November 15-16, 1998
THE REDIFF BUSINESS COLUMNISTS
Income-tax department: petrified by sharks, fishing for minnows
The wide discretionary settlement power that income-tax officers have to impose a fine and close a case against a tax defaulter should be abrogated. They should be made answerable to courts of law when big fish like Romesh Sharma are outed as not having filed their returns, writes Dilip Thakore.
November 14, 1998
Jethmalani urges NRIs to shore up housing sector
The urban affairs minister said 100 per cent
foreign direct investment will be allowed with a three-year lock-in period. Pre-fabricated housing technology will also be introduced in India.
Experts mull making derivative trading safe
Internal controls, margining system and effective risk management would make trading in
derivatives safer than equity cash markets, speakers agreed at a Bombay convention.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS COLUMNISTS
Import more to export more
Many of the problems that plague exports highlight
lack of reforms in the domestic economy. You cannot introduce reforms
only in the external sector and assume that exports will immediately
take off, writes Bibek Debroy.
OTHER STORIES
Bhagwati panel allows simultaneous offers for buyback and takeover
The committee also recommended that buyback offers and takeover offers are mutually exclusive and would be governed by the respective regulations.
India, EU to include trade, financial issues in economic dialogue
Consultations on various bilateral and multilateral issues and cooperation in economic affairs will continue.
Centre okays WB-aided 5-year agri-tech project
The project will introduce major reforms
in the agricultural research and extension systems to meet future challenges of food security, sustainability and rural poverty.
Closure of industries on holidays not unreasonable, rules Supreme Court
Bench rules that the Kerala Industrial Establishments (National and Festival Holidays Amendment) Act, 1990 does not violate the fundamental right to carry on trade and business
CVC whips up a formula for making India an economic superpower
''We must go for total internal liberalisation. We will be creating all over the country, a common approach to improving productivity,'' Chief Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal said.
Divestment process meandering towards trust, says panel chief
The proposal to float a Special Purpose Vehicle for the transfer of shares of public enterprises is being given up, according to G V Ramakrishna.
•BSE : 2976.12; Sensex sheds 33 points
• NSE: 867.25; Nifty down 4.5 points
• Forex: Rs 42.33/34 vs US dollar
Rs 70.62 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.10 vs deutsche mark
Rs 34.81 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 13, 1998
Global Indians bring home anger, frustration, deep emotions and promises of investment
Corruption. Red tape. Lack of clear-cut policies. Several NRIs went hammer and tongs, at the Global Indian Entrepreneur Conference in New Delhi, on such bottlenecks that curb their patriotic zeal to invest in India.
Goa defies Centre over sale of excess power
Despite the Union power minister's statement that the state cannot sell its excess power in violation of rules, the chief minister has issued instructions to invite tenders from private parties to sell it.
Experts urge banks, markets to gear up for imminent advent of derivatives
The RBI approval to interest rate swaps is a measure in the right direction. Index futures and commodity futures will take off by next year, speakers said at a seminar in Bombay.
Bajaj Auto chief underlines need for new institutions to manage globalisation
India should ensure that she does not make mistakes which many of the southeast Asian countries made regarding extensive short-term foreign borrowings and crony capitalism leading to unregulated loans by the banking sector, Rahul Bajaj said at a convention of company secretaries in Pune.
SEBI okays British Gas move to up stake in Gujarat Gas
BG has controlling interest in GG. Since the acquisition of the retained shares of Arvind Mafatlal by BG is not going to affect this position and the proposed acquisition is in the interest of the GG shareholder, exemption was granted.
RBI simplifies norms for FDI disclosure and preference shares issue to NRIs, OCBs
Indian companies receiving funds from their foreign investors should immediately report the investment particulars like name of the foreign investors, their country, etc, to the central bank.
•BSE : 3009.57; Sensex sheds 33 points
• NSE: 871.75; Nifty up over two points
• Forex: Rs 42.33/34 vs US dollar
Rs 70.11 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.08 vs deutsche mark
Rs 34.19 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 12, 1998
Global soft drinks' strategies hit us hard, cry Goa's bottlers
Although Goa's unorganised soft drink industry is still holding over 65 per cent market share by selling around six million crates annually, the local bottlers fear that their market will be wiped away within three years if the ''unethical marketing practices'' of the giants continue.
