Thursday, January 7, 1999
today's calendar
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B U S I N E S S | Thursday, January 7, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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'Pension funds can be
invested in equity' India
can soon face debt trap, warns PNB Gilts |
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Gold
glitters for smugglers |
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Ahujas
go from rags to rugs and riches After
market excesses, globalisers recant Now
Telco to roll out van No
move to cut interest rate of PF CII
summit begins today PM
to inaugurate Petrotech ’99 |
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Pension funds can be invested in equity: Dave committee NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (PTI) — A government committee has recommended investment of pension funds in equity for higher returns, creation of a private fund management and putting in place a pension regulatory authority. The committee which is expected to submit its first report in February has underlined the need for stepping up the real rate of return on pension to 5 per cent from the present 2.7 per cent after factoring inflation. Justifying the need for investing a portion of pension fund in equity, the committee Chairman S.A. Dave told newsmen that the world over the long term return on equity is always found to be good despite volatility in the short run. “We should not be governed by short run volatility in the capital market as pensions are long term funds”, he said adding this would also help in reviving the capital markets. “Since the pension funds can only give a limited return for the pensioners, one of the ways by which the returns can be increased is to at least invest a part of the funds in the reputed stocks”, he said. “We are not asking for investments of the entire pension funds in the equity market, but for allocating a portion of the resources in the stock market” so as improve returns on pension funds, he said. Dave said the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment which is entrusted with the nodal responsibility for care of older persons has been concerned with the issue of ageing and health. Though the average life in India is around 60 years, studies also reveal that if a person reaches 60 he is likely to live for another 16 years for which he had to arrange resources to survive, Dave said. The project jointly funded by the Industrial Development Bank of India, Unit Trust of India and Life Insurance Corporation of India has identified several areas where PF is not available. Around 28 per cent of the salaried population is covered by the provident fund that works out to around 13 million people, Dave said. The research commissioned by the project suggests that a pension provision for India, considering the huge diversities in income, savings capacity, literacy and the variety of employment categories will necessitate the formation of a multitude of pillars. This includes the existing
mandatory PF, defined contribution provision of the
Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the
voluntarily funded Public Provident Fund and a new
contributory pillar primarily for those not presently
covered, the project study says. |
Essel World’s water gain is
village’s loss GORAI, near Mumbai, has become synonymous with the beach, endless hours of holiday fun, and, of course, EsselWorld. EsselWorld is a huge amusement park sprawling over 700 acres of land. With its exciting roller-coaster rides, EsselWorld is Mumbai’s answer to Disneyland. Incidentally, the park was built on an area reserved as a no-development zone. But since the owner of EsselWorld, Subash Goyal who is also the owner of Zee TV, was very close to the former Pawar government of Maharashtra, the land was dereserved for “educational” purposes. For this “education” one has to pay Rs 150 per head for entry, which is well above the daily salary of an average industrial or clerical worker in India. EsselWorld thus got into business in Gorai, eight years ago. To the casual visitor, Gorai seems to be a calm and secluded village-by-the-sea. Beneath the serenity is the seething anger and bitterness of the people who have been fighting for the right to drinking water there. This struggle for piped water, goes back to the seventies; but the local people say that even 10 years ago the water situation there was not so bad. Then, there were several wells, both public and privately-owned that people could draw water from. Now, with several affluent outsiders buying property in Gorai, brick and stone compounds have walled off the private wells. Once, people could easily walk up to a well for water. Now, the same water can only be acquired if one is ready to pay the well-owner. And Gorai and nearby Kulvem have just one public well between them. Behind this severe water shortage, is the growing tanker business. Daily, tankers buy water from private well owners in and around Gorai, to be sold to tourists and others. EsselWorld is also the chief consumer of tanker water. Daily, some 30 to 35 tankers carry water to fulfill the park’s requirements, even though a bore well was dug in the park premises recently. Villagers say that before
the bore-well appeared, more than 60 to 65 tankers
provided water to EsselWorld everyday. More and more
tankers keep buying water from well owners, and the
ground water level has consequently gone down. New bore
wells are also being dug in the region, by private
parties and local residents, causing even more damage.
