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March 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Car, scooter sales fall in Feb
Raids on stock brokers
ABB buys stake in Essar Refinery
Discipline states, IMF tells India |
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FDI worth Rs 683 crore cleared SC reserves order on
CNG buses
Spice helpline for students
Banks turn cautious
Vintage aircraft land in Delhi UN to assess
Cipla offer Garages turned into breweries Microsoft cautions users Daily flight to
Singapore
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Car, scooter sales fall in Feb
New Delhi, March 23 Total sales stood at 48,289 units as against 56,522 units sold in the same month last year, figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said today. Recessionary trend continued to hit the car segment with cumulative sales (April-February 2000-01) declining by 7 per cent to 5.25 lakh units from 5.65 lakh units sold in the last fiscal. Market leader Maruti Udyog sold 30,564 cars in the review month, down 6.7 per cent over 32,762 units sold in February last year. Maruti’s cumulative sales (April-February 2000-01) also fell by 14.4 per cent to 3.05 lakh units from 3.55 lakh units sold in the same period last fiscal. Commercial vehicles sales, a good indicator of economic growth, went down 6.3 cent at 14,529 units in February, 2001, compared to 15,518 units sold in the year-ago month. Both, medium and heavy and the light commercial vehicles segment, recorded downward sales trend during the month. Two-wheeler sales fell by 13.6 per cent at 2.94 lakh units in February 2001 over 3.40 lakh units sold in year-ago month owing to a sharp 35.4 per cent drop in scooter sales. Total scooter sales stood at 68,191 units as against 1.05 lakh units in the same month of 2000. Sales of mopeds also declined by 24 per cent to 49,038 units from 64,471 units in the month-on-month period. Motorcycles sales, however, continued to grow and posted a modest 3.8 per cent growth during the review month. Multi-utility-vehicles (muvs) sales increased by 7.4 per cent to 12,991 units from 12,089 units sold in February, 2000. In the car segment, sales of Hyundai Motor India fell by 8.6 per cent at 6,830 units (7,475 units in February 2000). The Indian unit of South Korea’s bankrupt Daewoo Motor Company posted a massive 52.3 per cent drop in car sales to 2,122 units (4,453 units). Telco’s car sales fell 31.2 per cent to 3,673 units in February this year as against 5,345 cars last fiscal while sales of the Indian subsidiary of US-based Ford Motor Company declined by 27.4 per cent to 1,005 cars (1,386 cars last year). Honda Siel cars’ sales dropped 35 per cent to 653 cars from 1,004 units sold in February last year. Sales of Fiat and Hindustan Motors declined by 60 per cent and 9.3 per cent to 601 cars and 701 cars respectively during the review month. Only General Motors’ and Mercedes Benz posted 177 per cent and 46.4 per cent sales growth in February at 701 units (253 units last year). Market leader Telco’s sales fell by 11 per cent to 5,360 units in the M and H segment while in the lcv segment, it posted a two per cent sales drop at 3,682 units in february. In the growing muv segment, sales of Toyota Kirloskar went up by 84.4 per cent to 2,108 units while that of Telco and Mahindra and Mahindra fell by 4.3 per cent and 18.6 per cent to 2,882 units and 5,368 units respectively. Scooter makers Majaj Auto, lml, Kinetic and tvs-Suzuki registered a sales drop of 37 per cent, 61.4 per cent, 11.5 per cent and 10.7 per cent respectively in February this year. Cumulative scooter sales (April-February 2000-01) fell by 28.3 per cent to 8.2 lakh units over 11.4 lakh units sold in the year-ago period. Hero Honda led the growth in motorcycles sales with 28.8 per cent at 87,656 units (68,043 units last year). However, sales of Bajaj, tvs-Suzuki and Yamaha Motor Escorts fell 18 per cent, 12.5 per cent and 27.7 per cent to 36,295 units, 24,980 units and 19,742 units respectively during the review month.
PTI
New Delhi, March 23 “The prices will be increased by about 2-3 per cent from April 1,” the officials told PTI here. The hike will be spread over all eight models including the entry model “Maruti 800cc” and “Baleno” cars. The Maruti officials attributed increased production and other related costs as the reasons for the fresh hike. Maruti had slashed its car prices from February 28 by between Rs 11,000 and Rs 42,000 following the 8 per cent excise duty cut announced in the Budget 2001-02. In January this year, the company had increased its vehicle prices by Rs 2,000 to over Rs 12,000. The price hike will be effected even as the car industry is witnessing a recessionary trend in this fiscal.
