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| Wednesday,
May 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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FICCI, Assocham differ on badla ban
India to review duty on palm oil import: PM
Indica CNG version to cost 3.29 lakh Malaysia, India eye alliance in
IT NISTADS
Web site hacked |
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NIIT opens centre
in Malaysia Connect Net services in Ludhiana McDonald gets clean
chit PFC officers refute
loanees allegation CII office for Kuala
Lumpur Economics of fakes...!
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FICCI, Assocham differ on badla ban
New Delhi, May 15 While, FICCI said the SEBI decision will have an adverse impact on liquidity of the market, Assocham held the view that the move was in the right direction and in fact due for sometime. “Badla system should not be suspended at one go till an alternative mechanism is brought in place” FICCI said in an official statement issued here. On the other hand, Assocham said the decision, though a good move in the long run, may counter some difficulties initially. “SEBI’s macro action plan should aim at introducing vibrant margin trading, ensuring a faster clearing system and availability of finance against shares. Steps such as doing away with restrictions on bank funding too would be welcome” Assocham said in its official statement. FICCI, however, maintained that the badla system evolved in the Indian market conditions over the years and did play a role in the development of secondary market. Opposing the overnight suspension of badla system, FICCI said with changing times, entry of overseas players and new requirements, if badla has to be replaced it has to be done in a phased manner. “Overnight suspension will have an adverse impact on trading and liquidity. This in turn will further hammer down the prices when the sentiment is already weak in the context of general slowdown and lacklustre trading globally which is now reflected in the Indian market also” FICCI added. “As a number of developed markets have futures on individual stocks, it was essential for SEBI to allow the same in India. This could lead to deepening of the derivatives market, as well as provide an alternative hedging mechanism to badla” Assocham added. Calcutta
Exchange “The SEBI decision will cause a temporary reaction in the market, but overall this will help the investors and the market will become much better,” former CSE President Kamal Parekh said. The capital market would become cash oriented. This would prevent rigging and one could expect a ‘real healthy stock market in future’, Parekh said. Balance sheets of companies were now expected to have more significance and trading would take place across the board unlike the existing trend where only the top ten scrips accounted for maximum trading volume, he said. “Eventually the market will go up and introduction of options will give investors opportunity to use hedging mechanism,” he said. However, some felt the SEBI’s decision on carry forward yesterday would significantly bring down the number of brokers and only ‘a few’ would survive in the emerging scenario. Others said the market watchdog’s decision would have two fold effect so far as price movement was concerned and would ultimately be for the good. “Bulls will not be able to create big positions, the disadvantage for them will be they will not be able to sell heavily on expectation of getting badlas and hamper the sentiments.”
PTI
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India to review duty on palm oil import: PM Kuala Lumpur, May 15 Palm oil exports to India is regarded as critical to the Malaysian economy. As a matter fact, Malaysian palm oil has a limited market in the world. Indonesia is the only competitor Malaysia has as regards palm oil exports to India. Interestingly, both Malaysia and Indonesia have jointly taken up the issue of the hike in duty on palm oil exports with the Indian government. During Mr Vajpayee’s current visit to
Malaysia, the issue of palm oil exports to India has been raised by the Malaysians at almost every meeting with the Indian Prime Minister and his delegation. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohammad, is reported to have raised it at his one-to-one meeting with his Indian counterpart. It was also discussed at different levels during the meetings the two sides had over the past three days. Although Malaysia is at present India’s largest trading partner in ASEAN with a trade turnover of about $ 2.5 billion and enjoys a huge trade surplus, palm oil constitutes a large part of its exports to India. Therefore, palm oil occupies a critical position in the Malaysian economy. Hence, the anxiety of the Malaysian government to ensure removal of all curbs on the import of Malaysian palm oil into India. As a matter of fact, it was suggested in some quarters that the fate of $ 1.5 billion contract India signed with Malaysia yesterday for laying a two-way railway track hinged on India’s willingness to import Malaysian palm oil. But this was denied today by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr Omar Abdullah, who said that there was no quid pro quo involved in the deal. As a matter of fact, the railway project was being financed by the Malaysian earnings through palm oil exports to India. The Prime Minister announced today, much to the satisfaction of his hosts, that the Government of India had now decided to review the import duty on palm crude. “We shall do so in a way which would safeguard the interests of our farmers and yet facilitate import of Malaysia’s palm crude for our underutilised refineries”, he said. During the detailed discussions he had with his hosts on the export of Malaysian palm oil to India, Mr Vajpayee said, he had
explained that decisions on import tariffs for palm oil had been determined entirely in consonance with WTO obligations. “Just as Malaysia has to protect its Malaysian palm oil plantations over falling prices, we have to take care of the interests of our own farmers who have experienced similar difficulties. However, guided by the considerations of strengthening solidarity with out ASEAN friends, we have now decided to review the import duty on palm crude”.
