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Saturday,
March 22, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Infrastructure growth rate dips
Oil slides to
3-month low
Saudi Arabia assures supplies
Hike in Maruti car prices soon: MD |
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PAN allotment in 10 days: CBDT
Law must to end PSEB monopoly
SEBI guidelines on seizure powers soon
NIIT to offer training on Oracle
Caliber 115 to cost 40,640
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Infrastructure growth rate dips to 3.9%
New Delhi, March 21 The aggregate growth in six infrastructure industries — crude petroleum, petro refining, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel — was still at 5.2 per cent during April-February this fiscal compared to 3.2 per cent in the year-ago period, according to official data released today. According to official estimates, the petroleum refining sector posted a dramatic rebound registering 7.1 per cent growth last month compared to a negative growth of 0.1 per cent while crude production flared up by 4.9 per cent from a negative 0.3 per cent during February 2002. During the first 11 months, the crude production was up by 3.5 per cent compared to a negative growth of 1.7 per cent in the year-ago period. In case of the refining sector, the growth remained same at 4.4 per cent. Finished steel production also surged by 8.4 per cent during the last month compared to 5.8 per cent a year ago but the other three sectors — electricity, coal and cement witnessed a slump. Steel output was up by 7.8 per cent during April-February this fiscal compared to 3.7 per cent a year ago. The cement sector witnessed a lower growth of 5.2 per cent in February as against a handsome 19.6 per cent a year ago. During the last 11 months, the cement sector posted a robust 9.2 per cent growth compared to 7.1 per cent in the year-ago period. Coal production grew by only 1 per cent as against 4.6 per cent a year ago. The production was lower at 4 per cent in the first 11 months as compared to 4.2 per cent in April-February 2001-02. Electricity generation also grew by a meagre 0.1 per cent compared to a 2.9 per cent in February, 2002. The overall growth was 3.5 per cent in the last 11 months compared to 2.9 per cent in the year-ago period.
PTI
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Oil slides to
3-month low
London, March 21 Benchmark Brent crude oil fell 42 cents to $ 25.08 per barrel by mid-morning in London, having touched a three-month low of # 24.80 US crude futures also plumbed fresh three-month lows, down 43 cents to $ 27.69. Oil has lost 26 to 27 per cent of its value in a week. OPEC exporters, especially US ally Saudi Arabia, have hiked output dramatically over the past few months, first to cover a strike in Venezuela and then to cool a price spike since December fuelled by war fears. Drollas said OPEC was now pumping 300,000 barrels per day more oil than it was in November, when Venezuela and Iraq were both pumping at full capacity.
Reuters
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Saudi Arabia assures supplies New Delhi, March 21 Sources here said the Red Sea route could be used in case the Persian Gulf route was blocked if the conflict was triggered by Iraq to other parts in the region. Saudi Arabia is the biggest supplier of crude oil to India accounting for 13.321 million tonnes of the total 78.706 million tonnes of the total crude oil imports to the country in 2001-02. Kuwait supplied 11.958 million tonnes, Iran accounted for 8,448 million tonnes .
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Hike in Maruti car prices soon: MD
Chennai, March 21 “A price revision is not very far off”, Khattar told reporters without divulging the quantum of the proposed hike. He said input costs had of late increased by at least 2 per cent, mainly due to the frequent upsurge in prices of core manufacturing materials like steel, in the last six months. The prices of aluminium, rubber and diesel had also gone up considerably, he said, adding that there was a limit to how much the company could withstand the input cost pressure. The company was yet to work out the proposed hike and felt that it would be difficult to pass on the whole 2 per cent increase in input cost to the consumer. Khattar said the company would launch Suzuki’s premium passenger car model “Grand Vitara”, as CBUs (Completely Built-in Units) next month in the Indian market. The price of this imported model was yet to be decided, he said, adding that “according to media speculations, it will cost around Rs 20 lakh”. In view of the stiff competition from the emerging new players in the passenger car market, the company’s latest strategy was to cover more cities through its “truevalue” outlets and open dealerships in all centres, where Maruti’s nearest competitors had their presence. The recently launched “truevalue” outlets dealing with Maruti second-hand cars were fast getting popular and the company planned to have a total of 50 such outlets by this month end and about 1,000 by the year end across the country.