— TWNF |
India can soon face debt trap, warns PNB Gilts NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (PTI) — The country could soon be facing an internal debt trap as a major portion of government borrowings would be used for repaying earlier dues alone, says PNB Gilts, a primary dealer in government securities. This fiscal itself, 39 per cent of government borrowings would go to service earlier debts, PNB Gilts said in its fortnightly money market report. The high level of outstandings in the last two years had forced the government to go in for fresh resource mobilisation in successive years for clearing earlier dues, putting pressure on interest rates, it said, adding this might lead to a debt trap. The repayment obligations on market borrowings accounted for 27 per cent and 32 per cent of gross borrowings for the years 1996-97 and 1997-98 respectively, the report said. There was also a marked skewness in government borrowings as major portion of the repayment liability was concentrated at shorter end, leading to a steep rise in the quantum of repayments in the next five years. The government would have to repay a whopping Rs 16,353 crore during the next year and another Rs 28,428 crore and Rs 30,863 crore in the next two years, forcing the government to rely on long maturity instruments, PNB Gilts pointed out. “The government will have to increasingly rely on long dated issuances so as to effectively optimise its borrowing costs and stagger its repayment schedule,” PNB Gilts said. The demand for long tenor bonds from the conventional subscribers to government securities like the Unit Trust of India and Life Insurance Corporation is limited, it said. The only solution for the government is to widen investors base for securities to include individual investors. The government should also reduce its dependence on conventional subscribers to its securities like UTI, LIC and PF trusts, the report said. A redeeming feature in the retail segment was that individual investors do not favour a regular income from their investment but are content with accumulated interest pay-out at maturity, the PNB Gilts report said. There have been a gross domestic savings growth of over 26 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the last two years, it said. PNB Gilts said that the concept of retailing government securities to individual investors do not require much hard selling, because under the prevailing investment scenario, the household investor is increasingly seeking refuge in safe investment alternatives. Thus, wooing this segment
would not only help the Reserve Bank of India to broaden
the investor base, but also to check money supply levels
besides staggering the maturity of the government papers
at optimal costs without pressuring interest rates, it
added. |
Gold
glitters for smugglers LONDON, Jan 6 (PTI) — International bullion trade today reacted adversely to the Indian Government’s decision to hike Customs duty on gold imports with several non-resident Indians (NRIs) and traders saying it would make the yellow metal dearer in India and lead to smuggling. The “hasty” action of the government would drive the gold industry underground again, they said. “The gold industry in India over the last few years has come overground making rapid strides in jewellery exports. But by hiking Customs duty, the government would drive the industry back to underground,” leading London bullion dealer Tribhuvan Lakha told PTI. The duty hike would take the bullion industry back to hawala transactions and revive the infamous gold running from the Gulf, he said. His views were echoed by other NRI bullion dealers, Ajay Soni of PPL Jewellers and Vijay Kumar of Ramesh Jewellers. A Dubai report said India’s decision to hike Customs duty on gold was likely to benefit gold trade in the Gulf countries immensely as non-resident Indians (NRIs) were now expected to buy more jewellery to carry home. “Gold business in
Dubai which has been listless of late, will be revived
due to the duty hike. NRIs will buy more jewellery to
carry home as gold in India has become more
expensive,” a leading jewellery retailer said. |
