1. Art and Diseño

6
T HE ECHO OF INDIA SILIGURI
Economy & Business
Sunday February 1, 2015
Prabhu pitches for greater
investments in Railways
AHMEDABAD, JAN 31 /—/ Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu here
on Saturday pitched for greater investments in railways and said development in the sector will help
the country grow.
The minister was here to flag
off two new trains - AhmedabadChennai bi-weekly express and
Ahmedabad-Darbhanga
Jansadharan express. He also
launched Wi-fi f acility at the city
railway station.
“It is a matter of pleasure for
the country that our economy is on
the path of improvement and
progress. With this, responsibility
of Railways has also increased. We
need to work on many levels,” said
Prabhu.
He said that Railways’ financial
health is not good and there is an
urgent need of increased investments in the areas of modernisation, safety and security of passengers. “We have decided to increase
investment in Railways...
We have also decided to connect with various states for this (investment). Railways will fulfil the
needs for Gujarat’s development as
well. I will discuss with the Chief
Minister on how to work on larger
scale for improvement,” he said.
Prabhu later met with Chief
Minister Anandiben Patel. The
minister also claimed that Railways was priority of the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi-led government and the sector can contribute to his mantra of ‘Sabka Sath,
Sabka Vikas’ (participation of all
for development of all).
“Development of Railways is
on the priority list of our Prime
Minister. If railways develop,
economy will also be strengthened... and GDP (of the country)
will also rise by 2-3 per cent.
Though our GDP is growing today,
with much efficient railways system it will grow rapidly,” he said.
The minister said further development in the sector will also
create jobs for youths.
Prabhu appealed to people to
join Modi’s flagship ‘Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan’ and said the mission is associated with country’s
identity.
‘Feasibility report on Bullet train being prepared’
AHMEDABAD: Prabhu
also said the feasibility report on high-speed bullet
train between Ahmedabad
and Mumbai was being prepared with the assistance of
a Japan government’s company. A feasibility report on
the high-speed bullet train
is being prepared with the
governments
of
Maharashtra and Gujarat,
Prabhu told reporters on the
sidelines on flagging off of
two new trains from
Ahmedabad.
“A company in the Japan
government along with Indian Railway is assisting in
that (making the feasibility
report). There will be no
budgetary provision (for the
study) in the upcoming Railway budget as feasibility report will be finished after
next budget,” he added.
Prabhu also stressed on
development of integrated
transport system within cities to cope with rising
number of migration from
rural to urban cities.
“Population in cities has
been increasing. Considering this, we have to see that
the transport system in cities are in an integrated manner. And now inte grated
transport planning is a necessary thing for us, which
will include inter-city transport facility and an internal
system within the city,”
Prabhu said.
Citing
example
of
Ahmedabad’s BRTS (Bus
rapid transit system), he
said, “If we will make an in-
Sugar mills seek debt recast, export sops
NEW DELHI, JAN 31 /—/ Reeling under
debt of over Rs 36,000 crore, sugar industry
on Friday demanded that the Centre should
soon extend subsidy on exports of at least 2
million tonnes of raw sugar and restructure
the borrowings in order to enable mills
clear mounting arrears to cane farmers.
Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA)
infor med that all-India cane ar rears have
already touched Rs 11,000 crore and expressed fear that the figure could cross last
year’s peak of over Rs 13,000 crore if the
corrective measures are not taken.
The association also pointed out that the
debt burden of the sugar industry has more
than tripled to Rs 36,601 crore at the end of
2012-13 fiscal against Rs 11,443 crore in
2007-08. Seeking “desperate” financial
help, ISMA President A Vellayan said: “We
are passing through one of its worst financial crisis ever. Ex-mill sugar prices are at its
lowest in the last three years. Our first plea
is that government should immediately announce continuation of the incentive
scheme on raw sug ar export for at least 2
million tonnes”.
Vellayan said that even Pakistan has
announced export incentives. He reminded
that raw sugar could be produced only during the next two months.
