J&K plans tourism expansion
NEW DELHI, Jan 23 - The Jammu and Kashmir Government has planned a series of promotional exercises, both in India and abroad, to provide a boost to the tourism sector in the state.

Payment of service-tax THE first payment of service-tax imposed on professionals by a recent notification has become due and is payable by 25th of this month. SBI zonal office SHIMLA, Jan 23 — Mr K.K. Narula, Chief General Manager, State Bank of India, Local Head Office, Chandigarh, inaugurated the bank’s zonal office building at Kasumpti here today.

Bestavision, DTK Computer jv
CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — Bestavision - DTK Computers is a joint venture endeavour of Bestavision Infotech Ltd and US-based DTK Computers.

J&K plans tourism expansion
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan 23 - The Jammu and Kashmir (J and K) Government has planned a series of promotional exercises, both in India and abroad, to provide a boost to the tourism sector in the state.

“The largest chunk of tourists to Kashmir have always been domestic and we plan to go on promotional exercise to tap the potential of the domestic market”, Director , Department of Tourism, J and K Government, Mr M Ashraf told The Tribune.

Among the domestic tourists this year, a majority of them belonged to West Bengal and Gujarat , where the J&K Government had actively participated in tourism fairs held there earlier. “The promotion in Ahmedabad and other cities have paid handsomely”, Mr Ashraf said.

The government also plans to take the promotion exercise to the middle east where there is the presence of a sizeable number of ethnic Kashmiri.

In Dubai alone there are about 10 lakh ethnic Kashmiris and about 2.3 million Western expatriates for whom Kashmir appears to be a highly preferred destination.

In this regard, the government is sponsoring a team of private concerns (tourism agencies, houseboat owners association etc.) to the Arabian Travel Mart to be held in Dubai during the first week of May this years, Mr Ashraf said. Plans are also afoot to participate in the Dubai Festival in March, he added.

Although exact figures were not available, the turnover of the tourism sector in the state would be “some thousand crore rupees per annum”, Mr Ashraf said. A survey conducted by the Tata Group put the turnover at Rs 500 crore per annum during the mid-eighties.

The cable way in Gulmarg has generated a revenue of Rs 82 lakh in three months and work on the second part of the project is expected to start this year.

The government has embarked on an aggressive privatisation spree and have offered 30 per cent capital investment subsidy up to Rs 30 lakh in less developed areas like Patnitop etc.

The annual plan has earmarked an allocation of Rs 31 crore for this sector alone out of which as much as Rs 12 crore would pass away as incentives to the private sector, Mr Ashraf said.

At the Tourism Expo which is currently going on in New Delhi, unlike other state governments, the J and K government has sponsored a full team of private agencies and associations related to the tourism sector in a bid to enhance the involvement of the private sector.

FM stresses on micro-banking

NEW DELHI, Jan 23 (UNI) — Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today called for giving a major thrust to micro-credit lending, saying that commercial and cooperative banks should increasingly branch out to rural areas to benefit the common man.

Inaugurating the first branch of the Mumbai-based Development Credit Bank Limited in the national capital, Mr Sinha said micro-banking had unfortunately not made much progress in the country.

The self-help groups, particularly those managed by women, have achieved remarkable results. There was need to replicate these experiments in other parts of the country, he said.

The Finance Minister expressed concern at the low credit-deposit ratio in underdeveloped parts of the country. The funds meant for those regions were going to more developed areas, accentuating the inequalities.

Stressing the need to focus credit towards the poorer states, he suggested that the bank should concentrate more on rural areas and on micro-credit.

Bank Chairman Naushad I. Padamsee said efforts were on in this direction and the Finance Minister’s suggestion would be taken seriously by the board of the bank. He said 100 cooperative banks were incorporated by the DCB, which is also supervising their functions.

The Finance Minister said he was constrained not to speak much as the Budget exercise is on and he had made an exception to come and attend the function.

Woman power-I
Taking up the challenge
By Harvinder Khetal
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH: Unlike ancient towns and villages of India that can each boast of its unique tradition of a particular handicraft or art, Chandigarh, still in its infancy, is not associated with any characteristic trade.

