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LPG bottling plant AJMER, Mar 29: The LPG bottling plant of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) at Tabiji, near here, will start getting supply of cooking gas from the pipeline....more NTPC cooling tower crumbles killing 6 VISAKHAPATNAM, Mar 29: Six labourers were killed and several others injured when a 175-metre-tall cooling tower being erected as part of the....more World health, trade bodies to work on cheaper drugs GENEVA, Mar 29: The United Nations health agency WHO and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will pool ideas to try to ease the way for cheaper.....more Rs 203.70 cr deficit budget presented in Rajasthan JAIPUR, Mar 29: Rajasthan Finance Minister, Pradhyuman Singh, has proposed to raise taxes on several commodities, including tea, washing....more |
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HUDA to spend Rs 250 crore on development works CHANDIGARH, Mar 29: The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has earmarked Rs 250 crore for the development works during the next ....more NDMC
records NEW DELHI, Mar 29: New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has achieved a record 35 per cent increase in revenue turnout for....more RBI
group for phasing MUMBAI, Mar 29: In a major recommendation, the Reserve Bank of India appointed technical group has suggested that.....more Delhi
needs public NEW DELHI, Mar 29: Delhi needs a comprehensive public transport policy coupled with good infrastructure to meet.....more |
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LPG bottling plant of IOC to get supply from gas pipeline AJMER, Mar 29: The LPG bottling plant of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) at Tabiji, near here, will start getting supply of cooking gas from the pipeline laid by the Gas Authority of India Limited, IOC sources said today. An 11-km long pipeline has been laid to link the bottling plant with the booster of the main gas pipeline between Jamnagar and Loni. The booster was inaugurated three months ago near Nasirabad in Ajmer district. The supply of gas through pipeline will help the bottling plant serve consumers efficiently and quickly. At present, 9,000 cylinders are filled daily at this plant using gas brought by road from Jamnagar at a cost of Rs five per metric tonne per km. It will now cost only Rs 1.25 per km, IOC sources added. (PTI) |
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NTPC cooling tower crumbles killing 6 VISAKHAPATNAM, Mar 29: Six labourers were killed and several others injured when a 175-metre-tall cooling tower being erected as part of the upcoming Simhadri Thermal Power Project here, under the public sector NTPC, collapsed late last night. Police said four bodies were moved to the King George Government Hospital, while the rest two were still at the site, where workers were staging protest against the incident. Efforts were on to search more bodies, if any. No official was available for details. The work on the first unit of the Rs 3650-crore 2x500-mw super-thermal project under the NTPC has been under way at Paravada on the city outskirts. It was scheduled to be commissioned in March next year. The second phase was slated to begin functioning by the following December. A significant feature of the plant was making arrangements for drawing seawater, five km away to the plant, for cooling the system which would have two natural draft cooling towers of 175 metres height each. The make-up water was planned to be conveyed through a pipeline supported on an approach bridge from the sea-coast. The water from the sea would be desilted, and clean water would be pumped to the cooling-water system intake channel of the plant. The plant required 9100 cubic metres of water per hour for cooling the system, according to authorities. (UNI) |
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World health, trade bodies to work on cheaper drugs GENEVA, Mar 29: The United Nations health agency WHO and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will pool ideas to try to ease the way for cheaper treatments for disease to be brought to poor countries, officials said yesterday. The programme will be set in motion at a meeting on the drug issue — now at the focus of international attention due to a court case in South Africa — at a meeting of trade and health experts in Norway next month. "We are looking for a win-win situation....There seems to be a growing acceptance of the principle of differential pricing," Dr Jonathan Quick who heads the WHO’s unit for essential drugs and medicines told a news briefing. WTO officials also indicate they see differential pricing —or charging lower prices for patented drugs in poorer countries — as one way to tackle the problem which has brought fierce criticism of the Geneva-based body from some activist groups. The attacks by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) focusing on development issues have centered on the WTO’s intellectual property agreement, or trips, under which the 140 nations in the body agree to protect patent rights. A statement from the WTO said the coming meeting — in the norwegian town of hosbjor from April 8 to 11 — "will explore how to achieve public health objectives within the framework of wto trade and intellectual property rules." The WHO’s quick said the agency’s studies of the 1994 trips accord — now also criticised by some developing countries who helped negotiate and signed it — was not a barrier to getting vital drugs at affordable prices onto third world markets. "Within the trips agreement there are ways to make drugs cheaper in the poorest countries," he declared. And he said it was not inevitable — as some NGOs assert —that the pact would make the price of essential medicines, like the latest treatments for the aids scourge sweeping Africa, more expensive in the less well-off nations. "Prices were already high there before the trips agreement," said Quick, whose chief at the World Health Organisation, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, is campaigning hard on the cheaper drugs issue. Under trips, there are provisions for countries facing a major health problem to compel foreign companies to license local production of their patented drugs, or for the import of