VIDEO CONFERENCING FACILITY IN HIGH COURTS -African Union launches anti-corruption drive
URBAN TRANSPORT POLICY TO EXTEND METRO RAIL PROJECT TO MORE STATES IN NEXT SIX MONTHS- ANANTH KUMAR
Readers Forum. Posted by a parent of Indian school on September 16, 2002.
Create Own Building for Kerala Stream School and pay RO 72,000 per year as Rent for vacant classrooms
Total rent is double the amount
When a poor parent who was facing serious financial crisis approached the principal of a Kerala syllabus school in the Gulf, pleaing for fees concession to his two children, the award winning principal said: "How can you expect the school to give free education to your children. We have to pay salary to the teachers and staff. You cannot see that construction is progressing there for a new building? The school has to pay huge amount to construct the new building," he rudel told the parent, who was quite biwildered about the whole topic. This principal is now trying his level best to fill all the class rooms rented from a local builder paying the fees paid by ordinary parents like the one mentioned above! He is trying to add new divisions by multiplying the existing divisions for "improving efficiency", add a state of the art Laborotary for some students and even CBSE approval for conducting CBSE classes too! The school is supposed to be teaching Kerala syllabus!
The principal was true to some extent because the outgoing school management committee was busy "building up a new school building" to accommodate the lower level students. The lower level students were accommodated in small villas at relatively moderate rent. When they were about to leave the school committee, the former Management Committee members hurriedly organised the building plan, which was approved earlier and spent a good portion of the surplus fund for it.
The MC added huge financial burden to have "Own Building" for the Kerala Stream School by hiring a new multistoried building at RO 72,000 per year compared to just RO 6200 per year paid to a rented building. An equal amount is paid as rent to the existing school building. The monthly outgo from the school revenue is a whopping RO 12,000 per month!
However, more than half of the newly constructed, but rented building remains empty and now serious efforts are going on to multiply the existing school divisions and introduce CBSE Syllabus to fill the vacant class rooms in the multi storied building, hired at a high cost. When the entire debate is how to reduce cost for Indian schools so that the students can study at an affordable price, a group of "social workers" have shown yet another example of financial indiscipline and extravaganza which will be converted into high fees and burden on the ordinary parents. The total monthly outgo as rent is RO 12,000!
The school patron has taken initiative to start a community school in Seeb which is offering quality education at a fees of RO 18 per month compared to RO 30 plus charged by others. The rent in the Seeb community school is around RO 500 per month! So for 450 students, one school is spending only 6,000 per year whereas a school of less than 2,000 students is spending RO 12,000 per month as rent!
In some other schools, building was made depending on the student strength and expected increase in the total number of students. Additional floors were added as and when new students came in. In this case, a multistory building is rented in advance for the future generation!
Even the new committee members who are appointed with much fanfare to make education affordable to the common students have endorsed the decision by former management committee! Since it was a collective decision, we have to respect that decision? The Indian School patron and the board of directors should look into the matter. Some of these school committee members were part of former Kerala Cultural Centre and the KCC fund story is well known to Gulf Malayalis. A basic economic lesson to be taught to these academic experts is about optimum utilization of scarce resources. After all they are social workers, who are doing a service by spending their time and energy for our welfare! Anyone questioning such financial gurus are anti-Indians and anti-social elements?
By parent (name withheld for good reasons)
Send your comments to the editor@keralamonitor.com. The views posted here may not be endorsed by Keralamonitor.com editorial team.
Readers Forum. Posted by on September 16, 2002.
KCC Funds --a Closed Chapter? It is election time and old controversies are raked up by the club members.
