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| Sunday, February
11, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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ONGC to buy 20 pc stake in Russian firm
Ratan Tata visits quake-hit villages Govt clears 362 cr FDI
proposals
Federal officials raid SBI branch in USA
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| At 22, he runs innovative software
firm SAN DIEGO (California), Feb 10 — While his classmates at the University of California were figuring out what to do after college, Sameer Samat was already running the company he co-founded, Mohomine.
Order of transfer
International meet on
globalisation from Feb 12
Before insurance, check record of
firm
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ONGC to buy 20 pc stake in Russian firm LONDON, FEB 10 — India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd and Russia’s Rosneft today finalised a deal in which ONGC will buy a 20 per cent stake in the giant Sakhalin-1 oil field where production is expected to start in 2005. In the largest merger and acquisition deal in Russia, according to the partcipants, the Indian group will purchase the stake from Rosneft and its initial investment in the project is expected to be in the range of $1.5 to $2 billion. Sources familiar with the deal say state-owned ONGC will pay around $180 million up front for the stake. “This transaction is a major step in our strategy to achieve energy security, and is a first in a series of initiatives by ONGC to become a major international energy company,” said Ram Naik, India’s Cabinet Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas. ONGC was advised by JP Morgan and Rosneft by ABN AMRO in the deal which started last year. “ONGC and Rosneft are both extremely commercially minded,” said Jeremy Wilson, MD and head of energy mergers and acquisitions at JP Morgan. ONGC’s expansion The deal comes after Putin visited India last year to sign trade deals. ONGC has entered into an exploration agreement in Iraq and has memorandums of understanding with indonesia’s pertamina and has a 40 percent share of a gas field in vietnam. It has plans to expand into production in venezeula and elsewhere. Rebirth of interest in Russia JP Morgan’s Wilson said western companies were returning with the relative political stability that has emerged with the government of President Putin. “We see the potential for large capital flows back into Russia,” Wilson said. There will also be flows the other way as Russian companies have benefitted hugely from high oil prices, he said. “Russian oil companies also have vast cash reserves and are looking outside Russia, in the upstream at Kazakhstan and downstream in Central Europe,” Wilson added.
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Ratan Tata visits quake-hit villages BHUJ, FEB 10 — Ratan Tata today visited the quake affected villages in a bid to identify and finalise them for adoption for short term relief and rehabilitation work. “The situation was devastating..we had sent in our team of volunteers earlier. I have just come to see them and the villages. I have visited a number of these,” Tata told PTI. He, however, declined to comment on the firm commitments from the group for relief purposes. Before flying out of Bhuj, he met senior state government officials including the Principal Secretary to the Government of Gujarat, L. Mansingh. When contacted Mansingh told PTI that the Tatas had earlier indicated that they would adopt five villages. However, he said that “we have not yet got any firm commitment from any industrial groups about adoption of villages.” Absence of firm commitment on adoption of villages is creating a great deal of confusion with Mansingh saying “we do not want relief as a short term measure. What we want from the industrial houses is a firm commitment with a medium term strategy for starting schools in villages and strong contribution for their rehabilitation.” Mansingh said that the government of Gujarat would soon be writing to all the industrialists who have shown interest for adopting villages for a firm commitment.
Govt clears 362 cr FDI
proposals NEW DELHI,
FEB 10 — The Ministry of Commerce and Industry today cleared foreign direct investment proposals worth Rs 362 crore. The proposals cover various sectors, including manufacture of chemicals, textile processing, laminated flooring material and accessories, processed food, automobile components, specific equipment, electronics, information technology and ISP. It also includes projects for software development and consultancy, telecommunications and data systems. Of the proposals, IFrameIndia.Com, a software developer, had Rs 138 crore in foreign direct investment while the FDI component in manufacturer and marketeer of speciality chemicals, Vantico International, was Rs 62.50
crore.
