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Friday,
September 19, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Economy to
grow at 6 per cent, says World Bank Vajpayee
lays focus on business in Istanbul Maruti
offers VRS to permanent employees High Court
protects Samsung's trade mark Committee
invites suggestions on Export Bill Verma
for free global movement of workers NASSCOM
launches its UK Chapter in London |
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Haryana
Agro builds four godowns Access
speeds slow, say Net users
Markfed
signs MoU for onion exports
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Economy to grow at 6 per cent, says World Bank New Delhi, September 18 Mr Barid's projections follow closely on heels of the
forecast made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has estimated that the Indian economy was likely to clock a growth rate of 5.5 per cent. "Some recovery in growth is expected in 2003-04 following good rains and improved external environment", Mr Baird said observing that in India agriculture accounts for about 25 per cent of the GDP. Therefore, a good monsoon was likely to have a favourable impact on the macroeconomy through increased productivity. At the same time, he warned that big fiscal imbalances of the country's were major deterrants to growth and pointed out that the fiscal deficit, which was 5.9 per cent last fiscal, exceeded the target of 5.3 per cent. "India can be on the fast growth track provided the government focuses on reducing deficits, speeding up tax as well as power reforms and implementing the Value Added Tax (VAT) to improve investment climate", Mr Baird said. He said that the Centre and the state governments would have to be more proactive in their approach for bringing down the fiscal deficit by channelising expenditures into more productive areas. Meanwhile, World Bank country head, Mr Michael Carter came out in favour of the government's decision to pre-pay high cost external debt and said that the bank was planning to float rupee bonds in India following the permission granted by the government to do so. "The government has given us permission to do that (float a rupee bond). We will do it at appropriate time," he said and added that the funds so generated would be used for financing projects in India. The Centre had granted permission to World Bank and the Asian Development Bank last year to
launch rupee bonds to the tune of $ 100 million each primarily to generate funds for the fledgling infrastructure sector. On the Finance Ministry's decision to pre-pay high cost external loan, Mr Carter said that "it is part of India's debt management. Last fiscal, government prepaid $ 1.7 billion worth of World Bank loans." He also said that the break down of WTO talks at Cancun was not surprising. "The set back is not surprising. This is for the first time there was recognition of the needs of developing nations,"he said. Mr Carter, however, hastened to add the failure of the talks should not be seen as breakdown of the multi-lateral trading system as envision under the WTO. "Cancun has collapsed but WTO did not," he said. Mr Carter argued in favour of the stand taken by the developing nations at Cancun and said that there was major disparity between farm subsidies of developing countries and those of developed nations.
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Vajpayee lays focus on business in Istanbul
Istanbul, September 18 Vajpayee, who will call on Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer at the Tarabaya Palace here, will largely focus on matters economic during his two-day stay in this bustling commercial capital of the country. Sprawled on either side of the majestic Bosphorus strait, this ancient link between Asia and Europe is playing host to an industrial exhibition titled ‘Experience India,’ which Vajpayee, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Turkey in 15 years, is slated to grace. Put together in a record one month by the CII, the exhibition, which showcases India’s industrial might, involves the participation of about 40 companies. Later in the evening, Vajpayee will meet Istanbul’s small expatriate Indian community, estimated to number about 250. Vajpayee, who is on an extended, fortnight-long visit abroad, leaves Friday for New York, where he will address the 58th session of the U.N. General Assembly on September 25.
— IANS
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Maruti offers VRS to permanent employees New Delhi, September 18 The scheme will be offered in two phases during the current financial year ( 2003-04) and will be available to permanent employees at all levels of the company. A company statement said that the scheme was “attractive” and the pay back period is expected to be a little over two years. MUL had previously offered a VRS in October 2001 in which as many as 1050 employees, or 19 per cent of the total workforce had opted for the scheme. Subsequent to this the number of employees in the company had come down to 4,596. “The success of that scheme helped in improving overall productivity in the company’s operations”, the MUL statement said.
