Edible oil imports hit farmers
NEW DELHI, Sept 21 — Oilseed growers have been hit by cheaper edible oil imports into the country, especially in case of soyabean, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said today.

OCM to raise fabric output
AMRITSAR, Sept 21 — The flag-ship of the Birla group OCM Woollen Mills, which is celebrating its platinum jubilee this year, has embarked upon a modernisation plan which will ensure the rolling out of 50,000 metres of worsted fabric everyday.

India & France to develop satellite
HYDERABAD, Sept 21 — ISRO Chairman K. Kasturirangan today announced that India and France will jointly develop a satellite called “Megha Tropique” to study tropical climate.

Fund for telecom services
CALCUTTA, Sept 21 — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India would submit its recommendations on Universal Service Obligation to the DoT by early January next year, according to TRAI Chairman S.S. Sodhi.

PNB opens Tatkal Suvidha Kendra
PATIALA, Sept 21 — Punjab National Bank today opened its fully computerised Tatkal Suvidha Kendra at its branch office on The Mall for quick disbursal of finance under the housing, consumer durables and conveyance categories.

Sonepat investors duped
SONEPAT, Sept 21 — At least 300 persons are reported to have been duped of about Rs 1 crore by Rojal Forest India Limited’s local branch.

Edible oil imports hit farmers

NEW DELHI, Sept 21 (PTI) — Oilseed growers have been hit by cheaper edible oil imports into the country, especially in case of soyabean, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said today.“Cheaper (edible oil) imports have affected farmers. In Madhya Pradesh, the soyabean farmers have been paid a lower price,” Mr J.L.N. Srivatsava, Special Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, told the National Conference on Agriculture for rabi campaign 1999-2000 here today.

He was intervening during a discussion on “Impact of globalisation on agriculture”.

However, Agriculture Secretary Bhaskar Barua said the prices of oilseeds such as soyabean were determined by the rates for oilmeals rather than oils.

Srivatsava said the low prices for soyabean this season (November 1998-October 1999) had affected the area of coverage for the oilseed.

The area under soyabean cultivation in Madhya Pradesh has declined by 2-3 lakh hectares during kharif sowing.

“There were times when the farmers did not get the minimum support price of Rs 795 per quintal,” he said.

Edible oil imports is anticipated to touch 45 lakh tonnes this season against 21 lakh tonnes last season.

Srivatsava said as per the WTO agreement, India had the option to raise the Customs duty on oilseed and oils at 300 per cent.

“It (duty) is an instrument that can be used. But we have kept the duty at lower level in consumers’ interest,” he said.

A World Bank study last year had stated that India could become competitive in oilseeds and the finding was a significant change from a study in 1990 when the country was found totally incompetent.

Indian Council of Agriculture Research Deputy Director General Mangala Rai said Indian palm oil yield was 300-400 kg per tree per annum compared with 3.5 tonnes per tree per annum in Malaysia.

He said though the edible oil imports had not affected oilseed production, it might have an effect in the longer run.

“So far there has been no effect on the oilseeds production due to the imports. Our production has increased from 11 million tonnes during the 1980s to 25 million tonnes now,” Rai said.

Earlier, in his presentation on the effect of liberalisation on agriculture, he said India had improved productivity and yield through diversification.

He also stressed on value-addition and post-harvest management to improve efficiency of Indian farmers.

Key elements to sustaining agriculture production was research, improving infrastructure, legislative support, attracting investment and private sector participation.

OCM to raise fabric output

AMRITSAR, Sept 21 (UNI) — The flag-ship of the Birla group OCM Woollen Mills, which is celebrating its platinum jubilee this year, has embarked upon a modernisation plan which will ensure the rolling out of 50,000 metres of worsted fabric everyday.

This will increase the company’s present annual turnover of Rs 200 crore to Rs 600 crore by the year 2000.

Disclosing this here today, the company’s Managing Director Bhim Rathke said that the Rs 250 crore expansion-cum-modernisation plan which commenced a few years back still underway and would be completed next year. Another Rs 100 crore had been invested in this modernisation project, he added.

Presently, OCM is the biggest exporter of worsted/woollen fabrics to countries like Canada, North America and the Middle East with the annual export turnover of Rs 60 crore, he added.

Gateway for Satyam Infoway soon
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 21 — Satyam Infoway Ltd, country's first private national ISP, will soon have its own gateway, says Mr Pradeep Lakshmanan, vice-president of the company.

Satyam Online, country's first and largest private national Internet service provider, launched its instant ready-to-use Internet connections here today.

It becomes the 26th Internet node of Satyam Online. Only last week, Satyam Online brought Nagpur on the Internet map. Shimoga in Karnataka will be the next station to be uplinked. By the end of the financial year, the company hopes to provide Internet services in at least 50 major cities of the country. It also plans to start its services from Amritsar by end of the year or early next year.

