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Govt to revisit patents ordinance
Sensex ends at 2-week low
Regulator for Railway business mooted
A-I to link Kolkata with London
Kamal Nanavaty, Chief Operating Officer, Wireless Business Reliance Infocomm, at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.
— Tribune photo by Rajeev Tyagi |
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Sachin Tendulkar displays a mobile phone launched by G-Hanz GmbH in Mumbai on Monday. — PTI
photo Kolkata on industry revival path
UP to lease sick sugar mills
BoP to aid of tsunami-hit
Graphic: Cargo handling at Major
ports Corporate results
Maruti net zooms 70 pc
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Govt to revisit patents ordinance
New Delhi, January 24 “The government agrees to revisit the ambiguous provisions of the patents ordinance and rules to make the product patent regime credible and protect the interests of consumers and products,” said Mr Ashok Jha, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), while addressing an interactive session on amendments to the Patents Act, 1970, organised by Ficci here today. Mr Jha said the issue of flexibility, public health, pre and post-grant opposition to patents, “ever-greening”, compulsory licensing and royalty had been examined by the JPC and attempt made to see that the Patent Act reflected TRIPs agreement. The government had erred on the side of the Indian companies and public health insofar as local working issues were concerned, he said, adding that certain provisions that were disturbing the minds of patent attorneys such as new use, patenting of software, fee would be looked at afresh to address the concerns of industry. Mr Gajanan Walkankar, Director, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, urged the government to make use of the flexibilities provided under TRIPs, while implementing the Patent Act. He said the Act would benefit the Indian pharmaceutical industry in general, as European and US companies were outsourcing their R&D, clinical trial and bulk manufacturing to India. “ The future of mid-cap is bright which would benefit from the Act,” he said. However, Mr Walkankar said, “The government’s recent decision to impose excise on the outsourced drug manufacturers would result in an increase in drug prices by 7 to 10 per cent, as the big companies would prefer to pass on the increased tax burden to the consumers.” In some states like Gujarat, the supply of medicines has already been affected to a great extent. I think, the big players would not have any incentive to outsource manufacturing to small companies, and the day they decide to manufacture on their premises, the prices would increase, he added. Earlier, Mr Jha disclosed that government would have special meetings with the IT industry to consider their views on the provisions of software patenting. “We want to ensure that the IT sector should be benefit from the provisions of the Act. Before the Patent Ordinance, though software are protected under the copyright, yet under the new Patent regime, we have tried to give them extra protection by offering patents for software used in hardware,” he said adding that government would discuss the issue with the industry before finalising the Act.
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Sensex ends at 2-week low
Mumbai, January 24 Banking stocks were the worst hit after a slew of banks, including Syndicate Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank and Federal Bank, reported disappointing third quarter results, which propelled heavy selloff in both public and private sector banks. The Sensex which opened higher by 18.36 points at 6,201.60 points and touched a high of 6,215.78, later nose-dived by a whopping 129 points to hit the day’s low of 6,086.73 points. The key-BSE index ended at 6,106.43 points, its lowest closing since January 12, and shed 76.81 points or 1.24 per cent from its weekend close of 6,183.24. The Nifty index of National Stock Exchange (NSE) also finished down by 16.30 points (0.85 per cent) at 1,909 points, after hitting a high of 1,932.75 in early trades.
— UNI
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Regulator for Railway business mooted
New Delhi, January 24 The regulatory authority is also needed to ensure that non-viable infrastructural projects are funded by the general revenues, he said while delivering a keynote address at a seminar on ‘Public-Private Partnership in Development of Rail Infrastructure’ to mark the second foundation of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) here. Dr Ahluwalia said it should be our objective to transform the Railways in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan to benchmark its all-round improvement in terms of expansion, modernisation and efficiency. “While some projects needed to be funded out of general revenues, the rest of the Railway projects should be financed through non-recourse funding,” he said. Dr Ahluwalia said public-private partnership meant more than just getting revenues from the existing system. It was to collateralise the revenues. He said that public-private partnership also involved joint activity wherein suppliers of services brought in some finances from private sources. At present, the legal framework prevented the Railways from borrowing directly and the RVNL should function as an instrument for getting finances from the private sector. Dr Alhuwalia mentioned that a committee on infrastructure to give effect to the development and strengthening of infrastructure with the help of public-private partnership in keeping with the Common Minimum Programme of the government had been set up. The Railways formed an important component of this committee. Railway Minister of State Naranbhai Rathwa in his inaugural address said that 56 bankable projects at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore had been entrusted to RVNL for completion under a
time bound programme. In this connection, Mr Rathwa called for a change in the rate-of-return proposition to develop backward areas, otherwise the balanced development of infrastructure in the country would be retarded. Railway Board Chairman R.K. Singh, in his capacity as Chairman of RVNL, said the Railways had taken a big stride in the mobilisation of resources from other than the usual sources. In this connection, the challenge before the RVNL was to mobilise Rs 8,000 crore and structure its projects for self-sustaining, he said.
