Saturday, October 2, 1999
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B U S I N E S S | Saturday, October 2, 1999 |
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Punjab
farmers to assist Africans Court
tells LIC to pay compensation |
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Govt to ensure Rs 490 as
paddy support price Railways : PM rules out
privatisation FM suggests cap on borrowings Hudco net profit rises by 72 pc Companies’ liquidation time
cut Power supply not to be hit by Y2K SBI honours top 28 |
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Exports
grow by 10.16 per cent in August NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — India’s export growth rebounded in August 1999 to 10.16 per cent even as the trade deficit in the first five months of the current fiscal widened marginally to $ 3.96 billion mainly due to a spurt in oil imports. Exports growth in dollar terms touched double digits again in August after it had dipped to a meagre 2.11 per cent in July 1999, official trade data released today said. However, imports grew at a faster rate of 19.3 per cent in August, widening the trade deficit. Exports in April-August stood at $ 14.11 billion compared to $ 13.49 billion recording a 4.62 per cent growth over last year. Imports during the first five months rose by 3.94 per cent to $ 18.07 billion on account of a sharp 56.45 per cent growth in oil imports. Oil imports in April-August rose to $ 3.6 billion from $ 2.3 billion a year ago. Non-oil imports, however, declined by 4.07 per cent during the period to $ 14.47 billion compared to $ 15.09 billion in the same period in 1998. Trade deficit widened to $ 3.96 billion during the five months from $ 3.9 billion in the corresponding period last year, showing a rise of 1.59 per cent. In rupee terms, exports and imports grew by 11.97 per cent and 21.26 per cent respectively in August. Exports touched double
digits in May and June at 11.68 per cent and 11.14 per
cent respectively while in April it recorded a 2.09 per
cent growth. |
Congress
calls it eyewash NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — The Congress today said that the state of the economy under the BJP regime was not rosy and termed it as “ the great industrial growth eyewash”. Congress spokesperson, Kapil Sibal said that for the Government to claim the consumer durables growth rate of 14.3 per cent as indicative of a long-term industrial growth was grossly misleading and inappropriate. Moreover, the rate of growth of exports was a dismal 2.1 per cent in July 1999. In July 1998, against a target of 20 per cent the realised growth rate was 3.5 per cent. Mr Sibal said that the figures of the different sub-sectors during 1999 were not too encouraging. The growth of basic goods was 3.2 per cent, capital good was 8.9 per cent and that of consumer goods was 2.8 per cent. Till June 1998, the
number of new companies that were registered was 2,455
which has come down to 2,358 in June 1999, the Congress
statement said. |
Court tells LIC to pay compensation NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI) — The Supreme Court has held that non-remittance of premium, already deducted from an employee’s salary under the salary saving scheme of the LIC, will not exonerate the corporation from its liability to pay to the next of kith of the ensured employee the amount for which he was ensured in the event of his premature death. The ruling was given by a division bench comprising Mr Justice S Saghir Ahmad and Mr Justice DP Wadhwa, while setting aside a judgement of the Nation Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, affirming a judgement of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directing the Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking (DESU) to pay Rs 50,000 with 15 per cent interest per annum from December 17,1992 till the date of actual payment to Basanti Devi the widow of an employee. “For the suffering, which Basanti Devi, wife of Bhim Singh, had to undergo for the default committed by DESU in not remitting the premium to the LIC, we will direct that DESU pay cost of these proceedings, which we quantify as Rs 25,000,’’ the judges said in their 22-page judgement. Bhim Singh took an
insurance policy for Rs 50,000 under the salary saving
scheme of the LIC, which was to commence on January
28,1992. He had paid Rs 636 as premium for two months to
the LIC. The premium for the third month was payable by
March 29, 1992. The amount of premium was deducted by
DESU from his salary and remitted to the LIC. The premium
for the subsequent month was also deducted by DESU from
the salary but was not remitted to the LIC. In the
meantime Bhim Singh died on August 17, 1992. |
Punjab
