 |
| Sunday, November 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Economic slowdown blown out of proportion: Sinha NEW DELHI, Nov 18 — Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today had a dig at prophets of doom who painted a gloomy picture about the economy, saying the slowdown in the first quarter of the current year was being “blown out of proportion”. “The slowdown (in the first quarter) is being projected as though there is a catastrophe and this is not true as it is evident from the fact that the revenue is buoyant,” he said on the sidelines of Income Tax Commissioners Conference here. Cheaper mobile services await govt clearance Himachal plans NRI City Builders for rural shift to planning |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Will organised retailing benefit?
|
|
Economic slowdown blown out of proportion: Sinha NEW DELHI, Nov 18 (PTI) — Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today had a dig at prophets of doom who painted a gloomy picture about the economy, saying the slowdown in the first quarter of the current year was being “blown out of proportion”. “The slowdown (in the first quarter) is being projected as though there is a catastrophe and this is not true as it is evident from the fact that the revenue is buoyant,” he said on the sidelines of Income Tax Commissioners Conference here. Mr Sinha, who did not elaborate on measures taken to deal with the slowdown, said he was confident that as in the past all projections of a lower growth this year would be proved wrong. To a question that several analysts had forecast a slowdown in growth rate from the targeted 7 per cent to as low as 5.8 per cent this fiscal, Sinha said some of them have already started revising the figures upwards now. Position of states He, said the fiscal position of states was in a “very critical situation” and this could be dealt with effectively by greater coordination with state governments for increased
revenue as there was very little scope for cutting down expenditure. Referring to the demands from states for more allocations especially during natural calamities, Sinha said: “This (demand for additional funds) is not a sustainable system. The only way the situation could be improved is by raising revenue.” On sales tax reforms, Sinha said the Centre was in touch with chief ministers to carry out sales tax rationalisation. There was a general misconception about possibility of a large cut in expenditure, Sinha said, adding that almost 95 per cent of government expenditure is “rigid and inflexible”. Economic legislation Dismissing speculation that the government might not table the Fiscal Responsibility Bill in the winter session of Parliament. Mr Sinha said that the Centre was going ahead with it along with other important economic legislation. “We are also going ahead with Convergence Bill, competition law, new insolvency and bankruptcy law and banking companies Bill in the winter session to carry forward the next phase of reforms,” Sinha added. “The strategic management group under the Prime Minister’s Office is reveiwing all large projects. A great deal of follow-up action is being done to ensure that all
ideas (on reforms put forward) before and after the Budget are being implemented,” he said admitting that the second phase of reforms was more difficult as it involved a lot of changes in laws. As changes in legislation could be brought about only through political consensus, Sinha said these ‘’reforms cannot move at a scorching pace. It will be carried out at a pace which is possible in a country having a democratic set-up.” Referring to the government’s commitment to speed up infrastructure development, Sinha said in the last four weeks ‘’we had discussions for the clearance of fast track power projects, the Prime Minister’s highway projects and move faster on disinvestment.” Commenting on the amendments to the Banking Companies Act to allow public sector banks to raise fresh funds and reduce government equity to 33 per cent, Sinha said the “banks are not being privatised.” “It is not privatisation. When we decide to privatise the banks we will come out with a transparent policy as we had done in the case of privatisation of public sector undertakings,” he said. Sinha said the State Bank of India was excluded from the Banking Companies Bill as the bank was governed by a separate
sbi act and the controlling stake was with the Reserve Bank of India. “Sbi does not require fresh capital infusion now,” he said. Pressures for transfers The Finance Minister directed the tax authorities not to succumb to political and other pressures for frequent transfer of officials and said any deviation from this strict guideline would not be tolerated. “I completely detest it (such pressures) and I want every (direct tax) Commissioner to eschew it,” Sinha said warning tax officials against approaching political personalities to put pressure for transfers. This measure is part of the government’s decision to restructure the tax administration in the country, he told the conference. He said transfers should not be frequent and officers should be allowed to complete their tenure of three to five years to enable them to function effectively. If an officer prefers a posting to a particular station, his case will be considered only on the basis of his performance, he said, asking the tax authorities to follow this guideline strictly. The performance of a tax officer would be judged by the amount of collection, clearing of tax demands and pending cases, he added. Sinha wanted the tax commissioners to list out the “irritants” in income-tax laws which came in the way of collection of higher taxes. “Let us prepare a list of all such laws which are acting as irritants and inconvenient provisions and resolve it before the budget so as to include necessary amendments in the next year’s Finance Bill,” he said. |
