Andhranews

New Delhi, Aug. 15: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the nation’s economy was on the move but more had to be done to improve the living status of the rural people, so that they could also participate in the growth. Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of the 60th Independence Day, Dr Singh said that India’s economy was growing at an impressive pace of 8 per cent for the last 3 years which was “unprecedented”.
“I see a reassuring confidence in our industry in being able to take on the challenge presented by the rest of the world. The growth of the manufacturing industry has touched 11 per cent in the

last quarter, generating many jobs for our youth and workers,” he said. But Mr Singh said that though India is certainly on the march, “We have miles to go before we can truly say that we have made our tryst with destiny.” The Prime Minister added that like Bharat Nirman, the government has launched a number of schemes to modernise the villages.

“As their living conditions will improve, they will participate in the growth which is already visible in urban India,” said Dr Singh. Even though he declared inflation control as a priority, Dr Singh said: “We need to understand that if we want better prices for farmers so that they earn a better livelihood, the prices of what they produce and sell will have to go up.”

Clearly moved by the plight of the agriculture sector that has driven farmers to commit suicide and concerned over the effects of globalisation like surging international oil prices, Dr Singh said higher growth of the economy was a must for the “war against poverty”. Listing out a series of measures for promoting employment and furthering the interests of farmers, including the issue of their indebtedness, Dr Singh sought to assuage the fears of the common man on rising prices, saying: “Our government is committed to ensuring adequate availability of essential commodities at affordable prices to them.”

Dr Singh said that the prices of kerosene and LPG had not been raised despite global crude prices more than doubling from $30 a barrel to $75 a barrel in two
years. “But there is a limit to which we can go on subsidising consumption of petroleum products in the face of rising import costs. At some point, this will affect our ability to spend on other important developmental programmes,” he said while seeking a “political consensus” on the issues of national interest.

Mumbai, Aug. 15: Corporate investment in 2006-07 is slowing down compared to 2005-06, according to a study by the Reserve Bank of India, which covered 815 corporate projects assisted by commercial banks and term-lending institutions during 2006-06. The capital expenditure envisaged in 2005-06, including that from the projects sanctioned assistance in all the prior years amounts to Rs 82,450 crores, indicating a 7.9 per cent rise over that of the previous year.

The investment planned for 2006-07, based on projects which have been sanctioned financial assistance in the years up to 2005-06, amounted to Rs 60,427 crores, the study says, and adds that if the aggregate capital expenditure in 2006-07 has to surpass the level attained in 2005-06, which is Rs 82,450 crores, the capital expenditure in 2006-07 will have to be above Rs 22,023 crores.

The study says that since business conditions remain conducive to support corporate investment, demand and lending rates remain supportive of project investments while corporate balance sheets are in generally sound position, such an amount of investment in 2006-07 on new projects sanctioned assistance seem to be likely. “In other words, the years 2006-07 may witness an increase in corporate investment when compared to that in 2005-06 albeit, at a decelerated pace,” the study says.

Further, the study says that while private corporate sector fixed investment is expected to remain high, the expansion in terms of growth is likely to be modest on account of the uncertainties about oil and primary commodities prices which have risen significantly in recent years. This could have some dampening effect on domestic activity levels and business profits, which in turn may have some adverse effect on corporate fixed investment.

However, the study does not see any effect on project investments at the prevailing interest rates levels. Overall indications are that domestic consumption and investment demand is currently buoyant and is likely to remain so, sustaining the high growth in economic activity, the study says. Statewise, Maharashtra occupied the top position with an aggregate cost of projects at Rs 26,947 crores accounting for 20.1 per cent of the total cost of projects in 2005-06 followed by Gujarat 18.3 per cent , Tamil Nadu 9.1 per cent and Andhra Pradesh 8.4 per cent.