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Indica CNG version to cost 3.29 lakh
Mumbai, May 15 The car will be available in two models — standard and an air condition. The price of air-conditioned car will be Rs 3.49 lakh ex-showroom, Delhi, whereas the standard version is priced at Rs 3.29 lakh, according to an official press release here. The car will be equipped with a factory-fitted CNG kit and complies with the highest safety standards and those prescribed by the Automotive Research Association of India. Special attention has been paid to the enhancement of range with two CNG tanks of 22 and 50 litre capacity. Daewoo, Maruti hike prices Daewoo has increased the price of its four Matiz variants by Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000, ex-showroom, Delhi. Maruti, however, raised its prices by 0.1 to 1.5 per cent on its different models and linked it with raising the warranty period from one year to two years.
UNI
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Malaysia, India eye alliance in
IT Kuala Lumpur, May 15 Delivering his key-note address on “Enhancing Malaysia-India Partnership: A shared vision for the 21st century” at the Malaysia-India Business Forum organised jointly by the CII and FICCI, the Prime Minister said the most ambitious component of this programme was the National Highway Development Project, which sought to link all four corners of India with East-West and North-South corridors. India had also decided to upgrade all its important airports and had liberalised foreign direct investment norms for this. “I have had the pleasure of passing through your new international airport. It is worth replicating anywhere in the world. Similarly, as we have conveyed yesterday to Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohammad, and his colleagues, we welcome Malaysian participation in specific port projects”. Mr Vajpayee said there were a large number of elements that could form the substance of a much more intense bilateral economic interaction. “While we must have a long-term vision, let us together set a target of doubling our trade in the next three years. This is entirely achievable if we diversify and deepen our trade basket. To give impetus to these efforts, the government of India has decided to offer a line of credit of US$ 50 million for imports of projects and industrial goods into Malysia from India.” Energy was another area of promise for India-Malaysia partnership. There was already active collaboration between Indian Oil Corporation and Petronas in certain areas. There was, however, considerable potential for extending this cooperation to cover the entire range of hydrocarbon business, including third country ventures. He complimented those Indian companies which had already established businesses and manufacturing bases in Malaysia. He wanted other Indian companies to follow suit in the areas of opportunities identified by the Malaysian government. Information Technology and other knowledge-based enterprises, such as bio-informatics and biotechnology presented the biggest area of opportunity for both India and Malaysia. “Our areas of strength in IT are complementary. While India has proven strengths in software development and IT education, Malaysia has a well-developed hardware sector. I understand that 14 Indian companies have already started operating in the highly-acclaimed Multimedia Super Corridor. Some of these companies have developed innovative software applications in Malaysia, which can also be used in India in the fields of IT education, e-governance, media and entertainment. Many more Indian companies were keen to locate their development centres in this
country. For they would like to be directly engaged, rather than being sub-contractors, for providing software solutions to the complex needs of the rapidly-growing Malysian economy. This would result in significant saving for Malysia and demonstrate the benefits of South-South cooperation even in the new economy. Such cooperation would also help the IT business in the two countries to mitigate the adverse effects of the current slowdown in the developed economies. Mr Vajpayee lauded the agreements signed between India and Malaysia for cooperation in space technology. “With the successful launch of GSLV last month, the Indian Space Research Organisation has achieved technological parity with a select group of countries with such advanced capabilities. India is willing to share this expertise in the peaceful applications of space research with Malaysia and other developing countries”. The Prime Minister also mentioned the well-developed pharmaceutical industry in India and the efforts being made to promote alternative systems of medicine, especially Ayurveda which was enjoying a renaissance both in India and abroad. “We request your Ministry of Health to facilitate the registration of Ayurvedic products. Prime Minister Mahathir will agree with me that healthcare offers many opportunities for a rewarding partnership between our two countries”. Turning to ASEAN, Mr Vajpayee noted that the region had achieved early success in the gigantic task of freeing their populations from the shackles of poverty and exploitation. There was little doubt that the rest of Asia would do likewise in the coming decades. India, which accounted for one-sixth of humanity, had sustained an economic growth rate of over 6 per cent a year for the last
