Monday, February 8, 1999
today's calendar
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B U S I N E S S | Monday, February 8, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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‘Illegal’
MTNL contract detected
USA
challenges India’s patent Ordinance |
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Inflation
goes up
‘Allow
import of raw rubber under OGL’ CII,
Zee TV plan debate on Budget |
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Mafia out to grab youth’s save-gas device NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (UNI) — This young inventor earns his living as a shoe-shine boy here because back home he runs the risk of being eliminated by a mafia which is out to grab his product patent. Thirtythree-year-old Debajyoti Bandopadhyay, a physics honours graduate from West Bengal, has come out with “Gas Fest”, a device that saves up to 40 per cent of cooking gas. But his invention has turned out to be his misery — or it seems so from what all he had to pass through after he came out with the gadget. Hounded by goons at his hometown Konnagar in Hoogly district of West Bengal, he fled home and came here thinking his appeal for redressal to various agencies would finally take him out of his troubles. But it was like falling from the frying pan into the fire. His brother, a railway employee was beaten up by goons as he refused to give them Debajyoti’s address in Delhi, leaving his mother, lying in death bed, terrified not for her own security but that of her children. Meanwhile, Debajyoti tried to eke out a meagre living as a shoe-shine boy near the Talkatora stadium here. As if this was not enough, the National Human Rights Commission refused to entertain his petition seeking protection as the state body had not accepted it. But probably the worst frustration he suffered was when the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) refused to certify Gas Fest after collecting a free of Rs 40,000 from him two years ago. Luck finally smiled on Debajyoti when the Dehra Dun-based Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) certified that Gas Fest indeed saved 40 per cent liquid petroleum gas (LPG) when attached to a gas stove. The device has to be tested with any ISI mark stove. Armed with a certificate from the IIP, the biggest laboratory testing facility in Asia. Debajyoti is now all set to get and ISI certification after putting his device through five tests. Gas Fest works on the principle of injecting oxygen drawn from atmosphere through pumps into the system, generating pressure to create better combustion thereby saving fuel. With the IPP certification
in pocket, Debajyoti is ready to take on the battle
retrieving all he has just lost all these years. He hopes
to get mother and his family members out of the clutches
of the goons. He is also making attempts to take
possession of the small factory and restart his life. |
‘Illegal’ MTNL contract detected NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (UNI) — The CBI today said it had unerathed an illegal contract worth about Rs 9.5 lakh allotted by officials of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL). A bureau release said its officials raided MTNL offices following complaints that officials of the MTNL construction division two at Bhikaji Kama Place had committed serious irregularities. The complanits related to an award of contract for the development of parks in MTNL and P and T Colony in sector 6, R.K. Puram, by splitting the total work into small portions to avoid publication of the tender. It was further learnt that the MTNL officials, allegedly in league with contractors, invited separate tenders for the development of six parks, estimating the development cost for each park below Rs 2 lakh and the same contractors participated in each tender by forming a cartel. The tenders, opened on January 29, were still under scrutiny by the Accounts Department but the contractors had started the work at the six sites in connivance with MTNL officers, the note said, adding that this was found during a surprise check by the CBI. Documents collected during
the raid were being scrutinised for further
investigation, the release said. |
Vintage
rally attracts beauties NEW DELHI, Feb 7 — Age may have caught up with them but the spirits have not flagged. The grand old beauties of automobile history sputtered to life and participated with much gusto in the 33rd Statesman Vintage and Classic Car Rally held in the Capital today. The rally was flagged off by the Chief of the Army Staff, General Ved Prakash Malik, this morning from the Statesman House. The rally’s oldest entry, a 1914 Morris Belsize fire engine from the National Rail Museum, was the first to drive past the flag-off podium, followed by 56 cars of various makes which looked resplendent with the morning sun bouncing of the gleaming vehicles. From tiny Austins, Fords, Morrises, Plymouths and Chevrolets to younger and larger Mercedes Benz and other models they were all there and so were the proud owners who strutted around their cars, checking and re-checking every thing. A 600 cc 1936 Fiat, which stalled on the starting grid but got running again after a little effort from the owner, received a round of applause, as if personifying the spirit of the rally. Notable among the entries this year were a 1936 Buick, ridden by “Nehru” in Richard