Major Developments Major Developments by Calendar Year

February 8, 2011

The Profile of MSME Sector in India According to the 4th MSME Census

Filed under: Small Business — Winson @ 3:37 AM

It was estimated that there were 2.61 crore MSMEs in 2006-07 according to the reports of 4th All India Census of MSMEs (2006-07). This was the first report that was made after the change of definition of the MSMEs. According to the Census, an enterprise is defined as a unit with fixed premises and hawkers, road side vendors were not included.

The Census reported that there were 0.15 crore registered units and 2.46 crore un-registered units. Among the small business firms 28% constitute for the manufacturing sector and 72% constitute for service sector. It was reported that the small business units constituting Apparel include 14.03% of the firms, Food Products and Beverages include 13.53% of them and Maintenance of Personal and Household goods include 9.25% of them.

The Census reported there were about 7.3 million manufacturing enterprises and 18.8 million service enterprises of the total 26.1 million enterprises in 2006-07 in the MSME sector. The number of women enterprises with 2.1 million constitute for 8%. There were 14.2 million rural enterprises constituting 54.4%. It was reported that per unit fixed investment was Rs. 38.78 lakh and per unit gross output was Rs. 46.13 lakh.

Employment was provided for 5.97 persons by the MSME sector including 0.95 crore from registered units and 5.03 crore from un-registered units. The per unit employment was also found to increase from 4.48 in 2001-02 to 6.24 in 2006-07. There was a decrease in the closure of MSMEs from 39% in 2001-02 to 21.64% in 2006-07. It was also revealed that there had been an increase in per unit fixed investment to Rs.33.78 lakh from Rs.6.68 lakh, and per unit gross output from Rs.14.78 lakh to Rs.46.13 lakh.

Symantec Report on Disaster Recovery Strategies by Indian SMEs

Filed under: Small Business — Tags: — Winson @ 2:32 AM

Global SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey conducted by Symantec Corp. reported about practices of disaster recovery strategies by Indian small businesses. The report also revealed the status of India’s small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) in being ready and prepared for recovery of disasters.

Natural disasters, malicious employee behavior, virus attacks, and changes in IT infrastructure were found to be main concerns for adoption of disaster recovery in India. The report revealed that data protection and recovery was taken care by IT departments in 42 percent of SMBs. Awareness on requirement and importance of disaster planning was increasing among other employees and also among small businesses. Owners and senior executives of about 39% of small businesses were involved in management and execution of disaster planning. In spite of the awareness of disaster recovery, some SMBs were not prepared for planning and execution.

The report revealed that 73 percent of respondents were satisfied with their disaster plans. Around 34 percent felt that they were protected in case of occurrence of a disaster. Most common outages were virus or hacker attacks, natural disasters, and power outages. These were prevalent among SMBs in India in 2009. However, many companies had no plan to deal with such situations. Due to lack of being prepared for disasters, SMBs had to spend a lot of amount and also lost the business.

According to the report, 18 percent of SMBs back up data on daily basis. However, only 50 percent of the company and customer data was backed up on a daily basis by some SMBs. About 59% of the customers complained loss of important data. As a result, materials and presentations were referred by SMBs for preparing a recovery plan. The report found that about 91% of the SMBs had no formal disaster preparedness plan.

February 7, 2011

Rise of Auto Sales 20% in U.S.

Filed under: Automobile — Tags: , — Winson @ 5:20 AM

According to the quarterly sales analysis, auto sales rose about 20% in April in the U.S. A. Still gradual recovery in the economy was reflected from recession-stunted results from the earlier year. The economic recovery in the United States would appear to be on track. But the pace was not expected to be robust.

The sales of Toyota Motor Corp rose 24 percent. This was weaker than the result that was expected. Due to massive safety recalls the sales tumbled in the earlier year. The company incentives were extended for third consecutive month to jump-start sales.

The largest percentage gain at 35 percent was reported by the Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. Following it are the Hyundai Motor Co at 30 percent, and Chrysler and Ford Motor Co at 25 percent. When compared to the previous year, General Motor Co posted 6.4 percent sales increase. The company was in the first position as the top seller in the United States. Ford and Toyota followed the General Motors. The auto industry was bracing for bankruptcies by GM and Chrysler in the previous year. However, even by excluding the discontinuing brands of the company, the sales of GM in April rose 20 percent. Chrysler was filed for bankruptcy at the end of April 2009 and presently it has been under the management control of Fiat Spa of Italy.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd is considered in the fourth position in the United States. This is based on the number of vehicles sold and it is the most closely shopped brand to Toyota. A 12.5 percent sales increase was reported by Honda. The costly incentives had hurt profit margins and used car prices.

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2011 Toyota Corolla at Los Angeles Auto Show

Filed under: Automobile — Tags: — Winson @ 5:18 AM

2011 Toyota Corolla, the best selling subcompact in America, was featured at Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2010. Some of the features of the vehicle include standard vehicle stability control and traction control; standard safety system and smart stop technology; exterior front and rear styling freshened; Toyota care complimentary maintenance plan; and two new colors.

The Toyota’s safety system standard is continued in the 2011 Corolla. Brake assist, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Traction Control (TC), Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), and Electronic Break-force Distribution (EBD) are included in the safety standard system. The vehicle is made available in three grades including the base-model Corolla, S, and LE. The models are equipped with the 1.8 liter DOHC four-cylinder engine. The engine is able to produce 132 hp at 6,000 rpm and 128 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm. In order to reduce friction the internal components are optimized.

The smooth-riding Corolla is built with a front suspension composing of a compact, rigid L-arm-type MacPherson strut with a stabilized bar. The rear suspension had a coil-over-shock arrangement which allows an efficient packaging with excellent ride comfort.

The vehicle is engineered in such a way as to absorb and disperse impact energy through out the entire body structure. Vehicle Stability Control, which is a part of the Toyota Star Safety System, is made to adjust engine output and the braking force at individual wheels to control the discrepancy between where the vehicle is heading and where the driver is steering. Six standard airbags that include advanced front airbags, front and rear side curtain bags, and front seat-mounted side airbags have been equipped.

Some of the features of the Corolla LE include intermittent windshield wipers, auxiliary audio jack, cruise control, power door locks with shift-activated automatic locking feature, and power windows with driver side auto down. Some of the features of the Corolla S include 16-inch alloy wheels and 205/55 R16 tires, chrome-tipped exhaust, sport side rocker panels and metallic style interior trim and analog sport instrumentation.

The power slide/tilt moon roof with sliding sunshade and an AM/FM CD player with MP3/WMA playback capacity are featured in Corolla LE and S grades. The interior design of the Corolla 2011 is distinct in having a new seat color and a changed combination meter design that enhances clarity. Easy-to-reach storage spaces are provided for convenience and usability in the vehicle. The sale of the new Corolla started in December.

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