Sample Indo-Asian News Service Articles
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Samples:
- India to seek Saudi investment in refinery
- Manali gets heavy snowfall, Himachal shivers
- British investor doubles interest in Jagran group
India to seek Saudi investment in refinery
Indo-Asian News Service
Copyright © HT Media Ltd. 2005
New Delhi, Jan 19 -- India will again seek Saudi Aramco's participation in state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's refinery at Visakhapatanam during Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi's visit next week.
Al Nuaimi will be part of the high-level delegation accompanying Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud on his first visit to India beginning Jan 24. King Abdullah will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.
"The issue of hydrocarbon cooperation is also a component of bilateral talks to be held between the prime minister and the Saudi king," Petroleum Minster Mani Shankar Aiyar said here Thursday on the sidelines of a press conference.
Without elaborating on the issues to be discussed, Aiyar said India was still seeking Aramco's participation in the Visakhapatnam refinery though Hindustan Petroleum has not been shortlisted for possible participation in Aramco's Yanbu refinery.
"We were hoping that by offering Saudi Aramco an opportunity to invest in the Visakhapatnam refinery, we would get an opportunity to invest in Yanbu but we have not been shortlisted. Nonetheless our offer of collaboration in Visakhapatnam is open," said Aiyar.
Expressing disappointment about the missed opportunity in Yanbu, the minister admitted that Nuaimi had said that his country's decision would be purely on commercial considerations.
"So far as the oil component of our energy security is concerned, we have a strong assurance from Saudi Arabia that any incremental requirement will be met," he said.
"The 26 percent dependence (on Saudi Arabia) is the optimal level. We must also seek to diversify our oil sources."
India currently depends on imports for over 76 percent of its requirement of 112 million tonnes of crude and petroleum products.
Aiyar said subjects relating to regional cooperation were the "same as those discussed during the Asian roundtable in January 2005 and my subsequent visit to Riyadh in March".
During those meetings, Nuaimi had emphasised "the need for interdependence based on mutual investments".
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Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indo-Asian News Service.
Indo-Asian News Service
Copyright © HT Media Ltd. 2005
New Delhi, Jan 19 -- India will again seek Saudi Aramco's participation in state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's refinery at Visakhapatanam during Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi's visit next week.
Al Nuaimi will be part of the high-level delegation accompanying Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud on his first visit to India beginning Jan 24. King Abdullah will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.
"The issue of hydrocarbon cooperation is also a component of bilateral talks to be held between the prime minister and the Saudi king," Petroleum Minster Mani Shankar Aiyar said here Thursday on the sidelines of a press conference.
Without elaborating on the issues to be discussed, Aiyar said India was still seeking Aramco's participation in the Visakhapatnam refinery though Hindustan Petroleum has not been shortlisted for possible participation in Aramco's Yanbu refinery.
"We were hoping that by offering Saudi Aramco an opportunity to invest in the Visakhapatnam refinery, we would get an opportunity to invest in Yanbu but we have not been shortlisted. Nonetheless our offer of collaboration in Visakhapatnam is open," said Aiyar.
Expressing disappointment about the missed opportunity in Yanbu, the minister admitted that Nuaimi had said that his country's decision would be purely on commercial considerations.
"So far as the oil component of our energy security is concerned, we have a strong assurance from Saudi Arabia that any incremental requirement will be met," he said.
"The 26 percent dependence (on Saudi Arabia) is the optimal level. We must also seek to diversify our oil sources."
India currently depends on imports for over 76 percent of its requirement of 112 million tonnes of crude and petroleum products.
Aiyar said subjects relating to regional cooperation were the "same as those discussed during the Asian roundtable in January 2005 and my subsequent visit to Riyadh in March".
During those meetings, Nuaimi had emphasised "the need for interdependence based on mutual investments".
---
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indo-Asian News Service.
Manali gets heavy snowfall, Himachal shivers
Indo-Asian News Service
Copyright © HT Media Ltd. 2005
Shimla, Jan 18 -- Heavy snowfall paralysed life in the popular resort town of Manali in Himachal Pradesh even as more snow clouds hovered over the state Wednesday.
