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December 18, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Why fewer Punjabis now invest in
shares Suzuki not to buy
govt stake in Maruti Birlas overtake
Tatas in sales Software for CT
images Delhi Govt told to shut erring units |
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Instant plot
allotment by Haryana
Fridge gets e-mail & monitors milk Making money, he goes mad, almost
Delhi is nobody’s city Trust-aided
crorepati
Q: Gallantry award winners pension is exempt from income tax, i.e. it is not liable to income tax. Which other such pensions such as freedom fighter pension, etc are exempt from income tax, i.e., not liable to income tax.
US techies, lower growth pull down sensex
Compensate
offloaded passengers
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Why fewer Punjabis now invest in
shares LUDHIANA, Dec 17 — Why Punjabis generally don’t invest in the share market? In Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu about 12 per cent of the population invests in shares. On the other hand, hardly one per cent population of Punjab invests in the capital market. Mr Tarvinder Dhingra, Chairman of LSE Securities says: “The culture of investment in shares is very new here as our exchange is just 17 year old as compared to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) which is about 125 year old. Even the stock exchanges of Calcutta and Delhi are much older than LSE.” Secondly, out of 9,800 listed companies in India, not more than 200 are based in Punjab. A majority of these are medium-sized. It is very difficult to spread equity culture in a state where the number of big companies is so small, he said. Traditionally, the Punjabis are accustomed to investing in land and gold. Investment in shares is considered risky. During the early 90s boom, many investors in the region invested in local companies and burnt their fingers. They dare not invest again. Mr Suresh Mehta, a bank employee who had bought shares by selling his ancestral land, said, ‘‘I had bought Arihant Cotsun shares at Rs 150 per share in 1993 but there is no buyer for that scrip even at Re 1 per share in the market. Likewise the price of Punjab Concast shares has come down from Rs 1200 to about Rs 10 only.’’ Ms Sunita, a school teacher who had invested in shares, says, ‘‘All the local companies though they may be well managed, but somehow their shares are not doing well today. The price of Nahar Spinning shares has come down from Rs 1200 to Rs 50 only. In fact, we have almost become bankrupt by investing in these companies. Is it not safe to keep money in a bank or lend it to known parties?’’ she asked. Mr R.C. Singhal, President, LSE, said, ‘‘Out of the 448 companies listed with the LSE , 238 had not complied with post-listing requirements in the last two years.The fate of investors can be well imagined, when out of these listed companies,182 had not even paid the listing fee to the LSE. As a result, 54 companies have been suspended from the exchange. However, the suspension of a company affects the interests of the investors which we always try to take care of.’’ Blaming the management of the companies concerned for mismanagement , Mr Dhingra said,‘‘ Many companies which came with their IPOs a few years ago, did not invest the money in projects for which it was raised. When investors do not get good returns, they leave the market’’ A number of brokers in the LSE are of the view that only transparency in the operations of the companies and a strict control by the exchange boards can build up the confidence of the investors. |
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Suzuki not to buy
govt stake in Maruti NEW DELHI, Dec 17 (PTI) — Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan has said “no” to buying government equity in the joint venture Maruti Udyog and suggested that it should be sold to public or new partners. “We have concluded first round of discussions which were largely informal. During this smc was disinclined to buy the government equity in
MUL,” official sources told PTI. Asked about SMC's response during the discussions that began on November 30, sources said the Japanese partner in
MUL, which has a 55 per cent share in India’s car market, agreed in principle for the government disinvesting its 50 per cent stake in the auto venture. The Disinvestment Ministry will now take a proposal for sale of the government equity to the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment for its meeting on December 23. Disinvestment Secretary Pradeep Baijal declined to comment on the talks with smc saying that a formal proposal could be sent to the Japanese partner after the
CCD takes a decision on the subject. The sources, however, said smc wanted the government to sell its equity to public. They said the move might not find favour with the government as it was unlikely to fetch the desired value for the state’s equity. smc is also believed to have suggested to the government that it sell its stake to a new partner but put the condition that it should be with the approval of the Japanese company. SMC's
