Electric car maker Reva Electric Car Co. Thursday announced that it will launch a new model powered by advanced battery technology this year and also set up its second manufacturing plant in the country.
"We will launch our lithium-ion based battery-powered car in May this year. This will have 120 km range, ideal for city driving conditions. The new battery will allow consumers to recharge within an hour," Reva deputy chairman and chief technical officer Chetan Kumaar Maini said.
"We will add another factory to the existing one in Bangalore with installed capacity of 30,000 vehicles," he said.
The company plans to sell 1,000 electrical vehicles this fiscal.
"We have already sold more than 500 vehicles and will touch 1,000 this fiscal. The plan is to sell 4,000 vehicles next year, about half of which will be exported," said Maini.
Reva also plans to strengthen its distribution network. The company has exclusive showrooms in Delhi and Bangalore and sales outlets in cities like Pune and Hyderabad.
"We have tied up with Reliance Digital to sell through their network and plan to enter another 15 major cities by the year-end. Abroad, we will be going to 10 new markets in countries like France and Chile," he added.
Reva is also planning to bring out solar powered electrical vehicles. "We already have such vehicles, the roofs have solar panels on them. We continue to work on innovative technology to bring out wider range of models for varied consumer segments," said Maini.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
World's oldest company too cuts jobs
Hudson's Bay Company, which is probably the world's oldest corporation, Wednesday announced to cut 1,000 jobs in Canada as part of its plans to streamline business in tough economic times.
The company said the retrenchment will save it $150 million in 2009.
Incorporated in May 1670 by British royal charter, the company runs the famous mass merchandise chain of Zellers stores and The Bay department stores. The job cuts follow the company's $70-million restructuring plan announced last month.
``We believe this new structure will allow us to better compete during these challenging economic times and ensure our long term success," said company CEO Jeff Sherman.
``These changes allow us to be more responsive to customer needs and expectations while at the same time aggressively implement our business strategy in order to grow sales and earnings,'' he said.
Combined with a $70 million investment announced in January, he said, the ``new initiative'' will contribute to re-position The Bay and Zellers for consumers.
``Each of the banners has world-class executives managing the businesses who will benefit from more focused resources and the ability to drive growth,'' the CEO said.
``We will be better positioned to succeed in the long term.
''The Hudson's Bay Company is Canada's largest general merchandise retailer.
The company said the retrenchment will save it $150 million in 2009.
Incorporated in May 1670 by British royal charter, the company runs the famous mass merchandise chain of Zellers stores and The Bay department stores. The job cuts follow the company's $70-million restructuring plan announced last month.
``We believe this new structure will allow us to better compete during these challenging economic times and ensure our long term success," said company CEO Jeff Sherman.
``These changes allow us to be more responsive to customer needs and expectations while at the same time aggressively implement our business strategy in order to grow sales and earnings,'' he said.
Combined with a $70 million investment announced in January, he said, the ``new initiative'' will contribute to re-position The Bay and Zellers for consumers.
``Each of the banners has world-class executives managing the businesses who will benefit from more focused resources and the ability to drive growth,'' the CEO said.
``We will be better positioned to succeed in the long term.
''The Hudson's Bay Company is Canada's largest general merchandise retailer.
Regulator resumes questioning Ramalinga Raju
The market regulator Thursday resumed questioning the disgraced Satyam Computer Services founder B. Ramalinga Raju in Chanchalguda Central Jail here over the Rs.70-billion (Rs.7,000-crore/$1.43 billion) accounting fraud at the IT bellwether.
Officials of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), led by south zone general manager and investigating authority Sunil Kumar, returned to the jail in the morning to question Raju for the second consecutive day.
The SEBI team Wednesday questioned only Ramalinga Raju, and it was not clear if his brother and former managing director B. Rama Raju, and former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas would be grilled Thursday.
Jail officials are being allowed to watch Raju's interrogation from a distance. However, SEBI has turned down the request of Raju's lawyer S. Bharat Kumar to be allowed to be present during the interrogation or provide documents to his client.
