Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Business News Sep 26th,2006
Madras bench to hear Novartis case
Chennai, Sept. 26: The petitions filed by the international pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG Switzerland and Novartis India challenging the Indian rejection of patent for its cancer drug, has been referred to a division bench of the Madras high court. Justice Ibrahim Khalifullah on Tuesday referred the Novartis petitions to chief justice A.P. Shah for being posted before a division bench “because of important questions of law” involved in the Swiss pharmaceutical major challenging the Indian patent law that has allegedly obstructed its monopoly sale of a cancer drug.
The petitions are likely to be posted before a division bench soon after the Pooja holidays in the middle of October. In the petitions, the companies have challenged Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act as not being compliant with the WTO rules outlined in the agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). The petitioners have also contested the January 2006 order of the Patent Officer at Chennai rejecting Novartis’ application to patent its cancer drug, Gleevec.
Former Attorney General of India, Soli J. Sorabjee, and senior advocates Shanti Bhushan and Habibullah Badshah appeared for the two Novartis petitioners, while Mr Anand Grover, appeared for one of the respondents, the Cancer Patients Aid Association. The Government of India and some generic companies, such as Ranbaxy, Cipla, Hetero and Natco, were also listed as respondents.
“We pleaded that there was no need to refer the case to a two-judge bench since the issue was simple and had been settled by the Supreme Court already. The petitioners’ contention that Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act went against the TRIPS cannot be a ground for striking down an Indian statute. Any dispute regarding TRIPS compliance has to be agitated before the WTO disputes panel,” Mr Grover told the court.
The Cancer Patients Aid Association has jumped into the ring in what essentially is a battle between the international pharma giant and the Indian government, because of concern expressed by international medical aid workers, including Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), that this case could have “serious implications for future access to essential drugs in India and worldwide.” A MSF statement said that Novartis was challenging a “crucial part” of the Indian law that “protected patients from the patenting of trivial improvements of known molecules.”
‘Flexibility needed in Basel II norms’
Mumbai, Sept. 26: Financial inclusion and implementation of the Basel norms were the key takeaways from the three-day conference on “Global Banking: Paradigm shift”, which commenced in Mumbai on Tuesday. The deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Rakesh Mohan, in his special address at the meeting organised by Ficci said that banks need to shore up their deposits, as the pace of their growth was not in line with credit offtake. Pointing out that the growth of deposits was not in line with credit growth, he advised banks to focus on credit growth. He said that there was a vast market to be tapped outside urban areas.
The growth in retail loans was 47 per cent and the ratio of retail loans to total bank loans was 22 per cent as against 6.4 per cent in 1991. Dr Mohan also pointed out that the non-performing assets arising out of lending to agriculture was less than those arising out of loans to the SMEs.
Mr O.P. Bhatt, chairman, State Bank of India, who made a theme presentation made three main observations:
* The need for “financial inclusion” as the concentration of wealth and financial inequality are increasing
* A relatively weak and fragmented banking industry particularly since the presence of foreign banks will increase from April 2009. This would put Indian banks and small and medium enterprises at a great disadvantage.
Fuel rate cut only if oil falls to $50: Deora
New Delhi, Sept. 26: Petroleum minister Murli Deora on Tuesday ruled out any immediate reduction in petrol and diesel prices and said a cut may be considered only if crude oil falls around $50 a barrel. Speaking to mediapersons after flagging off a biking expedition, Mr Deora said that it is not an appropriate time to cut prices because prices have not fallen to levels warranting any cut in domestic sale prices. “If crude falls to $50 per barrel level, there will a decision on cutting prices,” added Mr Deora.
The Indian basket of crude is at $56.28 per barrel, down from historic highs of over $70 per barrel in August. Mr Deora said the decline has cut the losses of oil companies on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene but has not made selling fuel profitable. “Losses are still there. I wish international prices fall further. Mr Deora again appealed to the Maharashtra government to cut sales tax on petrol and diesel to give relief to fuel pump dealers, who were losing high volume business to neighbouring States where tax rates were lower.
Needed: A white paper on SEZs
Olga Tellis
Just when it looked like there was no excitement on the economic front, Sonia Gandhi dropped a bombshell in Nainital saying that special economic zones (SEZs) should not come up on farm lands and at the cost of the farmers. What is interesting is that the government, and particularly the commerce minister Kamal Nath, have never given figures of how many people are going to be displaced to accommodate these SEZs.
