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April 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Piquant situation over IA selloff
Hi-tech vegetable farming in Punjab
Rose water extraction unit starts today Delhi-Leh daily flight
from June 16 In the wonderland of investment Kodak Q1 net
down 74.73 pc |
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VRS in NFL after ministry’s nod Vita yoghurt launched Norway signs $ 1 b
power project
Stone quarries
Consumer cell to take up tourists’ complaints
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Piquant situation over IA selloff New Delhi, April 21 One of the bidders,
Videocon, has just been barred by SEBI from accessing the capital market for a period of three years while the other,
Hindujas, are facing charges in the Bofors case. Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie has now sought Law Minister Arun Jaitley’s opinion on implication of SEBI order on Videocon and told PTI that he would await the decision of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in regard to the Hindujas. “It is a fact that Videocon is one of the bidders in Indian Airlines and named in SEBI order. Similarly Hindujas are the other bidder and have been chargesheeted in Bofors case. Therefore, I will await the Law Minister’s opinion in regard to implication of SEBI order on Videocon. I will await the decision of CCS in regard to Hindujas,” he said. “A general view has to be taken at the Cabinet Committee on disinvestment,” Shourie told PTI when asked if government would consider barring the stock scam tainted firms from participating in the disinvestment process. On whether privatisation of Indian Airlines could hit a roadblock with both the bidders coming under a cloud, Shourie said “it is a fact that Videocon is one of the bidders in Indian Airlines and named in SEBI order. Similarly Hindujas are the other bidders and have been chargesheeted in Bofors case”. CCS had not yet given its views on both the Indian Airlines and Air India, where also Hindujas have been shortlisted for picking government stake, Shourie said, adding national security was a serious issue and he would not go ahead without the clearance of the CCS. Asked if the Government could consider rebidding in Air India in case of one bidder not getting the clearance of CCS, he said “Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment has taken a decision for cases of single bids. In such cases we can go by reserve price mechanism.” Tata-Singapore Airlines consortium, the other bidder for Air India, completed the due diligence exercise early this week for buying 40 per cent government stake as strategic partners in the airline. Shourie has firmed up a list of questions in the context of the SEBI order for clarification from Law Minister, saying that he had already talked to Jaitly and raised the issue in passing. Asked if he would meet Prime Minister in this connection, he said first he would meet Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Jaitly to take the issue of firms involved in various economic litigation to get a view on their participation in the privatisation process. “We will also write to SEBI and take its views on the quantum of wrongdoings by these companies. This is to be examined if their involvement in price manipulation relates to their own shares or it is a general character of the company as also the extent of manipulation,” he said. |
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Hi-tech vegetable farming in Punjab Chandigarh, April 21 Mr D.S. Bains and Ms Rachel Sayag respective Managing Directors of Markfed and Sayag Group announced the plans to form a joint venture public limited company which will grow cherry tomatoes and pepper (Shimla
Mirch) in climate controlled green houses in 20 hectares to annually export 8500 tons of these vegetables at Ladowal near Ludhiana, which will fetch an estimated Rs 81 crore ($17.23 million) annually. Soon open field cultivation using drip irrigation and other Sayag Group proprietary technology will be demonstrated also in adjacent 60 hectares. As per the MoU, the Israeli firm’s share would be 26 per cent while that of Markfed will be 74 per cent. Mr Bains said the plantation will start in October and the vegetables will be ready for export by January next year. The supply demand gap in quality vegetable global market according to Ms Sayag is Rs 1,00,000 crore ($ 22 billion) and this first step in Punjab will impact these markets by less than 0.1 per cent. Sayag Group along with Markfed plans to rapidly expand quality vegetable cultivation in Punjab to thousands of hectares in green houses as well as in open field cultivation. The gross profit from green house cultivation is projected at Rs 2 crore ($0.45 million) per hectare, 400 times higher than from wheat-paddy cultivation. A higher one time investment of Rs 3.2 crore per hectare in green house structures, heating and cooling system is required. The Board of Directors of Markfed were shown two days ago pictures of eight metres tall cherry tomato plants grown with Sayag’s proprietary technology that yield 450 tons per hectare and sells at Rs 105 per kg in western markets. Similarly peppers — green, red, purple, yellow and orange will have and yield of 400 tons per hectare and will sell at Rs 74 per kg in selected bulk markets abroad. This joint venture is a 100 per cent EOU with export of 95 per cent of product. It will employ 800 green house workers with farming skills — men, women, and young adults at very attractive salaries for its first 20 hectares of green house. Similarly graduates of PAU can also look forward to stable remunerative employment in this project very soon.
