Solution in sight for airport strike
New Delhi: The representatives of the AAI workers have decided to have wider consultations among themselves on the future course of action to be taken after a meeting with the prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.

The Government is standing firm on the decision to modernise Delhi and Mumbai airports through the involvement of the private companies, but has agreed to set up a committee to look into the issues raised by the AAI employees. The prime minister has also requested the employees to withdraw the agitation.

The prime minister met the AAI workers after a delegation of Left party MPs met him.

Emerging from the 90-minute afternoon meeting, the joint convenor, AAI workers union, M.K. Ghoshal, said the government was asked to set up a tripartite committee, comprising officials of the civil aviation ministry, the AAI and employees' representatives to study the alternative plan for modernisation of airports, the future of AAI and other related issues.
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Govt. set to garner Rs.1,100-cr from FM radio privatisation
New Delhi: The Government expects to garner about Rs1,134 crore as one-time entry fee and migration fee in the second phase of FM radio privatisation. Of the total 338 frequencies put on block, about 279 were allotted to various players after bidding was conducted in five rounds.

On the last day, of the 64 frequencies in the South that were up for grabs, 53 stations were allotted generating Rs177 crore as revenue. Kochi attracted the highest bid value of Rs10.1 crore paid by Adlabs followed by Kozhikode and Vijayawada attracting Rs7 crore each.

Other towns such as Madurai, Pondicherry, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchi and Visakhapatnam attracted bids of Rs4-5 crore.

Regional players such as Malar Publications, Asianet Communications, The Malayala Manorama Co and The Mathrubhumi Priniting & Publishing Ltd were among the other winners.

Overall, the Sun Group — through South Asia FM and Kal Radio bagged 67 licences followed by Anil Ambani's Adlabs Films with about 56 stations and Entertainment Network India with over 30. Others that got licenses were Music Broadcast (MBPL) and Bhaskar Group's Synergy.
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IPMA seeks uniform excise duty of 8 pc
Hyderabad: The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has asked the Union finance ministry to rationalise the excise duty structure and introduce a uniform excise duty of eight per cent in the ensuing Budget.

The IPMA, representing paper units with a size of 60 lakh tonnes of annual production and Rs17,000 crore of turnover, in a pre-budget memorandum, has called for immediately disbanding the existing multi-tier excise structure, which it feels hampers the growth of the paper industry.

The IPMA president, Rajeev R. Vederah, said there was no uniform excise duty at present for the Indian paper industry and the duty varied from zero to 16 per cent.

The IPMA has also urged the Government to retain the existing basic customs duty of 15 per cent for few more years.

According to the IPMA vice-president, Pradeep Dhobale, raw material accounts for up to 50 per cent of paper production costs and the paper industry was facing a serious raw material crunch, resulting in significant dependence on imports and huge forex outgo. The industry needs enablers from the Government to develop an indigenous raw material base and also generate employment by facilitating farm forestry on a bigger scale.
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More cities needed in Maharashtra
Pune: Jayant Patil, state minister for Finance and Planning said that with at least 20 per cent of foreign direct investment (FDI) share coming into Maharashtra and the cities of Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur having their presence in the top 10 cities in India, other districts needed to be developed to ward off competition from cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore.

He said cities like Nasik, Naded, Latur and Parbhani should be developed in such a way that they offer competition to even Bangalore and Hyderabad.
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Central advisory board to conduct study on contract labour
Mumbai: S. Balakrishnam Raju, chairman of the Central Advisory Contract Labour Board (CACLB) said the board would conduct a sector and region-wise study on contract labour-related issues in the country.

Contract labour was being employed across several segments of industry, banking sector and government, he observed. While contract labour cannot be abolished, since people may have been working with a company for more than 10 years, he said the CACLB advises managements to ensure that the contract labourers get paid their minimum wages. Though outsourcing is the key in the info-tech segment, he said it does not come under the purview of the CACLB as workers there are viewed as executive employees and not contract labourers.

While the CACLB's suggestions are not binding on the management of companies, he said its suggestions to the Central Government would be the basis of any amendment that may be brought in the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1971.
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