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India's
4th In Global GDP Growth Race
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The
stupendous rise of the sensex is backed
by sound fundamentals emanating from the
real economy. The Indian economy was the
fourth-largest contributor towards incremental
global GDP growth in '05. The US tops
the list, followed by China and Japan.
It is also encouraging to note that India
has edged out industrial heavyweights
like Germany, United Kingdom and France
in terms of incremental GDP contribution
in the previous year. An ETIG analysis
has found that the Indian economy contributed
around 3.2% to total incremental global
growth recorded in '05. The analysis computed
global GDP composition and global GDP
growth composition ratios respectively.
The global GDP composition measures the
absolute size of an economy with respect
to the absolute size of world GDP, whereas
the global GDP growth composition measures
the incremental growth recorded by an
economy with respect to the overall. From
the table, it is also noticeable that
both India and China have much higher
global GDP growth composition ratios than
their absolute composition in global GDP.
This is another indicator showing that
these economies are growing faster than
the overall global average.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 30, 2006
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India,
China Surge Ahead on Global GDP Charts
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India
and China seem to be growing at a fast
clip. From the table, it is also noticeable
that both India and China have much higher
global GDP growth composition ratios than
their absolute composition in global GDP.
This is an indicator showing that these
economies are growing faster than the
overall global average. For instance,
while the Indian economy accounted for
close to 1.8% of the overall global GDP
composition in '05, it accounted for 3.2%
of the global GDP growth composition.
Likewise, the Chinese economy accounted
for 9.4% of the global GDP growth composition
and 4.3% of overall global GDP in '05.
The reverse is noticeable in most of the
developed economies, which have a lower
global GDP growth composition rate than
their overall global GDP composition rate.
This indicates that developed economies
are growing at a slower pace compared
to global GDP growth. Most of the developing
economies in the East Asian and African
regions have recorded strong growth rates
in '05. It would be interesting to see
how long this global boom is going to
last, given the current scenario of rising
oil prices, global tightening in monetary
policy, the state of global imbalances
and the anticipated bursting of asset
bubbles. In fact, there seems to be initial
signs of a housing bubble burst in the
US economy, which could put a check on
consumption growth there. Given the significance
of the US economy, any decline in consumption
could negatively impact the global growth
scenario.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 30, 2006
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IIM-B
to Expand in All Parts of World
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The
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
(IIM-B), has initiated steps to make necessary
amendments in the Memorandum of Association.
This is being done with a view to expanding
and diversifying its portfolio of academic,
research, training, consulting and other
activities "in all parts of the world,"
its Director Prakash G Apte said. "This
is expected to open up new and exciting
opportunities in the global arena," he
said in his Director's report at the 31st
annual convocation of the Institute. Apte
said that in order to increase the number
of admissions to the Fellow Programme
in Management (FPM), the doctoral programme
of the Institute, and to attract senior
candidates, it has been decided to open
up additional avenues for admission, other
than the Common Admissions Test (CAT).
"From the batch of 2006, FPM admission
is also being made on the basis of GATE,
GMAT and GRE scores," he said. Apte also
said that responding to the needs of a
growing number of MBA aspirants and in
line with the Government's keenness to
see that IIM education is available to
a larger number of students, the intake
for the Post-Graduate Programme in Management
would be increased to 260 from the year
2006. "We plan to increase it further
to 300 by the year 2007". He said using
EDUSAT of Indian Space Research Organisation,
IIMB proposed to extend its Post Graduate
Programme in software enterprise management
to other cities in the near future.
Courtesy:
Hindustan Times, March 29, 2006
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Biocon
Wins Bid For Nobex Assets
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India's
Biocon Ltd. said on Tuesday it had won
a bid to buy all the assets of U.S-based
Nobex Corp., which filed for bankruptcy
last year, for $5 million plus certain
back-end royalties. The Indian company
has an existing partnership with Nobex
to jointly develop and sell oral insulin
and oral B-type natriuretic peptide, a
drug for cardiovascular disease. Biocon
said it had made an initial bid of $3.5
million before a U.S bankruptcy court,
and emerged as a final bidder for Nobex's
assets with a total commitment to pay
$5 million, including settlement with
the creditors committee. The acquisition
gives Biocon ownership of IN-105, an oral
insulin for type 2 diabetes, oral B-type
natriuretic peptide and other oral drugs
which are in clinical trail phases. Biocon
Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
said in a statement the company would
leverage Nobex's proprietary assets through
a combination of licensing and co-development
partnerships.