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NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (PTI) — Gold shed its shine on the bullion market today, reducing previous day’s hefty gains following profit selling by stockists at prevailing higher levels and closed with losses. Gold prices fell back by Rs 45 at Rs 4375 per 10 gram on selling by stockists to fetch maximum profit. Marketmen said a spectacular rise in gold prices yesterday after government’s decision to hike import duty on the precious metal from Rs 250 to Rs 400 per 10 gram. They said prices bounced up to quote Rs 150 higher last evening only to match the fresh rise of import duty of Rs 150 per 10 gram, though the volume of business was negligible. With the increase in duty, the arrival of gold through official channels would cost more and encourage smugglers, said O.P. Verma of Omsons JewellersIn Delhi market, gold fell back by Rs 45 at Rs 4375 per 10 gram and so was ornaments at Rs 4225 per 10 gram. Sovereign also lost Rs 50 at Rs 3750 per piece of eight gram. The quotations: Silver
.999 (ready 7480, delivery 7500, coins buyer 10,600 and
seller 10,700. Standard gold 4375, ornaments 4225 and
sovereign 3750. |
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NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (PTI) — The high-powered task force on infrastructure today failed to consider innovative ways of financing the 7,000 km super highway project due to the absence of the Finance Secretary, Dr Vijay Kelkar. A meeting of the task force, headed by Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Jaswant Singh, was held here for deliberating on a scheduled presentation by Dr Kelkar on innovative methods of financing the project that envisages construction of six-lane corridors to connect Saurashtra with Silchar and Kashmir with Kanyakumari. “We could not consider the report on innovative ways of finance due to the absence of Kelkar and Deepak Parikh of the Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDPC), “Mr N.K. Singh, Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. The task force was scheduled to finalise its recommendation by December 1998 but it would now consider the issue at its next meeting on January 23, Singh said. Earlier, Surface Transport
Minister M. Thambi Durai had proposed creation of a
dedicated fund for the road projects which also included
an option of imposing cess on diesel. |
Exhibition NEW DELHI, Jan 6 —
The Ministry of Defence has decided to hold an exhibition
of land and naval systems from this year. The Biennial
exhibition entitled “Defexpo India” will be
organised in association with the CII at Pragati Maidan
here on October 12-16, 1999.
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Ahujas go from rags to rugs and riches IN 1969, Shyam Ahuja was trying to gate-crash into showrooms and hanging around waiting for a break in the USA. Today, he is a household name among high-class rug dealers and buyers. When Time magazine placed President George Bush on its cover with his family, they were standing on one of Ahuja’s creations. From pop star Madonna to the late Princess Diana, singer Eric Clapton, moviemaker Ismail Merchant and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, all own or owned one of his signature ‘durries’ (rugs). Ahuja’s father Gokaldas Ahuja was in the wool business, shipping the raw material for Tattersfield, a Philadelphia-based American firm, in the 1930s. Though Shyam was the second son, his father saw his potential for the business and asked Tattersfield to employ him at the age of 18. Shyam Ahuja would travel around India to buy the best wool off the sheep’s back. By 1963, Shyam Ahuja decided to break away from his father and went into making carpets. He still remembers the date he parted company — November 22 — because U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on that day. In 1969, he made his second trip to New York in a bid to sell his designs. “I was treated very badly. India was a bad word businesswise,” he told IANS. Luckily he bumped into the Mexican Trade Commissioner who advised him he was wasting his time with the high quality of products he had to show and that he should try to sell them to the famed Designers and Decorators Building, very upscale and not open to the public. The showroom owner, Irvin Covey, asked him to sit down — “No one had asked me to sit down” — when he saw the designs and said he wanted Ahuja to make him a durrie. “I scratched my head and said I would try,” Ahuja says. Covey gave him a sketch of an Afghan Kilim-type design and the colours and said to make him a cotton durrie. Ahuja went back to India but kept in touch with Covey. He also decided to break the mould and make a wool durrie. Then he began to look for a weaver. They were hard to get as most had given up the trade or left India. He found a weaver who was broke and ready to leave and asked him to make a piece. “It was atrocious, but I sent it (to Covey),” Ahuja