The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, November 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

B U S I N E S S

From bookworm to billionaire Bill Gates
Seattle, November 3
Nearly 30 years ago a bookish boy with a knack for new whiz-bang devices called computers sold his first software program, a class scheduling system, to his Seattle high school for $4,200.

Standardisation must in WTO regime
New Delhi, November 3
Standardisation is becoming a must for developing countries in the World Trade Organisation regime as it helps in the globalisation process, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Mr V. Sreenivasa Prasad said here today.

‘Tariff hike first step towards power reforms’
Chandigarh, November 3
The CII , North today stated that the recent decision of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (HPSERC) on hike in power tariff is the first step towards power reforms in the state.

Haryana steps up privatisation efforts
Chandigarh, November 3
The Haryana Government has stepped up efforts of privatising key government sectors by having invited a firm to advise the government on how to go about this task.

Ipca Lab net rises 24.94 pc
Mumbai, November 3
Ipca Laboratiories Ltd (ILL) has posted a 24.94 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 10.87 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs 8.7 crore in the corresponding period last year.

BIZ BRIEFS

EARLIER STORIES

	ST issue: Punjab, Haryana to face action November 3, 2001
	Sinha hopeful of satisfactory growth November 2, 2001
	Reliance Ind net rises 6.36 pc November 1, 2001
	Reliance Petro net up 29 pc October 31, 2001
	India to get 670 cr German assistance October 30, 2001
	Debt funds attract investors October 29, 2001
	FICCI calls for pension regulator October 28, 2001
	PSEB not tainted with coal deal October 27, 2001
	India resigned to fresh WTO negotiations October 26, 2001
	Satyam net rockets 100.29 pc October 25, 2001
	Process for selling ITDC, HCI hotels begins October 24, 2001

LABOUR LAWS

Child labour
Q: Can the authority straightway ask to pay compensation for engaging child labour, without giving any opportunity to explain?

SALES TAX ISSUES

Q: We carry on business of iron and steel goods, building materials and other related items in Haryana being a dealer registered under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Kindly let us know as to when precisely the new system of taxation called Value Added Tax in place of the existing sales tax Act will be introduced in the state?

AVIATION NOTES

Security inefficient at international airports
The ‘aviation blues’ in Indian skies will continue unabated until functioning of security and immigration is considerably tightened at international and national airports.

From bookworm to billionaire

Seattle, November 3
Nearly 30 years ago a bookish boy with a knack for new whiz-bang devices called computers sold his first software program, a class scheduling system, to his Seattle high school for $4,200.

The boy is grown up now but he is still selling software — lots and lots of software.

Bill Gates, co-founder and Chairman of Microsoft Corp., transformed his boyhood hobby into a sprawling software empire and blazed an entrepreneurial trail for dozens of high-tech tycoons.

On Friday, Gates moved closer to the end of a long legal battle for the world's biggest software company. Microsoft and federal prosecutors prepared to tell a Federal Judge that they had reached a settlement in a three-year-old anti-trust case.

Gates, a Harvard drop-out who became the world's richest man, took the government lawsuit head-on, fighting court rulings against his company every step of the way and insisting Microsoft had only helped consumers in the 25 years of its existence.

In the settlement, Microsoft agreed to a set of business restrictions far less draconian than the original break-up of the company ordered by a Federal Judge last year.

Billionaire Bill
Gates is still believed to be the world's wealthiest man.

As of Thursday, his 12.3 per cent stake in his company was worth nearly $41 billion. He is also estimated to hold several billion dollars in a private portfolio managed by his personal investment vehicle, Cascade Investment LLC.

That wealth has made him both a target of criticism and an object of admiration.

His stunning 20-bedroom mansion on the shores of Lake Washington, replete with a 100-person dining room and artificial trout stream, is valued at more than $100 million and draws fire from critics who decry it as ostentatious.

However, he and his wife have donated more than $20 billion to their Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to improve education and health around the world and is one of the biggest charity funds in history.

Aggressive management style
In overseeing the world's largest software company, Gates came to be known for his aggressive style of management — he used to dismiss suggestions with the put-down, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" — and what some have called ruthless business tactics.

His intelligence is well-known. He racked up a perfect score on the math portion of his college entrance exam. Ironically, his reputation for smarts may have hampered Microsoft's defence in the trial of the government antitrust suit, according to many observers.

Gates has staunchly defended the company, claiming it broke no laws and that splitting it up would be unwarranted.

