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G-secs flat in dull trades MUMBAI, July 8: The call rate stayed in a narrow range at sub-repo level and and closed steady at 4.50-4.75 per cent, amid.......more CCD to meet on NEW DELHI, July 8: The Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) will meet on July 10, Disinvestment Minister.....more Bengal chamber to change KOLKATA, July 08: The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), a premier industry body of the region....more EPF to go hammer NEW DELHI, July 8 : Saddled with huge arrears of over Rs 1,511 crore from both State and Central PSUS and private.....more |
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Twenty Indian
companies figure on forbes list of top companies NEW YORK, July 8: Twenty Indian companies, including State Bank, Reliance industries, Indian oil and oil and natural........more Pharma company WASHINGTON, July 8: The institute for oneworld health, the first nonprofit pharmaceutical....more NEW DELHI, July 8: Shares of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) will start trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the.....more Government sets NEW DELHI, July 8: The Government has announced the formation of a National......more |
Call rate easy: G-secs flat in dull trades MUMBAI, July 8: The call rate stayed in a narrow range at sub-repo level and and closed steady at 4.50-4.75 per cent, amid abundant liquidity and huge subscriptions to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) repos today. The overnight interest rate opened firm at 4.75-5.00 per cent, later eased on loose liquidity and subdued demand for funds. As call rate ruled much below the repo rate, cashed flooded banks parked funds heavily in RBI repos, dealers said. Call rate closed at 4.50-4.75 per cent, unchanged from Monday’s close. RBI today received and accepted all the 52 bids it received for a whopping Rs 32,795 crore in one-day auction at 5.00 per cent rate, the highest number of bids received under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) since January 1, this year. Secondary market for Government securities continued to be dull and range-bound with players pausing for fresh cues. Bond prices opened marginally lower by 05-10 paise, later recovered and were nearly steady at the afternoon deals. (UNI) |
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CCD to meet on July 10: Shourie NEW DELHI, July 8: The Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) will meet on July 10, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie said today. The CCD is likely to take up, among other issues, the highly successful public offer of shares by car market leader Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL). The meeting will take place on July 10, Shourie said on the sidelines of a National Informatics Centre (NIC) function. Earlier, official sources said the minister will brief the Committee on the public offer of MUL shares, which closed last month recording a massive oversubcription by 13 times. The meeting is also expected to firm up transaction documents for sale of Government equity in national fertilisers prior to inviting financial bids. Transaction documents for Hindustan organic chemicals and shipping corporation, where Government proposes to offload controlling stake, are also likely to figure in the meeting, the sources said. The issue of sale of residual stake in PSUs which have been disinvested is unlikely to figure at the meeting, sources had indicated stating that the proposal had to be vetted at various levels before being taken up at cabinet level. (PTI) |
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Bengal chamber to change article to service sector KOLKATA, July 08: The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), a premier industry body of the region operating for the last 150 years, would change its Articles of Association (AoA) to accommodate the new generation service sector under its fold. We are going to change the AOA to accommodate the service sector which is contributing significantly towards the growth of economy, vice-president of the chamber Biswadip Gupta told reporters here today. Under the changed AOA, professionals in medicine and law could be accommodated as members in the chamber of commerce, he said. The hospitality, entertainment and lifestyle sector industries could be included in the list of members after the AOA was changed, he said. Previously, the AOA of the chamber was formulated keeping in view the traditional industries of the state like shipping, tea, managing agency houses, engineering and freight brokers among others. The chamber, having about 240 members after the addition of about 20 members during the year, is also thinking of forming a specialised cell with the service sector professionals to examine the possibility of growth in the eastern region. Mr Gupta said talks to include Sahara group as a member was at the final stage. The chamber, taking a new look at the industry scenario on its 150th year, has roped in Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and mainland China, a restaurant group as its members, BCCI president Sumit Muzumdar said. The chamber, having opened two offices in Durgapur and Guwahati, is also trying to go in a big way to Siliguri where it feels that there is immense scope for development of the food processing and alternate farming sectors, Mr Mazumdar said. The chamber would celebrate its 150 years on July 16. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would attend the celebration. (UNI) |
