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Tuesday,
December 11, 2001, Chandigarh, India
  
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SC upholds
Balco disinvestment CMIE
lowers GDP growth to 5.7 pc Car
exports rise except Maruti’s
Spice
slashes airtime tariff Naik:
ethanol to be mixed with petrol Picasso
collection in India |
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Videocon
third bidder for Dabhol Power? Punjab
asks FCI to clear wheat stocks
AI loses
Rs 68 cr due to Haj flights
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SC upholds Balco disinvestment
New Delhi, December 10 A three-judge Bench headed by Justice B.N. Kirpal, while holding the disinvestment in Balco as valid, came down heavily on the Chhattisgarh Government for raising a controversy without any basis both regarding the transfer of tribal land on the transparency of the deal. “It is a matter of regret that the Chhattisgarh Government raised such allegations against the Government. We strongly deprecate such allegations made without any basis,” the Bench of Justice Kirpal, Justice Shivaraj V Patil and Justice P.V. Reddi said. Writing the judgement for the Bench, Justice Kirpal said it was not for the court to consider the merit of the economic policies of the government. “Parliament is the proper forum for questioning such policy,” the Bench said. Giving a general ruling, the apex court said no ex-parte relief should be given specifically with regard to matters pertaining to economic policy unless grave irregularities were pointed out. “Only when the court is prima facie satisfied that there would be irreparable damage caused, then the interim relief could be granted,” it said. The court said the government proceeded with the disinvestment in a transparent manner and awarded the shares to the highest bidder. Rejecting the Chhattisgarh Government’s contention that the valuation of the 51 per cent share of the profit-making plant was made arbitrarily, the Bench said: “The court will not interfere in the valuation process unless something gravely irregular is pointed out.” The court said that the Ajit Jogi Government had made baseless allegations against the government and accepted the contention of Attorney General Soli Sorabjee that the court had a limited role in the scrutiny of the economic policy decisions of the government. The state government had contended that the disinvestment in Balco would lead to the transfer of the tribal land to a private company which would be in violation of the apex court ruling in the Samata case. The court also rejected this contention saying the ruling in the Samata case did not apply to Balco disinvestment and added “the land was given to Balco years back. It is not open to the Chhattisgarh Government to somersault and challenge the transfer of the land.” Dealing with a public interest litigation petition challenging the government’s decision to disinvest in Balco, the apex court said every matter evoking curiousity could not be put before the court by means of a PIL. The court can interfere only in those matters where grave violations of statutory provisions were pointed out in the PIL, the Bench said adding that no statutory violation has been pointed out in this case.
PTI
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CMIE lowers GDP growth to 5.7 pc
Mumbai, December 10 The revision follows the slower than expected growth in the industry during the first half, sharp fall in exports and concerns following a fall in the capital goods index, the CMIE said in a statement here today. The monitoring agency had recently revised the industrial sector growth to 3.5 per cent against its earlier projection of 4.5 per cent. The CMIE said the industrial sector was expected to recover in the second half of 2001-02, after having recorded a growth of only 2.3 per cent in the first half while the consumer goods segment was expected to perform well. The index for consumer durables grew by 16 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal as against the 6.5-7 per cent growth recorded in the preceding two quarters. “We expect the index to rise at an even faster pace during the second half”, it added. The index for capital goods fell by 6 per cent in the first quarter and then by 11 per cent in the second quarter. “We had expected a decline in investment activity” but the decline reflected in IIP (Index of Industrial Production) estimates were sharper than our expectations”, the CMIE said. Similarily, the CMIE said, as against official projections of a 12 per cent rise in exports in 2001-02, “we had predicted a zero growth. The trend so far is negative and there are no chances of the year returning positive growth in exports”, it added. The forecast for growth in the services sector was also being maintained at 6.6 per cent.
PTI
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Car exports rise except Maruti’s
New Delhi, December 10 Car exports surged ahead by 14.7 per cent at 27,691 units during April-October, 2001-02, data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. However, Maruti Udyog’s exports dipped 23.2 per cent to 6,188 cars from 8,059 units in the same period last fiscal. Hyundai Motor posted a 112 per cent rise at 3,285 units during the review period. Exports of Tata Engineering (Telco) and General Motors India went up by 7.2 and 12.5 per cent at 281 and 35 cars, respectively. But commercial vehicles exports declined by 27.7 per cent at 5,358 units as against 7,416 units during the year-on-year period due to poor performance by Telco. Telco’s light commercial vehicles (LCV) exports fell by 42.7 per cent while in the medium and heavy (M&H) category, it declined by 47.5 per cent to 788 units during the first seven months this fiscal. LML bike sales up
LML Ltd today said its motor cycles sales rose by 96.6 per cent in November to 5,873 units from 2,987 units in the same month last year. Scooter sales, however, fell by 28 per cent to 9,863 units from 13,707 units, a company spokesperson told PTI today. LML also sold 270 “Trendy” scoterettes this month. The scooter sales went up marginally as compared to 9,790 units sold in October while motor cycles increased by 44.5 per cent over 4,063 units sold in the previous month.