justification for putting the condition was that the government could not have a second strategic partner in
MUL as the Japanese auto company was bringing in technology and new models from its stable to the Indian joint venture. |
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Birlas overtake
Tatas in sales NEW DELHI, Dec 17 (PTI) — For the first time, listed companies of the Tatas have been overtaken in terms of sales turnover by similar enterprises belonging to the Birlas during the first half of the current financial year. During April-September, 2000, total sales turnover of 40 listed companies of the Tata group is estimated at a little over Rs 13,940 crore while the combined turnover of 43 listed companies belonging to the seven Birla groups stood at over Rs 14,300 crore. Romit Chaterji, Vice-President Corporate Affairs of the Tatas, told PTI that the Birlas were several different entities and these should not be taken as a group for comparison, which would be misleading. However, the Tatas were ahead in terms of net sales turnover for the second half of the last fiscal when compared to same set of companies belonging to the Birla groups. Chaterjee also pointed out that revenues of the 40 unlisted Tata companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, added to its 40 listed companies would be over Rs 17,500 crore during the first half of current fiscal. The turnover of unlisted companies belonging to the different Birla groups was not available for comparison between unlisted and unlisted companies of the two well-known business houses. The 43 listed companies bearing the Birla brand comprised 10 from the Aditya Birla group, 11 from the B.K. Birla group, 7 from the K.K. Birla group, five each from the M.P. Birla and C.K. Birla, three from the S.K. Birla group and two from the Ashok Birla group. According to information collected from web pages of different groups, including the Tatas, CMIE data and other published statements of respective companies, the net sales of 40 Tata companies (excluding element of excise) is estimated at over Rs 12,800 crore for April-September, 2000. With the excise element of about Rs 1,110 crore the sales turnover of the Tata group’s
turnover should come to over Rs 13,940 crore. |
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Software
for CT images NEW DELHI, Dec 17 — Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre and ANURAG, a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, have developed a new PC-based image processing software that generates a large number of 3-D surfaces of MRI/CT images at a very high speed on a personal computer. The software called ANAMICA has been evolved by Dr (Colonel) A Jena, a specialist in nuclear medicine and the Head of MRI Department at the institute. According to Dr Jena, the patient can take the MRI/CT images, including 3-D surfaces, of the affected parts of the body in CD ROM for second opinion. He can also e-mail the images and report to any part of the world and seek the best opinion. Anamica changes the technique of image analysis and allows the study of images in a PC instead of films. Dr Jena said the software also has the capability of storing images in an inexpensive CD ROM. The software features include image-controlled intensity calculation, mouse-controlled surface rotation, cine viewing of the 3-D cutouts and pseudo colouring of the
surface. |
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Delhi Govt told to shut erring units NEW DELHI, Dec 17 (PTI) — The Urban Development Ministry today directed the Delhi Government to close down with immediate effect the industries which fall in ‘F’ group in the Master Plan and were undisputed polluting industries. In turn, the Delhi Government has directed 50 enforcement teams, comprising its officials from MCD and DDA, to carry out the closure drive of most polluting industries, an official release said today. The teams, formed to implement the Supreme Court order regarding the closure of polluting industries in residential areas, will close down industries such as acids and chemical small-scale, aluminium anodising, ancillary industries of the sluaghter house, battery boxes, toilet soap, glass products, electroplating (large scale) and iron foundaries. The other industries, falling in ‘F’ group include dyeing, bleaching, finishing processing cloth (including mercerising, calendaring, glazing), polythene bags, steel casting, zinc polishing. Instant plot
allotment by Haryana CHANDIGARH, Dec 17—The Haryana Government today announced a special scheme to offer instant land for industrial units in Delhi likely to be closed due to the orders of the Supreme Court. Announcing the scheme, an official spokesman said here today that all desirous of an industrial plot could walk into the office of the Industrial Assistance Group with their applications and take away the plot allotment letter with them. The Haryana Government had taken a decision not to consider the applications of those units which discharged heavy metals like chromium, cyanide, zinc or those with industrial effluents of a BOD content higher than 350 ppm. Likewise, industrial units emitting obnoxious fumes or using coal as fuel would not be allowed. The Haryana Industrial Development Corporation will hold in instant allotment camp on December 21 and 22 at C-8, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi, for such industrialists. |