In fact, the cosmopolitan nature of the city lends it the right environment for the flowering of individual talent and skills. Thus, one finds a whole lot of Chandigarhians, particularly women, engaged in an assortment of tasks. The jobs are as varied as the range of turnover — from a few hundreds rupees to lakhs.

While there are many girls and women who go out for work and are “visible”, there are others who work from the confines of their homes, doing the delicate balancing act of running the house and doing business with elan.

It was at a unique musical show organised by Canara Bank here recently that The Tribune came into contact with the city’s women entrepreneurs and their work and products. The enterprising women are all indebted to the bank, and not only in the literal sense. Rama Pradeep (catering)

Sensing people’s predilection for South Indian food, three years ago Rama Pradeep, a woman from Kerala, decided to put her culinary expertise to advantage. With a bank loan, Rama invested in a mixer-grinder, a fridge and some tiffin boxes and she was ready to dole out dosas, idlis, vadas and sambar by the hundred everyday.

Her Sector 43 kitchen became the base for home-cooked lunch at an affordable price of Rs 18 per plate. Rama cashed in on the largely untapped market of office-goers and boy-students living along in the city. Her husband and son pitched in by taking over the mantle of delivery boys. It’s their job to take the piping hot meal, fresh from the gas, to the regular clientele at the Canara Bank and the Telephone Department. Anybody who would like to savour the simple, yet exciting food, has to place the order at her phone number at least a day in advance.

Over the years, Rama has added the north Indian variety to her menu. Her day begins at 5.30 in the morning and she is busy till about 3.30 p.m. After that, it’s preparation for the next day: soaking the batter for fermentation, buying foodstuff etc. With her business having been established and she earning up to Rs 15,000 a month, Rama has hired helping hands.

And this 35-year-old woman is looking forward to the day when her venture expands and moves out of her home to a full-fledged shop so that she can win over many more palates and stomachs.

Deepali (creative art)

Twenty-four-year old Deepali has her hands full and a clear goal to pursue, unlike most girls of her age who are still groping for some anchor in life. In 1980, her mother Swaran Jindal set up “Deepakriti”, a small-scale project teaching girls creative art works in painting, pottery, murals, stain glass etc as well as cooking classes and beauty culture /cosmetic training.

The daughter, after whom the venture was named, now armed with degrees in fine arts and history of arts, has the ambition to convert the short-term courses run from their first floor Sector 15 house into a proper academy. She has been lending her mother a helping hand for the past 10 years. The experience his given Deepali the confidence to run an institute and they are on the look out for the finance needed.

The mother-daughter duo claims to teach 50 techniques of pottery and 35 of painting. Their specialisation is making rubber moulds and wooden murals. For the two-hour batches, they start work at 6.30 a.m. and carry on till 8.30 p.m., with a short lunch break. They charge Rs 200 to Rs 600 per student, depending upon the course offered.

Deepali has also held training workshops and put up stalls and product display shows in the city and in Delhi. Such exposure gives them a chance to sell their items and attract students. Their products adorn the offices of the Punjab and UT AG.

While the rush of students is maximum in summer, when girls are on vacation, they make an average of Rs 15,000 per month.

SBI zonal office
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Jan 23 — Mr K.K. Narula, Chief General Manager, State Bank of India, Local Head Office, Chandigarh, inaugurated the bank’s zonal office building at Kasumpti here today.

Mr Narula said that the bank is committed to all round development of Himachal Pradesh and is making special efforts to uplift the economic conditions of the weaker sections.

Loans amounting to Rs 49.20 crore were provided to the small-scale and cottage industries.

Containers to boost Punjab exports
From Our Correspondent

AMRITSAR, Jan 23 – The Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC) has planned to further develop the concept of containerisation of export cargo from Punjab, especially from Amritsar by offering 40 per cent reduction in the internal freight charges, said Mr Karan A. Singh, Managing Director of the corporation.

Mr Karan Singh pointed that with the upgradation of the Rajasansi international airport, the corporation would soon setup first integrated pre-cooling, chilling and packaging for exporters of agro products to various places in the Middle East and Europe.