Courtesy:
The Pioneer, March 29, 2006
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IT
Share in GDP to Grow to 4.8 Per Cent
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The
rapid growth over the last five years
is expected to increase the share of IT
industry in the country's Gross Domestic
Product to 4.8 per cent in this fiscal.
"The industry's contribution to the national
GDP has risen from 1.2 per cent during
1999-2000 to a projected 4.8 per cent
in 2005-06," the annual report of the
Department of Information Technology said.
According to the department, the exports
of software and services from India is
expected to touch 103,200 crore in 2005-06
from Rs 80,180 crore in the last fiscal,
posting a growth of 29 per cent in rupee
terms and 32 per cent in dollar terms.
IT and IT enabled Services have emerged
as a net growth driver for the software
and services industry and in 2005-06 it
is likely to grow 37 per cent year-on-year
to touch $6.3 billion. As the sector grows
so does the employment. The sector generated
2,30,000 new jobs last year. In 2005-06
the total employment in the industry is
expected to grow to 12,87,000 from 2,84,000
in 1999-2000. In addition to direct jobs,
the industry has created three million
jobs through indirect and induced employment.
The penetration of IT in the domestic
market has been robust. The desktop PC
market grew by 36 per cent in the first
half of 2005-06 to 23.4 lakh units and
by end of this fiscal the number of units
shipped is expected to touch 47 lakh.
The broadband connections in the country
has touched 8,00,000 and this number will
grow to 20 million by 2010, according
to the report.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 29, 2006
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'ITeS
Export to Exceed $23.4bn'
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The
department of Information technology,
in its Annual Report for 2005-06, stated
the obvious emerging status of the Indian
IT and ITeS sector in the developing world.
It predicted that the total software and
ITeS exports from India will exceed $23.4
billion in the year 2005-6. It stated
that the Indian software and ITeS industry
has grown at a CAGR of 20 per cent during
the last 5 years. The industry's contribution
to the the national GDP has risen from
1.2 per cent during the year 1999-2000
to a projected 4.8 per cent during 2005-6.
It also states, surprisingly, that India's
record on information security ranks better
than most locations and that the authorities
are maintaining a keen emphasis on further
strengthening security. The report goes
on to point out that the total number
of IT and BPO professionals has rise to
1,287,000. The IT sector alone has helped
create 3 million job opportunities through
indirect and induced employment. The report
also identifies key focus areas, which
include electronics and hardware manufacturing,
PC penetration, Internet promotion, the
promotion of Indian language technology
among others.
Courtesy:
The Asian Age, March 29, 2006
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Rural
India Outsmarts Metros in IT Use
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Contrary
to popular perception, information technology
has a far greater impact in rural areas
than urban centres. A recent survey of
37 e-governance projects, spread across
11 states accorded an overall rating of
8.67 to rural e-governance projects against
8.03 to urban projects. The survey was
conducted over two years by management
and ICT consultancy firm SKOCH and the
projects were rated on various parameters.
The results of the survey was released
on Tuesday at the company's ninth annual
summit. Speaking at the summit, Panchayati
Raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar invited
more private sector participation in the
government's ongoing rural business hub
programme. He said around 30 MoUs have
already been signed between the public
and private sector and Panchayati Raj
institutions to generate employment in
rural areas, covering sectors like bio-diesel,
power generation and fruit processing.
The MoUs have so far been signed with
farmers in Haryana, Karnataka and Uttaranchal.
The rural business hub programme brokers
partnership between the public and private
sectors and Panchayati Raj institutions
to initiate commercial activities in the
rural areas. Mr Aiyar also gave away the
SKOCH Challenger Award '06 for best practices
in the area of information and communication
technology for socio-economic development
in the country.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 29, 2006
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Wealth
Creation, India Inc Way!
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The
market value of listed companies of India
Inc hit US$ 651 billion on March 24, 2006
- an increase of US$ 268 billion in the
past 12 months when compared with US$
382 billion the same time last year. Look
at the growth trajectory - an increase
of Rs 5 trillion in FY04 followed by Rs
9 trillion in FY05 and Rs 12 trillion
in yet-to-finish FY06! Wealth creation
by India Inc has been on the fast lane
on the conviction of foreign institutional
investors of the India story. The major
contribution of wealth creation came from
102 companies, which are now members of
the $1 billion market cap club. The $1
billion club, which has increased by 31
members in the last one year, added almost
three-fourth or Rs 8.9 trillion gained
in the last one year. The major new entrants
in the $1 billion club are Suzlon Energy
($8.55 billion), Reliance Communication
Ventures ($7.95 billion) and i-Flex Solutions
($2.35 billion). Suzlon created wealth
through a public offer, Reliance Communication
Ventures through the demerger of Reliance
Industries and i-flex via a 139 per cent
increase in valuation.
