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Development: Meaning, Measurement and Strategies - Part Seven of ten

Opportunistic Infections in AIDS Disease in India

Consign Launches Website Building Tool

Down Under Blows its First Candle

Madras Medical Mission Launches Wellwin's Dr HEARTZ

Joe Jolly Thrills India

TVS-Suzuki Brings the Fire Machine to India

Asian 'Miracle'

In Southeast Asia, the development model that was adopted initially was the one based on the Japanese model of intervening capitalism.

In 1945, when the Korean peninsula was partitioned, South Korea had been left with very little.  In 1950, when North Korean troops invaded the south (along with direct Chinese participation), it had seemed for a time that South Korea might not survive at all.  Despite the end of the war in 1953 with a truce, it showed the precarious position of South Korea.  Thus, in the aftermath of the war, South Korea desperately needed to build up its economic strength, especially as both China and North Korea embarked on rapid industrialization, communist-style.  But South Korea was in a terrible state, devastated by the war.  Seven percent of its population had been killed, including a large proportion of young men, and two thirds of its meager industrial capacity had been destroyed.

Of all the Asian countries, South Korea proved to be the one that most consciously, if ambivalently, adopted the Japanese model.  The result was a system that was highly interventionist, but with the discipline of having to export.  The government targeted six strategic industries for support - steel, petrochemicals, nonferrous metals, shipbuilding, electronics, and machinery.  It pushed the chaebols to pursue aggressively only the most advanced technology, and it pushed for scale.  The chaebols had generous access to credit and were insulated from downturns by government support.  They were protected from foreign competitors in the Korean market and from domestic competitors as well.  The companies received exclusive licenses for their products, and only one chaebol was allowed to sell in the domestic market during the first phase of a new industry.

At the end of 1970s, the government, however, began to back off from the massively interventionist Heavy and Chemical Industries Initiatives program, because of the rise of domestic opposition to the then Park regime.  Despite the success of the industrial strategy followed till 1979, the need for a change was recognized.  By then, many of the chaebols were becoming woefully inefficient and would have been insolvent without continuing government bailouts.  The banking system, largely government owned, was accountable to virtually none.  The agricultural system was massively inefficient.  The prescription was to pull back the economic frontiers of the state, sell off at least some state controlled enterprises, free up the finance sector, and reduce import barriers in order to expose inefficient industries to foreign competition.  There was recognition that complexity of economy had now grown beyond the government's ability to manage it.  Consequently, South Korea pursued policies aimed at less intrusive indicative planning, an expanded role for the market, and financial and import liberalization.  The changes did not come easily.  Considerable opposition had to be met from powerful bureaucracies and from Korean companies used to being taken care of.

Korea is paying a heavy political penalty for its economic success.  Massive state intervention created massive opportunities for corruption.  In August 1996, two former presidents were found to be guilty of corruption.  In its way the outcome was considered an indictment of the entire system that had propelled Korea to the forefront of the world economy.  The long years of military dictatorship leave a complex and difficult legacy for the nation.  A more mature economy going into the next stage of development will require the realignment of market, government, and industrialization.

For Taiwan, things hardly looked promising in the late 1940s and early 1950s.  The economy had few resources, few entrepreneurs, and no savings, and it had been heavily damaged during the war.  Yet Taiwan did have a few strong foundations.  A legacy of its fifty years of Japanese colonization was the heavy emphasis on education.  By 1949, half of the population was literate.  They identified a number of causes - hyperinflation, corruption, inequality, lack of agrarian reform, arbitrary government power, failure to embrace modern science and technology.  These became the lessons they methodically sought to apply on a much smaller stage.

