Friday, March 25, 2011

Main objects Hospitality and Tour and Travel

Main objects of Tour and Travel CompanyPDFPrintEmail

1. To encourage and provide the business as package tour operators, daily passenger service operators, tour operators, travel agents, ship booking agents, railway ticket booking agents, airlines ticket booking agents, carrier service agents, courier service agents.

2. To carry on the business of running of taxies, buses, mini buses, trucks and conveyances of all kinds and to transport passengers, goods, commodities, livestocks, merchandise and to do the business of transporters, forwarding and transporting agents, stevedore, carmen, whatfingers, cargo superintendents, package handlers and carting contractors.

3. To carry on the business as tourist agents and contractors and to facilitate traveling and to provide for tourists and travelers, the provision of convenience of all kinds in the way of through tickets, sleeper cars, or berths, reserved places, hotel, motel and lodging, accommodation guidance, safe deposits, enquiry bureaus, libraries, reading rooms, baggage transport and other allied services. 4. To act as Money Changers to provide services that may be necessary for the achievement of the aforesaid objects.


Main objects of Hospitality Services CompanyPDFPrintEmail

1. To purchase & acquire land for establishment of hotels, holidays, resorts, villas, lodgings, stalls, garages, summerhouses, chateaus, castles, inns, hostels, road houses, motels, taverns, rest houses, guest houses.

2. To sell, serve & to distribute & to manage & market the manufacture of selling, serving & distribution of comestible, eatables. Victuals, meat, bread, bread stuffs & all types of food stuffs & human consumables.

3. To sell serve & to distribute & to manage & market, selling, serving & distributing of soft drinks, aerated waters, beverages, both natural & artificial fresh & canned vegetables & meats, fresh & canned fruits & to manufacture, grow, produce, develop, process ( including canning, cold storage, deep freezing de-hydration, baking, drying, bottling & packing ) of all types of vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, spices & condiments.

4. To carry on the business of travel agents, hirers of motor & other vehicles, caterers for public amusements, hair dressers, perfumes, chemists, proprietors of clubs, bath, dressing rooms, laundries, reading rooms, writing rooms, newspaper & smoking room, libraries, places of amusements, recreation, sports, entertainment & instruction of all kinds, departmental stores, agents for railway, shipping and airplane companies and carriers, theatrical and opera box office, proprietors, insurance agents.

Main object of educational institutions

1. To set up laboratories, purchase and acquire land for establishment of Institute, equipment and instruments required for carrying out medical investigation and to educate and train medical students, nurses, midwives and hospital administrators and to grant such certificates or recognitions as the company may prescribe or deem fit from time to time and to grant stipends, scholarships or any other assistance monetary or otherwise to whomsoever to further the course medicine and / or medical research.

2. To carry in-house medical research by engaging in the research and development in all fields , systems of medical sciences and in diagnostics and medical treatments and to develop new technologies so as to afford medical relief in a better way. Further, to collect primary and secondary data and make statistical analysis and apply the findings for furthering medical research and maintain, generate and upkeep intellectual rights, properties and privileges in medical sciences, research, development and innovations and to patent the same and / or register and trade mark(s) and to make use of the same by sale / export / let on hire either for commercial or other purposes.

3. To provide, encourage, initiate or promote facilities for the discovering, improvement or development of new methods of diagnosis, understanding and prevention and treatments of diseases by adopting commercialized imported technology and by significant improvements in existing product / process / application and to initiate development of technology and to apply this technology in the medical field and also in areas of telemedicine etc, using computer applications to meet the medical standards and also benefit the public by these applications.

4. To carry on the research and developmental activities to develop new products and substitute for imported products and to develop and maintain testing house and laboratory for own use and for others and healthcare institutions and to promote research and development in these areas.

Business case for Corporate Social Responsibility

Business Case’ for Corporate Social Responsibility

Manish Desai*

Over the past several decades, the Tatas have established Trusts, which enabled setting up of institutions like the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR). Wipro Chairman Azim Premji has pledged to donate nearly Rs 10,000 crores for improving school education in the country. Infosys commits one per cent of its profits every year to social causes through the Infosys Foundation. TheBirlas, the Mahindras, the Kalyanis and several other large corporations have been spending a fraction of their profits on social causes.

It is clear that in India there are an existent but small number of companies which practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These companies have been deeply involved with social development initiatives in the communities surrounding their facilities. Tata’s CSR activities in Jamshedpur include the provision of full health and education facilities for all employees and their family members.

However, CSR in the Indian context is still one of the least understood development initiatives. Barring the Navaratna and the Mini-Ratna PSUs, the reputed MNCs and a handful of large Indian companies, most others have a confused approach to CSR, interpreting it as philanthropy. To a great extent, companies see CSR as an add-on function and not core to their business. Hence, the approach has largely remained parental and generally cheque-book oriented.

But the situation is changing. CSR is coming out of the purview of doing socialgood and is fast becoming a business necessity. The Government, on its part has accepted the proposal of Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, which makes it mandatory for companies with a turnover of Rs 1,000 crores or net profit of Rs 5 crores to allocate 2 per cent of their profits towards CSR.

The guidelines on CSR for Central Public Sector Enterprises state that “corporate social responsibility extends beyond philanthropic activities and reaches out to the integration of social and business goals. These activities need to be seen as those which would, in the long run, help secure a sustainable competitive advantage”. The CPSEs have also been mandated to create a CSR budget with contribution up to 5% of their net profit every year.

