B U S I N E S S

Surf and rate jokes on the Richter scale
LONDON: Consider the sad story of a group of managers who were told to measure the height of a flagpole. They spent hours fiddling with ladders and tape measures, and got nowhere. An engineer arrived, pulled up the flagpole, laid it down and measured it from end to end. ‘Typical engineer,’ sneered one of the managers. ‘We’re looking for the height and he gives us the length.’

Govt unclear on DTH
NEW DELHI, Dec 31 — The second wave of invasion from the sky will occur soon with the government clearing the entry of private players in the Direct to Home television service. Will it happen soon? Experts doubt it as the government has failed to specify the kind of technology they will allow for encryption.

BIS check on goods from China
JAISALMER, Dec 31 — The government is taking steps, including imposition of anti-dumping duty, to prevent China capturing Indian consumer markets by dumping its goods, Union Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Raman Singh said here today.

‘Coin mela’ in Shimla
CHANDIGARH, Dec 31 — Mr A. Guha, Chief General Manager of the State Bank of Patiala, today inaugurated a “coin mela” at Shimla.

Limca told to give car to villager
NURPUR, Dec 31 — The Kangra District Consumer Redressal Forum in a camp here yesterday asked the Manager of Limca Beverages, Chheharta (Amritsar), to give a car to Mr Rakesh Kumar of Dhayala village, of Nurpur sub-division which he had won as a prize from the cap of a Limca bottle, he purchased from a local dealer on April 4, 2000.

That’s IT

Things can get only smaller now
LONDON: Thinking big did us proud last century. All our memorable achievements were conceived on a grand scale, from the skyscraper to the Apollo moon landings, from the motorway to the nuclear submarine. But the days of the Great Engineering Project may be numbered, soon to be replaced, like the dinosaur, by newer, faster and — most importantly — tinier entities. The future is minute, say scientists, microscopically, frantically minute.

Offbeat

Make this year better
LET this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t find the time. Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Share a funny story with someone whose spirits are dragging. A good laugh can be very good medicine.

How to beat a hangover
LOS ANGELES: No matter how many bottles of beer they guzzle, most people are amateurs when it comes to hangovers, rarely thinking of them until the suffering begins.

Tax & You

— by R. N. Lakhotia

Q: I am one of the directors of a private limited company. I am drawing salary from the company from its very inception and also claiming standard deduction from the salary. The said deduction has been allowed by the department continuously but last year case was fixed in scrutiny and the I.T.O. disallowed the standard deduction claimed by me amounting to Rs. 15,000 and also considered the salary as income from ‘other sources’.

Aviation notes

Airbus Ind plans new aircraft
AIRBUS Industry is highly optimistic that an aircraft, with the capacity for 500 plus passengers, will be essential in the 21st century. Aviation analysts opine that the recent trends of travelling reveal that large capacity carriers will be in demand on long-haul international routes.

Market scan

ICE stocks leave investors in the cold
THE calendar year 2000 was bad for the stock market; would the year 2001 be any better ? It is too early to express any definite view but indications are that it would need tons of good wishes to make it a better one. Much will depend on the behaviour of the monsoons. 

Surf and rate jokes on the Richter scale
From Robin Mckie

LONDON: Consider the sad story of a group of managers who were told to measure the height of a flagpole. They spent hours fiddling with ladders and tape measures, and got nowhere. An engineer arrived, pulled up the flagpole, laid it down and measured it from end to end. ‘Typical engineer,’ sneered one of the managers. ‘We’re looking for the height and he gives us the length.’

Or take the tale of the dyslexic devil worshipper who sold his soul to Santa, or the man who wore jump leads round his neck in a nightclub and was warned by a bouncer not to start anything.

These stories may make you smile or possibly wince. Either way, science wants to know your reactions, or to be more precise, Professor Ken Goldberg and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, want to hear them. All you have to do is click on their Jester website (http://shadow.ieor.berkeley.edu/humor/) and register. Participants have to surf through a series of 15 rib-ticklers (What’s orange and sounds like a parrot? Answer: A carrot) and rate each joke on a Richter scale that ranges from ‘very unfunny’ to ‘hilarious’.

