High court rejects BSE President’s plea
MUMBAI, March 24 — The Mumbai High Court today rejected a petition filed by Bombay Stock Exchange President J.C. Parekh challenging the decision of the Securities and Exchange Board of India asking him to step down following a probe into the rigging of prices in three select scripts last year.

Sidhu likely to escape IT net
PATIALA, March 24 — The orders of the Income Tax Department attaching the salary of cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, due to non-payment of tax, are all set to be revoked as the Commissioner (Appeals) has upheld the cricketer’s plea that the tax assessed by the assessing officer, was not computed correctly.

Tourism, taxes & bureaucrats
CHANDIGARH, March 24 — Mr Ashok Pradhan, Director General , Tourism, said 20 million people in India are employed in tourism which earns Rs 12,000 crore in foreign exchange a year.

Free ownership of satellites urged
NEW DELHI, March 24 — The Department of Space has opposed the setting up of an all-encompassing inter-ministerial wireless planning committee under the Department of Telecom and asked for a provision for free ownership of satellites by Indian companies in the new telecom policy proposed to be announced by March 31.

Punjab to have fruit storage
NEW DELHI, March 24 — Public sector Mini-Ratna Central Warehousing Corporation plans to set up a controlled atmosphere storage at Sirhind in Punjab through a tie-up with the Punjab Agro-Industries Corporation.

Hind Lever petition dismissed
NEW DELHI, March 24 — The Delhi High Court today dismissed a petition filed by Hindustan Lever Limited against a Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission order restraining the company from claiming that its tooth paste was superior to other leading brands.

High court rejects BSE President’s plea

MUMBAI, March 24 (PTI) — The Mumbai High Court today rejected a petition filed by Bombay Stock Exchange President J.C. Parekh challenging the decision of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) asking him to step down following a probe into the rigging of prices in three select scripts last year.

Justice N.J. Pandya and Justice S.S. Parkar turned down the petition on the ground that the aggrieved BSE chief had before him an alternate remedy of moving the appellate authority (Finance Ministry) against the impugned decision under Section 20 of the SEBI act.

The judges, however, allowed Parekh to continue as the BSE President until he moves the appellate authority but restrained him from officiating at any meeting of the BSE or its governing board.

The regulatory body, in a letter yesterday, asked Parekh to relinquish his post as BSE President following SEBI’s investigations into the price rigging of blue chips — BPL, Sterlite and Videocon International — in May last year.

Counsel for Parekh, Janak Dwarkadas, contended that SEBI’s decision was illegal and improper.

Sebi counsel, Kumar Desai, argued that in keeping with the practice the appellate authority generally grants interim relief in such cases although there was no specific provision to this effect in the Act.

Therefore, he said, Parekh was free to move the appellate authority in Delhi.

Sidhu likely to escape IT net
From Our Correspondents

PATIALA, March 24 — The orders of the Income Tax Department attaching the salary of cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, due to non-payment of tax, are all set to be revoked as the Commissioner (Appeals) has upheld the cricketer’s plea that the tax assessed by the assessing officer, was not computed correctly.

The income tax authorities had slapped a tax of over Rs 13 lakh on the cricketer, subsequent to which his employers, the State Bank of Patiala (SBOP), attached his salary for February.

Sources say the process of recomputing Sidhu’s tax is almost complete and indications are that a substantial amount will be “knocked off”.

Documents on record prove that a major chunk of the Rs 13,38,413 as demanded by the tax authorities relate to the wrong and erroneous application of a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) circular issued in November 1997. According to an earlier CBDT circular issued in 1981, it was made clear that cricketers representing the country in tournaments sponsored by the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) will not have to pay tax on income accruing from one-day matches, while only a nominal tax would be applicable on income from five-day test matches. The officer, however, assessed Sidhu’s income on the basis of the 1997 CBDT circular for the assessment year 1994-95.

Sidhu’s lawyers contended with the Commissioner (Appeals) that the CBDT circular of 1981 will hold good and also cited judgements of various high courts to prove their point. The Commissioner (Appeals) in his appellate order, therefore, directed the assessing officer to recompute the tax on the basis of 1981 order and not on that of the 1997 order.

