Govt takes tough stand against ‘Indian’ strikers
New Delhi: Taking a tough stand against the flash strike called by the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU), the central government has directed the strikers to call off the strike by evening or face drastic action.

The strike called by Indian employees on the wage hike issue led to 62 (over 32 per cent) of Indian Airlines’s 192 flights being cancelled and many others being delayed, leaving 6,000-8,000 passengers in the lurch,

The issue includes withdrawing arrears of Rs267 crore that the management had agreed to pay the staff and possibly declaring a lock-out.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel condemned the strike as “unwarranted and illegal”, at a press conference and said that the management would wait till evening for the union to call off the strike. The management has already suspended 27 employee members of the union.

For Indian Airlines’s competitors, the strike has come as a bonanza. Both Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines have seen their passenger load factor (PLF) go up by over 5 per cent.
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Employees in textile sector to be hit hard: Study
New Delhi: The appreciation of the rupee would lead to stagnation in textile exports and lead to a loss of around 5,79,000 potential new jobs in 2007-08 alone, including the loss of 2,72,000 direct jobs in the industry and the balance in allied sectors, a study carried out by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has said.

The report said that in the twelve-month period from June 2006, the rupee has appreciated by 12 per cent. It said that most textile orders placed in June last year will be delivered in the US this year and the appreciation will bring down the earnings of Indian exporters significantly.

A decline in exports, which is a distinct possibility at the moment, would affect employment in the sector and even lead to a loss of existing jobs, the study added.

Officials said direct employment generated from textile exports reduced by 57,618 in 2006-07 consequent to a slowdown in exports, the incremental employment in the allied industries suffered a loss of 65,820 jobs during the year.

The total direct employment in the textile industry as on March 2006 was estimated to be 33.17 million while the indirect employment generated was an even higher at 54.85 million.

According to recent estimates, the employment in the industry is expected to go up by 17.37 million over the Eleventh Plan period to touch 105.39 million by 2007-12.
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Power tariff may be hiked in UP
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Ms Mayawati said she may increase the power tariff. She asked state government offices to switch on Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) for saving energy and outlined steps to raise electricity generation capacity for bridging the demand-supply gap.

Ms Mayawati said the State was passing through a serious power crisis and said the demand for power had risen to 8,500 MW while supply was confined to 6,500 MW. She noted that different power sector utilities in the State had incurred a loss of Rs5,500 crore till last year and added that

the government intended to rationalise power tariffs.

Ms Mayawati said the government would make use of CFLs compulsory in all public offices and would provide incentives to public for using such lamps.

She also outlined measures to be taken by her government for augmenting generation capacity through public sector, joint ventures and private players.
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Nath announces relief package for exporters
New Delhi: The commerce ministry led by Kamal Nath has announced a relief package for exporters that would see duty entitlement pass book (DEPB) and duty drawback rates being enhanced by 5 per cent. Nath has said that the interest rate on pre- and post-shipment credit would be reduced to 6 per cent from the 9 per cent to 11 per cent range now.

Scheduled commercial banks will also be asked to meet the 15 per cent export credit disbursement target.

The commerce ministry is also urging the Finance Ministry to notify the service tax exemptions and refunds announced in the Annual Supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy this year.

Nath has also announced a two part package where some measures will be taken up with the finance ministry for early implementation, while others will be implemented by the commerce ministry.
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