Courtesy:
Business Standard: March 28, 2006
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Ranbaxy
Buys Glaxo Italy Arm
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Ranbaxy
Laboratories announced the acquisition
of the unbranded generics business of
Allen SpA, a division of GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK) in Italy, for an undisclosed sum.
With Allen SpA, Ranbaxy has acquired a
workforce of more than 3,000, a research
and development centre for drug discovery,
two state-of-the-art certified manufacturing
plants and a sales force of medical representatives
spread across the country. The acquisition,
through Ranbaxy Italia SpA, a subsidiary,
will come into effect on April 1, this
year. The $420 million Italian generics
market is one of the fastest growing markets
in Europe, with an annual growth rate
of 49 per cent. The total pharmaceutical
market in Italy is worth about $14 billion,
according to IMS figures. "This acquisition
of the Allen Generic business from GSK
will fast-track Ranbaxy's growth plans
in Italy. This product portfolio complements
our own pipeline of products for the Italian
market," said Malvinder Mohan Singh, chief
executive officer and managing director
of Ranbaxy. It would also enable the Indian
generics major to utilise opportunities
arising from future patent expires, he
added. Ranbaxy Italia SpA, incorporated
in September 2005, is engaged in filing
Ranbaxy's portfolio of generic products
with the Italian health authorities and
plans to launch its first product, Sertralina
Ranbaxy, in May this year.
Courtesy:
www.business-standard.com, March 28, 2006
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British
Company Eyeing India For Biodiesel Production
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D1
Oils, a major British biodiesel producer,
says India is going to be a key location
for the company in the production and
consumption of the fuel derived from the
jatropha plant. As part of the plantations
network, it has entered into a joint venture
with Indian tea major Williamson Magor
in northeast India. The joint venture
will see around 25,000 hectares of jatropha
planted in the region during 2006. Speaking
about the deal, Elliot Mannis, CEO of
D1 Oils, said: "India is going to be a
key location for the production and consumption
of biodiesel from jatropha and comprises
the largest component of our current planting
programme." He said the deal with the
Williamson Magor was "in addition to the
contract farming programme currently being
undertaken through D1's joint venture
in southeast India, D1 Mohan Bio Oils".
He added: "It takes us for the first time
into the northeast, where there are significant
areas of marginal and unused land available
for planting jatropha.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 26, 2006
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India
Adds Another Feather to Its Cap, to Become
Refining Hub
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India
may turn out to be the refining hub of
the Asia-Pacific region in the 'golden
refining era'. Large refining capacities
are set to roll out in the next few years
with at least five major oil companies
planning to either expand or set up greenfield
capacities in the country. While Reliance
Industries is setting up the largest capacity
at Jamnagar, other serious players include
Essar, BPCL, MRPL and IOC among others.
The first to go off the block will be
Essar Oil's 7m tonne refinery at Vadinar
to be commissioned by July this year.
BPCL is expected to commission its 6m
tonne Bina refinery by the end of '09.
The refinery being set up by Essar Oil
will have a capacity of 7m tonnes to begin
with. It will be increased to 10.5m tonnes
by January '07. The refinery involving
a cost of around Rs 9,900 crore is expected
to produce between 10.5 and 12m tonnes
of processed products per annum.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 24, 2006
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Lord
Paul: 5 New Units in India
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The
Caparo Group, a company owned by Lord
Swraj Paul, noted industrialist of Indian
origin, has announced plans to set up
five new manufacturing plants in India
at a cost of £100 mn. Lord Paul said,
"India's growing economic strengths had
vindicated his forecast that the country
would become a global hub for manufacturing.
