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| Friday, September 15, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Giants Infosys & Microsoft tie the knot
NIIT to train
Punjab students NSE
forecast: Make hay while
FII sun shines |
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Iffco’s insurance
proposal cleared Book closure not to
hit Sterlite trading SC directs
Maruti to pay Rs 1 cr sales tax New tourism policy in 100 days They marry money and divorce spouses
Giants Infosys & Microsoft tie the knot NEW DELHI, Sept 14 — It was a marriage of two computer giants today when Infosys Technologies and Microsoft Corporation tied the knot for a worldwide strategic alliance for developing, promoting and delivering a comprehensive portfolio of business solutions. Infosys Technologies will set aside 1200 of its 7500 personnel to work on Microsoft .NET Enterprise Server platform and offer Infosys business solution offerings and enterprise services to businesses in India and abroad. The tie-up does not mean in any way that Microsoft would be using Indian skilled workers to further its business interests. It means that Infosys would conduct its business on Microsoft tools to enable the delivery of robust, cost-effective e-business solutions to customers, Infosys CEO N.R.Narayana Murthy said. Mr Bill Gates said the strategic alliance was the first of its kind for Microsoft in the world. “Infosys continues to build a strong solution development reputation in the US and other international markets and brings a huge pool of resources skilled on Microsoft technologies. Together we can deliver world class e-business solutions to our existing and future customers”, Mr Gates said. Mr Murthy said his company was delighted to become a strategic Microsoft partner. As part of the strategic global relationship, Infosys and Microsoft would develop business solution offerings in areas such as customer relationship management, e-commerce, financial services, insurance and retail. Microsoft India and Infosys would also work closely together to bring Infosys world class solutions development and delivery capabilities to large Indian enterprises as well as to establish Infosys Competency Centre which would showcase high-end solutions developed on Microsoft technologies. Microsoft would provide Microsoft Consulting Services resources and technical training to further the technical skills of Infosys consultants on Microsoft technologies. The two companies would also undertake joint marketing initiatives and account planning. |
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NIIT to train
Punjab students CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — The Punjab Government and NIIT today joined hands to provide computer training to the students of government schools in the state. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by Mr S.S. Johal, Joint Secretary Education, Punjab and Ms Madhulika Tripathi, Sr Vice-President NIIT’s North India operations. In the first phase of providing computer training which will be optional for the students , 700 schools of the state will be covered. Training which is expected to start within two-three months, will be provided to the students from class VI to XII. NIIT will also be training five teachers per school every year. Mr Tota Singh, Education Minister of the state while speaking on the occasion
said," Computer education in the schools has become a need of the present day. Nearly two-thirds of the schools where the subject will be introduced will be from rural areas.” As per the agreement which has been signed for three years, schools will be providing only accommodation and the remaining infrastructure including hardware, software, airconditioners etc. will be managed by NIIT. Teachers for the courses will also be appointed by NIIT. Each student will be e required to pay a fee of Rs 80 but for students from below the poverty line and reserve categories, only 50 per cent of the fee will be charged. Ten per cent of the total fee collected will go to the school while the rest to NIIT. The teacher student ration will be 1:20. The students will also be provided with books on science, technology and related areas by NIIT. “Tenders for the project had been invited of which NIIT had the lowest prices. Now we are proud to join hands with the organisation which has a brand name”, said Mr R.S. Sandhu, Secretary Education of the state. Ms Madhulika Tripathi said that the curriculum had been designed by experts to meet the latest demands in the world of computers. “Teaching will be done in a manner so that the students can easily understand. It will be combination of Punjabi and English. The idea is to improve the employment prospects of the students and many will be able to get employed soon after they complete their class XII”, she said. Meanwhile NIIT will be at liberty to run private courses also. NIIT is already proving computer training in 370 schools in Tamil Nadu and has also designed programme for schools in UP. |
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NSE forecast WITH most technical barriers being comfortably pierced, the market sentiment appears to have become exceedingly buoyant. While the market is agog with news that FIIs are buying, we reiterate what we said earlier — FII buying is very useful to comprehend why the rise occurred but it is by no means a guarantee of the future course the market will traverse. A flashback to March indicates that heavy FII buying then was followed by a very bad spell for the market. Hence, investors would be well-advised to be selective while riding the rally. Traders, however, can make hay while the sun shines and those with a bullish temperament can consider long positions at the counters of Visual Soft at 1766 (square up at Rs 1829) and Satyam Computer Rs 597 (square up at Rs 643). Those with a bearish temperament may consider taking up short positions at the counters of Himachal Futuristic at Rs 1829 (cover up at Rs 1782) and Zee TV at 557 (cover up at Rs 524). The dark horse pick of this week is Melstar Infotech whose prospects appear to be brightening. The optimal strategy for this week continues to remain — keep booking partial profits. |
