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BHEL endeavouring BHOPAL, Mar 18: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Bhopal is endeavouring hard to attain the ambitious target of the current fiscal, banking on the public sector Navratna’s innovative entry into the service sector...more HYDERABAD, Mar 18: The 14-seater Saras, India’s first civilian aircraft being designed at the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) in Bangalore, has been adjudged to be overweight. ..more Farmers bothered by high NEW DELHI, Mar 18: NEW DELHI, Mar 18: Falling prices of food grains, increase in the cost of inputs, problems in accessing technology and loss of traditional seeds were some of the issues raised by farmers at the two-day Krishi Vigyan Mela here. ....more NEW DELHI, Mar 18: The annual inflation rate fell sharply over one per cent to 6.45 per cent for the week ended March 3 despite a marginal fall in the prices of primary and manufactured articles. ....more |
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Differences between RAJIV GANDHI NAGAR, Mar 18: Senior Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh today asserted that ......more Cong Govt in Karnataka to RAJIV GANDHI NAGAR, Mar 18: The ruling Congress (I) in Karnataka will suitably amend its...more Pak regrets return ISLAMABAD, Mar 18: Gripped by the fear of foot and mouth disease, the United Arab Emirates has...more Sonia charges NDA RAJIV GANDHI NAGAR, Mar 18: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today charged the Bharatiya...more |
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BHEL
endeavouring hard to attain ambitious BHOPAL, Mar 18: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Bhopal is endeavouring hard to attain the ambitious target of the current fiscal, banking on the public sector Navratna’s innovative entry into the service sector coupled with strategic marketing. "We are very close to this year’s magic figure of 1220 crore, which I knew right from the beginning, was a high target, keeping in view the overall economic recession and hardships faced by heavy industry but aspiring for tall target works as a driving force, resulting in rising production graph of the biggest BHEL unit", Executive Director S N Roy told UNI here. The unit concentrated on improving order book position particularly in the wake of BHEL’s negative growth rate of 18 per cent in the first half of this financial year and dearth of new orders, he said adding that the enterprise had started providing "total business solutions" in a bid to emerge victorious in an era of cut-throat competition. He said "we reach closer to the customers and provide them with suitable products, systems and services efficiently at competitive prices and at their convenience". Launch of the BHEL mother unit’s web site on January 10 this year proved to be a great leap forward in this direction as customers could now have easy access to the status of their articles and relevant information comprehensively at a click of the mouse, he added. Referring to the globalisation, Mr Roy said the performance of a company also depended on the market performance. In the backdrop of decline in capital goods sector and subsequent delay in some projects, the bhel unit focussed on the service sector which was booming like anything, he said adding that the engineering giant captured more business by taking jobs of annual maintenance and health control in the fields of energy, transportation, industry, infrastructure and other potential area. He said not even a single big industrial unit was installed in Madhya Pradesh. Added to this is the unsound fiscal health of major BHEL customers and financial burden caused by the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission, he said adding that transformers were ready but could not not be dispatched due to delay in some NHPC and NTPC projects. "What was the use of supply if timely payment was not not made by customers", he asked adding that the BHEL had an outstanding of nearly 3500 crore against different State Electricity Boards. Referring to the emerging areas, he said the unit had tied up with wartsila, an eminent international power sector manufacturer, for massive production of Diesel Generator (DG) sets while production of solar sets was also on the card as a non-conventional energy source. DG sets had already been commissioned in Kerala and orders were being placed by Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation, he added. Pointing out that the turnover assess system had been changed last year, Mr Roy said a product was included in the output only after the customer’s actual billing. As such, various equipments were in the final stages at the close of the current fiscal, he added. Referring to the export, he said the target was fixed at Rs 158.11 crore during this financial year. Half of the export goal had already been achieved by mid-February while the balance value-items were in the final stages to be dispatched by the last week of this month, he said. Throwing light on new products, he said the BHEL had regressively started marketing of electrovan (battery powered road vehicle). Expressing confidence that the environment-friendly vehicle would definitely become popular in resorts, tourist centres and cities like Agra and Delhi, facing pollution problem, he said 100 such vehicles would be manufactured in the coming year. Taking advantage of geographical position of Bhopal, the company was trying to fetch orders from all corners of the country as transportation of heavy engineering products is easier from here, he said. (UNI) |
