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| Saturday, August 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Containers clog freight
station Pension fund authority favoured |
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SBP, SBI launch joint credit
card
No immediate increase in interest rates NEW DELHI, Aug 18 —
Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today ruled out any immediate hike in interest rates in the face of sharp depreciation of the rupee saying it was “temporary and manageable” and there was no cause for panic. “It is a temporary phenomenon,” he told the Lok Sabha adding “though the situation is difficult, there is no cause for worry as our economic fundamentals are strong and the country has enough foreign exchange reserves to meet seven-month imports.” Mr Sinha, however, said there was no room for complacency and the Reserve Bank was handling the situation extremely well by curbing excessive speculation to check volatility. About the members’ concern that the rupee might touch Rs 50 to a dollar, he said: “Let us not give in to soothsayers. There is no reason to panic.” He said the interest rates had been reduced by 200 basis points since March this year to boost industrial recovery and “we have now increased it by 100 basis points in the face of rupee depreciation”. “At the moment, the situation does not warrant any further increase in interest rates,” he said. Allaying fears of the members that there was a crisis of confidence, Mr Sinha said this temporary situation had risen as a result of an extraneous factor which was expected to stabilise in the course of time. He said because of a fear of a crisis situation, the authorities in the USA increased interest rates due to which dollars had flown into that country from all over the world, including India. This had led to a downslide of not only the rupee but several other currencies as compared to the dollar, he said. The rate of depreciation of rupee to dollar was much less than that of other currencies like euro and pound sterling. While the rupee had depreciated by 5.13 per cent, the euro by 9.16 per cent and pound sterling, 10.17 per cent, he said. The only line of worry is the quantum rise in the oil import bill which has gone up steeply due to a sharp increase in the international prices of crude to 33 dollars a barrel. Elaborating on rbi policy to manage the situation, Mr Sinha said its policy was two-pronged — to contain excessive speculation and build adequate foreign exchange reserves to meet genuine demand of importers. Disagreeing with the members that fiis were withdrawing their money resulting in the depreciation of the rupee, Mr Sinha said in August their response had been positive. Stating that the rbi had taken four or five important steps to stabilise the value of the rupee. This was not the first time that volatality of the rupee had occurred and recalled that it had happened five times since 1993. Spelling out the reasons for the volatality, Mr Sinha said this had occurred due to a mismatch in supply and demand. He said he did not agree with members’ allegation that there was a sharp depletion in foreign exchange reserves. In fact, during the last two years, the reserves had gone up by $ 9 billion and it had risen to $ 38 billion by march 2000. The market correction in the exchange rate would also offset some of the competitive disadvantages arising from sharp depreciation of currencies of India’s competitors in South Asia and neighbouring countries, he said. “This is expected to help our exports, the growth of which had faltered in recent years.” It was true that the rupee had depreciated against dollar during the last nine weeks or so, but it was equally true that the rupee had sharply appreciated or remained stable against currencies of its other major trading partners in Europe, the uk and Japan. The rupee appreciation was also expected to restrain imports and would help strenghten “our efforts at cost effective import substitution.” Stating that the exchange rate of the rupee against dollar in India was market-determined, Mr Sinha said the rate had been under downward trend pressure since mid-May 2000 to mid-June 2000 and again since the third week of July this year. The exchange rate depreciated from Rs 43.655 per US dollar at the end of April 2000 to Rs 45.785 on August 17, 2000, a depreciation of about 4.7 per cent, he said and remarked: “I may mention here that the us dollar has also appreciated in value in relation to other major currencies during the same period.” Citing examples, he said between July 1 and August 2, 2000, the dollar appreciated by nearly 4 per cent against euro, by 3.2 per cent against Japanese yen and about 1.5 per cent against pound sterling. As a result of the movement of us dollar against these currencies, the rupee strengthened against euro by as much as 2.5 per cent and by 1.5 per cent against yen and remained stable against pound sterling. “These currencies (euro, pound and yen) are currencies of India’s other major trading and investment partners,” he said. The Finance Minister said long-term measures undertaken by the authorities included fostering macro-economic stability, pursuit of rapid growth of output and productivity, regular monitoring of developments in the balance of payments and institution of appropriate policy measures so as to keep the level of current account deficit within sustainable levels and to manage capital flows consistent with the country’s requirements of external financing and build up of foreign exchange reserves.