Hyderabad, Aug. 15: South Asia’s HIV and AIDS epidemic can be expected to grow rapidly unless the eight countries in the region, especially India, can saturate high-risk groups such as sex workers and their clients, injecting drug users, and homosexuals with better HIV prevention measures, according to a new World Bank report. According to the report, “AIDS in South Asia: Understanding and Responding to a Heterogeneous Epidemic”, which was released at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto, more than 55 lakh people are infected with HIV in South Asia, with the epidemic increasingly driven by the region’s flourishing sex industry and injecting drug use.

The report says that contributing regional risk factors include widespread stigma and discrimination, poverty and inequality, illiteracy, the low social status of women, trafficking of women into commercial sex, porous borders, widespread migration, high levels of mobility, cultural restrictions on discussing sex, high rates of sexually-transmitted infections and limited condom use.

“Reaching and involving people at risk of HIV is the greatest challenge in South Asia because they’re frequently marginalised within their own communities because of what they do and are, therefore, difficult to involve and reach with conventional prevention measures,” says Mr Julian Schweitzer, director for human development in the World Bank’s South Asia regional team. “But our experience shows that where governments, civil society and other partners make a concerted effort to work closely, including these at-risk groups, you can achieve positive
results with specially-tailored programmes that reduce people’s HIV risks.” The report says that the future size of India’s HIV epidemic will depend on the effectiveness of prevention programmes for sex workers and clients together with injecting drug users and their sexual partners, the latter particularly in Northeastern India.

Hyderabad, Aug. 15: The emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah, one of the seven constituting the United Arab Emirates, is on a multi-city roadshow in India to seek joint ventures and investment in the Emirate, especially in the information technology and e-Governance space, the leader of the RAK delegation said here on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, Mr Hashem Ar-Refaie, advisor to the government of RAK on IT, said that the emirate had currently launched a pilot project on GIS with the Hyderabad-based Navayuga group.

“We are looking for investment by Indian companies in the IT sector and geographical information services,” Dr Ar-Refaie, who is also director general of the e-Government Authority in RAK, said. Dr Ar-Refaie said that the RAK government had set up a Free Trade Zone, which includes a technology park, to promote foreign investment in the Emirate. The FTZ allowed complete foreign ownership, capital and profit repatriation, and a tax-free regime, he said. The RAK FTZ registered as many as 598 new companies during the first half 2006, of which 34 per cent of the registered companies were Asians, 31 per cent were West Asian companies, 24 per cent were European companies, and others from North America and Africa.

Dr Ar-Refaie said the FTZ had over 1,800 companies registered. According to K. Gowtham Shenoy, the RAK-based manager of Navayuga Infotech, the company was undertaking a small pilot project in GIS systems in the Emirate which is expected to be completed soon. “We plan to extend the project based on the success of the pilot,” he said. RAK Ceramics, a ceramics and sanitaryware manufacturer owned by the RAK government, has a manufacturing unit in Samalkot in the east Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

Mumbai, Aug. 15: The Rs 682-crore Mumbai-based Ashapura Minechem Limited, a flagship company of Rs 2,000-crore Ashapura Group, is eyeing the overseas market on a large scale. “The company is extending its activities in new geographies like Malaysia, Nigeria, Azerbaijan and Belgium,” said Mr Navnitlal R. Shah, executive chairman, Ashapura Minechem Limited. The company, which is the largest mine owner, processor and exporter of industrial minerals in India, is also setting up a clay processing plant in Belgium as a 50:50 joint venture with a local firm called Mcol next month. According to Mr Shah, the company is also setting up a bentonite processing plant in Belgium and a processing plant for bartities in Nigeria.

The venture in Nigeria is a 50:50 JV with a local company called Immo Energy, with an investment of more than Rs 100 crores. In addition, the company has also decided to set up bulk importing, grinding and packing facility in Antwerp, Belgium for processing bentonite, Kaolin lumps, bleaching clay and shipping them to various European destinations. The company invest $3 million in the Antwerp project. Moreover, to set up a processing plant, the company has decided to acquire a Kaolin mine reserves in Kerala. With the project cost estimated to be around Rs 55 crores, the plant will produce hydrous calcined, hydrous non-calcined, dry calcined and spray dried kaolin.

