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Sunday,
May 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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CORPORATE NEWS
Forex reserves cross $ 77b
IT collections grow by 15 pc
Santro to cost more
HP plans to put 21 hotels on sale Glaxo steps up work on SARS vaccine |
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US, UK investors to sue ICI
Time to tame pilots
BoB, United Insurance ink pact
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CORPORATE NEWS
Mumbai, May 3 Sun Pharmaceutical said here today that its total income increased to Rs 239.09 crore in the period under review from Rs 182.59 crore last year. The company posted a net profit of Rs 231.41 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2003, as compared to Rs 189.84 crore in the corresponding period last year. “The total income has increased from Rs 754.7 crore in 2002 to Rs 888.58 crore in 2003,” the company said. Sun Pharmaceutical said the consolidated net profit for the year ended March 31, 2003 was at Rs 247.5 crore as against Rs 168.09 crore in 2002. The Board of the company recommended the payment of dividend at the rate of 100 per cent on the equity shares of the company for the year ended March 31, 2003, subject to the approval of the members at the ensuing AGM. The Board also recommended the dividend at 6 per cent on the outstanding cumulative redeemable preference share of Re 1 each of the company on prorata basis for financial 2003. Nirma approves demerger of unit
Nirma Ltd said shareholders of the company had approved the demerger of operating division of Nirma Industries Ltd from the company. Nirma Ltd said here today in a statement that an extraordinary general meeting of the company was held on May 1, 2003, on the direction of the court.
UNI
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Forex reserves cross $ 77b
Mumbai, May 3 The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly statistical supplement showed that the entire growth of $ 933 million in forex reserve was contributed by the ever-increasing foreign currency assets, which moved up by $ 933 million to $ 73,472 million during the week, while the gold reserves and the special drawing rights (SDRs) remained steady at $ 3,534 million and $ 4 million. The sharp rise in the value of other non-US currencies, including the euro and the pound sterling, held in the reserve as well as the steady intervention by the RBI in the forex markets to cap the rupee’s appreciation for better export competitiveness, were the factors that driving up the forex reserve, dealers said. During the same week, the rupee remained flat against dollar at 47.35 while it fell sharply against the euro and the pound sterling by 30 paise and 45 paise to 52 and 75.21 as these currencies appreciated vs dollar in overseas markets. The forex reserves have shot up by $ 6,565 million from January 1 this year while in the fiscal year (from April 1) the forex reserve gained $ 1,582 million.
UNI
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IT collections grow by 15 pc Chandigarh, May 3 The Chief
Commissioner, Income Tax, Ludhiana, had registered an increase of 26.38 per cent over the previous year by contributing Rs 576.79 crore in 2002-03 as against Rs 456.39 crore during the previous year, said Mr Vijay Khanna, Chief Commissioner, Income Tax (CCIT), North-West Region, here today. Talking to The Tribune, he said despite continued slump in the industrial sector and decline of agricultural growth, income tax collections in the region had gone up substantially. However, there was still scope for increase in revenue, especially in the small-scale and trading sector. He admitted that due to the closure of number of industrial units in the Amritsar belt, the tax collections had declined by more than 10 per cent. Tax collections in CCIT, Amritsar, had declined to Rs 364.46 crore in 2002-03 from Rs 408.76 crore in 2001-02. It was the only region in the North-West Region which had registered negative growth in tax collections, he said. Mr Khanna claimed that the Income Tax Department had made efforts to clear the backlog of PAN card applications by speeding up the process. He said it had, so far, issued 24.83 lakh PAN cards to the assesses of Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh out of 25.21 lakh valid applications. However, the department had rejected 1.66 lakh applications due to incorrect information and other deficiencies. Reminders had been issued to these applicants to apply again, he added. Mr Khanna said after June 1, PAN cards would be processed by the Unit Trust of India and applicants would have to pay Rs 60 as application fee. The tax collections from the Chandigarh region, which include areas of Himachal Pradesh and seizures made by the Director-General Intelligence ( Investigations) from the north-west states, had increased to Rs 1068.08 crore in 2002-03 from Rs 925 crore during the previous year. He said Chandigarh and Ropar had emerged as areas with the highest density of tax payers in the country. With a working population of 2.92 lakh in these towns, more than 2.15 lakh persons were filing income tax returns. Mr Khanna said the CCIT, Chandigarh, had already processed all income tax returns filed by December 31, 2002. He said instead of seizures and raids, the Income Tax Department was laying emphasis on areawise monitoring of tax collections and surveys of these areas. In CCIT, Chandigarh, Rs 11.90 crore was surrendered during surveys over the past few months.
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Santro to cost more
New Delhi, May 3 The company has also hiked prices of the Santro by Rs 10,500 to Rs 12,000 citing higher input costs. Domestic sales grew by 26.5 per cent to 9,050 units while exports went up by over four times to 1,631 units. Sales of the Santro rose by 45 per cent to 8,320 units during the month, a company release said. The mid-size car Accent clocked a 43 per cent growth at 2,259 units but that of luxury sedan Sonata fell to 102 units from 209 units a year earlier. The strong exports has increased its contribution to the company’s total sales to 15 from 5 per cent in April, 2002. The Ex-showroom Delhi prices of the “L” and “LE” variants of the Santro have been upped by Rs 10,500 to Rs 2.95 lakh and Rs 3.29 lakh. The “LP” and “LS” versions have been hiked by Rs 11,001 to Rs 3.45 and Rs 3.70 lakh while that of the “GS” and “Automatic” variants have been increased by Rs 12,000 to Rs 3.92 and Rs 4.30 lakh respectively. Hyundai India Executive Director B.G. Lee said the rising demand of its cars in the domestic and exports markets had created some constraints on production. “We are working on increasing both our capacities and production targets and hope to resolve this situation soon,” he said. About the price hike of the Santro, Lee said “input costs have increased considerably over the previous year making this price hike on the Santro inevitable”. Hyundai India had effected a similar increase in the prices of the Accent in December, 2002, while that of Santro was last increased in March, 2002, by between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000.
