Ombudsman for insurance soon
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — "An ombudsman for the insurance sector is soon going to be appointed as part of a dispute settlement mechanism."

Punjab to develop infrastructure
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — The Punjab Government urged the Centre to set up a central group to facilitate investments in the infrastructure sector.

U.K. : Airbus Industrie's A319, A320 and A321 planes which British Airways plans to buy. British Airways will loosen its ties with longtime supplier Boeing Co. and order its first batch of jets from Airbus. AP/PTI



GIC not to roll back motor premium hike
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — There is no proposal to roll back the hike in the premium of the third party motor insurance the Chairman of General Insurance Corporation said here today.The truckers have again threatened to go on strike from August 22 on the issue.

Two-wheelers escape recession
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — Two wheeler makers Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda and TVS-Suzuki continued their joy ride in the recession hit automobile industry which saw car sales plummet.

Trai wants to know its powers
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today sought to know from the government the extent of power enjoyed by it regarding settlement of disputes in the wake of a recent Delhi High Court order.

Global tenders for on-line lottery
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — The Punjab Government has floated global tenders for setting up the country’s first on-line computer-based lottery system in the state.

Goodyear buys out RPG-Ceat stake
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — The Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company, USA, has bought out the 50 per cent stake of RPG-Ceat in their joint venture, South Asia Tyres Ltd .

Wockhardt to pay 60 per cent
MUMBAI, Aug 25 — Pharmaceutical major, Wockhardt, has recorded a growth of 14 per cent in its net profits at Rs 70.78 crore and its turnover reached Rs 402.17 crore for the year ended June 30, 1998.

Ombudsman for insurance soon
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — An ombudsman for the insurance sector is soon going to be appointed as part of a dispute settlement mechanism , the Chairman of the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), Mr N. Rangachary, said here today.

The ombudsman would be similar to the one in the banking sector, Mr Rangachary told reporters here today.Earlier, addressing a two-day international conference organised by the CII here, Mr Rangachary said that the IRA intends to give a window of 90 days within which applications would be received from private investors.

The IRA may also ask for “business plans “of the bidders which would be in the form of projections for the first five years and the source of additional capital if necessary.Moreover, the current thinking is to grant the successful bidders a period of nine to 12 months to start business, he said adding that for extraneous factors an extension could be provided.“But business should start between 15 and 18 months after approval”, he said.

The Special Secretary (insurance), Ministry of Finance, Mr B.K. Chaturvedi, said that there would be no restrictions on the number of the licences to be issued.Moreover, the licences would be national one and the choice of business and location would be the company’s own, he said.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, Mr Murli S. Deora, said the insurance sector seems to be stuck in a groove primarily because of the concerns of MPs regarding the perceived threat of joblessness and bungling of insurance money by private companies.

Speaking to reporters he said that the standing committee has not discussed the issue of equity participation of foreign companies.Moreover, the definition of private participation has to be clarified by the government before deciding on the equity participation, Mr Deora added.

There is, however, a broad consensus that the equity participation of foreign companies should be in the range of 26 to 49 per cent.

GIC not to roll back motor premium hike
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — There is no proposal to roll back the hike in the premium of the third party motor insurance, the Chairman of General Insurance Corporation (GIC) Mr D. Sengupta said here today.

The truckers went on a nine-day nationwide strike in April last year and have again threatened to go on strike from August 22 this year to protest against the ‘arbitrary hike’ in third party motor insurance premium by GIC and imposition of 5 per cent service tax.

The strike call was later withdrawn following an assurance by the government that the demands of the truckers would be considered sympathetically.Speaking to reporters here today, Mr Sengupta said that the corporation is losing about Rs 800 crore annually due to low premium rates on third party insurance.

The GIC is also likely to get into the health management care business which will be different from the existing health insurance business.In the existing system of health insurance, the insurer is reimbursed the amount after the reproduction of the medical bills.

In the new system the hospitals would directly collect the amount from the insurance company and the insurer need not pay the hospital up to a specified limit.

Two-wheelers escape recession

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (PTI) — Two wheeler makers Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda and TVS-Suzuki continued their joy ride in the recession hit automobile industry which saw car sales plummet by over 50 per cent between April-July.

The two wheeler segment registered smart growth during the period but almost all other segments took a severe drubbing as per the latest figures of the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (AIM).

The heavy commercial segment whose sales nose-dived by over 45 per cent was the most affected by the economic slowdown, with market leader Talc alone suffering a massive negative 49 per cent growth.Bajaj had a total share of 49.20 per cent in the period with sales of 2,20,093 units against 1,98,078 units sold last year, up 11.11 per cent.