Reports from Manali say while the town is under at least two feet of snow, the overlooking Solang ski slopes have received almost six feet of snowfall during the past few days.
National Highway 21 leading to Manali is also blocked due to snow and mudslides, forcing tourists and locals to trudge long distances in the snow. Water and telephone services have been affected in the freezing cold there, with most people remaining indoors.
"So far no untoward incident has taken place in Manali town and snow is being cleared from the roads," said Rameshwar Sharma, a senior government official in Manali.
The sprawling tribal belt of Kinnaur, Lahaul, Spiti and Pangi received yet another heavy spell of snow, further throwing life out of gear in this region where the mercury at certain places (in the tribal belt) is around minus 15 degrees Celsius.
The tribal belt continues to remain cut off from the rest of the country due to heavy snowfall over the high passes.
While Shimla town hasn't received snowfall so far this week the nearby resorts of Kufri and Narkanda are under a white mantle.
The Hindustan Tibet national highway has been blocked at several places due to snow. Much of the sprawling apple belt in Shimla district remains plunged in darkness after snowfall snapped overhead electric wires. Most roads remain blocked in the region.
The snowfall is, however, said to be good for apple trees.
---
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indo-Asian News Service.
Indo-Asian News Service
Copyright © HT Media Ltd. 2005
Shimla, Jan 18 -- Heavy snowfall paralysed life in the popular resort town of Manali in Himachal Pradesh even as more snow clouds hovered over the state Wednesday.
Reports from Manali say while the town is under at least two feet of snow, the overlooking Solang ski slopes have received almost six feet of snowfall during the past few days.
National Highway 21 leading to Manali is also blocked due to snow and mudslides, forcing tourists and locals to trudge long distances in the snow. Water and telephone services have been affected in the freezing cold there, with most people remaining indoors.
"So far no untoward incident has taken place in Manali town and snow is being cleared from the roads," said Rameshwar Sharma, a senior government official in Manali.
The sprawling tribal belt of Kinnaur, Lahaul, Spiti and Pangi received yet another heavy spell of snow, further throwing life out of gear in this region where the mercury at certain places (in the tribal belt) is around minus 15 degrees Celsius.
The tribal belt continues to remain cut off from the rest of the country due to heavy snowfall over the high passes.
While Shimla town hasn't received snowfall so far this week the nearby resorts of Kufri and Narkanda are under a white mantle.
The Hindustan Tibet national highway has been blocked at several places due to snow. Much of the sprawling apple belt in Shimla district remains plunged in darkness after snowfall snapped overhead electric wires. Most roads remain blocked in the region.
The snowfall is, however, said to be good for apple trees.
---
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indo-Asian News Service.
British investor doubles interest in Jagran group
Indo-Asian News Service
Copyright © HT Media Ltd. 2005
London, Jan 15 -- In a sign of growing confidence in India's booming media and entertainment industry, a leading British investor has doubled the value of its interest in the Hindi newspaper major, Jagran Prakashan.
The Independent News and Media (INM), publisher of The Independent, picked up a 26 percent stake in the group, worth Euro 28 million, after the Indian government relaxed rules on foreign ownership in the media sector.
Announcing the price range for Jagran's planned initial public offering (IPO) on the Mumbai Stock Exchange at the end of January, INM said the floated company would be worth between Euro 255 million and 306 million.
This would value INM's 26 percent stake at between Euro 53 million and 64 million, giving the company a potential return of 128 percent on its investment.
The Independent said that although INM did not plan to sell any shares at the time of the float, it said its stake in the new company would be diluted to 21 percent due to the issue of more than 10 million new shares.
Jagran Prakashan publishes Dainik Jagran, India's largest selling daily newspaper, from 28 printing centres across India.
The IPO - which is being managed by Merrill Lynch and ICICI Securities - is set to open for subscription between Jan 25 and 31. Jagran plans to use the proceeds from the float to expand the company and to boost working capital.
