Duty Drawback rates rationalised
NEW DELHI, May 20 — The Finance Ministry today announced a rationalisation of Duty Drawback rates and introduced seven new products, including tea and naphtha, under the Drawback scheme.

Ebony store in city
CHANDIGARH, May 20 — The $ 300 million D.S. group headed by London-based NRI H.S. Narula has brought to the city Ebony, claimed to be North India’s largest shopping plaza.

Pinnacle floats club
CHANDIGARH, May 20 — The Pinnacle group, a subsidiary of WWICS, today launched “The Club Pinnacle” which will provide its members the benefits of buying products at wholesale rates.

Tisco net profit falls 12.43 pc Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited has reported 12.43 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 282 crore during the financial year ended 1998-99 compared with Rs 322 crore in 1997-98.

OCM strike called off

Ebbing World Cup fever may hit TV sales
From Gaurav Choudhury
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 20 — The lacklustre performance of the Indian cricket team in the ongoing World Cup appears to have taken the sheen away from the country’s television industry which was so far riding high on the sixers of Sachin Tendulkar.

The shock defeat at the hands of the tournament underdogs Zimbabwe yesterday, have made the chances of the India reaching the super-six stage slim. Two consecutive defeats, compounded by the news of master blaster Tendulkar’s unavailability,is likely to have an adverse impact on the projected boom for the television industry.

Industry observers said that the industry as a whole was expecting a sales growth of over 90 per cent before and during the World Cup.

“TV sales could drop by 25 to 30 per cent during the next three to four days”, National Sales Manager of Philips India Limited, Mr Ravi Pisharody told the TNS.

India’s next match with Kenya would be crucial for this purpose , he said adding that a significant fall in sales would have an impact on the working capital of the respective companies as inventory build up could prove to be major problem.

BPL electronics, however, does not forsee any significant sales in drop in its sales figures due to the poor performance of India.

“People are buying TVs basically to watch quality cricket and not just to watch the Indian team play”, a BPL official said adding that India’s performance will have an impact only on those companies which had come out with schemes directly related to India’s performance.

Several companies, were riding high on various schemes with one company offering to return money depending on the number of runs India would score during the entire course of the tournament.

A Delhi based dealer told the TNS that during the first days of the World Cup, about 80 sets had been sold off which was significantly higher than the sale of 150 to 200 sets per month in usual times.

Vice-President, Sales and Marketing of LG Electronics India Limited (LGEIL), Mr Rajiv Karwal said that India’s matches with Kenya (May 23) and Sri Lanka (May 27) would actually determine the sales figures. “ The sales will be determined in the month of May itself as people are not expected to buy TVs during the knock out stage”, Mr Karwal said.

“India has one of the best run averages so far and despite too narrow losses, chances of making it to the super-six are not very low”, Mr Karwal said .

He, however agreed that the sales schemes which were directly connected with the performance of the Indian team would feel the pinch immediately.

While some dealers reported very high growth of sales of brands like AIWA, others said that price cut alone is not sufficient to lure customers.

Duty Drawback rates rationalised
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 20 — The Finance Ministry today announced a rationalisation of Duty Drawback rates and introduced seven new products, including tea and naphtha, under the Drawback scheme.

The Duty Drawback rates have been revised this year on the basis of the changed incidence of duties on different materials and inputs used by the exporters in their export products with the object of compensating exporters for the burden of Customs and Central Excise duties borne by them.

The new Drawback table which would be effective from June 1, 1999, introduces seven new products among which tea and naphtha are being covered for the first time.

The Drawback rates on 155 products have been increased while on 489 products, the rates have been rationalised taking into account the lower incidence of duties.

The major items on which Drawback rates have been improved are readymade garments, hand tools, bicycles, brass artwares, brass builder hardwares, leather products, made-ups, food products and perfumed agarbattis.

Poor too can have rich health: Amartya Sen

GENEVA, May 20 (UNI) — Low per capita income is not necessarily a barrier to good health, according to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

As basic medical care is labour intensive, low wage economies have lower medical costs and can achieve higher health results through good economic organisation, he said, addressing the World Health Assembly in Geneva, a WHO release said today.

Clubbing the experience of Kerala with that of Sri Lanka, pre-reform China and Costa Rica, he said despite average economic growth, they could achieve rapid reduction in mortality rate and better living conditions because of heavy public spending on education and health.

“Good health is an integral part of good development. Financial conservatism should be the nightmare of the militarist, not of the doctor or the school teacher or the hospital nurse,” he added.

Ebony store in city
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 20 — The $ 300 million D.S. group headed by London-based NRI H.S. Narula has brought to the city Ebony, claimed to be North India’s largest shopping plaza.

The multi-storeyed departmental store, located in Sector 9, will be formally opened tomorrow by noted cricketer Kapil Dev in the presence of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Spread over 25000 sq ft area, done up at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore and with a monthly rental of Rs 5 lakh, Ebony is an extension of the retail chain started in Delhi in October, 1994. Nine more such stores will be opened this year — first in Noida, then in Ludhiana. The Delhi store has a turnover of Rs 20 crore. Ebony offers, apart from general merchandise, piped music, closed-circuit TV, multiple electronic tellers, a capsule lift and a cafe.

Pinnacle floats club
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 20 — The Pinnacle group, a subsidiary of WWICS, today launched “The Club Pinnacle” which will provide its members the benefits of buying products at wholesale rates.

