Thursday, October 29, 1998
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B U S I N E S S | Thursday, October 29, 1998 |
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PAN pains ahead Computer
labs in colleges suggested |
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‘Crop damage not to Ashok
Leyland reports Saturday
trading likely |
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PAN pains ahead CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — With the quoting of PAN in specified transactions becoming a law on November 1, fewer than 1 per cent of the applicants in the North-West Region have been issued the laminated cards so far. Of the 15.63 lakh applications made for Permanent Account Number (PAN) in the region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Chandigarh, 1.76 lakh applications have already been processed. Until yesterday, the Income Tax Department had despatched 14,381 PAN cards. There are 12.93 lakh IT assesses in the region. Talking to The Tribune here last evening, the Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, NW Region, Ms Surinder Paul Kaur, said that Section 139A(5)(c) makes it mandatory from November 1 for every person to quote PAN in eight categories of transactions: 1. Sale or purchase of any immovable property of Rs 5 lakh or more; 2.Sale or purchase of any four-wheeler; 3. Any TD of Rs 50,000 or more with any banking company to which the Banking Regulation Act,1949, applies; 4. Any deposit exceeding Rs 50,000 in the Post Office Saving Bank; 5. A contract of Rs 10 lakh or more for sale/purchase of securities as defined in the Securities Contracts (Regulations) Act,1956; 6. Opening of an account with any banking company; 7. Making an application for a telephone connection,including cellular phone; and 8.Any payment to a hotel/restaurant exceeding Rs 25,000 at any one time. Since it was not possible to allot PAN cards to all applicants by October 31, certain exceptions and alternate measures have been made to facilitate those who may not get PAN. Those who have already applied for PAN will be required to quote their General Index Register number (GIR) in any of the eight mandatory transactions. Minors with no income chargeable to income tax can open new bank accounts by quoting the PAN or GIR of either of their parents or legal guardians. There is yet another category where a person has neither a GIR nor PAN but undertakes any of the eight mandatory transactions.If any such person makes a cash payment or payment by a crossed cheque or draft for any of the eight transactions, he will have to make a declaration in Form No 60 giving details of the transaction. The duty of the authority or institution accepting the payment will forward the information (Form 60) to the department. Persons with non-taxable agricultural income are not required to quote PAN in such transactions. Such persons are, however, required to make a declaration in form no 61 for any of the specified transactions. In case of NRIs ( whose stay in India is less than 180 days), a copy of the passport will be taken as substitute for PAN. Under the law, a number of government and other officials have been made responsible to ensure that PAN or GIR number is duly quoted in the documents pertaining to specific transactions. Those identified are : Registering officer appointed under the Registration Act, 1908; a registering authority for motor vehicles; any manager or officer of a banking company; post master; stock broker, sub broker, share transfer agent, banker to an issue, trustee of a trust deed, registrar to issue, merchant banker, underwriter, portfolio manager, investment adviser; any authority or company receiving applications for installation of a telephone connection, including cellular phone; any person raising hotel or restaurant bills exceeding Rs 25,000 at any one time; and any person who purchases or sells immovable property or a motor vehicle. (To
be concluded) |
‘Crop damage not to hit food
needs’ NEW DELHI, Oct 28 — India’s foodgrain requirement is unlikely to be affected despite damage to the paddy crop in some states during the recent rains, Food and Chemicals Minister Surjit Singh Barnala said today. Despite 12 lakh hectares of the paddy crop being damaged by rain in Haryana and Punjab, the country would be able to achieve the 200 million tonne foodgrain production target, he told reporters after inaugurating a seminar on consumer protection here. “We will make up the loss in foodgrain production in the rabi crop through wheat production. There is no problem as far as foodgrain requirement is concerned,” he said. The statement is in tune with agriculturists view that the recent rain would induce farmers to go in for early rabi sowing, especially wheat. An inter-state meeting on crop production last month, estimated foodgrain production for the 1998-99 kharif season at a little over 101 million tonnes with rice production being projected at around 70 million tonnes. There will be no shortage of fertiliser in Punjab, Mr Barnala assured the Punjab Chief Secretary, Mr R S Mann, at a meeting today. The Punjab Chief Secretary urged Mr Barnala to make the entire allocation of fertiliser available to the State before November 15. The Minister was also informed that the cumulative availability of urea in Punjab till yesterday was 2.30 lakh tonnes. More despatches are being made and the availability up to November 15 would be 3.25 lakh tonnes against an estimated consumption of three lakh tonnes. The Minister asked the handling agents and suppliers to ensure that the despatches of urea were made to the State on an urgent basis. He also asked the Ministry officials to monitor the situation closely. For DAP, the State has projected the requirement of 3.48 lakh tonnes by December end. Against this, the availability would be 3.25 lakh tonnes by November 15. The State Government would be satisfied if these supplies were delivered, the Punjab official said. The meeting was also
attended by the Fertilisers Secretary, Mr A V Gokak,
senior officials of the Ministry and the suppliers of
fertiliser to Punjab.
