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PNB may set up arm in UK
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Haryana has most job avenues, says survey
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan may get enhanced outlay
PHD chamber for private sector participation
Jet gets nod for New York
Sania clinches three endorsement deals
MPs have reservations on A-I Express
Blanket ban on plastics unfair, says body chief
PNB Housing Finance plans loan scheme
Lufthansa’s fifth stop in India is Hyderabad
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PNB may set up arm in UK
New Delhi, February 18 “The bank has already appointed consultants (Deloitte) to go into the details of the plan for floating a subsidiary in the UK,” Chairman and Managing Director of PNB S.S. Kohli, told newspersons here today. PNB will shortly upgrade its Kazakhastan representative office into a branch and has also received approval for opening a representative office in Dubai besides the nod for opening an office in Sri Lanka, he added. It was also exploring the possibilities of mapping the banks footprint in Singapore and Hong Kong, he said. PNB Executive Director A K Chakraborty said Deloitte was expected to submit the preliminary report on the proposed UK subsidiary in the next two months. “Thereafter, the document will go to the Board of Directors and will be sent for regulatory approval,” he said. Punjab National Bank (PNB) will launch its follow-on public issue (FPO) of 8 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each on March 7. The share price will be determined through book-building and will be announced on March 5 issue will remain open till March 11. Mr Kohli said that of the 8 crore shares, 10 per cent will be reserved for employees and another 10 per cent for existing shareholders. Effectively, 6.4 crore shares will be offered to the public. With this issue, the holding of the government in the bank is slated to reduce to 57 per cent from the existing 80 per cent. Mr Kohli said that the public issue is primarily aimed at mopping up funds for meeting capital adequacy norms and for domestic and overseas expansion. “Besides, the Basel II Accord will come into force from next year. Presently, we have a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 13 per cent, which will come down to 10 per cent as per Basel II specifications. Basel II mandates that the CAR should be in excess of 9 per cent. The public issue will allow to us to have a comfortable CAR after the Basel II norms come into force,” Mr Kohli said. PNB aims to hike its capital base by around Rs 3,000 crore this fiscal.
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The PNB today ruled out merger of the ailing IFCI with itself if it leads to erosion of shareholders value. “We will not go for mergers and acquisitions at the cost of shareholder value,” PNB executive director K C Chakrabarty said on the sidelines of the road show of its second public offer. Although PNB is open to M&As, it wants tax sops for taking over ailing banks and FIs. Board of directors of the PNB and IFCI had agreed to merge the two entities last year. However, PNB had sought tax sops to the tune of Rs 3,200 crore to offset the losses of the ailing IFCI.
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Haryana has most job avenues, says survey
Chennai, February 18 Though south India continues to lead the rest of the country in terms of employment opportunities, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab are the top five states respectively, for employment, while the top five cities in order are Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Ma Foi with a strong base in South-East Asia, London, Dubai and India has made huge projections for the January-March quarter and predicts creation of thousands of jobs cutting across all sectors in the country. The quarterly study, which covered 2,046 employers across 17 sectors, has stated that 74,075 jobs would be created during the quarter. What is more important is that the total number of jobs to be reduced would come down significantly over last quarter. The report said that more jobs would be created in IT and ITeS, pharmaceuticals, textiles and garments, retail, manufacturing, automobiles and auto ancillaries but added that there would be a down growth in sectors like BFSI and telecom. Among the top 20 employers who plan to hire, four are from manufacturing, three from IT and textiles and garments, two from ITeS, energy, entertainment and communication, and one each from telecom, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and retail. The top 10 sectors in terms of employment are IT and ITeS, education, training and consulting, infrastructure, transportation and logistics, pharmaceuticals, retail trade, healthcare, auto and auto ancillaries and print media and entertainment. The study had made a significant revelation that more and more Indian corporate houses are engaging temporary staff. The MEtS survey said that temporary staff comprised nearly 11.8 per cent of the employee base of the companies surveyed. However, unlike the West, in India the gender balance are in favour of men since women accounted for only 17 per cent of the workforce. But the survey found that there is a greater presence of women in services sector compared to products.
