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Indo-Pak visa curbs for traders may go
ONGC signs coal gasification pact with Russian firm
Nath invites France to invest in SEZs
Trai may seek more powers
Hisar pilot dist for agri-clinic financing
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WB for caution in regional trade pacts
A model displays an EDGE-enabled mobile handset which has the facility of playing/sending movie clips, a latest offering from Airtel in the country during a press meet in Mumbai on Thursday. — PTI photo
CII advocates common economic zone
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Indo-Pak visa curbs for traders may go
New Delhi, December 9 Speaking at “Indo-Pak Business Meet,” organised by PHDCCI, Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Jagdish Tytler underlined the need for greater cooperation and enhanced business ties between the two countries, as regional economic blocks will be the norm of the day in the foreseeable future. Mr Tytler enunciated that increased business cooperation between India and Pakistan could make the region prime destination for attracting foreign investments. At present, oil-rich Arab states have a $1.3 trillion fund which they are interested in investing in other countries. Due to cultural and regional affinity, the two countries are in a position to attract a lion’s share of these funds for robust economic growth, the minister added. Mr Jamil M Magoon, Vice-President, Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said it was a matter of grave concern that even after getting the MFN status from India, Pakistan’s trade surplus has drastically come down in the last one-and-a-half decades due to other trade restrictions in India hampering free and official flow of Pakistani goods to the country. Removing visa restrictions in both the countries and effectively easing the import tariff regime by India can divert large-scale flow of trade from unofficial to official channels, thereby benefiting both the countries, he added. PHDCCI President Ravi Wig said it is high time for the two countries to sort out trade disputes at the earliest to withstand the onslaught of global competition post WTO regime. The Governments of the two countries must make efforts to promote surface trade rather than the existing sea routes which are making the transport cost unremunerative for the exporters of the two countries.
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ONGC signs coal gasification pact with Russian firm
New Delhi, December 9 In a written reply to the Lok Sabha today, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar today informed that Russian UCG technology would be utilised to convert underground coal, lignite into combustible gases. This would bring down fuel costs for fertiliser and power plants drastically and help the country improve energy security. Mr Aiyar disclosed that calorific value of UCG gas was 10 to 35 per cent of the natural gas. Commenting upon its costing in comparison to natural gas, he said the gas cost will depend on several factors like depth, thickness and quality of coal seams. Union Chemical and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan is also pressing upon the Petroleum Ministry to tap the vast resources of coal bed methane to provide low cost fuel to fertiliser units in North Eastern region. With the rising demand for fertiliser and power, the project is likely to benefit the country on a large scale. Petroleum Minister said the ONGC has also decided to participate in the bidding of Russia’s crisis hit oil major Yugansknefteegaz, the Siberian unit of Yukos. The reserve price for its auction has been reported $ 8.65 billion. According to officials in the Petroleum Ministry, the government is encouraging the ONGC to enter into a joint venture for a possible joint bid for assets of Yukos. Last week Mr Aiyar had also held discussions with the Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue when the later was on an official visit to India. The ONGC is talking to some Russian and European companies for a possible joint bid. Officials said with the rise in oil import bill, the government is actively pursuing to ensure secured oil supply by encouraging public sector oil majors to have stake in oil fields in Russia, Iraq, Sudan, Iran, Myanmar, Libya, Syria, Australia and Ivory Coast. Gail India Ltd is also planning to set up Gas crackers plant in Russia. ONGC already has a stake in Exxon’s Sakhalin-I project in Russia. The company is trying for a stake in Russia’s Sakhalin-3 project and is holding talks with foreign oil firms to bid for the project. ONGC’s overseas arm, ONGC Videsh, has so far invested more than $ 5 billion in foreign petroleum assets including stakes in a gas field in Vietnam, Sudan and Russia. The Government has also constituted an Advisory Committee on Oil Diplomacy for Energy Security, comprising experts with specialised knowledge of the countries and regions with whom the oil companies are expected to interact.
