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Sunday,
August 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Sinha promises sops for IT hardware
JPC begins probe into UTI scam PM to inaugurate conference on WTO
Online share deals fall |
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SBI to focus on retail segment How to cope with
tardy colleagues Frogs hit German
development PowerGrid to set up network
Airlines to slash agents’ commission
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Sinha promises sops for IT hardware
New Delhi, August 18 “There are some issues relating to taxation which we will consider and provide relief either immediately or in the next Budget,” Sinha told reporters after a meeting with IT Minister Pramod Mahajan and industry representatives here. Sinha said the Centre had already announced some Customs and Excise relief in last Budget and pending issues would be considered now after consultation with respective ministries. E-governance was another issue that came up during the meeting, Sinha said, adding the government would soon set up a mechanism to monitor the 3 per cent expenditure by individual ministries in IT initiatives. The issues related to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) under the WTO obligations, were also taken up by the two ministries, although Sinha declined to elaborate the government’s stance. Some of the spot decisions taken today included simplification of export-import procedures, so that the industry is able to operate in a more congenial atmosphere, he said, adding that the government has decided to offer 24-hours facility in Customs procedures for hardware importers to reduce the time lag. The facility will be available in three sea ports (Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata), and in four airports (Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Goa). Sinha said the Customs in these specified places would work in two shifts in normal working days and in one shift on all holidays to facilitate trade, both export and import. “The overall objective of this exercise was to promote the growth and development of the hardware industry. We reinstated our commitment and agreed to work with the industry to ensure that growth takes place,” he added. Asked about taxation of e-commerce, Sinha said “it is a much more complex issue. We did not discuss it.” During the meeting Wipro chief Azim Premji offered his views on issues and problems impeding the industry’s growth. Other demands put by the industry today included no Customs bonding for software companies and export obligations to be considered company wise and not unit wise, amongst others. Nasscom Chairman Phiroz Vandrevala said the Finance Minister had taken stock of the demands of the industry. He, however, declined to divulge details. The meeting was also attended by the Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairman, Mr Sukumar Sankar, Infosys Chief Financial Officer, Mohan Das Pai and Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology representatives.
PTI
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JPC begins probe into UTI scam
Mumbai, August 18 Confirming the JPC’s initiative, senior UTI officials said: “We have received a questionnaire from the JPC members and our officials are currently busy in preparing submissions.” It was after a severe uproar in Parliament and persistent demands from the Opposition parties that the government entrusted the responsibility of probing into the scam to the existing JPC led by Mr Prakash Mani Tripathi, currently looking into the stock market scam. The UTI faced severe flak from large chunk of investors as well as common public after the arrest of former UTI chief P.S. Subramanyam and two of UTI’s Executive Directors by the Economic Offences wing of the CBI’s Mumbai bureau in connection with Rs 37 crore private placement scam. The former UTI chief’s decision to ban the sale and repurchase under the UTI’s flagship US-64 scheme had also affected around 20 million small investors. Although the UTI opened an exit window for the small unit holders from August 1, investors preferred to keep holding on to their units instead of selling them below their purchase price. The UTI had allowed the sale of upto 3,000 units to US-64 unit holders at a defined price of Rs 10.10 which was far lower than Rs 14.25, the average purchase price of the investors. Meanwhile, another three-member committee set by the Centre under the chairmanship of former RBI Governor S.S. Tarapore had also begun its enquiry into the collapse of US-64 scheme, the sources said. UNI
