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Saturday,
March 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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6
infrastructure sectors show signs of revival More entry
points for Nepal agri-products U.S. IT
body opposes bar on non-citizens Russia
approves transport corridor |
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Oberoi
hotels ‘most popular’ LETTERS
Biotechnology
next to IT
Pepsi
launches lemon cola
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6 infrastructure sectors show signs of revival New Delhi, March 22 Buoyed by a impressive growth rates in cement and coal the six infrastructure industries registered a cumulative growth of 4.9 per cent during the month of February as compared to negative one per cent growth in the corresponding month last year. Reflecting sustained signs of turnaround, six infrastructure industries clocked a growth of 4.2 per cent in December 2001, 5.9 per cent in January 2002, and 4.9 per cent in February this year, the figures said. Except for crude oil production and petroleum refinery products, all other sectors — coal, electricity, cement and finished steel — showed significant increase in growth rates during the third month in succession. The cumulative growth of six infrastructure industries during the 11 months of 2001-02 (April-February) stood at 2.7 per cent as against 5.6 per cent growth registered in the corresponding period of 2000-01. Growth in February was led by cement which posted a growth of 21.2 per cent as against a negative growth rate of 10.7 per cent in the same month last year. Coal production grew 8.3 per cent in February 2002 compared to negative growth of 3.8 per cent in the corresponding month last year. The growth of petroleum refinery products declined to 0.3 per cent in February 2002, compared to 4.5 per cent growth registered in the same month last year.
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More entry points for Nepal agri-products New Delhi, March 22 This assurance was given by Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh when a business delegation led by Mr Ravi Bhakta Shresta, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry called on him here today and discussed measures to facilitate Indo-Nepal trade and investment. Pointing out that at present there is only one authorised entry point for agriculture-based products after the imposition of quarantine rule by India, the delegation said it is creating problem for farmers of Nepal to export their products. They suggested that some more entry points should be allowed for such products. The Nepalese delegation also suggested that besides the existing laboratory facility at Raxaul, additional laboratory facilities for testing of samples for drug and cosmetic products should be set up to facilitate export of such products from Nepal. It also suggested that branded products should be allowed to enter India without the need for testing each and every consignment.
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U.S. IT body opposes bar on non-citizens
Washington, March 22 The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) said non-citizens had made invaluable contributions to U.S. military technologies and most leaks had occurred from citizens rather than non-citizens. In a letter to the Defence Department's division on Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, ITAA President Harris Miller said the costs and benefits of such a policy should be examined thoroughly and publicly. "This proposal would be a significant expansion of current restrictions," Miller says in his letter addressed to the Under Secretary of Defence Edward Aldridge. The implications could be substantial, said Miller who heads a body that consists of more than 500 corporate members throughout the USA. "America's defence readiness depends on having ready access to the best available technology and technical skill sets. Precipitous action here could make it much more difficult and expensive for the military services to acquire the requisite IT services," Miller warned. There has not been public discussion of the risks posed by non-citizens or the potential consequences of implementing such a change, he points out. "Overly restrictive personnel policies could undermine the nation's long-term security," Miller adds. "And as President Bush has constantly reminded the nation since the tragic events of September 11, we as a country should not become xenophobic because of those terrorists who attacked New York City and the Pentagon," he added. Public policy must be based on real world actions and tangible threats — not supposition and innuendo, Miller asserted. "Non-citizens have repeatedly played a critical role in developing and refining U.S. military technologies." During the 1990s, citizens perpetrated several of the most damaging intelligence leaks in U.S. history, the letter maintains. He urged the Department of Defence and other military services "to conduct a full and public assessment of the advantages and risks posed by the current policy and alternative methods to address any concerns." For this he offered the services of ITAA and a global network of 47 countries' IT associations. The association had been at the forefront of issues of the IT industry concern, including information security, taxes and finance policy, digital intellectual property protection, telecommunications competition, workforce and education, immigration, online privacy and consumer protection, government IT procurement, human resources and e-commerce policy. The USA is the world leader in information and communications technology (ICT) products and services, representing almost 35 percent of global spending. USA spending on ICT has increased almost 70 per cent since 1992, to almost $762 billion in 1999. The USA is also one of the world's largest per capita ICT spending
nations. Approximately 10.4 million people earn their living performing IT jobs.