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A-I to link Kolkata with London
Kolkata, January 24 The Air India chairman, Mr V. Thulasidas, said today the Kolkata-London flight would start in April and the flight to Bangkok and Singapore would begin in October. Speaking at a seminar on ‘Focus West Bengal: Improving Airline Connectivity to enhance competitiveness’, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Mr Thulasidas said the introduction of new flights was part of efforts to strengthen the A-I’s service from the eastern metropolis. Initially the Kolkata-London direct Boeing-777 flight would operate thrice-a-week, provided the airline was allowed an arrival slot at the busy Heathrow International Airport. The frequency of the flight could be enhanced gradually. The flight from Kolkata to Bangkok and Singapore would operate on four-days-a-week initially. It would later be made a daily flight, the A-I chairman said. The twice-a-week domestic flight to Mumbai would soon be upgraded to thrice-a-week to enhance connectivity to Europe, USA and the rest of the world. This would be the airlines’ third ‘hub and spoke’ in the country, he said. The announcement of the new flights came after West Bengal government complained that the Kolkata sector was being consistently neglected by the airlines. The A-I chairman said the airline had embarked upon massive fleet expansion with as many as 68 aircraft to be added to the existing strength.
— PTI
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Reliance Info plans big expansion
New Delhi, January 24 The initiative is part of a planned expansion exercise involving a total investment of Rs 24,000 crore. Of this Rs 15,000 crore has already been pumped since the launch of the service about two years ago. The company is also expected to reduce its tariffs as per the new access deficit charge (ADC) regime which will come into force on February 1, Mr Kamal Nanavaty told newspersons. The company’s 80,000 km of terabit optic fibre cable network forms the backbone of its countrywide expansion, which will facilitate unlimited and uninterrupted voice, data and video applications, At present, Reliance Infocomm’s network extends to 1850 cities and towns and 75,000 villages covering a total population base of 25 crore. “The massive expansion operation, touching nearly 65 crore Indians, will cover nearly two-third of its villages and over 5,700 cities and towns. The planned network will cover 91 per cent of the country’s national highways and 85 per cent of the rail routes”, Mr Nanavaty said. “With this, we should be able to double the current base of 10.3 million wireless subscribers to 20 million by March 2006”, he said. Mr Nanavaty, however, refused to say anything on the ongoing reported family feud within the Reliance Group. Reliance Infocomm is also planning to introduce its third generation (3G) mobile services and is awaiting frequency allocation by the Department of Telecom (DoT) and Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing.
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Sachin bats for harmless cellphone
Mumbai, January 24 When asked whether he would allow his children Sarah and Arjun to use mobile phones, which are reportedly harmful to health, he thought for a while and said they would use them rarely. When their grandparents call, they would speak on the
cellphones. He was speaking to newspersons here after the launch of G-Hanz cellphones with harmless radiation. On when he learnt about the product, Sachin, who is the brand ambassador for
G-Hanz, GmbH Germany’s leading consumer electronics company, said he learnt about it from company CEO U K Ghosh last year. “It is an exciting product and targetted at masses. It was not for x-number of persons. But it was meant for everybody. The company will reach the destination,” he hoped. Earlier, launching the product, Sachin said he was happy to be associated with it and 18 years of research had gone into developing harmless radiation biochip technology. “I hope rest of the world appreciates it like
me.” G-Hanz will launch the unique product, which will enable the parents to keep a close watch on their wards, and it would be in the market by June end, the company’s Chief Executive Officer U.K. Ghosh, disclosed to newspersons here today. The product, which is likely to be priced at Rs 5,900, will enable the parents to know the location of the child.
