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EPF Board to meet on November 10
Rockman Cycles, Highway to pay Rs 11 cr to workers
ONGC no to special dividend
Rupee loses 24 paise
SEBI to install market surveillance system
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BPCL plan to invest Rs 1,996 cr in BORL
Mumbai banks open on Id
OIL net profit up by 84 pc
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EPF Board to meet on November 10
New Delhi, November 4 The meeting, whose ex-officio chairman is Labour Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, was earlier scheduled for July 30 but was put off and is now convened for November 10 for discussing Finance Ministry's suggestions for changing the pattern of investment of EPF among other things. The short notice given to CBT members for convening the meeting has irked some members who claimed that statutory requirement of 15 days was not adhered to for calling such meetings, if they are not urgent. As per EPF Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952, a notice of not less than 15 days shall be despatched to each trustee for EPFO meeting if it is not urgent. The meeting will also discuss the report of the Finance and Investment sub-committee of the EPFO, which in September had recommended 8 per cent rate for this fiscal. However, the union representatives in the CBT did not have a consensus on EPF rate with CPM-affiliated trade union CITU demanding at least 9.5 per cent rate, while INTUC, owing allegiance with the Congress, stating that the rate be at par with the returns on the fund. PTI adds: Meanwhile, Hind Mazdoor Sabha Secretary A D Nagpal said a certain minimum rate should be fixed for EPF. The rate could be arrived at after discussion among CBT. Under no circumstances, EPF rate should fall below such level, he said. Mr Hasubhai Dave, a representative in CBT and former BMS president, said his organisation had not taken any decision on the EPF rate, but it seems that the Labour Minister would stick to 8 per cent rate, as is suggested by the Finance and Investment sub-committee of the EPFO. However, a BMS representative had stated in that committee that 12 per cent rate could be easily given, Dave said. "We may demand 12 per cent rate of interest even if it has to be subsidised," he said. CITU secretariat member W R Varadarajan said his organisation would demand that at least 9.5 per cent EPF rate be given as per "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance." According to the CITU leader, the Prime Minister has assured that the UPA government would not reduce the EPF rate from 9.5 per cent and "we take the assurance for the entire term of the UPA government." He demanded that the government should increase the administered rate of interest on special deposit schemes, where most of the employment provident fund is parked, from the current 8 per cent rate instead of taking help of reserve funds, which were used for meeting the deficit arisen due to 9.5 per cent rate given for the last fiscal. Congress-affiliated INTUC President G Sanjeeva Reddy said the EPF rate should be equal to what is earned from the fund.
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Rockman Cycles, Highway to pay Rs 11 cr to workers
Ludhiana, November 4 The payment would be made in accordance with the order by the Financial Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab, Mr J.R. Kundal. According to the order, which permits closure of the cycle divisions, permission is granted to close down the cycle divisions "subject to the condition that every workman likely to be affected by the closure of the undertaking would be paid compensation as per the provisions of sub-Section 8 of Section 25 (o) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947". The Financial Commissioner said in the order there was no denying the fact that the managements of these companies had been incurring heavy losses and the situation was irreversible. "We applied for closure in May after which workers were given an equal opportunity to put forth their point," said Mr B.D. Arora, Legal Adviser of the companies. Mr Arora said the amount which would be paid to workers was likely to be more than Rs 11 crore. The workers, however, refuted the management's claims and said the closure was illegal. They maintained that declined production was not the result of any tactics like slowdown by workers and had
occurred as the companies shifted almost half of their staff from the cycle divisions to auto parts manufacturing divisions in the same unit. "They applied for closure. We clarified to the concerned officials that their claims were wrong. We never learnt that the decision to close down has been taken. We have been cheated and want these units to re-start," said Mr Jagdish Chand, joint-secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU), Punjab. The workers also alleged that wrong representation of facts was made by the managements of the two units. They alleged that there were no losses. "Production reduced due to reduction in worker strength. The group is flourishing, there are no losses," said Mr Jagdish Chaudhary, president, Lal Jhanda Rockman Cycles Mazdoor Union. The CITU also said it would launch a statewide agitation if the decision of closure was not reconsidered. "There would be a complete strike in all industries, first in Ludhiana, and then across the state," said CITU
general secretary Raghunath Singh.
