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| Friday, July 21, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Reliance net profit climbs
20 pc to 612 crore Indian stirs Thai
sex trade No to export zone at
Chandigarh
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Scrap order on transformers Timeshare owners left high & dry Hindalco may take over Utkal Alumina J&K signs MoU for 7 power projects NCDC Act to be amended: Nitish Pugmarks eyes East India for expansion
MUMBAI, July 20 (UNI) — Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has established a new corporate record by declaring net profit of over Rs 600 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2000. RIL’s net profit increased by 20 per cent at Rs 612 crore (US $ 137 million) during the quarter ended June 30, 2000, as against Rs 510 crore for the corresponding period a year ago. Unveiling the company’s financial results for the quarter period ended June 30, 2000. RIL Managing Director Anil Ambani said: ‘‘We are encouraged that the company has achieved another quarter of strong financial performance in a period where operating margins came under pressure as a result of consistently higher feedstock costs.’’ Mr Ambani expects the company will establish new records for the full year, by crossing their targeted production volumes of 10 million tonnes, and enhancing the company’s leading market share position in all its major products. The company has posted 72 per cent increase in sales by recording sales of Rs 6615 crore (US $ 1,481 million) during the quarter ended June 30, 2000, as against Rs 3,837 crore for the corresponding period in the previous year. The company’s operating profit increased by 37 per cent to Rs 1,235 crore (US $ 276 million) as against Rs 901 crore for the corresponding period the previous year. Earning per share (EPS) for the quarter is Rs 5.8 ($ 0.13) and cash earnings per share (CEPS) for the quarter is Rs 8.8 ($ 0.20). The increase of 38 per cent in production was made possible by all plants of the company, including the new plants at Jamnagar, operating at rated capacities throughout the quarter, adds PTI. Total exports, including deemed exports rose to over eight times to Rs 1,311 crore against Rs 156 crore for the corresponding previous quarter, he said adding that with this, it has become the leading manufacturer exporter. The exports include Rs 479 crore from merchant exports of petroleum products.
Reliance Petroleum results on July 29:
Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) will announce its unaudited financial results for the first quarter on July 29. A notice to this effect has been sent to the stock exchanges today. RPL’s 27 million tonnes per annum (540,000 barrels per day) refinery — the world’s largest grassroots refinery — has been set up at a globally
competitive project cost of Rs 14,250 crore ($ 3.4 billion). The refinery’s capital cost per tonne is around 30 per cent to 50 per cent lower than the per tonne capital cost of other refineries recently set up in the Asian region, by leading international oil companies.
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BANGKOK, July 20 (IANS) — An Indian social researcher has stirred a controversy within the academic community here by suggesting that the sex trade in Thailand has been covertly tolerated for many centuries by the country’s legal and religious establishments. In a paper titled “Prostitution in Thailand: A Historical Perspective,” Lipi Ghosh from the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at Calcutta University, says the pervading system of Theravada Buddhism, though not encouraging prostitution, “doesn’t altogether proscribe its practice either.” According to Ghosh’s paper, from the end of the 13th century to the latter part of the 18th century, Thailand’s existing legal structures actually legitimised prostitution. The trade and purchase of women as slave “entertainers” rather than slave labour was common and a law saying that women must “physically” serve their parents actually meant that daughters had to perform sexual favours at their parents’
behest, she says in the paper presented at a seminar at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. Some Thai academics have reacted defensively to Ghosh’s paper, which they accuse of ignoring the role played by Western influences in promoting the flesh trade in Thailand. Social activists here point out that it has been long established through various studies that the majority of clients who frequent sex workers in Thailand are local citizens while places like Patpong are highly publicised to attract foreigners. Many Thai activists have regularly blamed the government and social structure for tolerating prostitution on such a large scale. It is estimated that anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 women work in Thailand’s sex industry. More than Ghosh’s critique of the legal system, her criticism of Thailand’s state religion, Buddhism, was what upset people here, say social critics. “Unlike Islam and Christianity, whose stringent moral codes are written, Thai Theravada Buddhism offers an attractive laxity of mores,” she says. |
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No to export zone at
Chandigarh CHANDIGARH, July 20 — The Central Government has decided not to set up any special export zones (SEZs), said Mr NL Lakhanpal, Director-General Foreign Trade (DGFT), here today. Talking to The Tribune after a session on “Government-industry:bridging the gaps for developing export competitiveness” at the CII here, Mr Lakhanpal said the government would welcome if the corporate sector developed SEZs. The private sector was developing a SEZ in Gujarat. The state industrial corporations could be involved in setting up the zones. The government would provide only “policy-led support” to the private sector. Earlier, Mr Lakhanpal ruled out the possibility of setting up a SEZ near Chandigarh. The demand for the SEZ was raised by Mr Sunil Taneja, Director of a Parwanoo company. The Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mr S.P. Srivastav, said the department had computerised the 24 customs houses. Last month the electronic data
interchange (EDI) facility was introduced and an EDI gateway was proposed to be opened at Mumbai in a year’s time. Besides, a tele inquiry system listing 25 standard queries and answers pertaining to any of trade queries through voice mail has been introduced. Mr Someshwar, Chief Commissioner of Excise, listed steps taken by the department to streamline the procedures to facilitates exports. The session was chaired by Mr J.D. Gupta, Chairman of the CII International
Sub-Committee.