In fact, there should be a white paper on the SEZs. All we know is the fact that 150 SEZs have been given the green signal and they cover an area of 26,800 hectares. There are 225 applications pending and they will come up over an area of 75,000 hectares. There are also a lot of statistics on how much revenue the government will earn and how much employment these SEZs will generate. All these statistics are theoretical. But there is no mention of how many people are going to be dispossessed of their farms and homes and livelihood.
Quick to act, Kamal Nath has written to the various chief ministers telling them that only arid and wastelands should be given for the SEZs. This should put many a chief minister in a tizzy, not the least being Vilasrao Deshmukh of Maharashtra where several SEZs are coming up, some of them in close proximity to each other. The chief ministers have also been told not to get into the business of acquiring the people’s land for the SEZs and that the promoters of SEZs would have to do it themselves.
Everywhere in the country there is an uprising by the peasantry and villagers against not only the SEZs, but a host of other development projects like airports, steel and auto plants and windmills coming up and in the bargain destroying the livelihood of millions of people without offering a better quality of life.
So after the SEZs, Mrs Gandhi, who has set the ball rolling, will have to consider where other development projects should come up on farmlands and cultivable lands or displace villagers.
Prices continue to gallop
It is surprising that there was not much consternation raised over rising prices at the Congress conclave in Nainital. The government/finance ministry’s policies to bring down prices has not succeeded. Right there in Delhi itself, under the nose of the government, prices of essentials from wheat to channa dal have been escalating.
This is how the essential items of daily consumption have gone up:
* The wholesale price of wheat on September 19 was Rs 1,000-Rs 1,005 per quintal, whereas on June 22 it was Rs 878-880 per quintal.
* The gram dal was Rs 2,600-2,900 per quintal on June 22 and touched Rs 3,620-3,900 around September 22
* Urad dal was selling at Rs 4,200-4,500 on June 20 and on September 22 it was Rs 4,800-Rs 5,200
* Groundnut oil rose from Rs 475 per quintal in May to Rs 540 in September.
The rise of all these essential items have been between 10 to 25 per cent. Yet the government fools everyone by saying the wholesale prices have gone up by just 5 per cent! People are told that some shipments of wheat have arrived but that is superficial solution compared to the shortfall which is estimated at 55 lakh tonnes.
But TV viewers specially have been bombarded by sound bytes of how much money the government saved in wheat imports by some clever manoeuvres. How does that help prices? Has it saved the common man in anyway from rising prices? It’s amazing how people can sell such stories without the sub texts or the context which in this case would be how these imports helped against rising prices!
No review of existing SEZs: YSR
Hyderabad, Sept. 26: Two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the Special Economic Zones should ensure that farmers and others were not displaced by the zones, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Tuesday said the government would not be reviewing the approvals for the 31 SEZs in the State.
“We will ensure that fertile or farm land is not allotted to SEZs in the future. We will ensure that people displaced by SEZs are compensated above the current norms by the organisations setting up the SEZs,” Dr Reddy told this newspaper, at the 34th anniversary celebrations of the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corp.
Speaking about the SEZs approved by the government, Dr Reddy said, “No farmer will be affected by the SEZs, and no land which has irrigation or is semi-fertile will be made into SEZs. The Centre has cleared 31 of the 150 SEZs nationwide, for Andhra Pradesh. Most of the SEZs, though, are in and around Hyderabad. SEZs have become a hot-button issue, with the finance ministry grumbling about the possible loss of revenue because of the tax sops being offered to the zones.
The Reserve Bank of India has dubbed the SEZs as mere “real estate” projects, and instructed banks to treat them accordingly. Raghuram G. Rajan, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, has also criticised the government’s enthusiasm for clearing SEZs. “Overall, it (tax sops for SEZs) becomes yet another giveaway, which the government cannot afford,” Dr Rajan said earlier this month at an IMF meeting in Singapore.
The Congress party’s Communist allies have also weighed in on the SEZ issue, and have criticised the tax breaks. For its part, the government claims that the SEZs would help in giving India a leg-up in the manufacturing sector. It cites the success of the manufacturing sector in China, which permitted the setting up of SEZs in the early eighties, with some of the zones stretching over 150 sq. km. Dr Reddy said SEZs should consider hiring the people who will be displaced by the SEZs, or pay a higher compensation for acquiring the land.
