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Irani panel for strict action against vanishing firms
Alstom ties up with Infosys
NHPC not keen on North Indian projects
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CII chief for job-led inclusive growth
Banks disburse Rs 9,151 cr to Haryana farm sector
Vita moots white cards for dairy farmers
Seventy oil firms bid for 20 blocks
PM may decide to revise fuel prices today
India to host oil buyer-seller meet
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Irani panel for strict action against vanishing firms
New Delhi, May 31 Mr Irani, who submitted the report today, said that the present framework does not have the desired deterrent effect and needs to be reviewed. Also, the report said there should be a provision for publication of the information relating to convictions for criminal breaches of Companies Act on the part of the company or its officers or key employees in the annual report of the company. “This obligation should extend to criminal convictions in respect of Companies Act only. Besides, such disclosures may be required to be disclosed for the year in which they occurred and need not be repeated in subsequent annual reports,” it added. It has also suggested that under the proposed “in-house” procedure, the power to impose penalty may be vested with the Registrar of Companies, which is a statutory authority. “Since the minimum and maximum quantum of fine would be defined in the Act, this would restrict the scope for discretionary exercise of power,” it added. Allaying aside the views of Sebi, the Irani Committee has recommended that independent directors should constitute at least a third of the board of listed and unlisted companies. The committee, which presented its recommendations to the government on the Concept Paper for the new Companies Act, made a slew of suggestions aimed at simplifying the existing voluminous act and tune as well as prune it to present day realities. However, one of its major recommendations on independent directors goes entirely in confrontation with Sebi, which insists on Clause 49 compliance that stipulates that at least a half of the members of the board of directors should be independent. Speaking to reporters after presenting the report, Mr Irani said that effort had been made to simplfy the law and procedures governing companies. “We have tried to incorporate views from various quarters,” he said. Company Affairs Minister P.C. Gupta said the government would bring a Bill on the new Act by the Winter Session of Parliament. Elaborating on the various provisions, Mr Irani said violations would attract stringent penalties. “We have given full liberty to shareholders and promoters to run the companies. But in case of violations, penalties will be stringent,” he said. Mr Irani, who was entrusted with the task in December last year, said that celebrities and other public personalities on a company’s board would also be liable to punishments in case of default. “We discussed this issue. Any director who sits on board at the time of investment/public issue will be held responsible /liable for that issue for at least two years,” he said.
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Alstom ties up with Infosys
Bangalore, May 31 Alstom Power and Infosys signed an agreement in this regard under which Alstom will pay Euro 39 million to Infosys over the next three years for developing an R & D Centre here. The Centre, which is starting with strength of 60, is expected to have 300 strong staff during this period. Alstom, which presently wants Infosys to give it a jumpstart in the Indian power market, is also looking for a long time relationship with Infosys. Alstom Power President Philippe Joubert here said his company was visualising making Infosys R&D Centre here a Power R&D hub for Asia and later even its global operations. “Eventually we want to spend as much as 20 per cent of all money spent on R&D on power at this Centre,” he added. Mr Joubert said his company felt that the high-end engineering solutions would enable rapid design and reduce the time taken to market a new product. Besides this he said his company felt innovations in its present products according to Indian conditions would improve the life and efficiency of mechanical components and reduce environmental impact and atmospheric emission of its products. Infosys Managing Director Nandan Nilekani while speaking said about 50 to 70 per cent of the cost of any product is decided at the design stage. He said this was not just due to the high quality talent available in India but also because of the world class business practices offered by Indian companies, adding Infosys had guaranteed safety of the intellectual property of Alstom under the agreement inked between the two parties today.
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NHPC not keen on North Indian projects
New Delhi, May 31 It is despite the fact that the Himachal government is making all efforts to woo public and private companies to set up hydel projects in the states. The neighbouring states have also shown their interest to set up joint venture in the state to meet their growing power demand. Punjab yesterday tied up with GAIL, another public sector gas major to set up 1000 MW gas-based power plant near Ludhiana. NHPC though set up to tap the 84,000 MW hydel potential in the country, seems to be struggling to complete the projects in hand. While presenting the financial results of the company here today, Mr A.K. Gangopadhyay, CMD, NHPC, said: “We have no plans to set up any joint ventures with Punjab, Haryana or any other northern state to set up any hydel project in Himachal Pradesh. Neither we have any plans to bid for new projects offered in Himachal or Uttaranchal.” Mr S.K. Garg, Director Finance, NHPC admitted that 800 MW Parbati project in Himachal was likely to spill over to the 11th plan and the 520 MW Parbati project in Himachal will be completed only in 11th plan period. NHPC is presently executing 231 MW Chamera III project in Himachal. Due to delay in the execution of NHPC and other public sector companies’ projects, the Power Ministry has recently scaled down the 10th plan power generation targets by 10 per cent from 41,000 MW to around 36,000 MW. The ministry sources said it was highly unlikely that these targets would be met. Meanwhile, NHPC has registered a marginal increase in net profit from Rs 621.38 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 684.58 crore for 2004-05. Mr Garg said during the current fiscal year the company would try to achieve a net profit of Rs 800 crore. Referring to hydel projects in Arunachal Pradesh and other North-Eastern states, Mr Gangopadhyay said: “Due to insurgency and difficult terrain, the company is facing tough challenge to execute the projects. It has started work on 2,000 MW Subansiri project in Arunachal Pradesh, besides 510 Mw Teesta Stage- V in Sikkim. He said the corporation plans to add 15,000 MWs by 2012 and will require about Rs 68,000 crore. About Rs 25,000 crore will be through equity funding, Rs 37,000 crore from the market and Rs 7,000 crore from internal accruals, he said.
