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| Monday, May 29, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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‘Reforms to widen the divide’ Punjab push to cotton Industry mood upbeat
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Punjab pays 256 crore to cane growers PNB Tatkal Kendra
‘Reforms to widen the divide’ BHONDSI (Haryana) May 28 (PTI) — A conclave of economists and politicians under the leadership of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar began here today to discuss the adverse impact of nine years of liberalisation on the country. The leaders said if the policies initiated in 1991 were to continue, the divide between 97 per cent of the population, who are faced with a deeper crisis in their lives, and 3 per cent who control the levers of economic power would grow further. They said globalisation was an attempt by the elite powers in the world to unite and the increasing fragmentation of the Indian polity was enabling foreign powers to gain critical foothold in the country’s political process. Speaking at the conclave, former Union Minister and Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy said efforts by successive Finance Ministers to meet the “IMF-World Bank set target of fiscal deficit” since 1991 have discredited the concept of reforms and liberalisation in the minds of the masses. He said the globalisation measures adopted by the Government have failed to recognise that without a level-playing field in interest rates and access to investment funds, Indian industry has been subject to an “unfair and even impossible challenge” forcing them to sell out to multinational companies. Swamy said free flow of foreign capital to India without a corresponding WTO mandated equally unfettered flow of Indian temporary labour abroad was “neo-colonial” in character. He said the reforms were fundamentally flawed as these were introduced first in industry instead of agriculture. “It should have been first introduced in agriculture in which sector we enjoy international competitive advantage.” “We have today moved from a command Soviet hybrid economy to crony capitalism in which public property is being sold to a select few for corrupt considerations,” the former Commerce Minister said. He said economic reforms have to be restructured to move towards a genuine globally competitive market economy with adequate safety net for the nation’s poor. “This restructuring has to be harmoniously constructed by an astute political leadership that must contend with the urgency for poverty and unemployment abolition, the imperatives for efficiency in the mobilisation and use of scarce resources, and the international
commitments that we have to honour in our enlightened national interest,” he added. |
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Punjab push to cotton BATHINDA, May 28 — The area under cotton crop in the North comprising Punjab, Haryana and Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan has started increasing after about five years. The trend shows the area is expected to increase by more that 20 per cent in Punjab and 15 per cent in Haryana while in Rajasthan the increase will be marginal due to less availability of canal water. Sources said Punjab, which had been witnessing the fall in the area and cotton production for last five years, has become a paddy producing State instead of cotton producing state. Due to
repeated failure of the cotton crop, farmers had shifted to paddy which covered a major chunk of agriculture land of the State. The farmers encouraged by the batter yield of cotton last year have again started sowing cotton despite the scarcity of certified seeds in the markets. State agriculture department sources said so far total area under cotton crop in Punjab was expected to touch six lakh hectares in the current season as compared to 4.5 lakh hectare last year. In Haryana, the area under cotton is likely to go up to 5 lakh hectare from 4.5 lakh hectare last year. In Rajasthan, the area under crop will register a marginal increase as compared to area under cotton crop last year. Official sources said the area under cotton crop was increased as the Punjab Government was making special efforts to promote cotton cultivation by providing all possible facilities to them. On the other hand, the production this year has increased manifolds. In 1999-2000, the production of cotton in the North was about 28 lakh bales. These bales were produced from about 13 lakh hectares. Interestingly, the production of cotton in 1998-1999 was only 20 lakh bales from more than 16 lakh hectares. Mr Ashok Kapur, Director, Export Panel, North India Cotton Association, said the Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan Governments should ensure the supply of adequate irrigation water, certified seeds and pesticides to the farmers so that cotton production in this region could touch 50 lakh bales, a record achieved by this region in 1999-2000. The sources said the department had initiated a number of schemes to make the farmers aware of latest knowhow in cotton cultivation and benefits of integrated past management. Punjab used to be the largest producer of cotton in the country. The farmers of Punjab used to produce 20 per cent of the total cotton production of the country from only 8 per cent of area. However, the indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned, flooding of markets with spurious seeds and pesticides and adverse climatic condition brought cotton production from 26 lakh bales to only five lakh bales in the recent years in Punjab. The agriculture department authorities has now fixed the target to take the production of cotton in the state to the level gradually. |