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Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan may get enhanced outlay
New Delhi, February 18 Besides, the government is also examining a proposal to merge the mid-day meal scheme with the SSA to achieve better and stronger results, sources said. The SSA is a time-bound programme, and aims to provide free and compulsory education to the children between 6-14 years of age group, a fundamental right as mandated by the 86th Constitutional Amendment. The SSA is being implemented in partnership with the state governments to cover the entire country seeks to open new schools in those habitations which do not have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure through provision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant and school improvement grants. Sources said that elementary education, this year, is expected to receive a much higher plan allocation than the previous year. Last year ( 2004-05), a total plan allocation of Rs 6,000 crore was made for elementary education and literacy. The important existing plan schemes include the SSA, National Programme for Nutritional Support to Primary Education (commonly known as the mid-day meal scheme), and adult education programme. Sources said the government might merge the mid-day meal scheme with the SSA with an enhanced budgetary support for better results. The mid-day meal scheme was launched in 1995, with the objective of giving a boost to universalisation of primary education and simultaneously enhancing nutrition
of students in primary classes. “The primary reason for merging the mid-day meal scheme with the SSA is to achieve better results quickly. Presently, according to official records, 28 states/UTs are providing the cooked meal/ready to eat food to about 5.74 crore children. This is about 54.3 per cent of the of the target of 10.56 crore children”, sources said. In 2004-05, the mid-day meal scheme and the SSA received a combined plan support of Rs 3657.08 crore. Sources said the budgetary grant this year could well be in the range of
Rs 6,000 crore. Under the additional plan outlay, the quantity of food and nutritious items supplied to schoolchildren would also be enhanced, sources said.
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PHD chamber for private sector participation
Shimla, February 18 Suggesting various measures to accelerate the pace of economic growth on the eve of the Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha, the chamber underlined the need for making adequate provision of funds for the development of industrial infrastructure. The state government should set up an infrastructure development company on the public-private partnership model at Baddi. The government of India Infrastructure Development Fund may be utilised to bridge the gap in funding requirements, with 75 per cent funds from the private sector and the rest from the state and the Centre. To begin with, the company be entrusted the maintenance of infrastructure facilities at Baddi, especially roads, sewerage, drainage and power. Highlighting the importance of a sectoral approach of speedy development, it suggested that tourism, hydro-power and agro-processing be given top priority. The government should set up special tourism economic zones on the lines of Indonesia. Fiscal incentives in the form of income tax holiday, exemption from state taxes be considered for inviting private sector to develop such zones. Fiscal incentives may also be granted for individual facilities like hotels, amusement parks and shopping centres be set up within the tourism estate. The current budgetary allocation of Rs 6.8 crore should be enhanced to Rs 18 crore to improve promotion and marketing efforts of the Tourism Department and the luxury tax be subsumed in Vat. The government should expedite the setting up of apple export zone which had not taken off even after two years of signing an MoU.
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Jet gets nod for New York
New Delhi, February 18 Although reports suggested that the other private sector airline which qualifies to fly abroad under the new stringent rules of the government, Air Sahara, did not apply for any routes to the USA, but the distribution of slots at Heathrow in the earlier instance has left the Sahara Group airlines unhappy. Jet Airways apparently gets to fly on the New York route from the ensuing summer season starting April. Jet Airways, which received an overwhelming response to its initial public offer which opened today, has been allowed to operate three flights a week from Mumbai to New York via Brussels, reports here said. The Civil Aviation Ministry had on January 31 allotted a total of nine flights to the UK to Jet Airways and Air Sahara from March-April this year. While Jet Airways was allotted seven flights to London Heathrow per week, Air Sahara has been allotted just two to Gatwick. This had resulted in the Air Sahara officials also protesting with the Civil Aviation Ministry officials as Gatwick remains an unfavourable destination for travellers from India. Earlier this month, the two private carriers were also allowed to carry out daily operations to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. But they were kept off Thailand, where the tourist traffic is high, as Indian Airlines and Air-India had exhausted all bilaterals to that country. The two private airlines have also been kept off the Gulf routes for three years. The Union Cabinet had on December 29 permitted private carriers, having a minimum of five years of continuous experience, a 20 aircraft fleet and minimum mileage coverage, to operate on the international routes, barring Gulf destinations which were left for the public carriers for three years. Jet Airways officials however did not comment on when they would launch the New York operations. But reports said that operations could start once the airline acquires large wide-bodied aircraft. It has been planning to acquire aircrafts like Boeing 777s, Boeing 747s and Airbus-340s, which are considered fit for flying on long haul routes.
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IPO oversubscribed
Mumbai: The Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Jet Airways was oversubscribed within 10 minutes of the issue opening, according to BSE sources.
The IPO’s institutional portion was oversubscribed nearly 3.6 times. On the very first day, the company received 16.8 million bids at Rs 1,125, the higher end of the price band. On the other hand, only 768 bids were received at the cut-off price of Rs 950.