Gradual would prove to be a fair description of Taiwan's economic policy change.  Through most of the 1950s, Taiwan concentrated on the familiar import-substitution strategy, with a heavy investment in infrastructure and a focus on labor-intensive production, backed up by protective tariffs and tax incentives.  It also embraced state-owned enterprises.  US foreign aid was very important enabling Taiwan to invest in equipment while still paying for its imports.  But by the late 1950s, Taiwan could see that American aid would end and thus there was an urgent need to be able to earn foreign exchange.  It made a decisive shift to export manufactured goods.  This meant not only an opening up but also, although less obviously, the beginning of relaxation of domestic controls.  The government supported these new would-be industries through low-cost loans, lower tariffs on imports that went into making exports, and aggressive search for technology.  It also encouraged foreign direct investment, in order to facilitate the transfer of skills and technology and upgrading of quality.  The results were spectacular.  Exports rose from $123 million in 1963 to $3 billion in 1972.  A new phase began in 1980, with an emphasis on technology and research and development and from there on the trend toward liberalization became more explicit. As rags-to-riches stories go, Taiwan's is spectacular.  Its per capita income rose from $100 in 1949 to almost $14000 today.  For several years, its central bank held the largest foreign reserves of any country in the world.  Today it produces 30 percent of the world's notebook computers and half of the world's computer keyboards, monitors, scanners, and motherboards.

In the late 1990s Taiwan faces the same squeeze as others of the first generation high-growth - but no longer low-wage- Asian countries.  They are pressed on one side by the low-wage, newly industrializing countries and on the other by high-technology products from the established industrial countries.  Taiwan has tried to respond by augmenting its high-technology capabilities.  Also, Taiwanese entrepreneurs have, in the quest for low wages, stepped up their foreign investment, including a great deal of the mainland.
In early years, Singapore was a country besieged.  It had no great confidence that it could make it or even survive.  In its development efforts it established the Economic Development Board to guide the creation of a modern economy.  State-owned companies were set up staffed with the best that were available.  Civil servants were forced to think like businessmen, and their promotions were tied to the profitability of the state-owned enterprises that they ran.  A very high savings rate was promoted along with an enormous commitment to education.  Yet state domination was only part of the story.  For over the same period of time, Singapore made a crucial commitment to international commerce.  First it would create an environment conducive to economic growth, low inflation, stable and predictable rules of the game for business and foreigners to operate by, a high saving rate, an anticorruption ethos and a climate friendly to business.  Second it made the very fashionable decision to court multinational corporations, for these firms would move in with technology, skills, capital, and access to markets.  The firms were vetted carefully for what they brought and what industries they represented.  Singapore was looking for stable companies with strong technologies and a willingness to invest with a long-term perspective.  In the late 1990s, Singapore worries about losing out to the newer low-cost production areas.  It has sought to protect itself by moving up the value chain to higher technologies and by carving out an external economy, new sphere of economic activity- as for instance in the 'second Singapore' it is overseeing in China.

In two decades Malaysia transformed itself from an exporter of rubber and palm oil to one of the world's largest manufacturer of computer chips.  With just 19 million people, it is the thirteenth-largest trading nation in the world.  It trades more than Russia and twice as that of India.  It also has the thirteenth-largest stock market in the world, and 83 percent of its exports are manufactures.  The turning point in Malaysia was the 1969 anti-Chinese riots.  Democracy was suspended and a 'New Economic Policy' was launched, with the intention of promoting rapid growth and also crucially to bring about redistribution.  It was a massive program of affirmative action, quotas, and favoritism that was meant to lift the majority bumiputras - the sons of the soil - out of poverty and into schools and universities and then into the middle class.  There was no end to the ingenuity of the program.  All business enterprises were to have at least 30 percent Malay participation.  The government offered bumiputras lower mortgage rates than non-bumiputras.  At the same time, foreign investment was encouraged and the country was launched on a high growth curve - 7.8 percent per year in the 1970s.  Per capita income rose from $390 in 1970 to $1900 in 1982.  The country also developed national unity.  There was enough economic growth to go around.

But by early 1980s, the New Economic Policy floundered.  The government had expanded public enterprise and made a very large investment in heavy industry, which was not working.  Losses and inefficiency were mounting.  The deficit of public enterprises grew markedly as a share of the GNP.  Economic growth faltered.  At that point a sharp shift in the economic policy was introduced towards greater role for market.  The emphasis now was on efficiency and modernization.  At this point the relevant parts of Japanese model to the Malaysian economy were also applied.  Influenced by the Thatcher's revolution, Malaysia embarked on privatization of state-owned enterprises.  The private sector would be the engine of growth.  The actual privatization, however, was not laissez faire.  The government continued to hold large, even controlling, stakes in many firms.  In recent years a new strategy has been launched - National Development Policy and Vision 2020 - which aimed at 7 percent annual growth, meaning that the GNP would double every ten years.  In this enterprise, the private sector would operate in close 'partnership' with the government.

