 |
|
New Haryana industrial policy soon: Hooda
LIC focuses on unit-linked plans
BJP to rethink Vat boycott
A-I’s daily flight to LA takes off from Delhi
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
UK jobs moving to India: study
Lanka puts BP deal on hold
SEZ legislation in current session
Pharma sector
Corporate results
Allahabad Bank-PNB Kazakh JV by May
Rishi, Waheeda to be honoured
|
|
New Haryana industrial policy soon: Hooda
New Delhi, March 28 “The government will soon introduce a new industrial policy and create an investor-friendly atmosphere for industrial development in the state. Special schemes would be formulated for setting up large-scale units in the public, private and joint sectors,” said Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while speaking at a conference “Economic Growth of Haryana” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) here today. The Chief Minister said, “concessions and incentives would be provided to those setting up units in the state. We would simplify the rules and ensure supply of adequate power.” Earlier, he released a study “ Road to Success: A Study on the Growth Drivers for the State of Haryana” conducted by Hewitt and CII. Responding to CII President Sunil Kant Munjal’s suggestion, Mr Hooda announced that the state government would soon set up a joint working task force of industries and the government to redress the industrial issues. Referring to the power crisis in the state, Mr Hooda said, “a five-member committee headed by the Finance Minister has been set up to suggest additional resources for the power sector.” The government would make efforts to set up hydro electricity projects in the joint sector with Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, he said. Organisers found themselves in an odd situation, when the Chief Minister asked about 100 industrialists present on the occasion, to adopt at least one village each to help the villagers. Not even 10 industrialists came forward. “How can our state become number one if you are not ready to help the villagers? I believe in business and I am ready to accept your demands. When we are offering you land, power and water, you should at least give preference to the state youth in employment,” he said. Appealing CII members to adopt more villages, Mr S.K. Arya, Chairman, Haryana State Council, CII (Northern Region) said, “It is shameful for us that industrialists in Haryana are not doing enough for the villages. Even industrialists belonging to the state and settled in Mumbai and other cities are doing much more.” Referring to 7.9 per cent growth target fixed by the Planning Commission for the state, Mr Hooda said, “ the state has attained an average growth rate of 6.8 per cent so far. Effective steps will be taken to achieve the targeted growth rate during the remaining years of the plan period.” He reiterated that government will set up a world class university on the pattern of Oxford to raise the educational levels in the state. Union State Minister of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation, Ms Selja said the state would have to adopt a multi-pronged strategy, infuse technology in agriculture, besides diversification of crops to improve the income levels of the rural people.
|
|
LIC focuses on unit-linked plans
Ludhiana, March 28 “Though condemned widely, the very debate on entry of private insurance companies generated a lot of awareness on insurance which, we must admit, helped us too,” he said while talking to The Tribune here today. Mr Shah, who was here on an official tour, also disclosed that unit-linked plans are what would capture LIC’s focus in the “present day low-interest regime and bullish markets.” LIC, which has recently come out with Future Plus, a unit-linked pension plan, four years after introducing Bima Plus, another unit-linked plan, would come out with at least two unit-linked plans in the coming financial year, Mr Shah disclosed. “Even as an investment these plans are a better option considering the southward trend in the interest rates,” he said, adding, “which is why we are not only targeting these unit-linked plans, we are generating awareness among public as well on these products. It is this focus that has resulted in a substantial increase in premium generation of 30 to 35 per cent from the unit-linked plans in the region. “On risk factors involved in such plans, Mr Shah, while emphasising that the LIC took enough care to educate its customers on that, said the corporation had a track record of good returns, which increased the probability of high returns in future also. Talking about LIC’s market share, which witnessed a decline last year and recovered again, Mr Shah said it was not market share in quantitative terms that mattered. Rather the quality of market share was more important. “Quality of market share, which means the proportion of policies that would remain for long, is more important. In our case, though we have recorded an increase in both, the emphasis is on qualitative share. As more private insurance companies enter markets, some share is bound to go to them,” he said. However, a large part of the market remained untapped, he opined. “The percentage contribution of insurance towards the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is very low, which is indicative of the untapped potential this market has.” On rural sector, he said it contributed to 40-45 per cent of LIC’s business and remained on priority list. But changes are occurring, Mr Shah admitted.
|
|
SC stays HC proceedings in Reliance Info case
New Delhi, March 28 The stay was granted by a Bench of Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S. B. Sinha following a petition by BSNL challenging the high court’s jurisdictional competence to hear the Reliance petition, contending that any dispute pertaining to telecom matters has to be dealt only by the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The Bench issued notice to Reliance, asking it to file reply to the petition moved by BSNL. In response to the high court notice on Reliance petition, BSNL had sought a decision on jurisdiction issue before hearing the case on merit. But the court had said that it would hear the arguments both on jurisdictional competence as well as on merit simultaneously. Aggrieved by the order, BSNL had moved the apex court stating that TDSAT had been specifically created to deal with telecom disputes. TDSAT had earlier upheld the imposition of a penalty of Rs 150 crore on Reliance Infocom by the Department of Telecom (DoT) for causing BSNL and MTNL, two public sector companies huge losses by illegal conversion of ILDs into local calls. While the inter-connectivity rate for ILDs is Rs 4.55 per minute, it was merely 30 paise for local calls.
