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| Thursday, July 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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BSNL is ‘anti consumer’, says TRAI
India for skill globalisation
TVS-Suzuki posts 12 pc jump in sales
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Govt opposes ban on secondary steel Restore testing labs |
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IOC to
invest 11,000 cr in refinery Order
verification for 53 scrips
Eli Lilly buys Ranbaxy’s 50 pc stake for $ 17m
Indo-Iran pipeline project on agenda
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BSNL is ‘anti consumer’, says TRAI New Delhi, July 4 The country’s telecom regulator has said that while going through the submissions made by the contending parties there was merit in the argument that by not extending the facility of reduced tariff as reflected in the new pulse rate for a distant slab of 200 km for the fixed leg of an inter network call made by BSNL subscribers to mobile users, the Nigam is being anti-consumer. As far as calls originating in the basic service operators (BSO) network and terminating in the BSNL is concerned, TRAI said that the carriage charge regime applicable to such calls is clearly specified in its specifications. According to the regime the originating or transit service provider is required to pay Rs 0.48 per unit of measured call for traffic delivered from its network to the transit terminating service provider. The Authority also found merit in the contention of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) that the cellular mobile subscribers are in fact BSNL’s subscribers when they make a STD call from a mobile phone to a fixed phone connected to BSNL. This is also in the terms of the licence agreement that the cellular operator is required to collect STD charge from his subscriber at BSNL’s prescribed rates. “Denial of this facility of making STD calls at the reduced rate which is available to the subscribers of BSNL, would amount to a discrimination,” a TRAI statement said. The Authority has directed that basic operators BSNL and MTNL must give a compliance report by July 20. TRAI has also said that the access charges should be computed on the ‘applicable’ pulse rate. The amount paid by cellular subscribers for the STD leg of their calls should be the same as the STD charge for identical carriage of a long distance call made by a BSNL subscriber from the Point of Interconnect (POI) to the same destination. TRAI has also directed BSNL that it should extend the reduced rate to their own subscribers when they make a call to a mobile phone. In December 2000 and January 2001, BSNL forwarded to the TRAI copies of their tariff circulars seeking to reduce STD call charges from January 26, 2001 by extending the duration of peak pulse rates for distance categories falling within 50 to 200 km from what had been specified in the TRAI standard tariff package for basic services in the Telecom Tariff Order, 1999. The reserved
pulse rates based on which tariffs were to be reduced, however, were made applicable to only intra circle calls originated by the telephone subscribers of BSNL, and terminating the basic service network. Subsequent to the issue of the above tariff circulars, the Authority received representations from COAI and Association of Basic Telecom Operators (ABTO). They sought the authority’s intervention and requested that in the interest of level playing field, the following should be applicable in respect of inter-network calls — the calls conveyed on BSNL’s network. BSNL filed an appeal with telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against the order of TRAI. The tribunal after hearing all the parties to the dispute passed its final order on April, 24, 2001, setting aside the order of the Authority. The TDSAT observed that adequate opportunity had not been given by TRAI to BSNL to present their case and directed TRAI will be at liberty to pass fresh orders.
UNI |
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India for skill globalisation New Delhi, July 4 Labour Minister Satyanarayan Jatiya, who represented India at the ILO conference at Geneva recently, said while the developed countries were rich in capital, the developing countries were endowed with a vast manpower resource and the movement of this resource across national frontiers should be allowed without any hindrance. Countering the developed nations’ bid to link labour standards with global trade, Dr Jatiya said creating jobs in the developing countries should be the top priority. The recent concept of "Decent work", the concept of ideal work conditions, should be defined in accordance with the conditions prevailing in each country, Dr Jatiya said. The ILO members to treat skill globalisation as an contemporary issue and give it equal importance along with economic globalisation. The Minister said India wanted the ILO to take appropriate initiative for promoting multilateral investment in skill upgradation and skill formation in developing countries. At the same time, developing countries must create an appropriate institutional framework for skill building, skill training and skilled upgradation. He informed newspersons that the recently concluded ILO session also approved the first ever labour standard on agriculture safety and health. The convention would enter into force once two ILO member states ratify it. The convention obliges ratifying member states to ensure that an adequate system of inspection is in place where agricultural activities take place. The convention is accompanied by a recommendation which provides for a progressive extension of protection afforded by the convention to self-employed farmers. In India, agriculture workers constitute over 65 per cent of the country’s 370 million labour force. |
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TVS-Suzuki posts 12 pc jump in sales Bangalore, July 4 TVS showed a significant increase in moped sales with a growth of 48 per cent over May, 2001. There has been a steady growth since April 2001, when the industry saw a dip in demand this year. “The rumours of cheap Chinese imports have been put to rest resulting in the upswing in moped sales in the last couple of months,” a company release said. With the start of the new academic session and aggressive marketing push, TSL has increased its sales in the scooterette segment significantly. TVS Scooty which is the largest selling product in the variomatic segment, recorded an all-time high in sales selling 16,768 units, a growth of 26 per cent over May, 2001. Motor cycle sales were 27,582 units on June 1 against 32,051 units in May 1, a decline of 14 per cent. However, the 150CC Fiero which is the largest selling motor cycle in its segment in the country increased its sales by 3 per cent on June 1 over the previous month. Hind Motors sales dip Hindustan Motors (HM) said its June, 2001, car sales have dropped by 15.6 per cent at 1,767 cars over 2,095 cars sold in the same month last year. The June sales, however, went up by 44.3 per cent compared to 1,224 cars sold in May this year following a rise in sales of the “Ambassador” car, a HM official told PTI here. Cumulative car sales (April-June 2001-02) fell by 26 per cent at 4,261 units against 5,759 units sold in the year-ago period. During June, HM sold 505 units of the premium mid-size Lancer car, made with technology from Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. The sales were down by 32.6 per cent over June, 2000, sales of 750 units and by five units over 510 units in May this year, the official said. Sales of the old workhorse Ambassador car stood at 1,262 units, a drop of 6.1 per cent over 1,345 units in the same month last year.