Hyderabad b-school project kicks up a row; government set on boosting business climate
After firming up plans for the HITEC City, the Indian Institute of Information Technology and the Indian School of Business, the state government has now requested the human resources development ministry to approve the setting up of an Indian Institute of Management and an Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad. The state stood second in the country in industrial growth with a foreign investment of Rs 21 billion this year and efforts are on to occupy the number one position, CM Naidu said.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS COLUMNISTS
Indian economy attains nirvana!
That things are different in India is clear from the way prices are behaving. While prices have crashed all over the world, India is faced not with deflation, but inflation so severe that the ruling party's fate may depend on it, writes Jay Dubashi.
OTHER STORIES
Revenue dept stir affects work at airports, ports, cargo shops
In all around 170,000 officers and employees all over the country are agitating against disparity in pay-scales arising out of the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations.
Step up aid to countries like India, WB urges the First World
''The number of countries that meet the criteria for using aid
well has increased dramatically in the 1990s as a result of the
adoption of free market policies,'' said the World Bank's chief
economist Joseph Stiglitz.
Policy to kickstart industry in J&K announced
Big industrialists from outside the state are keen on setting up industrial units. The proposed seminars, conferences and debates will feature experts and entrepreneurs. Information about the facilities offered by the government will be disseminated to help establish new units and to revive sick enterprises, the state government said.
AP's bid to shore up village bodies: banana leaves, grass beams to be taxed
The gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh have been empowered to levy kolagaram and katarusum on 13 commodities to augment their financial resources.
•BSE : 2976.17; Sensex sheds 28 points
• NSE: 868.85; Nifty steady amid selling pressure
• Forex: Rs 42.27/28 vs US dollar
Rs 70.19 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.11 vs deutsche mark
Rs 34.74 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 11, 1998
Recession effect: Plan panel scales down Ninth Plan GDP growth rate to 6.5 pc
The gross budgetary support is to be retained at Rs 3.74 trillion. Vajpayee directed the Planning Commission that economic reforms initiated and the plan objectives should be spelt out in each sector. Commission member Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the fiscal deficit was under pressure but said the exact figure would be worked out with the finance ministry. He denied that there was any plan holiday and said the Ninth Plan would continue as scheduled from 1997 to 2002. It is important to move to more than seven per cent GDP growth for the next three years so that an average growth rate of 6.5 per cent can be achieved during the plan period, he said.
SEBI okays buyback draft: bourse mode disallowed, only listed securities covered, no say on pricing
Merchant bankers will have to give a 'due diligence' certificate.
Buyback through negotiated deals, spot transactions or private
arrangements will not be allowed. Companies making an offer for buyback will have to open an escrow account on the same lines as takeover regulations.
Banking reforms bearing fruit, but shift to global practices should be gradual, says RBI
The RBI said that the net profit ratio of public sector banks increased from 0.57 per cent
in 1996-97 to 0.77 per cent in 1997-98 as against the fall among the foreign banks from 1.19 per cent in 1996-97 to 0.96 per cent in 1997-98.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS INTERVIEW
'Indian agro industries are a bridgehead to the Asian food industry'
'In India you have land control, so you have smaller units of production compared to other countries. In my view, that is not always a good thing. I know the reasons why that exists but it is not always a good thing from an agri-business point of view. But yes, there are some very blue chip agri-business companies in India, but there should be more.' An interview with the US-based GIC group president Rick Gilmore.
OTHER STORIES
Big Bs' big biz buzz bowls boys over
Bajaj (Rahul) and Bachchan (Amitabh) enraptured a youth gathering in Pune by revealing that the strong foundations of their success stories and business empires lay in the advice of their illustrious fathers.
India has improved real per capita income, so deserves aid, says WB study
India's real per capita income
between 1966 and 1990 doubled and poverty was reduced to 53 per cent of the
population. In good policy environments such as the one in India, aid is high-return investment that permanently raises income and reduces poverty, the WB study said.
Economists urge India to utilise Amartya Sen's wisdom
Amartya Sen's trail-blazing theoretical work highlighting the acute
relevance of entitlement, deprivation, education, gender justice and basic health need to be integrated into the country's development process, experts opined at a seminar in New Delhi.
Agro meet will spawn Rs 50b investment in Maharashtra, says government
A Yugoslovian firm has shown keen interest in importing cotton and cotton-yarn from the state. The Middle-East group of companies has indicated an investment of around Rs 2 billion in tissue-culture, spirulina, alcohol-based industries, molasses, dairy and cogeneration while another company will invest $ 18 million in a cogeneration plant in Satara, state agriculture minister Vikhe-Patil said.
