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| Wednesday, March 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Garment units strike today
Rents fall with slump in real estate Reliance Petro tops in
sales
Strategy to
boost trade with Colombia |
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LML, Royal Enfield cut prices GE
scholarships Honey no longer a sweet
business NSE
FORECAST Ajanta a right
dose
Thein Dam snags: need to fix
responsibility
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Garment units strike today Ludhiana, March 6 Interestingly, the local garment manufacturers’ have decided not to participate in the bandh. Mr Vinod Kumar Thapar, President, Knitwear Club, said: “We have decided not to participate in the bandh since it is not clear at present on which category of garments the excise duty is applicable.” Sources in the Excise Department said the 16 per cent excise duty was applicable on all branded textile garments manufactured in India which are sold in the domestic market. Since most of the local manufacturers were selling their garments by one brand name or other, so they would have to pay the excise duty. Industry insiders say since most of the textile units are in the category of the small scale sector so they may be exempted from the duty. A section of the industry is also worried whether the duty would be applicable on units having limit up to Rs 1 crore or Rs 3 crore. In case of the latter, almost all local units would be exempted from paying any duty. The industry is sending a delegation to the Finance Ministry to clear the confusions and if possible, to exempt them from the duty. The industrialists are not ready to react openly. Regarding the controversy of brand, a textile shirts’ manufacturer said, “In the industry only those units are considered to have brands which have registered their products with the trade mark authority. There are very few manufacturers in Ludhiana who have registered with that authority.” On the other hand the excise officials feel all garment units would have to pay the duty as they would have to register themselves with the department. Incidentally, there are more than 10,000 units in Ludhiana. They produce material worth more than Rs 10,000 crore per annum. Till now most of them were exempted from the excise duty under the small scale sector safeguards. However, now, sources in the Excise Department say, “Unless the government decides to provide some relief through some clarifications or exemptions to certain industries, they will have to pay the duty.” Another garment manufacturers said, “If the government decides to impose 16 per cent excise duty without providing exemptions to the small scale units, it will prove a death knell for the industry, since we can’t compete with the cheap foreign garments coming from China and other countries.” Amritsar units on strike The entire textile industry has decided to pull down shutters tomorrow in protest against the steep hike in the excise duties. Addressing joint press conference held by all textile associations here today the spokesman condemned the various levies imposed on the small-scale segment which have struck a blow to all sections of the powerloom sector. Spokesman Gunbir Singh said the district which had been a traditional centre for woollen, shoddy and other suitings had been badly hit thereby rendering a majority of units sick. The industry had already been shaken by the recession under the impact of cheap imports from Korea and China and felt that the Finance Minister had signed out this industry for punishment by imposing levies from 16 per cent to 25 per cent from yarn stage to weaving and finishing. Besides the suitings, the shawl segment, which represents the cottage, tiny and small scale sector, has been badly affected with the
leving of 16 per cent duty on the branded items. President of the shawl industry Pyare Lal Seth said shawls have already been under the exemption category for the past many decades. The shawl industry was providing large employment opportunities to people in the rural belt and with the huge excise duty, the entire population depending on it would be rendered jobless. The Amritsar Small-Scale Woolen Manufacturers Association in a memorandum to the Finance Minister said the Budget has announced relief to the large-scale
composite sector thus penalising the SSI segment. The organised woollen mills have been given relief to the extent of 5 per cent reduction from 21 per cent to 16 per cent, while the duty for the SSI unit has been more than doubled. President of the Shoddy Association S.K. Khanna said shoddy which provides cheap woollen fabrics has been burdened with huge levies. The representatives of the various associations here have taken up an appointment with the Finance Minister to present their case for reduction of duty. |
