Asia Africa Intelligence Wire articles from July 2005

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire archives from July 2005

Treadmill, Of Irritable Bowels.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Muscles Mani, Nipa Charagi TREADMILL On the Ball Eight out of 10 readers who write in with queries ask me what the best abdominal workout is. While there's no simple answer to...

"There Is No US Pressure On India".
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Kumarkaushalam Union minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, needs little introduction. Since he assumed office a little over a year ago, Aiyar has embarked on a global mission...

A Billion Voices.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: R. Sridharan, Shailesh Dobhal, Ashish Gupta THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN By Amartya Sen Allen Lane (Penguin Books) PP: 432 Price: Rs 650 Indians love to argue. Take our...

Time To Step On The Gas.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Ashish Gupta and Kumarkaushalam India's tryst with high oil prices has never been a happy affair. Every crisis from 1973 onwards has shaved off a few percentage points from its gross domestic...

The Search Within.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Ashish Gupta On July 31, 2005, the government will announce the winners of the sixth round of the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP). Up for grabs are 20 blocks-six deepwater, two...

Media-savvy But...
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Kumarkaushalam Mani Shankar Aiyar is a brave man. He is being feted in Tehran and lionised in Lahore. He is hunting for hydrocarbons in the areas where us-fearing angels fear to tread. He is...

Shadow Of Regression.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) The tail is wagging the dog. And the celebration over the Congress-led UPA government's reformist credentials has been abruptly-and rudely-cut short. The July 10 meeting between UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi...

Why Is Everyone Talking About Gas?
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Ashish Gupta Many Indians may well be tempted to argue, as The Economist did in a recent article: "Why worry about high oil prices when a boom in natural gas may be on its way?'' It is...

Celebrating Youth.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Priyanka Sangani How do you define a performer? Is it someone who defines new boundaries of creativity? Someone who pushes himself (or herself) to the last frontiers of excellence? A pioneer who...

The E Jobs Dust-Up.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Amanpreet Singh Sometime this year, the Delhi-based English daily The Hindustan Times will launch, among others, an online recruitment portal. That'll make it the second national daily to do so,...

Coaching Institute Jobs, Help, Tarun!, Headhunting The Headhunter, Bank(ing) On Relationships.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Amanpreet Singh, Tarun Sheth, Supriya Shrinate COACHING INSTITUTE JOBS Blackboards, Not Boardrooms Hordes of graduates from IITs and IIMs are joining engineering and management-entrance...

The Great Gambler.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Shailesh Dobhal For a man who claims he can earn his livelihood by playing the flute-he is a trained flautist-53-year-old Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman of the Videocon Group, has quite an ambition,...

The Raging Bulls.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Sahad P.V. First, a caveat. Writing about stockbrokers in India is risky business. On fickle-but, more often, treacherous-Dalal Street, yesterday's poster boys have a way of turning up in...

Have Clear Goals.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Sunny John I believe leading is about harnessing the information, talent and resources available to make optimum headway in a business segment. All leaders have varying degrees of talent or...

The Smiles Are Back.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: A BT-Mutualfundsindia.com report The first quarter of 2005-06 ended in a blaze of glory at the stock market. The BSE Sensex closed June 30 at its (then) all-time high of 7,193.85 points. In line...

Bottlenecked.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Charudduta Jena, Rahul Sachitanand, Priyanka Sangani India is steadily emerging as a global auto manufacturing hub. The government harbours ambitions of replicating China's model of becoming the...

Superman The Real Story.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Krishna Gopalan On June 29, 11 days after Kokilaben announces a settlement between sons Mukesh and Anil Ambani, the stock price of Adlab Films, a multiplex and film production company, zooms...

Banker's Trust.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Kushan Mitra, Ashish Gupta and R. Sridharan Banker's Trust It's getting impossible to keep Rana Talwar out of the headlines. Within days of announcing a hi-profile merger of his Centurion...

