Sunday, May 2, 1999
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B U S I N E S S | Sunday, May 2, 1999 |
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Euro emission norms will
cut pollution |
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PSEB stalls industrial
growth
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CII chief draws flak from
CPM ADB needs money to cope with
crisis |
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Euro
emission norms will cut pollution NEW DELHI, May 1 — The decision of the Supreme Court to advance the implementation of Euro-II emission norms for automobiles in the National Capital Region from the year 2005 to 2000 could be a matter of discomfiture for automobile manufacturers but there is no cause for complain for the man on the streets. The implementation of the Euro-I emission norms during the next eleven months and then on the Euro-II norms would mean lesser quantities of Carbon Monoxide, Sulphur Dioxide, particulate matter and other toxic substances in the air. The existing norms for petrol driven vehicles, according to the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, permit emission of 4.34 gm per kilometre of Carbon Monoxide and 1.5 g/km of Hydrocarbon and Oxide of Nitrogen (NOx) while in the case of diesel run vehicles upto a capacity of 3.5 tonnes the norms range from 5 to 9 g/km and 2 to 4 g/km of Hydro Carbon and NOx. Under the Euro-I norms these levels would be required to be brought down considerably. In the case of all petrol driven vehicles the Carbon Monoxide emission would have to be restricted to 3.16 g/km as against the existing 4.34 g/km and HC and NOx level would have to be reduced from the existing 1.5 g/km to 1.13 g/km. While in Europe there is a stipulation that Particular Matter (pm) should be 0.18 g/km, in India there is no system to measure this matter, which remains suspended in the air and finally enters the lungs of people, in petrol driven vehicles. For diesel run vehicles of different kinds of engines too the Euro-I norms stipulate a significant reduction in emission of different toxic matters. CO would have to be restricted to 3.16 g/km and HC plus NOx to 1.13 g/km. These norms too are allowed in the samples taken out from the production lines and for type approval, that is the first vehicle submitted for testing, the norms are much higher. Once the Euro-II norms come into existence the CO emission from petrol driven vehicles would have to be further reduced to 2.2 g/km and HC plus NOx would have to be brought down to 0.5 g/km. For indirect injection diesel engines the Euro-II norms specify CO emission of one g/km and HC plus NOx of 0.7 g/km. For direct injection diesel engines, the norms are CO of 1 g/km and HC plus NOx of 0.9. The existence of particulate matter is known to cause lung cancer and there is also a strong correlation between suspended particulate and infant mortality in urban areas. The presence of lead affects circulatory, reproductive, nervous and renal systems while the existence of toxic substances is suspected to cause cancer besides causing reproductive problems. According to an AIAM official, the change over to new Euro norms would require several technological changes to be incorporated in new vehicles. In petrol driven vehicles, carburettors would have to be replaced by fuel injection systems. Also, there is a need to improve the quality of fuel available in the city. While the lead content presently allowed in the capital is 0.013 gm/litre Euro standards specify 0.005 g/litre. In other words, what is sold as lead free petrol in the country is not lead free. Similarly for diesel, the sulphur content permissible is under Euro standards is 0.05 per cent while in India, barring the capital where it is 0.25 per cent, it is 0.5 per cent. Also, when vehicles with
fuel injection systems break down, they would have to be
towed to a workshop as only skilled technicians can
repair them. In the case of the existing vehicles any
roadside mechanic can repair them. |
PSEB
stalls industrial growth SNAP elections have triggered a wave of shock among industry and trade of Punjab. So many issues concerning State and Central Governments are irritating business community and with election code of conduct these shall remain hanging. It is high time for the State Government to sort out these problems to avoid wrath of public. Conceptually octroi on power is highly discriminatory in nature apart from the financial burden. Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana clandestinely raised this octroi from 2 paise/unit to 4 paise on July 1998 but the State Government issued notification in November ‘98. PSEB did not collect this amount for some months and now in the current power bills heavy amounts of arrears have been added. The Punjab Government is urged to withdraw the hiked octroi on power. The PSEB has become a big source of hurdle in the growth of industry. The environments created by the administrative machinery of the PSEB smack of a kind of loot. In some cases penalties of several lakhs of rupees are imposed just for minor so called violations of peak load restrictions. Rules are so framed as to trap consumers. In some cases electronic meters are found erratic but penalties run up to one fourth of Rs 1 crore. If the watches differ by just two or three minutes, which is normal penalties can mount to Rs 5 lakh. PSEB is urged to grossly revise its policy on peak load restrictions. Installation of electronic meters should be restricted only to bigger loads. The PSEB has started raid ‘raj’ on industrial consumers. Penalties for excessive loads are imposed just arbitrarily although maximum demand is within limit. It some cases even after charging penalty the premises