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| Saturday, June 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — Eleven Indians, including Azim Premji and Dhirubhai Ambani, have found place in the Forbes’ latest billionaires list, nine of them making it thanks to the ongoing information technology revolution.
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Awaiting computerised banking ISLAMABAD: The number of Pakistanis living below the poverty line has increased phenomenally from 17.8 million in 1987-88 to 43.9 million in 1998-99, the Economic Survey 1999-2000 has revealed. Spice offers 2 more services
As bored as accountants
140 dotcom companies vanish after
public issues SHIMLA, June 16 — An effective mechanism to weed out fraudulent dotcom (Internet) companies which vanished after raising funds through public issues was being put in place to protect the interests of investors, Mr P.L. Sanjeev Reddy, Secretary Law and Company Affairs, to the Government of India said here today. There has been a spate of dotcom companies, many of which were not genuine, in the wake of the information technology regulation which swept the country over the past two years. Numerous complaints of cheating and frauds had compelled the government to take effective steps to closely monitor the performance of these companies, he told The Tribune during an interview. He said at least 140 dot companies had vanished from the scene after raising funds from public and efforts were on to track down several others against which there were complaints. The main problem in dealing with Internet companies was that unlike other companies they did not have any physical assets on the basis of which their real worth would be assessed. They operated on the strength of their intellectual property which could not be evaluated. Moreover, the unscrupulous promoters behind such companies frequently shifted their base making it impossible to track their whereabouts. The government had now decided that no dotcom company would be allowed to go public until it had three years of experience in the line. SEBI would closely scrutinise their track record for the period before granting them permission to raise fund through public issues. However, they were free to take the book binding route in the intervening period. Besides, to help establish their credentials as genuine dotcom companies, it had been mandatory that at least 75 per cent of their total business must pertain to the Information Technology sector. The Department of Company Affairs, he said, had compiled data about 5.5 lakh companies out of which over 70,000 had gone public. A system for on line monitoring of companies was also being evolved in which SEBI, RBI and other concerned agencies would also be involved, besides the department. The cybernated business environment in which distance and time lag had been completely eliminated, it had become imperative to amend the Companies Act to take care of various aspects of e-business and e-governance. The government was already on the job and a standing committee of the Parliament was examining the proposed amendments. The main objective of exercise was to ensure transparency and accountability in the functioning of companies and protect the interests of the small investors. In order to make the directors accountable it has been proposed to make it mandatory for the company to state the responsibility of each director. Besides, a provision to set up audit committees would also be made to closely monitor the financial transactions. The small investors would be allowed exercise their opinion on important decisions through the facility of postal ballot. This would deter the companies managers to from taking arbitrary decisions. The minority share holders would be given representation in the board so that they could safeguard their interests. Another important proposed amendment was to limit the number of companies in which an individual could hold the position of director to 15. At present some persons were directors of 50 to 60 companies. It was also proposed to debar a shareholder from becoming an auditor of the company. The performance of directors would be critically examined by the shareholders in the annual general meeting. A penal clause providing for disqualification of directors in the event of failure to pay the fixed deposits was also part of the proposed amendments. Mr Reddy, who is also a member of the SEBI, expressed hope that all these steps would help restore the confidence of investors which was essential for the growth of companies. |
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NEW DELHI, June 16 (PTI) — Eleven Indians, including Azim Premji and Dhirubhai Ambani, have found place in the Forbes’ latest billionaires list, nine of them making it thanks to the ongoing information technology revolution. Premji, whose Wipro is going for a $ 500 million listing in the Nasdaq bourse shortly, is the richest Indian with a net worth of $ 6.9 billion, according to the magazine. Premji, who is happy flying in executive class and travelling in a Ford Escort car, is at the 38th slot . The three Indians who are among the first 50 billionaires include US settled Indian and founder of i2 Technologies Sanjiv Sidhu with his $ 6.5 billion worth and petrochemical king Dhirubhani Ambani along with his family. While Ambani along with his family has been placed in the 40th position with $ 6.60 billion worth, the Hyderabad-born 43-year-old Sidhu whose i2 Technologies stock value went up 600 per cent last year is at 41st position with $ 6.5 billion. Another US settled Indian Gururaj Deshpande is at 113 position with $ 3.9 billion, while HCL group Chairman Shiv Nadar ($ 3.7 billion) is at 126 and Zee telefilms