— UNI
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Kolkata on industry revival path
Kolkata, January 24 The Left parties may be opposing the opening of economy at the Centre, but here they are making every effort to woo investors. And that too successfully. The construction boom across the city, new infrastructure projects, flyovers and large-scale investments by IT giants like Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, TCS and Cognizant are a clear indication that the city is on the revival path. Kolkata, that was once the industrial and political capital of the country, lost its charm in the late 70s when a large number of industries fled away or were closed down. The closure of jute mills, hosiery and leather units forced thousands of labourers to migrate to other cities. According to state government statistics, “the annual investment flow has increased from around Rs 500 crore in 1997-98 to over Rs 2000 crore last year. The city has attracted capital worth hundreds of crores in real estate, infrastructure and service sector. A planned new town is coming up at Rajarhat that is projected to house about a million people.” “The real estate prices have gone up manifold in the city over the past one year. New hospitals, modern shopping centres, restaurants and entertainment complexes and housing have created jobs for thousands of people. In the Salt Lake suburb alone, over 20,000 jobs have been created in call centres and the BPO sector,” said a senior journalist working here with a news agency. If one looks at the worn-out state-run buses or trams still running on the choked roads, it may be tempting to write off the city, but the fact is that over the past few years, the situation has dramatically improved, he adds. “Opening of the Vidyasagar Setu and several new flyovers have eased traffic woes and the pollution level in the city. Now you can see cars of every model on the city roads and an increasing number of domestic and foreign tourists,” says Mr Mohan Singh, a taxi driver. With the opening of the new flyovers, the “City of Joy” has become the city of flyovers, resulting in a drastic fall in traffic jams. A number of flyovers and bypasses are coming up in the city. The IT industry admits that due to availability of talent, low cost of operations, availability of high-quality infrastructure, government support, the city is as attractive as Bangalore or Gurgaon. Industrialists claim that a “friendly government at the Centre” and the pro-industry policies of the Buddhadeb government in the Centre have created a congenial environment for new investment in the state capital. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who had played a crucial role in state’s new industrial policy, is also pressing upon the state government to take the Centre’s help to revive the city’s industries.
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UP to lease sick sugar mills Lucknow, January 24 Taking over liabilities of more than Rs 120 crore, the Cabinet may finally consider the Rs 111-crore bidder — Hindustan Bajaj — an emerging player in the sugar industry in the state for leasing out the sugar mills once the case is settled by the
AAIFR. Announcing the decision, Principal Secretary Industrial Development Ravi Mathur said after the Bureau of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction
(BIFR) had declared the Uttar Pradesh Sugar Nigam sick in 1995, a decision to lease them out was taken in October 2003. This decision was challenged by the BFIR reportedly on the grounds that the government was trying to favour one industrial house by considering leasing them all sick mills. The second reservation of the BIFR was that the interest of the workers had not been adequately protected. The government appealed to the
AAIFR. This appellate authority approved of the leasing of the mills on the fulfilment of certain conditions that it had laid down. The Cabinet today approved a package that would roughly cost the exchequer Rs 120 crore. Opening the doors for more contractual workers, the state Cabinet decided to appoint contractual medical practitioners in the Indian system of medicine for the rural primary health centres. Briefing the media, Chief Secretary
V.K. Mittal said the decision to appoint close to 1300 allopathic doctors in the state last year was appreciated by other states. It worked as a pressure tactic against in-service doctors who refused to take over their rural postings. Following this, the government has decided to appoint 338 ayurvedic, 54 unani and 38 homeopathic doctors a one-year contract on a monthly stipend of Rs 12,000.
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BoP to aid of tsunami-hit
Chandigarh, January 24 A team of bank executives was recently sent from Chandigarh to the tsunami-hit coastal areas of Kanchipuram and Cuddalore for this project. The bank, in coordination with Mr R. Venkatesan, DC, Kanchipuram, distributed school bags along with pens, pencils, crayons, scales, geometry boxes dissection boxes, ink bottles and notebooks to around 5,500 poor students belonging to the fishermen community. The bank also distributed shoes to 434 students of the Panchayat Urban Elementary School,
Chingelpet.
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New Delhi, January 24