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HYDERABAD, Mar 18: The 14-seater Saras, India’s first civilian aircraft being designed at the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) in Bangalore, has been adjudged to be overweight. Members of the Programme Management Board, who recently reviewed the progress of the Rs 130-crore project, suggested that the aircraft should shed its flab by undergoing ‘rigorous weight control exercise’ before being taken for production. The aircraft designed by NAL will be produced at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd factory at Nasik. Overweight is just one of the problems that is delaying the test flight of Saras billed as the harbinger of civil aircraft industry in India. According to NAL sources, technological and procurement problems - arising out of US sanctions - have adversely affected the development of Saras and raised the cost of its development by Rs 15 crores. The aircraft was initially the joint project of NAL and Russia’s leading aircraft builder MDB under the Integrated Long-Term Technology Programme (ILTP) signed 12 years ago. But three years ago India took the Saras project out of ILTP when Moscow was unable to fulfill its monetary obligation due to economic problems. The project is now financed by a grant from the Technology Development Board of the Department of Science and Technology. (PTI) |
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Farmers bothered by high inputs cost, low returns NEW DELHI, Mar 18: Falling prices of food grains, increase in the cost of inputs, problems in accessing technology and loss of traditional seeds were some of the issues raised by farmers at the two-day Krishi Vigyan Mela here. Even as the scientific community asked farmers to go for diversification of crops, those who visited the Mela in large number from various states said that because of overproduction, their wheat and rice were not selling. "Our children do not want to adopt farming as an employment as about 80 per cent of farmers are incurring losses in this activity," Krishna Murari Singh, a farmer from Bihar, said at a `Kisan Goshthi’ programme. Because of overproduction, rice was not selling, Singh said adding unless farming was made profitable, majority of farmers would keep suffering. Another farmer from Aligarh said "we visit the Mela almost every year and buy high yielding seeds of wheat, rice, bajra and pulses like moohe seeds are costly and the price we get in return after growing them does not match the cost," Chandrapal said. Besides, there have been fears that Government may not buy what farmers are producing, he said. This, he said, would force farmers to sell their produce in ‘Mandis’ to private buyers where they would earn even less. Highlighting the problem farmers faced while selling their produce to Government, Chandrapal said while grain was procured at one place, the money was given at a different place. Another farmer from Aligarh, Rampal, said with advancement of technology, agricultural practices had changed in such a way that financial status of farmers had become an important factor. Earlier, farming required more physical labour, but now more money was needed. The cost of cultivation had increased while returns have not kept pace with the cost, he said. Farmers now paid more for electricity as the Government had increased its cost. But even then, the supply was not appropriate. He claimed that inability to pay loans had led farmers to desperation and there had been cases of suicides in Aligarh. In case of non-payment of loan, he claimed police interrogated the person concerned causing him embarrassment. According to Singh, though technologies have been developed by scientists, they were not reaching farmers. For example, farmers did not know how to get their soil examined for its quality, a must for improving production. Singh highlighted the need to involve farmers in all activities related to farming so that problems of environmental conservation could be solved and goal of sustainable agriculture met. He also pointed out that scientific literature available for farmers was non-interesting and it should be mixed with sayings which are commonly used by farmers. Raising another point, Singh said dominance of new improved seeds was leading to loss of many varieties of plants which were cultivated earlier. For instance, he said a variety of rice which was slightly reddish in colour and was very tasty when cooked, was not available now. (PTI) |
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NEW DELHI, Mar 18: The annual inflation rate fell sharply over one per cent to 6.45 per cent for the week ended March 3 despite a marginal fall in the prices of primary and manufactured articles. The inflation rate based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities (base year: 1993-94 = 100) fell by 1.08 per cent from the previous week’s level of 7.53 per cent. The index was 5.01 per cent a year ago. The WPI, close on the heels of point-to-point inflation rate, fell marginally by 0.1 per cent to 158.4 against the previous week’s mark of 158.5 during the period. However, the index was 148.8 a year ago. The final WPI for the week ended January six this year stood at 158.4 as compared to the provisional level of 157.8 during the period. Final inflation rate during January stood substantially high at 8.57 per cent against the provisional figure of 8.16 per cent. Primary products fell by 0.2 per cent and manufactured items by 0.1 per cent, while fuel continued to remain firm at the previous week’s figure. The index for primay articles’ group fell to 160.6 from a previous week’s 160.9 due to cheaper food items. The index was 159.4 in the previous year. Food articles’ group index fell substantially by 0.5 per cent to 167.6 from 168.4 on account of fall in the prices of fruits and vegetables and fish-inland (three per cent each), ragi, masur and poultry chicken (two per cent each) and wheat, jowar, maize and condiments and spices (one per cent each). But prices rose for urad (three per cent), bajra and eggs (two per cent each) and milk (one per cent). The index for non-food articles group rose sharply by 0.7 per cent to 146.5 from 145.5 on account of costlier fodder (14 per cent), groundnut seed (eight per cent), skin raw (four per cent), raw jute (three per cent) and linseed (one per cent). However, prices decli the case of raw silk (13 per cent), raw wool (eight per cent), raw cotton, castor seed, soyabean, hides raw and raw rubber (two per cent each) and copra, kardi seed and tobacco (one per cent each). Fuel, power, lights and lubricants’ group index remained unchanged at the previous week’s level of 221.4 during the period. The index was 177.8 a year ago. (PTI) |
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Differences between economic
