The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	delay in coal production Ministry issues show-cause notices to eight firms Also, seeks explanation from JSW, Tata Steel, three others New Delhi, December 25 The Coal Ministry has issued show-cause notices to eight firms, including Hindalco Industries and Mahanadi Coalfields, and sought explanation from five firms, including JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Power Finance Corp, for delays in commencing production from mines allocated to them. "You are hereby called upon to show cause, on each milestone separately to this ministry as to why delay in the development of the coal block(s) should not be held as violation of the terms and conditions of the allocation and why the block should not be deallocated," the Coal Ministry said in the show-cause notice to the firms. The ministry further said: "If the companies fail to give reasons for the delays, it would be presumed that the company has no explanation to offer and action as appropriate would be taken against your company(ies) for deallocation". The eight companies issued show-cause notices include Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, Hindalco Industries, Neyveli Lignite Corp for Talbira II and III coal blocks. In the case of Talabira coal block in Odisha, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had in October lodged a case against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary PC Parekh for alleged irregularities in allocation of mine eight years ago. The notice has also been issued to Ispat Godavari Ltd, Ind-Agro Synergy Ltd, Nakoda Ispat, Vandana Global, Shree Bajrang Power and Ispat Ltd for delaying the production from Nakia I and II coal blocks. In letters to five firms -- JSW Steel Ltd, Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd, Jaibalaji Industries, Tata Steel and Power Finance Corp -- the Coal Ministry said: "You are hereby called upon to explain the reasons for slow progress as well as the efforts made by you in development of coal block(s) failing which it would be presumed that your company(ies) has no explanation to offer and action as appropriate would be taken." The ministry sought explanation from JSW Steel Ltd, Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd, Jaibalaji Industries for slow progress in respect of Rohne coal block, Tata Steel for Kotre-Basantpur and Pachmo coal blocks and Power Finance Corp for Meenakshi and Dipside Meenakshi coal blocks. — PTI
	non-utilisation of csr funds Committee for action against CIL officials New Delhi, December 25 Dismayed that world's largest coal miner Coal India Limited (CIL) could spend barely 15 per cent of the funds earmarked for corporate social responsibility (CSR), a parliamentary panel has recommended that officials responsible for it must be made accountable. "Out of allotment of Rs 553.33 crore in 2011-12 for CSR activities, Coal India and its subsidiaries could spend only Rs 82 crore and the same was, therefore, gross failure of duty on part of the company and its subsidiaries," Standing Committee on Coal and Steel, headed by Kalyan Banerjee has said in its latest report. The committee has said although the Coal Ministry has replied that they have intentions to spend the money for CSR activities but in reality it seems that they do not have serious intention to spend it. "While pointing out to the callous attitude of the ministry towards CSR spending, the committee was of the view that the officers in charge of spending money on CSR activities must be made accountable for this failure to spend the CSR budget," it recommended. On ministry's plea that there were certain constraints responsible behind non-utilisation of the CSR funds, the committee has not only sought the reasons from it but also has sought an action taken report against the officials responsible for it. The committee also deplored the "slow action" of CIL with regard to preparing the action plan for identification and implementation of CSR projects. Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production. — PTI