State close to finalising partner for ‘iconic tower’
Hyderabad, Sept. 26: The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation expects to finalise its partner for the construction of an ambitious 120-storey “iconic tower” in a new “business district” in Hyderabad in the next few weeks, Mr B.P. Acharya, vice-chairman and managing director of APIIC, said on Tuesday. The “business district” is being developed as a “prestigious address” for companies from India and abroad, and would have, apart from the “iconic tower”, about 30 smaller office blocks, Mr Acharya said at the 32th anniversary celebrations of the APIIC.
“We have shortlisted about 10 companies, and we expect to finalise our partner for the development of the business district in the next month, he said. “The plan is to build an office block, which will be an iconic tower, that will be higher than Dubai’s Burj Al Arab tower,” he said. The Burj Al-Arab, which is to be opened in 2008, is expected to top 1,600 feet. APICC had received preliminary clearance from building and fire authorities for building the office block, he said.
Mr Acharya said APIIC had launched a Rs 50-crore “Environmental Management Fund”, in association with GTZ, a German government agency, to design and implement environmentally-friendly processes. He said APIIC expected to close 2006-07 with revenues of Rs 1,000 crores.
The government-owned APIIC posted revenues of Rs 442 crore in 2005-06, up from the Rs 118 crore in the previous year, major industries minister J. Geeta Reddy said. She said Andhra Pradesh had received an investment of Rs 8,000 crore in the last two years, and projects worth Rs 22,000 crore were in the pipeline.
Consumer Wi-Fi market set to grow
IT Today
While consumer electronics now rely largely on physical media and on broadcast delivery of entertainment content, a new study finds the market in the mid of a major shift to a greater reliance on network-based delivery. Wi-Fi networking is expected to become a key enabler for delivery and redistribution of this content in the home, particularly for retail consumer electronics hardware. According to ABI Research, the total number of Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics devices will grow from just 40 million shipped in 2006 to nearly 249 million in 2011.
“From the enormous interest in online gaming to the rapid emergence of new Internet distribution channels for top-tier movie and TV content, the need for connectivity in mainstream consumer electronics is growing rapidly,” the market and technology research said.
“While the consumer Wi-Fi market has previously consisted largely of routers, gateways and adapters, ABI Research believes that as the market evolves towards digital distribution, its growth will be fueled by the inclusion of embedded Wi-Fi in consumer electronics.”
The market today is led by portable gaming consoles, as both Nintendo and Sony have equipped their latest generation devices with Wi-Fi for multiplayer and online gaming.
The new Zune from Microsoft signals the beginning of a large-scale movement towards embedded Wi-Fi in portable media players. Line-powered devices such as gaming consoles, DVD players and audio receivers are all expected to see high attach rates for Wi-Fi during the forecast period.
“The development of a market for Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics has been hampered by technology limitations such as power consumption, but it has also been delayed by consumer electronics vendors’ hesitation as they waited to see what would happen with 802.11n. With the 802.11n standard set to be ratified in a little over a year, the Wi-Fi Alliance’s decision to certify solutions based on a draft 2.0 for 802.11n, and vendors’ intentions to release products based on the current Wi-Fi protocols, this market is set for growth,” it says.
Mail lures
Mass mailing lures for websites that are hosting VML exploit code have begun gaining traction, says Websense, a security company.
Hyundai steps up gas with robust launch pipeline
Hyderabad, Sept. 26: Hyundai Motor India (HMI) joined the “new-launch” party with its mid-size sedan, the Verna, belatedly, but senior company executives say the party is just starting for Hyundai, with plans to launch two new cars a year, upgrades and variants.
Speaking about the company’s short-term strategy on the occasion of the Hyderabad launch of the Verna on Tuesday, HMI managing director H.S. Lheem said, “We will launch two models every year. With the Verna done, we plan to launch the diesel variant of the Sonata Embera by mid-October, a variant of the Santro by early next year and a twin of the Santro by the middle of 2007.”
Hyundai’s launch strategy resembles somewhat that of Maruti Udyog Ltd, which has said that it would be rolling out a new model every year till 2010. Moreover, with the LPG and CNG versions of the WagonR already declared a roaring success after registering sales of nearly 15,000 since its launch, Hyundai is finalising the fuel options for the Santro.
