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Sunday,
May 25,
2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Reliance, PSUs told to settle row
Industry opposes power tariff hike
RBI cancels Oswal Capital registration
Glaxo faces threat of new revolt
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GM’s Bangalore centre to be started in July
A-I hopes on Jeddah flights
‘Economic union of southern states'
MobileFirst announces new tariff
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Reliance, PSUs told to settle row
Aligarh, May 24 “The issue of outstanding dues between Reliance Petroleum and the state-owned oil companies will be solved without my intervention,” Mr Naik told reporters here after dedicating Indian Oil Corporation’s Rs 17.5 crore LPG bottling plant and simultaneous launch of 5 kg LPG cylinders. He said Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani had met him last week seeking intervention for the settlement of the Rs 613 crore outstanding on account of sale of kerosene and LPG from its Jamnagar refinery to oil PSUs, including Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). “I am confident the issue will be resolved by both parties,” he said and added “if required I may intervene, but I don’t think such a situation will arise”. Mr Ambani briefed the Petroleum Minister about the pending amount after the oil marketing companies had refused to pay Reliance the import parity price for cooking gas and kerosene. The oil companies owe Reliance Rs 199 crore for kerosene and Rs 414 crore for cooking gas. While the oil companies are supposed to pay import parity price for LPG and kerosene they lift from RIL’s Jamnagar refinery for sale through their network, IOC-IBP, BPCL and HPCL are paying RIL October, 2002, prices for LPG and December, 2002, prices for kerosene. RIL put the unrealised amount on kerosene at Rs 199 crore (Rs 111 crore for January-March and Rs 88 crore for April) and Rs 414 crore for LPG (Rs 313 crore for November-March and Rs 101 crore for April). The oil companies, however, informed Reliance Industries that they had not singled out the company as they have frozen the prices of products sourced from ONGC and Gail India also.
PTI
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Industry opposes power tariff hike Chandigarh, May 24 The CII, in a press release issued today, said though the commission had expressed hope at the time of the previous power tariff order that the rates would come down next time due to a fall in an average cost of supply, the tariff for large-scale units had been increased by 21 paise per unit, for medium-scale units by 25 paise per and for small-scale units by 22 paise per unit. This was highly unjustified as the industry was already paying much more than the actual average cost of supply to the industry. The CII regretted that the commission in its announcement had completely ignored its own directions. Mr Amarjit Goyal, Chairman, Punjab Committee, PHDCCI, said the reduction in the minimum monthly charges was a welcome step but it was still levied on those industries which had been either closed down or turned sick. He felt that it would affect government's efforts to revive sick industry in the state. He lamented the Punjab had increased power tariff at a time when Himachal Pradesh was offering various sops and power at a lower rate to industry. He said with a 6 per cent increase the PSEB was proposing to mop up Rs 180 crore from the industry. However, at this stage, the industry would not be able to bear this burden and as happened in the past, it would encourage large and power units to surrender their electricity connections to the board.
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RBI cancels Oswal Capital registration
Mumbai, May 24 “Oswal Capital cannot transact the business of NBFC and is prohibited from alienation of assets”, the RBI said in a release here today. However, the company has to repay public deposits as per the conditions of contract with investors, it said. Under the RBI Act, 1934, the apex bank is empowered to cancel registration, prohibit the NBFC from accepting deposits and bar the company from disposing assets, the release said.
PTI
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Glaxo faces threat of new revolt
London, May 24 The leading shareholders will then seek to pass motions urging the removal of directors who supported Garnier's entitlement to his £22 million ''platinum parachute'' pay-off of two years' pay and bonuses if he was fired for underperformance. But in a move to head off investor fury, remuneration committee Chairman Paul Allaire is expected to step down as part of a boardroom purge by Chairman Sir Christopher Hogg. Despite City (London's financial district) pressure, Hogg will stay in his post for at least a year. Shareholders, who last week inflicted a humiliating defeat on the company when they refused to back Garnier's pay-off arrangements, are now openly questioning whether he is the right man to lead the company. Garnier and Hogg, however, are pushing ahead with a boardroom shake-up to head off continuing anger in the Square Mile (the city, London's financial district). Under their plan, several non-executives depart. As well as Allaire, who approved the ''parachute'' deal, directors expected to leave include Sir Roger Hurn, recently criticised by the UK's Financial Services Authority for his role in the disastrous events at telecoms manufacturer Marconi, and Sir Peter Job, former head of Reuters. GSK is seeking to appoint Crispin Davis, the admired Chief Executive of publishing group Reed Elsevier, to become the first of three new non-executive directors being recruited. It is understood final details of his contract have yet to be agreed, but the appointment is expected to be confirmed within weeks.