Attenborough’s Oscar winning film “Gandhi”, and a 1919 Citroen, said to be the only model of its kind in India. Before the flag-off, the Army Chief, accompanied by his wife Dr Ranjana Malik, inspected some of the cars and spoke to the owners. The rally, shortened this year to 50 miles (80.5 km) with a hill climb at Sohna cut out to spare the older vehicles too much wear and tear, travelled to “Malibu Town” passing through South Delhi areas, with a 14-mile (22.5-Km) time section on the way. The cars returned to Connaught Place, where they were parked for public viewing before proceeding to the National Stadium where the prizes were distributed by Dr Ranjana Malik. The trophies offered at the rally included the oldest entry to complete the rally, the best maintenance, most faithful restoration and for the most elegant car. The trophies were decided by an eight-member panel of judges. The awardees included The Statesman Challenge Trophy, given to the oldest vehicle to complete the course, being awarded to the Morris Belsize, the Burma Shell Challenge Trophy was won by a Lagonda 1934. The Delhi Dairy Weekly
Magazine Trophy went to a Mercedes Benz 1962 and the
Fidon Trophy went to Citron 1919. |
USA challenges India’s patent Ordinance NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (PTI) — The USA has taken India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the patent ordinance and talks between the two nations under dispute settlement understanding (DSU) will be held next week, official sources said today. UAS Had lodged its complaint against the Pndian patent Ordinance, which provides for exclusive marketing rights (EMR) to foreign agro-chemical and pharmaceutical firms, at the dispute settlement body (DSB) hearing on January 25. Washington had lodged the complaint after bilateral talks with India to settle the dispute last month failed. The USA had, in particular, objected to the compulsory licensing clause in the Ordinance promulgated on January 8, last as also provisions wherein the Drug Controller would examine applications for EMR from overseas firms. Washington contends that these two provisions dilute the trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) pact of the WTO and are not in conformity with the DSB ruling asking India to provide a legal cover for agro-chemicals and pharmaceutical innovations made in other countries. The compulsory licensing clause allows the Indian Government to intervene in public interest and give rights to a nominated agency to market a particular drug for which EMR is given to another firm. It also gives powers to the government to fix floor prices for any essential drug in the public interest. The provision of the Drug Controller examining EMR lays the onus on a company to prove that an application filed for patent is its invention. India has contended that empowerment of EMR issuing authority is well within the purview of the TRIPs agreement. The government is of the view that the DSB had only asked it to provide a legally-backed “mail box” system to receive patent applications and EMR provisions. The DSB had not specified any method for implementing its ruling and therefore, India was justified in including provisions for compulsory licensing and EMR examination by the Drug Controller. India feels that given US insistence for sticking to rules, setting up a dispute settlement panel to resettle the issue is imminent. India is obliged to amend its Patent Act to provide legal cover to global inventions on pharmaceuticals and agro-chemicals under Articles 70.8 and 70.9 of TRIPs. The WTO DSB has asked India to have its Patent Act amended to provide the legal cover by April 19, 1999, following a complaint lodged by the USA. The European Union has
also got a ruling in its favour on the patents in April
last. |
Liberalisation
hasn’t yielded results: survey NEW DELHI, Feb 7 — The single-minded pursuit of liberalisation” has not yielded the desired results and the Indian economy could relapse to crisis as was witnessed in 1991, says the Alternative Economic Survey(AES). The AES 1991-98 — Seven Years of Structural Adjustment — is the sixth in the series of surveys which a group of social scientists, former civil servants and social activists have been bringing out annually. The AES says that the employment scenario is disturbing as only an average of around two lakh organised sector jobs have been created annually since 1991 while about 60 lakh persons pass out from plus two level institutions every year. With lower rates of employment growth that was experienced earlier, the GDP growth fixation is showing its “narrow, profit oriented, anti-people character”, the survey notes. The intensification of the fiscal crisis and the external account vulnerability dismisses claims regarding the building of any structural strength despite marketisation,opening up and globalisation, the survey says. Underlining the need to strengthen avenues for closer association of people with “evolution, analysis and evaluation of policy interventions at various levels”, the survey notes that the worsening state of poor, deteriorating public health and environment are a pointer to contradictions in the structural adjustment programme. The contributors to the
survey include Prof Kamal Nayan Kabra, IIPA, Delhi, Prof
Ashok Mathur, JNU, former Union Minister, for
Agriculture, Mr Chaturanan Mishra and Senior corporate
analyst Jay Bhattacharjee.