Mr N.S. Kalsi, Director, Technical Education and Industrial Training, formally inaugurated the Satyam Online node. Mr R.C. Sharma, Chief general Manager, Punjab Telecom Circle, was the chief guest.

Talking to newspersons here this morning, Mr Lakshmanan said Satyam Infoway was the country's largest Internet and E-Commerce company which offers basic messaging services, EDI solutions, Intranet solutions to internet commerce and web-based solutions.

Satyam Online, he said, was only the complete Indian portal to provide India specific content on the Internet. Its web site acts as a gateway to interactive information and content on the Internet. It provides a platform for browsers to interact and participate in their areas of interest. The portal delivers information on latest news and analysis, music, movies, automobiles, shopping, personal finance and much more.

Mr Pradeep Lakshmanan said in Ludhiana, the company now has 2,500 subscribers and hoped to double this number by the end of the current financial year. "By end of 1999, we hope to have about 2,500 subscribers in Chandigarh," he said.

"Satyam has always pioneered many firsts in the Internet industry. It is with this verve that we have progressed to make Internet an instant, off-the-shelf product. We do not offer a connection but a complete value-added Internet package," he said while talking about the price of the package compared to other private Internet service providers.

He said Satyam Online provides e-safe, a parental control and virus-free software, an interactive multimedia Internet training software and other software like Adobe, Internet Explorer, Powerzip and others free with the connection.

Mr Lakshmanan said there would be a full 2Mbps link to Delhi from Chandigarh so that the subscriber experienced faster downloads, easier access and absolutely minimal waiting time. Besides, the subscribers would have free domestic roaming, he added.

He said Indira Gandhi national Open University had taken 70,000 Internet connections for use by students of computer courses. Of these, 8,000 connections have already been energised. Until last week, he said, Satyam Online had 85,000 subscribers throughout the country.

Net show begins today
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Sept 21 — Asia’s largest Internet exhibition, “India Internet World”, will commence in Delhi tomorrow with over 100 companies participating.

The three-day exhibition will have a conference covering various aspects of Internet business from web development to Internet services and from e-business to business applications on the Net. Mr Suresh Raman, Chairman, Conferences and Vice-President, Technology Micromedia, said here today.

India Internet World, organised for the second consecutive year, Mr Prakash Gurbaxani, CEO, Micromedia, said, “shows that the Indian market is poised to take significant advantage of the Internet.”

The who’s who of the cyber world will discuss the potential areas in which the country can take advantage of its resource base.

The conference will have speakers, among others, Mr Rakesh Mathur. Founder of Junglee. com, Mr B.V. Jagadeesh co-founder. Exodus Communications; Mr Rohit Chandra founder eCode. com and Mr Ram Shriram, Vice-President, Amazon. com.

Indians constitute more than 38 per cent of the enterprises formed in the USA each year and about 46 per cent of the H-I visa issued by the USA last year was to Indians.

Speakers at a panel discussion on the potential of the Indian entrepreneurs in the coming years were optimistic that the country was poised to take off.

However, the speakers emphasised that the country needs venture capital, especially private global standard infrastructure, cyber laws use of the Internet for educational purposes and India’s emergence as a regional hub.

India & France to develop satellite

HYDERABAD, Sept 21 (UNI) — ISRO Chairman K. Kasturirangan today announced that India and France will jointly develop a satellite called “Megha Tropique” to study tropical climate.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day first India-French industries meet on value added services using remote sensing,he said the proposed satellite, which will be used mainly for research application in meteorology and climatology,will carry on board, state-of-the-art instruments developed by both countries.

The satellite, to be developed by ISRO and its French counterpart French National Centre for Space Research was expected to be launched from India in 2005. It will be built on the lines of France’s “Proteus Bus”.

“Megha” in Sanskrit means cloud and “Tropique” in French is tropic, according to an ISRO spokesman.

Fund for telecom services

CALCUTTA, Sept 21 (PTI) — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) would submit its recommendations on Universal Service Obligation (USO) to the DoT by early January next year, according to TRAI Chairman S.S. Sodhi.

USO makes it mandatory for all telecom service operators, including basic, cellular and paging services, to contribute to a fund that would be utilised in subsidising telecom services in the non-profitable sectors.

Stating that the USO mechanism aimed at increasing the country’s ‘teledensity,’ Justice Sodhi, however, said the quantum for the contribution had not yet been fixed. It has also not been decided whether there would be a standard contribution for the entire sector or different contributions for separate types of operators.

Explaining the rationale for USO, Justice Sodhi said it had become necessary as telecom service operators were not willing to accept the “bundling” system whereby it was obligatory on them to accept an unprofitable sector for a profitable one.

“As they were reluctant to operate in the unprofitable sector, a mechanism had to be evolved to subsidise such sectors,” he said.

The TRAI Chairman was here for an open-house discussion on the consultation paper on introduction of competition in domestic Long-Distance (DLD) communications.