Just as Malaysia came charging after the first generation tigers, it will also face competitive challenges from the next generation.  And like others in the region, it will have to temper its ambitious plans for infrastructure development.  Yet in the meantime, the country has racked up an extraordinary record - not least, keeping ethnic tensions at bay by spreading the benefits of growth.

In Indonesia, there was a long clash between two groups of technocrats - 'engineers', who wanted to undertake big high-visibility projects, and the 'economists', who wanted to reduce government control and intervention.  Unlike Taiwan, Indonesia was unable to resolve that clash until 1980s, when the country made a major turn toward the international market and deregulation.  It was certainly influenced by opening up of other countries in the region.  Its major objective was to free itself from excessive dependence on oil and gas exports.  The program has generally worked.  Indonesia is now a high-growth country that has successfully moved toward being a significant diversified exporter and away from a heavy reliance on oil and natural gas exports.  It however, faces a major question about regional development, the link between education and economic development, the prominent role for of the Chinese entrepreneurs, equity and income distribution and corruption.

Thailand's growth since the mid-1980s was propelled by foreign investment, led by the Japanese.  The country went through some tough political battles, centered on a struggle for power between various military and civilian groups.  Since the early 1990s, the government has sought to reduce its role in the economy through large-scale privatization.  The policy of privatization was carried out for two reasons, necessity and prudence.  State companies needed the injection of more state funds if they were to survive and grow.  The state could not afford to do that even if companies were profitable.  The public was demanding leaner government, getting rid of the fat, and did not want to see state-owned companies to be continued as state employment agencies without any productivity effect or long-term potential.  The timing of the end of the communist system was also a major factor in propelling the global trend toward the free market.  All fears of capitalism's failures and the belief in the dominance of the state were cast aside with the collapse of the communist state and, with it, of government control.

Vietnam has well-educated population and, in many ways, the attributes to spur growth.  Yet its transition is likely to be more difficult than that of the other countries in the region, for the system's legitimacy and ideology are rooted in the Vietnam War and hostility to capitalism and the West.  To embrace the market would be to call into question the fundaments of the regime, which is hardly something that the leadership wants to do.  Thus for the time being, Vietnam is suspended between state domination and private initiative.  There is a market system, but the private sector has not been freed up, nor has reform of state enterprises begun in earnest.

Perhaps the surest sign that East Asia growth is a comprehensive, regional phenomenon comes from the Philippines.  For many decades, the country operated far beneath its economic potential.  Social inequalities were extreme.  Even after the fall of Marcos in 1986, Philippines remained a suspect destination for trade and investment, its chronic corruption and disorder contrasting with fast growth elsewhere in the region.   Aquino and Ramos brought economic policy in line with their regional partners.  Freed currency markets and the lowered trade barriers had made the black market less pervasive.  With a sustained growth rates of 4 percent or higher since 1994, and with the progress made toward ending chronic electricity shortages, the country has become a newly attractive emerging market.

The countries in the region have gone through a series of currency and capital-markets crises in the recent past.  Ironically, the impact of the latest is a sign of how far they have come, for none before had either the visibility or the regional and international repercussions.  Some see in the 1997 crisis similarities to the bursting of the Japanese 'bubble'.  They fear that weak financial sectors, overbuilt real estate, and industrial overcapacity will mean that difficult economic times lie beyond the miracle.  Yet one of the hallmarks of these countries over the years has been their flexibility and adaptability, and necessity now provides the opportunity for them to once again restructure their economies and return to sustained growth.

[..................To be continued..............]