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NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (UNI) — Maintaining its upward trend for the second consecutive week, the inflation rate rose by 0.26 per cent to 4.70 per cent on January 23, due to hike in vegetable and foodgrains prices. It was 4.44 per cent the week before. However, it was above the 5 per cent mark at 5.66 per cent during the corresponding week last year. The latest jump in the
inflation rate was on account of hike in prices of bajra,
maize, wheat, fruits, vegetables, raw skins, sugarcane,
gingelly seed, rape seed, mustard seed, drugs, medicines,
ceramic tiles and collapsible tubes. But coffee,
groundnut, copra, linseed, castor seed, solvent-extracted
groundnut oil, rice bran oil and enamelled copper wires
became cheaper during the week under review. |
Two-wheelers
outrun demand CHANDIGARH: Time was when buying a two-wheeler involved months of planning, weeks of waiting and, finally, years of basking in the glory of ownership. However, with time all that has changed. Increased incomes, easier availability, cut-throat competition in the market and above all, the “Demonstration Effect” have together played a role in raising peoples’ aspirations (read, yearning for cars). As a result, booking premiums and waiting lists for two-wheelers have now become things of the past. Furthermore, the altered circumstances have also had an impact on the second-hand two-wheeler (SHTW) market. Says Mahinder Singh, President of the local Second-hand Scooter Motorcycle Dealers’ Association, “The last couple of years have witnessed stagnation in the prices of second-hand two-wheelers. Due to this, even the popular vehicles like Bajaj Chetak depreciate faster now”. To exmpain this, Kanwaljeet Singh of K.P. Motors, avers, “The market today is characterised by an excess of supply over demand”. Amongst the reasons for this change, he feels, is the easy availability of finance for buying new two-wheelers. While new launches in the car segment have been instrumental in eroding the resale value of Maruti vehicles, new two-wheeler models have had virtually no impact on the prices of the second-hand one. In fact, the demand for second-hand two wheelers continues to lean heavily in favour of the established base models of different manufactures such as Hero Honda’s CD-100, Escorts Yamaha’s RX-100 and BAL’s Chetak. Most buyers go in for those models that have proven their worth over the years and are known to be easy to run and maintain. Thus, for instance, a well-maintained ‘98 model Bajaj Chetak can be had for around Rs. 18,000 about the same as the going price of its more expensive Classic SL version. While dealers repeatedly emphasise that prices of second hand two-wheelers depend on their condition, make and model year, a few generalisations can be made. For example, amongst scooters, the current hot favourite is LML’s NV, fetching anything from Rs. 20,000 to 22,000 for a well-maintained, kick-start ‘98 model. In the motorcycle segment, the field is still dominated by the (now defunct) Yamaha RX-100. Well-maintained specimens of this bike are good enough for Rs. 28,000-30,000 (‘95-’96). Other popular models include Royal Enfield Motors’ Bullet and Hero Honda’s CD-100. Another contender in this segment is Escorts’ Rajdoot which continues to be sourced from the local market for use in rural areas. Perhaps the best bargains can be had in the moped and sooterette segments. While road-worthy Lunas are available for anything between Rs. 1500 - 5000, ‘95 model Sunnys come for less than Rs. 7,500. The TVS Scooty, however, does manage to hold its price for a little longer. Today, the local
second-hand market caters to the needs of diverse groups.
It has mopeds for the 16-18 year olds; scooters for the
lower middle class families; motorcycles for the college
youth and “born again” bikers i.e. adults who
seek to relive their youthful days, and what is best
about it is that it allows them all to drive away on a
shoestring! |
‘Allow import of raw rubber under OGL’ JALANDHAR, Feb 7 (UNI) — The Jalandhar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) has demanded immediate inclusion of raw rubber in the list of declared goods and permission to import it under open general licence (OGL). “In the list of declared goods almost all agricultural products, minerals, petroleum products and industrial basic raw materials (except raw rubber) have been included. Since the time when this list was prepared, raw rubber has attained much importance in inter-state trade,” JCCI President Avnish Arora told UNI. In the Central Sales Tax Act, certain items had been considered as important in inter-state trade and had been termed as “declared goods”. This restricted the levy of tax to a maximum of 4 per cent and prohibited the repetition of this levy beyond one stage. Mr Arora said the Kerala
Government has imposed a purchase tax of 11 per cent on
raw rubber, raising its prices. The price of imported
rubber was much lower than the Indian raw rubber and the
imposition of 11 per cent purchase tax was encouraging
rubber imports.
