 |
Saturday,
May 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
$ 450 m World Bank loan for power Govt gives free hand to SEBI
Bajaj net seen down 70 to 81 pc Chief Secys to meet on May 11 Zee Tele cuts jobs |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
BSNL invites global tenders
for 12 lakh mobile phones FCI not to pay statutory levies to states Ashok Leyland
to hike prices Vardhman contests
for children CORPORATE
NEWS Kesoram to buy
back 15 pc equity
|
|
$ 450 m World Bank loan for power
Washington, May 4 While the PowerGrid has made considerable progress in improving coordination and consolidation of India’s fragmented transmission services, the World Bank remains concerned that power failures and lack of capacity, which result in frequent blackouts, are a constraint on economic growth in India. “The PowerGrid is moving India towards an inter-connected national grid — a win-win scenario for both customers and suppliers,” said Kari Nyman, the World Bank’s project leader. “The growth of the PowerGrid and the success of state power reforms are interdependent. As the PowerGrid provides state utilities access to new customers, the newly-restructured utilities themselves become viable clients for the power grid.” The World Bank loan also supports regional system coordination and control projects in the Eastern and Western regions. Similar projects in the Southern and Northern regions were supported under two previous World Bank loans. The project will expand or reinforce power transmission linkages between regions and will support ongoing institutional development of PowerGrid services and staff in key areas. Funds will also be used to encourage private sector participation in the power sector through rationalisation of regulatory and tariff barriers and will also be used to establish a national telecommunication network. Optical fiber ground wire will be installed on the company’s transmission lines, which can be used for telecommunications. The company has announced plans to establish a joint venture with a qualified telecom operator. “PowerGrid is ideally positioned to strengthen India’s information infrastructure to help meet India’s rapidly growing telecommunications needs,” Nyman said. India threw open its long-distance telecommunications sector last August, and the PowerGrid, which has a network of 24,850 miles (40,000 km) of transmission lines, plans to provide end-to-end bandwidth.
Reuters
|
|
Govt gives free hand to SEBI
New Delhi, May 4 “SEBI is considering it (the ban on carry forward of trade and implementing rolling settlement). It is for SEBI to take a stance,” Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of an award ceremony here. Sinha had a detailed meeting with SEBI Chairman,
D.R. Mehta, earlier in the day on the eve of the SEBI Board meeting in Mumbai tomorrow. Mehta also met Finance Secretary, Ajit Kumar, for discussing various measures for streamlining the country’s capital market. “Yes, a decision is expected to be taken tomorrow at the board meeting. I am not saying anything. It is for the board to take a decision,” he told reporters when asked whether SEBI would ban carry forward trading from July 2 as recommended by its panel. But there are indications that SEBI would implement all the measures it had announced in the last few weeks, including the withdrawal of the ban on short sales and going ahead with rolling settlement instead of the popular old badla system that had spurred speculations in the bourses. A SEBI panel had recommended banning carry forward trading to contain volatility in the stock markets. But at the same time, it is feared that such a ban could affect the markets due to the liquidity crunch. It is for the board to take a decision,” Sinha told reporters when persistently queried whether SEBI would ban carry forward trading as recommended by its panel. Asked what follow up action was being taken on the interim report in the recent stock market crisis, Mehta said he would not say anything as a Joint Parliamentary Probe has already been ordered.
