CTV, computers lead industrial growth
NEW DELHI, Aug 11 — Colour television, personal computers, and motor cycles posted excellent growth while on the other end of the spectrum textile machinery and power transformers were the items that showed a negative performance, an industrial survey today said.

‘Bug may bring Railways to halt’
NEW DELHI, Aug 11 — Power projects could blink off and the entire railways may come to a standstill despite attaining Y2K compliance in the main computer systems, an expert on the millennium bug has said.

Govt decision hits machine tool units
LUDHIANA, August 11 — The recession-hit machine tool industry of Ludhiana has warned that the recent Government decision to allow import of second-hand capital goods will deal a death blow to thousands of machine tool units here.

Kodak eyes insurance
Kodak India Ltd a leader in photography business, on Wednesday announced to target the banking, insurance and publication industry for its new imaging products (scanners) in the country.

Why breaks on fertiliser plants?
NEW DELHI, Aug 11 —India needs to add new fertiliser plants and expand production capacities to ensure food security in the country, the Managing Director of Indian Farmers, Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), Mr U.S. Awasthi, has said.

No need to panic, says Sinha
NEW DELHI, Aug 11 — Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said today the shooting down of a Pakistani naval plane was an “isolated incident” and there was no need to panic.

CTV, computers lead industrial growth

NEW DELHI, Aug 11 (UNI) — Colour television, personal computers, and motor cycles posted excellent growth while on the other end of the spectrum textile machinery and power transformers were the items that showed a negative performance, an industrial survey today said.

The survey conducted by the associations council of the CII has given excellent rating to the performance of cement, soda ash, telecom cables, colour picture tubes, auto components, colour TV, computer hardware (domestic), personal computers, clocks watches, airconditioners, audio products, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, and motor cycles.

The figures used were from April-June 1999 over April-June 1998 and April-March 1998-99 over April-March 1997-98.

Telecom cables grew by 106 per cent in April-June 1999 compared to April-June 1998. In the same period, colour TV went on a high of 42 per cent followed by colour picture tube with 38 per cent, hardware 30 per cent, personal computers 30 per cent and motor cycles 31 per cent.

Among the consumer non-durables the growth was 40.2 per cent up from minus 9.5 per cent. Capital goods remained a high 60 per cent.

The negative growth was led by rail wagons with minus 52 per cent and textile machinery with minus 44 per cent.Consumer non-durables were tea which went down by minus 20 per cent and malted food minus 11 per cent.The negative trend in basic goods were reflected in the performance of lead and lead alloy (minus 5.8 per cent), pig iron (minus 13.4 per cent).In the services sector hydro-electric power went down minus 14 per cent.

High growth was seen among consumer durables lead by refrigerators (12 per cent), washing machines (12 per cent), water coolers (10 per cent), rubber goods (11 per cent), light commercial vehicles (13 per cent), bus and truck tyre (15 per cent).

Alcoholic beverages grew by 12 per cent among the consumer non-durables, processed food by 12 per cent, newsprint by 13.5 per cent.

Capital goods which posted a high growth of plus 10 to 20 per cent were diesel engines, pumps, telecom equipment,tractors, sugar machinery and oil and gas equipment.

Among the intermediate goods, electronic components picked up from minus four per cent to plus 16 per cent. Ceramics was high at 10 per cent. Precision steel tube went up 15 per cent and aluminium extrusions 15.5 per cent.

Moderate growth of 10 per cent and below were shown by fertilisers with 9.3 per cent, diesel with 5 per cent, petrol (5 per cent, asbestos cement products (8.3 per cent) nylon tyre yarn (9.5 per cent), industrial gases (7.2 per cent) and power cables 7. 2 per cent.

Among the consumer durables were three wheelers which picked from a minus 11 per cent to plus one per cent. Mopeds went up from plus one per cent to plus 6 per cents, scooters plus 3 per cent.

Slump in vehicle exports

All three-wheelers, motor-cycles, mopeds and light commercial vehicles witnessed a slump in exports, according to the CII survey.

Exports of three-wheelers slumped from a high of 14 per cent to minus 6 per cent according to growth rates calculated by using information provided by member companies of the CII and its 87 affiliated associations. These companies and associations account for more than 65 per cent of the total industry output.The export growth rate is from April-March 1998-99 over April-March 1997-98.

Motor cycles was down at 13 per cent.Mopeds at minus 32 per cent, light commercial vehicles at a low of minus 62 per cent, and scooters (minus 51 per cent).

