IFFCO is world’s largest
KANDLA, Dec 19 — Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative (IFFCO) has attained the status of the world’s largest cooperative fertiliser company with the commissioning of its Kandla expansion project, dedicated by Home Minister L.K. Advani to the nation here today.

LG turnover set to cross Rs 1,000 cr SHIMLA, Dec 19 — Mr Kwang Ro Kim, Managing Director of LG Electronics India, has asserted that his company will not enter the price war unleashed by rival companies in the consumer electronics sector and stick to ethical marketing.

HP tops in consumer cases’ disposal
CONSUMER movement is fast catching up in this region as more and more consumers are becoming aware of their rights in relation to the goods purchased and services availed.

• Company notes

Oil import bill to shoot up by 150 pc

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (PTI) — The Government is believed to have decided not to increase prices of diesel or any other petro product during the ongoing session of Parliament despite shooting international prices, which is expected to raise the country’s oil import bill by 150 per cent to over Rs 60,000 crore.

No decision will be taken during the winter session that ends on December 23, highly placed Petroleum Ministry sources said, pointing out that delay in revising diesel prices would have a definite impact on oil pool deficits as international crude prices had breached the $ 26 a barrel mark.

Top officials declined to comment on the issue in view of the Parliament session even while admitting that global oil prices had thrown their projections awry. In its oil economy budget, the ministry had projected average international crude price at $ 16 a barrel for computing the oil import bill.

The sources said hardening of prices globally would impact most of the oil import bill, which was earlier estimated to be just over $ 7 billion in the current financial year from about $ 6 billion in 1998-99.

They said the Petroleum Ministry was yet to take up the issue of raising prices of petro products with the Finance Ministry despite realising that the oil pool deficit would shoot by Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 crore from estimates of Rs 3,400 crore in October when diesel prices were hiked by a hefty 35 per cent.

Ministry sources indicated that at the prevailing international prices the diesel cost would have to be hiked by up to Rs 2 per litre while saying that the government would also have to take a view on increasing prices of LPG and kerosene.

The Government is also assessing the possibility of limiting the hike in prices of diesel, keeping in view the ensuing elections in States of Bihar, Orissa and Haryana. Besides the prolonged transporters’ strike following the hike in this fuel on October 5, a day before the counting for the elections for the 13th Lok Sabha began, sources said.

As per a Cabinet decision of 1997, the domestic prices of diesel were to be at par with the international prices and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik had said that any hike in diesel would depend on a review of the global situation on December 5.

However, a review meeting is yet to be held on the subject, sources said.

The Government had estimated the oil import bill to go up to Rs 54,000 crore last month when international crude was ruling around $ 21-22 a barrel, hoping that global prices had reached a pleateu.

Tax bonanza for cash-strapped Punjab
By B.K. Chum

CHANDIGARH : Cash-strapped Punjab has recorded a sharp increase of 27.4 per cent in its tax receipts during the first eight months of the financial year 1999-2000 over collections in the corresponding period of last year.

Although the quantum jump in the revenue has provided some respite to the hard-pressed Akali-BJP government, the financial crisis it has been facing remains unabated. Government employees working in the State Secretariat here could not be paid their November salaries for about a week under court orders following a petition filed by a contractor for non-payment of his dues by the government.

The big growth in the tax revenue in the first eight months is in sharp contrast to the meagre growth of about 7 per cent in collections for the entire 1998-99.

Mr Sudhir Mittal, Punjab Excise and Taxation Commissioner, told this writer that sales tax revenue, the biggest single source of the State’s income, during the first eight months was Rs 1336.91 crore against Rs 1049.51 crore in the corresponding period of last year, registering an increase of Rs 287.40 crore (27.4 per cent). Of this, State sales tax contributed Rs 1137.30 crore, Rs 275.34 crore (31.9 per cent) more than last year’s Rs 861.96 crore while Central sales tax yielded Rs 199.61 crore against last year’s corresponding figure of Rs 187.55 crore representing growth of 6.4 per cent.

The biggest factor that caused the quantum jump in tax receipts was the bumper wheat and rabi crops in 1999-2000 which led to a record collection of sales tax and purchase tax. There were record arrivals of over 79 lakh tonnes of wheat and nearly 110 lakh tonnes of paddy during the year. Cotton production this year has also been higher than the previous year which had witnessed considerable damage both to paddy and cotton crops by unseasonal rains. According to Mr Mittal, the increase in sales tax collections from the agricultural sector ranged between 45 and 50 per cent, while that from the non-agriculture sector was 20 per cent.