The Jester team’s computer will digest your responses to these efforts and start to recommend new jokes tailored to your particular sense of humour. From then on, every offering should make you ill with laughter. Like the one about the Methodist who arrives at the Pearly Gates and is told by St Peter to go to room 24, the Methodists’ chamber, but to be quiet as he passes room 8. ‘But why?’ the man demands. `Different rooms for different religions are fine, but why be quiet when passing room 8?’ ‘That’s easy,’ says St Peter. ‘The Catholics are there and they think they’re the only ones here.’

In fact, Goldberg’s project has a serious aim. It has been launched to help to perfect software that will provide book, video and CD recommendations to customers who use mail-order websites such as Amazon and Firefly.

Current techniques are more sophisticated, but still need improving if shopping online is ever going to encourage the casual browser, say electronic retailers. Links between products — made by a system called collaborative filtering - become logjammed the more people rate titles.

Hence the Jester database, established to test the new system developed at Berkeley.

The research team say they have picked funny stories to test their system because they reveal personal preferences more clearly than anything else. Your opinion of a book or CD is very often too tricky to grade. — Observer News Service

Govt unclear on DTH
From R. Suryamurthy
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 31 — The second wave of invasion from the sky will occur soon with the government clearing the entry of private players in the Direct to Home (DTH) television service. Will it happen soon? Experts doubt it as the government has failed to specify the kind of technology they will allow for encryption.

“The government has not defined whether the set-top box will be an open-ended box or a standard box, the kind of encryption technology standards that would have to be adhered to and other such question,” said Mr Ramendra S Baoni, Managing Director of Bisquare Technologies.

The technology house, which specialises in providing design for high-end technology products, said “lack of clear guidance from the government is forcing them to keep their fingers crossed.”

The DTH service will mean that the KU-band signals are beamed on frequencies above 4800 Mhz. They are normally provided at 10,000 to 12,000 Mhz frequencies. These signals will be received by dish antenna of the size of about 10-12 inches and a decoder or set-top box will decrypt the signals.

The high frequencies will enable the broadcaster to transmit high quality signals to provide much more channels within the specified bandwidth.

Experts said the government has the option of following two course-receivers incorporating a single conditional access system or receivers with a common interface, allowing for the use of multiple conditional access systems.

The conditional access technology limits programme viewing to subscribing audiences, blocking any other access to the programme data.

Mr Baoni said in an open-ended technology, the consumers can access the transmission from different satellite networks by adding the requisite embedded card. However, if it is a closed or standard box technology, the television viewer would have to buy new decoders for viewing programmes being transmitted from different satellite networks.

The DTH, however, will pose a direct threat to the livelihood of cable operators as the decoders will be available at a nominal rates and the subscription fee is also quite cheap.

“The economics of scales will come into play as the subscriber base will increase the channels to reduce the subscription fee. At present, pay channels like ESPN, charge less than Rs 10 per subscriber, even though the cable operators report only 20 per cent of subscriber database to them,” the experts said.

The DTH, which will give freedom to the consumer to view kinds of programmes of their choice, will also give the advertisers to get an indepth knowledge about consumer preference and their target audience.

BIS check on goods from China

JAISALMER, Dec 31 (PTI) — The government is taking steps, including imposition of anti-dumping duty, to prevent China capturing Indian consumer markets by dumping its goods, Union Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Raman Singh said here today.

To discourage Chinese products flood Indian markets a list of 131 goods has been prepared making them mandatory to get certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards for being sold in the country, Raman Singh told reporters.

Marking of these products with date of manufacturing and maximum retail price (MRP) has also being made compulsory, he said.

An inquiry, he said, would also be held to investigate if there was any evasion of the duty through under billing of the Chinese goods.

‘Coin mela’ in Shimla
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 31 — Mr A. Guha, Chief General Manager of the State Bank of Patiala, today inaugurated a “coin mela” at Shimla.

