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President
gives NEW DELHI, May 16: President K R Narayanan today gave his assent to seven bills, approved by Parliament during the recent budget session, thus bringing them into force with immediate effect............more CAG
warns against JAIPUR, May 16: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has cautioned Rajasthan Government against massive borrowings saying that the state’s financial position, already vulnerable, would worsen in the coming years.....more Export
of raw gas to DHAKA, May 16: The export of raw gas to India would yield Bangladesh the maximum returns, says US Ambasssador to....more Efforts
to tackle global NEW DELHI, May 16: As debate rages over possible catastrophic effects of global warming, caused by ....more |
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Indian
Airlines asked NEW DELHI, May 16: Indian Airlines (IA), which has suffered an estimated net loss of Rs 177 crore in 2000-01, has been.....more IMF
confirms approval WASHINGTON, May 16: The International Monetary Fund has approved......more Indians
top global NEW YORK, May 16: Indians have emerged top two winners of a competition on innovation....more
Massive
public expenditure NEW DELHI, May 16: The BJP-led NDA Government plans to reverse the current.....more |
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CAG warns against massive borrowing by Rajasthan JAIPUR, May 16: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has cautioned Rajasthan Government against massive borrowings saying that the state’s financial position, already vulnerable, would worsen in the coming years. ‘Very little of the borrowings are (now) available for investment and other expenditure after meeting the repayment obligations’, the latest report of the CAG said. The ‘position will worsen’ in the coming years when the impact of the massive borrowings being currently made would be felt, the CAG said. The total liabilities of the Government between 1995-96 and 1999-2000 grew by 113 per cent as the internal debt rose by 16 per cent, loan and advances from Central Government rose by 99 per cent and other liabilities by 102 per cent. In 1999-2000 alone the Government borrowed Rs.1223.35 crore from open market at interest rates ranging between 11 per cent and 12.25 per cent. The negative balance from current revenue that rose from Rs.452 crore in 1997-98 to Rs.3015 crore in 1999-2000 suggest that the Government was borrowing heavily for meeting its plan expenditure and is using the same substantially to meet part of its non plan expenditure, the report revealed. The CAG cautioned that the State Government’s ability to service any fresh debt and meet its revenue expenditure from its revenue receipts was reducing. The steep increase in interest ratio from 0.10 in 1995-96 to 0.24 in 1999-2000 indicates that interest payments on past borrowings had started assuming serious proportion becoming a major constraint in programme spending of the Government. The scenario is likely to worse in the future due to heavy borrowings during the year unless the Government significantly increases its revenue, the report said. The ratio between capital expenditure and capital receipts has all along been less than one that is considered unsustainable for the state’s finances in the long term, it said, adding the ratio came down to bottom low of 0.28 in 1999-2000 from 0.91 in 1995-96 indicating that substantial part of the capital receipts was not available for investment. The ratio of state tax receipts to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), moving in the range of 0.06 and 0.07, shows the State Government preferred to borrow heavily to meet its mounting revenue deficits rather than increasing tax revenues. Figures indicated that debt burden was increasing without adding to the repayment capacity of the state whose financial vulnerability was also increasing, the report added. (PTI) |
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Export of
raw gas to India to reap maximum DHAKA, May 16: The export of raw gas to India would yield Bangladesh the maximum returns, says US Ambasssador to Bangladesh Mary Ann Peters. Speaking at a meeting of business leaders yesterday, US Envoy Mary Ann Peters referred to various arguments for and against gas export, saying she personally believed that the export of raw gas to India would bring Bangladesh the maximum returns. Quoting an ADB estimate, she said Bangladesh had sufficient gas resources to export 500 million cubic feet a day. Returns from gas export could be used for roads construction, education and other purposes, she suggested. She prescribed a five-point economic agenda in port, power, garment, gas and phone sectors for the new Government in Bangladesh to be elected in the forthcoming general election . If the new Government approves gas exports early in its tenure, said Mary, the country could be earning hundreds of millions a year before the next general elections. Spelling out the five-point agenda, Mary said, first, fix the Chittagong Port, Bangladesh’s lifeline to the world. She termed this as the second most expensive port in the world. The US Envoy felt Bangladesh desperately needed the proposed private container terminal in Chittagong to cope with the growing cargo traffic and be competitive in the global market. She expressed the hope the new Government would sign the agreement with Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) for the 450 million-dollar container terminal project, if it was not signed during the tenure of the present