This is one of a series of foreign investors entering the growing Indian media and entertainment sector.
Efforts to liberalise overseas investment rules have attracted a raft of foreign players including Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times, Turner International and, most recently, BBC Worldwide.
The unit, the commercial arm of the BBC, became the first major overseas investor to take a stake in India's commercial radio market when it set up a joint venture with Mid-Day Multimedia.
Early this month, BBC Worldwide, the broadcaster's commercial arm, acquired FM radio licences covering seven of India's biggest cities in the unit's first move into overseas markets.
BBC and its local partner, Mid-Day Multimedia, won licences to operate FM radio services in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Pune.
The successful bids came just days after the BBC announced that it had bought a 20 percent stake in Radio Mid-Day West, a subsidiary of Mid-Day Multimedia, the Mumbai-listed media group.
Besides BBC Worldwide, a host of leading Indian media houses and international companies, including Britain's Virgin Radio and the Malaysian pay-TV company Astro All Asia, are vying for licences as part of the government's newly unveiled liberalised investment guidelines.
Virgin Radio has tied up with HT Music, part of the HT Media group that publishes the Hindustan Times, India's second biggest selling daily, to enter the market.
Under the Indian government's liberalised norms for ownership rules in the media industry, foreign investors can hold a maximum 20 percent stake in an FM radio station.
---
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indo-Asian News Service.
Indo-Asian News Service
Copyright © HT Media Ltd. 2005
London, Jan 15 -- In a sign of growing confidence in India's booming media and entertainment industry, a leading British investor has doubled the value of its interest in the Hindi newspaper major, Jagran Prakashan.
The Independent News and Media (INM), publisher of The Independent, picked up a 26 percent stake in the group, worth Euro 28 million, after the Indian government relaxed rules on foreign ownership in the media sector.
Announcing the price range for Jagran's planned initial public offering (IPO) on the Mumbai Stock Exchange at the end of January, INM said the floated company would be worth between Euro 255 million and 306 million.
This would value INM's 26 percent stake at between Euro 53 million and 64 million, giving the company a potential return of 128 percent on its investment.
The Independent said that although INM did not plan to sell any shares at the time of the float, it said its stake in the new company would be diluted to 21 percent due to the issue of more than 10 million new shares.
Jagran Prakashan publishes Dainik Jagran, India's largest selling daily newspaper, from 28 printing centres across India.
The IPO - which is being managed by Merrill Lynch and ICICI Securities - is set to open for subscription between Jan 25 and 31. Jagran plans to use the proceeds from the float to expand the company and to boost working capital.
This is one of a series of foreign investors entering the growing Indian media and entertainment sector.
Efforts to liberalise overseas investment rules have attracted a raft of foreign players including Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times, Turner International and, most recently, BBC Worldwide.
The unit, the commercial arm of the BBC, became the first major overseas investor to take a stake in India's commercial radio market when it set up a joint venture with Mid-Day Multimedia.
Early this month, BBC Worldwide, the broadcaster's commercial arm, acquired FM radio licences covering seven of India's biggest cities in the unit's first move into overseas markets.
BBC and its local partner, Mid-Day Multimedia, won licences to operate FM radio services in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Pune.
The successful bids came just days after the BBC announced that it had bought a 20 percent stake in Radio Mid-Day West, a subsidiary of Mid-Day Multimedia, the Mumbai-listed media group.
Besides BBC Worldwide, a host of leading Indian media houses and international companies, including Britain's Virgin Radio and the Malaysian pay-TV company Astro All Asia, are vying for licences as part of the government's newly unveiled liberalised investment guidelines.
Virgin Radio has tied up with HT Music, part of the HT Media group that publishes the Hindustan Times, India's second biggest selling daily, to enter the market.
Under the Indian government's liberalised norms for ownership rules in the media industry, foreign investors can hold a maximum 20 percent stake in an FM radio station.
---
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indo-Asian News Service.