Naradan Pravasi <pravasi02@yahoo.com>
"I would like to know through your columns, the latest position about swindling of about RO.40,000 by some former office bears of the defunct Kerala Cultural Centre. The decision taken at the General Body meeting was to transfer the money lying in KCC's account amounting to about RO.45,000 to the account of 5/6 office bearers in Oman. A society was to be formed in Kerala when the money was to be transferred to its account in full. The money was then to be utilized to donate a Scanning Machine cosing around Rs.30 lakhs to one of the Medical College Hospitals in Kerala. It is later learnt that, instead of the Scanning Machine, a 'doppler machine' costing about Rs.3 lakhs has been donated to the Trichur Medical College Hospital. It is also rumoured that one of the office bearers (Mr. XXX) managed to get a medical seat for his son from the discretionary quota of the Health Minister (Mr. V.M. Sudheeran at that time).
Earlier KM reports on KCC Funds. Kerala Cultural Centre (KCC) Members Want Accounts made public Committee members spend RO 30,000 to buy a scanning machine that does not work
Muscat -Many of the former office bearers of Kerala Cultural Centre
(KCC) have been clining to power in the Indian School in the name of a
dead organisation. Some of the last office bearers of the KCC are the butt
of ridicule from many corners as they have faced severe criticism for the
dubious manner in which they handled huge amount of surplus funds worth
thousands of Rials and other assets of the closed club without disclosing
the details for several years...Full ReportSeptember 25, 2001
Members want Kerala Cultural Centre (KCC) accounts published
Kerala Cultural Centre (KCC) -- the premier socio-political organisation in Muscat in the 1980s and early 1990s , was closed down in 1994 due to a government decision to allow only a single social club for the Indian community in Oman. KCC -- then the most powerful expatriate community club in Oman with more than 600 members - is once again in the news for bad reasons. The last office bearers of the KCC are the butt of ridicule from many corners as they have faced severe criticism for the dubious manner in which they handled huge amount of surplus funds worth thousands of Rials (equivalent to several lakhs of Indian rupees) and other assets of the closed club without disclosing the details for several years...Full Report
Woman showing Photo Identity Card while waiting in queue before a polling booth to cast their votes in Uri Assembly Constituency of Baramulla district of Jammu & Kashmir during its Assembly Elections, on September 16, 2002 (Monday)
NO COERCION BY ARMY IN J&K ELECTIONS
Attention of the Ministry has been drawn to reports appearing in a section of media alleging Army forcing people for voting in few places in Handwara, Pattan and Kupwara constituencies in Kashmir Valley. These reports have been based not on eyewitnesses account but on hearsay generated by vested interests who have been attempting to disrupt the democratic process in Jammu & Kashmir. The Army has been tasked to provide a general environment of security during the elections and Army personnel have scrupulously adhered to their brief by remaining neutral and non partisan. They have not resorted to coercing anyone at any place for voting. The unverified and malicious reports being fed to the media are aimed at discrediting the elections for which the people of Jammu & Kashmir have shown genuine enthusiasm.
NIGERIA: US $101 million for basic education
ABIDJAN, 17 September (IRIN) - The World Bank on Thursday approved a US $101 million credit for Nigeria towards the implementation of an $180 million Universal Basic Education project.
The project aims to revamp the country's education system, which has deteriorated dramatically in the last 20 years, according to a statement from the Bank.
Many schools were no longer physically operational, or were operating with fewer classrooms, and furniture and teaching materials were virtually non-existent, it said. Overall enrolment had dropped, with girls lagging behind boys, and teachers - a lot of whom had lost their enthusiasm and devotion - were burdened by teaching in overcrowded classrooms, the Bank added.
The Universal Basic Education project, which includes construction and renovation of infrastructures, will cover all 36 states and target the entire education system. The primary and secondary education sectors are each due to receive 33 percent of fund, with the remainder to be spent on general education.Sources at the World Bank told IRIN earlier this year that each state was due to receive $5 million, after all funds have been approved. The project will be divided in three phases, the first of which will involve 16 states.
VIDEO CONFERENCING FACILITY IN HIGH COURTS -African Union launches anti-corruption drive
URBAN TRANSPORT POLICY TO EXTEND METRO RAIL PROJECT TO MORE STATES IN NEXT SIX MONTHS- ANANTH KUMAR
Nigeria : At least 20 die in factory blaze
LAGOS, 17 September (IRIN) - At least 20 people died when a rubber factory on the outskirts of Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, went up in flames in the early hours of Monday, according to fire service officials.
