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Friday,
March 29, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Economic
growth in Q3 up at 6.3 pc FM
non-committal on tax rollback Sinha
takes blame for BJP’s defeat PSUs tie
up to market Reliance petro products WLL starts
in Shimla Industrialists
get state awards |
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HC
reserves judgement on ICICI merger Gold
touches 5-year high at 5010 Edge
opens offices in Punjab Bicycle
R&D centre awaits govt’s grant Workshop
to promote regional tourism Hafed
takes up web-based project LETTERS
Bayer
to pay 20 pc
Govt to
simplify tax administration
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Economic growth in Q3 up at 6.3 pc
New Delhi, March 28 Showing continuous signs of improvement in the current financial year agriculture and allied activities registered a growth of 7.1 per cent during October-December over decline of 0.8 per cent in the same quarter in 2000-01, according to the quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released by government today. Agriculture sector had posted a growth rate of 2.3 per cent in the first quarter, 3.4 per cent in the second quarter followed by 7.1 per cent in the quarter under consideration. Manufacturing sector, however, continues to be in the grip of slowdown growing at mere 2.8 per cent in the third quarter as against 7.1 per cent during the comparative periods, the estimates revealed. Besides agriculture, other sectors which contributed to the improved growth of 6.3 per cent during October-December include trade, hotels, transport and communication which registered a combined growth rate of 6.9 per cent over 4.8 per cent last year. Financing, insurance, real estate and business services posted a growth of double digit of 10 per cent in the third quarter compared to only 2.1 per cent in the same period last year, the GDP estimates said. Community, social and personal services also improved to 6.1 per cent in the third quarter over 5 per cent in the same period last year. Construction activity, which is considered to be the engine of economic growth or known as an indicator of revival, registered a lower growth of 5.3 per cent in the period under consideration compared to 7.2 per cent last year. It can be recalled that government, in the Economic Survey for 2001-02, has projected an economic growth of 5.4 per cent during the current financial year. As per the GDP estimates for the third quarter, the economic growth during the first two quarters of 2001-02 stood at 4.4 and 5.3 per cent respectively.
PTI
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FM non-committal on tax rollback
New Delhi, March 28 Sinha was non-committal on rollback of dividend tax and excise duty cuts as demanded by industry, saying “whatever I have to say on this I will do so in Parliament when Finance Bill is taken up for discussion. Asked if he expected a cut in bank rate by RBI, Sinha said it was for the RBI to decide. “My duty is to form the fiscal policy and it is RBI’s duty to form the monetary policy,” he said, adding it was for RBI to decide if the situation is conducive for it. “The government has deliberately adopted a policy of softer rates as the industry was complaining that they could not be competitive if interest rates in India are high,” he told reporters at the launch of smart cards and Internet banking by Corporation Bank. “Whatever we do with interest rates, there will be a large gap in bank rate and lending rates if transaction costs were not reduced by banks, he added.
PTI
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Sinha takes blame for BJP’s defeat
New Delhi, March 28 Reacting to the statements of local BJP leaders blaming the harsh Budget as the main reason behind the party getting only 16 seats in the 134-member MCD, Mr Sinha said, "ho sakta hai aisa hua ho (it could be possible)." "Finance Minister and cheap populism are mutually antagonistic. When the situation is difficult, the Finance Minister has to take hard decisions and also has to pay for them,’’ he said while defending the Budget. Mr Sinha parried questions regarding any change in Budget proposals and said he was not in a position to say anything on this matter as all the decisions would be taken during the discussion on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha. When pointed out that cooking gas prices had already been reduced, he said the issue of subsidy on cooking gas, kerosene and chemical fertilisers was not directly related to the Finance Bill. Regarding the reduction in interest rates, he said this decision was the prerogative of the Reserve Bank of India.
UNI
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PSUs tie up to market Reliance petro products
New Delhi, March 28 "I am very glad that we have resolved amicably the issue of evacuating the products from Reliance's Jamnagar (Gujarat) Refinery in post-APM period to the benefit of IOC, oil industry and Reliance," IOC Chairman M.A. Pathan said after signing of the deal. The deal, envisaging lifting about 7.5 million tonnes product by IOC and the balance by Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, does not have the contentious clause of 'take or pay' which makes it mandatory for the oil PSUs to pay for the committed product with or without marketing. The agreement was signed by IOC's marketing director R.C. Agarwal, HPCL's Director (Marketing) N.K. Puri, BPCL's Behuria and RPL's Director Nikhil Meswani.
PTI
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WLL starts in Shimla
Shimla, March 28 Mr B.R, Kashyap, General Manager, said that the present capacity of the system is 500 lines, which will be augmented by further 500 lines in next financial year. Priority will be given to the new VPT’s and replacement of faulty MARR VPT’s, pending out of turn connection, technically non feasible areas and remaining connection will be offered for limited mobility on first come first serve basis.
