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MPs favour 9.5 pc interest on EPF
LS passes Bill giving more teeth to RBI
Jagson Airlines inducts largest helicopter
Airbus to startsetting up facility
in India
Indian carrier allowed to operate in Pakistan
BSNL slashes rates
FICCI for 10-yr tax holiday on oil, gas pipelines
L&T bags 61 pc in Seaport Dredging
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Rupee gains 32 paise
Licence cancelled
CORPORATE RESULTS
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MPs favour 9.5 pc interest on EPF
New Delhi, May 17 The Standing Committee on Labour in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha noted that the government should always evolve a consensus while taking any decision on important issues concerning workers. It said trade unions representing employees must “invariably” be consulted by the government while deciding the rate of interest. The committee, headed by Mr S. Sudhakar Reddy, said in its 70-page report that it was “deeply concerned” to note that only 4.11 crore out of 39.7 crore workers had so far been covered under the EPF Scheme. It asked the government to intensify efforts for providing social security cover to every eligible person both in the organised and unorganised sectors. On mounting PF arrears, the panel said the government should gear up its machinery to recover dues. It also favoured a survey by a central team to identify bonded labours so that they could be rehabilitated effectively. Interest on EPF for this fiscal after session The Central Board of Trustees will meet after the parliamentary session, which concludes on May 23, to decide the interest rate on the EPF for this fiscal and change in the investment pattern of the fund. “The Central Board of Trustees will meet after this session to decide on the issue,” Labour Minister K. Chandashekhar Rao told reporters after addressing a conference of Deputy Chief Labour Commissioners here. To a question on the possibility of a higher EPF rate for this fiscal than 8.5 per cent declared for 2005-06, he said it depended on the returns from investment by the fund. The government had fixed 8.5 per cent EPF rate for its 4 crore subscribers for 2005-06, rejecting the demand of trade unions for a rate of 9.5 per cent.. The EPFO will incur a deficit of Rs 365.89 crore on account of an 8.5 per cent interest rate. The total payout is Rs 6,889.04 crore against its interest income of Rs 6,523.15 crore. The Finance Ministry has allowed up to 15 per cent investment in equity and mutual funds for better returns, but no decision has been taken on the issue so far because of differences within the CBT . — PTI
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LS passes Bill giving more teeth to RBI
New Delhi, May 17 The House of People passed the Bill to amend the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 to give more teeth to the Central Bank to deal with subjects under the Act, including reserve repo and credit reserve repo (CRR) rates. “The RBI will be armed with greater autonomy and authority to deal with subjects under the Act,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram said replying to a debate on the Bill. The Reserve Bank of India (Amendment) Bill, 2005 was passed by the House by a voice vote. Mr Chidambaram said the amendment was necessary due to the changing role of financial sectors and the increasing role of India’s economy in the global market. The RBI had adequate powers as a regulator, but certain “strange” developments in the market necessitated the amendment, he said. The changes in the Bill were made in line with recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Finance. The legislation would also let the RBI decide on the Repo Rate and CRR, the minister said. Meanwhile, the CPM expressed its opposition to some of the provisions of the Banking Regulations (Amendments) Bill. "We have serious reservations about the Banking Regulations Amendment Act as it seeks to remove the 10 per cent voting right cap on the Board of Directors to facilitate foreign investors and occupy private banks which are just vulnerable," CPM deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Rup Chand Pal told reporters.