•BSE : 3004.67; Sensex spurts 21 points
• NSE: 868.70; Nifty up four points
• Forex: Rs 42.27/28 vs US dollar
Rs 70.26 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.12 vs deutsche mark
Rs 34.52 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 10, 1998
Gujarat power sector reforms will split GEB into three entities
The Gujarat
government today decided to set up a State Electricity Regulatory
Commission and trifurcate the electricity board into
generation, transmission and distribution entities. The policy to govern the operational aspects of captive
power plants has also been announced.
Transamerica Fin to invest Rs 897m in JV with Apple Finance
The joint venture will introduce for the first time the concept of integrated distribution financing solutions in India. TDF Mauritius Limited, part of Transamerica Distribution Finance, intends to acquire a further seven per cent by subscribing to a fresh issue of equity capital.
PRICKLY, PRICY PATENTS
US company files patent for Indian medicinal plant
Several non-governmental organisations in India have challenged the patent claim of the US company, Fox Chase Research Centre, on phyllanthus amarus, a plant found in south India which is efficacious in treatment of
jaundice and Hepatitis-B.
Hyderabad's IICT ties up with Cytomed Inc for 3 US patents, more JVs planned
The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology is in the process of transferring the technology to Indian drug major Lupin for another anti-viral drug which could combat AIDS and other viral infections. IICT's earnings from overseas had doubled to $ 1 million in a single year in 1997-98. It has filed for 250 patents, 20 per cent of which had gone into production. About 12 per cent of the patents were transferred to the MNCs.
NRDC to provide catheter with IPR protection; low cost expected to spawn big market
Hardly 15,000 angioplasty procedures are done on an average every year in India while a staggering 20 million people suffer from coronary artery disease. The indigenously developed ballon catheter which would cost half the price of imported ones is likely to cut costs of overall treatment.
OTHER STORIES
Govt holds talks with broadcast players to streamline industry
Divergent views have been expressed at the meetings with I&B secretary P G Mankad on subjects like foreign equity, cross-media restrictions, direct-to-home TV, accountability
to Parliament and complaints redressal as envisaged in the 1997 Bill.
Bal Thackeray reassures free power supply to farmers
However, he did assure a fixed time-frame. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi likened the ryots to kings. "Farmers must become the kings of Maharashtra. The state government has chalked out a pro-former, pro-agriculture policies," he said.
Stalemate over TN power projects as Centre dithers
Two major power projects in Tamil Nadu including the Rs 60 billion liquified natural gas terminal at Ennore have been virtually grounded as the surface transport ministry has put on hold clearance for their sites in port areas.
Vadhvan port project in trouble, admits Manohar Joshi
The Maharashtra chief minister said that if the Australian company faces financial constraints, it should discuss the same with the state government. Asked if P and O was not interested in the project, he said they were interested but there might be some financial problems.
LIC reports phenomenal H1 results, income from all premia up
LIC's total individual business premium income was Rs 68.69 billion, up 20.03 per cent. Individual pension premium at Rs 332.4 million was up 107.62 per cent. Total group insurance premium income stood at Rs 4.16 billion, up 12.89 per cent. LIC settled around two million claims during the half-year.
BSE vice president quits following scam
Bombay Stock Exchange vice-president
Rajendra Banthia, whose firm Harvest Deal Securities is among the
18 brokerages allegedly involved in price rigging of certain scrips,
today submitted his resignation as vice-president of the country's premier bourse also from the governing board.
•BSE : 2983.67; Sensex spurts 99 points
• NSE: 864.65; Nifty up over 23 points
• Forex: Rs 42.27/29 vs US dollar
Rs 70.35 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.22 vs deutsche mark
Rs 35.34 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 8-9, 1998
Clinton decides to lift economic sanctions
The formal announcement is expected within the next few days. India and Pakistan will have access to US credit and development agencies. Prohibitions on Indian and Pakistani participation in US foreign investment and trade promotion programmes will also be lifted. The decision follows adverse impact the sanctions have been having on the US trade and investment prospects in the two countries.
