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| Wednesday, February 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Fiscal
deficit may not exceed 5 pc GDP
Give youth right environment: IT
guru |
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| Exports go up 12.93 pc NEW DELHI, Feb 1 — India’s exports recorded a growth rate of 12.93 per cent at $ 27.41 billion in April-December 1999 while the trade deficit narrowed to $ 7.03 billion compared with $ 7.32 billion in the same period last year. PSUs’ net profit unchanged NEW DELHI, Feb 1 — Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) ended the year 1998-99 with a net profit of Rs.13,766 crore, the same as the previous financial year even though the number of loss-making PSUs crossed the 100 mark. XO Tronic to mop up Rs 10 crore NEW DELHI, Feb 1 — XO Tronic Limited, a $ 125 million Talbros group company, will get into software solutions in a big way hoping to mop up to Rs 10 crore in 2000-01.
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Fiscal deficit may not exceed 5 pc GDP NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (PTI) — The Government today said the fiscal deficit may not exceed 5 per cent of GDP this financial year despite a projected shortfall of Rs 3,000 crore in revenue targets. “We do not want the fiscal deficit level to cross over 5 per cent during the current fiscal even though the Kargil factor and Orissa cyclone have affected expenditure projections which is beyond our control,’’ Minister of State for Finance, V. Dhananjaya Kumar told reporters here. Kumar said as a result of the Kargil operations, the Defence Budget has reached Rs 42,000 crore, which was Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 crore more than estimates for this fiscal year. Food and fertiliser subsidies will touch Rs 24,000 crore during the period, he said adding the direct and indirect tax collections together would be only Rs 1,70,000 crore as against the targetted Rs 1,73,000 crore. He conceded that realisation of disinvestment proceeds was dismal as it had so far reached only Rs 2,500 crore as against budgeted target of Rs 10,000 crore. The Minister, however, said there would be more accruals from the disinvestment route during the remaining period of the 1999-2000 financial year. On the income tax collections, the Minister said as on January 6, it had touched Rs 34,967.26 crore which was 16 per cent higher than collected during the corresponding period of the previous year. “We are progressing well and at best we may fall short of the revenue collections target by 1 or 2 per cent’’, he said. “Our revenue collection positions has vastly improved since November and December’’, he said adding the Government has collected Rs 44,611 crore in the form of excise duty realisation as on January 15 this year, which is 17 per cent more than as compared to the same period of previous fiscal. As for the customs duty
collections, it stood at Rs 36,393.64 crore as on January
15, which is also 17 per cent rise as compared to the
corresponding period of the earlier year, he said. |
Govt defends rodent droppings in grains NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (PTI) — The government today in the Delhi High Court justified inclusion of a rule in the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act permitting rodent hair and excreta up to five pieces per kg in foodgrains saying that to maintain the ‘‘zero limit’’ was difficult. ‘‘It is very difficult to ensure zero limit of rodent hair and excreta in wheat and rice grain, since these commodities are required to be stored for a longer period,’’ the Director PFA in an interim reply told a Division Bench of Chief Justice S.N. Variava and Justice Cyriac Joseph. The Government had included the sub-clause in Clause 18.06 of the PFA Rules, 1954, permitting five pieces of rodent hair and excreta in the foodgrains. Giving legal sanction to the inclusion of rodent excreta and hair, was challenged in the court by advocate B.L. Wadhera in a public interest litigation (PIL) saying these were ‘‘injurious and ruinous’’ for human health, particularly for children. ‘‘This amounts to legalising the presence of adulterants in the food items to the extent indicated and....Supply of the same to consumers in violation of the spirit and objective of the Act,’’ the PIL filed last year had stated. The government
affidavit, however, said that 70 per cent of the
foodgrains were kept at the farms having no facility for
scientific storage and it was also ‘‘very
difficult’’ to ensure ‘‘zero
limit’’ of rodent hair and excreta even in 30
per cent foodgrains kept in proper stores. |
