Sujana denies role in Mauritius bank case

HYDERABAD: Union minister of state for science and technology Y Sujana Chowdary clarified that he had nothing to do with the issue relating to the winding-up petition filed by Mauritius Commercial Bank against Mauritius-based Hestia Holdings Ltd, for which his company Sujana Universal Industries Limited had allegedly provided corporate guarantee.

As Mauritius-based Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd moved the Hyderabad High Court seeking winding up of Sujana Universal Industries Ltd, alleging that the company had defaulted on the Rs 92 crore loan it had availed through its Mauritius subsidiary, Hestia Ltd, the minister made these remarks.

Chowdary said he was not connected to or associated with the borrowings made by Hestia Holdings Limited. 'I have nothing to do with it. Its the company's matter... you ask them. Let those who are making allegations verify the facts,' he said.

Sujana Universal Industries Ltd, in a statement on Wednesday, had clarified that Sujana Chowdary had nothing to do with the issue relating to the wind-up petition filed by Mauritius Commercial Bank against Hestia Ltd.

It also clarified that Chowdary was neither a director nor a shareholder in the borrower company, and he had not received any notice either in his personal or any other capacity.

Stresses on autonomy for R and D institutes

Stating that he would give top priority to quality research work in the country, newly-inducted Union minister of state for science and technology Y Satyanarayana Chowdary alias Sujana Chowdary has said he has asked all the top research institutes in the country to prepare a 'rolling vision document' for the next five years to 'help them know about their targets and assess what has been achieved'.

Chowdary, after becoming the minister, visited for the first time the premier CSIR research institutes in the city _ Indian Institute of Chemical Technology(IICT) and Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology(CCMB) _ on Friday and interacted with the scientists there.

Stressing the need to improve the financial health of research institutes in the country, the Union minister of State for science and technology said he wanted all the research institutes to be financially self-sufficient and take up projects on their own.

Addressing mediapersons later, he said, 'I would like to recommend to the Union government that all these institutions should be made autonomous and self-sufficient. They should not depend on the government for funds. Currently, most of the research institutes are entirely dependant on government funds. I want them to become financially independent so that the burden on the government could be reduced,' he said, adding that these institutions can perform better by leveraging the assets created by way of intellectual property.

Stating that he wanted to improve the research environment in the country, Chowdary said setting up of more incubation centres in colleges and universities would be encouraged. 'We want to compete with international universities. We have to take our research institutes to global standards. We have to increase the number of such institutes and also learn from them'

He said that he wanted to create a research-friendly atmosphere in his ministry and see that all bottlenecks and anomalies were removed. 'I would initiate steps to reduce red-tape, if any. Wasteful time and expenditure would be reduced in institutions so that efficiency improves in terms of investing in various products,' he added.