PTI
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HP plans to put 21 hotels on sale Shimla, May 3 The government plans to offer the 21 properties of the HP Tourism Development Corporation to the private sector in a phased manner. These properties were identified by the previous government. It had also carried out evaluation of five cafeterias so that specific proposal could be invited. The new government proposes to do away with the loss-making units. The five properties in line for disinvestment are the cafeterias in Baijnath, Trilokpur, Jaldhara, Dundhiara and Panjpulla. These will be offered to private parties on either outright sale or long-lease basis. Representatives of the district administration, including the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, and the Income Tax Department will work out the price . The Dhumal Government had decided to disinvest in the tourism sector in 1999 and even started the process for 17 properties, including hotels and cafeterias. The properties were to be evaluated by consultants. Tourism Minister Vijay Mankotia said the funds raised by giving these units to the private sector would be utilised to promote new tourist destinations and improve the existing properties. The Department of Tourism has already prepared the documents for inviting bids and finalised the parameters for prequalification and evaluation of technical and financial bids. The department has also set up a land bank and it had eight sites ready for offering to the private sector for different tourism-related projects, including amusement parks, ropeways and golf courses. Entrepreneur can start work as soon as the land is transferred to his name by the department.
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Glaxo steps up work on SARS vaccine
London, May 3 "We committed to accelerate our development of a possible vaccine for SARS," Garnier told reporters in a conference call, after announcing the group's first-quarter results. "I want to warn you that it takes time to develop a vaccine, even with the best intention and all the resources at our disposal. This is not a matter of weeks or months, it is a matter of years. "Clearly it is better to start now because this infection might come back, even if it is contained in the short term." GSK is working on the project at its vaccine development centre in Belgium and is liaising closely with France's Institut Pasteur and rival firms. "Normally we compete with each other on this. This time we have at least committed to exchange some of the science," Garnier said. Pneumonia-like SARS has killed at least 372 persons around the world and infected nearly 6,000 in 29 countries. Scientists say developing a vaccine against the disease is the best long-term hope but admit it could take years to analyse the SARS virus and produce a safe and effective product. Reuters
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US, UK investors to sue ICI New York, May 3 Milberg Weiss, America's biggest class action law firm, is to file a legal complaint against the company this month (May), alleging ICI misled shareholders by "materially misrepresenting" the financial health of Quest, its fragrances and food flavourings division. The case is being filed at a court in New York, where ICI American depository shares are traded, and where court rules give class-action suits a much greater chance of success. Stephen Alexander, of British solicitors Class Law, is helping Milberg Weiss recruit UK-based shareholders to join the action. Alexander said: "This is a chance for British investors, who have lost out more than anyone, to seek redress effectively cost-free." ICI's share price plunged in March when the company announced that Quest was being deserted by customers because of production problems. It had earlier indicated that those difficulties were being resolved. An ICI spokesman said: "If this claim in the USA is served, we
will contest it vigorously."
By arrangement with The Guardian
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Time to tame pilots Pilots in this country are more ill- behaved than commanders in many foreign countries. They are not only highly paid tribe, but also the most indisciplined mob, which can resort to any foul or sordid tactics. They virtually rule the airlines. They will fly when they are spirited and short of sleep/rest, but refuse to fly when they are required to perform their duties, in accordance with the roaster. The pilots are aware that an intense infighting is going on between two top groups in the Air-India. By taking SARS as a ground, the pilots have been trying to exploit the situation to secure financial gains from the airline. But the pilots’ action has boomeranged because there is no justification for the pilots not to operate flights to the SARS-affected countries. If the commanders of other foreign airlines can undertake flights to affected areas, why not Indian pilots who are certainly not more equal than others. It is laudable that the government has taken a stern view on the recent developments. Several pilots, with licences, have been waiting in wings for
enrolment in airlines. The government should recruit them and train them to discharge their duties instead of allowing politician-pilots to dictate terms. While taking action against pilots, the government should also investigate as to who is backing these striking pilots. It is believed that one group had egged on them to strike to cause embarrassment to the airline. If so, such officials have no business to continue to occupy pivotal positions at Nariman Point head office at Mumbai. Thus far, Airline’s spokesman Jitendra Bhargava, Director, Public Relations, has been briefing. Why are two top officials, G.N. Gogoi, Managing Director, and V.K. Verma, Commercial Director, feeling shy of portraying the correct picture? In this war of attrition, the management will succeed only if it presents a united front. If it does not, the pilots will emerge a more furious mob than has been the case at present.
Air-India GSA In the management-pilot fight, Air India’s involvement in favouring the general sales agent (GSA) in London has been pushed into background. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings has summarily held Air-India responsible for extending undue favours to the UK-based GSA resulting in a loss of more than Rs 57 crore to the airline. This loss is only the tip of the iceberg Air-India’s losses are mainly on account of GSAs, who have dominated the airline while sales officers, commercial bigwigs and public relations outfits have only carried on maintaining affluent lifestyles. The airline will turn from rags-to-riches only when the quantum of GSAs is considerably reduced.
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