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| Friday, October 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Electronic database
on Central laws Australia seeks India’s support
in WTO farm negotiations Autonomy of PSUs
to be discussed FDI in insurance put
on automatic route Poor crop prospects to
harden prices: CMIE New guidelines for SEZs |
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150 firms to take
part in CII show International oil price to determine rollback ST on furnace oil cut Bank of Punjab
launches e-alert
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Electronic database
on Central laws NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — The Government has completed a comprehensive programme for creating computerised electronic database of all the principal Central Acts from 1834 to 1996 of All India application with the help of National Informatics Centre (NIC). This programme has been accomplished under a Government policy by the Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs. The texts in the India Code were scanned and loaded, hard copies taken out, compared and processed in the Department and database designed by NIC with retrieval software. Out of about 1050 principal Acts contained in India Code volumes and year-wise volumes of Acts upto 1996, about 950 Acts form part of the database. The updating of the remaining principal Acts from Monsoon Session, 2000, of Parliament as well as computerization of subordinate legislation is in progress. Besides, the texts of the Constitution of India upto 78 amendments have been loaded and made available in the INCODIS database. India Code on INTERNET website has been awarded the first ranking among the Laws related website by links2go website of the United States of America. The Legislative Department is acting as a nodal Department for making available Central Acts of All-India application on INTERNET/NICNET with the assistance of National Informatics Centres. All such principal Acts upto Budget Session of Parliament for Year 2000 (including some Acts which are frequently amended) are now available on the website
http://Indiacode.nic.in. |
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Australia seeks India’s support
in WTO farm negotiations NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — Australia has sought India’s support in the ongoing negotiations on agriculture in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Australia is a member of the Cairns Group which favours liberalisation of the world trade in agriculture particularly removal of export subsidies in the developed countries which have a distorting effect on world agricultural trade. Mr Mark Vaile, Minister for Trade of Australia, at his meeting with the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Murasoli Maran, here last evening, indicated that liberalisation of world trade in agriculture under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture would provide better market access opportunities for the Indian farmers. Mr Vaile exchanged views with Mr Maran on both multilateral and bilateral trade issues. Mr Maran reiterated India’s concern regarding implementation issues in the WTO and highlighted the need for confidence-building measures by addressing specific concerns of developing countries before launching a new round of multilateral trade negotiations. While underlining the need for exporting more to Australia so as to achieve a more balanced growth of trade both ways, Mr Maran took the opportunity of raising several bilateral trade issues with Mr. Vaile such as early finalisation of a proposed agreement between quarantine agencies of the two countries for recognition of the certification of seafood/processed foods given by Indian authorities so as to facilitate entry of Indian exports into Australia, fast-track registration for manufacturers of pharmaceuticals etc. Later in the evening, an MoU on Information Technology was signed by Mr Vaile and Mr Pramod Mahajan, Minister for Information Technology, in the presence of Mr Maran providing the framework for a rapid expansion of bilateral cooperation in a wide range of IT activities. At the last India-Australia Joint Business Council meeting held last April, both sides had set a goal for bilateral merchandise trade to reach a level of Australian $ 4 billion in 2000-2001. |
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Autonomy of PSUs to be discussed NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (PTI) — Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie will soon consult the Law Minister to explore viability of removing statutory controls on PSUs in a bid to impart them greater autonomy and enable their commercial operations through amendmnent in the Companies Act. Shourie told PTI that he had recevied suggestion from Finance Director of MTNL S. Sundresan for amendment in the Companies Act for freeing PSUs from statutory controls of the CVC, the CBI and Parliament as provided for under Article 12 of the Constitution. “I will take up these with Arun Jaitley,” he said but added that it would be a difficult task and the government would look at other options too. Sundresan had earlier said “even while retaining a majority stake, the government could unshackle the PSUs from statutory controls to give them a greater commercial freedom. This could also change investor’s perception about the PSUs and improve their scrip value.” “Section 617 of the Companies Act relating to definition of ‘government companies’ can be changed... It is because of this provision the PSUs fall under Article 12 which defines the state and the statutory controls of Parliament, CAG, CVC etc,” he added. Anguished over the sharp fall of over 60 per cent in the value of the MTNL shares despite impressive performance and strong financial parameters, Sundresan said one of the reasons for the fall in the corporation’s scrip was the investor’s perception associated with a government company. Although there is a growing demand from the PSUs and their apex association Standing Conference on Public Enterprises (SCOPE) for unshackling of the sector from statutory controls, Sundresan is the first top executive to have made a specific proposal for effecting the suggestions. The government had amended the Companies Act to accord the Infrastructure Development Finance Company the status of public finance company despite it not being set up under an Act of Parliament and the government not having a majority stake, as was mandatory for any public financial institution. |
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FDI in insurance put