decade." We recognise that regional economic cooperation was an important complementary dimension of globalisation. Malaysia was India’s gateway to ASEAN’s population of half a billion, just as India offers to ASEAN a fast-growing market of a billion people. This is the core of our argument for the possible cooperation between India and ASEAN. Today Malaysia is our largest trading partner in ASEAN with a trade turnover of about $ 2.5 billion. Though it is also the eighth largest investor in India in terms of approvals, the actual investment remains only about $ 50 million. This represents a realisation ratio of under 4 per cent. |
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NISTADS
Web site hacked New Delhi, May 15 PoizonBOx is a hacker group which specializes in targeting government websites and has been in cyber crime news recently as it claimed to have vandalized a number of government sites in the UK. It had previously targeted sites all over the world, including Australia and the USA. In all cases, it replaced the government information with graffiti showing its own logo. Since the hackers of NISTADS site have abused PoizonBOx also, it appears that in this case, a rival hacker group was at work, trying to score a point in the competitive “over world” of cyber crime. According to the NISTADS webmasters, the hackers have exploited the security loopholes in the Microsoft’s Internet Information Server to gain unauthorized access to their website. VSNL has been contacted to trace the hackers.
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NIIT opens centre
in Malaysia New Delhi, May 15 The centre, which will develop multimedia-based software for the rest of the Asia Pacific region, was inaugurated by Minister for Information Technology Pramod Mahajan. Mr Mahajan is in Malaysia as part of the Indian trade delegation led by the Prime
Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. NIIT has contributed aggressively towards the IT success of India. It has contributed to building an IT society that the country is proud of. By choosing Malaysia, NIIT has expanded India’s IT capabilities to this part of the region and has moved beyond application software areas into
educational multimedia as well as preparation of scarce computer software skilled personnel, Mr Mahajan said. According to NIIT’s Chairman Rajendra S. Pawar, “NIIT’s move into Cyberjaya, ahead of other global
players, is a testimony to NIIT’s commitment of creating a groundswell of skilled IT population in Malaysia in partnership with 15 local
entrepreneurs. This reiterates our commitment towards IT education and training, by offering the most appropriate programs for diverse segments. In Malaysia we offer relevant IT education under three distinct brands —Futurz, CATS and SWIFT— catering to the needs of career seekers, IT
professionals and end-users, respectively”. NIIT’s centre is equipped with state of the art facilities, and it intends to grow the centre to a 500-person facility in the next few years. NIIT will continue its key thrust of focusing on large customer projects in both the government and corporate sectors throughout the region. NIIT was among the first 20 companies worldwide to be awarded the MSC status and also holds the distinction of being the first Indian company to become a member of the Founders’ council of
MSC.
Connect Net services in Ludhiana Chandigarh, May 15 ComeConnect product range includes the PSTN and ISDN dial up Internet services as well as enhanced services like Internet leased lines, server co location, Virtual Private Network and Webhosting. |
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McDonald gets clean chit Mumbai, May 15 The tests were conducted by both FDA and BMC after political parties like BJP and Shiv Sena alleged that the French fries contained beef tallow, according to BMC health officer Dr Alka S. Karande.
PTI
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PFC officers refute
loanees allegation Chandigarh, May 15 The association members said the guidelines have been adopted by the PFC as approved by its Board of Directors. "It is only a section of persons— the defaulting loanees of the corporation— who do not want to repay their dues to the corporation", the association stated in a press release. Though the level of NPAs is rising, but that is a phenomenon in most of the organisations due to the industrial recession. Prime reason, however, is the non-repayment of loans by ingenuine borrowers. Stating that the borrowers should follow the policies adopted by the corporation, the members said the interest of the institution should be over and above individual interest.