The cause of the fire, which gutted the premises of the Chinese-owned West Africa Rubber Products Limited and Super Engineering Limited in Ikorodu, 40 km north of Lagos, remained unknown on Tuesday. However, factory workers who survived the blaze said it was triggered by an explosion, and that escape was difficult for most of the workers because the premises were locked.
Lagos State director of fire and safety services, Olu Okubanjo, who headed rescue operations, told reporters that 20 bodies had so far been recovered from the blaze, which was still smouldering. "Until the fire is completely out, no intensive search can be undertaken to fish out those trapped in the wreckage," he said. "Until that is done, the number [of the dead] cannot be ascertained."
Riot police battled groups of youths at the scene on Monday, as they tried to loot the companies' warehouse or tackle top management officials. The youths accused the managers of locking workers into the factory and hampering their escape when disaster struck. Both companies have been operating in Nigeria for more than two decades, employing thousands of people.
VIDEO CONFERENCING FACILITY IN HIGH COURTS
With the establishment of video conferencing system at the Allahabad High Court linking it with its Lucknow Bench, the deck is now clear for setting up of such system between the Principal Benches and Regional Benches of High Courts wherever they exist. The video conferencing facility at the Allahabad High Court was commissioned on September 10, 2002.The video conferencing facility between the Principal Bench of the Allahabad High Court and its Lucknow Bench is designed to provide a better coordination and monitoring of day to day activities between the two.
Apart from extending video conferencing facility between the Principal Benches and Regional Benches of various High Courts in the country, the Principal Benches of all High Courts are proposed to be linked on video conferencing with District Judges in all the States. To begin with, such facility will be established between the District Judges and the Administrative Judges of the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh. This will help the Administrative Judges speak to their respective judges under their control for a better and efficient judicial administration. This will also save them considerable time, resources and drudgery of going to the districts. The time, thus, saved would help accelerate disposal of cases apart from increasing the efficiency of Administrative Judges. This would benefit the litigants largely.
The establishment of video conferencing facility in District Courts will help in examining the witnesses residing or posted in other Districts. Besides, this facility is being established in jails to provide for recording of evidence of accused from there in order to effect economy in expenditure of transporting them to and from jails. This will also provide safety to the accused from their rivals trying to eliminate them forcibly. In Delhi alone, about Rs. 5 crore is to be saved annually with the introduction of video conferencing facility between District Courts and Tihar Jail.
The introduction of video conferencing facility between the Principal Benches of High Courts and their Regional Benches, between High Courts and District Courts, and between District Courts and jails is intended to effect economy of scale in the administration of criminal justice. This will also help the High Courts maintain their administrative and financial cohesiveness.
African Union launches anti-corruption drive
ADDIS ABABA, 17 September (IRIN) - The newly-formed African Union (AU) has set out its first ever policy to tackle corruption which, it says, is costing the continent at least US $148 billion a year. A high-level meeting is being held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa this week to adopt a comprehensive draft policy that has been a year in the making. Ministers from the AU are expected to adopt a series of tough proposals which aim to tackle the graft that has blighted the continent.
It is the first time that countries in Africa have drawn up a universal policy – to be called the AU Convention on Combating Corruption - designed to tackle its insidious effects. It calls on all public officials to declare their assets when they take office and train them on ethics. The bill also urges the private sector to fight and highlight unfair competition. The AU argues that by fighting corruption, African countries will “remove the obstacles” hindering their economic development. Analysts estimate that corruption in Africa increases the cost of goods by as much as 20 percent.
“Corruption is currently one of the major afflictions seriously confronting Africa,” the AU said in a report on corruption. “Not only is it rampant all over the continent, it is deeply rooted in society, in the public treasury and critical sectors of the economy of African countries.