PTI
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PAN allotment in 10 days: CBDT
Yamunanagar, March 21 He said now the department had setup machinery to ensure that PAN was allotted to assessees within 10 days. He said now the pendency of non-allotted PAN was minimum. The government had reduced a number of forms to give better service to the tax payers. In case of TDS there were 42 forms, which had been reduced to 22 now. Now there would be electronic filing of returns. By sitting at home any assessee could file their return on their computer. It would be operational from 2003-04. Mr Saxena said the taxpayers do not require any clearance from the Income Tax Department if they were to go abroad. Only passport holder would be provided PAN. Mrs Baljit Bains, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Haryana Region, said that department would construct its own building everywhere in the state. The construction of office in Sirsa, Karnal and Hisar had already been undertaken. Mr B.S. Dhillon, Commissioner of Income Tax, Panchkula, Mrs Vimal Vashisht, Commissioner, Income Tax, Karnal, Mr Rajinder Singh, Joint Income Tax Commissioner, Yamunanagar were also present. Mr Saxena honoured Mr Jai Bhagwan Garg who is one of the oldest surviving tax payer of the district, has been on roles of the department since pre-independence.
OC
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Law must to end PSEB monopoly Chandigarh, March 21 He was here to participate in a panel discussion on “Competitive and Resurgent Punjab,’’ organised by the CII here today. He said law was necessary to end the monopoly of the PSEB in power transmission, distribution and generation, which had caused high T&D losses, power pilferage, erratic and inadequate power supply to the rural sector Making a presentation on “Power Reforms in Punjab,’’ Mr Haldea said the monolithic and monopolistic structure of the board had caused huge financial losses to the state, besides inefficient management and higher cost of power to the industrial and other sectors. He claimed that more than three lakh farmers in the state were still waiting for power connections. He said the committee had recommended to continue subsidy to the farm sector but not at the cost of industrial and other consumers. The state government could directly provide subsidy to the farmers, he said. Similarly, he added, the committee had recommended not to resort to the retrenchment of employees, rather to make them accountable and offer incentives for better performers. Among others, Mr Rajan Kashyap, Principal Secretary, Power and Reforms, Punjab, Mr S.K. Sandhu, Director, Department of Industries and Commerce, Mr S.P. Oswal, Chairman, CII Punjab State Council, Mr S.K. Bijlani, Chairman, CII Northern Region, Mr Harpal Singh, Chairman, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, and Mr B.S. Mann, National President, BKU also participated in the panel discussion.
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SEBI guidelines on seizure powers soon New Delhi, March 21 “SEBI will soon issue transparent guidelines on search and seizure powers as it has been provided in the SEBI Amendment Act,” he said. Seeking to allay fears of the industry that the search and seizure powers can be misutilised to harass companies, he said “there will be adequate safeguards as it cannot be whimsical in carrying out such procedures.” The proposed guidelines will provide the details of who can authorise the search procedures and other modalities. Emphasising the strict penal measures for misuse of insider trading, he said SEBI is working towards judicious implementation of the amendments announced recently so as to ensure that all manipulative instances are dealt with severely. He said the appellate mechanism has been simplified and one appellate layer has been removed. The order of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) is now appealable before the Supreme Court instead of a high court. Mr P.K. Jain, President, PHDCCI stressed the effective governance of the capital market and said ensuring market efficiency was a major challenge before the regulator as well as the market participants. It was important to give the assurance to investors that they were placed on an equal footing and that they would be protected against any misuse of inside information. Insider trading led to undermining of investors’ confidence in the fairness and integrity of the market. Therefore, detection and prosecution of insider trading violations had to be an enforcement priority to promote an active securities market and attract international investment, Mr Jain said.