RSS, SJM pressure government to drop plan for foreign equity in insurance
"We have asked the Prime Minister to desist from opening up the insurance sector to foreign equity and give the domestic insurance companies one more chance to improve their performance," a BJP economic cell member told Rediff On The Net.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS INTERVIEW
'Cosmetics users in India want more products, price isn't a problem'
'We'll launch several product lines as we move forward. Nothing is taboo in terms of what we can achieve in the next ten, 20 or even 50 years. Yes, we will be very much here even after 50 years. It will take an act of government to throw us out,' says Avon India managing director David Gosling.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS COLUMNISTS
Wanted: a second green revolution
Decision-makers in government refuse to acknowledge the logic of a viable food storage and processing industry as being the prerequisite of better farm gate prices and a stable consumer price regimen in urban India. The irony of India being perhaps the only nation in the world in which highly taxed packaged and processed foods are more expensive than garden fresh produce is lost upon the wiseacres in the Planning Commission and the economic ministries at the Centre and in the states, writes Dilip Thakore.
A matter of image
'The consumer knows that the onion crisis was upon us as long ago as May. There was a partial crop failure in the region of Nasik, the onion-bowl of India. The government was so busy congratulating itself on its nuclear explosions that it did not have ears wide enough to listen to the whisper that it was the Bomb which had really blasted the onion crop!' says Mani Shankar Aiyar.
OTHER STORIES
New Centre-state panel to monitor commodities
Ban on export of onions has been extended till January, 1999. Restrictions on the inter-state movement of essential commodities has been lifted. The government will set up a national forecasting centre for agriculture products.
Meet stresses need to streamline and fund agro-processing segment
The size of Indian food market may grow from Rs 250 billion at
present to Rs 500 billion by 2005 and the share of value-added
foods is likely to increase from Rs 800 billion to Rs 2.25 trillion, food processing secretary P S Bhatnagar said at Agro Advantage.
SEBI panel moots six ways for buyback, offer price limit
Chairman D R Mehta said six modes were discussed: tender offer, open offer, reverse book buying, odd-lot buyback, reverse right issue and employees stock option
plan.
Centre to allow onion imports from Myanmar under OGL
Market sources in Imphal claimed that the supply from Myanmar would suffice to meet the market demand of around 500 quintals daily for the entire north-east, including Assam, which is the highest consumer of the vegetable in the region.
Bombay HC upholds SEBI's power to ban brokers in price rigging case
The court, however, allowed them to trade, except in scrips
of BPL, Videocon and Sterlite, till the time an appeal is filed in
the Supreme Court in four weeks.
• BSE and NSE Review: Dip in infotech prices and surge of pivotals mark the week of uptrend.
November 7, 1998
National task force, commodity futures, exports, IT figure in PM's boost-agriculture plan
The government will strengthen the futures market of agricultural produce, promote value-added farm products, find suitable markets for small farmers. Cotton, oilseed, edible oils will come under the purview of the Forward Markets Commission which will acquire stronger teeth.
Small screen uses big movies as weapons of mass attraction
In their bid to boost ad revenues and viewership ratings, Sony Entertainment Television and Star Plus are pulling out all stops while buying relatively new blockbusters. Another trick is clash of the telecast timings. Result: blurring of the line that distinguishes cinemas and TV.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS COLUMNISTS
Why India should learn to accept higher prices for Bharat products
The agricultural sector has been so messed about through state intervention in the last 50 years that we have not provided farmers a chance. We thought state intervention was necessary because agriculture and farmers are backward. I am not sure this is a valid proposition. I suspect farmers have far more of entrepreneurial spirit than some of our large-scale industrialists. Let's get the government off their backs. Bharat can transform what India looks like, argues Bibek Debroy.
OTHER STORIES
Government nods to JVs for wind energy projects
Promotional equity will be provided by the state governments (25
per cent) and IREDA (24 per cent). The idea is to enable a
private sector promoter / investor have majority participation and
management control in the proposed ventures.
Agro meet lays stress on higher yields, quality produce
The foreign participants at Agro Advantage Maharashtra identified areas for partnerships in particle board projects, integrated poultry, hatchery, broiler and meat processing plants, fruit and vegetable processing plants, and vegetable seed production.
Price rigging case: Bombay HC order on Saturday
Justice Ashok Agarwal and Justice S S Pakar will deliver the order on an appeal filed by three broking firms challenging the SEBI's ban on their operation for their alleged involvement in price rigging on the bourses.
Pak's former foreign minister decries linking bilateral trade with Kashmir
Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali said trade with India will have no impact on the Kashmir
question. He recalled that Pakistan had trade with the Soviet Union during the 1980s when it was fighting in Afghanistan.
