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Wednesday,
October
15, 2003,
Chandigarh, India
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Disinvestment
policy on sick
Cadbury blames retailers for worms
Maruti launches upgraded WagonR
Haryana to recruit 50,000 by next year Punjab to implement VAT from April 1 |
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Auto industry grows 10 pc
Noose around tax evaders to be tightened
Pfizer back in dock on trial charges
Hero Honda net up 12 pc
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Disinvestment policy on sick PSUs soon New Delhi, October 14 The sell-off policy on sick PSUs was placed
for the consideration of the core group of secretaries recently which
has directed the Department of Disinvestment to circulate the draft
policy for all ministeries concerned to seek their views. It will then
come up for the final decision by the Cabinet Committee on
Disinvestment. The future of sick PSUs, both unviable and viable,
for restructuring has been considered in the policy. Informed sources
told UNI that the policy suggests writing off the outstanding
government loans, disposal of assets to repay market borrowings and an
attractive VRS before closure of the PSUs found to be economically
unviable. The policy also goes into the issue of outstanding
liabilities of these firms and the fate of the workers employed in
them. For the PSUs where revival is possible, the policy recommends
raising of funds through the disposal of surplus assets and partial
retrenchment of surplus labour with a VRS package. Deadline for HCL
bids extended The government today extended the deadline for
submitting financial bids for privatisation of Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL)
till the end of this month as prospective bidders sought further
information about the company. The financial bids for the copper
major was slated to close today. This follows a request by the
bidders seeking additional information on legal and arbitration cases
pending against the company, sources associated with the process
said. Bidders also sought more information about the central excise
and sale tax cases involving the company, along with the exposure
limit. The government will disinvest its entire 98 per cent equity in
HCL in favour of a strategic buyer along with management control. A F
Ferguson have been mandated to act as global advisers for the
deal. Only two bidders, Sterlite Industries and Birla Copper, remain
in the fray for a majority stake in the company. The Kolkata-based
copper major has been incurring losses for the past couple of years
following a slump in copper prices. HCL recorded a loss of Rs 149
crore last fiscal. An earlier attempt to privatise the company was
aborted last year following a lukewarm response from bidders following
which the government undertook a financial restructuring package. —
UNI, PTI
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Cadbury blames retailers for worms Mumbai, October 14 In a statement here, the company said fungus and larvae contamination was due to high humidity in the environment during monsoon which led to condensation on the surface. Responding to reports in a section of the media that fungus was found on a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate in a city suburb, Managing Director of the company, Bharat Puri, today said “we will be able to test this bar only after we receive it”. In a statement here, Mr Puri noted that the packaging of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk range of chocolate was of reliable quality and has been in use for over three decades. Puri added that Cadbury chocolates are distributed to over 6,50,000 retailers directly and indirectly and in spite of every care being taken at the manufacturing stage, “chocolate is a food product that requires specific care and attention in storage.” “We would therefore, advise all consumers to exercise the same level of care and caution in their purchase of chocolate, as they would with any other food product,” Puri said. Cadbury re-affirmed that it would continue to partner with its distributors and retailers to ensure that quality products are delivered to their “valued” customers. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) said it is going ahead with its decision to prosecute Cadbury India Ltd. after tests indicated “insect infestations” in the chocolate samples tested. |
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Maruti launches upgraded WagonR New Delhi, October 14 Following the foot steps of the Santro Xing, the MUL has also redesigned the headlamps and the tail lamps of the WagonR. Besides the clear headlamps and the tail lamps the upgraded model also offers new flowing chrome grille with provision for front fog lamps, roof railing and new plush interior. Besides these features the new Wagon-R also offers its customers the rear defogger, a day and night rear view mirror, wheel covers and wider tyres. The MUL is adding three more colours to the existing range of three colours. All this presently is being offered by the MUL at the existing WagonR prices and would be available to the customers on the same prices at least till the end of the year. Unveiling the new upgraded WagonR, the MUL Managaing Director Jagdish Khattar said that while the Wagon-R grew by 27 per cent over the last year, from April to September this year it has grown by 44 per cent. The MUL has sold over a lakh of WagonR models since the time it was launched in February 2000. Hike in Maruti prices likely
Maruti Udyog today hinted that there was a possibility of a price rise in its models apparently due to spiralling steel prices and the appreciation of yen against the dollar. While unveiling the new-look WagonR, MUL Managing Director Jagdish Khattar said here “there has been some concern over the rising steel prices and the appreciating yen and this might force us to have a re-look at car prices by end-December or early next year”. Mr Khattar said MUL’s existing contracts with steel companies were coming up for re-negotiation soon. Steel prices have been on a high for sometime now and could eventually lead to a rise in prices of the car models. |
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Haryana to recruit 50,000 by next year Yamunanagar, October 14 He was talking to mediapersons at a function organised by the Yamunanagar and Jagadhri Plywood Association here. Prof Sampat Singh lashed out at opposition parties for misleading the people by spreading rumours that a number of government employees had been retrenched. He made clear that rationalisation had been made in every department so that surplus staff could be adjusted in other departments. Referring to the closure of a board and some corporations, he said 25 per cent of seats had been reserved for the employees of the board and corporations. He further said the government had not abolished the policy of ex gratia rather guidelines of the Government of India had been followed under which only 10 per cent of jobs could be reserved. |
