Projects Worth Rs 3009 Crore Completed for Improvement of Urban Infrastructure under JNNRUM
  
Under JNNRUM 74 projects for improvement of urban infrastructure and governance in big cities have been completed with the investment of Rs.3009 crore. The Center has approved 524 projects worth Rs.58, 283.33 crore, till May 15th, 2010 which are under various stage of implementation. Similarly for the improvement of urban infrastructure in small and medium towns, out of 763 projects of Rs.6946.90 crores approved, 114 projects have completed. The Centre has also sanctioned 15,260 buses for various states for improvement of urban transport. Orders for 14,672 have already been placed. This was revealed in a review meeting recently taken by Dr.M.Ramchandran, Secretary, and Ministry of Urban Development in New Delhi.

Most of the projects are in the area of water supply, treatment of sewerage, drainage of storm water, solid based management, preservation of water bodies, development of parking sites and improvement of urban transport as sanctioned projects for big cities include 151 projects for water supply, 110 projects sewerage.71 projects for storm water drainage, 41 for solid waste management, 94 for roads and flyovers, 19 for public transport system and 4 for preservation of water bodies. Similarly 114 completed projects in small and medium towns include 56 for water supply, 49 for road improvement, 8 for storm water drainage and one for preservation of water bodies.

Regional reviews meeting were also held recently at Chandigarh, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Raipur under the chairmanship of Dr. Ramchandran to assess the performance. Dr. Ramchandran asked the officials to finalise action plan for speedy implementation during next two years. He said that the center has made adequate provision to fulfill deficiencies in the basic urban infrastructure services; it is for the State to expedite submission of detailed projects reports to take the benefit of the scheme. He also stressed for continuous monitoring of the implementation of the projects by independent agencies.

The Government has also asked the States to implement urban reforms for the improvement of governance so that Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) become financially sound with enhanced credit rating and ability to access market capital for undertaking new programmes and expansion of services. These reforms include introduction of e-governance using IT applications like, GIS and MIS for various services provided by ULBs, reform of property tax collection system so that collection efficiency reaches at least 85 per cent within next seven years, repeal of Urban Land Ceiling Act, reform of rent control laws, nationalization of stamp duty etc. It was informed in the meeting that Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal have performed well in the implementation of urban reforms.

On the basis of performance in the implementation of infrastructure improvement projects and implementation of reforms, the Ministry has also started credit rating of the ULBs through independent professional bodies. The rating is continuously reviewed by monitoring the performance.

Jinan Iron & Steel expands its plate production: Siemens puts 4.3 meter plate mill into operation

At the end of April, Siemens VAI Metals Technologies successfully started up the 4.3 meter plate mill for Jinan Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. The plant will enable the Chinese steelmaker to produce up to 1.8 million tonnes of plate every year at its Jigang Works, and thus increase its total annual capacity to over five million tonnes. Siemens handled the engineering work and supplied the mechanical equipment and automation solutions for the new mill.

Secretary Power Unveils NTPC Tagline Transforming Lives
  
Shri P. Uma Shankar, Secretary, Power, unveiled the NTPC tagline “Transforming Lives “ in New Delhi today, reinforcing NTPC’s commitment as a Good Corporate Citizen Powering India’s Growth. A presentation giving an overview of the organization was made at the Growth Management Centre of the company during his visit. Shri P. Uma Shankar also reviewed the progress of NTPC projects under construction.

The tagline emphasizes the commitment of NTPC towards Corporate Social Responsibility.

Shri R.S. Sharma, CMD, Shri I. C. P. Keshari, JS Thermal, Shri Chandan Roy, Director (O) and members of NTPC Board were present on the occasion.

Cyber Warfare is the New Gen Security Threat: Antony
  
The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony today asked the top brass of the Armed Forces to work in unison and make cyber systems 'as secure and as non-porous as possible'. Addressing the Army Commanders here, Shri Antony said cyber-warfare is becoming a serious threat to security.

"The paradigms of security in the age of Information Technology are seldom constant. The evolving security matrix is complex and calls for co-operation and coordination of the highest level. Today, no single service can work in isolation. Cyber warfare and threats to cyber security are fast becoming the next generation of threats. We need to make our cyber systems as secure and as non-porous as possible", he said.