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High Court protects Samsung's trade mark
New Delhi, September 18 Holding prima facie guilty of infringing the trade mark and logo of Samsung Group of company, Justice M.A. Khan in an ex parte interim order restrained the Delhi-based Man Singh & Sons from manufacturing and marketing consumer goods using the brand name "SAMSUNG" and its oval device logo. Advocate Pravin Anand, appearing for the Samsung alleged that the local company adopted the identical brand name and logo to encash upon the reputation of the Korean company to pass off its goods as those of the multinational. He submitted that to confuse and cause deception in the mind of public, the proprietors of little known company have been marketing their mixer and grinder by using the name SAMSUNG and oval device logo. "The malafide of the local manufacturer is even more evident due to the fact that neither on the carton in which the product is placed, nor on the product itself, is there any indication of the manufacturer of the product," Samsung alleged. Accepting the arguments of Samsung, the court said the proprietors and officers of local company are restrained from using the registered trade mark and copyright features of the consumer major in any form to promote their goods.
— PTI
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Committee invites suggestions on Export Bill New Delhi, September 18 The Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 29, seeks to establish a mechanism for enabling the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to undertake export promotion and development of certain products and providing for collection of fees on the export. A press release issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said that the decision has been taken keeping in view the need to undertake special export promotion efforts for agricultural products such as Basmati rice, for which foreign rice producers are trying to obtain intellectual property rights by filing applications for registration of trade or grants of patents.
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Verma for free global movement of workers New Delhi, September 18 Mr Verma said this while giving away the annual Vishwakarma Rashtriya and the National Safety Awards for 2000 and 2001 at a function in Vigyan Bhawan here. In all 36 Vishwakarma and 76 Safety Awards were
presented. The workers of BHEL and Steel Authority of India were among the prominent winners. Lashing out at the Western powers for indulging in ‘double standards’ on the issue, the minister asked if goods and services could travel unhindered, why the workers were not allowed to migrate to the developed nations. In an obvious reference to the collapse of WTO talks in Cancun, where the developed nations sought to impose their unequal agenda on the world trade, the Minister said the entire world by now knew ‘the real intentions’ of the USA and the European
Union(EU). ‘‘This situation cannot be allowed to perpetuate any more,’’ he said. Mr Verma urged both the employers and the workers to combine efforts to further improve productivity, efficiency and innovative skills in the larger national interest. Complimenting the Indian IT professionals for making a mark on the international scene, Mr Verma called upon the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to help create an International Skill Fund to help the workforce of the developing nations. He said the government would soon come out with a National Policy on Occupational Hazards. The draft was being finalised. The Minister said the government had also taken certain initiatives to ensure that Social Security and Medical Facilities were provided to over 370 million workers in the unorganised sector. ‘‘In a month or two, you will see positive results,’’ he said. Taking note of the fact that most of the awardees were from government establishments, the minister noted that if there was an upward trend, there would be no need for disinvesting the PSUs. Instituted in 1965, the Vishwakarma Purskars are awarded by the Labour Department to workers for their outstanding performance in the registered factories which led to increased productivity, quality, safety and efficiency. The Badarpur Thermal Power Station, New Delhi, and Shree Cement Ltd Bangur Nagar (Rajasthan) were among the other winners who were awarded the cash prizes of Rs 50,000 for class ‘A’, Rs 25,000 for class ‘B’ and Rs 10,000 for class ‘C’ followed by commendation certificates. The National Safety awards are given for excellent performances in maintenance of safety and healthy working conditions by industrial undertakings, ports and others. Earlier Labour Secretary P D Shenoy announced that for 2003 onwards, Vishwakarma Purskars had been enhanced from the present 18 to 28 and the safety awards from 76 to 102.
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NASSCOM launches its UK Chapter in London
New Delhi, September 18 It will also offer a platform to its members to share ideas and best practices. The chapter will be a one-point contact for UK companies planning to outsource their software and services requirements to an offshore location and also act as a catalyst for Indian companies looking to set up offices in UK. The UK chapter will be based at Hill and Knowlton office, the international public relations and public affairs company in London.