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BSNL enhances capacity in North
Faulty telecom service Though the Minister of Communications and IT assured to introduce new technologies and launch broadband services in the state by the end of next month, subscribers here have been facing faulty services. There have been innumerable complaints of the faulty services of mobile phones, which do not get easy connectivity to the landlines or other mobiles both of BSNL and
Airtel. Airtel had launched its services here last year. The subscribers have also been making complaints about the “insufficient” counters for collection of landline and mobile bills. This leads to heavy rush and long queues at the Central Telegraph Office
(CTO) here, with many subscribers returning only to deposit their bills with surcharge after due dates.
— TNS
Srinagar, May 31 Apart from Jammu and Kashmir, other states in the zone covered under the roll out include Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, while the services would also be extended to other zones. The Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mr Dayanidhi Maran with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed launched the additional capacity at a function here this afternoon. With this the number of mobile connections would go up by about 50 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir, where 2.86 lakh connections would be added, which already has 5.75 lakh connections, the Union Minister announced. Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed speaking on the occasion said that many factors were responsible for the changing scenario in this trouble-torn state, which led to gradual march towards peace. He said one of the major decisions in this direction was the decision of BSNL to launch mobile services in the state, which had been delayed for long due to “security reasons”. He said that the impressions about misuse of mobile services in the region proved wrong and the launch of mobile services about two years ago had helped the people a lot in remaining connected
and in touch. Mr Sayeed referred to the utility of the mobile phones during Amarnath yatra for the first time last year that enabled the pilgrims to remain in touch with nears while away on the pilgrimage. He said Kashmir was becoming a major destination for tourists throughout the year and pointed out that the second phase of Gulmarg Gondola cable car project inaugurated on Saturday was important in this direction. That would attract tourists to Kashmir throughout the year and help in economic uplift of the people dependent on tourism and trade. The CM said that by the end of March next year, the work on Srinagar airport would be completed before it functions as an international airport. In his remarks Mr Dayanidhi Maran said that BSNL would have a vast network to provide services to 2341 towns in the northern zone covering towns up to sub-divisional headquarters. It has an objective to cover all tehsil headquarters and subsequently drive towards the coverage of all block headquarters by March next year.
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CII chief for job-led inclusive growth
New Delhi, May 31 Mr Deveshwar has earned a name in the industry by initiating innovative rural marketing model through e-chaupals of ITC, which have empowered thousands of farmers. In his first press conference, he unveiled CII’s new vision to “convince the industry members to follow the tripple bottomline emphasing on people, planets and profits,” to achieve sustainable development. Refeering to the buoyancy in the economy, he said CII expects India to clock a higher 7.2 per cent growth in fiscal 2005-06 against 6.9 per cent in the previous year. “Backed by good agriculture prospects, with expectations of 3 per cent growth and continued momentum in industry and services, CII expects India’s GDP growth to come in at 7.2 per cent in 2005-06,” said Mr Deveshwar. With the global economic outlook buoyant despite some mild slowdown in the developed economies, CII is hopeful of India clocking a continuing robust growth of around eight percent in manufacturing and services. The forecast of a normal monsoon during June-September is also expected to brighten the prospects of the agriculture sector and help it clock 3 per cent growth. He said CII would work to strengthen employability of youth through skill upgradation initiative.
