Business Line articles from October 2001

Business Line archives from October 2001

India: Tata Steel Q2 net falls 76 pct.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. TATA Iron and Steel Co Ltd (Tata Steel) has reported a 76 per cent decrease in net profit at Rs 27.51 crore during the second quarter of 2001-2002 as compared to Rs 115.34 crore in the year-ago period. Net sales moved up...

India: 'Convert UTI into AMC'.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. UNIT Trust of India (UTI) should restructure itself as a mutual fund conforming to SEBI regulations and convert into an asset management company (AMC). Before attempting to restructure UTI, the Unit Scheme-1964 (US-64) needs...

India: Reliance Petro Q2 net up 10.48 pct.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. RELIANCE Petroleum Ltd (RPL) has recorded a 10.48 per cent increase in net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001, at Rs 411 crore. The company had shown a net profit of Rs 372 crore for the quarter ended...

India: I-T raids on GE Shipping, Ipca Labs.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. INCOME-TAX authorities today raided the premises of Great Eastern Shipping Company, Ipca Laboratories and RNA Builders. Altogether, 40 premises have been raided and 20 bank lockers sealed. According to IT officials,...

India: MTNL income up at Rs 1,621 cr.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. MAHANAGAR Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has registered a 14.5 per cent decline in net profit for the quarter ended September 2001 at Rs 382.34 crore as against Rs 447.42 crore in the corresponding period last year. ...

India: TV rating agencies get together.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THE controversy surrounding television viewership data appears to be clearing up with a combine involving research companies AC Nielsen-Kantar Media Research (KMR) and Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) together...

India: SBI net up at Rs 644 cr.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. STATE Bank of India (SBI) has reported a 10.8 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 643.86 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 as compared to Rs 580.95 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. For...

India: VSNL net climbs 6 pct.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. VIDESH Sanchar Nigam Ltd has recorded a 6 per cent rise in net profit but a 4.5 per cent decline in total income for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Net...

India: Gujarat Ambuja: A flat mode.
October 31, 2001... THE proposed buyback of equity by Gujarat Ambuja Cements may not lead to any notable improvement in the valuation of the stock. The company has proposed to buyback its shares at a maximum price Rs 170 per share with an outlay of Rs 50 crore....

India: Hughes Soft: Some open interest.
October 31, 2001... THE Hughes Software stock as well that of Hughes Tele may stay in the limelight and some speculative interest linked to a possible open offer may have a dominant effect of pricing trends in the short term. This may be especially true for...

India: Tourism advisory council soon PM urges States to follow suit.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THE Government has decided to constitute a tourism advisory council at the national level and is keen that similar councils are set up in the States also, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, announced on Tuesday....

India: Germany to ease visa regulations.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE, Oct. 30. IN a thumbs-up sign for increased Indo-German IT interaction, the visiting German Interior Minister, Mr Otto Schilly, has said his government is willing to widen and relax its green card norms for Indian professionals and...

India: US Embassy move to cut visa queues.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THE US Embassy has announced that non-immigrant visa applicants can now make appointments for their visa interviews beginning November 1. In a statement on Tuesday, it said that this is part of the Embassy's ongoing...

India: Bad publicity hits Kashmir tourism.
October 31, 2001... Recently in Srinagar THE Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mr Farooq Abdullah, has drawn flak from environmentalists and others for giving Srinagar another golf course. While the environmentalists have seen red for the forests which had...

India: 32 per cent drop in Sterlite net.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI: Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd has reported a 32 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 23.97 crore (Rs 35.49 crore) in the first quarter ended September 30, 2001. Net sales were down at Rs 718.61 crore (Rs 764.62 crore). Domestic...

India: Auto policy must spur car sales: Seshasayee.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE, Oct. 30. THE automobile policy, which has been 20 months in the making, is now on the verge of being announced by the Government, Mr R. Seshasayee, President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), said here on...

India: TN IT Secy to retire.
October 31, 2001... CHENNAI, Oct. 30. THE Tamil Nadu Information Technology Secretary, Mr D. Prakash, has sought voluntary retirement. An IAS officer belonging to the 1979 batch, Mr Prakash was allotted to the Tripura cadre and was on inter-State deputation...

