|
|
| Wipro announces
35 pc growth in its revenue BANGALORE, Apr 20: Wipro today announced a 35 per growth in its revenue for 2000-01 to touch........more Limca Book honours NEW DELHI, Apr 20: A doctor who has performed 23,700 surgeries, a footballer who holds the record for ........more FM refuses to make NEW DELHI, Apr 20: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today refused to make any commitment on the....more India seeks transfer of UNITED NATIONS, Apr 20: India has asked industrialised states to show political will to....more |
 |
JCCBL income growth 22pc Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 20: The gross income of Jammu Central Cooperative Bank Limited (JCCBL) during the year 2000-2001 has improved....more Sterlite, Videcon, BPL NEW DELHI, Apr 20: Sterlite, Videcon and BPL said today they would challenge the SEBI order banning....more Huge tax amount yet NEW DELHI, Apr 20: A whopping sum of Rs 63,209 crore worth of taxes is yet to be recovered...more Cooperative banks MUMBAI, Apr 20: The urban and district cooperative banks across the country would be severely....more |
 |
|
|
|
Limca Book honours record-breaking Indians NEW DELHI, Apr 20: A doctor who has performed 23,700 surgeries, a footballer who holds the record for the fastest international goal and a television producer who has made at least one common man a millionaire were among the ten Indians who have won the Limca Book of records’ ‘People of the Year Awards’ for 2000-2001. Dr K M Cherian, the Madras Medical Mission Director who performed India’s first heart transplant, received the award for his amazing feat of surgeries. F C Kochin’s footballer-actor I M Vijayan, who scored the fastest international goal against Bhutan at the 1999 Kathmandu SAF Games only 12 seconds after kick-off, was also honoured alongwith Siddhartha Basu, quizmaster-turned-producer of the popular TV serial ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’. Others who received the awards were boxer D Dingko Singh, mountaineer Santosh Yadav, civil servant Arun Bhatia, playback singer K S Chitra, chess player S Vijayalakshmi, Coorg’s hockey enthusiast Pandandi Kuttani Kuttappa and Manipuri topiary artist M Okendra Kumbi. The awards, carrying a citation and a shawl each, were presented by actress-member of Parliament Shabana Azmi at the India International Centre here last evening. Okendra Kumbi grew a skyflower plant to a height of 61 feet in 17 years in his garden at Imphal while Kuttappa is credited with the biggest family hockey tournament in the world in his coffee-growing coorg district of Karnataka. Winner of eleven successive awards in Kerala from 1985 to 1995, Chitra has sung 11,000 songs in more than six languages in a career spanning 16 years. India’s first women grandmaster Vijayalakshmi of Tamil Nadu is a four-time national chess champion and has an ELO rating of 3,387 points. Dingko Singh became the first Indian to win a gold in 16 years when he won the 54 kg category at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. ‘Demolition man’ Bhatia, who had a stint of only seven days as Municipal Commissioner of Pune, faced 25 transfers in 30 years while standing up against corruption. Indo-Tibetan Border Police officer Santosh Yadav is the only woman to have climbed mount everest twice—in 1992 and 1993. Previous winners of the awards, instituted 11 years ago, include Kiran Bedi, Vishwanathan Anand, Leander Paes, Suhaib Ilyasi and Jaspal Bhatti. (UNI) |
|
FM refuses to
make commitment on oppn’s NEW DELHI, Apr 20: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today refused to make any commitment on the opposition’s persistent demand for a JPC probe into the recent stock market scam and said it was upto the house to decide the matter. Responding to agitated members who wanted to know the remedial steps being taken to save the small investors, Mr Sinha said the stock market is bound to improve in the near future and small investors should not exit in a huff. Ups and downs of the stocks market are usual features and those who invest in shares are well aware of all this, the Finance Minister said. On the role of Unit Trust of India (UTI) which had heavily lost revenues following the scam, Mr Sinha admitted that uti had suffered a loss of around Rs 6000 crores but a correct assessment of this would be made on June 30, after its yearly audit is complete. However, he said, the Government had already initiated action against those involved in the scam as SEBI’s Chairman Anand Rathi had been removed and criminal proceedings launched against directors of Madhepura Urban Cooperative Bank. Besides this, the Reserve Bank of India had debarred the urban cooperatives banks against lending out money for investment in stocks, The CBI is also investigating into the matter, he added. Evading a direct reply on a BSP member’s charge that the reliance industries was involved in stocks’ manipulations to the tune of Rs 10,000 crores at the Mumbai Stock Exchange, he said, the Government will not spare anyone found guilty (in the scam). (UNI) |
|