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Iffco’s insurance
proposal cleared NEW DELHI, Sept 14 — The government today cleared 28 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs 161 crore, including Rs 26-crore Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative Company (Iffco) proposal to provide reinsurance arrangement services. The Iffco proposal is for providing cost effective operations offering a broad range of innovative products, better pricing and high quality of services and better re-insurance arrangements in the country which will involve 26 per cent foreign equity. These proposals have been approved by the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Murasoli Maran, on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). The big FDI proposals approved by the government includes Belgium based Societe Industrielle Liegeoise Des Oxydes S.A for manufacture and sale of inorganic chemicals in India. |
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Book closure not to hit Sterlite trading MUMBAI, Sept 14 (PTI) — Trading will not be affected in the securities of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd on the National Stock Exchange despite the company’s announcement of book closure from October 9 to October 12, 2000. The company announced the book closure for capital reduction and scheme of arrangement which are: Demerger of the telecom business of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd into a separate company i.e. Sterlite Optical Technologies Ltd. Reorganisation of capital of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd by reducing the face value of equity shares of the company after demerger of its telecom division to Rs 5 per equity share. Sterlite Optical Technologies Ltd will issue one equity share of the face value of Rs 5 to every person holding one equity shares of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd of Rs 10 each fully paid up. Since the securities of the company are being traded in the compulsory dematerialised form for all categories of investors, the trading in the securities of the company is not required to be suspended, but will be traded on ex-basis under the new symbol “Sterlitind” from September 27, 2000, the release said. |
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SC directs
Maruti to pay Rs 1 cr sales tax NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (PTI) — The Supreme Court has directed Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) to immediately pay over Rs one crore as sales tax as per the 1994 order of the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner pending the company’s appeal against the order before appellate Tribunal. MUL had approached the Haryana Sales Tax Tribunal against the order of the Commissioner who had levied Rs 23,10,995 under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act and Rs 78,44,607 under the Central Sales Tax Act by taxing the turnover from Omni products at a rate of 10 per cent instead of 6 per cent treating the same as “vans”. The Tribunal rejected the company’s plea for stay of recovery of demand and entertainment of the appeal without prior demand of tax and interest thereon. The company then filed an appeal in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The High Court quashed the order of the Tribunal and directed it to pass a speaking order after hearing the company in accordance with law. But the Tribunal relying on a judgement of the High Court dismissed the company’s plea and directed it to deposit the amount within a month. The company again approached the High Court, which again ruled in favour of MUL. The state government then approached the Supreme Court. A Division Bench of the apex court comprising Justice K. T. Thomas and Justice R. P. Sethi upheld the Tribunal order and set aside the High Court order. The Bench rejected MUL’s plea that the company “has not collected any additional tax from the customers and is unable to deposit the amount of additional demand created by patently illegal orders”. Justice Sethi said “The legality of the additional demand created could not be made the basis for insisting to entertain the appeal without prior payment, as that would have required the determination on the merits of the appeal.” Referring to the High Court order allowing the appeal to be heard after MUL deposited a bank guarantee, the Bench quoted an earlier ruling of the apex court where it was held that “No governmental business or for that matter no business of any kind can be run on mere bank guarantees.” |
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New tourism policy in 100 days AGRA, Sept 14 — The Union Tourism Minister, Mr Ananth Kumar, today said the government would set up a task force to work out a new tourism policy within 100 days, which would be “mandatory” in nature and “not a set of recommendations”. Mr Kumar also stated that the disinvestment of ITDC would be completed by March 2002. “We are going to come up with a new tourism policy within 100 days”, said the minister at the tourism seminar organised by CII here. The Union Minister had earlier indicated that the new policy would be placed before the Cabinet before the beginning of the next session of Parliament. However, the minister’s announcement today indicated that the government would further delay the announcement of the policy. Talking to The Tribune, a senior official of the Tourism Ministry said the policy was ready and several drafts of the policy has been considered at different forums. The CII has submitted 17-point agenda including the need to liberalise visa policy, abolish high rate of taxation on the tourism sector and opening of the aviation sector. Mr Kumar said the new policy would consider the suggestions of the exit polls carried out by the A.T. Kearney and the CII. The exit poll results, based on a sample of 600 