farmers to assist Africans NEW DELHI, Oct 1— Six farmers from Punjab will leave for Burkina Faso next week for transferring knowledge and skills gained under India’s Green Revolution to the farmers of this African country. The six farmers are being sent in response to growing demands made on the Ministry of External Affairs through ITEC (Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation) to transfer knowledge and skills gained under Green Revolution, by developing countries, especially in Africa, according to a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs. The first experiment in transferring the technology in such a vital sector is being launched in Burkina Faso. Under an memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the governments of India and Burkina Faso earlier this year. The six farmers, having practical experience will demonstrate their skills in the cultivation of rice and other food crops. They have been selected from among small and marginal farmers who possess the skills and education, but not the capital to expand their base in their home villages in Punjab, the spokesman pointed out. The farmers, Mr Bachittar Singh, Mr Baljinder Singh, Mr Pargat Singh, Mr Trilochan Singh, Mr Ranjeet Singh and Mr Tirth Singh from Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Faridkot and Sangrur districts, are looking forward to their new assignment for the next three years when they will be staying and working with farmers of Burkina Faso, the spokesman said, adding that they had been coached in elementary knowledge of French as part of their assignment. On May 6 this year, a tripartite agreement was signed between Government of India, Government of Punjab and the farmers. The Centre, in addition to supporting the farmers with a monthly stipend, has undertaken to supply farming equipment and machinery such as tractors, disc harrows and ploughs as well as consumable inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. The Punjab Government has undertaken to meet certain supplementary costs of equipment and services to ensure the viability and smooth operation of the project. The implementing agency for this project is Punjab Agricultural Export Corporation Ltd. (PAGREXCO), Chandigarh. Burkina Faso, on its part has placed 30 hectares of land with irrigation facilities at the disposal of the project at Douna, a village located about 500 km, west of the capital city, Ouagadougou. It has also undertaken to provide accommodation, transport and medical facilities in Burkina Faso, to the farmers. The Government of Burkina Faso has expressed its happiness at the launching of the project, the spokesman said. The Indian Government is presently engaged in formulating its response to requests for agricultural assistance from governments of Nambia and Tanzania, decisions to which would, to some extent, be determined by the success of this experiment, the spokesman said. Eventually, it is hoped
that such projects would open the way for private
commercial enterprise by numbers of Indian farmers in
Africa, where there is an urgent imperative for skilled
agricultural activity to meet the growing food needs, the
spokesman said. |
Govt to
ensure Rs 490 as LUDHIANA, Oct 1 — Mr M.D. Asthana, Union Food Secretary, today declared that the Government of India was determined to ensure the payment of minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 490 per quintal for fair average quality paddy brought to the mandis by the farmers in Punjab. Talking to newsmen here, Mr Asthana warned that strict action would be taken against those found to be involved in any malpractices and denying the MSP to the farmers. He said about six officials of the FCI, Punjab region, had been suspended while the licences of 12 arhtiyas in Amritsar had been suspended for the rest of the season. Following complaints of malpractices in certain Punjab mandis, Mr Asthana visited certain mandis in the region today and held a meeting with state food officials. He was accompanied by Mr S.S. Dawra, Managing Director, FCI, Mr H.S. Chhatwal, Director, Food and Supplies, Punjab, and Mr D.P. Reddy, Senior Regional Manager, FCI, Punjab. Mr Asthana said the government was committed to procuring even the last grain of paddy both in Punjab and Haryana and elsewhere in the country. During the past few days, 100 mandis in Punjab had been visited by FCI and state Food Department officers to supervise procurement operations. Already, 32 lakh MT of paddy had been procured. This constituted only one-third of the expected paddy arrivals in Punjab this year. The paddy procurement in Punjab would be a record 100 lakh MTs this year. The Union Food Secretary also pleaded for a change in the farm practices in the state. Agricultural experts at the PAU had recommended that paddy must be allowed to remain in the fields for 135 days after transplantation to ensure that it matured properly. That would mean that if paddy was sown in the first week of June, it would hit the market only in the third week of October. This would make the task of procurement agencies easier because the quality of paddy would be good. A proposal to stagger
paddy arrivals so as to ensure smooth and trouble-free
procurement operations this year was mooted by the
Government of India. But the Union Food Minister was of
the view that the Punjab farmers lacked the capacity to
hold back grains and, therefore, were keen on unloading