co
COPENHAGEN, Dec 17 (DPA) — These days, when Rikke Clausen in Denmark goes to get some milk from the fridge, she has trouble getting past the refrigerator door. It’s not that her sleeve gets caught on anything. It’s usually because the PC monitor in her refrigerator’s door has informed her that a new e-mail message has arrived. Or Rikke might tap her finger on an on-screen symbol to bring up the latest news reports in a few seconds, right in the spot where her old fridge would have offered only little notes held up by her eclectic collection of magnets. Rikke and her husband Henning Thomsen, along with their two small children, are taking part in a six-month trial sponsored by a Danish firm and two Swedish partners who hope to show that computers can be put to much more practical daily use than most people think. “Screenfridge”, as their new refrigerator/Super PC combination is known, was developed co-operatively by electronics and computer makers Ericsson, Electrolux, and TeleDanmark. Fifty families and singles in Copenhagen’s Ballerup suburb were provided with a free model for the duration of the trial. “It’s really very clever,” says Rikki, who received her Screenfridge in September only a few days after the birth of her second son, Simon. She navigates the computerised part of the fridge with a simple tap of her finger on the very sharp flat-panel screen, calling up e-mail, news reports, sales items at the supermarket, current delays for the local bus and train systems, or addresses out of the endless ocean of internet possibilities. “I’m not the type who wants to sit in the cellar in front of the computer and wait ten minutes for the modem to connect and log on,” says the self-confident woman, who uses computers on the job. It’s just this type of potential buyer that the creators of the Screenfridge envisioned. All three manufacturers agree that the machine should appeal to people who aren’t “PC geeks” with unlimited time to solve technical problems and surf around online. After two months, Rikki is still somewhat uncertain about the fridge’s practical value. “Well, the bottom line is that the whole thing is really just an amusement,” she says. “But when the thing is gone after the test, it will be a pain to have to go down in the cellar again to download my email.” The Screenfridge is due to hit the market sometime in early 2002. More information is available at
http://www.kitchengate.dk/us.html Making money, he goes mad, almost THE stresses and strains of working in the city are legendary. The relentless pressure to make money means traders burn out fast. Yesterday, a crown court jury heard that the pace of work had driven a star fund manager into a cycle of mental instability, culminating in life-threatening injuries following repeated attempts to castrate himself. Peter Young (42) once one of the city’s biggest stars, was declared unfit to stand trial for an alleged £ 220m fraud that left thousands of investors disadvantaged. Mr Young was charged with conspiracy to defraud investors, conspiracy to create misleading information and three counts of dishonestly concealing misleading facts. The prosecution has claimed he used some of the cash to buy the £ 350,000 Buckinghamshire home he shared with his Dutch-born wife Harmanna and their two toddlers, George and Henry. But as pre-trial hearings commenced, he stunned onlookers by arriving dressed as a woman. He walked out of court yesterday dressed in a cerise top, grey flecked skirt and high-heeled shoes and carrying a purple shoulder bag, after showing no emotion when he was dismissed under the 1964 Insanity Act. The jury of six men and six women at Southwark crown court decided unanimously that he was “under such disability of mind” that he was unfit to stand trial. The details are lurid. The court heard that his “passion” to change sex led to him inflicting appalling injuries on himself which eventually led to him losing a testicle. He used a craft knife, a length of fishing line and a pair of scissors in repeated attempts to castrate himself. The twice-married father of two told psychiatrists that he heard two voices — one male, the other a woman called Sarah — telling him to become a woman. His wife, who is pressing for divorce, said that after six years of marriage his behaviour suddenly became erratic. “He started growing his hair long, plucking his eyebrows and waxing his body hair.” He calls himself Elizabeth, after the daughter of one of his friends. It was a dramatic change for a man who was described as a child as a “near genius”. The funds he eventually ran at Morgan Grenfell were such strong performers that even high-flying colleagues invested in them. In 1996, just months before irregularities in his funds emerged, he was invited to the Royal Albert Hall to share the secrets of his success with an audience of his high-earning peers. His public fall from grace began with a terse statement to the stock exchange announcing that three of his funds had been frozen pending an investigation by regulators. In the days and weeks that followed, it emerged that he had been buying shares in scores of little-known private companies in far-flung corners of the world, in direct contravention of regulations. |