PTI
|
|
Bajaj net seen down 70 to 81 pc
New Delhi, May 4 Bajaj Auto has been the worst-hit among two-wheeler makers by the shift in consumer preference from scooters to motor cycles. In March, a business daily quoted its Chairman Rahul Bajaj as saying the company would post its worst results ever for the financial year ended in March. "We are projecting the company to post a net profit of Rs440 million(an 81.4 per cent decline over the previous fourth quarter), on sales of 7.95 billion," Satish Jain, an analyst at ASK Raymond James said. Bajaj posted a net profit of Rs 2.366 billion on net sales of 9.196 billion in the January-March quarter of the previous year. An analyst at another foreign brokerage who declined to be identified said the continued decline in scooter sales caused profit to drop. "Scooters is the high margin product. The lower the scooter sales, the lower its profits," he said. Bajaj's fourth-quarter scooter sales fell 38.2 per cent and scooterette sales plunged 64.8 per cent from year-earlier levels, data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers shows. Its motorcycle sales slid 6.8 per cent. Earning forecast A Reuters poll of 12 brokerage forecast fourth-quarter net profit would fall 70.7 per cent to Rs 693.67 million on net sales of 7.689 billion, down 16.4 per cent from a year earlier. "But we expect Bajaj's operating profit margin to improve to 10.5 per cent in the fourth quarter from 7.73 per cent in the third," Pramod Amthe, an analyst at Cholamandalam Securities, said. Bajaj's geared scooter sales had grown 29 per cent in the fourth quarter over the third and there would be some benefits from lower power and employee costs. But Bajaj could be forced to write down the value of its investment portfolio, previously estimated at almost Rs 20 billion, he added. Cholamandalam forecast Bajaj's fourth-quarter net profit would fall 70.3 per cent to Rs 701.7 million and net sales would fall 16.6 per cent to 7.672 billion. Both Raymond James and Cholamandalam said they had buy recommendations on the stock, which is trading near its 52-week low.
Reuters
|
|
Chief Secys to meet on May 11 New Delhi, May 4 Chief Secretaries of 10 states —Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh —and Adviser of Union Territory of Chandigarh will participate in the deliberations. The summit organised by the PHDCCI will consider reports of three task force dealing with power, labour laws and state taxes, infrastructure and exports. The consensus emerging at the meeting will be presented at the summit of Chief Ministers to enable the state governments to undertake necessary legislative and administrative measures. In the area of tax reforms, the chamber has suggested that the existing slabs on the floor rates of sales tax should be revised to 2, 4 and 6 per cent. To ensure revenue elasticity it would be desirable that tax net is gradually widened by pruning list of exempted items. The existing state taxes such as octroi, mandi tax, market fee, rural development fee, local area development tax, infrastructure cess should be integrated in the state VAT which should have two slab structure. The chamber has proposed setting up an economic development board and infrastructure development board in each state and establishment of sector specific clusters and industrial parks. It has suggested industrial corridor for textile industry in Haryana, gem and jewellery at Jaipur, sports goods at Jalandhar and Ludhiana, auto mobile components at Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon, electronic and information technology industry in
Delhi, and hydro power projects and tourism in Himachal Pradesh. In the area of labour reforms, it has suggested enactment of single labour code, changes in chapter 5B of the Industrial Disputes Act, making it applicable to establishments employing 1,000 and more workers. The northern region contributes one third of the country’s export earning and it has suggested that the states should formulate export policy and action plan, set up nodal authority and single window clearance agency for exports. Other suggestions include developing broad gauge rail link to Kandla Port, inter-state road link from Chandigarh to Baddi, rail link to Bhiwani in Rajasthan, Dharuhera in Haryana, closing down of loss making enterprises, converting profit earning state’s enterprises into public limited companies, phasing out non-merit subsidies and computerisation of public dealings. |
|
Zee Tele
cuts jobs New Delhi, May 4 A wholly-owned subsidiary of Zee Telefilms, Econnect was set up as a horizontal portal last year, with as many as 49 channels catering to a wide variety of subjects and areas, “which did not coincide with Zee’s core strength, which is infotainment”, company sources said here. “Econnect was a generic horizontal portal, launched with 200 people last year. But as per the Kearney recommendations, we have restructured to focus purely on entertainment and lifestyle, the two factors which have been identified as Zee’s core strengths,” sources said. Econnect will now focus on entertainment-based content and website development for group companies and third parties. Simultaneously, the company also announced relaunch of its portal ‘www.Zeenext.Com’, developed by Econnect, with renewed focus on entertainment and lifestyle related content. Sources said the people who have been removed from Econnect “have been deployed in other businesses under the Access umbrella and there has been no retrenchment as such”. On the 10-12 channels which have been retained in the restructured company, the major ones include entertainment, web casting, live events, travel and news.