it in the market as early as possible. Paddy procurement record KHANNA, Oct 1 — Asia’s biggest grain market here has witnessed a record in the purchase of paddy this year. The increase in the quantity of paddy purchased this year is about four times more than that of last year. According to a press note issued by the SDM so far 6,85,400 qintals of paddy has been purchased as compared to the previous year figure of 1,77,000 quintals. Also government agencies were not involved in the purchase of paddy last year whereas this year the government has entrusted the FCI, Markfed, Food Supply Department, Punsup and the PSWC with the task. The SDM said these agencies had been asked to expedite the process and follow the prescribed specifications in this regard. He appealed to farmers not to bring moisture-heavy product in the market. Mr Sikander Singh Chairman, Market Committee Khanna, told mediapersons that other centres like Raipur, Rajputan, Daheru, Isru and Rouni were also purchasing paddy. He urged the farmers not to use harvesting combines at night for harvesting paddy.@@However, Gurdev Singh of Rauni village said he had spent four days at Rauni centre and two days at Khanna but no government agency had agreed to buy his stock. Private traders had offered low rates, he added. Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Food and Supply Minister, who visited the market thrice said the government was making efforts to see that the farmers got fair price for their product. Mr Balbir Singh Rajewal,
General Secretary, Bhartiya Kisan Union, however, said
the government claims were false. The government agencies
were purchasing only about 25 per cent of the produce
while the major chunk was being cornered by private
traders and rice sheller owners at their own terms. The
agency staff did not even have the instruments to check
the moisture contents of paddy. |
Railways : PM rules out privatisation LUCKNOW, Oct 1 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today ruled out privatisation of the Railways saying all reports pertaining to this were "baseless". "The Railways are not going to be privatised as circulated by some sources.... a disinformation campaign is being launched against us that in the name of economic liberalisation we might privatise the Railways. There is no truth in this", he told an election meeting at the Railway Colony in the Alambagh area in his Parliamentary constituency. "This is true that we are in favour of economic reforms but our stress on reforms is different from that of the Congress," Mr Vajpayee said, adding "We do not not want to pursue something which is against the interest of the present work force in the country". "We also do not want to go by the Western policy of growth without job. Rather we want the development and prosperity of the country by fully utilising the work force in the country in every sector", he said. Referring to the Kargil conflict, the Prime Minister blamed the Congress for misguiding the people. "Whatever they (Congress) are saying on this count, is just to misguide the people". The Prime Minister dismissed as "baseless allegations" the accusations that sugar import from Pakistan was to help that country (Pakistan) indirectly and said his government was "ready to show everything in black and white". It was also a fact that defence expenditure was properly utilised to strengthen the Indian forces and the Indian soldiers gave a befitting reply and pushed Pakistan intruders back from Indian terriority, he said. The Prime Minister said that India had, during the 13-month rule of the BJP-led coalition emerged as a strong nation without yielding to international pressure. He asked people to vote for the National Democratic Alliance for a full five-year term to take the country to prosperity and development and to further strengthen the roots of democracy in the country. Mr Vajpayee said after the fall of his government, the BJP did not want any delay in elections. "We knew adverse weather conditions would hamper the election process at one or other state in the country and that is why "we did not want elections to be held now." "But the Congress apprehended that immediate elections might help us to get sympathy vote on the Kargil issue. Even today they (the Congress) are not going to gain", he said. The Prime Minister said
the Congress alone is to be blamed for creating political
instability and forcing elections at this time. "If
you want proper and planned development of the country,
you will have to give us a full five year term", he
said.
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Hafed
leads in paddy purchase CHANDIGARH, Oct. 1 — The Haryana Government has directed the paddy procuring agencies to purchase paddy on the minimum support price in a big way so as to provide remunerative price to the farmers for their produce. More than 9 per cent of the paddy has already been purchased by the government agencies whereas during earlier years these agencies used to purchase 5 per cent of paddy. Stating this here today, the Commissioner, Food and supplies, Mr H. C. Disodia, said the government procuring agencies had purchased 21,006 metric tonnes of paddy till yesterday as against the procurement of only 329 metric tonnes of paddy in the same period last year. He said 2,36,244 metric tonnes of paddy, including 2,28,994 metric tonnes of grade ‘A’ and 2,592 metric tonnes of common and 4,698 metric tonnes of basmati varieties had so far arrived in various mandis of Haryana. Last year, he said, only 73,784 metric tonnes of paddy had arrived in the mandis in the same period, out of which 73,455 metric tonnes was purchased by the millers. He said Hafed was ahead of all the agencies as it had purchased 5,709 metric tonnes of paddy, followed by the FCI which procured 4,610 metric tonnes, the Food and Supplies department 3,722 metric tonnes, the Haryana Warehousing Corporation 3,194 metric tonnes, Confed 3,159 metric tonnes and the Haryana Agro Industries Corporation 612 metric tonnes. The Commissioner said
with a view to avoiding any distress sale on the part of
