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| Anil Ambani writes to RIL directors on reliance info equity NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Ahead of the crucial December 27 Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) board meeting, its vice.......more LUCKNOW, Dec 23: To impart a savvy portfolio to the khadi and position it as a fashion statement, the Uttar Pradesh......more ONGC to
take 30 pc stake in NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Oil and Natural Gas Corp will take a 30 per cent stake in British energy firm Cairn energy’s recent....more Freight
rates to be NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Railways will re-examine freight rates in case diesel prices come down in future though lowering.......more |
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Govt comes out with far-reaching reforms to prune subsidies NEW DELHI, Dec 23: In a bid to cut burgeoning and unsustainable subsidy bill, Government today came out with far.........more World’s
airlines NEW YORK, Dec 23: Airlines worldwide registered a strong recovery this year with performance for scheduled traffic....more MTNL
appoints HSDC NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has appointed HSBC as advisor for the process of synergising.....more Rupee
rallies smartly MUMBAI, Dec 23: The rupee bounced back against the US currency early today........more |
Anil Ambani writes to RIL directors on reliance info equity NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Ahead of the crucial December 27 Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) board meeting, its vice-chairman and managing director Anil Ambani has written to all directors of the company saying that successive changes in the structure of holding of Reliance Infocomm, the telecom arm of the group, were never brought to the attention of the parent company. Company sources said that, in the letter sent last week, Mr Ambani had also pointed out that the board’s approval was never sought for these changes in Reliance Infocomm and its associate companies. Earlier, on December 6, Mr Ambani had written to the directors seeking an early meeting of the board to discuss, among other things, the investments by RIL in Reliance Infocomm. The letters came amidst reports that RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani, as head of the venture, had got 12 per cent sweat equity for Rs 50 crore that was valued many times more. The two brothers have been involved in a running and public feud for the past few weeks over "ownership issues" in the Rs 90,000-crore Reliance group. In his first letter, Mr Anil Ambani wanted the board to consider matters concerning the reliance infocomm group of companies, in which, according to him, RIL had invested over Rs 12,000 crore as per the company’s balance sheet as on March 31, 2004. Asked whether his letter would figure at the December 27 board meeting, convened for taking up a proposal on buyback of RIL shares from the market, company sources said, "it is expected to come up for discussion." Mr Anil Ambani also wanted a discussion on the letter sent by Reliance Energy Ltd (REL), of which he is the chairman, to RIL "on matters concerning future prospects of REL, and related issues." REL has, meanwhile, made known its intention to amend its Articles of Association (AoA) through postal ballot to empower RIL to nominate the chairman and vice-chairman of the power company. In a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange, REL had said it intended to provide in its AoA that as long as the Reliance group of companies and its associates hold over 26 per cent paid up voting equity shares, and are the single largest shareholding group, they shall have the right to appoint the majority of directors on the REL board. REL wanted the existing provision to be substituted with a provision that "RIL shall designate one of the directors to be the chairman of the board and may also designate one of the directors to be the vice-chairman of the board and RIL shall determine the period for which each of them is to hold such office and the chairman and the vice-chairman so designated shall not be liable to retire by rotation." Meanwhile, RIL has said it had not been consulted by REL about its intention to amend its Articles of Association (AoA) to empower the RIL to nominate the chairman and vice-chairman of the power company. "RIL has not been consulted by REL before the proposed re-amendment of the relevant articles of association," according to an RIL spokesperson. The clarification was made after speculation that REL was amending its AoA at the behest of the parent company controlled by his elder brother. At present, as per changes made in March 2004 in the AoA, these powers are vested in Mr Anil Ambani through the existing articles 131(a)(i), 131(a)(ii) and 131(aa). RIL sources claimed that the March, 2004, alterations in the AoA were made without any intimation to the RIL board of directors and without the approval of the Reliance group of companies. According to them, the proposed changes would restore the position as existed before the March amendments. (UNI) |