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CII, Zee TV plan debate on Budget NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (PTI) — The CII and Subhash Chandra promoted Zee TV will jointly present a 10-episode debate on the forthcoming Union Budget. Beginning from February 8, the half-an-hour debate would be telecast on prime time, 9.30 to 10 pm, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, a CII statement said here today. The series will be wrapped
up with an analysis of the Budget scheduled to be
presented on February 27. The series to be anchored by
famous Hindi TV personality Vinod Dua, is primarily aimed
at demystifying the national Budget and will be advocated
by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha among others. |
THE air ‘fare war’ has become more intense as the flow of traffic has shown marked shift from European and American carriers to Gulf airlines. There are virtually no hold barred in offering discounts to woo passengers. Many affluent airlines have been adversely affected in this war. When European and American carriers reaped a rich harvest from this unethical fare practise, they chose to stay quiet. Now the situation has gone a sea change. The Gulf airlines have started calling most of the shots since they offer more discounts and better facilities than many European carriers. Beaten in the game by more articulate Gulf airlines, the European and American carriers have started shouting “wolf, wolf”. A meeting has been called in Mumbai on February 9 to impress upon airlines and travel agents to maintain discipline. This is not the first time and it will not be the last time when the pledge to stay clean will be undertaken. For about a week, there may be some kind of reservations in offering discounts. But soon there will be violation and the situation will revert to the existing scenario. This has been happening for the past three decades. An indepth study shows that general sales (GSAs) are the gainers at the cost of the airlines and passengers. In addition to 12 per cent commission and overriding commission they get many other benefits, including complimentary tickets. Even IATA (International Air Travel Association) agents, who get only 9 per cent commission, transfer their business to GSAs. The passenger gets full 9 per cent discount, IATA agent retains 1 or 2 per cent and the rest stays with the GSA. The scenario is murky. Each airline has to dedicate itself to stay ‘clean’. The foreign airlines no longer can practice. “Heads we win, tails you lose”. Earlier foreign carriers, depended upon their own staff, to handle public relations which was a very healthy practice. Now suddenly some foreign airlines have lost faith in their own staff and have passed on the functions of public relations to agencies. A survey shows that the change over has been successful. BA voted best British Airways has been voted the best in the latest industry poll, International Airline Passenger Association (IAPA) which is an independent survey of more than 1 lakh passengers from 22 countries. BA has announced its intention to instal air-to-ground cardiac monitors in addition to fitting defibrillators for passengers suffering from heart complaints during flight. BA is among a handful of carriers offering the Madlink service. The facility allows doctors on the ground to assess medical conditions on board. Lufthansa Lufthansa is interested in
becoming Air India’s strategic partner, when the
disinvestment of the national carrier is finalised.
Lufthansa proposes to increase its flights from 15 to 21
in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. |
Q: Kindly comment on the long-term prospects of ITC-Agrotech? — Swaran Kaur, Chandigarh. Ans: ITC-Agrotech has undergone a three year restructuring programme, which has led to its recovery. One of the prime causes of the company’s decline in fortunes in the past was its foray into financial services during the first half of this decade. The ITC management, together with the team of managers from the Mauritius-based joint venture, have tackled the problem effectively, resulting in major changes such as hiving off the integrated oilseeds processing unit and bowing out of financial services. It has helped the company bring down its long term borrowings to Rs 5.7 crore at the end of March 98. The entry of new global partners into the company has also played a role in the recovery, considering that the company was able to mop up Rs 94 crore through preferential equity issues made at a premium. During the last financial year, it mopped up round Rs 41 crore by offloading its financial services assets and investments. Overall, the prospects of the company to be quite satisfactory. Q: Do you feel that the prospects of Fujitsu-ICIM will look up? — Dharam Kapur, Ludhiana Ans: Seemingly buoyed by restructuring and a change of its accounting year, this company now seems set on the comeback trail. This is evident from the fact that the company’s system division is now showing signs of becoming cash positive, which will enable the company to cut down on short term loans. Its subsidiary ICIL has further established offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, and Japan. Its export prowess has been proved when at the end of ‘97-98, NASSCOM had ranked ICIL as the th irteenth largest exporter of software from India. Further, ICIL has a SEI Level 3 certification, which signifies that its quality controls are at the defined level, where the standard processes for developing, and maintaining