Asian corporate agenda redefined
NEW DELHI, March 31 — As the Asian region emerges from its worst-ever financial crisis, market-opening reforms will alter the competitive landscape dramatically, an analysis by the Andersen Consulting has said.

Financial year ends on bullish note
MUMBAI, March 31 — Equities rallied further pushing the sensex up by another 1.53 per cent on the stock market today in the wake of good buying support from operators as well as Indian financial institutions and foreign funds.

Policy on coops on anvil: Sompal
NEW DELHI, March 31 — A programme for rehabilitation and stregthening primary level credit and service cooperatives known as the primary agricultural cooperative society is on the anvil, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Sompal has said.

First time Maruti profit dips
NEW DELHI, A heavy price cut took its toll on Maruti Udyog Limited, which reported a sharp decline in the profit after tax for the first time in its 17-year history.

Industry hails feel-good exim policy

Leading export and industry associations have welcomed the slew of measures announced in the modified exim policy, saying that they have bolstered export sentiments and strengthened the “feel good sentiments” in the economy.

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) feels the revised exim policy measures, including electronic filing of applications for advance licences, issuance of licences within 24 hours and flexibility in the import of inputs under annual advance licences without stipulation of value addition are commendable measures to lift the depressed exports.

FIEO has, however, expressed disappointment over the duty entitlement pass book scheme not being extended to the cottage and small sector.

The exim policy will strengthen the “feel good” factor in the economy as it has come close on the heels of the Union Budget and the monetary changes by the RBI, the CII has said.

“More importantly, the positive measures will help in bringing back the sentiment, confidence, and comfort, the three essentials for boosting industrial as well as exports growth, which have been under severe pressure in recent times,” it said.

Devaluation no solution
Ramakrishna Hegde has said devaluation of the rupee is no panacea for the ills facing the country’s exports and that a stable exchange rate is more desirable.

“Devaluation is a double-edged weapon. Exports will definitely increase, but what about imports? They will become costly and trade deficit will increase,” he said, replying to questions soon after announcing the exim policy.

About the reported move to devalue the Chinese currency, Yuan, Hegde said this would not affect Indian exports much as in the case of immediate neighbours, particularly South-East Asian countries.

Gem exports thru couriers
The government today relaxed various provisions governing the gems and jewellery sector and permitted the import of jewellery for re-export after repairs and remaking.

The new exim policy has also allowed export of jewellery through courier service and personal carriage of jewellery.

The Commerce Minister has proposed to allow import of consumables required for the gems and jewellery industry to the extent of 1 per cent of the freight on board (FoB) value of the exports of the previous year.

The duty free imports of consumable up to certain limits are expected to enable the exporters achieve higher unit value realisation.

Push to agro exports
The new exim policy has proposed more involvement of States in the export promotions efforts.

The scheme visualises bigger role for State Governments, particularly in agro-exports. Under the proposed scheme, assistance for infrastructure development for exports will be provided and the amount will be broadly linked to the export performance of each State.

Exports of agriculture products have been showing continuous increase in the past several years and the new scheme will further boost agriculture exports from the country.

Hegde said he will pursue a proposal for a plan scheme of Rs 500 crore by way of grants to States for complementing and strengthening export infrastructure to make exports truly a national effort.

Babus to be kept at bay
In an effort to minimise bureaucratic interference, the government has decided to convert export processing zones (EPZs) into free trade zones on the lines of those existing the world over.

Hegde said the scheme would commence on July 1, 1999. “I believe that exporters perform the best, when they are left without any bureaucratic interference. I am happy that the Finance Minister agrees with me on this count,” he said. The idea is to corporatise these EPZs as is done in other countries.

No target, this time
For the first time, the Union Commerce Minister has refrained from fixing any export growth target for the next financial year while announcing the exim policy.

As they say, once bitten twice shy, Hegde said he is not doing so this year because of last year’s experience.

The government had fixed an export target of around 20 per cent for the financial year ending on Wednesday but in the first 10 months the country was able to achieve only a marginal growth of 0.41 per cent.

Weightage for SSIs
The new exim policy proposes a higher weightage for the small scale manufacture exporters in an attempt to encourage exports from the SSI sector.

The exports made by SSI manufacturer exporters will be given triple weightage for the purpose of recognition as export house/trading house, star trading house and super star trading house.