There is, however, likely to be a slowdown in the tax growth rate in the last quarter as the next rabi crop will start arriving only in April 2000. Consequently, the exchequer will not net much revenue from the agricultural sector during the three months. However, officials are optimistic about achieving the sales tax recovery target of Rs 2000 crore fixed for the year as against last year’s Rs 1485 crore.

Punjab’s second biggest source of revenue is excise duty on liquor. The income from this source also rose by 15.7 per cent during April-November, 1999 to Rs 2173.73 crore against Rs 1878.63 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

The coalition ministry has been exploring ways to come out of the acute financial crisis for which its own populist actions have been largely responsible. But the rulers did not have the political will to enforce their own announcements. The government had announced that in the current year’s budget it will mobilise nearly Rs 1000 crore through additional taxes, reduction in subsidies, by increasing user charges for public services, and by affecting economy in government expenditure. But whatever half-hearted attempts were made to partially implement some of these measures were later abandoned under pressure from the BJP, and resistance from affected sections of the people. To meet the resulting crisis which often forced the government to suspend payments except salaries, the State Government was given a special assistance of Rs 795 crore by the Centre on the promise that in future Punjab would have to manage its affairs on its own.

Admitting that sales tax evasion was the biggest source of tax leakage,the government notified stringent punishment, including jail sentence for those evading the tax. Again under pressure from the BJP and the trading community the government rescinded the order within a few days of issuing it in November although 20 other States have similar provisions to punish tax evaders.

In another attempt to check evasion, the government has now set up information collecting centres at a number of places in Punjab to collect information for hauling up those who try to avoid sales tax payment. The centres managed by the State Excise and Taxation Department substitute the Sales Tax Barriers earlier operated by the Department at border entry points of the State.

CAG: raise vehicle insurance premium

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (UNI) — A hike in the premium for motor vehicle insurance has become necessary to prevent heavy losses being suffered by four subsidiaries of GIC of India, according to the latest report of CAG for 1999.

The GIC subsidiaries suffered an aggregate loss of Rs 1,144 crore in three years (1995-98) in motor insurance and other miscellaneous insurance segments due to the collection of premium substantially lower than the claims paid out, the CAG report says.The subsidiaries are National Insurance Company Limited, Calcutta, New India Assurance Company Limited, Mumbai, Oriental Insurance Company Limited, New Delhi and United India Insurance Company Limited, Chennai.The total premium collected covered only 70 per cent of the expenses and claims that had to be settled in 1997-98.

LG turnover set to cross Rs 1,000 cr
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 19 — Mr Kwang Ro Kim, Managing Director of LG Electronics India, has asserted that his company will not enter the price war unleashed by rival companies in the consumer electronics sector and stick to ethical marketing.

Mr Kim, who was here for the company dealers meeting, said LG Electronics was the only company which had not come out with any “exchange” or “gift” scheme and yet achieved a 100 per cent increase over last year’s turnover. The company started operations in the country in May, 1997, and its annual turnover, which was Rs 500 crore last year, was set to cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark by the end of December. It had set the target of the Rs 1,500 crore turnover over the next calendar year.

IFFCO is world’s largest

KANDLA, Dec 19 (PTI) — Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative (IFFCO) has attained the status of the world’s largest cooperative fertiliser company with the commissioning of its Kandla expansion project, dedicated by Home Minister L.K. Advani to the nation here today.

With this the cooperative giant’s production capacity has touched a mammoth total of 47 lakh tonnes of fertilisers, contributing about 18 per cent of the total urea production and 16 per cent of phosphate in the country.

The Rs 212 crore expansion project for enhancing the production capacity of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and complex fertilisers to 15 lakh tonnes of bulk phosphatic fertilisers, was completed with a cost saving of Rs 7 crore and two and a half months ahead of schedule, top company officials said.

With the expansion, the plant now has six streams of production lines, all working at a capacity of over 150 per cent, officials said adding that the new production lines which started commercial production in August, was also operating at over 150 per cent.

The plant, which was severely affected by a cyclone in the mid-1998 due to its location on the Kandla creek, has constructed a Rs 24 crore dedicated jetty to import liquid phosphoric acid and ammonia, both main raw-materials for manufacturing complex fertilisers.

Spies in e-mail greetings

ARE you attracted by the twinkling stars and colourful fireworks in electronic Christmas cards? If so, be careful. The cards could potentially spoil your holidays.