Bharat Kumar said Raju needs legal assistance during questioning and announced he would take the matter to the Supreme Court.
On the first day, the SEBI team reportedly questioned Raju for five hours on possible insider trading, fudging of accounts and diversion of Satyam's funds to other companies promoted by him and his family members.
This was the first time that SEBI officials had access to Ramalinga Raju after he confessed to the Rs.70-billion fraud Jan 7 while quitting as the chairman of India's fourth largest IT services firm.
The Supreme Court had Tuesday allowed SEBI to interrogate the Raju brothers in jail Feb 4-6.
Officials of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), led by south zone general manager and investigating authority Sunil Kumar, returned to the jail in the morning to question Raju for the second consecutive day.
The SEBI team Wednesday questioned only Ramalinga Raju, and it was not clear if his brother and former managing director B. Rama Raju, and former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas would be grilled Thursday.
Jail officials are being allowed to watch Raju's interrogation from a distance. However, SEBI has turned down the request of Raju's lawyer S. Bharat Kumar to be allowed to be present during the interrogation or provide documents to his client.
Bharat Kumar said Raju needs legal assistance during questioning and announced he would take the matter to the Supreme Court.
On the first day, the SEBI team reportedly questioned Raju for five hours on possible insider trading, fudging of accounts and diversion of Satyam's funds to other companies promoted by him and his family members.
This was the first time that SEBI officials had access to Ramalinga Raju after he confessed to the Rs.70-billion fraud Jan 7 while quitting as the chairman of India's fourth largest IT services firm.
The Supreme Court had Tuesday allowed SEBI to interrogate the Raju brothers in jail Feb 4-6.
India ranks 13 in financial transparency scale
India has been ranked 13 in a survey of 85 countries on transparency of national budgetary allocations and financial activities.
According to the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) and the International Budget Partnership based in Washington, India is among 27 other countries which provides some, albeit incomplete, information to the public on the national budget.
The listing puts Britain and South Africa at the top of the list with Rwanda and Congo trailing at the end.
"India publishes detailed in-year reports, but its mid-year review lacks important details. For instance, it does not reflect revised expenditure and revenue estimates, and it does not provide a breakdown of how much is spent for individual programmes.
"Making the mid-year report more comprehensive would facilitate public accountability, since it provides an update on how the budget is being implemented during the year and allows for midcourse corrections," Siba Sankar Mohanty of CBGA said.
"There are ways in which India's budget process could be made more open. The legislature can hold hearings on the budget in which the public can submit testimony. Thus opportunities for citizen participation in budget debates could be increased," he added.
He, however, said the Right to Information (RTI) Act has become an important tool for the common man to evaluate the government's progress.
Among the countries who provide extensive information about their government's financial activities, according to the survey, are the US, New Zealand, France, Britain and South Africa.
Amongst those featuring lowest in the list are Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Sudan.
According to the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) and the International Budget Partnership based in Washington, India is among 27 other countries which provides some, albeit incomplete, information to the public on the national budget.
The listing puts Britain and South Africa at the top of the list with Rwanda and Congo trailing at the end.
"India publishes detailed in-year reports, but its mid-year review lacks important details. For instance, it does not reflect revised expenditure and revenue estimates, and it does not provide a breakdown of how much is spent for individual programmes.
"Making the mid-year report more comprehensive would facilitate public accountability, since it provides an update on how the budget is being implemented during the year and allows for midcourse corrections," Siba Sankar Mohanty of CBGA said.
"There are ways in which India's budget process could be made more open. The legislature can hold hearings on the budget in which the public can submit testimony. Thus opportunities for citizen participation in budget debates could be increased," he added.
He, however, said the Right to Information (RTI) Act has become an important tool for the common man to evaluate the government's progress.
Among the countries who provide extensive information about their government's financial activities, according to the survey, are the US, New Zealand, France, Britain and South Africa.
Amongst those featuring lowest in the list are Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Sudan.
Infosys freezes recruitment, mulls pay cuts
Employees of Infosys Technologies may have to live with a salary cut and without any significant increment, even as the IT bellwether has virtually frozen fresh recruitments on account of the global meltdown, a top company official has said.