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LUCKNOW, Dec 23: To impart a savvy portfolio to the khadi and position it as a fashion statement, the Uttar Pradesh Government is organising the ‘All India Khadi and Village Industries Exhibition’ in the state capital from tomorrow. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav would inaugurate the 18-day event being jontly organised by the UP Khadi and Village Industries Board (UPKVIB) and Ministry of Agro and Rural Industries. The main objective of the exhibition is to promote khadi as a lifestyle wear, said UP Khadi Minister Rajaram Pandey. The exhibition would host fashion shows, seminars/conferences, buyer-seller meet, display of khadi specialties of different states, artisans at work, demonstration of latest rural technology silk, muslin and poly khadi from master weavers and cultural programmes. State khadi boards, NGOs, voluntary organisations, prominent village industries of different states, khadi institutions of the country and bankers such as SIDBI and NABARD would participate in the event. "The exhibition aims to bring together the country’s leading institutions and entrepreneurs in the field of Khadi and Village Industries on a common platform," UP Khadi Secretary N S Ravi told UNI. "It would provide an opportunity to share experience and interact with the various promotional agencies for assistance and establish linkages for sale of the produce," he added. The State Government has also decided to engage professional consultants to draw a blue-print to bring about the transformation in khadi. The consultants comprising industry experts and fashion designers would prepare a strategy for production, marketing and packaging of the Gandhian fabric and organise fashion shows, besides giving suggestions on quality control, Mr Ravi said. "The idea is to change the whole concept surrounding khadi from cloth of netas to those going for designer outfit," he added. Fashion industry insiders feel that so far the idea of making a fashion statement with khadi was writ with several challenges viz lacklustre shades, poor marketing strategy and garment quality, that left much to be desired in terms of finishing. (UNI) |
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ONGC to take 30 pc stake in Cairn’s Rajasthan oil fields NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Oil and Natural Gas Corp will take a 30 per cent stake in British energy firm Cairn energy’s recent oil discoveries in Rajasthan. Separately, the Government has decided to compensate ONGC for the statutory levies like royalty on behalf of private sector partners in pre-NELP blocks like Cairn’s RJ-on-90/1 block in Rajasthan. "We have decided to exercise our `walk-in’ right to take 30 per cent participating interest in Mangala and Aishwariya oil fields of Cairn," ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Subir Raha said. The two fields are targeted to produce between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels per day from 2007 end. Though the oil finds in Rajasthan are the largest in more than two decades, ONGC had been deterring from exercising its right to take 30 per cent stake in the block as it would have to pay statutory duties of royalty not just on its own behalf but also on behalf of its private sector partners. Over the life of the field, ONGC would have paid over one billion dollar in royalty, much more than what a 30 per cent share in oil production would have fetched it. A top Government official said the Petroleum Ministry was moving a cabinet note to compensate ONGC for the royalty it pays on behalf of private contractors of pre-NELP fields. ONGC paid Rs 229 crore as cess and royalty until September 2004 on behalf of its partners in blocks PY-3 and Lakshmi field. The official said ONGC would be compensated from the state exchequer, for the amount it pays on behalf of private firms in statutory dues, at the end of every fiscal. Raha said ONGC has also dropped its objections to Cairn energy’s proposal to seek a 856 sq. Km extension in the north west of the RJ-on-90/1 block. ONGC earlier had reservations on the ground that the data generated so far did not justify seeking such a large area as extension. Prior to the new exploration licensing policy, India signed 24 production sharing contracts for exploration blocks (including Cairn’s Rajasthan block), all of which have ONGC as the licensee. As per the PSCs, licensee ONGC is liable to pay cess, royalty, pel fees, rentals etc on behalf of companies who signed the PSCs. ONGC had been representing that it should not be required to bear the burden of statutory levies in respect of share of other partners’ production of crude oil and natural gas. In the case of RJ-on-90/1 block in Rajasthan, the PSC states that Cairn would be liable to pay oil production cess while ONGC would pay 20 per cent royalty. "A feasibility study has found that due to the burden on ongc for statutory levies, the returns would be negative even at 30 dollars a barrel crude price," he said. To make matters worse, the cess and royalty paid by ONGC is not cost recoverable. Tht is, while working out the profit oil for ONGC, the cess and royalty it pays is not deductible such that ONGC has to pay profit oil to the Government without having earned any profit. (PTI) |
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Freight rates to be reviewed in
case diesel NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Railways will re-examine freight rates in case diesel prices come down in future though lowering it was not feasible now, Lok Sabha was informed today. However, at present due to the rise in working expenses of Indian Railways, reducing the rates was not feasible. "We will re-examine the freight rates if diesel prices come down", Minister of State for Railways R Velu said during question hour. Replying to questions, he said the railways would consider reviewing freight charges on perishable commodities. It was also "seriously contemplating identifying routes on which the speed of goods trains could be increased to 100 kms per hour". Around Rs 400 crore of additional revenue was likely to be generated due to the freight increase in some commodities like coal, iron ore, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, bauxite, manganese ore and cement, velu said, adding the railways had suffered a loss of over Rs 500 crore as freight charges had not been increased in the past three years. Replying to a special question on the recent train accident in Punjab, he said an emergency disaster management agency had been set up in Bangalore to train personnel for handling such accidents. To a question by cinestar and BJP MP Vinod Khanna in whose constituency of Jalandhar the accident occurred on December 14, velu said the anti-collision device system was a "successful scheme" and was being implemented in several railway zones across the country. (PTI) |