Shri Antony made a strong plea for synergy among the three Forces and said the future security matrix calls for a high-degree of cooperation and inter-dependence among the Services. He said the primary area of focus should be to develop as a force capable of operating in joint network – centric environment. Besides these the other emerging areas that warrant synergised development are space, NBC, Cyber Warfare capabilities, Air Defence, Rotary Wing Assistance, precision munitions, standoff targeting and missiles, communication systems, logistics and joint training.

"Though significant progress has been made towards accomplishing jointness in various operational training and administrative facets among the three Services, there are a number of areas congruence that need to be strengthened further", he said.

Referring to the Modernisation Plans of the Armed Forces, the Defence Minister said it is in our long term national interest that we become self reliant in the field of critical defence equipment. He said modernisation plans of the Armed Forces encompass force modernisation and development of critical combat capabilities, not only against potential adversaries, but across the spectrum of conflict. Modernisation of the Armed Forces wholly depends upon the capital acquisition plan. However, the acquisition of critical technologies from foreign countries is subject to various technology denial regimes and the prevailing global geo-political situation. Shri Antony said the Defence Public Sector Undertakings are today at a threshold, capable of undertaking design and development work as also to come up with product upgrades on their own. Despite these achievements we must guard against complacency and must ceaselessly work towards more value addition, product support and serviceability of the supplies made to the end-users – the Services. "It is the collective responsibility of all DPSUs to optimize cost-effectiveness and must adhere to time and cost targets", Shri Antony said.

ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement Enters into Force

ASEAN Secretariat, 17 May 2010

 

The cost of doing business in ASEAN will be lower and trade-related transactions simpler as the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), one of the region’s landmark economic agreements, entered into force today.

The ATIGA, which is comprehensive in its scope and brings transparency to regional trade liberalisation, consolidates all commitments related to trade in goods. It focuses on not only tariff liberalisation and non-tariff measures, but it also includes matters related to simplification of rules of origin and its implementation. Various agencies and regulatory bodies dealing with entry of goods, such as the Customs, and health and agricultural authorities, will jointly operate in ensuring smoother operations at the Customs entry points.

“The ATIGA is a major achievement towards the establishment of a single market and production base under the ASEAN Economic Community 2015,” said the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan. The entry into force of the ATIGA will help facilitate trade by simplifying processes and procedures thereby reducing transaction time and cost of doing business hence benefitting the business community and the public, he said upon the deposit of Thailand’s instrument of ratification with his office in Jakarta. All ASEAN Member States have now ratified the ATIGA.

The ATIGA contains the full import duty liberalisation schedule among ASEAN Member States and spells out the tariff rates to be applied on products. This provides businesses with transparency and certainty in making business and investment decisions. Dr Surin also urged the ASEAN Member States to implement the ATIGA through timely incorporation of the ATIGA commitments into domestic legislation to meet the agreed tariff reduction schedules.

With the coming into force of ATIGA, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will issue their legal enactments in 90 days, while Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam will do so in 180 days. Thereafter, tariff liberalisation commitments under the ATIGA will be implemented retroactively from 1 January 2010.

Chairman of BHP Billiton Jac Nasser writes to all shareholders regarding Australian Government's proposed super tax

17 May 2010

Dear Shareholder

This is the first time I am writing to you since I had the privilege of being appointed Chairman of BHP Billiton in late March. The purpose of this letter is to bring to your attention a matter of critical importance to our company: the Australian Government's proposed super tax on the resources industry.

BHP Billiton Facts

BHP Billiton's leading position in the global resources industry is well known. Around the world we have 100,000 employees and contractors, more of whom are employed in Australia than any other region. Our operations include highly productive and capital intensive long-life mines, processing plants, ports, railway lines and oil and gas assets.

Cash generated from this outstanding portfolio allowed us last year to invest a record US$11 billion in project development, thereby creating jobs, wealth and opportunity for all Australians. Additionally our 600,000 shareholders, 500,000 of whom are Australian investors, have also benefited from our long term investments which sustain dividends and create shareholder value.

We continued to invest and pay dividends through one of the most severe global recessions in history. No one doubts that BHP Billiton and the resources industry contributed to keeping Australia out of the global recession.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees, their families and the communities that support them for the enormous contribution they have made to keep the Australian economy strong.