There have been reports that so-called Internet spies can infiltrate a computer system when Internet greeting cards are opened. The cards have become popular this holiday season.

Remote-controlled spy programmes attached to the cards can automatically hack into network systems and access or even delete all files. Germany’s federal agency for secure information technology (BSI) is expecting a flood of new Internet spies around Christmas and New Year.

It’s not just greeting cards that can install Internet spies on a computer. E-mail attachments, screen savers, and other software downloaded from the Internet can be infested with spies.

“Spying software can secretly take control of a computer,” says virus expert Christoph Fischer. “Spying software includes titles such as ‘Back Orifice’, ‘Netbus’, or ‘Subseven.”

Unnoticed by the user, such programmes can make changes to a computer’s vital system files or to applications in general. But unlike a computer virus, spy programmes cannot multiply and spread on their own. — DPA

Are you at risk?

There are plenty of reasons not to want to use virus software. After all, it costs money, it’s a drain on system resources, and once it’s installed you have to worry about keeping it up-to-date.

Also, if you have never had a virus, you begin to wonder whether the threat of getting one is real.

It is. Take it from Virginia-based business owner Rebecca Kary, who never understood the need to use virus software until the PCs she uses in her firm started exhibiting “strange” behaviour.

“I thought the concern over viruses was mostly due to media hype,” Kary told DPA.” But last month several of the machines started acting weirdly — not letting us save documents we were working on, for example.

A technician finally figured out that all the machines had viruses. I’ve learned, she said. Plenty of people have learned about viruses — the hard way.

You can get attacked by a virus travelling over the Internet, through infected floppy disks you get from others, even from tainted floppy disks or CDs you get from manufacturers.

Pieces of computer code designed specifically to make your day unpleasant, viruses have been known to perform all kinds of nasty tricks, from making it impossible for you to save a file to destroying the entire contents of your hard drive.

If you’ are currently not using anti-virus software, you may even have computer viruses on your PC at this very moment without being aware of it. Some of the most common viruses today work subtly, forcing your applications to work in ways that befuddle you.

Most active computer users today have experienced computer viruses in one form or another. If you have not, it is probably just a matter of time. — DPA

Y2K clinics

CMC Limited, India’s premier IT company, in a move to counter the Y2K problem, has opened clinics-cum-help centres to test personal computers for Y2K compliance and install the required fix tools.

The Y2K clinics will remain open for the next five days at New Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam.

The centres will be manned by experienced CMC technical staff, who will provide free of cost testing for Y2K compliance from December 20 to 24.

The Y2K clinics are intended to help individuals, professionals and small business to get their PCs tested and made Y2K compliant. The help desks will distribute Y2K test tool kits and relevant information material. Technical experts from CMC will also give suggestions to the users on how to make their PCs Y2K compliant. — UNI

Smart cards

In a unique venture, a consortium of infotech companies and banks have joined hands with Mumbai IIT and RBI to undertake a pilot project on multi-purpose electronic cash cards — smart cards.

The Reserve Bank will announce electronic-purse standards for payment industry in India after the consortium submits its report on the pilot project in January, Ashok Malhotra, Country Business Manager of Ascom India, a member of the consortium, told PTI.

HP tops in consumer cases’ disposal
By V.P. Prabhakar

CONSUMER movement is fast catching up in this region as more and more consumers are becoming aware of their rights in relation to the goods purchased and services availed.They are approaching consumer courts, both at the State and district levels to get their grievances redressed.

In the disposal of consumer cases also this region is quite ahead of others. In the State Commissions, Himachal Pradesh is at the top in the northern region with 93 per cent cases disposed of since its inception. In all 1824 cases were filed before it and it was able to dispose of 1,712 cases. The cases pending with it are just 112.

At the district fora, the rate of disposal in Himachal Pradesh is 85 per cent. It is the second in this respect, the first in this respect in Punjab. In Himachal Pradesh at the district fora 10,815 cases were filed and 9,295 cases disposed of. The pending cases are 1520.

The next comes the Union Territory of Chandigarh where at the State Commission level the disposal rate is 90 per cent. Since its inception 1661 cases were filed before it and it was able to dispose of 1,507 cases and pending cases are just 154. At the district fora level, the percentage of disposal comes to 77 per cent. As against the 12,950 cases filed, disposal was of 10,079 cases. The pending cases are 2,871.

