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Tax arrears estimated NEW DELHI, Dec 18: The total outstanding arrears....more Employees of DSE to launch hunger strike next week NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Employees Union of the Delhi...more Govt to wind up two NEW
DELHI, Dec 18: The
Government has decided to wind up sick Haldia and.... more PUNE,
Dec 18: Ambassador
of Israel Yehoyada Haim has said Indian and .....more JAIPUR,
Dec 18: A Cabinet
Committee was....more |
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Govt considering
to sell sick textile mills NEW DELHI, Dec 18: The Government will consider selling of sick textile mills to private parties. For this purpose it has "no objection" to call a meeting of leaders of all parties, Textiles Minister Kashiram Rana told the..more India, Sri Lanka finalising free trade agreement NEW DELHI, Dec 18: India and Sri Lanka are finalising a free trade agreement aimed at giving a new impetus to economic....more Huge potential for PUNE,
Dec 18: Ambassador
of Israel Yehoyada Haim has said Indian and Israeli
companies have tremendous potential to strike....more NEW DELHI, Dec 18: A total of 415399 mt of sugar has been imported during 1998-99, Rajya Sabha was informed . more TOKYO, Dec 18: General Motors Corporation is hiking its stake in Isuzu Motors Limited (IML)...more |
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Employees of DSE to launch hunger strike next week NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Employees Union of the Delhi Stock Exchange would launch a hunger strike next week in protest against "apathetic attitude" of the management towards their demand for a wage hike. The Delhi Stock Exchange Karamchari Union, which is demanding pay revision for the non-executive staff of the exchange on the lines of the Fifth Pay Commission’s recommendation for the Central Government employees, would first hold relay hunger strike and, if the management did not budge by January next, would go on an indefinite hunger strike, representatives of the union told mediapersons here late last night. This is the lowest pay structure that the union is demanding as compared to the wages paid to the non-executive staff at other exchanges. "If this is not acceptable to the management, it can make our pay at par with that of the Bombay Stock Exchange or the Madras Stock Exchange," Union President Kuber Singh said. The average salary of non-executive staff comes to around Rs 3,000 per month at DSE, Mr Singh claimed. While the peon gets around Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 at the DSE, his counterpart at BSE received around Rs 10,000 per month. Wage structure at BSE is made at par with the Central Bank. Besides, there is a gross discrimination in the salary of non-executive and executive staff. While the Executive Director takes away ten per cent of the total wage fund, the other 35 to 40 employees in the category of executive ranks get 45 per cent of the fund. The 135 employees in the non-executive posts share the remaining 45 per cent, the Union President said. "Mr Singh said," we do not want to harm the interests of DSE and have decided to launch only hunger strike in the beginning. However, if our demands were not met even after our relay hunger strike this month and the indefinite hunger strike next month, we will be left with no option but to strike work later. The Union, which is affiliated with AITUC, has been holding demonstrations in front of the local bourse office in support of their demand since November 27. AITUC Vice President and Rajya Sabha MP Gurudas Dasgupta took up the demands of the union with Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman D R Mehta on Monday last. Mr Mehta assured Mr Dasgupta of his intervention to settle the issue, AITUC secretary Sachdev claimed. Mr Dasgupta has also sought time from Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha to resolve the crisis, he said. (UNI) |
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Govt to wind up two sick units of HFC NEW DELHI, Dec 18: The Government has decided to wind up sick Haldia and Gorakhpur units of public sector Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation (HFC), Minister for Chemicals and Fetilisers S S Barnala informed the Rajya Sabha today. But in place of Gorakhpur plant, new unit would be set up by Krishi Bharati Cooperatives (KRIBHCO), he said replying to a calling attention on the revival of sick Fertiliser units in the country raised by CPI-M member Dipankar Mukherjee and several others. Barnala said these two units were among the eight fertiliser units of Hindustan Fertilisers and Fertiliser Corporations which have been chronically sick since 1992 incurring huge losses. He said the new unit of KRIBHCO at Gorakhpur was in advanced stage of finalisation and clearance from Finance Ministry was expected soon. Most of these units have become sick because of obsolete technology resulting in low and poor capacity utilisation, he said, adding coupled with this some of them faced industrial relations problems. In the case of Ramagundam and Talcher plants of Fertiliser Corporation of India, the sickness has arisen because of coal-based fertiliser technology which had failed the worldover. (PTI) |
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Huge potential for Indo-Israel joint ventures PUNE, Dec 18: Ambassador of Israel Yehoyada Haim has said Indian and Israeli companies have tremendous potential to strike joint ventures particularly in hi-tech areas. At present, there are 150 joint ventures of which 50 are in the field of agriculture alone, Dr Haim said while addressing industry representatives at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) here last evening. While emphasising that Indo-Israeli joint ventures could foster well in hi-tech areas like power generation, telecommunication, software development, and others, Dr Haim, however, sought to underplay query on whether Israel would be willing to transfer technology in sensitive areas like defence. Barring a few areas where its US partners prohibit the transfer of technology, there would be no inhibitions on the part of Israel to transfer technology to India, Dr Haim claimed, adding that the prohibited areas were "very very few." Despite being half desert and half wasteland, Israel had still forged ahead because "we used science tour advantage," Dr Haim said. While the total bilateral trade volume stood at 660 million dollars, the exports from Israel had shown a decline during the first nine months of the current year standing at 247 million dollars, Dr Haim said. The Indian exports, on the other hand, touched 257 million dollars. (UNI) |