LM Limited improved its performance by 14.01 per cent at a total sales of 1,13,623 units over 99,653 units sold last year. The market share of LM during the same period was about 25 per cent.

However, Kinetic Honda took a knock in the period with its market share dipping by over 28 per cent and sales coming down to 25,581 units against 35,890 units sold last year.

Trai wants to know its powers

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (PTI) — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today sought to know from the government the extent of power enjoyed by it regarding settlement of disputes in the wake of a recent Delhi High Court order.

Trai asked the DoT to file its stand on the extent of powers the regulatory body enjoyed concerning settlement of licensing, inter-connection and pricing issues following the high court order by September 3.

Hearing a batch of petitions against the Union of India on various issues relating to licensing, inter-connection and pricing between private operators and DoT, the three-member regulatory body headed by Justice S.S. Sodhi asked DoT to make its position clear.

Punjab to develop infrastructure
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — The Punjab Government today urged the Centre to set up a central group which would coordinate with the state government to facilitate investments, both domestic and foreign, in the infrastructure sector.

The Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, who met the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, here said Mr Sinha indicated his willingness to set up the group.

The meeting took place in the backdrop of the Punjab Government launching a major initiative to build up the infrastructure sector in the state. The state government is seeking the help of some leading international companies, including Merill and Lynch and Morgan Stanley, to identify areas and partners to develop infrastructure and information technology sector in the state.

During the meeting, Capt Kanwaljit Singh pointed out that central investment in the state was at a low of 0.9 per cent of the total all-India average.He told Mr Sinha that the state wanted to go in a big way in developing the information technology sector and sought the Centre’s help in achieving this.

A major exercise to computerise the treasury, excise and tax departments and octroi management had been initiated in the recent past.The Union Finance Minister also indicated his willingness to accept the proposal made by Capt Kanwaljit Singh to the committee headed by the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, for decentralisation of financial power.

The Punjab Government has suggested that the planning process should be decentralised and financial powers should be devolved to the states. Punjab has emphasised that instead of the Government of India, the apex bodies for planning should be the state planning boards and the Centre should allot bulk allocations to the states rather than following the present practice of making allocations against central schemes.

The Finance Minister accepted the proposal in principle and informed Capt Kanwaljit Singh that he would take it up at the next meeting of the National Development Council to seek approval for the measure. This practice would be initiated from the next financial year.

The Punjab minister also raised the issue of special allocation for the border areas of the state, where people face great difficulty because of the barbed wire fencing along the international border.

Mr Sinha has asked the Punjab Government to make a specific proposal for the areas.Capt Kanwaljit Singh informed the Union minister that the state government has effected several economy measures by which Rs 75 crore from long term expenditure would be saved.

The Punjab minister said there were no plans to do away with octroi in the state. He said several states which had abolished octroi were facing difficulties and they had to resort to other forms of taxation.

He said the computerisation of octroi management would prevent harassment of truckers and plug the leakages. The state earns about Rs 300 crore from octroi collections which is used for urban development.

SBI mops up $ 4.16 billion

MUMBAI, Aug 25 (PTI) — The SBI will harness nearly 25 per cent of US $ 4.16 billion Resurgent India Bond (RIB) proceeds to lower the benchmark interest rate for external commercial borrowing (ECB) requirements of Indian infrastructure projects.

“The SBI would facilitate lower benchmarking for our (Indian) borrowers (abroad),” SBI Chairman M.S. Verma told a press conference here today after the successful conclusion of the RIB issue.The SBI would be keeping about $ 1billion abroad for meeting ECB requirements of infrastructure projects.

Stating that RIB mobilisations demonstrate that there is “much much steam left in the Indian economic engine”, the SBI Chairman said the SBI would use RIB proceeds to finance infrastructure at “very very attractive price”.

NEW DELHI: The response to Resurgent India Bonds aimed to raise NRI funds has more than fulfilled the expectations, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has said.“Our expectations have been more than fulfilled.

The scheme was open for less than three weeks and we did not set any targets as we anticipated NRIs to set a target for themselves,” he said in a statement here today.The Resurgent India Bonds, which opened for subscription on August 5 and closed yesterday have evoked an excellent response with $ 4.16 billion being raised through the offer.

The government came up with the proposal to offer NRIs not only a financially attractive scheme but also an opening to participate in the country’s development, Sinha said.

Global tenders for on-line lottery
From T.V.Lakshminarayan
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 — The Punjab Government has floated global tenders for setting up the country’s first on-line computer-based lottery system in the state.

The ICICI-Securities (I-Sec) has been appointed consultants to the project and senior officials of the state government have started negotiations with other financial institutions regarding the project.

