The Seminar attended by nearly 300 delegates from India, U.K., USA, Germany, Belgium , South Africa, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Switzerland and Ucrain was inaugurated by Dr. J.K. Bagchi, former Steel Secretary in the absence of the Minister for Steel. Shri Bagchi said the deliberations on the Seminar will focus on the attractions of India as an emerging steel market and throw light on the prospects of Indian steel. This will provide the participants a clear view of the changing world scenario and its impact on Indian steel. Representing the Metal Bulletin Ms. Bob Jones said that the Ministry of Steel in India has been organising the annual event of the International Steel Seminar from a few years now. This year its efforts are being complimented by the experience of Metal Bulletin, a well known name in the field of Metal industries.

    The Secretary , Steel, Shri Ashok Basu and senior officials of the Ministry and the industry also participated in the Seminar and said that the thrust of the government now is to create a competitive environment for improving productivity and efficiency in economy. These changes have brought about a rapid transformation in the Indian Steel industry. The Speakers exhorted in Indian Steel Industry to consolidate its operations, finances and trading arrangements in time to meet the future challenges and emerge as a global leader in steel.

    The two-day Seminar in its various sessions will deal with Steel Industry status, resource position, infrastructure, export prospects and market development. The crucial areas of new technological developments and their impact on the Indian Steel Industry will be covered exhaustively.

    A novel feature of the seminar will be a Business Meet scheduled on the closing day of the seminar, February 8, 2000. The participants will have the opportunity to interact with world class experts and entrepreneurs on a one-to-one basis and to obtain valuable insight into the ground realities of conducting business in the global steel arena.

    The Government has been providing free legal aid services to the poor in two segments. The first segment relates to court oriented legal aid and the second segment covers preventive or strategic legal aid. Both the legal aids are provided under the aegis of the National Legal Services Authority, State Legal Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities, Supreme Court, High Court and Taluka Legal Services Committees.

    Under the court oriented legal aid, the legal aids and advises in law courts have been provided to 24,10,450 cases, so far. The number of legal aid beneficiaries belonging to the weaker sections of the society is : scheduled castes 3,88,446, scheduled tribes 2,24,380, backward classes 1,01,832, women 2,72,834 and children 9,176 cases.

    Under the preventive or strategic legal aid, legal aids have been provided on promotion of legal literacy, setting up of legal aid clinics in universities and law colleges, training of para-legals and holding of legal aid camps, lok adalats and public interest litigation.

    The Government of India is committed to provide legal aid to the poor. Article 39A of the Constitution enjoins that the State shall secure that the operation of legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.

    The Central Government in 1980 constituted a high powered Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes (CILAS) which worked out a comprehensive legal aid programme on uniform basis throughout the country providing a four-tier legal aid programme at National, State, District and Taluk levels. As a sequel to this, the Government of India enacted the Legal Service Authorities Act in 1978 which was enforced with effect from November 9,1995. Under this Act, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was set up as Central Authority at the apex. Since then, legal aid services have been set up at States and Union Territories levels, District levels and were being enforced at the Taluk levels all over the country at the moment.

    Shri Maran said that one of the ways, in which India and Turkey could improve bilateral trade and commerce, was by promotion of joint ventures between the two countries. He also referred to the vast experience that Turkey has in construction and contracting companies in the international markets and the interest these companies have shown for undertaking the construction of dams, tunnels, highways, bridges, industrial plans as well as civil engineering units in India. "We have noted that both sides have agreed to building structural frameworks of the two organisations, TPAO and ONGC, for establishment of joint exploration and drilling company for cooperation in the third countries", he said adding that "we would like to build on this understanding and replicate it in other spheres". The bilateral trade between the two countries during the year 1998-99 stood at US $ 273.04 million.

    Shri Maran also recalled that the cultural and historical interaction between the peoples of the two countries had been intense and beneficial to each other and India and Turkey shared a very deep relationship with each other in the past. "The leaders of our freedom struggle were intensely impressed by the great Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk whose reforms aimed at rapidly modernising Turkey without losing its cultural identity", he said.

    The Turkish Minister hoped that this Session would not only enhance bilateral trade but also yield positive result through identification of new areas of cooperation. He also invited Indian companies to set up joint ventures in Turkey and said that Turkey now provides a safe heaven for foreign investment. He also referred to 17 free zones in Turkey which, he said, had become an attraction for foreign investment especially for export-oriented units. Prof. Abdulhaluk also said that after Turkey obtaining the full membership of the European Union (EU) in Helsinki in December 1999, Turkey was adopting the low protection rates of EU as a result of which overall tariffs in Turkey have come down to 4.15% from 15% and are likely to go down further to 2%. By virtue of its unique geographical location, the Minister said, Turkey was ideally placed to facilitate entry into other markets such as the Balkans and Central Asia. He also placed on record his deep appreciation of the help rendered by the Indian government during the earthquake in Turkey. Concluding his remarks, Prof. Abdulhaluk hoped that the eighth session would result in concrete decisions and furtherance of economic relations between the two countries.

    The Agreed Minutes of the two-day Indo-Turkish Joint Commission Meeting will be signed here tomorrow by the two Ministers on behalf of their respective governments.