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Rents fall with slump in real estate Chandigarh, March 6 Market experts , while attributing this to the slump in the real estate market, say the situation reversal depends on implementations of Budget proposals. The impact can be seen only after a few months, they say. The rents have witnessed a decline of 15 to 20 per cent in the past two years . Quake , say the experts, has not had much impact on the market ."It is basically the slump in the real estate market , which is responsible for lower rents. Recession in the industry and people looking for property outside the city have also contributed substantially to it", says Mr. J D Gupta, Chairman of the Property Consultants Association of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. Though construction activity in and around the city has gone up with more societies and private parties appearing on the scene, the demand presents only a sombre scenario. Real estate as an investment under such circumstances is a far-fetched idea, say the dealers who are getting only "genuine" buyers. For the commercial areas, the rents are almost 75 per cent of the cost ,and in case of residential areas, the annual rental is less than 25 per cent. Consequently, swings in the sale-purchase market have a direct bearing on the rents. In the residential areas, rents are the maximum in northern sectors going to a high of even Rs. 20,000 for a kothi of one canal. This, say the dealers, was around Rs. 30,000 two years back. While
HIG (three room) flats are able to attract Rs. 6,000-7,000 per month, rents for a similar MIG flat vary between Rs. 4,000 -5,000 a month. Panchkula and Mohali rates are almost 50-60 per cent of those prevailing in the city. Rents in commercial areas have fallen by Rs. 4 to Rs. 5 per square feet .In the commercial sector, showrooms on commercially viable areas like Sector 9, 22, 17 are let out for Rs. 2 lakh or even more, similar showrooms in Panchkula would be available for around one lakh or slightly more. In these areas rents range from Rs. 25 to 35 per square feet. Rents for commercial property in Mohali are more than Panchkula. Contrary to the scenario in the city, rents in Mohali have gone up ."This is mainly because most of the entrepreneurs are preferring Mohali for commercial purposes, whereas construction activity has still not increased as much as increase in the business activity expected to come up here", said Mr. H S Batra, a property dealer . In the surrounding areas Zirakpur and Kharad are developing whereas Surajpur and some areas near Pinjore , are expected to buzz with construction activity in the coming days. Market observers say at present, demand for the residentials is less than the supply as lots of society flats have come up in the areas surrounding the city. And when do they expect the market to look up? The Budget seems to have given a ray of hope to this industry. "We hope industry is really able to get the benefits which have been proposed in this budget . Growth of industry
would, definitely help the real estate market, say the dealers.
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New Delhi, march 6 Commissioning the world’s largest refinery only in December,1999, RPL surpassed previous year’s turnover topper Reliance Industries, which posted a 57 per cent growth in sales at rs 21,564 crore in the nine-month period as against Rs 13,707 crore during April-December 1999. Latest data from company websites indicate the two Ambani group companies’ cumulative sales at Rs 45,021 crore was more than that of eight leading corporates, including Hindustan Lever, ITC, Telco, Tisco, Larsen & Toubro, Grasim, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto. The top 10 companies, buoyed up by sales of Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industries, recorded a cumulative sales growth of 62.72 per cent at about Rs 85,330 crore during April-December, 2000, as against Rs 52,440 crore during the same period last year. Hindustan Lever with a sales of over Rs 7,950 crore and ITC with a turnover of over Rs 6,500 crore were only from the FMCG sector that were after the Reliance group companies. Telco, despite making a 9.3 per cent loss in sales in the first three quarters, stood at the fifth position with a sales of about Rs 5,460 crore followed by Tisco, which posted a 12 per cent sales growth at a little over Rs 5,400 crore. PTI NIIT opens centre NIIT, a computer education and software services company, opened its 10th domestic software development centre on Tuesday, a move aimed at relieving congestion at existing facilities. The move does not represent an expansion at a time when there are concerns a slowdown in the U.S. economy could impede growth of Indian software companies, which rely on the U.S. market for about 60 percent of revenue. NIIT’s $4.5 million centre will primarily develop e-commerce applications for clients such as Singapore Airlines, Deutsche Bank and NTT Data, a senior company official told
Reuters. VST open offer issue A week after getting the counter offer from tobacco major ITC, Hyderabad-based VST Industries today said it was yet to take a decision on the issue, but no dates have been finalised for the meeting of its Board of Directors on the subject. While confirming that the company had received the letter of offer for Bright Star’s proposal, followed by a counter offer from ITC, a VST spokesperson said “we received the Bright Star letter late last week.
PTI Paramount Comm Paramount Communications (PCL) will make a preferential placement of Rs 6.96 crore consisting of 12 lakh equity shares to promoters, corporate bodies and group companies. The shares of Rs 10 face value will be allotted at the rate of Rs 58 per share at a premium of Rs 48 per share, a company statement said here. The private placement would result in the equity share capital of PCL going up to Rs 7.76 crore from Rs 6.56 crore at present.