Stating that current ex-mill sugar prices
have fallen by Rs 3 per kg in last four
months and rates are Rs 5-7 per kg below
production cost, ISMA said: “It is important
to take corrective policy decisions”.
The steps should be taken to ensure that
“not only the prices stop from falling, but
should recover the fall it suffered in last
four months, as well as slowly improve to
allow mills to cover their costs”, it said, adding that only then mills would be able to pay
cane price of farmers and repay bank loans
on time.
On debt, ISMA said it “needs to be restructured, including moratorium of at least
3-5 years and reschedulement of repayment as well as reduction in interest burden
of mills.”
The restructuring of debt would help in
ensuring that mills come out of the crisis.
“This is probably the first time that the
sugar mills are unable to even pay the FRP
to most of the farmers. Several sugar mills
are unable to repay their bank loans and
some of them have either become sick or
applied for restructuring of loans under
CDR or have been declared NPA accounts,”
ISMA said.
Besides export subsidy and debt restructuring, ISMA sought that the Centre
and the state governments should relook at
the price fixation policy for sugarcane.
It demanded that if states announce
their own cane price, which is higher than
the Centre’s Fair and Remunerative Price
(FRP), then they should bear the difference.
“Our industry is best suited for the direct benefit transfer. There should be one
FRP. States should directly give benefits to
farmers,” Vellayan said. (PTI)
tegrated system (road and
railways), they can be complimentary to each other. I
will meet the Chief Minister and request to make an
integrated transport plan,”
he added.
When asked about Ministry’s plan on port connectivity, Prabhu said, “There
is an intense need to develop ports and they cannot
be developed until and unless there is a rail connectivity. Therefore, we have decided to take necessary
steps for connecting ports
and if there is a need of private investment or if a state
government will come for
that, we will definitely support,” he said.
To a query on Gujarat’s
share in the upcoming
budget, he said the ministry
will decide after consultation with the state government. He said Railways has
taken an initiative with the
state government to work together where the state undertakes its priorities. (PTI)
Alibaba faces possible
US lawsuit after fake goods
BEIJING, JAN 31 /—/ After a bitter row
over sale of fake goods, the Chinese government and Alibaba Group warmed up even
as the e-commerce giant faces a possible
class-action lawsuit initiated by five US law
firms. The legal action comes after the company witnessed the biggest drop in its stock
price since its debut on the New York Stock
Exchange in September.
Pomerantz LLP, the Rosen Law Firm,
Holzer & Holzer LLC, Howard G Smith and
Bronstein, and Gewirtz & Grossman LLC of
the US said on Friday they are investigating
investor claims about Alibaba’s business
practices, state-run China Daily reported on
Saturday. This follows a critical Chinese
government report about counterfeit goods
being sold on the company’s online platfor m. The investigation, launched on behalf of Alibaba investors, is aimed at determining whether the company has engaged
in inadequate disclosure and made false
statements.
It is the latest development in a conflict
between the compan y, which is based in
Zhejiang province, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).
Alibaba and the administration quarrelled this week over a quality-check report
from the watchdog that found that less than
40 per cent of goods tested on Alibaba’s
online platform Taobao were authentic.
Taobao said it had received unfair treatment, while the administration said in a report, which has since been removed from its
website, that the quality-check result had
been withheld until recently.
This was to avoid disrupting Alibaba’s
ISP ‘lights up’ reheating
furnace of Bar Mill
EOI CORRESPONDENT
BURNPUR/ KOLKATA,
JAN 31 /—/ The Walking
Beam Type Reheating Furnace of the Bar Mill of
IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur
was lighted up by I C Sahu,
Executive Director in
Charge, on Friday for initial
drying and heating of refractory mass followed by
billet heating. Installed by a
consortium
of
M/s
Bricmont, USA and M/s
MICCO, India, this fur nace
has a heating capacity of
160t/hour and can produce
0.90 million tonnes per annum of finished products
such as rebars in straight
length of sizes 8 to 40mm.