The Guardian
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GM’s Bangalore centre to be started in July
Hyderabad, May 24 The Bangalore Technical Centre of General Motors to be set up in over 33,000 sqft of the leased area near Whitefield will focus on engineering and research work. GM has vehicle engineering centres in North America and Europe, besides several science offices, including one in China. But the R & D centre in Bangalore is the first research laboratory outside the USA where its employees will conduct the research work, GM India Corporate Affairs Vice-President P. Balendran said. The R&D centre, with an employees strength of 260 will be linked online to GM’s main research centre in the US. “Some of the computer-aided designs (CAD) work will be electronically transferred to the Bangalore centre and later integrated with the main research work at the US centre”. A test facility is also proposed at the centre in the subsequent phase. The Indian research centre will also have the access to any technology developed under the recently launched automotive technology centre jointly by GM and Daweoo in Seoul. The Seoul centre will work towards developing technology suitable for Asia-Pacific region.
UNI
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Fish production in Punjab highest Jalandhar, May 24 The state had 5,726 fishery units covering 7,327.23 hectares, out of which 2,686 units have been set up in 3,084.36 hectares by the farmers whereas the remaining are panchayati village ponds covering 4,242.87 hectares” Mr Kang told reporters here adding that the department had set a target of more 3,000 hectares to be used for fishery next year. “Fishery can be very useful for diversification as small farmers can come out of the circle of paddy and wheat by converting themselves to fishery which is more profitable than other crops,” he added.
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A-I hopes on Jeddah flights Air-India officials are optimistic that the twice weekly flights from Lucknow to Jeddah and back via Delhi will be extremely popular as there are many people who will like to avail themselves of this facility. “There are businessmen and others in different cities and towns who will like to travel to Jeddah and adjoining countries”, said a senior A-I official adding that the flight would bring revenue to the airline. The flight was inaugurated on May 21 with pomp and show from the Amausi airport, which was befittingly decked, as it was for the first time in the history of the national carrier that the Prime Minister was inaugurating the new flight. Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee wished all success to the airline. The Lucknow-Jeddah flight (A-I-891) would operate on Tuesdays and Fridays, while Jeddah-Lucknow flight would be operational on Mondays and Thursdays. The inaugural flight carried many guests which included journalists. According to A-I officials, the invitees were from the Uttar Pradesh region since it was Uttar Pradesh’s show. According to aviation experts, the flight could be rewarding as Uttar Pradesh and Delhi together offered a number of passengers wanting to travel to Jeddah and other parts of the Middle-East. Much, however, depends upon how A-I manages its affairs at the new station at Lucknow.
CAG report The CAG report on Indian Airlines for the year ending March 31, 2002, has raised queries about the functioning of the airline. The promotional fares on certain busy sectors and under-utilisation of code-share capacity have proved counter-productive. The report indicates that had judicious measures been taken in promoting discounted fares and utilisation of code share capacity, the airline would not have sustained heavy losses to the tune of more than Rs 30 crore. According to the report, some neighbouring carriers, which were A-I’s pool partners, did not settle the accounts. Their refusal to honour their commitment resulted in IA losing a sizeable amount in transactions. This is not the first time nor would it be the last time because both national carriers, IA and A-I, have been constantly suffering at the hands of partners — be it airlines or consolidators.