The Haryana State Commission disposed of 70 per cent cases and that of Punjab 55 per cent cases. Against 6,776 and 3,354 cases filed respectively before Haryana and Punjab, the commissions disposed of 4,802 and 1,961 cases. The pending cases are 1,974 and 1,573. Punjab’s disposal was much better at the district fora than Haryana’s. It was 89 per cent against 75 per cent in Haryana.

In Jammu and Kashmir the disposal of cases at the State level was 61 per cent and that at the district fora 80 per cent. In Delhi, the disposal at the State Commission level was 69 per cent and at the district level 75 per cent.

The main objectives of the consumer protection programme are to create a suitable administrative and legal mechanism within the easy reach of consumers and to involve and motivate various sections of society such as consumer organisations, women, youth etc to participate in the programme.

The Consumer Protection Act is considered to be a milestone in the history of socio-economic legislation in the country. It is a unique piece of legislation as it provides a separate three-tier consumer disputes redressal machinery at the national, state and district levels.

At present the National Commission at New Delhi, 32 State Commissions and 543 district fora are functioning in the country to deal with consumer grievances.

However, inadequacy of proper infrastructure is one of the main reasons for the increasing pendency in these courts. For this purpose, the Department of Consumer Affairs started a scheme to give one-time grant to the States/UTs to supplement their efforts to strengthen the infrastructure of the consumer courts during 1995-97.

Under the scheme, each State Commission was to be given Rs 50 lakh and each district fora Rs 10 lakh in four equal instalments subject to reduction of pendency of cases. The department released Rs 29.98 crore in 1995-96, Rs 24.64 crore in 1996-97 and Rs 3.50 crore in 1997-98 under the scheme.

UP got the maximum grant of Rs 510 lakh till date. It was followed by Bihar with Rs 440 lakh and Madhya Pradesh with Rs 375 lakh. Haryana got Rs 210 lakh, Himachal Pradesh Rs 170 lakh, Jummu and Kashmir 52.5 lakh, Punjab Rs 180 lakh and Chandigarh Rs 60 lakh.

Since its inception on June 1, 1987, the National Commission has disposed of 60 per cent cases filed before it. Upto January 1, 1999 the number of cases filed before it was 15,088 and it had disposed of 8,994 cases. The number of pending cases is 6,094.

The percentage of disposal of cases in the State Commissions also comes to 60 per cent only. Since their inception they were flooded with 1,36,529 cases and they were able to clear 81,453 cases. Hence, 55,076 cases are pending before them.

In 1991, the Central Government amended the Central Excise and Salt Act 1944 to create the Consumer Welfare Fund. The Fund has been set up by the Department of Revenue and is being operated by the Department of Consumer affairs. The money which is not refundable to manufacturers is being credited to the fund.

The main objective of the fund is to provide financial assistance for promoting and protecting the welfare of consumers, generate consumer awareness and strengthen consumer movement in the country particularly in rural areas. So far, more than Rs 55 crore has been credited to the fund. The Standing Committee under the Consumer Welfare Fund Rule has cleared 364 proposals in its 21 meetings held so far, with the financial sanction of about Rs 3.11 crore.

The Department of Consumers Affairs has decided to set up at least one consumer information centre in each State to begin with. The centres, which will be run by NGOs, will function as library, information, guidance, research and testing centres. They will be provided with NICNET facilities so that the consumer-related information available with ministries/departments is made available to consumers virtually at their doorstep through these centres.

For this purpose, it has been decided to provide initial financial backup of Rs 4 lakh to these centres from the Consumer Welfare Fund as one time grant. Out of this, Rs 2.35 lakh will be spent towards non-recurring components such as purchasing for computer system, periodicals and journals, furniture, telephone etc. and the remaining Rs 1.65 lakh on administrative purposes on a tapering basis over a period of five years. So far five cases have been approved for setting up of consumer information centres.

by Ashok Kumar

Philips’ long-term prospects bright

Q: Would you rate Apollo Tyres as a viable investment option?

— Mihir Bahn, Shimla.

A slow-down in the tyre market and rubber procurement at high prices have put on the brakes on Apollo Tyres Ltd (ATL). The slowdown in the economy has kept the demand for truck tyres, more particularly in the replacement market stagnant for most part of the year. Even as tyre producers grapple with over-capacities and high levels of inventories, the government stirred up a hornet’s nest by proposing free imports of used and second-hand tyres. ATL has traditionally been the market leader in the truck and bus segments. ATL caters to the replacement segment of the domestic market, and following its takeover of Premier Tyres, ATL’s market share has risen.

