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March 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Working too hard can kill you
Haryana coop societies’ net up Girl beats expert in stock
investment Get sick & avail 20 pc
concession |
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Keep away from the turbulent stock market
Not enough water to run Thein’s jumbo
units
Q. While filing my firm’s income-tax return for 1998-99, the copy of partnership deed was enclosed but unfortunately a certificate was not given on the enclosed partnership deed, though it was signed by all partners, but not on the photocopy, since in the original copy from where the copy was obtained, signatures were available on it. Whether in the absence of certificate, interest and salary can be disallowed and tax is to be imposed in the status of AOP.
Indian Airlines flying high
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Working too hard can kill you London Karoshi — death by overwork is — not a new concept in Japan, though assessments of quite how many salarymen keel over having shot a horrified glance at their diaries vary between a trickle and a torrent. Hundreds of civil lawsuits are now being filed every year by the relatives of those believed or found by the coroner to have died from karoshi, seeking compensation for the deaths of their loved ones. But Japanese companies have until now managed to escape criminal charges. The expected prosecution of Junichi Ochiai, the president of the interiors fitting firm, over Miura’s death will, if successful, be the first case of a company being held criminally responsible for the death of an employee. The British Medical Association estimates that junior doctors in Britain frequently work more than 100 hours a week - equivalent to 16 hours 40 minutes a day for six days out of seven. That’s alarming enough for anyone about to go into hospital, without now expecting the chap in the white coat to drop dead as soon as he starts to yawn. So just how many hours’ sleep do you have to miss before you risk dying?
Lack of sleep
The good news is that the bleary-eyed have no cause to fear their impending demise, according to professor Jim Horner, director of the sleep research laboratory at Loughborough University, England. ``Lack of sleep kills quite a few people at work because they fall asleep at the wheel and crash their lorry,’’ he says, ``but apart from that there is no evidence that someone can just spontaneously die from lack of sleep. In humans the effect of sleep loss is pretty uneventful. ``The studies that have been done show that where people have been deprived of sleep they get more and more sleepy, but from the neck down there is no evidence of anything going wrong, even in the immune system. There is no effect on any organ other than the brain.’’ The important factor, he notes, is whether the lack of sleep is caused or accompanied by a situation of high stress, the more likely reason for sudden, unexplained death being heart failure. However, according to Belinda Linden, a cardiac nurse at the British heart foundation, ``there is very little evidence associating stress with coronary heart disease’’. The illnesses that doctors can confidently relate to anxiety, such as gastric problems or eczema, are rarely life-threatening. And while the factors we know cause heart attacks — smoking, obesity, inactivity — are often found among those who spend long hours at their desks, they are certainly not unique to them. Linden has never heard of someone spontaneously dropping dead because of stress. ``Much more likely is a cumulative effect, or other lifestyle issues, or an underlying disorder. In that case, working sustained long hours might just tip the balance.’’ Worry not, says Roger Mead, a British stress management consultant who advises individuals on dealing with work-related anxiety and companies on the legal ramifications if they are not looking after their
employees’ emotional welfare. He acknowledges that the implications of a Japanese-style rash of karoshi cases in this country would be ``enormous’’, but is confident that it is unlikely to happen. Work-related anxiety, he says, ``depends on the way we look at things rather than the things themselves. The crucial difference is that in this country we don’t have anything like the same working culture that there is in Japan. Obviously you can’t work for ever, but if you get into a situation where you feel you can’t cope, I believe in this country we do not have the general expectation that you will carry on working regardless.’’ Nonetheless, says Linden, it is important to carry out a careful assessment of whether your working environment, hours or, perhaps most crucially, attitude, is affecting you health. Recent studies have found that there appears to be an association between a feeling of powerlessness at work and an increased risk of heart disease. While some of this may be explained by lifestyle factors - unhealthy coping mechanisms and a likelihood that workers isolated from decision-making are likely to be poorer — early results have shown that a feeling of powerlessness or stress in itself may irritate the coronary arteries, encouraging the development of the fatty deposits that lead to heart attacks. It is possible that Japan’s less questioning work ethic may in itself explain its high incidence of karoshi. Similarly, there is some evidence that frequent, temporary instances of high blood pressure, due to occasional stressful episodes, can encourage the blood pressure to rise permanently, which is known to contribute to heart attacks.
