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India all dance & music for French
CHANDIGARH, March 19 — The CII has presented the “good face” of Indo-French trade. “But the reality is bad. What is $2 billion worth of trade between France and India,” asked the French Ambassador to India, Mr Claude Blanchemaison, at a session here today on “France-Europe-India: Perspectives”.

Government committed to pass IRA Bill: Vajpayee
NEW DELHI, March 19 — Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee today hinted that new insurance companies would soon enter the country as the government was committed to enact the new modified Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill.

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Sugar stocks enough
NEW DELHI, March 19 — The production of sugar in the current season is estimated to be 150 lakh tonnes, which is about 22 lakh tonnes more than last year.

TRAI is not a super regulator:Jagmohan
NEW DELHI, March 19 — Union Communications Minister Jagmohan today said Telecom Regulatory Authority was not above the government and it should not act as a “super-regulator”.

Privatise STC: panel
NEW DELHI, March 19 — The Disinvestment Commission today recommended privatisation of State Trading Corporation by selling the entire government stake to a strategic buyer and closure of loss-making Hindustan Steel Works.

Aptech to raise Rs 117.25 crore
MUMBAI, March 19 — Aptech Limited has announced successful private placement of equity shares with foreign institutional investors, financial institutions and mutual funds.

ICRA downgrades Zuari Leasing
NEW DELHI, March 19 — Rating agency ICRA has downgraded rating of fixed deposits of Zuari Leasing and Financial Corporation Ltd from ‘MA-’ to ‘MB+’.

 

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India all dance & music for French
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 19 — The CII has presented the “good face” of Indo-French trade. “But the reality is bad. What is $2 billion worth of trade between France and India,” asked the French Ambassador to India, Mr Claude Blanchemaison, at a session here today on “France-Europe-India: Perspectives”.

“While exports from India to France are improving, French companies are lazy towards India — more busy with euro and economic changes in Central Europe”, he said.

“The image of India in France is positive, but not that of investment destination. It is a cultural image. The country is known for its refined culture, its classical dances and music.

India makes satellites, but the French don’t know it. Its scientific and technological achievements need to be propagated, the Ambassador suggested.

Stressing the need for an exchange of more delegations between the two countries, he said while there are three French journalists in India, there is no Indian journalist in France.

Talking about the European Union, the Ambassador said EU is a continuing process. Beginning with the Treaty of Rome, it took 40 years to build a single market, to eliminate subsidies and to adopt euro.

It was a painful process. Now the French economy is competitive. Deficits have turned into surpluses. Inflation is nil. Germany, which once imported agricultural produce from France, has now become self-sufficient. “EU is a powerful means of reducing tensions”, he remarked.

When asked to spell out lessons, if any, for SAARC countries, the French envoy quipped: “We don’t like to give lessons. The situation in this part is not the same as in Europe.”

Meanwhile, envoys from select African countries invited Indian entrepreneurs to explore business opportunities in their countries. They were addressing a session on “Business opportunities in select African countries” organised by the CII here today.

Mr Rohit N Guttee, High Commissioner from Mauritius, Mr S.K. Mubukwanu, High Commissioner from Zambia, Mr Aedebola O Ogutuga from Nigeria and Mr Peter Nkurunziza from Uganda made detailed presentations at the session.

Mr Alok Dutta, Chairman International Trade Committee of the CII, said the Indian industry should capitalise on the unique advantage of close political and historical ties that India enjoyed with many African countries.Top


 

Government committed to pass IRA Bill: Vajpayee

NEW DELHI, March 19 (PTI) — Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee today hinted that new insurance companies would soon enter the country as the government was committed to enact the new modified Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill.

“There is a big debate about insurance sector reforms. We hope to allow new Indian insurance companies to enter the market soon and compete with the existing players”, he said, dedicating the two insurance schemes for the welfare of women and girl child here.

Allaying fears of the public sector insurance companies being swamped by the foreign players with its opening, Vajpayee said all future insurance companies must compete with the existing players in providing better coverage of risk for both the well-off and poorer segments.

Lauding the contribution of existing public sector insurance companies, the Prime Minister said they had expanded the insurance sector and provided risk cover to all kinds of business and people.

“What is important is that they are also providing this risk cover to the poor and the powerless by these two and other schemes”, he said maintaining that these schemes have not been thrusted by the government and are viable on their own.

He asked the State Governments to participate in a big way for the success of the two schemes — Bhagyashree Child Welfare Policy and Rajarajeshwari Mahila Kalyan Bima Yojna.

The first would provide funds for girls to complete their education if they lost either of their parents and second would provide income to women who lost their husbands or became disabled.

For the first time these insurance policies provide cover against rape and post-maternity death.

The schemes launched on Divali last year by the General Insurance Corporation and its four subsidiaries have so far attracted 1.35 lakh women and girl insurers.