Stern action For once, Air-India’s firm stand in its otherwise chequered existence has rendered the pampered pilot community jittery. Many have resumed their duties unconditionally while several others have been bargaining for face-saving method to return to work. Pilots have often held the two national carriers to ransom. But this time their bluff has been called off and their unity exposed. This is a very healthy development and two national carriers will be able to breath free. Actually, pilots’ guild need to be done away with because airlines is not a fit forum for trade union activities.
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‘Economic union of southern states’ THE southern states are attempting to form an economic union to be captioned as “economic union of southern states” on the model of European Union. Earlier, northern states also attempted though in a half hearted manner to ensure economic co-operation. This trend is very dangerous to the nation’s economy. Already we have in a way 30 different markets each regulated by its own set of tax laws and rates and imposing severe restriction on the movement of goods from other states. Attempts to form blocks will negate the entire economic reform process and in the global context we will be discouraging FDI. Part XIII of the Constitution deals with trade, commerce and intercourse within the
territory of India. Article 301 lays down that “subject to the other provisions of this part trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India shall be free”. Article 302 allows parliament to impose reasonable restrictions on trade in the public interest. To unify the Indian market, we have a model to follow the U.S. experience can be of immense help. The US polity is mere decentralised than ours, each state enjoys far greater decision-making power than those available in our quasi-federal polity. Despite this the U.S. market is not as fragmented as ours the US Constitution states: “The Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states and with the Indian Tribes. The USA has used this provision to ensure a common market within the country. The extent of fragmentation of our market can be seen from the fact that we have failed to enforce VAT. Every state has its own way. In order to ensure a uniform market, parliament must follow the constitutional provisions. As for the northern states the question of a common market or union does not arise at all. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal have a set of incentives which have hurt industry in the adjoining states, including Punjab. The southern states should desist from such a common union as it gives a wrong
message. — P.D. SHARMA, LUDHIANA
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MobileFirst announces new tariff New Delhi, May 24 The outgoing airtime charges have been pegged at Re 1 a minute for cell-to-cell calls and Rs 2 to other phones like fixed line and WLL networks. The company will charge Rs 2 per minute for cell-to-cell STD calls, Rs 3 for calls to other phones for distance up to 500 km and Rs 4 a minute for more than 500 km, a company statement said.
PTI UCO Bank to sell LIC policies DHARAMSALA: UCO Bank is contemplating to go for an IPO issue of Rs 200 crore this year. Disclosing this, Regional Manager of the bank at Dharamsala D. Sahai said the bank had been able to bring down the percentage of its non-performing assets from 5.45 per cent in 2000-01 to 4.36 per cent in 2001-02. The market share of the bank had also increased from 1.98 per cent to 2.08 per cent. Mr Sahai said
UCO Bank with a network of 1,705 branches in the country and 4 overseas centres proposed to market the life and non-life policies of LIC and National Insurance Co soon.
OC Dabur eyes Bangladesh GHAZIABAD:
In its endeavour to turn global, Dabur India will set up its first overseas joint venture next month in Bangladesh for producing hair and oral care items, as part of expansion of its fast moving consumer goods business. In the proposed joint venture, Dabur India is expected to take over 60 per cent stake while the remaining will be held by the Bangladeshi company and initial investment by the Indian partner in the JV is earmarked at 1 million dollars.
PTI Export promotion council for wool MUMBAI:
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Textiles, the Director General of Foreign Trade has set up a new export promotion council for the woollen industry. In a public notice issued in this regard, the DGFT said the new council “Wool Industry Export Promotion Organisation” (Wool texpro) would cover all products manufactured by the wollen mills, covering products made out of wool and wool blends, the Indian Woollen Mills’ Federation said in a statement here.
PTI IT firms to attend terror talks LONDON: Blue-chip companies are to attend a conference in London this week to learn how to boost their security measures in a post-11 September world. Microsoft and computer giant IBM are among the firms whose representatives will address guests from the City (London's financial district) and industry on the difficulties of coping with terrorism, blackmail, victimisation and kidnap. |
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BSNL service Maruti briefing Handicrafts Nasscom Allahabad Bank Cartons’ subsidy DSAs protest |
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