Saturday, October 24, 1998
today's calendar
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B U S I N E S S | Saturday, October 24, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Canada lowers age for
immigration
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Satellite link for
varsities soon Punjab
to develop
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S & P has erred on side of
caution: Sinha MUMBAI, Oct 23 — The downgrading of India’s sovereign rating by international credit rating agency, Standard & Poor was unjustified and they have “erred on the side of caution”, Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said here today. Milk bar opens Thomas
Cook launches card J&K
Bank net rises 76 per cent Hotel
Mountview may be leased out FICCI
session on DD |
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Canada lowers age for immigration CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Canadian Parliament has made changes in the immigration norms — reducing the age for immigration from 44 years to 35 years, raising the minimum qualification to graduation and making mandatory knowledge of French, besides English. This was announced by Lt. Col B.S. Sandhu, Managing Director of Worldwide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS) at a press conference here today on the eve of the celebration of the fifth anniversary of WWICS. Colonel Sandhu said that visa processing fees would be raised to Rs 37,000 per adult. The WWICS has sent more than 1000 professionals to Canada during its five years existence and 2,000 cases are in process. Mr Devinder Sandhu, Senior Director of the company said that software professionals (IT) are the most preferred category there, followed by marketing professionals and chartered accountants. More than three lakh IT professionals are needed there. WWICS opened new offices
at Siliguri, Ambala, Gurgaon, Rourkela, South Delhi and
Jammu. The company was planning to spread its base by
opening new offices in the South-East Asia and West Asia. |
Punjab to develop three hi-tech cities NEW DELHI, Oct 23 (UNI) — The Punjab Government is planning to acquire 2,000 acres of land over the next two years for developing residential areas and hi-tech cities in collaboration with the private sector. Of this, 1200 acres will be taken up in Mohali and Rs 350 crore will be spent on developing a hi-tech city in the area, PUDA Chief Administrator Subodh C. Agrawal told UNI here today. Besides, the government has already acquired 700 acres in Jalandhar and another 200 acres in Kapurthala for developing similar cities. In all the state authority is looking at an investment of Rs 650 crore for developing the three cities. Around Rs 50 crore will be needed to fund the Kapurthala project, he said adding that of this, Rs 33 crore has already been infused. The project will be funded entirely by the government. The Jalandhar and Mohali projects, for which Rs 250 crore and Rs 350 crore respectively are required, will be funded through issue of bonds or funding from HUDCO. “We are discussing the modalities of financing the projects and it will take about six months before we reach a decision.” Earlier, while addressing
a meeting organised by the CII, Mr Agrawal said the
Punjab Government is looking at spending Rs 1500 crore
over the next five years for developing urban
infrastructure in the state. “We are in the process
of getting some professional help in this regard.”
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Slow-going departments to be on web site CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — To bring about transparency in the working of the “Single Window” system of the Industries Department, a weekly progress report on various clearances has been brought on the web site of the Punjab Government. Announcing this here today, Mr Ramesh Inder Singh, Secretary, Industries, said that the names of all such departments where the matter has been delayed will now be put on the web site every Friday. The departments which delay disposal of cases, thus, will be exposed. It is proposed even to indicate the names of the officers who cross the time limit prescribed for disposal of applications. Mr Ramesh Inder Singh said
Udyog Sahayak will also monitor the cases for sanction of
term-loans by PSIDC and PFC so as to ensure the
availability of a loan in the prescribed eight weeks.The
system of granting clearances for building plans is also
being streamlined. At present an entrepreneur has to
approach different agencies like the Factories
Department, PUDA, PSIEC, local bodies etc for building
plan approval. Henceforth there will be a single
designated agency for this purpose and time-bound
clearance will be monitored by Udyog Sahayak. |
S & P has erred on side of caution: Sinha MUMBAI, Oct 23 (PTI) — The downgrading of India’s sovereign rating by international credit rating agency, Standard & Poor (S & P) was unjustified and they have “erred on the side of caution”, Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said here today. “The agency has cited deterioration in fiscal deficit as one of the major reasons for the downgrade, it is not true. The deficit will remain within the budgetary estimates”, Sinha said. Expressing surprise and disappointment, he said there has been no event in the last few months during which India was put on a rating watch, that warranted a downgrade. Speaking to newspersons during his visit to the SEBI, the minister said “let the market decide what is right or wrong”. International rating agencies have become overcautious in the aftermath of the South East Asian Crises, he said adding that the Resurgent India Bond (RIB) issue, which followed the two-notch downgrade by Moody’s in June, was a roaring success. Mr Sinha, however, declined to comment on the confidence crisis at the UTI saying “whatever needs to be done will be done at the appropriate time”. The SEBI Chairman, DR Mehta, was of the view that it was for the Government to decide whether US-64, UTI’s flagship scheme, should be treated as a savings scheme or a mutual fund. A practical and pragmatic view has to be taken on US-64 as it affects the general investment climate and the sentiment of over two crore investors, Mehta said. “The market certainly needs revival and people are concerned over developments in the home market” he added. The minister’s
