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Pranab moots common Indo-Pak market
HP proposes law to enforce fiscal discipline
Industrial growth 10.1 pc in Oct
Protecting staff from sick building syndrome
External debt crosses $ 112 billion
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Grant sanctioned for waste treatment plant
RBI cancels licences of 85 urban coop banks
GTB merger to hit OBC profits
Inflation slips to 7.30 pc
Virus threat
to cellphones
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Pranab moots common Indo-Pak market
New Delhi, December 10 He was speaking at the 99th Annual General Session of the PHDCCI. “We have no other option but to undertake serious efforts to break the ice by developing a common approach towards trade and commerce,” he said, adding that both nations should work towards the success of South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) “for making it a platform of pride and a matter of envy for other blocks like the EU, Nafta and Asean.” Expressing confidence that both nations can unite through a common market, he said, “If the European nations can come under a common platform of European Union by forgetting over 300 years of conflict, why not India and Pakistan with a history of only 50 years”. By developing a commonality in approach, both the countries can jointly fight poverty, deprivation, hunger and inequality, the minister said. On achieving the 8 per cent growth target, he said, “it is not a pipe dream, it could be achieved provided the economy is able to generate domestic savings”. Mr Ravi Wig, the outgoing PHDCCI president, said, “the government must support export of defence items by private sector” Mr Mukherjee said that the situation regarding the international energy supplies figured promptly during his discussions with the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. “One important aspect of our discussion yesterday was related to international energy supplies,” he said. The issue of energy security is very important for the global investment climate, he said adding global energy crisis is not going to be over soon unless normalcy returns to Iraq. “There was an expectation that the prevailing situation in Iraq would settle down once US election gets over. Unfortunately, this has not happened,” he said. India, for instance, has witnessed three oil shocks and meets about 80 per cent of energy requirement through imports he said, adding, “the political establishment and leadership globally should work in a concerted manner by adopting a commonality of approaches in this regard”.
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HP proposes law to enforce fiscal discipline
Shimla, December 10 As per the norms, the debt liability of the government should not exceed 60 per cent of the state gross domestic product (GDP). With a GDP of Rs 18,000 crore, the outstanding loans should be limited to Rs 10,000 crore. The state has exceeded the limit by over 50 per cent (Rs 5,000 crore) and the situation calls for stringent measures to curtail expenditure and enforce fiscal discipline. Since the GDP is based on estimates, the Bill views the financial situation in terms of revenue deficit and receipts while setting targets for reducing the fiscal deficit. The ratio of revenue deficit to the total receipts, which stands at 40 per cent at present, is proposed to be brought down by 2 per cent every year. In real terms, it will mean reducing the deficit by Rs 90 crore to Rs 100 crore annually. The state’s own income is about Rs 16,00 crore and it receives about Rs 2,700 crore from the centre under various schemes. However, the expenditure is about Rs 6900 crore and the state had been raising loans to the tune of about Rs 2500 crore to make both ends meet. The government will be required to give statements twice a year to inform the House about the steps being taken to reduce the deficit. Further, if the government decided to increase revenue expenditure under one area, it will have to compensate it by compressing expenditure in some other area or raising additional resources. The government also proposes to deregulate the appointments Bill for penal action against the officers guilty for making recruitments without government approval.
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Industrial growth 10.1 pc in Oct
New Delhi, December 10 Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has already announced that the “worst is over,” expressing hope that the country will be able to achieve 6-6.5 per cent growth rate. According to figures released by the government today, industrial growth was 8.4 per cent during April-October this fiscal compared to 6.2 per cent in the year ago period. Industrial output accounts for nearly a quarter of country’s gross domestic product, and analysts had been expecting growth to pick up in October with the onset of festival season and firming up of demand in the rural sector. Manufacturing output, representing more than 75 per cent of industrial output, rose 11.3 per cent in the year through October, picking up from 8 per cent in the year through September, data from the Central Statistical Organisation showed. Growth in consumer goods, which range from soaps to televisions, was 15.5 per cent in October from a year earlier, increasing from September’s rise of 10.4 per cent. The capital goods sector, a barometer of industrial activity, increased 19.2 per cent in the year through October, higher than September’s 15.1 per cent.