PTI |
|
BSNL invites global tenders
for 12 lakh mobile phones Patiala, May 4 This was disclosed by Mr Pritpal Singh, Director (operations), BSNL, after inaugarating the Customer Service Centre, with a single window concept which will cater to all 16 important customer services that fall under category "A", at the General Post Office here today. Apart from inviting bids for procurement of mobile phones, global tenders had also been invited for 68 lakh fixed telephone sets. Mr Pritpal Singh said BSNL was endeavouring to reduce the fault rate to a single digit from the present rate of 10 units. For this sophisticated equipment had been procured and pagers would be provided to line staff in all districts of Punjab so that the fault rate was reduced considerably. In an attempt to ensure complete customer satisfaction, a public grievance cell will also be opened. Those present on the occasion were Mr S.C Chowdhury, Chief General Manager, Punjab Telecom circle, Mr Bhag Singh, General Manager , Patiala Telecom circle and other senior members of the P&T department. The new Customer Service Centre will cater to facilities like providing Internet connections, Fax, STD PCO under one roof. Other facilities like sale of application forms for applying new telephones,
registration of new connections and other allied services will also be provided at the centre, opened in the precincts of the GPO. Mr Bhag Singh outlined the problems being faced by the department which include acute shortage of staff in the Patiala SSA area. He said as quick installation of new telephones in rural areas was not possible due to shortage of staff. Acute shortage of optical fibre led to congestion on important lines.
|
|
FCI not to pay statutory levies to states New Delhi, May 4 The interim report of the committee, which was submitted to the government, has suggested necessary amendments in the state’s Sales Tax Acts for this purpose. The committee feels payments of statutory levies by the FCI are in effect transfers from the Centre to state governments and hence should be counted as such. Statutory levies on purchase of foodgrains amount to as much as 12.5 per cent of the procurement prices in certain states which should be settled separately between the Centre and state governments without involving the FCI or its economic costs. The committee has expressed concern over the relaxation of specification of quality norms for purchase of foodgrains for the central pool on representations from various grain producing states and has recommended strict adherence to ‘fair average quality’ norms. Relaxation, if allowed, on request from any state government should be on an appropriate price reduction besides exemption from statutory state levies. The minimum support price for paddy and levy price for rice be fixed for a single grade as against ‘common’ and grade ‘A’ as at present, it is recommended. Prices in the open market sales scheme (OMSS) should be at least the acquisition cost less statutory levies, the committee suggests. Further differentials across various regions should be restored and there should be a pre-announced graded escalation per quarter. According to the committee, the OMSS prices should not only cover the procurement cost but also should fully reflect the differences in costs of transport and storage at different points of sales. In order to revive off-take from the PDS the committee recommends reduction in APL (above poverty line) price to 80 per cent excluding statutory levies or about 75 per cent of the present economic cost, including levies. The BPL price should be 50 per cent of economic cost excluding statutory levies in order to improve BPL off-take and viability of distribution network. Further, the committee recommends that each BPL family be permitted to purchase up to 5 kg per person at BPL price per month or an allocation of 20 kg per family, whichever is higher. For areas covered under the revamped PDS (1775 blocks) and areas currently drought, affected or ravaged by natural calamities, a universal PDS be introduced at BPL prices and quota. The other recommendations of the committee include extending mid-day meal scheme to secondary school students and expansion of employment generation programme to create effective demand for foodgrains. The terms of reference of the high level committee under the chairmanship of Prof Abhijit Sen, Chairman, CACP, included review of the MSP and price support operations, FCI related issues, functioning of PDS, grain policy regarding buffer stock, open market intervention, export-import policies and allocation of foodgrains for rural development and other welfare programmes. In its interim report the committee has suggested short-run recommendations to deal with high stocks of foodgrains available with the FCI at present while leaving long-term recommendations regarding the PDS to a more detailed subsequent report.
Ashok Leyland
to hike prices New Delhi, May 4 “We are considering a hike in prices. The quantum, time and spread is, however, yet to be decided,” Ashok Leyland, Executive Director (Marketing Division) Amol J.Sandil told PTI today over phone from Chennai. The company would, however, not increase the prices of CNG buses for which it has 2,051 pending orders from bus operators in Delhi. A price hike was unavoidable in view of various “cost pressures” on the company, Sandil said. Studies were being conducted at present to identify various factors on the price hike and any possible effect on sales. “There is a cost push. But, we cannot pass it on to the consumers fully,” he said. “Yes, it will affect sales. So, we have to be careful about the exact quantum of the hike and also on the vehicle segments (light, medium or heavy) where it would be implemented,” Sandil added. Ashok Leyland’s price hike comes after reports that would Telco would increase vehicle prices by upto Rs 25,000 within a week even as the domestic industry has witnessed a downtrend during 2000-01.