PTI |
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Raids on stock brokers
Mumbai, March 23 Official sources said the raids were carried out jointly by the Income Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate and the Department of Revenue Intelligence. The Intelligence Bureau as well as the Central Bureau of Investigations, apart from the Economic Intelligence Bureau were part of the sudden raids, sources said. The officials were tight-lipped about their findings. They were busy in meetings after the day-long raids and were refusing to take phone calls. Share prices slipped across-the-board at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the premier bourse of the country, after the raids. The BSE sensitive index plumetted by 79 points. The sources said among the brokers whose offices were raided included Ketan Parekh, Nirmal Bang, Shankar Sharma and Anand Rathi, the former BSE President. Rathi, however, denied that his premises were raided. Sources said the raids were part of a nation-wide exercise by the Centre to identify the broking houses and their owners, who allegedly indulged in speculative activity, causing sharp volatility in the share prices. Reports said that the investigators had identified 80 individuals and companies for a probe into the recent share price crash and to unearth the nexus of stock market operators, corporates and the film industry involved in the rampant rigging. The raids are likely to continue, the sources said.
UNI
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ABB buys stake in Essar Refinery
New Delhi, March 23 ABB Lummus, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for Rs 7,800 crore Essar Refinery, has picked up 25 per cent stake enabling the project to achieve financial closure, Ruia told PTI here. Construction work on the 10.5 million tonne capacity refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat would start early next month and as per the schedule, the refinery should go on stream in 18 months, he said. Essar Group has 68 per cent stake in the project and the rest is held by Financial Institutions and the public. ABB’s stake in the project would be in the form of bridge equity which the multinational would sell after completion of the project, Ruia said adding that ABB had to step in to bridge the Rs 585 crore gap in Rs 2,600 crore capital, essential to arrange rest of the finances.
Birla VXL
S.K.Birla promoted Birla VXL Ltd has been exonerated by MRTPC from the charges of unfair trade practices. The complaint filed by Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) had alleged that Birla VXL, running Digjam Woollen Mills, was providing discount/incentives to all its dealers on uniform basis linked to turnover on slab basis, which was linked with sales slab and was restrictive trade practice under the MRTP Act.
Tata Honeywell
Tata Honeywell Limited and Group4 Securitas Guarding Limited today launched a joint venture here offering security monitoring and response services ‘Central Montoring Services India Private Ltd. (CMSIPL) to subsubscribers across India. “Our central monitoring and response services will play a major role in burglar and fire alarm protection. Trained operators will monitor the system 24 hours day, record signals and take appropriate action. The CMSIPL team is equipped to handle all kinds of intrustion, fire or medical emergencies,” Salil Kumar CEO, CMSIPL said here.
PTI |
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Discipline states, IMF tells India Washington, March 23 In a report on the observance of standards and codes (ROSC), IMF said among other things, the role of the central government in enforcing fiscal discipline on the states should be more clearly established, While the Centre has the ability to restrict state borrowing and has used it to tighten the budget constraint faced by states, there remain significant loopholes (securities issued to the National Small Savings Funds) and problems with fully enforcing controls where they apply, it said. “It is, therefore, unclear whether the government can impose a hard budget constraint on states under the current system. Similarly, efforts to increase the discipline on some states through the Memorandum of Understanding process, in effect by providing conditional loans, have yet to be shown to be effective,” the IMF said. “Moreover, the terms and conditions of those loans have not been transparent.” The passing of fiscal policy legislation currently before Parliament, it said, would result in the publication of statements that address the current lack of background information and analysis in connection with the budget. The IMF said a key feature of the Indian fiscal system is that the central government shares taxation powers and expenditure responsibilities with state governments and the requirements of the code are not formally applied to sub-national levels of the government. Though public financial institutions (PFIs) and non-financial public enterprises (NEPEs) play an important role in India, the code does not apply to these entities, nor is there any requirement under the Code for the government to systematically provide information about public sector finances, it noted. However, the quasi-fiscal activities of PFIs and NEPEs are covered by the Code, it said. While the government in principle exerts a large measure of control over state finances, in practice states have been able to soften the budgetary constraint they face. States are able to accumulate off-Budget liabilities mainly by guaranteeing loans to state public enterprises in connection with infrastructure projects, the IMF said. It said the RBI is not formally independent of the government but it has considerable operational autonomy, which reflects the high priority both the Ministry of Finance and the RBI attach to controlling inflation. On the annual Budget, the IMF said it had a narrow focus. While broader fiscal policy targets are sometimes discussed in the Budget speech and economic survey, the emphasis was very much on the central government budget and on its overall fiscal deficit in particular. There is no systematic effort to relate the Budget to general government or wider public sector finances, to medium-term fiscal sustainability, or to macroeconomic goals, it said, adding although the five-year plan has a medium-term perspective, its emphasis is on development projects. It said the fiscal risk was not addressed in Budget documents beyond the information provided on central government guarantees. While there had been progress over the years in making supplementary Budgets self-financing, they can still undermine the realism of the initial Budget approved by Parliament. On taxes, it said they were fully under the authority of law. There were statutory laws relating to behavior of civil servants and prescribed penalties for misconduct. Despite this corruption was a problem, particularly in areas where public servants, and in particular tax officials, had the most discretion, such as customs collections.
