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| Rana visits Tokyo Motor show with Maruti group Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 13: Mr Devinder Rana, Managing Director, Vehicleades visited the 35th Takye Motor Show with a delegation of selected group of .......more Bihar to give power connection for Rs 15 PATNA, Nov 13: Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi has assured domestic power connections to the poor on payment of Rs 15 per.....more Indian
economy WASHINGTON, Nov 13: Indian economy has been plagued by chronic fiscal deficits and debt burdens which .....more WBSEB realises Rs 3.2 mn for illegal power withdrawal KOLKATA, Nov 13: Launching a special drive against power theft, the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) has realised about Rs 3.2 million from .....more |
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CCD makes it easy for NEW DELHI, Nov 13: Acknowledging the handicap of public undertakings in keeping their financial bids under wrap, Cabinet Committee on ......more Govt likely to mop up Rs 5,000 cr from service tax NEW DELHI, Nov 13: Government is likely to mobilise Rs 5,000 crore from service tax, as against the budgeted target of ......more World economy set for 1.5 pc growth next year: WB PARIS, Nov 13: The world economy is set to grow by about 1.5 percent next year, the president of the World Bank, James .....more Muslims
decry ‘unfair’ DOHA, Nov 13: Muslim delegates have said that rules on Islamic countries bidding to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) had become more strict .....more |
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Bihar to give power connection for Rs 15 PATNA, Nov 13: Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi has assured domestic power connections to the poor on payment of Rs 15 per family, besides electricity supply to every hut. Inaugurating a power sub-station at Garua in Gaya district yesterday, Mrs Rabri Devi said dalits in the state would be provided with electricity on priority basis and would be given connection on payment of Rs 15 per family. She said her Government was committed to providing electricity in all the villages and mohallas, setting aside existing norms whenever necessary. She also called upon the people to pay electricity bills on time and not to indulge in power thefts. She said more than 50 nearby villages would benefit from the 33/11 kva power sub-station. RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav said the ruling party would stress on the development of villages and would ensure social justice to the neglected sections of the society. He maintained that terrorism could not be the answer to any problem and exhorted people to work together for the development of the state. Protesting the POTO, Mr Yadav said problems of extremism and terrorism could be tackled through Indian Penal Code itself and there was no need to bring in this legal instrument. Among others who spoke on the occasion were Bihar Energy Minister Shakeel Ahmed Khan and Minister of State for Energy Shyam Rajak. (UNI) |
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Indian economy beset by fiscal deficits WASHINGTON, Nov 13: Indian economy has been plagued by chronic fiscal deficits and debt burdens which could affect investor confidence and long-term economic potential despite an impressive 5.2 per cent growth in the gross domestic product, the Asian Development Bank has said. "High and chronic fiscal deficits and the resulting debt burden, both at the Central and State levels, have limited the Government’s ability to undertake development expenditures needed to spur growth in the medium term and to realise the economy’s long-term potential," the bank says in its update of the global economic outlook. This is despite a growth of 5.2 per cent GDP achieved by India against an anticipated six per cent, higher than that of almost all countries in the world except China, it says. Fiscal discipline, it warns, is crucial for investor confidence and for sustaining growth in the private sector. "There are two main channels through which high and chronic fiscal deficits affect investments in the economy," it says. "The first is high interest rates and crowding out. Although, at present, lack of investment demand may be better explained by factors such as low consumer demand, the existence of substantial excess capacity, structural bottlenecks and the slow pace of reforms, the cost of borrowing considerations will, however, become more significant as economic recovery gathers momentum, the bank says. "The second channel is the quality of public expenditure and its impact on the overall environment in which businesses operate. With total outstanding liabilities of the central Government amounting to roughly 60 per cent of GDP, a large and increasing portion of the Government budget goes toward interest payments." The passage of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Manageent Bill, expected this year, should provide a positive signal to the financial markets and help restore business confidence, it says. The revenue deficit of the Central Government would be eliminated and the fiscal deficit reduced to two per cent of gdp by 2006. The fulfillment of these commitments and their pact, however, will depend on the extent to which efforts to rationalise expenditure and increase revenues are successful, the bank has said. "Downsizing and achieving cost reductions in the large public bureaucracy, along with containment of the total subsidy bill, which amounted to roughly Rs 270 billion and constituted 9.5 per cent of revenue expenditure in 2000, will be central elements in these ratonalisation efforts," it adds. While the overall policy and development issues facing ED the same over the past few months, says the bank, some areas of policy reform have acquired urgency in the face of the current downturn. First are agricultural reforms, including liberalisation of agricultural prices and exports, removal of licensing requirements, and de-reservation of agro-processing from the small-scale industry list. (PTI) |
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WBSEB realises Rs 3.2 mn for illegal power withdrawal KOLKATA, Nov 13: Launching a special drive against power theft, the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) has realised about Rs 3.2 million from 4,347 Durga Puja Committees for illegal or overdrawal of power. WBSEB sources said here yesterday that they had launched an all out drive against power pilferage and de-hooked 15,786 illegal connections in various districts. They said 256 FIRs had also been filed against erring organisations and individuals during its recent ten-day special drive. Sources said they had decided to deploy more mobile vigilance squads to conduct raids against illegal use of power during the coming Kali Puja. They have also threatened to take several penal steps including instant disconnection of power and cancellation of licences of guilty electrical contractors. (UNI) |