|
Cheaper mobile services await govt clearance CHANDIGARH, Nov 18 — Mobile phones at local call rates. Basic telecom service providers are waiting for a green signal from the Telecommunications Department to provide this facility . If approved, it would mean call charges on mobile phones to be Rs. 1.40 per three minutes and services almost ten times cheaper than GSM based mobile phone services. The basic telecom service providers in the country have asked the government to allow Wireless Local Loop-based limited mobility service . HFCL, Tata, Reliance, Bharti, Hughes and Shyam are the operators of the basic telecom services in the country of which HFCL is the one which has started providing its services in Chandigarh and Punjab. Mr Vijay Kaul, Chief Marketing Officer, HFCL, says: “We have asked for an extension in the licence for fixed telephony. If it is provided we can give services at marginal costs”. Limited mobility would mean that the usage of mobile phones would be restricted within the city only. The area under consideration is covered by the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) towers. A single tower can cater to the subscribers falling within a circle of 3-4 km. “The number of towers deployed is much less as compared to GSM. This technology is very useful for covering very densely populated areas as well as sporadically populated areas, Mr Kaul said. For providing this service, the numbers of carriers and the Base Transreceiver Stations (BTS) towers will also have to be increased. The wireless switch which is linked to BTS towers will also have to be
upgraded. The customer would get mobile CDMA hand-set (which will be imported by the service provider) costing between Rs 10,000 and 15,000 depending upon features like size, weight, display window, memory etc . Charges for the calls (within the area covered by CDMA) will be almost same as those for local calls provided under wireline services. The telecom service providers expect a nod for providing WLL-based services within three to four months. It is learnt that while the Telecom Commission is in favour of allowing WLL-based services an additional licence fee might, however, be levied on the basic telecom operators for these services. The cellular operators are, meanwhile opposed to this since the service would directly compete with the cellular operators.
|
|
Himachal plans NRI City NEW DELHI, Nov 18 — Having taken the lead in the spread of education and telecommunication, Himachal Pradesh seems set to blaze new paths. The state is setting up “designer cities,” each of which would meet a special need and suit certain class. Among the cities in the offing are `NRI City,’ `Education City,’ and, well, `Tourism City.’ The proposed cities would be spread across the state known for its salubrious climate and peace-loving people. The places in the reckoning include Churdar and Rajgarh in Sirmaur, Palampur in Kangra and some locales in Shimla. The government is willing to consider other places too and
suggestions from NRIs are being welcomed. The ‘NRI City’ would have all facilities sought by NRIs. Apart from being a tourist attraction, the city would become a major source of attracting foreign investment, hopes the government. The proposed Education City will have educational institutions. According to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, many
societies and educationists have offered to set up technical colleges in the state and the government is willing to help. As a special exemption for IT units, the government has simplified the procedure of
acquisition of land by the NRIs. There is no need to take permission for using agricultural land, provided it is done for IT industry. Mr Dhumal says that each investor would be assigned an escort officer to facilitate all
clearances needed for setting up an IT unit. The state has 2,000 km of optical fibre network and another 2,000 km is likely to be in place by March next. Two knowledge corridors — Baddi-Parwanoo-Solan-Shimla and Shimla-Hamirpur-Dharamsala-Chamba — are coming up in the state to facilitate IT connectivity. A
tourism city may well come along one of the four lakes which offer facilities for water sports. While Gobind Sagar, Chamera and Pandoh have their attractions, Maharana Pratap Sagar attracts about 220 species of birds every year from Siberia. A tourist complex came up on its banks recently. Apart from facilities for para-gliding, hand-gliding, river-rafting, kiayaking, canoeing, trekking, mountaineering, rock-climbing, angling and heli-skiing, over 270 treks have also been identified in the state.
