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| Tuesday,
July 3, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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8 pc
growth a pipedream: Manmohan ACC scrip
erroneously traded at Re 1 Re tumbles
to new low Haryana to
form policy on biotech Relaxed
excise rules applicable from July 1 |
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What to
do with your old PC New
income tax form soon SBI
Chandigarh Circle net at Rs 280 crore Traders’
plea to withdraw new drawback rates
UTI to
pay 10 pc on US-64 scheme
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8 pc growth a pipedream: Manmohan New Delhi, July 2 Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh said almost all sectors of economy were facing decelaration, the government’s tax collections were likely to miss revised targets by Rs 10,000 crore and 8 per cent growth target for the 10th Five-Year Plan seemed a ``pipedream.’’ All except the government could see that the economy would slow down substantially. Despite substantial slowdown in the last quarter, Yashwant Sinha in his Budget for 2000-2001 pegged the GDP growth rate at 6.1 per cent. Referring to figures of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Mr Singh said the GDP growth rate had come down to 5.2 per cent for 2000-01. Pointing to various sectors, he said the agriculture sector had grown by mere 0.2 per cent. The growth rate of manufacturing sector was 6.8 per cent in 1999-2000 which had now fallen to 5.6 per cent. In the construction sector, the growth rate had fallen to 5.5 per cent against last year’s 8.1 per cent. In elecricity production, the growth rate had fallen to 4.7 per cent from last year’s 5.2 per cent. With sluggish growth of all sectors, the 10th Plan target of 8 per cent growth rate seemed a ``pipedream.’’ Maintaining that the Budget estimates of Mr Sinha were off the mark, Mr Singh said the government did not have a clue about how to lift the economy. He said the actual tax collections were likely to be less than revised estimates by an estimated Rs 10,000 crore. If sharp deterioration in taxation was taken into account, the fiscal deficit would not remain at the Budget figure of 5.1 per cent but increase to about 5.7 per cent. The industrial growth rate at 2.7 per cent was the lowest in the last two years and the slowdown is likely to continue. ``For the first time total tax revenues are less than the corresponding figures last year,’’ Mr Singh said. Both expenditure and revenues of the government were lower than intended and the talk of kick-starting the economy was turning out to be empty. Asked about the disinvestment process in Air-India, about which senior Congress leader Priyaranjan Das Munshi has written a letter, Mr Singh said he was not aware of the contents of the letter but the Congress was not very happy with the way disinvestment process is continuing. The party, Mr Singh said, has been demanding a white-paper over the manner disinvestment is being done. Mr Singh, who accompanied Sonia Gandhi on her US visit, described the trip as ``very positive in terms of its impact.’’ Apart from addressing the United Nations as country’s representative, Mrs Gandhi had met several senior Bush administration officials, including the Vice-President besides many American-Indians. Asked about the Congress stand on NMD, to which the party had serious reservations earlier, Mr Singh said the Congress position remained unchanged. Even the Bush administration officials conceded that many issues had to be cleared before work could start on operationalising the NMD concept.
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ACC scrip erroneously traded at Re 1
Kolkata, July 2 The incident took place at around noon when a BSE broker, saw to his utter surprise that 14,07,517 shares of ACC were sold at a price of Re one and Rs 68 at a time when the prevailing price of the scrip was Rs 144. “The bid was for a single trade of 10,00,500 shares and it appears that the selling price was mistakenly punched for Re one instead of Rs 144 and the entire trade was executed within seconds,” said Mahesh Bajaj, a CSE member, who also has a BSE terminal here. In normal circumstances, if such a mistake is committed by brokers, the bid is not accepted, but in this case it was accepted, market sources said. “Today bids of even Rs one is accepted by both BSE and NSE, which was not the case earlier.” This indicates that the removal of the circuit filter at the two premier stock exchanges of the country might cost dearly to those who dared to become even slightly casual. An indication of this was seen on the very first day of its removal at the Stock Exchange, Mumbai. Bajaj said the mistake could have been avoided had there been proper alerts provided in TWS alloted to brokers. “Some of the alerts are already there, but they are not sufficient to check things like this,” he said. “Error in typing is very normal.” He said when volume increased, volatility also increased. If there was no check, it would be difficult for brokers to execute transactions. In a similar incident at CSE in March last year, a broker found that over 15000 shares of Satyam Computers were sold at a market rate of about Rs 6400 even though the concerned broker wanted to sell only about 100 shares. The CSE broker, Jayanta Poddar, immediately realised his mistake, but by the time he reversed his transaction the damage was done and over 10,000 shares were already sold. Ideally, his terminal should have been deactivated as soon as he had crossed his daily trading limit fixed on the basis of margins deposited, but in that case it was not done.