TNS
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Industrialists
get state awards Chandigarh, March 28 Mr Rajiv Gupta of United Sales was conferred with first prize for achieving excellence in industrial growth, whereas second and third prizes went to Mr P.D. Mongia of M/s Mongia & Company and Mr Kirpal Singh Chadha of M/s Bhagat Graphics, respectively. While talking to the entrepreneurs, Ms Nanda said that the Administration was in the process of looking into the matter of converting lease based commercial sites into free hold. She hoped that in the coming years there would be more participation and nominee for the coveted awards. The Adviser also stressed the need to further provide all support to strengthen industrial growth as 15 big and 3000 small industrial units provided employment to about 25000 persons. She further revealed that the U.T. Administration would further improve basic infrastructural facilities like power and raw material, and single window clearance for the betterment of industries will also be made. Mr G.K. Marwah, Secretary, Industries, gave details of the achievements of the industries department in boosting industrial growth in the city. CITCO Managing Director S.P. Singh was also present among
others.
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HC reserves judgement on ICICI merger
Mumbai, March 28 After hearing both the sides in the matter, Justice D.K. Deshmukh observed that the swap ratio of 1:2 for the merger of ICICI Ltd and ICICI Bank had been suggested by independent valuers. “It is a technical matter and unless the court finds that such valuation is incorrect or fraudulant, it will not interfere into it.” The court has received altogether seven objections, challenging various decisions pertaining to the merger and will deliver the final judgement on April 11. Defending the small investors, Mr G.S. Reddy, who is also one of the petitioner, contended that the swap ratio finalised by the independent valuers appointed by ICICI was against the interest of small investors.
UNI
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Gold touches 5-year high at 5010
Mumbai, March 28 Silver also staged a steep rally in line with gold. In New York, the yellow metal had shot up to touch a six-week high of $ 303.10 per troy ounce on Wednesday due to heavy speculative fund buying ahead of the Easter holidays at the Comex division, traders said.
PTI
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Edge opens offices in Punjab Chandigarh, March 28 Mr Anil Manocha, senior vice-president said the company will also conduct free seminars-cum- counselling sessions on immigration and education for prospective immigrants and students aiming for higher studies abroad. “We will focus on the knowledge and skill development of our clients alongwith the post landing facilities with a special emphasis on high quality service”, said Col Cheema, President of the company.
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Bicycle R&D centre awaits govt’s grant Ludhiana, March 28 The officials at the centre said they had not received any grant from the state government since 1992, when the state government had decided to change the board of directors by giving 70 per cent representation to the local industry. The annual expenditure of the centre was around Rs 1.5 crore and it was struggling to meet its expenses by executing small job work for the industry, instead of concentrating on research work. Mr B.S. Sangha, General Manager of the centre, says,‘‘ Despite the government decision to stop all grants, we have managed to run the institute by doing specialised job work and providing consultancy services to the industry. Our annual revenue from these services has increased from Rs 99 lakh to Rs 1.6 crore over the past four years. Further, we have started a polytechnic to provide technical education to 120 students in mechanical and production engineering. The expenses on this venture, of about Rs 25 lakh per annum are also met out of students’ fees. The institute, which has assets worth more than Rs 15 crore, is waiting for the present government’s attention. ’’ The institute, set up in 1982 to provide technical know-how to the bicycle and sewing machine industry, is passing through a critical phase. The research and development work has suffered badly due to lack of adequate infrastructure. Illustrating his point, Mr Sangha says,‘‘ We have developed special free wheel BP cups and hubs, through cold forging technology, but due to lack of specific presses, we have to often run to Delhi, resulting in delay in the implementation of the project.’’ The contribution of the centre has been widely recognised by the small and export manufacturers. All leading manufacturers, including Bhogals, Hero Group, Avon, Safari and others are in the governing body of the centre. According to
sources, a grant of Rs 1 crore has been recently sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Commerce for the development of the centre. However, this grant will be given only through the state government and may hence may take some time. The officials say that the state government should also sanction the promised grant of about Rs 7 crore so that institute is able to become self-sufficient.
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Workshop to promote regional tourism New Delhi, March 28 Giving details of the workshop, coordinator of 9th South Asian Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) Navin Berry said the workshop as well as the four-day SATTE would be attended by the SAARC Secretary General, a number of ministers from South Asian and East Asian nations and about 500 buyers, including 150 from the USA. SATTE is aiming to become a generic tourism and travel show like the ITB in Berlin and the WTM in London, Mr Berry said adding that the event this year has got added recognition because the WTO Secretary-General, who inaugurated the ITB and the WTM, would also inaugurate the 9th SATTE at the Pragati Maidan here on April 18. The major objectives of the workshop were to carry out an on objective situation analysis of the current tourism scenario in Asia, particularly in South Asia, identify impediments in promotion of regional tourism, and come up with a set of conclusions and recommendations including policy and strategic measures, which must be adopted by the public and private sectors alike, Mr Berry said.
