 |
| Sunday,
April 29, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
Tata, Birla ask PM to review WiLL issue
Graphic animation
centre for Chandigarh PowerGrid network to
link 56 cities |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ind Swift new unit starts production No plans to interfere in Dabhol tussle: WB Computers to handle own maintenance
|
|
TELECOM FACTFILE New Delhi, April 28 The proposed introduction of WiLL (Wireless in Local Loop) technology by basic service providers has stirred a hornet’s nest. Allegations of corruption have been sounded. So much so that a Parliamentary committee thought it important to go into the merits and de-merits of the new technology, the courts have heard it and the Prime Minister’s Office has taken a more than keen interest. To share responsibility, a Group of Ministers under the Chairmanship of Yashwant Sinha has virtually had the final say on the matter. With the Group of Ministers endorsing the proposal to introduce “limited mobility”, the service is all set to see the light of the day. This would however, not snuff out the controversy over its introduction. It is in this backdrop that The Tribune has a look into the various facets of the controversial issue, the main players of the game and the interested lobbies. Concern of cellular operators
Cellular Operators claim that the concept of “limited mobility" service does not exist anywhere in the existing framework of
telecommunications. Therefore WiLL limited mobility has to be viewed as a new service and if it is to be introduced due regulatory process must be followed. They have further said there is no provision in the licence agreement for the basic service operators to provide mobility using WiLL
technology. The licence awarded to fixed service providers (FSPs) is only for such fixed services and the mobile licence awarded to cellular mobile services providers is only for mobile services. The cellular operators say if FSPs are now permitted to provide mobile services, then unlimited number of players will be able to enter mobile services without even holding a mobile licence. This according to them is neither the intent nor the spirit of either the National Telecom Policy, 1999, or the law of the land or the contract. They say “backdoor entry of the FSPs into cellular services will greatly depress the business potential of cellular services and the government’s intention to have a fourth cellular operator in various circles may not materialise. This will cost the exchequer as much as Rs 3,000 crore in potential revenue”. WiLL CDMA is not a cheaper technology than Global System of Mobile (GSM) and the claim of the FSPs to provide cheaper mobile calls would actually involve
cross-subsidisation. Cellular mobile operators have paid over Rs 6,000 crore as licence entry fee and invested another Rs 9,000 crore in setting up cellular businesses and are still sustaining accumulated losses of over Rs 7,600 crore. They have argued that in case the FSPs are allowed to offer WiLL based mobility services they would de facto become mobile operators because it would not be possible to stop radio waves from travelling to a wider area. Though today the present technology can take these radio waves up to 50 km, tomorrow’s
technology will take it up to 200 kms and more. The cellular operators are sharing 17 per cent of their annual revenue all over the country with the government whereas the basic service operators have been asked to pay 12 per cent for metros and 8 per cent for lower circles. Contention of basic
telecom operators
Basic telecom operators have contested the claims of the cellular operators by saying that limited mobility through WiLL will be an affordable supplementary basic service and is different from the cellular mobile service. Secondly, WiLL is one of the preferred technologies for a quicker rollout of networks across the world as it does not call for digging and right of way clearances. This will also increase teledensity in rural areas. On the tariff side, the FSPs will be able to offer incoming calls free of charge and outgoing at the rate of Rs 1.20 for every three minutes. This is against Rs 12 charged by the cellular operators for each of the incoming and outgoing calls. On the spectrum issue, basic operators say they will function within the allocated spectrum and not encroach on the cellular operators’s
bandwidth. To counter the argument of the cellular operators that limited mobility has not been guaranteed under the licensing condition for basic service operators, it has said several benefits which were not originally envisaged in the telecom policy was being enjoyed by the cellular operators. Multiple points of interconnect, charges for calling line identification and revenue share of 5 per cent on long distance calls are some of the examples which were not originally stated in the policy. Views of DoT
DoT has said the introduction of the WiLL technology was in the spirit of the national telecom policy, 1999 whose main aim was to increase teledensity, transform the telecom sector into a competitive environment as well as become the means for quicker roll out with the induction of new technologies providing cheaper communications. Views of TRAI
The TRAI has said WiLL and cellular were not entirely comparable as the latter entails a wider area of coverage and incorporates value-added services such as messaging and e-mails which are not possible in WiLL. Moreover, the tariffs of cellular phones have come down drastically and there is scope to reduce it further. Therefore, the impact of the WiLL on the business of cellular operators is not going to be so serious as the case has been made out to
be |
|
Tata, Birla ask PM to review WiLL issue New Delhi, April 28 The doyens of the cellular industry wrote to Prime Minister within a day of the Ministerial Group giving its recommendations to Vajpayee, virtually clearing the mobile service at affordable price. Despite the Group recommending slashing of revenue to be shared with government on long distance calls to just five per cent from 60 per cent in a bid to provide level-playing-field, the cellular industry said the main issue was whether or not fixed service providers be allowed to provide mobility. “It is a joint memorandum on behalf of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), signed by Ratan Tata, K.K. Birla, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Shashi Ruia, Rajiv Chandershekharan, Rajan Nanda and others,” COAI Chairman, Vinay Rai, told PTI. Rai said the ministerial group has made many recommendations and the interpretation of Limited Mobility using Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) was not correct and “it needs to be reviewed.” The GoT-IT headed by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has given the go-ahead to the Limited Mobility but recommended lower revenue sharing and strict network rollout obligations.