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The data presented is based on my clinical experience as professor in-charge of AIDS patients in the Govt. General Hospital. Madras in the management of more than 150 AIDS patients admitted in the 26 bedded AIDS ward from the year 1987 to 1994. Ethnic, Cultural and Environmental factors in every country alter the clinical presentation of AIDS to a certain degree. The clinical profile of AIDS in India is presented now. Both HIV I  and HIV II viruses infects the Indian population (HIV I -80% : HIV II  6% : HIV I and HIV II -14%). The Clinical Diagnosis of AIDS is based on WHO criteria and confirmed by Elisa and Western Bolt tests. It is worth knowing the various OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS occurring in AIDS patients in the Indian setting for proper management of AIDS disease. In the first 56 cases studied from years 1987 to 1992, the incidence of the Opportunistic Infections were : Tuberculosis -56%, Crytosporidiosis 32% Candidiasis 28 %, Dermatophytoses 16% Amoebiasis 12 % Giardiasis 8 % Herpes 5 % Helminthiasis 6% Furunculosis 6 %, Warts 4 % and CMV Retinitis 2 %. In the next 100 cases studied the incidence were slightly different : Tuberculosis 51 %, Candidiasis 41 %, Cryptosproridium 16 %, Dermatophytoses 16 %, Intentinal Parasitosis 8 %, Herpes 5%, Furunculosis 5 % and Scabies 4 %. As the AIDS epidemic evolves, more and more Opportunistic Infections becomes common. The etology of the Opportunistic Infections were found to be : Bacterial 62 %, Parasitic 58 %, Fungal 44 % and Viral 18 % of cases. Various studies were mounted in these AIDS cases to find out the organ system involvement. The systemic involvement were found to be : Gastro-Intestinal -58 %, Respiratory 58 % , Skin 28 %. Central Nervous System 14 % Genito-Urinary 8 % Hepato-Biliary 6 % Musculo-Skeletal 2 % Endocrine 2% and Eye 2%. It is important   to note that all the organ systems of the human body are involved in AIDS disease - a really multisystemic disease. More than one infection and more than one organ are involved at the same time. The most important and commonest Opportunistic Infection is Tuberculosis -both pulmonary and Extra Pulmonary. it is a health hazard to the health care-givers and the care takers of the AIDS patients in their house. The incidence of Tuberculosis was found to be: Pulmonary -80 % and Extra Pulmonary 20 %. The Gastro-intenstinal System and Respiratory System were affected equally with an incidence of 58 % each. Skin involvement by various common and Opportunistic pathogens comes next in frequency with incidence of 28 %. The Central Nervous System comes next  in order with a frequency of 14 % of cases. AIDS being a news disease, several in-depth studies were conducted to find out the various individual systemic involvement and their manifestations. An in-depth study of 40 patients of AIDS with Gastro-intesinal manifestations presented with the incidence of : Dysphagia 90 % of which 85 % due to Oro-Oesophageal Condidiasis Diarrhoea -80 % of which 40 % due to Cryptosproidial infection. Abdominal colic 85 % and Gastro-intestinal bleed 7.5 % due to Cytomegalo Virus, common bacterial and HIV Entero Colitis.  An in-depth study of 20 patients of AIDS with Neurological manifestations revealed : HIV Encephalopathy - AIDS Dementia Complex - in 80 %  of cases. HIV Radiculopathy 5 %. Herpes Zoster-Multidermatomal 35 %, TB meningitis  15%. Cerebral Toxoplasmosis 10 %. Cryptococcal Meningitis 5 % and multiple CNS presentations 35 %. These figures enlighten the actual incidence of the various Opportunisitc Infections associated with AIDS in Indian Scenario.

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Consign Technology, a chennai-based Application Service Provider (ASP) is promoted by GanX Software, which is the exclusive development partner of Manhattan Analytics Inc. (MAI) of USA. MAI is the largest website provider through www.advisorsquare.com for US finance professionals.

Consign has identified the ASP market potential and has introduced for the first time in India the concept of renting an ASP module. An internet player has multiple gains by renting ASP services, such as, reduced cost of ownership, nil upfront cost, swifter implementation, reduced down times, etc. “Renting a software is new to India. We want to tap the emerging  Indian ASP market and contribute to the net boom in India by providing superior ASP services at affordable prices to Indian internet companies.”, says, the company.
The first ASP module launched by Consign is Finvest2000.  This business class financial web site building tool will be highly useful in the financial information resource maintenance. Finvest2000 offers feature rich, affordable web sites for the financial services industry. Usage of this module will help the user net company to stay away from the problems of site maintenance overheads and technology issues. Internet Service Providers, financial institutions, share brokers, investment consultants, content providers and publication companies will stand to gain from Finvest2000.