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Containers clog freight
station LUDHIANA, Aug 18 — The situation at the local Container Freight Station run by the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC) remains critical with hundreds of containers fully loaded with goods meant for import and export piling up due to disruption in the handling operations following a change of the works contractor at the facility. The container pile-up at the ICD has led to a crisis situation for many industrial units at Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh,Jagraon and a few other places which have sent an SOS to the authorities to take urgent steps to improve the situation. In a communication to the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, the Northern Indian Steamer Agents Association has protested against the tardly handling of the containers at the station and threatened to “divert complete business to the privately owned terminal” in view of the failure of the corporation to do anything tangible in the matter so far. According to information available here, more than 300 containers, including 275 20-footer containers and forty 40-footer containers are stocked at the depot since the beginning of this month because of the inability of the authorities to arrange their speedy transportation. The parties concerned have to thus pay not only the ground rent but also demurrage for the stuck containers for no fault of theirs. According to Mr Subodh Behari, coordinator of the Northern India Steamer Agents Association, the present problem has arisen because of the expiry of the contract of the previous contractor and the delay in taking over operations at the container freight station by the new contractor. This is despite the fact that the ICD is an important facility which cannot afford any disruption in its functioning. Mr Behari complained that despite repeated reminders to the PSWC over the past couple of weeks, there has been no improvement in the operations at the ICD. On the contrary the operations have further deteriorated. Mr Behari said that the equipment deployed by the corporation was not only inadequate but also totally unsuitable for container handling. The cranes deployed were of “Soko” make which were suitable for towing but definitely not for container handling. The number of trailers required for movement between rail-head and the facility was around 6-8 which was definitely inadequate. Noting that the PSWC had promised a couple of weeks ago to deploy four reach-stackers within seven days, he said that not even a single reach-stacker had been deployed till yesterday. “The above deficient equipment and perhaps unprofessional approach man management has led to a total collapse of operations at our facility. There is a heavy pendency of movement ex-railhead to PSWC and vice-versa and this figure is rising with each passing day because of the inadequate handling equipment deployed at the station “, he said. Mr Behari noted that the new contractor joined on August 1. His information was that before joining, he was given adequate notice and was expected to join and take over operations of the facility with complete equipment incorporated in the relevant tender document. “It is not understood why the contractor as permitted to join with deficient equipment which contributed to the chaotic operations which are persisting till today”. |
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Pension fund
authority favoured NEW
DELHI, Aug 18 — Moves for a broad revamp of the insurance and pension fund industries are gathering pace, with a set of new guidelines for insurers unveiled today and a panel report to be taken up by the cabinet in two weeks that will seek to widen access to social security in India. An official notification spelled out the investment rules for life and general insurers as part of the process under way to usher in competition in the insurance sector, hitherto a state monopoly. The Old Age Social and Income Security (OASIS) report by the Dave committee seeking the establishment of a pension fund development authority will be placed before the Cabinet in a fortnight, said Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Maneka Gandhi. She said her ministry supported the setting up of an autonomous pension fund body which will work towards bringing the 89 per cent of Indians not covered by any pension fund under the social security net. With only an estimated 34 million workers or less than 11 per cent of the workforce currently covered by provident fund and pension schemes, there is need to provide for a system which will provide old age security to the workers. She supported the OASIS panel recommendation for setting up a proper fund management.