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Banking MUMBAI (PTI): The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) will soon issue an order making it compulsory for all the 65,000 bank branches in the country to computerise their services by January 1, 2000, according to Central Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal. Inaugurating the “convergence of information technology and communication” here today, he said only 5,000 bank branches in the country had so far been computerised. Indian banks account for Rs 45,000 crore as non-performing assets due to corruption at all levels and compulsory computerisation would go a long way in preventing corruption in the banking sector, he said. The CVC had opened up a website and e-mail service so that any information relating to corruption could be mailed in, he said. Bank of Baroda NEW DELHI (TNS): The Bank of Baroda plans to open an NRI branch, corporate business branch and asset recovery branch in its north zone. The bank will also open an automatic teller machine at its Parliament Street branch here soon. Meanwhile total deposits of the Bank of Baroda’s north zone have increased to Rs 4500.84 crore in September 1998 from Rs 3,448.60 crore in March this year registering a growth of 33 per cent. Core deposits of the bank’s north zone moved up from Rs 3,427.50 crore to Rs 4,554.55 crore for the six-month period showing a rise of 32.88 per cent. In absolute terms the core deposits increased by Rs 1,127.05 crore over March 1998. The saving deposits stepped by Rs 79.49 crore to Rs 834.19 crore from Rs 754.70 crore. The zone earned a profit of Rs 78.42 crore for the half yearly period ended September 1998. Advances went up to Rs 2,954 crore while the total business of the north zone touched Rs 7,534 crore with a credit deposit ratio of 66 per cent. Crop loans CHANDIGARH (TNS): The State Bank of Patiala has decided to rephase term-loan instalments and to convert crop loans into medium, term loans only in respect of those farmers who have suffered heavy losses due to the recent untimely and incessant rain. For this purpose, they have to produce a certificate from the District Revenue Department about the loss suffered and assistance will be as per RBI instructions said a bank release here today. The Bank is arranging special DCC meetings chaired by the DCs in its six lead districts in Punjab — Patiala, Sangrur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar to assess the loss so that relief is provided to the affected farmers quickly. SBI plan CHANDIGARH (TNS): The SBI
launched a customer service improvement plan at its
Sector 23 and Sector 37 branches on Wednesday. Mr K K
Narula, CGM, Chandigarh Circle said the plan has been
launched at 38 SBI branches in Chandigarh Circle
comprising Punjab, Haryana, HP, J&K and Chandigarh. |
Computer labs in colleges suggested CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — An expert group, including the President of Nasscom, the President of Mait and CII Chandigarh Council Chairman I.S. Paul has suggested the Punjab Government must devise and implement a focussed strategy to attract entrepreneurs to set up information technology (IT) ventures in the State. At a meeting here the group has suggested the following steps if Punjab is to catch up with Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the IT field. Chandigarh must be actively sold as an ideal destination for IT ventures. The government must devise an action plan for creating the necessary hype. Once I.T. industries start coming to Mohali, 50 acres earmarked for the Software Technology Park will fall short. At least 300 acres must be earmarked around Mohali. The group said Punjab must announce its plans of how it would deploy Rs 100 crore in a time-bound fashion in computerisation of its various departments. A lot of NRIs from this region working in the I.T. industry wish to locate themselves here. The government’s decisions and future plans must be communicated by the Chief Minister himself at his personal meeting with NRIs in the USA. Modalities to arrange such meetings must start now. The government must introduce computer labs in every college in the State in the next three years and every high school in next five years.As the first step one district should be selected and all its colleges and high schools should be covered. I.T. companies need world
class professionals. To meet the need an institute of
information technology must be established in Mohali.
Mohali can follow the example of Allahabad where a
similar institute is being established financed by the
Ministry of Human Resources (Rs 35 crore) and the U.P.
Government (Rs 5 crore). |
Ashok Leyland reports 36 crore loss CHENNAI, Oct 28 (PTI) — Plagued by recession, Hinduja group flagship Ashok Leyland Ltd has reported a net loss of Rs 36.73 crore on a reduced turnover of Rs 858.68 crore during the first six months of the current fiscal year. The company recorded an 18 per cent drop in its volumes but was able to improve its market share due to an even steeper fall of 42 per cent in the overall market for commercial vehicles during the period. Taking the results on record here today, the Ashok Leyland board observed that the company had been able to stem the cash loss incurred during the first three months by improved performance in the second quarter. Sales increased in the second quarter to 6,882 vehicles over 5,199 sold in the first quarter, but the figure for the entire first half was lower at 12,081 vehicles, compared to 14,815 in the corresponding period last year. The company ended the second quarter with a net loss of Rs 3.53 crore, though it made a nominal profit before depreciation and tax of Rs 34.8 lakh for the first half. Ashok Leyland’s turnover for the second quarter stood at Rs 490.85 crore, down from Rs 522.09 crore in July-Sept 1997, while gross profit fell to Rs 15.66 crore from Rs 15.97 crore. The charge on depreciation was higher at Rs 19.18 crore as against Rs 17.55 crore. Expressing satisfaction
over the rise in volumes during the second quarter over
the first quarter of the current fiscal, the company
board said the financial performance too had improved
owing to working capital reduction and a number of cost
cutting measures.