He felt that with the likely opening of trade between India and Pakistan through the land route from Wagah-Attari road, the PSWC would also plan to set up a dry port with modern facilities to cater to the needs of the exporters and importers. Presently, India was importing huge quantities of sugar from Pakistan and with the launching of bi-weekly bus service there was chances of better trade relation being developed in the near future.

The PSWC had recently upgraded the inland container depots at Amritsar and Jalandhar for the purposes of land and rail movement of containers to ports for incom ing and outgoing cargos.

The Deputy Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mr Kishor G. Apte said that the new port Nhava-Sheva in New Mumbai had been planned to decongest Mumbai and for serving as hub port for this region.

Payment of service-tax by professionals
By V.N. Agarwal

THE first payment of service-tax imposed on professionals by a recent notification has become due and is payable by 25th of this month. The service-tax is payable by Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants in practice and other professionals etc and is chargeable on the fees for specific services rendered by them to their clients. The receipted amount of the fees billed from 16th October, ’98 to 31st December ’98 will be payable @ 5 per cent of the receipted amount.

In order to deposit service-tax, the professionals have to fill the yellow coloured specified challan No TR-6 in quadruplicate. The tax shall be deposited under major head of Account No 0044 Service Tax with the specified branches of banks in cash or by cheque/bank draft or pay order drawn in favour of the bank under the minor head.

All challans should bear the registration number allotted to the assessee besides name and address. A copy of the challan will be required to the attached with the Return of Form No ST-3 to be filed by January 25 of the month following the six months period i.e. 25th April, 1999 by which date payment of service tax for the second quarter, i.e. Ist January ’99 to 31st March ’99 will also become due.

The challan forms are not provided by the Excise Department but has to be obtained from the publishers. Revised challan forms for professionals are not available. Therefore, the filling of the old challan forms have become difficult. Not filling up the correct code number in the challan is likely to effect the proper adjustments of service tax in the account of the assessee. It is, therefore necessary that the first payment date be extended.

Failure to pay service-tax will attract penal interest @ 1.5 per cent per month and penalty of not less than Rs 100 which may extend to Rs 200 per day during which the failure to pay continues. However, the penalty will not exceed the amount of service-tax which the assessee has failed to pay.

Bestavision, DTK Computer jv
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — Bestavision - DTK Computers is a joint venture endeavour of Bestavision Infotech Ltd (BIL) and US-based DTK Computers. The latter supplies full range of PCs, laptops, and high-end servers certified for compatibility with Noveli, Microsoft, Os/2, Win NT and Sco.

Mr R.P. Singh Regional Manager, BIL. said the company intended to become a strong global player by 2000 and enter into areas of software development and exports, ERP Solutions and data warehousing.

by Ashok Kumar
Will property prices fall further?

ONE of our clients who is a civil engineer and construction industry expert predicts that 1999 will witness the first signs of regeneration in the country’s real estate market. Apparently, a section of consumers, who had been putting off their house purchases in the hope of property prices falling further, have returned to the market. Enquiries for mass purchase of property by corporates and PSUs have also given this market the much needed push. Yet, it must also be noted that most of the demand is in the low and mid-budget segments, and not in the Rs 20 lakh plus segment which is crucial for a revival of the builders’ fortunes. And the prices are not climbing with demand, though a flattening out of prices is noticeable.

Mirroring this factor is LIC Housing Finance Ltd’s loan disbursals and sanctions, which show a marked rise in activity since August this year. Apparently, Bangalore is back in the reckoning for property purchases while there was a noticeable buying spurt in Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Nagpur. LIC Housing Finance’s individual loan sanctions during April 1 September 30 had risen by around 30 per cent, touching Rs 645 crores in September. Be the statistics as it may, an interesting opinion forwarded by our friend, the civil engineer is that historically an upswing in real estate prices is preceded by an upswing in share prices.