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PM to inaugurate conference on WTO New Delhi, August 18 The conference, being held in New Delhi on August 20 and 21, will address the concerns of the developing nations about the various agreements of the WTO so that appropriate strategies could be developed to utilise the opportunities available to the developing countries and meet the challenges posed by the system, the Chairman of the Trade Laws and WTO Committee of the ICAI, Mr Sunil Bhargava, told newspersons here today. Focus of the conference will also be on the emerging opportunities for professional assignments as a result of the implementation of the WTO regime, Mr Bhargava said. Besides the inaugural session, which will be inaugurated by the Prime
Minister, the conference will also feature six technical sessions with participation from experts from the UNCTAD, the Ministry of Commerce, industry associations, and professional and educational institutions. The Minister of Law Justice and Company Affairs, Mr Arun Jaitley, will address a special session on competition law and the Minister for Human Resources Development and Science and Technology, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, will deliver the valedictory address. |
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Online share deals fall London A survey of stockbrokers specialising in retail clients in the UK shows that the number of investors using the Internet to transact share deals is still rising but the volume of deals fell in the second quarter of this year. The number of investors dealing via the Internet rose by 20,000 people to 319,000 while the number of deals slumped from 775,000 to 625,000, according to the survey by ComPeer. It concluded: ``We believe that Internet sourced business, especially that transacted by active traders, has been especially badly affected by current market sentiment.'' Although online clients dealt on average only twice in the quarter, Brian Mairs, at the UK's Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers, said online trading was attractive to speculators because it was cheaper than other methods of share dealing. ``We are seeing more of them sitting back from the market. They don't see the opportunities because we are not getting the large volatile movements we had during the dot.com boom. Many investors are getting their first taste of a bear market. It's all a bit scary.'' He noted that while the number of deals was down compared with the height of the dot.com boom, they were well ahead of earlier volumes. The impact of falling markets has been particularly severe in Germany where the hi-tech Neuer Markt, which crashed with the collapse of the dot.com bubble, had attracted many new investors. Figures from Comdirect, Europe's biggest online broker, showed its biggest ever fall in trading activity and its slowest client growth in the second quarter of this year. Comdirect, which is 58 per cent owned by Commerzbank, clocked up pre-tax losses of Euros 26.6m ($23.9m). The company blamed weak markets and said the cost of expansion in Britain, France and Italy had affected its performance. Chief Executive Bernt Weber said the closure of one of the group's non-German businesses could not be ruled out. On Tuesday rival online broker Consors posted a second quarter loss of =db35.7m and warned that it would have to cut jobs in Germany. On Wednesday Comdirect said commission income — the money it makes from buying and selling shares for retail clients — fell by more than a fifth to Euros 22.9m ($ 20.6m) while the total of clients was up by only 2 per cent from the first quarter at 613,047 and the number of trades was down by just over 18 per cent. ``Given the bad situation in the markets that's no surprise,'' said a
spokesman. Heavy traders were active but ``are trading a bit less''. The number of premium clients, the heaviest users of Comdirect services, had also fallen slightly over the quarter.
By arrangement with The Guardian
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SBI to focus on retail segment Patiala, August 18 Addressing a press conference here, SBI Chairman Janaki Ballabh said the thrust areas would now be the retail segment, besides agriculture, small industry and trade and personal banking. He also stressed that the VRS was a thing of the past and would not be repeated again. Out of network of 723 branches and 97 extension counters of the bank, 260 branches constituting about 31.70 per cent of outlets were fully computerised at the end of March 2001. During the current year the bank planned to further computerise 110 branches besides 92 extension counters covering more than 80 per cent of the bank’s business and 60 per cent of the outlets. He said customer service had always been accorded top priority in the banks. He said to bring about further improvement working hours of computerised branches had been extended for all types of transactions. Mr Ballabh said seven-day banking had been introduced at important branches and single window delivery of all banking products has been introduced on pilot basis which will be extended to more branches.
