The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Manufacturing policy a must: Sharma New Delhi, April 26 Industry Minister Anand Sharma today said it would be a “historic blunder” for the country not to have a national manufacturing policy. He said this in the backdrop of reports of opposition from ministries such as environment and labour on the proposal to relax certain laws in the policy. Sharma made these comments ahead of a meeting on the issue convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 4. Besides Sharma, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, Corporate Affairs Minister Murli Deora, HRD and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia are likely to attend the meeting. The draft policy suggests that industries in the proposed National Manufacturing Investment Zones (NMIZs) - big enclaves which could even subsume special economic zones - should be given flexibilities to downsize labour. Likewise, it recommends changes in the environment norms which come in the way of investment. The two proposals are believed to be facing resistance from environment and the labour ministries. On the need to have a policy, he said “Not to have a policy or to have a weak policy would be a historic blunder. We cannot afford that. Unless we take the share of manufacturing sector to 26 per cent in the country's GDP, we will not create job opportunities for tens of millions”. He said that even the Congress Party has resolved the need for giving a boost to manufacturing to create employment. He said any sops in the policy will have to be in line with the provisions in the Direct Taxes Code (DTC). The DTC bill has already been introduced in Parliament. The DTC, which seeks to replace the Income Tax Act, 1961, and streamline the taxation system is expected to come into effect from April 1, 2012. While the government plans to give support to manufacturing, the investors are grudging changes brought about in the tax incentives despite being backed by a legislation, as happened in the case of Special Economic Zones. The SEZs which were meant to be tax-free enclaves have been subjected to minimum alternate tax. Many of the industry associations have opposed the decision. Sharma said that the Commerce Ministry’s stand was to honour commitments made to the investors. — PTI
	Profitability to decline in FY12, says Crisil New Delhi, April 26 Rising input costs and high interest rates will pull down India Inc's profits this fiscal, especially in sectors like cement, real estate, textiles and shipping, credit ratings agency Crisil said today. Given the limited pricing flexibility in most of the sectors, growth will be accompanied by margin pressures as companies will be forced to absorb a part of the rising costs, it said. “Accordingly, the EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation, Tax and Amortisation) margins are likely to decline to 19 per cent in 2011-12 from 20 per cent in 2010-11,” Prasad Koparkar of Crisil Research said. While the average EBITDA margins of the 17 sectors (excluding oil & gas and banking) covered in the report are expected to fall by around 1 per cent, sectors such as cement, real estate, textiles and shipping will see a sharper drop in profitability, Crisil said. It added that upstream oil companies and integrated metal players, with access to captive natural resources, are expected to beat this trend as the buoyant global prices backed by robust demand will allow an improvement in margins. Besides, revenue growth in the current fiscal year will be steady at 18 per cent. Moreover, exports driven sectors like IT and pharma are expected to maintain healthy top line growth driven by demand recovery in the US markets. However, interest rate sensitive sectors such as auto and realty will see deceleration in revenues. — PTI
	Sony unveils its first tablet computers to take on Apple Tokyo, April 26 Sony launched its first tablet computers in an ambitious attempt to grab the second spot in the market more than a year after Apple's iPad revolutionised mobile computing. The gadgets will use an operating system based on Google's Android 3.0, said Kunimasa Suzuki, deputy president of the consumer products and services group. These will be the first tablets to enable the use of PlayStation games, said Suzuki, who produced one of the glossy black devices from his jacket pocket during a media launch on Tuesday. Suzuki raised eyebrows in January when he told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that Sony was aiming for the No.2 spot in the tablet market within a year even though it had yet to put a product on the market. "That effectively means they have to beat Samsung, which is a very tough rival," said Nobuo Kurahashi, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities in Tokyo. “Although this is an interesting product, they have already been left behind in televisions, so it's not going to be easy.” Sony's tablets, code-named S1 and S2, are WiFi and 3G/4G compatible. S1 has a 9.4-inch display and is designed to make it easier to hold for long periods of time, Sony said. The S2 has two 5.5-inch displays in a clamshell design. "Although it's a late comer in the market, it has potential as what you need is just one big uniqueness that can sell to customers be it design or whatever," said Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at Meritz Securities in Seoul. Meanwhile, the company today said it is still working on restoring its popular gaming services PlayStation Network, which has been hacked. — Reuters
