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blocks being connected through Intranet From Ahmed Ali Fayaz SRINAGAR, Nov 9: Union Minister of State for Industries & Commerce, Omar Abdullah, has all the plans of .....more HYDERABAD, Nov 10: World Bank President James D Wolfensohn has assured the Andhra Pradesh ......more India opens new chapter in VIENTIANE (LAOS), Nov 10: In a historic initiative opening a new chapter in the ties between India and ...more Industry - its definition
in NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over the way Government has put in .......more |
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quantities of NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The Union Government has approved the allocation of additional quantities of kerosene, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and setting up of temporary petrol pumps to meet the demand arising out of the forthcoming Mahakumbha mela at Allahabad.......more Use pension, insurance NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The new PHDCCI President Sushil Ansal has asked the Government to urgently consider investing pension and insurance funds in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of companies to reverse the industrial slowdown in the country......more Microsoft votes SEATTLE, Nov 10: Microsoft Corp yesterday defeated the company’s first-ever shareholder proposals that would have forced the software giant to detail political contributions and take a vocal stance on human rights abuses in China.......more Mitsubishi to sell Aristech
TOKYO, Nov 10: Japan’s leading trading house Mitsubishi Corporation said today it has signed an agreement to sell its U.S subsidiary Aristech ....more |
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blocks being connected through Intranet From Ahmed Ali Fayaz SRINAGAR, Nov 9: Union Minister of State for Industries & Commerce, Omar Abdullah, has all the plans of Chandra Babu Naidu for Jammu & Kashmir, even as the overall security scenario has been witnessing voltage fluctuations eversince Dr Farooq Abdullah's National Conference resumed power four years ago. While the father is more concerned about purchasing yet another helicopter for the cash-strapped state government, the son is ambitiously realising the dream of e-governance in the trouble-torn home state. Omar, the youngman with just two-and-a-half years experience in politics, has succeeded in getting a hefty sum of Rs 120 Crore from the Union Ministry of Information Technology as he plans interconnectivity of all the 120 community development blocks in the state. Each block will be getting Rs one Crore for installing the computer facility which will connect it with all other blocks, besides the high corridors of power at the Civil Secretariat. The block headquarters are being inter-connected with V-Sat as each block shall have its own server in addition to the database which will contain every updated information regarding all developmental works as also all other relevent details in a particulat block. As many as 30 blocks are being identified where the network shall be fully functional by the end of current financial year. In a couple of weeks, work shall begin at 15 blocks in Kashmir valley, 11 blocks in Jammu division besides two each blocks in Leh and Kargil districts. Each Community Information Centre shall have a group of computers at its system. Second and final phase of the ambitious electronic information project is scheduled to be completed within the next two years. "But, much will depend on the success of the pilot project for which a sum of Rs 30 Crore is shortly being released by the Ministry of Information Technology", says Omar. He disclosed to EXCELSIOR that the full required amount of Rs 120 Crore had already been sanctioned by the central Planning Commission and the IT ministry would soon execute the project in Jammu & Kashmir. Omar informed that after his sustained efforts and personal initiative, the Planning Commission and IT ministry had sanctioned the special project for his home state. He clarified that such ambitious projects had been taken up in a few states in North East and that Centre had no such plans in every state. While explaining that the network would function as an Intranet, Omar clarified that it would have no connection with the Software Technology Park (STP), currently under progress at Industrial Estate of Rangreth. A state Government undertaking, J&K SIDCO, is entrusted with the job of building the STP but there are marked uncertainties and apprehensions that the Rs 9 Crore project may not be commissioned within the stipulated time-frame. According to well-placed sources, a meagre sum of Rs 33 Lakh has been lifted by SIDCO during the last five months though Omar Abdullah's ministry at the Centre has since released Rs 3.50 Crore for STP's execution and the IT ministry too has been exceptionally generous in releasing its share. Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah's son in the Union Council of Ministers is hopeful that the modern electronic system of e-governance would be operational within the next two years of the National Conference government in Jammu & Kashmir. "Significantly, the system will reduce the political executive's dependence on bureaucracy as Chief Minister, other ministers and legislators would have direct access to the latest and updated information at the Panchayat and block level", says Omar. Currently, it takes the information weeks together to reach the Minister and MLA and often the official statistics are obsolete. Once the system is fully functional, Chief Minister's as also the concerned Minister's and Commissioner's orders would directly flow to the block and panchayat level in a matter of seconds and in return the compliance and other necessary explanations would come with a lightning speed. The revolution in governance shall leave no room for the officials' truancy, dilly-dallying and other excuses which have paralysed the current manual system. However, it would be possibly at a subsequent stage that the state's Intranet system would be connected to the worldwide super highway of information, called Internet. |
