After Grindlays, it’s a public sector bank now for Stanchart
It has just completed the largest bank acquisition in the Asian region, but it’s clearly looking for more. In a report appearing in the Economic Times, Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) is said to have informed RBI governor, Bimal Jalan, that it would be keen on acquiring a public sector bank as and when regulations permit.

In his first media interaction after the Grindlays takeover, Mr. John Filmeridis, general manager, Middle East/South Asia & CEO (India) at Stanchart, said that the bank is looking to make "two and two equal to twenty-two and not four". Mr. Filmeridis also stated that Stanchart’s acquisition of the Grindlays business was driven largely by the Australian bank’s attractive Indian operations.

Stanchart, which has received the go-ahead from the Reserve bank of India (RBI), says that over the next two to three months, the two banks will go through a planning process, following which the integration process will begin. The implementation will follow after that. The bank will set up integration teams for every function and business at both the banks, to ensure smooth transition as a unified organisation. However, Stanchart and ANZ Grindlays will be run as separate entities at least for a year to overcome certain tax and regulatory issues. The entire integration process in the region is expected to take at least two years to complete. After this is complete, the bank will be called Standard Chartered Grindlays, to take advantage of the brand equity the Grindlays name commands in the region.

As already stated earlier, the acquisition has catapulted Stanchart to the number one position among foreign banks in India, giving it a base of 1.65m retail customers and 1.1m corporate customers. The network also stands increased to 58 branches and though there is the possibility of a rationalisation, it might not ultimately happen.
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No sale of stake in refineries to foreign oil companies
New Delhi: While answering a question in parliament, the government has clearly stated that there will not sell any of its stake in stand-alone PSU oil refineries to foreign oil companies. The minister for petroleum, Mr. Ram Naik, stated that companies like Cochin Refineries or Madras Refineries will be restructured or merged and made subsidiaries of existing national oil companies.

He also said that the restructuring of the stand-alone companies will be done before any of the national oil companies go in for a GDR issue. For instance, the pending IOC GDR issue, which has to be finalised, will be done only after the industry is restructured. According to the minister, this will increase the value of the scrips and help the companies fetch a better price.
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Govt approvals are now just a click away
New Delhi : The ministry of information technology is planning to, soon, set the pace for hi-tech governance by embracing e-governance in a big way. The ministry has roped in CMC to develop a software to process a wide variety of proposals, including research and development (R&D) proposals, online. Files will no longer have to move from table to table. Officials at various levels will have to give the necessary clearances done online. This would herald a revolution for others to follow.

It is hoped that such a move will only quicken the decision-making process. Also, these decisions will be open to scrutiny, thus injecting much-needed transparency into the system. No longer will one need to pay endless visits to government offices to get proposals cleared.

Employees of the MIT have already had a taste of e-governance. They receive their salaries online, air their grievances either on non-payment or delay in salaries electronically. They also have access to their bank account details and can see their balance on the screen.

Sustaining the comparative advantage of the infotech boom will require educated manpower. Developing skilled manpower makes it necessary to open the doors of higher education to the private sector . This policy will ensure that the supply of IT professionals keeps pace with demand.

E-commerce is likely to get a boost with the passage of the Information Technology bill. This piece of legislation provides the legal framework for facilitating e-commerce, recognising electronic contracts and preventing computer crimes. The ministry of information technology is already developing technology for the issue of digital signature certificates. A procedure for certification authorities and developing image water marking technology for electronic copyright system, are also on the agenda.
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Japan’s auto market recovery weak, sales slow down in April
Tokyo: The Japan Automobile Dealers' Association said on Monday that auto sales, excluding 660-cc mini-vehicles, fell to 2,68,259 units in April, down 0.4 per cent from a year earlier. April mini-vehicle data will be released later this month. Further, demand for new vehicles in Japan slipped in April, and though the dip was not as bad as expected, the figures confirmed that a tentative recovery in the world's second-largest auto market lacks strength.

It was the second consecutive month of falls, but taking into account one less working day in the month said to be equivalent to a loss of five percentage points, analysts said it was a surprisingly good result.

While overall auto sales including minivehicles, rose 1.2 per cent in the January-March quarter, on a month-to-month comparison, sales was very uncertain. Although April sales of full-sized passenger cars were better than expected, sales in March, traditionally the busiest month of the year, were down 3.3 per cent.

Overall auto demand in Japan is expected to rise to six million units this year, up two per cent from ’99, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

Honda, the nation's second-largest auto maker, showed the biggest gain in April with sales jumping 18 per cent on the back of its popular Odyssey minivan to just over 33,000 units. Toyota Motor, with 44 per cent of the non-mini-vehicle market, trod water with sales rising a modest one per cent to 1,18,326 units.

The other big winner in April was Suzuki Motor. Its sales swelled by half to just over 3,000 vehicles after a recent revamp of its dealer network specialising in cars other than mini-vehicles.
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