so-called generics which are legal copies of those drugs. Several WTO member states, especially India, are big producers of generics because trips allowed such activities until the end of 2004 in countries where no domestic patent law on production methods existed before the accord. But developing countries and NGOs say the court case brought by 39 leading international drug companies against South African Government moves to ease import of generics and the local production of patented drugs could undermine those provisions. Together with a complaint by the United States to the WTO against similar measures by Brazil in its campaign against aids, they say, the currently suspended action in South Africa could, if successful, unleash a wide legal offensive by the big firms. Many of the drug companies have signalled they would be ready to work for differential pricing as long as effective measures were in place to prevent cheaper medicines being re-exported from poor countries back to rich ones. But they say they have to maintain patent protection in order to cover funds spent on research and development. (REUTERS) |
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Rs 203.70 cr deficit budget presented in Rajasthan JAIPUR, Mar 29: Rajasthan Finance Minister, Pradhyuman Singh, has proposed to raise taxes on several commodities, including tea, washing soap, disposable syringe, X-ray films and petrol, to net Rs 82 crore in the Rs 283.70 crore deficit budget presented in the Assembly today. Singh also proposed to impose sales tax on domestic water pump (8 per cent), costly fountain pen (4 per cent), fire extinguishers (4 per cent), arandi, isabgol and zinc oxide (2 per cent) which were hitherto untaxed. While sales tax on petrol has been raised by one per cent the tax rate has been raised on other items by two per cent. Stamp duty on transfer of immovable property has been proposed to be raised to 11 per cent from the present 10 per cent and duty on affidavits and notary tickets has been raised to Rs 10 from Rs five. The luxury tax on cigarettes and cigars has also been proposed to be raised to eight per cent. He also proposed to increase various duties on compound schemes related to turnover tax, entry tax and sales tax. But he did not specify the amount of increase to be made. The Finance Minister announced reduction of sales tax on all types of type writers, telephones, optic fibre cables, calculators and calculating machines, wireless equipments and jaggery which will be subjected to four per cent tax only now. The minister proposed to decrease tax on spices and condiments and exempted shoes and chappals up to Rs.100 from sales tax. He also exempted tritenrics HB vaccine, calcium tablets, waste paper and old and broken bottles, equipment for use of handicapped persons and hand-made musical instruments. The budget proposed a revenue deficit of Rs 3,044.99 crore and a surplus of Rs 2,761.29 crore in capital account. Although, Singh said the Planning Commission had yet to formally sanction state’s annual plan but it has been fixed at Rs 4,500 crore on interim basis. The minister expressed dissatisfaction over Finance Commission’s recommendations saying that the Eleventh Finance Commission had expected Rajasthan to get Rs 20,596 crore, but the state would actually get much less than this amount. The Commission also recommended revenue deficit grant in a aid, "much less than our expectations," he said and added it has recommended grant of Rs 955.26 crore and Rs 289.42 crore respectively for 2000-01 and 2001-02. The payment of 15 per cent of this amount has been linked to certain financial reforms. He said the State Finance Commission had submitted its interim report which had been accepted by the Government. The commission had recommended grants-in-aid of Rs 93.87 crore to panchayati raj institutions and Rs 27.60 crore for municipal bodies for the next financial year. The minister said he had allocated 67 per cent, 41 per cent and 26 per cent more funds for development of roads, energy and irrigation respectively in the budget. A Rs 600 crore scheme has been prepared for improving and strengthening of 24,000 kilometers of roads in the state during the next two years. The Government had fixed the target of adding generation capacity of 1,000 mw of power in the next three years by spending Rs 3,000 crore. Additional irrigation capacity would be created in 40,500 hectares of land in the next financial year. In view of the famine condition, rs 115 crore has been allocated for the Indira Gandhi canal project. The Government was considering a proposal from a non-resident Rajasthani to establish an international level information technology institute in the state, he added. (PTI) |
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HUDA to spend Rs 250 crore on development works CHANDIGARH, Mar 29: The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has earmarked Rs 250 crore for the development works during the next financial year compared to Rs.200 crore spent during the current financial year. A decision to this effect was taken in the 81st meeting of HUDA held under the chairmanship of Town and Country Planning Minister Dhirpal Singh, here today, an official spokesman said. The total budget outlay of the authority for the next financial year will be Rs 967.14 crore, compared to Rs 750.12 crore of the current financial year. It was revealed in the meeting that a sum of Rs 574 crore would be spent on land acquisition by the authority during the next financial year compared to only Rs 225 crore spent during the current financial year. It was decided in the meeting that the authority would float 14 residential sectors in various towns of the state in the next financial year. (PTI) |
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NDMC records whooping 35 pc