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Punjab to implement VAT from April 1 Chandigarh, October 14 He was addressing a meeting of industrialists on “Value-added tax — Issues and Concerns.’’ The meeting was called by the CII, Northern Region, as part of its efforts to build up consensus on implementation of VAT in Punjab. Referring to the industry's demand to ensure uniformity in the VAT Act as per the Central Act, Mr Joshi said, “Complete uniformity is neither possible nor desirable. We will make efforts to keep as much uniformity as possible broadly in the design framework. But all state governments have every right to enact their own laws as per their local specifications.’’ He urged the industry not to emphasise the issue of uniformity. VAT will reduce interaction between the department officials and dealers. Assessment of returns will not be mandatory, but only a sample of returns would be assessed. He disclosed that the state government would soon work out a mechanism for the exempted units so that these could be provided some incentives as promised to them. But entry tax on yarn will be integrated in VAT. The manufacturers, who were just importing inputs from other states to manufacture final products for exports to other states, will be taxed at the most 4 per cent. |
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Auto industry grows 10 pc New Delhi, Oct 14 Overall, automobile sales in the April-September 2003 period stood at 31,89,108 units against 29,05,224 units sold in the corresponding period last year, according to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) here today. Passenger car sales were up 23.70 per cent on a sale of 3,19,442 units in April-September ’03 against 2,58,230 units sold in the same period last year. The growth was led by majors Hyundai Motors India Ltd (44.4 per cent growth at 79,228 units), Tata Motors (44 per cent growth at 66,977 units) as well as market leader Maruti Udyog Ltd, even as the biggest carmaker recorded a growth of around 26 per cent at 1,90,044 units, the company blaming strike at a major component vendor for the “not-so-good performance.” In the two-wheeler category, motorcycle sales were up 11.5 per cent at 19,63,734 units against 17,59,622 units sold in the same period last year. Overall, two-wheeler sales were up 7 per cent on sales of 25,44,524 units against 23,76,139 units sold in April-September ’02. Scooter sales, however, fell by one percentage point on sales of 4,30,105 units against 4,34,700 units sold in the first six months of last fiscal. The rise in two-wheeler category was again fuelled by motorcycles with major companies like Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto and TVS reporting single digit growth figures. —
UNI |
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Noose around tax evaders to be tightened Ludhiana, October 14 Instructions in this regard were given to the Chief Commissioners, Director General (DRI) and Commissioners of Income Tax of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Chandigarh by the Secretary, Revenue, Mrs Vineeta Rai, and the Chairman the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Mr P.L. Singh, during their visit to Chandigarh on Saturday. The performance of the Zonal Offices of the five states was reviewed and the expressed the view that there was need to put an extra effort to detect tax evasion and have more revenue collection. The Chandigarh zones, collection dropped by 3 per cent while the Ludhiana zone’s went marginally up 4 per cent up to September. The Panchkula zone topped the Northwest states in the collection of income tax revenue by 34.9 per cent. The overall revenue collection in the country was up by 15.7 per cent while the Northwest states showed an increase of 7.6 cent. According to information available here today the target for collection of five zones was Rs 3,474 crore for 2003-2004 whereas the collection was Rs 1190.45 crore up to September 30. The officials explained that the increase in revenue collection of the Panchkula zone was due to the location of the offices of the multinational companies in Gurgaon. It was explained at the meeting that the fall in the revenue was also due to he speedy refund to the assessees as during the period of four months, Rs 3.88 crore was paid as refund. Earlier refund used to be paid late and now the instructions had been issued that all refused must be paid within four months. The collection of revenue in Chandigarh by September 30 was Rs 287.47 crore, Shimla-Rs 87.71 crore, Panchkula-Rs 460.63 crore, Ludhiana-Rs 177.89 crore, Amritsar-Rs 195.28 crore. |
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Pfizer back in dock on trial charges
New York, October 14 The plaintiffs in the case — around two dozen Nigerian families — allege their children were injured or even died after Pfizer conducted the trial of a new antibiotic, Trovan, without fully informing them of the risks. The trial was carried out during a 1996 meningitis outbreak in Nigeria. Last year, a US district court dismissed the case on the grounds that the United States was not the appropriate venue for the litigation, which should be heard in Nigeria. —
AFP |
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Hero Honda net up 12 pc
New Delhi, October 14 Net sales went up by a modest 2 per cent to Rs 1,261 crore during the July-September quarter from Rs 1,235.90 crore a year ago. For the first half ended September 30, 2003, net profit jumped by 12.67 per cent to Rs 314.37 crore from Rs 279 crore in the same period last year. Net sales grew by 3 per cent year-on-year to 2,584.72 crore from Rs 2,510.27 crore, a company statment said. Hero Honda sold 4,46,454 motorcycles during the second quarter, a 9.5 per cent rise over the previous year. For the April-September period, motorcycle sales grew by 9.1 per cent to 9,05,233 units. Hero Honda Chairman Brijmohan Lall Munjal said the third quarter looked “very promising” due to good monsoon and the current festival season. “We are confident of recording even better financial year for the full year period,” he said. The company’s Managing Director Pawan Kant Munjal said launch of new variants of the ‘Passion’ and ‘Splendor’ motorcycles would help increase sales in the coming months. —
PTI
TVS Motor
TVS Motor Company has convened a meeting of its Board of Directors on Friday to consider declaring interim dividend for this fiscal. The record date for the purpose has been fixed as October 31, the company said. —
UNI |
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ICICI Bank Ford India BHEL Triveni Group Fanta SBP meetings Ranbaxy Lab |
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New Delhi, October 14
