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Bharat Nirman may ameliorate rural sector
HP clears setting up of 18 new units
Portal to market Himachali products
Film sector seeks investment-friendly Budget |
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Kingfisher Airlines orders three aircraft from Airbus
Ambassador Grand launched
NCAER forecasts GDP growth at 6.5-6.7 pc
Pak upgrading airports at faster pace than India
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Bharat Nirman may ameliorate rural sector
New Delhi, February 19 The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is in favour of a scheme by name of Bharat Nirman aimed primarily at improving and developing physical infrastructure in rural areas such as roads, bridges, power, irrigation and housing. Sources said that the scheme, Pura (Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas), is expected to get a budgetary boost and may be dove-tailed with existing rural development schemes. In addition, the government is also considering to enhance the outlay for Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP). The IWDP is an ongoing Centrally-sponsored scheme under which major projects are undertaken on micro-watershed basis. The outlay for Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) is also expected to be enhanced, sources said. The sources said the government is looking at various ways and means to tackle the problem of drought with a long term perspective, “based on strategy of optimum utilisation of land, water and human resources”. Both IWDP and DPAP come under the broad head of Special Programme of Rural Development. While, the plan outlay under this head in 2004-05 was Rs 1974.60 crore, sources said in 2005-06, this is expected to be in excess of Rs 2,500 crore. The other programmes under falling under this category include the Desert Development Programme (DDP) and the Technology Development, Extension and Training Scheme. The DDP aims at controlling “desertification and to conserve, develop and harness land, water and other natural resources for restoration of ecological balance in the long run.” Sources said the plan outlay for land reforms is also likely to be increased which would mainly be utilised in the implementing the existing centrally sponsored scheme of computerisation of land records (CLR). CLR is a 100 per cent grants-in-aid scheme. So far 582 districts have been brought under the computerisation programme. The sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has identified land records computerisation as a major priority area and has asked the concerned Ministry to make the records available on-line as early as possible. Under land reforms, central assistance is given under the scheme of Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records (SRA and ULR), in addition to the funds provided for CLR. All these schemes are parts of a new scheme named Modernisation of Land and Revenue Records. The government is also learnt to be considering a proposal to restructure Capart (Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology). The move is mainly aimed at strengthening civil society action in rural areas.
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Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha will host a special programme on Union Budget 2005-06 for Hindi business news channel, Zee Business. In the special five-day programme, scheduled to go on air from February 21, Mr. Sinha will interview the biggest names in corporate India and look at their wish list from the Budget. These names include Sunil Kant Munjal, Nimesh Kampani, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Ashvin Dani, Ajay Piramal and Anil Aggarwal, a press note said. — TNS
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HP clears setting up of 18 new units
Shimla, February 19 The decision was taken at the state level meeting of the Single Window Clearance and Monitoring Authority, held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, here last evening. The setting up of these new industrial units will generate employment for 3,175 persons at different levels. Mr Virbhadra Singh said so far the state had succeeded in attracting investment worth Rs 8,869 crore by sanctioning 4,568 industrial units during the last two years. He said this had helped in generating employment opportunities for 1.57 lakh persons in the industrial sector. The Chief Minister said the state was offering best terms and conditions to the entrepreneurs in the country, besides an environment-friendly atmosphere. “We are keen on investment by entrepreneurs not only in the industrial sector but also in tourism, power and hydel-power sector,” he said. He said that government had made it mandatory for all entrepreneurs to provide a minimum of 70 per cent jobs to people from within the state. “We are also determined to create skilled manpower to meet the industrial requirement and effective steps are being taken in this direction,” he said. The Chief Minister also directed the officials to ensure that the industrial units are set up within the stipulated period, goods are manufactured within the state and finished goods not ‘imported’ into the state.
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Portal to market Himachali products
Mandi, February 19 Though apples, Kulu shawls and Kangra tea have earned their brand names in local and national markets, they failed to become the brand ambassadors for the state in the global market. “The National Informatics Centre will develop a software for the CTP once it is approved by the government,” said officials. To make these products more attractive, a proposal also envisages branding them, said Mr K.J.B.V. Subrahmanyam, Divisional Commissioner, Mandi. “Branding by major companies will give them advantage in the local, national and global market,” he said, adding that the proposal to develop CTP was mooted at a meeting of the Deputy Commissioners of Mandi, Kulu, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Lahaul-Spiti held recently. Currently, the self-help groups are producing a limited number of goods and selling them in the local market. “If the self-help groups get wider exposure they can increase their production. But branding remains a challenge and the CTP will provide a wider market,” said the Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, Mr Ali Raza Rizvi. The district has over 8,000 self-help groups. The self-help groups are producing bags, tablecloths, mats, shawls, pickles, jams, jelly, mushrooms, paneer products and other items. Citing examples of southern states, where the self-help groups have become successful, officials said branding of the products would give comparative advantage of hitting the global market through the trade portal. “In the South, the big companies like Hindustan lever have branded products produced by self-help groups. It can be tried here as well,” Mr Subrahmanyam added.