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Cabinet Committee to review power projects JAIPUR, Dec 18: A Cabinet Committee was set up today to review the ongoing power projects at Dholpur in Rajasthan and put forward its recommendations to the State Government. Announcing setting up of the committee, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the committee will soon bring out its report with constructive recommendations for expeditious completion of the two ongoing projects. (PTI) |
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Govt considering to sell sick textile mills NEW DELHI, Dec 18: The Government will consider selling of sick textile mills to private parties. For this purpose it has "no objection" to call a meeting of leaders of all parties, Textiles Minister Kashiram Rana told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour today. Replying to balasahed V Patil, Mr Rana said the technical upgradation fund will be applicable for revival of the sick NTC Mills from April 1 next year. He said recession in the Textile Industry continues, the mismanagement in the textile sector was on account of what he called improper use of available resources there was resource crunch too, he pointed out. Replying to a spate of supplementaries, Mr Rana said inspite of 1784 mills having been closed cloth production in the country was increasing. It has gone up from 14 million metres to 20 million metres in last six years availability of cotton is not a problem, he assured the agitated members. The new strategy for revival will be financed with the help of financial institutions, he said. This was due to non-cooperation from the states to sell surplus land of the mills. (UNI) |
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India, Sri Lanka finalising free trade agreement NEW DELHI, Dec 18: India and Sri Lanka are finalising a free trade agreement aimed at giving a new impetus to economic cooperation and gradually reducing tariffs to zero level over the next three years. The proposed pact, top on the agenda of the two-day Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Commission here, is likely to be concluded later this month, official sources said today. The proposal was first mooted by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee during the recent SAARC summit in Colombo. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Laxman Kadirgamar, whose arrival here was delayed due to thick fog over Delhi, later called on Defence Minister George Fernandes for discussions on a wide range of issues relating to international, regional and mutual concern. India has made it clear that it favoured continuity in its policy on Sri Lanka. Both sides share perceptions on territorial integrity and sovereignty. Kadirgamar, who will hold discussions with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh tomorrow, is also expected to call on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and meet other Indian leaders. (PTI) |
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Huge potential for Indo-Israel joint ventures PUNE, Dec 18: Ambassador of Israel Yehoyada Haim has said Indian and Israeli companies have tremendous potential to strike joint ventures particularly in hi-tech areas. At present, there are 150 joint ventures of which 50 are in the field of agriculture alone, Dr Haim said while addressing industry representatives at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) here last evening. While emphasising that Indo-Israeli joint ventures could foster well in hi-tech areas like power generation, telecommunication, software development, and others, Dr Haim, however, sought to underplay query on whether Israel would be willing to transfer technology in sensitive areas like defence. Barring a few areas where its US partners prohibit the transfer of technology, there would be no inhibitions on the part of Israel to transfer technology to India, Dr Haim claimed, adding that the prohibited areas were "very very few." Despite being half desert and half wasteland, Israel had still forged ahead because "we used science tour advantage," Dr Haim said. While the total bilateral trade volume stood at 660 million dollars, the exports from Israel had shown a decline during the first nine months of the current year standing at 247 million dollars, Dr Haim said. The Indian exports, on the other hand, touched 257 million dollars. (UNI) |
4 lakh mt sugar imported from Pakistan NEW DELHI, Dec 18: A total of 415399 mt of sugar has been imported during 1998-99, Rajya Sabha was informed during question hour. The imports were valued at Rs 544.58 crores. The maximum sugar 300206 mt was imported from Pakistan. Food and Consumer Affairs Minister S S Barnala informed the House that Indian Sugar Mills Association and National Federation of Coop Sugar factories have expressed concern at large scale inflow of sugar in the country including import of sugar from Pakistan. Commodities movement:- There is no formal restriction on inter State movement of commodities in the country. However some of the states Governments impose certain informal restrictions on the movement of essential commodities, Mr Barnala said in another reply. At a meeting convened by the Prime Minister the states had agreed to remove the restrictions including informal restrictions, if any, on the movement of essential commodities to ensure free flow. He said the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 1998 