India seeks transfer of environment-friendly technologies UNITED NATIONS, Apr 20: India has asked industrialised states to show political will to transfer environment-friendly technologies to developing nations at affordable prices. "Developed societies, which have already overdrawn substantially from our common resources, must now act on commitments made in Rio (earth summit) and reaffirm to provide adequate and stable financial resources and transfer environmentally-sound technologies to developing countries," Union Environment and Forest Minister T R Baalu told the UN Commission. Citing India’s example, he said, the country was in the process of improving road infrastructure, providing an efficient transportation system and better quality of fuels. But all these required technology and financial resources. State funding would continue to be a major source as indeed will be international financial assistance on concessional terms, Baalu told the conference. Agreeing on the need to phase out subsidies in energy sector, Baalu said as long as there were populations in developing countries with no access to energy and till there was poverty, subsidies were unavoidable. Launching a veiled attack on the Bush administration, baalu said some countries doubt the fact of climate change and were putting in jeopardy the hard work done so far in the field. "We cannot relax our efforts as technical and scientific assessment overwhelmingly support our fears (on greenhouse effect and climate change)," Baalu said. An international debate on source of energy was not required as long as they could be safely controlled, he said. Discussion on energy, Baalu told the delegates, should not focus merely on electricity but also on non-commercial sources of energy such as biomass as majority of people in rural areas in several countries still relied on non-commercial sources of energy. Stating the contribution of non-conventional sources of energy produced in India would rise from three per cent at present to ten per cent in a decade, he reminded the rich nations that renewable energy required investments in technology and called for innovative financial mechanisms. "We need cleaner technologies for more efficient use but face again the obstacle of technology development, transfer and adaptation at affordable terms", he stressed. Stating that the Rio commitments of developed countries remained unfulfilled, Baalu said this aspect needed to be looked into and explored further in any discussion on institutional changes on environment governance. (PTI) |
|
|
Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 20: The gross income of Jammu Central Cooperative Bank Limited (JCCBL) during the year 2000-2001 has improved to 22 percent, rising from rupees 28.75 crores during 1999-2000 to rupees 35.08 crore. The recovery of interest on loans other than the due from chronic defaulters contributed rupees 10.14 crore as against rupees 6.92 crore last year. The recovery percentage of the interest had been 42.44 percent and compared to the last year, it was more by rupees 3.22 crore. This was revealed in the meeting of the District Managers held to review the district wise/branch wise working of the Bank for the year 2000-2001 and draw plan for the year 2001-2002. Mr R K Sharma, Managing Director, JCCB, who presided over the Bank’s meeting pointed out that the total deposits of the Bank have increased to rupees 403.79 crores registering a growth rate of 21.13 percent, whereas fresh loans and advances issued have risen to rupees 43.67 crore with growth percentage of 37.33 percent over the past year. The CD ratio of the Bank also improved as the outstanding loans have increased to rupees 117.62 crore from rupees 99.83 crores pending last year. There has been increase in the income portfolio during the period. Further, recovery has improved to 47.38 percent. It was decided that the stress during the current year is proposed to be equally on farm sector loaning particularly in production credit through issue of Kisan Credit cards and undertaking direct loaning to the farmers for allied activities like dairy, sheep and poultry. |
|
Sterlite, Videcon, BPL to challenge SEBI order NEW DELHI, Apr 20: Sterlite, Videcon and BPL said today they would challenge the SEBI order banning them from accessing capital market on charges of price manipulation and denied any links with prime accused Harshad Mehta who was permanently debarred from the market by the regulator. "We deny all the charges. We are going to appeal against the SEBI order at the appellate tribunal on Monday," Chairman of Videcon International V N Dhoot told PTI from Mumbai. Echoing the sentiments, Sterlite Industry’s Finance Director Tarun Jain said "we will appeal against the order next week. We have no relation, no contact and no deals with Harshad Mehta." Market regulator had yesterday barred BPL for four years, videcon for three and Sterlite for two years from entering the capital market to raise resources and order prosecution of their directors on the issue of price manipulation. BPL’s company secretary Raja Ram said from Bangalore "the order of SEBI, as made known through the press, in the opinion of BPL’s counsel, is unsustainable in law. The threatened prosecution of directors without an opportuinty of hearing is bad and against all norms of justice." Categorically denying any association with Harshad Mehta or his companies, Ram said in a statement that "SEBI, the regulatory authority now in the midst of a raging controversy as regards its powers has