"A part of our salary is determined by variable sales component, which is the percentage of the company's revenue," said Infosys' director for human resources T.V. Mohandas Pai.
"Since the revenues are down, the salaries will naturally be trimmed."
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a press conference here, Pai said the leading software exporter and business process outsourcing firm may also opt out of salary hikes because of the slowdown.
"The increments may not happen this year. But, if they do, they will be subdued."
Pai also maintained that the company will honour the 20,000 campus offers made last year, but added that fresh hiring has been frozen.
Infosys, India's second largest IT firm, had reported a net profit of Rs.16.41 billion ($335.5 million) for the third quarter of this fiscal, to log a 33 percent year growth. The jump was above expectations but below what it had logged in the past decade.
Speaking about the fallout of the $1.43-billion Satyam Computer Services scam, Pai said Infosys had, indeed, received offers from some customers of the rival group, which were being analysed.
"Our chief executive officer (K. Gopalakrishnan) had earlier made an announcement that we have received offers from Satyam customers," he said, adding: "But we do not go and poach on customers."
Gopalakrishnan had also said last month that there was no pro-active move on the part of his company to approach Satyam customers. "But if they come on their own, we will look into their proposals case-by-case."
"A part of our salary is determined by variable sales component, which is the percentage of the company's revenue," said Infosys' director for human resources T.V. Mohandas Pai.
"Since the revenues are down, the salaries will naturally be trimmed."
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a press conference here, Pai said the leading software exporter and business process outsourcing firm may also opt out of salary hikes because of the slowdown.
"The increments may not happen this year. But, if they do, they will be subdued."
Pai also maintained that the company will honour the 20,000 campus offers made last year, but added that fresh hiring has been frozen.
Infosys, India's second largest IT firm, had reported a net profit of Rs.16.41 billion ($335.5 million) for the third quarter of this fiscal, to log a 33 percent year growth. The jump was above expectations but below what it had logged in the past decade.
Speaking about the fallout of the $1.43-billion Satyam Computer Services scam, Pai said Infosys had, indeed, received offers from some customers of the rival group, which were being analysed.
"Our chief executive officer (K. Gopalakrishnan) had earlier made an announcement that we have received offers from Satyam customers," he said, adding: "But we do not go and poach on customers."
Gopalakrishnan had also said last month that there was no pro-active move on the part of his company to approach Satyam customers. "But if they come on their own, we will look into their proposals case-by-case."
'Telecom sector more resilient than other sectors'
The booming Indian telecom industry that boasts of the world's second largest mobile network is more resilient than others in combating crises such as the current economic slowdown or natural disasters, says a technocrat who has been associated with the sector for over three decades.
At the launch of his book "Connecting India" Wednesday evening, S.D. Saxena, the former finance director of state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), said: "In our country, there is a different kind of focus on telecom, which helps it to grow more than any other sector."
Elaborating, he cited the instance of BSNL lines being re-installed in three days after floods hit Bihar recently, when it took other infrastructure weeks to get back to normal. "We have performed best even in crisis," Saxena said.
Connecting India is a lucid tale of the growth of India's telecom sector, including the transformation of the state-controlled telecom department into an aggressively growing company, BSNL, that competes with private players.
A Physics post-graduate and former lecturer, Saxena also narrates in his book the trials and tribulations of a new corporate entity carved out of a government department in the cut-throat competitive world of Indian telecom industry.
Saxena said BSNL's transformation was the result of the synergy between National Knowledge Commission head Sam Pitroda, the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and a few others who triggered a revolution in the telecom sector.
The book, published by Konark Publishers, reveals the deeper intricacies of the country's number one telecom company that underwent a sea change in a span of few days.
Reading out small snippets from the book, Saxena said BSNL was like an old monk who carried a young maiden on his shoulder to help her cross the river without any ill feeling, forgetting his vow never to touch a woman.
"BSNL draws inspiration from such stories, wherein we did not carry any ill feelings of the past and constantly thought about helping our customers and our clients."