“A direct consequence of this is the emergence of a small young class of billionaires while the rest of the population is wallowing in misery,” the report said. "It is Africa’s impoverished citizens who bear the brunt of corruption.” Although previous conventions have been drafted they have never been set out for the entire continent. Among key elements of the convention is confiscation and seizure of assets belonging to people convicted of corruption. Countries that sign up to the bill must also agree to extradite anyone charged or convicted of corruption.
Governments will also have the power to confiscate documents from banks, to help with convictions. The AU wants both civil society and the media to play a role. It believes that by wiping out corruption, it will foster economic development and attract business to the continent. “The objectives of this Convention are to promote and strengthen the development in Africa by each State Party of mechanisms required to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption in public and private sectors,” said the draft bill. It also aims to “foster transparency and accountability” in public affairs and promote good governance.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN NEW MILLENNIUM
"The greatest evil which proponents of corporate governance would have to deal with in the coming years was the evil of Insider Trading". This was stated by the Member Secretary, Law Commission of India, T.K. Vishwanathan while addressing a seminar on Corporate Governance in the New Millennium, organized by National Foundation of Indian Engineers—Global Corporate Convention, here today. Vishwanathan said that the challenge of the corporate governance was insider trading and this menace was not confined to any particular country but prevalent in all the jurisdictions. He said that so great was the magnitude of the problem that the Council of Europe came out with an International Convention on Insider Trading in 1988. In New Zealand, a suggestion was made that criminal penalties were the only way of providing an effective deterrent to combat the evil of insider trading. South Africa has enacted the Insider Trading Act, 1998 prescribing criminal and civil law penalties for such dealing.
Talking of ramifications of corporate governance during the last century, Vishwanathan said that it has undergone a metamorphosis from protecting the shareholder to the protection of multi stake holders of the corporation. Today, corporate governance was based on the principles of transparency, accountability, fairness and responsibility. Besides, the foundation of any structure of corporate governance was disclosure. In addition, openness was a basis of public confidence in the corporate system.
Dwelling at length on the evil of insider trading, the Member Secretary referred to the internet that has facilitated anonymity and opened up new opportunities to indulge in insider trading that was discovered by the Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation when 19 persons were charged with using Chat Rooms Insider Trading Scheme yielding $8.4 million in 2000. He also referred to our own Kumarmanglam Birla Report which revealed that the evil of insider trading require to be viewed as a serious economic offence. Vishwanathan also talked of fixing criminal liability for corporate wrong doings. He said that the emergence of stock markets speculation in stocks opened a new dimension which lawyers steeped in conservatism found it difficult to comprehend.
Yet another area to be addressed about corporate governance was that shareholders no longer exercised control over managers acting on their behalf. Since corporate governance arrangements influenced efficient use of society’s resources and ability of firms to create new wealth, it assumed great importance. In today’s world, institutional investors were major stockholders of corporations and the manner they exercised their voting rights was a matter of concern to the corporate health in general. It was in this context that Vishwanathan said that corporations had a mandate beyond their Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association as the advent of stock market and the paradigm shift in the nature of stock holdings had exposed the inadequacies of the existing regulatory regimes. That is how it has laid corporate lawyers to explore alternate means and techniques to deal with corporate power thus giving birth to corporate governance movement.
SYNERGY AMONGST PARTNERS OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS OF DELHI METRO RAIL PROJECT- ADVANIURBAN TRANSPORT POLICY TO EXTEND METRO RAIL PROJECT TO MORE STATES IN NEXT SIX MONTHS- ANANTH KUMAR
The Deputy Prime Minister L.K Advani flags-off the first Metro Train for Trials in Delhi on September 17, 2002 (Tueaday). The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani today flagged off the trial run of the Delhi Metro Rail in the capital. Union Minister for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Ananth Kumar presided over the function which was attended by the Minister of state for Urban Development Sri.O.Rajagopal, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi .Vijay Kapur,Chief Minister of Delhi,Smt Sheila Dixit,Ambassador of Japan H.E.Hiroshi Hirabayashi,Union Labour Minister .Sahab Singh Verma,Minister of state (PMO) Vijay Goel ,senior officials of the central and state governments and Managing Director of DMRC .E.Sreedharan.