By arrangement with the Guardian
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How to work with people you dislike London, March 25 2.
Understand that life can be far richer if you can free yourself of loathings, and especially of contempt. Just as you don’t want physical confrontations at home, if you can avoid antagonism at work, you can look at the issues that really matter. Making yourself feel virtuous by making someone else the villain is a common — if perverse — habit. 3. Think through the situation from their viewpoint. If you work out why your boss shouted at you, you will gain far more insight than if you just focus on feeling badly treated. There will nearly always be some mitigating circumstances: they are under pressure, they misunderstood the situation or they were shouted at by their own boss before they had a go at you. “The situation is a lot easier to handle this way,” says management consultant Terry Gillen. “It’s a way of taking control of your emotions. You can almost feel sorry for them.” Jo Bond of the UK’s Right Management Consultants says: “Try to work out what is making them angry or bitter by seeing them as a vulnerable child.” 4. Find something positive you can engage with and try to improve the relationship from there. Discussing your shared admiration of Barry Manilow could bring out qualities in both of you. But if you can’t improve your relationship, you can still work together if you keep your emotions in check. There is considerable evidence of huge mutual loathings in the current Cabinet of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, but their shared desire for power puts them on course for a big election victory. 5. Be cautious about broadcasting negative feelings, however. One British politician spoke recently of the contempt he feels for Tony Blair, but this made him seem rather childish. 6. UNDERSTAND that you may dislike some people without admitting it to yourself. If you depend on someone who patronises you, for instance, you may try to pretend to yourself that you like them. Resentful pressure could build up underneath, and come out in disguised ways such as kicking the cat when you get home.
The Observer
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Haryana coop societies’ net up
Chandigarh, March 25 Giving this information here today, a spokesman of Hafed said that the turnover of the societies has touched to Rs 1,568 crore and the net profit had increased to Rs 1.92 crore till December 31, 2000. The turnover of the societies during 1999-2000 was Rs 980.70 crore as against only Rs 751.68 crore during the year 1998-99. There was a net profit of Rs 79.42 lakh during the year 1999-2000, whereas it has suffered a loss of Rs 10.02 lakh during the year 1998-99. Hafed had taken a number of steps to strengthen these societies. The steps included bonus and incentive at the rate of Rs 3 per quintal to those who bring their wheat to the shops of the societies for sale. Godowns of societies are utilised by Hafed by offering attractive storage charges. Hafed also provided financial assistance at the rate of Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh to each society for the purchase of trucks and canters, respectively, on concessional rate of interest i.e. at the rate of 9 per cent per annum. Hafed had provided Rs 3 crore to the cooperative marketing societies on account of service charges for the purchase of wheat, mustard seeds, barley, paddy etc. whereas last year Rs 1.35 crore had been spent for this purpose.
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Girl beats expert in stock investment London, March 25 Each contestant picked up four companies and share movements were monitored over the course of a week. Tia Roberts from South London, who selected her shares by grabbing at bits of paper — each corresponding to a company — as they fluttered past her, lost only 4.5 per cent. Mark Goodson, a professional investor lost 7.1 per cent and the astrologer, Christeen Skinner, saw the value of her portfolio fall by more than 10 per cent. Tia had no plans to become a share tipster. “I want to be an actress,” she said.