are again raided and penalised for the same over load although the test of officials is greatly doubtful. Progressive states like Maharashtra evolve pragmatic policies to ensure industrial growth. MSEB provides sufficient funds to waive off arrears of sick industries. Punjab has limited resource of entrepreneurs as outsiders can not be expected to come. Punjab Government should not kill this limited source of entrepreneurship due to the short sightedness of PSEB. If some industry becomes sick the entrepreneurs should not be barred from starting new venture by refusing power connection. When several hundreds of crores of rupees are wasted in free power some few crores can certainly be spared for sick industries. Sales tax collection is another source of trouble for business community. Interception of goods should be stopped as it hurts the business due to delays, unnecessary penalties and wastage of time and energy Section 14 (B) should be amended in consultation with business community. Privatisation of octroi is proving harmful. Remedy is worse than the disease. Octroi posts put by satellite towns should be removed as industry in big towns is expanding into these towns and octroi at every step is certainly a hurdle in the growth. Every Chief Minister get issues concerning business resolved by using his/her good offices, business community experts from Punjab’s Chief Minister too. Way back in 1991 the then Governor Surindernath set this trend and got resolved very irritating issues. Much of industry and trade is becoming sick due to the action of banks. Many hurdles are created even for getting normal sanctioned credit when every body is facing tight liquidity. Sick units are being harassed. The Central Government levied service tax on goods and due to lot of hue and cry and due to cases in High Court and Supreme Court the issue subsided. However, due to some legal flaw period of six months remained uncovered. It is very unfortunate that industry and trade is getting notices from Central Excise to pay service tax from November 1997 to May 1998 when it is not applicable thereafter. This is sheer harassment. Chief Minister of Punjab
should take delegation of Punjab’s industry to Union
Finance Minister to get these routine issue resolved. |
CII chief
draws flak from CPM NEW DELHI, May 1 — The new President of the CII, Mr Rahul Bajaj, who stirred up a hornets nest by pointing an accusing finger at politicians for demanding funds from industry, was at the receiving end today with a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) taking strong exception to his remarks. The CPM Politburo member, Mr Sitaram Yechury, in an apparent reaction to the Mr Bajaj’s observation at his inaugural press conference here yesterday, said industrialists should refrain from expressing “unadulterated contempt” against politicians as they were themselves to be equally blamed for corruption. He said the businessmen-politician nexus was a major cause for decline in political morality. “The CPI-M has always advocated a ban on corporate donations to political parties. In fact in 1998 elections, the party had graciously returned with thanks the sum of money sent by the Tatas as their contribution to our electoral fund”, he said. Saying that businessmen-politician nexus was one of the fundamental causes for decline in political morality in recent years, he said the corporate world should cooperate to put an end to growing corruption. On Mr Bajaj’s statement, he said the industrialist had a right to publicly express his political preferences. He however, added that “to express unadulterated contempt against politicians who have the people’s mandate can only undermine the institutions of parliamentary democracy.” He said it must be kept
in mind that politicians acquire legitimacy through
people’s mandate and not through inherited legacies. |
ADB needs money to cope with crisis MANILA, May 1 (AFP) — Asian countries, led by China, today urged the West to inject new money into the Asian Development Bank (ADB) soft-loan, anti-poverty fund in order to cope with the regional currency crisis. Xiang Huaicheng, China’s top delegate to the ADB annual meeting, said it was in developed countries’ own interests to replenish the nearly-depleted Asian Development Fund (ADF) in the face of decreasing levels of official development assistance on the bilateral level. The ADF is a key ADB soft-loan window intended for the poorest countries. “Unless resources are available, the bank’s ability to participate fully in the rehabilitation of the countries affected by the crisis will be severely compromised,” Syahril Sabirin, Governor of Bank Indonesia, said in the meeting. He recalled that Jakarta was the hardest hit by the crisis that broke out in mid-1997, but praised the ADB for quickly disbursing the funds needed for crucial reforms. “We therefore support the initiative now being formulated to underpin the bank’s long-term financial viability,” he added. Xiang said
“developed countries should practically fulfil their
obligations for the poor countries by increasing their
contributions to the concessional fund.” |