Big investors just can't wait to set up shop in India, claims post-Paris Sinha
Sinha said the world is looking to India with a great deal of interest and had realised the stability of the Indian economy in spite of a global turnaround for the worst.
•BSE : 2842.51; Sensex takes a 30-point surge
• NSE: 840.80; Nifty up 12 points
• Forex: Rs 42.29/30 vs US dollar
Rs 70.35 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.48 vs deutsche mark
Rs 35.80 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 6, 1998
THE REDIFF BUSINESS SPECIAL
'International pressure is trying to shape the economy, as a pressure tactic, so that we sign the CTBT'
'I have a strong belief that international pressure is working in the background to prove that this government is not capable of governance so that ultimately they may succeed in bringing down the nationalistic government. In fact in a couple of debates on economic issues, I was confronted with ...a suggestion that developments in the capital markets would become alright the moment we sign the CTBT.' BJP economic strategist Dr Jagdish Shettigaron the fiscal crisis.
AGRI SECTOR TO THE FORE
Cabinet nods to new crop insurance plan, GIC to float new co, direct subsidy dropped
The new scheme to be effective from 1999 kharif season will cover all farmers and crops. ''Farmers have to contribute to the insurance premium as the present scheme was not sustainable and financially viable,'' minister of state for agriculture Som Pal said. Losses to the proposed Agriculture Insurance Corporation will be underwritten by the government.
Yugoslavia moots trade pacts for onions, farm products
Belgrade is willing to arrange for immediate delivery of surplus stocks of onions if New Delhi places a firm order. It wants to buy coffee, tea, spices and engineering goods from India and sell oilseeds, soyabean and beetroot. It is keen to have joint ventures with Indian companies for commercial agricultural production, food
processing and oil exploration.
Investors' meet to project agriculture as a lucrative industry
Agro-Advantage Maharashtra will kick off on Friday in Bombay. Around 600 delegates from India and abroad are expected to attend the convention which will showcase 101 proposals, including seven from the government, to the tune of Rs 55.02 billion.
Exploit India's biodiversity in a scientific way, M M Joshi tells industry
The key objective of the biotech industry
should be to develop widely applicable, easily scaled up,
re-producible and cost-effective processes and products, the HRD minister said.
Rabo Bank's arm likely to invest in agri ventures
Rabo India Finance Limited is eyeing ventures for banana processing, comprehensive goat project, food and vegetable processing and integrated poultry and milk-processing plant.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS FEATURE
When gold lost its glitter
Gold prices in the Gulf are low but the traditional buyers, the NRIs, are not interested. For they have exhausted their savings and in fact took loans to invest in Resurgent India Bonds. The jewellery industry is trying to add lustre to gold in order to kickstart sales.
OTHER STORIES
RBI policy impact: bank, FI shares take a dip; revival is not far away, says study
SBI which was quoting at above Rs 160, has gone down to Rs 149 after the credit policy announcement. So have the prices of BoI, BoB, Corporation Bank, IDBI and ICICI.
Kerela's industrial policy targets 9 pc growth on Rs 32b additional investment
"The policy is so designed as to ensure generation of 350,000
employment opportunities in the next 30 months,"
Industries Minister Suseela Gopalan said.
Minister asks SBI to hike funds for power sector
Kumaramangalam said that India needs about $ 10 billion investments in various
infrastructure projects in the next ten years to increase its GDP growth rate to 7.5 per cent from the current five per cent.
•BSE : 2842.51; Sensex takes a 30-point surge
• NSE: 829.15; Nifty up eight points
• Forex: Rs 42.30/31 vs US dollar
Rs 70.09 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.45 vs deutsche mark
Rs 35.98 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 5, 1998
Centre summons states for Nov 7 meet on salt and price rise crises
State governments galvanise forces to combat rumour-mongers, panic buying, imaginary shortages and hoarding. Reports from states.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS SPECIAL
Sun rises in the west!
Sun TV has completed executing its plans for south India by launching Surya TV in Malayalam. As Surya readies to beam slick serials, the rules of the news-driven TV market in Kerala, led by Doordarshan and Asianet, will change, and a few myths about viewership patterns are likely to be shattered.
BUSINESS FEATURE
Motherland, money and magic of NRIs: banks bow to bag Bhuj's billions
NRIs are swamping banks in their native villages of Madhapur and Boladia villages in the Bhuj district of Gujarat with deposits running into billions. Low withdrawals, prompt repayment of loans and zero bad-debts make it a dream zone in the desert.