DPA
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Get sick & avail 20 pc
concession If we go by the Budget then edible oil is foul smelling. The Finance Minister has announced concession of 20 per cent on Customs duty for edible oil for sick vanaspati units. This is coupled with a hike in duty to 75 per cent. For the vanaspati industry edible oil is the main raw material and its bulk source is import. The industry did not grudge the hike but the concession of 20 per cent to sick units is seen as a sure recipe for converting the healthy industry into sick. At the outset it is beyond comprehension that Mr Sinha announced the concession just randomly. Sick units are got nursed through BIFR. If somebody from outside adds another fiscal concession it gives a smell of its own kind. Perhaps never in the economic history of our country any finance minister has gone that far. The Directorate of vanaspati vegetable oils and fats has now issued strict guidelines to the eligible units. According to vanaspati industry sources these guidelines are meant for sick vanaspati units and proprietor and partnership concerns are outside them. Only units outside the investment limit for SSI can go to BIFR. So there are three categories of vanaspati units; large and small but healthy; large and sick; small and sick. One is eligible for the concession of 20 per cent on Customs duty. There are over 150 vanaspati units in the country and 50 per cent may be sick. Punjab has about 20 units and only 7 or 8 are running. In Haryana only 5 out of 10 are running and in UP 15 out of 35 are running. For a unit of 100 MT daily capacity the duty concession works out to be Rs 2.50 lakh a day. Question arises as to how much time is required for a sick unit to become healthy with this heavy doze. When the sick unit becomes ineligible for duty concession there will be considerable time lag for the final authority to act. During this period huge amount out of concession must have flown to the unit. Who will be responsible for this government loss? Otherwise also sick unit will try to manipulate accounts to remain sick for as long as possible. This sort of activity is the rule rather than exception. It is funny to note that some MNC’s and big units control so called sick Vanaspati units and sell their product in own brands with premium. Obviously the duty concession in a way will be shared by these healthy companies. It is also seen that some players in this industry continue to float new units in different states after availing sales tax concession in our state. Avail the concession; get sick and shift. If is not understandable that how a particular entrepreneur is able to set up a new unit of the same product after becoming sick in one state. The Custom duty concession will give further boost to these acts. Healthy Vanaspati units can not stand in competition with units getting 20 per cent concession. Before the matter is dragged in courts and ugly facts if any are made to float in public gaze it is pertinent that matter is set right. The Customs duty concession is not tenable in this industry as it is highly discriminatory. |
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by J. C. Anand Keep away from the turbulent stock market The Sensex lost 110.47 points (2.94 per cent) last week. This should cause no surprise to the readers of this column who had been warned that they should not expect normality in the market for the next couple of weeks. I stick to the same position even this week. At a time when “naked sales” are not allowed and a heavy margin money has been imposed on fresh transactions, there should not have been any further slippage in the market indices. But the market continues to slip. The trading volumes have dwindled. The small investor has almost disappeared and a very high percentage of traders have been badly mauled. The FIIs and financial investors are the only buyers in this market when most of the blue-chip equities are priced at a very low and attractive P/E ratios. There is nothing to report except bad news. There have a number of suicides by small sub-brokers and traders. A large number of sub-brokers have closed down their terminals, and some of them have fled away from towns where they were conducting their business. Century Consultants, a broking firm promoted by Arun Johari who promoted Cyberspace, has defaulted in payment. This is the worst crisis in the stock market that I have seen as a long term investor and as an analyst. Losses suffered by traders have been so heavy that almost 70 per cent of them have been financially ruined. I expect further closing down of many terminals in the coming weeks. The best advice that can be given to investors is that for the present keep away from the market. In case you transact business as long-term investors in spite of this advice, please do it only with your own rather than with borrowed funds. It would be also in their interest that this business is transacted only through broking firms which are duly registered with some stock exchange. In the case of sub-brokers, please check up whether your sub-broker has been licensed by some member broking firm. Also check that the purchased equity scrip is sent for demat within a week after its delivery