— UNI
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Haryana Agro builds four godowns Pipli (Kurukshetra), September 18 The spokesperson said these godowns had been constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crore and the corporation would earn over Rs 1.94 crore annually as rent from these godowns. He said an additional 5,000 metric tonnes of foodgrains could also be kept in the premises of these godowns. He said the corporation had also constructed a godown of 5,000 metric tonnes capacity at Murthal, 10,000 tonnes capacity at Jind and 25,000 tonnes capacity at Shahbad. He said the corporation had decided to set up modern petrol pumps at Sonepat, Panipat, Nilokheri, Pipli, Shahbad Markanda, Ambala, Hisar, Barwala, Kaithal and Yamunanagar in near future. The spokesperson said the turnover of the corporation was Rs 740 crore during the last financial year. He said unemployed youth were being imparted training in the cultivation of mushroom at Agriculture Research and Development Centre of the corporation at Murthal. The centre was also providing high-quality seeds of mushroom to benefit the farmers. He said compost manure would also be provided to the farmers by the centre during this year.
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Access speeds slow, say Net users New Delhi, September 18 The TRAI survey on perception of Internet services showed that as many as 47 per cent users feel that their Internet access speeds are very slow. Although there has been a reduction in the number of attempts required for dialup connection, some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not fully complying with QOS benchmark pertaining to a new connection becoming operational within six hours of obtaining the connection. These mainly include BSNL, MTNL, VSNL, Satyam and Dishnet. The survey shows that 28 per cent of dialup Internet users in the country are facing problems of frequent disconnections. There has been an improvement in the fault repair service from a satisfaction level of 24 per cent in 2001 to 86 per cent in 2003. The improvement in VSNL, BSNL, and MTNL is however less than that in others. The customer responses also show that they prefer flat rate charging, and would like to obtain broadband connection with 128 kbps average minimum speed and “always on” connectivity for less than thousand rupees per month as “flat charge”. Customers feel that international calls mainly to the USA, Europe and Gulf through Internet Telephony are economical, but users are not satisfied with the quality of voice transmission, the TRAI
survey showed.
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Citco plans to develop Chandigarh as tourist destination Chandigarh, September 18 Talking to the TNS today, Mr
S.P. Singh, Managing Director of the corporation, disclosed that the Citco has planned to develop the ‘City Beautiful’ as a major tourist destination in the North India. The efforts of the corporation have already started bearing fruit since the number of domestic and foreign tourists coming to the UT has already crossed five lakh during the last year. The corporation is expecting a significant increase in number of tourists coming to the city this year. Mr
S.P. Singh said, “We have opened seven tourist centres including in Gujarat, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi, from where maximum number of tourists are coming to the city.” He disclosed that the annual turnover of the corporation had crossed Rs 227 crore during 2002-03 as against Rs 147 crore during 2001-02 and Rs 175 crore during 2000-01. He said the Corporation, which was involved in the business of steel trade and running petrol pumps, was making profits mostly from hotel business. He said efforts were being made to develop the city as a destination where tourists could come and stay before visiting places like Golden Temple in Punjab, Kurukshetra, Morni Hills and Pinjore in Haryana and Shimla, Manali and other places in Himachal Pradesh and J &K. Is the corporation ready for the competition from Taj group, which is constructing a five-star hotel in the city, he said, “We are taking various measures to face the challenge from Taj group. For this purpose, all the rooms at Hotel Mountview and Shivalikview have been renovated besides improving the standard of service and other facilities.”
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Markfed signs MoU for onion exports Chandigarh, September 18 The exports would start by the end of this month. The MoU was signed by Mr S.S. Channy, Managing Director, Markfed and Mr Johann Dittenhouser of Agropa Handels GmbH and Ms Iris Haendler of Haendler Innovative. Mr Channy said an MoU has been signed supported by financial institutions for the export of 12,500 MT brown and yellow onions and 5,000 MTs of red onion on a trial basis. It would open opportunities for export of 2 lakh MT onion worth Rs 18.12 crore to Europe during 2004-05.
— TNS |
bb
SBI signs MoU with Escorts PNB function Smart cards ABN Amro Watch show |
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