“We have undertaken feasibility tests for alternative fuels for the Santro but nothing has been finalised. A clear picture should emerge by early 2007,” Mr Lheem said. Similarly, to revive the sagging sales of the Sonata Embera, HMI hopes to inject fresh life into the number plate with a diesel engine. With Verna taking on significant competition in the form of the Ford
Fiesta and Honda City and Mr Lheem emphasised that sales would not be a problem. “We expect to sell 3,000 Vernas and a 1,000 Accents initially,” Mr Lheem stressed, indicating that the Accent won’t be a victim of cannabalisation. Hyundai is banking on the limited-period introductory prices of Rs 6.25-6.93 lakhs (ex-Hyderabad) for the petrol Verna and Rs 7.35 lakhs for the diesel version and the ongoing festival season to drive up Verna sales.
Asked on the status of the proposed R&D centre in Hyderabad, Mr Lheem, reacting to reports of the company finalising Chennai for the site, said, “Nothing has been finalised. We are negotiating with both the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments.” “I checked 2-3 sites in Hyderabad for the R&D centre on Tuesday, and we are looking at adequate support from the government in the areas of land, location and taxes,” he added.
Dr Reddy’s opens unit in Vizag
Hyderabad, Sept. 26: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd said on Tuesday it has opened its first finished dosages plant in Visakhapatnam. The plant is specially designed to manufacture a broad range of products including cytotoxic and anti-hormonal products, and injectibles catering to the international market for the treatment of cancer, hormonal imbalances and other diseases.
The facility is also designed to cater to the manufacturing needs of international pharmaceutical companies, a company release said. With a built up area of 15.7 acres (65,000 sq mts), the plant is ecologically balanced with a beautiful green belt covering 8 acres of surrounding land. This plant is the seventh finished dosage facility of the company.
The last facility was inaugurated in March, 2006, at Baddi. “The new facility is benchmarked to the highest global regulatory standards and is designed to cater to a global market that requires the most stringent standards of quality. We strongly believe that this unit will be one of the drivers of quantum growth for Dr Reddy’s,” Satish Reddy, MD and COO of DRL, said.
Chennai, Sept. 26: The petitions filed by the international pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG Switzerland and Novartis India challenging the Indian rejection of patent for its cancer drug, has been referred to a division bench of the Madras high court. Justice Ibrahim Khalifullah on Tuesday referred the Novartis petitions to chief justice A.P. Shah for being posted before a division bench “because of important questions of law” involved in the Swiss pharmaceutical major challenging the Indian patent law that has allegedly obstructed its monopoly sale of a cancer drug.
The petitions are likely to be posted before a division bench soon after the Pooja holidays in the middle of October. In the petitions, the companies have challenged Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act as not being compliant with the WTO rules outlined in the agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). The petitioners have also contested the January 2006 order of the Patent Officer at Chennai rejecting Novartis’ application to patent its cancer drug, Gleevec.
Former Attorney General of India, Soli J. Sorabjee, and senior advocates Shanti Bhushan and Habibullah Badshah appeared for the two Novartis petitioners, while Mr Anand Grover, appeared for one of the respondents, the Cancer Patients Aid Association. The Government of India and some generic companies, such as Ranbaxy, Cipla, Hetero and Natco, were also listed as respondents.
“We pleaded that there was no need to refer the case to a two-judge bench since the issue was simple and had been settled by the Supreme Court already. The petitioners’ contention that Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act went against the TRIPS cannot be a ground for striking down an Indian statute. Any dispute regarding TRIPS compliance has to be agitated before the WTO disputes panel,” Mr Grover told the court.
The Cancer Patients Aid Association has jumped into the ring in what essentially is a battle between the international pharma giant and the Indian government, because of concern expressed by international medical aid workers, including Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), that this case could have “serious implications for future access to essential drugs in India and worldwide.” A MSF statement said that Novartis was challenging a “crucial part” of the Indian law that “protected patients from the patenting of trivial improvements of known molecules.”