All exporters who attain such status for three successive terms or more will be eligible for the golden status certificate, which would enable them to enjoy all benefits in perpetuity irrespective of their actual performance in future.

— Agencies

Discontinue free power: Montek
Tribune News Service

PATIALA, March 31 — Planning Commission member Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said he would advise the Punjab Government at an infrastructure development committee meeting called in Chandigarh tomorrow to discontinue the supply of free power to the agriculture sector.

Talking to The Tribune after delivering the G.S. Rahi Memorial Lecture on “India’s economic performance and emerging challenges” organised by the Punjab Institute of Development Studies at the Punjabi University here, he said the Punjab Government should admit the policy was a mistake and discontinue the service by either arriving at a political consensus on the issue or hiking power tariff on the agriculture sector in phases.

Dr Ahluwalia said doling out free power to farmers had become a burden on the State Budget and the losses suffered by the electricity board due to this were unsustainable. He said, moreover the State was facing problems in getting money from the World Bank for rural water supply projects which the bank had directly linked to the issue of free power to the agriculture sector.

The Planning Commission member, the Punjab Government could go in for a study to analyse how much the free service helped the farmers of the State and if they could pay for it at the their present income levels. He said the government could provide better service to the agriculturists by investing in the social sector in the rural areas.

Earlier, delivering his lecture, the economist said rapid economic development could not occur if major reforms were not initiated in the power sector. Though two to three States had restructured their power boards, more States needed to reform their power boards. A state electricity regulatory system should be established to depoliticise tariff fixation and distribution of power should be privatised to ensure minimum transmission losses.

The economist said heavy subsidisation on agriculture was not consistent with reforms. He said a viable system of rates should be introduced for agriculture produce. For agrarian states like Punjab he recommended a post cereal agriculture strategy as production of cereals had reached a plateau.

Speaking on the need to develop physical infrastructure, Dr Ahluwalia said a big quality difference was emerging between India and other developing countries in this aspect. He said major investment needed to be done on the road network as the government expansion in this sector was woefully short of requirements.

Speaking on the international front, Mr Ahluwalia said there was no need to rethink economic policies in view of the difficulties faced by the East Asian countries recently as India had not opened its system to short term financial capital as done by the East Asian countries. He said we must learn from this and ensure our financial sector remained strengthened.

Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Dr Joginder Singh Puar, said even after 50 years of Independence India was still grappling with basic problems like illiteracy, disease and poverty. He advocated need for talking hard decision to reverse the downward slide of economy and governance.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr K.C. Singhal, Dr Sucha Singh and Dr U.C. Singh, Dr Janak Raj Gupta, Dr Balbir Singh.

Export growth rate positive

NEW DELHI, (UNI) — The country registered a 0.46 per cent positive export growth rate during the first half of 1998-99 after taking into account the late returns.

Since November last, the monthly exports have registered positive growth rates, according to the export performance document released on Wednesday by the Commerce Ministry along with the exim policy.

The cumulative value of exports during April-January 1998-99 was estimated at $ 27,158.02 million, marking a decline of 1.98 per cent. With late returns counted, the performance becomes marginally positive.

The exports registered a positive growth during April 1998, then reversed its growth during May and June. Again in July, the exports registered a positive growth of 7.7 per cent. This trend continued in August also but the growth rate was 4.5 per cent.

During September and October 1998, the export growth again became negative. Since November till January 1999, the exports are showing an upward trend with growth rates ranging between 3.8 per cent and 8.5 per cent in dollar terms.

CD ratio improves in Haryana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 31— Mr R.S. Verma, Chief Secretary, Haryana, said today that coordinated efforts of government machinery and bankers have helped in the improvement of the State’s economy.

Speaking at a State Level Bankers Committee meeting here, Mr Verma urged the bankers to ensure faster credit delivery in rural areas. He shared the concern of bankers over the falling trend in the recovery percentage under government sponsored schemes and assured the bankers all help in improving recovery.

Mr Rashid Jalani, CMD, Punjab National Bank, who presided, said agriculture production of the country has shown signs of recovery after the sharp setback suffered during the previous year. The Union Government has taken measures to strengthen infrastructure in the rural sector.

He said that there is an improvement in the credit deposit ratio of Haryana as at the end of December ‘98. It was mainly on account of an improved credit growth of 17.7 per cent during the review period compared to the deposit growth of 17.1 per cent.