Azim Premji, CEO, Wipro.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Venkatesha Babu additional reporting by Rahul Sachitanand Wipro and its charismatic silver-maned chairman Azim H. Premji, 59, are no strangers to exits. In the past six years, the company has seen...

Life After 7,000.
July 31, 2005... (From Business Today (India)) Byline: Ashish Gupta, Rahul Sachitanand and Priyanka Sangani There's good news and there's, well, good news. 7,000 (or 7,300-odd), it transpires, isn't the highest the Sensex will see over the next few...

L and T WINS RoSPA SAFETY AWARD (for maintaining high standards of occupational health and safety).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Larsen and Toubro's Engineering Construction and Contracts (L and T- ECC) Division has bagged the Silver Award 2005 of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), UK. The presentation ceremony...

KOLKATA PORT PROPOSES BARGE JETTIES AT HALDIA (one of them will handle chemicals and petroleum products).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) The Board of trustees of the Kolkata Port Trust (KPT) have approved a proposal for two barge jetties built on the riverfront at Haldia dock. One of them will handle chemicals and petroleum products, the other...

Rs22,000 CRORE JAPANESE AID FOR RAIL FREIGHT CORRIDOR (to be used for the 2,800 km-long Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi- Kolkata corridors).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Japan will grant a loan of Rs22,000 crore for the proposed dedicated railway freight corridor project. The loan will meet 30 percent of the total project cost of Rs60,000 crore and the corridor, running...

NHAI FLOATS Rs2,000 CRORE TENDERS FOR FIVE PROJECTS (they are part of Golden Quadrilateral project and East- West Corridor project).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has floated tenders for five road projects, worth more than Rs2,000 crore. The projects are part of the Golden Quadrilateral project and East-West Corridor...

LEELA PALACE AND RESORTS FIRMS UP EXPANSION PLANS (to put up hotels in Udaipur, Chennai and Hyderabad).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Leela Palaces and Resorts (LPR) will set up hotels in Udaipur, Chennai and Hyderabad. The Udaipur facility will entail an investment of Rs65 crore and will be operational by 2007. The Chennai hotel...

PIRAMYD RETAIL LINES UP EXPANSION PLANS (to set up 149 retail stores).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Piramyd Retail Ltd (PRL) has formulated an expansion plan which envisages setting up of 149 retail stores, including 22 Piramyd mega stores, across India. It will increase the number of its retail outlets...

CEMENT CONSUMPTION IN INDIA SOARS IN 2004-2005 (it increased by six percent).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) A report of the Cement Manufacturers' Association has revealed that cement consumption increased by six percent during 2004- 2005. Chhattisgarh registered a growth of 45 percent with Bihar registering 21...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: LARSEN and TOUBRO LTD (has bagged a $160 million contract from China).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Larsen and Toubro (L and T) is ranked number one in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World due to its quality work and excellent performance. It is projected to register a 30...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: GAMMON INDIA (it is the pioneer in prestressed concrete in India).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Gammon India is ranked number two in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World. It has executed several civil engineering works, including bridges, flyovers, marine structures,...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: HINDUSTAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY (its order book position as on 31 Mar 2005 was Rs5,381 crore).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) is ranked third in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World. It has bid for the Rs1,500-crore mass rapid transport project in Mumbai and has...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: NAGARJUNA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LIMITED (had registered a turnover of Rs11.93 billion during 2004- 2005).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Nagarjuna Construction Company Limited (NCCL) is ranked fourth in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World. It had registered a turnover of Rs11.93 billion during 2004-2005 and...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: IVRCL INFRASTRUCTURE and PROJECTS (secured a Rs570-crore contract from the Andhra Pradesh Government to implement irrigation works).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects (IVCRL) is ranked fifth in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World. It has expertise in water management, wastewater drains, laying of power...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: JAIPRAKASH ASSOCIATES LTD (it is a leader in the construction of multi-purpose river valley and hydropower projects).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) is ranked sixth in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World. It is the flagship company of the Jaypee Group and is a leader in the...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: UNITECH LTD (it is investing Rs1 billion to develop three luxury hotels).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Unitech Ltd is ranked seventh in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World. It has bagged the contract to develop land in Agra and Varanasi in line with the Uttar Pradesh...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: VALECHA ENGINEERING (it is executing the Guwahati bypass project in Assam).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Valecha Engineering Ltd (VEL) is ranked ninth in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World. It has established itself as a specialist in the construction of infrastructure...

INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES: SIMPLEX CONCRETE PILES INDIA (it is among the few Indian construction companies with a turnover of more than Rs3 billion per annum).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Simplex Concrete Piles India (SCPI) is ranked tenth in the Most Admired Companies 2005 survey conducted by Construction World. It is among the few Indian construction companies with a turnover of more than...

BHARAT EARTH MOVERS-"OUR VISION IS A TURNOVER OF $1.15BILLION BY 2013-14" (Bharat Earth Movers Ltd registered a turnover of Rs1,862.21 crore during 2004-2005).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) registered a 5.46 percent increase in turnover to Rs1,862.21 crore during 2004-2005 with its net profits increasing by 614 percent to Rs172.57 crore. It is an ISO 9001-2000...

CYBER PARK (it is jointly developed by the Software Technology Parks of India and Larsen and Toubro Ltd).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Cyber Park is located at Electronics City in Bangalore and is jointly developed by the Software Technology Parks of India and Larsen and Toubro Ltd. Its facilities include centralised air- conditioning...

STEELING AHEAD (steel prices in India are in line with the international prices).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) Steel prices in India are in line with the international prices and have become stable now. The Government of India has brought down the custom tariff substantially from 30 percent to five percent thereby...

WELSPUN GROUP-"WE OFFER THE SAME DESIGN AND QUALITY ASOVERSEAS PRODUCTS AT LESS THAN HALF THE PRIC (the Welspun Group has launched Spaces that offers a range of bed, bath and kitchen and table linen).
July 31, 2005... (From India Business Insight) The Welspun Group is the fifth largest manufacturer of terry towels in the world. It has ventured into the home furnishing market with Spaces, its furnishing brand. The group aims to create brand...

Govt to detail $189m family plan: report.
July 31, 2005... (From Bulletin Wire) The Howard government will reveal details of a $189-million plan to stem the nation's growing tide of divorce and family breakdown. A total of 65 "family relationship centres" will be set up across the country,...

Dawood was at his daughter's marriage.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Indranil Basu NEW DELHI: Dawood Ibrahim did attend the marriage of his daughter Mahrukh with Junaid, son of former Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad. The underworld don beat the hawk eye of top...

Was killer cargo for 15 August?
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Vishwa Mohan NEW DELHI: Was the explosive that caused Thursday's blast in the Delhi-bound Shramjeevi Express, part of a deadly stockpile meant for an attack in the Capital around Independence Day?...

Don attended daughter's nikah in Mecca.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Indranil Basu NEW DELHI: Dawood Ibrahim did attend the marriage of his daughter Mahrukh with Junaid, son of former Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad. The underworld don beat the hawk eye of top...

Not another MMS clip of a star?
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) MUMBAI: These are good times for actors genuinely moonlighting for the porn industry. There are so many video clips purporting to portray the pornographic hobbies of Indian actors that these images have no...

London bomber trained at Pak jehadi camp.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Rajat Pandit NEW DELHI: With the jehadi factory in Pakistan once again coming under the arclight after the London and Egypt bombings, General Pervez Musharraf is facing international heat yet again...

A cyclone that never was.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) MUMBAI: The deluge has gone but has left in its wake an edgy city that is willing to believe the worst. First it was a dam burst, then a tsunami and on Friday, the city was abuzz with rumours of a cyclone. ...

Pirated books worth Rs 1.25 crore seized.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) NEW DELHI: How many times have you bought a bestseller from a bookstore only to see its pirated version lined at the 'patri' right outside for one-tenth the price you paid for the original. Perhaps every time....