Consign and its parent GanX have several clients including http://www.walletwatch.com , http://money.zeenext.com , http://biz.indiainfo.com , http://finance.123india.com  and www.paisapower.com

Content driven sites pull more traffic. Finvest2000 offers content sourcing and management. Contents are sourced from well known quality research firms such as, Value Research, ICRA, Asian Cerc and NSDL.

Finvest provides three forms of financial information : equity, non-equity and personal finance. Under equity, the primary component is the Portfolio Manager which comprises online performance reporter, transaction summary, personalised market calendar etc. Equity module also guides a fundamental analyst by arranging the financial data of over 5500 companies listed on BSE and NSE which is updated on a daily basis. Further, this module provides all what a stock market information seeker needs : charts, live quotes from BSE and NSE, market statistics of top gainers and losers, 52 week highs/lows, board meetings, dividend declaration, info on Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), and much more.

The Non-Equity module covers fixed deposit information of NBFCs, banks, manufacturing companies, with a user friendly tools to guide investors to arrive superior investment decision. The insurance section provides information on various insurance schemes and their features with comparative analysis. Mutual fund guide extends information on type, size, new schemes with comparative tools which enables the user to analyse the performance of funds based on NAV graphs.

Personal finance module covers investment information needs such as home loans, credit cards, auto finance and professional finance.  Finvest2000 also extends rest of financial information needs of an investor such as debentures, bullion, forex, small savings schemes, income tax calculator.

According to the company,  “Finvest2000 is not only a technology product. It has three dimensions. We offer Content, Technology and Web Administration. Thus, it is an internet-information-technology product.”

For more information log on to http://www.consigntech.com

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Chennai-based family entertainment hub Down Under celebrates its  first  birthday. down Under is from the house  of  Kiwi Sports  which  is promoted by Mr Karti Chidambaram and  his associates  with the objective of catering to the  lifestyle needs of metros.

Family  Entertainment Centres (FEC) as a concept in  Chennai  is  slowly  gaining ground. City's middle and  upper  income groups have started openly seeking alternative entertainment   avenues. Further, the youth of Chennai have emerged as major  fun lovers with respect to the entertainment industry.  They look for not just entertainment, but entertainment plus. The city trend today is more on interactive games where a  wider audience  participation  is welcomed and is  considered  fun rather  than  playing  games or watching  movies  that  have limited participation.

Down  Under  offers  global standard  entertainment  to  the  entire  metro  family  in Chennai.  Down  Under  is  ideally located at the heart of the city on Marshalls Road, Egmore.  The  centre  is  outfitted with a state  of  art  four  lane bowling  alley.  The centre offers  multiple  entertainment options  to  the fun seekers which includes  pool,  snooker, video games, mini golf, karaoke, big screen television, live DJ and a multi cuisine restaurant.

Down Under which is spread over an area of 6800 sq. ft. adds  a  dance floor as part of its anniversary  celebrations  and expansion  plans. The discotheque will be a crowd puller to Down  Under as it will function on all seven days in a  week and it will have day disco too.

Professional   marketing  team  of  Down  Under   has   been implementing  proactive marketing strategies.  Towards  this end,  the Centre has long term strategic tie-ups  with well established  brands, such as, Coca Cola and Nestle. The  fun spot  has  also  been associated with  leading  brands  like Pringles,  Tropicana, Bausch & Lomb, Adidas, Compaq,  Parry, TNT, Amex, Hungamma.com during the first year of operation.

"Today's metro entertainment options like cinema, TV viewing  and  internet are passive and offer nothing for  the  health and fitness of an individual. At Down Under we want to offer  value  added  international standard entertainment  for  the entire  family which will shape it's mind and body  for  the betterment.", states Mr Karti Chidambaram.

In  order to fulfill the growing health and fitness needs  of Chennai,  Kiwi  Sports has recently tied-up with  Precor  of USA, the best fitness equipment manufacturers in the world.

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Chennai-based  super  speciality  Institute  of   Cardio-Vascular Diseases, well known as Madras Medical Mission (MMM) has  entered  into  a strategic tie-up with Wellwin Industry Limited who is  in  the business of embedded software solutions.