    All eminent experts in water harvesting and NGOs working in this field all over the country will be invited to attend the proposed meeting.

    Prime Minister , Shri A.B. Vajpayee, would be requested by the Ministry to chair the meeting.

'38'

    Union Water Resources Minister, Dr. C.P. Thakur, has said that the Rajghat Project in Lalitpur District near Jhansi in U.P. is to be dedicated to the nation in the month of April, 2000.

    The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be requested to dedicate this project to the nation.

DIFFICULT DECISIONS MUST FOR FINDING A PROPER PLACE IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, SAYS SINHA

NATIONAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE GIVEN TO INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES

    Shri Sinha clarified that India has been accused of being a 'soft state', and in that context only he had talked about 'hard options' recently. He said that there are problems and challenges ahead to which solutions must be found. "Only then we can hope to go ahead". The Minister said that it is the battle of the mind that we have to fight.

    Speaking about the award, Shri Sinha said that it is somewhat different from other awards as it encourages culture of good corporate governance to permeate the industrial climate of the country. Talking about corporate governance, the Finance Minister, Shri Sinha said that there has been a marked shift from family governed business houses to globalised companies, which are being listed on global stock exchanges. He said that companies should be accountable to their stakeholders, employees, customers, the country and above all to the international community. Shri Sinha said that in the battle for survival of companies, what is important is the standards they set before the world. In this context, he said, multiplying the returns to the shareholder is not enough. A company has to set ethical standards. He said that our culture stands for high moral standards, which have been built into the system. This distinguishes us from countries following "unbridled capitalism", he said.

    The Finance Minister said that the giving away of the award is a promise fulfilled as in his last budget speech, he had announced the institution of the award. He hoped that with today's award, a national movement for good corporate governance would begin.

    After receiving the award, Infosys chief, Shri N.R. Narayanmurthy said that his company has always believed that putting public good above private good indeed helps private companies. He said that the beacon in the direction of corporate governance has been the individual efforts of some of the industrialists. Appreciating the steps taken by the Finance Ministry, the UTI and the corporate sector in the country, Shri Narayanmurthy hoped that his company would continue to set high standards of good corporate governance.

    Among others who spoke on the occasion included UTI Chairman, Mr. P.S. Subramanyam, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Dr.E.A.S. Sarma and Dr. P. N. Bhagwati. The Finance Secretary Shri P.G. Mankad was also present.

    While presenting the budget for 1999-2000, the Finance Minister, Shri Yashwant Sinha had proposed a National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance. The UTI had requested the government to allow it to sponsor the award, to which the Government of India had agreed. Accordingly, a panel of judges with the former Chief Justice of India, Shri P. N. Bhagwati as Chairman was constituted. The panel of judges followed an elaborate procedure to select the winner. Fifty-four companies were nominated, out of which Infosys Technologies was chosen for the award.

    The Seminar was opened by Dr. J.K. Bagchi, former Steel Secretary in the absence of the Minister for Steel. Shri Bagchi said that the Seminar will provide the participants a clear view of the emerging world scenario and its impact on Indian steel. Addressing the Seminar Steel Secretary Shri Ashok Basu said that the steel sector in India had started looking upward with production going up by about 12 per cent in first nine months of current fiscal and exports growing by 30 per cent. He expressed concern over increasing input cost and said that the Government should take appropriate measures to ensure availability of inputs at reasonable prices specially power and railway freight. He supported the rationalisation of excise , customs and import duties for overall improvement in the steel industry. He said that the Ministry had taken some initiatives like bringing financial institutions and promoters of private steel projects together to sort out the issues amicable. The Joint Secretary, Steel, Shri K.S. Rajendra Kumar in his presentation, discussed the production, import and export of Indian steel in the post-liberalisation period and commented that the main producers could not retain their market share despite the mear elimination of mild steel production by the electric arc furnaces, the main producers deliberatly concentrated on the production of higher value finished products and their had been a substantial increase in imports of semis. He said it is time that the Indian Steel industry consolidated its operations finance and trading arrangements to face the cut throat competition.

    SAIL Chairman and Managing Director Shri Arjun Pande said Steel Industry was passing through the most difficult times and asked the Government to provide low cost capital alongwith improved infrastructural facilities. In the inaugural session Mr. Ralph Oppenheimer, Stemcor Holdings Ltd., U.K. expressing the optimistic view said " the prospects for Indian steel in a global context are excellent. I confidently predict that India will become one of the three top steel producers in the world, with production in excess of 100 million tonens…. within 30 years."

    Shri R.K. Prasannan, Development Commissioner for Iron and Steel, Ms.Indira Thillainathan of Metal Bulletin Research, Shri S.B.S. Chauhan, Chief Mining Geologist, Indian Bureau of Mines, Shri B.N.Jha, Executive Director, International Trade, SAIL, Shri Suresh pandey, Director, Steel Authority of India Ltd. Dr. S.R. Mediratta, DG, Institute for Steel Development & Growth, Shri Nirmal C. Mathur, Jindal Strips Ltd. Ramesh R. Gopal, Indian Steel Devlopment Association and experts from the foreign countries participated in the deliberations.

