Saturday, March 6, 1999
today's calendar
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B U S I N E S S | Saturday, March 6, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Bill on urban land ceiling
introduced UTI
not to sell stake in ITC |
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IDBI likely to lower PLR Panel
to settle power disputes |
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10-point plan to revive AI Tax
rates likely to be stable: CBDT
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Bill on
urban land ceiling introduced NEW DELHI, March 5 — A Bill seeking to replace the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Ordinance, 1999, was tabled in the Lok Sabha today. When passed, it will be applicable to Haryana, Punjab and all Union Territories. The Urban Affairs Minister, Mr Ram Jethmalani, said the new Bill had been modified after incorporating suggestions of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Urban and Rural Affairs to protect interests of weaker sections. The Lok Sabha also passed a Bill to amend the Companies Act of 1956 to enable companies to buy back their shares and allow inter-corporate investments. A Bill to make the Essential Commodities Act more deterrent against hoarders and black marketeers was also introduced in the Lok Sabha. Before moving the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation ) Repeal Bill, 1999, Mr Jethmalani moved for leave to withdraw the Repeal Bill introduced in the House on June 11, 1998. The proposed Act seeks to replace the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, which was enacted with the purpose of preventing concentration of urban land in a few hands and to provide affordable housing to the economically weaker sections. However, it on the contrary pushed up land prices, practically bringing the housing industry to a stop and affected construction activity. The Lok Sabha also passed a Bill to amend the Companies Act of 1956. The Bill, seeking to replace the January 7 Ordinance to allow buyback facilities and inter-corporate loans, was passed by voice vote. The Company Affairs Minister, Mr M.Thambi Durai, said that the amendments were aimed at safeguarding investors’ interests and boost the morale of the capital market. The Union Food Minister, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, also moved in the House the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 1999, that proposes to prescribe maximum fines of Rs 25,000 for the first offence and Rs 50,000 for the second and subsequent offences. Under the proposed legislation, no court will have the discretionary power to impose less than the minimum prescribed imprisonment in case of conviction under the Act. The Bill also contains
provisions to prevent misuse of the law by lower field
functionaries. |
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NEW DELHI, March 5 (PTI) — Unit Trust of India (UTI) has not received any proposal from Bat Industries of the UK to purchase the former’s stake in Calcutta-based ITC Limited, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Nor had UTI taken any step to sell ITC shares to BAT, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said in a written reply. The Government had no proposal to set up an international authority to supervise world banking system to restrict financial turmoil being faced in several countries, he said in another reply. The World Bank had
increased the interest rate spread above its cost to 0.75
per cent from 0.50 per cent, he said, adding it was also
charging 1 per cent as front end free of loan amount. |
IDBI likely
to lower PLR CHANDIGARH, March 5 — Mr G.P Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, IDBI, called for good corporate governance in industry during an interaction organised by the CII here today. Mr Gupta said that Punjab and Haryana possessed good infrastructure for industrialisation, but would have to undertake necessary measures to ensure time bound and hassle-free clearance for industrial proposals like in Gujarat and Maharashtra. During 1997-98 and 1998-99 (first 9 months) IDBI sanctioned Rs 920 crore and Rs 769 crore respectively for Punjab and Haryana. Talking about the recent Budget, he said that the “feel good” factor was back and was reflected in the upswing in the capital market. He indicated that in the light of recent reduction in the interest rates by the RBI, IDBI was likely to lower its PLR. Earlier, Mr Siddharth Shriram, former Chairman, CII (Northern Region), said while approvals and disbursals of IDBI have been steadily rising over the years, the procedure involved for getting loans is cumbersome and time-consuming. As of now there are three levels for obtaining approvals from the institution: the local office, the head office and the senior management committee. There is a need for streamlining their process so that industry gets funds in time. Among others, the meeting
was attended by Mr D.S. Guru, Director Industries,
Punjab, Mr Ram Gupta, Chairman, State Bank of Patiala,
and Mr S.S. Jha, Commissioner, Central Excise,
Chandigarh. |
Panel to
settle power disputes CHANDIGARH, March 5 — Mr S.K. Tuteja, Chairman, PSEB, announced here today that henceforth “connected demand” and not “connected load” will be the basis of determining the supply voltage and the release of connection. The upper limit of connected load will be dispensed with. Mr Tuteja, addressing members of the industry, said that capacity up to 100 per cent of the originally sanctioned load will be kept reserved for five years in case of consumers getting connection above 1 MW provided they bear the entire cost of the line. The PSEB also removed the restrictions on DG sets and decided to revise rates and competency norms for granting permission to install them. During 1998-99, 6000 new industrial connections have been given and the target for 1999-2000 is 7,000 new connections. A dispute settlement committee will be set up shortly after approval by the State Government. The Board is considering to lower tariff norms at night as soon as the power supply becomes surplus. Mr Amarjit Goyal, Chairman, Punjab Committee, PHDCCI, suggested a review of the commercial circulars issued in the last 15 years and scrapping of those which have lost their relevance. The Chairman indicated that a sub-committee will be constituted to review them. The CII was represented at
the meeting by Mr K L Khurana, Vice-Chairman, Punjab
State Council, and Mr S. Ahluwalia, Chairman, Patiala
Zonal Council.