Programming and poker
Gates was born October 28, 1955, the second of three children in a prominent Seattle family. His father, William Henry Gates Jr., is a partner at one of the city's most powerful law firms, while his late mother Mary was an active charity fund-raiser and University of Washington regent.

Gates found his calling at Seattle's exclusive Lakeside Preparatory School, where as a 13-year-old prodigy he began programming in the basic computer language on a primitive ASR-33 Teletype unit.

It was at Lakeside that Gates met Paul Allen, a student two years his senior who shared his fascination with computers.

During the two years he spent at Harvard, Gates devoted much of his time to programming marathons and all-night poker sessions, before dropping out to work on software for the Altair, a clunky desktop computer that cost $400 in kit form. Reuters

Standardisation must in WTO regime
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 3
Standardisation is becoming a must for developing countries in the World Trade Organisation regime as it helps in the globalisation process, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Mr V. Sreenivasa Prasad said here today.

Developing nations should participate in international standardisation so that they are able to safeguard their rich heritage and prevent draining of their resources at the hands of industrialised nations, he said at the inauguration of the 34th International Training Programme on Standardisation, organised by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

The Minister said the BIS had played an important role in the development of standardisation and quality management activities for the developing world. The international training programme for developing countries had been designed to provide a complete overview of standardisation activities and contemporary concepts such as Quality Systems Certification, Environmental Management Systems, and HACCP, he added.

‘Tariff hike first step towards power reforms’
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3
The CII , North today stated that the recent decision of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (HPSERC) on hike in power tariff is the first step towards power reforms in the state.

However, the industry in Himachal is paying much more than the actual cost of tariff and power is rather being subsidised for other categories of consumers, stated the Confederation in a press release here today. The general impression that the new tariff for medium and small scale industry is lower or the same is not fully corrected, stated the release.

“We need to follow international tariff patterns where the industry tariff is lower than the domestic consumer’s tariff”, said Mr Sachit Jain, Chairman, CII HP State Council.

Infact apart from restoring to tariff increase as the only solution to cover losses due to transmission ad distribution and other inefficiencies, HPERC should fix measurable targets for the board to reduce these in a phased manner , stated the Confederation.

Haryana steps up privatisation efforts
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3
The Haryana Government has stepped up efforts of privatising key government sectors by having invited a firm to advise the government on how to go about this task.

The state government, on October 25, assigned Dalal Consultancy the job of developing “economic development vision” document. The consultancy firm has been asked to prepare the document in six months time following which the state government will take up the work of executing the proposals.

It has been asked to cover seven areas, including demarcation of core activities in which the government should confine its exclusive initiatives and field of activities where the joint sector and the private sector participation could be encouraged or promoted. The farm has also been asked for identification of core areas which are prima-facie amenable to privatisation.

Proposals, to be submitted by the consultancy firm, if given shape, will lead to restructuring of some government organisations which are devoted to development of infrastructure. The move assumes significance as Haryana is perhaps the only state which is seriously pursuing the policy of downsizing the overstaffed departments (More than 15 out of every 1000 people in Haryana are employed by the government — a ratio which is more than Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, etc).

The firm, which will focus on infrastructure development by private participation, would not only incorporate road, power, IT, irrigation, etc, in the scope of its work, but it would also deal with education and other unconventional areas which would also be treated as part of industrial infrastructure.

LABOUR LAWS

by Praful R. Desai

Child labour

Q: Can the authority straightway ask to pay compensation for engaging child labour, without giving any opportunity to explain?

Ans: In Panch Ram Barat v State of MP, the MP, High Court was considering this point [2001-11-LLJ 841].

Shown of unnecessary details, facts giving rise to the present writ petition are that on the allegation that the petitioner has employed two child labourers, namely, Rameshwar Ram and Shashi Bhushan, in view of the judgement of the S.C. dated 10-12-86 passed in C.A.P. No. 465/1986, he has been asked to pay a sum of Rs. 20,000 each of the two child labourers by the Inspector under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation Act) 1986. Thus, he has been asked to pay a sum of Rs 40,000 for the two child labourers by the Inspector under the Act.

It is the stand of the petitioner that without giving any opportunity of hearing to the petitioner, he has been asked to make payment of the said amount. Petitioner further contends that respondents before demanding the sum of Rs. 40,000 ought to have given opportunity to the petitioner. He submitted that the matter stands concluded by the judgement of this court dated 5-3-98 passed in W.P. No. 4809/1997.

In the result, Writ petition was allowed by the HC and the impugned orders were quashed. Petitioner shall appear before the competent authority on 4-9-2000 and the competent authority after giving opportunity to the petitioner shall be decided the matter in accordance with law expeditiously.