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How to cope with
tardy colleagues London, August 18 2. DECIDE your own attitude to lateness. Either decide to be on time — or accept that meetings and appointments will nearly always drift. You cannot take a middle line — and you cannot tackle anyone else if you are sometimes late. 3. INTERPRET lateness. "It is showing a strong contempt for people," says Clare, who typically has five meetings a day. "It's regarded increasingly badly," says Jo Bond of the Right management consultancy. "You should think of colleagues as internal customers. Would you keep external customers waiting? No." Bad time-keepers are usually weak administrators— poor at making decisions, unable to say no to people they are with, incapable of critical path analysis and bad at setting priorities. 4.LET people know that meetings will start promptly. If you let them begin late, you are penalising the people who arrive on time. Do this more than once or twice, and you encourage everyone to be late. Resist temptations to recap for latecomers. You could, however, start your meeting with the least important item. 5 .GET punctual colleagues to explain their feelings to tardy ones. The early birds will almost certainly cooperate if, for instance, they arrived for an 8am meeting and were kept waiting for 40 minutes. 6. DON'T keep people waiting as a way of suggesting you are important. In Louise Bagshawe's new novel A Kept Woman, the anti-hero deliberately keeps the hero waiting for 30 minutes. When the hero walks out, he is exposed as a fool in front of senior executives.
The Observer |
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Frogs hit German
development Berlin Because of pressure from ecologists, a significant slice of the cost of the A20 is going on features to protect the amphibians' environment in the Baltic coastal wetlands. ``Nowadays building roads is far more than just concreting over a landscape,'' Mr Schroder said during an 11-day tour of east Germany. ``I have nothing against frogs, but sometimes the big fuss they cause is quite incredible.'' The Chancellor was inspecting a newly completed section of the A20 motorway, which will eventually run across the top of Germany from Lubek through Wismar, Rostock, Straslund and Greifswald to Stettin in Poland. The present Baltic road, left over from communist days, is a traffic bottleneck. The A20 construction chief told Mr Schroder that the frog movements in the area had been closely inspected throughout the building process. ``The sum we spend on environmental protection while building the roads is enormous,'' the Chancellor said. The motorway, the most expensive in German history, will stretch for 200 miles. It is due to be completed in 2005, having taken 14 years to build and cost $ 1.7bn. Ecologists, concerned about the potential loss of wildlife and wetlands, blocked its construction with numerous court challenges, and succeeded in getting parts of it rerouted. Mr Schroder was shown bridges and tunnels and dry and damp habitats created on both sides of the road for plants and wildlife.
By arrangement with The Guardian |
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PowerGrid to set up network New Delhi, August 18 The capacity for the inter-regional transfer of power would be augmented from about 5,000 MW at present to 30,000 MW by 2012, when the national grid is established. This was stated by the Minister of State for Power, Ms Jaywanti Mehta, in a conference organised by FICCI. PowerGrid has embarked upon the creation of telecom infrastructure, which is a high-growth area. The PSUs telecom link between Delhi to Mumbai is expected to be ready by March 2002, while its telecombackbone network, stretching over 14,000 km connecting 56 cities, would be ready for commercial use by December 2003 at an estimated cost of $225 million. |
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Airlines to slash agents’ commission International airlines operating through India will earn sizeable revenue and travel agents will be losers. All 40 plus airlines, including Air India and Indian Airlines, have unanimously decided to slash the commission to International Air Transport Association (IATA) agents from 9 per cent to 7 from September 1, 2001. The agents lodged a protest with the IATA which declined to interfere saying “take it or leave it” the offer made by the airlines. The 7 per cent commission scenario will also continue for only a few months. From 2002 or about, the agents will get no commission while airlines will make huge quantum of revenue which is being pocketed by the agents. The commission to agents will become “service charges”. The renowned agents will be the gainers while unscrupulous agents will have to close their “shop”. The rules pertaining to general sales agents (GSAs) will also be redrafted. As of now, they get 12 per cent. May be, from September 1, their commission will come down to 10 per cent. Why should Air India have GSAs when it has its own sales officers. In Delhi, for instance, there are two GSAs when there are many sales officers. If sales officers are made to work and commission to GSAs is saved, Air India can turn from rags-to-riches. There was time when Air India used to earn a sizeable revenue from foreign carriers for ground handling at international airports. But because of lethargy and inefficiency of Air India staff, many foreign carriers have severed their links with the national carrier. The Indian Airlines, which is spreading its wings on international circuit, has bagged ground-handling contract from Canada 3000 airlines, which will start operations in Delhi and Mumbai from October 1. Jet Airways is on the expansion spree. It will operate flights between Delhi and Ludhiana in addition to flights to Kolhapur, Bhopal and Jodhpur from Mumbai. |