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Govt comes out with far-reaching
reforms NEW DELHI, Dec 23: In a bid to cut burgeoning and unsustainable subsidy bill, Government today came out with far-reaching reforms to prune food, fertiliser and petroleum subsidies including gradual reduction in LPG and a cautious approach towards kerosene. A paper on Central Government subsidies tabled in Parliament said non-merit subsidies should be eliminated and fertiliser subsidies in the present form should be done away with. The paper prepared with the assistance of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy has been brought out to fulfil the promise made in the Common Minimum Programme that a detailed roadmap would be unveiled in Parliament for better targeting of subsidies to help the poor and the needy. The report came at a time when explicit subsidies in the Central budget has mounted to Rs 45,780 crore accounting for nearly 1.5 per cent of GDP in 2004-05. It said any subsidy restructuring has to address the issue of food subsidy and added PDS system of dual price encouraged leakages. A uniform price policy with a system of food coupons for BPL families needed serious consideration which may be implemented in phases, it said Noting that the domestic LPG and PDS kerosene subsidies seem to be ineffective in serving the desired objectives, the report said the domestic LPG subsidy may be gradually reduced but more cautious approach be pursued in reduction of kerosene subsidies. Asserting that user charges should be linked to costs, the report said appropriate upward adjustment of these charges would directly reduce the subsidy bill. A concrete plan would require fixing recovery targets in three phases of short, medium and long terms, it said adding high costs of service provision and low or negligible recoveries through user charges are the two critical factors leading to high subsidies. "Costs need to be reduced, by eliminating producer inefficiencies," it said stressing there was considerable scope for higher recovery in non-merit category of subsidies. Elaborating on subsidy reform roadmap, the report outlined a five point strategy that should aim at reducing the volume of subsidy relative to revenue receipts, elimination of non-merit subsidies, administering subsidies more directly to the targeted beneficiaries, making subsidies transparent and avoiding multiple subsidies to serve the same policy objective. Total Central Government subsidies as a proportion of GDP amounted to 4.25 per cent in 2002-03 and 4.18 per cent in 2003-04. Such subsidies after declining from a peak of 4.92 per cent in 1992-93 to 3.49 per cent in 1996-97, increased in recent years because of three reasons. First, subsidies in the petroleum sector, which were off-budget have been explicitly incorporated in the Central Government’s budget from 2003-04. Second, there has been an increase in the share of explicit subsidies. Third, while input costs have gone up, recovery rates have not gone up commensurately. Emphasising containment and targeting of subsidies, an essential element of fiscal reform strategy, the report said subsidy reform would remove economic distortions, thereby improving economic efficienty and growth. It would also achieve redistributive objective, reduce budgetary burden and release precious resources and improve the environment by realigning the incentive structure to favour environmentally sound practices. Noting that explicit subsidies provided a limited view of the overall volume of subsidies, the report said explicit and implicit subsidies together were estimated at Rs 1,04,913 crore for 2002-03 and Rs 1,15,824 crore for 2003-04, which as a proprotion of GDP was 4.25 per cent and 4.18 per cent respectively. As a proportion of net revenue receipts, such subsidies were estimated at 45.27 per cent and 44.04 per cent respectively. In 2002-03, merit subsidies accounted for 34 per cent of total subsidies. The share going to non-merit subsidies came down from 66 per cent in 2002-03 to 58 per cent in 2003-04. Not only in terms of its share in total subsidies, but also in absolute rupee terms, non-merit subsidies declined from Rs 69,095 crore to Rs 67,250 crore between 2002-03 and 2003-04. This positive development in non-merit subsidies reflected a substantial improvement in cost recovery rate of 45 per cent to 47 per cent in non-merit categories over the two year period. In 2002-03 and 2003-04, subsidies are estimated to have accounted for 72.32 and 87.68 per cent of fiscal deficit respectively. (PTI) |
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World’s airlines register 14 pc rise: ICAO NEW YORK, Dec 23: Airlines worldwide registered a strong recovery this year with performance for scheduled traffic showing a 14 per cent increase over 2003, according to preliminary figures released by the UN aviation agency. An airlines’ performance is judged in ton-kilometres which is a combined measure of passenger, freight and mail traffic and also takes into account distance flown. The number of passengers carried worldwide on scheduled services is estimated to have reached 1.8 billion compared with less than 1.7 billion last year, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said. Number of seats offered also increased with an average passenger load of 73 per cent, up from 71 in 2003, according to statistics supplied by ICAO’s 188 contracting states. On a regional basis, airlines in the Middle East showed strong growth, followed by Asia/Pacific which in 2003 was negatively affected by the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) there. Growth in North America was similar to the world average, while Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean showed strong increases that were nevertheless below the world average. (PTI) |