Appealing to States to take steps to promote these schemes, the Prime Minister suggested that every gram panchayat and municipality could insure all its girls and women.

“This will earn them a discount”, he said adding that insuring one crore girls will cost only Rs 8 to Rs 14 crore a year and insuring one crore women will cost Rs 5 to Rs 6 crore. Every State can afford this, he said.

“States must also collaborate with the General Insurance Corporation and its affiliates in ensuring better delivery of these schemes”, he said adding that “no widow or disabled woman or orphan girl should have to trudge to some distant office and furnish papers to show that she is eligible to receive the E-time or recurring benefits under these schemes.” Top



 

Simplify rules: CII
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 19 — Not just the industry, the State Governments too have to compete with one another to attract investment, said Mr Arun Bharat Ram, the outgoing Chairman of the CII (Northern Region), here today.

Addressing a press conference, he advised the northern States to ensure transparency, simplify rules and ensure that decisions are taken within a practical time-frame.

Mr Arun Bharat Ram, who hands over the CII Chairmanship to Mr Sunil Munjal on April 9, said States should follow the example of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who has computerised land records and ensured quick transfer of land.

Mr Sunil Munjal said States in the North have changed, but not changed enough. The finances of States have suffered. So it is important to cut wasteful expenditure and downsize the government.Top


 

Sugar stocks enough
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, March 19 — The production of sugar in the current season is estimated to be 150 lakh tonnes, which is about 22 lakh tonnes more than last year.

The Union Secretary for Sugar and Edible Oils, Mr R.P. Sinha, told newspersons here that with domestic consumption of sugar estimated at around 144 lakh tonnes, the country would have surplus stocks of about six lakh tonnes.

Mr Sinha said the price of sugar has remained quite stable over a period of almost one year and despite the increase in customs duty on the commodity, there has not been much fluctuation in the domestic prices. He said this was because of the sufficient availability of sugar in the market.

He said the Indian sugar industry had represented to the government for further increase in customs duty on import of sugar to 50 per cent as the impact of the increase in customs duty has been neutralised due to international factors including the devaluation of Brazilian currency and a fall in the international prices of sugar.

Mr Sinha said the customs duty had already increased thrice during the financial year. He said between April 1998 and February 1999, private operators imported 7.40 lakh tonnes of sugar as against 3.30 lakh tonnes in the previous year and the majority of the imports were from Pakistan. Pakistan accounted for 70 per cent of the imports while Brazil supplied around 20 per cent of India’s requirements.

He said great emphasis was being placed on the process of modernisation of sugar industries to bring the technology and production practices at par with the best in the world. An amount of Rs 219.36 crore has been sanctioned since June 1998, for modernisation, cane development and specific research projects through scientific institutions.

Mr Sinha said there has been significant improvement in the availability of vegetable oils in the country which has gone up to 79 lakh tonnes in the current year from 72 lakh tonnes in 1997-98 showing an increase of 9.8 per cent.Top


 

TRAI is not a super regulator:Jagmohan

NEW DELHI, March 19 (PTI) — Union Communications Minister Jagmohan today said Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) was not above the government and it should not act as a “super-regulator”.

“Trai should not regulate government and it should not try to act as a super regulator,” Jagmohan told reporters after inaugurating a seminar on “Access to information” organised by the Pacific Telecommunications Council India Foundation here.

The government stood for a strong regulatory body in the telecom sector, but at the same time would not like the regulator ruling over the government, Jagmohan said when asked whether the government’s recent directive was infringing on the regulator’s role.

The government had stayed the tariff order passed by TRAI early this month by issuing a police directive under Section 25 of the TRAI Act, 1997, following widespread criticism that the new tariffs were anti-poor and pro-rich.

Jagmohan said there was an imperative need to change the attitude of private telecom companies, especially in the backdrop of not many operators offering telephones in the rural areas, despite contractual obligations.

He said the companies should be made to meet their contractual obligations as per the licence agreement. Top


 

Privatise STC: panel

NEW DELHI, March 19 (PTI) — The Disinvestment Commission today recommended privatisation of State Trading Corporation (STC) by selling the entire government stake to a strategic buyer and closure of loss-making Hindustan Steel Works.

The Commission, which submitted its Ninth report to the government containing the two PSUs, recommended sale of entire government holding in STC after reserving 5 per cent shares for employees who opt for voluntary retirement scheme.

The share allotment should be at the rate of not more than 200 shares per employee at a discount to the strategic buyer’s price, to provide continuation of trading operations under private ownership and management with sustainable levels of employment, the Commission said.Top


 

Aptech to raise Rs 117.25 crore

MUMBAI, March 19 (PTI) — Aptech Limited has announced successful private placement of equity shares with foreign institutional investors (FIIs), financial institutions (FIs) and mutual funds.

