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| Govt to form seed authority to curb spurious seeds menace COIMBATORE, Nov 21: The Centre would create a seed authority to check the menace of spurious seeds, especially in......more Sisodia
asks PSU banks to NEW DELHI, Nov 21: The Finance Ministry is of the view that public sector banks need to address a number of in-house.....more ECGC paid
up capital NEW DELHI, Nov 21: The Government has agreed in principle to increase the paid up capital of the Export Credit.....more Manufacturing
records NEW DELHI, Nov 21: The Indian manufacturing sector registered an impressive growth during first half of this fiscal.........more |
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New three-wheelers should conform to zero emission norms: EPCA NEW DELHI, Nov 21: Identifying three-wheelers as a major source of pollution, the Environment Pollution Control.........more Lord Paul’s Caparo group to expand operations in India LONDON, Nov 21: Lord Swraj Paul’s Caparo group today announced a major expansion of its operations in India with........more Indian
global NEW DELHI, Nov 21: To enable Indian SMEs gain a stronghold in the global markets, CII with the Ministry of Small.....more End to
Japanese tax TOKYO, Nov 21: Cloudy economic conditions could hamper Japan’s efforts to raise taxes, Japanese Economics Minis........more |
Govt to form seed authority to
curb COIMBATORE, Nov 21: The Centre would create a seed authority to check the menace of spurious seeds, especially in cotton seeds, Union Agricultural Commissioner D C Mayee has said. The authority would be constituted soon after the bill for protection of plant varieties was passed in the current session of Parliament, he told newspersons here yesterday. At least 24 crops, including cotton, would be brought under the purview of the Plant Varieties Protection Act, he added. Stating that the process of setting up the Seed Authority (SA) had just begun, he said laboratories were also being set up country-wide to verify the quality of seeds, meant for sale in the market. Over 100 varieties of seeds produced by the private sector had to be denotified, Mr Mayee said adding that the prevalence of numerous varieties of seeds was spreading confusion among farmers. Those who wished to sell seeds of any crop would have to register with the sa by furnishing details and characteristics of the seed variety, he said. The setting up of the SA would automatically lead to the elimination of the spurious seeds menace, he claimed. On BT cotton, Mr Mayee said the BT cotton area under cultivation had risen from 30,000 ha in 2002-03 to one lakh ha in the subsequent year and its performance was also found "good." During the current crop season, with the introduction of new varieties of BT cotton, the crop was expected to grow over six lakh ha. Mr Mayee said cotton production would cross the 200 lakh bale mark this year and the area under cotton cultivation would be over nine million ha, especially as more area was being brought under the crop during the summer season in Tamil Nadu. To ensure fair price to the farmers for their produce, the cotton corporation of India would be procuring the cotton in case the price of the crop decreased below minimum support price, affixed by the Government. Earlier, Mr Mayee inaugurated a seminar on cotton development through contract farming at the South India Mills Association. (UNI) |
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Sisodia asks PSU banks to address in-house issues NEW DELHI, Nov 21: The Finance Ministry is of the view that public sector banks need to address a number of in-house issues to meet their global aspirations, including reducing their wage bill and improving their operating profits. "One can hardly be complacent if one looks at Indian banking in terms of cost structures, human resources, technology platforms, management systems and corporate governance," Mr N S Sisodia, Secretary (financial sector) in the Ministry of Finance, told UNI. Mr Sisodia said there was an efficient fringe in the banking sector, but it is overshadowed by public sector banks which constitute the bulk. He said in the case of public sector banks, operating profit as a percentage of total assets is about one percentage point lower than that of foreign banks operating in India. Mr Sisodia said the wage bill as a percentage of total assets in the case of public sector banks is higher by about one percentage point as compared to the new private sector banks, which is indicative of the scope for economies. "In the area of technology, the haste to implement core banking is not matched by a similar urgency to introduce modest but more efficient solutions, relating to systems, procedures, and customer interface," Mr Sisodia said. As regards risk assessment and mitigation, Mr Sisodia said freeing up of interest