Himachal pollution website launched
SHIMLA, June 10 — Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, today formally launched the official website of the Himachal Pollution Control Board.

Gold prices fall
NEW DELHI, June 10 — Fear of U.K. Treasury gold sale continued to shadow the domestic markets as prices of the yellow metal further rolled down on the Delhi bullion market today on lack of buying and closed at more than a year low level of Rs. 4030 per 10 gram.

Excel net profit up, to pay 75 per cent
Excel Industries Ltd has posted 23.31 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 23.38 crore for the year ended March, 1999, and declared a dividend of 75 per cent against 60 per cent the previous year.

RBI credit plan for small units on anvil

NEW DELHI, June 10 (PTI) — The RBI is working on a new credit guarantee scheme for small scale units (SSI) to improve flow of credit to this priority sector, RBI Executive Director I.D. Agarwal said here today.

“Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in this year’s Budget announced introduction of a new credit guarantee scheme and RBI is working on it,” Agarwal said, inaugurating a workshop on “Finance and taxation for SMEs” organised by the CII.

The present credit guarantee scheme operated by the RBI has neither satisfied the banks which offer credit to SSIs nor the units which are looking for credit guarantee cover, he said, adding that the new scheme would consider the Kapur committee recommendations for SSIs.

Agarwal pointed out that the Kapur committee had suggested that the SSI Associations could organise guarantee co-operatives in which resources of member firms were pooled together.

Such cooperatives could guarantee the loans taken by members from banks and in turn boost bankers’ confidence, he said.

Delay in receiving payments was one of the major problems of SSIs, and factoring services offered by banks could help units recover their payments from buyers, Agarwal said.

Although several nationalised banks, besides SIDBI, were offering factoring services, these had not taken off mainly due to documentation problems and lack of awareness.

Factoring is an institutional mechanism for purchasing receivables from the supplier and then recovering the payments from the final buyer.

SSIs will also have to concentrate on research and development to face global competition and retain their export markets.

“The right kind of technology upgradation is necessary for integration with the global economy,” he said suggesting that a consortium approach could help SSIs overcome marketing problems.

Indian Banks Association (IBA) Chief Executive and Secretary M.N. Dandekar said action had to be taken at the local level with the specialised bank branches catering to SSIs rather than at the bank head office level.

Building of local bodies among SSIs to interact with branch offices of banks could also help augment credit delivery, he added.

A credit rating for SSIs should be considered so that viable units do not face problems in availing loan facilities, Dandekar said.

Dabur sells stake to Spanish MNC
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — Dabur India has sold off its 49 per cent stake in its confectionery joint venture — General De Confiteria India Ltd (GCIL) — to the Agrolimen group based in Barcelona, Spain, for Rs 35.24 crore.

Announcing this at a function in the CII complex last night, the confectionery company’s global CEO, Mr Xavier Mir, said General De Confiteria India Ltd’s name has been changed to Joyco India Ltd and it has now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Agrolimen group.

Joyco India, which has set up its sole manufacturing facility in the country at Baddi in Himachal with an investment of Rs 60 crore, has ambitious expansion plans to produce a wide range of confectionery products.

Starting its operations in April, 1995 with the launch of Boomer bubble gum, the company has added to its portfolio’ more products like Bonkers, a soft fruity toffee,Mickey Toffee and Donald Sweets.

Providing direct employment to 300 persons, the company’s Baddi plant has secured ISO 9002 certification which is rare among food companies.

Sharing his experiences of interacting with the authorities in India and China, Mr Xavier Mir told TNS that if a project clearance takes three months in China, in India it can take up to six months.

Himachal pollution website launched
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 10 — Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, today formally launched the official website of the Himachal Pollution Control Board.

The homepage on the website (http:// himachal. nic. in), maintained by the National Informatics Centre, will provide information like mandate of the board, its activities, pollution norms and standards, treatment options to control pollution, classification of industries, status of ambient air and river water quality, zoning atlas for industries and guldelines for obtaining environmental clearances.

Mr Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Environment and Forests said the Board could now function as an interactive scientific organisation, besides performing the role of a regulatory body.

Gold prices fall

NEW DELHI, June 10 (PTI) — Fear of U.K. Treasury gold sale continued to shadow the domestic markets as prices of the yellow metal further rolled down on the Delhi bullion market today on lack of buying and closed at more than a year low level of Rs. 4030 per 10 gram.

However, silver recovered on global advices and finished with handsome gains.

Market participants said gold prices in thin trade continued its downward journey and touched more than a year low level. Standard gold was quoted at Rs. 4035 per 10 gram on February 26, last year.

Silver .999 (ready) rose by Rs. 90 at Rs. 7550 per kilo on hectic buying. Silver weekly delivery also gained equal ground at Rs. 7550 per kilo. However, silver coins were traded at unchanged levels of Rs. 10,300/10,500 per 100 pieces.

Standard gold and ornaments lost further by Rs.55 each at Rs. 4030 ad Rs. 3880 per 10 gram respectively. Sovereign was also quoted lower by Rs. 25 at Rs. 3650 per piece of eight gram.