Speaking on this occasion, Advani said that a long standing dream of Delhities has come true because of the "Synergy and Sahyog" demonstrated by both the Central Government and Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi. Advani advised the partners in any development work to have such synergy and less of adversarial role.
While complimenting the M.D of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation E.Sreedharan of Konkan Rail fame for the speedy implementation of the project, Union Minister for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Ananth Kumar said that this project is the result of 17 studies funded by his ministry to prepare Urban Transport Improvement Plans and announced that the Central Government would come out with the National Urban Transport Policy in the next six months. He called upon the State Governments to cooperate with the Centre to launch Metro Rail Projects in Cochin, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, etc. He said that this is very essential because in a city like Delhi with 4 million automobiles every individual is consuming pollutants of 300 mg/day.
Ananth Kumar said that the Delhi Metro is neither a Central nor a State Corporation and both the governments are just facilitators of the Metro Project. But he added that the centre has ensured extremely soft Japanese loan at an interest rate of 2.3% to 1.8% with a repayment period of 20 years. Kumar also said that this project is shielded from the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency market. He said that the centre would encourage more such projects with equity of 13 per cent each from central and state governments and the balance being accessed from the market.
It may be noted that the Phase-1 of the Delhi MRTS project was approved by the union government in 1996 at an estimated cost of Rs 4860 crore and after inclusion of the recently approved Connaught Place-Dwarka corridor it is estimated to be Rs 12370 crore.
FOODGRAINS EXPORT CROSSES 150 LAKH TONNESAs on September 13, 2003, the Food Corporation of India has received payment for 151.86 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice for purpose of export. This comprises 84,20482 tonnes of wheat and 67,66,289 tonnes of rice. Already 134.88 lakh tonnes of foodgrains comprising 82,11,460 tonnes of wheat and 52,76,672 tonnes of rice has been lifted for export. India has now emerged as the second largest exporter of rice and the sixth largest exporter of wheat in the world and is expected to be the largest exporter of rice during the current year. So far foreign exchange worth more than Rs. 6656 crore (approx.) has been earned through export of foodgrains from the central pool and the country is poised to be a regular exporter of wheat and rice.
According to Sharad Yadav, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution there has been a spurt in the export of wheat and rice in recent months and since July 2002 alone the exporters have deposited money with Food Corporation of India for purchasing 24 lakh tonnes of rice and 15 lakh tonnes of wheat for the purpose of export.
Wheat is being exported to 23 countries from India including Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam and Yemen. Rice exports are mainly to 33 countries including Bahrain, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapure, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzaina, UAE and Yemen.
Government has initiated several promotional measures to boost export of foodgrains from the central pool. Quantitative Restriction (QRs) on export of rice, wheat and wheat products have been removed subject to the condition that stocks in the central pool would not be lower than 243 lakh MTs (143 lakh MTs of wheat and 100 lakh MTs of rice) at any point of time. An Empowered Standing Committee has been set up to take expeditious decision on matters relating to export of foodgrains regularly. Transporters are also being allowed WTO compatible post-delivery expenses and inland transport expenses for promoting exports. As on August 2002 the central pool has 201.25 lakh tonnes of rice and 396.58 lakh tonnes of wheat.
CAMEROON: Volunteer ship offers cheap booksDOUALA, 17 September (IRIN) - A ship carrying more than a million cheap books has docked in Douala, aiming to give Cameroonians access to thousands of previously unavailable and unaffordable titles.
The ship, the MV Doulos, is staffed entirely by volunteers and funded by a German charity, Good Books for All.
Francis Vosloo director of the charity, said the ship carried at least 8,000 different titles. All the books had been donated by publishers and were on sale for about one third their normal price, he added.
The ship opened its bookshop to the public on Friday, with buyers keen on a thin pamphlet entitled "AIDS: Understanding and Prevention" that was on sale for 600 CFA (US 90 cents). English language course books and dictionaries, and computing textbooks, which were selling at 6,000 CFA ($9) instead of the regular price of 19,000 CFA ($28), were also popular, according to buyers.