I have been saying for 25 years that India
is going to be a big manufacturing country
and it is now coming true." The five new
plants will be set up over the next five
years, he said. The company, which hopes
to earn a profit of £40 bn in 2006, already
operates four plants in India. Lord Paul,
chairman of the Caparo Group, said the
aim was to expand the company's sales
in India from £ 25 mn in 2005 to up to
£ 130 mn in 2008. This would lead to further
increase in jobs from the company's existing
plants from 1,000 to 2,800. The company
had made an operating profit of £ 28.4
mn in 2005 on sales of £ 694 mn as against
an operating profit of 49.3 million pounds
in 2004 - a 48 percent fall.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 24, 2006
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BFL
Launches First JV in China
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Bharat
Forge Limited (BFL) on Monday made its
foray into China by formally launching
a joint venture with the country's auto
giant FAW Corporation for manufacturing
a range of forged automotive products.
The new company, FAW Bharat Forge (Changchun)
Co Ltd, in which the Pune-based BFL has
a 52 per cent controlling equity, will
be based in Changchun, capital of northeast
China's Jilin Province, well-known for
its auto industry. "It is a momentous
occasion for all of us. The formation
of the joint venture marks a new era of
cooperation between FAW Corporation and
BFL," chairman and managing director of
BFL, Baba Kalyani said. "I would like
to see FAW Bharat Forge become a preferred
supplier of products to the global automotive
industry. From our side, we are committed
to contribute our experience, knowledge
and resources for the success of our joint
venture," Kalyani said at the formal opening
ceremony. Applauding the miraculous growth
of the Chinese economy, Kalyani said that
for him, the joint venture, the first
in China for the Kalyani group, is a window
through which he could be able to view
the great Chinese culture and build life-long
friendships with the Chinese people. Speaking
on the occasion, the President of FAW
Corporation, Zhu Yanfeng said the formation
of the joint venture with BFL was a "win-win"
formula for the Chinese company which
is aiming to become a major player in
the global auto sector. Zhu expressed
confidence that with the technology and
human resources strength of his company
and that of BFL, the new joint venture
would be a big success in the domestic
market as well as emerge a major global
player.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 24, 2006
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Demand,
Exports to up India's Sugar Output
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Strong
sugar demand and a booming export market
are boosting cane farming in India and
sugar output is likely to rise to 21-22
million tonne in the year to September
2007, a top industry official said on
Wednesday. "Cane is taking over in a big
way and people are uprooting vegetables
and planting cane in their backyards,"
SL Jain, director general of the Indian
Sugar Mills Association, said in an interview.
"Cane is one of the most profitable options
our farmers have today." India's sugar
output in the year to September 2006 is
likely to rebound to 18.5 million tonne
from about 13 million, a year ago. Mr
Jain said that returns to mills had improved
and farmers were getting timely payments
for their cane crop. "Mills are paying
more than the state-administered price
for cane and there are no arrears." There
are about 450 sugar mills in India and
many in the cooperative sector have been
ailing due to low domestic prices and
high loans, resulting in huge arrears
to farmers. "We are finally seeing light
at the end of the tunnel," he said. Mr
Jain said that the country has already
contracted in the last two months to export
200,000 tonne of sugar, contributing to
an estimated total of 600,000 tonne for
the year to September.
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, March 23, 2006
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Ansal
Forms JV With Malaysia's Faber
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The
Capital-based real estate group Ansal
Properties on Wednesday formed a joint
venture with Malaysian healthcare facilities
management company Faber Group Behad.
The new company, Faber Star Failities
Management, will offer specialised healthcare
facility management services. Malaysian
facility management group will hold 51
per cent equity while Ansal Properties
would command the rest. "This venture
will hep us add a completely new dimension
of specialised facilities management services
in the country," Chairman Sushil Ansal
said. The JV will commence operations
in May this year and aims at a Rs 100
crore (Rs 1 billion) turnover in the next
three to five years, he added. Faber Group
manages over 75 hospitals in Malaysia.
The new company would combine the strengths
of both the companies to provide its clients
world class services, Faber Managing Director
Norizah said. The new entity would aim
at utilising the global expertise of Faber
to provide specialised and professional
healthcare facility management services
for the first time in India.
Courtesy:
rediff.com: March 23, 2006
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It's
that time of the year again when spring
adds that dash of colour to Bschool campuses.
And this year, the predominant hue is
green. Like the colour you and anyone
who's not a top B-school grad is turning
at the number of zeroes in start-up salaries
this year. $193,000 - that's how much
Barclays Capital, a British bank, has
offered Gaurav Agarwal of IIM-Bangalore.