PTI
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Re tumbles to new low
Mumbai, July 2 A whopping 10-1/2 paise decline from last Friday’s finish of Rs 47.0400/0450, the rupee’s fall though steep, was gentle and orderly, devoid of excessive speculation, a dealer said. Thin volumes and lack of adequate dollar supplies, also dragged the rupee down, he added.
PTI
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Haryana to form policy on biotech Chandigarh, July 2 The Department of Industry of the state today held a seminar attended by the former Union Minister, Mr Charanjit Chanana, the author of the Himachal bio-technology policy, Dr P.K. Khosla and host of other experts from the field of pharmaceutical, agriculture, tissue culture, organic agriculture and animal husbandry, to get the policy inputs from experts. The Principal Secretary to Haryana Chief Minister Mr S.Y. Qureshi asked the experts attending the seminar to guide the state in formulating a bio-technology policy to consolidate the gains Haryana has already made with large number of companies already operating in Gurgaon in the sector and as many as 150 foreign investors showing their interest to come to the city near the national capital. The conference was inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, who expressed the need to take the state ahead in the field considering slowdown in the agriculture sector, non trade barriers in the international business and WTO regime. Qureshi told TNS briefing about the purpose of the conference that the state government is going to set up a task force under the leadership of former Union Minister Mr Charanjit Chanana. He said that the task group comprising couple of senior government officials, experts, representatives from the industry will be requested to prepare the policy in a fortnight or possibly a month. The experts suggested that for bio-technology to take off, the state government is required to set up incubators (highly capital intensive common research facilities), world class research and manpower training institutions, may be a separate bio-technology ministry in the state, an independent expert of international repute from abroad, etc.
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Relaxed
excise rules applicable from July 1 Ludhiana, July 2 Under the new rules, the units are exempted from declaring the classification provided under the old rule 173-B, price pattern declaration under old rule 173-C. The assessees will not have to sent the information of the closure of the mills to the department. The new Central Excise rules framed under notification 30/2001 CE (NT) dated June 21, 2001 are made applicable with effect from July 1, 2001. Under the provisions of these rules, Central Excise assessees will work under litigation free atmosphere. Old rules named as Central Excise Rules-1944, comprising of 234 rules have been repealed and a new set of rules named as “Central Excise Rules- 2001”, comprising of only 33 rules have been made applicable. The Finance Ministry has also cancelled the earlier notification No 9.2001, dated March 1, issued to frame Central Excise Rules-2001, under the provisions of these rules. The units covered under central excise will be now required to issue invoice under rule 11 instead of rule 52-A. The invoice shall be issued in triplicate marked as original for buyer, duplicate for transporter and triplicate for the assessee. The assessees will inform the serial number of invoice to the jurisdictional range Superintendent, instead of Assistant Commissioner as provided under the old rules. Under the new rules, the first and last page of finished goods stock register, being maintained by the assessees will be authenticated by assessees or his authorised agent himself. Under the old rules these registers had to be authenticated from the department. Small scale assessees will continue to file quarterly return within 20 days from the date of the closure of quarter, and rest of the assessees will file monthly returns within 10 days from the closure of month as was provided under old rules. The CENVAT and Appeal rules have been also framed separately. The responsibility of CENVAT user has been modified. Now onwards, if the user has proved the identity of the suppliers, it will be presumed that he has taken reasonable steps to ensure the payment of the central excise duty by the supplier. |
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What to do with your old PC Washington, July 2 When you’re considering giving away or throwing away a PC, there are a number of issues to consider — ones that can affect your pocket book and the environment. Read on to learn more. Q: Are PCs safe to throw away? No, they should be recycled or given away. Some of the parts that make up PCs contain toxic materials, such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. All of these are probably classified as hazardous materials where you live. Conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors — the type used by most PCs — are the most hazardous. The glass in CRTs typically contains up to 8 pounds of lead, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. So if you wish simply to dispose of a PC, you should contact a waste disposal company or recycler in your area. Since disposing of your PC this way will probably cost you money, donating the machine is likely a better, more cost-effective solution. Q: I bought a new computer, and now my old one just sits around. What’s the best way to sell my old PC? The best way to sell your PC — whole or in parts — is probably over an online auction site, such as Ebay (www.Ebay.Com). Computer parts are among the most often and easily sold items on such auction sites, and this way you’ll be sure to get the best possible