|
|
Builders for rural shift to planning CHANDIGARH, Nov 18 — The three-day International “Conference on Construction Industry, Disaster and Environment Management” which began here today, gave call to shift the focus of planning to rural areas. Delegates from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, Sri Lanka have come to attend this conference which is being organised by the Institution of Engineers (India). As many as 141 papers will be discussed during the conference. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Lt. Gen. (retd) J.S. Bawa, former President of the Institution of Engineers India, who was the chief guest, said, “Construction projects should be technically sound and economically viable for sustainable development of the country”. He said that the engineers of the country are responsible to make the nation stronger. In the era of globalisation, plans like storage of grains and safe drinking water should be formulated. Mr G.P. Lal, Vice-President of the World Federation of Engineers Organisations, said that a harmonious relationship between nature and man is required for sustainable development of the country. Mr V.K. Aggarwal, former Chairman of the Railway Board, said, correct planning and construction activity are the basis of development of a nation. He called for setting up a special cell in the Planning Commission for better co-ordination among different ministries. He also said that the time- frame in construction activity needs to be reduced for proper utilisation of funds. He stressed the need for development of proper infrastructural facilities Mr Jagman Singh, President IEI, said that the construction industry is the backbone and propelling force behind the progress of the nation. Mr K.C. Pant, Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission, failed to turn up. The valedictory session of the conference will be held on November 16.
|
|
Will organised retailing benefit? AFTER industry it is the turn of the trading community to face the heat of global competition. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in retailing is under discussion. Organised retailing will have to co-exist with unorganised retailing. Will small traders particularly those engaged in karyana retailing be wiped out? Will consumers benefit? These are the moot questions. There are more than six million retailers in the country. Perhaps we are the only country with one retailer for every 200 people. More than 15 million people are engaged in this business. Organised retailing has a meagre share of 2 to 3%. Total turnover for retail business is estimated at $ 180 billion which is likely to go up to $ 300 billion by the year 2010, according to a McKinsey and CII study. According to the Mckinsey report, mom and pop store will lose out to super market chains. The modern format of a grocery store is likely to be 3000-5000 sq feet in size to serve a catchment area spread over 2-3 km radius against the small stores serving less than in one km radius. Convenience services like home delivery would be viable for organised stores. Most developed countries have a larger share of the service sector in GDP. We too have this pattern and the share of service is increasing. The retail sector forms a strong component of the service sector. According to the McKinsey report, organised retailing delivers lot of benefit. Every one crore of investment in organised retailing can generate employment of 100 people. Organised retailing ensures competitiveness in prices on the Net-take-home for consumers. Prices are kept under check due to purchase efficiency and cutting some links in the distribution chain. Low inflation rate in developed countries is mainly due to the organised retailing. It is believed that when a country’s per capita income reaches $ 1200 a year organised retailing is most suited. The size of the middle income group is growing, justifying organised retailing. In most domestic purchases women are the key. With the growing level of education increasing job opportunities and media exposures, women are capable of making better choices. With the opening of economy, consumers are faced with a difficult choice of goods due to a plethora of brands freely available. Online retail market is also growing. Initially books, music travel and ticketing segments are showing growth which is likely to reach Rs 400 crore by the year 2004. For grocery existing phone-based ordering and home delivery system are likely to shift to online facility. The number of Internet users in India is estimated at four million. The moot question is should we have two policies for the same supply chain? Why should we allow car manufacturers and debar car retailers? Lever, P & G and Kellogg are allowed to manufacture, but large retailers are refused entry. When we have opened the economy it has to include all segment howsoever selective we may be. Import duty structure has to ensure that foreign controlled organised retailing does not ensure flooding of markets at the cost of local manufacturers and producers, consistent of course with quality and pricing. With organised retailing the sale of counterfeit products will be reduced. Organised retailing should not necessarily mean FDI. Our
entrepreneurs are capable enough to go in for organised retailing without FDI and foreign expertise. Historically, we are a nation of traders. |
rc
by Praful R. Desai Q: Can tenancy rights be transferred by executing a Will? Ans:
Allahabad H.C. was answering this question in Sir Rais Ahmad Siddiqui v Officer Authorised Dist. Supply Officer Nainital [2000 (2) RCJ 190] as under: The petitioner is the landlord of the disputed premises. One Smt. Basanti Devi was tenant of the disputed premises. She died and after her death, one Devender Kumar Pandey, respondent No. 2 claimed to be in its possession. The petitioner filed an application that the accommodation be treated as vacant as respondent No.2 has no right and title over the disputed accommodation. Respondent No.2 filed objection stating that Smt. Basanti Devi had executed a Will in his favour and he was residing at the time of her death. This Court in Abhinandan Prasad Jain v Dist. Judge Saharanpur [1982 (1) ARC 708] has held that tenancy rights cannot be transferred by executing a Will. Respondent contended that the Will having been executed by the tenant in his favour he shall be treated as tenant within the meaning of S.3 (a) of U.P. Tenancy Act. The H.C. after going through the definition of ‘tenant’ as referred to above stated that S.4 (a) (1) contemplated two conditions: (i) that the occupant should be an heir, and (ii). He was normally residing with the tenant in the building at the time of his death. The H.C. expressed the opinion that even if a person was residing but was not an heir, he will not get the tenancy rights. A person may be entitled to inherit property given in the Will but as regards tenancy rights it cannot be bequeathed. In view of the above, the H.C. held that the impugned order of the Rent Control and Eviction Officer dated 30-12-92 is quashed. In that way the H.C. allowed the writ petition. Respondent No. 1 was directed by the H.C. to decide the matter afresh keeping in view the above observation and in accordance with law. |
ty
Pentamedia Pentamedia Graphics has announced that it is acquiring 51 per cent stake in Film Roman, producer of prime time television animation programming. The acquisition of the Nasdaq-listed US-based Film Roman will help the company expand its entertainment and media presence globally. ‘International’ takeover?