Many shoppers were buying textbooks for specialist courses or for children still at school, while others said it was difficult to find non-French books in the Francophone city. "A lot of work still needs to be done to educate people [in Cameroon]. Many people are held back in life due to the high cost of books," said the Secretary-General of Littoral Province, Simon Kamsa Patrick, during the official opening of the bookshop on Friday.The 350 crew members of the MV Doulos, including the Dutch captain, are volunteers from 40 different countries. The ship has visited 89 countries and the organisers estimate that 16 million people have been on board to buy books. The ship is scheduled to leave Douala on 1 October, on course to Libreville, Gabon.
TANZANIA: HIV/AIDS campaign launched to target East African youth
DAR ES SALAAM, 17 September (IRIN) - An American AIDS organisation has launched a regional mass communication campaign that hopes to sensitise youth about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and will culminate in major music concerts in the three East African countries.
The organisation, Africans Unite Against Aids Globally (AUAAG), has teamed up with the health ministries in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania for the 'Celebrate Life' campaign and aims to import 10 'Celebrate Life' "containers" into each country by the end of the year, an AUAGG statement said.
"The containers will serve as a refreshing approach to the stigma associated with Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT). These outlets will not only provide information about malaria, nutrition, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS and TB, but they will also provide counselling and HIV/AIDS testing to the public," the statement said. "To encourage the youth to visit these centres, tickets to the 'Celebrate Life' concert will be available there," it added.
AUAAG announced that Kool and The Gang - a US group that has been performing for the last 30 years - would be headline musicians at the free concerts, but regional musicians would also be performing. "Recognising the power in music - that has liberated Africa from colonial rule and which brought 'food' to the starving African children in the late 70's - we are encouraged to once again use this strong weapon to fight AIDS in our region," Tanzanian Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye said at the launch in Dar es Salaam on Friday.
Through the campaign, AUAAG is hoping to promote the idea that while millions are infected with the virus, in Tanzania, for example, over 80 percent of the population are HIV negative, AUAAG chairman Tiahmo Ra'uf told journalists and prospective sponsors of the event.
"Too much emphasis has been put on the affected and the infected. We must change this approach. We have a responsibility of protecting those of negative status in the East Africa region," he added.
Nonetheless, Tanzanian Deputy Minister for Health Dr. Hussein Mwinyi reminded the press of the destruction the disease has wrought upon sub-Saharan countries such as Tanzania. He noted that Tanzanians between the ages of 15 and 24 account for 60 percent of new HIV/AIDS infections in the country, although they represent only 20 percent of the population. "Aids has been slowly eroding the little gain and achievements we have made in past years in terms of social, economic and health development," he said.
Tax rationalisation could improve passenger car penetration in India
According to an analysis by CRISIL on the tax burden on passenger cars in India, a rationalization of the presently high taxes on passenger cars could go a long way towards making cars more affordable to the Indian buyer and tapping the potential that India's large population offers.
Only four people in a thousand own a passenger car in India compared to 35 people per thousand in Thailand, 92 in Brazil, 187 in South Korea and over 450 in the developed world. Despite such low penetration level in India, the domestic passenger car industry continues to move in low gear. The passenger car sales volumes continued to slide during the current year with a decline of 4% in the April-July 2002 period over the corresponding previous period. This followed a compound aggregate decline of around 3% over the last three financial years. Clearly, the increased activity in the Indian automobile industry over the last decade in terms of the growing number of models, easy availability of finance, lower interest rates and a growing used car market, has not helped sales volume levels substantially. According to an analysis published by CRISIL in the September 2002 edition of its monthly journal, RatingScan, this demand sluggishness is in large part due to the high acquisition cost of passenger cars in relation to per capita income levels in India. Interestingly, a large component of a passenger car's cost in India is taxes, which are amongst the highest in the world.