India: Carborundum to sell Palakkad refractory unit.
October 31, 2001... CHENNAI, Oct. 30. THE Chennai-based Carborundum Universal Ltd (CUMI) has informed the stock exchange of a board meeting on Wednesday, to "consider a proposal to divest the electrocast refractories unit at Palakkad, Kerala". For more than...

India: Alstom Power 9-month turnover at Rs 511.1 cr.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI: Alstom Power India Ltd has achieved a turnover of Rs 511.1 crore during the nine months of the current fiscal ended September 30, a company statement said here on Tuesday. The company earned profit before tax of Rs 20.8 crore...

India: Sterlite Optical net down 78 pct.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. STERLITE Optical Techologies Ltd has registered a 78 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 12.31 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared to Rs 57.15 crore in the corresponding period previously. ...

India: Tata Tea PAT up 45%.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. TATA Tea Ltd has reported a three per cent decline in its profit from core operations at Rs 33.44 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001 as compared to Rs 34.46 crore in the year-ago period. However, its...

India: Cane support price at Rs 62.05.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THE Government has fixed the statutory minimum price (SMP) for the 2001-02 crushing season (October-September) sugarcane at Rs 62.05 per quintal linked to a basic recovery of 8.5 per cent with a premium of Rs 0.73 per...

India: Coromandel Fert nets Rs 28.4 cr.
October 31, 2001... HYDERABAD, Oct. 30. COROMANDEL Fertilisers Ltd (CFL) has posted a sales turnover of Rs 240.67 crore, other income of Rs 6.07 crore and a net profit of Rs 28.4 crore during the quarter ended September 30, 2001. The turnover and profit...

India: Govt yet to assess Sept 11 impact on tourism.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THE Government is yet to assess the exact impact of the September 11 incidents in the US on the domestic tourism sector. "Whatever figures regarding the effect of September 11 on the domestic tourism sector which have...

India: Mahindra & Mahindra posts Rs 2.67-cr loss.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. MAHINDRA & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) today reported a net loss of Rs 2.67 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001, against a net profit of Rs 13.17 crore of the previous corresponding period. The loss was,...

India: Apollo Tyres net skids 48 pct.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI: Apollo Tyres Ltd (ATL) has reported a 48.48 per cent decline in net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 to Rs 3.22 crore as against a net profit of Rs 6.25 crore recorded during the same period the previous year. ...

India: In talks with Russian company to sell UVs.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. AUTOMOBILE major Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is in serious talks with the Sun Group of Russia to introduce the M&M range of utility vehicles (UVs) in that country. It is understood that senior M&M officials will be...

India: Coates of India.
October 31, 2001... KOLKATA: Coates of India, now a part of the Dainippon group of Japan (DIC), has recorded a 52 per cent increase in its net profit for the quarter (third) ended September 30, 2001 at Rs 2.73 crore (Rs 1.79 crore). Income from operations...

India: VSNL: Mixed signals.
October 31, 2001... THE examination of the financial performance of Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001 reveals a mixed picture. The revenues from international telephony and value-added services (excluding other income)...

India: 'MTNL denied level playing field'.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. MAHANAGAR Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has recently been in the news for its conversion of GDRs to ADRs for listing on the New York Stock Exchange. While the timing may seem a bit surprising with the US economy in recession,...

India: No VRS setback to production, says Maruti.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. MARUTI Udyog Ltd today said it would be still be able to manufacture at 120 per cent of plant capacity despite 19 per cent of its workforce embracing the recently-closed voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). The...

India: Berger Paints net fades 10 per cent.
October 31, 2001... KOLKATA: Despite a slight increase in sales, the net profit of Berger Paints India Ltd has dropped by around 10 per cent for the half-year ended September 30, 2001. For the first six months of 2001-02, the company has registered a five...

India: Voltas.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI: Voltas Ltd has reported a dip in net profit at Rs 3.56 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001 compared to Rs 4.40 crore during the corresponding period last year. Net sales for the quarter stood at Rs 210.49 crore...

India: Kothari Sugars.
October 31, 2001... CHENNAI: Kothari Sugars and Chemicals Ltd (KSCL) has reported a net loss of Rs 20.92 crore on an income from operations of Rs 31.14 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, according to the company. During the corresponding quarter...