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NEW
DELHI: Poor old Indian capital. Nobody loves it. The city is filled with migrants, is fragmented, people get angry far too often, they don’t care about their neighbours or the city, and have no real culture. These are some of the issues reflected in a new book of research papers on Delhi by various Indian and foreign sociologists released here on Friday. Called “Delhi: Urban Space and Human Destiny,” the book published by the French cultural centre, reflects on the city’s history and links its with the behavior pattern of its people. The first chapter terms Delhi, a bustling city of 11 million people, as “unloved.” “The book calls Delhi ‘unloved’, I call it nobody’s city,” said sociologist Dhirubhai Sheth, during a discussion between the audience and the panel of academics, sociologists and editors of the book. “This is basically because during partition (of India in 1947), Delhi lost most of its population. Today less than 20 per cent of the families in Delhi are living here from the pre-partition period,” Sheth added. The discussion dwelt on the omnipotent bureaucratic and political power in Delhi, the amalgamation of cultures with “Punjabi-Chinese” food — “Chinese noodles with dollops of butter and oil” grinned an audience member — and the fact that even the homeless live above the poverty line. One member of the audience said maybe Delhi should be called an “overstretched village” for its gradual expansion to adjoining rural areas and the lack of a proper city center. “Look around, all the surrounding villages are being slowly urbanised and they are all becoming a part of the city,” said researcher Ravinder Kaur. “There are some many focal points, but absolutely no city centre like in the West,” she added. — IANS
Trust-aided
crorepati LONDON: It is a story of rags to riches. Pradeep Loomba, a young entrepreneur from Delhi who took a loan of Rs 50,000 from the Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust, an NGO, six years ago to set up a unit for manufacturing corrugated boxes for packaging will soon become the first “corepati” assisted by the trust. The executive Vice-President of the trust, Ms Lakshmi Venkatesan, who was here to participate in the first international summit of the Princes Trust Youth Business and the launch of Youth Business International (YBI), told PTI on Sunday that Loomba had a turnover of Rs 96 lakh last year. The YBI is a joint venture of the Prince of Wales business leaders’ forum and the Prince’s trust. The objective is to export ideas developed by the trust in the UK, enabling the business community to transfer its knowledge and experience to help marginalised young people to start up their own business and become entrepreneurs.
— PTI
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By R. N. Lakhotia Q: Gallantry award winners pension is exempt from income tax, i.e. it is not liable to income tax. Which other such pensions such as freedom fighter pension, etc are exempt from income tax, i.e., not liable to income tax. Please advise the pensions exempt from income tax with relevant income tax law, rules and notification. Ans: As per Section 10(18) the income received by way of pension by the Central/State Government employee who has been awarded Paramvir Chakra or Mahavir Vir Chakra or Vir Chakra or any other notified gallantry award is exempt from Income-tax. In case the awardee dies the income of the family pension which is received by any member of family of such an awardee is also exempt in Income-tax. Q: A person born in February 1936, when he will be eligible for concession of Income-tax exemption of Rs 15,000 applicable to senior citizens under Income Tax Act indicating the I.T. Act clause. Ans: As you will be completing 65 years of age in February 2001, you will be eligible for special tax rebate of Rs 15,000 which is applicable to a senior citizen. This tax rebate is permissible as per Section 88B of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Q: Could you kindly clarify the exact standard deduction for family pensioners. I am in receipt of my own service pension as well as family pension of my deceased wife. My wife expired during service. Ans: In respect of the family pension received by you, you will be eligible for standard deduction provided the same is received from your employer. However, no standard deduction will be permissible to you on the pension received by you in respect of your expired wife. |
sti