PTI
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Spice slashes airtime tariff Chandigarh, December 10 The outgoing airtime rates per 30 seconds (day) will be as following: Spice Prize Rs 1.25, Spice Bonus Rs 2.25, Spice Bumper Rs 0.88, Spice Fortune Rs 0.75, Spice Jackpot Rs 0.50, Spice Bonanza Mini Rs 1.13 and Spice Bonanza Max Rs 0.63. Along with the drop in the airtime rates, the company has also announced the
delinkage of the caller line identification (CLI) from the monthly rental. CLI will now be charged at Rs 99 per month and will be optional for the
consumer on rental plans. For the pre-paid offering Spice Quicky, the validity period has been increased.
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Naik: ethanol to be mixed with petrol New Delhi, December 10 The move intended to help save foreign exchange and boost the prospects of sugarcane growers has been initiated following the success of pilot projects, Mr Naik said. He said the sale of petrol blended with ethanol would initially be implemented in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh and then extended to other states in the second phase. Mr Naik said the three existing pilot projects would take up the blending of ethanol in petrol at the rate of 10 per cent after sorting the issues such as modifications of BIS specifications etc. He said Rs 4 crore would be sanctioned for research and development studies on blending of ethanol in diesel, keeping in view the fact that about 80 per cent of fuel consumed by automobiles in India is diesel. These studies are to be completed within six months. Mr Naik said the government had taken a major decision to amend the Sugar Development Act, 1982 so that production of ethanol and co-generation of power from bagasse would get financial assistance from the Sugar Development Fund. This would give impetus to the increased use of ethanol and
efficient use of entire quantity of molasses currently produced. Mr Naik said Brazil has been producing ethanol from sugarcane molasses and juice for more than 40 years. Similarly the USA has been producing it from corn-maize. Ethanol thus produced is being blended with petrol to the extent of 20 per cent to 24 per cent in Brazil and is widely used as auto fuel.
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Picasso collection in India
New Delhi, December 10 "This is the absolute first time that the prized Picasso collection is coming to India," Rajeev Lochan, Director of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), which is organising the exhibition in India, told IANS. A collection of 122 works will be on display from December 14 at the National Museum here. It will remain in the country for over three months and will also go to Mumbai. The priceless collection will be given high security. A special Air France plane will fly in the works of the Spanish artist and it will be escorted in India by paramilitary platoons in armoured vehicles. France will bear the insurance premium and airfreight. "Picasso: Metamorphosis 1900-1972, Picasso from the French collections," is being organised by the Indian government together with the French embassy. "I won't be able to reveal the works that will be featured for security reasons," said Lochan. But the exhibition, he promised, will showcase some of his major paintings, sketches, sculptures and ceramics. The works will cover the artist's transition from cubism to neo-classism and surrealism. "The exhibition will be the largest venture of its scale and will have works spanning his entire career." Picasso is easily the most influential artist of the 20th century. Born in Spain in 1881 to an art teacher, he showed exceptional talent at an early age. It is said he had his first exhibition at the age of 13. Unlike most artists who die poor and unknown, Picasso got both wealth and fame in his lifetime. He created over 20,000 works till his death at the age of 91 in 1973. The works that are to be exhibited here come from Musee Picasso, Centre Georges Pompidou and Musee d'art Moderne d la ville de Paris and a few private collections, all from France. Around 200,000 art lovers in India are expected to view the Picasso works. A special photography exhibition will show snatches of the artist's carefree life in Paris, his role in the Spanish war and the many women in his life. "The exhibition will be a hallmark art event not to be missed," said
Lochan. IANS
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Videocon third bidder for Dabhol Power?
Mumbai, December 10 “This is a matter of top secret and we will not be able to divulge details”, group Director Rajkumar Dhoot told PTI from Aurangabad here yesterday. He also refused to comment on whether Videocon was planning to rope in a multinational partner to pick up DPC stake. Videocon is also believed to have initiated talks with the IDBI-led financial institutions and state Energy Secretary V.M. Lal over their interest in the “distress sale” of the $ 3 billion power project in Guhagar, Maharashtra. However, when contacted, Mr Lal expressed surprise over the Development. “The Videocon group has never held any discussions with the Maharashtra Government regarding DPC’s buyout, nor has it put forward any proposal for the same”, he said. An experienced player in the power sector, Videocon Power a group of Videocon International, has two south-based projects in its kitty, both of which have run into serious trouble on account of escrow-related issues. Apart from Videocon, the two other serious bidders for the project are the Tata Power Company (TPC) and BSES Ltd.
PTI
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Punjab asks FCI to clear wheat stocks New Delhi, December 10 According to official sources, the Punjab Government has sent a communication to the Centre where it has mentioned that it has Rs 12,916 crore worth of wheat lying with agencies. It wants the FCI to purchase the stocks on as is where is basis and make payment for the same. The sources said Punjab was facing a severe shortage of storing space and it has worsened as the movement of foodgrains was less due to paucity of demand from other states. PTI adds: They said as the amount involved was huge, interest charged alone was around Rs 1,300 crore annually causing a large liquidity crunch in the state, prompting the state to send the communique. While new crops are being procured, there has hardly been any offtake. Public Distribution System figures show that during September and October, 2001, there was no movement through Punjab Markfed, one of the procurement agencies, whose 92 per cent of the stocks were lying in the open.
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