ATL has entered into a long-term understanding with United Tyres, Canada, for a 50 per cent buyback arrangement. Its exports are routed through Apollo International to the US, Germany, Brazil, Sudan, Egypt, etc. A well entrenched position in the replacement market, favours ATL and the declining price trend of key inputs like natural rubber and carbon black may provide relief to its wafer-thin margins. Given the above mentioned factors, an investment in its shares is not immediately recommended, although a watch on its future performance could be kept for the time being.

Q: Would you recommend a hold or a sell in case of Philips India?

— Arun Kumar Deol, Ludhiana.
— R.K. Bedi, Chandigarh.

A: Philips India Ltd. (PIL) has implemented a proposal to shift the Salt Lake factory near Calcutta to Pune, and to offer selective ‘transfers’ to employees of the Salt Lake factory to Pune, where it will be setting up an integrated ‘sound and vision’ factory. The development laboratory in Salt Lake is also being moved to Pune. PIL’s strategy for its Salt Lake unit is in conformity with Philips’ global policy to stake off loss making businesses. Multiple production facilities are being closed down in favour of a single composite unit. Low-tech activities like ‘bundling’ in case of television manufacture are being hived off to third parties all to shore up the button line. The entire range of audio and video production may be centred at the Pimpri factory at Pune where PIL will essentially do the hi-tech PCB fabrication job. The video bundling could be shifted to the Japanese Bay in Noida with, big moulding plants situated there, and at least two big picture tube manufacturers nearby. Mohali, off Chandigarh, is another major bundling centre under consideration. Following the fine-tuning of various operational parameters in the last one year, PIL is all to embark upon a rejuvenated marketing exercise aimed at securing a larger share of the domestic CTV market (Current market share 10-11%). Discount packages have been rationalised and sales officers have been deployed for better customer interface and demonstration of products, and the choice of dealers is being given importance. Besides, the supply chain structure has been rationalised. The long term prospects of this company appear promising in view of which shareholders could hold on.

Q: Kindly comment on the future prospects of Duncan Industries.

— Mekhala Jain, Delhi.

A part of the Duncan-Goenka group, Duncan Industries Ltd. (DIL) has diversified interests in the tea and fertilisers segment. The former constitutes 20 per cent of the company’s sales while the latter contributes 80 per cent. On the financial front, however, the company’s results have been uninspiring.The company is hampered by an increasing debt burden which is proving to be a major cause for concern. The fertiliser division of the company has been hit severely on account of excessive imports. It thus appears that the company will face testing times years to come.

Q: Please highlight the future prospects of LML. Should one stay invested in this scrip?

— Reena Ansari, Delhi.
— Kavya Sethna, Katra.

A: LML is a prominent player in the Indian two wheeler industry and is primarily engaged in the manufacture of scooters. Following the liberalisation of the Indian economy, the company embarked on a strategy of segmentation which helped it to enhance its bottomline. The company started manufacturing products which catered to different niche areas. Due to its inhouse R&D efforts the company launched the select model which was very well received in the market. Later on it introduced the Supremo model. The company has drawn up expansion plans of Rs 204 crore, which will increase its present capacity and enable it to offer a range of vehicles. On the financial front the company’s track record has been satisfactory and its future profitability prospects also appear fairly encouraging. With a good R&D backing and consumer friendly approach LML is emerging as player to reckon with and hence its future prospects could be said to fairly bright. In the light of these factors, existing shareholders could stay invested in this scrip.

Virgin marriage joys are here

THE match between Air India and Virgin may appear mismatch because of divergent styles of operations of the two carriers but both bridegroom and bride wear a huge grin on their faces as gains are enormous.

The signing of papers, was far from solemn. There was a touch of flamboyancy, pomp and show. The ceremony was like a “Rokana”, as is the traditional custom in Hindus. Unlike Virgin’s chief Richard Branson who alighted from well-decorated elephant, Air India’s boss Michael Mascrehens refused to ride the elephant insisting that his operations were from ground level. But both an Indian and a Britisher met with all the warmth.

The move for code-sharing between Air India and Virgin has been in existence for sometime. But the move was kept a closely guarded secret because there were many thorny issues which needed to be sorted out.

Aviation watchers feel that “Rokana” has been easy, marriage in the next few months will be easier but delivery may be hazardous. Those who have known the style of functioning of Branson say that he is highly aggressive and he thrives on virtual recklessness. He has had several brushes with British Airways. Some he won and some he lost.