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HYDERABAD, Nov 10: World Bank President James D Wolfensohn has assured the Andhra Pradesh Government of financial assistance of another Rs 600 crore for taking up forestry development schemes in the state. Addressing the members of the "Vanasamrakshana Samithi" (Social Forestry Society) in Kamadhan village in backward Mahabubnagar district, Mr Wolfensohn yesterday said the members of the society deserved credit for the success of the project, and said he was encouraged to assist the Government in its second phase of forestry development. Describing the project as "a model one", he said such projects should be implemented all over the world to make the earth "a better place for the future generation to live in". He said the programme was "a success of the people of the village" and not of the World Bank. The first phase of the programme was started in 1994 at a cost of Rs 363 crore, and for its second phase, Rs 600 crores was being allocated spanning a period of over three years. Kamdhan village, about 50 km from here, has a degraded reserve forest area spread over 329 hectares. A few decades back the area contained verdant forests, but during the last 30 years the well-stocked teak forest was subjected to heavy felling, turning it into a scrub jungle. The villagers found it difficult to even collect fuel wood. In 1994, the village was selected for implementing the Joint Forest Management JFM programme, and the "Vana Samrakshana Samithi" was formed in the same year after involving the people in discussions. Initially, some people joined the VSS, but after an year, more people joined after seeing its success. Today, all the villagers are VSS members. (UNI) |
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India opens new chapter in ties with SE Asian nations VIENTIANE (LAOS), Nov 10: In a historic initiative opening a new chapter in the ties between India and five South-East Asian countries, the Ganga-Mekong "Suvarnabhoomi" cooperation project was inaugurated in the presence of External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and the Foreign and Tourism Ministers of the other member-countries here today. Participating in the inaugural meeting at the Lao Plaza Hotel this morning, the Ministers of Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam recalled the historical and cultural ties between the regions bound by the Ganga and Mekong rivers. They expressed the hope that these countries, endowed by rich natural resources, would work together in the fields of culture, tourism and education, share their expertise in communication and information technology and promote trade and infrastructural development to improve the living standards of their people. After two more rounds of deliberations during the day, the ministers would come out with a Vientiane declaration in the evening setting out the areas of cooperation. Expressing India’s happiness to be a member of this new family, Mr Jaswant Singh hoped that that the grouping would help tap the energy and entrepreneurial skills of the people of these two sub-regions and give concrete shape to their desire for a defining place in the new global economy. Speaking of the historical affinity shared by the people of the two areas, he said their culture, including legends, architecture, theatre and dance as well as handicrafts and textiles had been enriched by their interaction in the past. He said the Ganga-Mekong initiative would encourage people-to-people contacts and promote tourism and travel. Declaring that India’s relationship with the South-East Asian countries was a valued aspect of its foreign policy, Mr Jaswant Singh said its economic cooperation with the ASEAN countries was on the upswing despite the recent economic crisis faced by them. Travel between India and the ASEAN countries was on the rise, as was evidenced by demand for greater travelling rights by the airlines of these countries. Cooperation in hi-tech areas including space and information technology was also increasing. Asserting that India was committed to work with the ASEAN on the Mekong development project, Mr Jaswant Singh recalled how nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore after a visit to the region in 1927 had foreseen a resurgence of relations. "I dedicate the Ganga-Mekong project to a great and glorious past and a future of shared prosperity," he added. Cambodian Foreign Minister Veng Seryvuth said his country would like to see cooperation between the countries of these sub-regions to be strengthened. Hoping that the new grouping would help to give a concrete shape to their desire for greater interaction, Mr Seryvuth described the initiative as a step in the right direction. Minister of Hotels and Tourism of Myanmar Maj Gen. Saw Lwin said his country recognised the significance of international relations has pledged to actively participate to make the Ganga-Mekong initiative a success. Speaking of Myanmar’s strategic position between the Mekong basin countries and India, he said the development of overland routes between these areas would help in increasing multi-faceted cooperation besides promotion tourism. However, Gen. Lwin said the cultural individuality of the member-countries should be maintained even as they build upon their shared pasts. Thai Minister of Tourism Adisai Bodharamik spoke of his country’s efforts to improve linkages between India and the countries of the Mekong basin and expressed optismism that their joint endeavours would help to improve the living standards of their people. Speaking of the rich natural resources enjoyed by these countries, Mr Bodharamik said joint development of tourism sites under a common banner would help attract many international tourists to this part of the world. Tourism promotion would not only help in economic progress and creation of employment but also enrich socio-cultural contacts, he said. (UNI) |