India: Thiru Arooran Sugars.
October 31, 2001... Thiru Arooran Sugars Ltd has reported a net loss of Rs 8.50 crore on net sales of Rs 39.44 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, according to the company. During the corresponding period in the previous year, the company...

India: Agro Tech Foods.
October 31, 2001... HYDERABAD: Agro Tech Foods Ltd (AFTL) has posted a turnover of Rs 231.7 crore, other income of Rs 1.4 crore and a net profit of Rs 10 lakh for the quarter ended September 30, 2001. Though the company's turnover increased substantially,...

India: Sun Earth Ceramics.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI: Sun Earth Ceramics Ltd, a part of the Rs 1,000-crore Motwani group, has reported sales of Rs 138.65 crore during the first quarter ended September 2001, up 139 per cent from Rs 57.99 crore recorded in the corresponding period previous...

India: Himatsingka Seide.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE: Himatsingka Seide Ltd, manufacturer of silk and silk- blended fabrics, has reported a marginal increase in net profit and sales for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 over the same period previous year. The company has...

India: Madhucon Projects.
October 31, 2001... HYDERABAD: Madhucon Projects Ltd has posted a turnover of Rs 41.40 crore and a net profit of Rs 1.79 crore during the quarter ended September 30, 2001. The company's turnover increased by 80 per cent and net rose by 41 per cent when compared...

India: IOC first-half net down 31.47%.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI: Volatile crude prices hit public sector Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) with its net profit for the first-half of the current financial year declining 31.47 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,019 crore. IOC made a net profit of Rs...

India: ONGC.
October 31, 2001... Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has posted a net profit of Rs 1,666.39 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001. ONGC's cumulative net profit for the first-half of the current fiscal increased to Rs 3,143 crore from Rs...

India: GAIL.
October 31, 2001... Public sector Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) on Tuesday said it made a net profit of Rs 544 crore in the first-half of the current financial year, which is up 17.75 per cent from Rs 462 crore achieved in the year-ago period. GAIL said...

India: Eureka Forbes extends call centres.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI: Eureka Forbes, claimed to be Asia's largest direct sales organisation, has extended its call centres to Delhi, a press release said. The company already had call centres in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai. The...

India: SOS launches greeting cards.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI: SOS Children's Villages of India, an independent welfare organisation, has announced the launch of greeting cards in association with ITC greeting cards business. The cards are available in 1,500 retail outlets across 100...

India: Marwaha awarded.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI: Mr O.N. Marwaha, Director (Marketing), Indian Oil, has been conferred the 'marketing man of the year' award for the year 2001 by the Institute of Economic Studies (IES), New Delhi. The latter is engaged in research and academics...

India: Globus festive offer.
October 31, 2001... CHENNAI: Globus, the family store, has unveiled its festival offer - 'Celebration 50,000 Diwali offer'. According to a press release, the customers are entitled to get a Sure Gift Scratch Card for every purchase worth Rs 1,000. The gifts...

India: 'Dream Kitchens' offer for Diwali.
October 31, 2001... HYDERABAD, Oct. 30. VIM Bar, a dishwash brand of Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), announced here on Tuesday the Ek Kitchen Ho Sapno Ka offer for its consumers across the country. This Diwali bonanza claims to offer consumers an opportunity to...

India: Ravi Jain venture with Mohan Meakins off.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE, Oct. 30. LIQUOR major Mohan Meakins Ltd's (MML) marketing joint venture with Mr Ravi Jain, a strategic ally of the UB group, has fallen flat with the latter reportedly withdrawing from the alliance floated earlier this year. ...

India: Philips unveils range of new products.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. PHILIPS India Ltd on Tuesday launched a range of products including a DVD recorder, LCD TV PC monitor, a new plasma flat TV and LightFrame2 monitor. "These products are backed by the latest display technologies, optical...

India: MRTPC raps, restrains Reckitt Benckiser.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. RECKITT Benckiser India Ltd (formerly Reckitt and Colman of India Ltd) has been restrained from publishing advertisements comparing its product Dettol with Betadine solution of Win Medicare Ltd with immediate effect by the...

India: Chemmanur group begins exporting menswear to Gulf.
October 31, 2001... KOCHI, Oct. 30. THE Rs 400-crore Chemmanur group has commenced exporting menswear under the brand name Writer to the Gulf market. To start with, the company will export the product to Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah,...