PTI
|
|
Graphic animation centre for Chandigarh Chandigarh, April 28 The company will open three academies of advanced cinematics in Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Rajesh Turakhia,Vice- President of the company who was here on a visit, told The Tribune that the company which has an immediate requirement of graphic animators will absorb the students who meet their requirements after the completion of the course. MEL's computer animation, digital visual and post production studio has created channel IDs for DD news channel, DD world, Sabe TV and B4U. Captain Vyom, the first sci-fi TV series produced in the country, Parajeev another sci-fi adventure thriller, Jalwa and Saraswati Chandra Katha are a few of the recent productions of the company. "The trend of animation is really catching up with the Indian film and TV producers, says Mr Turakhia. Last year we had nearly 25 films with these effects as compared to one or two we used to have before this", he added. Internationally, in 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the productions, graphic animation is used. Attributing the increasing trend of animation to cost factor, he says one second of animation which used to cost between $500 and $1,000, is now available here between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000. "In the coming days, we will not be restricted to merely creating IDs and titles and will get to see more of graphic animation in films as well as tele serials". The students who get trained in MEL academies will also be provided field trip to Mumbai studios.
|
|
PowerGrid network to
link 56 cities New Delhi, April 28 Chairman and Managing Director of PGCIL R. P.Singh told news persons here today that network, connecting over 56 cities in the country, is likely to be laid within three years. The project will involve an investment of Rs 1,100 crore and the Public Investment Promotion Board has considered the telecom diversification project of PGCIL. PGCIL has already acquired an
infrastructure provider II category licence from the government. Mr R. P.Singh said the broadband telecom link from Delhi to Mumbai has been taken up on a priority and an optical fibre network from Jaipur to Shimla through Delhi and Chandigarh is nearing completion and is scheduled to be made operational by May, 2001. PGCIL has already signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in leasing of bandwidth capacity with VSNL, BPL, GAIL, Dishnet DSL, S Kumars, L&T, Spectranet, HFCL and Jain TV, Mr R. P.Singh said adding that telecom service providers have already started advance booking of bandwidth. “Investment of Rs 80,000 crore will be required in the central transmission sector during the ninth, tenth and eleventh five year plans of which PGCIL’s own investment will be Rs 49,000 crore. Transmission systems with estimated cost of around $2.62 billion have been identified by PGCIL for private sector participation, Mr R. P.Singh said. |
|
Ind Swift new unit starts production Chandigarh, April 28 Ind Swift Labs will manufacture four new products in this plant viz. Pioglitazone, Candesartan, Ramipril and Clopidogrel. Mr N.R. Munjal, MD of the company said. With the introduction of these new molecules, the project basket of Ind Swift Labs will now be eighteen, he claimed. Mr V.K. Mehta, Joint MD, Ind Swift Labs said, ‘‘The plant has been set up strictly according to the USFDA standards to manufacture high value, low volume products. The new facility has been set up with an investment of Rs 6 crore in which Rs 4 crore have been funded from term loan assistance and Rs 2 crore from internal accruals. The company already has strong presence in both domestic and global markets. Major clients of the company are Sun, Wockhardt, Cipla, Glenmark and Torrent. For the financial year 2000-2001, Ind Swift Labs registered a rise of 46 per cent in profits to Rs 34.9 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2000, as compared to the same period the previous fiscal. The company turnover also recorded a rise of 44 per cent to Rs 57.46 crore. |
|
No plans to interfere in Dabhol tussle: WB Washington, April 28 He was replying to a pointed query from newspersons on whether he saw any role for the bank in formulating the contract procedures for private sector power projects in developing countries in the light of serious problems between India and the US power major. Addressing the customary press conference on the eve of the Spring meeting of the bank and the IMF, Mr Wolfensohn said he could see much more transparency in contracts as more and more power projects come up in the region and would prefer the markets themselves to correct the situation. “It is correcting itself,’’ he said adding that he saw no role for the bank on this issue. As many as 50 private companies have been blacklisted by the World Bank in the developing countries for indulging in corrupt practices in projects involving its funds and several bank officers have been prosecuted as the institution no longer considered corruption as a political issue. The bank has formulated a comprehensive action plan to deal with this problem and an ethics committee to provide guidelines for the bank officials in dealing with these issues. Mr Wolfensohn said following the implementation of debt relief packages by the bank, debt servicing in 65 per cent of the developing countries has been brought down from 7 to 2 per cent of their GDP. But if the bank resorted to the extreme measure of writing off the entire debt of 63 developing countries, it will eat up its entire capital base of $ 29 billion and go bankrupt. The choice is before the shareholders, he maintained.