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EPF to go hammer and tongs against defaulting units NEW DELHI, July 8 : Saddled with huge arrears of over Rs 1,511 crore from both State and Central PSUS and private sector, employees profident fund organisation today launched a major action plan, including attachment of property and freezing of bank accounts, to recover money from them. "The compliance 04' programme will include attachment of property and bank accounts of defaulters, launch of prosecution with criminal courts, arrest of defaulters and appointment of receivers," Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma told reporters here while announcing the programme. Concerned over the huge gap between default and recovery, Verma said the multi-pronged campaign would target defaulting establishments, including exempted ones, which had misappropriated workers’ dues or had failed to pay them their money and meet legal obligations voluntarily. "The over-arching objective of this programme is to ensure that every rupee due to the worker under EPF Act is recovered from employers and deposited into workers’ respective accounts," he said. In an attempt to tone up the recovery structure of EPF, Verma said all defaulters had been given one month time to pay up the arrears due to workers, failing which their names would be put up in the website. All nodal ministries would be asked to blacklist them, while banks and financial institutions would be instructed to put a freeze on credit line for these companies, he said. The minister said Central PSUS owed Rs 297 crore, State PSUS Rs 339 crore and private sector Rs 348 crore. (PTI) |
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Twenty Indian companies figure
on forbes NEW YORK, July 8: Twenty Indian companies, including State Bank, Reliance industries, Indian oil and oil and natural gas, make to the forbes list of top 2000 companies worldwide for 2003. In the ranking based on sales, profits, assets and market value, State Bank tops among the Indian companies with an impressive ranking of 268 among the 2000 followed by Reliance which is placed 306 in the overall list. Indian oil at 325 and oil natural gas at 351 are third and fourth among the Indian companies. Other Indian companies (with overall ranking in brackets) which make to the list include ICICI(907), Bharat Petroleum (956), Hindustan Lever (1019), Hindustan Petroleum (1091), Bank of India (1313), Bank of Baroda (1344), ITC (1352) and Canara Bank (1365). GAIL India (1370), Software Giant Infosys Technologies (1397), Industrial Development Bank of India (1403), Wipro (1430), Punjab National Bank (1431), Housing Development Finance (1550), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (1680) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (1800) also make to the coveted list. The largest number of 776 companies on the list are United States based followed by 331 Japanese firms and 132 British companies. The aggregate revenue of the 2000 is 18 trillion dollars and they employ 63 million people. Among the top ten are six US based companies, two British firms and each based in Netherlands and Japan. Citigroup occupies the top position followed by general electric, American International Group, Exxonmobil, Bank of America (all US based), royal Duch/Shell group (Netherlands), BP (UK), Fannie MAE (USA), HSBC group (UK) and Toyota Motors (Japan), State Banks ranks 439 in sales, 215 in profits, 123 in assets and 932 in market value. The corresponding figures for Reliance industries are 473, 224, 737 and 447. For other Indian companies the ranks in sales, profit, assets and market value: Indian oil 197, 334, 792, 668, oil and natural gas 908, 148, 827, 261, ICICI bank 1497, 736, 490, 1727 and Bharat Petroleum 434, 597, 1780, 1782,. Hindustan Lever is ranked 1716 in sales, 564 in profits and 534 in market value. It is not ranked for assets. The corresponding figures for Hindustan Petroleum are 542, 1061, 1462. For Bank of India profit ranking is 1001 and asset ranking 693. The corresponding figures for bank Baroda are 1077 and 682. ITC is ranked 782 for profits and 999 for market value. Canara Bank’s profit ranking is 1137 and asset ranking 678. GAIL is ranked 1570 for sales, 585 for profit and 1677 for market value. (PTI) |
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Pharma company announces final
phase WASHINGTON, July 8: The institute for oneworld health, the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company in the United States, has said it has begun final testing of a drug to cure ‘Kala Azar’, also known as Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL), one of the world’s deadliest parasitic diseases. The San Francisco-based institute said it begun phase III testing of Paromomycin for VL, which has largest occurrance in India. Demonstrating new use for an old medicine, oneworld health is developing Paromomycin as an affordable and cost-effective life-long cure for VL. Through a 4.2 million dollar grant from the bill Melinda Gates Foundation, oneworld health is collaborating with the tropical disease research programme of the World Health Organisation (WHO/TDR) in a 670-patient phase III multicenter clinical trial in Bihar. Following completion of the trial, the institute said, the goal is to seek regulatory approval of the drug for VL, particularly in India, which has the largest burden for this disease in the world. Paromomycin is an off-patent medicine that was previously approved by the food and drug administration and marketed in the US as a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Transmitted by the bite of a sand fly, VL is a deadly vector (insect)-borne disease that attacks the internal organs. An estimated 1.5 million people worldwide are currently infected, 200 million people are at risk of acquiring VL and at least 200,000 people die annually. The disease affects the poor, who cannot afford expensive drugs. With the exception of malaria, VL kills more people than any other parasitic disease. While most westerners have never heard of visceral Leishmaniasis, if a disease killed the equivalent number of people in the US, it would be the third largest killer after heart disease and cancer, and would cause more deaths than stroke. "It’s not every day one can say an affordable cure for a deadly disease may be imminent, and we believe our approach will be successful," said Dr Victoria Hale, founder and CEO of one world health. "This drug appears to be equivalent to a Therapeutic vaccine since patients cured of VL develop life-long immunity to the parasite. This phase III trial is the largest ever for VL and will be conducted under the most rigorous regulatory standards," she added. One world health has signed a collaborative agreement with WHO/TDR for Paromomycin and will develop and register Paromomycin as a 21-day treatment and cure for VL in collaboration with a suitable pharmaceutical manufacturer, the institute said. Current therapies for VL generally have toxic side effects, face growing parasite resistance or are unaffordable for the vast majority of people afflicted by the disease. Paromomycin should gain regulatory approval in India by 2005, making it a valuable tool to eliminate the disease from the Indian subcontinent, it added. An estimated 500,000 new cases of Visceral Leishmaniasis arise worldwide annually. More than 90 per cent of cases occur in India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nepal, and Sudan. The visceral form of Leishmaniasis, left untreated, is uniformly fatal, and is of growing public health concern since its incidence is increasing rapidly among patients with HIV infection. (UNI) |
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NEW DELHI, July 8: Shares of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) will start trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange after they are listed on the bourses sharp at 0900 hrs tomorrow. The listing of MUL shares follows the initial public offering by the country’s largest carmaker which had received an overwhelming response from the investors last month. The offer of 7.2 crore shares was oversubscribed 13 times and the Government exercised the green shoe option of retaining extra 10 per cent making the total offering of 7.9 crore shares. With the stock market in a solid state of affairs, analysts are predicting a minimum of 20 per cent premium on the MUL share which was sold at Rs 125 apiece. The Government has also reversed the ratio of shares meant for the retail investors. They are now getting 60 per cent of the total offering rather than 40 per cent planned earlier. The institutions will now get 40 per cent. The Government holding in the company has now fallen to 20 per cent which would be offered to public through a second tranche slated to hit the market next year. Last year, the Government had given management control to its joint venture partner Suzuki Motors through a Rs 400 crore rights issue which sold for a premium of Rs 1,000 crore. (UNI) |
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Government sets up national hydrogen energy board NEW DELHI, July 8: The Government has announced the formation of a National Hydrogen Energy Board (NHEB) for preparing the roadmap for the hydrogen energy sector and monitor its implementation in an integrated manner. Announcing the Government decision minister of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) M Kannappan said this board will be under MNES. This board will bring about the much needed coordination among the various researchers and institutions who are all working in this direction. This would help in preparing the national roadmap for hydrogen fuel sector. He said MNES would also be organising an international workshop on hydrogen energy and fuel cells later this year. The minister said priorities in utilisation of hydrogen energy and fuel cells would have to be based on specific needs. The two major areas of focus in our new technology programmes are alternate fuels for transportation - which includes electric vehicles, biofuels, fuel cells and hydrogen energy and decentralised production of power which includes biofuels, hydrogen energy, fuel cells, geothermal energy and tidal energy. "We have to utilise our scarce resources in tapping the frontier renewable energy technologies for meeting the needs of people in a most cost effective manner," he said. "We have already attained a major success in the use of hydrogen as fuel for stationary, portable and transport applications. "In a major scientific breakthrough we have successfully produced hydrogen fuel based household generator sets but its large scale commercial production is expected in another two years time when we will be able to produce hydrogen from biomass. In that event the cost of hydrogen fuel would also be competitive against the conventional fuels, he said. "The proposed board would also include members from the industry, scientific institutions and researchers in order to have a broad perspective," he added. (UNI) |