Give youth right environment: IT guru MUMBAI, Feb 1 (UNI) — The Indian authorities must provide an environment in order to generate greater conviction among the young entrepreneurs towards creation of wealth in the economy, says Mr Gururaj Deshpande, the Indian born IT guru from Silicon Valley of the USA. Talking to mediapersons on the eve of the three-day international seminar called Nasscom-2000 beginning here from tomorrow, Mr Deshpande said that entrepreneurs should take up information technology (IT) business as a career where failures would be a part and parcel of the process. However, the Government must ensure freedom in the system for the entrepreneurs to reinvent themselves in the business. Mr Deshpande felt that the Indian software and technology companies must arm themselves with the ability to move speedily in the world market with talents, finance and transparency in governance. He said that with the Internet and web-based technology, the marketing and innovation of products would be faster at cheaper cost in future. Finance portal Securities and Exchanged Board of India (SEBI) Chairman D.R. Mehta inaugurated India’s first transaction enabled personal finance portal here last night. The site, which can be accessed free on the Internet at www.myiris.com, has been created by Investment Research and Information Services Limited (IRIS), a leading financial information company. S. Swaminathan, CEO and Founder, IRIS revealed that it had taken over 100 man years to create the site. Policyone Two US and Indian Internet companies have merged together to form Policyone with headquarters in the Silicon Valley and a wholly-owned subsidiary in India which in turn has an initial public offering on the cards. Policyone,focused on the
Internet infrastructure, has been formed as a result of
the merger of India-based Duet Technologies and Tunnelnet
Inc.USA. |
CCEA clears 600 crore plan
for soil conservation NEW DELHI, Feb 1- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved a slew of measures, including continuation of the Centrally-sponsored scheme for soil conservation in the Ninth Plan with an outlay of Rs 600 crore. The continuation of the scheme on integrated development of fruits during the Ninth Plan with an outlay of Rs 125 crore; preferential treatment for a value addition of 40 per cent in single country or 50 per cent cumulatively under the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA); the merger of Hindustan Coca Cola Limited and Bharat Coca Cola Limited; expansion of Chennai Port container terminal; and the setting up of an integrated combined cycle solar and Naphtha power project near Jodhpur at a cost of more than Rs 871 crore were also approved by the CCEA. The CCEA also approved bringing the entire country under the National Cataract Blindness Control Programme and cleared a Rs 219.28 crore project for construction of a bypass near Indore and four-laning of the 18 km Indore-Dewas section of the National Highway Three. It also approved the revised estimated cost of Rs 67.95 crore for an atomic energy research and development project — Synchtron Radiation Sources Indus Two — of the Centre of Advanced Technology at Indore. Cabinet spokesman and Union Minister Pramod Mahajan told newspersons after the CCEA meeting that under the scheme for soil conservation, a maximum of Rs 6500 crore per hectare would be provided for category one watershed areas (where 75 per cent of area has less than eight per cent slope) and Rs 10,000 per hectare for category 2 (more than eight per cent slope). The scheme will be implemented with 100 per cent Central assistance. The scheme on integrated development of fruits would provide 100 per cent Central assistance to all the States and Union Territories, Mr Mahajan said. The main objective of the scheme is to provide support for production and supply of 1.6 million good quality planting material of high yielding varieties of fruit crops, bring more areas under fruit cultivation and provide critical inputs to farmers. The integrated power project near Jodhpur would be the first of its kind in the world and would generate 35 mega watt electricity using solar energy and another 105 mega watt using Naptha as fuel. The project would be funded with grants from the Global Environment Facility, Germany and the Government. On the merger of the two Coca Cola companies, Mr Mahajan said the new entity would be called Hindustan Coca Cola Limited and there would be no affect on the operation after the merger. The CCEA also reviewed
the performance of PSUs during the last financial year. |
Say hello to datun, bye to toothpaste NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (PTI) — Most of the toothpastes used in developing countries are not effective and not manufactured as per the needs of their people, according to dentists. As a result toothpastes, manufactured by multinational companies, including Colgate, Smithkline Beechem and Unilever, are not effective in controlling dental diseases in developing countries, they said. Despite the increased use of toothpastes, the incidence of dental disease is on the rise in developing countries, a Commonwealth Dental Association (CDA) release quoted dentists attending a CDA conference here as saying. Strict regulations need to be imposed on manufacturers to improve the quality of toothpastes as currently no regulations exist to check the efficacy of toothpastes in developing countries, they said. People should make more use of neem sticks or “datuns” than expensive pastes that are without efficacy, dentists told the meet which opened on January 28. The commonwealth body