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Protecting staff from sick building syndrome
New Delhi, December 10 Specific factors contributing to the sick building syndrome
(SBS), the acute incidence of indoor air pollution in closed or poorly ventilated offices and residences, are not known, Certain elements act in combination or supplement other factors such as inadequate temperature, humidity, and lighting. Chemical contaminants from indoor and outdoor are also major sources of indoor pollution, says Kamal
Meattle, CEO of Paharpur Business Centre, an office complex in Delhi where indoor air quality has been maintained as per the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) standards. According to him, people exposed to indoor air pollutants over a long period of time are likely to become more vulnerable to outdoor air pollutants. “Considering that the health of an employee has a bearing on his productivity, it certainly is economically profitable to “grow fresh air” in office buildings, as we have done in our complex,” he adds The project, “to grow fresh air” in the 50,000 sq-ft office complex in Delhi, has taken a few years to evolve through continuous research and development. The air first passes through air scrubbers which removes sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. It is then sent to the green house that rejuvenates the air. Special toxin removing plants like areca palms and rubber plants absorb toxins like benzene, formaldehyde and
trichloroethylene, besides carbon dioxide, while adding oxygen in the air. It is then injected into the indoor environment. The natural system of air purification, evolved through plants, is supported by the scientific ideology and concepts of indoor air purification by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA. Due to the system, Meattle says, the level of output and alertness in employee working in this centre, has been found to be much better compared to people working in other buildings. The carbon dioxide level is also much below the permitted level and the oxygen level in the people working in the centre is much higher compared to the people in other buildings.
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External debt crosses $ 112 billion
New Delhi, December 10 The total debt service payment rose to $ 20,949 million in 2003-04 from $11,543 million in 1999-00, $12,821 million in 2000-01, $10,862 million in 2001-02 and $15,081 million in 2002-03, he said during question hour. Stating that the government followed a prudent external debt management policy, he said it had prepaid high cost sovereign loans of $2.9 billion and $3.8 billion in 2002-03 and 2003-04, respectively. To another question on the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI), Chidambaram said RBI had reported that India received FDI worth $6.13 billion, USD 4.66 billion and $4.67 billion in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04, respectively.
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Grant sanctioned for waste treatment plant
Chandigarh, December 10 Talking to TNS, Mr S.P Oswal, Chairman and Managing Director of Vardhman group of Industries, said the promoters of the project, who are from among the major generators of hazardous waste have already raised Rs 1.5 crore as they are required to contribute 15 per cent of the cost . The state has over 700 hazardous waste generating units. Among the biggest generators are electroplating units, pharmaceutical companies, textile (dyeing units) and other chemical-related industry. Punjab alone generates 25,000 tonnes of industrial waste in a year and in the absence of any such landfill site most of these units are storing heaps of waste generated on their premises subject to the approval of the pollution control board. The cost of this public-private venture is estimated to be Rs 17 crore and the big industrial houses involved in the project are being facilitated by the Punjab State Pollution Control Board in getting the necessary permissions and clearances required. The construction work will be carried out by Nimbuan Green Fields Punjab Ltd.
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RBI cancels licences of 85 urban coop banks
New Delhi, December 10 The licenses were cancelled because of the banks’ precarious financial position, high level of NPA’s and erosion of net worth affecting deposits. The decision for rejecting applications of the DCCB’s include, inter-alia, the real or exchangable value of paid-up capital and reserves of the banks being negative.
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GTB merger to hit OBC profits
New Delhi, December 10 However, OBC’s business was expected to grow by 30 per cent to Rs 80,000 crore this fiscal, OBC Chairman B D Narang said on the sidelines of an Assocham seminar. He refused to specify the expected dip in profits this fiscal compared to Rs 686 crore in 2003-04, but said it would be a temporary phenomenon. “GTB will contribute over Rs 150 crore from 2006,” he said. —
PTI
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Inflation slips to 7.30 pc
New Delhi, December 10 Meanwhile, lower prices of fruits and vegetables have helped pull down the annual rate of inflation to 7.30 per cent for the week ended November 27 as against 7.34 during the previous session.
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Virus threat
to cellphones
Chennai, December 10 “The virus threat to mobile phones are real and could be more deadly than you could imagine,” Niraj Kaushik, Country Manager (India) of Nasdaq-listed Trend Micro Inc, which just released a free trial of new protection for mobile devices ‘malware’ (malicious software) that attack mobile phones, said here. Considering that the mobile phones are always “switched on and networked”, the chances of virus attacks are much more than on computers, he said. —
PTI
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