There is other school of thought belonging to the airline industry. It insists that no less articulate is “MM”. If an Englishman believes in “commerce” so does Mascrehans. It may be difficult but if they attain the same wave length, Air India’s happy days may soon return before 2001 starts.

Branson and his four-member entourage flew back home by Air India. The Virgin chief and his colleagues were all praise of the food, snacks and service provided by AI. Branson kept saying that AI-Virgin would break new ground in the world of the aviation.

Like Tower (the USA), there will be cut-throat competition in fares on the UK-India routes when Virgin starts operating flights ex Delhi and Mumbai.

The tickets of Branson and his group had been cancelled. It might not have been deliberate on part of an agent of Virgin but it was no fault of British Airways either. Branson held a press conference expressing his resentment on ‘bumping off’ by BA. But BA maintained silence on this issue maintaining that “silence is golden”, let it be improved upon by the Virgin chief’.

Branson has been thriving on controversies. The stiffer the controversy, the more successful he emerges out of it. He is at his best in controversies, like Australian business tycoon Kerry Packer.

Company notes

L&T on prowl

LARSEN and Toubro is looking for acquisitions of cement plants in the western and southern parts of the country as part of its growth plans in the cement sector, L&T member of board and President (operations) A. Ramakrishna told PTI.

Petronet

Petronet India Ltd would start looking for new investors if Essar oil did not come up with its share of equity money by December, Luv Chhabra, Managing Director of Petronet India Ltd told PTI.

Hero group

Hero group subsidiaries are not bound by the commitment given by Hero Honda Motors Limited to its Japanese partner that it will not foray into the scooter segment for the next five years, group Chairman Brijmohan Lall Munjal has said.

Besides, the Hero group subsidiaries could also manufacture those category of scooters which will be manufactured by Honda Motor Company’s recently launched subsidiary, Munjal told UNI in New Delhi. — UNI

Bajaj

Bajaj Electrials Limited has drawn up ambitious diversification and new product launch plans to help it garner a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore in three years time.

It has decided to set up a facility to manufacture highmasts, double the capacity of wind power generation, introduce air (desert) coolers, heaters and gas appliances, according to Shekhar Bajaj, Chairman and Managing Director. — PTI

Insilco

I am holder of 150 shares of Insilco Limited registered office. Bhartiagram, PO Gajraula (Muradabad) UP bearing Folio No. 5076587, certificate Nos. 34161 and 201178. I sent these shares for endorsement to the company on 20-4-1999, but so far I do not know the fate of the shares.

Nipun Gupta
Chandigarh

Padmini Poly

I purchased 100 shares of Padmini Polymer with certificate No 035317 distinctive No 04532435 to 04532534. I sent the shares to the company for transfer on 07-12-98. I have not heard any thing from the company till todate.

Mohinder Singh
New Delhi

II

I sent 200 shares with certificate No 149432, 14942 and distinctive No 2495035 to 134 and 2494935 to 5034 for transfer to M/s Padmini Polymers on 1.3.99. So far I have not received back the shares certificate after doing needful.

A.K. Bharti
Palampur (Kangra)

Pantaloon

I am holder of 100 shares of Pantaloon Fashions (I) Limited, 86, Mirza Street, Venktash Bhavan Mumbai, bearing F. No PF 1575 certificate No. 5447. I wrote 20 letters to the company for stop transfer and issue of duplicate shares, but so far I have not heard anything from the company.

Aman Gupta
Chandigarh

Finolex Cables

Share certificate No. 268800 was mailed to Finolex Cables at its registered office on Aug 18, 1999 for effecting its transfer in my name. Also my bonus entitlement and dividend in reference to the said shares remains unpaid as on date.

Amarjit Singh Kalra
Taraori (Karnal)

BHEL

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (PTI) — BHEL has bagged an order worth Rs 15 crore from Ingersoll Rand to manufacture 12 synchronous and induction motors of 3950 KW rating BHEL will manufacture these units at its Bhopal plant.

Inflation dips

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (PTI) — The inflation rate continued to decline for the third consecutive week and stood at 2.44 per cent for the week ended December 4 following the consistent fall in the prices of major food products.

Assocham

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (UNI) — Shekhar Bajaj today took over as President of Assocham from KP Singh. Mr Raghu Mody of the Rasoi group succeeds as alternate President.