UNI
|
|
Computers to handle own maintenance San Francisco, April 28 The undertaking, called Project eLiza, is one of the most ambitious in the company’s history. According to IBM, eLiza will use a quarter of the company’s corporate computing budget. Development on the project will take place in seven laboratories, including facilities in Israel, Germany, New York, Texas, North Carolina and two facilities in California. Hundreds of IBM’s scientists will work on the project, said David Turek, IBM Vice-President for deep computing, yesterday. Turek said the initiative will create computers that act much like biological entities. “We want to have computers that are self aware and can handle their own maintenance routines,” said Turek. Turek said new computer systems are outpacing the number of technicians who can maintain them. The eLiza project seeks to head off this imbalance by programming routine maintenance chores into these systems, including updating capabilities and security battles with hackers. “Information continues to grow exponentially, and that demands a huge cadre of skilled administrators,” said Turk.
AFP
|
|
Capital Bank Chandigarh, April 28 |
rc
Plea on basic compromise Q. Is it the duty of the Prescribed Authority to consider the question of bona fide need before deciding application on the basic of compromise? Ans. Allahabad H.C. was considering this point in the case of Chandra Pal Singh v Prescribed Authority ACJ (Sr. Divs.) Aligarh [2001 (1) RCJ 199] Priya Datt — Respondent No. 2, the landlord of the shop in dispute had filed an application for release of the said shop against the tenant with the allegations that he requires the disputed shop bona fide. The petitioner entered into a compromise on 16-2-85 wherein he admitted that the landlord bona fide requires the shop but needs the shop for life in view of his old age but he agreed that in case if he sub-lets or accepts any person as a partner, it would be open to the landlord to take immediate possession of the shop. The Prescribed Authority decided the application in terms of the compromise. The Prescribed Authority, noted the H.C. has come to the conclusion that the petitioner had given exclusive possession of the disputed shop of Respondent No. 3 - sub-tenant. The documentary evidence established that it was run by Respondent No. 3. He had deposited requisite fee for registration. Thirdly, Respondent No. 3 filed suit against respondent No.2 for injuction alleging that he was tenant of the shop in question. The contention of the petitioner was that the said suit was a collusive one but on examining the entire facts, the H.C. felt that it was rightly held by the lower Court that the petitioner has transferred possession of the disputed shop in question to Respondent No. 3. The H.C. held that it is a finding based on assessment of evidence and that there was no legal infirmity in that finding tenant also has taken advantage of the compromise for 10 years and now cannot claim that the said compromise was invalid. Consequently, the H.C. found no merit in the petition and dismissed the same.  |
sti
Q. We are registered as a dealer under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1965 and we are engaged in the business of purchase and sale of readymade garments. Last week a consignment of readymade garments had been sent to us by a Delhi based party for which necessary documents such as bill of sale and goods receipts were issued and handed over to the transport company in addition to the transit challan wherein all relevant details were dully furnished. While the goods were en route an Excise and Taxation Officer of the Sales Tax Department has issued verbal instructions to the transport company not to deliver the consignment till further orders. No notice has been even issued as to why the goods have been detained by the checking officer. Kindly advise if the action of the Excise and Taxation Officer is justified when proper and genuine documents had been produced before him at the time of checking of the goods? Mohit Aggarwal, Panipat Ans. The powers relating to seizure of the goods under transport are referable to sub-section (5) of section 37 of the Haryana General sales Tax