NEW DELHI, July 5: ICRA has upgraded the rating assigned to the various Non Convertible...more

Rs 8 cr proposal to
tackle water scarcity
in coconut belts

COIMBATORE, July 5: Considering the destruction of large number of coconut trees, due to....more

PHDCCI moots need
to have a common
regulatory authority

NEW DELHI, July 5: PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has stressed the need for....more

Euro MPs back GM
food labels, UK Govt
position defeated

NEW DELHI, July 5: In what is being described as a shock to proponents of biotechnology, the European ......more

KOLKATA, July 5: Gujarat Minister for Industry, Information Technology and Tourism Suresh Chandra .....more

Every country must
build own safety
walls: Jalan

LONDON, Jul 5: Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan has suggested that each country should take.......more

Call rate steady,
G-secs marginally up

MUMBAI, July 5: The interbank call rate ended flat at 5.80-5.90 per cent after moving in a narrow range ....more

PC sales plunge by 11 pc

NEW DELHI, July 5: Reflecting the severe recessionary trend in the economy, the domestic personal ....more

ICRA upgrades credit rating of ACC to LAA

NEW DELHI, July 5: ICRA has upgraded the rating assigned to the various Non Convertible Debenture (NCD) programmes, totalling Rs 600 crore, of the Associated Cement Companies Limited (ACC), from LAA- (L double A minus) to LAA (L double A).

ICRA has also assign"ed an LAA rating to the proposed Rs 100 crore NCD programme of ACC indicating high safety.

ICRA has also assigned an A1" rating, indicating highest safety in the short term, for an enhanced amount of Rs 500 crore to the Commercial Paper (CP) programme of ACC.

The upgrade of the long-term rating reflects the improvement in ACC’s operating and financial performance, resulting primarily from improvements achieved by the company in its cost structure.

The rating also factors in ACC’s national presence, its strong brand equity in key markets, and the positive outlook for demand of cement over the medium to long term. (UNI)

Rs 8 cr proposal to tackle water scarcity in coconut belts

COIMBATORE, July 5: Considering the destruction of large number of coconut trees, due to acute water scarcity, the district administation has sent a proposal to the State Government for taking up immediate relief measures.

The Rs.8 crore proposal was sent after carrying out a survey in the coconut belts of the district, particularly in Pollachi, Kinathukadavu and Udumalpet, District Collector N Murugananda told reporters here today.

Nearly three lakh coconut trees had either been fully or partially damaged, due to acute water shortage in these areas, he said.

Responding to an earlier proposal, the Government had sanctioned Rs 3.5 crore to take drinking water scheme in water scarce areas of the district, Muruganandam said.

Saying that there was huge deficit in the rainfall during the last two years in the district, the Collector said as against the normal 744 mm rains, only 598 mm was received in 2001 and 454 mm in 2002. Only 50 mm rains were received during the first six months of this year, as against normal 200 mm rains, he said.

Muruganandam also said that 148 acres had been identified in seven blocks, which would be given on lease to corporate houses, small companies and cooperatives under waste development scheme for developing horticulture, medicinal plants, oilseeds agro-forestry and other cash crops.

The wasteland would be given on 30 years lease at one to four per cent concession on the land value, coming under Veerapandi, Pollachi and Udumalpet, which has good grounwater potential, Muruganandam said.

A high level committee has been formed to scrutinise the applicants and lands could be made fertile by adopting new technological inputs, including drip irrigation, which would also help in employment generation, he said.

In order to promote agro-based small scale industries in rural sector under the ‘new Anna Marumalarchi Thittam,’ special package would be given for setting up industries in food processing, with an investment of Rs one crore, he said.

He said that 15 per cent subsidy would be provided on investment in 19 blocks in the district and each block would be allowed to set up three units. Tamil Nadu Industries Corporation would be the nodal agency for the project, he said.

He also said that 2,360 tonnes of Copra, valued at Rs.7.79 crore from 995 suppliers, had been procured during 2001-2002.

When asked about the controversy over the new system of rice coupons, the Collector said that nearly 80 per cent of ration card holders had collected these coupons so far.

However, the offtake of the rice and status of bogus ration cards would be known only by the end of the month, he said. (PTI)

PHDCCI moots need to have a common
regulatory authority

NEW DELHI, July 5: PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has stressed the need for having a common regulatory authority for governing capital markets, saying countries world over are adopting the same strategy.

PHDCCI observed that in this endeavour, it is important that the different authorities presently regulating various areas of capital market, namely SEBI, Department of Company Affairs, Ministry of Finance and RBI should join hands to have a common body similar to the financial services authority of UK.