The Prime Minister can be forgiven if the tears he shed over high prices during his Independence Day speech had the texture of crocodile tears. Perhaps if he had his way, just perhaps, to give him the benefit of the doubt, he would have tried to bring down prices of at least the essential commodities like rice (ordinary rice), wheat, sugar, pulses and edible oils, which is the basic diet of even the lower economic group families.

But he is not his own master as his finance minister P. Chidambaram calls the shots. And except on Budget day, when he overburdens his Budget speech with the mention of the poor and underprivileged, Mr Chidambaram functions for the rest of the 364 days, for 10-20 per cent of the population and so would not want to bring down prices.

The June 22 fiasco

Just see the sham of the June 22 policy decisions that were taken to bring down prices. Mr Chidambaram and his ministry were of the view that prices had risen because of shortages, so they decided to import sugar and wheat. This was quite a fiasco, because they knew that the international prices of wheat per quintal, for instance, were higher than the local prices. In the case of sugar, they were to import some 35 lakhs tonnes by the end of July.

It is learnt that about 92,000 tonnes have arrived. Further arrivals are expected soon.

Prices still inflated

Meanwhile, sugar of medium variety in the wholesale, which was priced at between Rs 1,890-1,940 per quintal were on August 14 quoting at between Rs 1,889 to 1,941 per quintal. If it is this much in the wholesale, at the retail it is around Rs 22 per kg and above. In the case of wheat on June 22, it was between Rs 864 to Rs 868 per quintal in Delhi and on July 22, it was between Rs 878 to Rs 868 per quintal. So what happened to the June 22 policy? Maybe the finance ministry has an explanation.

Easy money

Inflation as the economists say is a monetary phenomenon and can be controlled by monetary measures. This is why the Reserve Bank of India keeps warning against inflation and wants the banks to increase interest rates to make borrowing more expensive. The finance minister is against this and had tried to armtwist the banks. Today because cheap money is available, hoarders can hoard grain and sugar and create an artificial shortage and when there is a shortage, traders in the forward market make a killing.

Minority thinking

It is important, therefore, for the government to stop forward trading in a few essential items that effect the lives of the ordinary people for at least a year till the situation improves. They say next year sugar production is expected to be more than demand and there is already talk of exports. In such conditions, forward trading can be permitted. But to have futures trading when there are shortages or artificially created shortages is to make the lives of the common people difficult. Politicians and bureaucrats, who have alternate means of income, the well heeled, the government servants who get an immediate rise in dearness allowance when prices go up and other such privileged classes are not affected when prices rise but they are a minority.

Privileged food ministry officials

So it was expected of food ministry officials and the agriculture minister Sharad Pawar to come out in favour of forward trading and against any ban. A consumer affairs ministry official is quoted as saying that “the ministry has put its foot down” and that curbing futures trade would “stifle a sector which has just taken off.” Sure it put its foot down on the stomachs of the people!

Bangalore, Aug. 15: Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday reminded the IT and biotech (BT) firms in the state of their “responsibility” to provide jobs to the local population. “On this auspicious day, I appeal to the knowledge industry thriving in the state to discharge its responsibility by ensuring sufficient jobs to the local youth across the board in their respective firms,” Mr Kumaraswamy said while delivering the Independence Day address.

Since the successive State governments have gone out of the way to facilitate the growth and expansion of IT and BT sectors by providing a host of incentives, Mr Kumaraswamy said it was incumbent on their part to empower the Kannadiga people with jobs. “In case the local youth are wanting in soft skills, the firms should devise specific programmes to train them.”

Ask any telecoms executive of where the industry is headed, and he or she is sure to nod, grudgingly to be sure, at the Voice over Internet Protocol segment, which is radically changing the way people make calls, using the Internet. And thanks to the exponential growth in VoIP, companies around the world have been developing the technology for the segment.