PNB opens Tatkal Suvidha Kendra
Tribune News Service

PATIALA, Sept 21 — Punjab National Bank today opened its fully computerised Tatkal Suvidha Kendra at its branch office on The Mall for quick disbursal of finance under the housing, consumer durables and conveyance categories.

Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, performed the inauguration ceremony of Tatkal Suvidha Kendra. Mr S.K. Chawla, General Manager, Punjab National Bank, Punjab Zone, presided.

Mr S V Shenoy, Senior Regional Manager, said PNB is alive to the growing expectations of its customers and is innovative and changing with the time.

Mr Chawla said PNB with a network of 486 branches has taken the lead in opening Tatkal Suvidha Kendras in Punjab and one such Kendra is already working at Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana.

Satyam to invest $ 2.5m in US co

The Board of Directors of Satyam Computer Services Limited has approved a strategic investment of $ 2.5 million in the equity of In Touch Technologies Limited (ITTL), a technology development corporation with its headquarters in the Washington DC area, USA.

ITTL is engaged in developing telecom products which are based on computer telephony integration platform that brings cost effectiveness and flexibility to global telecom service providers.

Satyam’s strategic investment in ITTL is to get access to ITTL’s customer base, an opportunity of providing software development services to ITTL itself, besides to participate in global telecom software industry and potential manifold upside in the stock value.

ICICI: Shares of premier financial institution ICICI Ltd will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) tomorrow, making it the first Indian firm to list on the exchange. ICICI’s procedures for allotment of its $ 315 million American Depository Receipts will come to an end today.

Hughes Software: Hughes Software Limited (HSS) will enter the capital market for the first time with an offer of 43,75,000 equity shares.

Ninety per cent of the offer (39,37,500 shares) is being made through the book- building route. The bids for the book building portion will accepted between September 22, 1999 and September 28.

The remaining 10 per cent (4,37,500), shares), is being offered at the fixed price to be determined at the closure of the book building process. The price for the fixed price portion will be the price discovered through the book built process.

Godrej Foods: Godrej Foods Ltd has decided to sell its entire shareholding in its joint venture company, Godrej Pillsbury Ltd to group company Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd for a consideration of Rs 31.13 crore. This divestment would, however, not affect the distribution agreement that is shared between Godrej Foods Ltd and Godrej Pillsbury Ltd.

HCL Technologies: HCL Technologies Limited will raise substantial funds from the Indian public and institutions through the book building process in the last quarter of 1999. It will issue about 14.2 million shares with a face value of Rs 4 per share.

Though the date and the amount to be raised were not disclosed, the company recently submitted a draft prospectus to SEBI for approval to float an initial public offer (IPO) to list the company in India through a book building process. The promoters will not dilute any of their holdings in the company. The chief promoter, Mr Shiv Nadar, holds around 73 per cent equity of the total paid-up capital of Rs 33 crore.

The Indian listing of shares, will help the company to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange through issuance of American Depository Receipts (ADRs) in the first quarter of next year.

HCL Technologies Vice-Chairman Vineet Nayyar told reporters here that the resources to be raised would be utilised mainly to acquire firms in Asia Pacific, the USA and Europe and establish technology partnership on a global basis to deliver the quality and most cost effective software engineering solutions for the emerging network centric world.

— TNS, agencies

Sonepat investors duped
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Sept 21 — At least 300 persons are reported to have been duped of about Rs 1 crore by Rojal Forest India Limited’s local branch.

According to a report lodged with the city police against six officials of the company, the complainant pointed out that they had invested the money with the company for taking higher interest. The company had issued advance cheques with interest on the invested money to them. When they went to the local branch of the Indian Bank to encash these cheques, they were told that the company had no account in this bank.

Thereafter, some of the investors went to Chandigarh to locate the company’s head office but failed to do so. When they returned to Sonepat, the office was closed and the employees were missing.

Braham Singh Dahiya and Karan Singh, both investors, went to Jind to locate the office of the Director-cum-Chairman of the company but they failed to locate the office.

Then the investors lodged an FIR against — D.S. Dhillon, Director-cum-Chairman of the company and a resident of Jind; Paramjit Kaur, Director and wife of Dhillon; Gurbaz Singh, Director and son of Dhillon; Jatinder Kumar Kundu, Branch Manager and a resident of Butana village in Sonepat district; Kamal Aggarwal, Director and a resident of Sector 22, Chandigarh and Sunil Jain, Director and a resident of Baroda village of Sonepat district.

Forex
US $ Rs 43.54/55
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Euro Rs 45.34/36
Jap yen (100) Rs 41.63/65

Central Bank
AMRITSAR, Sept 21 (FOC) — Central Bank of India today celebrated customers day. The Executive Director, Mr K. Cherian Varghese, Mr R.P. Sharma, Deputy General Manager and Mr K.S. Gupta, Regional Manager addressed the customers and promised to redress their grievances.