IBP Ltd

In its most discernible move yet in its much touted endeavour to restructure the state-owned oil companies, the government is planning to divest its stake in IBP Ltd. an exclusive marketing company, by inviting bids from energy majors like Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. The government is likely to fix a floor price for its IBP stake at Rs 2,000 crore. The IBP divestment would also mean an additional inflow of funds to the central exchequer which would help the government partly bridge the fiscal deficit. While on this topic it would be worthwhile to take a closer look at the performance and prospects of Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum.

Indian Oil

A leading player in the refinery industry, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) has the distinction of being the only Indian company that is listed in the Fortune 500. The company can boast of an excellent track record over the years. It operates via its facilities located at Gujarat, Haldia, Guwahati, Mathura, Digboi and Barauni. Financially, the company has been recording excellent results. The company, with a vision to grow further, plans to invest as much as Rs 33,000 crore during the Ninth Five Year Plan. The funds will be utilised to set up new refineries and an LPG bottling plants. Moreover, it plans to allocate funds for enhancing its marketing structure. It is planning to collaborate with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation for setting up a grassroots refinery. To enhance its export scenario. IOCL is setting up a 100 per cent EOU at Nagapattinam.

HPCL

A public sector company, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is a distinguished player in the industry, with a market share of 20 per cent. It has the distinction of being the second largest refinery and the second largest lubricant company in the country. The company boasts of an excellent track record. The company benefits from optimum capacity utilisation. It has signed an MoU with the government for the execution of four projects, Vizag refinery expansion project, Vizag-Vijaywada pipeline project, diesel hydro de-sulphurisation projects at Vizag and Mumbai and Punjab refinery project. Its strong marketing network helps it to market its products effectively. The deregulation of the refinery sector could prove extremely beneficial to the company.

Now, these are the two prime performers from this segment, but the scrip which has reportedly caught the fancy of market operators is Cochin Refineries. Well, keep an eye on its share price during 1999.

by Praful.R. Desai

Higher scale

Q: Whether the petitioner is entitled to draw the salary attached to the post of Secretary (Scouts) during the time he actually worked?

Ans: In Selvaraj v Lt. Governor of Island, Port Blair (1998-II-LLJ-1191) the S.C. was considering this point.

The petitioner was attached to a school and working as a primary teacher. He was directed to look after the duties of Secretary (Scouts) with immediate effect. The appellant was regularly posted in the pay scale of Rs 1200-2040. The post of Secretary (Scouts) it may be noted will be carrying the pay scale of Rs 1640-2900. The question was whether the appellant would be entitled to the benefit of pay of Secretary.

The S.C. opined that the fact remains that the appellant has worked on the higher post though temporarily and in an officiating capacity pursuant to the aforesaid order and his salary was to be drawn during that time against the post of Secretary (Scouts). It is also not in dispute that the salary attached to the post of Secretary was in the pay scale of Rs 1640-2900. Consequently, in the opinion of the S.C., on the principle of quantum merit the respondent authorities should have paid the appellant as per the emoluments available in the aforesaid higher pay scale during the time he actually worked on the said post of Secretary (Scouts) though in an officiating capacity and not as a regular promotee. This limited relief is required to be given to the appellant only on this ground.

The decision of the CAT rejecting the claim of the appellant to the aforesaid limited extent is therefore required to be set aside, averred the S.C. Consequently the appeal was allowed to the limited extent that the respondents will be called upon to make available to the appellant the difference of salary in the time scale of 1640-2900 during the period from January 29, 1992 to September 19, 1995, during which time the appellant actually worked.

However, it was made very clear by the S.C. that the payment of the aforesaid difference, amount of salary shall not be treated to amount to any promotion given to the appellant on the said post. It is only on the ground that he had actually worked, as such this relief is being given to him. The difference of salary as aforesaid shall be paid over to the appellant within eight weeks from today, the S.C. ordered.

by R.N. Lakhotia

Q: Three years ago, I purchased 1000 units of UTI's US-64 scheme with cumulative option i.e. the dividend declared each year is reinvested in units. As I did not get any cash return. I had not added the dividend income in IT returns for last two years. Please advise whether I should add the dividend income from these units in my yearly returns or in the year when the units are repurchased. What is the remedy for the previous two years for not adding dividend income in returns? Is the dividend income eligible for tax benefit under Section 80-L.