Substantial relief has been given to the assesse (Sidhu) by the commissioner, on basis of this.

The cricketer’s tax liability was also computed on the prize money received by him. But being a banker by profession and under Section 10 (17A) of the Income Tax Act 1961, prize money won by an amateur sportsman cannot be taxed.

Tourism, taxes & bureaucrats
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 24 —

(A) Tourism has not been recognised as a tool which can change the socio-economic face of the country.
(B) So long as tourism remains in the hands of incompetent bureaucrats, it can't move forward.
(C) Stop taxing tourism.
(D) Get out of the subsidy culture.

These observations were made at a "Tourism awareness workshop" organised by the Pacific Asia Travel Association's India chapter here today.

Mr Ashok Pradhan, Director General , Tourism, said 20 million people in India are employed in tourism which earns Rs 12,000 crore in foreign exchange a year. Over 140 million Indians travel within the country spending Rs 25,000 crore.

Yet the entire Union of India spends about Rs 400 to 500 crore on tourism. Its potential for employment generation, particularly in smaller towns, is not realised. Tourism does not figure in the Budget, not even in the State and Central lists.

Tourism, he said, promotes economic development and leads to cultural revival. States should spend at least 10 per cent of their rural development funds on tourism. "This will create jobs much faster."

To promote tourism, the PM will launch an "Explore India" programme on March 30, Mr Pradhan added.

Mr Jagdish Sagar, Adviser to the UT Administrator, said not much has been done in the past to sell Chandigarh as a tourist destination and provide facilities.like top hotels.

Mrs Meenakshi Dutta Ghosh, chairperson of CITCO, took the gathering by surprise as she said tourism should no longer remain "in the hands of incompetent bureaucrats."

Mr Ashok Khanna, President, PHDCCI, said if taxes are too high. the government will not be able to raise revenue from tourism.

Mr Inder Sharma, chairman, PHDCCI's Tourism committee, asked the government to stop taxing the tourism industry.

The workshop was attended , among others, by Mr Sanjay Kothari, Secretary, Tourism, Haryana, and Mrs Anuradha Gupta, Home Secretary, UT, the MDs of the Punjab and Haryana Tourism corporations, apart from hotel and restaurant owners and travel agents.

Free ownership of satellites urged

NEW DELHI, March 24 (PTI) — The Department of Space (DoS) has opposed the setting up of an all-encompassing inter-ministerial wireless planning committee (WPC) under the Department of Telecom (DoT) and asked for a provision for free ownership of satellites by Indian companies in the new telecom policy proposed to be announced by March 31.

“The proposed inter-ministerial Wireless Planning and Coordination Committee (WPCC) should not be under any Ministry since it involves issues related to telecom, defence and space,” Dr S. Rangarajan, who represents DoS at the Group on Telecom (GoT) said in his comments submitted to the group.

GoT had proposed to set up an empowered inter-ministerial group under DoT for a periodical review of spectrum availability and bandwidth allocation policy.

On satellite communications, DoS submitted that envisaged telecom services using satellites should conform to the existing SatCom policy and prevalent government rules and regulations, GoT sources told PTI.

Instead of the proposals to allow Indian firms to hire transponders in foreign satellites only on unavailability in the Insat system, use of Internet gateways for satellite communications and permitting KU-band for communications purposes, DoS wanted relevant portions from the existing SatCom policy to be included in the new telecom policy, sources said.

The existing SatCom policy allows Indian private companies to establish commercial satellites, besides allowing Indian and foreign satellite operations from India.

Punjab to have fruit storage

NEW DELHI, March 24 (PTI) — Public sector Mini-Ratna Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) plans to set up a controlled atmosphere storage at Sirhind in Punjab through a tie-up with the Punjab Agro-Industries Corporation (PAIC).

“The CWC board has given an in principle clearance for the project and a detailed project report is being prepared,” CWC Managing Director n. k. choubey told reporters here today.