Wellwin's  interactive information systems are used in the  areas  of  hospital  management, hospitality and education.  These  user friendly systems offer end to end solutions for the customers. In addition   Wellwin   also  provides  software   applications   for  interactive content development system integrator and operational  support for web related applications enabling customers to create and maintain land and web portals.

Dr  K  M  Cherian, on the occasion states, "  MMM  is  trying  to exploit technology to the benefit of the patients in the area  of cardio vascular diseases. This kiosk will function as a superior menu  driven  communication  tool  to the  patients  as  well  as visitors."  MMM is the one of the largest and one  of  the  best super  speciality Cardiac Centre in India, which is dedicated  to  heart  related  diseases.  The modernised  health  centre  offers "Total Heart Care" for any age group including children. The high tech  facility enabled  MMM - ICVD has many first to its  credit, such  as,  to introduce Trans  Myocardial Revaesularisation,  to   conduct heart transplant in India after the legalisation of brain death in 1995, to conduct bilateral sequential lung transplant in India,  to conduct paediatric heart transplant, To have 24  hours  Doc Vue monitoring systems in Asia, to have auto transplantation  of the heart, to conduct heart lung transplant in India, etc.

Techno savvy MMM is partnering with Wellwin to have  comprehensive  interactive information systems for visitors and patients. In the first phase, Wellwin is donating an interactive information kiosk for  the outpatient ward of MMM. The project named as  Dr HEARTZ will enable the visitors and patients to obtain information about the hospital and its activities.

Dr HEARTZ developed by Wellwin has several unique features,  such  as,  easy to use touch screen, compelling information  about  MMM  and  its  activities,  users can e-mail their  observations  and  opinion at the kiosk and fixing up of appointments are made easy.
This 24 hour, 7 days a week operational kiosk is also web enabled and  is retrofitted to handle e-commerce tools.  Mr  Rajagopalan, Managing Director of Wellwin says, "The coming together of  these   two  organisations, will greatly benefit the patients in  getting all information  they  would  want  at  a  personal  level   by interacting with kiosks at the hospital."

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Entertainment  industry in India has taken a  new  direction via  thrillers.  Thrilller entertainment is popular  in  the west.  For  the  first time in India,  Joe  Jolly  Thrillers Private  Limited, a Chennai-based entertainment company  has brought thriller entertainment to India.

The  Platform  Model 18 seat Ride  Stimulation  Theater  is ideally located at the heart of the city at one of Chennai's premier  malls  at  Spencer  Complex  (Second  Phase,  First Floor).

Ride Stimulation is an amusement experience. This high  tech stimulation  amusement  is one where  stimulation  ride  is provided  by  synchronising  the physical  movement  of the viewers using a motion base with visual and audio medium.

Ride  activity  involves experiencing  movement,  sound  and visual  image all co-ordinated with what is depicted on  the screen  to  produce  the effect of  reality.  This form of thriller  entertainment is a non cinema/non  film  digitally mixed   computer  generated image  screened  theater   with stimulated motion seats.

The  motion seats are stepped and staggered to  ensure  best view  from  each seat. The seats are co-ordinated  with  the screen   by  computer  which  are  mounted  on   a platform hydraulically and electrically operated.

Joe  Jolly has a surround sound system using six  discreetly driven  speakers  including two subwoofers.   Tropicalised cinema standard screen for monitoring on surface/frame  will be  extended at the fun centre. The entire system has  state of the art safety standards. In the event of power  failure, the  capsule settles into loading/unloading position on  its rest standards. Same will happen in the event  of  computer failure.  An  emergency stop button is also  fitted  to  the platform  and  the  operator  who has a  full  view  of  the platform  is also provided with an  emergency  stop  button walling/guard rail on all four sides, GRP Bucket seats  with lap belts and grab handles are additional safety features of Joe Jolly.

The technology is extended by Premier Funtech, a division of Premier Irrigation Equipment Limited. Premier is the pioneer in the area of leisure and water park industry. Premier  has over 30 years of expertise and has been servicing the Indian leisure   industry  with  its own  R&D  and   manufacturing facilities.  The high tech products have also been  exported to U.K., U.S.A., Gulf, Asia and Africa.

