B U S I N E S S

ST issue: Punjab, Haryana to face action
Chandigarh, November 2
The Union Government is ready to initiate a direct action against some states, including Punjab and Haryana, as these continue to violate national consensus pertaining to the enforcement of floor rates of sales tax on certain items.

LSE cancels broker’s membership
Ludhiana, November 2
The Ludhiana Stock Exchange (LSE) has cancelled the membership ticket of Mr Naresh Dua of Naresh Dua and Co., a broker, for failing to make payments worth about Rs 25 lakh to investors for more than a year. LSE Officials said these actions were taken at a recently held meeting of the Board.

BP launches ‘Pure for Sure’ scheme
Chandigarh, November 2
Bharat Petroleum today launched its "Pure for Sure" scheme for Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana. Under the scheme all BP retail outlets will provide courteous service, assured quality, quantity and efficient fueling.

Ind-Swift net grows 19.3 pc
Chandigarh, November 2
The Ind-Swift group, the Rs 2,160 million pharmaceutical major, has registered growth in Q2 driven by rise in profits and total income of its two companies. Ind-Swift Limited and Ind-Swift Laboratories Limited.

Norms for satellite mobile service
New Delhi, November 2
The government today announced guidelines for issue of licences for the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) service in India, a service where the subscriber can communicate from any point on earth through hand-held terminal.

Phone subscriber panels join hands
Chandigarh, November 2
To fight cartelisation of telecom and internet service providers, telecom subscriber associations in the country have joined hands and formed a Federation of Telecom Consumer Advocacy Groups of India.

Rs 25,000 cr loans for textile units
Amritsar, November 2
Minister for textiles Kashiram Rana said the Central government has floated a technology upgradation fund scheme to uplift and promote the local textile industry in a phased and financially viable manner.

ROUND-UP

415,000 jobs shed in USA in Oct
Washington, November 2
The US job market suffered its heaviest blow in more than two decades in October, shedding a staggering 415,000 jobs as the full impact of the devastating September 11 attacks struck an economy already in the early stages of recession, a government report on Friday showed.

• Coffee can cure headache

• JCT exports jump 60 pc

• TVS-Suzuki sales rise 42.5 pc

ST issue: Punjab, Haryana to face action
Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Chandigarh, November 2
The Union Government is ready to initiate a direct action against some states, including Punjab and Haryana, as these continue to violate national consensus pertaining to the enforcement of floor rates of sales tax on certain items.

Official sources said the Union Finance Ministry had served a show-cause notice on Punjab, Haryana and certain other states asking why action should not be taken against them for violating the national agreement on sales tax.

Sources said the ministry had made it clear that it would stop the central assistance and other grants from the central pool, if the amends were not made.

Earlier, also the Union Government had told these states to fall in line or face action for not sticking to the national consensus.

Gujarat and Tamil Nadu has lodged a strong complaint against Punjab for violating the floor rates in case of pesticides and fertilisers. Against the approved national floor rate of 4 per cent on fertilisers, Punjab has totally exempted fertilisers from sales tax. On pesticides, Punjab charges only 2 per cent against the approved floor rate of 4 per cent. On diesel Punjab has given a concession of 4 per cent and charges 8 per cent against the national floor rate of 12 per cent.

By giving these concessions, mainly to farmers, Punjab is suffering a revenue loss of Rs 200 crore.

Sources said most of the fertiliser and pesticide companies had shifted their billing headquarters to Bathinda keeping in view the tax holiday on fertilisers and tax concession on pesticides. This had affected the revenue of the states from where these offices had been shifted, sources added.

Because of the revenue loss, states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which have fertiliser industry, have cried foul and urged the Union Government to take action against the states flouting the national consensus.

As the Tamil Nadu Government felt that Punjab and Haryana would not fall in line, it also slashed sales tax rate on fertilisers to 1 per cent, sources said.

Interestingly, Punjab is part of a six-member committee set up by the Union Government to review the implementation of floor rates from time to time and to ensure their enforcement. However, Punjab itself has become a principal violator of the consensus.

