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Friday,
August 22, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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British
firm may not find easy to buy share in PTL No
proposal for disinvestment of BSNL, Parliament
clears Nabard Bill ONGC,
Maruti, IOC among defaulting corporates, says Verma |
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Policy
on direct recruitment of computer professionals Enron’s
50-storey headquarters for sale
Amitabh
adds colour to Nerolac Paints Grievances
Forum warns investors
Japan
to market ‘robot suit’
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British firm may not find easy to buy share in PTL Chandigarh, August 21 The CDC has already informed the SEBI that it will come up with an open offer to buy public share of PTL and its subsidiaries — Swaraj Engines at Rs 205 and Swaraj Mazda at Rs 140, in September. PTL has already declared 30 per cent interim dividend to its shareholders for 2002-03. Despite tough conditions in the market, PTL has registered Rs 7.5 crore profit before tax for the first quarter of 2003-04 as against Rs 4.8 crore declared by Mahindra and Mahindra. Despite criticism from some political quarters and some bidders about the disinvestment process, the mood of the management, shareholders, employees and vendors is upbeat. Mr Chander Mohan, former CEO and founder of the company, said ‘‘ I am happy that none of the domestic manufacturers has bought PSIDC stake. They would have destroyed the ‘Swaraj’ brand. Further, every tractor company is saddled with huge excess capacity. Some employee, leaders distributed sweets when CDC announced that it will purchase PSIDC stake. Mr Hakam Singh, vice-president, PTL Employees Union, said, ‘‘it does not matter who has taken over the stake till our interests are protected. Moreover, it will take at least a year before the consequences of disinvestment are clear. It is just a beginning.’’ Mr Madhu Bhushan, former general secretary of the union, and Mr Narinder Brar welcomed the entry of the CDC in the management. Commenting on the allegations of the opposition leaders that the company had been sold for a lower value, Ms Vini Mahajan, Secretary-cum-Director, Directorate of Disinvestment, Punjab, said: “We have undertaken the disinvestment of the company in a very transparent manner following the internationally-accepted method. The critics have blamed that we have sold the company for Rs 218.13 crore though the total value of the company was about Rs 1,000 crore. But they forget that the PSIDC held just 23.49 per cent share in the company worth around Rs 234 crore, as per their valuation.” She said the government got the best price of Rs 153 per share though the average market price of the company shares during the past 26 weeks was just Rs 143. The government had never received more than Rs 10 crore as an annual dividend during the past many years. Regarding the allegation of some bidders that management control was not offered, she said,” With 23.49 per cent share, the PSIDC had a limited management control.”
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No proposal for disinvestment of BSNL, says govt
New Delhi, August 21 In a written reply in the Upper House on whether the government was not considering an IPO for BSNL on the lines of Maruti to raise money for restructuring instead of giving bail out package, Minister of State for Communications and IT Ashok Pradhan said “There is no proposal for disinvestment of BSNL including IPO.” Pradhan said Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has formulated a Voluntary Retirement Scheme for its Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ employees. The total number of Group C and D employees is about 50,000, he said. The scheme formulated by MTNL is applicable to permanent regular Group C and D employees who have completed 40 years of age and 15 years of service in the company (including service rendered by them in Department of Telecom). Compensation offered is equivalent to 60 days salary for each completed year of service or salary for the number of years/month left until superannuation, whichever was less. Other retirement benefits shall be as per company rules as applicable for the employees retiring on superannuation. However, the scheme is yet to be approved by the government. The ratio of employees to 1,000 telephones in MTNL is about 11.5 as against the international standards of about three employees for 1000 telephones. In view of the emerging competition, MTNL has proposed to curtail its manpower to match international standards. Pradhan said an outlay of Rs 86,984 crore, including budgetary support of Rs 1500 crore, has been approved by Planning Commission for the telecom sector for the Tenth Five Year Plan. The estimated amount needed during the Tenth Plan in rural areas is Rs 8,004 crore. These estimates exclude investment to be made by the private sector. Government PSUs have planned to add 395.23 lakh Direct Exchange Lines during Tenth Plan. Pradhan said BSNL and MTNL had not dropped global long distance plans. Indian telephone industry had planned international long distance operations based on strategic alliance with BSNL and another operator having dedicated lines to Middle East and USA, but the project was shelved as business was not found feasible in new market conditions.
— PTI
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Parliament clears Nabard Bill New Delhi, August 21 The Bill, which provides for direct refinance of central cooperative banks, was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2003 also seeks to obviate the need for extending refinance by Nabard through tiers of the cooperative system. At present, Nabard cannot refinance District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs) directly and the present amendment was necessary to incorporate this provision in the Nabard Act, 1981 so that the bank can refinance DCCBs directly, on a voluntary basis. Replying to a debate on the Bill, Minister of State for Finance Anandrao V Adsul said the government was thinking of drafting a scheme for rural cooperative sectors and soon farmers will be able to avail loans on their tractors and other assets at competitive rates. The states which volunteer to implement the crop loan scheme would have the benefit of this direct refinancing, which would reduce transmission costs, directly
benefiting the farmers having accounts in cooperative banks for their agriculture credit and reduce cost of credit.