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Federal officials raid SBI branch in USA NEW YORK, FEB 10 — The main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) here was shut down for a day after a team of federal officials, presumably from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), cordoned off the office to check “certain documents.” Sources said business at the bank was suddenly ordered closed around noon on February 7 by the management and almost all the employees were sent home after more than two dozen federal officials arrived at the branch at 460 Park Avenue around noon. Mr P. Sunder, CEO of the SBI in North America, declined to comment when asked if there was a raid by the DOC officials at the branch. “I cannot talk to the press on this,” Sunder said. But he acknowledged that the bank was closed. “For a day we were closed on account of certain legal formalities to be completed,” Sunder told IANS. He did not elaborate as to what those legal formalities were. “However, there are no serious problems and we are working as normal,” Sunder said. The bank opened the very next day. The sources, however, said the federal officials came to the SBI office and scrutinized files and documents pertaining to export and import till midnight in the presence of some senior officials. Apparently, the officials found some “procedural violations” in documentation for export and import, the sources added. “Some documents were later sealed by the officials and taken away in boxes,” the sources said. Asked if such a visit by the federal officials was a routine one, Sunder declined to give an answer.
— IANS At 22, he runs innovative software
firm SAN
DIEGO (California), Feb 10 — While his classmates at the University of California were figuring out what to do after college, Sameer Samat was already running the company he co-founded, Mohomine. Mohomine develops content aggregation tools across vertical markets and was launched in January, 2000. Initially, the company’s focus was Internet, which continues its exponential information growth. But now Mohomine is looking to Fortune 500 companies that need help bringing structure to their technology. “We automate the process — we apply our technology inside their enterprise,” Samat explained. San Diego-based Mohomine — a knowledge-mining platform that automates the process of finding, extracting and classifying information — has raised $5.1 million in capital and has 50 employees. Neil Senturia, founder and former CEO of Atcom/Info, which sold for $100 million to CAIS Internet, is Mohomine’s CEO. Samat, 22, and his partners raised $1.1 million during their mid-term in November, 1999, for his company, six months before he graduated with his computer science degree. “There is no way to describe it except it was intense and crazy,” Samat, also Mohomine’s chief technology officer (CTO), told IANS. “I was running from a mid-term exam to someone’s office to make a presentation and then back for the next exam.” Samat, confident the company is in the right place at the right time, credits young trailblazers in the technology sector, who paved the way before he and his friends and co-founders started out on their journey. “Everyone gave us a chance because they wanted to hear what we had to say,” Samat said, “We never faced a lot of resistance. It was very refreshing.” In San Jose, Samat met Sean Brady and later Josh Dammeier. They met the fourth founder, Chris Harris, on the first day of college. All four had parents who worked in the computer industry and were addicted to computers. Working on the Internet in the summer of 1999, they realized they there were no adequate tools with which to track down source codes. So Samat and friends decided to build a custom directory with subcategories that would automatically be linked to categories in appropriate places. The site they came up with was — Source bank. The press note Samat wrote read, “We really didn’t know if it was going to be interesting to anyone else — but we built something for our needs.” “The very next day the phone started ringing and didn’t stop with offers to purchase the site,” Samat said and that is when the four decided to raise money and start their company. Samat said he would eventually like to return to school to do graduate work in computer science as he still has learning to do, but sees himself remaining with Mohomine. “I really believe in this company. The vision is solid,” Samat said. “I’m having so much fun being around smart people I really feel that this company is going to be around for a long time.”
