The Tribune...Business

	B U S I N E S S	Friday, July 10, 1998
weather n spotlight today's calendar

‘BJP govt letting prices
rise to benefit traders’
NEW DELHI, July 9 — The government was today lambasted in the Lok Sabha for total failure to contain the hike in the prices of essential commodities...

Protest by Congress against price hike
New Delhi, July 9 — The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee today held a demonstration in the Capital in protest against the soaring prices of essential commodities...

On boarding bus &
losing baggage Check
Out by Pushpa Girimaji

Tata Consultancy tops
list of IT cos

Apollo Tyres may set up unit in Punjab
NEW DELHI, July 9 — Apollo Tyres Ltd (ATL), after a setback in the two-wheeler tyre segment, is all set to relaunch its brand Black Cat in September...

‘BJP govt letting prices
rise to benefit traders’
NEW DELHI, July 9 (UNI) — The government was today lambasted in the Lok Sabha for total failure to contain the hike in the prices of essential commodities.
Initiating a discussion under Rule 193 on the rise in the prices of essential commodities, Mr Basudev Acharya of the CPM alleged that the government had failed to contain the price rise because it had come to power with the help of traders,blackmarketeers and others engaged in trade. Therefore, the government was allowing the prices to soar.He demanded a temporary ban on the export of essential commodities, expansion and strengthening of the public distribution system and stringent measures against hoarders and blackmarketeers.
Mr Acharya alleged that the government proposed to decontrol sugar because it had collected a huge amount of money from sugar traders and mill owners.
Jagat Veer Singh Dron (BJP) while admitting that the prices of essential commodities had gone up in the recent weeks, said the fluctuation was seasonal.The most significant hike was in the prices of vegetables and fruits, he said, adding that unseasonal rain had damaged potato and onion crops on a large scale, increasing prices of vegetables.
The second factor contributing to the price rise was the myopic policies pursued by the previous government which failed to ensure remunerative prices to the growers, forcing them to switch over to other crops, he said.
Mohan Singh (Samajwadi Party), disagreeing with Dron, said prices had gone up as the government lacked will to control it

Protest by Congress against price hike
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 9 — The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee today held a demonstration in the Capital in protest against the soaring prices of essential commodities.
The protesters beating “thalis” marched through several busy market areas in Delhi to express their protest against the increasing prices of several commodities.
The DPCC president, Ms Sheila Dikshit, accompanied by party office-bearers went round the city and blamed the BJP-led Delhi Government for hardships being faced by the common people.

To drive home their point, the party workers put up huge price lists of various commodities at major traffic intersections. The lists draws comparisons with the prices prevailing before the BJP-led government came to power and after

On boarding bus & losing baggage
Check Out by Pushpa Girimaji
SUPPOSE you are travelling long distance by bus and your baggage is lost or destroyed. Is the transport company liable to make good the loss?
Consumer courts have held that so long as the baggage is in the custody of the passenger, it is his or her responsibility to keep it safe, but if it is entrusted to the care of the transport operator, he is liable for any loss or damage caused to it.
Take the case of Prabhat Nalini Devi. She was returning from Bhubaneswar to Sundergarh by bus, after attending a wedding. She had kept her suitcase right next to her in the aisle of the bus, but the bus conductor, who wanted to accommodate additional passengers by placing wooden stools there, forced her to part with her suitcase, so that it could be kept on the roof of the bus.
And to Ms Devi’s horror, when she reached Sundergarh, the suitcase was missing. When her complaints with the police and the State Transport Authority did not bring forth any results, she filed a complaint before the Orissa State Commission (Prabhat Nalini Devi vs Rashmi Travels) seeking a compensation of Rs 1,42,690 for the silk sarees and jewellery lost.
The bus company however took the plea that for every luggage that was loaded onto the roof of the bus, a separate baggage ticket was given and at the end of the journey, the baggage was handed over to the passenger on verification of the ticket.
As far as the smaller articles of baggage that the passengers carried with them into the bus, the transport company took no responsibility for their safety.
In this case, since the passenger had not bought a luggage ticket, she cannot claim compensation for the loss as she had not paid for its carriage. The Commission, after a detailed hearing, came to the conclusion that the transport company was negligent in handling the passenger’s suitcase, said the Commission.

