|
|
NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Mr M Y Khan, chairman, the Jammu...more ASEAN leaders will focus MANILA, Nov 23: Leaders of the Association of Southeast ..more Fruits, vegetable
cultivation LUDHIANA, Nov 23: Punjab Government is considering ...more Upper stage cryogenic engine to be tested next month THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 23: India’s space programme would...more |
 |
Govt will soon introduce rolling settlement system NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Government proposed to introduce rolling settlement..more CALCUTTA, Nov 23: ITC Limited has joined the select band of responsible ...more ‘No proposal to reduce
NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today said...more Delhi power plants major pollutants, says report NEW DELHI, Nov 23: All the three power stations in the national capital are ....more |
|
|
NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Mr M Y Khan, chairman, the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd., was awarded India International Gold Award 1999, for his performance in the field of banking. The award was presented by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Omar Farooq Abdullah, on behalf of N R I Institute and Wistex Foundation, here yesterday. The other recipients of the award were well known non-resident Indian doctor S P Sharma, and Dr Dhan Singh Bham, director SAARC T B Centre, Nepal, a J and K press release said today. (UNI) |
 |
ASEAN leaders will focus on charting future direction MANILA, Nov 23: Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will focus on charting the future direction for the 10-member grouping when they meet in Manila this weekend with their counterparts from Japan, China and South Korea. While economic issues are expected to dominate the summit ahead of the upcoming round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations in Seattle, officials said discussions not on the summit agenda are likely to include exchanges in expanding political and security dialogue. "Leaders will be looking at the future direction of ASEAN, how to adjust ASEAN to enable it to face the new challenges that are arising and the rapid changes that are taking place," said ASEAN secretary general Rodolfo Severino. Emphasis would be on strengthening financial cooperation, deepening regional economic integration, developing human resources, and pursuing the concept of an "E-ASEAB" or a region attuned to the world of cyberspace. Intensive consultations for WTO will also be held to coordinate ASEAN member-countries’ position in the talks in Seattle on November 30 aimed at setting the scope and timing for further trade liberalization in the coming years. Asian countries are demanding the abolition of subsidies given by the Government of the European Union and the United States to their farmers. They would also push for the fulfillment of commitments made during the previous WTO round, notably greater access for textile products in industrial markets. The region, home to more than half of the world’s six billion people, would also ask rich nations to honour a commitment to provide "special" treatment for products from developing countries. For the first time, ASEAN Foreign, Trade and Finance Ministers will be meeting before the ASEAN leaders’ summit on November 28 to ensure that problems and challenges are faced "in a coordinated, comprehensive manner". "This is called for because rapid changes are happening in the world, among them in the security environment in the region, the fast pace of globalisation, the advances in technology, the shifts in economic and political power," Mr Severino said. The region is also confronted by the situation in the Korean Peninsula, the simmering disputes in the South China sea and the tense relations between China and Taiwan. The only existing forum to address these issues is the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), with core members from ASEAB and key regional players such as the United States, China, Japan and Russia. ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Cambodia. Analysts and even diplomats have criticized the ARF for being a mere "talk shop", noting that it has moved too slowly from confidence-building to preventive diplomacy and eventually to conflict resolution. Analysts also warned ASEAN’s cardinal principle of refusing to intervene in the internal affairs of fellow members could hamper the creation of a new security mechanism. (DPA) |
|
Fruits, vegetable
cultivation LUDHIANA, Nov 23: Punjab Government is considering hiring the services of Isreli and Dutch experts in fruits and vegetable cultivation to break the current wheat-paddy cropping pattern which was no longer remunerative to state farmers. Speaking at the inaugural of the 12-day training programme "intensive growth of vegetables" here, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the Government was thinking of hiring their services on an "enduring basis" with the objective of persuading farmers in the state to switch to profitable cash crops like vegetables,horticulture, floriculture and other agro-based ventures. He called upon externsion officers of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) and Agriculture Department to work with commitment to divert farmers from the wheat-paddy cycle which had become saturated and hence was no longer profitable. Experts from Israel would impart training to 70 vegetable growers and extension growers of PAU, Horticulture Department and Punjab Agro Industries Corporation during the training programme, an official press release said. Claiming that tremendous scope existed for increase in vegetable and fruit production in Punjab with the adoption of Israeli and Dutch technology, the Chief Minister said besides giving training to farmers his Government would also expand facilities for preservation and marketing of the produce so that farmers earned profits even during periods of Glut. He said completion of international airport at Amritsar and expansion of storage facilities would help market cash crops abroad. Mr Badal said the Government has already set up Punjab Agriculture Export Corporation and raised a cropus of Rs ten crore to provide infrastructural facilities to promote cultivation of vegetables and fruits. The Chief Minister asked the Israeli experts to explore the application of modern Israeli techniques among small farmers and also persuade them to implement them in a big way. Agriculture Minister Gurdev Singh Badal, Punjab Agro Industries Corporation Chairman Jagjit Singh Ghungrana and PAU Vice Chancellor G S Kalket also spoke. (UNI) |
|
Upper stage cryogenic engine to be tested next month THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 23: India’s space programme would achieve another milestone with the testing of the fully indigenous 7.5 tonne thrust upper stage cryogenic engine at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu some time next month. The successful development of this critical technology India would be able to use its own cryogenic engine for the third launch of GSLV towards the end of 2001, Dr S Vasantha, LPSC Director told reporters here today. In the first two launches of GSLV the Russian engine were used, he said. Terming development of cryogenic technology as a major step forward, Dr Vasantha said its design, realisation and testing are very complex and other countries possessing this technology have taken 10 to 15 years to develop this critical technology. The countries now possessing cryogenic technology are the United States, Russia, France, Japan and China, he said. (PTI) |