Haryana is not enforcing the floor rates because of Punjab. With the increase of rates by Haryana, these items would become costly in that state and their sale would be hit in the areas adjacent to the Punjab border. In fact, Haryana had enforced the floor rates a few weeks ago but again restored the parity with Punjab as it did not increase the rates.

LSE cancels broker’s membership
Manoj Kumar
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 2
The Ludhiana Stock Exchange (LSE) has cancelled the membership ticket of Mr Naresh Dua of Naresh Dua and Co., a broker, for failing to make payments worth about Rs 25 lakh to investors for more than a year. LSE Officials said these actions were taken at a recently held meeting of the Board. It has recovered more than Rs 12 lakh by auctioning his ticket, office room and forfeiting his security with the exchange, which would be distributed among the complainants proportionately.

It is learnt that about six investors had complained to the LSE a year ago that they had invested in the shares through Mr Dua. They claimed that they were given proper contract notes for the payments, however, later they were denied payments. The LSE officials disclosed that Mr Dua had accepted that he was unable to make the payments, so the subsequent action was taken against him.

The Investors Grievance Cell (IGC) has also reportedly recommended to the Board of management to take appropriate action against another broker Mr Ashok Makkar for allegedly duping the investors worth more than Rs 20 lakh.

However, Mr Makkar denied that he owed any money to the complainants. He said, “They have complained only after losing money in the shares. I am ready to face any action. However, I have no knowledge about any enquiry against me.”

It is learnt that Mr Lakhbir Singh Behl, an NRI based in the USA, Mr Darshan Singh Gill, a retired CRPF commandant, Mr Satinder Saini and Mr Harparkash Singh of Balloke village had complained to the LSE that Mr Makkar had cheated them through fraudulent share deals. Mr Behl alleged that he had purchased about 400 shares which were sold through Mayank Financial Services, authorised sub-broker of Mr Makkar. However, no payment was made to him despite repeated requests.

BP launches ‘Pure for Sure’ scheme
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 2
Bharat Petroleum today launched its "Pure for Sure" scheme for Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana.

Under the scheme all BP retail outlets will provide courteous service, assured quality, quantity and efficient fueling.

Now the company plans to cover more than 800 retail outlets across 50 cities by March, 2002.

Mr S.P. Singh, MD, CITCO, and Special Secretary Tourism, Chandigarh, who launched the"Pure for Sure" initiative, said it will bring to customer value for money and give them better mileage and lower maintenance expenses.

Throwing more light on the scheme, Mr S.P. Mathur, General Manager, (North) said, "Pure for Sure" will check the menace of adulteration in petrol.

The company has appointed a German firm, Tuv Suddeutschland, which gives the certificate after examining the prescribed measures at its retail outlets.

He said 14 retail outlets are being covered in Chandigarh, Panchkula, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar. Mr A.K. Gupta, EFP leader in Mumbai, said a separate cell has been set up to check adulteration. If any error is found at any retail outlet, its facilities would be withdrawn.

BP has also introduced tamper-free locks for tankers to eliminate petrol pilferage.

The company takes regular samples from each outlet before delivering oil. Even consumers are allowed to check petrol samples.

It will relaunch Petro Card scheme in the city before March. The scheme will also cover Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Asked about the fall in company's profit and sales, the GM said it is performing better than others and its market share has gone up.

Mr G.M. Vats, N.K. Ahuja, Territory Managers, Ambala, Jalandhar and P V Kumar, Area Marketing Manager, were also present.

Ind-Swift net grows 19.3 pc
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 2
The Ind-Swift group, the Rs 2,160 million pharmaceutical major, has registered growth in Q2 driven by rise in profits and total income of its two companies. Ind-Swift Limited and Ind-Swift Laboratories Limited.

Whereas the parent formulations company, Ind-Swift Limited has reported a 19.3 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 22.40 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 as against the net profit of Rs 18.77 million for the same quarter previous year.

The bulk drugs company, Ind-Swift Laboratories, has reported a 26.96 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 15.10 million for the same quarter as against the net profit of Rs 11.90 million for the same quarter previous year.

The total income has also grown for both companies. Ind-Swift Limited registered a rise of 16.52 per cent in the total income for the quarter to Rs 315.93 million from Rs 271.12 million.

