Asia Africa Intelligence Wire articles from April 2005, page 10

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire archives from April 2005

NOT MUCH TO CHEER: STATES SCORECARD (Jammu and Kashmir ranks 24th in the annual power ratings list of 2005).
April 30, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Jammu and Kashmir ranks 24th in the Ministry of Power's annual power ratings list of 2005. The power ratings are based on a review of the performance of 29 states on seven specific parameters:...

NOT MUCH TO CHEER: STATES SCORECARD (Manipur ranks 27th in the annual power ratings list of 2005).
April 30, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Manipur ranks 27th in the Ministry of Power's annual power ratings list of 2005. The power ratings are based on a review of the performance of 29 states on seven specific parameters: transmission and...

NOT MUCH TO CHEER: STATES SCORECARD (Bihar ranks 28th in the annual power ratings list of 2005).
April 30, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Bihar ranks 28th in the Ministry of Power's annual power ratings list of 2005. The power ratings are based on a review of the performance of 29 states on seven specific parameters: transmission and...

NOT MUCH TO CHEER: STATES SCORECARD (Jharkhand ranks 29th in the annual power ratings list of 2005).
April 30, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Jharkhand ranks 29th in the Ministry of Power's annual power ratings list of 2005. The power ratings are based on a review of the performance of 29 states on seven specific parameters: transmission and...

Ciba expands further in China. New research centre in Shanghai.
April 30, 2005... (From Chemical Business NewsBase - Neue Zuercher Zeitung) Swiss company Ciba Spezialitaetenchemie AG (Ciba SC) recently inaugurated a new research centre in Shanghai in China. The centre houses around 100 researchers and represents an...

Upturn for Sika in 1Q 2005.
April 30, 2005... (From Chemical Business NewsBase - Neue Zuercher Zeitung) Swiss speciality chemicals company Sika achieved a rise of 8.1% in net turnover to SFR 598 M in 1Q 2005. The Industrial Division (products for the car industry) achieved a 12.1%...

Forbo's shareholders deny approval to administrative board. Weak figures in 1Q 2005.
April 30, 2005... (From Chemical Business NewsBase - Neue Zuercher Zeitung) Recent changes in executive personnel at Swiss Forbo Group are discussed. The company recorded a loss of SFR 157.4 M in 2004 after a profit of SFR 16.1 M in 2003. The recent...

Positive results for Bayer in 1Q 2005 due to upturn in the chemicals sector.
April 30, 2005... (From Chemical Business NewsBase - Neue Zuercher Zeitung) German chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Bayer recorded a high demand worldwide for chemicals and plastics. Turnover increased by 16% to EUR 6.7 bn in 1Q 2005. The operating...

Quadrant's margins are under pressure in 1Q 2005.
April 30, 2005... (From Chemical Business NewsBase - Neue Zuercher Zeitung) Swiss plastics group Quadrant recorded a 0.5% rise in turnover to SFR 121.9 M in 1Q 2005. Sales of performance plastics increased by 3.8% to SFR 90.6 M. However turnover for the...

Chinese journalist jailed for 10 years for leaking "state secrets" by e-mail.
April 30, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Changsha, 30 April: Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist, was on Saturday [30 April] sentenced to 10 years...

Dredging Corporation net falls.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) HYDERABAD: Dredging Corporation of India Ltd has announced a fall in both income and net profit for both the quarter and year ended March 2005. As per the unaudited results for the quarter, the company has...

Poor villages given access to market.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) YOGYAKARTA: Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Aburizal Bakrie signed on Thursday night a Memorandum of Understanding with eight state university rectors for a network to build infrastructure in poor...

Antidrug campaign 'should be fun'.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. In the case of campaigning against drug abuse, of course, that does not mean following suit and using drugs. Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) Community Solutions...

Anti-logging operations extended.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) JAYAPURA: Massive anti-illegal logging operations in Papua, which were earlier set to wind down on May 6, will be extended to June 7, a senior police officer said on Friday. The operations had to be extended...

How HLL gave Lux a makeover.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Pune, April 29 - FMCG major Hindustan Lever is in the midst of effecting a major change in the way one of its oldest soap brands, Lux, will communicate with consumers. HLL, which recently made significant...

Women's political role still 'marginal'.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta After 10 years of implementing the declaration of the United Nations conference of women in Beijing, most Asian countries including Indonesia have yet to meet the...

Indians top 'intending car buyers' list across Asia.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Chennai, April 29 - AN online survey by AC Nielsen shows that Indians top the list of intending car buyers across Asia. When compared with their American and European counterparts, Asians were the "most...

i-flex Q4 net up 90%.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, April 29 - I-FLEX Solutions, reported a net profit of Rs 103.8 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, compared to Rs 54.7 crore last year, an increase of 89.76 per cent. Net revenue for the period...

