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Saturday,
April 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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FM offers sops for powerloom sector
US economy grows at 1.6 pc
Oil production resumes in Iraq
Punjab ready for VAT from July 1
PNB registers 62 pc growth in profit
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Apparel park
to be set up
in Himachal
Use Net sans connection, courtesy BSNL
ICICI Bank nets Rs 1,206 crore
Opto Circuits to acquire US firm
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FM offers sops for powerloom sector New Delhi, April 25 Moving the Finance Bill, Mr Jaswant Singh said handloom weavers and producers of silk fabrics would continue to remain outside any tax package. They need not register for excise purposes. “Further, the interest of the self-employed, or the small powerloom weavers will be protected by me through a suitable amendment regarding excise registration requirements at the time of the passage of the Finance Bill. The same principle will apply to manufacturers of readymade garments,” he said. “I am happy to note that some of these misapprehensions have already been removed and powerlooms have resumed work. In a similar fashion, I will attend to the legitimate concerns of the hand-processing sector, too,” he said. On the VAT issue, he said it was an “important initiative and must not and cannot be defeated through faulty implementation”. In his opening remarks on the Finance Bill in Parliament today Mr Singh said: “The government is keen that all major states, from all the regions of India, introduce VAT and benefit from a modern tax system”. “It is important to follow a uniform framework in terms of the basic structure of both the law and rates across states for case of tax administration, avoiding distortions as well as unifying the nation’s markets”, he said. The Finance Minister said so far only 16 states were ready for implementing VAT and only eight states had passed the necessary VAT legislation. “The VAT Bills to be presented for Presidential assent in the future and those already received for such assent will need to incorporate the latest set of recommendations of the Empowered Committee in this regard”, Mr Singh said. The Empowered Committee is scheduled to meet on April 29 to discuss the matter. Mr Singh informed the House that a new pension scheme based on defined contribution is being finalised by the government. In addition, the government was also in the process of setting up a pension fund regulatory and development authority. “The scheme will be applicable to new entrants to the government service and to other persons in the unorganised sector on a voluntary basis”, he said. He also announced the release of the first tranche of pre-payment of high cost debt of Rs 14,000 crore for state governments. The Centre was expecting to
substitute high-cost debt of states of another Rs 30,000 crore in the current year. |
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US economy grows at 1.6 pc
Washington, April 25 U.S. gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy's health, grew by an anemic 1.6 per cent in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department said. That was a bit faster than the 1.4 per cent growth rate recorded in the fourth quarter last year, but it fell well short of the revival in growth some economists had been hoping to see in this report. Bond prices jumped after the report while the dollar pared its gains and stock futures prices slipped. U.S. economists in a Reuters survey had expected a 2.3 per cent rise in GDP. Consumers, who were nervous in the run-up to the March 20 start of the war against Iraq, spent cautiously. Their spending increased a mere 1.4 per cent in the first quarter, the weakest gain since the second quarter of 2001 — in the middle of the 2001 recession. Spending decelerated from a 1.7 per cent growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2002. The net exports — the gap between what Americans consumed from abroad and what they exported — made a contribution to GDP. Business investment in new plants and equipment proved to be surprisingly weak, contracting by 4.2 per cent in the first quarter following a 2.3 per cent rise in the fourth quarter. Spending on equipment and software fell by 4.4 per cent, the steepest drop since the third quarter of 2001. Reuters
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Oil production resumes in Iraq
Cairo, April 25 Oil production restarted in the southern fields around the city of Basra and is averaging 175,000 barrels per day, according to Major General Carl Strock of the US Army Corps of Engineers. He said this crude was for domestic use only and that it would supply the Basra refinery and power plants in the next couple of days. The Basra refinery, with a capacity of 170,000 bpd, has been closed because of a lack of crude supply, electricity and workforce. In the next day or two, 60,000 barrels a day are expected to begin flowing in the North.