says. Covey faxed back a reply — “Fantastic.” The rest, as Ahuja says, is history. Today, durries are among the top-selling floor coverings, Ahuja says, and this is because the market is flooded with all kinds of them, many of their makers giving little attention to quality and design. Ahuja diversified and his showroom on 56th Street in Manhattan is evidence that he produces virtually all household coverings as well as other items except the furniture itself, although durries, he says, “are my babies.” — IANS Patel Brothers It’s a classic American tale of successful Gujarati business acumen and enterprise that over the years has grown to be synonymous with Indian grocery in the USA. Started as a retail outlet in Chicago in 1974 by the Patel patriarch, Mafat Patel, and his brother Tulsi, the retail chain Patel Brothers now operates from 30 US cities. Patel Brothers, which had annual sales of barely $50,000 in its first year of operation, now has a turnover of approximately $100 million. The group has also expanded into other areas and set up a brewery, a PC board manufacturing unit, a company trading in chemicals, a restaurant chain and a wholesale trading company. With boutiques, saree shops and a travel agency, the family has a dominant presence in Chicago. Each Patel Brothers outlet is managed by a person “somehow related to the family,” says Rakesh Patel, (31). With the second generation getting into the group’s management, the family is now closing down uneconomic units while expanding profitable ones like the stores in New York, Chicago and Atlanta. The younger generation of Patels, who are at the helm of affairs now, are planning to raise the group’s turnover to $400 million. Says Rakesh Patel of the family’s largest outlet which is at New York. “It sells more Coca Cola or milk than Dominicks,” the big American grocery store in the area, he claims. The entry of the younger generation of Patels like Rakesh and Suuetal has marked an increased professionlisation of the group while also heralding a clash with the frugality of the older generation. “The older generation looks upon advertising as an expenditure, while I look upon it as an investment,” says Rakesh Patel. “I give them the example of Coca Cola. They are the number one, but still spend millions on advertising. I do not try to convince them. I merely override them each time. ” Patel is now marketing Indian Garden, the family’s restaurant on Devon avenue in Chicago. “The Indian customer already knows India Garden. You have to target the niche market,” he said. The restaurant’s downtown outlet has a 97 per cent American clientele while even in Devon, only 40 per cent of the customers are Indian, he said. Patel notes that the convenience of “one stop” shopping at Patel Brothers appeals to Indian American families. The shopper gets wheat flour, basmati rice, spices and the favourites of the first generation Indian — Horlicks and Parle biscuits — under one roof. He plans to invest in more aggressive marketing and better packaging. Rakesh Patel’s future
ambitions for the group include manufacturing his own
brand of Indian beer. “We are certified brewmasters
and there is a large market for Indian beer in the
U.S.,” he said. “Maybe, once it starts making
money, I may even sell the brand.” —
IANS
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After market
excesses, globalisers recant JUST as we were all globalisers a couple of years ago, now, it seems, nobody wants to defend the excesses of what was recently regarded as unstoppable as a force of nature. Faith in neo-liberalism, which has swept the world for the past two decades with the power of a religious cult — a kind of economics of the Moonies — now lies shattered, and only its most hardened defenders still repeat the stale incantations. Among these is Tony Blair, who leads a party which, in an epic paradox, originally came into existence precisely to rein in the ferocities of free markets. But everywhere else, the air is filled with the lamentations of repentants. Time magazine (14 September 1998) admitted that “Much of the world simply doesn’t have the values needed for free markets. We pretend otherwise. Now comes the reckoning.” What strange exercises in cultural relativism have now dented the certainties of the day before yesterday! Were the cultures of Asia and Africa unknown before “market reforms” were wished upon them, or did the exaltations of free-market cult members blind them to the obstacles to an exuberant globalisation? How astonishing that dogmas which recently commanded the assent