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Monday,
June 23, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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No
industrial fire safety policy in Haryana
Ludhiana
unprepared for any fire calamity MARKET UPDATE |
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What is
good for US may not be good for others
Commercial
vehicle sales rise 16.5 pc UTI
turns seller in April, May Inflation
falls GRAPHIC:
WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX
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No industrial fire safety policy in Haryana Panchkula, June 22 Though the state government now proposes to build 29 new fire stations at different places all over the state ( presently there are 24 fire stations), there is still no move to create an effective fire force as laid down in the Fire Safety Bill passed by the Union Government. Both Haryana and Punjab are two amongst the six states in the country that have not adopted the Fire Safety Act. Since large amount of funds are required for setting up a fire force, on lines of police force, which will be controlled by the state government, paucity of funds is responsible for the proposal not getting through. Sources in the state Urban Development Department inform that the Director General, Civil Defence, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, has again rapped the state government for not having a centralized fire service. The state government has been asked to implement the Fire Safety Bill, passed by the two Houses of Parliament in 1958, and make its own Fire Safety Act. This Act lays that the distance between two fire stations should not be more than 10 km., so that in case of emergency, help reaches the spot within five to ten minutes. As of now, fire stations in the state are located at a distance of anything between 20 to 50 km and there are no fire stations in rural areas. In Haryana, the fire services are under the purview of elected bodies like Municipal Corporations/ Councils/ Committees or under Haryana Urban Development Authority, and in some cases under Marketing Board. Interestingly, all buildings, including the industrial estates set up by Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC), located outside the Municipal limits of any Municipal Corporation/ Council/ Committee, do not come under the purview of the Fire Services, and thus do not require any sanction or No Objection Certificate from the Fire Officer at the fire stations. However, officials in the Urban Development Department say that with the implementation of National Building Code in all buildings, including industrial buildings ensures that fire safety standards are adhered to. “All buildings have to have yard hydrants on all sides and the four surroundings have to be clear for allowing movement of fire tenders, in case of fire accidents. Sprinkler systems have to be installed in buildings with basement and multi storey buildings have to have vatrizers on each floor, “informed an official. However, with industries not employing firemen, nor carrying any drill to check their efficacy, the use in case of emergencies is doubtful. But on the brighter side, the state has decided to go in for major reforms in fire services. The Chief Fire Officer, Haryana, Mr. I.S. Chauhan, said that the Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had approved buying of water
bowsers (having capacity of 14,000 lts of water), rescue tenders and fire tenders. “ As many as 42 posts of Sub Fire Officers, 243 leading firemen, 185 drivers and 677 firemen will also be filled at the 29 new fire stations to be set up and remaining to be sent to the existing fire stations, “ he said. Fire services in Panchkula
The delay in upgradation of the Panchkula fire department has caused a lot of heart burn among residents. Though the department’s functioning had been transferred from Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to Municipal Council almost eight months ago, but administrative delay has ensured that fire services remain far from satisfactory. The authorities have no plan what so ever for ensuring industrial fire safety. It is only after the devastating fire in the SAS Nagar unit of Ranbaxy that prodded the Municipal Council to carry out a survey of fire prone industrial units in the township — pharmaceutical companies, tent houses, plywood units, furniture manufacturing units etc. The Sub Fire Officer, Panchkula is now carrying out a survey of all industrial units (over 400 units are running in almost 800 industrial plots here) to check fire safety measures being taken (if at all). Officials say that notices will be issued to all units that do not adhere to National Building Code in terms of fire safety. The industrial units here are dependent solely on the district administration in case of any fire and fire tenders from the Fire Station are pressed into service. The Hindustan Machine Tools unit in Pinjore, is the only unit here which has its own fire tender. Residents say that though the Municipal Council has been collecting lakhs of rupees as fire tax for the past one year, the fire services remain as static as they were when the township came into existence. The State Finance Department had sanctioned as many as 47 new posts for fire department six months ago (including 26 posts of firemen; nine each of leading firemen and driver / operators; and, one each of fire officer, assistant fire officer and peon). As of now there is a sanctioned strength of just 16 personnel in fire department, though government guidelines say there has to be one fire tender per 50,000 population and a leading fireman, four firemen and a driver have to be present in a single shift . The population of Panchkula is around 2 lakh and only one driver and three firemen are available at a given time. The Executive Officer of Panchkula Municipal Council, Mr. O.P. Sihag informs that they propose to add a fleet of fire tenders (two fire tenders and a small fire engine) with fire station here. “It is also proposed to add a hydraulic platform worth Rs. 2.75 crore, construct two garages and family quarters at the fire station” he added. |