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NEW DELHI, May 28 (PTI) — Indian industry continues to be upbeat about the economic environment in the country with a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) survey reaffirming the existence of the ‘feel good’ factor in the corporate sector. According to the CII Business Outlook Survey released yesterday, this sustained optimism is prevalent across the board even as exchange rate volatility and overseas competition were named as the emerging challenges for the Indian corporate sector. The improvement in sentiments on the general business situation has been reflected by 59 per cent of the respondents with an overwhelming majority of the respondents projecting increased investments in the next six months (April - September 2000). The improved outlook for business is also expected to translate into an increase in employment for a majority of the respondents to the survey. The level of optimism in the exporting community has also improved and 88 per cent of exporters are optimistic about export prospects in volume terms during the next six months. |
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Punjab pays 256 crore to cane growers AMRITSAR, May 28 — Punjab has become the only State in the country to make all cane payments to its growers amounting to Rs 256 crore. Announcing this at a state-level function organised by Punjab Sugarfed at Tarn
Tarn Cooperative Sugar Mills, Seron, yesterday, Punjab Minister for Cooperation Ranjit Singh Brahmpura said that the remaining Rs 40 crore had been paid today, thus
clearing the cane payments of all cooperative sugars mills in a single day. The function, largely attended by farmers and cane growers, was also attended by the Punjab Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Dr Rattan Singh Ajnala, the Chief
Parliamentary Secretary, Prof Jagir Singh Bhullar, Mr Manmohan Singh Sathiala, MLA and
Chairman, PRTC, Mr Vir Singh Lopoke, MLA, Mr Suresh Kumar, Registrar, Cooperative Society, Punjab, and Mr Jagjit Puri, Managing Director, Sugarfed. |
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PNB Tatkal Kendra AMRITSAR, May 28 — Punjab National Bank has geared itself to be proactive in responding to the challenges in the banking sector. This was stated by Mr S S Kohli, CMD Punjab National Bank, while addressing exporters and customers here today. The bank has introduced customer specific packages like tele-banking in the Hall Bazar area, remote access, TBA, ATM at the Lawrence Road branch, SPMO, VSAT, EFT, express counters for drafts and seven-day services at the Katra Jaimal Singh branch. A Tatkal Suvidha Kendra was inaugurated by the Chairman for speedy delivery of credit for housing, conveyance and other consumer segments.
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IT obsession produces whizkids & jobless CHENNAI: India’s “obsession” with the software industry and its export orientation is leading to the churning out of unemployable students on the one hand and bright whizkids who are mostly lured away by overseas employers on the other, a new study has warned. The unusually blunt study by a former Director of the National Centre for Software Technology, R. Narasimhan, blames “lack of market-orientedness” of India’s educational system and its ignorance of rapidly changing market requirements for “such an anomalous situation”. Narasimhan cautions against the “hype” associated with the phenomenal growth of India’s software industry, defying rational explanations and built up into a “mystique of sort”. This has warped India’s thinking on the best way to generate a quality software workforce to meet its present and future requirements. Ad-hoc solutions being proposed on the educational front — like boosting IIT intake or upgrading other institutions to their level — reflect “panicking” and rushing off to pursue “a variety of disparate solutions.” But, the report notes, not everyone needs the “specialised competencies” of a software engineer or programmer. In addition, India’s own economy needs domestic computerisation on a large scale. India’s software industry at present is a relatively poor employment generator. In the mid-’90s, some 20,000 people were actively employed in software export services. In contrast, there were three million registered unemployed graduates in the 1990s. “It is not unusual, in a city like Bangalore, to come across B.Sc. degree holders opting to drive autorickshaws or taxis because those jobs are more remunerative. “We must create a variety of educational networks which would cater to the education and information needs of schools, colleges, hospitals, libraries, museums and so on,” says the study.
— IANS What standards! NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs has ordered an inquiry as to why the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) failed to realise the revised rates of licence fee continuously for three years, causing a loss of Rs 2.49 crore to the government. The BIS decision to double its licence fee from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 was to be enforced from September 1994 but it did not implement its decision till September 1997, says CAG. The BIS promotes standards and monitors upkeep of quality of products. It issues licences to producers to use the standard marks on the product which conforms to the requirements of corresponding Indian standard. For issue of the licences, the BIS charges a fee as per the rates fixed from time to time.
— UNI Air India on sale NEW DELHI: Any domestic company can bid for an entire 40 per cent stake in Air India to become its strategic partner and the announcement of a global adviser for privatisation of Indian Airlines will be made soon, says Disinvestment Minister Arun Jaitley. Foreign airlines will not be allowed to participate in the privatisation of Indian Airlines, where the government has decided to retain a 49 per cent stake while divesting 26 per cent to a strategic partner and 25 per cent to financial institutions, he adds.
— PTI Sugar alliance NEW DELHI: Around 15 major sugarcane producing countries, including India, have joined hands to form a Global Sugar Alliance, in a bid to counter subsidies by the USA and the European Union on Sugar. Says Vinay Kumar, President of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories, the international sugar prices have plummeted to an all-time low and with the subsidies provided by the USA and EU countries, exports by other sugar producers have become difficult.