It's also made offers of $185,000 each
to three IIM-Ahmedabad grads. The IIM-B
package, say experts, is second only to
the $225,000 offer made by an international
investment bank four years back at IIM-A
and 22% higher than last year's highest
offer. It's also more than what most people
make in their lifetime. So what's driving
this trend? ''The reason is simple,''
says Professor Ranjan Das of IIM-Calcutta.
''As emerging markets grow and MNCs diversify,
they need people to manage their businesses.
And who better than IIM graduates who
are trained in emerging market scenarios.''
Besides, IIM graduates have proved they
are second to none when it comes to managing
new businesses. ''Also, the fact that
most of them are from IIT gives them a
technical edge. Since we don't believe
in area-specific specialisation, IIM graduates
have multi-skills. Perhaps, that's why
MNCs make the trip to our campuses every
year,'' says Professor Pankaj Kumar of
IIM-Lucknow. It's just such a campus trip
that has put IIM-Calcutta's Anurag Singhal
in the mood for celebrating. Having bagged
a $160,000 offer from Deutsche Bank, Anurag
has zipped off to Bhutan to soak in the
post-placement euphoria. Vikas Vashistha
of IIM Lucknow may not have headed for
the Himalayan kingdom like Anurag but
he's on top of the world, too, with his
$75,000 offer from investment bank JP
Morgan, London. Vashistha got the highest
international salary this year at IIM-L.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 23, 2006
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Viacom
Eyes Digital, Film Business in India
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American
media giant Viacom Inc. wants to meld
Hollywood with Bollywood, by producing
movies in India, company President and
Chief Executive Officer Tom Freston announced
Wednesday. The move could provide a further
boost to Bollywood, India's massive film
industry, which is already booming, propelled
by the country's rapidly expanding economy.
Viacom houses Paramount movie studio,
DreamWorks studio and cable networks such
as MTV and Nickelodeon. Freston said Paramount
would no longer be content to merely distribute
movies in India. "We want to produce films
here, we don't want to just distribute,"
Freston said. "We want to work with Indian
producers." He made the announcement at
the start of a three-day international
entertainment industry conference that
began in Bombay, India's financial and
entertainment capital, on Wednesday. Bombay's
own film industry, Bollywood, is the world's
most prolific, producing around 800 films
a year. Viacom was targeting India because
of its billion-plus population, he said.
"Here's what Viacom is looking at - the
biggest movie and television population
with 700 million people under the age
of 35. This is twice the population of
the United States," said Freston. "This
is a young market." Recent industry forecasts
have projected the Indian entertainment
and media industry would grow by about
19 percent annually from the current US$8
billion (euro6.6 billion) a year to US$20
billion (euro16.5 billion) by 2010, owing
to the country's booming economy, which
is encouraging spending on leisure and
entertainment.
Courtesy:
The Financial Express, March 23, 2006
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Mahindra
Eyes Further Acquisitions
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India's
largest utility vehicle maker, Mahindra
& Mahindra Ltd, will assemble pick-up
trucks in Malaysia from next year, top
company officials said on Monday. The
company is also looking to acquire two
auto-parts firms in Europe and one in
India. Mahindra's assembly plans in Malaysia
would be carried out either through a
joint venture or an alliance with its
local distribution partner, USF-HICOM
(Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a unit of conglomerate
DRB-HICOM . USF-HICOM now distributes
the diesel and petrol variants of Mahindra's
Scorpio, said Pawan Goenka, president
of Mahindra's automotive division. Also,
Mahindra's acquisition plans are on track,
said Vice Chairman and Managing Director
Anand Mahindra. "We are still out there
on the acquisition front... but cannot
give any time frame," he told reporters
on the sidelines of an Asian investors'
meet. Local media reports have speculated
that Mahindra may be in a race to acquire
the forging units of Germany's ThyssenKrupp
A.G. for more than $1.5 billion. Bharat
Forge had earlier on Monday denied it
planned to acquire these units.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 22, 2006
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India
Set to Become No 2 Server Market
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Many
have said that 'business depends on technology'
but we are past that and this saying is
particularly true if we look the way servers
market has grown in 2005. Servers are
among the fundamental building blocks
of a sold infrastructure in the making
and that's why investments are rampant.