PTI
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FDI worth Rs 683 crore cleared New Delhi, March 23 In all 48 proposals were cleared covering various sector like health, pharmaceuticals, leather, canned and frozen vegetables, tourism, IT and web related services,software development, hi-tech industrial park, infrastructure, electrical and engineering appliances, cement and building material and non-banking financial activities. The proposals cleared by Mr Murasoli Maran, on the recommendations of FIPB, also include the Rs 23 crore proposal of French energy major,
Total FinaElf, for providing technical, managerial and operational support services in the development of projects and infrastructure facilities for oil gas and power sectors. French non-banking financial company BNP Paribas’ proposal to issue preference shares worth Rs 26 crore has also been approved by the government. Tata-British Petroleum Lubricants’ proposal for increasing foreign equity from 50 per cent to 99 per cent for manufacture and marketing and lubricants, involving fresh infusion of Rs 6.37 crore, was also approved. The proposal of Godrej Pillsbury to increase foreign equity from 51 per cent to 56.50 per cent involving an investment of Rs 5.61 per cent for manufacture of wheat, flour, cake desserts and canned and frozen vegetables was also approved. Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation’s Rs 148.03 crore proposal for setting up of a high-tech industrial park and the Rs 95.52 crore proposal of Lafarge India to increase foreign equity participation from 4.61 per cent to 12.48 per cent in the manufacture and selling of cement was also cleared. Other proposals cleared by the government include HDFC’s 26 per cent foreign equity proposal involving Rs 56.60 crore.
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SC reserves order on
CNG buses New Delhi, March 23 The order was reserved by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice A.S. Anand, Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal and Mr Justice V.N. Khare, on the conclusion of two-hour long arguments by the parties concerned. Earlier, Solicitor General Harish Salve, appearing as amicus curiae in the vehicular pollution case, told the court that the Delhi Government slept over the court’s order dated July 28, 1998 fixing the deadline.
UNI
Spice helpline for students Chandigarh, March 23 Mr Vinod Sawhny, Managing Director, said for availing this facility a subscriber has to dial 551. Spice has tied up with a leading Chandigarh-based institute for providing the service which is available from 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Saturday on a charge of Rs 2 per minute. |
co
Banks turn cautious Chandigarh, March 23 As a result of the excessive volatility, the banks have become conservative in terms of providing the facility of giving loans against shares. Though the selloff, due to a decline in the value of certain shares, has not been more than a few lakhs, bankers are exercising excessive caution in this regard. Reportedly, IDBI Bank has sold off securities worth around 1lakh, whereas other banks were hesitant to reveal the figures . ICICI Bank is also reported to have even closed certain accounts following the bearish trend in the market. Customers, on the other hand are facing inconvenience arising due to adjustments in the accounts which are being done more frequently than ever by the bankers. The banks, which have given loans against securities or even have allowed their customers to overdraw money by pledging securities, are monitoring the situation. In case the value of the share, which has been pledged, falls below a certain limit (which is different for each bank), the bank asks the customer to deposit the same and in certain cases, the banks even sell off the security and recover the balance amount from the customer. "We are monitoring the situation on a daily basis and are making the adjustments accordingly. These days the customers are being called more frequently than ever", stated an official of the State Bank of India. The SBI determines the value of the scrip on the basis of an average of 52 weeks and keeps a margin of 10 per cent and more (depending upon the company), before lending to the customer. "These days, of course, we have become very cautious", said the official. IDBI Bank, which has also registered a sell-off these days, is determining the value of the securities pledged on an average of three days to make the adjustments. "When the value goes down, we ask the customer to deposit the money", a bank official said . Owing to the recent fluctuations, the bank has employed additional staff exclusively to maintain these records and contact the customers. IDBI pledges the shares and offers liquidity through an overdraft for amount ranging between Rs. 1 lakh and 20 lakh. The bank maintains a margin of 35 per cent to even 50 per cent in case of certain shares. To ensure the safety the banks sign a document which authorises the bank to sell off in case of decline in the value of the share beyond a particular point. So much cautious have the banks become that some have even stopped giving loans against securities or closed the accounts. Mr. Anand Kumar, ICICI Bank, said adding that:"We have even closed some of the accounts due to the bearish trend that has gripped the market". The bank will start the facility some time later."With the decline in the interest rates, this product is very important for the bankers and we will start it some time later", said Mr Kumar.
