Saturday, February 20, 1999
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B U S I N E S S | Saturday, February 20, 1999 |
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Government to upgrade
ordnance factories ‘Spend
less, earn more’
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Punjab
MLA floats local area bank Industry
at cost of greenery? HARCO Bank MD justifies investment
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Government
to upgrade ordnance factories NEW DELHI, Feb 19 — The Government is wanting to invest a whopping sum of Rs 2,700 crore in its efforts to upgrade and modernise the existing old plant and machinery at the 39 Ordnance factories spread across the country. This was disclosed by Defence Secretary T.R. Prasad while inaugurating the two-day conference of General Managers of Ordnance Factories here today. He said of this amount, Rs 1,250 crore would be invested during the ongoing Ninth Plan itself, while the remaining Rs 1,450 crore would be invested over a period of time, which would be sustainable upto the 11th and 12th plan period. While pointing out that the money invested would virtually revamp the obsolete plant and machinery at these factories, Mr Prasad said, that the investments, coupled with structured human resources planning, were expected to enable the Ordnance Factories organisations to multiply their present level of production and productivity. Mr Prasad said that there was also a need to gauge the present methods of incentive existing by way of ensuring productivity from the employees. This was because the future technology was likely to ensure machines taking away the element of skill from the operator and therefore, there was a need to review the present incentive scheme to improve the productivity from the operators, he said. The conference was also addressed by Secretary Defence Production and Supplies Prabir Sengupta, Chairman Ordnance Factory Board D. Rajagopal and Master General(Ordnance) Lt. Gen G.S. Dhillon. The conference was to have been inaugurated by the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, but he was unable to do so due to his preoccupation with the National Development Council meeting. According to reports, the
General Managers attending the conference were informed
that the Ordnance Factories were not in the best of
health. Of the 22 factories which were established after
1962, only those which came up in the late eighties and
early nineties were having some level of the
state-of-the-art technology. |
‘Spend
less, earn more’ CHANDIGARH, Feb 19 — Dr Bimal Jalan, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, favours an openness in approach by the RBI in following its policies. More openness, he says, will certainly improve the central bank’s response to the aspirations and needs of the people. Dr Jalan expressed the view during a chat after a function held in his honour by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here last evening. This is the reason, he said, that the RBI’s Central Board of Directors held its meetings every six weeks in various metropolitan towns for reviewing the monetary policies, exchange controls, ups and downs in financial markets and other problems. Such occasions provided opportunities for interaction with trade and industry. As part of the interaction, he referred to his meetings with the CII and the PHDCCI here. Asked about any concrete measures that can be taken to arrest the growing tendency among the State Governments to indulge in overdraft — a situation in which the normal banks were reluctant to offer any assistance to them — Dr Jalan said the RBI normally did not come into picture in this context. However, the State Governments which pressed for borrowings as it often happened (similar to a situation in which the Punjab Government had to go for auction of its property to pay salaries), were obviously spending much more than they earned. The answer for anyone in such a situation would precisely be the same — earn more and spend less. Only by earning more the situation of borrowings could be avoided. For the States, he said, we had a scheme which was being followed and we had no problem on that score so far. He agreed that the industry was in bad shape in spite of the fact that — inflation had come down and the health of the economy was not that bad. But it was difficult to put a finger on a single point for the answer. Dr Jalan refused to comment on any possibility of further reduction in the interest rates. He said this would depend on the future developments and a number of factors. It was essential for the central bank to be strong and whatever was necessary for that would have to be done. Talking about the massive
figure of Rs 46,000 crore of non-performing assets of the
banks, he agreed that the lists of defaulters had been
put on the Net. It was now for the banks to make use of
the lists and check the demands of defaulters who jumped
from one bank to the other for securing loans. |
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NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (PTI) — Fertiliser industry in India is not “efficient” as the present pricing mechanism does not encourage manufacturers to use their entrepreneurial capabilities Agriculture Minister Sompal said here today. “Fertiliser and sugar
industries in India are gold plated industries. They show
production at an unbelievable capacity utilisation level
and in the process get higher subsidies from the
exchequer,” he told PTI. |
The bus to
Lahore CHANDIGARH, Feb 19 — Ashok Leyland has been chosen by the Delhi Transport Corporation to supply luxury coaches for the Delhi to Lahore bus service. The two coaches are custom-built on the Ashok Leyland Viking chassis. Mr Amoj J. Sandil, Executive Director (marketing), said that its Viking model dominates Ashok Leyland bus exports. The Viking luxury buses will make the 530 km journey powered by the fuel efficient and eco-friendly Hino engine. Passenger comfort will be enhanced through Weveller suspension in front and the air suspension at the rear. The buses are also fitted with synchromesh gearbox, power steering and safety-enhancing dual line air brakes. Syscom, a Delhi based firm, has made arrangements to provide mobile phone service for passengers travelling in a bus from Delhi to Lahore, through a wireless network technology. A network interface unit called “Telular Phonecell SX” provided by Syscom enables normal push button telephone to operate without landline (wirelessly). “The passengers will be able to make telephone calls all along the route upto Wagah border while sitting in the bus,” CEO of Syscom Sanjeev Shriya said. Telular Phonecell would automatically connect to Airtel (in Delhi), Escotel (in Haryana) and Spice (in Punjab) networks to provide telephone access all along from Delhi to Wagah, Shriya said. Ushafone, Koshika’s cellular service, has installed a YES-T-D-PCO in the bus that will leave Delhi tomorrow morning. The facility will enable
passengers in the bus to make calls to any destination in
the world. |
Punjabis to
do farming in Namibia CHANDIGARH, Feb 19 — The Punjab Agri Export Corporation, a company promoted by the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation and the Punjab Mandi Board, is planning to take up commercial farming in Namibia. An MoU to this effect was signed by Mr A.R. Talwar, Managing Director, and Mr Dantago Nicodemus Hoabeb from Namibia here today in the presence of Mr R.N. Gupta, Financial Commissioner (Development), Punjab. The MoU provides for a package for the transfer of farm technologies to farmers of Namibia. Farm experts from Punjab will carry out crop production trials. A seven-member delegation
led by Mr Hidipo Hemtenya, Trade and Commerce Minister of
Namibia, also met Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, Agriculture
Minister, Punjab, and visited a mushroom project and a
poultry project promoted by the Punjab Agro Industries
Corporation, besides some small industries and
agriculture farms in Punjab. |
Punjab MLA
floats local area bank JALANDHAR, Feb 19 — The RBI has granted “in-principle” approval to five local area banks (LABs) in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Gujarat to promote savings and enhance the institutional credit framework in rural and semi-urban areas. In Punjab, the approval has been given to Capital Local Area Bank Limited with the area of operation spread over Jalandhar. Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts. The principle promoter of the Bank is Mr Amarjit Singh Samra, MLA. Mr Samra, when contacted, said that necessary initiative is being taken to operationalise this bank by putting in place the required infrastructure. The bank will start its
operations in three months and open six branches in the
first year and about 25 branches by the end of the third
year of operations.