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Ludhiana unprepared for any fire calamity Ludhiana Warnings to business establishments such as imposing heavy fines for not installing fire fighting equipment, asking all restaurants operating out of basements to shift base within 24 hours, etc has yielded little response. Expecting older business establishments and industrial units to adhere to fire safety norms is asking for too much when even the buildings that have just received a satisfactory completion certificate from the civic authorities have failed to install such equipment. A recent raid on nearly two-dozen shops on the posh Mall Road by the district administration revealed that almost all buildings failed to meet the fire safety norms. All that the administration has done is issue them a warning. Most parts of older and congested areas of Ludhiana house thousands of factories in residential areas. Congested, narrow lanes, covered by a web of hanging electrical wires, most of these units have practically no fire fighting equipment. Not many even bother to take any precautions despite repeated notices. Punjab being one of the few states in the country that does not have the Fire Safety Act, this simply means that the fire safety measures in buildings are not legally enforceable. While there is a total lack of concern for fire safety by those who run these small industrial units, the city administration too is not too serious about the fire fighting business. Five modern fire stations built at a huge cost are pending inauguration by a VIP for the past two years. Highly understaffed, the fire department that needs nearly 300 firemen is doing with just 46. Out of the 125 firemen, many have either died or retired over the years. Ludhiana has a population of barely 14 lakh as per the 2001 census. But in reality, the city’s population is estimated at around 35 lakh, where about 2000 migrant labourers arrive each day. The city has only 32 fire tenders whereas the number should somewhere be close to its double as per the stipulations of the standing fire advisory committee. The situation in the state is no better. Punjab has 32 fire stations throughout the state and the state requires 38 more. Out of the existing fire stations, there are three fire stations in the state that have no staff; the others are running on less than half the staff required. Punjab does not even have a training centre that has resulted in the lower staff being largely untrained. When the Khud Mohalla fire broke out, the firemen tried to put out the chemical fire with water instead of foam, making things worse. The city faces a very peculiar problem. Whenever as fire breaks out outside the municipal limits of the city, which is quite common, seeing the spread of the city, the fire department insists that Rs 300 be deposited as octroi before the fire tender is dispatched. On many occasions, the fire would already cause heavy damage by the time the fire tender actually reaches the site of the accident. Large industrial units on the other hand have started paying attention to fire safety and say that they have installed the latest equipment to handle a Ranbaxy kind of situation. But since most large industrial units are located outside the city, it is not them, but the smaller units that have become a perpetual cause for concern. |
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MARKET UPDATE RAINS continued to pull up the markets and upbeat retail investors and FIIs poured fresh money into them. This pushed the benchmarks BSE Sensex to nearly a 15-month high, by 145.36 points to 3,499.50. The S&P CNX Nifty surged 44.5 points to settle at 1,100.25. The major triggers for the markets were the timely monsoon, massive FII buying and the U.S. Nasdaq hitting a 13 month high. There was broad-based buying in software, cement, auto and auto-ancillaries, banking, pharma, telecom, refinery, power and steel and PSU shares. Oil & refinery PSUs ONGC and GAIL gained on the expectation of buoyant results, announcement a hefty dividend and on the discovery oil and gas near Ahmedabad, respectively. While ONGC was being pursued by FIIs for its low valuations and expectations of strong earnings growth, GAIL surged on gas find and announcement by the Petroleum Minister that the government will take a decision on decontrolling gas prices by the end of July. ONGC also announced that it had increased its stake in Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to 71.49 per cent. Investors should to book partial profits in ONGC as the scrip has gained over 44 per cent in the last two months. GAIL can be added to ones portfolio, keeping in mind the windfall that will accrue to the company on de-controlling of gas prices. Cement Good rains coupled with Grasim’s landmark acquisition of L&T’s demerged cement business boosted cement stocks. Grasim and L&T climbed after both Boards approved the proposal vertical demerger of L&T. Accordingly, Grasim will take over a majority stake in L&T’s demerged cement business at Rs 171.3 per share. The acquisition makes Grasim the market leader in the cement sector with a 21.9 per cent share of the industry’s total installed