— IANS |
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All set for sale of three Centaur
hotels NEW DELHI, Aug 18 — All is set for the sale of Hotel Corporation of India (HCI) run chain of hotels — Centaur — in Delhi and Mumbai with the property having been evaluated and prospective buyers expressing their willingness to purchase the hotels. Sources in the government said the “global adviser” appointed to work out the modalities for the sale of the loss making government run chain of hotels has already assessed the worth of the three hotels to be put on sale and the deal with the prospective buyers could be made in the coming months. Apparently, at least five major group of hotels, including two from India itself, have so far shown their interest in the purchase of the hotels. Besides, three foreign hotel groups are also interested in purchasing the properties on prime locations. The proceeds from the sale of the properties are expected to be invested into another loss making organisation, Air India. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to spruce up the image of the Indian international carrier and the money to be thus invested would be part of it. The deals were expected to be made just about three months before the details about the disinvestment in Air India are finalised and a deal is truck with the prospective airlines wanting to invest in the carrier. Sources said although all was set for the sale of the three hotels, nothing was still clear about the fate of its employees. It is expected that while initially there would be clause which would ensure that there was no immediate retrenchment of the employees. But since the hotels are already heavily overstaffed, the purchasers would possibly be given an option to start the downsizing after almost two years of the final deal. Out of the four Centaur Hotels under the HCI three — Centaur Sahar, Centaur Juhu and Centaur Delhi — are to be put on sale. The fourth Centaur Hotel in Srinagar still continues to be the eye sore with none prepared to put hands on it. According to reports, Jardine Flemming, the global advisor’s appointed by the government, following the floating of a global tender, has assessed the total worth of the three hotels at Rs 1,200 crore. The process had started after the Department of Disinvestment recommended the sale of the Centaur Hotels as there was no chance of the parent organisation achieving profits in the near future. It was still not clear whether the government would want to sell the three together to the same prospective buyer or sell them separately to different individual buyers. Seeing the present situation the latter option was expected to be followed. Among the groups which have shown interest in purchasing the three Centaur Hotels are the ITC, the Taj group of Hotels, the Holiday Inn group, a French company Accord and a Singapore based group,
Rafles. |
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SBP, SBI launch
joint credit card CHANDIGARH, Aug 18 — State Bank of Patiala here today launched the State Bank of Patiala Credit Card in association with SBI. The bank launched its card simultaneously in Ludhiana , Jalandhar and Patiala also. Mr A.K.Batra, Managing Director of the bank said the card will provide an added benefit of cash access facility to the card holders at the outlets of SBI and 199 Visa ATMs across 75 cities. Any individual with gross annual income of Rs. 60,000 and more (Rs. 75,000 in case of salaried individuals ) can apply for the card at a joining fee of Rs. 250 and an annual fee of Rs. 500. Lost card protection facility which will limit the card holder’s liability to a maximum of Rs. 1,000 will also be available. Other facilities which will be provided to the card holders will include up to 25 days of interest free credit, 24-hour SBI Card helpline facility , free accideent insurance cover for loss of life , and additional cards for the family members . The credit card will be serviced in 33 cities.
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co
At the heart of radical
change NEW
YORK, Aug 18 — The Indian American CEO of infrastructure firm Amber Networks believes his company is at the heart of radical change in Internet technology. Hyderabad-born Sam Mathan, 55, says the stockmarket downturn in IT company valuations has hardly touched infrastructure companies like his. And like many IT companies, specially start-ups, Amber Networks, which provides edge router technology, expects to turn profits sometime into the future. “Communications infrastructure is undergoing very significant change globally — moving to IP (Internet protocol) as the protocol of choice for building new networks,” Mathan told IANS, “and we are at the heart of that change.” Right now it is busy producing its state-of-the-art router for carrier companies using what it says is its world-class engineering, sales and marketing management executives attracting top talent from companies such as StrataCom/Cisco, Ascend, Lucent Technologies, Com 21 and ADC Telecommunications.
— IANS Tiny, fast & cheap
computers soon WASHINGTON, Aug 18 — Researchers yesterday said they had developed microscopic chemical switches that could form the basis of tiny, fast and cheap computers that will ‘’do things we cannot even imagine now.’’ The hair-thick switches can be turned on and off time after time, offering the possibility of random-access memory - a key facility of computers that allows users to store and manipulate information. The team at the University of California Los Angeles hopes it has taken a big step towards making a “molecular computer” that will replace the big, unwieldy and power-hungry silicon computers of today. “With molecules comes the message that we are working as small as we possibly can,” Fraser Stoddart, a UCLA chemistry professor who designed the switches, said in a telephone interview. The researchers predict that molecular computers will some day replace those based on silicon chips and car ultimately make it possible to have a computer so small it can be woven into clothing, for instance. They should be able to hold vast amounts of data safely, with less fear of crashes and other glitches. “A molecular computer will enable us to do things we cannot even imagine now,” UCLA’s James Heath, who led the study, said in a statement. It would be a million times more efficient, he said, than a silicon-based machine. The basis of the tiny switch is a molecule called a catenane. As described in this week’s issue of the Journal Science, it consists of two tiny, interlocked rings made up of atoms linked in a circle. “Imagine two interlocked rings as part of a chain,” Stoddart said. Each has two structures on it, called recognition sites, that will interact electrochemically.
