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| MUL’s Best Regional Sales Performance Award to Pathankot Vehicleades Excelsior Correspondent AGRA, Feb 20: The All India Maruti Dealers Convention was held in Agra recently in which 120 Maruti Dealers of the country participated. The two day conference was addressed by Captains of different Industries to give ........more IDBI
presents a cheque of NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has presented a cheque for Rs ten million for the Gujarat quake victims. The cheque was presented by Mr S K Chakrabarti, Chairman and Managing Director of IDBI to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.. ...more Iran
Oil Minister says TOKYO, Feb 20: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said today he could not yet say whether OPEC ministers will decide to cut the cartel’s oil output when they meet on March 17. "I can’t predict now," Zanganeh told Reuters when asked if he expected the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output.....more AP
embarks on a TIRUPATI, Feb 20: The Andhra Pradesh Government has embarked on a massive "rope way project" from downhill Tirupati to Tirumala, the hill abode of Lord Venkateswara, at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore as part of its efforts to boost tourism in ........more |
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SHRI
RAM VILAS PASWAN WITH SHEKHAR SUMAN ON Movers & Shakers- the program where you get to see the best of personalities from all walks of life. Our guest this time on Movers & Shakers.....more Coming
Budget’s thrust on growth through large public
investment NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The budget 2001-2002 to be presented by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha will continue......more Spain
to focus on NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Spain has asked India to provide an institutional mechanism to the foreign direct investors who want to directly get in touch....more WHO
warns of STOCKHOLM, Feb 20: Aggressive alcohol marketing endangers young people’s lives and Governments must work across borders to protect ..more |
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MUL’s
Best Regional Sales Performance Award Excelsior Correspondent AGRA, Feb 20: The All India Maruti Dealers Convention was held in Agra recently in which 120 Maruti Dealers of the country participated. The two day conference was addressed by Captains of different Industries to give an exposure to the Maruti Dealers into various facets of Management. The prominent speakers were Mr F C Kohli Dy Chairman TCS, Mr Gurcharan Das of ‘India Unbound’ fame, Mr Chris Boris of JD Power and others. The Convention was addressed by Mr Jagdish Khattar Managing Director Maruti Udyog Ltd who dwelled on his vision for the future and gave an inspiring insight into the growth and development of Maruti Udyog Ltd. Mr Khattar appreciated the performance of the Maruti Dealers and urged them to strive continuously to retain MULs position as the market leader. The Conference was also addressed by Mr J Sugimori Director (Marketing & Sales) who discussed the emerging automobile scenario in the world and its impact on the Indian market and MULs strengths in the market. Dr K Kumar Director (Engineering) informed the dealers about the level of service and recorded satisfaction on achieving the No 1 position in service in JD Power survey. He informed the gathering that its first time that anywhere in the world the market leader in automobile industry has been ranked No 1 in JD Power survey in After Sales Service. The Conference appreciated the role of Mr Jagdish Khattar and his team in handling the recent industrial dispute of Maruti and noted with satisfaction that the company was able to maintain volumes inspite of the strike and has emerged stronger after the strike. The Conference was concluded with an impressive Annual Award Ceremony where Mr Jagdish Khattar Managing Director Maruti Udyog Ltd was the Chief Guest. Pathankot Vehicleades the Authorised Dealer of Maruti Udyog Ltd was awarded the following prestigious Awards: BEST REGIONAL SALES PERFORMANCE Award Region N-II (Comprising of J&K, Punjab, H.P, Haryana, Chandigarh) All India Sales Target Achievement Award Rank 5. The performance of Pathankot Vehicleades - An ISO9002 Company was highly appreciated and the MBA-Gallup customer survey rated its customer satisfaction index at 85 which is among the top 10 dealers of the country and speaks volumes of the quality of customer service offered by the company. |
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IDBI presents a cheque of Rs 10 mln for quake victims NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has presented a cheque for Rs ten million for the Gujarat quake victims. The cheque was presented by Mr S K Chakrabarti, Chairman and Managing Director of IDBI to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. IDBI had decided to contribute a sum of Rs 50 million towards relief and rehabilitation work in the quake affected areas of Gujarat. The balance amount of 40 million would be spent on rehabilitation work by adopting a few villages, an IDBI release today said. (UNI) |
