Five projects to come up along Del-Mum corridor

With the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor on the verge of implementation, Haryana has identified a few early-bird projects to be developed along the corridor passing through the state.

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), being the nodal agency in Haryana for this project, has proposed five projects, which will further give a boost to industrial activity of the state. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is being established by the Government of India with Japanese collaboration.

A senior official of HSIIDC informed FE, "Since the corridor covers a major portion of Haryana, we have proposed few early-bird projects to be developed under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. A delegation of officials from the state will be visiting Tokyo from 16th to 18th October to discuss these proposals in detail, there."

The projects include a Regional Mass Rapid Transport Service (MRTS) between Delhi-Manesar-Bawal, with feeder service to enhance connectivity between Delhi and the upcoming manufacturing hubs, a joint venture project around Dharuhera and a logistic hub at IMT Manesar. Two rail projects have also been proposed including rail links from Faridabad to Gurgaon and Jhajjar to Farrukhnagar.

"The rail links will facilitate the movement of people along the corridor as there are two growth centers at Bawal and Palwal, which will be the hub of industrial development. DMIC work has been segmented into three parts namely Delhi-Rewari, Rewari-Vadodra and Vadodra to Mumbai. Work has already begun on the Rewari-Vadodra stretch," the official further added.

Clocking about 70% of the total Japanese investment in India , Haryana is still on the radar of many Japanese companies. As per estimates of the HSIIDC, Japanese companies have so far invested close to Rs 11,000 crore in the state via joint ventures or as direct investment.

With about 65 companies in Haryana, including names like Maruti, Honda Motor Company, YKK Corporation etc, already having Japanese collaboration, more investment is expected in the future. Another proposal has been put forth by Japanese giant- Mitsui and Company to set up an industrial park in Haryana over 3,000 acres of land at an estimated investment of around Rs 1,200 crore. The company plans to develop this project along the upcoming Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Express.

The Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Industrial Corporation (RIICO) has also signed an MoU with the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO) for Japanese investments in Neemrana and has reserved an industrial part for Japanese investments mostly for small and medium auto component sector.

PARIS 2008: FASTEST JAGUAR SINCE XJ220

Jaguar released the hottest XK till date when it revelaed the XKR-S at the Paris Motor Show yesterday. The power(a lot of it) comes from a 4.2 Litre V8 engine with 420 bhp on tap. It is sent to the rear wheels via a six speed automatic gearbox  with Jaguar’s sequential shift transmission, enough to propel the XKR-S from o-60 mph in 5.2 seconds and to a top speed of 174 mph.

With those numbers to boot, the XKR-S is the fastest Jag model since the XJ220 supercar. Along with the increased power the car comes with a host of mechanical refinements to rein it all in. The suspension has been revised with new springs and dampers rates, larger anti-roll bars at the rear and a recaliberated version of Jag’s CATS  (Computer Active Technology Suspension). New aerodyanamic enhancements keep the new Jag planted at speeds while active exhaust and saturn rings sized brakes (400mm front and 350mm rear Alcon R performance brakes) complete the overhaul nicely.

The Jaguar XKR-S production is limited to just 200 cars for both left and right hand drive versions and will be available only in Europe.

Nintendo takes on Sony with console upgrade

Nintendo is to launch a new version of its popular DS handheld game console in Japan next month.

The DSi will have a built-in camera and a music player. It will have a bigger screen than the current DS Lite but is fully compatible with the existing machine.

Nintendo’s move is aimed at pegging back the recent success of Sony, its rival, in the lucrative computer games industry.

Nintendo has had huge success with its handheld DS, as well as its Wii console, but Sony has recently enjoyed strong sales in Japan with its rival PlayStation Portable handheld gaming device, on the back of its popular Monster Hunter game.

“From the summer of last year, Japanese DS sales started to slow down,” said Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo. The new model is aimed at reinvigorating domestic sales and will not be available to US and European consumers ahead of the end-of-year sales in the run-up to Christmas.

While there is a danger that some customers in the US and Europe may defer a purchase until they can get the new model, Nintendo has bundled the existing DS with software in those markets, amounting to a de facto price cut.

Reaction to the DSi on Thursday was lukewarm, however. “This should mean that Nintendo can sustain DS sales of 30m for the next year or two, but in our view it doesn’t drive DS consumption to massive new annual levels,” said David Gibson, an analyst at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo.

Comments on popular gaming blogs were less generous. “Yawn. I know the DS is huge, but this really doesn’t seem to add anything to it,” said one poster on Kotaku. “Whether I buy it will depend on the downloadable contents,” said SiZ on Engadget Japan.

The DS was launched four years ago, and with about one sold for every five people in Japan, it has almost reached saturation.

Nintendo’s strategy is to target casual gamers and it points out that 54 per cent of Japanese DS users are female.

The inclusion of a camera and music player brings handheld consoles into competition with mobile phones for the first time, but the DSi is carefully designed to avoid direct rivalry. Its camera only has a 0.3 megapixel resolution – far less than the latest mobile phones – and it will lack the storage capacity of a music device such as Apple’s iPod.

The DSi is instead designed for fun. Applications Nintendo showed included sticking a moustache on your photo, distorting the pitch of music, and software that tells you whether two people in a photo are related.

IBM lifted by $2.8bn profit

IBM on Wednesday moved to shore up its sliding share price by announcing better-than-expected third-quarter profits and reaffirming its forecast for the full year.

The surprise move, which came a week before the company’s scheduled earnings release, sent shares in the world’s second-biggest IT company up 3.8 per cent in after-hours trading.

IBM had closed at a two-year low of $90.55, down 5 per cent on the day.

Shares in the company had fallen 5 per cent on Tuesday after a Barclays Capital analyst lowered his estimates due to the weakening economy and IBM’s “large exposure to financial services”.

IBM on Wednesday said that it had made a net profit of $2.8bn, or $2.05 per share, in the third quarter, up 20 per cent from a year earlier and better than many Wall Street analysts had expected.

Sales were $25.3bn, an improvement of 5 per cent over last time, although part of that improvement was due to currency movements.

IBM said it expected full-year earnings of $8.75 per share, in line with previous estimates.

“We remain confident in our full-year outlook,” Samuel Palmisano, chief executive, said.