	Mining ban hurting economy, exports: Commerce Minister New Delhi, December 25 Ban on mining by the Supreme Court has hit the economy and exports besides increasing India's dependence on imported coal. "It (mining ban) has hurt our economy. It has hurt exports, (particularly) iron ore exports. It has increased our dependence on coal imports. So both ways we are losers," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told PTI in an interview. But for the ban on mining, he said, India could have earned by exporting around 100 million tonnes of iron ore. "We have been deprived of the precious foreign exchange and what we could have mined in India. When it comes to coal, USD 22 billion plus was the coal import bill," the minister said adding: "These are the areas which need a serious look." The Supreme Court had banned iron ore mining in Karnataka in July-August 2011 and in Goa in October 2012. Earlier, Sharma has raised concerns over judicial activism and said: "India badly needs judicial reforms". Following the ban, shipments of iron ore plunged to 18 million tonnes in 2012-13 from nearly 168 million tonnes in 2010-11. Before the ban, India was exporting iron ore worth over USD 7 billion. As regards coal, the environmental restrictions have significantly hampered coal production in the country, leading to increase in dependence on coal imports. Slow down in exports have increased the trade deficit as well as the current account deficit. While the trade deficit soared to a record high of USD 191 billion in 2012-13, CAD jumped to USD 88.2 billion, or 4.8 percent of the GDP during the period. The mining sector, with a weight of about 14 per cent in Index of Industrial Production (IIP), saw a contraction of 3.5 per cent in October as against a dip of 0.2 per cent in the same month last fiscal. — PTI
	E-insurance to come into existence from next year New Delhi, December 25 Insurance policy document will become digital and paperless like shares in the new-year and the policyholders would be saved from preserving the physical copies of their insurance policies. From April onwards, policy document would come in electronic form for all the new insurance policy sold. Over 25 crore policyholders owning close to 37 crore policies would get their e-insurance in phased manner, CAMS Repository Services Ltd CEO SV Ramanan said. The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) is likely to announce the roadmap to make it mandatory, by which insurance companies would have to compulsorily issue policies to their customers only in electronic form, he said. According to an estimate, the current cost to insurer to service policies is over Rs 600 per annum per policy. However, with insurance repository, the initial incidental cost would come down to less than Rs 100 per annum per policy, he said, adding, the initiative would benefit both policyholders and insurance companies from convenience and cost front. "We have initiated multi-level programme for educating policyholders on e-insurance across India leveraging our huge network of 390 branches and our domain expertise in insurance," he said. "Insurance policyholders would have the option to access their insurance policies online by opening an insurance account in the electronic form, free of cost.," he said. — PTI
	Bank deposits grow 17%, credit up 15% Mumbai, December 25 Bank deposits grew 17 per cent year- on-year as on December 13 due to higher mobilisation, driven by the Reserve Bank's special swap window for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (banks) or FCNR (B) deposits. The deposits stood at Rs 75,24,217 crore on December 13, as against Rs 64,30,998 crore during the same period last year, according to RBI's fortnightly data. "Part of the growth in deposits can be attributed to the FCNR (B) flows through the RBI special window," a state-owned bank's treasurer said. On September 4, the Reserve Bank opened a special concessional window for banks to swap their FCNR (B) deposits. The window, aimed at containing the rupee's fall, was open until November 30, when banks mobilised USD 26 billion of FCNR (B) deposits during the period. — PTI
	Gionee aims 10% share in handset market in 3 years New Delhi, December 25 Chinese handset maker Gionee is targeting to achieve a market share of 10 per cent in three years in India on the back of good uptake for its smartphones. "We are aiming 10 per cent market share in the Indian handset market in three years," Gionee Smartphones President Lu Weibing told PTI. He said Gionee considers India the second priority market after China and plans to launch about 20 models every year, majority of which would be smartphones. "After three years, 80 per cent of the total phones sold in India are likely to be smartphones and we plan to launch new models every year," Weibing said. The company is also aiming for a turnover of USD 1 billion by 2016. Gionee, which is among the top three players in China, decided to launch its own brand in India in Q1 of 2013. It used to be an original device manufacturer (ODM) for many Indian brands earlier. "We had ODM business in India but now we have stopped that. We are no longer making phones for other players in India," he added. The company has also launched its new flagship smartphone E7 in India, with a price tag of Rs 29,999 for 32 GB and Rs 26,999 for 16 GB model. The company is also planning to launch the 4G version of the device in India soon. — PTI