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Industry - its definition in coldstorage for last 18 yrs NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over the way Government has put in the coldstorage for the last 18 years implementation of the amendments to the definition of Industry as contained in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and said this has left the situation in the doldrums. Parliament amended the definition of the Word Industry in Section 2(J) of the Act through the amending act in 1982, but left the said amendment to be given effect from the date to be notified by the Government, a division bench comprising Justice A P Misra and Justice Y K Sabharwal said. Thereafter with the passage of 18 years in spite of observations of the Supreme Court in some cases during this interregnum, the said amendment has not seen the light of day leaving the situation in the doldrums for the courts to continue to give it shape, the bench said. These observations came from the bench in a case where the question to be decided was whether agricultural produce market committee established under the Karnataka Agricultural Produce Market (Regulation) Act, 1966, was an industry under the Industrial Disputes Act. Writing the judgement for the bench, Justice Misra said the question raised in this appeal is drawing the attention of this court since its very inception when the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, was enacted and even after the passage of more than 50 years, issue remains in the fertile field of it yielding fresh crops time and again because of wide, vaporous definition of the word Industry Under the Act. He said the wide definition of the word Industry has given an opportunity to both the employer and the employee for raising issues, one trying to pull out of this definition, to be out of the clutches of the said act, the other bringing within it to receive benefit under it. Justice Mishra said because of the width of the periphery of the word industry there is a tug of war repeatedly between the two, in spite of various decisions of this court. Parliament had amended the definition of the word industry after the Supreme Court in 1978 recorded its anxiety in ‘Bangalore Water-Supply & Sewerage Board vs R Rajappa and others’, and suggested to the legislature for bringing a comprehensive bill to clear the fog. (PTI) |
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Addl quantities of kerosene, LPG approved NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The Union Government has approved the allocation of additional quantities of kerosene, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and setting up of temporary petrol pumps to meet the demand arising out of the forthcoming Mahakumbha mela at Allahabad. The additional allocation includes 11,000 kilolitres of kerosene, three lakh LPG refills and additional temporary connections to meet the demand during the one-month mela, which is being organised by the Uttar Pradesh Government from December one. To meet the demand of transport fuels generated by additional vehicular movement, the oil marketing Public Sector Undertakings (PSU’s) have been advised to establish temporary petrol pumps at locations decided by the UP Government at six places in Allahabad. The oil marketing PSU’s will operate these temporary petrol pumps on Company Owned Company Operated (COCO) basis upto March 31 next. These decisions were taken by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Ram Naik at a meeting held here last evening following requests from the UP Government, official sources said. (UNI) |
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funds for IPOs to NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The new PHDCCI President Sushil Ansal has asked the Government to urgently consider investing pension and insurance funds in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of companies to reverse the industrial slowdown in the country. At a time when the industry is facing dumping of foreign goods and lack of level playing field, it is necessary to make available cheaper funds to encourage stepping up of investment Ansal, who took over as the phdcci president today, told PTI. There are about 100 ipos that will hit the market in the next few months and this is a time when the Government should plough in the pension funds as well as the insurance money to help provide cheap funding for the industry, Ansal said. He said since the industry is confronted with high-cost money, it is not able to put up any concrete plan for expansion that could also slowdown or postpone setting up of new industries. The industry is constrained by the high interest rates due to high spread of between four to five per cent and efforts must be made to bring it down, Ansal said. Besides reducing their, the public sector banks would have to work out a strategy to substantially bring down the Non-Performance Assets of over Rs 52,000 crore, Ansal said. As a measure to accelerate the growth rate to over 7 per cent of GDP annually, Ansal said the Government should no more postpone withdrawal of 20 per cent dividend tax and should make the change in the coming budget. Ansal also demanded removal of the surchage of income tax stating it was axiomatic that the collections would go up substantially when there are tax cuts. The removal of surcharge would also motivate industries to pay more, Ansal said adding that the current tax rate of over 33 per cent was acting as a dampener for the industry which needed positive measures to accelerate the growth rate to over 7 per cent. These measures would certainly bring in immediate results, Ansal said when asked on the time required for kick-starting the industrial pick up. Ansal also expressed industries’ concern over the lack of protection to the small scale and other industries in the country after removal of quantitative restrictions in April, 2001. Our duty structure is the lowest and even below the prescribed level of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and it is overdone, he said adding even the United States of America had slapped higher rates than India on some items. Ansal said the Government during the forthcoming budget should bring down excise duty on some of the items for the small scale industry so that they can be more competitive. Ansal said the industry would also desire a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for employees in some of the companies on the lines of those being offered in public sector banks and public sector enterprises. The idea is not to bring down the workforce but to retain it at the same level while bringing in a shake-out by inducting more skilled personnel and computer savvy workers in the private industries, Ansal