|
|
|
BJP to rethink Vat boycott
New Delhi, March 28 Mr Advani’s assurance came after Dr Dasgupta requested him over phone to reconsider the boycott decision, keeping in view the changes in its provision. Dr Dasgupta, who was here, told reporters that he had also called up former Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh with the same request. “Both Mr Advani and Mr Singh told me that they would get back to me after holding talks over the issue among themselves,” he said. Though altogether 21 states are going to introduce Vat from April 1, five BJP-run states — Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — have refused to introduce it. Two non-BJP states — Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh — have followed suit, but NDA-ruled Orissa is going to implement it. Dr Dasgupta, who is also West Bengal Finance Minister, drew the attention of Mr Advani and Mr Singh to the Empowered Committee’s “latest steps to bring in flexibility” in Vat system by reducing the central sales tax to two from four per cent from 2006-07 and the optional composite tax formula for traders with a turnover between Rs 5 lakh and 50 lakh and the exemption for small traders. Traders in Kerala, opposing the proposed implementation of Vat in the state, today stopped stock-taking with immediate effect and decided to intensify their stir further by observing a 72-hour strike from Wednesday. Meanwhile, all business establishments throughout West Bengal will remain closed for three days from March 30 to April 1. Announcing the 72-hour ‘trade bandh’ as part of the nationwide protest, Mahesh Singhania, Chairman, Federation of West Bengal Trade Associations, a conglomerate of all 21 major trading bodies affiliated to Sara Bharat Bapayree Association and sponsor of the three-day closure, charged the state government with implementing Vat unilaterally without considering the well being of India’s large number of small and medium traders as well as the
consumers. — Agencies
|
|
A-I’s daily flight to LA takes off from Delhi
New Delhi, March 28 A-I will now fly daily to LA — three times from New Delhi and four times from Mumbai. Its Mumbai-LA flights are dubbed as From Bollywood To Hollywood. “These flights provide the easiest connection for passengers,” said A-I’s director for public relations Jitender Bhargava. “Incidentally, the flights to LA are A-I’s longest ones with 20 hours of flying time and do not involve change of
aircraft.” An estimated two million passengers travel between India and the USA annually. No US airline currently operates a non-stop service to India. The Delhi-LA flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays on 296-seater
Boeing 777s. The India-US route is number one revenue earner for A-I, contributing almost 20 per cent to its total sales of Rs 5,200 crore. “The US market is huge and A-I provides the best possible facilities available on Boeing 747-400s planes that include flat-bed seats in first class and slumberettes in executive class,” said Mr Bhargava. “DVD players for
in-flight entertainment have also been
introduced. As food served on board and standard of service provided by cabin crew have always been strengths of A-I, introduction of these amenities have helped improve the product quality enormously,” he said.
— UNI
|
|
|
UK jobs moving to India: study
London, March 28 The research by Troika, a financial services consultancy, says the displacement of between 10,000 and 15,000 financial services jobs by the end of the decade would add to the flood of low-skill call centre and back office administration jobs that have already been shifted abroad. Indian companies, which have been gearing up to take on more profitable, highly skilled, analytical work, want to tap into the $ 150 billion market for analysis and research. A total of 1-lakh jobs would be lost to low-cost countries over the next five years, according to Troika. Troika Managing Director Andrew Stewart said: “There is a growing shift to look at offshoring more complex and high-paid roles — finance, research, human resources, marketing, actuarial and underwriting.” Currently Indian companies are providing research services to London-based stockbrokers and management consultancies, and providing background industry analysis for consultants. The Corporation of London has denied that moves to take work offshore would pose a threat to the city.
— UNI
|
|
US asks India to open retail sector
New Delhi, March 28 “India should open up its retail, real estate, finance, and agro-processing industries to attract new investment. States should abolish restrictions on the private marketing of agricultural commodities. The government should repeal the Essential Commodities Act and Agriculture Produce Marketing Act”, the US Ambassador to India, Mr David C. Mulford, said at the India Infrastructure Conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here. Mr Mulford said that viewed from the perspective of U S investors, India has not reached its potential as a great emerging market because it is not a national market. “Instead, restrictions and prohibitions on interstate trade mean that India is really a conglomeration of regional markets - most of which lack in size, depth and financial prowess to attract new large-scale investment”, he said. He observed that when it comes to investment, whether foreign or domestic, a “culture of consistency” is important. There is need for political consensus in India on creating a culture of consistency that governs infrastructure projects. “It is a question of clarity of purpose and courageous political leadership. It is also a question of governance”, he said. Mr Mulford said the public sector cannot provide the necessary finances for India’s infrastructure needs and there is a need to invigorate private sources to finance long-term project development. He also said that the lifting the ceiling on foreign direct investment in insurance would clearly help, as would expanding and liberalising the country’s emerging pension
industry. “So too would reducing government’s dominance in the banking industry, together with stronger encouragement and greater freedom for the growth of private domestic and foreign banks. If private capital is going to play a key role, financial liberalisation must happen now”, Mr Mulford said.