Excel net profit up, to pay 75 per cent

Excel Industries Ltd (EIL) has posted 23.31 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 23.38 crore for the year ended March, 1999, and declared a dividend of 75 per cent against 60 per cent the previous year. The company reported an 8.99 per cent increase in sales at 408.22 crore and also achieved highest-ever exports of Rs 64.99 crore during 1998-99 against Rs 57.87 crore during the previous year.

Honda Siel posts loss: Honda Siel Cars India Limited closed the 1998-99 fiscal with a loss of Rs 44.13 crore on an operating income of Rs 442.63 crore. On a paid-up capital of Rs 360 crore, its net worth was Rs 283.31 crore as on March 31, 1999.

Hindustan Sanitaryware: Hindustan Sanitaryware and Industries Ltd, has posted a turnover of Rs 163 crore for the financial year 1998-99. The 24 per cent jump in turnover from Rs 131 crore in 1997-98 has been achieved in a tough and recessionary construction market. The profits have also increased to Rs 13.59 crore for the year 1998-99 as against Rs 11.96 crore in the previous year, a 13.83 per cent jump. The Board of Directors have recommended 45 per cent dividend.

Jisco rating: ICRA Limited had assigned an LAAA (SO) (L triple a structured obligation) rating to the Rs 150 crore non-convertible debenture programme of Jindal Iron and Steel Company Ltd (JISCO) ICRA Limited has downgraded the rating of the Rs 4 crore commercial paper programme of Jindal Pipes Limited from A1 plus to A1.— TNS, agencies

by Pushpa Girimaji
Taking bus travellers for a bumpy ride

DR Ajit Mohanty, a professor in Utkal University, booked a ticket at Rourkela to travel from Kansbahal to Bhubaneswar by Rourkela-Bhubanesar non-stop bus run by the Orissa State Transport Corporation. He was assured at the time of booking the ticket that even though the bus did not have a scheduled stop at Kansbahal, if there was advance information that a passenger would board the bus, it would stop and pick up the passenger.

However, on the day of his travel, Dr Mohanty found the bus pass by without stopping. He was in fact at the bus stop by 8.30 pm and at 9.20 pm, the bus arrived, but did not stop. Since Dr Mohanty was travelling to Bhubaneswar in connection with a viva voice examination of a Ph.D student, he was forced to take a crowded bus that came along and travel standing. But even then, he was late and the examination had to be re-scheduled to accommodate him. This in turn delayed his visit to Puri to see his ailing grandmother and by the time he finally reached Puri, she had already died.

Upset by these developments, Dr Mohanty filed a complaint before the consumer court, which directed the transport corporation to refund Rs 75 paid towards the ticket and also pay Rs 2000 as compensation.

For short distance inter-city and intra-state travel, road transportation is certainly convenient. However, the highly casual attitude exhibited by transport companies towards those they are supposed to serve often causes lot of harassment to passengers. Buses do not carry destination boards, they do not stick to the announced time of departure or arrival, they carry more passengers than they are supposed to, charge for an air-conditioned coach, but provide a rickety old vehicle, cancel trips at will even after issuing tickets, well, the list of consumer woes is really long. However, with consumers seeking relief against such shoddy and deficient service through consumer courts, hopefully, the transport companies will mend their ways and pay attention to providing better and more efficient service. But consumer courts too need to award decent amounts as compensation in such cases.

Take the case of T.B.O. Travels vs Kota Suryanarayana. Soon after their marriage, Mr Suryanarayana and his wife booked two tickets on a video coach to travel from Bangalore to Ooty and back. However, their honeymoon was ruined by the poor service rendered by the transport company. Firstly, instead of the promised video coach, they were provided with a small van. And worse, they were made to sit inside the driver’s cabin in front, even though their tickets mentioned their seat numbers as 21 and 22. That was not all. On their return journey, the bus did not come at all and they were forced to catch a crowded bus and return to Bangalore. The consumer court in this case directed T.B.O. Travels to return the cost of the ticket, which was Rs 900 and also pay Rs 2000 as compensation to the couple.

Army pact
NEW DELHI, June 10 (TNS) — An agreement to manufacture and supply defence equipment to the Indian Army has been reached between Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) and Zaclady Mechaniczne Bumar Labedy of Poland The agreement, valid for 15 years, was finalised at Bangalore recently and signed by Dr K. Aprameyan CMD BEML, and Mr Piotr Zaborowski, Commercial Director of Bumar Labedy. BEML has received orders worth Rs 150 crore from the Defence Ministry.

Bank of Baroda
MUMBAI, June 10 (PTI) — The Bank of Baroda (BoB) is planning to set up a new subsidiary for insurance operations in the country even as at least six leading insurance players from around the world have approached the bank for partnering in the venture. “We will open a new subsidiary for entering the insurance sector, because banking and insurance are difficult to be operated simultaneously by the same organisation,” BoB Chairman and Managing Director K Kannan told PTI.

Indian Oil
NEW DELHI, June 10 (PTI) — Indian Oil Corporation today entered into a pact with Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd for pursuing business opportunities in India and abroad.

Inalsa
CHANDIGARH, June 10 (TNS) — Inalsa Appliances Ltd has initiated an aggressive direct marketing campaign targeted at housewives hare.