CBSE plan to minus maths woes.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Abantika Ghosh NEW DELHI: In a proposal with far-reaching consequences, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is working on a plan that may make maths a little simpler than it seems to be...

HC stays order on stream choice.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) NEW DELHI: Public schools heaved a sigh of relief on Friday after a division bench of the Delhi High Court (HC) stayed the order of a single judge directing educational institutions to admit students to Class XI...

Mystery man shoots at Army jawan in Delhi Cantt area.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) NEW DELHI: In a sensational attack on an Army establishment on Friday evening, indiscriminate firing by an unidentified gunman injured a jawan creating panic in the Delhi Cantonment area. While the police are...

Honda employee attacked, Gurgaon is tense again.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) GURGAON: Just when Gurgaon was looking to settle down into normalcy, an attack on a manager-level employee from Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HSMI) has again raised the tension levels in the suburb. ...

Students' struggle for space begins.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Abhinav Garg and Neha Lalchandani NEW DELHI: Now that the rat race for college admissions is over, it's time for a marathon-for hostel accommodation. Even though DU authorities claim an increase in...

8-year-old thrown off moving train.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Lalit Kumar GHAZIABAD: An 8-year-old child was reportedly thrown off a train and got seriously injured, to the extent that he may never walk again. Nine days after Ganesh had to face the wrath of a...

Goons assault special cell cops with sword.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) NEW DELHI: Three police officials of the special cell were reportedly beaten up by local goons in Mansarover Garden in west Delhi on Saturday. The cops had apparently gone there reacting to a call alleging...

Honda, workers make peace.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) GURGAON: In a major development, the workers of Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) reached an agreement around 1 am on Friday in the presence of Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. ...

Tense Mumbai submerged in flood of rumours.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) MUMBAI: They had gone 72 hours without sleep and food, worn to the bone by incessant rains. They were in darkness without power and drinking water. It was a moment ripe for rumour. On Tuesday night, rumours...

Decision on Metro on Aug. 5.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) BANGALORE: The final decision on the Bangalore Metro Rail project will be taken at the Public Investment Board (PIB) meeting that will be held on August 5. Union Urban Development Minister Gulam Nabi Azad...

No cellphones at engg colleges.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) BANGALORE: In the wake of large-scale malpractices using cellphones during semester exams, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has imposed a blanket ban on the use of mobile phones at all engineering...

Gulbarga man nails internet lottery conman.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: RAMAKRISHNA BADSESHI GULBARGA: Another internet lottery fraud? What's new? But here, a Gulbarga man made a Nigerian fraudster emerge out of the cyberscreen and put him in the police net in Gulbarga...

Deluge wipes out Maval's paddy crop.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Siddhartha D Kashyap & Gitesh Shelke PUNE: For 75-year-old Baban Dashe, nature has dealt a cruel blow. After the deluge from the Pavana river that swept through his village, Shirgaon in Maval...

Prime agri land to lose green cover.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) PUNE: The decks are being cleared for the construction of a mega township on a prime 27-acre agricultural plot near the Koregaon Park-Kalyaninagar bridge in Ghorpadi. Surprisingly, the state government has...

Modi to expand cabinet.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Though Modi had promised a bigger Cabinet while appointing his maiden council of ministers after he won the December 2002 Assembly polls with a thumping majority, he had not acted despite strong demands from...

Muslims rally to save Quran.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) VADODARA: The issue of the damage to the historic Quran at the Jama Masjid here took another turn with a group of Muslim activists blaming the Trust for the bad publicity that the mosque got during the last...

Parents refuse to hail Hitler.
July 31, 2005... (From The Times of India) Byline: Tina Parekh & Prashant Rupera AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: Why are parents in Gujarat fuming? The answer lies in textbooks that - despite being full of distortions and language errors - are being taught...

No foreign outings, CM means business.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) KOLKATA, July 30. Announcing a trip to Indonesia and Singapore beginning 22 August, the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, today described himself as a professional investment hunter for West Bengal...