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NIIT to offer training on Oracle New Delhi, March 21 Mr Pradeep Narayanan, Head of NIIT Education and Training, said the NIIT-Oracle partnership would create a specialised pool of IT professionals who would play a major role in bridging the skills gap in the advanced Oracle technologies. “NIIT’s ability to deliver high quality IT education makes it an ideal partner in Oracle India’s effort to offer the right technology skills, adding to the long-term global competitiveness of Indian IT professionals”,
said Mr Tapas Roy, Director-Education, Oracle India. The Authorised Education Partner status given to NIIT would enable it to cater to the growing demand for the latest Oracle
technologies. By leveraging the rich experience and expertise of the two companies in creating new technologies and providing high quality training, this relationship aimed at elevating the standard of professional training services in India. NIIT would also offer testing and certification facilities at special prices to the students who successfully complete their training. NIIT already has an ongoing partnership with Oracle and it is implementing systems integration solutions for customers in India. NIIT is also one of the first re-sellers of Oracle e-Business Suite in the Asia Pacific region and has extensive experience in implementing Oracle software solutions. Nirma okays merger The Board of Nirma Ltd today approved the merger of Soap Stone manufacturing activities and brand division of Nirma Industries Ltd (NIL) with the company and decided to issue 15 non-convertible preference shares of Rs 100 each of Nirma for every single NIL’s fully paid-up equity share of face value Rs 100. As per the scheme, all assets and liabilities relating to these two divisions will vest with the company from February 1, 2003, the proposed appointed date for the restructuring, Nirma informed the BSE. In consideration for such transfer, the company will issue 6 per cent non-cumulative non-convertible preference shares of Rs 100 each.
Sail export grows SAIL has earned over Rs 400 crore through export of more than 300,000 tonnes since December and hopes to end the financial year with Rs 1,000 crore. SAIL sources said the organisation recorded highest ever exports of HR coils, GP coils, wire rods and billets during the period. Plates, CR coils/sheets and TMT bars found more takers in the international market.
Blue Star Blue Star (BSL) is considering selling its holding in Yokogawa Blue Star to its joint venture partner Yokogawa Electric Corporation of Japan. The BSL Board will consider this proposal at the meeting scheduled on March 27, the company informed the BSE today. The net profit and sales for the nine-month period ended December, 2002, stood at Rs 2.34 crore (net loss of Rs 1.97 crore for April-December, 2001) and Rs 86.44 crore (Rs 90.43 crore).
Agencies
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Caliber 115 to cost 40,640 Panchkula, March 21 Priced at Rs 40,640 (ex-showroom Chandigarh) the bike offers an awesome power of 9.5 bhp, and an amazing mileage of 90 kmpl, he said. Developed under Kawasaki product platform, Caliber 115 is being launched across the country over the next one week.
TNS
Taxable 8 pc savings bond soon NEW DELHI:
Government will soon issue taxable Savings Bonds offering an interest rate of 8 per cent without any investment ceiling to mop up Rs 6,500 crore next fiscal. The bonds, which will replace the 8 per cent tax-free bonds with an investment ceiling up to Rs 2 lakh, will be announced within two days, official sources said here today.
PTI
Serum drug for prostate problem NEW DELHI:
Serum International today launched a novel drug — Pyginal — for Benign Prostate Hypertrophy (BPH) , an age-related prostate gland problem. The new medicine priced at Rs 75 for 10 capsules has to be consumed in a dose of two capsules per day for three months to reduce the size of prostate and relieve the symptoms of BPH.
UNI
More facilities for Spice users CHANDIGARH:
Spice Telecom today announced that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with India’s leading portal www.123india.com. With this tie-up, a spice subscriber will be able to send an SMS to 7123 and get access to a host of contents available on 123 India.com. Users will be able to participate in contents, have access to emergency utilities, and get regular Cricket updates and much more.
TNS
Sterling, CanBank in BSE 200 & 500 MUMBAI: Sterling Biotech and Canara Bank will replace Kodak India in the BSE-200 and BSE-500 indices of the BSE. Since the BSE PSU index is a sub-set of BSE-500 index, Canara Bank will also be included in the BSE PSU index, the BSE informed its members today. The changes will come into effect from March 21.
UNI
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Pashmina show KVIB meet Honda Siel CII mission Samsung offer NDTV channel Haryana team “Preparations for the Taiwan trip have been going on for a long time. The Taiwanese are strong in toy manufacturing, garment manufacturing, and other areas and they are keen to set up units in India. The HSIDC is in touch with them and something concreate as far as investment is concerned is likely to take place during this trip”, the sources claimed. They added that initially the Haryana team was scheduled to leave for foreign shores on March 25. However, it has been postponed and now the Haryana team is expected to start in the first week of April. The trip would take seven to 10 days, the sources said.
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