rates, more often than not, has provided the managements a rationale to bypass risk based pricing of credit worthiness. "And as far as corporate goverance is concerned, it is still looked at as a matter of conscience, rather than business necessity", he said. Mr Sisodia said there was considerable scope for the Government to improve upon its role as an owner by demanding a better return on assets, by strengthening the Board of Directors and by holding top managements accountable so that public ownership satisfies both social objectives and competitive behaviour. "This is how one may expect the Government policy to unfold in the short run", Mr Sisodia said. "In the long run, the copetitive pressures would only harden and Indian banking can ill afford to derive solace from the Kensyian Maxim that in the long run we are all dead. I am also confident that given the size, scope and recent performance of Indian banking, it would best be able to realise its global aspirations, the more focused it is on the local", Mr Sisodia said. In this sense, he said, agriculture, small and medium enterprises, infrastructure and regional and interpersonal skew in income offer tremendous scope and opportunity for innovation and productivity growth. "This is not a naive prescription. There are no instances of successful global players who are not successful local players at the same time", Mr Sisodia said. (UNI) |
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| ECGC paid up capital to be
raised by Rs 300 crore in 3 yrs NEW DELHI, Nov 21: The Government has agreed in principle to increase the paid up capital of the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd (ECGC) by Rs 300 crore to Rs 800 crore in the next three years. The increased capital will enable the state-owned corporation, which covers risk of exporting on credit, to provide insurance support to high risk exports, sources told UNI here. The funds will also enable the company to own 20 per cent of the stake in the proposed Rs 2,000 crore National Export Insurance Fund (NEIF), they said. The funds will be injected from the next fiscal, with Rs 100 crore to be pumped each year, the sources said. The corporation’s authorised capital is Rs 1,000 crore. The proposed NEIF, approved in principle by the Finance Ministry, will provide insurance cover to medium and large project exports from the country. The fund is now awaiting the cabinet nod, ECGC CMD P K Daksh had said recently. The Government and ECGC will own the stake in the fund in ratio of 80:20. ECGC had recently initialled a framework agreement with Vensh Econom Bank(VEB) of Russia and EXIM bank of that country to fund and provide insurance cover to projects in third countries. The agreement will be inked during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India beginning December 3. In foreign trade policy, the Commerce Ministry has identified CIS countries as the thrust areas and our efforts are part of that approach, ECGC officials had said. (UNI) |
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Manufacturing records impressive
NEW DELHI, Nov 21: The Indian manufacturing sector registered an impressive growth during first half of this fiscal, says an ascon survey carried out by the associations council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). However, it said, the growth of the manufacturing sector can be further improved if the Government takes adequate measure to address a number of specific issues like high excise duty structure, spiralling price increase of some inputs, low investment in major infrastructure projects, low capacity utilisation, inverted duty structure and unrestricted second hand goods import. Of the total of 134 sectors reporting production, 33 sectors recorded an excellent growth rate of more than 20 per cent, 43 sectors recorded a high growth rate of 10-20 per cent, 43 sectors registered moderate growth rate of 0-10 per cent while 15 sectors reported negative growth, it said. During the corresponding period last year, only 12 sectors had recorded excellent growth, 47 recorded high growth, 64 sectors reported moderate growth and 29 sectors had registered negative growth. According to the survey, auto components, power cables, industrial valves, M HCV’s, LCV’s, cars, utility vehicles, three wheelers, ball and roller bearings, transformers, machine tools, electrical fans, tractors, sugar machinery, edible oils, were in the excellent growth category. Aluminium, sponge iron, castings, diesel, industrial gases, pumps, transmission line towers, drugs and pharmaceuticals were all in the high growth category. As far as sales are concerned, out of the 71 sectors considered 20 sectors registered excellent growth, 20 sectors registered high growth, and 25 sectors reported moderate growth while 6 sectors recorded low or negative growth. During the corresponding period last