However, several individual companies as well as industry chambers had tried hard against the move to make CSR mandatory. Those who are opposed to the proposal argue that the very concept of CSR is built on the premise of ‘voluntary’ contribution and hence it should not be imposed on the companies by the Government. According to them, it is just a new form of tax on company’s profits.

Supporters of CSR say the opposition stems from a short-sighted viewpoint. The environment in which the companies operate today has changed vastly. A company can not operate efficiently without the support of the community. This is particularly true in the face of growing activism of the Civil Society Organizations (NGOs), which support the cause of the under-privileged. Increasingly, the Governments, both at the Centre as well in several States are making inclusive growth intrinsic to their developmental strategies. The customers, the public and the investors also expect companiesto act sustainable as well as responsible. Hence, CSR is becoming an outcomeof a variety of social, environmental and economic pressures.

Genesis of Corporate Social Responsibility

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility was first mentioned in 1953 in the publication ‘Social Responsibilities of the Businessman’ by William J. Bowen. But, the term CSR became popular only in the 1990s. The term is still imprecise and its application differs widely.

Worldwide, honouring of a triple bottom line - people, planet, profithas gained universal acceptance. An approach to CSR that is becoming more widely accepted is community-based development . In this approach, corporations work with local communities to better themselves. Philanthropy, where corporates give monetary donations and aid to local organizations and impoverished communities, continues to dominate CSR, though it faces serious criticism. Progressive organizations do not support this form of CSR as it creates a dependence syndrome amongst its recipients rather than developing long-term capabilities. Another approach that is garnering support is deliberate inclusion of ‘public interest’ and ‘fair trade’ incorporate decision making.

Extent of CSR in India

In India, most leading corporates are involved in CSR programmes in areas like education, health, livelihood creation, skill development, and empowerment of weaker sections of the society. According to a study undertaken by an industry body in June 2009, which studied the CSR activities of 300 corporate houses, corporate India has spread its CSR activities across 20 states and Union territories, with Maharashtra gaining the most from them. About 36 per cent of the CSR activities are concentrated in the state, followed by about 12 per cent in Gujarat, 10 per cent in Delhi and 9 per cent in Tamil Nadu. The companies had on an aggregate, identified 26 different themes for their CSR initiatives. Of these 26 schemes, community welfare tops the list, followed by education, environment, health, as well as rural development.

The survey reveals that, not surprisingly, the corporates targeted most of their activities around the areas they operate. This trend is likely to continue. But the flip side is that, it is generally the more developed states that have been the beneficiaries of CSRs, rather than the ones languishing at the bottom, whose developmental needs are more central.

Another survey, which ranked Indian companies’ CSR activities on a scale of 0-5, showed that none of the Indian companies got placed in the highest level. Only 16 % of the 500 companies surveyed had well defined CSR activities. The concept was yet to catch up with the remaining 86% of the companies. Lack of understanding, inadequately trained personnel, non availability of authentic data and specific information on the kinds of CSR activities, coverage, policy etc. further added to the reach and effectiveness of CSR programmes.

The Government is now working on a framework for quantifying the CSR initiatives of companies to promote them further. Efforts are also on to develop a system of CSR credits, similar to the system of carbon credits which are given to companies for green initiatives.

The National CSR Hub

The establishment of the National CSR Hub at the Tata Institute ofSocial Sciences, Mumbai is a major step towards institutionalizing CSR activities in the country. TISS will act as a think-tank, undertake research for the corporate social responsibility projects. Funded by the Department of Public Enterprises, the National CSR Hub will also undertake nation-wide compilation, documentation and creation of database. The purpose is to dovetail CSR activities with overall national development goals.

The new Guidelines on CSR lay stress on shift from casual approach to the project based accountability approach. There is greater emphasis on identification of projects based on surveys, laying down clear cut path to implement programmes as well as their monitoring. It is also prescribed that activities under CSR are to be implemented by specialized agencies and not by the staff of the companies. Specialized agencies would include community based organizations (NGOs), panchayat organizations, academic institutes, trusts and missions, Self-Help Groups, Mahila Mandals etc.

Noted CSR expert Prof. Leo Burke of the Notre Dame University, USA says India needs to adopt ‘national-local’ approach. National in the sense thatthere will be need for nationwide alliances and databases in order to quickly learn best practices, share innovations, and ‘scale-up’ pilot programmes. Local in the sense that it will require organizations to efficiently implementprogrammes at the grassroots level, as well as mobilize volunteers to serve their local communities.

The argument that the primary goal of business is to make profits and pay taxes, and it is the responsibility of the governments – local, state and central to create necessary social infrastructure, continues to remain valid. But, a business needs a healthy, educated workforce, sustainable resources to compete effectively. For society to thrive, profitable and competitive businesses must be developed and supported to create income and opportunities. This is called ‘Creating Shared Values’ and it is here that the interests of the companies and the society converge. This has led to the ‘business case’ for CSR gaining ground and many corporate houses are realizing that ‘what is good for workers - their community, health, and environment is also good for the business’.

* Director (Media & Communications), PIB Mumbai.

RTS/HN SS-53/SF-53/24.03.2011

Admissibility of entries in the books of account

  The Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (Indian Evidence Act 2023) Section 28 deals with the admissibility of entries in the books of accoun...