period. A shrewd friend, who is a long-term investor, advises that it would be wise to have a demat agency which is different from the broking firm through which the purchase has been made. The ICE shares have been the main losers in this crisis. The fact that these scrips had been very much over-priced is a factor in this excessive decline in their market prices. The readers of this column will recall that I had been advising the readers to book profit in these scrips when these shares were sky-rocketing. Last week, VisualSoft, after NIIT and Mastak, has issued a profit warning to its shareholders. Some more software companies are expected to announce such warnings in the coming weeks. No doubt that the ICE companies are expected to announce good results for the financial year 2000-01 but their growth rates as well as net profits are expected to decline in the financial year 2001-02. Sendvik AB, which holds 73.2 per cent of the equity in Sandvik Asia, has announced a buy-back for the shares of the company at a price of Rs 850 per share for Rs 100 face value share of the company. The share price at time of this announcement was around Rs 580 per share but now it has moved up to Rs 806. It is best for the share holders to accept the offer when it is formally made by the company a month or so later. The stock market is not likely to change much during this week. Last week’s raids on a number of leading stock broking firms at Mumbai by the income tax authorities, a virtual stalemate in politics and deteriorating industrial growth rate, a steep fall in the sales of the automobile sector (excepting in motor cycles) in February are negative factors for the stock market. The political controversies are expected to develop sharper edges till April elections to the Vidhan Sabhas in five states are over. |
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Not enough water to run Thein’s jumbo
units During the dedication ceremony of the Thein Dam on March 4, 2001, the nation was told that the four power generating units have the distinction of being jumbo units, capable of generating 36 lakh units each i.e. 144 lakh units in a day. Each unit has a capacity of 150 MW and requires flow of about 6000 cusecs. If all the four units were to operate simultaneously the water required would be 24,000 cusecs. The flow released by the units is diverted into the Upper Bari Doab Canal at the Madhopur headworks. The UBDC has a head capacity of 8600 cusecs and the annual water delivered to the irrigated area is fixed at 2.53 MAF (million acre foot). The water so delivered has been determined for an irrigation intensity of 65 per cent. Simple calculations indicate that this required volume of water would be delivered by one jumbo unit of 150 MW working all the 24 hours, in just 210 days. So the other three units would not get any work or would remain idle for most of the time. The alternative of running all the four units at “part load” is not desired because the type of turbine used (Francis type), if run at partial load are “prone to cavitation”. The units are recommended to run at full load or 10 per cent above the full load to avoid cavitation and damage due to vortice formation. At present the daily “irrigation indent” is worked out by the SE (UBDC) considering the water demand or indent received from each section under charge of a sectional officer. The “indent” has to be limited to deliver not more than the authorised figure of 2.53 MAF. Till the completion of the balancing reservoir below the dam, which would be provided by the Shahpurkandi Barrage, it would not be possible to run these units in the “peaking mode”. To correct the situation some other measures are needed. It is suggested that the “revised pattern” of releases be determined to rectify the situation in the pre-shahpurkandi era” which should suit both the power production and irrigation supplies delivered. The Punjab Government has sanctioned a Rs 180 crore project for remodelling of the UBDC system, which provides for increased amount of water delivered, i.e. 3.06 MAF instead of 2.53 MAF. The delivery of the increased volume of water would provide work for the units for 254 days instead of 210 days. The revised “intensity of irrigation” proposed to be provided is 87 percent, which would mean that in the UBDC Command only 87 per cent of the irrigable area could be irrigated to produce only one crop in a year. Considering the ground reality that farmers grow two, if not three, crops in a year, they have to pump a huge volume of water from underground resources. With severe watertable decline experienced in the whole of the command area, the position with meagre water availability from the canal system is getting worse day by day. The position in the “Khara Majha Area” where the ground water is saline, and hence unfit for irrigation, is getting worse day by day. Revised water requirement of the UBDC should be worked for the increased irrigation intensity of 120 per cent and the water allowance of 5.5 cusecs per 1,000 acre at the distributary head. As farmers are being asked to diversify the cropping pattern and go in for the floriculture or horticulture, the revised water demand pattern of the new crops or plant to be grown need to be determined and for this task the services of IPRI (Irrigation & Power Research Institute), Amritsar, should be utilised. The IPRI can give the new recommended water supply pattern considering the soil conditions and the situation obtained after discussion with PAU scientists and SE (UBDC). These measures will be in the interest of both power and irrigation and would prevent any wastage of precious water resources to Pakistan. |