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ONGC, Maruti, IOC among defaulting corporates, says Verma
New Delhi, August 21 Other central public sector undertakings that figure in the list of defaulters include Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation, Central Warehousing Corporation and Vishakapatnam Steel Plant, Verma told a press conference here. Together 229 CPSUs owed Rs 37.14 crore to the EPFO, out of which Rs 5.64 crore had been recovered and a gap of Rs 31.5 crore remained as on July 31 this year. The total arrears, which Central and State PSUs and the private sector owe to the EPFO, stood at Rs 1756.21 crore, of which total realisable was mere Rs 571 crore, or 33 per cent of the total amount. Out of the currently locked-up Rs 1,185 crore, state PSUs accounted for Rs 353 crore, Central PSUs Rs 315 crore and the private sector Rs 1088 crore, he said. Asserting that the EPFO will not spare any one found guilty of defaulting, Verma pointed out that a General Manager of Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation was one of the 68 defaulters arrested. He said bank accounts have been attached in regard of 1,118 establishments, property has been attached in 52 cases and showcause notices for arrest were issued in 237 cases. The minister, who is also the chairman of Central Board of Trustees of EPFO, said among the defaulting central PSUs were Instrumentation Limited, Central Tobacco Research Institute, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Madras Fertilisers, Jessop and Company, Central Inland Water Transport Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Copper.
— PTI
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Policy on direct recruitment of computer professionals Chandigarh, August 21 The policy was drawn up following objections raised by some administrative secretaries and heads of departments regarding the existing arrangement of supply of computer professionals by the Haryana Electronic Development Corporation (Hartron). The policy, however, is limited to the recruitment of computer professionals on a contract basis. For long-term assignments, the creation of posts for computer professionals and filling the posts through the normal recruitment procedure has been advised. The policy, however, laid down that the user organisation could recruit professionals earning Rs 10,000 and above as monthly salary only through the Secretariat for Information Technology (SIT). The user organisations could directly recruit computer professionals at lower posts. The user organisation was, however, required to get the competence of the selected person certified by the SIT.
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Enron’s 50-storey headquarters
for sale Houston, August 21 Granite Partners LLC, a New York real estate investment banking firm, announced yesterday it’s been retained to sell the tower at a time when top-notch office space in downtown Houston is cheap and plentiful. Richard Rudd, senior Managing Director for Granite Partners’ Houston office, said he hopes to close a sale on the 1.2 million-square-foot headquarters by December. No firm price is being set for the building; Rudd said the firm will wait to see what people are willing to pay. The local county government values the building at $92.5 million. The oval-shaped headquarters housed more than 7,000 employees before the company went bankrupt in December 2001 amid devastating revelations of inflated profits, hidden debt and questionable accounting. Thousands of laid off Enron employees streamed outside the day after the company filed for bankruptcy. The company’s remaining 1,300 employees, now using 20 floors of the skyscraper, will move to a much smaller office of no more than 300,000 square feet in another part of downtown early next year, according to an Enron spokesman.
— AP
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Soft drinks’ sale affected
New Delhi, August 21 “After the CSE announced its findings, sales of our products at some places went down by 15 per cent. It was a short-term pain. But after mass contact programme, launched by the company, consumers have started coming back,’’ Coca Cola India President and CEO Sanjiv Gupta said. Pepsico India Chairman Rajiv Bakshi also admitted that the controversy over the pesticide residues in its products had affected its sales. The reaction of both companies to the government’s ‘safe tag’ ranged from relief to delight. While Coca Cola said that it would not take any legal action against CSE, Pepsico was open to the idea. “We want to be positive and would focus on getting customers back,’’ Mr Gupta said but Pepsico’s Mr Bakshi said that the company was not ruling out legal action against CSE. Both the companies are also thinking of launching campaigns to win back consumer confidence. After the clean chit from the government, Pepsico and Coca Cola today sought to turn the debate on the whole issue from EU norms to safety.
— UNI
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Amitabh adds colour to Nerolac Paints
New Delhi, August 21 “Yeh rang hai jo har ek ki zindagi ko choota hai,” says Big B in the latest Goodlass paints commercial aimed at positioning Nerolac as a “larger than life brand”. The legendary superstar said: “Through this association, we will continue to do what we do best — colour the lives and dreams of people.” Nerolac Paints Managing Director H.M. Bharuka said, “we now seek to leverage our technological expertise to the decorative coatings segments. We are seeking to reposition Nerolac as an omnipresent brand.
— UNI
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Grievances Forum warns investors
New Delhi, August 21 Mr Kirit
Somaiya, MP, President of IGF, today appealed SEBI to immediately form a small group to study the present ‘Teji’ (Bull Run) and inquire into the sudden rise of 1000 points in few weeks. The group may have representatives of SEBI, Ministry, Department of Company Affairs (DCA), National Stock Exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Investors Organisation and Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI). IGF also appealed to SEBI to study the system of Derivative Trading. “Let there be no repetition of
ALBM. The Joint Parliamentary Committee has warned SEBI for abuse of both ALBM and Derivative. Surprisingly, Margin Trading is also being opened at this stage,’’ it said in a statement here. Mr Somaiya stated that along with Old Economy shares the share which were never traded, vanished, companies do not exist also moving in astronomical range in upward direction. B2 category shares, Z category shares are traded in manipulative manners by Brokers and
Jobers. Shares quoted Re one or so get uplifted to Rs 60 in few weeks. IGF reminded small investors about their battle against vanishing companies. All these came into market with public issues after 1995-96. SEBI and DCA have already declared them ‘vanished’. Similarly, BSE transferred such 956 companies into Z
catetory, IGF President said.
— UNI
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Industrial safety Rs 10 notes IndusInd Bank Indo Rama Zee Telefilms HSBC Holdings |
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New Delhi, August 21