farmers, all heads of the state procuring agencies and
other senior functionaries had been directed to visit the
mandis allotted to them and supervise the procurement
operations. All officials had been directed to advise the
farmers to bring their produce in a clean and dry form so
as to get remunerative price, he added. |
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WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (PTI) — Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has indicated that the BJP-led NDA Government’s top priority would be to vigorously pursue second generation economic reforms if voted back to power in the elections whose results will be announced next week. Rounding up his week-long visit here to participate in the annual Fund-Bank meeting, Sinha told Indian reporters on Thursday that the central theme of second generation reforms would be to cut burgeoning deficits of both the Centre and States by effecting a statutory ceiling on borrowings. The main objective would be to push the economy to a higher growth trajectory of 8 to 9 per cent, Sinha said adding that for this fiscal prudence was needed and that a legislation would be brought in for fiscal responsibility. Asserting that there was
a consensus among major political parties to carry
forward the reform process which was now irreversible,
Sinha said the next phase of reform would deal with the
more difficult and unfinished tasks of liberalisation
process started in 1991. |
Hudco net profit rises by 72 pc NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (PTI) — State-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) made an impressive net profit of Rs 69.71 crore during fiscal 1998-99, a whopping 72 per cent more than that of 1997-98. The organisation which has made successful foray in new areas like assistance for retail housing and renewable energy projects based on solid waste, ended fiscal 1998-99 with gross profit at Rs 220.43, a 40 per cent jump over the previous year. Hudco achieved an all time high of loan sanctions of Rs 6666.67 crore, a massive increase of 118 per cent above the previous year’s achievement of Rs 3061.86 crore, top Executive V. Suresh said at a press conference today after the annual general meeting of shareholders. Hudco provided
assistance for the construction of 18.60 lakh dwelling
units, over nine lakh sanitation units and 122 urban
infrastructure projects throughout the country, he said
adding that the loans released last year totalled Rs
3200.68 crore against Rs 2263 crore in 1997-98. |
Companies’ liquidation time cut NEW DELHI, Oct 1 (UNI) In a significant step to build investors’ confidence, the Department of Company Affairs has shortened the time limit for liquidation of companies under the Companies Act, 1956, to seven months against the current 12 months. Accordingly, official liquidators will take over possession of assets, books of accounts and other records of companies in liquidation within 15-30 days from the date of winding up the order from a high court. In addition, the completion of inventories of the assets and books of accounts will take 30 days from the date of taking over possession. Invitation of claims and
settlement of lists of creditors will be executed in 90
days. Payment of creditors will be made in 15 days from
the date of settlement of claims.
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Power
supply not to be hit by Y2K NEW DELHI, Oct 1 — There would be no blackout in the country due to Y2K bug as the world enters the new millennium, the Union Power Secretary, Mr V.K. Pandit, said here today. “All the power generation, transmission and distribution units would be Y2K compliant by October 31,” Mr Pandit said, while disclosing the status contingency plans made by the Power Ministry to meet any eventuality. The Union Power Secretary said “of the 92,904 MW of power generating capacity (Centre and States) in the country, only 1375 MW is yet to become Y2K compliant as of today.” He said “due to analog control systems 61,196 MW were not affected by the Y2K bug and only 31,708 MW had to made Y2K compliant and, 30,333 MW have been made Y2K compliant.” The northern region, which has 25,051 MW power generating capacity, have been made Y2K compliant, the Union Power Secretary said, adding that “all nuclear, thermal and hydro electric power plants have been made Y2K compliant.” The Director General of the National Infomatic Centre, Dr N Seshagiri, said the Y2K compliance in the power sector in the country has been achieved at a very low cost. Dr Seshagiri said the
third party audit of the Y2K compliance would commence
after October 31, which would be conducted by ET&T,
CMC and 200 other private software firms which have more
than $ 3 billion globally by rectifying the Y2K problem. |
SBI
honours top 28 CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — Mr Prabhakar Sharma, Chief General Manager, SBI, today honoured 28 branches of Haryana, Punjab, H.P., J&K and UT of Chandigarh for their meritorious achievement of having secured “efficiency run” rating in inspection and audit conducted by the Central Office, Jaipur. Mr Sharma called upon
the branch managers of these branches to provide
‘Service with smile’ at their branches and
maintain the present trend in the coming years also to
achieve the corporate goals.
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