	Indo-Pak trade talks today New Delhi, April 26 On the eve of Indo-Pakistan trade talks, New Delhi today said “possible doables” to upgrade bilateral economic engagement would be clear after the Commerce Secretaries complete their discussion in Islamabad. Describing the India-Pakistan commerce secretaries’ talks, beginning tomorrow, as “a positive development,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here that, “after these talks, there would be greater clarity about possible doables on ways to upgrade economic ties”. Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar has reached Pakistan today for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Zafar Mehmood. Sharma said India is of the view that SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade Area) Agreement for opening the mutual markets should be implemented fully. SAFTA members include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. He said after all, there has been economic integration among other regions like East Asia and South-East Asia. “South Asia should be part of that story...Pakistan has to be part of the South Asian economic integration”, he said. Sharma said after Khullar returns from Islamabad, he would brief Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the same. Asked whether export of petroleum products from India to Pakistan would be on the agenda of the Commerce Secretaries, Sharma refused to comment, saying it would be premature to talk about specifics. Trade between India and Pakistan has remained low at about $2 billion. Pakistan currently allows India to export items like meat, edible oil, cereals, tobacco, chemicals, fertilisers, leather, cotton, silk, coffee, tea and oilseeds. — PTI
	DGH team visits RIL’s KG-D6 field New Delhi, April 26 Concerned over fall in output at India's biggest gas field, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has sent a fact-finding mission to Reliance Industries-operated KG-D6 fields to ascertain reasons for the decline in production. A three-member team lead by Gautam Sinha, Head of Production at the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) will review well-wise production and reservoir performance of KG-D6 fields on April 27 and 28, sources privy to the development said. In 2006, Reliance had won government nod to invest $8.836 billion on Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1 and D3 fields) in its eastern offshore KG-D6 block after assuring production of 61.88 million cubic meters per day of gas from 22 wells by April 2011 and 80 mmscmd from 31 wells by 2012. The situation on ground has been markedly different with Reliance only producing about 42 mmscmd from 18 wells drilled so far on D1 and D3 field in the KG-D6 block. Another 8 mmscmd is being produced from MA oilfield in the same block, taking the total output to around 50 mmscmd as against committed 69.88 mmscmd, sources said. Reliance says output has dipped after touching 61.5 msmcmd achieved in March last year due to falling pressure at wells and that drilling more wells will not solve the problem as it will tap the same resource. Sources said the DGH team would reach Vizag today from where it will proceed to Gadimoga, the landfall point of KG-D6 gas, to ascertain facts. — PTI
	MSME minister reviews working of KVIC Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 26 The Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Virbhadra Singh today held a review meeting of Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and raised the issue of lack of transparency in forwarding and sanction of projects at the level of district level task force (DLTF) and banks. Singh said that KVIC programmes were very important for the rural economy and emphasised that transparency and work ethics should be encouraged. Institutions producing spurious Khadi should be identified and weeded out to maintain quality and genuineness of khadi. He also suggested that Khadi Bhawan and Bhandars should work out a mechanism to dispose old stocks and make way for display of fresh and saleable items suiting the customer requirements. He said a number of representations and complaints had been received wherein projects of genuine beneficiaries were rejected either at DLTF or banks to favour other applications in an irregular manner. The Minister stressed that discretion on sanctioning and rejecting of projects of PMEGP at branch manager level of the banks needs to be checked and monitored so that this does not lead to irregularities or corruption. He also suggested that the rate of interest being charged by the banks should also be monitored as there have been complaints that banks are charging differential rates of interest to different beneficiaries in a discretionary manner leading to irregularities and corruption.