Norms for satellite mobile service
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 2
The government today announced guidelines for issue of licences for the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) service in India, a service where the subscriber can communicate from any point on earth through hand-held terminal.

With the GMPCS service the subscriber will have one telephone number irrespective of his location. It also enables easy, flexible and convenient communication along with more economical use of radio frequency spectrum.

The 20-year licences for the GMPCS will be issued on non-exclusive basis, subject to clearance of specific proposal from security angle. The licence can be made further extendable by 10 years.

Under the guidelines, the applicant has to be an Indian company with foreign equity not exceeding 49 per cent at any time during the entire licence period. Investment in the company by an NRI / Overseas Corporate Bodies (OCBs) /international funding agencies will be counted towards its foreign equity. The applicant company and/or its promoters should also have experience in telecom sector, according to the guidelines.

A Gateway Earth Station along with control and monitoring facility for all licensed systems will be located in India. From the security point of view, the operation and maintenance of the Gateways will be with the authority/organisation designated by the government. GMPCS operators will provide monitoring facilities and security features as decided by the security agencies.

The licensee company will be required to pay one time entry fee of Rs 1 crore prior to signing the licence agreement.

Phone subscriber panels join hands
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 2
To fight cartelisation of telecom and internet service providers, telecom subscriber associations in the country have joined hands and formed a Federation of Telecom Consumer Advocacy Groups of India.

The federation will take up major issues concerning basic and cellular telephony , Internet and paging services. A resolution was passed by the subscriber associations in New Delhi.

While Mr S N Aggarwal of VOICE will be the convener, the co-conveners will be Mr K N Jena, President, the Federation of Consumer Organisations, Orissa, Mr A K G Pillai, Karela Consumer Society, Cochin, Mr Neelam Singh, General Secretary , Chandigarh Telecom Subscribers Association and Mr Randhir Verma, President , Chandigarh Telecom Subscribers Association.

The Chandigarh office will be the head office of the federation.

Rs 25,000 cr loans for textile units
Our Correspondent

Amritsar, November 2
Minister for textiles Kashiram Rana said the Central government has floated a technology upgradation fund scheme to uplift and promote the local textile industry in a phased and financially viable manner.

Under the scheme the government will give loans worth Rs 25,000 crore for five years at 5 per cent interests which is aimed at modernisation of quality manufacturing equipment. It will enable the industry for global competition.

He said the government had already received proposals worth Rs 40,000 crore and about Rs 4,000 crore had already been disbursed to various textile units.

Mr Rana said the Prime Minister has recently convened a special meeting of the Ministry of Textile and the Ministry of Finance to iron out problems to provide thrust.

ROUND-UP

415,000 jobs shed in USA in Oct

Washington, November 2
The US job market suffered its heaviest blow in more than two decades in October, shedding a staggering 415,000 jobs as the full impact of the devastating September 11 attacks struck an economy already in the early stages of recession, a government report on Friday showed.

The Labour Department said the national unemployment rate soared half a percentage point to 5.4 percent last month from 4.9 per cent in September — the highest in nearly five years since a matching 5.4 per cent rate in December 1996.

October's job losses were the sharpest for any month since May 1980, when 464,000 were dropped from payrolls, and came on top of a revised 213,000 jobs decrease in September — even worse than the initially reported 199,000 jobs loss. Last month's performance was far worse than the 289,000 jobs that Wall Street analysts had forecast would be lost and the unemployment rate was well above their 5.2 per cent estimate. Reuters

Coffee can cure headache

London
A big cup of coffee can provide the much-needed relief from persisting tension headache faster than a 400mg-tablet of analgesic ibuprofen, according to a US study.

The study, published in the latest issue of New Scientist, revealed a combination of caffeine and ibuprofen is more effective for long-lasting relief.

At the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago, 345 patients were split into four groups. Each was given either 400 milligrams ibuprofen alone, 400 mg of ibuprofen in combination with 200 mg caffeine, 200mg caffeine alone or a placebo to treat every tension headache over a two-month period.