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Iran Oil Minister says OPEC cut still unclear TOKYO, Feb 20: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said today he could not yet say whether OPEC ministers will decide to cut the cartel’s oil output when they meet on March 17. "I can’t predict now," Zanganeh told Reuters when asked if he expected the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output. "If prices are stable, we don’t need to act in march," he said. The Iranian Oil Minister arrived in Japan on Monday mainly to attend an annual industry seminar. There has been increasing evidence that OPEC is mulling another round of output cut in March after cutting output by 1.5 million barrels per day at its last meeting in January. OPEC secretary-general Ali Rodriguez said on Monday there was "almost a conviction" in the oil exporting cartel to cut production ahead of a forecast drop in demand in the second quarter of the year. Rodriguez said the maximum reduction needed would be one million barrels daily. (REUTERS) |
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AP embarks on a massive rope way project TIRUPATI, Feb 20: The Andhra Pradesh Government has embarked on a massive "rope way project" from downhill Tirupati to Tirumala, the hill abode of Lord Venkateswara, at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore as part of its efforts to boost tourism in the state. It may be noted that the long-pending project was first mooted by the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in 1982. According to TTD sources, the project would be completed by the year 2002 by involving a consortium of companies having expertise in rope way constructions in mountainous regions. Accordingly, the Usha Baico, Austrian Dabul Meyer and Larsen and Toubro are expected to execute the construction, for which the feasibility survey had been completed already. The sources said it would take just 15 minutes for transporting pilgrims from the downhill Alipiri point to the windmill point in Tirumala. The initial capacity had been put at 75 cabins each on the upward and downward journeys. The TTD and the State Government would ensure that the entire project would be executed through private operators in lieu of royalty. The operators should have previous experience in handling rope way systems. The main objectives of the project would be to check vehicular pollution in Tirumala and create more landscape junctions enroute, the sources added. (UNI) |
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SHRI RAM VILAS PASWAN WITH
SHEKHAR SUMAN ON Movers & Shakers- the program where you get to see the best of personalities from all walks of life. Our guest this time on Movers & Shakers is someone who is usually considered as one of the young turks in Indian Politics. A man who has made India's path to progress his mission in life. Sony Entertainemnt Television welcomes Union Minister for Communications Shri Ram Vilas Paswan on Movers & Shakers. Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, who started his political career in 1969, had been a prominent opposition leader during Congress regime. He is known as a versatile political leader of the country. He has made his appearance in Guinness Book of World Records, by winning the largest majority in two Loksabha elections, the first time in 1977 and the second time in 1980, wherein he broke his own record. This episode will be aired in two parts on the following dates : * PART I Wednesday 21st February 2001 at 10:40 pm * PART 2 Thursday, 22nd February 2001 at 10 : 40 pm Watch Shri Ram Vilas Paswan in a tete-e-tete with Shekhar Suman. Shri G N Bajpai, Chairman, LIC of India elected Chairman of National Stock Exchange Shri G N Bajpai, Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India has been elected as the Chairman of the National Stock Exchange. A resolution to this effect was adopted unanimously at the meeting held at National Stock Exchange on 12.2.2001. Shri Bajpai succeeds Shri G P Gupta of IDBI as the Chairman of the National Stock Exchange. Shri Bajpai brings with him his rich experience of more than three decades in the world of finance. LIC's new plan - ''Bima Plus'' LIC Introduces its first capital market linked insurance plan namely ''Bima Plus'' which provides life insurance cover, along with the prospect of high growth. Under this scheme, a portion of the premium in invested in equity and debt instruments in the capital market where scope for high growth exists. The extent of the money invested in these instruments depends upon the type of Fund chosen under the schemes. LIC's Bima Plus gives the policyholders, the option to choose between three funds. Secured Fund, Balanced Fund and Risk Fund. Within the term of the policy they can be switch over from one Fund to another twice. In this way the scheme provides a choice between the possibility of high returns and relative security alongwith the indispensable life insurance cover. The premium under this plan are payable in yearly or half yearly installment for a term of 10 years. The policyholder can also pay a lump sum as a one-time payment towards all the premiums. The minimum age at entry is 12 years last birthday and the maximum age at entry is 55 years nearest birthday. Minimum sum assured is Rs 50,000 and maximum sum assured is Rs 2,00,000. Additional premium not exceeding the sum assured may be paid by the policyholder to obtain more units. The policyholder also has the option of premature surrender in case of urgency with certain conditions. No medical examination is required for this scheme. A grace period of 30 days is allowed from the due date for payment of premiums and a lapsed policy can be revived within one year from the due date of the first unpaid premium. Revival can be done by paying up to date arrears without any interest on submission of Declaration of Good Health. No loan facility is available under this plan. The plan can be assigned as collateral security for a housing loan. The premiums paid under the plan will qualify for rebate under Sec 88 of the Income Tax Act. |
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Coming Budget’s
