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Tuesday,
June 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Govt settles row with Tatas
Limited seizure powers for SEBI Software
turnover set to touch $80 b
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Union Bank goes public in July
Maple Leaf to make pop-up cards for ITC
Milkfed hikes cow milk prices
Noida PF office opens today
HDFC announces
sops for NRIs BP engine oil for bikes on cards More Delta flights to India KVIB honey plant in J & K soon Carlson Park Plaza by 2004
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Govt settles row with Tatas New Delhi, June 10 The agreement follows a marathon nine-hour meeting between the government and officials of Tata ended today. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and VSNL agreed that the committee appointed by the VSNL Board would study and decide the quantum and the price at which investment would be made by VSNL in Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) at various points of time. A joint
statement issued at the end of the meeting said that the two sides have reached the agreement following “cordial discussions’’ here today on the strategic investment to be made by VSNL in Tata Teleservices Ltd. “The committee will also decide the tranches and periodicity of investment in TTSL,’’ the statement said. The committee would include a government nominee Director, Mr Y S Bhave. It would complete its deliberations by August 15. Both DoT and VSNL reiterated their commitment to working in a spirit of mutual understanding and accommodation to secure VSNL’s future. Among those who attended the meeting included V Vaish of the Department of Telecom and Tata Industries Managing Director Kishore Chaukar. Today’s decision follows several days of hectic consultation between the government, represented by the Department of Telecom, VSNL and top brass of the Tata group. The decision was based on a letter drafted by Dr D.P.S. Seth, Member (services), Telecommunication Commission (DoT), to VSNL Managing Director Shailendra Gupta who replied that “ we are agreeable and will proceed to circulate the resolutions as per your suggestion.” The letter said a government nominee director Y S Bhave will be on the Board of VSNL. The committee will identify and quantify any additional investment opportunities which are more attractive and submit it to the Board for its consideration. Sources in the Tata said that the decision of
VSNL to invest in TTSL will not be hampered and the decision of May 28 stands undiluted. |
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Limited seizure powers for SEBI New Delhi, June 10 The final touches to the proposed amendments to the SEBI Act were given at a meeting presided over by Mr C.M. Vasudev, Secretary (Economic Affairs), Ministry of Finance. The meeting was attended by SEBI Chairman G.N. Bajpai, Company Affairs Secretary V.N. Dahl and other senior officials of the Finance Ministry. Mr Vasudev told newspersons that search and seizure powers for SEBI will be limited for cases of insider trading and fraudulent market manipulation. There would be some safeguards so that SEBI does not misuse these powers. For carrying out search and seizure powers, an order has to be passed by the SEBI Chairman and approved by a magistrate as is the case with the RBI and the Department of Company Affairs (DCA). Mr Vasudev said SEBI will be able to impose penalties up to Rs 25 crores for serious offences. For smaller offences, SEBI will be able to inflict a penalty of up to Rs 1 crore. Officials of the relevant departments will now prepare the draft legislation in the next few days, after which it will go to the Cabinet. The Amendment to the SEBI Act is be introduced in the Monsoon session, Mr Vasudev said. At present search and seizure powers are provided only to agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The meeting of the secretaries comes after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Law minister Arun Jaitley ironed out differences among the ministeries on some vital issues on May 31. The government was working on the SEBI Act ever since the Budget announcement by Mr Sinha. The market regulator had sought extra powers to punish offenders who indulged in price rigging. Regulators such as the Securities Exchange Commission of the USA have powers to impose penalties up to three times the value of the offence. In India, the RBI can impose
penalties in certain cases of serious nature. UNI |
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Software turnover set to touch $80 b Hyderabad, June 10 According to Nasscom, the software industry will log 34 per cent annual growth in the years ahead to touch $80 billion in turnover by 2008. "We are not just optimistic but the target is realistic," Kiran Karnik, President of Nasscom, told a press conference on the first-day of the Indian IT and ITES (IT-Enabled Service) Strategy Summit 2002 here. The two-day summit has been organised to focus on challenges and opportunities in the Indian IT and ITES industry. Karnik, who unveiled the revised Nasscom-Mckinsey study 2002, said by 2008 the industry would employ 4 million people, account for 7 per cent of India's GDP and 30 per cent of India's foreign exchange inflows. Last year was the only bad year when the industry registered a mere 29 per cent growth. In the year that ended March 31, the Indian software and services industry clocked an export turnover of Rs.365 billion, a growth of 29 per cent over the previous year. During 2000-01, the industry logged 55 per cent growth in software exports. Highlighting the salient features of the study, Karnik said: "Despite the challenges facing the sector, we are optimistic about the long-term potential of this industry. We believe four powerful forces will continue to drive it. "For one, a large mass of potential customers is set to take off. Furthermore, India has achieved the familiarity and experience with offshore services and this is dramatically increasing the breadth of service lines. "Significant under-penetrated segments exist at both country and industry levels and there is pressure on global majors to move a significant portion of their work to India." According to the study , the ITES sector is set to grow faster than