Export slump also hit the capital goods sector with textile machinery going down minus 48 per cent, sugar machinery (minus 10 per cent), diesel engines (minus 8 per cent).

Export in consumer non-durables went down a massive minus 99 per cent from minus 50 per cent. Cigarette and tobacco was down minus 17 per cent. Pig iron export went down to minus 73 per cent.

Excellent growth rates in exports were posted by construction projects with 243 per cent high from 100 per cent. Medium and heavy commercial vehicles went up from a minus 23 per cent to 64 per cent. Among the basic goods caustic soda went up from minus 30 per cent to plus 152 per cent.

Soda ash exports were high at plus 92 per cent from a low of minus 34 per cent. Cold rolled steel from minus 28 per cent to plus 20 per cent.

Software exports remained on a high 60 per cent. High growth in exports was seen in transmission line towers, telecom component, air and gas compressor, electronic components, refrigerators, glass products, paper and processed fruit and vegetables. — UNI

Keep telecom out of politics: TRAI

NEW DELHI, Aug 11 (UNI) — Telecom experts have called for protecting consumer interests as the controversy over migration from fixed licence fee to revenue sharing formula rages on in political and legal circles.

Justice S.S. Sodhi, Chairman of the TRAI, said telecom is too vital a sector for overall economic development of the country to be allowed to become hostage to politics of the ballot box, as it appears to have become.

“In the raging controversy that has engulfed the telecom sector regarding licencee fee and revenue sharing, we find that its most important entity appears to have been just sidetracked. I refer here to the consumer.”

The burden of the charge upon an operator whatever it may be, whether by way of licence fee or share of the revenue, eventually falls upon the consumer, he said.

“This is what confronts the nation with the choice: Is the objective to generate revenue or promote affordability,” Justice Sodhi said. If charges are kept with affordable limits, will it not result in expansion of the network which in turn could bring in greater revenues than high charges upon operators, which would rather impede expansion?

Justice Sodhi said telecom related services are vital inputs for trade and industry. Their costs cannot but have their effect upon India’s global competitiveness. This is an aspect that does not appear to have received the consideration it deserves, he said.

He was addressing delegates who had gathered here last evening for release of a book titled “telecom de-monopolisation in India” written by Dr T.H. Chowdary, information technology Advisor to the Andhra Pradesh Government and Director of the Centre for Telecom Management and Studies in Hyderabad.

‘Bug may bring Railways to halt’
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 11 — Power projects could blink off and the entire railways may come to a standstill despite attaining Y2K compliance in the main computer systems, an expert on the millennium bug has said.

The Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Electronics Trade and Technology Development Corporation Ltd (ET and T), Mr S.N. Zindal, said here today that there was a need to tackle the “embedded” chips inside machines which would also be equally affected by the bug.

Mr Zindal said that apart from automatic computerised systems which operate major projects, there were several integrated layers which contained microchips. Any date problem in these chips could jeopardise the control and guidance systems.

The ET and T has tied up with two US-based firms to provide entire solutions to Indian entities so that they remain unaffected by the millennium bug.

He said the government has set up a committee of Secretaries headed by Planning Commission member, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the Indian organisations were being made aware of this new problem.

Mr Zindal said becoming Y2K compliant had also become necessary as the insurance facilities would not be available to companies which do not upgrade their systems.

Though ET and T provides hardware and package software, networking, customised software development and maintenance, the demand this year is for providing Y2K solutions, he added.

The company has also diversified into importing certain security equipments for police and paramilitary forces. This includes bomb detection kits.

Govt decision hits machine tool units
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, August 11 — The recession-hit machine tool industry of Ludhiana has warned that the recent Government decision to allow import of second-hand capital goods will deal a death blow to thousands of machine tool units here.

“It will put another nail in the coffin of the already dying machine tool industry”, laments Mr Kirpal Singh Sagar, General Secretary of the Ludhiana Machine Tool Makers Association. Machine tool industry was once the pride of Ludhiana. Due to lack of government patronage, the city has lost its premier status. Further, globalisation has aggravated the plight of the industry.

Mr Sagar says that the industry was very happy when the Government imposed a ban on the import of second-hand capital goods with effect from April 1, 1999. This decision of the Government would have gone a long way in boosting the production and sale of machine tools within the country. But the sudden reversal of the decision by the Government had shocked the industry.