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CII office for Kuala
Lumpur Kuala Lumpur, May 15 Opening of office would substantiate the strengthening of diplomatic ties by providing an enabling platform for the industries of both the countries to mutually collaborate, thereby augmenting the bilteral linkages. Mr Mirza Mahatir, President, Asian Strategy and leadership Institute (ASLI) and Mr Sanjiv Goenka, President, CII, signed MoU on behalf of their organisations with a view to cooperate in terms of undertaking joint studies, enchancing professional experience relating to services rendered to their member firms, promote bilateral trade and advising the governments of India and Malaysia and setting up a Indo-Malaysia CEOs Forum.
Economics of fakes...! New Delhi,
May 15 The consumer too is losing out on quality having unwittingly to buy the fakes — a major health risk in the case of food products — at no less the price of branded products and the exchequer is being cheated to the tune of Rs 900 crore every year. “The magnitude of pass-offs and counterfeits in the Indian markets has reached such a proportion that they account for 10-15 per cent of the sales revenue for most of the consumer product companies,” says Bharat Patel, Chairman, Brand Protection Committee of FICCI. “The laws to check fakes are all there but due to their weak enforcement, the menace has reached such large
proportion,” says Ashok Chhabra, Executive Director, Proctor and Gamble. “The procedures are so cumbersome that by the time all the formalities are completed, it is very late... the culprits close
down shop and thus go scot free,” Chhabra comments. On their part, Delhi Police has set up an intellectual property rights cell under the economic offences wing to check such cases of fakes. “This year alone, 21 cases have been booked under the Copyright Act,” says Qamar Ahmed, Additional Commissioner of Delhi Police. “The problem is more of an intelligent network — not many people come forward to complain about fakes,” Ahmed says. “It, in fact, is an organised crime... The manufacturers have big plants and their distribution network is very well organised,” notes Chhabra. “Thus from toothpaste to soft drinks, detergents, dry cell batteries, automotive parts — each brand has a fake to it, the problem being more prominent in the case of
consumer non-durable goods (FCMG),” says Patel. “According to a study commissioned by Proctor and Gamble, for one of their popular capsule on cold alone, there were 25 look-alikes and for every three stripes of the tablet sold, one was fake,” Patel says. “Eighty per cent of consumers who buy these products are unable to distinguish between the original and the fakes at first go,” says Patel, adding it is only when they go home and see it properly that they realise it is a fake. “On the other hand, pass-off products use names which are similar sounding or are similar in spelling — Cliric for Clinic, Head and Showers for Head and Shoulders, Bala for Bata and so on,” says Patel noting that the pass-off products cleverly use similar looking packaging or colour schemes or designs. The products are meant to deliberately mislead and cheat consumers, who may not be highly literate, into believing that they are buying genuine products, he says, adding that the manufacturers make slight changes to avoid being categorised legally as counterfeits. On the other hand, counterfeits are produced to look exactly like real products by someone other than the legal owner of the real products, trademarks and product packaging, says Patel adding these counterfeits are becoming more sophisticated in making their products look exactly like the original. “It is becoming more and more difficult to tell which is the real Ariel, Lifebuoy, Colgate or Ponds and which is fake,” says Patel noting “during raids in Delhi Proctor and Gamble and Delhi Police raided a wholesaler in Sadar Bazar and seized 18 cases of fake washing powder satches and 3 cases of their sanitary napkin brand. This is the biggest haul so far.” Large quantities of the fake washing powder brand was even seized from retail outlets in Jaipur last year while Vicks pass-offs worth Rs 10 lakh were recovered from Mumbai. “Besides bringing a bad name to the brand itself, the counterfeits pose a serious threat to public health and safety,” says P.M. Sinha, Chairman, Pepsi. “The food products which are of dubious quality are the most serious threat to the health of all consumers,” he warns. The laws which a consumer can invoke are — Trade Mark and Merchandise Act, Copyright Act, Indian Penal Code read with Criminal Procedure Code, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Food Adulteration Act and Consumer Protection Act. |
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Boeing denies delay in aircraft sales IMF sees 4-4.5 pc growth of Lanka Sanyo, IBM develop new chip China industrial output up 11.5 pc Sony, AOL Time Warner in pact |
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Essar Cellphone ICICI Home Loans Compuworld EEPC programme |
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