AFP |
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Punjab ready for VAT from July 1 Chandigarh, April 25 This was stated by Mr Suresh Kumar, Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Punjab, here today at a workshop organised by the PHDCCI on ‘‘VAT: impact on industry in Punjab.’’ He said the sales tax collections in Punjab had registered a growth of 10.7 per cent from Rs 2,800 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 3,100 crore in 2002-03. But if the consumption and income pattern were any indication, the total tax collections should be above Rs 10,000 crore, he added. The tax collections was against the target of Rs 3,500 crore. He said there was a large scale tax evasion under the present tax regime. VAT would bring tax evaders into tax net, besides simplifying the collection of revenue. Mr Suresh Kumar said Punjab was ready to implement VAT
provided other states could evolve a consensus on the issue. He claimed that the state government was making all efforts to address the concerns of traders and industry. Meetings were being held at district level with traders and industrial associations. |
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PNB registers 62 pc growth in profit Chandigarh, April 25, Mr Harwant Singh,
GM, Northern Zone, addressing mediapersons said here today that the total deposits of the zone were at Rs 6,912 crore showing an increase of 12.7 per cent over the corresponding period last year. The total credit was at Rs 3,232 crore, an increase of 17.15 per cent over the corresponding period last year. The bank is focusing on computerisation of operation and out of 404 it has computerised 370 branches in the zone. Plans are afoot to computerise all branches by this fiscal
year. The bank has also taken up implementation of Centralised Banking Solution by providing connectivity in 12 of the branches of the Zone enabling bank to offer“ Any Time Any Where Banking”. The bank has 92ATMs in the region and it is planning to instal 34 more ATMs. Mr Harwant Singh said due to the Bill on NPAs the bank had been able to reduce its NPAs from Rs 459 crore in 2002 to Rs 442.52 crore this year. PNB had signed a pact with New India Assurance Co Ltd for the distribution of assurance products through the bank branches. |
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Apparel park
to be set up
in Himachal Shimla, April 25 The proposed park would come up at Katha Bhatoli village in Nalagarh, which was close to the Baddi-Barotiwala industrial corridor. The project would be anchored by the Department of Industries with the stakeholder share under the scheme to be provided by the state housing board. The situation of utilisation of plots in the industrial area, Parwanoo, was reviewed in detail. |
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Use Net sans connection, courtesy BSNL Chandigarh, April 25 He said the subscribers would not require to apply separately for the Internet connections. The charges of Internet would be added in the monthly bills. BSNL cellular connections in Punjab had crossed 1.8 lakh connections in Punjab, capturing over 17 per cent market share within five months. |
ICICI Bank nets Rs 1,206 crore ICICI BANK has reported a net profit of Rs 1,206.18 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2003, compared to Rs 258.30 crore posted in previous year. The board of the bank declared a 75 per cent dividend (Rs 7.50 per share) for the fiscal 2002-03, as against 20 per cent declared last year, an ICICI Bank release said here today. The total income for the period under review increased to Rs 12,526.88 crore as against Rs 2,726.59 crore in FY-02. Interest earned in FY-03 was higher at Rs 9,368.05 crore (Rs 2,151.93 crore in FY-02) while other income stood at Rs 3,158.83 crore (Rs 574.66 crore), it said. In the fourth quarter, the net profit increased to Rs 337.68 crore (Rs 56.88 crore) and total income rose to Rs 2,843.44 crore (Rs 852.16 crore), it added. The consolidated profit after tax in FY-03 was Rs 1,152 crore. The results for FY-03 include that of erstwhile ICICI Ltd and its subsidiaries — ICICI Personal Financial Services and ICICI Capital Services — amalgamated with the bank effective March 30, 2002. ICICI Bank said its non-performing assets were Rs 3,151 crore constituting 4.9 per cent of customer assets. The bank made total provisions and write-offs, including accelerated/additional provisions and write-offs, of Rs 1,791 crore against loans and other assets, primarily relating to erstwhile ICICI’s portfolio, it added.
McDowell McDowell and Company has posted a net profit of Rs 21.09 crore for the year ended on March 31, 2003, as compared to a net profit of Rs 15.77 crore in the corresponding period last year. McDowell said here today in a statement that the company’s total income also increased to Rs 999.56 crore in the financial year 2003 from Rs 896.30 crore in the previous
fiscal. The company posted a net profit of Rs 7.31 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, ’03.
Raymond Raymond Ltd has reported a higher net profit at Rs 90.26 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2003, compared to Rs 88.11 crore posted in the previous fiscal. The Board has recommended a 45 per cent dividend for the period under review, the company said in a release here today. Net sales/income from operations in FY-03 increased to Rs 1,020.59 crore as against Rs 975.12 crore last year. For the fourth quarter ended March, 2003, the net profit stood at Rs 32.44 crore (Rs 33.31 crore in Q4 of FY-02) while the net sales/income from operations declined to Rs 282.92 crore (Rs 290.92 crore).
HCL Infosystems HCL Infosystems said yesterday it posted a 234 per cent rise in its net profit for the third quarter ended March 31, 2003, to Rs 34.35 crore as compared to corresponding period a year ago. During the quarter the company’s revenue grew 112 per cent to Rs 743.21 crore, a company release said here.
Exide Exide Industries today reported more than 66 per cent increase in its net profit for 2002-03. The company achieved a net profit of Rs 52.33 crore on a total turnover of Rs 1,095.31 crore, showing a growth of 11.52 percent.
TNS & Agencies
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Opto Circuits to acquire US firm Bangalore, April 25 Microsoft launches Server 2003 San Francisco:
Microsoft Corporation today announced the worldwide launch of integrated server platform - Windows Server 2003, which would cost in India between Rs 35,000 to Rs 1.4 lakh and help corporates to do more with less at a time when budgets were tight.
PTI
American Airlines CEO resigns Fort Worth (Texas): The Chairman and Chief Executive of American Airlines resigned as labour leaders and negotiators for the carrier agreed to a sweetened package of cost cuts in an effort to keep the company out of bankruptcy. Mr Gerard Arpey, the company’s president, will replace Mr Donald J. Carty as CEO, while board member Edward A Brennan will take over as chairman.
AP
Sanyo plunges into red Tokyo: Sanyo said today that it plunged into the red in the year to March after incurring massive losses on its stockholdings. Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. posted a net loss of 72.8 billion yen ($ 606.8 million), reversing a profit of 1.7 billion yen a year earlier, while its pre-tax loss slumped to 84.9 billion yen, against a profit of 3.3 billion yen.
AFP
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TVS Scooty Pep Intex Tech Dena Bank chief Tata AIG Life Bausch & Lomb Kotak Bank Hudco profit
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New Delhi, April 25
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