— Reuters |
cr
NEW YORK: Billionaire Sanjiv Sidhu of i2 Technologies, who is featured in the upcoming edition of the Business Week magazine, says being Indian helped him ply the risky and chaotic business waters of information technology (IT). Sidhu likens the B2B IT world to the India he grew up in. “It was all a free-for-all,” he told Business Week, recalling how he and his friends bargained on the prices of everything, including bananas, and dropped in unannounced on friends and neighbours. “It gives you the strength to try to bring structure where the natural environment is chaotic,” he is quoted as saying. “You need to be flexible.” Today Sidhu’s wealth is estimated at $7 billion, but as the quiet spoken CEO says, “To use wealth, you need time,” says Sanjiv, “so in fact, I’m quite poor.” Sidhu is seemingly unaffected by his wealth despite being in the league that includes the likes of Ted Turner and Charles Schwab. He still puts in 70-80 hours of work a week, as he pilots his e-commerce software manufacturing concern that saw its beginnings in the proverbial garage. Like another Indian American billionaire, Gururaj Deshpande, Business Week credits Sidhu with not indulging in the expensive “toys” dotcom chiefs like to posses characterising him as the least known billionaire on the globe.
— IANS Chops off hand
for insurance TAIPEI: A heavily indebted Taiwan insurance salesman asked two friends to chop off his left hand today in a bid to collect insurance policies totalling up to T$20 million (US$645,000), the police said. Huang Chun-ming, 35, was admitted to hospital and tried to pass it off as a gruesome attack by a teenage motorcycle gang. “We were shocked,” Tsai Shui-sheng, police chief of the central city of Taichung, told Reuters by telephone. “We felt a bit suspicious because we combed the...crime scene, but could not find the missing hand.” The police said they questioned one of Huang’s friends, who admitted to committing insurance fraud because Huang had ran up gambling debts of T$20 million. Huang drank kaoliang, a strong Chinese spirit, before his friends chopped off his hand with a samurai sword, the police said. They had to hack it more than once. The police later found Huang’s missing hand at his home.—
Reuters Coca milk, tea
& coffee NEW DELHI: Coca-Cola India is planning to launch flavourd milk, ready-to-serve tea and coffee and iced-tea in India in two to four years. CEO Alex Von Behr has said. The final decision will be in place within three months. The company is also working towards launching its drinking water brand ‘Kinley’ on a national scale over the next tree months. The brand was launched in South India on thursday. Coca-Cola India, having invested more than $ 800 million over the past six years, has set up a network of over 50 manufacturing locations, including 11 greenfield plants. With a turnover of Rs 2,900 crore, CCI is the third largest FMCG compnay in India, after Hindustan Lever and ITC. CCI is now looking at an is per cent growth in sales in the 2000 calender year.
— UNI 93 Pak towns
go online ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Rafique Tarar yesterday flagged off an ambitious programme aimed at giving access to the Internet to all of its citizens. The first 93 cities and towns went online under the Universal Internet Access Programme. Under the three-phase programme, which has been chalked out for the next two years, Pakistan plans to connect over 1,000 cities and small towns with the Internet eventually. The government plans to spend about Rs 300 million on the programme to ensure its success, officials said.
— IANS |
bb
Re recovers Country Club Chandigarh Club and the local Golf Club are already affiliated with the Amruth group company which runs country clubs in Banglore and Chennai, besides Hyderabad, with a total of 31,000 members. “We are not exclusive. We are accessible’, said the group boss, Mr Y. Rajeev Reddy. Oxygen plant Magnetic items |
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