meeting with the financial market regulatory body was
expected to revolve around strategies to revive the
market. “Buyback is being actively considered by the
government”, he said. |
NEW DELHI (PTI): Researchers at the International Business Machines (IBM) and a Swiss university claim to have jointly developed a new cryptographic system that can reportedly secure information against even the most aggressive computer hackers. To be distributed free, the system will be an answer to the complicated problems of privacy and integrity of electronic transactions on the Internet. The system, developed by two Zurich-based mathematicians — Victor Shoup of IBM Research and Ronald Cramer of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) — is a practical and mathematically proven method of effectively closing off back-door attempts to thwart computer systems using so-called “active” attacks. HP solution NEW DELHI (UNI): Hewlett Packard India has announced a new solution for the networked workgroups which enables solution workgroups working on common data stores to access these from one single server over the network. The surestore CD-ROM server/Towar 7 stacks CD-ROMs in one single server and enables the end users from across the workgroup to access these from across the network, rather than individual PCs all having CD-ROM drives on them. The CD-ROM solutions are targeted at the legal, company internal resources, education, software, insurance, medical, financial, technical, library and publishing segments, where the digital information in a workplace grows rapidly and needs to be accessed by a number of knowledge workers simultaneously. Intel CALCUTTA (PTI): Hardware giant Intel Asia Electronics Inc.. has launched the fastest version of its Pentium II computer processor, designed for use in two way workstations and servers. The new 450 megahertz processor will provide faster multiprocessing capability to deliver industry leading performance, says Intel India’s National Business Marketing Manager GB Kumar. The latest version with dual processor functions will be delivered to major system vendors like Compaq, HP, IBM, Siemens Nixdrof and Trimax later this month. Real 3D NEW DELHI (UNI): The US-based Real 3D and Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) have announced a broad strategic relationship which includes minority equity investment in Real 3D by SGI. Details of the equity investment have not been disclosed. Lockheed Martin remains
the majority owner of Real 3D while Intel and Silicon
Graphics hold minority interests. |
Milk bar opens CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — A milk bar was opened today at the milk plant, Mohali, by Mr J.R. Kundal, Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Punjab. “Marriage parties coming to, or going from, Chandigarh can halt for rest here and savour Verka products”, said Mr Kundal, addressing a gathering. “Be careful”, cautioned Mr Gurbachan Singh Babehali, Milkfed Chairman. “If the milk served at the bar is not cold enough, consumers would complain to the Registrar.” “It’s a consumers’ market”, agreed Mr Kundal. With consumer courts around services have to be very efficient. “In a competitive market, only the fittest survives.” The milk bar is a part of a proposed complex which will house a rest room, a children’s park, a fast-food joint, a PCO booth and a bank. The bar provides other facilities like parking space, enough sitting place and toilets — all that tired travellers look far. Mr Amrik Singh, Milkfed MD said more such complexes will be opened in other districts. Mr Haravtar Singh,
Chairman of the milk plant, said the plant has applied
for certification under ISO 9002 and HACCP, ISO 15000 and
is in the process of getting these. |
Satellite link for varsities soon CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — Within the next six months all universities in the country will be inter-connected through computers that will be linked via satellites, said Prof Yash Pal, President of the National Telematics Forum, here today. He was speaking at a workshop on “Punjab — march into information era “ organised by the forum at the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) here. The connectivity of the universities will be for research, library information and all other areas which the respective universities wish to add. This will promote research and help the scientists in retrieving information as when required. Transfer of data from one place to another will not hinge upon telephone lines. Each university will have an earth station for uplinking with the satellites, he added. During his brief presidential address, Prof Yash Pal, who was formerly Chairman of the University Grants Commission, said: “The present practice of having foreign collaborations was not enough for growth. We need to develop things and systems of our own. The Vice-President of the forum , Mr V.M. Trehan, said the role of the national task force was to lay down policies for the action plan on informatics with the goal of the nation marching as an information technology (IT) superpower. Mr Trehan said that the five main points are: India to emerge as IT superpower; recommendations for participation of central and state governments, industries, academic institutions and the society at large; remove bottlenecks in the development of the IT industry; prepare a vision statement to promote faith in IT and a blue print for adoption of technology for national development. The Punjab Government has constituted an information technology vision group comprising representatives of leading companies in the field of information and it has been asked to submit a strategy for the state and a vision paper within two months. Later a discussion was
initiated and many ideas came up, including electronic
governance, opening up of information technology and
intra- linking of government departments .