	Videocon to bid for additional spectrum in Punjab, MP New Delhi, December 25 Mobile operator Videocon plans to bid for additional spectrum in two service areas -- Punjab and Madhya Pradesh -- in upcoming auction starting January 23. "Considering our growth plans, business projections and the fact that we want to give the best experience to our customers, we are planning to acquire additional spectrum for Punjab and MP (includes Chhattisgarh) circles," Videocon Telecom Director and CEO Arvind Bali said. Videocon is the first company to confirm its participation for the next round of spectrum auction. Last two spectrum auctions, held in November 2012 and March 2013, had seen poor response from the telecom industry. The company currently holds 4.4 Mhz spectrum in Punjab and 5 Mhz spectrum in Madhya Pradesh telecom circle, which includes Chhattisgarh as well. The company has plans to bid for additional 2 Mhz in these service areas. At minimum price fixed by the government for these areas, additional spectrum would cost Videocon about Rs 190 crore. However, the final price will depend on the competition for airwaves in these service areas. Videocon has purchased spectrum through auction in 6 out of 7 service areas where it has operations and plans to provide 4G service in these circles. The company is free to use any technology in the airwaves purchased through auction, known as liberalised spectrum. "Incremental capacity created by the additional 2 Mhz spectrum will be at least two times the existing capacity given the trunking efficiency. Also, the planned 2 Mhz additional spectrum in Punjab telecom circle, being a liberalised one, will give us the option to offer 4G LTE Narrowband service there," Bali said. As per data released by telecom regulator TRAI, the company has been recording highest growth in net subscriber addition in last 5 months. — PTI
	Over 300-time hike in service tax revenue in two decades New Delhi, December 25 Revenue from service tax, which has become a new focus area for the Finance Ministry, has grown up substantially by over 300 times in past about two decades. The Finance Ministry has earned revenue of about Rs 1.32 lakh crore in 2012-13 (provisional figures) compared to Rs 407 crore in 1994-95, according to official data. The target for 2012-13 was Rs 1,32,697 crore but the actual realisation was Rs 1,32,518 crore. The number of assessees has also gone up by over 400 times since 1994-95. The service tax revenue has shown huge growth in the past years with surge in number of services being covered under it which resulted in quantum of registered assessees too. The total number of taxable services has also increased from three in 1994 to 119 in 2012. The Finance Ministry had from July 1, last year introduced the concept of taxation of service tax based on the 'negative list' which authorised government to tax almost all the services mentioned in Section 66D of the Finance Act. The Finance Ministry is also implementing a first-of-its- kind of amnesty scheme for service tax defaulters. The Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme, which is being implemented from passage of this year's Finance Bill on May 10, allows a service tax defaulter to pay dues without any penalty or late payment charges. — PTI
	8.5 lakh new jobs expected in 2014 New Delhi, December 25 Job seekers can look forward to a prosperous new year as more than 8.5 lakh new jobs are expected across various sectors, including FMCG and healthcare, says a survey. Coming against the backdrop of uncertain economic conditions, the projected number of new jobs in 2014 is higher than the estimated 7.9 lakh employment opportunities created this year, according to the survey by recruitment platform MyHiringClub.com. All the opportunities have been projected in for the organised sector, it added. Besides FMCG, more jobs are expected in healthcare, IT, retail and hospitality sectors. "Last year was not good for job seekers nor for employers due to fluctuated economical and political conditions. 2014 is coming with positive vibes for job-seekers and expected to create 8.5 lakh new jobs in different sectors," MyHiringClub.com CEO Rajesh Kumar said. — PTI
	BlackBerry cancels handset launches New Delhi, December 25 Mounting inventory has cost BlackBerry about USD 1.6 billion in the third quarter and has forced the Canadian handset maker to cancel the launch of two new devices. BlackBerry said the pile up was mainly on account of unsold BlackBerry 10 devices, which was launched earlier this year with much fanfare. During the third quarter, the company registered hardware sales of 1.9 million BlackBerry smartphones compared to about 3.7 million BlackBerry smartphones in the previous quarter. — PTI