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Jagson Airlines inducts largest helicopter
New Delhi, May 17 Built by Kazan Helicopters, one of the leading helicopter manufacturers in the world, MI-172s are the world’s largest commercial passenger helicopters. Equipped with new ‘’The purchase of these two helicopters is a significant step towards expanding our operations in regions such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the North- East,’’ said Jagson’s Chief Executive Officer U.K. Bose. Several state governments had already “started approaching us for a long-term lease of these helicopters,” he said, adding that the airline would add more such helicopters in its fleet. Jagson is all set to launch its national carrier operations by June. Having firmed up plans to purchase 20 Airbus A321 aircraft for $1.3 billion, it has launched a global sales representation network with the signing of agreements with general sales agents worldwide. It is also the first low cost airline in the country to offer a two-class configuration of premium executive and executive. Jagson is the first private airline in the country to operate scheduled flights on a regular basis since 1992. — UNI
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Airbus to startsetting up facility
in India next year
Berlin, May 17 “India is a booming market growing at a rate more than China. There are big opportunities and Airbus is in the lead in India. We are not just selling aircraft but supporting our customers as well,” Airbus Industrie President and CEO Gustav Humbert said at the ongoing airshow at the Schonefeld Airport here. “We will start the process of establishing an engineering setup in India in 2007. This (engineering) setup will be used to service the big fleet of our aircraft and this support will be our focus now,” Mr Humbert said. He said Airbus Industrie, which constitutes a major part of the European Aerospace Defence Space consortium in terms of revenue and employment (almost 80 per cent), would also
establish high-tech training centres for pilots and facilities for maintenance of aircraft in India.
— PTI
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Indian carrier allowed to operate in Pakistan
New Delhi, May 17 In a written reply, the Minister of State (independent charge) for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, told the Rajya Sabha that Pakistan had agreed for Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) operation in that country. As per the agreement reached, the designated airlines of both sides are now entitled to operate five, three and four services per week on the Karachi-Mumbai, Karachi-Delhi and Lahore-New Delhi routes, respectively. The agreement helped both PIA and Indian to start operations between the two countries, the minister said. To another question, he said out of 101 bilateral air services agreements signed with foreign countries, 55 agreements were operational. “The reason for a number of bilateral pacts lying unused is because of lack of point-to-point traffic demand between India and such countries,” he said. Regarding steps the government proposed to take to make use of all bilateral pacts, Mr Patel said the bilateral traffic rights had been offered to all eligible Indian scheduled carriers for the operation of flights.
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BSNL slashes rates
New Delhi, May 17 This means earlier a subscriber was paying Rs 4.80 for a three-minute local and intra-circle call from a BSNL fixed line phone to a Reliance or Bharti fixed phone. Now this has been reduced to Rs 1.20 for a three-minute call. The PSU also reduced intra-circle (within a circle) call charges to other networks by 25 per cent, whereby it reduced the rates from Rs 1.60 a minute to Rs 1.20 a minute. For calls from BSNL fixed phones to other fixed networks over 50 km, pulse rates were increased from 45 seconds to 60 seconds. There
is a 25 per cent reduction in intra circle calls from landline
subscribers to other networks — tariffs have been reduced from Rs 1.60
per minute to Rs 1.20 per minute. WLL service of the BSNL has also been
made cheaper and tariffs have been brought on a par with the BSNL
landline rates. “The tariffs have been simplified making the tariff
uniform for both on-net and off-net call. In an attempt to make tariffs
simpler and to encourage greater traffic in the fixed line business, we
have rationalised the pulse rate for fixed line customers,” A.K.
Sinha, CMD, BSNL, said here. — PTI |
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FICCI for 10-yr tax holiday on oil, gas pipelines
New Delhi, May 17 The chamber has asked for a 10-year tax holiday on the laying of pipelines, storage terminals and other related facilities for transportation and storage of petroleum products, besides granting of infrastructure status to pipelines. In a memorandum submitted to the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the chamber pointed out that the creation of domestic production and refining capacity in the petroleum sector would be of use only if other related infrastructure was also created in order to ensure speedy and timely distribution of products. The incentive would help resolve problems of unemployment, particularly of unskilled workers, the chamber felt and stated that the country needed at least 22,000 km of an additional gas pipeline network (besides the planned network by PSUs of 17,000 km, an additional 5,000 km would at least be required).