The study by US researchers found that 58 per cent of those who took either caffeine or ibuprofen alone reported complete relief from a headache and the caffeine-takers typically experienced relief about half an hour faster. The caffeine dose was equivalent to that in a large mug of coffee, says Seymour Diamond, head of the study team. ANI

JCT exports jump 60 pc

Phagwara
JCT Mills, Phagwara, has increased its export by 60 per cent within six months despite a recession in Indian industries, especially in textile industry.

This was claimed by JCT Director (Operation) Rajmohan Singh and General Manager J.C. Sodhi while addressing a news conference here today. They said the mill had exported cloth worth Rs 7 crore during the past six months and they expected to achieve an increase of 80 per cent. UNI

TVS-Suzuki sales rise 42.5 pc

Bangalore
TVS Suzuki today announced that its motor cycle sales rose by 42.51 per cent in October (45,865 units) compared to the corresponding month (32,183 units) last year. The TVS Victor has sold over 8,300 units in October 2001. The demand was not completely met due to restrictions in supply. PTI

BIZ BRIEFS

Hind Lever unit
Sumerpur (UP), November 2
The Chairman of Hindustan Lever Ltd, Mr M.S. Banga, inaugurated the second unit of the company’s detergent bar factory here today. Mr Banga said the new 60,000 tonne per annum plant had been set up with a capital investment of Rs 15 crore. The factory had achieved 75 per cent of its rated capacity within three months, he added. PTI

Panipat refinery
Panipat, November 2
IOC Panipat refinery was today awarded the International Safety Rating System Level Seven certification by the Det Norske Veritas (DNV), London. Refinery Executive Director Jaspal Singh received the certification from Mr Rajnesh Kumar of the DNV at a function here. UNI

Amartex in HP
Chandigarh, November 2
After having successfully opened its clothing showrooms in Mandi, Kangra, Solan, Hamirpur, Kunihar, Amartex is now going to have its presence in Rampur Bushehr, Shimla, Una, Rekong Peo, Rohru, Paonta Sahib and Palampur. TNS

Mostrela
Chandigarh, November 2
Mostrela has launched its latest collection “The Warm Trinity” comprising brands Sequined in formal wear, Bulky Knits in casual wear and Tie and Dye and Prints in semi formals. TNS

IndiaMart.com
New Delhi, November 2
IndiaMart.com has posted a 92 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 9.11 lakh for the half-year ended September 30, 2001, as compared to Rs 4.75 lakh in the corresponding period last year. Income from operations was up 61 per cent to Rs 177.93 lakh during April-September this year as against Rs 110.72 lakh in the corresponding period last year according to a company statement issued here today. PTI

GM car sales
New Delhi, November 2
General Motors India (GM) said yesterday that its October car sales had increased by 35.4 per cent at 600 units over 443 units in the same month last year. The sales were, however, down by 25 per cent compared to 800 cars sold in September this year, a GM spokesperson said. TNS

Rakesh Mohan
New Delhi, November 2
The Economic Adviser to the Finance Minister, Mr Rakesh Mohan, who had decided to quit for “personal reasons”, is likely to continue in the post till the Budget exercise is completed by March next year. According to official sources, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has persuaded Mr Mohan to stay put till the Budget, as a change at this juncture could upset things. TNS

HM sales down
New Delhi, November 2
Hindustan Motors (HM) said today its car sales have declined by 8 per cent in October to 1,565 units from 1,702 units in the year-ago month. The sales were also down by 5.3 per cent as compared to 1,653 cars sold in September this year. HM sold 500 units of the premium mid-size car Lancer, made in technical alliance with Japan’s Mitsubishi motors Corp., and 1,065 Ambassador cars during the month. Sales of the utility vehicle ‘Trekker’ and ‘rural transport vehicles’ stood at 132 and 163 units respectively. PTI

ICICI Infotech
Dubai, November 2
Tricolour Infotech, a joint venture of ICICI Infotech and Emirates Bank Group of Dubai, has acquired the Middle East business of a Dubai Internet City-based IT solution provider. The company, Innovative System Solution (Insyst), has been in business for over 15 years and is known for designing, developing, implementing and maintaining enterprise-wide information solutions. IANS