asserted. Ansal, a construction magnate, suggested two sets of labour laws, one for the existing companies and one for the newly formed ones to bring in amenability. The existing contracts between the management and the labour could stand, he said adding the new agreements conscientiously entered should be adhered to. As a step towards reviving the levels of industrial demand, Ansal said the Government should bring down non-plan spending while increasing capital expenditure. We also want the Government to carry forward second wave of economic reforms covering financial, legal and other sectors, he said. The PHDCCI President favoured accelerating the speed of disinvestment in Public Sector Undertaking and hiving off the loss making PSUs. Ansal, who is the Chairman of the Ansal Properties and Industries Ltd and Ansal Hotels, stated that no industry has so much direct impact on other industry, especially the core sector, as the housing sector has. It is estimated that construction of one million housing units per year creates additional five million direct and 7.5 million indirect employment, he said. Ansal said though the ambitious highway project of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has had a positive impact on construction industry, efforts were needed to accelerate it. On the financial sector reforms, Ansal said the Value Added Taxation (VAT) system should be effective only from April 1, 2002. Ansal also said the Government must act soon to reduce fiscal deficit and create a strategic group for fast clearance of projects that will enable greater flow of Foreign Direct Investment. (PTI) |
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Microsoft votes down first ever shareholder measures SEATTLE, Nov 10: Microsoft Corp yesterday defeated the company’s first-ever shareholder proposals that would have forced the software giant to detail political contributions and take a vocal stance on human rights abuses in China. Addressing a 3,000-strong crowd, Company Executives also noted the recent market volatility that, along with Microsoft’s own business and legal woes, has cut the share price by 40 percent this year. "We urge all of you to take a long-term view of investing in our stock," Chief Operating Officer Bob Herbold said. "We’re going to see a lot of short-term volatility in this market, and with our stock and other stocks in this industry. We are investing for the long-term." Herbold said heated competition in the software sector, rampant worldwide software piracy, and the US Justice Department’s antitrust case Microsoft posed challenges to the world’s top software company. Microsoft Co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates, who had traded his usual rumpled shirt for a deep blue suit and tie, talked about new products and the company’s net strategy to retool its software for the internet. Shareholders then voted on several issues, including a new employee stock option plan to succeed one that is about to expire. That measure passed with 74 percent of the vote. But two proposals brought by shareholders, the first in Microsoft’s 14 years as a public company, were defeated with more than 94 percent of the votes going against them. The first would have required Microsoft to detail all political campaign and lobbying donations, which have skyrocketed in recent years amid the antitrust fight. "A majority of Americans believe our politicians are beholden to special interests," said Lois Cainright, a co-sponsor of the resolution. Microsoft recommended voting against the proposal, saying it complied with all regulations concerning donations. "The company believes in supporting the electoral process by contributing to organizations and candidates," Herbold said. "We think we are doing prudent things and supporting important things in this industry." Herbold also came out against the second proposal asking Microsoft to use its corporate clout to try to stop human rights abuses in China. He said Microsoft abides by Chinese law and has its own corporate policy banning harassment and discrimination among employees. The resolution was backed by John Harrington, who manages an investment fund that holds 82,000 shares of Microsoft. "In the People’s Republic of China... There is no vote, there is torture, there is detention, workers do not have the right to form unions," Harrington said. "We come to Microsoft not because we think Microsoft is chaining children to workstations and being an unfair employer. We want Microsoft’s leadership within this working group on China human rights," Harrington said. The meeting boasted its share of the bizarre, including shareholder champion Harry Korba from Yonkers, N Y, who congratulated Gates on his 45th birthday last month, a high school student who asked how much of her portfolio she should keep in Microsoft stock ("100 percent," laughed herbold), and a crowd that swarmed gates after the meeting for his autograph on the company’s annual report. "Just one more, please bill?" pleaded one elderly lady as Gates left the stage, mumbling, "sorry, I can’t". (REUTERS) |
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Mitsubishi to sell Aristech chemical to Sunoco TOKYO, Nov 10: Japan’s leading trading house Mitsubishi Corporation said today it has signed an agreement to sell its U.S subsidiary Aristech Chemican Corporation to U.S. oil refiner Sunoco incorporated for 695 million dollars. Mitsubishi said it will incur a parent-only loss of 38 billion yen (355 million dollars) on the sale, or a group loss of 32 billion yen. The Japanese trading house said it decided to sell Aristech, which it bought in 1990, because the U.S firm’s business had deteriorated due to surging oil prices. Mitsubishi also said the deal is part of its ongoing policy to increase the quality of assets by selling less profitable businesses. The sale of Aristech to Sunoco is expected to be completed sometime between late December and January 2001, it added. The deal will not affect Mitsubishi’s earnings forecast, the company said. On October 27, Mitsubishi said it expects 115 billion yen in group net profit based on U.S. accounting standards and 100 billion yen based on Japanese standards for the current business year ending March 31, 2001. (DPA) |
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