of all the right-thinking, right-thinking opinion-formers and moulders of public attitudes, those who police the limits of admissible thought, should prove so fragile; and how surprising that from one day to the next they can move effortlessly from know-all arrogance to humility and penitence; and the day after to the enunciation of new certainties. Now the seers of globalisation can retrodict with amazing clarity everything they failed to predict only a year ago. Even more remarkable has been the volte-face of the former apostate Marxists of Marxism Today, regretting their earlier recantation, and blaming Blair for the uncritical embrace of the free market which they had urged upon us all, in their joyful celebrations of consumerism, the market and capitalism’s version of the realm of freedom. There is, of course, no phenomenon so malign and so cruel that it cannot find legions of ingenious and clever people falling over themselves to declare that it is as necessary and inevitable as it is beneficial for humanity. Sycophancy and the suspension of any imaginative understanding of the suffering of others were among the characteristics of the present penitents of free markets, the recanters of globalisation, the converts from a liberalisation without end, the imposition upon every country in the world of the nostrums and doctrines which have contributed to the famous (and non-replicable) success of the United States. That such values — named, in their export-packaging, “structural adjustments”, “integration into the global economy”, with their mantras of deregulation, liberalisation, lowering of taxes, decrease of government expenditure - have demonstrably made the poor poorer is not in dispute. But they have clearly also made the rich richer, and have seen to it that those who have descanted endlessly upon the absence of alternatives, should have their rewards. Now the scales can fall from their eyes without pain: they, too, are all so much better off than they were before they embraced the misty revelations of neo-liberalism. Experts who had scoffed at Keynesianism as outmoded, those who had preached the model of the Asian tigers with their admirable virtues of hard work and devotion to family values, which saved their governments costly welfare payments (and at the same time used them as a stick to beat the lazy workers of the West) move seamlessly from their panegyrics to the free market to an equally fervant praise of the virtues of “regulation”, of “transparency”. The Chairman of the Financial Services Authority in the UK tells MPs, “There can be dangers in complete capital account freedom.” Even The Financial Times declares magisterially that there is an argument for temporary capital controls in times of crisis. The wisdom of capital market liberalisation is transformed, in the blink of an eye, into the need for strong regulation. They cannot bear to be wrong, the late savants of globalisation, the confounded prophets and proselytisers of deregulation, the luminaries of liberalisation. They move effortlessly from one authoritative view of the world to another, without transition, without hiatus. When free markets disadvantage the poor, oust small farmers and indigenous communities from livelihood and traditional environments, this is the price that must be paid. But when free markets menace the rich, then of course governments must intervene, must turn private debts into public liabilities, must re-capitalise banks and put together packages, the ‘international community’ must organise bail-outs and reforms to save the bacon of privilege. But where can it settle, when it has seen two paradigms shattered within a decade? Where are these converts, these repentants to go now? Where will they find shelter for their houseless faith among the ruins of Marxism and the detritus of globalisation? Where can they repose trust and the need to believe when their version of market animism bites the dust? When the voice of retrospective wisdom is heard, those whom no revelations astonish, hastily re-assemble the shards of faith, like someone trying to mend a precious vase that has fallen from its stand. They declare that what we have seen is not “real capitalism”, but some version of it which has depended upon cronyism, lack of transparency, insufficient information. The ‘architecture’ of the temple must be reconstructed: beautifully wrought, transparent architecture, in which the ark of the covenant, the sanctity of markets, will be secure. In other words, some new
variant of market fundamentalism is waiting to be born.