The Centre has proposed to set up five more debt recovery tribunals in the country to help bankers to recover bank loans. Credit being provided by the banking sector is highly influenced by the rate of recovery of loans. The recovery in Haryana has always been disturbing and even under popular schemes like PMRY, the declining trend is unabated.

He said 36 new branches of commercial banks and regional rural banks were opened during the review period from December 1997 to December 98, raising the total number of branches from 1,417 to 1,453 in the state. The total deposits of banks increased from Rs 11,415 crore to Rs 13,365 crore showing growth of 17.1 per cent as compared to the growth of 14.8 per cent during the corresponding period of last year. The total advances of banks also increased from Rs 4,840 crore to Rs 5,698 crore.

The performance of banks remained quite encouraging in extending credit support under the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana 1997-98. Banks sanctioned Rs 3,628.63 lakh to 6,389 beneficiaries under this programme year, which is 101.4 per cent of the annual target.

The others who attended the meeting included Mrs Sudha Sharma, Commissioner, Institutional Finance and Credit Control, Haryana, Mr N.R Kannan, Chief GM, Nabard, Mr R.P. Gupta, GM, PNB, Mr S.K. Awasthi, Mr A.K. Bhargava, GM, PNB, Mr R.K. Goyal, AGM, RBI, New Delhi, Mr S.C. Vohra, GM, Punjab & Sind Bank and controlling heads of banks in the State.

Bill to check cyber crimes
From Y. Bala Murali Krishna

NEW DELHI, March 31 — A comprehensive legislation to check and prevent mounting incidences of hi-tech cyber crimes, including unauthorised access to databases, is under way for the first time in the country.

The “Information Technology Bill”, which is being formulated to meet the legal requirements to facilitate electronic communication, trade and commerce standards is likely to be introduced in the Budget session of Parliament shortly.

Informed sources told UNI here today that the draft Bill is pending approval of the Cabinet. It was earlier cleared by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and vetted by the Law Ministry and the Legislative Department.

Formulated by an inter-ministerial standing committee for drafting the cyber law, it enables the authorities to amend suitably the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code so that the computer crimes are treated as cognisable offences, attracting punishment, including jail term.

Apart from providing legal framework emcompassing all computer transactions, including electronic contract, electronic fund transfer and electronic commerce the proposed cyber law seeks to facilitate electronic communications by means of reliable electronic records, provide link between trade and commerce and eliminate barriers to electronic commerce, sources said.

The cyber law, authorities said, is aimed at ensuring a “highly secure electronic commerce”.

The legislation also seeks to facilitate electronic filing of documents with government agencies and statutory corporations to promote efficient delivery of government services.

This, the sources said, could minimise incidences of forged electronic records, international or unintentional alteration of records and fraud, forgery or falsification in electronic commerce and other transactions.

The legislation also tries to establish uniformity of rules, regulations and standards regarding the authentication and integrity of electronic records or documents, the sources said.

Besides laying down rules for acknowledgements of receipts and the time and place of dispatch and receipt, it gives cognisance to the digital signature where a law requires the signature.

The cyber law further defines various offences of computer crime, unauthorised access to computer data networks, tampering with computer source document, equipment, specific violation by college/university students and lays down punishment on the lines of the criminal procedure code.

Besides, the law also proposes to empower the controller to direct any subscriber to deposit the private key of the encrypted message under certain circumstances.

It seeks to amend several existing Acts to bring about a comprehensive legislation as suggested by the “commission of review on administrative laws” and the Committee of Secretaries, the sources added. —UNI.

Asian corporate agenda redefined

NEW DELHI, March 31 (UNI) — As the Asian region emerges from its worst-ever financial crisis, market-opening reforms will alter the competitive landscape dramatically, an analysis by the Andersen Consulting has said.

The analysis found that instead of trying to find new opportunities, the companies went on their defensive and focussed on quickfix responses to their problems. In the process they “risk missing out on strategic opportunities for long-term gains,” the consulting firm said in its journal — “Outlook”.

“Understandable though this search for antidotes to cure corporate pain may be, this kind of response is quick-fix in nature, aimed primarily at short-term survival. This pain-relief approach must be weighed against the reality that each short-term decision will influence the company’s longer-term capabilities”, the firm said.

Its interviews early last year with Asian companies and Western multinationals operating across five key industries revealed that the primary response to the region’s crisis was defensive. It included cost-cutting, postponing investments, adapting to rationalisation, restructuring portfolios and restructuring debt.