thrust on growth through NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The budget 2001-2002 to be presented by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha will continue the recently-imposed two per cent surcharge on direct taxes and rationalise indirect taxes — customs and excise — to raise higher resources. The Gujarat earthquake will involve net cost to the economy. Compensation to those killed, rehabilitation and rebuilding of infrastructure will impose fresh additional burden and Mr Sinha will not be inclined to discontinue the surcharge. More than Rs 1,300 crore is to be raised by the surcharge already imposed. The fourth consecutive budget of Mr Sinha will see inclusion of many of the recommendations of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister, sources say. Mr Sinha is unlikely to reduce the existing rates of corporate and income tax as also abolition of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) or dividend tax as demanded by the industry. Infact, he is likely to extend service tax to more areas and also increase the rate. The Finance Minister (FM) in all probability will widen the service tax net to include medical, legal and technical services. Any relief may be only marginal, that also in personal income tax, such as raising of income tax exemption limit from the present level of Rs 50,000 to a higher amount. There is also a popular demand, backed by industry, for applying the maximum rate of 35.1 per cent, including the surcharges, to income above Rs 1.5 lakh. The theory behind such a proposition is that the ever increasing middle class plays a crucial role in boosting demand through its spending. Hence, it should be left with more money to spend on consumer durables which will have a multiplier effect and help in combating the the current demand recession which has contributed to the slowdown of the industry. Mr Sinha, however, is likely to keep in view the figures of the tax research cell of the Finance Ministry which indicates that every increase of Rs 5,000 in the income tax exemption limit will lead to a net revenue loss of Rs 100 crore. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has argued that the maximum rate of income tax applicable on income of Rs 1.5 lakh limit in India is much lower than limits prevailing in neighboring countries. Mr Sinha has indicated that the Government has already put in place a moderate income tax rate structure and surcharges on direct taxes are "reasonable." The FM will make a serious effort to widen the tax base and he has been advised to plug loopholes of evasion, for example, making it obligatory to give bank account numbers in tax returns. In view of the decline in savings rate to around 22 per cent, he may give incentives such as raising the present Public Provident Fund (PPF) limit of Rs 60,000, increasing the income tax rebate of Rs 16,000 to 20,000 and raising the exemption of bank interest from Rs 12,000. The Reserve Bank of India’s announcement of cut in bank rate to reduce the Prime Lending Rate (PLR) as demanded by the industry may finally result in reducing the deposit rate which may hurt small investors, salaried class, and senior citizens. There is a suggestion that there can be differential rate of interest in the case of vulnerable sections of the community, particularly retired persons and senior citizens upto a certain amount. Senior citizens are getting concessions in many seccors such as rail and air fares. Indian industry has been jolted by the cost, variety and quality of Chinese imports. The budget is likely to take cognisance of problems faced by industry on account of flooding of imports from China and other countries and removal of Quantitative Restrictions (QR) on the remaining 714 items from April one this year. While the FM is disinclined to impose higher tariffs to offset the impact of QRs on all items, he is likely to raise duties permitted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) bound rates in case of agricultural commodities and some items reserved for small scale sector. In the case of imports of Chinese goods he will strengthen the anti-dumping mechanism to ensure that such goods do not sell in the country below the cost price of the exporting country or lower than the price at which it is exported to other countries. As resources are required, particularly for infrastructure development, Mr Sinha may remove all remaining bottlenecks in the way of FDI investment which is only around two bullion dollars, much less than the targeted level of 10 billion dollars. He is expected to further simplify the procedures and except for a small negative list, FDI is likely to be opened up to all sectors, including housing which has a large potential for generating employment. Despite the Gujarat calamity, the thrust of the budget will be on growth through larger public investment by increasing domestic savings, apart from larger inflows of FDI. This may be a difficult task in the present scenario but there is no escape from it. The budget will have to come out with bold and innovative measures to reverse the slowdown in industry. In view of the coming elections to five State Assemblies, the Finance Minister is unlikely to raise excise duty on items used by the common man such as biscuits, toothpaste, personal products, tea, coffee, soaps, detergents and bread. Mr Sinha may also provide larger allocation for infrastructure development, including social infrastructure such as education and health. There are also suggestions that the Government should come out with an innovative scheme for tapping unacquainted money in the form of Gujarat relief bonds returnable after certain period. The