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It
will be UTI-1 and UTI-2: Bail-out package announced (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Saturday, August 31, announced a comprehensive bailout package for Unit Trust of India (UTI), covering a massive shortfall in its ability to repay investors in assured return schemes. The shortfall is estimated at Rs 85.61 billion for 21 assured income schemes and Rs 60 billion for the US-64 scheme. The payments will not be made in cash and the modalities are still to be announced. Also, commitment for repurchases on US-64 will be extended beyond May, 2003. "It has been decided that all earlier commitments regarding US-64 will be extended beyond May, 2003", Finance Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters after the meeting headed by Prime Minister Vajpayee. In addition, UTI will be divided into two companies. UTI-1 will essentially cover the troubled US-64 and the assured returned schemes and UTI-2, which covers all NAV-based schemes, will be given to professional managers who will have the mandate to decide on privatization. The Government will also consider certain tax concessions on US-64 with a view to providing an incentive to unit holders to remain in the scheme. "The Government will meet its obligation annually to cover any deficit in UTI-1 and it will be managed by Government-appointed administrator and a team of advisers nominated by the Government", Singh said. He also said that the UTI Act will be repealed through an ordinance and both UTI-1 and UTI-2 will be structured as per the SEBI regulations. The operational aspect, including, but not limited to, assets and liabilities between UTI-1 and UTI-2, would be worked out by the Finance Ministry. Singh also announced that the CCEA will work out a reform-cum-bailout package for the ailing Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) next week. Petrol,
diesel prices hiked (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: State-run oil companies on Saturday, August 31, announced up to 22-34 paise per litre increase in the retail selling price of petrol and diesel, effective from Saturday midnight. While petrol prices have been hiked by up to 22 paise per litre, diesel prices would go up in the range of 29 to 34 paise per litre. Petrol would cost Rs 29.20 a litre in Delhi as against the prevailing rate of Rs 29.00 per litre, while diesel prices will increase to Rs 18.34 per litre from Rs 18.05, an IOC spokesperson said here. In Kolkata, petrol prices have been hiked by 20 paise to Rs 30.64 per litre while in Mumbai petrol prices would go up from Rs 33.44 per litre to Rs 33.65 a litre. Chennai would see a hike of 22 paise in petrol selling price to Rs 31.66 a litre. Similarly, diesel prices in Kolkata have been increased by 29 paise per litre to Rs 19.72 a litre, 34 paise in Mumbai to Rs 23.29 and by 32 paise in Chennai to Rs 20.18 per litre. Ashok
Leyland gets export orders worth Rs 340 million (Go
To Top) MUMBAI: The country's second-largest truck and bus maker, Ashok Leyland Ltd, has said that it has bagged two orders worth Rs 340 million for exporting buses to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. These include 250 fully built Viking buses for Sri Lanka's People Leasing Company. The company has also signed a long-term agreement with Bangladesh's Pragoti Industries for providng 300 Stag mini-buses in completely knocked down form, a statement said. The company has supplied vehicles to these two companies in the past as well. Ashok Leyland's exports rose by 76 per cent year-on-year in the past quarter to 624 vehicles. 16,000
tons of 'WTC scrap' ends up in Punjab town's furnace
(Go
To Top) MANDI GOBINDGARH (Punjab): Around 16,000 tonnes of scrap steel from the collapsed twin towers of World Trade Centre in New York has found its way into the furnaces of Mandi Gobindgarh town in Punjab. The local scrap dealers imported the steel at a price of around $ 120 per ton. The merchandise landed in the coast of Gujarat last month. All the steel was purchased by about a dozen traders in the Mandi Gobindgarh town, near Ludhiana, famous for its cycle and ball-bearing industry and small-scale and ancillary units. Local dealers were impressed by the quality of the steel and intend to use it as machinery parts. Several firms opt for recycled steel instead of purchasing originally smelted metal to cut down costs. The collapse of the 110-storey Twin Towers on 11/9/01 created a pile of more than one million tonnes of rubble and twisted steel. ITDC
to sell four more hotels (Go