	Venus Remedies develops tumour detection molecule Ruchika M Khanna/TNS Chandigarh, April 26 Venus Remedies, a leading research-based pharma company in Baddi, has come up with a solution for detection of solid tumours at basic health care centres, where advanced detection devices are not available. The company has developed a cancer detection molecule, VRP 1620, which will help in the detection of minutest of tumours through a simple X-Ray. The molecule, which will be retailed under the brand name, Tumatrek, has completed two clinical trials, and is expected to be launched commercially early next year. Dr. Mufti Suhail, vice-president, Venus Remedies Research Centre, said: “Since this molecule will help in early detection, we hope that it will help in reducing mortality from this disease. We have already completed the Phase-II trials, involving all genomes, on patients of breast cancer at Chandigarh, Nagpur, Nashik, Madurai, Aurangabad and Hyderabad. We will launch Phase-III later this year, wherein the efficacy and safety of the drug will be held on a vast population.” “The product has huge potential in urban and semi-urban belts where advanced technologies of cancer detection are not available. This technology will provide a cutting edge in timely detection of cancer and has tremendous need specially in under developed and developing countries,” he added.
	Tata Teleservices back in black Mumbai, April 26 Telecom services provider Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)(TTML) said on Tuesday it swung to profit in the year-ended March 31, boosted by a one-time gain from sale of investment in its tower unit. The firm, which provides wireless services under the Tata Indicom and Tata DoCoMo brands, posted a standalone net profit of Rs 49.90 crore on net sales of Rs 2,250 crore. It made a profit of Rs 830 crore from sale of long-term investment in 21st Century Infra Tele Ltd in the quarter-ended June to Viom Networks Ltd, it said in a statement to the National Stock Exchange. TTML, which has a subscriber base of 16.9 million, paid a licence fee of Rs 1260 crore for 3G spectrum in Maharashtra circle, which was capitalised during the June quarter. — Reuters
	RBI slaps Rs 1.95 cr fine on 19 banks Mumbai, April 26 The Reserve Bank today imposed a fine of Rs 1.95 crore on 19 banks, including leading lenders like SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Citibank, for violating regulations concerning derivatives "The penalties have been imposed on these banks for contravention of various instructions issued by the Reserve Bank in respect of derivatives," the RBI said in a release. The lenders failed to carry out due diligence with regard to suitability of products and sold derivative products to companies not having risk management policies. They also failed to verify the adequacy of eligible limits before selling derivatives, the Central Bank said. — PTI
	ITC, Ruchi Soya on fastest growing list New Delhi, April 26 Two Indian companies ITC and Ruchi Soya were among the world’s 50 fastest growing consumer firms during the June 2009-June 2010 period, according to the latest annual report by market research firm Deloitte. According to the 4th annual report "Global powers of the consumer products industry 2011," by the firm, India's ITC Ltd, which sells cigarettes, food and personal care products besides presence in hospitality and paper segments, has been ranked 15th in the list, while edible oil maker Ruchi Soya stood at the 20th position. The Deloitte report identified 250 largest consumer products companies, based on data available for the 12-month period between June 2009 and June 2010. — PTI
	Petronet net profit doubles New Delhi, April 26 Petronet LNG Ltd, the nation's largest liquefied natural gas importer, today reported more than doubling of its net profit in the quarter ended March 31 on higher sales. Net profit in January-March period rose to Rs 206.27 crore from Rs 97.29 crore a year earlier, Petronet Managing Director and CEO A K Balyan told reporters here. "There are three reasons for this higher profit. First, we have done more volume (of LNG imports and sales). Then, our regasification charge increased 5 per cent and lastly, our internal efficiency improved," he said. Petronet imports 7.5 million tonnes a year of LNG from Qatar on a long-term contract. Besides, it has tied up import of 1.5 million tonnes on a two-year contract with Spanish firm Gas Natural. — PTI