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Journalism of Courage
Steep fall in silver prices
MUMBAI: A steep fall in silver prices featured trading on the bullion market here Monday. The white metal declined sharply on lack of industrial demand at higher levels coupled with stockists offerings. Gold prices, on the other hand, was subdued.
Silver ready spot .999 fineness and tenderable silver both dropped by Rs 135.00 each to Rs 8285.00 and Rs 8290.00 respectively. Raw silver .916 fineness dipped to Rs 8185.00 from the previous close of Rs 8315.00.
Standard gold edged down to Rs 4095.00 from Rs 4100.00 and 22-carat gold was nominally quoted at Rs 3790.00. The ten-tola gold bar .999 purity variety remained unchanged at Rs 48,100.
Sterlite not to strip Indal assets
MUMBAI: Sterlite Industries has said that it does not propose to strip assets of the Indian Aluminium Co Indal, for which it has made an open offer to acquire a 20 per cent stake. This claim has been in response to fears expressed by the Indal unions in theirrepresentations to the chiefs of financial institutions and in their letters to the union government. All the Indal unions have come together to form a coordination committee aimed at keeping quot;the raiderquot; Sterlite out. The unions have also staged gate meetings at various plants to voice their opposition to Sterlite8217;s unsolicitated bid.
A Sterlite release said its claim has already been stated in its public announcement and the letter of offer sent to each individual shareholder as required by the Securities amp; Exchange Board of India Sebi laws. It has urged the Indal union quot;not to be mislead by hearsay.quot; Sterlite has pointed to its record in the context of Madras Aluminium Malco takeover. quot;In Malco8217;s revival there was no asset-stripping; on the other hand, substantial additional investments amounting to Rs 220 crore are being made to set up a captive power plant8230;quot; the release says. quot;8230;additional investments are being made to ensure long term investment for all. In fact, all the profits have beenploughed back and no dividend has been taken, clearly demonstrating the promoter8217;s commitment to the unit8217;s business operations8230;quot; the release adds.
COAI plea
NEW DELHI: Fund-starved cellular operators have asked the government for a two-year moratorium on licence fees saying that about Rs 1,200 crore would be contributed to the exchequer during 1998-99 by way of taxes and levies on mobile phone services.
quot;Government should consider a moratorium on licence fees till 1999-2000 to give a breather to operators failing which a number of companies can fall by the wayside,quot; ATamp;T managing director and spokesman of Cellular Operators Association of India COAI Virat Bhatia said. COAI has also demanded a reduction in import duty on handsets to 20 per cent as a basic duty only saying that it would eradicate the grey market.
