open office in Shanghai (Go To Top) New Delhi, June 13: Coinciding with the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to China, Anand Mahindra, president of the CII, will leading a 30-member CEO business delegation to Beijing and Shanghai. Buoyed by the interest displayed with a number of initatives by the government of India to broaden ties with China, the Confederation of Indian Industry has decided to strengthen its efforts to promote economic and commercial cooperation with China, says a press release. It developed a five-point agenda to broaden economic co- operation between the two countries and work towards achieving the trade target of US$ 10 billion; these involve a series of well structured and focussed initatives during the visit of Atal Behari Vajpayee. The five points are: 1. Launch of an "India Club" in China to boost SME co-operation. 2. Establishment of a strong CII office in Shangahi to serve as a reference point for the Indian and Chinese Business Communities 3. Development of a comprehensive India and China Business website to enhance information availability leading to greater business contact and people to people contact. 4. Hosting "Made in India" and "Hi-Tech" shows in China in October 2003. 5. Setting up of a Joint India and China CEOs forum to meet on an annual basis. Maruti shares oversubscribed (Go To Top) New Delhi, June 12: The mega public issue of Maruti Udyog for sale of 72 million shares was oversubscribed within three hours of its opening on Thursday. The initial public offer was for divestment of government's 25 per cent equity. As of now the company will have to keep at least 25 per cent of shares for retail investors and a minimum of 15 per cent for high net worth investors. Phenomenal growth in Indian software exports (Go To Top) New Delhi, June 3: Indian exports of software and allied services had jumped by 26.3 per cent in the fiscal year to March 2003 despite a tough international market and an industry body forecast they would expand a further 26-28 per cent this year. National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), the apex industry association of software and service companies in India, said on Tuesday India's exports of software and allied businesses like call centres rose to 9.5 billion dollars in 2002-2003 and said they would rise to more than 12 billion dollars in 2003-2004. It said exports of infotech services had risen 18.3 per cent in 2002/03 to 7.2 billion dollars while foreign revenue from business process outsourcing soared 59 percent to 2.3 billion dollars. NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik told reporters in New Delhi that the growth figures were "phenomenal." "I personally feel that a 26 to 27 percent growth on a slow international market is absolutely phenomenal. If you talk in the context of what and how other industries are doing, what their overall percentages are, both industries in India and abroad, either other (sector) or IT (Information Technology) industries. This is an acheivement, we can truely be proud of and happy about," Karnik said. He said software services exports were expected to grow between 26 and 28 per cent to 12 billion dollars in 2003-2004 (April- March). "We have projected a 26 to 28 per cent increase overall, so that we could clock around 12 billion dollars next year. This is at the current rates of exchange and we are using current rates so that we don't have to differentiate between rupee and dollar terms, using the current rates of exchange obviously. The percentage is the same in both the cases. We have given a range we are more comfortable. (There is) a lot of uncertainties and turmoil in the market, but we are fairly confident (of achieving our target)," Karnik said. Until three years ago, India's showpiece software industry that blends low-cost white collar workers with cheap, high-speed telecoms to serve software customers in America and Europe, clocked growth rates of more than 50 percent a year. But growth slipped during the global technology slump in 2000 and a slowing global economy and sharpening competition in the past three years forced it to give out discounts, cut profit margins and shift emphasis to growing volumes. NASSCOM said America continued to be the industry's primary market, accounting for 71 per cent of total exports. The United Kingdom contributed 14 per cent, the rest of Europe nine per cent and other areas the remaining six per cent. NASSCOM estimated America's banking and financial services industry had saved 6.0 billion dollars in costs in the past four years and the US economy would save 10-11 billion dollars in 2003-2004 by buying cheaper software services from India. Pak traders oppose import of Indian products (Go To Top) Gujranwala (Pakistan), June 2: Although New Delhi and Islamabad are initiating steps to normalize their relations, the business community of Pakistan is frustrated over government's decision to allow a number of products import from India. The business community has expressed concern over allowing import of medicines, flour, automobiles from India. Talking to NNI, the business community leaders expressed apprehension that the products announced by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali that would be imported from India will hinder efficiency of local industry. They said that the local industry was capable to meet demands of the masses and the import of products from India will also create unemployment in the country. They also opposed giving 'Most Favoured Nation' status to India. ONGC, Reliance among world's 500 largest companies (Go To Top) London, June 1: Two Indian companies, ONGC and Reliance Industries Ltd, have found a pride of place among the world's 500 largest companies this year. The ONGC, the public sector giant, is ranked 326th in the Financial Times Global 500 list, with a market capitalisation of 10.7 billion US dollars and is categorised in the oil and gas sector. Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector company, with a market capitalisation of 8.4 billion US dollars is ranked 442nd. Both ONGC and Reliance are the new entrants in this year's list. Hindustan Lever, which had featured in last year's list at 450th place, did not find a mention this year. Topping the list this year is Microsoft with market value of 264 billion US dollars, displacing General Electric from the top spot. Microsoft and GE have been swapping places on this list since 1996. The United States still dominates the Global 500 listing with 240 US companies, nearly half of the total finding place in it, five times as many as its closest competitor, Japan. In terms of market capitalisation the UK retained its second position. UK's 34 companies on the list were worth 1,000 billion US dollars, which is ahead of Japan's 872 billion US dollars with 47 companies. -ANI |
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