increase NEW DELHI, Mar 29: New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has achieved a record 35 per cent increase in revenue turnout for the fiscal 2000-2001 and hopes to end up next financial year with Rs two crore surplus, Council Chairman B P Mishra said today. Presenting the budget for 2001-2002, Mishra told reporters that as against an estimated expenditure of Rs 829 crore, the Council would have a total receipt of Rs 831 crore. Stating that he hoped to garner a revenue receipt of Rs 476 crore from sale of electricity and water, he said even during 2000-2001 "bulk of earning was from sale of electricity and the strong steps undertaken in revenue collection from various central Government departments and the Members of Parliament in the posh New Delhi area". "With marginal changes in the rates of property tax, by the council, and given the past performance and present level of motivation of my officers and men, the total receipts from all sectors including plan assistance are expected to add upto Rs 831 crore," Mishra said. He said while the largest proportion of expenditure in the new year will be to the tune of Rs 312 crore on power supply, the major sources of revenue in addition to sale of water and power would be licence fee from properties Rs 99 crore), interest on investments (Rs 93 crore) and external assistance including MLA fund Rs (34 crore). Answering a question, he said 12 slum clusters had been removed from the NDMC area during last year and at least eight more will be moved during the new year. Replying to another question, Mishra denied that NDMC had delayed any payment to Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) saying the council was religiously making payment in time. "Only exception is with some amount in the period between 1978-84 and there is a dispute over it," he said. Listing out projects to be taken up during the year, Mishra said these include establishment of a wholesale flower market with air-conditioned warehousing facilities and multi-storeyed parking opposite ‘Dilli Haat’ in Ina area. A ‘parking policy’ would also be evolved to enhance the parking fees in line with the Supreme Court directives and with a view to funding the construction of seven basement and multi-storeyed parking complexes, Mishra added. (PTI) |
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RBI group for phasing out
non-banks from MUMBAI, Mar 29: In a major recommendation, the Reserve Bank of India appointed technical group has suggested that practice of corporates routing their call lending through Primary Dealers (PDs) be immediately withdrawn after June 30, 2001. Call money lendings by financial institutions, including mutual funds and insurance companies be reduced in three stages, the group said in its report presented to RBI. In the first stage, they may be permitted to lend upto 70 per cent of their average daily lendings during 2000-01 for a three month period, which could be reduced to 40 per cent in the second stage, it said. In the third stage, their lendings may be reduced to 10 per cent for a three month period to enable these participants to be familiar with the operations of clearing corporation, which is expected to become operational by then, the apex bank said in a statement here today. As on March 12, there are 55 FIs and mutual funds which are allowed to operate in the market as lenders, besides all scheduled commercial and co-operative banks and PDs, which are operating as lenders as well as borrowers. The group, constituted to suggest smooth phasing out of non-bank participants in their access to call money/notice money market in the mid-term review of the monetary and credit policy in October, 2000, included representatives of both banking and non-bank participants and submitted its report to the apex bank recently. (PTI) |
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Delhi needs public transport policy: LG NEW DELHI, Mar 29: Delhi needs a comprehensive public transport policy coupled with good infrastructure to meet the needs of its burgeoning population, Lt Governor Vijay Kapoor said here today. "Any decline in public transport would be counter productive," Kapoor said releasing a document on the issue, published by Tata Energy Research Institute, adding, however, that Delhi’s investment in the transport sector was the highest in the country. Keeping in mind the number of poor dependent on public transport, he said authorities needed to take a number of measures to improve the service like rationalising of fare structure and encouraging private sector participation. Traffic management, including more efficient traffic signals and enforcement of lane driving, were also important factors, he added. Speaking on the occasion, former Supreme Court Chief Justice A M Ahmadi said authorities must look into the best fuel options available to tackle the present situation. While Delhi had experimented with alternative fuels like propane, much more research was needed before taking a final decision, he added referring to the recent Supreme Court decisireiterating the Lt Governor’s views on road discipline, Ahmadi said authorities must take a serious look at this issue. "Traffic must move at reasonable pace," he quipped. TERI Director R K Pachauri expressed concern at the increasing number of private vehicles on the streets of Delhi, reflecting the city’s worsening public transport, and suggested that steps should be taken to improve public transport system while keeping options open on various technologies and fuels available. With the much-maligned buses meeting nearly half of the demand for transport, a further reduction in their number would only increase private vehicles on the roads, thereby increasing the pollution load, Pachauri said adding that a good public transport system, using a mix of vehicular modes and fuels, may be the answer. "We also ignore the fact that there are options other than CNG which are not being considered at all," he said pointing out that options like Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) with 0.005 per cent sulphur and gasohol were available. Agreeing that ULSD would have to be imported, he said it still worked out to be cheaper than a total switch to CNG. TERI estimated that it would cost about Rs 375 crore to put 10,000 CNG buses on the road and another Rs 150 crore to set up a network to distribute CNG at 100 dispensing units to fuel these buses. Even after they were operational, CNG buses would continue to run up higher fuel bills at Rs 8.40 per km compared to Rs 2.88 for ULSD, the TERI Director said. Given that the international prices of diesel were a little higher, import of ULSD to meet Delhi’s needs would work out to be cheaper than the cost of conversion to CNG, he said. (PTI) |
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