— IANS
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Zuari Ind Toyota Kirloskar Tata Engineering |
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Order of transfer Q: Whether transfer pursuant to application by employee for personal reasons can be termed as administrative grounds? Ans: The S.C. in A.P.S.R.T.C.v V. Veraiah (2000-II-LLJ. 1631) took the view thus: The respondent is working as conductor. He came to be transferred pursuant to an order made by the Corporation on 18.7.80. In that order, it is noted that the respondent was transferred on his request and his seniority would be reckoned in the manner stated therein. However, he questioned the action of the appellant insofar as it related to his seniority before the H.C. The H.C. stated that the transfer had been effected on account of administrative exigencies and creations of a new division and, therefore, his seniority should not be affected to his disadvantage. The order made by the Learned Single Judge was taken up in appeal which came to be dismissed. Hence, the present appeal before S.C. Appellant drew the attention of the S.C. to the order made by the Corporation on 18.7.80 which was pursuant to the application made by the respondent, which clearly indicates that he had certain personal problems and, therefore, opted for a transfer. On these grounds, the order has been made by the Corporation taking a sympathetic view of the matter. In the circumstance, the S.C. felt that the H.C. was not justified in holding that the transfer was on account of administrative exigencies or by creation of a new division. The S.C. was therefore, of the view that the order made by the Learned Single Judge as affirmed by the Division Bench of the H.C. needs to be set aside and the writ petition filed by the respondent shall stand dismissed. The S.C. in that way allowed the present appeal. |
sti
International meet on
globalisation from Feb 12 CHANDIGARH, Feb 10 — Some of the top economists, policy makers and planners from both India and Canada would have brainstorming sessions at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development from Monday for three days to "revisit fundamentals of governance after nearly two decades of globalisation." Talking to The Tribune, Dr Daniel Darche, who is the Director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies at York University in Toronto, and Dr Surinder K. Goyal, Director of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, said since both Canada and India had differing experience with globalisation and building state capacity against intrusive markets, their case studies and lessons may provide for new policy initiatives to interest other nations too. "Besides top economists, policy makers and planners from Canada and India, other experts in fiscal management from other parts of the world, too, are expected to participate in the two-day international conference," they said maintaining that the "Washington Consensus", also known as Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) —a term coined by Professor Williamson following a broad or general consensus reached by the top brass of the World Bank, the academicia of the American Universities and the International Monetary Fund over the problems of Latin America in late 70s or early 80s — came to be adopted in a number of countries. Those coming here for the three-day conference include Prof Harry Arthurs, President Emeritus of York University, Prof David Cameron, Professor Arabinda Acharya and Prof Amitav Acharya, Prof Marcia Rioux, Prof Sol Picciotto, Prof Ramesh Mishra, Prof Alasdair Roberts, Prof Ezra Zubrow, Prof R.P. Bambah, Prof Kuldeep Mathur, Prof H.K. Manmohan Singh, Prof S.S. Johl, Prof G.S. Bhalla, Prof R. Nagaraj, Prof Dolly Arora, Prof Sudip Chaudhari and Prof G.K. Chadha.Justice Rajinder Sachar would be another distinguished Speaker at the conference. Senior functionaries from the Ministry of Finance, including Deputy Economic Adviser t the Government of India, would also attend the conference. Mr Chandrasekhar, former Prime Minister of India and Chairman of the governing body of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, will deliver the valedictory address on February 14. The conference is jointly sponsored by the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development and the Indo-Shastri Foundation of Canada. Dr Daniel Drache and Dr S.K. Goyal held that the "Washington Consensus sought to downsize the role of state in the economy as it was essentially a package for the economies with high fiscal deficit. "It identified 10 points for restructuring these deficit economies which had been suffering huge losses on account of public sector undertakings. The Consensus sought to replace public sector by private sector and insisted that social sector, like education and health care, must get its due importance as market forces alone could not be allowed to monopolise or dominate the social services sector. It also sought to remove restrictions both on national and international investments which were considered major hurdles in the way economic growth of a country. Recommending al restrictions on free trade to go, it suggested that both tariff and non-tariff barriers must go to encourage international trade. Among the important issues to come up for discussion include the "market intrusiveness, government and the public domain", and how is the public sector sphere understood in Canada, India and other countries, global public goods and the WTO : what should be public ? what should be private ?, social policy, market and public interest; Indian corporate sector and Washington Consensus; Rethinking public goods in an era of globalisation: how India and Canada are redrawing the line between the public and the private; and communal and other tensions in the cultural spaces — the informational commons, redistribution and people's values. Mr Rashpal Malhotra, Director, CRRID, the host Institute, said that deliberations during all three days of the conference would be of immense value as public authorities face difficult questions. On the one hand, social impact of globalisation was acquiring new dimensions and, on the other, public sector had earned considerable discredit. This cannot go on. "There is a need to, if necessary, to redefine the public and private areas of responsibility and management," he said. |