Act, 1973. It is provided in these provisions that the officer can detain the goods only in two situations. Firstly, if the goods are not found supported by proper and genuine documents. Secondly, if the person carrying the same is attempting to evade the payment of tax due under the Act. For this purpose, the checking officer is obliged to provide a reasonable opportunity of being heard in addition to the requirement of recording the reasons in writing before recourse to the detention in a given is taken by him. The checking officer as per the provisions of law is not authorised to give verbal instructions to the incharge of the goods carrier stopping the delivery of the consignment. Therefore the action of the Excise and Taxation Officer effecting seizure of the goods in the case having regard to the facts and the circumstances of the case apparently is contrary to law more especially when proper and genuine documents had been shown to him at the time of checking. Q. During the assessment year 1996-97 we had sold certain goods in the course of inter state trade or commerce to an MP based party realising 4% central sales tax upon the assurance by the buyer that form ‘C’ would be made available in due course. However the purchasing dealer has now refused to issue form ‘C’ against the said transaction. The question therefore arises is whether we being a registered dealer under Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 are entitled to the benefit of concessional rate of tax in the absence of form ‘C’? Raj Kumar & Co, Batala Ans. The production of form ‘C’ in support of the claim of concessional rate of tax on inter-state sales is a mandatory requirement of law as provided in sub-section (4) of section 8 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 956 and unless and until a registered dealer submits form ‘C’ before the assessing authority at the time of assessment he cannot claim the benefit as a matter of right as far as concessional rate of tax is concerned. |
co
Go for standardised electrical goods I am sure most of you use an extension cord in your house to connect an electric or an electronic appliance to a plug point or a socket. But have you ever wondered how safe the use of the extension cord is? Well, a few years ago, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the USA carried out a campaign on the hazards of extension cords. And as per the statistics that it compiled in support of this, every year an estimated 4,700 residential fires in the US were caused by extension cords that got overheated because of overloading or poor quality. And such fires were responsible for as many as 50 deaths and 280 injuries in a year. The CPSC, which is an independent federal agency, looks at the safety of as many as 15000 products sold in the USA on the basis of accidents or injuries reported at hospitals and clinics, besides information provided by consumers on its 24-hour toll-free hotline. Manufacturers are also required to submit reports on such complaints that come to them. CPSC then tries to bring down product-related accidents and injuries through recall of unsafe goods, modifications in product design where feasible and a sustained consumer awareness campaign. Unfortunately, we in India are yet to become really safety conscious. Be it goods or services, safety should always get the highest priority, but it never does. Till today, we do not even have a system of collecting data on product-related accidents or injuries and ordering recall of goods found to be hazardous on the basis of such information. And worse, even the existing laws meant to protect consumers from hazardous goods are not properly enforced. A case is point is the electrical wires, cables, appliances and accessories (quality control) order, 1993. Issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, the order makes it mandatory for seven essential household electrical appliances and accessories to be sold only under ISI quality certification issued by the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS). Meant to protect consumers from unsafe and hazardous electrical appliances, the order covers three-pin plugs, socket outlets and switches for domestic and similar purposes, besides electric iron, immersion water heater, radiators and stoves. However, its slack enforcement on one hand and lack of consumer awareness on the other have resulted in blatant violations of the order. In fact this order has a checkered history. In May 1976 the government first notified the Household Electrical Appliances (Quality Control) Order bringing 55 electrical items under compulsory quality control. The order was to come into effect from November that year, but under pressure from the industry, the government reduced in October, the number of items under compulsory quality control to 41. It also changed the date of implementation twice, giving manufacturers more time to improve the quality of their