No doubt some fresh fad will arise in place of the late
worship of unfettered markets. — TWNF |
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NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (UNI) — Telco is mulling over the idea of producing a van on the Indica platform as its third offering after the small and mid-size passenger cars. Besides, the company is also working towards rolling out a super luxury petrol version of the Indica over the next three months, company sources told UNI here. “We are presently working on all the possibilities with the van and are, in the process, looking at producing it on the Indica platform. Besides, a pick-up version of the same is also being planned. However, nothing has been finalised as yet,” the sources added. The van, the sources said,
would be the company’s third offering in the
passenger car segment after the recently launched Indica
and the mid-size car, which is presently on the design
tables. However, the price, name and launch date for the
van is yet to be finalised. Company officials had, at the
Auto Expo last year, stated that the mid-size car would
be rolled on to the city streets in the second half of
1999. |
No move to cut interest rate of PF NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (PTI) — The government today ruled out any cut in interest rate on Provident Fund (PF) on the lines of the recent 1 per cent cut in small postal savings. Central Provident Fund Commissioner R.S Kaushik told newsmen here that the interest rate on PF is fixed every year by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Board during the new financial year. He said there could be no arbitrary changes in the interest rate without the board’s approval that comprised over 40 members, including representatives from trade unions, apex trade bodies and the government. At present the interest
rate stood at 12 per cent, that if compounded worked out
to around 13.5 per cent which he said was quite
substantial. |
CII summit
begins today JAIPUR, Jan 6 — The Fifth Partnership Summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will begin here tomorrow on a lukewarm note in the absence of participation by any State-level Head. The last four summits were attended by the respective Prime Ministers. The highest foreign dignitary participating this year will be Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitciipakdi while the top representative from the Indian side will be External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. The Heads of State who had participated in the summit in the past were P.V. Narasimha Rao, Goh Chok Tong (Calcutta 1995) S.D. Sharma, Jchretien (Mumbai 1996) H.D. Deve Gowda, John Major (Calcutta,1997) and I.K. Gujral, Romano Prodi, A. Kwaesnieswki (Chennai 1998). CII officials told newsmen that they had invited Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee but were yet to receive the confirmation. Saying that nuclear tests in May last year were not responsible for the lukewarm response to the summit, CII northern chief Arun Bharat Ram said. “The nuclear tests were not a reason for the reduced level of participation this year. In fact, the South East Asian crisis and the introduction of euro that has tied up Prime Ministers of European countries is the reason.” Mr C.K. Birla, chairman of the Partnership Summit, told newspersons that despite a slowdown in the country’s economy and industry, its growth rate of 5 per cent plus was still impressive. Mr Birla, however, added that a 6 per cent growth was clearly just not good enough and India had to grow at over 8 per cent if it was to tackle effectively issues of poverty, illiteracy and backwardness. Identifying the challenges before the industry, which would be discussed in detail at the summit, Mr Birla said the industry’s focus would have to be on quality, human resource development, productivity, technology and cost management. The industry has to concentrate on better corporate governance, on redefining business strategy by vacating some areas and entering new ones, refocus on exports, and build special new skills in people to cope with emerging challenges and opportunities. On the decision to hold the fifth summit in Jaipur, the Summit Chairman said Rajasthan presented enormous potential for growth and development and “we are confident that this summit would turn the spotlight on this area of opportunity”. The summit would also give an opportunity to other neighbouring States like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir to showcase their achievements. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who was invited to the summit has not been able to make it but he would be represented by the State Finance Minister, Capt.Kanwaljit Singh. Jammu and Kashmir is being represented by the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and Himachal by its Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal. Central Ministers — Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Ramakrishna Hegde, Mr P.R.Kumaramangalam and Mr George Fernandes — would be among those who would be representing the Government. The Dalai Lama is also scheduled to address the gathering of about 1000 delegates. Dignitaries from abroad include the US Congressman, Mr Jim McDermott, Sir Leon Britain, Vice- President of the European Commission, and the Industry Minister of Portugal, Mr Prof Fernando Pacheco. Mr Rana G.S.Talwar, Chief Executive Officer and Group Executive Director of the Standard Chartered Plc, has been listed among the delegates from Europe. Interestingly, Mr Talwar, who originally hails from Punjab, is the first Asian to hold the prestigious post in the world’s one of the top banking companies. The focus of the three days would be on some very pertinent and important topics, including “Preparing for the Next Millennium”, “India and Europe-The Next Steps”, “The Asian Crisis: Lessons for India” and “What will be the impact of the Information Age.” The organisers have