India: Toonz scales down animation summit.
October 31, 2001... THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct. 30. THE Technopark-based animation studio Toonz Animation India has scaled down its plans of going ahead full-scale with its third annual 'Week With The Masters' animation celebrations here after the September 11...

India: Revenue Dept move irks textile exporters.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THE Textile Ministry has taken up with the Revenue Department that the latter's discontinuation of the benefit of brand rate of drawback on textile export products, which had suffered the excise duty incidence, should not...

India: Kerala bid to promote tourism in South.
October 31, 2001... CHENNAI, Oct. 30. THE Kerala Government is proposing to hold a meeting of the Chief Ministers and Tourism Ministers of all the Southern States to formulate a plan for tourism promotion in the south, the State Minister for Tourism, Prof K.V....

India: Govt intervention sought to resolve MCF stalemate.
October 31, 2001... MANGALORE, Oct. 30. THE ongoing tussle, seemingly dormant for a while, between the management and workers of the UB group Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (MCF), has now surfaced once again with the MCF Workers' Union seeking the...

India: Kerala forms panel to study Trayons revival package.
October 31, 2001... KOCHI, Oct. 30. THE Kerala Government has constituted a high-power committee to study the Rs 2,025-crore revival package for the ailing Travancore Rayons Ltd (Trayons). The committee, headed by the Principal Industry Secretary, would...

India: Schroeder opens Wipro facility Our Bureau.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE, Oct. 30. BEFORE the Indian IT industry could say Willkommen Herr Bundelkansler (Welcome Mr German Chancellor), it was time to say Dankeshuel (Thank you). The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroeder's visit to Bangalore was packed...

India: Mascot posts 48 pct rise in net.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE Oct 30. Mascot Systems has reported an increase of 48 per cent in net profits and 47 per cent in revenues for the quarter ending September 30,2001 over the corresponding period previous year. The company has achieved a net...

India: Net4India made RealNames registry.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. NET4INDIA,the New Delhi-based Internet infrastructure and services company, it has been appointed by RealNames Corporation of the US as the sole keyword registry for India. Keyword is a simple way to get the...

India: Mumbai firm buys Fourth R.
October 31, 2001... CHENNAI, Oct. 30. SPBP-Inno vestment Group, a Mumbai-based company with varied business interests in India, recently acquired 100 per cent equity holding in the Chennai-based The Fourth R India for Rs 1.5 crore. Innovestment Cyberkids...

India: TCS, Best Buy to beef up ties.
October 31, 2001... CHENNAI, Oct. 30. TATA Consultancy Services and Best Buy Co have announced that they are in the process of further strengthening their two- year-old relationship. This would result in revenue of over $10 million year-on-year for TCS,...

India: Aptech adds specialised Linux course.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. APTECH Computer Education has announced that a new course on Linux has been added to its Velocity series, targeted at undergraduates, graduates and engineers. The course would give an in-depth coverage of absolute base...

India: TIS to lend marketing muscle to small cos.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. TECNOVA Information Systems (TIS) is on the lookout for quality software products from small Indian firms for marketing them among its clients in overseas markets, especially Europe. The company is headed by Mr Suresh...

India: Canon mulls tie-ups to beat competition.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. INan attempt to take on competition from computer and printer manufacturers, Canon India may seek tie-ups with computer manufacturers to bundle its printers and copiers along with personal computers, top company officials...

India: Deteriorating US budget endangers interest rates.
October 31, 2001... THE budgetary position of the US Government is a bellwether for interest rates in the bond market. Last year, there was a surplus of about $ 200 billion; this year, it is estimated to have fallen to around $ 120 billion; next year, the...

India: Re ends steady; gilts gain.
October 31, 2001... THE rupee closed steady around previous levels of 47.9725/9775 in an active forex market on Tuesday. Dealers said, after opening the day at 47.9850/9950, the currency firmed up to 47.94/95 following some dollar supplies flowing into the...

India: Banks need to raise funds from market.
October 31, 2001... TIME was when Indian companies had to reckon with high spreads over sovereign and inter-bank rates. Those days are long gone and companies now are aggressive borrowers raising money at extremely tight spreads over either the inter-bank rate...

India: SBI advances stagnate in H1.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. POOR credit offtake has taken its toll on the country's largest bank. State Bank of India (SBI) has not recorded any growth in advances in the first-half. Though, year-on-year, there has been a growth of nine per...