capacity. Undercutting in cement prices will diminish as bargaining power will shift to suppliers with only two major players emerging in the cement sector, that Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja cements. Also with the monsoon expected to be normal this year, one should not rule out the possibility of a rise in cement prices. Maruti IPO The cut-off price for the Maruti IPO has been fixed at Rs 125 per share. This IPO, which is the second largest in the history of the Indian primary market, was oversubscribed by over 10 times. Most of the bids came in range of Rs 120 and Rs 125 as against the floor price of Rs 115 per Rs 5 paid-up share. The bid range widened from Rs 115 to Rs 390. The tremendous response shown by retail investors prompted the government to allocate 60 per cent of the IPO for them as against the planned allotment of 25 per cent. The remaining 40 per cent will be distributed among institutional investors. The government’s decision to allot 60 per cent shares to retail investors will put a pressure on the stock on its listing as most of the retail investors hope to make a quick buck on listing. They will all queue up to sell the stock as soon as it hit the bourses. On the flip side, any institution that is allotted fewer shares will be on the buying side. The selling pressure, however, will be much more than buying demand and the scrip will lose ground on listing. The scrip is expected to be listed on bourses within 15 days of fixing of the issue price. Forecast Despite the market witnessing a huge vertical uptrend in the last few sessions, very little steam is now left for a further rise. The undertone in the market is bullish currently on account of strong fund inflows made by FIIs and as also retail investors joining the bandwagon. Though the markets may see some further rise, it will be prudent to sell some such positions, which have given 50 per cent or more returns, while partially booking profit on the stocks with returns of 25 to 30 per cent. Further, investments made at the current juncture should be strictly stock specific having a long-term perspective rather than short-term investment. |
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What is good for US may not be good for others 'THE rich are different from you and me,' said the great Scott Fitzgerald. For some reason I was reminded of this when watching my horse The Great Gatsby lead most of the way in the recent Epsom Derby,
only to be pipped at the post by a brilliant late run from a horse with a name that didn't deserve to win - Kris Krin. When I say 'my 'horse, I mean, of course, the horse I backed. I have never been rich enough to own a horse. But what struck me, in the ritual interview afterwards, was that the owner of the horse that did win did not exactly come across on television as full of joy. Perhaps this is par for the course with the rich, as it were. Or perhaps he had had no faith in his own horse - described by its trainer as 'lazy' - and had backed the Great Gatsby. Now, just as the rich are different from you and me, so America is different from all other nations, who see it as the world's only super-power - or `hyper-power' as some Europeans like to say these days. Of course, America knows this too. Somehow, because of its strength and influence, those of us who are not Americans tend to believe it should share our concerns. But what has always struck me on visits to the US is that the opposite tends to happen, with Americans automatically assuming what's good for the US economy must be good for the rest of the world, just as it used to be said that 'what's good for General Motors is good for the USA'. Ironically, when George Bush came to power, people feared the US might revert to some sort of isolationism. Yet, if not from the moment he came in, then certainly post-9/11, the US seems to have been permanently involving itself in the affairs of other nations, with signs of resentment ever more obvious in every corner of the globe, not least for the indefinite future in 'old Europe'. On the economic front, I see real trouble ahead. For years after the Second World War, the US related to the rest of the world in a most positive way, with, for instance, the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system, essentially a 'dollar standard' as a linchpin for the international monetary system. This broke down when financing of the Vietnam War proved too much for the US - and the dollar - to cope with, which led to our entering a period of 'benign neglect' under which the leading currencies of the world floated against one another. With certain regional exceptions such as the European Exchange-rate Mechanism of 1979 and the current Eurozone, this regime has survived to this day. Thus, the last two years has seen the dollar losing value, while the Euro has become stronger. But where do we go from here? The rise in the Euro is posing serious competitiveness problems for a Eurozone already close to a recession, notwithstanding markets possibly ready to take the currency a lot higher still. There is scope for a deal between the US and the Eurozone, whereby the world's monetary authorities could intervene to stabilise exchange rates, with the Eurozone making a greater effort stimulate growth inside and outside its borders. Hasn't the time has come to move beyond the nonsense about banning French fries and French wines, and to resume economic policy cooperation? Meanwhile, for all the frostiness of recent relations and hoo-ha about wine and fries, one can but note that nobody has yet suggested that the US should return that great French gift from the late 19th century - the Statue of Liberty.