To Top) CHENNAI: Four more hotels, three in Delhi and one in Mysore, owned by the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), are being sold, its Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani told newsmen. The ITDC owns 26 hotels in the country, of which 18 have already been sold by the Central Government under its disinvestment policy. "It is for the Government of India to decide the fate of the remaining four hotels, three in Delhi and one in Mysore," he added. Lohani said that the corporation had plans of entering into new areas like consultancy and printing of brochures, producing films and sound-and-light shows for the state governments. Coca-Cola
to change brand design on bottles and cans (Go
To Top) WASHINGTON: Coca-Cola, the soft drink company, is changing its brand design, the "splash graphic", introduced two years ago, and is going for "Coke ribbons" for a new look on cans and bottles. According to the company, the new design intertwines white and yellow ribbons underneath the familiar Coca-Cola script with a trail of bubbles in the background. The design will appear on products in 2003. However, the change meant to update the look of the product will retain familiar elements of the Coca-Cola brand name, including the typeface and the red colour, the company said. Rain
brightens hope for alternative crops: Ajit Singh
(Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh said on Friday that there is some relief in drought-hit areas of the country following rains last week. Several regions received good showers with the revival of the south-west monsoon. The meteorological department has forecast more rains in different parts in the next few days. There has been a lot of rain in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. "So the fodder situation should ease and alternative crops like jawar (coarse grains), moth and pulses can be grown in areas blessed by rain." Singh told reporters. But despite the revival of the monsoon, India continues to feel the impact of the worst drought in more than 15 years, with rainfall between June 1 and August 7 amounting to 29 per cent less than the long-term average. Forex
reserves cross $ 60-billion mark (Go
To Top) MUMBAI: The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $ 281 millions to cross the 60-billion-dollar mark during the week ended August 2. The forex reserves rose to $ 60.148 billion in the reported week due to continued revaluation of the US dollar vis-a-vis the Euro and increase in export remittances. Meanwhile, the foreign currency assets rose by $ 360 million to $ 56.887 billion. Karnataka
farmers destroy BT cotton seeds (Go
To Top) BANGALORE: Cotton farmers in Karnataka have destroyed controversial insect-protected hybrid cotton seeds, saying that it will harm environment. In their stepped up action against multinational seed giant Monsanto and other corporations which are producing transgenic seeds, hundreds of activists of Karnataka Rajya Ryotha Sangha (KRRS) destroyed BT cotton yield in one and a half acres of land at Rudrana Kattae, a small village lying 300 km away from Bangalore. Branded as BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) by Monsanto, the cotton seed is safe against bollworm infestations that heavily destroy crops. The seed has been constantly under attack by environmentalists and indigenous farmers who say the harmful effects far outweigh its benefits. "It damages not only bio-diversity but is also hazardous to human and animal health", said MD Nanjundaswamy, KRRS president. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) had approved the release of BT cotton into the environment of the country with certain conditions in March last. The farmers of neighbouring Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are growing BT cotton. India has the world's largest cotton-growing area but its yield is just 300 kg per hectare, less than half the global average of about 650 kg. The country's cotton production in the current crop year ending September was forecast at 15.6 million bales of 170 kg each, up from 14.0 million bales a year earlier. Meanwhile, thousands of farmers staged a protest march here on Friday demanding ouster of the multinational seed giant Monsanto and other corporations producing transgenic BT cotton seeds. RBI
mopping up extra liquidity to ensure market stability
(Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment inflow into the Reserve Bank of India is conducting open market operations to mop up excess liquidity and ensure stability in the market, said its Governor, Bimal Jalan. Talking to reporters, he said, "It (the operations) is to mop up excess liquidity ... and also to stabilise markets." In reply to a question about whether any cut in US rates would lead to a similar move by the RBI, he said that there was no linkage between the level of US interest rates and Indian rates. WorldCom
owes $ 60-90 million to VSNL (Go