The mela was organised by the bank in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India and local merchants to mitigate hardship faced by local citizens, according to a press release issued here today.

Mr S.P. Negi, Deputy General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, presided over the function. The mela was organised at the behest of Mr R.K. Rattan, Assistant General Manager and attended by over 100 people. Coins worth Rs 10 lakh were distributed.

Limca told to give car to villager
From Our Correspondent

NURPUR, Dec 31 — The Kangra District Consumer Redressal Forum in a camp here yesterday asked the Manager of Limca Beverages, Chheharta (Amritsar), to give a car to Mr Rakesh Kumar of Dhayala village, of Nurpur sub-division, which he had won as a prize from the cap of a Limca bottle, he purchased from a local dealer on April 4, 2000.

Complainant Rakesh ran from pillar to post to get his prize. Then he personally approached the Manager of the company in this connection who reportedly tried to settle the issue by offering small amount of money. At last the complainant filed his complaint with the consumer redressal forum on April 15.

The defendant was issued a notice by the forum who failed to turn up which resulted in ex-parte proceeding. After a number of hearing the forum headed by its President Mr M.R. Chaudhary decided the case in favour of the complainant. The defendant was ordered to give a car or its price to the consumer.

Interestingly, the Limca bottle cap read as “Car won, try someone else”. When the defendant tried to move an application to revoke the ex-parte proceeding it was turned down by the forum.

That’s IT

Things can get only smaller now

LONDON: Thinking big did us proud last century. All our memorable achievements were conceived on a grand scale, from the skyscraper to the Apollo moon landings, from the motorway to the nuclear submarine. But the days of the Great Engineering Project may be numbered, soon to be replaced, like the dinosaur, by newer, faster and — most importantly — tinier entities. The future is minute, say scientists, microscopically, frantically minute.

The promise of thinking small will be startling, say proponents of nanotechnology, the science of the absurdly small. Soon, aspirin-sized capsules will monitor our arteries; tiny computers in our clothes will tell our washing machine how hot its water should be; recording machines will store the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica on pinhead-sized ‘records’; and microscopic sensors in wristwatches will monitor dust-particle levels which threaten to trigger asthma attacks.

Tomorrow’s technology is small but perfectly formed — bringing manufacturing wonders ranging from the trivial to the profound. Consider Radiant Light Film, developed by technology giant 3M. Composed of a sandwich of more than 400 wafer-thin membranes, each less than one 10-millionth of a metre thick, its gossamer sheets are poised to transform horticulture, car design and the Christmas decorations market, a formidably diverse array of products.

Scientists are pushing molecules around as if they were snooker balls, aligning them into perfect, precise tips for electronic devices. In the foreseeable future, products will include new ceramics, detectors, and medical scanners.

For example, scientists want to copy the incredibly strong, interlinked proteins that cover a virus like chain mail, a development that could lead to the manufacture of powerfully strong fabrics. Other concepts include the creation of steel constructed out of tiny individual nanocrystals, making it stronger and more flexible.

Further down the line, scientists talk of constructing tiny, self-replicating machines that will build their own replacements from individual atoms, or of constructing micro-machines that will wander around our bodies, fixing damage, extending our lives, and maybe even keeping us looking young. With such easy manipulation of molecules, you could create juicy steaks from basic chemical components extracted from sugar beet, maize husks and air. A bovine bypass. Great for vegetarians, and cows.

In the end, the manufacture of virtually anything becomes possible if you can begin your construction using individual atoms. As Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman once remarked, there is “plenty of room at the bottom”. We are not quite there, of course. But then things can only get smaller.

— Observer News Service

Offbeat

Make this year better

LET this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t find the time.

Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Share a funny story with someone whose spirits are dragging. A good laugh can be very good medicine.

Vow not to make a promise you don’t think you can keep. Pay a debt. Give a soft answer.

Free yourself of envy and malice. Encourage some youth to do his or her best. Share your experience, and offer support. Young people need role models.

Make a genuine effort to stay in closer touch with family and good friends. Resolve to stop magnifying small problems and shooting from the lip. Words that you have to eat can be hard to digest.