MERGERS / JOINT VENTURES
Boards okay Centurion Bank-20th Century Fin merger; TCFC owners to get 1:1
CBL will acquire the entire
corporate, lease and hire purchase portfolio as well as consumer
finance businesses of TCFC including all assets and liabilities,
branches, manpower, technology infrastructure, management skills which will strengthen the bank.
Prize Petroleum, HPCL's new venture, to have Rs 200m equity
An independent board of directors will manage the company. HPCL's CMD H L Zutsi will be the chairman. The new company will form consortia of more than one company for each exploration and production project in the form of unincorporated joint ventures.
Lupin-Mova JV to source Rs 5b ingredients from India
Cephalosporin products would be manufactured in Puerto Rico using ingredients supplied by Lupin India and then marketed by Mova in the US and other developed markets.
Malaysian minister moots JV for Penang-Bangalore airline
"Penang is the mini Malaysia and Bangalore is mini India." Hence, both could be joined by an exclusive air service, said Dr Koh Tsu Koon, chief minister of Penang, a Malaysian province.
OTHER STORIES
New bills for boosting power sector on the anvil
By enacting the Electricity Laws (Amendment) Act 1998, the government would facili
tate more investment in the transmission sector.
Buyback alone won't help, couple it with performance, exhorts Union official
Every measure aimed at giving a new lease of life to the capital market should be subjected to regulations, restrictions and rules, according to T S
Krishnamurthy, secretary, department of company affairs.
MARKETS
Stocks markets remained closed today on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti
November 4, 1998
Rs 7b Indian music market rises to tackle piracy
The music pirates are shifting base and making inroads into villages. The IMI is making a sustained bid to attack piracy at the consumer, the distributor and the manufacturers' level.
Government funding urgently needed, says Air-India MD
'Aircraft purchase is not in the pipeline, survival is,' Michael Mascarenhas said. Many governments in the world, he added, had at one time or the other provided assistance to their national carriers.
Centre may allow Goa to go in for market borrowings
Chief Minister of the cash-strapped state, Wilfred de Souza, plans to drop the proposed floating of bonds for Rs 1 billion, mooted by his predecessor Pratapsing
Rane. "Who can afford the liability of paying it every year?"
THE REDIFF BUSINESS SPECIAL
I-tax norms affected vehicle sales, lament dealers
The rule that buyers of motor vehicles should go in for permanent account numbers and compulsorily file returns has impacted sales. The hype about car sales seems to be fizzling out, a dealer in Delhi said. ''How can you have car wars if they don't move out of my showroom?'' Veeresh Malik reports.
OTHER STORIES
Meet moots integrating design with business strategy
In the changing market, the customer is now demanding his rights and industry is now compelled to design products depending upon customer needs, Subodh Bhargava, chief executive of Eicher Goodearth Limited said.
SEBI moves Bombay HC against brokers in price rigging case
The court admitted the SEBI's affidavit against the stay order granted to the three brokers including BSE vice-president Rajendra Bhantia's firm Harvest Deal Securities. The two other stockbrokers are Ramrakh R Bohra and Mahico Private Limited.
•BSE : 2812.06; day of the static Sensex
• NSE: 820.90; settlement close pushes Nifty down
• Forex: Rs 42.31/32 vs US dollar
Rs 70.03 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.48 vs deutsche mark
Rs 36.66 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 3, 1998
Politics and rumours of rice and salt shortage combine to fuel panic buying, price rise
Confident that prices will stabilise after the elections, a New Delhi trader said, "Now, it is just a case of politics and it might even suit some parties to let the prices stay high." Rising imports are expected to help bring the prices down.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS SPECIAL
Globalisation on the solid foundation of swadeshi
Political corruption and unethical business practices can greatly worsen crises in the era of globalisation. Good governance, thus, has become a global imperative today both in politics and business. By adopting swadeshi and good governance as the overarching principles in economy and the politics, India will become a major beneficiary of globalisation in the next century, argues L K Advani.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS INTERVIEW
'Government should sell PSU stocks now without waiting for the market to improve'
' We should also quickly enact anti-trust laws for sharpening the forces of competition as in the United States and European Union.' Disinvestment Commission Chairman G V Ramakrishna in an exclusive interview.
OTHER STORIES
Vegetable prices dip as domestic produce floods market
Onions are now available at Rs 15 per kg to each ration-card holders in Bombay and its suburbs. Buyers are reportedly refusing to purchase the onions from the ration shops due to the bad quality.