According to the Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, the Punjab Government expects to earn at least Rs 100 crore from the on-line lottery system.

A unique feature of the computerised lottery system is that the government will specify the areas in which the earnings of the lottery will be employed. It will mention that the earnings will be used for infrastructure projects in the state and the social sector.

The on-line lottery system will involve the setting up of a network of computers in all the districts of the State. The system will be on the lines of those existing in several developed countries of Europe and the USA.

The lottery system contains a chart of say about 50 numbers and the subscriber will have to select six lucky numbers. The results will be flashed on the computer screens and if all the numbers are correct the subscriber can become a millionaire on the spot. There will be prizes for other categories too.

Even correct choices up to three numbers will be eligible for prizes.Apart from making speedy payments, the computer-based system will ensure complete transparency and openness.

Goodyear buys out RPG-Ceat stake

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (PTI) — The Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company, USA, has bought out the 50 per cent stake of RPG-Ceat in their joint venture, South Asia Tyres Ltd (SATL).“With the acquisition, Goodyear along with its Indian subsidiary, Goodyear India Ltd, now has complete management control” of the company with its plant at Aurangabad, Goodyear India said here today.

The acquisition was made after obtaining approvals from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).Under the terms of the agreement reached with RPG-Ceat, Goodyear will continue to supply Ceat radial passenger, earthmover and two and three-wheeler tyres.

Wockhardt to pay 60 per cent

MUMBAI, Aug 25 (PTI) —Pharmaceutical major, Wockhardt has recorded a growth of 14 per cent in its net profits at Rs 70.78 crore and its turnover reached Rs 402.17 crore (an increase of 34 per cent) for the year ended June 30, 1998.

Earnings per share has increased from Rs 17.52 to Rs 19.12 and the company has declared a dividend at 60 per cent. The operating profit has increased by 21 per cent to Rs 63.8 crore and gross profits after interest but before depreciation and taxation is up at 22 per cent.

During the year, Wockhardt achieved leadership status in several product lines, including Sparx —a new fluoroquinolone antibacterial— and powercef, a company release here said.

Biz briefs

T-series
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (UNI) — Super Cassettes Industries Limited (SCIL) is in parleys with the South Korea-based Hyundai Electronics for a tie-up to produce televisions and audio and video systems. The group is planning to diversify into constructing and managing hotels and resorts. Kulu, Manali has been shortlisted as the first site for the resort.

Federal Bank
CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 (TNS) — The Federal Bank Ltd has revised the interest rates on domestic deposits. Now deposits for 15 days to 29 days will get 6 per cent, 30 to 45 days 6.5 per cent, 46 to 90 days 9 per cent, 91 to less than 6 months 9.50 per cent, 6 months to less than 1 year 10.50 per cent, 1 year to less than 3 years 11 per cent, 3 years and above 12 per cent. NRE deposits also got revised and interest for 6 months below 1 year 10.50 per cent, 1 year below 2 years 11 per cent and 2 years and above 12 per cent.

Coca Cola
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (PTI) — Coca Cola India today began exporting ‘Limca’ and ‘Thums Up’, the two leading brands it acquired from Parle Soft Drinks. Today’s export of 2.5 million cans, which Coca Cola India President Donald W. Short described as a sign of the company’s commitment to India, were to Hong Kong and Singapore.

Ralson
CHANDIGARH, Aug 25 (TNS) — Ralson India Ltd manufacturing of Ralson/Ralco brand tyre, tube and hubs for cycle and rickshaws have bagged international certification ISO 9002 recently. Mr Sanjeev Pahwa, Managing Director of the company said the company is presently manufacturing about 80,000 tyres and tubes per day and its products are being exported to 22 countries in the continents of Africa, America, Middle-East and South East Asia. The company’s targeted turnover this year is of Rs 250 crore.

Gold falls
NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (PTI) — Gold continued to move down on the bullion market today on persistent fall in its prices in the international markets along with lack of buying interest and closed with further losses. The quotations; silver .999 (ready) 7700, delivery 7755, coins buyer is 10,400 and seller 10,600. Standard gold 4210, ornaments 4060 and sovereign 3450.

Forex
MUMBAI, Aug 25 (PTI) — The US dollar firmed up moderately against the rupee at Rs 42.48/49 per dollar and the pound sterling was dearer at Rs 69.62/63 per pound at the close of Interbank foreign exchange (Forex) market here today. The rates: US $ Rs 42.48/49, Sterling £ Rs 69.62/63, Deutsche Mark Rs 23.64/65, Yen (100) Rs 29.37/38