2. My two children own children gift growth funds units of UTI gifted by me and their grandparents. What is the Income-tax liability for me from the dividend income of these units? Is the dividend from these eligible for exemption under Section 80-L.

— S.K. Sareen, Amritsar

Ans: The accrued dividend on UTI should have been shown in the respective Income-tax returns. However, you are advised to show the income from UTI dividend year after year in the Income-tax return even if the actual payment of the same has not been received by you. In respect of the earlier 2 years you may show the income now in the current year for which you are going to file your Income-tax return. The dividend income received from Unit Trust of India is eligible for deduction u/s 80L of the Income Tax Act, 1961. In respect of Gift Growth Fund Units of UTI in the name of your children, it presumed that both the children are minor in which case the income arising to minor children out of the Units gifted by you to your children will be added with your income.

The income arising from the Units gifted by the grandparents to their grandchildren would be clubbed in the income of the father. If, however, the children are major children, then the question of clubbing of income will not arise. In the event of clubbing of income the benefit of tax deduction u/s 80L will be available in respect of the dividend income from UTI. However, please remember that no additional amount of tax deduction would be permissible for such income for the minor children and the total amount of tax deduction permissible would be limited within the overall maximum exempted amount u/s 80L.

Q: I am owner of a taxi. My income is between Rs 25,000-30,000 per year. Even then I used to pay I.T. Rs 1400 in lump sum under the old scheme which has now been closed. Now the government has advertised in the newspaper to get the I.T. No. allotted, if the annual income exceeds Rs 50,000.

I never submitted I.T. return and my income is below Rs 50,000. Should I get the I.T. No. allotted or otherwise. Please guide me.

— Bal Krishan, Bilaspur

Ans: On the facts stated by you the submission of Income-tax return as also obtaining a Permanent A/c No. is not necessary. However, I would like to suggest you to better apply for Permanent A/c No. and also file your return regularly to avoid any problem at a later stage.

Q: What happens to the money put in excess of Rs 60,000/- in a financial year in PPF when it has been accepted by the SBI without any reservations or counter-advice? Does the 'Limit' of Rs 60,000/- mean that the excess subscription has gone into 'Nil Return Lock Up'? In that case shouldn't it be retrieved? Then what is the procedure for this?

Or, the subscriber keeps getting 12% Tax Free interest on the excess subscription while availing the IT Rebate of Rs 12000/- maximum u/s 88 only for the subscription limited to 60,000/-?

— H.R. Garg, Barnala

Ans: In respect of excess subscription made to Public Provident Fund you are not entitled to any interest thereon. If by mistake the bank has granted you interest, it is liable to be reversed by the bank. You will continue to get tax rebate @ 20 per cent on Rs 60,000 being the maximum amount u/s 88 and that in respect of the excess contribution by you neither tax rebate will be permissible nor interest will be payable by the bank. Avoid investing in PPF A/c in excess of Rs 60,000 in a year.

Q: I am retired Army officer. At present I am holding LIC agency and its valid licence. In addition I have also invested my money in various reputed firms. The details are as under:-

Income

1. From pension (including recent arrears) Rs 62,619.00

2. LIC Agency Rs 30,408.00

3. Interest/Dividend from various shares/debentures Rs 21,000.00

Total Rs 1,14,027.00

Deduction

1. Tax deducted at source by LIC Rs 3042.00

2. LIC Policies — Myself Rs 4676.00

My wife (unemployed) Rs 9886.00

My unmarried/unemployed daughter Rs 10473.00

Total Rs 25035.00

20% Rs 5047.00

Further I am above 65 years of age and my date of birth is 24.11.1927.

In view of the above I shall be very grateful if you could kindly advise me on the above subject at the earliest. i.e. Have I to submit the report or deposit any tax to the govt.

— Dina Nath, Ferozepur

Ans: On the facts stated by you, you will not be liable to make payment of Income-tax because of the fact that after considering the standard deduction permissible on your pension income as also tax rebates for contribution to LIC, etc. and finally taking into account the tax rebate available to a senior citizen the net tax payable by you would be nil. Hence, you are not required to make payment of any Income-tax. However, it is suggested to you that you should file your Income-tax return so that you can claim the refund in respect of the tax which has already been deducted by the Life Insurance Corporation.