Having said that lets take a closer look
at server numbers. The x86 servers saw
phenomenal growth and the market have
doubled both in unit shipment and by factory
revenues in 2005. According to IDC India,
the x86 market grew by 42 %to 89,193 units
vis-à-vis 62,751 in 2004. By factory revenue
terms, the x86 market grew by 46.1% to
report $284.97 million. Dinender Sharma,
manager, computing products and channel
research, IDC India, says, "Total branch
automation and core banking applications
in the finance and insurance, government
purchases (DGS&D included), IT software
and services and SME buying responsible
for the run rate business. These were
major driving forces for market growth
in 2005 and will continue to be the mainstay
of demand in 2006." A further look at
the x86 reveals more interesting insights.
Sharma continues "The 2-way servers continued
to carry the market, growing 57% (in units)
from 2004 to 67% of total x86 shipments
in 2005. These machines, along with 4-way
(that grew by 81% in unit terms) servers
will continue to spur market growth, as
demand for 1-way systems saturates." Sharma
adds, "The market also witnessed some
interesting channel schemes. IBM offered
one ThinkPad with every server purchased
by a channel partner and, in another scheme,
one Ford Ikon with every 100 servers.
Dell's 'Crazy Server' offer in the AMJ
quarter of 2005, with heavily discounted
price for a particular model, had a significant
impact on the x86 server growth."
Courtesy:
The Financial Express, March 21, 2006
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Infomedia
India to Acquire Two Companies For US$
11.7 Million
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Infomedia
India Ltd said on Monday that it is planning
to acquire American Devices India Pvt
Ltd and US-based Software Services LC
for US$ 11.7 million. Both entities are
engaged in the business of providing customised
solutions to the publishing industry.
The proposal for acquiring the two companies
was approved by the board and the purchase
consideration would be discharged in two
instalments, the leading information products
company informed the BSE. At the time
of signing the shareholders agreement,
83 per cent of the shares would be purchased
and transferred at Rs 44 crore and 17
per cent of the shares would be purchased
and transferred not later than June 2007
at a minimum consideration of Rs 8 crore.
Courtesy:
The Hindu Business Line, March 21, 2006
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India
to be Integral to Cisco Global Development
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India
will be an integral part of Cisco's global
development process for new products.
Besides, as a growing market, the country
is also becoming very strategic for Cisco.
Talking to the media, after the formal
inauguration of its facility, (originally
housing Scientific Atlanta (SA), now merged
with Cisco Systems) at Chennai's Tidel
Park, Rangnath Salgame, president, India
& SAARC, Cisco Systems (India) said, the
company follows a global development process.
"The Chennai centre will be an integral
part of this, especially when the merger
has brought together the strengths of
SA in video transmission and viewing technology
and that of Cisco's capability as a leader
in Internet Protocol," he said. He said,
the Chennai operations of SA had about
21 engineers, which has slowly increased
to 100 at present. "This will soon go
up to 120 and by the end of this year,
the centre will have 200 professionals
working on the new product development,
as part of the global operations," Mr
Salgame said. According to Burshall Cooper,
VP & GM Product Strategy & development,
Digital Subscriber Networks of erstwhile
SA and now Cisco, the company will continue
to "grow the Chennai facility". "SA has
been focusing on certain mission critical
areas in the video segment. With the unit
now being part of Cisco, we will have
more such opportunities in future," he
pointed out.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 21, 2006
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India
Continues to be a Favoured Destination
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India,
as a favoured destination for foreign
tourists, continues to roll. In the first
two months of the year, the country experienced
a 12.6 per cent jump in foreign tourist
arrivals, with an estimated 8.7 lakh foreign
guests visiting the country. However,
going beyond the absolute rise in number
of arrivals, the growth rate in arrivals
seems to be slackening. Comparing the
current growth figures to that of last
year, one finds that in the first two
months of '05, the country had recorded
15.9% growth in tourist arrivals. In February
'06 alone there was 10.1% growth in tourist
arrivals at 4.28 lakh against same period
last year. The growth rate in tourists
during the same period in '05 was 17.3%
over '04. Foreign exchange earnings from
tourist spending were pegged at around
Rs 5,358 crore in the first two months
of '06, registering a growth of 14.7%
over the same period in '05. In calendar
'05, the country received 3.9m foreign
tourists, a jump of 14% over '04. Tourism
ministry officials say in '06, the focus
will be on promoting tourism in the North-East
and Andamans, apart from marketing Buddhist
circuits. The FM has recognised the role
of the tourism industry in generating
employment in Budget '06. He has upped
the annual plan allocation for the tourism
ministry from Rs 786 crore to Rs 830 crore
- a jump of 5.5%. To boost flow of foreign
tourist arrivals, the Centre plans to
develop 15 tourist destinations, and identify
50 villages for exposition of handicrafts
and handloom. With the Commonwealth Games
slated to be held in Delhi in '10, the
government plans to spruce up tourism