on automatic route NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Murasoli Maran, has shifted foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector to the automatic route, in a further easing of the FDI norms. The foreign equity cap in the insurance sector remains at 26 per cent. The decision to permit FDI in the insurance sector on the automatic route follows the discussions between Mr Maran and the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, earlier today. This latest decision on the FDI front means that approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) will no longer be required for participation of foreign equity upto a cap of 26 per cent in the insurance sector, as licensing is already a pre-requisite for the entry of an insurance company and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is empowered to grant licences under the IRDA Act, 1999, which serves to satisfy the concerned authorities regarding pre-entry requirements. The decision is in line with the government’s policy of removing unnecessary pre-entry checks on FDI and is expected to facilitate easier inflow of FDI into a sector which has been engaging the attention of foreign insurance majors. Since the maximum extent of foreign equity in the insurance sector, 26 per cent, has been laid down and since licensing is required in any case for the entry of any insurance company into India, it has been felt that proposals for the participation of foreign companies in the equity of Indian insurance companies need not be routed through the FIPB. |
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Poor crop prospects to harden prices: CMIE CALCUTTA, Oct 19 (PTI) — Poor crop prospects in the current financial year are likely to have an adverse impact on the price level, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its recent report. The report said owing to insufficient rains, the kharif crop had been down by 1.2 million tonnes. The agency estimated that this year’s monsoon had been 8 per cent below normal. Owing to lower kharif crop, the rabi crop was likely to be affected, and CMIE’s estimates are that agricultural production would grow only by 1.3 per cent in the current fiscal. The hike in prices of petroleum products effected by the Central Government on September 30 would also directly increase the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) by 1.3 per cent, the agency said in its current month’s report. CMIE said the hike in prices of five petro product categories in the range of eight to 50 per cent would contribute to the rise in annual rate of inflation expected to exceed 7 per cent from an average of 5.7 per cent recorded in the first two weeks of september this year. CMIE said the year is likely to end with an average rate of inflation of 8 per cent, much higher than 3.3 per cent recorded in the last financial year. This, would primarily be an outcome of revision in petro product prices, which would also push up the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by 6 to 7 per cent. On broad money supply, the agency said it was expected to grow by 15 per cent in the current fiscal, higher than 13.6 per cent in the previous fiscal. This, would also have an adverse effect on the level of prices, it said. |
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NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (PTI) — The new guidelines for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) announced today allows state governments and private parties to set up such zones besides exempting units from achieving mandatory $ 1 million exports within five years. For early start of production, the letter of intent issued to the units would be construed as licence for all purposes including procurement of raw material and consumables. The guidelines also eases monitoring norms to make export production hassle-free and reduced customs control in SEZs. The notification said annual monitoring for five-year old units in those EPZs converted into SEZs will be evaluated cumulatively. For such evaluations, units with investment of over Rs 200 crore, the period will be seven years. The units which have completed less than five years will be monitored on the basis of number of years completed, the guidelines said adding there would be no monitoring for those units which are less than one year old. The foreign exchange realisation and remittance will be monitored by the Development Commissioner in coordination with RBI. SEZ units other than gems and jewellery will be allowed to sub-contract part of their production from Domestic Tariff Area (DTA). All activities of SEZ units will be through self-certification procedure and will be monitored by a committee comprising Development Commissioner and Commissioner of Customs. The gems and jewellery units will be allowed to receive plain gold, silver and platinum jewellery from DTA in exchange of gold, silver and platinum of equal purity and quantity. While subcontracting to units in DTA, the latter would not be able to avail of the deemed export benefits. SEZ units can undertake job-work for export, on behalf of DTA units provided the finished goods are exported direct from SEZ units. The SEZ units will not be eligible for wastage or manufacturing loss against processed jewellery received from DTA units. |
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150 firms to take
part in CII show CHANDIGARH,
Oct 19 —The largest ever consumer show of the North India will be organised by CII here from October 20-23. As many as 150 companies, including 40 IT companies, from all over the country will participate. The "5th Chandigarh Consumer Show" which will be inaugurated by UT Administrator Lt.Col.JFR Jacob at the Parade ground, will showcase a wide range of consumer durables, health products and the latest in IT. The show has been divided into five segments — IT carnival, Good health show, Auto show, Kitchen 2000 and Consumer durables. Mantra Online and Web Duniya will be the event sponsors and principal sponsors, respectively, for the IT carnival .There will be three pavilions at this carnival — Dotcom
Pavilion, IT Education Pavilion and Hardware ,Soft Technology, ISP and Communication pavilion. HFCL, NIIT, ASSET International,
Satyam, Samsung Electronics, Aptech and several other companies will be participating. Education Institutes will also take part in the IT carnival . Alternative systems of medicines like Naturopathy, Ayurveda etc and wide range of heath care products and also sports equipments will be showcased at the Good Heath 2000 show. Ranbaxy, Prime bodies, Dabur etc, will also participate . For the entertainment of visitors, a Goan band will perform."We are expecting more than 1,50,000 visitors ", said Piyush Behl, Senior Director, CII North. |