“Selling off the crown jewels of a company will raise short-term cash but will also leave the company with low-value businesses that are unable to compete when Asian economies recover”, Andersen Consulting noted, warning that the payroll savings from cutting middle management positions must be set against the opportunity costs of low staff morale as well as a management vacuum.

The analysis was done by the firm’s associate partner Charles Chun who is based in Bangkok. He found that it would be up to the CEOs now how to take advantage of the opportunities even when the business environment is not friendly. “Living through the crisis and even emerging as a stronger, more effective competitor requires the corporate chief to prioritise and make decisions that are all aligned towards a shared direction. “To manage through the difficult time, the CEO will need to create a corporate agenda that balances the need to effectively address short-term problems with the strategic imperative of orienting the company for the long haul”.

Andersen Consulting concluded that in uncertain times for business in Asia, there are no simple or guaranteed solutions. The CEO’s leadership and courage to challenge the conventional thinking will offset the anxieties and fears that are paralysing companies from doing the right things today to prepare for tomorrow.

Financial year ends on bullish note

MUMBAI, March 31 (PTI) — Equities rallied further pushing the sensex up by another 1.53 per cent on the stock market today in the wake of good buying support from operators as well as Indian financial institutions (FIs) and foreign funds.

Being the last day of the current financial year, FIs and domestic mutual funds were making purchases of shares in sizeable quantity in a bid to lift the price of their units net asset value (NAV) at the end of the year.

They were reportedly net buyers in key scrips like SBI, L&T, M&M, Britannia, Gacl, ACC, Nestle and some others. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were said to be continuous buyers in select software scrips besides ITC, Hero Honda, Thomas Cook, Britannia, Wartsila and Indian Shaving.

The BSE sensitive index opened moderately up at 3708.39 and gradually moved upwards to the intra-day high of 3781.97 before closing at 3739.96 as against yesterday’s close of 3683.49, netting a rise of 56.47 points. The BSE-100 index also rose by 30.01 points to 1651.37 from previous close of 1621.36.

The market has turned bullish once again and operators were seen creating fresh long positions indicating a rally that could lift the sensex to the much talked about level of 3900-4000 in the near future if the political situation don't show any adverse change, dealers said.

However, the market is expected to meet some resistance tomorrow in view of the last day of the current account due to a holiday on April 2 on account of “Good Friday”.

In the specified group, 15 scrips including software scrips like Satyam Computer, Digital Equipment and Pentafour Software as well as over 100 scrips in B1 and B2 section hit the upper circuit filter after exhausting the rally limits.

Some pharma scrips like, Glaxo, E Merck, Novartis and Pfizer showed moderate losses due to profit taking.

The BSE-200 index and the Dollex were quoted remarkably up at 380.01 and 149.11 compared with previous close of 372.21 and 146.50 respectively.

Advancing issues, from specified section, again outnumbered the declining ones with 112 gainers, 33 losers and four remained unchanged.

Pentafour Software remained the most sought after scrip with the highest turnover of Rs 194.87 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 1493.21 crore. Other most traded scrips were SBI (Rs 119.39 crore), ITC (Rs 110.64 crore), L&T (Rs 77.44 crore) and ACC (Rs 69.70 crore).

Pentafour Software soared by 92.75 to 1255. SBI firmed up by 7.90 to 213.40, ITC by 11 to 963, L&T by 15.30 to 234, ACC by 24.50 to 1436.50, HLL by 18.75 to 2264, RIL by 2.20 to 130.40 and Tisco by 2.40 to 103.70.

Policy on coops on anvil: Sompal
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, March 31 — A programme for rehabilitation and stregthening primary level credit and service cooperatives known as the primary agricultural cooperative society (PACS) is on the anvil, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Sompal has said.

“This programme will take care of the need of those societies which are not covered under the district based Integrated Cooperative Development Programme”, the minister said at the General Council Meeting of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) here.

The corporation is exploring, in association with the Department of Rural Employment and Poverty Alleviation, the feasibility of promoting self-help groups at sub-PACS level for enabling weaker sections in rural areas to undertake income generating activities.

“The idea will encourage people in the rural areas including the rural youth to organise themselves into homogenous groups within the cooperative fold”, Mr Sompal said adding that another initiative is on for rehabilitation of sick agro-processing units in the cooperative sector.