co
Before insurance, check record of firm Like earth-quake resistant houses, insuring your property and valuables against earthquake has also become imperative. Probably before the Gujarat earthquake one could have said such insurance would be necessary only for those living in high intensity seismic zones. But not any more. As per the seismic zoning map drawn up by the Bureau of Indian Standards, for example, Ahmedabad falls in zone three, which is a moderate risk zone. Yet, thanks to the poor quality of construction, many buildings crumbled. Similarly, Bangalore comes in the lowest risk zone. But after the tremors felt on January 29, several buildings are reported to have developed cracks. There is no separate insurance against earthquake, but a standard fire and special perils policy can be extended to include earthquake. Earlier earthquake cover was part of the fire insurance policy and if you bought a fire insurance then you also automatically got earthquake cover. However, in May last year, the Tariff Advisory Committee effected a reduction of 22 per cent in the fire insurance premium and provided for earthquake risk as an add-on cover. Accordingly, as per the All India Fire Tariff laid down by the Tariff Advisory Committee, if you are in earthquake zone I, you will have to pay an additional annual premium of Re 1 for Rs 1000 of sum assured, for earthquake cover. If you are in zone 2, it is 50 paise for Rs 1000, zone 3 is 20 paise and zone four is 10 paise. While under the BIS zoning map, number 5 represents the highest tremor risk zone and 1 and 2, the lowest, for insurance purposes, zone 1 represents the highest risk while zone 4, low risk. However, for dwelling units, offices, hotels, shops, etc, coming under Section III of the TAC tariff, irrespective of the earthquake zone, a uniform annual premium of 10 paise per Rs 1000 of sum assured is charged for the add-on earthquak cover. So as per the TAC tariff, if you are buying an insurance cover against fire for a dwelling unit, then your annual premium works out to 50 paise for every Rs 1000 of sum assured and you will pay another 10 paise for the additional earthquake cover. In other words, suppose you are taking an insurance cover for Rs 10 lakhs for a dwelling unit, your annual premium works out to Rs 600, including the add-on earthquake insurance costing Rs 100. Here again, if you take a long term policy issued to house or flat owners for a minimum period of three years, you get a discount of 15 per cent by paying the premium for all the three years in advance. If you are taking a long term policy for eight years, you get a discount of 40 per cent and for ten years and above, 50 per cent discount. Similarly, you have the option to delete certain perils like storm, tempest, flood, inundation from the scope of the policy and thereby get a reduction of 15 per cent in the premium rate, but with such an exclusion, your earthquake policy will not cover loss, destruction, damage due to flood or overflow of the sea, lakes, reservoirs or rivers caused by earthquake. So consider all these factors carefully, taking into account the region where you live. But first and foremost, choose your insurer. Look at the company’s track record in respect of its after sales service. On an average, how long does the company take to settle a claim? Is the company willing to commit itself to a time-frame? Is it ready to pay an interest on the assured amount for any delay, without your asking for it? After all, timely settlement is the most crucial aspect of any insurance and consumer courts have time and again held that delay in settling a claim constitutes deficiency in service and awarded interest on the insured amount. In fact the time taken by insurance companies to settle the claims in Gujarat would give a good indication of the kind of service that they would render in a crisis situation. Besides the existing four insurance companies, four more private insurers have entered the general insurance sector. Hopefully, the ensuing competition would improve the services. But choosing the insurer is only the first step. Before you buy the policy, read the policy document very carefully, discuss the various options, terms and conditions, exclusion clauses, add-on covers, etc with the insurer and make an informed choice. Also ensure that earthquake is covered in the policy and not left out. Pay your premium without fail and on time and keep the copy of your policy safe because that is the most important document in so far as your contract of insurance is concerned. In fact in the case of MKJ Corporation vs United India Insurace, the apex court held that the insurer cannot repudiate a claim on the basis of an exclusion clause specified in the TAC Tariff document, if it is not incorporated in the policy document. |
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Platinum future safe in PC industry Daewoo chief hiding in Europe Motorola to cut up to 4,000 jobs China bans Mitsubishi models import |
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Web site for kids Networking cell Numeric Power NABARD aid Amartex Forex reserves up Quake relief |
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