|
Govt will soon introduce rolling settlement system NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Government proposed to introduce rolling settlement system in the physical segment as part of capital market reforms to control excessive speculation, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said today. "The transition to rolling settlement will bring India’s equity market trading practices closer to international standards," Sinha said inaugurating a ‘global emerging markets’ committee meeting here. Under the rolling system, settlement of transactions in the capital market will be done on a rolling basis instead of doing it on a fixed day in a week as at present. The Government has already introduced rolling settlement system for all trades in dematerialised segment to bring in certainty of trades, reduce risk and delay in settlement besides keeping excessive speculation under control, he said. Ninety per cent of trading in the capital markets will be made in dematerialised form from next year, SEBI Chairman D R Mehta clarified elaborating on the steps being taken in India to regulate the market to protect interests of the investors. Noting that all forms of trading excepting derivatives are allowed in the Indian capital market at present, Sinha indicated that legislation for introducing trading in derivatives is likely to be passed in the Winter session of Parliament. (PTI) |
|
|
CALCUTTA, Nov 23: ITC Limited has joined the select band of responsible corporate citizen of the country by deciding to contribute over one per cent of its net profit to social welfare. Company spokesperson said it has always been the belief of ITC and its people that little drops of water make a mighty ocean and with this belief and the urge to add value to the lives of the people it touches, the company has chosen to promote activities in the development of education, art and culture. Responding readily to the nation’s call for help in times of natural calamities and national priorities, ITC had donated Rs one crore to the Army Central Welfare Fund for valiant soldiers who fought at Kargil and their dependents, sources said. It has also contributed Rs 25 lakhs towards Orissa Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to help those devastated by the massive cyclone in the state. During the past two years, the ITC Education Trust has donated Rs two crore to the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi for setting up a business school that will fulfill the growing need for quality management education in the country. It has also committed Rs five crore to the Indian school of business being set up in Hyderabad. ITC is a found-member of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, the International Management Institute, Delhi and the Academy for Management Excellence, Chennai. The company has supported numerous educational institutions with funds, infrastructure development and equipment. The organisation, as an integral part of the social milieu in which it operates, extends support to myriad social intervention activities ranging from creating cassettes for blind children to age homes to nature conservation work. ITC’s concern for the environment has resulted in several initiatives, specially in the last four years at a project cost of over Rs one crore. The Green Guntur Project in Andhra Pradesh is now a model case study. Working in tandem with municipal authorities, Government departments and local organisations, ITC has planted 50,000 avenue plants and distributed 175,000 fruit saplings in Guntur. (UNI) |
|
‘No proposal to reduce PF interest rates’ NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today said Government has no proposal at present to reduce interest rates on Provident Fund. At the moment we have no proposal to reduce interest rates on Provident Fund, Sinha told reporters after inaugurating the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) ‘emerging markets committee’ meeting here today. However, he added that cutting provident fund rates was a sensitive issue and there would have to be political consensus. At present Provident Fund offers an interest rate of 12 per cent. There have been demands from various quarters to reduce Provident Fund rates so as to bring down overall lending rates. The Government has already reduced interest rates on small savings in an attempt to dissuade investors as the burgeoning small savings was putting pressure on fiscal deficit as a sizeable percentage of the savings were transferred to states. (PTI) |
|
Delhi power plants major pollutants, says report NEW DELHI, Nov 23: All the three power stations in the national capital are major violators of air pollution control guidelines where even nitrogen and sulphur oxide emissions are never measured, according to an internal assessment report. The report points out that the 30-year old plants - the 710 mw Badarpur, 367 mw Indraprastha and 135 mw Rajghat - have almost outlived their useful life, their electrostatic precipitators were in run down conditions and their burners were not capable of low nitrogen oxide control, official sources said. Besides, the proximity of the plants within a ten kilometre distance has an accumulation effect on pollution concentration, the report says. There is no regular third party measurement of emission from these plants. The plant authorities maintain their own records, but no measurement of nitrogen or sulphur oxides, it says. Describing Indraprastha station as the most polluting power plant, it recommends that the plant be replaced by a gas-fired one, the sources quoting the report said. The monitoring of semi-particulate matter, perceived as a major source of emission, was found irregular both at the Indraprastha and Rajghat stations, according to the internal report, the sources said. At the Indraprastha power station, the stack height was only 40 metres in the coal-fired units and 30 metres for the gas-fired combined cycle power plant, as against the current norm of over 100 metres height, it said, adding this would result in higher ground level concentration in the vicinity of the power plants. Moreover, nitrogen and sulphur oxide emissions are never measured at the plant due to paucity of funds and non-availability of instruments, it says. Drastic measures are required for Indraprastha, since the plant has outlived its useful life the report said suggesting that it be replaced by a new plant which could be gas-fired to clear up much of the pollution contribution. Stating that the capital cost of a gas-fired plant of about 250 mw size would be about Rs 1000 crore, the report suggests, if this is not feasible, installing a taller stack and replacing the electrostatic precipitators with 50 microns specifications and also installation of low nitrogen oxides burners could be done at a more modest cost of around Rs 100 crore. (PTI) |
|