‘Flexibility needed in Basel II norms’
Mumbai, Sept. 26: Financial inclusion and implementation of the Basel norms were the key takeaways from the three-day conference on “Global Banking: Paradigm shift”, which commenced in Mumbai on Tuesday. The deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Rakesh Mohan, in his special address at the meeting organised by Ficci said that banks need to shore up their deposits, as the pace of their growth was not in line with credit offtake. Pointing out that the growth of deposits was not in line with credit growth, he advised banks to focus on credit growth. He said that there was a vast market to be tapped outside urban areas.
The growth in retail loans was 47 per cent and the ratio of retail loans to total bank loans was 22 per cent as against 6.4 per cent in 1991. Dr Mohan also pointed out that the non-performing assets arising out of lending to agriculture was less than those arising out of loans to the SMEs.
Mr O.P. Bhatt, chairman, State Bank of India, who made a theme presentation made three main observations:
* The need for “financial inclusion” as the concentration of wealth and financial inequality are increasing
* A relatively weak and fragmented banking industry particularly since the presence of foreign banks will increase from April 2009. This would put Indian banks and small and medium enterprises at a great disadvantage.
Fuel rate cut only if oil falls to $50: Deora
New Delhi, Sept. 26: Petroleum minister Murli Deora on Tuesday ruled out any immediate reduction in petrol and diesel prices and said a cut may be considered only if crude oil falls around $50 a barrel. Speaking to mediapersons after flagging off a biking expedition, Mr Deora said that it is not an appropriate time to cut prices because prices have not fallen to levels warranting any cut in domestic sale prices. “If crude falls to $50 per barrel level, there will a decision on cutting prices,” added Mr Deora.
The Indian basket of crude is at $56.28 per barrel, down from historic highs of over $70 per barrel in August. Mr Deora said the decline has cut the losses of oil companies on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene but has not made selling fuel profitable. “Losses are still there. I wish international prices fall further. Mr Deora again appealed to the Maharashtra government to cut sales tax on petrol and diesel to give relief to fuel pump dealers, who were losing high volume business to neighbouring States where tax rates were lower.
Needed: A white paper on SEZs
Olga Tellis
Just when it looked like there was no excitement on the economic front, Sonia Gandhi dropped a bombshell in Nainital saying that special economic zones (SEZs) should not come up on farm lands and at the cost of the farmers. What is interesting is that the government, and particularly the commerce minister Kamal Nath, have never given figures of how many people are going to be displaced to accommodate these SEZs.
In fact, there should be a white paper on the SEZs. All we know is the fact that 150 SEZs have been given the green signal and they cover an area of 26,800 hectares. There are 225 applications pending and they will come up over an area of 75,000 hectares. There are also a lot of statistics on how much revenue the government will earn and how much employment these SEZs will generate. All these statistics are theoretical. But there is no mention of how many people are going to be dispossessed of their farms and homes and livelihood.
Quick to act, Kamal Nath has written to the various chief ministers telling them that only arid and wastelands should be given for the SEZs. This should put many a chief minister in a tizzy, not the least being Vilasrao Deshmukh of Maharashtra where several SEZs are coming up, some of them in close proximity to each other. The chief ministers have also been told not to get into the business of acquiring the people’s land for the SEZs and that the promoters of SEZs would have to do it themselves.
Everywhere in the country there is an uprising by the peasantry and villagers against not only the SEZs, but a host of other development projects like airports, steel and auto plants and windmills coming up and in the bargain destroying the livelihood of millions of people without offering a better quality of life.
So after the SEZs, Mrs Gandhi, who has set the ball rolling, will have to consider where other development projects should come up on farmlands and cultivable lands or displace villagers.
Prices continue to gallop
It is surprising that there was not much consternation raised over rising prices at the Congress conclave in Nainital. The government/finance ministry’s policies to bring down prices has not succeeded. Right there in Delhi itself, under the nose of the government, prices of essentials from wheat to channa dal have been escalating.
This is how the essential items of daily consumption have gone up:
* The wholesale price of wheat on September 19 was Rs 1,000-Rs 1,005 per quintal, whereas on June 22 it was Rs 878-880 per quintal.
* The gram dal was Rs 2,600-2,900 per quintal on June 22 and touched Rs 3,620-3,900 around September 22
* Urad dal was selling at Rs 4,200-4,500 on June 20 and on September 22 it was Rs 4,800-Rs 5,200
* Groundnut oil rose from Rs 475 per quintal in May to Rs 540 in September.