has also suggested use of fluoride in water and milk as
it can bring down incidence of dental caries in
developing countries |
BoP net up 49 pc CHANDIGARH, Feb 1 — Bank of Punjab has reported an income of Rs 77.13 crore for the quarter ending December 31, 1999, compared to Rs 55.55 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, an increase of 39 per cent. The bank has also reported an increase in profit before depreciation and tax of Rs 20.83 crore for the quarter compared to Rs 13.94 crore for the corresponding quarter last year, an increase of 49.43 per cent. The bank has made provisions and contingencies (excluding taxation) of Rs 4.32 crore as against Rs 30 lakh for the corresponding quarter last year and has shown a net profit of Rs 13.32 crore as against Rs 10.56 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The board has proposed a
9 per cent interim dividend, subject to RBI approval. |
Exports go up 12.93 pc NEW DELHI, Feb 1 — India’s exports recorded a growth rate of 12.93 per cent at $ 27.41 billion in April-December 1999 while the trade deficit narrowed to $ 7.03 billion compared with $ 7.32 billion in the same period last year. Imports in the first ten months of the current fiscal grew by 9.02 per cent to $ 34.45 billion even as the oil import bill surged by 57.82 per cent to $ 6.98 billion. Non-oil imports continued to show sluggish trends and grew by 1.07 per cent during the period to $ 27.47 billion. Exports during December 1999 recorded a growth rate of 14.6 per cent at $ 3.19 billion and in rupee terms exports grew by 17.21 crore to 13892.05 crore. The country’s imports in December this fiscal are valued at $ 4.06 billion representing a growth of 19.56 per cent. Exports recorded a 30.72
per cent growth in November, September (12.01 per cent)
1999, August (10.16), July (2.11), June (11.14), May
(11.68) and 2.09 per cent in April 1999. |
PSUs’ net profit unchanged NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (PTI) — Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) ended the year 1998-99 with a net profit of Rs.13,766 crore, the same as the previous financial year even though the number of loss-making PSUs crossed the 100 mark. Announcing the financial performance of the PSUs, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan told reporters that 126 out of 227 PSUs, for which results were available, posted a total net profit of Rs 23,164 crore compared to the Rs 20,262 crore profit by 133 PSUs in 1997-98. As many as 101 PSUs reported a loss of Rs.9,398 crore during the last financial year as against Rs.6,496 crore by 95 undertakings, he said and added that financial results of 227 out of 236 results were available. Two-thirds of the total net profit during the year was contributed by 10 PSUs mainly in the petroleum, power and telecom sectors. Two-thirds of the losses
by the loss-making PSUs came from 10 companies in steel,
coal and aviation sectors, he said. |
XO Tronic to mop up Rs 10 crore NEW DELHI, Feb 1 — XO Tronic Limited, a $ 125 million Talbros group company, will get into software solutions in a big way hoping to mop up to Rs 10 crore in 2000-01. The company, engaged in producing computer components, will provide software solutions in e-commerce, web-based solutions, ERP and customised software, re-engineering and development. In tune with its diversified venture, the Rs 30 crore company has decided to change its name to XO Infotech Limited. Addressing a press conference here last night, Chairman-cum-Managing Director Naresh Talwar said XO Infotech, which has a joint venture with Astronics Inc of the USA, hopes to earn about Rs 1.2 crore from software services in the current fiscal. The company expects to
end 1999-2000 with a marginal operating profit and Rs 30
crore turnover. It hopes to earn net profit of Rs 5 crore
over a doubled turnover of Rs 60 crore riding on the
software boom. |
Nasdaq looks up, fuels infotech