goods. Then in 1981 it issued another notification, bringing down the number of items to 40. As per the order, all the listed products had to carry either the ISI mark or the certificate of quality issued by the Directorate of Industries. But the order had little impact on the quality of electrical goods sold because most states did not bother to enforce it. Then in 1988, the government passed another order. Called the Electrical Appliances (Quality Control) order, it required only seven essential items out of the 40 to get the ISI seal from the BIS as a pre-condition for sale. But the manufacturers were unhappy with this too and filed writ petitions against it, resulting in the Delhi High Court striking down the applicability of the order on switches, plugs and sockets. So a notification was issued in 1991 bringing these three items under the Essential Commodities Act and then subsequently in 1993, a new order called the Electrical Wires, cables, appliances and accessories quality control order was issued to replace the earlier order. Under the 1993 order, the four appliances listed are required to get the ISI seal, but only for safety standards and not for composite safety and
performance standard. And even though the order mentions wires and cables, they are not included in the list of items requiring mandatory certification under the order. But despite its considerable dilution, the order continues to be flouted by manufacturers. If this order is to serve its purpose, then first and foremost, consumers should be educated and made aware that it is in their interest to reject those products without the ISI mark. And the task of creating this awareness has to be taken up by the enforcement agencies (the department of industry at the state level), the BIS as well as the department of consumer affairs. State enforcement agencies should also get all retail outlets selling electrical goods to display a board informing consumers about the order. Since information is the key to consumer awareness, the department of industry and the BIS should also put out on the Internet, all information pertaining to the enforcement of the order. |
cr
P&G net up 20 pc Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care has reported a 20 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 20.82 crore for the third quarter ended March 31, 2001, compared to Rs 17.36 crore in same period of previous fiscal. Net sales in Q3 were down at Rs 101.12 crore as against Rs 130.76 crore in same period of last year. Other income in the reporting quarter stood at Rs 3.87 crore (Rs 1.49 crore in Q3 of last year), it said. KDL BIOTECH has recorded a 22.64 per cent lower net profit at Rs 4.10 crore for the year ended March 31, 2001 as compared to Rs 5.30 crore in the previous year. The company’s total income stood at Rs 202.23 crore for the FY’01 as against Rs 146.59 crore in the previous year. DSP MERRILL LYNCH has recorded a 31.05 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 19.76 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001, as compared to Rs 28.67 crore in same period last year. Total income for the quarter under review also declined by 18.85 per cent at Rs 70.48 crore, as compared to Rs 86.86 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Pursuant to the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 the company’s equity share capital stands enhanced to Rs 22.5 crore, it said. BURROUGHS WELLCOME INDIA has posted a 2.61 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 2.61 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001, compared to Rs 2.68 crore in the same period of previous fiscal. Total income in Q1 was up by 6.53 per cent at Rs 32.28 crore, as against Rs 30.3 crore in same period of last year. NATIONAL ALUMINIUM COMPANY LIMITED (Nalco) for the firs t time crossed its rated capacity of 230,000 tonnes by producing 2,30,516 tonnes of metal during 2000-2001 as against 212633 tonnes produced during the corresponding period last year. According to unaudited financial results for 2000-2001, approved yesterday, the company’s net profit went up by 27.77 per cent to Rs 653.56 crore. IT&T
LTD, today announced their unaudited financial results for the year ending March 31. IT&T recorded an impressive increase of 272 per cent in net profits for year ending March 2001 to reach Rs 13.25 crore as compared to a net profit of Rs 3.56 crore in last financial year. The company’s turnover also increased by 49.90 per cent to reach Rs 30.82 crore as compared to last year’s Rs 20.56 crore. GLAXO India on Friday reported its net profit for the January-March quarter fell 28 per cent from a year earlier, due to weak sales of its many government-price controlled products. The net profit fell to Rs101 million ($2.15 million) from Rs141.0 million a year earlier, on sales that rose a mere 6 per cent to Rs1.94 billion.
PTI, UNI |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