Welcoming the announcement of the setting up of a Technology Upgradation Fund of Rs 25,000 crore, he said that the Ministry of Textiles has already been approached for notifying NCDC as the nodal agency for funding textile units in the cooperative sector.

Referring to the Rs 450 crore programme of activities of NCDC for 1999-2000, he said the activities incorporate new shift in the strategy of the corporation.

Another area in which the NCDC would concentrate is the development of storage and cold storage facilities. The record estimated production of 200 million tonnes of foodgrain for 1998-99 has underlined the need for commensurate storage and warehousing facilities, he said.

First time Maruti profit dips

NEW DELHI, (UNI): A heavy price cut took its toll on Maruti Udyog Limited, which reported a sharp decline in the profit after tax for the first time in its 17-year history.

Mul, still maintaining its position as India’s number one car-maker, earned a profit after tax or Rs 522 crore for the financial year 1998-99 (provisional), showing a drop of around 20 per cent over Rs 652 crore last year. The profit before tax was down by 19.85 per cent to Rs 783 crore from Rs 977 crore.

The total income also dived to Rs 8,118 crore from Rs 8,474 crore losing ground by 4.20 per cent. These figures were released by company Managing Director RSSLN Bhaskarudu at press conference here on Wednesday.

Faced with difficult market conditions and pressure on margins, the company’s internal generation went down to Rs 668 crore from Rs 793 crore.

Despite a drastic cut in prices of most of its models, MUL’s total sales of vehicles declined to 309,094 from 327,264 units. Production was down to 332,931 from 354,336 units. The company resorted to a production cut of 20 per cent in November 1998. Exports too suffered and dropped to 24,410 units as against 25,994 units in the previous year.

Interestingly, the company managed to show an increase in its net worth by 23 per cent which improved to Rs 2606 crore from Rs 2123 crore.

Offload stake

NEW DELHI, (PTI): The government should immediately divest its stake in its car venture Maruti and other public sector undertakings, where it does not have a majority stake, Planning Commission member Montek Singh Ahluwalia said today.

“The divestment process can be hastened in companies like Maruti where we do not have a majority stake and the funds raised can be used for reducing the debt,” he said.

There was, however, a lack of consensus even among academicians and the general feeling was that offloading of public assets was not the right thing, he pointed out at a seminar here on “managing the fiscal deficit” organised by Assocham on Tuesday.

Car war gains

NEW DELHI (PTI): Gone are the days when for an automobile company, selling a car was an end in itself. As competition intensifies, major players are pulling out all stops to woo the customer.

Slashing prices and providing innumerable accessories are not enough, the battle is now carried over to customer services striving to earn that extra “edge” over the competitior.

Customer service does not stop merely at refuelling, overhauling and drive-in car washes at service stations. It includes call-up service at all hours, with technicians at the dealers conveniently provided with mobiles and pagers.

However, it involves lot of expenses — number of vehicles deployed for these services, equipment, manpower and the service charges, says S.G. Awasthi, Managing Director of an automobile company.

Off-site services are now the rage where the customer has access to help at the end of a telephone line any place any time. One can even have the tyre companies send someone over to the house to change a flat tyre.

The companies monitor their dealerships continually ensuring that customers are not short-changed.

Most dealers don’t charge their customers anything extra for these services.

One foreign company, for instance, has its dealers making arrangements for the customer to be ferried to his destination if the defect in the vehicle requires time for repair.

Thus 24-hour helpline services are now becoming the norm where people are available round-the-clock to attend distress calls.

To sustain these services, automobile manufacturers offer their dealers various incentives, both financial and otherwise. The dealers get maximum support either in the form of compensation of costs on account or on a cost-sharing basis.

Luxury cars

Two of Britain’s most luxurious cars — the Rolls-Royce Silver Spur and the Bentley Brooklands — are among the world’s most environmentally-unfriendly vehicles.

The Green Guide produced by the Washington-based American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy listed three European cars among twelve 1999 vehicles doing the most damage to the environment.

The worst car, based on fuel economy and emission standards, is Fiat’s Ferrari 550 Marane, a 12-cylinder beast doing only nine miles to the gallon (3.9 km to the litre) in town driving.

However, it was closely followed by the Rolls-Royce Silver Spur and the Bentley Brooklands, both powered by a 6.8 litre engine and achieving just 10 miles to the gallon in city driving.

The guide said that the real cost of a car went beyond the purchase price, fuel bills and repairs.