rally MUMBAI, Feb 1 (PTI) — Equities recovered initial losses and select scrips even posted handsome gains aiding the sensex to close with moderate gains on the stock market here today following buying support from speculators as well as selective purchases from foreign institutional investors (FIIs). In a bid to transfer positions to the BSE, speculators sold off on the (NSE) at the last day of the current settlement and bought in good quantity on the BSE in line with fresh purchases by FIIs in scrips like RIL and several infotech stocks. Domestic institutions too made selective purchases in shares like SBI, RIL, Tisco and a few others. A sharp turnaround in the Nasdaq composite index and the Dow Jones industrial average prompted a rally in infotech stocks, market sources said. The BSE sensitive index opened modestly up at 5217.65 and later fluctuated in a range of 5232.84 and 5127.79 before closing at 5215.54 as against yesterday’s close of 5205.29, netting a minor gain of 10.25 points. The BSE-100 index shot up by 59.73 points to 2935.10 from previous close of 2875.37. The sensex heavyweight HLL came under heavy selling pressure and lost substantially resulting in a negative impact on the benchmark 30-share index. Among the 15 specified scrips that were locked in the upper circuit filter, Sun Pharma was in the limelight for the second successive day on reports that the company has recommended a liberal bonus issue in the ratio of 2:1. However, LML hit the lower price band after exhausting the daily limit due to selling pressure. Of the 139 specified shares, 84 registered sharp to moderate gains and 50 showed losses while five held steady. The BSE-200 index and the Dollex were quoted sharply down at 654.77 and 255.84 compared with previous close of 641.84 and 250.61 respectively. The BSE-500 index spurted by 37.09 points to 1970.85 from yesterday’s close of 1933.76. Satyam Computer was the top traded scrips with a turnover of Rs 356.40 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 3989.22 crore. Other most active shares were Zee Telefilms (Rs 324.16 crore), Himachal Futur (Rs 322.15 crore), Silverline (Rs 295.59 crore) and RIL (Rs 284.52 crore). The market leader Satyam Computer flared up by 107.60 to 2754.50. Zee Telefilms rose by 27.70 to 1239, Himachal Futur by 44.25 to 1014.25, Silverline by 69.10 to 933.10, RIL by 10.25 to 339.25, BHEL by 12 to 185.90, Hindalco by 33.40 to 798, ICICI Ltd by 8.70 to 118.10, Infosys Tech by 161 to 7366, ITC by 11.55 to 708.80, L&T by 8.40 to 409.90, SBI by 5.40 to 250 and Tisco by 1.75 to 141.75. However, HLL dropped by 133.35 to 2305.15, M&M by 13 to 494 and Telco by 2.25 to 178.75. NEW DELHI: The Delhi Stock Exchange sensitive index moved down marginally by 2.25 points to settle the session at 1061.43 points, largely on account of persistent fall in index-related Hindustan Lever and ITC Ltd stock prices. Infotech sector stocks such as Silverline Industries, HCL Infosystems, Rolta India and Global Telesystems hit the upper-end circuit-filter after exhausting daily price movement limit of 8 per cent. ‘‘The recovery in software computer sector company stocks suggest that there is still potential to rise,’’ felt a DSE broker. Silverline Industries
wiped off Monday’s fall after FIIs and domestic
players made sizeable purchases and share prices spurted
by a whopping Rs 68.25, or 8 per cent to hit upper side
circuit-filter at Rs 931.75. |
Panacea net rockets 234% Panacea Biotec Ltd on Tuesday reported a 234 per cent jump in the net profit at Rs 11.94 crore in the third quarter as against Rs 3.57 crore during the same period last fiscal. The sales of the company grew by 108 per cent at Rs 84.67 crore against Rs 41.09 crore during the corresponding period last year. Goetze (India) Ltd today reported a net profit of Rs 7.07 crore in first nine months ending December 1999, from the previous year’s figure of Rs 1.02 crore. The total sales went up by 22.5 per cent at Rs 146.88 crore compared to the 1998 figure of Rs 119.93 crore. Ind-Swift Ltd has reported a turnover of Rs 18.7 crore for the quarter ended December, 1999, as compared to Rs 14.04 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, showing an increase of 33 per cent. The net profit during this period increased to Rs 1.55 crore as compared to Rs 0.71 crore last year, showing an increase of 118 per cent. For the period of nine months ended December, 1999, the net profit increased to Rs 4.06 crore as compared to Rs 2.51 crore in the previous year. Alok Textile Industries has reported a net profit of Rs 6.66 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 1999, recording a 67.3 per cent increase over the corresponding period of the previous year. The turnover of the company rose to Rs 99.95 crore over the corresponding period, up by 34 per cent. The net profit for the nine months ended December 31, 1999, stood at Rs 15.79 crore against Rs 10.46 crore. Shree Krishna Petro Yarns has recorded a growth of 74 per cent in the net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 1999. The net profit grew from Rs 10.38 crore to Rs 18.08 crore. For the nine months of the current year the company has recorded a net profit of Rs 50.54 crore, an increase of 20 per cent over the corresponding period last year. Elbee Services has announced a net profit of Rs 50.21 lakh for the quarter ended December 31, 1999, as against a net loss of Rs 165.25 lakh for the corresponding period last year. The turnover was up from Rs 24.70 crore in Q3 of 1998 to Rs 32.89 crore, a growth of 33 per cent, while operating profit was up 65 per cent from Rs 1.69 crore to Rs 2.80 crore. Kotak Mahindra Finance has made a significant turnaround during the quarter ended December, 1999. It has posted a profit before tax of Rs 15.83 crore for the quarter, compared to Rs 5.06 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year. The profit after tax has increased to Rs 10.33 crore for the quarter compared to Rs 2.06 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year. For the nine-month