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Rose water extraction unit starts today Kangar (Hoshiarpur), April 21 Realising that the wheat-paddy crop is more of a liability than a profitable venture for the farmers, and the extraction of edible oils is no more lucrative in the wake of the recent heavy imports of palm oil from Indonesia, the company decided to venture into cultivation of flowers, fruit and extraction of aromatic oils and rose water by setting up a composite extraction plant on this barren land, not considered fit for even normal crops. The project, scheduled to be inaugurated by Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on April 22, is aimed at generating full-time employment for about 1,000 workers in the beginning and indirect employment to about 1.50 lakh people of this backward area. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Kashmira Singh, chairman of R.T. Aromatic Oils Private Limited, who is also running a charitable hospital and a “dera” in Jalandhar, said the project is a 100 per cent export oriented unit which has already started production on a trial basis. “We have already started export of our products and are likely to earn foreign exchange to the tune of $ 18 lakh in the current year.” Though all agricultural experts, political parties and social organisations are advocating for diversification of agriculture, but by and large it had been a non-starter in the state owing to the half-hearted approach of the state government and its
agriculture department with a result that farmers had no option but to go in for the wheat-paddy cycle. His plan is to extend the area under flower cultivation to 700 acres within a year. “The small and marginal farmers will able to get an annual return between Rs 25,000 and Rs 40,000 per acre. The unit will start functioning on a commercial basis from tomorrow while the remaining two phases of the project will be completed by March, 2002.
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Delhi-Leh
daily flight from June 16 Chandigarh, April 21 Talking to The Tribune here last evening, Mr Desai said that Jet Airways will soon introduce a bigger aircraft on the Delhi-Chandigarh-Delhi sector and use the smaller aircraft rendered free by this switchover on the Delhi-Ludhiana-Delhi sector. Mr Desai said that though there was no immediate plan to link Jammu with Chandigarh, the proposal maybe considered only if the route was found to be economically viable. At one stage, Jet Airways was thinking of linking Chandigarh with Amritsar. “But we dropped the idea as it was not a remunerative route,” he said. Mr Desai maintained that Ludhiana being the industrial hub of north had tremendous potential of a regular service. The Delhi-Ludhiana-Delhi flight would be planned in a way to provide maximum connectivity not only to major cosmopolitan cities but also for international fights from Indira Gandhi International Airport, he said. While talking about general expansion plans of Jet Airways, Mr Desai said that from May 9, the airline was introducing its ninth daily service on Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi sector. On the same day, the third daily service to Bangalore from Delhi was also being introduced. Mr Desai ruled out any increase in air fares by Jet Airways in the near future. “Whatever increases we were to made, we made last year,” he said. “Indian Airlines may revise its fares as it has been deferring such revisions for a long time now.”
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In the wonderland of investment Q: I am 71 years old with no liabilities. 1. My PPF is maturing next March. Would you advise renewing for 5 years? If not where should I invest the proceeds? 2. My RBI 10 per cent tax free relief bounds mature in July. Should I re-invest at 9%? If not where should I re-invest? 3. I invested in both Kothari Pioneer Balanced Fund and their Internet Opportunities Fund. Since both have not done well should I cut my losses and sell or wait? I shall not be able to offset capital loss as my tax liability after availing of the senior citizen’s rebate and u/s 88 by investing in PPF and infrastructure bonds leave me with a tax liability of only Rs 2000. Y.N.Inamdar,
yinamdar@am.eth.net A: It is possible to earn more than 11 per cent take home (=tax-free) from other equally safe avenues. Therefore, the answers to your first two questions are clear. You should close PPF and open another one. You should not have touched RB bonds in the first place. As regards
Kothari, I expect the retail money to flow into the market because the government has reduced the small savings rates. You may do well by waiting since the budget is so growth oriented. Q: We had invested some amount in UTI-2000 to avoid capital gains. Is the interest earned out of it taxable this year? —Leela, rnithya@bom8.vsnl.net.in A: There is no scheme
entitled, ‘UTI-2000’. Please note that UGS-2000 was not eligible for avoidance of capital gains. In any case, all interests received from all the schemes of all the mutual funds are tax-free in the hands of the investor. Q: Exporters have been allowed to retain certain % of export earning in EEFC a/c. Given a time, when the amount was parked in EEFC account and at the time of conversion to INR the account holder may get some benefits being exchange rate differential. — Aspy Bharucha bharucha@icenet.net vadilalforex@jindalonline.net A:
The receipt is capital in nature and therefore not exigible to tax. The interest is also not taxable u/s 10(15fa). Q: My PPF account has completed 25 years and I will be depositing my last i.e. 26th instalment by March this year. I do not wish to continue any further in this fund but at the same time I do not wish to withdraw the amount. I would like to know whether I will be allowed to withdraw every year, only the interest accrued in this account 11 per cent for my daily needs, and whether this amount will be entirely tax-free in my hands. If not, whether I would withdraw the amount and deposit it in RBI 9% tax free bond? — Taxpayer A: Accounts continued after maturity entitle the investor withdrawal of 60 per cent of the balance to his credit at maturity. This withdrawal can be effected during the extended period of 5 years any time, but only one withdrawal per year. Therefore, if you withdraw every year the accrued interest, the total withdrawals will be 55% (11x5) and this being less than 60%, you can go ahead with your plan. I have covered this subject long ago and called it ‘How to Convert PPF into a Pension Plan’. |
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Kodak Q1 net
down 74.73 pc Kodak Ltd has reported a 74.73 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 3.05 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001, compared to Rs 12.07 crore in same period of previous fiscal. Net sales in Q1 also declined marginally to Rs 168.9 crore from Rs 170.4 crore posted in January-March 2000. POLARIS
SOFTWARE LAB LIMITED, headquartered in Chennai, is aiming to emerge as one of the top five BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) players during 2001-2002, as against the present position of being one of the top eight software companies in India. AFTEK
INFOSYS LTD HAS REPORTED has reported a 245.89 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 8.56 crore for the third quarter ended March 31, 2001, compared to Rs 2.47 crore in same period of previous fiscal.
PTI |
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VRS in NFL after ministry’s nod Ropar, April 21 He said the input prices for producing the fertilisers increase each year. However, the retention price of the fertilisers hasn’t increased in that proportion. Most of the subsidy reimbursed to the fertiliser industry by the government, passes on to the oil companies due to the
increase in the price of the oil products each year. Mr Grewal was responding to a query on the decreasing profitability of NFL. The profit of NFL has decreased from Rs 236.17 crore in 1997-1998 to just Rs 11 crore last year. About the disinvestment of NFL, Mr Grewal said the process for it was continuing. The interministerial group was handling the matter and the information regarding it was being kept confidential. About the voluntary retirement scheme that was to be offered to NFL employees, Mr Grewal said the proposal for it has been passed by the Board of the company and would be implemented after the clearance from the Fertiliser Ministry. He said unaudited and pre-tax profit of NFL this year has been worked out at Rs 16.49 crore.
Vita yoghurt launched Faridabad, April 21 Mr Gulati said it was the first time that Vita brand curd had been made available in market. It has been priced at Rs 5 per packet of 200 gm. Vita brand ghee, butter, milk and milk powder are already available in the market. The Ballabgarh milk plant, which has been given standard certification of ISO-9002 and ISO-15000, will produce nearly 1,000 packets of yoghurt daily. |
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Norway signs $ 1 b
power project New Delhi, April 21 “The government will encourage foreign participation in R&M of power projects,” Power Minister, Suresh Prabhu said inaugurating the Indo-Norwegian power conference. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 mw of power projects are in need of R&M. At the function, a $ 1 billion power project between the state power development corporation and the National Construction Corporation of Norway was signed. The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, said there was no risk to the Norwegian personnel in the execution of the project. He clarified that the French consortium abandoned the Dulhasti project not because of any security threat but because of cost escalation. The Power Minister also announced that the government would soon complete the process of entering into MoUs with state governments to facilitate reforms in the power sector. He also said Norway was eyeing sea food exports as an area for expanding trade ties with India. Norway is ready to offer its expertise in the hydro energy sector to India. |
Consumer cell to take up tourists’ complaints THANKS to the world wide web, today you can sit in the comfort of your home and make all travel arrangements including your airline and hotel booking for anywhere in the world. Of course, sometimes you might find that the facilities offered by a hotel are nowhere comparable to what was promised at the time of booking. Or you may find the promised accommodation unavailable despite the advance booking. Or the quality of food or the service not up to the mark, the hotel staff discourteous or the tariff higher than what was disclosed. In fact most consumer complaints against hotels fall in these categories. But recently, a District Forum in Delhi dealt with a different kind of a complaint — and this pertained to theft in a hotel room and the hotel’s refusal to take responsibility for