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Scrap order on transformers GURGAON, July 20 — The industry here has demanded scrapping the order for installing transformers privately by those units having 50 kilo watts by the middle of September. Representatives of several organisations had attended a meeting convened by Mr Vishnu
Bhagwan, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister on June 7, on the issue. The President of the Gurgaon Industrial Association
(GIA), Mr Jagan Nath Mangla, said at the meeting the industry was either for scrapping the new order or for extending the deadline for installing the transformers. |
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Timeshare owners left high & dry KHANNA, July 20 — The Timber Trail Timeshare Scheme, launched with fanfare by Asia Resort Pvt Ltd, has left its members disappointed. A large number of people from Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and Delhi paid large amounts to become its members. According to Dr Amarbir Singh, a time-share holder, at the time of membership a lot of promises were made by its promoters and the members expected holidays from 33 to 99 years. Dr Amarbir Singh and Sardul Sikander, a renowned Punjabi singer, who is also a timeshare owner of Timber Trail, alleged that only after three years of starting the scheme, the company has begun harassing its members, introducing new schemes (and) putting financial burden on its members every other month. They further alleged that the timeshare block is given to non-members on cash payments and is hardly given to timeshare owners. Dr Singh and other timeshare owners claimed that most of the staff who sold these timeshares and made promises had either left the company or had been given marching orders. They demanded that the company should keep its promises and should not burden them with new financial liabilities. The booking system for accommodation be made transparent. No non-member be given preference to timeshare members. Dr Singh and Sardul Sikander said a delegation of six timeshare owners had met Mrs Anu Girdhar, Director, Asia Resorts, but there was no result. According to them, they are going to form an association of the timeshare owners and plan to go to a consumer court. |
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Hindalco may take over Utkal Alumina CALCUTTA, July 20 (UNI) — After taking over Indal, Aditya Birla group flagship Hindalco is poised to acquire majority shareholding in the $ 1 billion Utkal Alumina project from Alcan and Hydro
Aluminum in the next three months. The newly appointed Vice-Chairman of Indal Askaran Agarwala told newspersons after the company’s 62nd annual general meeting here today that the company was in an advance stage of negotiation with Alcan and Hydro who have agreed to cooperate in this regard. It was in the agreement for taking over Indal that Alcan had agreed to cooperate if the former wanted to increase its stake in Utkal Alumina, Mr Agarwala said. A company official said the acquisition of shares of Utkal Alumina, in which Indal had a 20 per cent shareholding against 45 per cent by Hydro and 35 per cent by Alcan, was expected to be finalised before the second quarter financial report. |
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J&K signs MoU for 7 power projects NEW DELHI, July 20 — The Jammu and Kashmir Government today took a major step forward in making the state surplus in power by signing agreements with the Centre for implementation of seven hydroelectric projects with a capacity of 2798 mw. The MoUs for the projects were signed here this morning between the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah and the Union Power Minister, Mr P.R. Kumaramangalam. Under the agreement, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation would implement the 330 mw Kishanganga hydel project, 280 mw Uri Stage-II, 1020 mw Bursar, 120 mw Sewa Stage-II, 1000mw Pakal Dul, 30 mw Nimmo Bazgo and 18 mw Chutak hydel projects on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis. The projects would be completed in a period of seven years after being executed in the Central sector through NHPC, Mr Kumaramangalam said. The seven projects would put the state on the list of surplus power producers as presently its total installed capacity is only 409 mw, comprising 225 mw in hydro and 184 mw in gas turbines and diesel stations. In addition, the state depends on its share in the generation from the Central sector projects in the Northern region. The restricted peak demand in the state varies from 1000 mw to 1200 mw against which the overall availability is around 800-1000 mw only. There was an overall peaking shortage of about 2000 mw (17 per cent) and an energy shortage of about 19 per cent during the year 1999-2000. Once the new projects are commissioned, J and K would get 12 per cent free power from them besides its normal share. It would also get an additional 15 per cent Central share of unallocated power to meet its need for winter peak requirement. Dr Abdullah said that Kishanganga, Uri Stage-II and Bursar hydel projects would be taken up immediately and the remaining would be done in phases. 