erected an air-conditioned hanger in the complex of Hotel
Rajmahal to host the delegates. |
PM to
inaugurate Petrotech ’99 NEW DELHI, Jan 6 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, will inaugurate an international conference on petroleum and related industries here on January 9. The conference-cum-exhibition — Petrotech ’99 — will cover the whole gamut of the hydrocarbon industry, from oil exploration and production, transportation, natural gas, LNG and CNG to training and human resource development. Briefing mediapersons here today, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr T S Vijayraghavan said that the conference will also focus on related areas like research and development, energy conservation, petroleum market economics and management, quality, safety and environment protection. The theme of the conference is “Oil Industry Outlook in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities” is being organised by Indian Oil Corporation Limited, under the ageis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The exhibition is being coordinated by the CII. Among the topics that are
scheduled to be discussed during the conference include,
Investment Opportunities in Petroleum Sector, Energy
Cooperation and Business Initiatives amongst Asian
countries, Technology Development, Marketing and
Networking and would be addressed by delegates and
experts from 25 different countries. |
Kesoram blames govt for lock-out CALCUTTA, Jan 6 (PTI) — The management of Kesoram Industries Limited, a company owned by the B.K. Birla group, today said that the West Bengal Government’s inability to allow it to set up a captive power plant resulted in temporary suspension of work at its textile unit in the city. Since yesterday, the Garden Reach textile division of Kesoram Industries, which employs nearly 3,800 workers, had been placed under temporary suspension of work by the management citing labour unrest. President of the company, S.K. Parekh told PTI that the textile division had been incurring losses which had accumulated to Rs 28 crore in the last three years. To reduce losses substantially, the company had applied to the state power department for setting up a captive power plant having an installed capacity of three mw. According to him, the captive plant would have enabled the company to curtail energy costs considerably, as the Calcutta Electricity State Corporation (CESC) tariff rates “were abnormally high’’. While an application to the State Power Department for getting permission to set up the captive power plant was made in the middle of 1998, the state government had been sitting on it, he alleged. “This is one of the reasons for declaring temporary suspension of work at the textile unit,’’ he claimed. IOC puts off decision on buyback NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (PTI) — State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) last night put-off the decision to buyback its shares, saying a final decision was likely by the month end. “We (IOC Board) have discussed, deliberated and worked out a few options on buyback and it would be too premature to comment on these issues, hopefully a decision is likely to be taken by month end,” IOC Chairman and Managing Director M.A. Pathan told PTI after the two-hour board meeting. IOC is the second oil PSU after Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to postpone its decision on buyback, ONGC decided to postpone the decision last week. UGS 10,000 reopens for sale MUMBAI, Jan 6 (PTI) — Unit Trust of India’s growth oriented interval fund “Unit Growth Scheme (UGS) 10,000”, has opened for public subscription on January 4 and is slated to close on January 10, 1999. The scheme, initially opened in May, 1998 on a preferential basis to the Unit holders of UGS 2000 and UGS 5000, mobilised Rs 70.4 crore. The UGS 10,000 was then kept open for repurchase during December 7 to 12, 1998. The NAV per unit as on December 30, 1998 stood at Rs 11.83 and the NAV per unit has appreciated by 18.3 per cent (since the closure of initial subscription). Crompton, Tadiran sign MoU BANGALORE, Jan 6 (PTI) — Crompton Greaves Ltd, (CGL) has signed an MoU with Israel-based Tadiran Telecommunications Ltd, for marketing and servicing the latter’s coral range of telecommunications products in the Indian subcontinent. CMD of the Rs 15.83 billion CGL, K.K. Nohria, and Director, Tadiran’s Business and Access Division, Zev Aviv, told reporters that the tie-up would be mutually beneficial, and their customers would get “unrivalled cutting edge technologies and unwavering dedication to services”. Fake Reebok goods seized CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 (TNS)
—Reebok India Company has launched an offensive
against manufacturers of counterfeit sporting articles,
apparels, printing stickers, cricket bats, socks etc.
bearing the Reebok brand name. This follows the Delhi
High Court’s order in a suit instituted by Reebok
seeking an interim injunction against such manufacturers.
Justice Dalveer Bhandari deputed five court commissioners
to take stock of all such goods manufactured and marketed
in Delhi, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. The court commissioners
assisted by the local police, raided the premises of
these manufacturers and recovered stocks of hundreds of
T-shirts, socks, cricket bats and printed stickers which
were to be sold as genuine Reebok articles, said a Reebok
release. |
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