|
|
Lanka puts BP deal on hold
Colombo, March 28 The government said a Cabinet meeting scheduled to be held today on the restructuring of both the state oil company and the electricity utility was put off and did not give a fresh date. However, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation chief Jaliya Medagama said the cabinet will take up the question in two weeks. Long queues formed outside petrol stations across the country after local media reported that the Marxist coalition partner in the government may take “drastic action” if the government went ahead with privatisation plans. The government, which sold a third of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to Indian Oil Company in 2003 is to sell another one-third to Bharat Petroleum. The JVP opposes the deal. It is also against plans by the government to “restructure” the state Ceylon Electricity Board.
— PTI
|
|
|
SEZ legislation in current session
New Delhi, March 28 Inaugurating the two-day India Infrastructure Summit, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), the minister said the India-specific legislation on SEZs would seek to foster competition with Asian countries and not replicate the Chinese SEZ law. “China’s development and the progress it has made in establishing SEZs can be cited as a comparison with efforts in India. However, it certainly cannot be an index as in a democratic polity, we need to ensure that policies facilitate financial viability of projects but are also politically viable”, the minister said. Mr Nath, however, denied that there were any differences with the Finance Ministry over the much-awaited Foreign Trade Policy which, he said, would be unveiled by April 10. “Some discussions with the Finance Ministry are pending,” Mr Kamal Nath told newspersons on sidelines of the conference. The minister said infrastructure projects have long gestation periods and in many cases are not directly commercially viable. “We must perfect the art of tapping resources from within the country and from abroad to finance such projects”, he pointed out
|
|
|
Dr Reddy’s $ 56-m pact with ICICI Venture
New Delhi, March 28 Glenmark’s tie up
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Shasun Chemicals and Drugs Ltd today entered into a partnership for the joint development, filing and marketing of 12 generic drugs in the US market. The product list includes a mixture of off-patent and patent-protected molecules with cumulative annual sales of about $ 8 billion. Under the agreement, Chennai-based Shasun will develop and license to Glenmark, 12 generic products. In turn, Glenmark will be responsible for filing the ANDAs and obtaining regulatory approval in the US. Upon approval, Glenmark’s US subsidiary, Glenmark Pharmaceutical Inc, will be responsible for marketing the products, while Shasun will be responsible for manufacture and supply. All development and regulatory costs and profits on sale in the US will be shared equally.
— PTI, TNS
|
|
Strides moves in the black
Mumbai, March 28 The company board, at its meeting held yesterday, recommended a dividend of 15 per cent amounting to Rs 1.5 per equity share of Rs 10 each, it said in a press note here today. The company’s consolidated income rose by 8.13 per cent to Rs 462.45 crore as against Rs 427.67 crore in the previous year. It restructured its shareholding in Indian and Latin American subsidiaries during the year. As a result, Rs 12.39 crore was accrued as profit. Gammon India
Gammon India Ltd has declared a dividend of 25 per cent on equity shares. The board of directors, at a meeting on March 25, declared a dividend of 25 per cent on equity shares, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. — PTI
|
|
Allahabad Bank-PNB Kazakh JV by May
New Delhi, March 28 “It will take another two months to start a subsidiary in Kazhakstan,” he said. PNB already has a representative office in the central Asian nation, which is slated to witness a high growth on the back of oil and steel sectors. Allahabad Bank has also applied to the RBI to set up a branch in Hong Kong and representative offices in China, he said. At home, the bank is planning to revive its subsidiary Allbank Finance and convert it into a merchant banking arm. It has surrendered the non-banking finance company licence of Allbank Finance to the RBI. Allbank Finance has a capital base of Rs 60 crore. Though the RBI had asked Allahabad Bank to liquidate the NBFC arm, the Kolkata-based bank wants to convert it to a merchant banker, he said. Allahabad Bank is also going for a major revamp process and has engaged global consultants Ernst & Young to assist it to transform into a tech-savvy bank within the next two years.
|
|
|
Rishi, Waheeda to be honoured
Mumbai, March 28 “The award is in recognition of the services of these actors to the film industry, who acted in some of the best motion pictures of the industry,” filmmaker and Ficci entertainment committee Chairman Yash Chopra said here today. Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Dev Anand, Asha Parekh, Dilip Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar, were some of the earlier recipients of the Living Legend Award. The award would be presented at the Ficci-BAF awards ceremony on April 5, which is hosted as part of the Ficci-Frames 2005 convention, he said. The convention, which is slated to take place in the city from April 4 to 6, would witness participation from various entertainment conglomerates, information technology majors and film fraternity. This year’s theme for the convention would be ‘Entertainment - It’s Happening’, he said. — PTI
|
|
|
|||||
bb
SITM in India Cognizant Tech PNB branch Zee’s new logo Aptech in China OBC camp Bank branch Skoda prices |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
New Delhi, March 28
Ludhiana, March 28