Tourist units earning forex of Rs 60m recognised as export houses
There is a need to give such a recognition to
give a boost to foreign exchange earnings, employment and income generation through tourism,'' the minister concerned, Madan Lal Khurana, said.
Industry demands removal of irritants from FEMA, Money Bill
Industry supporters argue that equity demands that offences prior
to the new Act detected later should be dealt with under the new
law.
Buyback ordinance lays down strict norms for companies
The companies will henceforth have full freedom to make inter-corporate investments and loans to other corporate bodies. No prior approval of the Central government will be required for this purpose. They can make investments or give loans upto 60 per cent of their paid-up share capital and free reserves with the approval of board of directors. For investments and loans beyond this limit, the companies will have to pass a special resolution in the general meeting.
• BSE: 2811.44; Sensex remains steady on nominal buying
• NSE: 823.20; prices plummet after initial gains
• Forex: Rs 42.29/30 vs US dollar
Rs 70.66 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.67 vs deutsche mark
Rs 36.65 vs Japanese yen (100)
November 1-2, 1998
PM launches war against price-rise
The government today announced a series of
measures including abolition of customs duty on pulses, wider
procurement of onions and sought the states' help in launching a
vigorous nationwide de-hoarding drive to check the rising prices of
essential commodities.
Vajpayee sets up infrastructure taskforce
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Jaswant Singh will head the panel. Focus will be on proposed expressways, highways, airports and all the other projects announced by the prime minister.
Debt market expected to remain unaffected
There will be no immediate impact on the short-term interest
rates. The interest rates may tighten after a while as bank credit
to the economy and the corporate sector picks up, debt market experts said.
SEBI adds 19 more shares to demat list
Effective from February 15, 1999, trading in demat form would be compulsary for all institutional investors and overseas corporate bodies in scrips of another 65 companies, thus bringing the total number of such companies including UTI units to 304.
I've given sufficient time to banks to shape up'
'We have taken a three- to four-year perspective to implement the Narasimham Committee recommendations in terms of greater capital adequacy in order to strengthen the balance sheets of banks. These measures will only have a positive impact, and sufficient time is there for banks to plan and take measures in line with the committee recommendations and international standards,' says Dr Bimal Jalan.
THE REDIFF BUSINESS COLUMNISTS
Amartya Sen's Nobel: unwarranted Left euphoria
That Sen has been anointed a prophet with honour in his own country is an indication that the two-steps-forward, one-step-back economic liberalisation and deregulation effort being essayed in socialist India is likely to acquire a human face, writes Dilip Thakore.
OTHER STORIES
Government to offer VRS, shut 8 sick companies; unions call it a pro-MNC move
The Cabinet Committee on Foreign Investment
also cleared 12 projects, mainly relating to increase in equity stakes by
foreign partners. The Cabinet approved another proposal to amend the Land Acquisition Act 1984, to ease the procedure for acquisition of land for infrastructure projects.
SEBI price-rigging probe exposes Harshad Mehta, 17 others
It has revealed that a set of seven brokers acted mainly on behalf of a common set of clients and cornered very large chunks of BPL, Videocon and Sterlite scrips both on the BSE and the NSE in April and May 1998. They also built up huge carry forward positions and even exceeded the exposure limits.
IFC fund to invest in India's auto ancillary sector
Consolidation among some 500 firms and another 3,000 supply businesses is underway. This provides excellent investment opportunities, according to World Bank's International Finance Corporation. The fund is likely to invest in 12 companies.
Corruption is a low-risk, high-profit business, says vigilant Vittal
Chief Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal said he would endeavour to ensure that banks, where lack of computerisation had spawned frauds, exchange information about
defrauding industrialists or borrowers.
Onion crisis will persist till January, say traders
In the absence of fresh stocks from Punjab, the cold storage
stocks from Karnataka are feeding the market. This will
lead to shortage in Karnataka. November will see problems from all quarters, say New Delhi's potato and onion merchants. 'Imports won't help due to distribution snags.'
• Forex: Rs 42.33/34 vs US dollar
Rs 70.02 vs pound sterling
Rs 25.60 vs deutsche mark
Rs 36.27 vs Japanese yen (100)
• NSE: Pune special session pushes Nifty down five points; 824.00
• BSE and NSE Review: A week of buyback-fuelled surge and H1-powered pressure
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