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CCD makes it easy for PSUs to bid for stake in other PSUs NEW DELHI, Nov 13: Acknowledging the handicap of public undertakings in keeping their financial bids under wrap, Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) today decided to empower these corporations to take decisions without the need for going for Government clearance. "The Cabinet Secretary will review the process of authorisation of the bids by PSUs... This will enable IOC and other PSUs to maintain secrecy of their price bids (for picking Government stake in other PSUs under disinvestment process)," Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie said today. Briefing reporters about the decisions taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment, Shourie said that the difficulties of PSUs in taking decisions for price bids by going through the route of board and Government clearances, was realised. In this context, it was felt that PSUs could be given certain powers to make their bid just like private sector entities which do not require such clearances, he elaborated. Replying to a query, Shourie said that he did not favour giving Government stake to a PSU through a nominated or negotiated route. "Some PSUs, particularly in the oil sector, had felt that acquisition of stake in other PSUs was the best way for their consolidation. So we are asking them to come through open market route by participating in bid process," he added. (PTI) |
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Govt likely to mop up Rs 5,000 cr from service tax NEW DELHI, Nov 13: Government is likely to mobilise Rs 5,000 crore from service tax, as against the budgeted target of Rs 3,600 crore, for the current fiscal. "We hope to reach a level up to Rs 5,000 crore in service tax collection," Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman K L Verma told PTI. Verma said higher collections would be on account of 15 new areas that have been brought under the service tax net from July this year. Government has brought banking, insurance, merchant banking, broadcasting, internet service providers, paid websites and a host of other activities under the service tax net. Some of the major companies that are now eligible for paying service tax include All India Radio, Doordarshan, Indian Arms of Foreign Broadcasting Companies, VSNL, MTNL, Wipro and other ISPs. Verma said higher service tax collections is likely to offset lower collections, if any, in customs and excise. Government had targeted Rs 81,720 crore in excise and Rs 54,822 crore in customs this fiscal. However, continuing slump in global trade and the September 11 incidents in the US have further dampened India’s external trade leading to lower customs revenue in the last few months. (PTI) |
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World economy set for 1.5 pc growth next year: WB PARIS, Nov 13: The world economy is set to grow by about 1.5 percent next year, the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, told French radio here today. Such growth would be far lower than growth in recent years, he said. Economic experts thought that the problem in Europe, the United States and Japan, was the same, he said. This was the first time for many years that all three centres of the world economy had experienced problems at the same time. (AFP) |
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Muslims decry ‘unfair’ WTO rules on new members DOHA, Nov 13: Muslim delegates have said that rules on Islamic countries bidding to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) had become more strict and that new applicants were being subjected to "unfair conditions". A report by the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade did not say exactly what was blocking the entry of eight Muslim countries, some of which had sought WTO membership for years. "The access conditions of the new applicants have become excessive and inconsistent with the economic weight of the applicant country," said the report made available to Reuters yesterday. "In fact, the candidates are subject to more restraining obligations than those to which the WTO members are subject," it added. Since the WTO meeting began on Friday in Qatar, Arab and Muslim Trade Ministers have held a series of talks to lobby for the eight countries to join the World Trade Club, delegates said. "The Arabs have a unified position, which is to support bids by fellow Arab countries wishing to join the WTO," said Egypt’s Minister for Economy and Foreign Trade Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who leads the Arab group. The report, released after a meeting of Muslim delegates in Qatar on Monday, said the Geneva-based World Trade Club was demanding from Muslim applicants "unfair conditions that are stricter than those which the WTO members with an equal development level". The Gulf Arab state of Qatar also chairs the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), that represents 1.2 billion Muslims stretching from Indonesia to Morocco. Some 38 of the OIC members are in the WTO. Among the eight countries seeking to join is oil superpower Saudi Arabia, one of four big economies outside the WTO. The other aspiring members are: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Sudan and Yemen. Saudi Arabia last week dampened expectations it would become a member soon by saying it was not willing to compromise its special status as the birthplace of Islam. But Saudi economists say that strict adherence to Islam, which bans the consumption and trading of alcohol and pork, is not the main obstacle. They say the conservative kingdom must first liberalise more sectors of its economy and overhaul parts of its legal system before it can meet stringent WTO requirements. In the report, the Muslim states appeared to have aligned themselves with the developing countries which have demanded the rich nations to open their markets for more exports by poorer countries. "The patching-up solutions that have appeared since seattle (1999) are not efficient enough to right wrongs," it said in reference to the wto draft declaration that showed a wide gap in positions between the haves and have-nots. The report also lambasted the WTO for what it said was its undemocratic decision-making process, saying the views of developing countries were often ignored. (REUTERS) |
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