year, 6 sectors recorded excellent sales growth, 21 recorded high growth rate, and 40 recorded moderate growth rates while 9 sectors had registered negative growth. It said that auto components, castings, ball and roller bearings, refractories, industrial valves, fluid power, M HCV’s, LCVs, utility vehicles, air conditioners, tractors, textile machinery were some of the sectors in the excellent growth category. Those in the high growth category include sponge iron, plastics, electronic components, forgings, precision tubes, motorcycles, refrigerators, washing machines and pulp paper. Cast iron spun pipe, pig iron, and crude oil recorded negative sales growth. The Indian manufacturing industry is not only experiencing high growth in the domestic front, but is also doing well globally, it said. The latest survey indicates that 18 sectors have shown excellent growth in exports. There are 18 sectors in the high growth category, 6 sectors recorded moderate growth, while 14 sectors registered a fall in exports. Auto components fluid power, sugar machinery LCVs, M HCVs, glass products, air conditioners, sugar machinery, electrical fans, cars, diesel engines, M HCV’s, motor cycles, colour TV are some which have done well on the exports front, registering excellent growth. Those in the high growth category include plastics, rubber goods, construction, industrial furnace, while machine tools, B/W TV, polyester staple fibre, steel, and pig iron reported negative growth in exports. (UNI) |
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New three-wheelers should
conform to zero NEW DELHI, Nov 21: Identifying three-wheelers as a major source of pollution, the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) has suggested to the Supreme Court that new additions to the autorickshaw fleet in Delhi should be zero emission vehicles like the battery-operated ones. In its report to the Supreme Court recommending no increase in the three-wheeler strength in the city, the EPCA noted that these vehicles were vital to the transporation plan of the city as they transport more people than private cars. "It needs to be promoted," the EPCA felt but said in the interim, till the Delhi Government came out with a concrete plan, "increase in the number of three-wheelers should be allowed only in the category of zero emission vehicles, namely battery-operated three-wheelers". Stating that all was not well with the enforcement of the clean fuel norm for three-wheelers, the pollution control body added "the data from the visible pollution drive of the Delhi Government shows that autos are contributing to the pollution load in the city." Another factor which contributed to the pollution was that low quality and illegal loose oil was being sold in open market contrary to the orders of the Supreme Court, EPCA said and added "this is adding to the problem of poor maintenance and emissions". It pointed out that the Delhi Government has not yet exhausted the extra 5000 permits for new TSRA granted by the Supreme Court as only 3000 new permits have been given till date. (PTI) |
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Lord Paul’s Caparo group to expand operations in India LONDON, Nov 21: Lord Swraj Paul’s Caparo group today announced a major expansion of its operations in India with the addition of three automotive components manufacturing plants, aimed at generating a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years. Paul, founder chairman of London-based Caparo group, told a group of visiting Indian journalists that Caparo was looking to generate annual turnover of Rs 300-Rs 350 crore in 2005, raising it to Rs 1,000 crore in three years. With India poised to emerge as a leading manufacturer and exporter of cars in the next five years, Lord Paul envisaged that the Caparo group would be a leading exporter of automobile components from India to other parts of the world. His youngest son angad is chairman and chief executive officer of Caparo’s Indian companies. Paul, who was thwarted in the early 1980s from taking over DCM and escorts companies in India, said the new plants were under construction for completion next year. They include a new automotive components plant at Bawal in Haryana, which will be in operation in February-March next year and another plant in Indore, which will double its turnover to Rs 70 crore by June next year. Expansion of the Halol plant in Gujarat to raise the turnover to Rs 24 crore by July next year and setting up of a plant in Haryana for manufacturing fasteners for the automotive and general industries, which will be in production by September next year with an annual turnover of Rs 50 crore in the first phase, are the projects being planned. Paul said work would start for constructing a leisure complex in Greater Noida on 24 acres of land that has already been acquired. Being a person who