Asian Paints This company has acquired the entire paints business of Pacific Paints Co Pvt. Ltd. in Australia. Asian Paints has made the acquisition through its Australian subsidiary Asian Paints (QLD) Ltd., at a cost of Australian $ 375,000 (over Rs 9 crore). The company also acquired Sri Lanka’s second largest paint company Delmege Forsyth earlier this year, now renamed Asian Paints (Lanka) Ltd., Hmm. Watch out for their colourful balance sheet this year.
Padmalaya Columbia TriStar is in advanced talks with Padmalaya Studios to pick up a minimum 26 per cent stake in the company. A group of senior officials from Columbia TriStar visited the studio in Hyderabad last week; this follows a visit earlier by another team three months back. While Columbia TriStar initially wanted to acquire 50 per cent equity, Padmalaya promoters refused to dilute more than 26 per cent in the studio.
Indal Indian Aluminium Company is planning to increase the annual capacity of its main aluminium smelter by 200 per cent to 90,000 tonnes by early 2002. The expansion could be in two phases with transfers of about 200 pots in each phase. Each phase will add 27,000-30,000 tonne of capacity. ‘Aluminium’, rising?!! |
sti
Morality? No, thank you new delhi, Nov 18 (uni) —Law, and not morality, will be the deciding factor, disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie on Saturday said when asked if the Hindujas, who are charge-sheeted in the Bofors case, should be allowed to bid for Air India and Indian Airlines. The
cbi had last month filed a second charge-sheet in the Bofors case which named the Hindujas as the accused. While the Hindujas have publicly announced that they have put in bids for both Air India and Indian Airlines, the minister once again said the government had taken a firm decision on not giving the names or numbers of bidders. In any case, he said bids will be looked at from the law point of view and whether they are eligible and not on a moral basis. Mr Shourie said he would not meet the Hindujas and at the most they would speak to the Secretary, Disinvestment.
— UNI
Change of guard at HDFC CHANDIGARH:
Mr Keki Mistry, who will be the new Managing Director of HDFC, takes over from Mr Deepak Satwalekar. Mr Mistry along with the two existing Executive Directors Mr R.V.S. Rao & Ms Renu S Karnad will assist chairman Deepak Parekh to evolve HDFC into a multi-product organisation. Mr Mistry, who held the post of Deputy Managing Director, has been with the organisation for 20 years. Mr Satwalekar has moved to HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited as its Managing Director and CEO. Mr Satwalekar has been the Managing Director of HDFC since February 1993. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company will not only have representatives of HDFC and Standard Life but also professionals with diverse experience. The Company also plans to have on its board a person representing consumer interests.
— TNS
French link to Agro Tech CHANDIGARH:
From milk replacers to soybean desserts, and disc ploughs to veterinary antibiotics, the “French Connection” will be all apparent at the coming Agro Tech 2000 in Chandigarh. Ten French companies will participate in this fair, states a release from CII, which is organising this prestigious biennial event from December 1 to 5. The French companies are essentially looking for potential joint venture partners, distributors and Indian companies interested in marketing and technology tie-ups, it is learnt. The companies include Bonilait Proteines (dairy products), France Hybrides (swine genetics)
Laboratories Sogeval (veterinary hygiene products) and Lima (meat processing) While Forges De Niaux produces disc-harrows and disc-ploughs, Kuhn offers products for soil preparation, seed drilling and ploughing. Companies like Razol, Sojasun Technologies and Space will also participate.