promoter Subhash Chandra ($ 3 billion) at 151. Non-resident Indian settled in the UK, Lakshmi Mittal, who owns steel plants in many Asian and South East Asian countries is the 197 richest man with a worth of $ 2.1 billion, followed by Usha group Chairman Vinay Ray and family at the 200th position. Others in the world’s richest club are Kumar Mangalam Birla with & 1.7 billion worth, Ramalinga Raju of Satyam Computers with $ 1.3 billion and UK settled Hinduja brothers with $ 1 billion. It is the first time that 11 Indians are making it to the Billionaire club. Last year there were only seven Indians in the list. Deshpande, who is described as a serial entrepreneur has co-founded Sycamore Networks, the fibre optic firm that went public last October. He had also founded
globally known IT companies such as Coral Network in 1988 and Cascade in 1990. Sidhu reached the Billionaire club 12 years after he co-founded the i2 Technologies, a hot scrip in Nasdaq now. The only non-IT billionaires are Steel man Mittal, Ambani, Hindujas and Birla, although all of them have of late decided to enter the IT sector in a big way. |
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Awaiting computerised banking AMRITSAR, June 16 — Even as the RBI has issued instructions to adopt the MICR (computerised) set- up to all government departments to facilitate computerised banking, yet most of them are still “non-MICR” (non-computerised). Amritsar was selected as a “MICR test banking city” by the RBI over other cities in Punjab and Haryana, including Chandigarh. Since a majority of the government departments are not conforming to the instructions, refund vouchers and other cheques continue to be issued in the non-MICR category by these departments such as the Treasury Office, the Public Works Department, the District Food Corporation and the Income Tax Department. A lot of hardship is caused because of this since banks accept MICR cheques leaving only a day in a week for the non-MICR ones. According to sources, the RBI proposes to issue instructions to banks nationwide conform to the MICR banking within two years. Interestingly, as Mr G.S. Sandhu, Chief Manager of the main branch of the State Bank of India, reveals, Jammu and Kashmir Bank itself is non-computerised. The Postal Department is also yet to be computerised. Since only one day in a week has been allotted to clearing the non-MICR cheques, consequently these have to be cleared through the clearing authority — the State Bank of India. Banking figures show a weekly transaction of crores of rupees in the non-MICR category. Even government employees have no choice but to have accounts in the SBI which is also the notification authority on all banks for the MICR category and holds the dual charges of clearing non-MICR cheques or instruments. A senior bank officer admits that the SBI is actually gaining as most government employees need to have their accounts with the SBI for easy accessibility to non-MICR payments issued by the government department. The single-day clearing is serving as a blessing in disguise to those who want to delay their payments, including private parties as well as the government. The worst hit are the finance companies, especially the private ones, who have financed vehicles and other expensive goods to their customers in lieu of dated cheques which were issued three to five years back when the MICR set-up was not implemented resulting in every cheque issued then being delayed for at least a week thereby losing interest on the amount. People are also facing difficulties regarding the timely issue of MICR cheque books. Mr Gurmeet Singh Chawla, an advocate, says, “It took me nearly a week to procure a computerised cheque book from the Bank of Baroda as it was out of stock.” Another businessman, Mr Bhavinder Singh, says that singling out Amritsar for a MICR city has not been very favourable to the business community because other cities are not compatible with the set-up, as a result of which out-station cheques and drafts are still being received in the non-MICR category. “I received a payment of Rs 2 lakh from an export house through a non-computerised draft issued by a bank branch in Connaught Place in Delhi recently. In case of a single large payment being delayed for even two days the cycle of circulation of money leads to huge losses in business as payments have to be forwarded to other parties,” he says. There are reports that the
clearing of non-MICR cheques will be done only once in 15 days shortly and later the non-MICR cheques will be phased out completely. |