— TNS
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Sania clinches three endorsement deals
New Delhi, February 18 Post Australian Open tournament, advertisers had gone berserk and at one point, Globo Media Solutions, which is managing Sania, was negotiating with 18 such offers worth over Rs 7 crore. Anirban Das Blah, Vice President (Sales & Marketing), Globosport said, “We have closed three deals for Sania and the first announcement will be made in Delhi in the first week of March.” The company has not shared the details of these endorsement deals, but Sania is likely to endorse sports apparel as one of the brands. “She won’t be signing any more deals in this year,” Blah said. The current endorsements for Mirza include GVK Industries, Sahara, Atlas Cycles, Tata Tea and Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, some of which will end in the middle of this year. “We will certainly continue with her earlier commitments as they supported Sania right through before she made it big,” said Blah. “With addition of the three deals, Sania’s valuation has come next only to Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid,” Blah added. Seeking Mirza’s services for endorsements were companies from categories like cola, mobile handsets and services to apparel, footwear and personal care. Sania is likely to endorse the brands for one year. Some contracts can go up to three years too as she aims to break into the top 50 this year. “Who knows, at the end of three years Sania could well be amongst the top 10 women tennis players in the world, so a longer contract won’t make sense,” said Blah. Post Hyderabad Open win, Sania Mirza’s is currently ranked 99 in WTA rankings. She had started the year with a ranking of 166. Sania is likely to shoot for her new campaigns in March.
— PTI
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MPs have reservations on A-I Express
New Delhi, February 18 While most members were apprehensive over the plans, Congress youth icon MP Rahul Gandhi was particularly vocal against the future plans of Air India. He said that the bid to start Air India Express may not ‘cannabalise’ Air-India itself, sources here said. There was word of caution over the plans worked out by the Air-India board from the MPs. Incidentally, Air-India has submitted a proposal to the government for acquisition of 18 B737-800 aircraft for Air-India Express, which it plans to start later in the year. Meanwhile, at the meeting held in Mumbai and chaired by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, the members were also informed that the government planned to keep its control over both the public sector airlines even though there were plans to bring IPOs for both Air-India and the Indian Airlines. The minister informed that the IPO for the two airlines would be kept under 51 per cent to retain their PSU character. However, there was good news for the employees of the two airlines. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has also decided to offers shares of the two airlines to its employees to increase their participation in the parent companies.
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Blanket ban on plastics unfair, says body chief
New Delhi, February 18 “Had there been no polythene pouches, the operation flood would have to be recast. At today’s rate of milk consumption, by packaging it in plastic pouches instead of glass bottles, have saved 27.6 billion units of power equalling the output of a thermal power station of more than one thousand MWs,” President of PlastIndia Foundation Mahesh Shah said. Use of plastics in automobiles offers “an excellent example about weight reduction per vehicle thereby reducing fuel consumption and saving of millions of litres of fuel.” “However, despite myriad examples of benefit to society, plastics have unfortunately been put to a lot of criticism on emotive grounds rather than on any scientific rationale or objective evaluation,” he said. Mr Shah said poor littering habits, coupled with inadequate waste management systems and infrastructure, have created a major problem in the urban areas. “There is a need to devise an integrated waste management system to manage all waste in an economically and environmentally sustainable way,” he said. He said many developed countries have addressed the issues of municipal solid waste management through the process of incineration for energy recovery. “Plastics with high calorific value can be a source of low-cost energy for cities”, he added.
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PNB Housing Finance plans loan scheme
Chandigarh, February 18 Managing Director K.G. Sathyasingan has said, “We are planning a scheme that would let people open accounts and save with us with a promise that we would provide three times loan than the saved amount at a marginally higher rate than the rate at which they were receiving on their savings”. During the last financial year, PNB Housing Finance sanctioned loans of Rs 350 crore. The total outstanding loans of the company stood at Rs 775 crore in respect of over 30,000 loan accounts. In 2003-2004, the company earned a total income of Rs 90.43 crore. The profit before tax was Rs 21.20 crore and profit after tax was Rs. 15.49
crore.
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Lufthansa’s fifth stop in India is Hyderabad
Hyderabad, February 18 With the commencement of the service, Hyderabad joined the Lufthansa network as its fifth destination in India. Lufthansa Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told reporters here that Hyderabad was a very important addition to its network in India as it would offer tourists and businessmen from southern India “a very efficient new service which takes them directly to Frankfurt. Depending on business and response, the airlines could upgrade the service to a daily flight from the current tri-weekly schedule, he added. Saying that his airlines had no intention of investing on infrastructure development in India, he said they felt “it is profitable without ownership in India.”
— UNI
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