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Film sector seeks investment-friendly Budget
Mumbai, February 19 Industry representatives say the government must give some preferential treatment in the annual fiscal package to the entertainment sector that has the potential of earning billions of dollars in foreign exchange. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will present the general Budget for the fiscal year 2005-06 in Parliament on February 28. “The Indian entertainment sector has massive potential and it is likely to become one of the main catalysts for economic growth in the years ahead,” said Bhuvan Lall, chief executive officer of Lall Entertainment. Lall Entertainment is a privately-held company with business interests and expertise in production and distribution of animation, broadcasting and cinema content globally. “The government must create an environment by offering some financial incentives so that the industry can realise its potential. We are expecting the Budget to take a few steps in this direction,” Lall said. According to Lall, the Budget must bring down the customs duties imposed on import of broadcasting and filming equipment from an average of between 25 per cent and 45 per cent to minimum possible levels. “Also, the entertainment and service taxes imposed on the industry are not very rational and should be done away with immediately. The sector should be given at least five years of tax exemption to help it grow,” he said. “Currently, the high duty and tax barriers make our products very uncompetitive in the global market. We are at a very critical growth phase and we need government support to become one of the leading global players.” The Indian entertainment industry’s revenue touched Rs.218 billion in the last calendar year and is likely to grow by 20 per cent over the next few years to touch Rs 595 billion by 2010, says management consultancy firm KPMG. The film industry revenue is also likely to increase to Rs 143 billion by 2010, up from Rs 59 billion logged in the last calendar year. Experts say the market for the Indian entertainment products, including television software, films, video games, animation and music, is huge in different parts of the globe. Amit Khanna, president of the Film and Television Producers Guild of India, says the Budget for the next fiscal year should abolish the countervailing duty imposed on raw films imported into India. He, however, doesn’t expect the government to unveil any kind of incentive on earnings through exports of entertainment products. The entertainment industry representatives are also pitching for income tax concessions for setting up multiplexes in all cities.
— IANS
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Air Deccan to take off from city on March 7
Chandigarh, February 19 He said while the daily flights would begin next month, Air Deccan was trying to secure permission for an evening flight as well. “We want to bring in passengers by the morning flight and take them back in the evening. We are hopeful the permission will come by the end of this year,” he stated. Capt Gopinath emphasised that the cost of travel would be 40 to 50 per cent less than the fare of other airlines. “We are targeting the growing middle-class families of the country and aspiring to connect the remotest of towns which have airports and are well populated. Explaining that there are 400 airports in India, he said airports at Delhi and Mumbai were getting over-crowded. “There is a need to branch out into untapped states where people can afford to take flights at reasonable costs. Our attempt is just that. We have created an airline where masses can travel in masses. We are also beginning Delhi-Kanpur and Delhi-Jabalpur flights shortly,” he said. Justifying the delay in the flight from Delhi to Chandigarh, launched nearly a year ago, Capt Gopinath said the fog was leading to a delay in flights as well as cancellation of
others. “We decided to postpone the launch instead of earning a bad name at the very beginning. We refunded money to all those who purchased our ticket,”
he said. Earlier, an Employment Portal HR—One world Solution was launched by ITFT to help job-seekers to post their resume and enable employers to pick up suitable candidates. A book on employment generation and a Punjab Tourism video was also released on the occasion.
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Kingfisher Airlines orders three aircraft from Airbus
Bangalore, February 19 With this new purchase, Kingfisher Airlines has ordered a total of 33 new aircraft. Of these, a total of 13 aircraft - 10 A320s and 3 A319s, are on firm order, with options for buying further 20 aircraft. In addition to this, Kingfisher Airlines has also leased four brand new Airbus A320-200 aircraft from Debis Air Finance, a company of Daimler Chrysler. The A319s have a list price of $ 153 million (Rs 673 crore), taking the total value of the order to $ 1.93 billion (Rs 8,492 crore). “The addition of three 144-seater A319s to our soon-to-be launched airline will compliment the capabilities of the fleet and serve the needs of traffic on routes out of Bangalore where the A 319s will be based,” Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines said here
today. — UNI
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Ambassador Grand launched
New Delhi, February 19 The car comes equipped with a factory-fitted CNG kit and complies with the all safety standards and with those prescribed by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). India’s oldest carmaker said the new variant of the Ambassador Grand has undergone numerous interior changes making it a favourable buy in the mid-sized car segment. It has also revamped the interiors of the 1.8 litre petrol Ambassador Grand and the 2.0 litre diesel Ambassador Grand. The Ambassador Grand in all its variants will be available in white and black colours, besides shades of blue, green, brown and aqua-blue. Besides Ambassador, Hindustan Motors also manufactures the mid-sized premium segment passenger car, Lancer and Sport Utility Vehicle, Pajero, in collaboration with Mitsubishi of Japan. The company reported a loss of Rs 81 crore (Rs 810 million) and turnover of Rs 729 crore (Rs 7.29 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2004 against the loss of Rs 27 crore (Rs 270 million) and turnover of Rs 892 crore (Rs 8.92 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2003.
— UNI
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NCAER forecasts GDP growth at 6.5-6.7 pc
New Delhi, February 19 The output of manufacturing sector looks extremely bright and it is indeed amazing that even an uneven monsoon could not deter the economy from registering robust growth during 2004-05, NCAER said in its latest quarterly review. As per the Central Statistical Organisation estimate, the GDP grew at seven per cent, driven largely by excellent growth recorded in the industrial and services sector.
— PTI
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