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Numbering plan soon, says TRAI
Implement Electricity Act, say experts |
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New Delhi, November 27 The Supreme Court has upheld the order of the Collector of Central Excise, Chandigarh, imposing royalty on Pepsi, apart from the excise duty for its ‘Lehar’ brand, saying the mutlinational company was liable to pay it as it was collected from the bottlers. $1.4 b costly loans of World Bank, ADB paid
M&M launches MaXX Pik Up
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Numbering plan soon, says TRAI New Delhi, November 27 Mr Baijal, however, assured that the existing plan would not be changed unless it was technically required under the new unified licensing regime. “We are examining the issue in detail. You will get a clear position in a fortnight”, Mr Baijal told newspersons on the sidelines of conference organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) here. The issue of the numbering plan has gained currency in the wake of the new unified licensing regime. Under the earlier service specific regime, fixed line operators, including WLL (M), were given eight digit numbers, while GSM cellular operators were given 10 digit numbers. Mr Baijal, however, clarified that the existing numbering plan will change only if there was a technical requirement. On the low level of internet and boradband penetration in the country, the TRAI chief said that the regulator would come out with a consultation paper on both the issues shortly. “The consultation paper would cover all these issues”, he said while expressing concern over the poor internet penetration. Presently, Internet penetration is 0.4, and that of broadband stands at 0.02. He said the forthcoming consultation paper will cover all the issues pertaining to these two segments, but added that content, which were of interest to the users, and commercially viable business models were also of critical importance. Regarding the unified licensing regime, Mr Baijal said that TRAI was actually in favour of completely dismantling the licensing regime. However, since such a move would require amendment to the Telegraph Act, migration to a unified access license regime was recommended. “When the authority recommended a calling party pays regime, we were branded as pro-cellular operators, and when we called for a unified license regime we were accused of favouring a basic operator,’’ he said while addressing the Assocham seminar. On the demand for cellular operators seeking adequate compensation in the new regime, Mr Baijal said that Cabinet has authorised the Finance Ministry to look into the issues. At the same time, he said that spectrum should be priced, although the price should be low. Mr Baijal expressed the hope that next six months would witness more than 12 million additional telecom subscribers. The country achieved the 12 million-subscriber growth in the past seven months, the same as has been achieved in seven years earlier. “May be we would witness 24 million additional subscribers in next six months.’’
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Maruti rolls out new Zen New Delhi, November 27 MUL Managing Director Jagdish Khattar told newspersons that this was the first indigenously-designed car from the Indian research and development centre. ''After 10 years of existence, the key weapon in MUL’s stable certainly required a new styling and we are happy to present the new Zen version to develop which we spent Rs 35-40 crore in the last two years,'' he said. The price of car, however, remains unchanged, but indicated that the prices could be revised by January. At presently, the car is priced at upwards of Rs 3.5 lakh. The innovations and modifications include an all-new bonnet, a fashionable new grille, fenders, a new set of clear and multi-reflector headlamps and front and rear fog lamps, an arresting bumper along with bonded rear screens. “There is a large number of people, mostly young, who love the Zen’s core attributes but wish it had a more contemporary look. The new Zen has been created for them”. The car, available in both petrol and diesel variants, is currently available between Rs 3.5-4 lakh. “It represents the newly acquired research and development capabilities of Maruti and is a landmark in Suzuki’s plans of making Maruti its R&D hub for Asia outside Japan”, Mr Khatar said. Mr Khattar said the average monthly sales of Zen had been hovering near the 5,000 units mark for the past three years. ''However, overall market share has dropped and we felt that the model required a new styling and makeover,’’ he said. Though no changes have been made in the engine, the new Zen comes with new looks in the exterior and some additions in the interior. ''The crouching front enhances the sleekness of the car, making it look more low-slung and fast, while the rear sees a new bumper, boot cover, a sleek laminated windshield and boot lip for the number plate,'' the company said. The company says it is looking for an image changeover with this approach.
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Implement Electricity Act, say experts
Chandigarh, November 27 Experts observed this here today in a debate on the Act, organised by the CII, Northern Region. Mr Rakesh Nath, Chairman, Bhakra Beas Management Board, said, "the Act will make it more economical and convenient to transmit power rather than transporting coal to produce electricity." Mr Gajendra Haldea, Chief Adviser and Head, Centre for Infrastructure and Regulation, National Council of Applied and Economic Research (NCAER), said the Act offered reform models to state electricity boards. But they would have to take steps to enable the consumers to have open access to purchase power from different sources. It would bring down the cost of power and promote efficiency among power generators and distributors. The Act empowered the state governments to make appointments for their electricity regulatory commissions. Hence the panels were vulnerable to political pressures. He expressed hope overtime checks and balances would evolve. Provisions like appellate tribunal and stringent punishment for theft in the Act would play a decisive role in power reforms, he added. The speakers felt the Act would offer an opportunity even to NGOs, cooperative societies, panchayats and associations to set up their own power generation units. It would give a fillip to the rural electrification. Power tariff, which may increase for a shortwhile, but it would come down as competition would make power utilities to perform better. Mr S.K. Anand, operators, PSEB, however, felt that in India the cost of power was highest in the world. It was necessary to critically examine issues such as cost and conditions for change, particularly the administrative aspects. |
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Imposition of royalty on Lehar upheld New Delhi, November 27 The court dismissed an appeal against the order of the Central Excise Tribunal by the Pepsi Foods Ltd against imposing the royalty by the Excise Collector on ‘Lehar’ for 1992-93, when it was introduced by the company in India. Pepsi, however, had withdrawn the ‘Lehar’ brand from the market later. A Bench comprising Mr Justice P Venkatarama Reddi and Mr Justice A R Lakshmanan said the royalty payment was excluded from the assessible value of the concentrate sold to bottlers. The firm had challenged the tribunal’s order on the ground that the company and the bottlers were governed by the agreement between them. Referring to the agreement between Pepsi and the bottlers, the court said the company had collected the royalty under the terms and condition of the agreement. “In reality and in substance, the component of royalty cannot be disassociated from the ostensible consideration for the sales of concentrate by Pepsi to its buyer,” the court said. The court said under the agreement the bottlers were obliged to purchase the concentrate exclusively from Pepsi and use it to sell the soft drink under ‘Leher’ brand name subject to payment of the royalty. |
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costly loans of World Bank, ADB paid New Delhi, November 27 “Nearly $ 1.4 billion loans of the World Bank and the ADB has been prepayed from the 21,000 crore surplus cash with the Reserve Bank as part of the cash management exercise,” official sources told PTI here today. The government, which prepaid $ 2.97 billion of multilateral loans last fiscal, has decided to prepay $ 2.8 billion this fiscal. Of the $ 2.8 billion, about $ 1.4 billion would be bilateral loans whose prepayment would start from December, the sources said. This is for the first time the government had decided to prepay bilateral loans, which usually come with certain strings attached to it. Usually, the loans were prepaid in forex and an equivalent amount of government securities was issued to the RBI. But the recent prepayment was done from the surplus cash, sources said. The bilateral loans which were to be prepaid would, however, be done through issue of securities of equivalent amount, they added. Securities would also be issued subsequently for the loans prepaid to the World Bank and the ADB, the sources said, adding that as the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) position as of Wednesday was Rs 13,300 crore. —
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