PTI HCL Insys, Intel pact HCL Infosystems and chip manufacturer Intel today announced partnership to launch an e-business solutions programme. The programme would target new market opportunities in segments like Internet Service Providers, Application Service Providers, Finance and Banking by partnering with select ISVs/e-business Solution Providers (eBSPs) and consultants, HCL said in a statement at Delhi.
PTI
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Strategy to boost trade with Colombia New Delhi, March 6 Outlining the strategy at a Seminar on “Indo-Colombian Partnership Opportunities for Business” organised by the CII, here today, Mr Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, suggested the setting up of a strong institutional framework at two levels. This includes a Joint Commission at government level which could meet at regular intervals to suggest strategic measures for developing linkages on all fronts and the setting up of a Joint Business Council (JBC) between the private sectors of the two countries to develop concrete action plans. The JBC could identify sectors for developing exports/imports and joint ventures and suggest interventions required by the governments of both sides for enhancing trade and business. He also urged both sides to work out details of the proposed Preferential Trade Agreement with Colombia. This would be the first such arrangement between India and any Latin American country, Mr Abdullah added.
LML, Royal Enfield cut prices New Delhi, March 6 The price cut will be applicable to the Bullet Standard, Deluxe, Machismo, Machismo A350, Bullet 500cc and Lightining 535 models, a company statement said. The price cut by Royal Enfield, a unit of the Rs 1,000 crore Eicher group, follows close on the heels of price cuts announced by other two-wheeler makers like Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, TVS-Suzuki and LML following the excise duty reduction announced in the Union Budget 2001-02. PTI CHANDIGARH: The prices of LML scooter model Select and NV have been reduced by Rs 2,198 and 1,929 respectively in Delhi. Similarly, LML mobikes Energy will now cost Rs 2,697 less, Adreno (Basic) less by Rs 2,755, Adreno with disc brakes by Rs 2,968 and Adreno with disc brakes and electric start by Rs 3, 187 only. These price cuts are all ex-Delhi and effective with immediate effect. M & M: No price revision The Budget has not affected M & M models like, Bolero, Marshal & variants, Commander 650 DI Pik-up, Utility etc. Mahindra officials said these models came under the excise slabs of 32% and 16%. Only those vehicles have been affected by the new Budget, which came under the 40% excise slab. There has only been reduction of 8% in the excise duty in this category, hence leading to rationalisation of prices.
TNS
Bangalore, March 6 “We believe that an employee who has citizenship qualities is a better worker inside the organisation. An employee who has a wider horizon definitely adds value to his work,” Jean Heuschen, Vice-President and Managing Director of GE’s Jack Welch Technology Centre, told IANS. The scholarship amount will cover a student’s tuition fees, related course expenses and room and board expenses over the duration of the course. The institutions selected for the scholarships are the Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bangalore, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in Calcutta, Indore and Kozhikode, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Chennai, New Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Mumbai, the Manipal Institute of Technology in Manipal, Karnataka, the Birla Institute of Technology in, Mesra, Rajasthan, the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai and the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi. The number of scholarships and the institutions would be scaled up later.