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Pakistan has become poorer: survey ISLAMABAD: The number of Pakistanis living below the poverty line has increased phenomenally from 17.8 million in 1987-88 to 43.9 million in 1998-99, the Economic Survey 1999-2000 has revealed. Declining economic growth, persistence of severe macroeconomic imbalances, reduction in the flow of remittances from overseas Pakistani workers, lack of social safety nets and poor governance have led to this significant increase. “There is a general consensus that poverty has increased and income distribution has worsened in the 1990s in Pakistan,” says the survey. Comparing rural and urban poverty, the survey says that “according to the basic needs approach, poverty has increased from 28.6 per cent in 1986-87 to 35.9 per cent in 1992-93 and further to 35.7 per cent in 1993-94, but at a greater pace in the rural areas than in the urban areas”. Another indicator of income inequality is the shares of the lowest 20 per cent and the highest 20 per cent of households in the income. The ratio of highest 20 per cent to lowest 20 per cent increased from 5.5 in 1986-87 to 7.1 in 1996-97 showing the worsening of income distribution. Further analyses suggest that income distribution has worsened in rural areas while it has slightly improved in urban areas during 1979 to 1996-97, says the survey. The overview of survey says that the government has taken a conscious decision to bring the issue of poverty alleviation to the centre-stage of economic policy making. The fundamental shift in policies would make the poor the focal point of the country’s socio-economic development process. The government has prepared a strategy to reduce poverty and improve income distribution. “Sustained pro-poor economic growth based on robust private sector activity and investment is the key element of the poverty reduction strategy. Macroeconomic policies are being integrated with social and sectoral objectives to ensure that plans are mutually supportive and consistent with a common set of objectives to spur growth and reduce poverty.” The government has prepared an anti-poverty programme consisting of five major elements — integrated small public works programme, food supplement programme, micro credit bank and improving social indicators.
— PTI |
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Spice offers 2 more services CHANDIGARH, June 16 — Spice, the largest cellular services provider in Punjab, has offered two additional services for post-paid subscribers. All post-paid subscribers will have restricted STD facility on their mobile phone but only in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, parts of Rajasthan and Jammu. For this STD rates will be charged along with applicable airtime rates, a Spice release said here today. The second — restricted roaming service — will be launched by the end of this month. With this service a post-paid subscriber can receive and make calls within Himachal . This facility is free till September after which a monthly rental of Rs 50 will be charged. The Head of Marketing of Spice, Mr Mandeep Bhatia, said ‘‘the restricted roaming services will be extended to other adjoining states by September’’. A subscriber can shift from pre-paid to post-paid facility by dialing 12345. |
co
As bored as accountants SYDNEY: If you want to earn good money and never be out of a job, accountancy is the profession for you. But be prepared for boredom. That’s the mental health warning from two Australian recruitment firms who today published their research on employment issues in the
bean counting business. Deloitte Resources found that over half the accountants giving up regular jobs to go into consultancy did so to escape boredom. The Robert Walters recruiting firm warned employers that human kindness rather than big pay packets and frequent promotions was the key to keeping accountants hunched over their calculators. — DPA Plan to set up ICE authority NEW DELHI: The government is planning to set up an information, communication and entertainment (ICE) authority as a regulator with the existing Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which regulates the telecom sector. This will be along with a content bureau , to be set up, to monitor the Net and broadcasting mediums. A draft of the ICE Act, now being vetted by the Finance Ministry before being put up before the Cabinet, says the ICE authority will be a super regulator and it will incorporate TRAI. TRAI is to be renamed as the carriage bureau and a new model agency - Content Bureau - will be created. The ICE authority will be responsible for licensing, policy, promotion of competition, enforcement of all telecom, broadcast and new companies and international communication.
— UNI TRAI to improve Internet quality NEW DELHI:
TRAI has stepped in to improve the quality of Internet services following complaints of slow speed and clogging. TRAI announced on Friday that a survey would be conducted as a first step to fix standards for Internet quality by collecting inputs from users on the nature of problems being faced by them. TRAI has posted a questionnaire on its website, www.trai.gov.in, for users to access and fill up. Users can give their feedback through the website or any other means till July 15.
— PTI |
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J.K. Industries net up 48 pc Tata Tea net slips to 124.57 crore
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PIE Education PSB RBI holiday IPCL Godrej Soap Wipro
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