Dell to raise headcount.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Bangalore, April 29 - PERSONAL computer giant Dell Inc plans to increase the headcount of its Indian operations to 10,000 by the year-end up from the present levels of around 8,000. Dell's operations in India at...

IDBI's 6-month net at Rs 307 cr.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, April 30 - INDUSTRIAL Development Bank of India (IDBI) has earned net profit of Rs 307 crore during the six-month ended March 31, 2005. The bank has not given comparable figures for the corresponding period...

Marginal rise in SBT annual net.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Thiruvananthapuram, April 29 - STATE Bank of Travancore (SBT) has recorded a marginal rise in net profit during 2004-05. The bank earned a net profit of Rs 247.13 crore during the year as against Rs 244.60 crore...

'Addresses concerns of inflation, growth'.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, April 29 - THE Reserve Bank of India remains bullish on growth in the economy, and the increase in reverse repo rate by 25 basis points signals its concern to keep up the growth momentum but have inflation...

Rs 8,000-cr Govt stock sale on May 3.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, April 29 - THE Union Government has announced that it would raise Rs 8,000 crore through the auction of two dated securities using the multiple price auction method. The Reserve Bank of India will conduct the...

Bank of India fourth quarter net drops 85 pc to Rs 53 cr.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, April 29 - A decline in the profits from sale of investments and higher provisioning has resulted in Bank of India's net profit dropping by 85 per cent to Rs 52.79 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31,...

Keyman cover can be sold as term policy only.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, April 29 - IN a significant move, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has directed life insurance companies to sell the 'keyman insurance cover' only as term policy for some time. ...

PNB annual net up 27 pc.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, April 29 - PUNJAB National Bank (PNB) has registered a net profit of Rs 1,410.12 crore for fiscal 2004-05, a 27.02 per cent growth over the previous year's net of Rs 1,108.69 crore. However, the operating...

Union Bank eyes 25 pc growth in business this fiscal.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, April 29 - UNION Bank of India (UBI) has now set its eyes on achieving Rs 1.25-lakh crore of business for the current fiscal. Announcing this here on Friday, the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr K....

Rupee up 15 paise; gilts lacklustre.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) MUMBAI: The rupee rallied against the dollar on Friday ending the day at 43.54/55 fuelled by speculation about the revaluation of the Chinese yuan and heavy selling by banks and corporates. With the trend towards...

India Motor Parts net dips marginally.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) CHENNAI: India Motor Parts & Accessories Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 2.01 crore on net sales of Rs 51.03 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. During the corresponding period in the previous year...

Import surge leaves trade deficit at all-time high.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, April 29 - THE country's merchandise exports during 2004-05 touched a record $79.59 billion, fuelled by sustained demand abroad for traditional and non-traditional items, even as the trade deficit also...

Panel questions open sky policy on airline IPO day.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, April 29 - THE decision of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to open up the international skies for a particular airline on the day that its public issue opened has been questioned by the Parliamentary...

Zensar net up at Rs 39 cr.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Pune, April 29 - ZENSAR Technologies, a joint venture of the RPG group and Fujitsu, has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 39.1 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005, compared to Rs 12.6 crore the previous...

Indo-Japanese Parliamentary Forum launched.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, April 29 - THE Indo-Japanese Parliamentary Forum (IJPF) was launched under the auspices of the FICCI by the Minister for External Affairs, Mr K. Natwar Singh, here on Friday. While addressing the...

'Japanese firms ready to expand in India'.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, April 29 - CALLING for co-operation between India and Japan at the bilateral, regional and global levels, the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi, on Friday said many Japanese firms are willing...

Govt frames new system for Customs, excise reporting.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, April 29 - COME May 1 Customs and Central excise field formations would have to conform to a new system of reporting to the Finance Ministry. The new system seeks to ensure greater efficiency,...

Air Sahara defers Chennai-KL flight.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, April 29 - AIR Sahara has pushed back the launch of its daily flight on the Chennai-Kuala Lumpur sector to June 15. "We had to push back the launch as we need to have four sets of pilots for each...

Why the Maharaja's choice may save his life.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) NOT MANY might see at first glance that the decision of Air India to buy all aircraft from one manufacturer rather than split the order between two manufacturers is in itself a sensible one. Never mind which...

Sadly, economics is typically explained so badly.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) THE Reserve Bank of India Governor, Dr Yaga Venugopal Reddy, is different from the usual economists, because he communicates to the common man. To check, you may see his recent speech titled, 'Monetary Policy: An...

Reforming UN.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) BARRING the bit where it has been suggested that India along with the other aspirants for a place in the Security Council should not have full veto powers, New Delhi has done well to back the proposals laid on the...