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Hafed takes up web-based project Chandigarh, March 28 While stating this here yesterday, a spokesman for Hafed said the federation had taken a major web-based
agri-project, "Integrated commodity procurement management system". This package covered entire gamut of operations consisting of pre-procurement planning, procurement operations, stocking, processing and disposal or deliveries of foodgrains being procured by
Hafed. It also covered the analysis of the sales of consumer products. The project had been developed by Telecommunications Consultants India Limited, Delhi, a Government of India enterprise, after detailed study of all related manual processes of Hafed at head office.
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LETTERS The publication on 3-9-2001 of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2001 led to widespread rumours that the 1988 enacted law, which made “dishonouring of cheques” a criminal offence entailing
imprisonment or fine or both, has been repealed. As a matter of fact, the provisions of sections 138 to 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (hereinafter called the Act) have not been repealed by the Repealing and Amending Act, 2001. Rather, the Central Government is determined to deal with the offenders who dishonour their cheques with heavier hand. All concerned have found the existing provisions of Sections 138 to 142 of the Act deficient, punishment inadequate and the procedure cumbersome and dilatory. To remove these problems, the Central Government on 24-7-2001 has already introduced in the Parliament Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2001 vide which the Government proposes to amend the existing Sections 138 and 142 of the Act and insert new Sections 143 to 147 in it with an object to, inter alia, increase the imprisonment for dishonouring a cheque from one year to two years, to try these cases summarily, make the hearing of such cases from day-to-day and their conclusion within six months, taking of evidence by affidavit, persumption of bank’s memo of dishonour as prima facie evidence and last but not least making the offence compoundable, thus, giving the parties option to compromise during pendency of the case. The ‘Repeal Hoax’ of Section 138 was caused due to misreading or non-reading of Section 4 (Savings clause) of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2001. The enacting of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2001 is a part of the periodical procedure adopted by the legislature to repeal, inter alia, a large number of Amendment Acts which have already achieved their purpose of injecting the amendment in the basic Acts. Thereafter these Amendment Acts become redundant, not needed on the Statute Book and are repealed without affecting the amendments they have made, applied or incorporated in the basic Acts. Similar Repealing and Amending Acts were also passed in 1988, 1978 and earlier. Hari Mittar Sharma, Advocate Ludhiana
Tailpiece This is the conversation that followed after I rang up a branch of State Bank of India in Ludhiana:— “Namaskar, Sir” “Baithe nahi hain” “Sir, main to aap ko namaskar kar raha hoon” “Kaha na baithe nahi hain” And the telephone closed. Er Lakhbir S.
Gill Ludhiana |
cr
Bayer to pay 20 pc Mumbai, March 28 The board of directors have recommended a dividend of 20 per cent, same as last year, the company said in a release here today. Sales and other operating income was higher by 12 per cent at Rs 700.26 crore in reporting year as against Rs 623.89 crore in 2000, it said. Managing director Dieter Kambeck said “while Bayer India fared comparatively well in 2001, given the difficult market conditions, we are preparing ourselves for a challenging and demanding year 2002. We will continue to enhance our presence here by streamlining and focussing our product portfolio to cater to growing demands”.
Sun F&C MF Sun F&C Mutual Fund today declared dividend for its money value fund-liquid option (dividend plan), monthly income plan (monthly and quarterly dividend plans) and monthly fixed maturity plan-I. The dividend declared under Sun F&C money value fund-liquid option is Rs 2.75 per unit on face value of Rs 10; Re 0.08 per unit per unit on face value of Rs 10 for the monthly income plan. Under the monthly income plan an additional dividend of 0.50 per cent has been declared due to good performance of the scheme. In case of the monthly fixed maturity plan -I, dividend declared is 0.275 per cent.
Agencies |
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Govt to simplify tax administration Mumbai, March 28 “We have restructured the cadre (for tax officials) and with more senior level openings, the government expects speedy decision-making in tax matters,” Ramachandran said, inaugurating the interactive voice response system (IVRS) of the income tax department here. Referring to IT revenue collections from Mumbai, the minister said they stood at Rs 21,400 crore (as on March 28), marginally higher than about Rs 21,200 crore in the same period last fiscal. Income Tax Chief Commissioner Pradip Saxena said tax returns filed by salaried individuals would now be processed at a Central location and refund advice would be generated by computers.
PTI
ITDC eyes Rs 115 cr turnover New Delhi: Eyeing a Rs 115-crore turnover for next fiscal, the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is revamping its duty-free retail business at Delhi international airport and is set to launch an exclusive wine corner and perfume and cosmetic boutique. ITDC’s duty-free sales that declined following the steep fall in passengers’ traffic after the September 11 incidents has already roped in international perfume houses, including Chanel, Estee-Lauder, Parmobel, L’Oreal, Gucci and Givenchy, for its perfume and cosmetic boutique to be opened at Delhi international airport next month.
PTI
Enhance stake in research: PM New Delhi, March 28 This was despite an increased support from the government to the Research and Development. Mr Vajpayee stressed on efforts for forging a new interface between government and private sector while speaking at the annual general meeting of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) here. The government will fully support such bold and creative initiatives, he added.
UNI
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Markets closed Price index PNB branches Exemption sought HDFC branch Dr Reddy’s |
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