IANS
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Russia approves transport corridor
Moscow, March 22 President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill ratifying a trilateral agreement on development of the international transport corridor joining the Indian port of Mumbai with Russia’s Caspian Sea port Astrakhan via the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas after months of political negotiations and intense lobbying. India, Russia and Iran had signed an agreement at the international transport conference held in St Petersburg in September 2000 for developing the north-south transport corridor. It will be a route for Indian cargo shipped to Russia and Russian cargo shipped to India, and would constitute an alternative transit route between Asia and Europe. Transit time for cargo coming from Mumbai to Russia through this corridor will be 10-12 days less than the traditional route via Finland. Apart from saving delivery time, shipping cargo through this corridor would reduce operation charges by about 20 per cent. The corridor is already functional, and hundreds of containers from India to Russia and vice versa have moved through this channel. “With hundreds of containers from India moving successfully through this corridor to Russia during past few months, Indian exporters feel confident about the reliability of the channel,” said an Indian diplomatic source here. The number of containers moving through this corridor at present is around 1,000-1,500, much below its capacity, say experts, who believe the turnover through the route could well reach $10 billion per annum, with India, Russia and Iran being the main beneficiaries. A rail link between Russia and Iran has also been proposed in the framework of the corridor, which will acquire strategic dimension in course of time. New members can join the corridor after the agreement is ratified by India, Russia and Iran, who initiated the project. The international transport corridor can be extended up to Helsinki via St Petersburg and then to other European capitals in the future.
IANS
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Oberoi hotels
‘most popular’ New Delhi, March 21 The respondents, primarily senior business executives from multi- national companies, were asked to name the hotel with the best quality services across various cities in Asia. In India, the Oberoi group won in three of the four cities polled — New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The votes are based on an exhaustive survey that takes location, good in-room facilities, personalised customer services, hi-tech business equipment and good English communication skills, amongst others, as the top considerations for a first-class business hotel.
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LETTERS The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced increase in the rentals for the commercial subscribers of telephone by upto 33 per cent from April 1, 2002, besides decreasing the number of free calls drastically which is also an indirect extra burden on the subscribers. The news has come as a bolt from the blue for the common subscribers. Apparently this increase has been made to cover up the loss incurred due to slashing of STD rates upto 62 per cent from 14.1.2002. STD calls are made by the rich business community. So the government has benefited them at the cost of common subscribers. Apart from giving heavy doses of taxes in the annual Budget, the rates of almost all the public utility services are increased every now and then throughout the year. The menace of inflation is growing rapidly and unabated. The common man is finding difficult to have even both ends meals. The tall claims of the government to provide telephones at affordable rates have belied. The news report published in The Tribune dt March 16 the word “exchange capacity” was repeatedly mentioned to give the impression that telephone rentals are charged on the basis of capacities of the telephone exchanges. The word “exchange capacity” was also used on earlier occasions whenever the government revised the telephone tariffs. High rentals are charged from the telephone subscribers. Logically rentals should be charged on the basis of capacities of the exchanges. The department should remove this anomaly and charge rentals on the basis of capacities of exchanges. The Central Government should intervene in the matter and order the TRAI to roll back the hike in telephone rentals which is to be effective from 1.4.2002, keeping in view the larger interests of the common subscribers. D.P. Jindal Mandi Gobindgarh Restore tax rebate Last year, the Finance Minister of India has given the relief of Rs 1,000 by raising the limit of standard deduction from Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000. Contrary to this concession, the Finance Minister has taken away Rs 8,490. Rs 8760 from the salaries drawing Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 2 lakh in the current Budget proposals, which is highly deplorable. The minister has really robbed the salaried personnels and the Prime Minister has too branded the Budget a bold one and patted the F.M. on this account. Will the Prime Minister and Finance Minister of India be kind enough at least to restore the IT rebate to the original 20 per cent upto income of Rs 2.50 lakh, otherwise the salaried will be fully crushed in the years to come as the NDA Government led by BJP is yet to present two more successive harsh Budgets. Manjit Es. Hanjra Shahpurkandi Township
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