PTI
Vardhman contests
for children Chandigarh, May 4 The "All-India Vardhman Magika Embroidery Contest" in its first phase will cover more than 100 schools in Punjab and Haryana. Giving details, Mr Gurgeet Arnega, General Manager, Vardhman Threads, said in a statement here today that embroidered cloth has always been a part of social functions and festivals. Crafts like phulkari, beading, tille di kadhai, have been known to Indian women for years. From table mats to clothes to bags and juties, embroidery enhances the look and value of a product. The contests, being organised by Zoom Media Vision, a Chandigarh based sales promotion and event management company, in four categories among students of classes VII to X. Schools from Ambala, Karnal, Chandigarh, Patiala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur are participating in the contests which will start on May 8 and conclude on May 29. The winners will be given on-the- spot prizes by the company. Earlier, knitting contests were organised by Vardhman in which 25,000 students from 100 schools all over Punjab participated.
|
sti
Kesoram to buy back 15 pc equity Kesoram Industries has decided to buy back 15 per cent of the total paid up ordinary share capital of the company from the shareholders at its board meeting held here today. The board has also accepted the proposals of merger of Hindustan Heavy Chemicals and Birla Century Finance with the company. The company would buy back upto 78,42,280 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a maximum price of Rs. 40. NICHOLAS
PIRAMAL INDIA registered a 42 per cent growth in net profits and a 28 per cent growth in sales on a consolidated basis for the financial year ended March 2001. The Board of Directors recommended a dividend of 70 per cent for the year. On a consolidated basis, profit after tax was Rs 109 crore for 2000-01 against Rs 87.30 crore for the previous year. Sales stood at Rs 937.40 crore for 2001-01 against Rs 733.80 crore for the previous financial year. The consolidated EPS for the year is Rs 26.50 as against Rs 18.70 in the previous year. VARUN SHIPPING COMPANY’S rights issue of 36.26 million 14 per cent fully convertible debentures of Rs 10 each closed yesterday after being fully subscribed. The object of the issue was to finance acquisition of ships and to augment long term resources of the company. The company is now planning to go ahead with its expansion programme by buying more ships. LML today reported a 38.2 per cent drop in scooter sales at 11,880 units in April 2001 over 19,243 units in the year-ago month. Motorcycle sales also dropped by 41.9 per cent to 4,080 units as against 7,026 units in March this year, an LML spokesperson said. THE GREAT EASTERN SHIPPING COMPANY has earned its highest ever profits for 2000-01 at Rs 177.41 crore following a strong tanker market, better business practices and cost cutting exercises. The is the second shipping company after State owned Shipping Corporation of India, which had also registered its highest ever net profit at Rs 401.59 crore. CEAT has posted a net loss of Rs 13.71 crore in fiscal 2000 over a net profit of Rs 20.11 crore in the previous fiscal. Total income for the fiscal ended March 31, 2001 stood at Rs 1017.12 crore as compared to Rs 1129.95 crore during 1999-2000. The Board of Directors of the company have recommended a 10 per cent dividend (Re one per share) for fiscal 2000 out of the surplus from previous year. RALLIS INDIA a Tata Group company, today approved the merger of five wholly owned subsidiaries with it subject to necessary approvals. The subsidiaries, which are to be merged effective from April 1, 2001 are Ralchem Ltd, Rallis Finance & Investments Company Ltd, Rallis Hybrid Seeds Ltd, Rallis Farm Management Services Ltd and Sankhya Garments Ltd. BRIGHTSTAR INVESTMENTS is likely to hike the offer price to “marginally” above the Rs 115 per share mark when its open offer to acquire 20 per cent stake in tobacco major VST Industries commences later this month.
UNI, PTI
|
co
China sounds fresh hacking alarm Indonesia bans Indian grain imports British bank merger to form big group US court okays Bridge assets New e-mail virus in China paper Thai king seeks patent for palm oil |
bb
Chemists go on strike today ICICI Bank Railway meet IBM appointment Small coins Khadi rebate Bata India Malaysia flights TheoFinance Madhavpura bank |
 |
| 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 | |