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Nath invites France to invest in SEZs
New Delhi, December 9 Speaking at the inaugural session of the 13th Indo-French Joint Committee meeting, co-chaired by Mr Francois Loos, Minister for External Trade of France, the Indian minister called for imparting a new momentum to the entire gamut of trade and economic cooperation with France. Both India and France have agreed to take concerted measures in coordination to expand and diversify the pattern of bilateral trade and investment, according to a joint statement, which was signed by Mr Nath and Mr Loos at the conclusion of the joint committee meeting here this evening. Earlier at the inaugural session, both the ministers noted that the economic presence of France in India, while growing was still not commensurate with the economic complementarities and the business opportunities that existed. Mr. Loos said India was a strategic country for the foreign trade of France and informed that France had adopted a Commercial Action Plan this year in order to develop its economic and commercial ties with India. Noting that France had emerged as one of the important IT software destinations for India, Mr Nath in his one-to-one meeting with Mr Loos raised the issue of the difficulties faced by Indian IT firms in obtaining visas/work permit for their personnel in France, including the problems faced due to the fact that visas were granted for short periods. India has suggested that the French authorities could consider introduction of a visa/work permit regime, which would facilitate easier movement of professionals and the issue of five-year green cards for IT professionals and personnel. The Indian side also suggested a bilateral framework for recognition of mutual technical qualifications. Mr Nath said that while France was India’s 9th largest investor in terms of FDI approvals, the actual FDI inflows from France were only one-third of the amount approved.
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Loos keen on making GSM handsets in India
France today said it was keen on setting up manufacturing base in India for making GSM mobile phones and help expand smart card technology in the country.
Minister of External Trade of France Francois Loos called on Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran in the afternoon here. Mr Maran explained the visiting minister and his delegation about the scope and future trend of the telecom industry in the country.
— UNI
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Trai may seek more powers
New Delhi, December 9 In a bid to dispel the “general impression” that the regulator was not tough enough, Trai Chairman Pradip Baijal said it may approach the government “to request that due
amendments be made in the law”. “As the law stands today, Trai can not help a dispute in the interconnection space. It is a question of statute that once there is a dispute even in inter-connection issue, Trai has no powers,” he said. Baijal’s comments come in the wake of CPM demanding his resignation accusing Trai of acting in connivance with the private operators Reliance and others, which the Left party said had cost telecom PSUs about Rs 2000 crore.
— PTI
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Hisar pilot dist for agri-clinic financing
Chandigarh, December 9 Talking about the scheme, Mr. B.P. Chopra, General Manager, Punjab National Bank, Northern Zone, said the outer ceiling for the cost of project by individual would be Rs 10 lakh and for the project by group would be Rs 50 lakh. The group may normally be of five members, of which one could be a management graduate with qualification or experience in business development and management. There is no margin for loan up to Rs.5 lakh but 25 per cent beyond this amount. Free two-month specialised training by select institutes would be provided to agriculture graduates interested in setting up such centres. The training would be coordinated by Nabard & Haryana Agriculture University. The course would comprise of entrepreneurship and business management, as well as skill improvement modules in their chosen area of activity. The project can be taken up by agriculture graduates, either individually or on joint group basis for which bank loan is available. Hisar district has been chosen the pilot district for agri-clinic financing. Meetings with the graduates at district-level have already been held and only eight have evinced interest in the scheme. They have been provided finance for Rs 5 lakh each.
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Lakshmi Mittal richest Indian
New York, December 9 Of the top 40 richest Indians, 11 are from the technology and nine from the pharma sector and while some of them have inherited wealth, 19 of them are entirely self-made billionaires as well as millionaires. The magazine’s list of the top richest people in India, to be out in its December 20 issue, places Mittal, who is also Britain’s richest Indian at the top with a wealth of $ 11.2 billion (over 50,000 crore). His company Ispat International aims to become the world’s largest steel firm. Mittal, who owns the world’s fourth largest steel group is ranked 272nd in the Forbes world rich list. Software giant Microsoft’s chief Bill Gates topped the world list for the seventh time. Mittal is followed in the second place by Wipro’s Azim Premji with $ 10 billion whom the magazine described as the “software magnate with global ambitions.” Premji owns 84 per cent of Wipro, India’s second biggest infotech company. Mukesh and Anil Ambani ranked third in the list with a wealth of $ 6.4 billion inherited from their father, Reliance Group founder Dhirubhai Ambani. Ranked fourth in the list is Kumar Mangalam Birla worth $ 3.5 billion (350 crore), who is the fourth generation head of the Aditya Birla Group, the country’s largest cement producer. The Birla group which has joint ventures with AT&T in telecom and Sun Life of Canada in the financial services is ranked 292nd in the world list. Construction magnate and real estate developer Pallonji Mistry is ranked fifth on the rich list with a wealth of $ 2.9 billion (290 crore) and Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the only woman on the list with a net worth of $ 455 million. Bharti Group’s Sunil Bharti Mittal is ranked sixth with $ 2.6 billion and the “self-made infotech pioneer” HCL’s Shiv Nadar is seventh with $ 2.3 billion. A garage start-up 25 years ago, HCL is the country’s biggest PC maker today and is ranked 202nd in the world rich list. Adi Godrej of Godrej Industries is eighth with a net worth of $ 1.9 billion, Ranbaxy’s Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh are ninth with $ 1.5 billion and Dilip Shangvi of Sun Pharma is ranked 10th with $ 1.4 billion.