What we pay in taxes to Australian Governments benefits the whole community

BHP Billiton pays its fair share of taxes. Last year we paid A$6.3 billion to Australian Governments. We paid A$3 billion in Commonwealth Government company taxes, A$1.9 billion in State Government royalties and A$1.45 billion in Commonwealth Government petroleum taxes.

We have no issue with a review and reform of the tax system, but it must be conducted around sound principles. Any reform proposal must only apply to new investments: not to existing investments. Additionally any reform should not disadvantage the resources industry compared to other industries in Australia and it absolutely must not disadvantage the Australian resources industry compared to other countries. In other words, any reform must not destroy the necessary incentives to keep investing in Australia's growth engine, the resources industry.

Australian Government's proposed resources super tax

Historically, the stability and competitiveness of Australia's tax system has been central to providing resources companies and investors with the confidence to invest billions of dollars in long life projects exposed to the risk of significant commodity price movements.

In a break with this successful tradition, two weeks ago the Commonwealth Government announced a proposal to opportunistically increase the tax on resources companies. The Government's proposal would see the total effective tax rate on BHP Billiton's Australian profits increase from 43% to 57% making the Australian resources industry the highest taxed in the world. This compares to a tax rate of 23% in Canada and a range of 27%-38% in Brazil. These are two of the largest resource rich countries that compete with Australia for investment, customers and jobs.

Australia's resources industry did not happen by luck. The industry was built by generations of hard working Australians together with the investments made by companies and shareholders. The proposed super tax fundamentally, abruptly and unfairly changes the rules of the game.

Based on these proposed changes your Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers has already said that if the tax goes ahead it would seriously threaten Australia's competitiveness, jeopardise future investments and adversely affect the future wealth and standard of living of all Australians.

In addition, the proposed tax will unfairly impact communities and working families across regional Australia, the people who provide essential goods and services to our industry, superannuation funds, individual shareholders and future generations.

It is not just the resources industry that will be impacted. The risk is that Australia could now be seen by the rest of the world as a less stable and less competitive place for long term investments. If this eventuates, the great work of Australians to build the strong economic foundation of the country over decades could be undermined, representing a crucial turning point for Australia.

Contributing to the debate

The significance of this proposal to impose such a material new tax on the Australian resources industry has created substantial public comment by many corporations, industry bodies and political leaders. We at BHP Billiton will seek to work constructively in this debate with the aim of ensuring fairness for all stakeholders and the continuation of Australia's long term economic prosperity.

Keeping shareholders informed

We will be assessing our Australian operations and investment plans as details of the proposed tax become clearer and we will advise you as decisions are made.

We are in the process of planning shareholder information sessions around Australia so that the management team can update shareholders on BHP Billiton's plans and prospects. I invite you to come along and take the opportunity to meet your management team. Full details of where and when the meetings will be held will be on our website (www.bhpbilliton.com) shortly.

Yours sincerely
Jac Nasser A0
Chairman

Sumitomo Metals Plans to Revise Domestic Pricing of Seamless Stainless Steel Pipes 


Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Metals) has begun negotiations to raise pricing of seamless stainless steel pipes for all domestic customers, due to a surge in the price of nickel, a major raw material for these pipes.

1. Overview of the revision
(1) Scope
The revision will apply to seamless stainless steel pipes supplied to all domestic customers
(spot sales and long-term contracts).
(2) Timing
The revision will apply to May 2010 contracts
(3) Price revision
10% price increases.
If the price of nickel continues to rise, Sumitomo Metals will consider an additional price increase for contracts of June 2010 and onward.

2. Background of price revision

(1)	The price of nickel, a major raw material, has been rising since the beginning of this year. It rose from around $8/lb in the latter half of 2009 to over $10/lb on average in the February-April period of 2010. Such soaring price has resulted in deteriorating our profitability in seamless stainless steel pipes, making it necessary to reflect the cost increase to our sales prices swiftly.
(2)	Sumitomo Metals' seamless stainless steel pipes are mainly produced at its Steel Tube Works in Amagasaki. We expect long-term steady demand for the pipes in energy-related areas such as power generation, oil refining, and petrochemical.