outgoing tourists from Indira Gandhi International Airport, indicated that poor road conditions and the lack of basic civic amenities were nightmares of the tourists visiting the country. Stating that the tourism policy of 1982 had become obsolete, he said the new policy will focus on public-private and the task force will comprise of representatives from both industry and government. The Union Minister said “the government’s role would be restricted to promote and regulate the sector in the coming years”. There were 2.48 billion tourist arrivals last year with the country earning over Rs 18,000 crore in foreign exchange as against a central allocation of Rs 250 crore to the sector. Mr Kumar emphasised the need for greater interaction between the states to give a boost to the sector. He said, “we have received proposals from some states for divestment of Yatri Nivas in the states”. Madhya Pradesh has placed such a proposal keeping the tariff structure intact, he added. He urged industry to contribute to the National Cultural Fund and come up with the plans for restoring and maintaining the heritage sites. The fund is fully exempted from income tax. On the ITDC disinvestment, he said, “it is not government’s mandate to manage hotels”. “We are assessing the properties of ITDC in Mumbai and Bangalore”, he said adding it would be given on lease. |
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They marry money and divorce spouses SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 14 — on the surface they appear to have it all. Beautiful houses, fantastic jobs and stock options worth millions. But when things start to go wrong and the marriage breaks down, the unhappy couples of Silicon Valley are finding that divorce is as complicated and difficult as the impenetrable technologies that make the new economy tick. That’s why some divorce lawyers believe that divorce rates are dropping in Santa Clara county, which encompasses most of Silicon Valley. In 1990, there were 8,997 divorces in the county, but last year there were 7,315, despite a population increase. “It used to be two kids and a car, a house and an IRA (retirement fund), furniture and credit cards,’’ says William Dok, a veteran San Jose family law attorney. “Now, we have huge equity in family homes, more homes, a multitude of deferred compensation programmes and more toys.’’ Add to that luxury cars, airplanes, boats and time-shares - and it’s easy to see why a local paper recently commented that Silicon Valley splits make Hollywood divorces look small-time. In addition to the financial complexity, it appears that exorbitant costs of living plays a role in keeping couples glued together. People who have gotten rich from the dotcom explosion are finding splitting up their fortune is time-consuming, nerve-wracking and expensive. One of the main problems is in the allocation of stock options, which are ill-defined under local divorce law and are often the subject of protracted arguments. The situation is exacerbated by a lack of qualified ‘’forensic accountants’’ who can delve into obscure and complex financial structures. Those who have not hit the Internet jackpot find things even tougher. ”People can’t afford to be divorced,’’ says Phil Hammer, a prominent family law attorney. “I tell them to think twice about what they’re doing. They just may not have thought about what is going to happen when they try to set up a second household, and they realise a one-bedroom apartment is going for $ 2,100 a month. And if they’ve got kids, one bedroom will not be enough.’’ This can often mean that one of the parents has to move to an area where rents are cheaper, imposing strain on child visitation arrangements and on the delicate relationships that divorced parents have. The stock option headache centres on the question: How does a couple fairly divide a community interest in a future employment benefit? The courts are undecided whether this near-ubiquitous form of employee compensation should be considered property or income. The former would mean that they should be divided equally, the latter that they are predominantly the property of the person who earned them . |
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A website for the unfaithful BUENOS AIRES: His women friends were cheating on their husbands but needed plausible excuses, so Raul Tello came up with a hi-tech solution: an Internet site that provides all the excuses for a four-star affair. As a web page designer Mr Tello had all the tools to provide an anonymous communications network that would allow for Argentina’s lovers to make elaborate getaways. ``We design invitations to conferences, provide the airline tickets and send the invitation to the client,’’ said Mr Tello, the founder of www.amorios.com.ar. ``After the conference they receive certificates of attendance and if necessary, invitations to a follow-up conference,’’ he added. Despite an economic slump that has hammered most small businesses in Argentina, the affair-planning business appears to be recession-proof. In the first 60 days, Mr Tello grossed $37,000 and signed up 300 clients. For an annual fee of $60, the clients receive a coded card with their ``identity’’ and an e-mail password. The website has a complete package deal that can be used to convince not only the unsuspecting spouse but also the boss that the unfaithful party is away on business. ``We put a lot of effort into convincing the client’s supervisor that this is a business trip,’’ Mr Tello said. However, Amorios.com is only capable of taking on 1,000 clients. The logistics of planning an affair in Argentina are particularly complicated because so many people suspect their partners of infidelity. Cover trails are laid in elaborate detail. For example, should a suspicious spouse call the ``conference’’, someone playing a secretary in the Amorio offices will grab the corresponding mobile telephone and read an appriopriate script. Background noise is then blasted over the office loudspeakers to simulate the atmosphere of a conference. The caller is told that their spouse ``just stepped out’’ and the lover is contacted and told to phone home straight away. The clients of Amorios.com are equally divided between the sexes. ``I don’t care if it is women with women, men with men, whatever. People who are unfaithful will be so with or without Amorios, I am just providing an excuse, nothing more.’’ — The Guardian Star tv takes stake in Hathway Dotcom NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (PTI) — Rupert Murdoch-owned Star TV today announced acquisition of 26 per cent equity stake in Hathway Cable and Dotcom Private Limited, for an undisclosed amount, to launch fully-integrated interactive broadband and television Internet services by early next year. In conjunction with this investment, Star will offer a host of convergence services taking advantage of Hathway’s extensive distribution network, with the latter reaching approximately 2.5 million homes across India, a Star TV statement said here. “This alliance with Hathway takes us a giant leap forward in India. We believe our multi-service offering, consisting of popular programming, interactive services, premium content, to name just a few, will drive growth for both our own multimedia business and for Hathway,” Chairman and CEO of Star James Murdoch said. Hathway claimed dominance in the Indian cable market with 1,065 franchisees, covering 60 per cent of the premium Mumbai market and holding significant market shares in Pune, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, it said. “Currently, the cable industry in India is highly fragmented. The industry needs to consolidate and technological change demands high invetsment....The entry of Star TV as a strategic partner will help Hathway achieve and maintain the leadership position in the cable industry,” CEO of Hathway K Jayaraman said. Global roaming by Spice CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — Spice Telecom subscribers will now be able to make international phone calls to nearly 15 countries from their call phones. This “International Roaming Facility” was launched today by Spice. By availing this service, the post paid subscribers can roam internationally without changing SIM card or the number. When outside India, the mobile phone of the subscriber will automatically register with the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) of this area and will be able to make local, STD and ISD calls. The countries where the subscribers can make calls include Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Mauritius, South Africa, Spain, Singapore, UAE, Czech Republic, Finland, Turkey and several others. Service to USA and Canada will be started soon, said the officials in the company.  |
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Costliest car for India PUNE: Mercedes Benz India on Thursday rolled out the country’s most expensive car ‘S320L’ costing Rs 59 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). “The new 3,200 cc model is equipped with several advanced safety and comfort features and capable of delivering 224 Brake Horse Power (BHP),” CEO Jurgen Ziegler told newsmen at the launch ceremony here. The car hosts features like automatic climate control system, belt force limiters for both front and rear seats, side and window airbags with two stage gas generator and multi-fiction sensor. The model, fully imported and assembled at the company’s plant at Pimperi near Pune will also have ergonomic switch for adjusting the front and rear seats, steering wheel, rear view mirrors and sliding sunroof with mamory function. Mercedes Benz has targeted to sell 100 units of the super luxury car in India, Ziegler said, adding it has already got 84 confirmed bookings for the model. Fight against high heels Los Angeles: The cocktail waitresses of the Nevada casinos are finally putting their feet down. Tired of dressing up in skimpy costumes and the highest of heels, they have formed an organisation to campaign for more sensible footwear. The Kiss My Foot Coalition has already persuaded casinos in Reno to allow them to lower their heels. The waitresses complain that the nights of serving gamblers while perched on high heels have given many bunions or hammertoes and has left some requiring knee surgery. Now the coalition, led by a cocktail waitress, Kricket Martinez, is trying to persuade the Las Vegas casinos to follow suit. ``Men waiters don’t have to wear high heels - just women,’’ Ms Martinez told the Los Angeles Times. ``We’re trying to tell casinos where women are walking around in bustiers and thongs that they don’t have to endanger the safety of their employees just because someone says sex sells and high heels are sexy.’’ The waitresses have traditionally put up with the uncomfortable costumes and the gropes of the gamblers because the tips can be even higher than the hated heels. Bill Gates pats politicians NEW DELHI: Microsoft chief Bill Gates, who had an interactive session with 10 Indian Chief Ministers, including Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and S.M. Krishna of Karnataka, later said: “I am very impressed with the keenness of Indian politicians to use IT in e-governance and education. This is something you won’t find even in the USA”: Naidu and Krishna, considered the most IT friendly Chief Ministers in the country, also held separate one-to-one meeting with the software moghul. Computers not good for kids WASHINGTON: Early exposure to computers stunts children’s development and such technology should only be introduced after elementary school, a group of US educators and psychologists have said. The Alliance for Childhood, a private non-profit group that focuses on child development, said in a report that computers and the Internet prevent pre-school children from interacting with each other and adults. “Children are increasingly being denied warmth, artistic inspiration and understanding. Only a teacher can do that,” Ms Kim John Payne, a Massachusetts child psychologist, said.
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