In that way, the present application was disposed of.

SALES TAX ISSUES

by A. K. Sachdeva

It may also be clarified whether the VAT dealers will be provided with the benefit of set-off in respect of Central Sales Tax which usually is charged and paid on the purchases effected in the course of inter-state trade or commerce?

B.K. Trading Co, Faridabad

Ans: The provisions of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 governing levy of tax on the sale or purchase of goods in the state are proposed to be repealed from March 31, 2002 as the State proposes to introduce VAT in the form of The Haryana Value Added Sales Tax Act, 2002 from the commencement of the next financial year. The Prohibition Excise and Taxation Department, Haryana, Chandigarh has recently come out with a draft of The Haryana Value Added Sales Tax Act, 2001 for the purpose of inviting suggestions and objections from the public which will be taken into consideration by the Government.

In fact, the benefit of set-off or adjustment of tax on inputs is proposed to be restricted to the payment of VAT made in the State of Haryana alone. In other words, the VAT dealers in Haryana will not be entitled to the benefit of input tax credit on account of Central Sales Tax paid by them on the purchases made in the course of inter-state trade or commerce.

Q: We are engaged in the business of purchase and sale of metal utensils. We buy metal utensils from within the state on payment of 4 per cent sales tax which becomes leviable at first point of sale and then these are sold in the course of inter-state trade or commerce. The tax paid at first stage is adjusted from the tax payable on inter-state sales of such goods.

The assessing authority has recently served with us a notice initiating provisional assessment proceedings under section 9(2) of the CST Act, 1956 on the ground that adjustment of tax after omission of rule 24-A of the HGST Rules, 1975 became inadmissible and as such we are liable to pay tax on inter-state sales of tax paid goods in full during the period from October 19, 2000 to February 11, 2001 (from the date of omission of rule 24-A and introduction of notification by the State Government under Section 8(5) from February 12, 2001). Kindly advise.

R.K. Bajaj, Jagadhri

Ans: Even after omission of rule 24-A of the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules, 1975 from October 19, 2000, the registered dealers could avail of the benefit of deduction on account of value of goods purchased from within the state on payment of first stage tax in terms of rule 24(i) of the Rules, 1975.

Therefore, the proposal made by the assessing authority to take recourse to provisional assessment by way of denying the relief of set-off during the period from October 19, 2000 to February 11, 2001 is altogether contrary to the statutory provisions.

AVIATION NOTES

by K. R. Wadhwaney

Security inefficient at international airports

The ‘aviation blues’ in Indian skies will continue unabated until functioning of security and immigration is considerably tightened at international and national airports.

Reports emanating from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Mumbai’s Sahar Airport suggest that there is widespread corruption in these two areas. Add to it laxity of control, unauthorised persons walk in and out of airports and there are instances of stowaways.

Apart from recent stowaway incident on the Air-India flight A-111, two Punjabi youths had hidden themselves in under-carriage of the British Airways aircraft at the IGIA sometime ago. Could youngmen have got into the under carriage of the British Airways aircraft at the IGIA sometime ago. Could youngmen have got into the under-carriage of the waiting aircraft without the connivance of someone?

The BA stowaway incident was, according to aviation experts, the most unusual case. The recent AI Incident is equally baffling. What AI officialdom has done is to suspend four officials.

Among suspended officials is general manager working at the IGIA. What is his crime when his commercial unit had off-loaded all transit passengers and had the aircraft and toilets searched/examined. Is he being victimised for reasons other than concerning stowaway?

The security aspect at international airports has been so inefficient or corrupt that a detained passenger walked out of the terminal building of Sahar airport. The passenger had reportedly arrived on a fake passport and was being questioned by customs officials. But he gave the slip to authorities and disappeared.

According to usual procedure, the arriving passenger is first cleared by immigration authorities before he proceeds to customs. How did he reach customs counter? In other words, he was cleared by the immigration inspector who failed to detect that the passport was a fake one. If the customs inspector could, why did he not?

This is shocking. The more shocking is that a youngman was ‘off-loaded’ at the IGIA the other day as he did not look like a tourist. The passenger by the name of Manjit Singh had his documents in order, that is, he had a valid passport, proper visa, return ticket and also boarding pass. Yet he was off-loaded because he did not look like a tourist.

Since when the immigration inspector has been authorised to ascertain who is a bonafide tourist and who is not?

According to the passenger, the immigration official demanded $ 150 before he could stamp his passport to proceed for boarding the flight. He refused to pay and suffered the indignation of being off-loaded.