software across the organisation are documented. SEI Level 3 is the third stage among the 5 stages which signify the growth of quality management in a software unit. (SEI Level 5 is the highest level). The company’s shareholders would gain directly if either ICIL is merged into Fujitsu ICIM or if it divests some of its holdings through a further placement or public issue of shares of ICIL. Overall, the prospects of this company appear to be looking up. Q: Should I hold or sell the shares of Jenson & Nicholson. — J.S. Ahuja, Chandigarh. Ans: As per a recent survey conducted by the Indian Paints Association, the production of paints in the year 2004-05 is likely to surpass the one million tonnes. Thus, the long term prospects of the industry appears encouraging. A prominent player in the industry, Jenson & Nicholson (J&N) can boast of a market share of 6 per cent. The company has under its belt the Instacolour scheme, which is in collaboration with Tikkurila Oy of Finland. The company also has a tie-up with Chogoku Marine Paints of Japan for marine paints. The company is set to enter the automotive refinishes segment with a joint venture with Herberts GmBH of Germany, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Hoechst group. This could prove beneficial. Overall, it does appear that the long term prospects of this company will improve and hence it would be better to hold on to the shares of this company for the time being. Q: Please advise me on the investmentworthiness of the shares of Balrampur Chini Mills? — Rajinder Singh Kaler, Ludhiana Ans: A leading player in the sugar industry, Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd (BCML) is the flagship company of the Saraogis. The company is also engaged in the manufacture of industrial alcohol. BCML’s track record on the financial front has been satisfactory, especially considering the unsatisfatory state of the sugar industry. In the future, the company has plans to bring about an increase in its distillery capacity from the current 60 kld to 100 kld at an estimated investment in the vicinity of Rs 4.5 crore. Completion of the same is expected to contribute favourably to the bottomline of the company in the coming years. To sum up, the company appears poised to consolidate its position in the industry and although its immediate prospects may seem unexceptional, its long term prospects should improve. Hence, while fresh investments are not recommended one could consider holding on to the existent shares for the time being. Q: Should I hold or sell the shares of Aurobindo Pharma? — Jawahar Mehta, Chandigarh Ans:
Aurobindo Pharma which made a modest beginning with a
single manufacturing unit at Pondicherry, today lays
claim to be the largest manufacturer of semi-synthetic
penicillin products. Its strength lies in its integrated
production facilities. The company’s product profile
ranges from drug intermediates to formulations. Its
oldest unit at Pondicherry manufactures ampicillin and
amoxycillin drugs. The focus of the company now seems to
be towards formulations although this segment has become
highly competitive in the domestic market. Thus, an
extensive marketing network becomes a primary need for
the company to succeed. Although the company has a strong
presence in various segments of the Indian pharmaceutical
industry due to its product profile, this has not
prevented it from tapping the export market. Today, it
exports to 35 countries and earns almost 33 per cent of
its annual revenues from exports. To market these
products, it has set up two wholly-owned subsidiaries in
the USA and Hong Kong. Overall thus, the prospects of
this company seem to be quite promising, and hence its
shares could be held on to. |
CITCO I applied to CITCO for the allotment of an industrial shed at Maloya village in 1990 and Rs 8,000 were deposited with them vide draft No. 011070 dated 7.11.90 payable at Union Bank of India, Chandigarh. I had taken the training under the NITCOM scheme. I was interviewed on 9.6.1991. The result was to be published in newspapers and also to be advised to applicants individually within 2-3 months. Since then eight years have passed but CITCO has neither declared the result nor allotted any shed to me nor any communication has been sent to me. CITCO seems to have collected huge money from applicants. Being a public sector body, CITCO is expected to finalise the allotment at the earliest. Chander
Prabha Autolite I invested Rs 10,000 with Autolite (India) Ltd, for one year fixed deposit scheme vide FDR No.22 /002177. The said amount matured on 25/8/98. Despite many reminders to the company and writing to Company Law Board, I have not received the money back. Kuldip
Singh Bhandari Vatsa Corp I sent 200 shares with Folio No. 6289, certificate No. 1448697 & 1448698, distinctive No. 169500482 to 169500681 to Vatsa Corp. Ltd, for transfer of shares in my name on Nov 6,1998. I have sent many reminders for the transfer. Till-to date, I have not received the shares. Narinder Kumar Gupta Rampura
Phul Altos India I sent 400 shares with Folio No. 25371 certificate No. 15122,1614 and Folio No. 54231 Certificate No. 219308, 274772, 269953 and 211568 to Altos India Limited for transfer of shares in my name. I have sent many reminders. Till to-date I have not received the shares. H.C
Bansal UTI I sent US-64 certificate No. 49111 3091 24 on 15-9-98 to UTI Delhi for payment duly discharged. Till date I have not received the payment despite reminders. Sohan
Singh |
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