For instilling greater confidence in the investors, a more effective market monitoring and surveillance mechanism is necessary. This assumes even more significance when presently the department of company affairs is operating in the Ministry of Finance. It appears that the Government is also feeling the need for a total review of the regulations governing auditors particularly in view of the Worldcom, Enron and Xerox accounting debacles.

The PHDCCI suggested that the draft bill proposing more powers to SEBI, should be made public to encourage debate by the cross section of society.

Since the proposed bill will contain proposals for heavy penalties and more stringent rules, it will be important that the rules are transparent and fair with least discretionary powers to avoid any misuse. At the same time such issues which would constitute minor or technical offences should not attract heavy penalties.

In most of the developed countries in case of search and seizures, there are provisions in the law to ensure that such matters are settled in time bound manner which include disposal of shares.

On similar lines, SEBI should also assume the responsibility of realisation of shares seized in a time bound manner so as to protect the investors’ interest.

Greater powers to SEBI will no doubt help in checking malpractices in the market. However, it must be ensured that there are sufficient checks and balances to prevent any misuse of such powers.

While granting more powers to SEBI, it is necessary to ensure that manpower training and deployment in SEBI is further strengthened so that the powers are used correctly and decisions are implemented effectively.

At the same time, SEBI should use its existing powers also more effectively, the chamber added. (UNI)

NEW DELHI, July 5: In what is being described as a shock to proponents of biotechnology, the European Parliament has voted for the full labelling and traceability of Genetically Modified (GM) foods and animal feeds.

The European Parliament has voted for full traceability and labelling of foods derived from GM crops.

Wednesday’s vote paves the way for new legislation to give consumers and farmers the ability to avoid GM foods if they choose, a London-based channel reported.

The vote in favour of labelling by Euro MPs is a major defeat for the biotech industry and the UK Government who have fought to weaken proposals which ensure that food products derived from GM crops are properly labelled, says a release by ‘Friends of the Earth (FoE), an international body campaigning for biosafety and consumer rights.

The Parliament voted for labelling of GM animal feeds which at present are not labelled. It rejected an earlier proposal that GM foods that have not been yet approved in the EU should be allowed into human and animal food up to a level of one per cent.

The Parliament also voted that foods or feeds that are GM contaminated up to 0.5 per cent would not have to be labelled. The European Commission and the UK Government had proposed a 1 per cent threshold.

The biotech industry and the UK Government were pushing for a GM-free label which was opposed by the European Parliament on the plea that this would increase the cost of GM free food, making consumers pay more for something they’ve always previously had. British Prime Minister Tony Blair had personally appealed to his fellow MPs to get rid of labelling of GM food by voting against the move, the release adds.

"Wednesday’s vote is a major success for European consumers and farmers and a serious defeat for the biotech industry who have lobbied so hard to water down these proposals, says FOE quoting food standards agency chief, Sir John Krebs, who have been pushing for weaker rules with the support of the US Government and biotech industry.

"They should now review their position and back UK consumers instead."

It is estimated that 30,000 products may contain GM-soya and GM-maize derived ingredients such as vegetable oil or maize syrup. Under the current EU law only a small minority of these products (restricted to the ones in which GMO, DNA or protein is detectable) have to be labelled.

A eurobarometer survey in December showed that 94 per cent of the public want the right to choose whether to eat GM foods.

The Parliament, however rejected the labelling of animal products from animals fed GM feeds EG milk,meat and eggs by 3 votes (258 to 255).

But the FOE claimed that it would continue to press for these products to be lebelled.

The proposals will now go to the Council of Ministers for approval. A further two votes are likely to be needed by the European Parliament over the coming year before the proposals would become law. (UNI)

Gujarat to emerge stronger countering
‘wrong propaganda’

KOLKATA, July 5: Gujarat Minister for Industry, Information Technology and Tourism Suresh Chandra Mehta today said the state would emerge stronger in terms of new investment once the ‘misconception’ created by ‘wrong propaganda’ on law and order in the state is removed.

The industrial scenario was not at all affected as a result of the recent riots as only a small part of the state was hit by violence, Mehta said in an interaction with members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

In support of his claim, he said, the state had over 2.75 lakh small-scale units and only 169 suffered damage, which was a very small number by any calculation.

"The total loss to the state in terms of violence was Rs 689 crore, including those in transport, banking and all other business activities. Claims of only rs 169 crore were made with insurance companies," Mehta said.

He said it was unfortunate on the part of electronic and the print media to magnify a single incident of stabbing when the situation was heading towards normalisation.

Mehta said so far as business confidence was concerned none wanted to leave the state.

"On the contrary, British gas signed a concession agreement worth Rs 5000 crore in march soon after the violence broke out, which was followed by a Rs 500 crore expansion proposal from general motors in the second week of march," he said. (PTI)

Every country must build own safety walls: Jalan

LONDON, Jul 5: Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan has suggested that each country should take measures to build its own safety walls by providing for higher reserves, more realistic policies to regulate capital flows and careful monitoring of exchange rates.