is pending in the Lok Sabha. It seeks to amend the Essential Commodities Act 1955. Wildlife: The Government proposes to amend the Wildlife Protection Act to enhance the penalties for poachers and make it more stringent, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Babu Lal Marandi said. A special inter-Ministerial coordination and enforcement committee has been set up to strengthen measures for control of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife. The committee comprises officials from the Home, Finance and Environment and Forest Ministries. Illegal Trade: A transboundary meeting was held between India and Nepal recently to look into the issue of illegal trade of wildlife parts and products crossing Indo-Nepal border, he said in another reply. The minister confirmed seizure of black bucks and other animals from various parts of Delhi and Mumbai. Thirteen black buck were recovered from delhi and one blackbuck two spotted deer seized from Mumbai. Forest Fires: Modern forest fire control systems have proved to be very effective in checking the menace. The incidents of fire have been reduced substantially wherever the new control system has been adopted.(UNI) Tax arrears estimated at Rs 37,000 cr NEW DELHI, Dec 18: The total outstanding arrears of income tax and corporate tax in the country stood at Rs 37,796 crore as on September 1998, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha told Chada Suresh Reddy in a written reply that as many as 54,396 cases were pending as on March 31, 1998 besides 7,788 cases in the Supreme Court relating to these taxes during the period. The total arrears demand of income tax and corporate tax stood at Rs 45,073.39 crore as on March 31, 1998, he added. GDP growth: The SBI in its mid-term review of monetary and credit policy undertaken in October end says the real GDP growth rate during during 1998-99 is expected to be in the region of six per cent, Sinha said. Fiscal deficit: Fiscal deficit is estimated to have risen to rs 86,345 crore during 1997-98 as against Rs 66,733 crore during the previous year, Sinha said. Coin import: The Government will import 700 million pieces of one rupee coin and 300 million pieces of two rupee coins during 1998-99, the same amount as in the previous year, Sinha said. This is to overcome coin shortages, he said. Cigarette revenues: The excise duty from cigarettes is estimated to have risen to Rs 4454 crore during 1997-98 from Rs 3982 crore during the previous year, Sinha said. (PTI) TOKYO, Dec 18: General Motors Corporation is hiking its stake in Isuzu Motors Limited (IML) from the existing 37.5 per cent to 49 per cent, thereby strengthening the strategic alliance between the two automobile giants in the commercial vehicle field. However, there will be no changes in the Isuzu management team with this agreement. GM’s equity increase will be achieved through Isuzu’s issuance of new shares. Isuzu will issue 232.5 million new shares, which will then be purchased by GM. As a result, GM will hold 49 per cent of Isuzu shares. The funds generated by the capital increase will be actively invested in GM projects and used to strengthen Isuzu’s future competitive position, Mr Kazuhira Seki, Chairman and CEO of Isuzu said in a statement issued here. According to Chairman and CEO of General Motors John F Smith, "this agreement will enhance the ability of the two companies to work even closer. With this agreement, Isuzu assumes an even more important role as an equal partner within GM’s global alliances." He said the new share equity percentage symbolises GM’s confidence in Isuzu’s management and respect of its independence. "It is because of this confidence and respect that there will be no changes in the Isuzu management team with this agreement." Prior to this, the US automobile giant had tripled its stake in suzuki motor corporation of Japan from 3.3 per cent to ten per cent. Because of Isuzu’s expertise in comercial vehicles and diesel engines, Isuzu plays an important role in GM’s global strategy. The agreement will further leverage Isuzu’s strong position in the commercial vehicle segment to ensure that Isuzu plays an even more important role in GM’s global commercial vehicle development and integration process. Future efforts will include such areas as using an Isuzu-based platform to comonise cab, chassis and vehicle design. The decision to up GM’s equity holding is built upon the joint engineering work currently underway for the next generation Isuzu-based small pick up and the manufacturing collaboration that went in to the Isuzu-GM low cab forward truck that is produced at GM’s Janesville Wisconsin facility. This announcement follows the agreement in 1997 that positioned Isuzu to have lead development responsibility for diesel engines for GM. Earlier this year, both the companies had announced a joint venture to manufacture diesel engines for GM trucks in Moraine, Ohio, the United States. According Mr Seki, "this agreement will help us achieve our long cherished goal of becoming the world’s leading commercial vehicle and diesel engine manufacturer. The new equity arrangement is symbolic of the increasing cooperation and presence of Isuzu within GM’s global alliances." Isuzu and GM’s relationship began with their first capital agreement in 1971. Since then, both companies have enjoyed mutually beneficial relationship in various business fields, such as component supply, cooperative development of commercial vehicles, production collaboration, original equipment supply of pick-up trucks and commercial vehicles and the designation of Isuzu as GM’s Centre of Expertise (COE) for diesel engines. In recent years, Isuzu and GM have entered into a new era of heightened cooperation and partnership. "The relatively new role of Isuzu as COE for diesel engines and its expanded role within the commercial vehicle field is indicative of the growing importance that Isuzu plays in GM’s gloal business strategies. This agreement continues our cooperation in an even stronger way,’ Mr Smith added. (UNI) |
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