reforms carried out RAJIV GANDHI NAGAR, Mar 18: Senior Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh today asserted that there was a world of difference between the economic reforms carried out during his stint as Finance Minister and those being pursued by the BJP-led Government. Moving the economic resolution at the 81st plenary session of the Congress here, he said it was totally wrong on the part of the present Government to say that it was merely pursuing the economic policy initiated by the previous Congress regime. Accusing the Union Government of resorting to reckless privatisation and disinvestment , Dr Singh pointed out that the then Congress Government had taken measures to strengthen the public sector and avoided disinvestment of profit making PSUs. We gave them every possible encouragement . Disinvestment, he said, was not a panacea for all the problems of PSUs. Disinvestment should be resorted to for a specific purpose to raise capital to be utilised for the social sector. Dr Singh said further that during the Congress rule under the WTO industries were flourishing and the farmers were getting fair deal and terms and trade had improved. Under the present regime, the industrial growth had stagnated, farmers were feeling miserable. Dr Singh said the fact that the Government was not exercising its power to impose the maximum possible duty of 300 percent on imports permissible under the WTO to protect the Indian farmers had led to a feeling of fear among them. Under the present regime the investors confidence had been destroyed. There was a steep decline in the industrial growth rate. He said the Congress would do nothing to hurt the interests of farmers or the PSUs. Our economic reforms will not be at the cost of the poor but with a human face . His party would protect the workers and create new job opportunities. Their basic objective would be removal of poverty, service of farmers and teeming millions. Seconding the resolution, Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha said his party would take measures to strengthen panchayats and cooperative societies. The economic resolution was later unanimously adopted. (UNI) |
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Cong Govt in Karnataka to amend disinvestment policy RAJIV GANDHI NAGAR, Mar 18: The ruling Congress (I) in Karnataka will suitably amend its disinvestment policy to bring it in tune with the economic resolution adopted by the AICC plenary session here, Chief Minister S M Krishna said today. Talking to newsmen at the media centre here, he said that the Government had already set up a committee for the restructuring of state Public Sector Units (PSUs) most of whom were making loss. The interim report was expected shortly. Mr Krishna said it would not be the intention of the Government to sell away the loss making units. But public sector units in the state were in a tight situation. The original intention was to plough the money generated from them for social programmes. But today the Government was financing to keep them breathing. "We have to strike a delicate balance" and take decisions on merit. The Chief Minister said that the Government would also initiate dialogue with the private sector asking them to implement the constitutional obligation of providing reservation in employment for the underprivileged. Replying to a question, Mr Krishna said the new economy could not survive with the old economy and it has to mutually co-exist. The reach of information technology was enhancing every day and every sector in the old economy would have something to offer to the it. Asked about the Government efforts to nab forest brigand Veerappan, Mr Krishna said "we are going behind him on a hot chase. He is hiding in the jungles and his supply chain had been cut". It would have been a different story, had Veerappan been hiding in the jungles in Karnataka. Unfortunately he was in Tamil Nadu side, he added. (UNI) |
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Pak regrets return of livestock exports, sees misunderstanding ISLAMABAD, Mar 18: Gripped by the fear of foot and mouth disease, the United Arab Emirates has started returning livestock shipments from Pakistan, the newspaper Dawn reported today. "This is highly unfortunate," the newspaper quoted an official of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock as saying. Rafaqat Hussain Raja, Commissioner of Animal Husbandry, said the ministry was trying to remove misunderstandings created by a claim by an "ordinary veterinarian" that he had discovered the disease among the animals brought to Karachi for sale during the recent Islamic festival of sacrifice. Some animals did show signs of injuries to the mouth and feet but those were caused by dry fodder and long distances over which the animals were herded to the port city of Karachi from the interior of the country, the official said. An estimated half a million cows, goats and sheep were brought to Karachi markets for the sale. Pakistan exported 14 million dollars worth of animals and meat to the Gulf last year. (DPA) |
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Sonia charges NDA with making WTO as alibi for inability RAJIV GANDHI NAGAR, Mar 18: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today charged the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre with making the World Trade Organisation as alibi for its incompetence and its inability to deal with farmers problems. In her presidential address at the plenary of the AICC here she said farmers all over the country were facing acute distress. Prices of most agricultural produce and commodities had collapsed. Referring to the problems created by imports of agriculture items she said right through the 80s and till the mid-90s, agriculture exports boomed bringing prosperity to the farming community. But in the last few years, in the absence of stable policy, the exports of farm products had stagnated. Ms Gandhi said the country was confronting a tragic paradox of full godowns but empty stomachs. The NDA Government had doubled the prices of foodgrains for the poor leading to a decline in their purchasing power. Foodgrains stocks had mounted to almost 50 million tonnes, but on the other hand in the face of poverty and malnutrition there had been no no effort to launch a massive food for work programme. This is what we would have done as a matter of the highest priority if we were in power. (UNI) |
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