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Telecom contributes maximum to service tax collections NEW DELHI, July 8: Service tax collections in the country have grown by ten fold in the last nine years to touch Rs 4123 crore in 2002-03 with fast growing telecom sector contributing the maximum. "In 1994-95, when the service tax was imposed on three services, the collections were Rs 410 crore. In 2002-03 the service collections went up to Rs 4123 crore," Mr Mahendra Prasad, member, Central Excise, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said today at a seminar organised by PHDCCI. "The total service tax assesses, which were 3943 in 1994-95, has jumped to 2,24,452 during 2002-03," Mr Prasad said. Among the top ten revenue yielding services in 02-02, Telecom contributed Rs 1508.68 crore, Insurance chipped in with Rs 658.46 crore, port services Rs 204.57 crore, banking services Rs 162.20 crore and consulting engineers Rs 141.74 crore. Courier companies contributed Rs 127.87 crore to the total service tax collections in 02-03, advertising agencies Rs 125.83 crore, broadcasting Rs 106.14 crore, stock brokers Rs 80.28 crore and management consultants Rs 59.20 crore. The highest service tax was in 02-03 collected by Central Excise Commissionerates in Mumbai zone (Rs 1030 crore), followed by Delhi zone (Rs 565 crore), Chennai zone (Rs 412 crore) and Kolkata zone (Rs 263 crore). The number of services that have been brought under the tax net has gone up to 58. Mr Prasad said that CBEC is planning to extend electronic tax administration, which has been initiated in a limited way, to all services. (UNI) |
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Indian Telecom companies seeks
alliances TEL AVIV, July 8: With an eye on the global Telecom market, captains of India’s Telecommunication Industry have sought joint collaboration with Israeli firms and urged them to invest in the growing sector. A 15-member telecommunication delegation, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), is currently on a six-day visit to Israel seeking alliances and holding meetings with Israeli companies engaged in telecommunications. Highlighting huge market potential for the joint venture, Chairman CII Telecom Council and Managing Director of Tata Industries Limited Kishor Chaukar said at the India-Israel Telecom Conference here yesterday that while Israel could contribute high-technology and India could provide low-cost manpower and external sourcing. Chaukar said following the Government’s policy of liberalization, India had witnessed a steady growth rate and there was a very positivie atmosphere for international companies to enter Indian market in view of huge reductions in tariff and removal of many barriers to enter the industry. Indian Ambassador R S Jassal said Indo-Israeli trade had witnessed a phenomenal growth and shot upto 1.3 billion dollars as cooperation between the two countries had increased and diversified into many areas. Addressing the Conference, Director General of Israel Export Institute Yair Ofek said about 120 Israeli high-tech companies were already operating in India and that the two were not competitors but complementary. "We don’t have competition, we have cooperation," Ofek said. The delegation members included K V P Baskaran, CEO of Aircel Ltd, U C Shrivastava, Director (R and D) Aishwarya Telecom Pvt Ltd, Sunil Abrol, Registrar of C-Dot and others. The subtle message of the Conference was that India’s Telecommunications market has tremendous market potential for Israeli companies in the industry and that Indian and Israeli companies could form alliances and break into the European and American markets. One of the hightlight of the six-day mission is one-to-one meeting between representatives of Indian companies and their Israeli counterparts. Executives from Indian companies Idea Cellular Limited, Net4India Ltd, and Spice Communications Ltd were scheduled to meet, among others, Israeli firms like Audiocodes, Comverse Technologies and Alvarion as well as Venture Capital Funds such as Vertex and JVP. (PTI) |
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9.5% EPF interest to stay: Verma NEW DELHI, July 8 : Hopeful of a buoyant recovery and timely completion of business process re-engineering of EPFO, Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma today expressed confidence that 9.5 per cent epf interest could be maintained next year, in spite of falling interest rates. "May be next year too, we will be able to maintain 9.5 per cent interest," Verma told reporters here, adding that the EPFO had been able to give the rate this year due to handsome recovery in the recent past (a nine-fold increase over that in the 1990s). He said once the BPR was complete, the accounts would be credited instantaneously and could save upto Rs 100 crore a year in interest income by avoiding delays. He said he was confident that the EPFO could recover over Rs 1,511 crore through its new action packed recovery strategy ‘complaince 04’ and to that extent there would be increase in the income for the organisation, enabling it to pass that on to over 3.2 crore subscribers. At present, the investment income (or corpus) of the EPFO stands at over Rs 1,40,000 crore with 80 per cent of it in the special deposit scheme, in which further investments had been terminated from June by the Finance Ministry. The Central Board of Trustees of Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had recently cut the interest by 0.5 per cent, while doling out a golden jubilee year bonus of 0.5 per cent, thus virtually maintaining the EPF interest at 9.5 per cent for this financial year. The surpluys left with EPFO after paying out 9.5 per cent has been projected at Rs 25 crore in 2003-04 as compared to over Rs 160 crore in the previous year. (PTI) |
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