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Banks disburse Rs 9,151 cr to Haryana farm sector
Chandigarh, May 31 Of the total disbursement of Rs 7,370 crore under Direct Agriculture Advances, crop loan constitutes almost 78 per cent. He exhorted the bankers to increase their lending under term loan portfolio. The banks, he said, should voluntarily come forward for setting up agri-clinics in Haryana to improve agricultural production in the state. Of the total 85, PNB alone has financed 57 such agri-clinics in Haryana. In Jind, the lead bank for the state has financed 10 out of the 14 agri-clinics whereas in Hisar, it has financed nine of the 10 such clinics. Further, of the 19 districts, only four districts could achieve their targets in financing agri-clinics. The bank has set a target of financing 190 agri-clinics during the current financial year. Mr Chopra urged the Department of Revenue, Haryana, to give all possible support to the banks by issuing instructions to the district administration to make available the relevant revenue record of the farmers to the banks, expeditiously, so as to make it easy for banks to sanction loans. The state government should also come forward and provide some incentives in diversification of crops , contract farming, food processing and other supplementary activities that can augment and generate income for the farmers. The Regional Manager of Nabard, MR A. Ramanathan, stressed on the need for setting up large number of Farmers’ Club. He even exhorted private sector banks to come forward. Mr S.C Jain, Director, Institutional Finance and Credit Control, Haryana, impressed on the need for banks to be liberal in financing agriculture sector.
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Vita moots white cards for dairy farmers
Chandigarh, May 31 The federation is working on increasing the disposable marketable surplus of milk from 15 per cent to nearly 40 per cent. The brainchild of the Managing Director, Mr Devinder Singh, an IIM graduate who studied the Amul cooperative movement exhaustively before preparing a blueprint for Haryana’s ambitious project, the idea is to build loyalty between the 4,000-odd cooperative societies and the dairy farmers of the state. Using his business acumen, Mr Devinder Singh has come up with an incentive-based procurement scheme and recommended an insurance cover for their committed farmers. “We will charge Rs 10 from a farmer and give him insurance cover worth Rs 60,000. We have managed to strike a deal with an insurance company,” the MD maintains. Then, with banks, the federation has worked out an arrangement where white cards would be issued to committed farmers, both big and small. “This will help all farmers to avail themselves of the benefits of a loan to the tune of Rs 50,000 for buying milch animals. This would come without any collateral security and would be extended as a privilege to our farmers. We are also in the process of finalising a panel of veterinary doctors since animal health is of as much importance as the health of our farmers,” Mr Devinder Singh adds. These incentives are being packaged for the state’s farmers to dissuade them from selling their milk produce in adjoining Delhi and wean them away from private cooperatives.
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Seventy oil firms bid for 20 blocks
New Delhi, May 31 The final awards will be announced on July 31, and contracts are expected to be signed by October 2, this year. “The response of the foreign and Indian companies have been overwhelming, much above our expectations,” said Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar after the closing of bids submission today. Addressing a press conference, he said: “We are delighted that 27 companies from 13 countries including UK, Russia, Australia, Canada, Italy, Indonesia and Malaysia have come forward to bid for the exploration rights in 20 blocks offered under NELP-V.” Twenty blocks — six deepwater, two shallow water and 12 onland blocks, are spread over 1,09210 square km. The onland blocks fall in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Maharastra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and UP. Among others, British Petroleum, Petrobras, ENI Spa., Cairn Energy, KUFPEC, Norwest Energy, Hunt Oil, Petronas Cargali and Norwest Energy have bid either on their own or as a consortium members. The Indian bidders include Indian Oil, ONGC, GAIL, HPCL, BPCL, Assam Com, OIL, Reliance and Tata Petrodyne and power major NTPC. The government has received over Rs 26 crore, said Mr Aiyar, by selling data packages the highest amount so far.
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PM may decide to revise fuel prices today
New Delhi, May 31 Mr Rangarajan is likely to appraise the Prime Minister on the urgency for raising fuel prices without which the public sector oil companies were losing Rs 72 crore per day. A meeting of the Prime Minister with Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and Finance Minister P Chidambaram may take place tomorrow.The hike in excise duty and road cess warrant a Rs 2.20 per litre increase in petrol and Rs 1.06 a litre raise in diesel prices. Additionally, the cost of supplying cleaner fuel from April 1 came to Rs 0.30 per litre for petrol and Rs 0.24 a litre for diesel. The oil companies will have to take on themselves the Rs 0.37 per litre increase necessitated in petrol prices due to the surge in international oil prices and Rs 2.43 a litre on diesel.
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India to host oil buyer-seller meet
New Delhi, May 31 The meeting assumes importance as Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has already taken a lead in forging an alliance of Gulf oil producers with major Asian consumers. “In the week beginning October 17, we propose to host the oil ministers from Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan to a meeting with four prime Asian buyers — the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and of course Indian,” Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said today. Officials said October meeting would also focus on building energy security through joint investments - consumers making upstream investments in producing countries and suppliers making downstream investments in refining and gas in the consuming nations. Mr Aiyar said he had received in-principle approval for the meeting from Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
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Colgate net up
New Delhi, May 31
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Price index Aircraft complex TVS plans Max NY Life No entry tax Cafe Coffee Day set to expand Workshop on farm sector held 4 pc VAT on engine parts sought |
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