— PTI
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WB for caution in regional trade pacts New Delhi, December 9 Launching the Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2005 here, Mr Uri Dadush, Director and Mr Richard Newfarmer, Economic Advisor, International Trade Department, World Bank, stated that while regional trade agreements offer some benefits to some developing countries, it was imperative to keep these pacts “open” and “transparent” so as not to divert trade or cause market distortions that penalise other developing countries outside the pale of agreements. The report calls for multi-lateral openings, which are being sought in the Doha round of WTO negotiations, which hold the promise of greater potential gains to all developing countries. The report states that Regional Trading Agreements (RTAs) are most effective when they complement a unilateral and multilateral trade strategy and anchor domestic reforms programmes to improve competitiveness and reduce poverty. The report says the key ingredients of RTAs that promote development include low external border barriers, promotion of new
cross-border competition, non-restrictive rules of origin, few sectoral and product exemptions, and more open services markets. Effective RTAs can help reduce regional political tensions, exploit economies of scale in infrastructure provision and lead to joint programmes to improve border crossings. It notes that South Asia has a special interest in strengthening the multi-lateral system, the greatest gains emanating through access to world markets.
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Chal sake to dekh lo...
Chandigarh, December 9 While those who got the connection enjoyed being part of the historic event that saw technology take a big leap forward, it was a damp squib for the thousands who were left high and dry. “Nothing can be more disappointing than being denied the opportunity of being part of the much-promised history-in-the-making,” said Sarbjit, a Chandigarh-based customer who had set the 3-to-6 time slot free for the movie this evening. “It’s like going to watch a movie in the theatre where tickets are given on a first-come-first-served basis. Similarly, Airtel could reach out to only a limited number of film buffs. As a result, thousands of hopefuls were left without the ‘ticket’,” explained the technical hand in the Airtel office while confirming that a lot of users were indeed having the connectivity problem. Some cellphone screens failed to light up with Arindam Chaudhuri’s ‘Rok Sako To Rok Lo’, a day before its premiere tomorrow. Instead, repeated attempts to load the movie resulted in the splashing of such messages as “No response, try again” and “Operation failed”. Definitely, a big letdown. Except for some 5-second snatches of the film now and then, the experience left one drained of patience. “It was only at the fag end, around 5.20 pm, that reception caught on,” lamented another customer. Airtel became the first cellular service in the world to screen a full-length movie on mobile phones. This service was made available across nine cities where Airtel EDGE services have been launched i.e. Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune, Ludhiana, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. Stage set for more happy viewers in future?
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CII advocates common economic zone
Shimla, December 9 Addressing a press conference here today, he said all physical and mental barriers, which were hindering the growth of industry, must be dismantled. Besides, the state governments should concentrate its effort and resources to promote industry in selected pockets to achieve concrete results. The cluster model approach for small-scale industries had yielded encouraging results in Mohali and Gurgaon. This resulted in annual savings to the tune of Rs 2 crore, which was a big amount for a cluster of 12
units. He underlined the need to follow the pattern of the telecom sector to speed up reform in the power sector. The private sector should be involved in a big way and though the state had, by and large agreed to unbundle the electricity boards, the process must be sped up. He said the entry of private sector had revolutionised the telecom service and power being a vital infrastructure required a similar revolution.
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Nabard Mandi on mobile HDFC Bank Videocon |
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