is very proud of India and absolutely sure of its abilities, Paul said he had a dream for India on which he had been working for a long time and there was an atmosphere now in which Caparo could be part of that dream. "My son is also dedicated to achieving that vision. He is our only British son and one can see the pride in him of being of Indian origin," he said. Caparo started the Caparo Maruti plant in 1994 to make automotive components for Maruti and under Angad it has reached a turnover of Rs 100 crore. The three-year-old Indore plant has a current turnover of Rs 35 crore and the Halol plant Rs 10 crore. Last week the Caparo group announced acquisition of five European steel companies with a combined annual sales turnover of approximately 135 million pounds (Rs 1,090 crore) for an undisclosed sum. The five european steel companies, Tyco Tybe, Tyco Strip, industrial fasteners GKS-centrepiece, systems scaffolding ltd and Barcelona-based lipe, are Britain’s leading manufacturers and distributors of precision steel tubing assemblies. (PTI) |
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Indian global summit on SMEs from Nov 23 NEW DELHI, Nov 21: To enable Indian SMEs gain a stronghold in the global markets, CII with the Ministry of Small Scale Industries is organising a two-day conference ‘Indian global summit on SMEs 2004’ on 23-24 November here. The conference will bring SMEs across the world on one platform, foster collaborative initiatives and facilitate integration with the world economy, a chamber release here said. Besides entrepreneurs, CEOs, planners and decision makers from Governments, SME associations, FIS, consultants, academia, R and D agencies, senior bureaucrats and potential investors, more than 150 overseas delegates from 35 countries are expected to attend the conference. The summit will cover critical issues like challenges and opportunities for SMEs in the global scenario and discuss and suggest measures to encourage the development of SMEs in an environment of increased economic interdependence and open regionalism. The summit will be inaugurated by Small Scale Industries Minister Mahabir Prasad. Dr R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, will deliver the special address. The countries participating in the summit include Afghanistan, Algeria, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, Lesotho, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China (Beijing, Shanghai), Georgia, Italy, the Ivory Coast, Japan, Kabul, Korea, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Reunion Island, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania and the USA. (UNI) |
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End to Japanese tax cuts hinges on economy:Takenaka TOKYO, Nov 21: Cloudy economic conditions could hamper Japan’s efforts to raise taxes, Japanese Economics Minister Heizo Takenaka said on Sunday. "It cannot be done on fiscal tightening theory alone. It must be done in line with economic conditions," Takenaka said on a television programme. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth virtually stalled in the July-September quarter, rising 0.1 percent in real price-adjusted terms from the previous quarter. New calculation methods, to be adopted when revised data is released in early December, may show the economy had slightly contracted in the three months to September. The Government is set to phase out personal income tax cuts worth 3.3 trillion yen ( 31.66 billion) over the next two years. The tax cuts were adopted in 1999 to stimulate the economy. Takenaka said the financial system was stable, unlike 1997, when a financial crisis loomed before the consumption tax was raised, but there were signs of uncertainty over future economic conditions. Personal consumption accounts for more than half of the 500-trillion-yen economy and was the sole factor boosting GDP in the period from July to September, he said. The increase in the public’s burden — in the form of reduced tax cuts as well as increases in pension payments from next April —should not exceed one percent of Japan’s GDP, he said. Japan’s Government debt burden is about 140 percent of GDP, among the highest in the developed world, because of various spending packages to boost its economy. ( 1=104.22 yen) (AGENCIES) |