it. According to the complaint filed before the Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum VI, Mr Robert F Tauro stayed at Ashok Yatri Niwas, New Delhi, for two days from November 16, 1996 with his family and during this time, when they had gone out, the lock of his brief case kept in the room was broken open and Rs 4,700 stolen from it. Mr Tauro then complained to the hotel manager and on failing to get a positive response from him, also filed a first information report with the police. As he had to get back to Mumbai, Mr Tauro requested a consumer organisation, Grahak Panchayat, to pursue the case on his behalf. However, Grahak Panchayat’s efforts in this direction did not bear fruit. According to Mr S.K. Punshi, Secretary, Grahak Panchayat, the hotel management was not willing to divulge the names and addresses of employees on duty that day and the police authorities too said the hotel management was not cooperating with them in their investigation. Failing to make any headway there, he filed a complaint on behalf of Mr Tauro before the consumer court. The hotel’s defense before the court was that Rule 7 of its House Rules clearly said that “the hotel management does not hold itself responsible for loss of goods, property or the belongings of the guests/visitors. To assist the guests in safeguarding their valuables, safe deposit lockers can be made available by the cashier free of charge subject to availability on security deposit of Rs 100, which is refundable”. And a copy of the House Rules and the Resident Card clarifying this was provided in every room of the hotel. The hotel was therefore not bound to take any responsibility for the loss of goods or cash, as in this case. Mr Punshi, on the other hand, pointed out that it was ridiculous for a hotel to say that they would not be responsible for any belongings of the guests staying at the hotel. Hotels may provide safe deposit lockers for guests to keep valuables like jewellery or huge amounts of cash. But guests cannot possibly carry with them their baggage wherever they went. Besides, when the hotel collected from the guests, the key to the room every time they went out, it accepted responsibility for the baggage kept there. The court, after hearing both the parties, held that the hotel management could not escape liability for the loss suffered by the guest. If the hotel did not want to take any responsibility for the belongings of the guests kept in the room, then it should have said so prominently at the main counter and on the receipt given for payment of advance towards the hotel charges. The House Rules and the Resident Card did not form part of a binding contract as they had not been provided along with the receipt. “It is alleged that these have been kept in the rooms, but it does not bind the visitor, firstly because the complainant has not been specifically told about it and secondly, placing them in one corner does not constitute intimation. Once duplicate keys are kept by the hotel, it is equally responsible for the life and property of the visitor. Failure to do so constitutes deficiency in service”, the Forum said. Holding the hotel management therefore guilty of negligent service, it directed the hotel to make good the loss suffered by the complainant, along with Rs 5000 as compensation and Rs 1000 as costs. Usually, in cases such as these, since the consumer does not reside in that city or town, he or she is in no position to pursue the case to its logical conclusion and this fact is exploited by the travel and tourism industry. It is for this reason that some years ago, the Ministry of Tourism in New Delhi had established a consumer complaints cell to take up complaints of tourists. It had also suggested that state governments too set up similar cells. Now Mr Punshi says that Grahak Panchayat is willing to take up such cases coming under the jurisdiction of Delhi consumer courts. |
Hughes This communication software major has recently announced a multi-year cooperation with Nokia Networks. Hughes Software will develop software for Nokia’s system solutions, for building telecom-network infrastructure. The company is setting up a state-of-the-art dedicated development facility at Gurgaon for this specific purpose. Add this to the fact that the company’s stock has been a consistent outperformer and you get a winner on your hands!!!
Glenmark Pharma Scientists at the Mumbai-based company have discovered a new anti-asthma molecule, GRC-3015. The molecule belongs to a new novel drug target Phonspho Diesterase Enzyme 4 (PDE4) Inhibitor. Glenmark has filed a “global patent” on the product and GRC-3015 is currently undergoing advanced pre-clinical trials.
Parry Nutra This Murugappa Group company, is scouting for partners in Europe and Japan for a strategic tie-up to market its products to garner a share of the $ 250 billion market. While Parry’s markets its products in US under its own brand name, it would be marketing its products to Europe and Japan as bulk.
Hero Honda The company is all set to enter the scooter segment and plans to invest Rs 300 crore to expand its production capacity by 50 per cent over the next two years. It has an arrangement with Honda Motorcycles & Scooters, whereby the two companies will jointly manufacture 1.75 million two-wheelers by 2004.
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Allied Beverages Monte Carlo Net4India CMs’ meeting GTB Board |
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