Several new technologies or extensions are in the pipeline, including Alcatel, which is planning to introduce new features for WLAN, multi-site SMBs, and a SIP network interface on the Alcatel OmniPCX Office IP communication server.
According to WirelessIQ, Apparent Networks will launch AppCritical SME, a network performance system for SME-focused solution providers and the small-to-medium enterprise market. Designed specifically to simplify pre-deployment assessments, troubleshooting and maintenance, AppCritical SME provides comprehensive easy-to-understand evaluations in minutes.

While Clarus Systems, Inc. its newest version of ClarusIPC Operations software which features improved automated testing of large IP telephony deployments to maximise system performance and now delivers enhanced security reporting to prevent critical IP telephony security risks, FaxCore, Inc. will be launching the FaxCore fax server, built on Microsoft .NET, which allows organisations to fax enable applications and users without installing software on the desktop or the Exchange Server.

“Fluke Networks will be demonstrating new aspects of its VoIP Lifecycle Management solution, which include the Visual UpTime Select and its VoIP Planner module with Fluke’s NetTool Inline Tester, OptiView Link Analyzer and Protocol Expert, and the OptiView Integrated Network Analyser,” WirelessIQ says.
“Toshiba will be launching the Strata CIX40 IP business communication system for small companies, supporting up to 16 station ports and eight IP channels. The launch of Strata CIX40 completes Toshiba’s transition of its entire product line to Voice over IP,” WirelessIQ says.

Hyderabad, Aug. 15: IDLconsult, the mining and infrastructure arm of Hyderabad-based Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd. on Tuesday bagged a mining contract worth Rs 110 crore from Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. The project will be executed over a period of 24 months at Manuguru OC 2 in Khammam district, a Gulf Oil statement said. IDLconsult has previously executed two coal-mining contracts for SCCL worth Rs 90 crores.

Commenting on the contract, Subhas Pramanik, Managing Director, Gulf Oil Corporation, said, “We are honoured to have bagged this large contract. Our mining and infrastructure division has doubled its service income in 2005-06 to Rs 72 crore. We now have plans to double it again in 2006-07.” IDLconsult undertakes works for drilling, blasting, excavation, hauling, and dump-yard management in the mining sector. It possesses skills for controlled blasting, tunnelling and shaft sinking in the infrastructure sector, the statement said. The division has in the past executed controlled blasting projects projects for the Delhi Metro Project. The work was handed over to IDLconsult by IMCC, a JV between Dywidag (Germany), L&T, Samsung (South Korea), IRCON and Shimizu (Japan).

Frankfurt, Aug. 15: With France and Germany leading the way, the euro-zone economy grew at its fastest quarterly rate since the boom year 2000, a development that seems sure to fortify the European Central Bank’s resolve to raise interest rates further this year.

The gross domestic product of the 12 nations that use the euro grew 0.9 per cent from April to June compared with the previous quarter, Eurostat, the statistics agency of the European Union, reported on Tuesday. The growth came as an already healthy export machine got assistance from business investment and the European consumer, whose reluctance to spend has been the hallmark of the slow recovery in Europe.

The German economy, where households have been the most tightfisted, the engine for the region, grew at the same rate, one not equalled in over five years.
“Domestic demand is doing its job finally,” said Erik Nielsen, chief Europe economist with Goldman Sachs. “We finally have a little drive from something other than exports, which is good.”

The data broadly confirmed figures released by national authorities over much of the past week, most recently France on Friday. Though overall growth is accelerating in the euro zone, it is uneven, with France growing at a brisk 1.1 per cent to 1.2 per cent quarterly rate, and Italy lagging at 0.5 per cent.

The precise details of the growth pattern are not yet available, but data on retail sales in Germany point toward strong consumption, despite World Cup-generated spending, as does a fall in unemployment, economists said. Business confidence surveys, though they have come off their peaks of earlier this year, are still in line with strong growth.