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Samsung elec says wins 340 mln versatel order SEOUL, Nov 21: South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co said on Sunday it has won a 340 million order to supply telecoms equipment to versatel telecom international of the Netherlands. Under the contract, signed last week, Samsung will provide the dutch group with equipment for next-generation telecoms networks over the next three years, the company said in a statement. Versatel, which emerged debt-free from bankruptcy 2 years ago, is investing in the convergence of high-speed internet, broadcasting and increasingly popular broadband phone services using so-called "voice on the internet protocol". It provides services to the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Shares in Versatel, which some investors say may be a takeover target for Sweden’s tele2, have enjoyed a bull run that saw it gain about 40 percent since the last week of October. Samsung electronics is the world’s largest memory chip maker and the no. 3 handset supplier. It expected to sell more than 86 million mobile phones this year. The company, Asia’s most valuable technology firm, posted a net profit of 2.69 trillion won ( 2.52 billion) for the third quarter to September, representing a whopping 46 percent jump from a year earlier. Its sales rose 27 percent to 14.34 trillion won in the period. ( 1=1069.0 won) (AGENCIES) |
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Petroleum Secretary in Iran to discuss energy issues NEW DELHI, Nov 21: Petroleum Secretary S C Tripathy will lead a high-level delegation to Iran from tommorow to discuss a number of issued including stake in an oil field for ONGC in return for buying Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). During his three-day visit, from November 22-24, the Secretary will discuss all possible areas of energy cooperation with Iran. Mr Tripathy said Iran was keen to sell LNG and he would be negotiating with Iranian authorites best possible terms for buying the same. Iran has offered to give ONGC’s overseas arm ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) a 20 per cent stake in its potential 300,000-barrel-a-day Yadevaran oil field, if India buys five million metric tons a year of Iranian Liquefied Natural Gas. It has offered LNG at a price of 2.57 dollars per million British Thermal Units and India is seeking a lower price. "The price of LNG from Iran has to be lower than what rasgas is offering us," the Petroleum Secretary said. Iran has offered 40 per cent stake of Indian Oil Corporation in a gas block in south pars field of petropars, a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). "I would be discussing the deal with the Iranian authorities as the two companies have signed an MoU on this but the deal is yet to get Government approval," Mr Tripathi said. The two companies also propose to build a liquefaction facility in Iran for LNG. The investment decision will be taken once necessary agreements are made with the NIOC. He will also discuss the modernisation of Tabriz and Tehran refineries, the contract for which has been given to Indian Oil and Eil combine. The Indian visit comes after Iran signed a 70 million dollrs LNG purchase agreement with China, which is also looking for a cut in a oilfield. (UNI) |
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Doda district to be electrified fullky: Niaz JAMMU, Nov 21: Jammu and Kashmir Power Minister Mohammad Sharief Niaz today said the Doda district would be electrified fully within three years. Addressing a public rally near Gandoh in Doda, he said as there were still many areas in Doda district which did not have electricity, Rs 50 crore was being spent to electrify such areas. The Power Minister said the Government was also contemplating to start work on some micro hydel projects in the Doda district. Asserting that development activities had picked up in Doda during the past two years, Mr Niaz said the work on 11 foot bridges and some link roads in Gandoh and Bhaderwah blocks would also be taken up soon. He called upon the executing agencies to work with dedication for fair and judicious use of funds. The minister also distributed cheques worth Rs 9.43 lakh as subsidy under poultry development scheme among the beneficiaries of Thatri and Gandoh blocks on behalf of DRDA for the construction of nine poultry sheds. (UNI) Forest dept to make efforts to increase revenue: Pachpute AHMEDNAGAR, Nov 21: The Forest Department in Maharashtra would launch various schemes including herbal medicine project, eco-tourism, green zone and development of private forest land to boost the income of the department. "The Forest Department fetches only Rs 141 crore per year presently. But with the proposed schemes, the revenue would increase to Rs 800 crore within five years," State Forest Minister Babanrao Pachpute told PTI here yesterday. Referring to the problem of ‘adivasis’, who have lost their forest land since 1978, the minister said "the Goverment has passed an act for it in 1982. In all 77,000 such cases are waiting to be solved and soon 84,000 acres of land will be given to the ‘adivasis’. At present only 21 per cent land is under forest and steps would be taken to increase the forest cover by way of plantation on barren land and development of forest on private land, Pachpute added. (PTI) |
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