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Thomas Cook launches card NEW DELHI, Oct 23 (UNI) — Worldwide merger deal between Thomas Cook group and the u k based Carlson group expected to be sealed by the year-end will not have any bearing on the structure of its Indian subsidiary, group Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Zierke said here today. Thomas Cook group and Carlson group had earlier announced their intentions to merge their operations and emerge as formidable combinations in the travel management business on a worldwide scale. Mr Zierke said this while announcing launch of a stored value travel card,Thomas Cook (India) Ltd would rather benefit from a combined portfolio of travel-related services of both Thomson and Carlson group. Joining hands with Visa International, Thomas Cook has launched a stored value travel card here along with the worldwide unveiling of the “plastic traveller cheque’’. Briefing the press, Thomas
Cook (India) Ltd, CEO and Managing Director Ashwini
Kakkar said Visa Travel Money (VTM) is a pre-paid ATM
card that the traveller can buy before leaving India. The
customer can choose the amount in U.S. dollar to be put
on the VTM card, depending on the foreign exchange
entitlement, money can be withdrawn in local currency
from more than 440,000 Visa ATMS in 117 countries. |
J&K Bank net rises 76 per cent MUMBAI, Oct 23 (PTI) - The Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd (J&K Bank) today reported a 76 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 44.54 crore in the first half of 1998-99 against Rs 25.35 crore in the corresponding period of previous year. Deposits of the bank have increased by 38 per cent to Rs 3,843 crore during April-September 1998, while advances went up by 36.6 per cent to Rs 2,194 crore as on September 30, 1998, J&K Bank Chairman MY Khan told reporters here today. Despite the increase in
credit portfolio, the asset quality has not been
compromised, Khan said adding that NPA would be brought
down from 4.57 per cent as on March 31, 1998 to 4 per
cent at the end of March 1999. Recoveries are on the rise
in Jammu & Kashmir, which accounts for almost 3 per
cent of the net NPA, he said. J&K Bank’s total
foreign exchange turnover increased by 99 per cent to Rs
758.81 crore during April-September 1998. The Bank has
investments of the order of Rs 2,814 crore, most of it in
Government securities.
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Hotel Mountview may be leased out NEW DELHI, Oct 23 — Hotel Mountview , the all time favourite of the cricketers and film stars , is likely to be leased out to a private agency for 33 years. Sources in Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) told The Tribune that the Government plans to invite offers from management consultants for leasing out the hotel located in Sector 10. The Government proposes to add 86 rooms to the existing 68 rooms before the hotel actually is being leased out, sources said. The annual sales of the hotel is currently around Rs 8 crore with annual profits amounting to Rs 2 crore. The Government plans to build a 11 storey tower in the commercial hub of the city with a total area of 4,98,000 square feet. Architect Charles Correa
has been selected for designing the building had
consultants have been engaged in a feasibility report
inclusive of traffic and transportation shops. The
building would accommodate offices of multi-national
corporations, regional corporate offices , financial
institutions and banks and possible shopping plaza,
sources said. |
FICCI session on DD NEW DELHI, Oct 23 (PTI)
— Doordarshan will telecast live the inaugural
address of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the
71st annual session of the Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on October 24. The
telecast will be on the Doordarshan national channel from
11 in the morning, a FICCI statement said here today. |
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| Silver falls NEW DELHI, Oct 23 (PTI) — Silver delivery tumbled down on bullion market today on lack of buying support as speculators refrained from trading, fearing further fall in its prices and closed with notable loss. On the other hand, gold was in little demand on domestic customers’ buying and edged up. The quotations: silver .999 (ready) 7325 delivery 7275, coins buyer 11,000 and seller 11,100. Standard gold 4320, ornaments 4170 and sovereign 3700. NHAI Healthcare IndusInd Bank AP fund |
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