price. If you simply advertise the computer in a local paper, you may or may not get the price you ask for. To find out how much you’re likely to get by auctioning the PC or the parts inside it, conduct a search on the auction site for computers or parts same yours. In some locales, donating the PC to a non-profit or charitable organisation can yield a tax write-off that’s worth more than the sale of individual parts or the PC itself. That’s because you typically estimate the value of the PC and obtain a receipt. You may wish to consult your tax preparer to determine whether this would work for you. If selling is too much of a hassle, though, don’t discount the idea of giving it to a relative or friend. Giving your PC to older members of your family can be a nice gesture. They may not care as much as you do about having the latest and greatest equipment. Q: what about the software on my PC? If I give the computer away, can I leave the software installed? Not unless you are willing also to give away the licences for the software with the computer - assuming you have licences for all of the software installed. Beyond programs, though, you should be sure to erase all of your data files before selling or giving away your computer. Remember that your PC probably contains passwords, credit-card information, and all sorts of personal data. Remember, too, that simply deleting the files won’t permanently erase the data. To completely rid your drive of its programs and data, you could just reformat it. To do so, you’ll have to boot up your PC with a bootable floppy (making sure that the small program format.Com is on it), and from the command prompt, type “format c:” (without the quotation marks, and press Enter. Reformatting the drive will erase everything on it, so proceed with care. The popular software utility suite Norton Utilities (www.symantec.com) has a program called WipeDisk that will permanently remove files selectively from your drive. Or you can turn to a freeware program such as Lune Rouge’s Wipe Data, available at www.lunerouge.com.
DPA
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New income tax form soon Ludhiana, July 2 It is learnt that in the new tax returns, the individuals would be required to give details of investments over Rs 50,000 in capital assets, in addition to other details. According to Mr Sudhakar Verma, Chief Income Tax Commissioner, the new forms have not still reached the local IT office, but they are expected to reach soon. The new form will have about five annexures or schedules in standardised format or different heads of income.
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SBI Chandigarh Circle
net at Rs 280 crore Chandigarh, July 2 The all round business growth, with deposits rising to Rs 13,929 crore from Rs 12001 crore last year, is up by 16.6 per cent, advances also increased to Rs 9226 crore from Rs 6652 crore showing a hefty growth of 38.61 per cent. Forex business increased to Rs 4354 crore from Rs 3766 crores growing by 16 per cent. This rate of growth in deposits and advances are higher than the All-India growth rate for the SBI of 13.01 per cent and 21.95 per cent respectively. Mr Kakker said that the emphasis will be on housing loans and education loan which is a low NPA area. The bank has set a target of Rs 250 crore for Housing Finance and Rs 150 crore for other schemes like personal loan, car loan, mortgage loan etc. During the year, the bank targeted for the issuance of 45000 kisan credit cards in the circle and has set a goal of Rs 300 crore for fresh deployment of funds in agriculture sector. He said around 95 per cent of total business in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar centres is fully computerised. The bank has identified 52 branches for computerisation during the year. Mr Kakker said out of 1117 employees retired under VRS, 376 were officers. He said there is no ban on leave fare concession (LFC) in the SBI Chandigarh Circle. Employees are availing the concession. Eighteen ATMs have been operationalised and the proposed to install the latest ATMs with touch screens which will make it the first Indian bank to do so (excepting Citi Bank). There has been an increase in CD ratio which is 66.2 per cent on 31.3.2001 as compared to 55.6 per cent last year and the level of gross and net NPAs in the circle is 8.7 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively which compares favourably with All India level of 12.93 per cent and 6.03 per cent. The bank also sets a part of its profits for making donations to needy, destitute, orphanage, downtrodden for their welfare through NGOs for their socially relevant projects said Mr Kakker. The State Bank of India, Staff Training Centre, Sector 14, Panchkula celebrated “Circle Day” today. To mark the “Circle Day”, a quiz on the topic “Know Thy Bank” was also organised for the trainees. |
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Traders’ plea to
withdraw new
drawback rates Panipat, July 2 Mr Mahajan said the handloom exports from the district had reached a new height of nearly Rs 750 crore as against Rs 600 crore during the past year. Speaking on the duty drawback imposed recently by the Central Government, Mr Mahajan said earlier, the duty drawback was available on FOB basis or per-unit basis. But, after linking it with per-kg basis and maximum cap values, duties refund would be negligible. The association decided to plead with the Central Government to increase the duty drawback in all categories. The Haryana Handloom Exporters Association has urged the Central Government not to impose the cap value on the exporters as it was highly unreasonable and has put the exporters in a tight spot. The secretary observed that the government had failed to implement the VAT system.
