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Cell operators leave Trai meeting on spectrum issue
Mohali software makes US ships sail
Bring down power bills and get sops, ministries told
A-I discount for elderly bound to
Corporate house sponsors Husain’s |
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Harvest scheme with Asean from January
Union Bank plans global operations
Principal PNB launches equity fund
Now recharge mobiles at petrol stations
Assocham opposes job quota move in private sector
Cooperatives get proactive in Leh
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Cell operators leave Trai meeting on spectrum issue
New Delhi, September 6 “We note from the consultation paper that Trai (Telecom regulatory Authority of India) is considering the possibility of using North American PCS band in India for CDMA purposes. We have data to show if this happens, 30 million GSM users will be denied the opportunity to avail 3G services like seamless roaming,” Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (Coai), said. He said they were also stopped from making presentations at Mumbai and Bangalore earlier. “We have been repeatedly denied this opportunity of presenting our views before the authority for which we have flown in several international experts. We believe that the dangers and pitfalls of the US PCS band should be discussed in an open forum and our views be heard by all stakeholders. But Trai has instead asked us to make a separate presentation on the subject,” he said. “As the regulator did not discuss this important and relevant matter in an open forum, we were constrained to withdraw from the open house proceedings today,” he said, adding Coai will meet Trai, separately. He cited a section of the Trai Act, which says: “The Authority shall ensure transparency while exercising its powers and discharging the functions.” Operators have already applied for 3G spectrum, Mr Ramachandran said, adding 3G spectrum, also called IMT 2000, is both for GSM and CDMA and both technologies can co-exist. “CDMA operators do not want it. They want to import the US PCS 1900 band, which will harm GSM side,” he said, adding the IMT 2000 band is a technology neutral band and both sides can co-exist without interference as is also recommended by the ITU and international consensus. On the CDMA operators’ argument that equipment and handsets were available only in the US PCS 1900 band, he said there are 180 handsets available in 1800 band. Trai member DPS Seth defended the authority’s decision of not allowing Coai to make presentation in an open house as “it required two-three hours of discussion.” The Association of Unified Service Providers of India Secretary S.C. Khanna, said “We don’t have equipment on 1,800 Mhz band. We have been given 800 and 1,800 Mhz and the instrument which works on 800 Mhz would not be able work on 1800 Mhz, and will only work on 1900 Mhz.” There is no question of interference and it will not block the migration to 3G. Filters can be used to check any interference, Mr Khanna said adding even today filters are being used for 800 and 900 Mhz to prevent interference.
— PTI
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Mohali software makes US ships sail
Chandigarh, September 6 While the Cats Fast Ferry is a multi-year contract billed over Rs 3 crore, the Vineyard’s project is pegged at Rs 2 crore. Sebiz Infotech is the Indian arm of Netsmartz, a New York-based firm. Under an agreement, the former provides software development services while the latter provides marketing and project management. The company also caters to clients like Intel, Kodak and ABB “The Fast Ferry is a prominent project which involves a Rs 200-crore ship. The ship operates at over 80 kmph. Netsmartz-Sebiz will set up the entire infrastructure, including complete software development, website hosting, reservation systems, e-marketing and financial systems,” says Mr Manjeet Dhaliwal, CEO, Netsmartz-Sebiz, who is on a short visit to India. “The company has also inked a deal to develop and deploy IT infrastructure along similar lines on Vineyard Fast Ferry,” he adds. Mr Dhaliwal, a US-qualified computer engineer and business management expert, says that bagged the order because of the “advantage of scalability and pricing, which was possible because of our Indian arm in Mohali.” Mr Dhaliwal disclosed that they would launch a travel and reservation portal, Travelsmartz, within a few days. “This will be a comprehensive online travel website allowing worldwide reservations for hotels, airline tickets, golf packages, rental cars and customised vacation packages,” he says.
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Bring down power bills and get sops, ministries told
New Delhi, September 6 Speaking at the national conference on ‘Renewable Energy for Urban Areas’, Mr Azad said, “The government is quite concerned about the wastage of power and water in the government institutions at a time, when the rural areas face acute shortage of water and power.” “If a particular ministry can bring down its annual power bill, say by Rs 10 lakh, we propose to offer that much amount as an incentive,” he said. He said in view of the poor implementation of urban development schemes, the Union Government was contemplating to increase its share of funding in the Centrally-sponsored urban development schemes to ensure that they do not languish for want of money. “We are in consultation with the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission to increase the Centre’s share in various schemes sponsored by the Union Urban Development Ministry,” said Mr Azad. He said an announcement in this regard would be made within a fortnight. Mr Azad said a large number of schemes drawn up by the ministry had failed to take off and the situation could improve with the Centre increasing its share of funds. Earlier, Minister for Non-Conventional Energy Sources Vilas Muttemwar stressed on the need for rules and regulations by the Urban Development Ministry for the enhanced use of renewable energy. “There is a need for encouraging the use of renewable energy in the urban areas which will go a long way in reducing dependence on conventional energy,” Mr Muttemwar said.