Wockhardt declares 35 pc interim

MUMBAI, Jan 23 (PTI) — Wockhardt has recorded a 7 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 39 crore during the six months ended December 31, 1998 and declared its first interim dividend of 35 per cent for this financial year. During the half year period, the company posted a 27 per cent growth in sales to Rs 258.5 crore, while group sales (Wockhardt and Merind Labs combined) amounted to Rs 364.6 crore, reflecting an increase of 23 per cent over the previous corresponding period. The company’s net profit has however declined marginally to 15.1 per cent from 17.6 per cent on account of additional interest burden, Wockhardt Chairman H.F. Khorakiwala told a press conference here today.

Hind Petro net up 26.34 pc

NEW DELHI, Jan 23 (PTI) — State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has posted a 26.34 per cent rise in its net profit during the third quarter of the financial year 1998-99. The company’s net profit after tax was Rs 219.58 crore for the quarter October-December 1998 as compared to Rs 173.80 crore for the corresponding quarter last year, an HPCL release said. HPCL’s profit for the period April-December 1998 was posted at Rs 655.02 crore as against Rs 620.85 crore during the corresponding period last year, a growth of 25.76 per cent, the statement said.

ICICI Banking net Rs 44.10 cr

MUMBAI, Jan 23 (PTI) — ICICI Banking Corporation Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 44.10 crore during the first nine months of 1998-99 as against Rs 42.10 crore in the same period of previous year. The bank’s total income stood at Rs 444.40 crore during April-December 1998, of which Rs 377.73 was interest income, ICICI Bank said in a release. The deposits of the bank stood at Rs 4,642.32 crore as on December 31, 1998 compared to Rs 2,450.22 crore on December 31, 1997.

McDowell net grows 68 pc

MUMBAI, Jan 23 (PTI) — McDowell & Co has reported a 68 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 13.6 crore for the nine month period ending December 31, 1998. The company recorded a net profit of Rs 4.2 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year as against Rs 3.5 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, a company release said. The UB Group company has reported sales of Rs 232.2 crore in the same period as against Rs 210.5 crore, in the third quarter of last year.

P1+ rating for Dabur

NEW DELHI, Jan 23 (PTI) — The CRISIL today reaffirmed P1+ rating accorded to Dabur India Ltd’s (DIL) Rs 100 crore commercial programme and certificates of deposits of State Bank of Indore. The credit rating agency also reaffirmed the ‘FAA’ rating assigned to fixed deposit programme of State Bank of Indore. CRISIL said DIL’s efforts to improve its working capital management by having better control on inventories and receivables are likely to have positive impact on the cash flows of the company.

Asian Paints net dips

MUMBAI, Jan 23 (PTI) — Asian Paints Ltd has recorded 9.39 per cent lower profits in last three months of this financial year at Rs 15.72 crore compared to Rs 17.35 crore in the third quarter of last year. Profits for the nine month period from April 1998 have also dipped marginally to Rs 48.4 crore from Rs 49.41 crore despite a 10 per cent rise in paint sales at Rs 856.81 crore. Net income during the third quarter of the current financial year has shown marginal growth at Rs 209.15 crore compared to Rs 204.71 crore in the same period of last year.

Indo-Rama sales up

CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 (TNS) — Indo-Rama Synthetics (I) Ltd, today announced its results for the third quarter ended December 31, 1998. The company increased its sales volume by 20 per cent to 66,295 tonnes from 55,399 tonnes in the previous quarter. During the same period the sales turnover increased by 10 per cent to Rs 345.95 crore fromRs 313.50 crore. The company’s operating profit improved to Rs 34.95 crore from Rs 3.92 crore in the previous quarter, resulting in improved operating margins of 10.12 per cent compared to 1.25 per cent in the corresponding period.