In favour of public exams.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Statesman News Service KOLKATA, July 30. The state government as well as the teachers organisations, including the anti-Left ones, today opposed in unison the suggestion in the National Curriculum Framework...

Plea for more coal royalty.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Statesman News Service KOLKATA, July 30. The state government has urged the Union finance minister, Mr P Chidambaram, to increase the amount of coal royalty to West Bengal. The state government incurs a huge...

Curtain rises on leather complex.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Statesman News Service KOLKATA, July 30. Calcutta Leather Complex, a giant joint venture project initiated by the state government for development of leather industries in West Bengal, is one of the shining...

Metro extra.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Statesman News Service KOLKATA, July 30. Metro Railway is introducing Medium Multi Ride tickets from Monday. It will be specially helpful for regular commuters. These tickets will enable Metro commuters...

CERC rejects Reliance plea for licence.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Press Trust of India NEW DELHI, July 30. In a major blow to Reliance Energys plans to expand its business in the power sector, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has rejected the application of...

GDP growth to exceed 6.9%: Chidambaram.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Statesman News Service & PTI KOLKATA, July 30. Growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) during the current financial year will exceed 6.9 per cent, which was achieved in the last fiscal, Union finance...

AV Birla, Tatas to buy out Idea stake.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Press Trust of India NEW DELHI, July 30. The Tatas and the AV Birla group today announced their decision to buy out the stake of their foreign partner Cingular Wireless in the joint venture Idea Cellular for...

INSTINCTS.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) SPICE OF LIFE/PJO Taylor MANKIND invents. And very clever he is at it too. "Progress", if that is really the truth of the matter, has accelerated in recent years, as more and more highly sophisticated...

STORY OF 2002.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) The US dilemma was how to get Pakistan to comply without jeopardising its war in Afghanistan while humouring India to stop it from attacking Pakistan By JR MUKHERJEE MOST of 2000 passed with the armies of...

Dalmiyas day.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) But Bajpai got it right, all right Never before did an electoral triumph as numerically emphatic as Jagmohan Dalmiyas over Dinesh Bajpai, for the presidency of the Cricket Association of Bengal, appear so...

Dignity diktat.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Theres a limit to clout The apex court has, yet again, done sick society signal service. This time not by standing up for the downtrodden, but by taking down the high and mighty more than a couple of pegs. In...

Put to vote.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) NDAs irrelevant jingoism Simulated jingoism is evident again as the monsoon session of Parliament gets under way. Dr Manmohan Singhs salutary reference to British rule in India has raised the hackles of the...

Honda, workers clinch deal.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Statesman News Service NEW DELHI, July 30. After a month-long stalemate, the management and agitating workers of Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India Ltd reached an agreement late last night under which all...

Buta plotting RJDs Bihar poll game.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Manoj Chaurasia/SNS PATNA, July 30. With the Assembly elections barely eight weeks away, a curious game of manoeuvrring has begun, allegedly at the level of the Bihar Governor, Mr Buta Singh, to help benefit...

Srinagar encounter ends, two ultras die.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) JAMMU, July 30. The operation against the fidayeen who launched the attack at Badshah Chowk yesterday evening ended after 24 hours today with the killing of both the fidayeen by security forces. Securitymen...

Special trains for Bandra from today.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Statesman News Service KOLKATA, July. 30. The South Eastern Railway has decided to run four express special trains from Howrah to Bandra Terminus on 31 July, 2, 4 and 6 August to help people reach Mumbai....

Of Jains & food habits in Gujarat.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Anil Rana/SNS GANDHINAGAR July30. Since the Gujarat High Court ruled earlier this month that slaughter houses in the state need not be shut down during the Jain Paryushan ceremony, tension has been building...

Mumbai goes down the drain.
July 31, 2005... (From The Statesman (India)) Nandu R Kulkarni/SNS MUMBAI, July 30. The disaster management plan initiated in 1994 in the aftermath of the Latur earthquake, with the professed objective of offering effective resistance against any...