Government. Citing post-2004 quota phase-out as her second point, she said the new Government should develop a realistic action plan to make Bangladesh’s garment sector capable of competing with China, India and others. About Bangladesh’s scarcity in power despite having a rich natural gas resource, the envoy said load shedding, almost 900 hours last year, resulted in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in. She pointed out that huge amount of unpaid bills, especially to government, state-owned enterprises and privileged private sector, blocked the external fund support for additional power generation and improved transmission and distribution systems. Government agencies alone owe power companies 24 billion takkas, she added. The US Envoy also applauded Bangladesh’s significant progress over the past decade, but said a five per cent growth was not enough to make a serious dent in poverty. Bangladesh must achieve 7-8 per cent growth to improve the well-being of the people and attract more private investment to create jobs, she said. Bangladesh was doing well with a five per cent plus growth, steady increase in agriculture production and exports and FBI growth. (UNI) |
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Efforts to tackle global warming plagued by confusion NEW DELHI, May 16: As debate rages over possible catastrophic effects of global warming, caused by ozone-depleting Greenhouse Gases (GHGS), confusion prevails in Indian industry over the choice of technology to achieve the phase out of ghgs, the Government’s efforts in this direction notwithstanding. Under the Vienna Convention for the protection of ozone layer and the Montreal Protocol for phasing out use of Chloroflourocarbons (CFCS), which release ozone-depleting GHGS in the atmosphere, developing countries, including India, are committed to freezing use of these gases at 1995-97 levels and achieve 50 per cent cut in their usage by 2005. CFCS have to be phased out completely by the 2010. Several steps have been taken by the Government in this direction in India, which currently produces and uses seven of the CFCS required to be phased out under the Protocol—CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, Halon-1211, Halon-1301, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform. Talking to UNI, Mr C Vishwanath, Director of the Ozone Cell in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), which has been entrusted with the task of helping implement Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) phase out projects by individual enterprises, said the phase out programme has been designed to ensure that there is no undue economic burden on both consumers and industry. However, the task is turning out to be a technology trap for Indian industry, specially for small scale operators, which account for almost 60 per cent of the use of CFCS in India. Several of them seem to be unsure about what course to pursue in terms of options available for technology transfer to help phase out cfcs even though the Government presents them with several options regarding substitute technologies. The protocol assists in transition towards new non-CFC technologies by providing affected producers and units with money under its multilateral funds for acquiring the technology on "favourable terms". However, for several of the affected sectors like refrigeration, air-conditioning, foam, aerosol and fire extinguisher manufacturers, most of them in the small scale, the problem begins with the plethora of options to choose from. With multiple substitutes to choose from, most of which require to be imported from western countries, these units look up to the Government for guidance. "The only guidance the Government can provide to these units is to present before them the various option for clean technologies available to them. As for which technology to adopt, it is for them to decide depending on its cost effectiveness for them", Mr Vishwanath says. What creates confusion, as well as fear, in the minds of industrialists is the fact that the new technology they adopt could itself be banned under the protocol regime in which case they would not get any more funding under the fund’s multilateral programme. For example, take the case of HFC-134A, currently touted as the most suitable substitute for cfcs being used in the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector. Till recently, technology for producing HFC-134A had to be largely imported from multinationals like Du Pont who monopolised its production. However, following a breakthrough achieved by the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), the country’s nodal agency to monitor the phasing out of ods, india now has the technology to produce HFC-134A locally. Latest research, however, suggests that HFC-134A could itself be a greenhouse gas banned under the protocol regime. According to a study by R S Agarwal, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, HFC-134A is also a greenhouse gas and will be out of use by 2007 in the developed countries, forcing industries to phase it out under the Kyoto Protocol. In fact, the study says that many corporates that currently use HFC-134A are under pressure to shift to hydrocarbons. Faced with such facts, the industry is left wondering whether the Government’s nodal agency is promoting a greenhouse gas as a possible substitute for CFCS. However, Mr Vishwanath dismisses reports that HFC-134A is an ozone-depleting gas or that it is liable to be banned under the protocol. "HFC-134A has a negligible ozone-depleting value. In