Tough guys get low ranking

THE Italians prefer to do it over dinner. The British, for whom the Italian approach is anathema, favour lunch. So do the Spaniards. By contrast, the Belgians might choose anything from the ballet to the beer cellar. No such luxury for the Germans. With positively Calvinist rigour their favourite venues for getting down to the brasstacks of business wheeling and dealing are hotels or airports.

The Germans, on the other hand, are keener than the British on flexible working; the French are merely ``reconciled’’ to the four-day week, while the Dutch live up to their more generally liberal image and are most receptive to the idea of companies providing child care facilities at work.

Curiously, or perhaps not, the besuited British business executive is readiest to cast off formality in favour of more casual attire. But on the Continent, standards are expected to be maintained. No dressing down in Darmstadt, dammit.

For all the variety, however, there are common characteristics. There is broad agreement, for example, that top executives need to be both creative, good at motivating staff and on this survey evidence pretty nifty at stating the obvious, too. Yet contrary to the stereotype of the hard-nosed business leader, toughness gets a low ranking.

And some things never change. France may be one of the most popular destinations for British holidaymakers, but it is not the place the British enjoy doing business.

— The Guardian

Cow bones

Kodak, a leading film and imaging company, buys 80 million pounds of cow skeleton yearly from abattoirs to produce gelatin from bone marrow for making film.

Under a caption “Who knew Kodak would keep so many skeletons in its closet?” The Wall Street Journal said that beef bones were bought by the giant company through a subsidiary, Eastman Gelatine Corp.

The price of cow bones has risen 25 per cent in the past two years to about $ 400 a tonne driven by a soaring demand for gelatin, now-used in everything from yogurt to vitamin pill Gel Caps.

Down to basics

Stung by disparaging references to her feminity, a teacher at a school in northern Israel decided to remove her clothes and any doubts about her real gender, the Israeli Yediot Aharanot daily reported.

As her tenth-grade class watched in disbelief, the teacher responded to taunts that she “looked like a man”, by taking off her sweater and blouse, and, according to some reports, stepping out of her trousers as well.

Some students were stunned, others were embarrassed, and some, who said the teacher “looked great”, were disappointed when the impromptu strip show ended, the daily said. The teacher was later taken to a nearby hospital to undergo psychiatric observation.

Donkey milk

The milk of jenny (female ass) can be safely used for infants as it is quite close to human milk in properties, says Dr M.P. Yadav, Director of the National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar.

Dr Yadav said that the components of human milk and that of a female donkey’s milk were “almost similar”. He pointed out that in many countries the milk of jenny was used for human consumption, because it was easily digestible and full of protein. There was a time when the royal family of Britain also used jenny’s milk, Dr Yadav said.

The day is not far when scientists will be able to make a formula to produce a substitute of human milk, he added.

— Agencies

Khadi rebate
MUMBAI, Jan 23 (UNI) — The Union Government has extended the special rebate period on all items of khadi and polyvastra for another 30 days during the current financial year. Thus the total duration of special rebate for 1998-99 would now be 120 days, as against 90 days, which has already been notified.

Programme
CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 (TNS) — A two day specialised programme on occupational safety and health will be organised by North Zone Chapter of National Safety Council here from January 29. It will have special emphasis on occupational health. The programme shall be inaugurated by Mr D.S. Bains, Private Secretary to Union of State for Industry.

Mahindra MD
NEW DELHI, Jan 23 (UNI) — Mr Philip G. Spender has taken over as Managing Director of Mahindra Ford India Limited (MFIL), makes of the mid-size car Escort, from January 1999. Mr Spender is replacing Mr John G. Parker, who has moved to Ford’s world headquarters in Detroit to take on a new assignment.

Modicare
CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 (TNS) — Modicare today launched speedy iron, a unique easy ironing aide under its laundry care range. Speedy iron’s special silicon formula will help make ironing smooth and easy by removing toughest creases quickly. It can be used on all washable cotton and synthetics.

Spectrometer
CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 (TNS) — The northern regional office of the Bureau of Indian Standards issued the first licence in the country for a spectrometer (student type). The spectrometer is a laboratory instrument with a collimator, telescope and a prism table, used for the study of spectrum produced by the transmission of light through the prism.