“There are hidden but very real environmental costs, due to air pollution, oil spills and fouling of water supplies, damage to habitats and the growing risks of climate disruption,” it said.

It gave a thumbs-down to the wide range of popular four-wheel-drive pick-up trucks and multi-purpose vehicles which featured prominently in the top 12 offenders.

However authors John DeCicco and Martin Thomas praised some car makers, including Ford and Honda, for increasing sales of low emission vehicles.

They accepted that electric vehicles and sub-compact cars were not always suitable and praised the petrol-engined Honda Civic and the two-wheel-drive version of the Jeep Cherokee.

The top 12 environmentally-friendly vehicles included only five with petrol engines. Half had electric engines and one was powered by natural gas.
— The Guardian

US $ Rs 42.42/43
Stg £ Rs 68.35/37
Furo Rs 45.56/58
Jap Yen (100) Rs 35.64/66

The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.43.

Gold falls
NEW DELHI, March 31 (PTI) —Silver prices retreated on the bullion market today on stockists selling in view of a notable fall on the overseas markets and closed with a significant loss. Gold also traded lower on lack of local buying support against adequate supply. The quotations: Silver .999 (ready) 7560, delivery 7570, coins buyer 10,400 and seller 10,500. Standard gold 4275, ornaments 4125 and sovereign 3725.

Price index falls
SHIMLA, March 31 (PTI) — The all India consumer price index number for industrial workers based on 1982-100 has registered a fall of five points in the month of February, to stand at 415. The index maintained the downward trend for the third month and declined from 438 in November 1998 to 415 during February 1999.

Commodities
From Our Correspondent
CHANDIGARH, March 31 — Wheat 650 to 660, dara 660 to 665, superior 670, wheat (new) 570 to 630, maize 600, sarson 1200 to 1250, taramira 1100 to 1150, toria 1150 to 1200, rice basmati 2800 to 5000, parmal 850 to 1100, sella 850 to 1050, maida (per bag 90 kg) 700, suji 700, atta 660, urd (per quintal) 1650 to 2000, urddal 1700 to 2000, moong 2100 to 2300, moongdal 2300 to 2400, moongdhuli 2400 to 2700, masoor 1600 to 1800, malkamasoor 1800 to 2000, kablichanna 1900 to 2300, kalachanna 1250 to 1450, dalchanna 1300 to 1400, arhar 1700 to 2450, rajmashchitra 2400 to 3500, peas (white) 950 to 1050, peas (green) 900 to 1000. Sugar. M-grade 1500 to 1520, S-grade 1480 to 1500, khandsari 1300 to 1500, gurkhurpa 950 to 1000, gurperi 1000 to 1050, shakkar 1000 to 1100. Oils — Sarson (per quintal) 3600, soyabean (per tin 15 litres) 525, surajmukhi 610 to 615, groundnut 830, cottonseed 590.

Kisan Club
From Our Correspondent
GURGAON, March 31 — Gurgaon Gramin Bank opened a Kisan Club at Rawli village in Ferozepore Jhirka block today. It is the seventh club opened by the bank in the district. Kisan Clubs are started under the Vikas Volunteer Vahini programme of NABARD launched in May, 1983.

Modi Xerox
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, March 31 — At an annual general meeting of Modi Xerox Ltd held yesterday in Modipuram, Dr B.K. Modi, Chairman of the company said Xerox Corporation and Modi Corp are considering a merger of their three joint ventures — Modi Xerox Ltd, Modi Xerox Financial Services Ltd, and MX Software Services Ltd. The name of the combined entity is proposed to be changed to Xerox Modi Corp Limited.

Jammu bank
From Our Correspondent
JAMMU, March 31 — The deposits in Jammu (Central Co-operative Bank are expected to touch a record figure of Rs 357 crore by the year ending 2000. This was stated at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the bank held here today under the chairmanship of the Minister for Rural Development Co-operatives and Panchayats, Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, who is also the Chairman of the Bank.

Spice Telecom
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, March 31 — In accordance with the government requirements, Spice Telecom yesterday paid 20 per cent of the outstanding licence fee, amounting to Rs 52.75 crore, Umang Das, Director, Modicom, hoped the Government will find a practical solution whereby existing operators will be able to benefit from the new telecom policy. With this payment, Spice Telecom’s equity base has risen to Rs 466 crore taking the shareholders’ equity to among the largest in the industry.