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ABB net dips 13 pc NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (PTI) —Engineering giant Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) has registered a fall in its net profit during the third quarter of 1998 by 13 per cent at Rs 4.55 crore as against Rs 5.23 crore in the same period last year. The total income of the multinational company fell by 17 per cent to Rs 199.9 crore compared to Rs 241.2 crore during the third quarter of 1997, an ABB statement said here today. The general slump in the economy is believed to be one of the main reasons for ABB to report a fall in its income. Gross profit of the company also fell by 5.8 per cent during the third quarter ended September 1998, it said. ABB’s gross profit was Rs 10.6 crore in the third quarter of 1998 as against Rs 11.26 crore in the same period last year, the statement said adding during the nine month period the gross profit of the company was Rs 39.45 crore as against Rs 44.42 crore during the nine month period of 1997. The company follows January-December as its accounting year. The net profit for the nine month period ended September 1998 was Rs 19.64 crore as against Rs 24.73 crore during the same period last year, reporting a fall of 20 per cent, the statement said. ABB’s total income for the nine month period 1998 was Rs 582.67 crore as against Rs 713.7 crore during the same period last year, showing a fall of 17.6 per cent, it added. ICI net jumps 53 pc NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (PTI) — Paint major ICI India Ltd has registered a 53 per cent rise in its net profits to Rs 34.3 crore in the first half of the current fiscal as against Rs 22.4 crore during the same period last year. Despite economic slowdown, the operational profits of the company grew by 7 per cent at Rs 54.4 crore. ICI has improved its overall market position and the sales volume of its paints grew by 20 per cent through its margins were under pressure due to the depressed market conditions. Sales volume of bulk explosives grew by over 25 per cent while the sales of acrylic and polyurethane products more than doubled during the period. ITC Hotels posts loss NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (PTI) — ITC Hotels Ltd has registered a loss of Rs 1.24 crore during the first half of the current fiscal as against Rs 6.61 crore net profit during the same period last year. The total income of the company fell to Rs 47.8 crore in the first half of 1998 as against Rs 54.67 crore in the same period last year, an ITC Hotels statement said here today. ITC Hotels also recorded a fall in its gross profit during the first half of the current financial year at Rs 2.19 crore compared to Rs 10.4 crore during the corresponding period last year, a decline of 79 per cent. The foreign exchange earnings for the company during the first six months of the current fiscal witnessed a marginal decline to Rs 27.77 crore from Rs 27.87 crore. ITC has set aside Rs 2.16 crore as interest during the first half of the current fiscal compared to Rs 2.27 crore paid as interest in the same period last year, it added. IOC net profit rises NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (PTI) — State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has reported a 53 per cent increase in net profits during first half of current fiscal at Rs 1,386 crore as against Rs 904 crore in the same period last year. The turnover of the company rose by 21 per cent to Rs 34,052 crore in the first half ended September 30, 1998 from Rs 28,019 crore during the corresponding period last year, an IOC statement said here today. During the second quarter (July-September) of current financial year, IOC’s turnover rose to Rs 16,917 crore, a 21 per cent increase from Rs 13,914 crore achieved in previous year, the statement said. Net profit of the
corporation during second quarter was recorded at Rs 796
crore as against Rs 617 crore during the corresponding
period last year, a rise of 29 per cent. |
Saturday trading likely NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (UNI) — The National and Delhi Stock Exchanges are mulling the idea of commencing trading sessions on Saturdays with an aim to increase trading volumes and reduce kerb deals. Though both the exchanges have not finalised the time-table for going ahead with the Saturday trading, negotiations within the exchanges are on in full swing, senior exchange officials told UNI here today. The NSE would, in fact, be
holding a special session this Saturday, which might be
first step towards this end. However, exchange officials
say that this is a trial run for its disaster back-up
mechanism |
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| Santro delivery starts NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (UNI) — Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) today kicked off the nationwide Santro delivery by handing over the 999cc cars to its first three priority customers. Handing over the keys to the customers in Mumbai, HMIL Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) J.H. Kim said, “we are very happy to have commenced delivery of the Santro.” The priority number allocation of each customer was done after the finalisation of the results of the random number generation on October 24, a statement issued today said. Servo lubricants HSIDC meets Forex rates US $ Rs 42.25/26 The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.27. Gold steady Pensioners Sony stumbles |
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