The stimulator Platform used at Joe Thriller is manufactured by Premier Infotech under license from Flight Avionics Ltd., U.K. who has supplied the control system hardware, software and  motion  programme  system.  Flight  Avionics  are   the inventors of Ride Stimulation in 1980 and global leader with a  19 model range of stimulators operating in Japan,  China, Korea, U.S.A. and several European countries.

Joe Jolly also has technological arrangement with Motionbase Plc.,  a  leading manufacturer of high  technology  Electric Motion  Platforms, control systems and dedicate simulators for both amusement parks and professional training.

The spokes person of Joe Jolly, on the occasion  of inauguration  stated,  "Joe  Jolly wants to  give  the  best thrill experience to Indian fun lovers at global standards."  

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TVS-SUZUKI,  the  market leader in  motorcycle  segment  has launched India's first 150 cc Four Stroke performance SUZUKI FIERO.  This is another pioneering effort in motorcycling  by TVS-SUZUKI.

TVS-FIERO has been exclusively designed and developed by the company  to meet the performance-seekers in urban India,  in the   motorcycle  segment.  SUZUKI-FIERO  has incorporated advanced  technology  which  has  never  been  used  on  two wheelers  in India before.

The FIERO defies logic on engine performance utilising  D-fi LOGIC  technology.  The Digital Fuel  Ignition  and  Linear Oscillations  Governed Intelligent Carburetor (D-Fi LOGIC) technology   make   SUZUKI-FIERO  a   powerful   four-stroke motorcycle delivering  12 BHP power and with  the  swiftest acceleration in its class of motorcycles.

The  microprocessor  powered  ignition  (Digital   Ignition) determines the most ideal ignition timing at various  speeds and delivers unmatched power and good fuel economy.

The  oval venturi, constant vacuum carburetor  (Intelligent Carburetor)  is  operated intelligently  by  the  pressure sensitive diaphragm enabling smooth transition of power and ultra-low   emission.   This  too   ensures   optimal   fuel consumption.

The  environment  friendly  Fiero with  ultra  low  emission technology is available in Blazing Red, Aquamarine Blue, Jet Black, Silver, Deep Purple and California Gold colours.

Fiero  will be the first Indian bike to be  introduced  with electric  start. TVS-Suzuki has plans to launch an  electric version of Fiero very soon.

The spokesperson of TVS-Suzuki,  stated  on the  launch, "Suzuki-Fiero is the only bike which  offers  a unique combination of power, styling and performance on  the Indian roads. At TVS-Suzuki, we offer the best machine  for the man who loves performance."

The  company has so far launched TVS-Fiero in  nine  markets across  the  nation  : Delhi, Haryana,  Karnataka,  Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. In  all  the above markets Fiero has received  a  very  good response.  Leading  Indian Auto Magazines, such  as,  Indian Auto,  Overdrive and Auto Car India, have  also  unanimously voted  Suzuki-Fiero as the number one bike in Indian  roads, in an independent comparative analysis. The  Fiero's performance and reliability was vindicated  at the National Motorcross races at Pune, Nasik and Jaipur.

TVS-Suzuki, India's second largest two wheeler  manufacturer adds  more  fire  to the industry by bringing  in  one  more unique model - TVS SPORT. TVS Sport, India's most stylish urban commuter mini-bike was developed  by TVS-Suzuki's indigenous R&D. This powerful  70 cc  kick  start bike has several innovative  features  like, international styling and high powered 12V electric  system. TVS  Sport  meets the Emission 2000 norms with  a  catalytic converter.

The company has introduced TVS Sport in eight Indian  States -  Andhra  Pradesh,  Delhi,  Gujarat,  Maharashtra,  Orissa, Punjab  & Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh - and  has received  an  excellent response in all the markets  it  has been  introduced.  TVS-Suzuki  is  planning  to  launch   it nationally in the months to come.

TVS Spectra EX is India's most modern, complete scooter. The  Four Stroke, 150 cc, 9BH and the most fuel efficient scooter  in  India now comes with an Electric Start. The improved TVS Spectra  comes with improved  comfort  via centrally  mounted engine, twin front shock absorbers  which provides  greater  stability,  riding  comfort  and   easier handling.  Further,  the  strong  multi-tubular  fail   safe structure  forms the backbone for the TVS Spectra EX,  which along  with a large wheel base of 1299mm offers a very  high degree of safety and ultimate stability.

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