Benign towards banking: Tax reforms are touching banking companies, says T. C. A. Ramanujam.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) A WAVE of amalgamations and mergers is sweeping across the globe. Globalisation has made it necessary for Indian companies to regroup in order to meet the challenges from multinationals. The way business is...

Confusion now hath made his masterpiece.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) SHAKESPEARE wrote in King John, "Vast confusion waits, as doth a raven on a sick-fall'n beast." So too, vast confusion lay waiting in a tax case that occupied the apex court recently - Vinay Solvent Extraction...

Rubber ends steady.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) KOTTAYAM: Spot rubber closed almost steady on Friday in a rather dull trading session. Speculators seemed more cautious as the market failed to sustain at Rs 60 level for the second time during the month,...

Spices exports rise 18 pc in 2004-05.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Kochi, April 29 - SPICES exports rose 18 per cent in 2004-05 to a record $491 million as almost all commodities registered healthy growth during the year, the Spices Board has said. Volume grew 32 per cent during...

Dye name irks Sudan.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Kochi, April 29 - THE Sudan Government is irked by the widespread use of the word 'Sudan' to refer to the chemical dye found in chillies. Mr Jose said the Sudanese Government has reportedly taken up the matter...

Inflation rises on costlier manufactured products.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, April 29 - THE annual wholesale price index-based inflation rose to a four-month high of 5.64 per cent during the week ended April 16 from 5.48 per cent during the previous week. The year-on-year WPI...

Principle of strict construction.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) The way the Income-Tax Act is drafted leaves great scope for litigation, and requires the application of the principles of interpretation. Even these principles are not infallible and would depend on their...

Bear domination.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) BEARS were in total command of Friday's trading activity. The sentiment reading of the tradable counters stands strongly bearish with no uptrend counters. Irrespective of bull or bear domination on Monday, the...

Great Eastern on a voyage.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) THE Great Eastern Shipping stock on Friday moved ahead in a choppy market. The reason for the buoyancy in the counter was the results expectation for the full year and final dividend. The results, which came...

Outlook may turn positive for SBI, M&M.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) THE following strategies are based on Friday's trading in the derivatives segment on the NSE: SBI: The May futures contract closed at 585.10. The outlook may turn positive if the May contract trades above 608.50....

Bank, oil stocks decline.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) THE bloodbath across sectors and categories in the markets on Friday reaffirmed that the bears were in the drivers' seat. The bearish undertone in the market was evident in the advances-declines ratio of 3:1 in...

Markets turn more dynamic.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) OPERATING in some of the most technology-savvy environments in the world, the Indian capital markets have witnessed unprecedented growth in trade volumes, transparency, accountability, supervision and regulatory...

NGO in pact with ICICI Lombard for health insurance plan.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Mangalore, April 29 - SRI Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP), a Dakshina Kannada-based non-governmental organisation, has entered into an agreement with ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company...

'Agri research programmes must be market-oriented'.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, April 29 - RESEARCH programmes in agriculture should be need-based, market-oriented, and must focus on food and environment safety, according to Mr Vijay Sardana, Executive Director, Centre for...

Promoting PC penetration.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) THE TIMING OF the recommendations of the high-power Working Committee of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to improve penetration of personal computers in Indian homes could not have been...

First AI Express flight takes off.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Thiruvananthapuram, April 29 - AIR India Express, the budget airliner, was formally launched when a distinctively liveried aircraft took off from the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport for Abu Dhabi, almost...

Meet on green lighting a Hyderabad.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) HYDERABAD: Dr Pramod Deo, Chairman of Maharashtra Energy Regulatory Commission (MERC), has said that green lighting should be made part of the Indian building codes to promote the concept. Addressing a two-day...

Osmania varsity pact with NGRI.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) HYDERABAD: The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) and Osmania University (OU) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to undertake collaborative work in areas of common interest. Dr V.P....

TN: Rs 300 cr to be spent for acquiring 1,457 acres of land.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Chennai, April 29 - WITH the Centre clearing Tamil Nadu's proposal for a new international airport for Chennai, the State Government will spend about Rs 300 crore in acquiring 1,457.5 acres of land adjacent to the...

Sivaganga co-op bank depositors unhappy over delay in Nabard inspection.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Madurai, April 29 - THE depositors of Sivaganga District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd (SDCCB) are unable to withdraw their money as inspection of the four-member team from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural...

Reliance Energy for restricted power consumption.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, April 29 - FOLLOWING the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission order of April 26, Reliance Energy in a press release has advised its consumers to restrict their power consumption in May and June. ...

Maharashtra plans to amend agri marketing Act.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Pune, April 29 - THE State Minister for Marketing, Mr Harshvardhan Patil, has said that in keeping with the Union Government directive, the Maharashtra Government is set to bring in major changes in the Agricultural...