The storage, which can store different vegetables and fruits, will have a capacity of about 8,000 tonnes and total cost of the project can be about Rs 18 to 20 crore.

Under the tie-up with PAIC, cwc will lease out the storage to the state government outfit.

The PAIC planned to produce high quality fruits and vegetables for exports and domestic use and the storage will help in that endeavour.

The storage will have different levels of carbon dioxide, oxygen and other necessary atmosphere to preserve agro-products.

Mr R. S. Mathur, Secretary, Civil Supplies in the Food Ministry, said the cwc planned to expand its storage capacity from the present 180 lakh tonnes.

He said the government was also considering amendments in the CWC Act and modify its rules to allow more flexibility.

Asked about the recovery of dues from the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Choubey said cwc had taken steps to get back the dues and it had held meetings with FCI in this regard in Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Hind Lever petition dismissed

NEW DELHI, March 24 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court today dismissed a petition filed by Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) against a Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) order restraining the company from claiming that its tooth paste was superior to other leading brands.

Earlier, on a complaint filed by Colgate-Palmolive, MRTPC had restrained HLL from claiming that the toothpaste was 102 per cent superior to the leading brands in the market.

The commission had also constituted an expert committee to test the veracity of the claim saying that it involved technical issues.

HLL had challenged the MRTPC order in the Supreme Court. But, the apex court dismissed the appeal.

Higher tax on luxury cars in Punjab

CHANDIGARH (TNS): Punjab has introduced ad valorem road tax system on all kinds of personal vehicles.

Capt Kanwaljit Singh, presenting the Budget in the Assembly on Wednesday, described as defective the present system of road tax on the basis of seating capacity, irrespective of the value of a vehicle.

The owners of luxury vehicles are required to pay the same road tax as the owners of cheaper vehicles.

Now in Punjab road tax on personal vehicles will be determined ad valerom at the rate of 2 per cent. The two-wheelers, including 50 c c capacity, will be charged tax of 1.5 per cent ad valorem.

The Finance Minister increased the road tax for mini buses — from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,500 per annum.

He proposed to introduce an amnesty scheme for road tax defaulters from the payment of interest and penalties provided they clear defaults by specific dates.

Auto sales skid

NEW DELHI, March 24 (UNI) — The passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors slipped on to lower gear witnessing an erosion in sales during February 1999 even as the automotive industry hitch-hiked on bi-wheelers to record moderate growths during the month.

In the passenger car segment, with the exception of Honda Siel and Hindustan Motors (HM), which is riding on the Lancer wave, sales the rest of the players, including Maruti Udyog Limited, hit a breaker, the latest figures released by the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM) have revealed.

Leading the drop was premier automobiles, whose sales plummeted 81 per cent to touch 126 units in February 1999 as against 666 units in the same month last year.

Mercedes Benz India witnessed a 74 per cent drop in the sales of its E-class cars touching a mere 38 units followed by Mahindra Ford, whose retails of escort dropped by 55 per cent at 89 units.

General Motors’ Opel Astra sales dropped by 29 per cent at 160 units while Daewoo Motors recorded a 22 per cent fall with a combined total sale of 713 units of Cielo and Matiz. Telco also witnessed a 17 per cent drop in sales.

MUL slipped by 6 per cent to touch 27,369 units from 29,146 units a year earlier.

Honda Siel clocked a 63.6 per cent surge in sales at 604 units from 369 units a year ago. HM sold 1,625 units up 4.7 per cent from 1,551 units in February 1998. Hyundai Motors sold 2,157 units of Santro during the period while Ind Auto Limited, riding on the massive price slash on its Uno model, offloaded 1,575 units in the month.

In the multi-utility vehicle segment Hindustan Motors was the only player to have witnessed a growth in sales. Its sales moved up by a mere 1.9 per cent at 260 units.

Zen adjudged best

NEW DELHI (PTI) — Zen model of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) has been conferred with the award of “best small car” by J .D. power, one of the world’s leading marketing information firms.

The award to the Zen model was given on the basis of a study conducted by J. D. Power in 1998 in the major Indian metros, surveying customer satisfaction levels and dealer services.