Expressing concern over the fractured mandate and short duration of coalition governments resulting in elections frequently, leading industrialists have expressed their inability to contribute to political parties repeatedly. “Industry should keep away from funding elections. Political parties should evolve a consensus over state funding of the poll,” says Eicher group Chairman Subodh Bhargav told PTI. State-funding can be done by making adequate budgetary provisions and industry should not give in to the influence of political parties during elections. “There should not be any under-the-table or over-the-table dealings between industrialists and politicians during the poll,” Bhargav adds. However, outgoing CII “President Rajesh V. Shah says he sees no immediate change in the practice of business community funding elections. Bajaj group Chairman Rahul Bajaj expressing similar sentiments, says the frequent elections to Parliament along with State Assemblies poll put additional financial pressure on the industry. “1999’s general election will be the third in three years and there were five Prime Ministers in this span.” Mr Bajaj said. Those industrialists who are weak and afraid will help fund the poll each year. — PTI Lata perfume As a singer struggling to make a reputation, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar could not afford to buy perfumes. But today she endorsed an aroma in her own name. “During my days of struggle as a singer I could not afford to buy even indigenous perfumes”, she recalled going down memory lane at a function in Mumbai, where the “Lata” brand of perfume was announced by the “Deepak Kanegaonkar group of companies. “Lata”, a premium brand of perfume will be launched nationwide on October 10 to mark the legendary singer’s 70th birthday. The nightingale of India, who was recently honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, attributes her passion for perfumes to her father’s penchant for the indigenous aromas from Goa. “During my childhood days, my father used to bring lots of perfumes from Goa and his foundness for them influenced me”, Lata reminisced. Asked if she would be paid for lending her name to a perfume, Lata posed: Will you not be happy if I receive some money?” The perfume, to be promoted through an excerpt from a Lata song “Rahe na rahe hum, maheka karenge”, will be marketed in India initially and later target non-resident Indians. — PTI Staying single Spinster, old maid, maiden aunt: the single woman has never had a good press. Whether she is perceived to be in search of a man, or too late to find one, the single woman’s state has long been regarded as a misfortune or a threat. Yet any woman who has been single - as all of us are, have been or will be in the future - knows this is not the full story. Far from it, according to Marcelle Clements, whose new book”, The Improvised Woman, challenges almost everything that has been written, said or thought about the subject. The culture has no fix on single women,’’ she argues, suggesting that most unattached women today have thrown away the old rule book. “They’re improvising their living arrangements and their financial arrangements, their sexual relationships, their friendships, their sense of social place.’’ Clements is a journalist and the interviewees in her book are American, but her claim that the word ``single’’ is too narrow and pejorative will strike a chord with women on both sides of the Atlantic. The complaint which is likely to have most resonance is about the inability of the wider culture to ``see’’ single women as they really are. Depending on your point of view, they’re a frustrated bunch who cannot get a man and turn to good works and cats; or they’re impossibly glamorous, flitting from party to party and lover to lover while holding down powerful jobs and wearing designer clothes. What this overlooks is the sheer diversity of the group; these days, ``single’’ covers women who by choice have never married, serial cohabitees who happen to be between relationships, women who take lovers but prefer to live alone, mothers bringing up children on their own, divorcees and widows. “Single’’
certainly isn’t synonymous with celibate, or
desperate, and there’s no evidence that single women
are unhappier or unhealthier than their married
counterparts. — The Guardian |
Bona fide requirement Q: When no trustworthy evidence before the Rent Controller to prove malafide, simply because the demised building is small and insufficient for running business, does it make a mala fide intention? A: In Addu Mallesh v G. Pandu (1998 (2) R.C.J. 584) the Andhra Pradesh H.C. opined thus: In the opinion of the H.C., S. 10 (3) does not require that the requirement of the landlord should be with reference to existing structure only and that they may use it after making additions or alterations or if the building is dilapidated, by demolishing it and constructing a new building and that the provisions of the Act do not contemplate that the requirement of the landlord should be only with reference to existing structure. Therefore, simply on the ground that the demised building at present is paid to be a small building, it cannot be said that the requirement of the landlord is not bona fide. The alleged inconvenience and hardship that might be caused to the tenant if he is evicted from the building cannot be a ground for rejecting the claim for eviction made by the landlord, if the requirement of the landlord is bona fide. There is no trustworthy evidence adduced before the Rent Controller to show that the petition was filed by the landlord with a mala fide intention to secure entranced rents or for such other reasons. Therefore the Appellate Court is not justified in coming to the conclusion that the requirement of the landlord is not bona fide and they are not entitled to seek eviction of the tenant, as such eviction will cause hardship to the tenant. Such finding arrived at by the Appellate Court cannot be sustained and the same is liable to be set aside. In that way, the H.C. held that inasmuch as it is now found that the rent control petition is maintainable, even though the landlord are occupying a non-residential building taken on lease, they are entitled to seek eviction of the respondent-tenant U/s. 10(3) (a) (iii) of the Rent Control Act as their requirement is bona fide. In the end, the H.C.