Maharashtra to review octroi soon.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, April 29 - THE Maharashtra Government is planning to review octroi in the State. Proposals for reviewing octroi are actively being considered by the departments of Urban Development and Finance. The...

'Educate our boys'.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Kabul, April 29 - BROWN is the predominant colour that hits you as the Indian Airlines flight IC 841, that has recently started flying between Delhi and Kabul, to the relief of aid workers and businessmen who...

'USNS Mercy' winds up operations.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) JAKARTA: The U.S. Navy Hospital ship USNS Mercy will depart Nias waters on Saturday, concluding 25 days of humanitarian assistance to victims of the earthquake on the island, according to a release by the U.S....

Bird flu may spread in Samarinda.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: Poultry breeders have to be more vigilant over possible outbreaks of bird flu, a senior official has warned. The warning was issued after 30 chickens were found dead recently in...

Madurai-Manamadurai line.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) MADURAI: The inaugural of the special train in the newly-laid Madurai-Manamadurai broad gauge section will be flagged off here by the Union Minister of State for Railways Mr R. Velu, on Saturday. The regular...

Way Kambas National Park on the brink of ruin.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post/Bandarlampung Famous for its elephant training school, the Way Kambas National Park in East Lampung is deteriorating, with more than 60 percent of the park being...

Earthquake rocks Sinabang.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/Medan An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook the area around Sinabang island in North Sumatra on Thursday night, causing panic among residents of the...

PT PLN threatens to cut power in Ambon schools.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post/Ambon State electricity company PT PLN threatened on Friday to cut electricity to 27 schools in Ambon city as the schools had not paid the bills for a number of years....

TN agrees to provide land for new airport.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) It has been Tamil Nadu's case that Chennai requires a new airport, given that the city is the gateway to South and S-E Asia. Chennai, April 29 - The stage is set for Chennai to have a new international airport....

SME sector 'will benefit from credit policy'.
April 30, 2005... (From Business Line) Coimbatore, April 29 - THE RBI Governor's assertion that the apex bank would explore modalities to meet the growing financial needs of the SMEs, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region, perceives...

Replanting the mangroves along Indonesia's coasts.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: Sukristijono Sukardjo, Jakarta The long-neglected mangrove coastal areas of Indonesia are once again in the news, although thankfully not because of any natural disaster, but due to the announcement of...

Globalization creates opportunities for many domestic companies.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: combining the same small niche market in dozens of countries, Changes in the business environment have made it easier for small and medium sized companies from countries such as Indonesia to access...

A matter of mentality.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Even as allegations of corruption by General Elections Committee (KPU) officials make the newspaper headlines, people rarely stop to think what the word actually means. According to the Merriam Webster's...

Indonesia and international standing.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Indonesia has just completed its job as the host of the historical Asian-African summit with more than 80 delegations from the two gigantic continents attending and celebrating the golden jubilee of the first...

Indovesion responds.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) With regard to the letter from Michael Beer titled Indovision does not care (The Jakarta Post, April 26), we would like to clarify as follows. Emails and SMS are the most cost-efficient means of communication...

Hitler anniversary and warning on absolute evil.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: Gwynne Dyer, London Adolf Hitler has now been dead slightly longer than he was alive, and he is about to stop being real. So long as the generation whose lives he terrorized is still with us, he...

Water firm reports illegal connection.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) JAKARTA: Tapped water operator PT Thames Pam Jaya unveiled on Friday that it has since January 2005 uncovered over 600 illegal connections in 13 areas in North and East Jakarta municipalities. TPJ Customer...

The economics of direct local elections.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: Awan Wibowo Laksono Poesoro, Jakarta We will soon witness direct regional elections -- mayors, regents and governors -- in many regions throughout the country. After directly electing their president...

KPUD unable to explain expenses.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Officials from the Jakarta provincial Elections Commission (KPUD) were unable on Friday to justify expenses in their Rp 168.6 billion (US$17.5 million)...

'The design is artistic, nothing more'.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Rock band Dewa was reported to the city police by a number of Muslim organizations led by the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) last Monday for using the Arabic word for Allah on the cover of its Laskar Cinta (Soldier...

Cubans irked.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) In an article that cannot be blamed, as was the case in the past, on foreign news agencies, The Jakarta Post published in the Sunday (April 24) supplement of the Asian-African Summit an article clearly biased...

Hundreds lured by phony voucher business.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) Byline: Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Hundreds of people, lured by the promise of fast money, have been swindled out of money in a scam involving the sale of fake vouchers. City police said on...

Former Syariah staff reported to police.
April 30, 2005... (From The Jakarta Post) JAKARTA: Ananto Nugroho, an employee of Bank Mandiri Syariah, filed a police report on Friday against former company branch pawn unit head Trigianto for allegedly embezzling billions of rupiah and customer...