The rise of all these essential items have been between 10 to 25 per cent. Yet the government fools everyone by saying the wholesale prices have gone up by just 5 per cent! People are told that some shipments of wheat have arrived but that is superficial solution compared to the shortfall which is estimated at 55 lakh tonnes.
But TV viewers specially have been bombarded by sound bytes of how much money the government saved in wheat imports by some clever manoeuvres. How does that help prices? Has it saved the common man in anyway from rising prices? It’s amazing how people can sell such stories without the sub texts or the context which in this case would be how these imports helped against rising prices!
No review of existing SEZs: YSR
Hyderabad, Sept. 26: Two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the Special Economic Zones should ensure that farmers and others were not displaced by the zones, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Tuesday said the government would not be reviewing the approvals for the 31 SEZs in the State.
“We will ensure that fertile or farm land is not allotted to SEZs in the future. We will ensure that people displaced by SEZs are compensated above the current norms by the organisations setting up the SEZs,” Dr Reddy told this newspaper, at the 34th anniversary celebrations of the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corp.
Speaking about the SEZs approved by the government, Dr Reddy said, “No farmer will be affected by the SEZs, and no land which has irrigation or is semi-fertile will be made into SEZs. The Centre has cleared 31 of the 150 SEZs nationwide, for Andhra Pradesh. Most of the SEZs, though, are in and around Hyderabad. SEZs have become a hot-button issue, with the finance ministry grumbling about the possible loss of revenue because of the tax sops being offered to the zones.
The Reserve Bank of India has dubbed the SEZs as mere “real estate” projects, and instructed banks to treat them accordingly. Raghuram G. Rajan, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, has also criticised the government’s enthusiasm for clearing SEZs. “Overall, it (tax sops for SEZs) becomes yet another giveaway, which the government cannot afford,” Dr Rajan said earlier this month at an IMF meeting in Singapore.
The Congress party’s Communist allies have also weighed in on the SEZ issue, and have criticised the tax breaks. For its part, the government claims that the SEZs would help in giving India a leg-up in the manufacturing sector. It cites the success of the manufacturing sector in China, which permitted the setting up of SEZs in the early eighties, with some of the zones stretching over 150 sq. km. Dr Reddy said SEZs should consider hiring the people who will be displaced by the SEZs, or pay a higher compensation for acquiring the land.
State close to finalising partner for ‘iconic tower’
Hyderabad, Sept. 26: The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation expects to finalise its partner for the construction of an ambitious 120-storey “iconic tower” in a new “business district” in Hyderabad in the next few weeks, Mr B.P. Acharya, vice-chairman and managing director of APIIC, said on Tuesday. The “business district” is being developed as a “prestigious address” for companies from India and abroad, and would have, apart from the “iconic tower”, about 30 smaller office blocks, Mr Acharya said at the 32th anniversary celebrations of the APIIC.
“We have shortlisted about 10 companies, and we expect to finalise our partner for the development of the business district in the next month, he said. “The plan is to build an office block, which will be an iconic tower, that will be higher than Dubai’s Burj Al Arab tower,” he said. The Burj Al-Arab, which is to be opened in 2008, is expected to top 1,600 feet. APICC had received preliminary clearance from building and fire authorities for building the office block, he said.
Mr Acharya said APIIC had launched a Rs 50-crore “Environmental Management Fund”, in association with GTZ, a German government agency, to design and implement environmentally-friendly processes. He said APIIC expected to close 2006-07 with revenues of Rs 1,000 crores.
The government-owned APIIC posted revenues of Rs 442 crore in 2005-06, up from the Rs 118 crore in the previous year, major industries minister J. Geeta Reddy said. She said Andhra Pradesh had received an investment of Rs 8,000 crore in the last two years, and projects worth Rs 22,000 crore were in the pipeline.
Consumer Wi-Fi market set to grow
IT Today
While consumer electronics now rely largely on physical media and on broadcast delivery of entertainment content, a new study finds the market in the mid of a major shift to a greater reliance on network-based delivery. Wi-Fi networking is expected to become a key enabler for delivery and redistribution of this content in the home, particularly for retail consumer electronics hardware. According to ABI Research, the total number of Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics devices will grow from just 40 million shipped in 2006 to nearly 249 million in 2011.
“From the enormous interest in online gaming to the rapid emergence of new Internet distribution channels for top-tier movie and TV content, the need for connectivity in mainstream consumer electronics is growing rapidly,” the market and technology research said.