fact, apart from Godrej, which is the only company to switch to hydrocarbons in India, all other major companies like Electrolux, Whirlpool and BPL are sticking to the use of HFC-134A. Would these company invest their money in HFC-134A producing plants if it was a greenhouse gas as is being projected in some circles?", he asks. Moreover, he points out that companies in the US, which has been the most vociferous in efforts to tacke global warming, are still using HFC-134A. Amid all this confusion, several small scale operators choose to stick to use of old technologies. Consider, for example, the case of Mr K K Misra, who runs a local unit for manufacturing refrigerators supplied to big companies. "A few years ago, I was told by the sourcing company to phase out to the HFC-134A technology, which at that time had to be imported. However, reports that even this technology could, in the coming years, be banned under the kyoto protocol, deterred me from going for the change." (UNI) |
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Indian Airlines asked to
consider NEW DELHI, May 16: Indian Airlines (IA), which has suffered an estimated net loss of Rs 177 crore in 2000-01, has been asked by the Civil Aviation Ministry to consider leasing 50-seater turboprop aircraft to connect feeder routes and tourist destinations. This was disclosed by Civil Aviation Minister, Sharad Yadav, at the parliamentary consultative committee meeting held in Manali yesterday. The minister, while stating that developed communication and navigation facilities would be installed in Bhuntar Airport near Kullu by next year, said a plan to resurface and extend the runway there by diverting River Beas would be taken up soon at a cost of Rs 32 crore, an official release said. Ia, the meeting was informed, had suffered a net loss of Rs 177 crore in the last fiscal as against a profit of Rs 28.75 crore in the previous year. These losses were primarily due to a hike in input cost like increase in sales tax on aviation turbine fuel, rise in the landing and navigation charges and additional expenditure on sky marshals which amounted to an additional burden of over Rs 300 crore. On the other hand, the financial performance of AI was "steadily improving" with operating revenue showing a 12.3 per cent growth from Rs 3,896.4 crore in the last fiscal to Rs 4,377 crore this year. AI’s non-operating revenue also rose from Rs 143.89 crore to Rs 288.05 crore in the same period, while passenger load factor and the overall load factor also showed considerable improvement, the committee was informed. Similarly, the financial performance of Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited also continued improvement with the net profit rising to Rs 53 crore and the total revenue being recorded at Rs 183.97 crore last fiscal. However, Hotel Corporation of India, whose stakes are being divested along with those of the IA and its parent company AI, suffered a net loss of Rs 20.30 crore last fiscal compared with a loss of only Rs 1.55 crore in the previous year. The loss was incurred primarily due to the wage revision which became due to in January 1997. Airports Authority of India made a post-tax profit of Rs 217 crore last fiscal against Rs 297.40 crore in the previous financial year. At the meeting, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Chaman Lal Gupta was also present. Later speaking at a function in Manali yesterday, Yadav said that all efforts would be made to improve air services in Himachal Pradesh. He however said there was no proposal to build an airport at Kaza in Spiti Valley and the expansion of Shimla airport was also not feasible in view of non-availability of sufficient land at Jubbar Hatti. But upgradation of runway and other facilities at the Kangra airport had been carried out earlier this year, he added. (PTI) |
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IMF confirms approval of $ 8 bn Turkish loan WASHINGTON, May 16: The International Monetary Fund has approved 8 billion dollars in new loans for Turkey, paving the way for a total cash infusion of 15.7 billion dollars this year for the crisis-embattled nation. The IMF confirmed in a statement that its decision-making board approved the loan, which takes total lending commitments from the lender to turkey to about 19 billion dollars since last December. The approval paves the way for two billion dollars in new world bank loans, which were also agreed while the IMF was renegotiating its lending to Turkey. Turkish officials said earlier on Tuesday that 3.27 billion dollars of an earlier IMF loan would also be available this year as well as 2.45 billion dollars from earlier World Bank facilities, taking the total cash injection to 15.7 billion dollars before the end of the year. The loans are aimed at helping Turkey revive its economy after a crippling financial crisis that began in its banking sector and led to the floating of the lira currency in February — a move which has since cut the lira’s value by 40 percent. (REUTERS) |