When a passenger carries his personal luggage with him and keeps it under his own supervision, the staff of the bus have no responsibility in the matter. But if the luggage is entrusted to the staff of the bus for safe custody, then it
is obvious that it is the responsibility of the staff to ensure its safe delivery.
The Commission also pointed out that the baggage could have slipped from the roof of the bus and fallen down on the road somewhere, it could have been stolen, or it could be a case of mistaken delivery. But whatever may be the cause, the baggage was missing because of the carelessness or negligence of the bus staff.
And the owner of the bus was vicariously liable for the loss. However, the State Commission awarded only Rs 10,000 as compensation, on the ground that (a) the complainant had given different estimates of the cost of jewellery lost by her in her written complaint before the Commission and later in her evidence and also in her FIR before the police, (b) she had failed to show, as promised, the still photographs and video clips of her wearing the jewellery at the wedding in Bhubaneswar, in support of her claim that the suitcase contained expensive jewellery and (c) if she really carried as much jewellery as she claimed, she would not have allowed the suitcase to be taken away from her.
As these cases show, a transport company can be hauled up before the consumer court, if the baggage entrusted to its care is lost or damaged. However, consumers would do well to take certain basic precautions while travelling long distance by bus (a) Whenever you buy a ticket to travel, make sure that the bus has a luggage compartment for the baggage.
Never allow suitcases, particularly those containing clothes, to be put on the roof of a bus. It may just fall down during the journey or even get damaged in the rain. (b) Most transport companies these days issue a baggage ticket or a baggage token for having received your baggage. Insist on it.
It also ensures that your baggage is not carried away by mistake by some other passenger. (c) If you are carrying expensive clothes, camera, jewellery or cash, pack them all in a small bag and keep it with you. Never hand it over to the bus conductor to be kept in the luggage compartment.

Apollo Tyres may set up unit in Punjab
NEW DELHI, July 9 (PTI) — Apollo Tyres Ltd (ATL), after a setback in the two-wheeler tyre segment, is all set to relaunch its brand Black Cat in September.
“Initially we have decided to roll out 40,000-50,000 scooter tyres and talks are underway with two wheeler manufacturers selling them,” Onkar S. Kanwar, Vice-Chairman, ATL, told PTI in an interview.
He said ATL has also decided to setup a separate profit centre head for two wheeler tyres along with a complete separate marketing infrastructure for Black Cat tyres.
ATL had to stop selling Black Cat tyres last year due to poor market response for its tyres and poor marketing of the brand.The company would be using the production facility of S. Kumar’s, with technology and knowhow for manufacturing tyres provided by Apollo”, Kanwar added.
After scooter tyres, the company would be also selling motor cycle tyres.The company management has now taken a long-term view and decided to capture 25 per cent of the five lakh tyre market in the next two years.
On future expansion plans, Kanwar said ATL would shortly setup a new factory either in Punjab or Andhra Pradesh for manufacturing tractor and off-the-road tyres (OTR) along with light commercial tyres.
Emphasis would be on tractor tyres, whose demand is more than supply in the markets.Following the recessionary phase in the automobile sector, ATL has decided to focus on export markets

Tata Consultancy tops list of IT cos
NEW DELHI, July 9 (PTI) — Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has emerged as the number one information technology (IT) company in the country with its revenue touching Rs 1,083.63 crore during 1997-98.
Wipro systems (Rs 481.65 crore) and HCL consulting (Rs 345.50 crore) came second and third in terms of revenue achieved during the last fiscal year, says a study by national association of software and service companies (Nasscom).
A major portion of revenue of it companies comes from exports with TCS clocking Rs 955.27 crore through this route, the study said adding entire revenue of HCL came from exports.
Out of the total exports of Rs 6,530 crore from the country during the year, almost 59 per cent was to the United States, 22 per cent to Europe, 5 per cent to South East Asia, 4 per cent to Japan, 2 per cent to West Asia and 6 per cent to rest of the world, Nasscom said.
The other companies which came in the first six list includes NIIT (Rs 325.40 crore), Pentafour Software Exports (Rs 284.56 crore) and Infosys Technologies Limited (Rs 257.66 crore), the study said.During the last year, about 73 companies have exported more than Rs 10 crore worth of software. This is in comparision to 1992-93, when only eight companies exported software to the tune of Rs 10 crore or above. This indicates an upswing, high proliferation and all-round proliferation and growth in the area, it noted.

Biz briefs
Ordnance
NEW DELHI, July 9 (PTI) — The government is considering proposals for allowing the private sector to manufacture some items in the ordnance factories and corporatisation of some departments in these factories, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Defence Minister George Fernandes said the outcome of the recent interaction between the CII and the Defence Ministry was awaited before taking the next step.

ONGC
NEW DELHI, July 9 (PTI) — The ONGC has no plans to avail benefits of the Kar Vivad Samadhan scheme to settle its total disputed tax liability of Rs 2147.38 crore, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. “As per the expert legal opinion obtained by ONGC, claims of the income tax and excise departments are not tenable,” Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply.

FII outflow
NEW DELHI, July 9 (PTI) — The government should announce more confidence building measures immediately to arrest the sudden outflow of foreign exchange following withdrawals by foreign institutional investors (FII). “There is no need to panic over the FII outflows witnessed for the last three months as outflows and inflows fluctuate by nature,” Dr V.R. Panchamukhi, Director of Research and Information System for the non-aligned and other developing countries, told PTI here.