While it takes around 28 months' average salary to purchase a car in India, it takes around 16 months in Thailand, eight months in Malaysia and as low as three months in USA and western Europe. In India, various taxes such as excise duties and central and state sales taxes have a cascading effect, pushing up the ex-factory price of a car by around 60%. In effect, almost one third of every rupee that an Indian customer pays for purchasing a car is on account of various taxes. This is much higher than that paid by customers in USA at around 4%, Japan, at around 10%, Europe, at an average of 15-20% or even Brazil, at around 23%. (See detailed analysis in the latest issue of CRISIL's Rating Scan)
In CRISIL's opinion, one of the ways of reducing acquisition costs in India and consequently, improving demand, is to lower the tax burden on cars. At current price levels, the threshold annual household income for purchasing an entry-level car is estimated to be around Rs. 2,90,000. Based on an analysis of the number of households eligible for purchasing an entry-level car at various tax levels, CRISIL estimates the incremental annual demand potential to be around 1,60,000 cars if tax levels are reduced to half and around 2,80,000 cars if they are reduced to one-fourth of the current level.
The likely revenue reduction for the government due to lower tax levels would be compensated by incremental revenues on account of higher consumption of petrol, taxes on incremental sales of cars, higher corporate taxes of car manufacturers and other knock-on effects of increasing motorisation. For the industry, it will mean better utilization of existing capacities and improved profitability for the various car and related auto-ancillary manufacturers.US prepares for war
By Rupert Cornwell & Nigel MorrisWASHINGTON/LONDON, 18 September — The fragile United Nations coalition assembled by the United States to corner Saddam Hussein was in danger of unraveling yesterday after the Iraqi leader invited UN arms inspectors back into the country unconditionally. But Saddam’s gesture has not stopped the US from intensifying preparations for a massive military move against Iraq as early as this winter.
The pointers abound: a switch in tactics by allied aircraft patrolling the no fly-zones, further shipments of men and materiel to the Gulf, enlarged US military exercises, and plans to move B-2 stealth bombers, a key weapon in the early aerial phase of a war, from the mainland US to bases much closer to Iraq.
This week Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirmed that British and US warplanes patrolling the skies of northern and southern Iraq had changed tactics, focussing their fire on large fixed air defense installations, rather than the mobile radar units and missile launchers. In practice the US and Britain are now targeting Iraq’s command and control system, exactly what they would do in the first phase of a wider invasion.
The planned move of up to six B-2s from Missouri to the British Indian Ocean base of Diego Garcia, also fits neatly into the planning of a war.
Separately, Reuters reported that the US Navy is looking to charter a roll-on roll-off vessel to ship ammunition and military vehicles from US bases in Europe to the Gulf this month and next. The contract is in addition to the four giant freighters already chartered by the Pentagon to carry tanks, armored personnel carriers and helicopters to the region.
US President George W. Bush made clear he still wants a tough new Security Council resolution, probably embracing a so-called “one strike” clause whereby unfettered access would be demanded for the inspectors, and spelling out the consequences should that access be denied even one single time.
But Russia, which has veto powers on the Security Council, declared that a new resolution was no longer required. “From our standpoint we don’t need any special resolution,” Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister, said with Colin Powell sitting alongside him.
“We have seen this game before,” Secretary of State Powell said of Saddam’s offer, in language echoed by an equally skeptical Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in London. Flatly contradicting Ivanov, Powell said a new resolution was essential, if Baghdad was to be held to its word.
Arab sates welcomed the Iraqi move. The Gulf Cooperation Council welcomed the Iraqi decision. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also welcomed the Iraq move. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said: “This is the beginning of a process of easing tensions.” Jordan said Iraq’s move was “a positive step toward building a dialogue between Iraq and the UN”, and expressed hope it would lead to a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix had a preliminary meeting with top Iraqi experts to discuss practical arrangements for the return of inspectors to Baghdad. Blix conferred with Hussam Mohammed Amin, head of the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate, the office used for liaison with UN inspectors as well as Saeed Hasan, a foreign ministry official, who was Iraq’s former ambassador to the United Nations. (The Independent)