the earlier projections given the increased interest in outsourcing by global companies. The IT software and services industry has been segmented into four components — the IT services and exports sector, ITES exports, product and technology services and the domestic market. IT services exports will touch $28 billion to $30 billion by 2008. The ITES segment will account for $21 billion to $24 billion, while the products and tech services industry will contribute around $8 billion to $10 billion to overall revenues. The domestic software market will generate revenues of $13 billion to $15 billion, the study added. The study also shows that the contribution of Indian software and the IT-enabled industry to the GDP will increase from 0.3 per cent in 1998-99 to 7 per cent in 2008. IT software and services export revenues will account for more than 30 per cent of all foreign exchange inflows by 2008 from the figure of 8 per cent currently. The IT industry will create over 2 million jobs by 2008 with software contributing to approximately 1.1 million and the ITES sector an additional 1 million jobs. In addition, the parallel support services industry will create employment for another 2 million people. The study report notes that over the last two years, the industry landscape has fundamentally changed in terms of customer purchasing behaviour, entry of global IT majors and increasing polarisation of player performance. The study also advised the industry to focus on under penetrated geographies. "While established markets such as the USA and Britain have been tapped to a marginal extent (below 3 per cent), large non-English speaking markets in Japan and Western Europe remain under penetrated by Indian IT companies. "These two markets alone offer the Indian industry over $5-6 billion in export potential. Indian companies also have great opportunities in English-speaking geographies like Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia. "Together these markets account for 6.7 per cent of the world's IT spend and represent an opportunity of $1.2 billion by 2008." On expanding opportunities in ITES, Karnik said the Indian ITES industry was expected to account for 37 per cent of the total IT software and services export market in India by 2008.
IANS |
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Union Bank goes public in July Mumbai, June 10 The IPO will be at cash for Rs 10 each per share at a premium of Rs 10 per share. The current capital adequacy ratio of the bank is in the region of 11.07 per cent which would have taken care of the bank’s capital requirements for the next year. Disclosing this at a press conference, Union Bank CMD V.Leeladhar said the bank firmed up a three-year programme to implement core banking solution at 500 branches in 50 centres with a centralised database hub in Mumbai at an estimated outlay of Rs 150 crore and a major part of the expenditure would be met by the funds
raised through IPO. It would cover 60 per cent of the bank’s business volume. The project is a part of recommendations made by consulting firm KPMG. The solutions to be integrated by Wipro include Infosys for its core banking solution “Finacle” and Internet banking product “Bankaway”, FSS of Chennai for ATM switch and B.K. Solution of Chennai for the telebanking systems. Mr Leeladhar informed that the centralised core banking solution would later be extended to 1000 branches by the end of 2007 with the installation of around 200 ATMs.
UNI |
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Maple Leaf to make pop-up cards for ITC Kolkata, June 10 Maple Leaf will exclusively make pop-up cards for ITC as part of the terms of the alliance. ITC is expected to relaunch the pop-up cards under the “Expressions” brand later in the quarter, sources said. “Manufacture of pop-up card entails intricate designing and requires specialised skills. The alliance will help leverage the manufacturing skills of Maple Leaf and help the marketing organisation of ITC to tap the latent demand for such cards in the country,” the sources said. The move will help the company to leverage the respective strengths in distribution and technology and help the business to bring in the best available cards to consumers. Pop-up cards occupy a niche segment in the overall card market with almost 5 per cent market share in the metros.
UNI |
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Milkfed hikes cow milk prices Chandigarh, June 10 Welcoming the recommendations of the Disinvestment Commission to restructure the Milkfed and other public sector units in the state, the Punjab unit of the Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) has urged the state government to increase milk rates in Punjab. Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, President, said, ‘‘the Milkfed, had not increased the milk rates for the past many years. Though an increase of 60-65 paisa per litre of cow milk had been announced from June 11, but the fact is that more than 70 per cent of milk producers sell buffalo milk.’’ The cost of milk production had increased manifold due to increase in cost of animals, fodder, cattle feed and other inputs. However, due to the threat of imported milk, the milk rates had not been revised resulting in heavy losses to the farming community. In fact, the animal husbandry, which used to provide additional income to farmers, had become a money losing business. However, the over-staffed Milkfed has failed to check its expenses or to introduce any drastic change in marketing and distribution network. |
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Noida PF office opens today New Delhi, June 10 It will bring modern PF and pensions facilities to the Employment Provident Fund beneficiaries almost at their doorstep in the industrial belt of Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad and Bulandshehar districts. The Sub-Accounts Office at Noida has been catering to the needs of about one lakh beneficiaries at 1,088 establishments in Gautam Budh Nagar district only. The setting up of its own building with modern and computerised operations will facilitate better delivery of services to the workers by the Sub-Accounts Office in three districts of western Uttar Pradesh. |
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