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Indians top global innovation competition NEW YORK, May 16: Indians have emerged top two winners of a competition on innovation sponsored by global investment banker Merrill Lynch. Amit Mehra, who completed his doctoral dissertation from Aeronautics and Astronautics Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, won the first prize of 50,000 dollars while Satyabrata Patnaik from the Indian Institute of Technology shared the second slot with 20,000 dollars. Mehra won the honour for the development of a working model of a nickel-sized, jet-engine combustion chamber that could convert chemical energy of fuel into electricity for portable electronic devices. The portable power could benefit numerous industrial and consumer products, he said citing as an example a laptop computer which runs for weeks without being plugged into an electrical outlet. Patnaik had shaped a high-temperature superconducting wire with the potential to alleviate energy supply problem. Announcing the awards yesterday, Merrill Lynch Chairman and CEO David H Komansky said it would arrange the winners to meet venture capitalists to translate their innovative research to commercial applications. They would retain intellectual property rights of the inventions and would have no future obligation to ML, he said. The company has awarded prizes totalling 175,000 dollars to 11 academics and six universities in its third annual global innovation grants competition, aimed at helping to move academic research to real world commercial applications. The other winning entries were from five academics in the United States and four in Australia. (PTI) |
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Massive public expenditure
will reverse economic NEW DELHI, May 16: The BJP-led NDA Government plans to reverse the current economic slowdown by pumping in a massive dose of public expenditure on infrastructure. The plan, based on Keynesian Models, is being pushed by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha. In an exclusive interview with UNI, Mr Sinha revealed his intentions to unleash a slew of high spending schemes to build roads, ports, irrigation and power projects in the near future. "There will be quite a lot of action within the next few months on this front," he said. New power projects, which the Centre, till recently was hoping to be taken up by the private sector, will now be a thrust area for the Government. Public sector power giants - the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) - have been asked to implement their greeenfield power projects at the earliest. Mr Sinha has even promised central funds for these projects with the Government planning to add at least 8,000 megawatts of power over the next two years. The Finance Minister said contracts for a total of 6,000 kms of the golden quadrangle of express highways will be given out by end-June. The Government also plans to build a network of rural roads linking up the hinterland, at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore. Another Rs 1,000 crore has been earmarked for state highways, he added. The Government will also extend liberal help to the states for irrigation projects, he said. This bout of high dose public spending, apart from creating fresh capital assets, will increase spending power and create new jobs, Mr Sinha said. Industrial growth in 2000-01 was 4.9 per cent as compared to over eight per cent in 1999-2000. A worried central government consequently decided to put this ‘spend your way out of the morass’ plan into action. The concept of massive spending as a way out of depression, or its less rigorous form recession, was first propounded by lord J M Keynes. Faced with the great depression of 1930s in the west, keynes advocated a massive public works programme, which eventually was turned into the now famous ‘new deal’ plan which built a chain of dams, roadways and power projects in the us. Mr Sinha said slow agricultural production had also adversely affected the industrial growth. In an economy of the continental size of India, poor agricultural growth meant low rural purchasing power which led to slower demand for industrial goods. Mr Sinha expected better performance of the economy this year and seven to eight per cent GDP growth in the next three to four years. Part of this would accrue from the large Government spending. The spending will create externalities and pep up private sector activity in these and allied areas. Mr Sinha said the people are currently not spending money which was leading to a demand shortage. Satisfied by an extremely fruitful meeting he had with the captains of industry representing the automobile, cement and construction sectors, Mr Sinha said he planned broadening the consultations and would soon invite representatives fom other industrial fields. The Finance Minister said while there would be no further tax sops, his ministry would go into specific difficulties the industrialists highlighted. He said the suggestions given by the industry were being examined and whatever changes possible would be incorporated. On making available cheaper consumer finance, Mr Sinha told the industry that the Government could do little as interest rates were deregulated. They should, therefore, work with individual banks to ensure how cheaper finance could be made available to consumers. Mr Sinha said he had expressed this opinion to Mr S S Kohli, chairman of Indian Banks Association (IBA) and the CMD of Punjab National Bank, who was part of the delegation related to construction industry. There was some plainspeaking too. Mr Sinha chided the car manufacturers that they had not passed on the excise sops given in his budget to the consumers. He blamed the cement manufacturers for increasing prices when production was falling. There are allegations that a cement cartel is preventing the prices from going down. The captains of industry reversed the apple cart and told the Finance Minister the way out of the recession was massive Government spending, tax sops and cheaper finance. (UNI) |
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