    A noval feature of the seminar was a business Meet scheduled today. The participants had the opportunity to interact with world class experts and entrepreneurs on a one-to-one basis and to obtain valuable insight into the ground realities of conducting business in the global steel arena.

'5'

THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE INTER-STATE COUNCIL RECONSTITUTED

    The Prime Minister has approved the following composition of the Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council:

Shri L.K. Advani Minister of Home Affairs

(i) Shri George Fernandes Minister of Defence

(ii) Shri Yashwant Sinha Minister of Finance

(iii) Shri Murasoli Maran Minister of Commerce & Industry

(iv) Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers

(v) Shri Jaswant Singh Minister of External Affairs

(vi) Shri Jyoti Basu Chief Minister, West Bengal

(vii) Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh

(viii) Dr. M. Karunanidhi Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu

(ix) Shri Digvijay Singh Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh

(x) Dr. Farooq Abdullah Chief Minister, Jammu & Kashmir

(xi) Shri S.M. Krishna Chief Minister, Karnataka

(xii) Shri P.K. Mahanta Chief Minister, Assam

(xiii) Shri Prakash Singh Badal Chief Minister, Punjab

    Notification for reconstituting the Standing Committee has been issued by the Inter-State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi yesterday (07.02.2000).

'17A'

    Dr. Vallabhbhai Kathiria, Minister of State for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises has called for more Joint Ventures and Turnkey Projects between India and Indonesia during his meeting with the Indonesian President Abdulrrahman Wahid at Rashtrapati Bhawan here today. Stressing the importance for establishing business to business contacts Dr.Kathiria underlined the need to revitalise the Joint Business Councils as working with chambers like FICCI etc, for strengthening the institutional mechanism for increasing business collaborations. Appreciating the role of Business Chambers in this regard the Heavy Industries Minister invited the Indonesian businessmen to seek lions share of the investment opportunities available in India for mutually beneficial business collaborations. Dr. Kathiria also offered Indian expertise in software sector.

    Highlighting the strategic importance of Indonesia as a gateway to ASEAN Dr.Kathiria stated that there exists an excellent scope for establishment of joint ventures on the territory of either country with buy-back arrangements or for export to ASEAN countries in the fields such as fertilisers, tin, palm oil, paper, chemicals & Petrochemicals, sponge Iron, animal feed, synthetic fibre, machinery and equipment, machine tools, cotton dyestuff, auto parts, power equipment and engineering goods.

    Dwelling on the vast potential which exists in industrial sector but is unharnessed Dr Kathiria said Steps are required to be taken to realise this untapped potential and increase the exchange of visits of dignitaries and entrepreneurs. Expressing satisfaction over the successful functioning of Indian joint ventures in Indonesia, Dr. Kathiria observed that most of them were making useful contribution to the Indonesian economy. The Minister also informed the Indonesian President that India is not only in a position to supply quality heavy machinery ,including Railway equipment but could also consider setting up of joint ventures in Indonesia or co-manufacturing of Industrial machinery.

    The Minister also informed the Indonesian President that although the reforms initiated in India in 1991 were crises driven, the ongoing process of reforms now are based on consensus and are irreversible. The endeavour now is to establish a system that is simple, transparent and fair the Minister added. He further said that while pushing forward reforms, Govt. is ensuring that human development aspects including education and health get their due share. The results of the reforms have been encouraging as Govt has approved over 16500 foreign collaboration approvals involving an equity participation of over US $ 59 Billion, Dr.Kathiria added.

'21'

    The Central Board of Trustees, Employees Provident Fund has unanimously rejected the recommendations of the Dave Committee to the extent they relate to impinge on working of the Employees Provident Fund and Employees Pension Schemes. The Central Board of EPF in a special meeting under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Labour Minister Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya discussed the Dave Committee report here today.

    Shri S.A. Dave, Chairman of the Expert Committee constituted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had also been invited to attend and make a presentation. However, he did not attend the meeting but in his place three other members of the same Committee attended and made a presentation outlining the scheme proposed by the Committee.

    The members of the Central Board of Trustees constituting both Employees representatives and Employer representatives sought a number of clarifications on various aspects covering the regulatory mechanism, the investment mechanism and the delivery mechanism. Among others the Members questioned on the decision of the Expert committee in areas under the superintendence of the Ministry of Labour and the Central Board of Trustees neither of whom were consulted in the course of formulation of the report under consideration.

    The members also unanimously expressed unhappiness over the manner in which the Expert Committee set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment went about its business without consulting or associating the Central Board of Trustees or the Ministry of Labour and expressed opinion on schemes functioning under their superintendence and control. They were also unanimous in their view that the report is investment centric and not Social Insurance centric and contains a number of recommendations and suggestions, which are inconsistent with the ground reality or practical considerations. Members were unanimously of the opinion that the proposals in the report under consideration would seriously jeoparadise the safety and the future savings of the workers as well as the whole concept of Social Security and Social Insurance.

    The Chairman of the Central Board of Trustees as well as members unanimously expressed their unhappiness in respect of the fact that there were no representation from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment at an appropriate level in a meeting where they had been specially invited.