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Exports jump by
42.68 pc in December India gets highest remittance, says RBI Impact on gold
prices ruled out Single-window
facility for industry in HP ABCL becomes
debt-free, may float IPO |
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Paper on unified
licence norms soon ONGC has struck a large gas field in the Krishna-Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal, home for the gigantic gas find of Reliance Industries Ltd. ONGC’s in-house deep sea drillrig Sagar Vijay encountered large gas bearing structures while drilling its maiden well in the G4-AB location, adjacent to RIL’s gas bearing KG-DWN-98/3 block. Jammu, January 28 The Jammu and Kashmir Government has decided to provide incentives of up to Rs 45 lakh to industries which acquire and promote their own brands, Minister of State for Industries Raman Mattoo said. Indian wheat
patented by Monsanto flayed Greenpeace and the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology have challenged the patenting of an Indian wheat variety by multinational company Monsanto.
Dabur net surges 47 per cent HCL Infosystems Raymond LIC Housing Merck Nicholas Piramal ITC Hotels
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Exports jump by 42.68 pc in
December
New Delhi, January 28 Even as exports surged, both in dollar and rupee terms, the trade deficit widened to $ 12.624 billion during April-December, 2003, which was virtually double the figure of $ 6.702 billion in the corresponding period the previous year. This was mainly on account of surging imports which grew by 24.86 per cent during April-December at $ 55.058 billion against $ 44.096 billion in the corresponding period of previous year. Imports in December matched the high export growth recording 44.95 per cent at $ 7.206 billion. Oil imports during the first nine months of the current fiscal were valued at $ 14.592 billion which is 14.29 per cent higher than $ 12.768 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. In rupee terms, exports in December, 2003, rose by 35.11 per cent at Rs 25,024.04 crore. Imports in rupee terms were up by 37.29 per cent at Rs 32,855.16 crore.
— PTI
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India gets highest remittance, says RBI
Mumbai, January 28 “Emergence of workers’ remittances as an important source of external finance, offsetting high trade account deficits and volatility in the capital account is another important development in the current account,” the RBI said in its ‘Report on Currency and Finance’ released here today. Almost 51.1 per cent of total remittances came from the US, while Europe and Asia accounted for 25.8 per cent and 22 per cent it said. There has been a structural shift in regional sources of remittance flow to India during 1990s, responding to the changing pattern of demand from predominantly unskilled or semi-skilled labour to highly skilled, it said. As the oil boom in the Middle East countries slowed down, the contribution of the region attracting unskilled or semi- skilled labour has significantly come down between 1997-98 and 2002-03. “However, the slowdown in such remittance inflows has not impacted on aggregate remittance inflows to India, which are sustained by higher inflows from America and Europe,” the report pointed out. Workers’ remittances are recognised as a relatively reliable source of external finance as compared with capital inflows. A comparison of the Indian and Chinese experience provides an interesting contrast.
— PTI
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Impact on gold prices ruled out
New Delhi, January 28 “The government decision of freeing quantitative restriction on import of gold and silver is a welcome step and in right direction”, said All India Sarafa Bazar Association president Sheel Chand Jain. The move would allow the bullion merchants and leading jewellery manufacturers to source these precious metals straightaway from abroad instead of getting gold and silver from the permitted 11 official agencies. Asked whether there would be any impact on prices, Jain said, “The price movements are more related to overseas trends and the fluctuation in the value of dollar vis-a-vis other international currencies.” Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley’s decision to free imports of gold and silver, notwithstanding, the prices of the two metals soared mainly due to weakening of US dollar against Yen and the Euro after Japan indicated change in composition of forex reserves with greater weightage for the gold. Gold prices, which
plummeted by Rs 50-70 yesterday, recovered, while silver remained in limelight with Chennai recording hefty gain of Rs 425 per kilo at Rs 10,310 and Mumbai notched up Rs 220 at Rs 9895 per kilo. Market sources said with ample domestic supply and rising international prices, imports might not go up to that extent and hence there might not be any drastic price change in the country.
— PTI
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Single-window facility for
industry in HP Shimla, January 28 The authority will be headed by the Chief Minister and the Industries Minister will be its vice-chairman. The Chief Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Secretary, Power, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Secretary, Industries and Principal Secretaries, Revenue, Forest, Labour, Town and Country Planning and Environment will be its members. The Director of Industries will be its member-secretary. The authority will act as the apex body for
channelising, facilitating and guiding investment in medium and large-scale industrial projects in the state in a transparent, objective and time-bound manner. It will discuss and solve all inter-departmental issues, monitor and review the progress of units already approved or being set up and expedite the necessary approvals of each department. It will consider and decide on proposals received which are listed negative industries by the Government of India, forest-based industry and power intensive industry, where commitment of power for more than 1 MW is required. It will also recommend changes in the existing government policy and formulate new policy on industrial development in the state. Procedure has also been laid for speedy disposal of cases under which the Director of Industries will receive applications from prospective investors to give provisional registration, circulate applications received simultaneously to the department concerned who in turn will examine these proposals in a time-bound manner and send their comments within 15 days. All cases will thereafter be compiled at the directorate level and put up for consideration before the authority.