The data also allowed the euro area to steal the title of fastest-growing economy from the United States, though the time at the top may very well be brief. The American economy, after growing at a torrid pace in the first quarter, slowed to 0.6 per cent during the quarter ended in June, but remains for the most part much stronger than Europe’s. The German economics minister, Michael Glos, hailed the numbers as evidence that this year — the first full one with Angela Merkel as the country’s chancellor — is bound to be upbeat.

The European Commission on Monday raised its estimate for growth in the third quarter to 0.5 per cent to 0.9 per cent, slightly higher than it projected in July.
But the commission cut its fourth-quarter forecast to a range of 0.4 per cent to 0.9 per cent, a period when many economists said they expected the softening economy in the United States to act as a drag on European growth.

London, Aug: Europeans have become used to cheap flights, sometimes paying no more than the price of a lavish meal for a ticket between London and Spain. But last week’s terrorist alert has given rise to fears that no-frills airlines won’t be able to avoid passing on to their customers the costs of tougher long-term security measures.

“The situation as it is at the moment is unsustainable,” said David Bryon, an industry consultant and former managing director of low-cost airline bmibaby. Cancelled and delayed flights since Thursday, when authorities revealed a plot to attack several trans-Atlantic flights, have already cost all carriers millions of dollars each day. Budget airlines could be even more susceptible to future costs. That is because the no-frills carriers are particularly vulnerable to increases in “turnaround times” — the interval between when a plane hits the tarmac and when it takes off again with a new set of passengers.

Quick turnarounds mean more flights and reflect the budget airlines’ decisions not to offer full onboard meals and to discourage passengers from checking bags — services that require costly time and ground staff. Speedy groundwork is a primary way no-frills carriers keep their costs and fares lean.

Ryanair Holdings PLC prides itself on a turnaround time of 25 minutes, while its major competitor easyJet PLC aims for just five minutes more. But with passengers stuck in lengthy queues at airports around the country because of strict security checks, those numbers are currently far out of reach.
“The problem is that the budget airlines work to tight schedules,” said Mr Bryon. “If you can’t physically do that because of passenger checks, you can’t meet your turnaround timetable, you have to consider changing your schedule and costs rise.”

The government slightly eased strict security measures that had banned all carry-on baggage as the threat level was lowered Monday. The Transport Department said passengers would be allowed to carry a single, briefcase-sized bag aboard planes, and that books, laptop computers and digital music players would be permitted again.

But BAA PLC, the operator of Heathrow and other major London airports, said it would not adopt the relaxed regime until Tuesday. It also ordered airlines to cut on Monday’s services by 20 per cent or face the loss of all their flight slots, drawing complaints from airlines. BAA has struggled to deal with the chaos and been roundly criticised by Ryanair and British Airways over its handling of the security threats.

Willie Walsh, BA’s chief executive, said the airline was ready, willing and able to fly its planes, but blamed BAA’s slow-going approach for the delays. “BAA is unable to provide a robust security search process and baggage operation at London Heathrow, and as a result we are being forced to cancel flights and operate some others from Heathrow without all the passengers onboard,” he said.

Bmibaby CEO Nigel Turner said the airline was following BAA’s directive but he hoped the situation would have returned to “pretty much as normal” by late Monday. EasyJet, which has cancelled more than 500 flights since Thursday, continued to ask its passengers to still pack everything into one piece of checked luggage in an attempt to minimise the volume of bags it has to deal with. Ryanair, which has grounded a fifth of all scheduled departures since Thursday, was harshly critical of both the BAA and the government.

“The UK government, by insisting on th-ese heavy handed security measures, is allowing the extremists to achieve ma-ny of their objectives,” CEO Michael O’Leary said. Ryanair is particularly sensitive to restrictions on hand luggage. In January it began charging customers for each bag they checked as part of a plan to get passengers to take only what they could ca-rry. The airline temwaived its 2.50 euro ($3.20) fee for each carry-on bag that unexpectedly had to be che-cked, but said it has no plans to ditch the policy.