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MTNL appoints HSDC as advisor to
guide NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has appointed HSBC as advisor for the process of synergising the PSU’s operations with BSNL, as proposed by the Department of Telecom. "We have finalised on HSBC and the letter has been sent to them," MTNL CMD R S P Sinha told PTI. The advisor will help in preparing the accounts and considering other pros and cons with regard to synergising of operations in the perspective of each individual case. MTNL wants to present its case to DoT with strong figures and updated books as it is a listed entity in India and abroad, and to ensure its sahreholders get the maximum value in the process of synergising of the operations, he said. The dot has already appointed a consortium led by ICICI securities as advisor for synergising the operations of the two telecom PSUs. The consortium includes N M Rothschild (India), Abn Amro, Af Ferguson and lawyers Desai and Dewanji. BSNL is also in the process of appointing an advisor which will assist the telecom giant in the process. (PTI) |
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Rupee rallies smartly against USD in early trade MUMBAI, Dec 23: The rupee bounced back against the US currency early today on strong trade and FII inflows following the overnight downward correction even as trade was expected to be quiet ahead of the Christmas holiday season in major overseas markets. Opening on a positive note at 43.82/85 per dollar at the interbank foreign exchange market here this morning, the rupee is currently quoted at 43.77/78 per dollar, sharply higher from Wednesday’s close of 43.8350/8450 per dollar. After undergoing downward correction yesterday, the rupee today rallied smartly on good exporter dollar sales and steady FII inflows. Although sentiments remained positive for further gains, market players expect the forex spot trade to be quiet and range-bound during the Christmas holiday season. Rupee declined by four paise yesterday, after hitting a two-week closing peak of 43.80/82 per dollar on Tuesday. In cross currency trades, the euro was quoted at Rs 58.78/80, pound sterling at Rs 84.00/03 and the Japanese yen (100) at Rs 42.09/11. (PTI) |
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Indian products in great demand
for Xmas PORT-OF-SPAIN, Dec 23: On the Christmas eve, Indian-made jewellery, clothings and other products are a huge hit with the shoppers here as hundreds of them throng an ongoing Indian trade fair. Christmas in Trinidad and Tobago is big business when the country gets on a shopping spree. The presence of Indian products has added an additional flavour to Christmas shopping. The Indian trade fair jointly promoted by linkers India, New Delhi and the international business promotion, Trinidad and Tobago, has captured the national imagination of shoppers with massive purchases of specially-made Indian items. Some 70 booths reflecting Indian creativity in all aspects of human existence offer such items more than what meets the eye. Indian goods continue to fascinate shoppers around the world for its competitive price, high quality workmanship, both of which can stand the wrought of products made in other countries, G K Arora of linkers India said. "This trade fair is another demonstration of the strong relationships that exist between Trinidad and Tobago, and India," he said. "Trade, economic, cultural and political relationships are significant indicators for the continuation of this relationship," he said. (PTI) |
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Constitution of Asian economic
community NEW DELHI, Dec 23: India has floated the idea of constituting an asian economic community — comprising India, ASEAN, Japan, China and Korea — on the lines of the European Union (EU), the Rajya Sabha was informed today. In order to explore new areas of economic development and trade opportunities among the Asian countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has floated the idea which has been well received by all the countries, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told the House during question hour. "The concept of an Asian economic community has evoked considerable interest and positive response from a number of countries as well as leading thinktanks and academic organizations in the region," he said. Mr Ahamed said talks in this regard were on with all the countries, including China. The framework of a workshop was also being prepared by the research information centre to further discuss the issue. (UNI) |
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Jatropha plantation could solve diesel problems KANPUR, Dec 23: The district administration has stressed on promoting Jatropha or bio-diesel plantation which could solve the crisis of diesel and in turn fetch better returns to the farmers. Kanpur dehat District Magistrate Ashish Goel, while addressing the officials here yesterday, directed them to generate awareness among the farmers towards Jatropha farming which could be a viable substitute to diesel in the country. He said the seeds of Jatropha could be extracted through ordinary expeller and after filteration, its oil could be used for operating diesel propelled engines of tractors, generators, pumping sets and other devices. He said the plant had long life of 20 years and could easily be grown in all climates. (UNI) RBI fixes US dollar ref rate lower at Rs 43.79 MUMBAI, Dec 23: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today fixed the reference rate for US dollar at Rs 43.79 per dollar, nine paise lower than Wednesday’s rate of Rs 43.88, an RBI spokesperson said. The reference rate is based on dollar/rupee exchange rate at 1200 hrs of a few select banks in Mumbai and the SDR-rupee rate will be based on this rate. (UNI) |
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