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Vintage aircraft land in Delhi New Delhi, March 23 The race was organised by Aeronautique Internationale and supported by the Australian government through its embassies in countries on the route to commemorate 100 years of Australia’s emergence as a Federation. Pilots from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the Netherlands, the USA, Russia, Portugal, France, Switzerland including 40 women pilots descended here on their state of the art jets, turbo props, piston-engined and open-cockpit types to “recapture the adventure and romance of aviation”. “We are accomplishing a rare feat of covering the Kangaroo Route, only the fourth time in the history of aviation,” said Wilf Baker CEO of the venture. “The pilots who took off from London on March 11 will cover 22,000 km in 28 legs before the race finishes with a spectacular flypast over Sydney Harbour on April 7,” he said. “We are fortunate that this exotic Capital of India falls on our way,” said Michael Eastwood and Ray Eastwood, the pair from Melbourne, who were adjudged the winners of the Karachi-Delhi leg of the race and were also handed over a trophy by Union Tourism Minister Ananth Kumar. Civil Aviatin Minister Sharad Yadav will flag off the aircraft on the next leg of the race to kolkata tomorrow.
PTI Washington, March 23 “The information provided by Cipla will be evaluated to see how Cipla’s offer can be included in the information that the UN makes available to interested governments and non-governmental organisations,” the WHO said in a release. The release said the UN has identified 34 pharmaceutical companies for evaluating their offer and an analysis of these offers will be made public in mid-2001.
PTI Sydney, March 23 “We’ve had huge sales of home brew kits in the last eight months,’’ Alec Hill of Pacific Brewing Pty Ltd told Reuters today. Australia’s largest grocer Woolworths says the sale of home beer brewing kits has risen 55 per cent since the introduction of the goods and services tax last July, according to local media. A home brewing kit costs A$70 (US$35) and makes 22 litres (five gallons) of beer or 60 small bottles called “stubbies’’ in Australia. But refills cost only A$11.50 for 60 bottles compared with A$25 for a case of 24 bottles in a hotel — a saving of close to A$50 for beer-swilling australians. The Australian Hotels Association said there has been a sharp decline in over-the-counter beer sales since the consumption tax hiked the price of on-tap beer by 9 per cent.
Reuters Microsoft cautions users Seattle, March 23 Verisign Inc. Of Mountain View, California, notified Microsoft that it issued two digital certificates on January 29 and 30. Someone posing as a Microsoft employee was able to trick VeriSign into issuing the certificates, said Steve Lipner, Manager of Microsoft’s Security response centre. VeriSign’s digital certificates — a key security feature of Microsoft’s Internet software — are used by Microsoft to assure programmes are genuine. Microsoft and VeriSign were working to correct the problem, both companies said. Users were warned to inspect for certificates that were issued on January 29 and 30, since no legitimate certificates were given on those dates, and to notify Microsoft or VeriSign if they discover them.
AP Daily flight to
Singapore New Delhi, March 23 The flight IC-855 will leave Delhi at 00.20 am and reach Singapore at 10.30 am. The return flight IC 856 will leave Singapore at 11.55 am reaching Delhi at 4.45 pm. The airlines has also increased the capacity on the Delhi-Pune sector by operating an A-320 aircraft instead of B-737, a company statement said here.
PTI |
bb
Hughes Software INSCOL Hospital Site on exports HFC cuts rate |
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