budget is likely to indicate the direction of second generation reforms, including financial sector, labour and judicialry. There has been lackluster performance on the disinvestment front last year and the target of Rs 10,000 crore set by the last budget will certainly not be achieved. In the light of this experience, the budget may come out with a strategy on disinvestment in PSUs and sale of sick PSUs. The Government has brought in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill. This will necessitate zero based budgeting of schemes. The Government has also indicated that it plans to prune a large number of schemes which, it feels, are no longer relevant. The plethora of anti-poverty schemes could be merged. Non-plan expenditure is likely to be ruthlessly curbed and many ministries may find their budgets halved. Certain ministries and departments are likely to be either shut down or merged. The Government is also likely to bring in the VRS scheme for its employees which would help cut down on its salary bill. Indications are that the Government will reform the financial sector by bringing in legislative changes to allow financial institutions to transform themselves into universal banks and banks to take up the mantle of financial institutions. A package to revive sick banks appears to be also on the cards. To help banks recover assets locked in bad debts, the Government is likely to bring in foreclosure laws which will allow easier winding of companies and distribution of their assets among creditors and labour. The President has hinted in his address to the joint session of Parliament that there will be wide ranging labour reforms. However, a consensus still eludes the Government, industry and unions over this issue. Both Government and industry want legislative changes which will allow industry an easy exit policy. But unions are still opposing this. An overhauling of the Companies Act might also be signaled in the budget to help restructure Indian industry which has been suffering from recessionary pressures as well as cost inefficiencies. One of the major constraints in the development of the industrial sector is the continued depressed capital market. Any number of experts and businessmen have pleaded that the dividend tax be reduced from the present level of 20 per cent to ten per cent if not altogether abolished. The stock markets have not yet been able to recover from the Harshad Mehta bullish phase of early 1990’s and the huge loss suffered by ordinary shareholders in the crash that followed. Sentiment, which is the single biggest factor in the market, also suffered and has not staged a recovery since then. Also, the small investor, the true king of the market, disappeared from the scene after having burnt his fingers on account of the manipulation of dishonest company promoters and greedy merchant bankers. Experts point out that around the same time after the unwise and hasty scrapping of capital issues control, SEBI and the merchant bankers created a system where public issues for all practical purposes became private placements. Common investors had no way to bid for shares of companies directly. They had to buy only stocks of mutual funds and some of these also badly let them down. Experts say the need to seek an answer to the revival of a healthy market is not through the budget so much, but by making possible the return of the small investor to the market and doing away with the present near domination of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and the domestic Government institutions. They say SEBI has to be instructed to reserve a substantial portion of all issues for public subscription. This combined with energetic disinvestment by the government will help revival of the market. The Government has so far not taken enough action against dishonest speculators and promoters who defrauded thousands of small investors during 1992-1997 and thereafter did the vanishing trick. Experts say the Finance Ministry, RBI, SEBI and stock exchange authorities owe it to the nation to take demonstrative punitive action against culprits. The budget could give some indication. There are indications that Mr Sinha is likely to hike excise duty rate on high category items of white goods popularly known as luxury items. Such a move may not be politically inconvenient but the FM will have to face pressure from major players in the white goods sector, who maintains that performance of this sector has not been upto the mark. There is much talk of an imminent cut in interest on small savings. The budget may further liberalise critical sectors such as power, telecom and insurance. There are other expectations from the budget as outlined by industry experts and financial analysts. These include tax concessions for private life insurers, tax holiday for infrastructure investments, tourism, civil aviataion and hospitality projects as also tax breaks for agro-processing industries. There is expectation that the price controls or Administered Price Mechanism (APM) will be dismantled ahead of next year’s deadline. However, kerosene will remain under APM. The market expectation regarding the infotech and telecom sector is a five year tax moratorium on all e-commerce transactions, tax incentives for hardware manufacturing in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and a cut in customs duty on hardware sector components. The market is banking upon a higher import duty on edible oil. Experts point to the possibility of the budget giving amensty to encourage households to deposit gold in banks under the gold bond scheme aimed at bringing privately held gold stocks into circulation. The auto industry is waiting