Urban chaos blamed on migrant labour
NEW DELHI, May 18 — The migration of rural labourers to the urban informal sector and the resultant imbalance in the system appears to be a major bottleneck to the urban civic amenities.

New policy of RBI may help sick units
LUDHIANA, May 18 — Nearly 2,500 sick industrial units of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, which are facing liquidation proceedings at the Jaipur-based Debt Recovery Tribunal, may soon get a fresh lease of life as a result of a new policy being drafted by the RBI.

Incoming calls on cellphones to be free from August 1
NEW DELHI, May 18 — In a major effort to boost the cellular phone usage in the country, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has decided to make incoming calls free of charge from August 1.

Move to ban polybags affects production
LUDHIANA, May 18 — The announcement by the Punjab Minister for Local Bodies, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, that the State Government proposes to impose a ban on the use of polybags in the State has caused a stir among plastic manufacturers in Punjab.

Outlook stable: S&P
MUMBAI, May 18 — International credit rating agency Standard & Poor has supported a stable outlook in credit quality throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Jalandhar bypass contract for Birlas
NEW DELHI, May 18 — The National Highways Authority of India has awarded contracts for five road projects for four/six laning of North-South and East-West corridors — covering a total length of 63 km and involving cost of Rs 200 crore.

Reforms to focus on money markets
MUMBAI, May 18 — Union Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar today said that for the first time the government is talking about privatisation and has shown a willingness to carry forward this process.

IPCA net up 27 per cent
MUMBAI, May 18 — IPCA Laboratories has posted 27 per cent rise in net profit (before providing for exceptional items) at Rs 24.69 crore on an increased turnover of Rs 335.36 crore, which is up 14.96 per cent over the previous year.

Urban chaos blamed on migrant labour
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 18 — The migration of rural labourers to the urban informal sector and the resultant imbalance in the system appears to be a major bottleneck to the urban civic amenities.

Ministers of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh today expressed concern at the growing degradation of the urban civic services primarily due to large scale rural migration.

Speaking at the 26th meeting of the Central Council of Local Government and Urban Development held here, Mr Balramji Das Tandon, Punjab Minister for Local Government, asked the Centre to come to the aid of the urban local bodies in a big way to enable them to meet the challenge of rapid urbanisation.

Referring to the conditions in Punjab, Mr Tandon stated that the migrant labour from other States now constitutes about 80 per cent of the labour force in agriculture and industry.

“The urban population, which is now 37 per cent of the state population, will soon cross the 40 per cent mark,” he said.

To provide core civic services, Punjab requires Rs 5800 crore which the State Government and urban local bodies cannot manage despite their best efforts.

The Minister stressed the need for simplifying procedure for sanctioning of HUDCO loans to the urban local bodies

He urged the Central Government to meet at least 50 per cent of the additional expenditure incurred by the urban local bodies due to the revision of the pay scales of the municipal staff.

The Himachal Minister for Urban Development, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, said that the State Government has set up the second Finance Commission for devolution of adequate financial resources to 48 urban local bodies.

The commission is expected to give its award by the end of this year.

All the urban local bodies have been authorised to impose house tax, toll tax and 18 other types of taxes to make them self-reliant.

He said that the State Government is considering a proposal to set up a training institute at Shimla in collaboration with the Human Settlement Management Institute Delhi and HIPA, Shimla, to meet the training and capacity building needs of the municipal staff.

The Haryana Minister for Local Government, Dr Kamla Verma, said that there has been an increase in expectations from the urban residents but the municipal bodies do not have the means and the Central and state governments do not have the necessary financial support for implementing the various programmes.

Most of the civic bodies are facing a financial crisis after the pay-package of the employees were hiked.The situation has come to such a pass in some civic bodies in Haryana that they are even unable to pay the monthly emoluments , Dr Verma said.

Incoming calls on cellphones to be free from August 1

NEW DELHI, May 18 (PTI) — In a major effort to boost the cellular phone usage in the country, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided to make incoming calls free of charge from August 1.

Mobile phone users can receive incoming calls free of charge from August 1 throughout the country for which TRAI will come out with a notification soon, the Chairman of the Authority, Justice S.S. Sodhi told PTI here.

The decision is in line with the promise in the telecom tariff order passed by the authority on March 9 that the calling party pays (CPP) regime will be implemented by a separate notification later.

This means for any calls from a fixed line or a mobile phone, the receiving party need not pay the airtime charges once the notification comes into effect.

As per the telecom tariff order of the authority which came into effect from May 1, mobile phone users have to pay a minimum of Rs 6 per minute during standard hours for making as well as receiving calls with the handset.

Although airtime charge has come down from Rs 16 to Rs 6, the rental which was just Rs 156 per month has gone upto Rs 600 per month by the TRAI order.

There have been demands from various sections of the industry and phone users to make the incoming calls free since this has been the pattern in most parts of the world, although the authority had not taken any firm decision till recently.

The free of cost incoming calls will also help do away with the tendency of cell users to keep their phone ‘switched off’ to avoid unwanted calls and wrong numbers since it would add on to the receiving party’s bill.

Sources at the Cellular Association of India (COAI) said many companies are gearing up to take advantage of the notification which is expected any time now.

New policy of RBI may help sick units
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, May 18 — Nearly 2,500 sick industrial units of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, which are facing liquidation proceedings at the Jaipur-based Debt Recovery Tribunal, may soon get a fresh lease of life as a result of a new policy being drafted by the Reserve Bank of India.

A scheme for creating a “settlement advisory committee” is being given finishing touches by the RBI and details may be released soon, according to Mr Kankit K. Behal’ President of the Northern India Federation of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, who led a deputation earlier this week of affected industrial units to meet the Chairman, working group on write-off and compromise settlement of non-performing assets at Mumbai.