IANS |
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Honey no longer a sweet
business Ludhiana, March 6 Punjab, with a 33 per cent production of the total, is a leading honey producer in the country. Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have also been doing well for the past some years on this front compared to other states. However, lately downfall in the production and arrival of honey from China and other countries at a very competitive price has made the things hot for the bee keepers. In 1998, the number of bee-keepers in Punjab was near 20,000 and the production was near 4,000 tonne. But next year it fell to 3,000 tonne and the number of bee-keepers also gone down to 15,000. Fact is that since 1997, the honey production has remained fluctuating up and down. Dr Madhu Gill, Chairperson of the Northern India Beekeepers Association says that the honey from China, Argentina, Germany, Australia is landing in the country at a price varying between Rs 20 to 25 per kg. It has affected the bee-keepers in a big way. The production cost of honey in India is near Rs 23 per kg and procurement price is only Rs 24. Honey is procured by private traders. Moreover, while the production per box in America is near 70 kg per year, in India it is just 20 to 25 kg. Dr Darshan Singh, Head of the Department of Entomology, PAU, says that unscientific multiplication of bee stocks, poor adoption of scientific been management practices, unlawful import of bees, queen bees from across the border, uncertain weather conditions, over crowding of honey been colonies at migration sites, decline in the area under major beefloral plants and
crops, non cooperation by some Government departments, Wrong agro practices and excessive pesticidal usages are the reasons for declining trend in beekeeping enterprise. Beekeepers, without bothering about their scientific management, resorted to extensive multiplication of their colonies and sold these to make a fast buck. Such breeding and inbreeding of colonies within the same population resulted into the deterioration in the quality of bee stock. From a narrow base of 2 to 5 colonies, certain been keepers increased their apiary upto 100 colonies within a short span. Another important lacuna in the management of honey bees is delay in the replacement of old queen bees. Best production from a queenbee can be only for three brood rearing seasons. So, after every one and half year, old queens must be replaced. Bee-keepers are resorting to the extraction of honey from single chambered colonies that is unfair. Increasing the number of colonies is of no use. He says that 50 strong double chambered colonies yield more honey than 100 single chamber colonies. Commercial bee-keepers migrate their colonies to khair growing belts in July to September. Khair tree produce surplus nectar but there is dearth of pollen source which required to be strengthened by artificial pollen to enhanced the brood rearing and helps in the maintenance of colony strength. But the most significant point is unlawful import of bees, queen bees from Nepal in 1998-99 by some private organisations and bee-keepers ignoring all quarantine procedures . These bees were distributed in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. These bees brought along a “european foul brood causing bacteria” which led to 10 per cent brood mortality first time in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh 1999-2000. Suitable climatic conditions and bee flora are key factors that determine the success or failure of bee keeping. Adverse climatic conditions in 1997, when this part of the country witness a prolonged foggy weather, affected the nectar secretion in toria, affecting the yield of honey. Those who migrated their colonies to Rajasthan where “raya” crop was in full bloom were able to get good yield. Because of the depletion of bee friendly flora in Himachal Pradesh, a large number of bee-keepers from that state migrate to Punjab and it leads to the overcrowding of colonies and scarcity of resources (beeflora). Moreover, the decline in beeflora plants like sunflower crops has also contributed to the decline in the production. Extensive use of pesticides and burning of paddy straw has enhanced the mortality rate among bees. PAU has advised for replacement of queen bees at regular intervals, to avoid unnecessary division of colonies and formation of cooperative bodies for better coordination among bee-keepers. By promoting sunflower and other such crops, minimising the use of pesticides, strict enforcement of quarantine measures are among the other measures suggested to revitalise the beekeeping in the state. |
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Ashok Kumar Ajanta a right dose Over the past couple of weeks, we had been predicting that “with the Union Budget announcement round the corner it is noteworthy that the normal sense of euphoria that precedes it is missing. This might turn out to be a positive as in the absence of any great expectations from the Budget this time around, the announcement could be better received by the market than otherwise. Thus, it might not be altogether unlikely in the aftermath of a well-received Budget, but with the Nasdaq falling like nine pins and clear cut signals that Indian tech companies are in for a rough time in the times ahead, the New Economy stocks led by the pivotal tech stocks took a dunking. The panic button is thus on and with SEBI belatedly moving in to investigate market malpractices, it seems likely that the drift downwards may accelerate. However, a sharp Budget backed revival too could be on the cards thereafter. Amidst the ruins, there are trading opportunities and bull operators willing to take a punt could consider taking up long positions at the counters of Zee Telefilms at Rs 101 (square up at Rs 122) and Satyam Computer at Rs 229 (square up at 267). Bear operators could consider taking up short positions at the counter of Reliance Industries at Rs 423 (cover up at Rs 399) and Pentasoft at Rs 98 (cover up at Rs 77). The dark horse pick of the week is Ajanta Pharma which is budget beneficiary.