Commencement of hot trial
of Bar Mill is expected
within a period of two week
soon after completion of initial heating of refractory
mass. This milestone was
achieved in the presence of
ED(F&A) Sudhir Kumar, ED
(Proj)I/c
R
N
Das,
ED(Works) R K Rathi,
ED(Proj) A K Rath, and a
large gathering of senior officials, engineers of consultant MECON and consortium members. “This is one
more achievement in the
Mill unit” said Sahu while
lighting up the reheating
furnace. Congratulating the
employees engaged at Bar
initial public offering in September, the
world’s largest.
In a statement issued on Friday, Alibaba
said it will “vigorously defend the truth”
and its reputation.
The SAIC said on Friday just before the
New York Stock Exchange opened that
Zhang Mao, head of the administration, had
met with Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba, in
Beijing.
Zhang and Ma agreed to strengthen cooperation to crack down on fakes online
and to work together for the healthy development of China’s inter net economy, the
Daily report said.
Hou Xiaotian, chief analyst at TH Capital LLC, a research and investment advisory firm, said nearly all big public companies are involved in class-action lawsuits
from time to time.
“It takes years to reach a verdict,” she
said, adding that a lawsuit may not have a
direct impact on Alibaba.
Hou attributed the nearly 10 per cent
drop in Alibaba’s stock price to the combined impact of the ongoing dispute with
the regulator and the lower-than-expected
earnings report released before the stock
market opened on Thursday.
This report showed Alibaba had revenue of USD 4.22 billion in the quarter ending December 31, but its year-on-year
growth rate dropped to 40 per cent from 66
per cent a year earlier. “The unresolved dispute with the SAIC and the uncertainty
over its business performance in the coming
year led to heavy selling in premarket trading,” she said. (PTI)
Sun-Ranbaxy deal: US FTC
asks Ranbaxy to divest asset
WASHINGTON, JAN 31 /—/ After Competition Commission of India, US fair trade watchdog FTC has asked
Ranbaxy to divest one generic product as a condition for
clearing its USD 4 billion deal with Sun Pharma to address
monopoly concerns.
The merger deal, once consummated, would create India’s largest and world’s fifth-biggest drug maker.
To address monopoly concerns, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Friday said Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Ranbaxy Laboratories have agreed to divest the
latter’s interests in generic minocycline tablets.
Generic minocycline tablets are used to treat a wide
array of bacterial infections, including pneumonia, acne,
and urinary tract infections.
The latest development comes more than a month after
its Indian counterpart CCI directed both companies to divest seven products as it found that the deal could hit competition in the Indian market.
According to FTC’s complaint, the proposed merger
would likely harm future competition by reducing the
number of suppliers in the US markets for three dosage
strengths (50 mg, 75 mg, and 100 mg) of generic
minocycline tablets.
News In Brief
Exide Q3 net up 25%
Mill, Sahu said that since
there is heavy demand for
these
products
in
infrastructural and construction sector, earliest production will help IISCO
Steel Plant to augment its
market share for these products.
The Bar Mill has been
installed under separate
package by a consortium
M/s Danieli & Company,
Italy, M/s Danieli India and
M/s Shriram EPC, India
and is presently under cold
trial operation. The hot trial
of Bar Mill will be undertaken upon the readiness of
the reheating furnace.
Trade ties with China, EU to help leather industry
CHENNAI, JAN 31 /—/ Trade agreements
with China and European Union will help
grow the domestic leather industry as a lot
of opportunities exist in those countries for
the Indian exporters, says the chairman of
Council for Leather Exports.
“One of our requests is to have trade
agreement with China. China is a gold mine
as a market,” M Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman, Council for Leather Exports, representing the leather industry, told reporters
here. He further said, “People are afraid
that China will dominate India, but my feeling is we can go and dominate their market
in China. We want the government to have
some trade agreements with China....”
Ahmed also sought a similar agreement
with European Union as it was one of the
largest markets for the leather industry.