India: StanChart unveils savings account with debit card.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct. 30. STANDARD Chartered Group has launched 'aXcessPlus', a savings account with a globally valid debit card. The debit card, to be provided in association with Visa International, will enable 24-hour and 365-day cash access...

India: SBI chief reviews N-E operations.
October 31, 2001... GUWAHATI, Oct. 30. The Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), Mr Janki Ballabh, during his maiden visit to the region, said that SBI must improve the quality of its customer service, technology and marketing ability.. Mr Ballabh was...

India: Other income lifts Bol Q2 profit.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI, Oct 30. SUBSTANTIAL rise in other income has boosted Bank of India's bottomline in the second quarter. The bank has reported a net profit of Rs 135.16 crore for the three months ended September 2001, higher by 64 per cent over Rs...

India: Vijaya Bank reduces deposit rates.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE, Oct. 30. TWO public sector banks have realigned their deposit rates after the announcement of the peak season credit policy last week. Vijaya Bank has reduced its rates in the two to five year segment by 0.5 per cent to 8.5...

India: Kotak Mahindra Fin net down.
October 31, 2001... MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd has registered a 6 per cent dip in net profit at Rs 1,065.29 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, as compared to Rs 1,129.42 crore in the previous corresponding period in the previous year. ...

India: Few takers for PSB variable rate loans.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE, Oct. 30. PUBLIC sector banks' attempts to sell variable interest loan products to protect their spreads have come a cropper. The Chief General Manager, State Bank of Travancore, Mr B. Muthuswamy, told Business Line that most...

India: FICCI panel on pensions favours separate regulator.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) task force on pension reforms has suggested the need to have a pension regulator - a separate Indian Pension Authority (IPA) under the aegis of IRDA - to...

India: PNB first-half net up 13.4 pct.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. PUNJAB National Bank (PNB) has recorded a net profit of Rs 329.02 crore for the first-half ended September 30, 2001, compared to Rs 290.18 crore in the corresponding period last year, registering 13.4 per cent growth in...

India: Ajith Saran to hold charge as CMD, Oriental.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE, Oct. 30. THE Centre is expected to give additional charge of the post of Chairman and Managing Director in the public sector Oriental Insurance Company Ltd (OICL) to a senior civil servant. Sources said that Mr Ajith Saran,...

India: Chambers welcome formation of new tourism council.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THE apex chambers of commerce and industry on Tuesday welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement of constituting a tourism advisory council at the Chief Ministers and State Tourism Ministers conference. The Tourism...

India: Small cars top emission.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. THREE small cars of three different manufacturers have made it to the top of the Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) survey on environmental rating of passenger cars and multi-utility vehicles. Matiz of Daewoo...

India: ILO says reforms should help fight poverty.
October 31, 2001... MANGALORE, Oct. 30. THE President of the Karnataka unit of the Indian National Trade Union Congress, Mr N.M. Adyanthaya, who was in Geneva to chair a meeting of the ILO's sectoral activities programme, said that ILO would henceforth try to...

India: Former Hyundai dealer to sell Marutis in Chennai.
October 31, 2001... CHENNAI, Oct. 30. MARUTI Udyog Ltd has selected a former Hyundai dealer - Bohra Hyundai - in Chennai to replace Union Motors, whose dealership it recently suspended. Union Motors had 13 service locations in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, of...

India: BSES net up 4 pct in 2nd quarter.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. BSES Ltd has recorded a four per cent rise in net profit at Rs 62.39 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001. The Mumbai-based power major had posted a net profit of Rs 60.04 crore for the quarter ended...

India: IA posts Rs 159-cr loss.
October 31, 2001... NEW DELHI, Oct. 30. INDIAN Airlines has reported a loss of Rs 159.17 crore for 2000-01. Among the reasons listed by the company management, for IA reporting a loss after three consecutive years of profits between 1997-98 and 1999-2000...

India: UK may invite more Indian IT companies.
October 31, 2001... BANGALORE, Oct. 30. THE British Minister of State for e-commerce and Competitiveness, Mr Douglas Alexander, is expected to invite more Indian software firms to set up base in the UK, when he visits Bangalore on November 1. Mr Alexander's...