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10-point
plan to revive AI NEW DELHI, March 5 — The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport and Tourism has suggested a 10-point action plan to revive the country’s international carrier — Air India and make it more efficient. The Committee, chaired by Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra, has recommended that as a first step Air India should be restructured immediately, as every single day of delay in restructuring the carrier was costing Rs 1 crore. In this regard, the Committee said in its report to Parliament, that the Kelkar Committee report on the restructuring of the airline should be finalised immediately and the Government should take appropriate action at the earliest. To prevent unproductive competition between Air India and the domestic carrier, Indian Airlines, on certain routes like the Gulf and the South East Asia, the Committee recommended that both the companies should be amalgamated into a single company. The Committee further recommended that till the merger of Air India and the Indian Airlines takes place, there should be a joint operation of the fleet and manpower so as to avoid duplicacy in the operation of flights on the same route as is presently being done by both the airlines. It suggested that Air India should confine its operations to the international sector and the Indian Airlines should cater to the domestic sector. Another sweeping recommendation of the Committee is that there should be a complete ban on fresh recruitment in Air India and all the surplus staff and officers posted in its offices abroad should be recalled immediately, so as to reduce the expenditure incurred on the wage bill etc. The Committee pointed out that Air India has 20,000 employees and around 700 employees per plane whereas in other airlines it was 350 per plane. The Committee observed that in the past Air India used to keep the profits earned in banks instead of purchasing new aircraft to replace old ones. It was of the view that Air India as a national carrier should grow and in future they should not put funds aside to show profit rather the profits must be ploughed back to create productive assets for the service of the nation. Expenditure on Air India’s offices could be reduced by shifting its offices from prime locations to suburb vicinity of airports and by subletting of excess office space, the report said. It suggested that the
Government should take immediate decision on the proposal
of acquisition of aircraft, which was lying pending with
the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Finance Ministry
since long. Expansion in the fleet of Air India would
further lead to generation of profits. |
Tax rates
likely to be stable: CBDT NEW DELHI, March 5 — The imposition of 10 per cent surcharge on individual and corporate incomes, as proposed in the Union Budget 1999-2000, is a temporary measure,the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Mr Ravi Kant, said here today. He said if the tax base is higher, there would be no necessity for increasing the tax rate. “Hopefully expansion of the tax base will take place and the surcharge will be removed”, the CBDT Chairman said in an interaction with the PHDCCI here. “The rate at which we are expanding the tax base,the tax rates are likely to be stable”, he said adding that for stability of the tax structure it was also important to reduce exemptions and concessions. While the government has
been expanding the tax base,it has been prevented from
reducing tax concessions, he observed. |
NEW YORK (AFP): Microsoft founder Bill Gates plays it safe with his personal money and invests most of it in ultra-conservative bonds. Fortune magazine has reported. The world’s richest man, with $ 76.5 billion in Microsoft stock, shuns high-risk technology or Internet stocks when it comes to his private portfolio, the magazine said in its March 15 issue. Instead Gates, whose company is currently involved in an acrimonious anti-trust case with the US Government, favours US Government or corporate bonds where he is assured of a fixed return on his investment. The bulk of his $ 11 billion in spare cash is managed through two separate foundations, which are almost exclusively devoted to bonds, Fortune said in its exclusive interview with Gates and his money manager Michael Larson. “I