Indian Trade Promotion Organisation
Chairman J S Deepak said the government
was looking at increasing leather exports to
25 per cent. “You know expor ts of leather
have increased at an average of 15 per cent
over the last five years. It is a very very
huge increase. This is because exports have
increased at a time when there is currency
was witnessing a devaluation. We are looking at a vision of 25 per cent a year from the
present 15 per cent,” Deepak said.
Besides the EU, some markets in South
America, South East Asia and parts of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) also
offered huge opportunity for the industry, he
said. Referring to increase in capacity for
leather, Rafeeque Ahmed said the gover nment was expected to announce separate
funding for the industry in order to incease
the tanneries.
“For the next three to five years we need
investments of about Rs 300 to Rs 500 crore
in Tamil Nadu. But countrywise, it is about
Rs 1,500 crore. Such investments are needed
to upscale the production,” he said. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, JAN 31 /—/ Battery manufacturer Exide Industries Saturday reported a 25.42 per cent increase in its
net profit at Rs 97.23 crore for the quarter ended December
31, 2014. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 77.52
crore in the same period last fiscal, it said in a BSE filing.
Net sales during the period under review stood at Rs
1,557.9 crore as against Rs 1,301.41 crore in the year-ago period.
Central Bank of India
opens first forex hub
VADODARA, JAN 31 /—/ The first forex hub of the
Mumbai- headquartered Central Bank of India in Gujarat
was opened at Urmi Char rasta here to provide prompt and
efficient services to importers and exporters. Ramesh
Singh, General Manager, Treasury & Inter national division, Central Bank of India inaugurated this forex hub here
yesterday which is fully equipped with necessary infrastr ucture such as swift facility, f ax Internet etc besides
trained staff. Speaking on the occasion, Singh said it is the
first forex hub of the bank in Gujarat after opening of a forex
hub in Mumbai in August 2014.
Gold surges by Rs 250
NEW DELHI, JAN 31 /—/ After falling for two straight
days, gold on Saturday staged a comeback to close Rs 250
higher at Rs 28,350 per ten grams at the bullion market as
jewellers made fresh buying at prevailing levels to meet
wedding season demand amidst a firming global trend. Silver followed suit and recovered by Rs 800 to Rs 38,350 per
kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers. Traders said besides wedding season buying by jewellers, a firm global trend amid the US economy expanding
at a slower pace than forecast in the fourth quarter reignited
demand for the precious metal as a safe haven. (PTI)
Sensex, Nifty end in red after hitting all-time high
MUMBAI, JAN 31 /—/
Heavy profit booking at the
fag-end of the week pulled
down the S&P BSE benchmark Sensex by 96 points to
close at 29,182.95 and CNX
Nifty by 27 points to end at
8,808.90 from their all-time
high of 29,844.16 and
8,996.60 respectively.
Trading for the week
started on a strong note, but
the trend reversed on the
last trading session of the
week when large caps declined sharpl y. Volatility
was high as traders rolled
WEEKLY-REVIEW
over positions in the futures
& options (F&O) segment
from the January 2015 series to February 2015 series.
The January 2015 derivatives contracts expired on
Thursday. The S&P BSE
Sensex fell by 95.89 points
or 0.33 pct to 29,182.95. The
index hit a record high of
29,844.16 in intraday trade
during the week.
The 50-unit CNX Nifty
also fell by 26.70 points or
0.30 pct to 8,808.90 after hitting an all-time intraday
high of 8,996.60.
However, the S&P BSE
Mid-Cap index rose 42.92
points or 0.40 pct to
10,738.59 while S&P BSE
Small-Cap index fell 36.83
points or 0.32 pct to
11,329.26.
The stock market was
closed on Monday, 26 January 2015, for Republic Day.
Index heavyweights led
rally in key benchmark indices on the first trading session of the week on Tuesday.
This was after India and
the US on last Sunday
reached an understanding
on resolving the logjam in
implementing the historic
2006 India-US nuclear deal
and decided to take defence
cooperation to a new level
following a bilateral meeting between Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
and US President Barack
Obama. (PTI)