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by R. N. Lakhotia Q. While filing my firm’s income-tax return for 1998-99, the copy of partnership deed was enclosed but unfortunately a certificate was not given on the enclosed partnership deed, though it was signed by all partners, but not on the photocopy, since in the original copy from where the copy was obtained, signatures were available on it. Whether in the absence of certificate, interest and salary can be disallowed and tax is to be imposed in the status of AOP. — Jaswinder Singh, Jalandhar Ans. On the facts stated by you for such a minor technical flaw we do not see the tax benefit being taken away. However, in case of problem or harassment by the Assessing Officer, you may contact the Commissioner of Income-tax. Q. I purchased some units of the Unit Trust of India US 64 in July ‘99 and offered the same to UTI for repurchase during June, 2000 before the declaration of dividend. I presume the resulting gain in the short-term capital gain relating to the assessment year 2001-2002. Please inform whether this short-term capital gain can be set off against the long-term capital loss carried over from the year 1999-2000. — Man Mohan Lal, Ludhiana Ans. On the facts stated by you, the gain will be treated as short-term capital gain which will be allowed adjustment against the long-term capital loss pertaining to your earlier assessment year. Q. I had deposited an amount in the bank for a fixed period of 39 months and the date of maturity will fall within the financial year 2000-2001. Kindly advise (a) whether the amount of interest be split over 39 months and only the interest amount actually accrued for the relavant portion be included in the income for the financial year 2000-2001 or (b) the complete amount be included in the income for 2000-2001. —
R. S. Verma, Ambala Cantt Ans. The accrued interest in respect of bank fixed deposit is to be taxed on the basis of accrual of income for a particular year. If you have not shown the interest income in the earlier years then you must show the total interest in your income-tax return for the financial year 2000-2001. |
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by K. R. Wadhwaney Indian Airlines flying high Indian Airlines is in an upbeat mood as it continues to dominate domestic sectors as also the foreign routes it operates. The national carrier has decided to operate additional flights to Bangkok, Singapore and some Gulf destinations. “We have undertaken the survey of demand and supply on these routes”, said an official, adding: “We will be able to operate profitably on these ever-expanding routes. IA will have daily service to Bangkok and Singapore from April. Similarly, the flight between Hyderabad and Sharjah will be a daily service. According to airline sources, there is a considerable demand for flights from Hyderabad to Singapore. But the airline has held its plans in abeyance until May-June when two more aircraft are expected to join the fleet. Despite hike in landing and parking fees and on fuel, it will continue to fly on the fares that it is charging. The Alliance Air, a subsidiary of the national carrier, has plans to step up flights on tourists destination in Rajasthan during summer months. Both IA and Alliance Air will have soon promotional fares for summer months. The growth on the domestic routes has
decreased substantially but Jet Airways claims that it is getting its share. Regular travellers on domestic and international sectors have asked as to what facility the Airports Authority of India (AAI) provides so that it levies Rs 200 per flight. If a passenger is flying to Mumbai
with stop-over Jaipur, and Ahmedabad, for example, he has to shell out Rs 600 as passenger tax. “We get no facility from the AAI”, bemoan the passengers on phone. Super Jumbos All is set for super jumbos to get into skies. The mammoth aircraft will have the capacity for 555. Emirates and Singapore are among the first to fly these super jumbos in 2006. Officially launched on December 19, 2000, Airbus Industrie’s A-380 is considered a “marvel of aviation technology”. Manufacturers claim that the operating cost will be about 15 per cent lower than the largest aircraft flying at present. Apart from providing additional comforts to passengers, the flight will be much quicker than has been the case at present. The manufacturers are said to have made a detailed presentation to Air India. But the airline is unable to take a decision until disinvestment rigmarole is over. One thing, however, is sure that Air India will have to op for the super jumbo sooner or later regardless of its status. |
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Inflation rises FIIs net buyers Coke firm on ad Essar may opt out |
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