PTI |
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Govt opposes ban on secondary steel Ludhiana, July 4 The Ministry of Steel had invited suggestions from the Steel Re-rolling Mills Association and Small Scale Steel Re-rollers Association, Khanna, in this regard. A delegation of the associations met the officials in the Ministry of Steel, with a report prepared by the Laboratory of National Institute of Secondary Steel Technology, and showed that material made of ship scrap had better chemical and mechanical composition than the material made out of billets. Mr Vinod Vashisht, Senior Vice-President of All India Steel Re-Rollers Association, New Delhi and President of Small Scale Re-Rollers Association Khanna and Mandi Gobindgarh, who led that delegation, disclosed that the Ministry of Steel was fully convinced with their arguments and decided to support their demand not to ban the use of secondary steel. He said the Development Commissioner, Iron and Steel, had submitted a report in favour of rolling mills, using ship breaking material, in which he had pointed out that the building material made from semi-steel had not greater strength than the ship scrap steel. He said in the report, “The ship plates with slightly lower carbon and manganese contents can actually attain the specified mechanical properties standardised for the purpose.” His report has also questioned the use of commercial, off-grade and defective material of integrated steel plants. Mr Vashisht clarified that no decision has been taken either by the Ministry of Steel or Bureau of Indian Standard to brought the re-rolling mills under mandatory ISI certification of BIS. The industry sources say that about 500 small-scale re-rolling units will be closed if the proposal was accepted by the government. Moreover, there will be a huge shortage of iron and steel in India as the integrated steel plants can not fulfill the demand of steel alone. |
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Restore testing labs Mandi Gobindgarh, July 4 Earlier this facility was available since the establishment of Industrial development centre (IDC) for the benefit of the industry, which included heat-treatment and testing laboratory for finished goods of the different ISI specification. Mandi Gobindgarh steel chamber and industries in a memorandum has urged the government to restore the testing laboratory immediately so that the sale of steel products could be revived in Punjab as well as in Haryana and HP, said
M.P. Verma. |
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IOC to invest 11,000 cr in refinery Chandigarh, July 4 The investments would include Rs 3,365 crore for 6 MMTPA expansion and Rs 467 crore for MS quality improvement at the Panipat refinery. For the PX-PTA petrochemical project which would be based on naptha from Panipat expansion and the Mathura refinery the investment would amount to Rs 4,228 crore, for the 360 MW jv power project it would be Rs 2,500 crore and for the PET project it would be Rs 440. A presentation was also made by the IOC to officers of the Haryana Government, led by Chief Secretary L.M. Goyal, and Principal Secretary S.Y. Quraishi, highlighting the salient features, status and future projections of the Panipat refinery expansion programme. The expansion of the refinery and setting up of petrochemical projects and 360 mw power plants would lead to major industrial growth and provide employment. |
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Order verification
for 53 scrips Mumbai, July 4 “Bourses will validate volumes, price and identity of parties in scrips where abnormal price movements are suspected (stocks on options and futures products are traded) and exchanges will decide the limit for judging abnormality”, Mehta told reporters after holding a meeting with BSE, NSE, CDSL and NSDL officials here. This step was taken in the light of certain abnormal trades seen in stocks, including Reliance Petroleum today, he said, adding that NSE has annulled such transactions. Besides 31 stocks where individuals stock options were being traded, scrips of VSNL, BPCL and Sterlite will also be covered under the verification system. The circuit filters are not applicable for the 53 scrips, SEBI chief said.
PTI |
Eli Lilly buys Ranbaxy’s 50 pc stake for $ 17m New Delhi, July 4 “The $ 17 million deal includes the brand name and shares, which will be transferred to the parent company Eli Lilly in August this year,” Rajiv Gulati, Managing Director of Eli Lilly (India operations) told reporters here. About the future plans in the country, Gulati said Eli Lilly, a JV between Ranbaxy and Eli Lilly Netherlands BV, a subsidiary of US-based Eli Lilly incepted in 1993, would primarily focus on clinical trials of drugs and has earmarked
Rs 8 crores for the same this year. Sundaram Fasteners: The company’s board of directors have recommended a dividend of about 65 per cent at Rs 7 per share of the face value of Rs 11 each. Birla Sun: “The plan has declared a dividend of 8.34 per cent (Rs 0.016 per unit) net of the dividend tax paid by the fund. The record date for the dividend is June 29, 2001. HCL Infosystems: |
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Indo-Iran pipeline project on agenda Islamabad, July 4 Pakistani Petroleum Ministry has already sent a comprehensive summary on the pipeline project to Musharraf, the reports quoted Petroleum Minister Usman Aminuddin as saying in Washington yesterday. “The project is on the agenda of upcoming Pakistan-India summit,” the
Minister said. PTI
IT industry crosses $ 10 bn New Delhi, July 4 About 30 software companies exported over Rs 200 crore each worth software and services and the top 10 exporters include TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam, HCL, Cognizant, Silverline, NIIT and Pentasoft and Pentamedia. Among the IT training segment NIIT has emerged the leader recording revenues of Rs 692 crore, a release said here today.
TNS
Siemens to invest $ 310m in Asia Beijing, July 4 China-Japan talks fail to resolve row Beijing, July 4 |
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CII survey Rallis Kendra Havell’s Dorman Tata Consultancy Rs 10 notes Reebok Escotel HPCL |
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