 |
|
FM radio policy within few weeks, says Reddy
PC favours flexibility in labour market
Tata rings the bell at NYSE
MP attracting industries again
GSM players may approach court
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Garphics: Consumer
Price Index for urban non-manual employees Net profit of Public Sector banks
Bhel posts Rs 658-crore profit
|
|
FM radio policy within few weeks, says Reddy
New Delhi, September 28 Talking to The Tribune, Mr Reddy disclosed that his Ministry which has remained low profile so far, will announce several initiatives in the next few days. “The national FM radio policy will be announced in a few weeks.” When asked whether the government would allow FM radios to broadcast news as well, he declined to make any comment, adding that the government was seized of the issue. Mr Reddy said the ministry has also proposed to rationalise the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) investment in the print and electronic media. “We have proposed to rationalise the 26 per cent FDI limit for the electronic and print media and have proposed that either FDI or foreign institutional investors (FIIs) should be allowed to hold 26 per cent stake in the print and electronic media,” he said. At present, he said, the listed print and electronic media were allowed to offer 26 per cent stakes to the foreign partners, but the government would allow FIIs also to invest up to that limit to bring more investment in the sector, besides technological upgradation. Trai had recently submitted its recommendations to the government on licencing issues relating to second Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting. The suggestions included a new licensing regime consisting of one-time entry fee and a revenue share of 4 per cent, migration of Phase I licensees to the revised Phase II regime in case they are successful in the bidding for Phase II besides recommending a low entry fee to maximise the number of players so as to afford the widest possible competition. The Trai has also recommended allowing the maximum number of frequencies possible in metros, Hyderabad and Bangalore. A minimum of two frequencies should be offered even in the smallest town in order to ensure competition, variety of programming and keeping low entry cost. It has also recommended that the existing restriction on news and current affairs should be reviewed by government and lifted after incorporating adequate safeguards. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had on February 12 sent the report of the Radio Broadcast Policy Committee to Trai for making appropriate recommendations. The committee was headed by Dr Amit Mitra, secretary-general, Ficci.
|
|
PC favours flexibility in labour market
New Delhi, September 28 “We must introduce some flexibility in the labour market,” he said after launching the temporary employment network portal www.teamlease.com “We have allowed some flexibility, except for industrial workers. Even for industrial workers, there is a thinking for doing away with some rigidities,” he added. Saying that no employer could ensure lifetime employment to employees, Mr Chidambaram said labour flexibility was essential to leapfrog and plunge into the global economy. During the business upturn, the companies would like to employ more people and during ebb, they may like to shun some of the workers. “So it was essential to have flexibility,” he added. Temporary staffing is a $ 140 billion global industry that is relatively new in India but gaining rapid acceptance. Teamlease estimates that reforms and amendments to various regulations that hinder temporary employment could raise the white-collar temporary staff population in India from the current 50,000 to over 14 million in three years, Teamlease Managing Director Ashok Reddy said. TeamLease Services is a staffing solutions company for individuals seeking part-time or flexible employment and businesses seeking recruitment and flexible staffing solutions. At present, the company has offices in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Pune. TeamLease has over 9500 associates in over 204 locations across India and operates across all major functional and industry verticals.
— UNI
|
|
Tata rings the bell at NYSE
New York, September 28 The company listed its stock yesterday, after converting its Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) into American Depository Receipts (ADRs). Stocks of foreign companies on the NYSE are listed as ADRs. Chairman Ratan N. Tata of the company, India’s first engineering firm to list its stock on the Big Board, was present on the NYSE floor. He rang the opening bell to mark the beginning of the trade for the day. Senior company officials and NYSE officeholders were present on the occasion. Mr Tata said: “We are confident the company will benefit from the capital market access that this listing provides, and from the adoption of the comprehensive corporate governance standards.” The company will, now on, have to publish its financial results in accordance with America’s generally accepted accounting principles, known as GAAP. The ADRs represent 6.4 per cent of the company’s paid-up share capital. Tata Motors’ shares are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange in India, where its market capitalisation is around Rs 15,000 crore. Consequent to the NYSE listing, the shares of Tata Motors on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange stood suspended, according to a news release. Tata Motors — the eighth Indian company to get listed on the NYSE — has manufacturing plants in Jamshedpur, Pune and Lucknow. The company exports its vehicles to Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe. It has a market share of 17 per cent in India, where it is considered the second largest player. The other seven firms from India on the NYSE are Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, Satyam Computers, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Wipro. Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata said on Monday the Indian conglomerate’s auto division has had talks with a Chinese manufacturer about building a passenger car for China, the world’s fastest growing vehicle market. Tata declined to name the prospective Chinese partner but told reporters that it has been looking to produce a small car for the Chinese market, perhaps a variant of its Indica model. He said it was premature to talk about when the company would unveil cars in the Chinese market. Mr Tata said he hopes the New York Stock Exchange listing will give Tata Motors, which has 60 per cent share in the Indian vehicle market, the visibility it needs to “traverse new markets.” In addition to China, Mr Tata said, the company is targeting Europe, South Africa and Southeast Asia with a mix of vehicles, including small passenger cars, pick-up trucks and heavy trucks. It does not now have heavy trucks in its product line.