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International oil price to determine rollback GUWAHATI, Oct 19
(UNI) — The price of oil will be reduced if the international price reaches $ 20 a barrel, said Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik. Talking to newsmen Mr Naik said only on that price level the country’s massive oil pool deficit of Rs 23,600 crore could be taken care of. Regarding Ms Mamata Banerjee’s demand of rolling back of the price, Mr Naik said the matter rests with the Prime Minister. “Let him come back he will decide after meeting his ministerial colleagues and other
NDA members. But I have kept ready all the relevant facts and figures’’ he added. He, however, assured that there would be no more upward revision of petroleum prices. “Let it come down to $ 21-22 a barrel, the Ministry will reduce the price. I will be too happy to do that’’ said the Union Minister who was here to attend the signing ceremony of the MoU between Reliance and Oil India Limited (oil) about the gas supply to the proposed Rs 4000 crore Gas Cracker project. The Minister expressed concern over the non-uniformity of sales tax structure of the state government. “Not only the sales tax varies from 8 to 34 per cent in different states but no states have passed on the incremental increase to the customers’’ he said. “The oil price was hiked because of the steep hike in the international price as well as increasing of the oil pool deficit. Our ex-godown of
LPG or oil is same every here in the country. But the sales tax structure has made it different in different states. Like in Delhi, the sales tax is 8 per cent and in Assam being the oil producing state it is 12 per cent while in Maharashtra it is 34 per cent.’’ “This is strange. Even the so called pro-poor government like West Bengal has sales tax of 17 per cent. All these states can lower the sales tax to give respite to the people. Further the incremental increase could have been passed over to the people. I have written to all the state governments. But not a single state government have written me back” he said. OIL, RIL sign pact The GSA was signed by OIL Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD), B.B. Sarma and the RIL Executive Director H.R. Meswani in the presence of Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik and Union Minister of State for Water Resources Mrs Bijoya Chakraborty. With the signing of the GSA deck has been cleared for actual construction of Assam Gas Cracker Project at the 1000 acre site located at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh district of Assam. As per the agreement the OIL will supply five million cubic metres of hydro-carbon gas daily to the RAPL gas cracker project for the next 15 years from the day of commissioning of the project with a capacity to produce two lakh tonne ethylene per annum. Mr Ram Naik, the Petroleum Minister said, “the signing of the GSA has set the ball rolling for implementation of the gas cracker project which is included in the Assam Accord.’’ He called upon the Assam Government, the OIL and the RAPL to work in tandem to convert the dream project of the people of Assam into a reality within the stipulated period. ST on furnace oil cut CHANDIGARH, Oct 19 — The Punjab Council of Ministers today reduced the rate of sale tax on furnace oil from 20 per cent to 8 per cent accepting the long pending demand of Industry. An appropriate amendment will be made in category X and XI appended to the schedule `A’ of the Punjab Sales Tax Act, 1948 and the lower rate will be effective from the date of publication of amendment in the Punjab Government gazette. This measure will give a major relief to the Furnace Oil industry. |
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Bank of Punjab
launches e-alert NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — Bank of Punjab today launched e-alert, one of its kind customer alert service in the country. The e-bank alert allows bank customers to subscribe to a unique facility with the customer getting messages or alerts as per their preferences. The service allows to choose from a menu of available services like last five transactions, balance in the account, daily alert messages, alert when account balance falls below prescribed limit and alert whenever account balance changes. On any of the triggers getting activated, the bank’s state-of-the-art system picks up the data and automatically routes the information to the customer electronically through the Internet switch. “Bank of Punjab is one of the few banks across the globe to have offered the service to its customers and the first Indian bank to offer this in the country”, Executive Director of the bank Tejbir Singh said. |
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He invented fake funeral grants MOSCOW: A provincial civil servant — apparently inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s classic Russian satire, Dead Souls — has been arrested for inventing 250 dead citizens to claim funeral grants from the government. The woman, who has not been named, managed to defraud the state of 330,000 roubles (about $11,500) over two years, after collecting hundreds of state subsidies paid out to help needy families bury their dead. The hero of Gogol’s novel, Paul Chichikov, a retired government official, planned to make himself rich by exploiting the bureaucratic chaos within the 19th century Russian state to buy dead souls (serfs who had died, but who were still listed on the tax rolls) from provincial landowners. Paper ownership of these non-existent serfs would, he hoped, boost his social standing and act as collateral against large loans. The present-day government official in Kolomna, a small town 100 miles south-east of Moscow, exploited the inefficiency of the modern system: she persuaded impoverished citizens to sell her the rights to fabricated dead relatives in order to collect their burial allowances. Using her position as the acting head of a state benefit payment office, she talked willing Kolomna residents into taking forged papers, authorising the issue of a funeral grant, to their local post office, where they received 830 roubles ($28). Under the deal, they returned most of the money to the civil servant, keeping just 50 roubles ($1.75) for themselves. The town’s poorest inhabitants were eager to participate in the fraud, grateful for even the small payment they received. Freelance taxi drivers and local soldiers were frequently recruited to provide imaginary dead relatives for the city official. After an internal audit uncovered the scam, the civil servant was imprisoned, just as Chichikov was. A trial will begin next week and she faces up to 10 years in jail.