— PTI Not Hopeless ! LONDON: Here is a notable quote from history. “There is nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for (Bob) Hope, and there is nothing he wouldn’t do for me.... We spend our lives doing nothing for each other,” said singer and entertainer Bing Crosby of his friend and co-star Bob Hope. Hope, a U.S. Comedian, was born in Eltham, London, on May 29, 1903.
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by J.C. Anand Old economy shares may revive THE old economy shares have suffered a long and undeserved neglect from both investors and traders. Eclipsed by the glamour of the new economy scrips, the old economy shares were pushed into the corner. It now appears that the time for their revival has arrived. The basis for this view is a steep fall in the prices of the top new economy scrips. Much of the gilt has worn off. It is now being recognised that , except for some top scrips in the ICE sectors, the performance of these scrips in general was likely to be poor-to-average. The sector is much over-crowded. Even the top scrips have a very high P/E ratios, even though some of them have fallen in terms of the market prices by 60 to 70 per cent. The Meteorological Department’s forecast that the monsoon will be normal this year too is a good sign as economic growth of our country is dependent on the performance of the farm sector. It is, therefore, time to pick up some good old economy scrips, which are now quoting at very low and attractive market rates on a long-term investment basis. For the purposes of Income Tax law, a long term investment in equity shares is one which is held for more than a year from the date of its acquisition. Some good scrips in this context are: Vikas WSP, Mahindra and Mahindra, BASF India, Clariant, Novartis, TVS Electronics, Sterlite. I am not recommending Larsen &Toubro, for the company has decided to postpone its restructuring to the end of 2001,when its cement units will be demerged. Reliance and Reliance Petro are good investment propositions. Vikas WSP needs some analysis to justify its high promise for long-term investors. Vikas is the world’s second largest producer of guar polymer, next only to the UK based Rhodia. Last year, the scrip was quoting around Rs 1500 (with a face-value of Rs 10), but now it is quoting around Rs 290. The fall in the scrip’s market price can be attributed to two factors: a general fall in the share prices and the fear that the drought conditions in Rajasthan will depress guar’s farming. But the fall in the market price has forced the management now to delay the issue of preference share allotment to FIIs and financial institutions at a high premium. This delay will hit the company in two ways: it will have to borrow funds for its Baroda unit and its debt-equity ratio will go up, and secondly this might depress its profitability temporarily. It remains a good investment proposition for long-term as well as short-term investors.
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by R.N. Lakhotia Q: I am a Central Government employee. I have the following query with respect to the Income Tax, I have paid in the assessment year 2000-2001. My total salary income which includes pay, DA, HRA and RLA is Rs 1,97,991. Further I have received an amount of Rs 17,024 as remuneration for reviewing primary school text books of Government of Mauritius. This assignment and renumeration thereof was given to me by the Department of Education, Government of India. My office, a Central Government Department has deducted the tax at source adding the latter amount as my income. Let me know whether can I claim the exemption from Income Tax on the remuneration (i.e. Rs 17,024) when I file my income tax return — Dr. K.S. Mustafa,
Solan Ans: You would not be able to claim exemption or tax deduction in respect of the remuneration earned by you from foreign source specially in view of the fact that it appears that you have received the amount through the Government of India and hence no amount has been received by you by way of foreign exchange payment. Besides, the remuneration has not been received for rendering any services during your stay outside India. Hence, the tax deduction u/s 80R will not be permissible to you. Similarly, the tax deduction u/s 80RR which is generally available in respect of professional income from foreign sources in certain cases will not be permissible to you because you are not an individual who is either an author, playright, artist, musician, actor or sportsman. Thus, the tax has been rightly deducted at source by your employer. Q: I am working as an officer in a bank. My total salary for 1999-2000 is Rs 1,32,000. I got Rs. 16,120 on account of matured NSC in February 2000. Accrued interest on NSCs VIII issue comes out to about Rs 20149 for the year 1999-2000. Kindly advise whether Rs 16120 will be taken as income for the year 1999-2000 or not. —H.C. Gupta,
Naraingarh Ans: The amount received on maturity of the NSC is not taxable. However, the accrued interest on NSC will be treated as income of the year. Moreover, you would be eligible to claim tax rebate in respect of accrued NSC interest. |
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BIFR rejects Sterlite request Three inducted into Infosys Board ICICI challenges cover to sick units
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Amb Cement Amar Nath Kakria and others Pennar Alum Khushi Ram Taneja Punwire Vimal Sandhir McDowell Saroj Kakria OBC Nitin
Likhi
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Inflation up Tenders on Net Kribhco MD |
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