— Agencies
|
|
Insurers to oppose FDI hike move
Chandigarh, September 28 Addressing a joint press conference, Mr R.P Manchanda, former president of the association and Mr S.S Kooner, president of the North Zone Insurance Employees’ Association, said an increase in foreign equity in insurance would increase the ability of the private companies to manipulate and exploit the insurance market. This and few other pertinent issues having a bearing on the insurance sector would be discussed at the three-day 27th general conference beginning here tomorrow. The conference would urge the government for a public opinion once the foreign holding is raised to 49 per cent, in the event of the Indian partner putting up his share for public offer, the foreign partner would be the majority shareholder and would effectively control the company. Thus, foreign capital will gain greater access and control over domestic savings. The issue of wage revision of LIC employees, which is due since August 2002, will also be deliberated upon. Talking about the workload, they said some time ago 7,000 policies were being handled by 94,000 employees and now 17,000 policies were being handled by 80,000 employees. Hence, they would call upon the government to settle the wage dispute as the LIC employees have produced more, served more policies, settled more claims and mobilised more funds. The association has already given a call for one-hour walkout strike on October 7 and two-hour walk out strike on October 29. However, if the authorities concerned do not resolve the issue through negotiations, they would be forced to go on a one-day strike in November.
|
|
MP attracting industries again
Bhopal, September 28 Two units set up in the Special Economic Zone, Indore, have gone into production and the government expects to receive proposals for the establishment of new industries.
|
|
GSM players may approach court
Singapore, September 28 “The consultation process initiated by Trai is worrisome. The approach appears to be favouring CDMA operators,” Mr Mittal told reporters on the sidelines of the 3GSM World Congress Asia 2004 here. “If the outcome is not in the right directions, the matter will go to courts. It is going to be another long-drawn battle,” he said. Leading private cellular operators, including Bharti, BPL, Hutch and Idea, have already applied for 3G cellular licences, COAI said, adding “while the imminent unified telecom licences will allow existing operators to offer both 2G and 3G services, band 1900 MHz (known as IMT 2000) spectrum is undoubtedly reserved for 3G services and applications and should only be used for the same.”
Expansion plans
Eyeing a market share of 22 per cent this year, India’s largest private-sector telecom player Bharti Televentures will invest $ 1400 million during 2004-06 for expanding the company’s network infrastructure in the country. “We are spending $ 700 million this year in doubling base stations to 10,000 and an equal amount will be spent next year to increase the number of base-stations,” Bharti group chairman Sunil Mittal told reporters here on the sidelines of the GSM World Congress Asia 2004. Mittal said the company had already awarded contracts for sourcing equipment to Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens for network expansion.
Cordless phones
Bharti Teletech, today introduced the country’s first 2.4 GHz band cordless phone range. The company plans to sell 1 million 2.4GHz cordless phones in the next 24 months. The 2.4 GHz band cordless phones offer multifarious benefits to customers including superior voice clarity and up to three times better range in comparison to the existing CT-0 range of phones. Bharti Teletech also announced the rollout of the first consignment of GE phones manufactured at its Ludhiana factory, meant for exports. This is as per the agreement between Bharti and Atlinks.
— TNS, Agencies
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
bb
Myna in Baddi Lloyd Electric Hexaware ICMF election MUTP loan |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