— The Guardian Death for
corruption SHANGHAI: A Chinese court has handed a suspended death sentence to a former senior official of a listed Chinese chemical firm who was convicted of embezzlement and accepting bribes. Dian Guoyan, Vice-General Manager at the former Hubei Xinghua Co, arrested in 1999 was found guilty on October 12 of taking bribes worth $ 567,800 and embezzling another 346,600 yuan from the company, the court official in Jingmen in the central province of Hubei said. Petrochemicals producer Hubei Xinghua was transferred to oil giant China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) in February to become Sinopec Hubei Xinghua Co Dian’s crimes occurred before the transfer to Sinopec took place. A suspended death sentence in China is usually commuted to life imprisonment if the convict shows repentence and good behaviour. Corruption, which plagued Chinese dynasties for centuries, has flourished during the rapid economic growth since reforms were introduced in the late 1970s.— Reuters |
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SmithKline turnover up 21 pc NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (UNI) — SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare Limited (SBCH) today reported a turnover of Rs 237.60 crore for the third quarter July 2000 to September 2000 up 21 per cent as against Rs 196 crore for the corresponding period last year. Cumulative Profit After Tax (PAT) recorded an increase of 19 per cent to touch Rs 80.30 crore as compared to last year’s PAT of Rs 67.50 crore during the corresponding period. Roofit records 30 pc rise in net MUMBAI, Oct 19 (PTI) — Roofit Industries Ltd, the flagship company of the Rs 600 crore Motwani group, has reported a 30 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 9.37 crore for the first quarter ended September 30 as against Rs 7.22 crore in Q1 last year. Sales were up by 52 per cent to Rs 90.36 crore (Rs 59.62 crore in Q1 last year). The company has advanced production of its product, “quick ‘n’ easy” plaster by modifying the clinker grinding unit at its Ratnagiri plant and also setting up two more units at Pune and Chennai. HPCL declares 39.67 cr dividend NEW
DELHI, Oct 19 (TNS) — The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has declared Rs 39.67 crore as final dividend, which is 30 per cent of the total dividend declared by the corporation. HPCL Chairman H.L. Zutshi presented the dividend cheque to Petroleum Minister Ram Naik here. The total dividend payout by HPCL for all shareholder, including tax, has been Rs 3234.88 crore during the fiscal 1999-2000, a release said here today. Grasim plans amalgamation CALCUTTA,
Oct 19 (PTI) — Grasim Industries Limited, an Aditya Birla Group company, is proposing to amalgamate Dharani Cements Limited. Officials said a proposal to this effect would be discussed at a meeting of the Board of the Directors tomorrow. Cements at Reddipalayam in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy district is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grasim Industries Limited. The proposed amalgamation of Dharani Cements with the company would be done through a scheme of amalgamation under Section 391/394 of the Company’s Act, 1956. Pentamedia net grows to 66.63 cr CHENNAI, Oct 19 (PTI) — Entertainment graphics major “Pentamedia Graphics Ltd” based here has posted a turnover of Rs 263.54 crore for the first half of the current fiscal as against Rs 181.71 crore during the corresponding period last year indicating a growth of 45 per cent. According to figures released by the company today, net profit for the half year stands at Rs 66.63 crore as against Rs 46.82 crore during the half year period of last fiscal indicating a growth of 42.31 per cent.
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