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by Praful R. Desai
Suspension order Q: Can the HC interfere with the suspension order pending departmental enquiry? Ans: The SC in New India Assurance Co. Ltd, v S.M.I. Karim (2001-I.LLJ. 1700) observed thus: This appeal by New India Assurance Co. is against the judgement of the D.B. of the Allahabad H.C. in a writ petition filed challenging an order of suspension pending departmental enquiry. The SC was little shocked and surprised to find this order where the HC without indicating any reasons has directed that the Govt. servant shall be paid full salary, and allowances without even being compelled to discharge his duty. An order of suspension during the pendency of a departmental enquiry is ordinarily not interfered with by the HC in exercise of its jurisdiction U/Art. 226 of the Constitution until and unless the Court comes to a conclusion that the order has been mala fidely passed; or that the appropriate authority has not passed the order of suspension. In the aforesaid circumstances, the SC held that there is no other alternative than to quash the impugned direction of the HC. It was seen in this case that the respondent who has been suspended shall continue to get the subsistance allowance in accordance with the rules. It is needless to point out, said the SC, if the delinquent does not co-operate notwithstanding due opportunities having been given, there would be no bar for the enquiry officer to proceed ex parte and conclude the proceedings within the time-frame given by a court. |
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by A.K. Sachdeva Q: We are engaged in the business of packing materials in Punjab being a dealer registered under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Kindly enlighten us over the amendments the Punjab Government has recently carried out in the provisions of law relating to first-stage sales tax on packing materials. We also wish to know the precise date of coming into force of the relevant notification in this context. Adarsh Trading Co., Ludhiana Ans: Taking recourse to the delegated-legislative powers conferred by sub-section (1-A) of Section 5 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, the State Government introduced the following entry in place of the existing entry No. 3: “Packing material including gunny bags, carry bags, bags and packs made of HDPE and LDPE, Hessian cloth, corrugated and wooden boxes, plastic and tin containers including barrels, cardboard boxes and thermocol packs used for packing only.” The aforesaid entry has been inserted vide notification No. S.O. 22/P.A. 46/48/S. 5/Amd/2001 dated May 11, 2001 and it comes into operation from the date of its publication in the official gazette. Q: Can the sales tax authorities exercising the powers relating to roadside checking under Section 37 of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 call for the production of account books of an assessee? If the assessee does not comply with the directions so issued, what are the consequences under statutory provisions for such a failure? Kindly advise in detail. R.K. Srivistava, Kurukshetra Ans: Sub-section (2) of Section 37 of the Haryana General Salex Tax Act, 1973 requires no more than the production of three-sets of documents such as a goods carrier record, a trip sheet or logbook, alongwith a challan, as may be prescribed, and cash memorandum or bill of sale or delivery note, as the case may be. It is further provided in this sub-section that the owner or person incharge of the goods, when the goods are carried by a goods carrier, shall produce these documents before an officer incharge of a checkpost or barrier or any other officer of the department not below the rank of an Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer or such other officer, as the State Government may, by notification, appoint, checking the goods carrier at any other place...” As per sub-section (3) of section 37, the owner or person incharge of the goods shall stop the goods carrier and keep it stationary, as long as may reasonably be necessary, and allow the officer incharge of the check-post or barrier or the officer as aforesaid to examine the goods carried by him or in the goods carrier, by breaking open the package or packages, if necessary, and inspect all records relating to the goods carrier which are in the possession of such owner or person-incharge or of the driver or other person incharge of the goods carrier who shall also furnish such other information as may be required by the aforesaid officer, who, if considered necessary, may also search the goods carrier and the driver or other person incharge of the goods carrier or of the goods. |
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Philips monitor HP apple juice Decision hailed SBI loan mela CII seminar Golden rice Foreign currency |
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