LAST week witnessed sharp ups and downs in the share prices. For the first four trading days, the market registered substantial gains presaging the onset of the bullish trend. But on Friday, all gains were washed away, and stock exchange indices closed lower than these were on the opening day of the week. A leading financial daily has described it as “black Friday”. This sudden fall has not caused any surprise to me. How could the stock market register sharp gains when the overall economic and political situation does not warrant it? A long postal strike, sharp wrangles in Parliament among major political parties, near-drought conditions in five major states of India, starvation deaths in Orissa, sluggishness in industrial growth rate are factors that do not offer the background for bullish trend. There is also a report that a big bull operator was forced to dump media stock to repay a film financier. Microsoft Corporation had also indicated that its quarterly profits will be lower by 6 per cent. This has also brought a fall in the technology stock in the USA as well in India. According to the estimates of the Central Statistical Organisation, the general index for economic growth between April and October this year is lower at 5.7 per cent from 6.7 per cent during the same period last year. Sharp ups and downs in the market are bad for small traders though they may bring profit to some big operators. With the December X-mas holidays in the USA in the offing, the stock markets in India and elsewhere cannot look North. I expect further fall in the market for the current fortnight till the close of 2000. Another feature of the last week’s stock market was substantial gains in small bank
scripts. ICICI Bank’s acquisition of Bank of Madura has led to the expectation that some other acquisition of small private bank by big banks are imminent. A statement by an official of HDFC Bank provides an indication that Karur Vysya Bank (a bank with very strong fundamentals) may be merged with HDFC Bank. It sent up the market price of the Karur Vysya Bank from Rs 200 to Rs 248, though it later receded to Rs 228/-. Other bank shares which escalated are those of Global Trust Bank, Corporation Bank and Centurian Bank. The shares of Bank of Punjab also went up on the report that this bank was also on sale but its management denied the report and asserted that the bank was keen to acquire some small banks itself. Sterlite Optical had plans to make substantial additions to its capacity for optical fibre cables. A 10 million km optical fibre units is also being set up in two phases, with the first phase to go on stream in 2002. It has large export orders. Pentamedia Graphics is hiving off its web-casting division NUM TV. This would increase the profitability of the company. It is also planning to acquire over ten global companies with an investment of $ 100 million. The issue of ADR/GDR is also being planned for the funds. Stay invested in Sterlite Optical, Pentamedia Graphics, Vikas WSP, Larsen and Toubro and Moser Bear. These may be picked up in case the market moves down this week. |
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AIR India, British Airways, Air France, Singapore Airlines and several other carriers have given an undertaking to DGCA H.S. Khosla that they will operate additional flights to meet the rush of passengers during the peak season. “If the booking profile with the airline tends to overflow the capacity available, they may seek the DGCA’s permission for operating additional flights on any particular sector”, a spokesman said. The survey of the last decade shows that most of the passengers are returning to their destinations in Europe”, USA and Canada. Many of them are tourists while others are Indian on vacation to their homes. All these passengers are holding confirmed return tickets. They re-confirm their flights, as stipulated. Yet many of them are off-loaded at airports at Delhi and Bombay as airlines resort to over-booking. The over-booking, according to airline officials, is a necessary evil as every seat going unoccupied means loss to the airline. This is understandable as overbooking is done throughout the world. But in several other countries, particularly in the USA and the UK, off-loaded passengers are provided sufficient compensation for foregoing the claim on confirmed seats. Unfortunately and also sadly, no compensation is provided to off-loaded passengers in this country. They suffer harassment and humiliation but there is none to come to their rescue. In anticipation of foggy weather, British Airways has already revised its schedule of flights between Delhi and London for December and January. During the peak period, almost all airlines post their sales officers and travel agents at airports to facilitiate their own passengers. This sordid practice of “my passenger and foreign passenger” is one of the major reasons for innocent passengers getting stranded at airports. No civil airport Lack of civil airport at Jaisalmer is affecting tourism. Jaisalmer is an important tourist centre and the government should concentrate on constructing a civil airport to help promote tourist traffic.
The Alliance Air operates seasonal flights after securing requisite permission from the defence authorities. Indeed Jaisalmer is close to border but there is an urgent need to have a civil airport. |
bb
FIIs buyers Inflation rises AB Enterprises
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