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Thein Dam snags: need to fix
responsibility The print media while covering the “dedication” ceremony of the Thein Dam held on March 4, 2001, asked the G.M. of the project about the cause of the “Snags” of P1 & P2 and who could be held responsible for these. The G.M. avoided entering into discussion on this topic and said nothing could be done as the construction of the power tunnels was a “collective responsibility”. So the “shield” of collective responsibility was sought to be used to protect everybody. Looking back, we find that in the past our engineering faculty did not behave in this fashion. The case of the collapse of the Hoist Chamber of the Right Diversion Tunnel of the Bhakra Dam is cited. This mishap occurred on 21.8.1959 when preparations were under way to finally close or plug the right diversion tunnel having served as a measure for early irrigation from the Bhakra Dam during its filling stages. The closure date was fixed for the end of September 1959 and the left
divers ional tunnel had been plugged earlier. On the day of the mishap the depth of water in the Gobind Sagar was about 280 ft which was 215.5 ft above the floor of the hoist chamber used for operation of the high-head gates under partial gate opening which resulted in lot of vibrations. Due to vibrations and faulty construction, the floor of the hoist chamber collapsed and it led to loss of 13 valuable human lives and flooding of the left power house. The gate regulation was done by two slide gates weighing 74 tonnes each through hydraulic system. In addition to the regulation gates, a set of the “emergency gates” had been provided but these could not be operated due to the collapse of the whole system. The hoist chamber was approachable through the Visitors’ Gallery starting from the left bank so the flooding extent was disastrous and it was not known what would be the future of the mighty Bhakra Dam. At that juncture the government decided to get the matter probed by a “high-level committee” headed by Dr K.L. Rao. Mulkh Raj Chopra, the then General Manager of the Bhakra Dam, deposed at length before the committee and did not hide or shield anybody. He concluded his evidence by getting recorded that “I, Mulkh Raj Chopra, hereby state that I am solely responsible, and nobody else is responsible for what happened.” This was the courage of the leader of the Bhakra engineering community for whom the workers and the engineers were prepared to do anything, no matter how dangerous. This fact is borne out by the heroic efforts with which plugging of the right diversion was effected by throwing into the running waters concrete blocks, gravel and clays and save the Bhakra Dam. Will our present day leaders come up to the lofty standard set by a man like M.R. Chopra? The present-day attitude will prevent us from learning lessons from past mistakes. An appeal is made to the government that the example of the Bhakra Dam be followed to let the nation and the engineering community know: (i) What exactly happened? (ii) Why did it happen? (iii) Could the mishap have been avoided?
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No skimping on cars for Russians Moscow, March 6 A spokesman for the state traffic police said last year the number of official chauffeur-driven limousines for top government workers rose by 23,500 to 605,290. Of this number, 40,000 are foreign cars, including Audis, BMWs and Mercedes. Russia’s Trud newspaper said the sums spent by ministries on maintaining transport varied from as much as 20 million roubles ($697,800) a year at the Tax Ministry to 2.2 million roubles at the Atomic Energy Ministry. “A country which is just pulling itself out of a deep crisis cannot afford such extravagance,” the newspaper said.
Reuters Warrant for Daewoo founder Seoul, March 6 “We will soon ask Interpol for cooperation in arresting him on charges of fraud,” said a spokeswoman for the Public Prosecutors’ office. Prosecutors are now trying to find Kim with the help of Korean embassies and plan to ask other countries to extradite him once his whereabouts are confirmed, she said.
Reuters Intel cuts desktop PC chip prices Santa Clara, March 6 The cuts, which took effect on Sunday and were confirmed by the company, come as inventories build and demand for new computers slows. Intel slashed the price of its 800 megahertz Celeron to $ 112 from $ 138, a 19 per cent decline. The 766 MHz celeron dropped 8 per cent, to $ 103 from $ 112. Its 1 gigahertz Pentium 3, meanwhile, now costs $ 241, compared to $ 268 before the price cut. The 933 MHz model fell 7 per cent, to $ 225 from $ 241. The new Pentium 4’s prices also fell - though at the much lower rates. The 1.5 GHz Pentium 4’s price dropped 1 per cent, to $ 637 from $ 644. The 1.4 GHz model went to $ 423 from $ 440, and the 1.3 GHz version fell to $ 332 from $
336. AP |
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Spice ‘fast talk’ Domain names Ind-Swift Lab Domino’s pizza Canara Bank Balco stir Andersen |
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