Month: July 2010

Kolkata, July 24: ITC may shut down its match box manufacturing unit in Chennai and has given voluntary retirement to all its employees, a top official said here Friday.

‘We are restructuring our matchbox business. We are cutting down on number of plants. We want to outsource it to the small scale sectors. But we want to do it gradually,’ chairman Y.C. Deveshwar told reporters during a press conference.

‘Voluntary retirement has been given to the people and they have all accepted it,’ he said.

Kolkata, July 24: City-based public sector Allahabad Bank posted a 14.62 percent surge in net profit in the April-June first quarter of the current fiscal to Rs.347 crore from Rs.303 crore during the corresponding period last year, a top official said here Friday.

The bank recorded a 19.29 percent growth in the operating profit in the first quarter. The net interest margin was up by 3.10 percent, said J.P. Dua, the chairman and managing director of the Allahabad Bank.

The bank is also planning to open an office in Dhaka and Shanghai this year.

–IANS

New Delhi, July 24: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday sought the support of states in the government’s efforts to implement a uniform taxation regime on goods and services across the country from the next fiscal.

‘Reform of tax structure and tax administration is another important step in resource mobilisation. The implementation of the the GST (Goods and Services Tax) is especially important in this context and I would urge chief ministers to give full support to the effort to implement GST with effect from April 1, 2011,’ said Singh.

New Delhi, July 24: India’s largest airline group by domestic market share, Jet Airways, logged a net profit of Rs.3.52 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal due to higher seat sales and growth in passenger traffic as against a loss of Rs.22.53 crore in the like period of 2009-10.

The private-sector group, which operates premium international and domestic airline Jet Airways, low-fare domestic airline Jet Airways Konnect and budget carrier Jetlite, came out with the consolidated results for the first quarter Friday.

New Delhi, July 24: Hinting that hugely subsidised power to farmers was hindering the growth of the energy sector and making it unsustainable, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday urged all chief ministers to give personal attention to problems in the power sector.

‘The total loss (in power sector) 2009-10 is estimated at Rs.40,000 crores. This is simply not sustainable and unless corrected it will make the whole power sector unviable,’ Singh told the 55th National Developmental Council meet here at Vigayn Bhawan.

New Delhi, July 24: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said the country needed to cut down on its dependence on debt to finance its developmental programmes and find ways to reduce the current level of subsidies.

‘The financing of the plan expenditure has depended far too much on debt. This must change,’ said Manmohan Singh while addressing a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC), the country’s top policy forum.

Kolkata, July 24: Multi-business conglomerate ITC will not make an open offer for more stakes in East India Hotels (EIH), Chairman Y.C. Deveshwar said here Friday.

The cigarettes-to-hospitality group currently holds 14.98 percent in EIH.

If the holding touches 15 percent, ITC has to approach market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an open offer, which it would not do, Deveshwar told reporters during a press conference.

New Delhi, July 24: The Railway ministry Friday divested the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation of managing base kitchens and on-board catering under a new a new policy intitiative and decided to run these through the zonal units, which will be accountable for the quality.

Railway Board Chairman Vivek Sahai said as per the Catering Policy 2010, the Indian Railways will overtake the task in phases under its direct control and supervision.