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Tuesday,
October
14, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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GE,
Bechtel offer to start Dabhol Clarify
order on oil firms, Govt to SC
Today
is World Standards Day
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HDFC net
up 21pc
Murthy
honoured by French PM
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GE, Bechtel offer to start Dabhol New Delhi, October 13 The committee consists of senior directors from the IDBI, State Bank of India and ICICI who are attempting to resolve the issues preventing a restart of the power project, now idle for more than 28 months. The letter was signed by Scott Bayman, President and CEO of GE India, and Richard Smith, Executive Vice-President and Managing Director, Bechtel Enterprises Holdings Inc. In a letter responding to offers made by Rothschild’s, the firm advising the IFI’s on settling claims to clear way for a restart, the companies proposed three steps to break a stalemate in negotiations. These are:(i) separate the outstanding unpaid contractor claims relating to the project from the equity claims to expedite negotiations and restart the plant;(ii) settle the outstanding contractor claims on an equitable commercial basis as part of the actual restart the Dabhol facilities and (iii) resolve the two companies’ equity claims through the agreed upon contractual remedies of independent binding arbitration without judicial or other interference. GE and Bechtel asserted that separating the commercial relationship and the equity claims is the best way to expedite the efforts necessary to restart the plant. “As an act of good faith, the companies will not make a prior resolution of equity claims a requirement for their support of the restart and completion of “New Dabhol”. Assuming a commercial agreement can be reached, lenders or new sponsors will be provided with information and assurances of GE’s and Bechtel’s participation as suppliers and contractors in restarting phase I and completing phase II. Upon signing and fulfilment of contractual items, GE and Bechtel will begin work”, the letter said. The companies also indicated that the disputes related to equity would be pursued separately and in parallel with commercial efforts to restart the plant. Bechtel is a engineering,
construction and project management multi-national company. GE Structured Finance is a leading investor and provider of structured financial products spanning all levels of the capital structure.
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Clarify order on oil firms, Govt to SC New Delhi, October 13 The submission to this effect was made by Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee before a Bench comprising Chief Justice Mr V N Khare and Mr Justice S B Sinha while it was hearing an appeal challenging the Calcutta High Court order upholding disinvestment in the heavy engineering PSU, Jessop and Company Ltd (JCL), engaged in manufacturing of rail coaches. Sorabjee said since the apex court order on HPCL and BPCL has the potential to be interpreted in different way, it would have a serious affect on the Centre’s policy on disinvestment, and, therefore, needed clarification on certain aspects. Otherwise, it would create apprehension in the minds of the possible investors, the Attorney General
said. Though the JCL case has nothing to do with HPCL and BPCL, the apprehension about the different interpretation of the judgement, according to legal experts, had arisen due to the court’s observation on the aspect of “Consolidated Fund of India”. The judgement says the President, in exercise of his powers conferred under Article 113(2) of the Constitution has framed General Financial Rules, under which it has been provided that no
expenditure “shall” be incurred during a financial year on a new service not contemplated in the annual budget after obtaining the supplementary grant on an advance from the
contingency fund. “Setting up a new public sector company is defined as a ‘new instrument of service’ for which approval of Parliament is required for expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India,” the judgement had said. “This observation has the potential to be interpreted against the disinvestment process by those who are opposed to it,” the legal experts say. In the JCL case, disinvestment was challenged by an association of the PSUs’ officers in the Calcutta High Court, which upheld the government decision. The
association had filed an appeal against the high court order and notices were issued by the apex court to the Union Government during the pendency of petitions challenging the privatisation of oil sector
PSUs.
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Now plots for sale on moon
Melbourne, October 13 A new real estate agency, Lunar Realty, based in Melbourne, opens its doors tomorrow selling one-acre blocks on the moon for $ 59 (Australian) and 10-acre “lifestyle” blocks for $ 298 (Australian). Businessman Paul Jackson, 33, announced today that he had bought the Australian rights to sell the land from Nevada-based entrepreneur Dennis Hope. Hope has been cashing in since 1980 on what he said was an apparent loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty that barren nations from laying claim to the moon but said nothing about individuals. Hope registered a claim for the moon and planets with the United States, the Soviet government and the United Nations and, operating as Lunar Embassy, has been selling plots of extra-terrestrial real estate ever since. Jackson said 2 million people from 180 countries have bought a slice of the moon since 1980. “I would be extremely happy if one day we got the chance to live on the moon,” said Jackson, who has bought an acre of land for himself. “I look at the world around us and think stranger things have happened.”
— AP
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Today is World Standards Day Economists and politicians feel that the future industrial world will soon be concerned more with technological wonders of an expanding world of information general and specific. Information is today considered an important resource and therefore information technology has attained a strategic importance. Basic technology itself is the confluence and synergy of computer, telecommunication and micro-electronics which hitherto were developing in isolation. The merger of these technologies has brought about miraculous changes in application areas. The success of the technology could largely be controlled to its being transparent to users in application areas which is known as user-friendly. The friendliness is one of the results of standardisation. Today, it is because of standardisation amongst users of systems and network one can see the world as a global village and transact business around the world without being overcome by the technological problems involved in sharing resources for computing and communication across the national boundaries. The consumer is the key element in the broader “chain of commerce” that links electronically the large number of operations and of actors in the “commercial act”. All consumers should be protected equally. The poorest consumers should also reap the real benefits from globalisation. International standards play an important role in increasing consumer confidence in e-commerce and in furthering its use by creating an even global playing field. They fill useful gaps in the present void in legislation, and perform a key function in helping to create transparency, but their legitimacy depends on full participation by all interested stakeholders, producers and consumers, from industrialised as well as developing countries. It is important to make a start in studying ways of working through standards to help protect the consumer from dangers. In all likelihood, the most effective method of turning the Internet “jungle” into a tame park is a judicious mixture of various mechanisms and tools, with some use of legislation, codes of conduct, and standards. To increase consumer protection, international rights and warranties must be developed, consumer protection agencies need to cooperate, international agreements on proof have to be settled, and a cyber-dispute resolution infrastructure developed. The consumer knows the information he or she needs; the problem is in general not one or more information, but better information, enough to make a good choice. Such standards need to take a global not a local approach. Clear and transparent, standards help ensure interoperability, and involve all the stakeholders meaning a tripartite agreement (consumer, producer and regulator). The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has been successfully promoting and nurturing the standardisation movement within the country since 1947. An effective national standardisation programme essential to harmonize production and resolve incompatibilities between local industries, to assure quality, safety in the work place, consumer protection and conservation of the environment had continuously been implemented. The national standards process is a medium for the exchange of experiences between manufacturers and users, between large firms and small ones, between testing laboratories and shop floor. In the changing scenario of globalisation of industry, environmental awareness and need for consumer protection, the Bureau is striving to play proactive role in the national and international arena for the development of industry and economy. Today the Bureau has 22 sectional committees working for standardisation in information technology area like software systems, languages & methodologies; computer hardware and information security. In order to keep the consumers well informed about detailed information on BIS, website — www.bis.org. in is a storehouse of all the information required about BIS. Standards are at the centre around which today’s world trade resolves. Traditional national boundaries are disappearing and the world is levelling up with commonality of world standards and certification systems. The Bureau of Indian Standards taking cognizance of the international development, has already initiated action for developing Indian Standards in tune with world trade, for introduction of certification systems both for products and quality systems on international models and for entering into emerging international schemes for certification being operating by international agencies. The writer is Deputy Director-General, Bureau of Indian
Standards.
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