"Let international institutions play a supportive role through higher and more automatic access to finance, subject to annual performance review", Jalan said while addressing the Bank of England symposium for central bank Governors here.

Jalan said these "institutions must also be made less ideological and less political with greater voice for all member countries rather than for a handful of industrial countries."

Pleading for greater voting power for developing member countries, he said "it is one of the ironies of the last 40 years that, although developing countries as a group, have grown much faster than the developed countries and their relative economic strength in terms of output and trade increased substantially.

Jalan was invited by Bank of England Governor Sir Eddie George to be the lead speaker at the high level Central Bank Governors’ symposium on "International Finance Architecture".

He referred to the recent financial crises and said it underscored the fact that most of the responsibility for coping with the burden of instability and volatility was that of the country itself.(PTI)

Call rate steady, G-secs marginally up

MUMBAI, July 5: The interbank call rate ended flat at 5.80-5.90 per cent after moving in a narrow range amid ample liquidity and better demand.

Call rate opened weaker at 5.75-5.90 per cent, stayed in a narrow band of 5.70-5.90 per cent level despite abundant liquidity in the system as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) repos continued to absorb excess liquidity from the system.

It closed at 5.80-5.90 per cent, unchanged from Thursday’s close.

The RBI today accepted Rs 11,363 crore in its repo auctions at 5.75 per cent, out of Rs 15,150 crore it received. There was no response to RBI reverse auctions.

Government Securities (G-Secs) were marginally higher by 05-15 paise at the afternoon session after fluctating in a narrow range. The liquidity-driven rally was checked by profit booking by market players in the absence of any fresh triggers, dealers said.

The 11.50 per cent, 2011 and 11.03 per cent, 2012 securities were trading eight paise up at Rs 126.36 and Rs 123.81 respectively, while the 7.40 per cent, 2012 bond gained nine paise at Rs 99.75. (UNI)

PC sales plunge by 11 pc

NEW DELHI, July 5: Reflecting the severe recessionary trend in the economy, the domestic personal computer market registered a negative growth in sales, plunging 11 per cent during 2001-02.

However, there has been a spurt in consumption of it products in smaller towns and cities. Thirty per cent of total PC sales was accounted for by Class B and Class C cities — a phenomenal growth of 106 per cent. In the previous fiscal, smaller towns had accounted for only 13 per cent of the overall PC sales.

Likewise notebooks sales grew by 200 per cent in small towns whereas sales to the top four metros declined by 28 per cent. Smaller towns accounted for nine per cent of the total server sales, growing four per cent. Server sales recorded a negative growth of 21 per cent in fiscal 2001-02, with sales in top four cities declining 23 per cent and 21 per cent in the next four. Sale of ups to smaller towns also witnessed a significant growth of 23 per cent although total ups sales in FY 2001-02 declined by six per cent.

Announcing the findings of its industry performance review for FY 2001-02 today said MAIT, the apex body representing the hardware, training and services sectors of the IT industry the recessionary trend in the Indian economy has adversely impacted the domestic hardware market. The market witnessed significant slow-down in IT consumption in general manufacturing, banking and finance and media and professional services sectors.

"However, with imminent recovery in the Indian market, the IT market is expected to grow at 12 per cent in FY 2002-03, with projected PC sales of 19 lakh units," Vinnie Mehta, Exceutive Director, MAIT said. MAIT’s industry performance review, conducted by Indian Market Research Bureau (IMPRB) said the assembled PCs — the smaller and lesser known regional brands and unbranded systems, accounted for 46 per cent of the PC sales in 2001-02. The proportion of assembled PC sales shrunk from 53 per cent in the previous year — a negative growth of 22 per cent. "There is an increased need to support this market. It can only happen if applications, tools and content are made in local language to create a pull effect," Mr Mehta said.

However, the MNC brands maintained a robust performance —market share of 35 per cent, up from 27 per cent in 2000-01 despite registering a negative growth of 17 per cent. The Indian brands accounted for 19 per cent of the market. The share of the Indian brands in 2000-01 was 17 per cent.

The sale of PCs to both the business segment and to the households declined by 11 per cent as compared to the sales last year. In the second half of 2001-02, the market recovered, but not sufficient enough to result in positive growth.

Business segment registered a growth of seven per cent and the house-holds 12 per cent over the first half. In FY 2001-02, the business segment continued to account for 78 per cent of the market.

In terms of processor configuration, PC sales in 2001-02 were dominated by P-111 550 MHZ, which amounted for 46 per cent of the market share, followed by P4 accounting for another 24 per cent.