To Top) MUMBAI: VSNL, India's largest international phone service provider, said on Tuesday that bankrupt US telecom giant WorldCom owed it approximately 60 to 90 million dollars as of July 31. "While VSNL remains optimistic it will collect the money due from WorldCom, there are risks inherent in any bankruptcy proceeding and there can be no assurance", the company said in a statement. WorldCom is one of VSNL's major carrier partners. As of March 31, money owed by WorldCom represented 37.7 of total balances due from all customers, VSNL said. ONGC
plans to buy Indian assets of UK's Cairn Energy
(Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is planning to buy Britain's Cairn Energy's assets in India and possibly in Bangladesh, a company official said on Monday. "Cairn has made many discoveries in India and they have a good gas field in Bangladesh which can be fully exploited if the gas is sold to India", the official said, adding that the ONGC was primarily interested in their Indian fields but if the Bangladesh asset comes as a package, it is just fine. Cairn's assets would cost the ONGC about 500 million pounds. Last year Cairn made nine discoveries from 11 exploration wells in India. Bharti
launches cellular services in Gujarat (Go
To Top) AHMEDABAD: Telecom giant Bharti Cellular Ltd launched cellular phone services in Gujarat on Monday, August 5, and announced a slew of incentives to woo customers. New Delhi-based Bharti Cellular has a presence in 15 of the 22 cellular zones. Bharti is the third firm to offer mobile services in Gujarat. "We would be certainly growing at a disproportionate rate compared to the number of players. Our growth rate should be about 50 per cent", Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and group managing director, told a press conference. Bharti has announced free roaming facility for all calls made through its AirTel mobile network anywhere in the country and a 30-second billing rate. None of the other 12 cellular service providers offers free country-wide roaming on their networks and all bill at one-minute increments. Oracle
to expand business in India (Go
To Top) BANGALORE: Oracle Corp., the world's No. 2 software maker, said it plans to nearly double its staff in India in the next four years, expanding its operations in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the country's technology capital. "We are already up to 2,200 and it is quite likely that we'll grow to 4,000 over the next few years, that's a big investment," Derek Williams, executive vice-president in charge of the Asia-Pacific region for Oracle, told a news conference. He was speaking after the inauguration of the second phase of a sprawling building recently in Bangalore, which houses 1,200 of Oracle's 2,200 Indian workers, most of whom are software engineers. Williams said Oracle's India expansion was not about slashing development costs, but part of a longer-term plan to tap the 2,50,000 information technology graduates Indian universities turn out each year. He said that the centre here would back up work in Oracle's existing centres in Dublin, Sacramento, California and Sydney. Oracle also plans to set up a separate Internet sales unit in India which would use the Web to boost marketing. Concessions
to attract middle class (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: The Government on Wednesday, July 31, announced a series of tax reliefs for the salaried class, small investors and farmers. The exemption limit on income from infrastructure bonds, bank deposits and investments, under Section 80 L, has been raised to Rs 15,000 from the existing Rs 12,000 (Rs 12,000 from bank deposits and Rs 3,000 from Government securities.) The exemption limit on dividend income has been raised to Rs 2,500 from investments made in each company and mutual funds. The present limit is Rs 1,000 from dividends from all companies. The five per cent service tax on life insurance premia and services have been withdrawn. To curb speculation, sale and purchase of shares will be settled in a day. Mukesh
Ambani is Reliance Chairman (Go
To Top)
MUMBAI: Forty-five-year old chemical engineer Mukesh Ambani, the elder son of the late Reliance Group chairman Hirajlal Dhirachand (Dhirubhai) Ambani who died on July 6 following a massive heart attack at the age of 69, took over his father's mantle as the head of the Rs 65,000 cr flagship company on Wednesday, July 31. The election at the board meeting was unanimius. He was the firm's vice-chairman. His younger brother Anil Ambani will be the vice-chairman and managing director. Both of them had become active in assisting their father after he suffered his first heart arttack in 1986. Mukesh had joined the company in 1981. The smooth succession to complementary functions has put to rest all speculation of a division of the group into Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industries. -ANI & India Overseas |
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