anxiously for a cut in excise duty on passenger cars and feel that the FM may extend allocation of proceeds of a special tax on automobile sales to R and D projects. The economy in 2000-2001 has been depressing. The current fiscal year is likely to end without achieving growth targets of GDP, industry, agriculture, services sector as well as savings and FDI. The deteriorating performance of the infrastructure sector, negative growth in capital goods industry, hike in oil prices, rising inflation, pressure on the rupee, continuing gloomy capital market and hardening of interest are areas of concern. The only bright spot is export performance with growth rate of over 21 per cent and comfortable balance of payments situation. The fact remains that in the present political scenario, more particularly the gujarat tragedy, Mr Sinha has to do a lot of tight rope walking. Economic decision making is not going to be easy also in view of the coming elections to the State Assemblies. No Finance Minister can ignore the political fallout of the budget proposals and pulls and pressures of coalition partners. The budget is indeed being framed in these circumstances. (UNI) |
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Spain to focus on specific
sectors for NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Spain has asked India to provide an institutional mechanism to the foreign direct investors who want to directly get in touch with some of the proactive states, visiting Secretary of State for Trade and Tourism Don Juan Costa has said. In his meeting with Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Omar Abdullah, Mr Costa said Spain would like to focus on specific sectors in infrastructure and industry for economic cooperation with India. Mr Abdullah said that the present level of bilateral trade was much below the potential of the two countries which could be given a boost by frequent interactions between the businessmen of both the sides. He particularly expressed concern over the low level of the FDI inflow ratio as far as spain was concerned. In this regard, he proposed a special meeting of the officials of his ministry with the Spanish businessmen where they could apprise the officials about the various impediments that come in the way of greater FDI inflows into the country. The minister also stressed that tourism promotion should be given a greater thrust by both the countries. During 1999-2000, Indian exports to Spain were valued at 559.35 million dollars while imports from Spain were to the tune of 138.09 million dollars. In the period April-September 2000, Indo-Spanish trade was of the order of 389.01 million dollars of which India’s exports to spain constituted 319.68 million dollars. Investment approvals from Spain have risen during the last nine years from a mere 0.2 million dollars in 1991 to 92 million dollars upto November 2000. (UNI) |
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WHO warns of youth alcohol danger in internet age STOCKHOLM, Feb 20: Aggressive alcohol marketing endangers young people’s lives and Governments must work across borders to protect children in the internet age, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. Opening a conference on youth and alcohol, who officials said yesterday drinks makers were cynically targeting impressionable young people, who were increasingly using alcohol like a drug. "Young people are vulnerable. They need to be protected. They need to grow up without being drawn into something that can ruin their life, change their future and lead to alcohol dependence," WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland told a news conference. "Someone has to take a stand." WHO Regional Director Marc Danzon said policy-makers must counteract the glamorous image of alcohol peddled by multinational drinks companies. "We need to raise understanding among young people that consuming alcohol is no different to consuming a drug," he said. "More and more it is seeming that as a product alcohol is being used like a drug." Governments must pay attention to worrying trends in alcohol usage and put alcohol policy back at the top of their health agenda, Brundtland said, calling for an international review of the marketing and promotion of alcohol to young people. "In these times of globalisation what used to be national decisions now have to be taken across borders," she said, citing new data showing alcohol accounted for one in four deaths among young men in Europe. "By mixing alcohol with fruit juices, energy drinks and premixed ‘alcopops’, and by using advertising that focuses on a youth lifestyle, sex, sports and fun, the large alcohol manufacturers are trying to establish a habit of drinking alcohol at a very young age," she said. "Look at most web sites for alcohol products — they are clearly attempting to attract the young, with computer games, competitions and offers of prizes and teenage fashion shows." Brundtland said the who would establish a strategic advisory committee on alcohol and hold a meeting in Valencia in Spain later this year to move the issue forward. "Satellite television is now bringing commercials for alcohol into every home, even here in Scandinavia, where alcohol advertising has been banned for decades," she told a packed news conference. Alcohol was involved in the deaths of 55,000 Europeans aged between 15 and 29 years in 1999, many through accidents, fires, drownings, suicides and violent crimes. While overall alcohol consumption is falling in many countries, a culture of binge drinking among young people is emerging in developed and developing countries, she said. (REUTERS) |
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