— The Guardian |
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Commercial vehicle sales
rise 16.5 pc
New Delhi, June 22 A total of 28,569 buses and trucks were sold during April-May 2003 against 24,520 units in the same period last year, data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. While Medium and Heavy (M&H) vehicle sales surged by 13 per cent to 16,640 units (14,730 units in April-May 2002), Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) clocked an impressive 22 per cent jump to 11,929 units (9,790 units). In the M&H category, truck sales went up by 14 per cent to 13,634 units while bus sales grew by 8.36 per cent to 3,006 units. Light truck sales also posted a 26.4 per cent growth to 9,181 units while sales of light buses increased by 8.74 per cent to 2,748 units. M&H truck sales of Tata Engineering jumped by 14.4 per cent to 9,113 units but that of Ashok Leyland dived marginally by 0.47 per cent to 3,114 units. Eicher Motors and Swaraj Mazda posted 66.8 and 101.4 per cent rise to 931 and 421 units respectively. M&H truck sales of Swedish major Volvo fell by 68.1 per cent to 29 units but the local unit of Czech heavy truck maker Tatra Udyog posted a 225 per cent growth to 26 units. M&H bus sales of Tata Engineering grew by 18.4 per cent to 1,815 units while that of Ashok Leyland declined by 10.4 per cent to 1,104 units during April-May 2003. New entrant Eicher Motors sold 73 units in the segment while Volvo saw a 55.5 per cent growth to 14 units. In the light truck segment, sales of Tata Engineering surged by 41.4 per cent to 4,803 units but that of Ashok Leyland dipped by 78.1 per cent to only seven units. Sales of Mahindra and Mahindra and Swaraj Mazda grew by 15.4 and four per cent to 2,840 and 721 units respectively. Light truck sales of Bajaj Tempo went up by 107.7 per cent to 320 units but that of Eicher Motors slipped marginally by 0.5 per cent to 431 units. Hindustan Motors suffered a 37.8 per cent dip to 59 units. In the light bus category, sales of Tata Engineering grew by a whopping 60 per cent to 1,117 units while that of Ashok Leyland grew by 95.4 per cent to 43 units. Light bus sales of Bajaj Tempo jumped by 184.1 per cent to 520 units but Mahindra and Mahindra skidded by 32.4 per cent to 553 units. Swaraj Mazda clocked a 56.5 per cent rise to 313 units but Hindustan Motors suffered a 86 per cent drop at 57 units. Eicher Motors recorded 26.3 per cent decline to 145 units.
— PTI |
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UTI turns seller in
April, May
Mumbai, June 22 It has offloaded stocks of blue chip PSUs and private sector majors alike. The funds sold 20.75 million shares of 148 companies and bought 7.13 million shares of 45 firms between April 1, 2003 and May 31. The UTI AMC sold shares in PSU banks like Canara Bank, State Bank of India and private sector giants such as Satyam Computer, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindustan Lever. However, the fund was bullish on GAIL, Bata, Digital GlobalSoft, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, SKF Bearings, ACC, Zee Telefilms. Meanwhile, UTI Mutual Fund has started focusing on wholesale investors and high net-worth individuals to augment market share. This is in contrast to the erstwhile UTI’s strategy of focusing on retail investors. The cause behind the effect has been the higher compliance and regulatory costs that make clients with higher net worth a more feasible and attractive choice. In order to increase the size the minimum investment limit has been raised to Rs 1000 in debt schemes. In equity schemes has been raised from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000.
— UNI
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Inflation falls
New Delhi, June 22 Remaining above 6 per cent mark at the beginning of the fiscal, wholesale Price Index inflation dipped to just over 5 per cent, apparently bringing some relief to the public, but it was much lower at 2.18 per cent during the year-ago period, indicating that the cost of living has increased.
— PTI
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