“While the consumer Wi-Fi market has previously consisted largely of routers, gateways and adapters, ABI Research believes that as the market evolves towards digital distribution, its growth will be fueled by the inclusion of embedded Wi-Fi in consumer electronics.”
The market today is led by portable gaming consoles, as both Nintendo and Sony have equipped their latest generation devices with Wi-Fi for multiplayer and online gaming.
The new Zune from Microsoft signals the beginning of a large-scale movement towards embedded Wi-Fi in portable media players. Line-powered devices such as gaming consoles, DVD players and audio receivers are all expected to see high attach rates for Wi-Fi during the forecast period.
“The development of a market for Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics has been hampered by technology limitations such as power consumption, but it has also been delayed by consumer electronics vendors’ hesitation as they waited to see what would happen with 802.11n. With the 802.11n standard set to be ratified in a little over a year, the Wi-Fi Alliance’s decision to certify solutions based on a draft 2.0 for 802.11n, and vendors’ intentions to release products based on the current Wi-Fi protocols, this market is set for growth,” it says.
Mail lures
Mass mailing lures for websites that are hosting VML exploit code have begun gaining traction, says Websense, a security company.
Hyundai steps up gas with robust launch pipeline
Hyderabad, Sept. 26: Hyundai Motor India (HMI) joined the “new-launch” party with its mid-size sedan, the Verna, belatedly, but senior company executives say the party is just starting for Hyundai, with plans to launch two new cars a year, upgrades and variants.
Speaking about the company’s short-term strategy on the occasion of the Hyderabad launch of the Verna on Tuesday, HMI managing director H.S. Lheem said, “We will launch two models every year. With the Verna done, we plan to launch the diesel variant of the Sonata Embera by mid-October, a variant of the Santro by early next year and a twin of the Santro by the middle of 2007.”
Hyundai’s launch strategy resembles somewhat that of Maruti Udyog Ltd, which has said that it would be rolling out a new model every year till 2010. Moreover, with the LPG and CNG versions of the WagonR already declared a roaring success after registering sales of nearly 15,000 since its launch, Hyundai is finalising the fuel options for the Santro.
“We have undertaken feasibility tests for alternative fuels for the Santro but nothing has been finalised. A clear picture should emerge by early 2007,” Mr Lheem said. Similarly, to revive the sagging sales of the Sonata Embera, HMI hopes to inject fresh life into the number plate with a diesel engine. With Verna taking on significant competition in the form of the Ford
Fiesta and Honda City and Mr Lheem emphasised that sales would not be a problem. “We expect to sell 3,000 Vernas and a 1,000 Accents initially,” Mr Lheem stressed, indicating that the Accent won’t be a victim of cannabalisation. Hyundai is banking on the limited-period introductory prices of Rs 6.25-6.93 lakhs (ex-Hyderabad) for the petrol Verna and Rs 7.35 lakhs for the diesel version and the ongoing festival season to drive up Verna sales.
Asked on the status of the proposed R&D centre in Hyderabad, Mr Lheem, reacting to reports of the company finalising Chennai for the site, said, “Nothing has been finalised. We are negotiating with both the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments.” “I checked 2-3 sites in Hyderabad for the R&D centre on Tuesday, and we are looking at adequate support from the government in the areas of land, location and taxes,” he added.
Dr Reddy’s opens unit in Vizag
Hyderabad, Sept. 26: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd said on Tuesday it has opened its first finished dosages plant in Visakhapatnam. The plant is specially designed to manufacture a broad range of products including cytotoxic and anti-hormonal products, and injectibles catering to the international market for the treatment of cancer, hormonal imbalances and other diseases.
The facility is also designed to cater to the manufacturing needs of international pharmaceutical companies, a company release said. With a built up area of 15.7 acres (65,000 sq mts), the plant is ecologically balanced with a beautiful green belt covering 8 acres of surrounding land. This plant is the seventh finished dosage facility of the company.
The last facility was inaugurated in March, 2006, at Baddi. “The new facility is benchmarked to the highest global regulatory standards and is designed to cater to a global market that requires the most stringent standards of quality. We strongly believe that this unit will be one of the drivers of quantum growth for Dr Reddy’s,” Satish Reddy, MD and COO of DRL, said.