HARCO Bank MD justifies investment CHANDIGARH, Feb 19 — Mr R.R. Banswal, Managing Director of HARCO Bank, claimed today that the Board of Directors of the bank had passed a resolution on August 30, 1993, to invest surplus funds with any scheduled cooperative bank. In a communication, he claimed that no permission of the Registrar of the Coopperative Societies under Section 85 of the Act was required for investing such funds. He claimed that the bank had not violated any norm prescribed by the government or the Director of the Institutional Finance, as the banks listed by them were not offering a higher rate of interest. "The investment with the Bombay Mercantile Bank is very sound." As for the investment of Rs 2 crore in HDFC in 1991, all facts were placed before the Chief Minister of Haryana on February 26, 1998, through the Commissioner, Cooperation, and the same was received back in the bank through the same challan on March 4, 1998. The bank has already taken
appropriate action in the matter by filing a civil suit
for the recovery on January 13, 1998, and criminal case
on August 12, 1998, in compliance with the decision of
the Chief Minister. |
Industry at
cost of greenery? CHANDIGARH, Feb 19 — “Industry cannot grow at the cost of environment” was the message that emerged at a seminar on “Corporate Environmental Initiatives” organised by the CII (Northern Region) here today. The seminar was made possible by the assistance of US Information Services (USIS) and USAID. Mr Douglas Weinfield, Environmental Director, Manufacturers Alliance, Virginia, USA, focussed on short and long term opportunities for gaining financial benefits from environmental management. Dr Michael A. Toman from Resources for the Future, Washington DC, said that diffusion of environmentally friendly technology was the key to improving corporate environmental performance. Earlier, Mr I.S. Paul,
Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council, said that India’s
rapid industrialisation has the potential to greatly
increase greenhouse gas emissions.
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CONSUMERS in India have to learn a lot, particularly when it comes to dealing with manufacturers and service providers. And one of the first lessons is the need to exercise utmost caution while putting pen to paper. Take the case of T.C. Rajappa vs Indian Oil Corporation. Following a fire in his house resulting in extensive damage to household goods. Mr Rajappa filed a complaint before the consumer court, alleging that the fire was caused on account of a defective (second) cylinder kept in the house. According to the complaint, the residents suddenly smelt gas as they were watching television in the evening. Soon they heard a hissing noise from the cylinder and saw a flame, which quickly spread, leading to destruction of property. The District Forum, which first heard the case, awarded a compensation of Rs 50,000 and this was upheld by the State Commission. However, the National Commission set aside this order based mainly on two factors: (a) that the consumer had failed to establish that the cause of the fire was leakage of gas from the cylinder and (b) the complainant’s letter to the gas distributor, indicating electrical short circuit as the possible cause of fire. Take another case: Lal Chand vs Chief Manager, Punjab National Bank. Here, the consumer sent two applications to the Unit Trust of India, along with two cheques for Rs 13,400 each. While one cheque was encashed, the other was returned by the bank with the remark that the signature did not tally. The consumer lodged a complaint with the higher officials of the bank, but subsequently wrote another letter to the bank manager, stating that he was satisfied with the services of the bank and was consequently withdrawing the complaint. While the State Commission held that this letter prevented the consumer from filing the complaint itself, the National Commission pointed out that the consumer had failed to prove negligence on the part of the bank. Of course, as the National Commission pointed out, the consumer had failed to produce the disputed cheque for the court to determine whether the bank was right or wrong in returning it. This was a major lacuna and went against him. But the letter also did maximum damage. It’s quite possible that the bank asked for such a letter from the consumer in return for its intervention in getting the UTI to reconsider his application. The bank manager did write to the UTI, but without success. So here again, the consumer lost his case because (a) for whatever reason, he did not produce as evidence the cheque which was returned by the bank and (b) he wrote a letter expressing his satisfaction with the services of the bank. One may argue that not
every complaint leads to a case in the consumer court and
one cannot be expected to think of the legal consequences
of every statement one makes. While certainly, going to
the court is the last resort, one must always consider
whether what one puts in writing will at any time
adversely affect the writer’s interest,
particularly, the right of redressal. |
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| Forex rates MUMBAI, Feb 19 (PTI) — The following were interbank forex and RBI rates (in rupees per unit) US $ Rs 42.34/43 Stg £ Rs 69.24/27 Euro Rs 47.40/42 Jap Yen (100) Rs 35.38/41 The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.44 Gold recovers VSNL RBI strike TVS Spectra |
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