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A-I discount for elderly bound to USA, Europe
Chandigarh, September 6 The discount will also apply on destinations, which are not directly served by Air-India. Airlines which have a seat-sharing agreement with Air-India will also allow passengers to fly on the discount, said Air-India’s local manger Shashikant Koundal. From September, the lean season starts for travel to the USA and Europe.
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Corporate house sponsors Husain’s earth series
Mumbai, September 6 Swarup Group of Industries Chairman and Managing Director Guru Swarup Srivastava, presented a cheque for Rs 1.01 crore to Husain at a function organised at Hotel Taj Mahal and Palace here. When 25 paintings of Husain are ready, the corporate will hold an exhibition here. A part of the proceeds will go to charity like hospitals, a part dedicated to the nation and the rest will be sold to art lovers. “The focal point of the association is to facilitate the artists with the same response and returns that they receive abroad. We plan to invite foreign buyers to purchase these creations. The exhibition shall also go a long way in promoting art in India and abroad,’’ said Mr Srivastava, who has business interests in infrastructure development and commodity exchange, among others. About the number of paintings he plans to brush as part of the series, Husain said, ‘’Paintings are never-ending. It is like Ramayana.’’
— UNI
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Harvest scheme with Asean from January
New Delhi, September 6 “I see the EHP not only as a confidence-building measure, but also as a commercial instrument, which will bestow upon us a substantial level of economic gain — a win-win situation for us all”, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said in his address to the Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) and India Consultations at Jakarta on Sunday. A Commerce Ministry statement said the Working Group on Rules of Origin needed to do some more work and resolve outstanding issues. “If we approach these matters with open minds and allow our negotiators the necessary flexibilities, there is no reason why these problems cannot be resolved,” Mr Nath said. The Commerce Minister said for a region as fast growing as the Asean and an economy as large and strong as India’s, a mere 10 per cent annual growth rate was not enough. “I think we must be more ambitious, we must aim much higher. We should make concerted efforts to double the volume of our trade within three years,” he said. From 2001 to 2003, Asean-India bilateral trade grew at an annual rate of 11.22 per cent — from $9.88 billion in 2001 to $12.09 billion in 2003.
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Union Bank plans global operations
Chandigarh, September 6 Talking about the future plans, he said the bank had started a scheme, Union Paradise, wherein loans would be advanced to NRIs keen to build a house in India. The loan would be made available at a floating rate. The bank is among the top five public sector banks in terms of the total business handled by it. Mr Murthy said the new retail products had been introduced in the region, both on deposits and advances to meet the financial needs of the customers. He also announced the launch of tie-ups with HCL Infosystems Ltd for financing the purchase of HCL computers, TVS Motors for financing two-wheelers and ICFAI University, Hyderabad, for education loans. The bank would also provide LIC premium insurance to its clients under its newly-launched Union Insured Recurring Deposit Scheme in association with the LIC of India.
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Principal PNB launches equity fund
Chandigarh, September 6 Principal Dividend Yield Fund would invest at least 65 per cent of its assets in stocks with a dividend yield of more than 1.50 times the dividend yield of the NSE Nifty. The fund offers a choice of two investment plans – the growth plan for investors looking at capital appreciation from their investments and the dividend plan for investors who are looking at dividend income from their investment, said Mr Sanjay Sachdev, MD and CEO. The initial offer which opened today closes on September 27, 2004.
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Now recharge mobiles at petrol stations
Chandigarh, September 6 The pre-paid mobile phone connection can be recharged using the regular credit card EDC terminal available at the outlet. The consumers have the choice to select from various denominations and can recharge pre-paid connections of all major mobile telephone service providers. Plans are afoot to expand this service to other major cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. The services shall be further extended to virtual calling card, internet access and utility payments in next few months.
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Assocham opposes job quota move in private sector
New Delhi, September 6 “The government’s proposal to impose reservation on the corporate sector will only create more physiological pressure on the industry and the potential investors rather than creating employment opportunities for the underprivileged,” Assocham said in a statement here. The government should instead focus on creating a conducive atmosphere for entrepreneurs to provide job opportunities to backward classes in the rural and semi-urban sector, Assocham president M.K. Sanghi said. He said the issue made economic sense only when a chain of labour intensive industrial units was set up. At a time when IT and IT-enabled services as well as business process outsourcing were contributing a major share of employment opportunities, reservation did not make sense. It would force corporates to shift to other countries for sourcing services. Mr Sanghi said so far the government had been able to provide employment to about 34.3 crore persons out of a total population of 110 crore. Of the total persons employed, 2.23 crore were in the organised sector and 32 crore in the unorganised sector. Mr Sanghi pointed out that most of the jobs created between 1994-2000 were in the unorganised sector. Only 3.53 per cent jobs were created in the organised sector while 96.4 per cent jobs during the period were in unorganised sector. In effect, only 0.6 per cent of the jobs created each year were in the organised sector.
— UNI
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Cooperatives get proactive in Leh
Leh, (Ladakh), September 6 This information was given to the Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Abdul Aziz Zargar, by the Registrar Cooperative, Dr G.N. Qusba, at Leh here yesterday. Agriculture produce, too, is marketed through cooperatives to the principal buyers, including the armed forces. The cooperatives in Leh made 6,700 quintals of fertilisers available to the farmers during the current year.
— UNI
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