The club will make all kinds of products available to members on prices which it is claimed, will be considerably lower than the market prices. It is starting with “Grandma” range of quality food products.

Lt. Col B.S Sandhu, President, WWICS, said that the company is organising a wholesale bazaar. Hundreds of products will be made available in 50 stalls.

He said that at present the club has 4000 members and its target is 50,000. The club is organising a “mid-night bazaar” from May 21 to 23 between 4 p.m and 10 p.m. Mr Devinder Sandhu, Director Pinnacle group, gave details of the company.

Tisco net profit falls 12.43 pc

Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (Tisco) has reported 12.43 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 282 crore during the financial year ended 1998-99 compared with Rs 322 crore in 1997-98.

The Boad of Directors, however, recommended a dividend of 40 per cent to its share holders in a meeting in Mumbai today to consider annual accounts of the company.

Net sales during the year came down to Rs 6275 crore from Rs 6433 crore in 1997-98 while other income increased to Rs 178 crore in 1998-99 from Rs 83 crore.

Canfin Homes
Canfin Homes Limited, part of Canara Bank group, has earned a net profit Rs 3.60 crore registering 32 per cent growth in profit for the year 1998-99. Approving the financial result, the Board headed by its Chairman T.R. Sridharan yesterday, approved 22 per cent dividend for share holders.

Bharat Rasayan
Bharat Rasayan has recorded an improved performance during the fiscal 1998-99 with a 28 per cent rise in turnover at Rs 40.48 crore and a 26 per cent rise in net profits at Rs 3.43 crore.

This is against a net profit of Rs 2.72 crore on a total sales of Rs 30.51 crore in the previous fiscal.

Hind Lever
Hindustan Lever Ltd today announced it was selling its dairy business to Nutricia, the Indian subsidiary of Dutch speciality foods producer Royal Numico NV. “The sale will be effective upon receipt of various approvals from share holders”, it said. — UNI, PTI

OCM strike called off
From Our Correspondent

AMRITSAR, May 20 — The 98-day-old strike of the OCM Mills was called off today after an agreement was reached between the striking workers and the management here. CPI leader Satya Pal Dang and a spokesman of the mill confirmed the ending of the strike.

by Pushpa Girimaji
What to do when company runs away with deposits

TWO years ago, Ms Vandana Sabharwal invested Rs 2 lakh in the Kuber group of companies. Today, she is one of many depositors of this non-banking financial company, who are running from pillar to post trying to get back their deposits.

It’s not greed for higher rate of interest, but sheer necessity that drove me to invest in this company, says Ms Sabharwal. This was part of the money that she got as alimony following her divorce. She needed a regular income to educate her daughter and she found that by investing in Kuber, she got nearly Rs 2,000 every month on her deposit of Rs 1 lakh and this helped her considerably. Another Rs 1 lakh went into a scheme that promised to double the money in three and a half years. This was again meant to help her daughter pursue higher studies. Today, haunted by fears of not recovering the money, she is unable to sleep. Says she: My daughter’s educational career rests on my getting back this money.

For people like Ms Sabharwal, the best option today is to file a complaint before a consumer court, seeking recovery of money deposited with the company. They can either file complaints individually or collectively through a class action suit. Fortunately for consumers, the National Commission held in the case of Neela Vasantraje vs Amogh Industries (RP No 409 of 1992) that failure on the part of company to return deposits on maturity constituted deficiency in service and the depositors could seek redress against such deficient service through consumer courts. This judgement has opened the doors of consumer courts to thousands of harried small deposits in India.

In this case, Ms Neela Vasantraje had deposited money in Amogh Industries. But even after her two deposits matured, the company neither paid the principal nor interest. She therefore filed a complaint before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Pune, seeking return of her deposit, along with interest and damages. However, both the District Forum and the Maharashtra State Commission, dismissed her complaint on the ground that the dispute did not constitute a ‘consumer complaint’ under the Consumer Protection Act.

The National Commission before which Ms Vasantraje filed a revision petition, however, set aside the orders of the two courts and held that a depositor investing in a company is a ‘consumer’ under the Consumer Protection Act and the company which was accepting deposits with assurance of prompt repayment and full security of investment was rendering a ‘service’. Under the CP Act, there is no remedy for service rendered free. So in this case the Commission considered this question and said the company was providing service for a ‘consideration’, the consideration being the fact that the company or firm is enabled to use the funds deposited with it for purposes of its business. Therefore, any default in payment constituted deficiency in service for which a depositor could seek relief from consumer courts, the Commission held.

Said the Commission: It is a common practice with many hundreds of thousands of middle class families and retired pensioners to invest their funds in such schemes of deposits launched by companies and firms and it would not be right to take a hypertechnical view regarding such an arrangement and deny relief under the Act to these depositors in the event of the company or firm failing to discharge its obligations in the matter of repayment of the principal and interest on the basis of the arrangement of service entered into between the parties. The default on the part of the company or firm to carry out its obligation to repay the principal and interest constitutes ‘deficiency’ in service so as to warrant the filing of a complaint before a Consumer Forum.

The Commission also pointed out that consumer court could not only direct the company to pay the outstanding amounts due to the depositor, but also compensation for any loss, harassment and mental agony caused to the depositor.