—TNS |
co
Appoint Ombudsman for patients’ grievances FOLLOWING the sudden death of Union Power Minister P. R. Kumaramangalam, the Union Health Ministry promised three initiatives that would introduce systemic changes to improve the medical services in the country. While the first one was an enabling legislation for fixing minimum standards of equipment, physical infrastructure and manpower in all medical institutions, the second was legislation that would require all doctors to re-register with the Medical Council of India once in every five years, after undertaking a prescribed module of continuing medical education. The third was an Ordinance making it mandatory for medical institutions to provide all medical records to patients. While these moves are certainly welcome, I would like to suggest one more legislation to this list: A law making it mandatory for all hospitals to provide an independent and impartial mechanism (may be an Ombudsman) for time-bound redress of patients’ grievances. And this law should be applicable to all hospitals irrespective of their size and whether they are in the private or the government sector. The legislation should also include an in-built mechanism for compensation. In fact consumers and consumer groups had hoped for such a system of redress at least in the government sector when the Union Government promised that all government hospitals would come up with a “Citizens Charter” or a “Patients Charter”, highlighting the rights of patients. But unfortunately, the charters drawn up by some of the Central Government hospitals have only demonstrated their unwillingness to commit themselves to any kind of specific standards vis-à-vis the quality of service, particularly in the area of redressing patients’ complaints. A reading of these charters actually underscores the need for the government to immediately step in with a legislation, instead of leaving it to the hospitals to formulate on their own, an effective system of complaint resolution. A recent study on the regulatory framework for consumer redress in the health care sector in the country, conducted by a consumer group, voluntary organisation in interest of consumer education (VOICE), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the World Bank and the Indian Law Institute, only reinforces the need for such a legislation. The study, which surveyed 81 hospitals in Delhi, Hyderabad and Lucknow, found the existing arrangements totally inadequate to deal with consumer complaints. The hospitals included large, medium and small hospitals in the private as well as the government sector. It also included primary health centres. The study found that only 15 per cent of the hospitals surveyed had a written manual for receiving and processing complaints. Few of the private hospitals had documented, standardised complaint procedures. Many of them (51 per cent) claimed to have complaint boxes and books, but the survey team was able to actually locate complaint boxes in only 27 per cent of the hospitals. The survey also revealed that not every hospital had designated persons to handle complaints and even where there were such officials, they did not have any specific training in the area. Nor were they accountable to the complainants in general. The prevailing practice of resolving disputes at their own convenience revealed a certain degree of flexibility, which in the ultimate analysis, was found to be against the interests of consumers. The survey findings on the nature of the complaints also emphasise the urgent need for better in-house complaint redress mechanism. In the private as well as in the public sector, the majority of the complaints did not pertain to the negligence of the doctors, but to inadequate sanitation facilities. (41-43 per cent). Complaints about medical care constituted 26 per cent of the complaints in the public sector and 11 per cent in the private sector. It is possible that the hospitals did not acknowledge or record complaints pertaining to poor quality of clinical services. Or may be, the consumer expectation in this area is very low, the study says. In fact only 7 per cent of the hospitals surveyed claimed to have had a medical negligence case registered against them in the last one year. Says Mr Bejon Misra, Advisor, VOICE, who has put together the survey results: The findings have revealed a disturbing trend of ad hoc practices in the management of consumer complaints in the majority of hospitals. The present system offers no concrete guarantees to the complainants that the authorities would actually address their problems within a specified time frame. The absence of a fixed time for the resolution of disputes inevitably means that most cases are either resolved almost immediately or are left unresolved. It is significant that most consumers interviewed blamed the unresponsive attitude of hospital authorities as one of the main factors forcing them to seek redress from consumer courts, he points out. Will the hospitals and the Union Health Ministry please take note ? |
bb
Tally locker J.K. Tyre Christened as ‘Chakke Pe Chakka, Inam Pukka’, this drive, will last throughout November.
Ford IKON Canara Bank |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