— UNI
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L&T bags 61 pc in Seaport Dredging
Mumbai, May 17 After the shareholders’ agreement on January 25, L&T has acquired a 61 per cent stake of the Indian venture of Dredging International, which is promoted by Belgian Dredging International NV. The remaining 39 per cent stake would be held by its promoter company, L&T said. The acquisition is in line with the company’s strategy to strengthen its position in ports and harbours. Dredging International (DI) is part of the DEME Group (Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering) and its core activity includes dredging and land
reclamation.
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Rupee gains 32 paise
Mumbai, May 17 The rupee strengthened further to 45.18/20 per US dollar in the mid-morning session on the back of strong recovery in the stock markets.
— UNI
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Mumbai, May 17 Accordingly, the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Gujarat, has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank. It may be mentioned that on liquidation, every depositor is entitled to repayment of his deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 1 lakh from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) under usual terms and conditions. — UNI
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Lupin announces 65 pc dividend
Mumbai, May 17 Total income rose by 54.60 per cent to Rs 463.02 crore for the fourth quarter in the financial year 2005-06 from Rs 299.48 crore a year-ago, the company informed the stock exchanges. At the meeting held today, the Board recommended a dividend of Rs 6.50 per equity share of Rs 10 each (65 per cent) for the year ended March 31, 2006. The Board also recommended issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1, subject to shareholders approval. For the year ended March 31 the company has registered a net profit of Rs 182.72 crore as compared to Rs 84.36 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005. The total income has increased to Rs 1,678.61 crore for FY 05-06 from Rs 1,179.90 crore in FY 04-05. Eveready Industries
Top battery maker Eveready Industries India Ltd today posted a two-fold increase in net profit at Rs 44.41 crore for the quarter ended March 31 as compared to Rs 20.20 crore for the same quarter in the year 2004-05. Net sales of the company rose to Rs 170.49 crore during the fourth quarter in the financial year 2005-06 from Rs 150.73 crore a year-ago, up 13.10 per cent. The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 2 per fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 5 each (40 per cent), the company informed the BSE.
Nitco Tiles net up
Ceramic tile manufacturer, Nitco Tiles, has posted 166 per cent growth in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 20 crore 2005-06, as against Rs 7.54 crore for the last fiscal. Net sales jumped by 47 per cent at Rs 275.26 crore for the year ended 2006 as against Rs 187.65 crore for last year, the company said in a statement here. The company has recorded a net profit of Rs 7.53 crore and net sales of Rs 82.13 crore for quarter ended March 31, 2006.
Donear Industries
Fabric manufacturer, Donear Industries Ltd, has posted 31.92 per cent increase in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 24.75 crore for financial year-ended March 31, against Rs 18.76 crore the previous year. The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 1.5 per share (75 per cent) on increased capital after issue of 1:1 bonus share in the year. The net sales of the company was up by 14 per cent at Rs 141.74 crore for the year ended March 2006, against Rs 124.29 crore in a year ago period, company said here.
PNB Housing Finance
PNB Housing Finance Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Punjab National Bank, said today it has reported a 59 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 17.82 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006, as against Rs 11.22 crore for the same period last year. The company has achieved a 18.27 per cent growth in its total income at Rs 102.41 crore for the last fiscal as against Rs 86.59 crore in 2004-05. Announcing the results, Managing Director V.K. Khanna said, ''During the year, the company achieved a 32 per cent growth in new businesses, while the total disbursements increased to Rs 393 crore from Rs 298 crore last year.'' The company's NPAs to loans outstanding during the year declined from 6.63 per cent to 2.77 per cent. On future plans, Mr Khanna informed that the ''NHB has amended the guidelines for risk weight, which will entail that the company has to shore off Tier II or Tier I capital. As a short-term measure, the company has decided to float a Tier II issue of bonds of Rs 100 crore shortly.Four new branches will be opened in this fiscal, he said.
— Agencies
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