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NCDC Act to be amended: Nitish NEW DELHI, July 20 — A comprehensive Bill for amending the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) Act to make it an equity based organisation will be brought by the Centre soon, the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, has said. The amendments are needed as in the fast changing world of today, there is an urgent need for enlarging the present scope and mandate of NCDC. The amendments will enable the NCDC to overcome the constraints, which it has been facing in the past and help it to play a more meaningful role in future. He announced that NCDC would finance its projects on a reduced rate of interest ranging between .5 to 1.25 per cent. The effective rate of interest will be from 13.75 per cent to 14.5 per cent. Noting that the NCDC had achieved a high profit level of around Rs 63 crore, Mr Kumar said this year’s outlay of Rs 500 crore was meant for promotion and development of cooperatives in the agro-allied fields. He hoped the outlay of Rs 500 crore would enable NCDC to galvanise the vast range of rural economic activities which would benefit the small and marginal farmers. |
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Pugmarks eyes East India for expansion CHANDIGARH, July 20 — City-based Pugmarks Interweb Pvt Ltd, a leading web solutions provider, has planned expansion in Calcutta focusing on the B2B and B2C segments. Aiming to focus the on hitherto neglected eastern sector, Pugmarks is going to offer products and services pertaining to web designing, web hosting, e-commerce solutions and banner trading/management. Stating that Pugmarks is participating in Calcutta’s IT show opening tomorrow, Mr Atul Gupta, CMD said here today: “We want to offer complete web solutions to Internet entrepreneurs, SMEs and the corporate sector in East India. Web solutions providers have ignored this region to some extent”. Pugmarks has direct operations in Canada, India, the UK and the USA. It has been associated with the Hero group,
Encyclopedia Britannica and Maruti, amongst others. Entering into the fifth year of its operations, Pugmarks has recorded a 300 per cent year-on-year growth in the last four years’ revenues. |
co
Buy it online with beenz NEW YORK: Don’t buy Pearl Jam’s latest CD with dollars. Buy it with beenz. There are no beenz coins or bills. You cannot find beenz at the bank or spend them at your local music store. Beenz are cybermoney, worth 200 to the dollar, and circulate exclusively on the Internet. They are one of a number of new currencies competing to become the money of choice in cyberspace. This is unregulated money, raising troubling questions about how central bankers can influence global economies and control money supply in a wired world. “Beenz were designed for the digital world, just as dollars were designed for the offline world,” Charles Cohen, CEO and founder of beenz.com, said. “Dollars and beenz will peacefully co-exist as legitimate currencies.” More than 1 billion beenz are in circulation, Cohen said. The Federal Reserve says there is $571.4 billion hard US dollars floating ground the globe.
— Reuters It’s not taxing
for him CHANDIGARH: Mr S.P. Oswal, Chairman of the Rs 1,700 crore Vardhman group, has been
awarded ‘‘Samman’’ by the Income Tax Department. Here is an industrialist who is officially recognised as an honest tax-payer. ‘‘Often the payment of tax evokes a feeling of loss of wealth to the individual or the organisation. To my mind this is an erroneous view. The payment of tax should generate a feeling of pride’’, says Mr Oswal. ‘‘Reflecting on my life’s tax related experiences, I wish to share with you that I have never devoted more than eight hours a year on tax-related matters as an individual assessee and as the head of an organisation’’, he adds.
— TNS Treat cows
better KUALA LUMPUR: A U.S. Animal rights group today appealed to Malaysia, the biggest buyer of Indian beef, to pressure New Delhi to treat its cows better before they were slaughtered. The Virginia-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) group said it had video footage shot in India which showed cows being subjected to cruelties in their breeding, transportation and slaughter. The footage showed tails of cattle being broken and chili and tobacco being rubbed into their eyes before slaughter. Other injuries to cows included smashed pelvises and suffocation while being transported on lorries, it added. According to PETA, Malaysia is the top importer of Indian beef with imports valued at US $ 52 million a year. — Reuters Kaun Banega Crorepati NEW DELHI: Star TV has claimed that Kaun Banega Crorepati has rated a share of 40 per cent viewership across nine cities and peaked at 66 per cent in Mumbai and 80 per cent in Kanpur. The channel said on Thursday its share of viewing between Monday and Thursday in July increased four times compared to the previous weeks. Kaun Banega Crorepati being anchored by Amitabh Bachchan is one of the four top-rated programmes. The age profile of the audience ranges from four to 55.
— PTI
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Infy to revamp Mauritian bank’s
IT The bank plans to revamp its existing Information Technology infrastructure with software solutions from Infosys. Delphis Bank will deploy Finacle, the web enabled new generation enterprise banking solution and comprehensive treasury system from Infosys. Maars Software posts higher profit The company had recorded a net sale of Rs 21.55 crore in the quarter as against Rs 14.05 crore during the same period the previous year. Gross profit after interest, but before depreciation and taxation, was Rs 5.25 crore during the quarter as against Rs 3.94 crore in the same period last year. HEG to spend 55 crore on expansion Mr Ravi Jhunjhnuwala, Chairman and Managing Director, said: “Expansion will not only help the company to strengthen its hold on the export market, it would also result into significant cost saving as the capacity would result into the company joining the lead of some of the largest graphite plants in the world. HCL Infosystems bags order
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Hamdard Lab Zen-D price HM chief Blue Dart
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