exercised authority that is not lawfully vested with it, that too after a period of three years." SEBI had said that investigations in connection with the 1998 price manipulation had shown that a set of brokers and sub-brokers, acting on behalf of a common set of clients, acting as a front for Mehta cornered a large chunk of shares of these three scrips, leading to price manipulation. Questioning the verdict Sterlite Industries said that it was being punished for helping BSE authorities to avert a payment crisis. "The whole matter relates to purchase of six lakh shares at the request of BSE authorities. The authorities approached the company in June 1998 to acquire share of the company so that a major payment crisis in the bse could be averted. We fail to understand how this one transaction could be construed as manipulation of share prices. These shares were acquired under the creeping regulations by the madras aluminium company," it said in a statement. (PTI) |
|
Huge tax amount yet to be recovered NEW DELHI, Apr 20: A whopping sum of Rs 63,209 crore worth of taxes is yet to be recovered as on March-end, Lok Sabha was informed today. While outstanding income and corporate taxes amounted to Rs 53,050 crore, central excise tax worth Rs 8323 crore and customs duty worth Rs 1836 crore were yet to be collected, Minister of State for Finance G N Ramachandran said in a written reply. Replying to another question, he said Mumbai recorded a maximum collection of corporate and income tax of Rs 16,236 crore followed by Delhi with a collection of Rs 7,841 crore. BALCO: The audit by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of BALCO disinvestment has already begun, Minister of State for Disinvestment Arun Shourie said. NPA: Gross Non Performing Assets (NPAs) of public sector banks as on March 31, 2000 was Rs 53,294 crore, which constituted 14 per cent of their gross advances, another Minister of State for Finance Balasaheb Vikhe Patil said. Among financial institutions, NPAs of IDBI stood at Rs 7675 crore, while that of IFCI Ltd was Rs 4084 crore and NPAs of ICICI Ltd Rs 3959 crore, he said. MTNL: There is no decision for further disinvestment in MTNL, Shourie said, adding that in 1999 Government approved disinvestment of upto 19 million of its shares in MTNL. DTH: Government has not received any application for issue of licence for direct-to-home service so far, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said. Media: There is no proposal to issue fresh guidelines relating to levels of officials who are allowed to brief the media on matters of policy, she said. Exchange: As many as 97 cases of illegal transactions of foreign exchange have been detected by the Directorate of Enforcement during the past six months, Ramachandran said. Robberies: Thirty persons were killed in robberies at public sector banks between 1998 and 2000, Patil said. Disinvestment: The annual budget indicates that Rs 12,000 crore are expected to be realised from disinvestment for 2001-2002, Shourie said. Onion: It has been proposed to allow five lakh metric tonnes of onion for export during 2001-2002, Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran said. (PTI) |
|
Cooperative banks to be severely
affected MUMBAI, Apr 20: The urban and district cooperative banks across the country would be severely affected in the wake of directives given by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through its credit and monetary policy yesterday. According to G S Shelkhe, Vice-Chairman, National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies Limited, the provisions such as shifting the entire 25 per cent of their deposits from the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) account to the approved government securities from fiscal 2003 would adversely impact their liquidity positions. Shelkhe said that the ban on lending to individual and any firms directly or indirectly against the security of shares is discrimination against the cooperative sector banks. He said the RBI should allow the cooperative banks to provide loan to the customers on specified companies shares at the face-value of shares instead of market value. Mr Shelkhe said considering the current slackness in the market, most of the businesses are suffering losses. If any of the customers having shares of prominent companies demanded loan against upto 70 per cent of their face value, what was wrong in granting the same, he asked. The Vice-Chairman pointed out that earlier, the cooperative banks had to keep 25 per cent SLR deposits of their total capital and out of that 10 per cent should be deposited in the Government securities. But, now total 25 per cent should be deposited in the Government securities or approved securities. The Brihan Mumbai Nagarik Sahakari Bank Association (BMNSBA) Honourary Secretary S B Adsul said the association has organised a meeting on may two, to review the credit policy. Mr Adsul said there were 51 cooperative banks in the metropolis and out of them, 34 are sick entities. The cut in PF interest rates have also adversely affected the deposits of the cooperative banks, he said, adding that further Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) money was being diverted to other means of saving following the cut in the interest rate. (UNI) |
|
|