Move to ban polybags affects production
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, May 18 — The announcement by the Punjab Minister for Local Bodies, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, that the State Government proposes to impose a ban on the use of polybags in the State has caused a stir among plastic manufacturers in Punjab.

According to Mr Sunil Jain, president of the United Plastic Manufacturers Association, after the announcement, banks have begun to ask for quick repayment of loans and the off-take of polybags has shown a downward trend, forcing many units to order production cutbacks.

There are 480 plastic units in the state, producing nearly 3,000 tonnes of polybags every month. The industry yields Rs 50 crore as sales tax. About 20 per cent of the polybags are made from recycled material, 10 per cent from “road waste”, while the remaining 70 per cent are made from fresh polymer granules.

Mr Jain says the government must clarify what types of polybags it plans to ban. Polybags made from recycled material may be harmful to human health but those manufactured from polymer granules are safe and therefore, there is no need to ban them.

Outlook stable: S&P

MUMBAI, May 18 (PTI) — International credit rating agency Standard & Poor (S&P) has supported a stable outlook in credit quality throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Effective economic policies of Asia’s emerging market governments, financial restructuring and a positive shift in the balance of payment flows support a stable outlook for nine of the 12 economies in the region, according to a S&P statement here today.

Last month, S&P reaffirmed India’s foreign currency rating at ‘BB’ and local currency rating at ‘BBB’ with a stable outlook. “Interest rates and inflation are declining, exchange rates are stable and prospects for economic recovery are improving in a range of countries”, S&P Managing Director of Sovereign Ratings, David Beers said.

Jalandhar bypass contract for Birlas
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 18 — The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has awarded contracts for five road projects for four/six laning of North-South and East-West corridors — covering a total length of 63 km and involving cost of Rs 200 crore.

The five projects are four-laning of Jalandhar bypass on NH-1 in Punjab, four laning of Nagpur Adilabad section of NH-7 in Maharashtra, six-laning of Hyderabad — Bangalore section of NH-7 ( near Devanhali) in Karnataka,four-laning of Hathipalli-Hosur section of NH-7 in Tamil Nadu and construction of four-lane rail over bridge on Karur bypass on NH-7 in Tamil Nadu, an official release said.

While Birla GMTB, New Delhi have bagged the Jalandhar bypass project, Oriental Structural Engineers Ltd., New Delhi bagged the Maharashtra project. Bhageratha Engineering Co., Kochi has been awarded the Karnataka project, Patel Engineering Co. Ltd., Mumbai has been got the Hatipalli-Hosur project. The joint venture of P T Sumber Mitra Jaya , Indonesia and Punj Lloyd Ltd., New Delhi bagged the Rail over Bridge on Karur bypass.

Reforms to focus on money markets

MUMBAI, May 18 (UNI) — Union Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar today said that for the first time the government is talking about privatisation and has shown a willingness to carry forward this process.

Addressing a meeting to mark the release of ICICI Securities’ annual compendium on debt and money markets, Mr Kelkar said: “The first set of reforms covered the product markets. Now the next generation of reforms would aim at money markets, land market, labour market and institutional reforms”.

The 1999 exim policy has accelerated the process of dismantling quantitative restriction on trade and a beginning has been made by starting the process of downsizing government machinery.

He said the gold deposit scheme announced in the new Budget needed a few clarifications before it can be operationalised.

The government was actively pursuing strategic sale of its stake in IPCL and Balco, he added.

ICICI Chairman N Vaghul lamented that lack of an adequate and transparent information base on the financial markets in particular and economy in general was one of the vulnerable points facing the country.

IPCA net up 27 pc

MUMBAI, May 18 (PTI) — IPCA Laboratories has posted 27 per cent rise in net profit (before providing for exceptional items) at Rs 24.69 crore on an increased turnover of Rs 335.36 crore, which is up 14.96 per cent over the previous year.

The board, declared a final dividend of 25 per cent, which takes the annual dividend to 50 per cent.

After providing Rs 3.27 crore towards exceptional item — voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) — the net profit for the year stands at Rs 21.42 crore against Rs 19.45 crore, the company said in a statement issued here.

Forex
US $ Rs 42.73/74
Stg £ Rs 69.25/27
Euro Rs 45.68/70
Jap yen (100) Rs 34.75/77

Modicare
CHANDIGARH, May 18 (TNS) — Modicare today announced a Modicare World Cup ’99 scheme under which all existing consultants and those who sign up during this period get an opportunity to earn “wickets and runs” and be a “World Cup winner”. The company is offering prizes for the lucky eleven such as a Maruti 800 or a Yamaha YBX.

Credit cards
CHANDIGARH, May 18 — ANZ Grindlays Bank and Bank of Madura have announced a strategic alliance to issue silver & gold credit cards. The ANZ - Bank of Madura Credit Card will initially be launched in eight cities and later in 17 cities.

PSB
NEW DELHI, May 18 (TNS) — Punjab and Sind Bank today increased the interest rate on 15 days to 45 days domestic term deposits to 6 per cent. The increase in interest rate will be applicable with immediate effect,

Maruti MD
NEW DELHI, May 18 (PTI) — Jagdish Khattar, Joint Managing Director of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), has been appointed second Managing Director of the automobile major with effect from July 1. The orders for the appointment of Khattar as the second MD, besides RSSLN Bhaskarudu has been issued by the Industry Ministry.

NFL pact
NEW DELHI, May 18 (TNS) — NFL has entered into an agreement with Urea Casale SA (UCSA) of Switzerland for expanding the capacity of its Nangal Urea Plant. The agreement was signed by CMD of NFL, Mr Dinesh Singh and MD of UCSA today.