At the launch of his book "Connecting India" Wednesday evening, S.D. Saxena, the former finance director of state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), said: "In our country, there is a different kind of focus on telecom, which helps it to grow more than any other sector."
Elaborating, he cited the instance of BSNL lines being re-installed in three days after floods hit Bihar recently, when it took other infrastructure weeks to get back to normal. "We have performed best even in crisis," Saxena said.
Connecting India is a lucid tale of the growth of India's telecom sector, including the transformation of the state-controlled telecom department into an aggressively growing company, BSNL, that competes with private players.
A Physics post-graduate and former lecturer, Saxena also narrates in his book the trials and tribulations of a new corporate entity carved out of a government department in the cut-throat competitive world of Indian telecom industry.
Saxena said BSNL's transformation was the result of the synergy between National Knowledge Commission head Sam Pitroda, the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and a few others who triggered a revolution in the telecom sector.
The book, published by Konark Publishers, reveals the deeper intricacies of the country's number one telecom company that underwent a sea change in a span of few days.
Reading out small snippets from the book, Saxena said BSNL was like an old monk who carried a young maiden on his shoulder to help her cross the river without any ill feeling, forgetting his vow never to touch a woman.
"BSNL draws inspiration from such stories, wherein we did not carry any ill feelings of the past and constantly thought about helping our customers and our clients."
India's inflation rate dips to 5.07 percent
India's annual rate of inflation dropped to 5.07 percent for the week ended Jan 24 from 5.64 percent the week before, fresh official data released here Thursday showed.
The inflation rate was 4.78 percent during the corresponding week the previous year.
Going by provisional figures, the wholesale price index (WPI) for all commodities declined 0.2 percent to 230.1 from 230.5 the week before.
The index for primary articles also declined 0.1 percent to 249 (provisional) from 249.1 the previous week, while that for manufactured products declined 0.5 percent (provisional) to 200.8 from 201.8.
The index for fuel, power, light and lubricants rose 0.6 percent to 332 (provisional) from 330 last week due to higher prices of furnace oil and diesel.
Attributing the drop in the rate of rising prices to cyclical factors, K. Ponnukannu, a senior advisor in the commerce ministry, said the inflation rate would drop further on account of the reduction in the prices of petroleum fuels last month.
The government had permitted state-run oil retail firms to cut prices of petrol by Rs.5 a litre, and diesel by Rs.2 per litre and cooking gas by Rs.25 per cylinder.
D.K. Joshi, principal economist at credit rating agency Crisil said the fall in inflation was not surprising.
"There was a marginal rise in inflation due to trucker's strike early last month. That aberration has been corrected now," he said, adding that the inflation rate would continue to dip.
Dalip Kumar of think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said the market was "flooded" with vegetables and fruits because of which food inflation was bound to drop.
The inflation rate was 4.78 percent during the corresponding week the previous year.
Going by provisional figures, the wholesale price index (WPI) for all commodities declined 0.2 percent to 230.1 from 230.5 the week before.
The index for primary articles also declined 0.1 percent to 249 (provisional) from 249.1 the previous week, while that for manufactured products declined 0.5 percent (provisional) to 200.8 from 201.8.
The index for fuel, power, light and lubricants rose 0.6 percent to 332 (provisional) from 330 last week due to higher prices of furnace oil and diesel.
Attributing the drop in the rate of rising prices to cyclical factors, K. Ponnukannu, a senior advisor in the commerce ministry, said the inflation rate would drop further on account of the reduction in the prices of petroleum fuels last month.
The government had permitted state-run oil retail firms to cut prices of petrol by Rs.5 a litre, and diesel by Rs.2 per litre and cooking gas by Rs.25 per cylinder.
D.K. Joshi, principal economist at credit rating agency Crisil said the fall in inflation was not surprising.
"There was a marginal rise in inflation due to trucker's strike early last month. That aberration has been corrected now," he said, adding that the inflation rate would continue to dip.
Dalip Kumar of think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said the market was "flooded" with vegetables and fruits because of which food inflation was bound to drop.
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