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ABCL becomes debt-free, may float IPO
New Delhi, January 28 “Eventually, we will float an IPO in the capital market. But this is still at a preparation stage,” Amitabh Bachchan, promoter of ABCL, told PTI. Bachchan did not give any time-frame in which the company might tap the market, saying a final view was yet to be taken along with other directors. Asked whether ABCL has come out of the purview of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, he said, “The corporation has become absolutely debt-free and soon it will be out of the BIFR’s ambit.” Pointing out that ABCL had already paid Rs 17 crore that it owed to the broadcaster, B S Nagar, counsel for ABCL, had said the only matter that remained to be resolved was modalities for free advertisements featuring the Bollywood megastar.
— PTI
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Paper on unified licence norms soon New Delhi, January 28 TRAI Chairman Pradip Baijal, said the aim of the authority is to bring out the uniformed licensing regime with convergence so that regulatory issues does not act as an hurdle in the exploitation of the full potential of the available technology. He said the idea of the government to bring in broadcasting service under the purview of the TRAI is to enable this convergence. Addressing the open house on the consultation paper on accelerating growth of Internet and broadband penetration, he said the growth of Internet has not been significant in the country and the inroads of broadband has been marginal. Stating that they have huge potential, Mr Baijal said convergence of technology using cable, wireless, VOIP and other means would bring about exponential growth Internet. He said the authority would not act as a hurdle in the growth of technology and the consumers benefitting from it. However, it would only lay down guidelines to regulate conflicting interests. Participating in the open house discussion, stake holders expressed their concerns about the problems convergence would affect their sectors. Cable operators, who have been giving Internet connection, expressed the need for legal frame work to operate and access to technical know how. Basic telephone operators objected to the transfer of calls from basic PSTN network to internet telephony on the ground that they had paid huge sums for obtaining the national and international long distance licence.
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ONGC strikes gas in K-G basin
New Delhi, January 28 “The well is to be drilled to a depth of 2500 m and gas indications have already been observed at a number of places in the interval of 1580-1720 m,” highly placed company sources said. While the reserves have not yet been tested as the well is yet to reach its target depth, primilary indications point to a potential of little less than a trillion cubic feet of gas. Reliance had in 2002 struck 14
TCF of gas reserves in KG-DWN-98/3 block, off the Andhra Pradesh coast. Prior to that Cairn Energy of UK had established one
TCF of reserves in KG-DWN-98/2, south of RIL block.
— PTI
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J&K offers sops to industry
Jammu, January 28 The incentives would be given for the first three years, covering 50 per cent expenses subject to a limit of Rs 20 lakh in the first year, 30 per cent with a limit of Rs 15 lakh in the second year, and 10 per cent of the expenses with a ceiling of Rs 10 lakh in the third year to industries based in the state, Mattoo said. In its new industrial policy, the government also announced several sops to enable massive industrialisation in the state. The government had been focusing on the industrial sector with a view to address unemployment and achieve optimum productivity, he said. For the first time, the industrial policy, till now designed for five years only, would be for 11 years and expire in 2015, he said. The policy laid emphasis on inviting private sector participation in infrastructural development, he said. The 30 per cent capital investment subsidy with a ceiling of Rs 30 lakh had been extended to backward blocks.
— PTI
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Indian wheat patented by Monsanto flayed
New Delhi, January 28 Greenpeace filed an opposition to Monsanto’s patent at the European Patent Office in Munich yesterday. Indian environmentalist and Foundation Director Vandana Shiva was present on this occasion. Earlier, a major controversy was created by the patenting of haldi and neem in some Western countries which was vehemently opposed by Indian environmentalists.
— UNI
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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh
launches the kiwi drink in the national market in New Delhi on Wednesday.
His is the first state in the country to launch international-standard bottled kiwi
drink.
Photo by HP Press Liaison Office, New Delhi Wipro rating Family plans SBP branch Central Bank UTI dividend Bicon IPO |
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India’s exports during December, 2003, increased by 42.68 per cent at $ 5,489.17 million as against $ 3,847.20 million in December, 2002.
Kiwi fruit drink launched