period the profit after tax stood at Rs 17.98 crore as
against Rs 12.18 crore for the 12 months of the previous
year ended March 31, 1999. — TNS, Agencies Sun Pharma to issue 2:1 bonus MUMBAI, Feb 1 (PTI) — The Board of Directors of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd today recommended a bonus issue of two shares for every one share held. The company will seek the approval of the shareholders at its extraordinary general meeting on March 24, 2000. The equity capital of
Sun Pharma will increase from Rs 15.42 crore pre-bonus to
Rs 46.26 crore post-bonus, the company said in a
statement here. Sun Pharma’s sales in the nine
months ended December 31, 1999 were up by 35 per cent to
Rs 328.16 crore and profit during the period increased 56
per cent to Rs 65.71 crore. |
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Maruti Wagon-Rto cost 3.49 lakh Maruti Udyog Limited on Tuesday announced that the base version of its latest offering Wagon-R would sport a price tag of Rs 3.49 lakh. The Wagon-R will be available in three versions — LX (base), VX and AX. The deluxe version of the car — VX — will be priced at Rs 3.84 lakh while the AX version, an automatic transmission driven variant, will be priced at Rs 4.83 lakh, a MUL statement said. Order taking for the Wagon-R will commence tomorrow (Wednesday) and deliveries start within a week. The Wagon-R is powered by a 1.1 litre, 62BHP, 16 valve, MPFI engine. Heater and air-conditioning are standard in all variants. The steering wheel is leather wrapped in VX and AX and the two versions also carry unique buzzers for “head lamps on” and “key not removed”. The VX and AX versions also incorporate a stereo with two front speakers. Power windows and central locking are available in both the versions. Daewoo sales surge Daewoo Motors India Limited (DMIL) has sold 4,207 passenger car units in January, 2000, registering a 454 per cent surge over the same month a year ago. Matiz accounted for 4,054 units in the month. In addition, the company despatched 290 units of Matiz to Italy during the month, taking the total exports of the small car to Italy to 500 units. “We have geared up to increase production and clear the backlog which is over 5,000 cars. Increase in production will reduce the waiting period for the customers who have already placed order for their cars as well as for those who are going to buy one,’’ Mr B.S. Min, DMIL Deputy Managing Director, said in a statement on Tuesday. Matiz accounted for 64,066 units of total Daewoo sales, which were 27 per cent higher than the previous year’s figure of 146,835 units. Hyundai Bouyed by growing sales of its cars and a profit of over Rs 20 crore in the second year of operation, Hyundai will sell up to 24 per cent of its equity this year to partly fund its expansion plans. The divestment, to be in tranches, will be done through private placement, Hyundai’s Executive Director J.H. Kim told reporters in Delhi on Tuesday. Hyundai’s equity base is around Rs 800 crore, kim said asserting that the company would, however, sell its shares only when it gets the right price. Corsa bookings General Motors said on Tuesday that the bookings for its latest offering, mid-size car Corsa, will start from February 7 all over the country. The car, launched recently in Delhi and Mumbai, has been priced between Rs 5.35 lakh and Rs 6.49 lakh. It will be available in three versions. GMI is targeting to achieve a market share of 12 to 14 per cent by the end of this year through the sale of Corsa and Opel Astra. It has targeted to sell about 6,000 to 8,000 units of Corsa by 2,000 end. The new Corsa features the latest German engineering and design and is customised to meet the specific needs of Indian roads and driving conditions besides having the microprocessor controlled multi-point fuel injection engines to meet emission norms. The 1.4 GL Opel Corsa with an engine power of 88 brake horse power (BHP) will have air-conditioning system, power steering, central locking and remote fuel and trunk opening facilities. Honda City sales up Honda City car sales have gone up by 33 per cent to 1003 units during the first month of the new millennium against 750 cars sold in January last year. Honda Siel Cars India
sold 7,383 units of its mid-sized car ‘Honda
City’ during April-January of the current fiscal
against 9631 units during the entire fiscal 1998-99, a
company release said on Tuesday. — PTI, UNI |
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