“The Ludhiana machine tools industry wishes to make world class machines but for this it needs government support and whole-hearted patronage which has not been forthcoming all these dayso”, says Mr Sagar. The immediate need of the SSI units of machine tool industry is the upgradation of plant and machinery and quality assurance to be able to produce low cost, hi-tech and high quality machines. Setting up of a modern machine tool research and development centre and creation of an exclusive focal point for machine tool manufacturers at Ludhiana are needed to save the industry.

Kodak eyes insurance

Kodak India Ltd a leader in photography business, on Wednesday announced to target the banking, insurance and publication industry for its new imaging products (scanners) in the country.

“We would be focussing on the banking, insurance and publication industry, which involve high paper work in order to reap the benefits of these fast growing sectors,” Kodak-Document Imaging, Regional Sales Director (Asia Pacific) Paul Whittard said.

United Breweries Ltd, makers of the Kingfisher beer, has announced a net loss of Rs 1.2 crore during first quarter of the current fiscal as against a net profit of Rs 4.7 crore during the same period last year.

IDBI has mooted splitting the sick Modi Spinning and Weaving Mills Company Limited into separate companies with Haryana Distillery going to K.N. Modi Group and Cloth and Ginning units to S.K. Modi group.

The three-month-old strike in Madura Coats was called off on Tuesday following a settlement at the talks convened by Tamil Nadu Labour Minister A Rahman Khan here. Madura Coats, which employs nearly 12,000 employees in three units at Madurai, Tuticorin and Ambasamudram, has been hit by strike, fasts and go-slow agitations by the workers who have been demanding a pay hike. — Agencies

Why breaks on fertiliser plants?
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 11 —India needs to add new fertiliser plants and expand production capacities to ensure food security in the country, the Managing Director of Indian Farmers, Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), Mr U.S. Awasthi, has said.

Mr Awasthi said there was a general trend in the country to discourage addition of fresh fertiliser capacities and this would have long-term ramifications for the country.

Admitting that production of excess fertiliser in today’s market conditions was not a viable option, Mr Awasthi said India should still go ahead with fresh additions for long-term interests.

As the country’s foodgrains production increases over the next two decades, it would require more fertilisers and the present trend, where imported fertilisers are available at cheaper rates, may not be applicable tomorrow.

The IFFCO Managing Director said it was necessary that India create the necessary infrastructure for expanding agriculture production in the Eastern States like Bihar as the next agriculture revolution would have to be focussed there.

With production in North India, especially Punjab and Haryana, saturating, agricultural production would have to be taken to new, hitherto untapped areas, he said.

The IFFCO, which on August 5 commissioned the Kandla expansion project ahead of schedule within the last three years, has emerged as the country’s largest producer of urea and NPK/DAP.

IFFCO’s turnover also soared to an all-time high of Rs 3820 crore during this period when compared to Rs 3413 crore in the previous year registering an increase of 12 per cent.

Delhi HC gets website

NEW DELHI, Aug 11 (UNI) — The Delhi High Court today became the first high court in the country to introduce a website for daily court cases. The website was inaugurated by Delhi High Court Chief Justice S.N. Variava at a function this afternoon. High Court Registrar H.R. Malhotra announced that the website is available in the Internet from tomorrow at http://caselaw.delhi.njc.in/hc-cl/ or http://164.100.100.10.12/hc-cl/.

The entire daily cause list of the high court showing cases listed for the following day, court wise, category wise along with the names of the lawyers appearing in the cases will be available on the Internet at about 6 p.m. on the preceding day of the date of hearing. Regular cause list is also available on the website. With the website, lawyers and litigants will now have more time to study and prepare themselves.

No need to panic, says Sinha

NEW DELHI, Aug 11 (PTI) — Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said today the shooting down of a Pakistani naval plane was an “isolated incident” and there was no need to panic.

“Everything is stable and there is absolutely no cause for worry. It (shooting down of the plane) is an isolated incident,” Sinha told reporters after a meeting with visiting Japanese Vice Minister of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Hisamitsu Arai, here.

BSE Sensitive Index soared past the 4600 point mark at midsession, after suffering initial losses, compared to yesterday’s closing of 4520.95 points.

“We are a mature nation and we should respond to events in a mature fashion,” he added.

Forex
US $ Rs 43.45/46
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Euro Rs 46.46/49
Jap yen (100) Rs 37.81/83

PNB branch
From Our Correspondent
AMBALA, Aug 11 — Ms Navraj Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, today inaugurated the new branch premises of Punjab National Bank at DAV College, Ambala city. Mr V.K. Bakhshi, Lead District Manager, PNB, and Mr R.K. Rehani, Deputy General Manager, PNB, were present.