Printer sales, grew marginally by one per cent compared to that in 2000-01 — sales of dot-matrix grew by six per cent, sales of laser printers declined by 15 per cent while that of inkjet printers, remained flat.

The number of active internet entities increased to 1.29 million in March 2002 indicating an increase of 15 per cent over March 2001. The penetration of internet among business grew to 39 per cent from earlier 36 per cent.

Dial-up remains the most commonly used means of accessing the internet among business with 73 per cent of the business subscribers using the service. (UNI)

SAIL fails to generate internal resources, despite losses

NEW DELHI, July 5: The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), even after incurring a huge loss of Rs 1290 crores in the first nine months of the financial year 2001-02 has failed to generate extra budgetary inernal resources.

As a result, the standing committee on industry has pointed out capital projects and schemes get either scuttled or delayed.

The committee in its 17th report has said that only Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) among the SAIL PSUs was doing well and Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) was trying to catch up with the stabilisation of modernisation programmes.

"The performance of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) is miserable", it said.

The situation has made investors shaky as SAIL issue price was coming down. The debt instrument of SAIL has already been rated by CRISIL as inadequate safety for fixed deposit programme and bond programme.

The debt-equity ratio stood at 5.52:1 ending last year and SAIL cannot raise resources on "stand alone" basis.

The committee feels that the status of ‘Nav-Ratan’ is at stake if the proposed business and financial restructuring of SAIL does not fructify in time, and "fears against the possibility of sinking of SAIL and wants to call for immediate attention of the Government." The Steel Ministry had informed the standing committee on industry that the capital expenditure has been restricted to Rs 426 crore in 2000-01. However, till December 2001, the actual capital expenditure has been reduced to Rs 244 crore only and the year 2001-02 is likely to end with Rs 500 crore.

The commitee is of the view that while the business and financial restructuring package for sail as approved and sanctioned by the Government contains the element for substantial sustenance and survival of SAIL PSUs, the progress made in the implementation is not at a satisfactory pace "as a result sail is failing in sailing through the rough weather."

Although the financial restructuring of SAIL has been completed alongwith the organisational task—redesigning incentive structures, key corporate process, strategic and tactical marketing, the committee feels they are merely a "paper-work" in the absence of measures undertaken for posting a marked impact on the performance of SAIL in general.

The committee hopes that, with the implementation of restructuring—the change from an officialdom to business unit structure whose basic blue is ready and its implementation plan is under preparation, the fate of SAIL may move in the right direction.

The pace of asset restructuring as envisaged in the business and financial restructuring of SAIL is quite tardy and the asset restructuring programme gets unduly delayed. A gap has emerged between the planned cash flow for 2001-02 (Rs 1520 crores) and anticipated cash flow for the year 2001-02 (Rs 570 crores). (UNI)

SEBI plans to set global standards for Indian market

MUMBAI, July 5: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman G N Bajpai today announced a strategic action plan to bring the securities market in the country on par with the international market.

As per the medium term strategic plan drawn for the purpose, SEBI will clear the backlog of pending cases and actions by the end of the year, Mr Bajpai said at the launch of Electronic Data Information Filing and Retrieval System (EDIFAR) here.

Investors’ education and awareness creation would receive top priority.

The capital market regulator has identified issues such as strengthening the secondary market, the derivative segment, review of market infrastructure, review of depository services and debt market development under its medium term strategic action plan.

"We want SEBI to be known as the most dynamic and respected regulator in the world", Mr Bajpai said.

SEBI had already taken steps in this direction with the introduction of T3 rolling settlement in all scrips across exchanges.

The market regulator had also set up the Justice Kania Committee on demutalisation of the stock exchanges to make its direction clear towards strengthening the capital market, he said.

Mr Bajpai, who completed 130 days as SEBI chief claimed that the launch of on-line filing of information by corporates is a great achievement of SEBI.

Initially, submissions made by 200 companies will be made available on-line. The regulator proposes to suspend physical submission of information by 2,000 corporates by the end of April 2003. It will become mandatory for them to file information on-line.

Filing information on-line will not only enhance the standard of the capital market but also will bring transparency in the market, Mr Bajpai said. Mr Bajpai said the market regulator was reviewing some of its regulations which required changes in consonance with the present situation.

The web-based EDIFAR enables listed companies to electronically file their periodic disclosure reports.

These reports are currently filed in physical form with the stock exchanges where they are listed. The EDIFAR project has been undertaken in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which will host and manage the site.

In the first phase, 200 companies included in the BSE Sensex, S P CNX Nifty and BSE 200 indices would be able to avail of the system.

Edifar would ensure dissemination of information to a large audience comprising market participants such as investors, market intermediaries, regulatory organisations and research institutions.

EDIFAR can be accessed from the SEBI website www.Sebi.Gov.In as well from the NIC website www.Nic.In. (UNI)

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