have the best job in the world. It’s pure investing. No marketing. Not much management. And client relations is limited to one guy,” says Larson. The Gates Learning Foundation, with assets of $ 1.3 billion is made up of short-term US government and corporate debt. Three quarters of the larger $ 5.2 billion William H. Gates Foundation is invested in US government and corporate bonds. The remaining 25 per cent is spread across inflation protected treasury bonds, corporate bonds slightly more risky junk bonds, foreign government bonds and mortgage-backed securities. Satellites NEW DELHI (UNI): Satellite marketing has a bright future in the country if Indian industry comes forward to tap the enormous potential with the demand for building private satellites on the rise and the Indian space missions ready to extend strategic support. According to ISRO Programme Director Rangarajan the private sector, with huge resources at their command, can go in for manufacture of satellites and earn huge profits with the demand from various user agencies on the rise both in the country and abroad. Y2K service NEW DELHI (UNI): HCL Infosystems Ltd has announced the launch of its nationwide, toll free Y2K assistance service called the HCL Y2K Helpong. This comes under HCL’s latest initiative for Y2K related solutions and services termed “Save our systems” (SOS). The service, which will assist callers with all Y2K related problems, will be available to computer users of all brands across the country. Users can log in their queries on single pager number 9622 005566, common to the four metros — Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore and Pune — or via e-mail to Y2K Ahclinsys com. Net rating MUMBAI (PTI): Crisil seeks to be a one-stop-shop on business information in India, having launched its website with e-commerce capability here on Thursday. Crisil Managing Director R. Ravimohan said the agency was all geared up for “net rating”. The comprehensive information on Indian companies that would be available on the site could be accessed by large research houses at a price. HP to split NEW DELHI (UNI): Hewlett-Packard India will follow its global parent’s decision to split into two independent companies for computing and imaging businesses and measurement, says Mr Ganesh Ayyar, Country President. The two companies will
have separate Boards of Directors and its own central
research and development centres. The HP Board of
Directors has approved the realignment plan in which the
new measurement company will comprise HP’s
test-and-measurement, component, chemical analysis and
medical businesses. |
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MUMBAI, March 5 (PTI) — The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain closed from 11 a.m. to 11.35 a.m. from March 8 to 19 as the VSATs on the NSE satellite-based communication network may lose connectivity during the period. To compensate for the lost time, the market timings will be extended by 40 minutes on all these days. The pre-open session will
be from 9.45 a.m. to 9.55 a.m. followed by the normal
market from 9.55 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thereafter the market
will remain temporarily closed up to 11.35 a.m. The
second pre-open session will be between 11.45 a.m. and
4.10 p.m. and the closing session will be from 4.15 p.m.
to 4.30 p.m. |
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| Food festival CHANDIGARH, March 5 (TNS) — Mrs Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, Chairperson of CITCO, today inaugurated a renovated roof-top Chinese restaurant “Yangtse” and a new-look bar at Hotel Shivalikview here, marking the beginning of a Chinese food festival which will continue till March 14.“With this, CITCO has redefined hospitality”, said Mrs Ghosh, “Yangtse has been transformed from a run-down eatery to a swanky new food joint”, said Mr Satish Chandra, Managing Director. While the Yangtse renovation cost about Rs 2.5 lakh, the bar facelift was done for Rs 2 lakh. “Money is no problem for cash-rich CITCO”, remarked Mrs Ghosh, now under transfer for a posting at the Centre. There should be a will to improve things.” FMCG scrips VLCC centre Forex rates US $ Rs 42.51/52 The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.53. Usha Shriram ISO 9002 IDBI Bank Safety awards |
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