Aptech would raise Rs 117.25 crore by way of fresh issue of 13.4 lakh equity shares at Rs 875 per share (as against the minimum SEBI stipulated price of Rs 710). The issue was on a book-built basis with orders received from over 40 FIIs in the USA, UK, the Far East, Indian Mutual Funds and FIs. The shares are expected to be allotted before March 31, a release said here today.Top


 

ICRA downgrades Zuari Leasing

NEW DELHI, March 19 (PTI) — Rating agency ICRA has downgraded rating of fixed deposits of Zuari Leasing and Financial Corporation Ltd from ‘MA-’ to ‘MB+’. The new rating, indicating inadequate safety, takes into account the significant deterioration in the asset quality of Zuari Leasing during 1997-98 due to poor collection performance in lease and inter-corporate deposits portfolio, ICRA said.Top


 


Microsoft now moves into telecom

NEW YORK: Microsoft and Intel have unveiled plans to grab a share of the fast-growing telecommunications equipment market by teaming up with Hewlett-Packard, a computer manufacturer, and Nortel, the Canadian telecommunications manufacturer.

Having conquered the personal computer market, Microsoft and Intel are now going after telecommunications equipment that combines corporate data and voice traffic on a single network. The market for such equipment is worth an estimated $250 billion per year and is dominated by companies such as Cisco Systems and Lucent Technologies. Microsoft supplies 90 per cent of PC operating systems while Intel has 80 per cent of the computer chip market under what is referred to as the Wintel monopoly.

Under the alliance, Microsoft and Intel would provide the software for Nortel to develop telecom networking products that would compete directly with Cisco. As the fourth member of the alliance, Hewlett-Packard will market the equipment under its brand name. Unlike most existing network equipment, which uses the Unix operating system to handle both conventional voice traffic and data transmission, the new products will probably conform to the Wintel standard. — The Guardian

Internet

FATEHGARH SAHIB (FOC): Mr T.R. Sarangal, Deputy Commissioner Fatehgarh Sahib inaugurated the Internet Node at National Informatics Centre (NIC), at District Administrative Complex here on Thursday.

With the establishment of this Internet Node, the district has been connected to the whole of the world. Now the information can be accessed or sent with in no time from any corner of the world. The information on the Internet is in form of WWW. All types of information related to culture, industry, tourism is available on Punjab web page.

Dishnet

NEW DELHI (PTI): Dishnet Ltd promoted by Sterling group and Dr Vijay Bhatkar who quit as the Director of Centre for Advanced Computing (C-DAC) today launched the country’s first internet service over cable network heralding a new chapter in the country’s communication revolution.

The net service with a brand name “ETH” (education to home) was launched at the ETH Research Laboratory in Pune by Congress leader Sharad Pawar.

Software

NEW DELHI (PTI): Indian software firms are poised to export software and services worth $3 billion for Euro-related Information Technology (IT) projects in the next three years, National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) said.

The main opportunities would be derived from the banking and financial sectors, Nasscom President Dewang Mehta said adding “already Indian companies have completed projects worth $150 million during last nine months for Euro conversion in European banks.”

C-DAC

NEW DELHI (PTI): Pune based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has launched a new mission to develop supercomputer technologies using personal computer (PC) elements which would enable organisations to build their own supercomputer of the size and performance needed by them.

Called next generation high performance computing and communication (HPCC) technology, such technologies with their multifarious application would make the country immune from the rapid technological changes as well as from technology denials, R.K. Arora, Executive Director, C-DAC, said.Top


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  Forex rates
MUMBAI, March 19 (PTI) — The following were interbank forex and RBI rates (in rupees per unit):
US $ Rs 42.39/40
Sterling £ Rs 68.96/98
Euro Rs 46.36/37
Jap Yen (per 100) Rs 36.14/16

The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.40

Gold falls
NEW DELHI, March 19 (PTI) —Both the precious metals, silver and gold, rolled back on the bullion market today on reduced offtake in the face of depressed overseas advices and closed notably lower. The quotations: Silver. 999 (ready 7525, delivery 7570, coins buyer 10,400 and seller 10,500. Standard gold 4330, ornaments 4180 and sovereign 3750.

ISO 9002
KAPURTHALA, March 19 (FOC) — K.F. Beltings Private Ltd. a manufacturing unit of power transmission beltings has been awarded ISO-9002 certificate by Det Norske Veritas, (D.N.V.), Neitherland, an international certificate agency for its rubber products being supplied to Indian railways according to Col. S.S. Cheema, Chief Executive.

SEBI
NEW DELHI, March 19 (PTI) — SEBI today allowed companies to issue shares below the face value of Rs 10 and liberalised norms for initial public offerings (IPOs). “SEBI will withdraw the existing government circular requiring companies to issue shares at Rs 10 and Rs 100 and the companies will have the freedom to issue shares at a fixed amount,” SEBI Chairman D.R. Mehta told reporters here. The SEBI board, which met today, also decided to amend the entry norms for IPOs by allowing companies having “distributable profits” instead of the current three-year dividend record. Top



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