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UTI to pay 10 pc on US-64 scheme New delhi, July 2 UTI Chairman P.S. Subramanyam told reporters here that the sale and purchase of US 64 is being suspended for about six months due to adverse market condition. Taking note of the meltdown in the IT sector, UTI has reduced for its US 64 exposure in software sector to 7.41 per cent from 21.70 per cent as on June 2001. Mr Subramanyam explained the suspension of US 64 sales and repurchase for six months is being done to divest strategic holdings of the scheme for securing better prices. Unit Trust of India has suspended its popular US-64 scheme for six months as a stabilisation move, its Chairman P.S. Subramaniam said today.
Tips Industries Tips Industries Ltd today posted a sharp decline of over 69 per cent in its net profit which slipped to Rs 719 lakh for the financial year ending March 31, 2001 from Rs 2332 lakh for the previous period. The company said the losses were mainly due to the recent earthquake in Gujarat as the state accounted for over 15 per cent of the company’s sales besides poor sale performance of the three recently released music albums. The net sales also recorded a dip from Rs 11582 lakh to Rs 10,412 lakh during the period. However, during the period, Tips had acquired an overseas subsidiary — Dashmesh International Ltd which had achieved a turnover of $ 2.07 million for the period ending July 31, 2000 and its net profit stood at $ 0.50 million. Declaring a dividend of 10 per cent for the financial year, Tips
Industries said it would continue to adopt a 100 per cent write-off for all its film-based releases and the total write-off for this year was Rs 23 crore. PTI
HDFC MF In a shift from its earlier policy of half yearly dividend declarations for its income fund, HDFC Mutual Fund (MF) has announced a quarterly dividend for the quarter ended June 28, 2001. The dividend declared in HDFC Income Fund under the quarterly plan is 30 paise per unit for the quarter ended June 28, 2001, which is tax-free at the hands of the investor. This follows half-yearly dividend of 60 paise declared for the half year ended March 19, 2001.
Reliance Cap MF Reliance Capital Mutual Fund has declared dividends at the rate of 0.152 per unit (Rs 0.0152 per unit) in the weekly Dividend Option of the Treasury Plan of Reliance liquid fund. The record date for this dividend distribution was June 19, 2001. Reliance liquid is an open and income scheme with high liquidity, and invests only in debt and money market instruments, a company release said here today.
Jindal Photo Films To augment its retail network, Jindal Photo Films Limited (JPFL), India’s largest manufacturer of photographic products, today announced its plans to launch 150 Fujifilm Picture Plazas in 10 select cities across the country beginning this month. The ten-city programme will cover Chandigarh, Asansol, Kolkata, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Nasik, Pune, Bangalore, Cochin and Mysore.
Citibank India Citibank India has posted a 41 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 285 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2001. The turnover for the period under review rose by 21 per cent to Rs 2,272 crore while the net interest income grew by 20 per cent to Rs 772 crore, the bank said in a release here today. The deposits and advances increased by 38 per cent and 40 per cent to Rs 14,052 crore and Rs 9,273 crore respectively taking the balance sheet size to Rs 19,446 crore, it said. The net non-performing assets (NPAs) to net advances declined to 0.70 per cent for 2000-01 as against 1.05 per cent, it said adding capital adequacy ratio improved to 11.24 per cent (10.62 per cent).
Nilkamal Plastics Nilkamal Plastics Ltd, has registered a 19 per cent growth in its net sales for the financial year, ended March 31, 2001. The Board of Directors of the company has recommended a dividend of 12 per cent for the year under review. The company has posted a net sales of Rs 240.92 crore for the year ended March 31, 2001, compared with Rs 202.77 crore for the year ended March 31, 2000. Its other income for the same period amounts to Rs 3.15 crore (Rs 2.92 crore), interest of Rs 14.31 crore (Rs 10.87 crore), depreciation of Rs 14.67 crore (Rs 11.38 crore) and tax nil (Rs 56 lakh), the net profit is lower at Rs 6.48 crore (Rs 25.54 crore).
Asian Hotels Asian Hotels Ltd (AHL) has posted a 33.99 per cent lower profit at Rs 23.86 crore for year ended March 31, 2001, compared to Rs 36.15 crore in previous year. The board has recommended a 70 per cent dividend, which includes an interim dividend of 55 per cent in 2000-01.
Agencies |
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New owner of Guinness Book United drops plans to buy US Airways Sanyo, Sharp agree to tieup BASF Korea buys SM plant Sony unveils high-speed Internet access |
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