infrastructure and showcase India aggressively
as a tourist destination. Efforts to woo
high net worth American tourists has led
to a 20% jump in tourist arrivals from
the US. According to estimates by WTTC,
India's travel and tourism industry will
record a CAGR of over 10% between '06
and '15.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times: March 13, 2006
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Nokia
Opens Handset Factory in India
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Top
handset maker Finland's Nokia said on
Saturday it had formally inaugurated its
first handset factory in India. "I am
confident that our manufacturing facility
will enable us to reduce our time to market,"
Chief Executive Jorma Ollila said in a
statement during the opening of the factory
in Sriperumbudur, on the outskirts of
the southern city of Chennai. Nokia said
its Aspocomp group will set up a printed
circuit board facility in worth $70 million
in India. Perlos Corp, the world's largest
supplier of mechanics for the telecoms
industry, will also build a plant in India
at a a cost of about $12 million.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 12, 2006
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Free
India Beats China Again
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Singling
out India and China as the main drivers
of growth in the travel and tourism industry,
a report released at the International
Tourism Fair here has said that India
enjoys an edge over its neighbour as the
average Indian traveller is considered
a "highly valuable proposition" abroad.
"Many European destinations are rethinking
their China strategies and are starting
to invest more in India. While China is
a controlled and regulated market, Indians
are already free to travel abroad wherever,
whenever and however they wish," said
the report, released at ITB-Berlin, the
world's largest travel and tourism fair
which begins today. "Compared to the Chinese,
Indians have a higher level of travel
experience and speak much better English,"
it said adding that the average Indian
traveller was a "highly valuable proposition"
because of higher disposable incomes,
growing aspirations and the country's
continued liberalisation of its foreign
policies. "Many countries around the world
recognise the potential of the market,
which like China and Russia, is one of
the world's best spenders. This makes
the Indian leisure traveller abroad a
highy valuable proposition - a fact undervalued
by the Indian travel industry", the report
pointed out.
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, March 09, 2006
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Tata
Steel to Set up Plant in South Africa
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India's
private sector steel giant Tata Steel
has been given the green signal by the
South African government to start construction
on its US$ 103 million ferrochrome steel
plant at Richards Bay in the country's
KwaZulu-Natal region. South Africa's Department
of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs
said in a statement on Tuesday that the
permission had been granted after indepth
investigations carried out on the environmental
impact of the opening of a steel plant
in the Alton North light industrial area
of Richards Bay, situated about 150km
north of Durban. The Department had been
called in to conduct the investigation
following objections by environmental
groups that the steel plant would only
contribute to further polluting of the
Richards Bay region. The Richards Bay
Clean Association and other environmental
groups had objected to the Tata Steel
project on the grounds that no environmental
assessment impact had been carried out.
The environmental groups maintain that
the permission granted to Tata Steel would
only pave the way for other heavy steel
industries to move to the light industrial
area. Tata Steel is one of the two major
India-connected steel companies that have
invested heavily in South Africa. The
other is Mittal Steel, which has taken
over control of the South Africa-state
company, ISCOR. Mittal Steel has taken
over plants in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal
and also in the Johannesburg region.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times: March 08, 2006
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India
Leads China in Travel Sector
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Singling
out India and China as the main drivers
of growth in the travel and tourism industry,
a report released at the International
Tourism Fair here has said that India
enjoys an edge over its neighbour as the
average Indian traveller is considered
a "highly valuable proposition" abroad.
"Many European destinations are rethinking
their China strategies and are starting
to invest more in India. While China is
a controlled and regulated market, Indians
are already free to travel abroad wherever,
whenever and however they wish," said
the report, released at ITB-Berlin, the
world's largest travel and tourism fair
which begins today. "Compared to the Chinese,
Indians have a higher level of travel
experience and speak much better English,"
it said adding that the average Indian
traveller was a "highly valuable proposition"
because of higher disposable incomes,
growing aspirations and the country's
continued liberalisation of its foreign
policies. "Many countries around the world
recognise the potential of the market,
which like China and Russia, is one of
the world's best spenders. This makes
the Indian leisure traveller abroad a
highy valuable proposition - a fact undervalued
by the Indian travel industry", the report
pointed out.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, March 08, 2006
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