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ONGC no to special dividend
Mumbai, November 4 However, the ONGC said it would be able to consider paying an interim dividend at an appropriate time, according to an oil PSU’s official website. The ONGC was asked by the Petroleum Ministry to consider paying a special dividend following a missive by the Finance Ministry. The company stated that it had already chalked out its future investment plans and had also hired credit rating agencies for overseas borrowings. The ONGC informed the Centre that it would have cash reserves of around Rs 700 crore in the form of deposits by the end of March, 2007, as per the Budget, and had borrowings of about Rs 800 crore. Besides the increased capital expenditure, the company also had to account for a huge subsidy outgo. The net profit for the second quarter stood at Rs 4,138 crore after the subsidy payout of Rs 2,827 crore to downstream companies. For the April-September, 2005, period, the subsidy payout to downstream companies stood at Rs 5,701 crore. During this period, the ONGC also paid out Rs 5,182 crore (Rs 4,850 crore in the same period last year) to central and state governments by way of royalty, cess, excise duty, NCC duty and sales tax.
— UNI
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Rupee loses 24 paise
Mumbai, November 4 Earlier in the morning, the rupee opened eight paise weaker at 45.3700/3900 against the US dollar, as compared to yesterday’s close. The cross-currency rate for the British pound sterling was Rs 80.37 per unit, lower by 16 paise, as compared to the last close of Rs 80.53 per unit. Euro ended at Rs 54.37 per unit, lower by 30 paise, as compared to last close of Rs 54.67 per unit and for the Japanese Yen it was Rs 38.70 per 100 unit, lower by five paise as compared to last close of Rs 38.75.
— UNI
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SEBI to install market surveillance system
Panaji, November 4 “As of now you only see end of the day action because we depend on any reports we get from the exchanges. If we see anything untoward on our screens then we make a phone call to clarify the matter. However, with this system intra-day action will be possible as the exchanges will keep feeding information throughout the day,” SEBI Chairman M. Damodaran said here last night on the sidelines of an award function. “We will still have to get the information from the exchanges but they will
continuously feed it to us in the format that we want, thus making it much easier for us to take any action if anything is out of the ordinary. We will be one of the few countries to have this technology,” he added. When asked about fluctuating nature of the stock markets leading to speculation, the Chairman said: “As a market regulator, I am not worried by numbers. I should only be worried if there is a price movement on any stock that cannot be explained, that is when we step in.”
— PTI
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BPCL plan to invest Rs 1,996 cr in BORL
Mumbai, November 4 The total project cost, including interest during construction, is expected to be about Rs 9,000 crore at the current cost and the project is likely to be commissioned by December, 2009, it said. The project would be manufacturing Euro III and Euro IV grade products, which would be marketed in central and northern regions by the company.
— PTI
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Mumbai banks open on Id
Mumbai, November 4 According to banking sources, banks' branches having headquarters outside Maharashtra were working in isolation while their head offices remained closed today. The RBI and other major banks will observe Id holiday tomorrow in the Maharashtra, while the outstation branches would be functioning.
— UNI
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OIL net profit up by 84 pc
Guwahati, November 4 The total income during the period was Rs 2,736 crore as against Rs 2,513 crore during the last fiscal, OIL sources said here today. This was despite the company giving a discount of $ 9 per barrel for the refineries from April, 2005, to September, 2005, besides the concession given to North Eastern Refineries by absorbing a major portion of the sales tax and transportation charges for crude supply, the sources said. The increased profit and income were not only due to high crude oil prices but also due to an increase in OIL’s crude and gas production which rose to 6 per cent during the first half of 2005 as compared to the year-ago period, the source added.
Liberty dividend Liberty Shoes Ltd has declared an interim dividend of 50 per cent for the current fiscal. The company had recorded a net profit of Rs 4.46 crore and a 19 per cent increase in the turnover at Rs 50.9 crore for the quarter ended September 30, a company statement said. Liberty has been included among the top five global manufacturer producing more than 50,000 pairs of footware a day.
Hindware net up The gross sales of Hindustan Sanitaryware & Industries Ltd increased by 35.88 per cent to Rs 99.95 crore from Rs 73.56 crore in the second quarter ended September 30. The operating profit increased by 55.81 per cent to Rs 19.32 crore from Rs 12.40 crore. The net profit increased by 92.67 per cent to Rs 10.25 crore from Rs 5.32 crore. The earning per share increased by 138.71 per cent to Rs 3.70 from Rs 1.55.
Alchemist Alchemist Ltd has allotted 29 lakh equity shares to KDS Corporation Pvt Ltd upon conversion of share warrants. The equity shares, priced at Rs 9.10 per share, were allotted upon conversion of the warrants that had been issued to KDS Corporation on a preferential basis, the company said.
— PTI |
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