allowed the Revision petition. |
Q: I am a Punjab Government employee. Unfortunately I was suspended in August, 1994 and now in August, 1998 reinstated w.e.f. September, 1994. Now I am receiving amount of Rs one lakh (proximately) as arrears of Increments, revised pay scales in 1998. (i) Will this amount of arrears be count for Income Tax purpose for 1998-99. (ii) Will this amount not be bifurcate in 4 years. (iii) Is it saving for me in 1998. (iv) Any remedy for Income Tax rebate. — Ashok Kumar, Chandigarh Ans: The arrear salary received by you in financial year 1998-99 would be liable to tax for the A.Y. 1999-2000. If, however, you desire you can bifurcate it and get it assessed for different years as per S. 89. If you want the salary bifurcated for different years, then you will be required to pay penal interest, which can be waived by the I.T. Dept. u/s 119. We do not know the position about your Income for different years. If the income is not very high better take advantage of S. 89 (i). Q: I retired from Irrigation Department Punjab in July, 1992. I was not paid gratuity and leave encashment at the time of retirement due to the fault of the department for which I had to file a civil suit which was decided in my favour on 03-5-97. The Court directed the department to pay me gratuity of Rs 59,600 + 12 per cent interest P.A. till realisation and leave encashment of Rs 48, 680 + 12 per cent interest P.A. till realisation from date of retirement i.e. 01.07.1992. Accordingly gratuity of Rs 57,750 and leave encashment of Rs 48,680 and interest of Rs 69,380 (for 6 years) was paid on 10.08.98. Clarify whether the interest received from the department is taxable or not. If taxable, whether it is taxable in A.Y. 1999-2000 or it will be allocated to last six years. The interest paid is insufficient, whether index is to be applied for 6 years due to devaluation. — Mohinder Pal, Moga Ans: The interest for delayed payment of gratuity would be fully liable to tax as your Income. This amount is generally to be taxed in the year in which it has been received. If you like, you may file income-tax returns of different assessment years and show the accrued interest for different years. The cost inflation index concept on your facts is not applicable. Q: I am posted as Taxation Inspector at Budhlada, Distt. Mansa. At present, I am receiving Rs 480 p.m. in lieu of the re-imbursement of travelling expenses incurred on undertaking regular journeys to my circle, during the course of performance of my official duties. It is clarified that F.T.A. is granted to those Punjab Government employees whose duties involve touring for more than 12 days in a month during the discharge of their official field duties within a range of 25 km. Kindly inform whether this amount of fixed travelling allowance received during the financial year 1998-99 is exempt from income tax and what type of declaration. — Balwinder Singh Chahal, Budhlada Ans: On the facts stated by you the “Fixed Travelling Allowance” received by you is fully exempt from Income-tax u/s 10 (14) of the I.T. Act, 1961. Q: My query relates to income tax payable by an employee on leave travel concession availed on three occasions within a block of four years. Full facts of my case are stated hereunder: My employers — (NABARD) allows LTC, facility to its officers, their dependents once in two years, amount limited to fixed distance by rail. A set of two years is fixed for each officer depending on the date of his joining the bank’s service. In my case, the two year LTC sets are like, October, 1992 to September, 1994, October 1994 to September, 1996, October, 1996 to September, 1998 and so on I availed of these LTC sets by undertaking train journeys during January, 1994, September, 1995 and October, 1996 which fall within the four calendar year block beginning January, 1, 1994. No tax was deducted from my salary during the financial year 1996-97. Now, I am being told by my employer that the LTC towards the last journey is fully taxable under section 10(5) and I should deposit the amount. My plea is that all employees of the Central Government autonomous bodies and PSUs are entitled to two sets of LTC in a block of four years. While in the case of Government employees, the block of four calendar years in fixed from 1 January, 1986 onwards, in the case of others it is not fixed, i.e. it commences from the date of joining the service. — Devendra Dutta, Kathua Ans: On
the facts stated by you, out of three LTA in a block
period of calendar years 1994 to 1997 one LTA will be
fully taxable. It was the duty of your employer to deduct
tax at source in respect of the LTA paid to you in
October, 96. If he has not deducted tax at source, you
should have voluntarily added the amount of your total
income and paid tax while filling the Income-tax return.
The view of your employer is correct that the LTA towards
last journey is fully taxable. |
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