Find the time to be kind and thoughtful. All of us have the same allotment: 24 hours a day. Give a compliment. It might give someone a badly needed lift.

Apologise when you realise you are wrong. An apology never diminishes a person. It elevates him.

Don’t blow your own horn. If you’ve done something praiseworthy, someone will notice it eventually.

Try to understand a point of view that is different from your own. Few things are 100 per cent one way or another.

Examine the demands you make on others.

Lighten up. When you feel like blowing your top, ask yourself, “will it matter in a week from today?” Laugh the loudest when the joke is on you.

The sure way to have a friend is to be one. We are all connected by our humanity, and we need each other.

Avoid backbiters and pessimists. They drag you down and contribute nothing.

Don’t discourage a beginner from trying something risky. Nothing ventured means nothing gained.

Be optimistic. The can-do spirit is the fuel that makes things go.

Read something uplifting. Deep-six the trash. You won’t eat garbage — why put it in your head?

Don’t abandon your old-fashioned principles. They never go out of style.

When courage is needed, ask yourself, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

Walk tall, and smile more. You’ll look 10 years younger.

Don’t be afraid to say, “I love you.” Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world.

— Ann Landers

How to beat a hangover

LOS ANGELES: No matter how many bottles of beer they guzzle, most people are amateurs when it comes to hangovers, rarely thinking of them until the suffering begins.

Some investigators believe that the culprit common to all hangovers, regardless of whether beer, wine or liquor is responsible, is acetaldehyde, a nasty chemical created in the liver as enzymes metabolise pure alcohol. Some acetaldehyde flows through the bloodstream, and it is believed to be partly responsible for the kind of inflammation that leads to cytokine release.

Dehydration, the wellknown hangover accelerator, compounds the discomfort. Alcohol inhibits the action of an antidiuretic hormone on the kidneys so they remove more water from the blood flowing through them than they normally would. As the body recognises the dehydrated state, more antidiuretic hormone is released to try to rectify the situation.

Drinking coffee and water, a common remedy, won’t get a hung-over person anywhere but to the rest room. Coffee may help in the short term, but its diuretic effect perpetuates the dehydration.

Drinking water with alcohol won’t help prevent a hangover, either. And carbonated beverages aren’t useful; in fact. Champagne gives a quicker rush because it has bubbles.

Eating bread, pasta or high-fat foods like cheese may slow down alcohol absorption, but if you drink too much, cytokines will still cause trouble in the bloodstream.

Alternating drinks with a lot of water or juice may help only because it reduces alcohol intake. Recent studies shown that honey and vitamin B6 work well.

The best advice from these experts who have studied the literature is a cliche: Practise moderation. Stop drinking early, drink water and get good night’s sleep. — DPA 

Market gossip

* Sesa Goa continues to storm its way hitting the upper limit of the circuit filter more often than not and one wonders that is cooking at this counter.

* Zee Tele may brighten with substantial gains. The host of Sawal Dass Crore Ka, Anupam Kher, has been sacked. The multitalented actor Mr Ashutosh Rana will now replace him.

* Pharma scrips are attracting fund based buying. One brokerage firm is executing several buy orders at the Ranbaxy counter.

* Funds as well as speculators may turn buyers of the Silverline share. This may reflect in its price in the short term.

* A fund manager is reportedly very bullish and has been buying Indo Gulf in the past few trading sessions. He believes that it is undervalued at these levels.

* Fund managers are of the view that Thermax is looking very attractive at these prices and the stock should do well in the near future.

* Cipla will replace Novartis (India) in the Sensex from January 8 next year. The company’s shares have been on uptrend and one may see profit sales after the real replacement.

* The government is likely to disinvest 15 per cent equity in Videsh Sanchar Nigam to a strategic partner along with the transfer of management. A very important development and a considerable improvement in valuations appears on the cards.

* Telco has been a firm feature of the market. Market participants foresee a hike in vehicle prices.

* Hero Honda has shown an excellent performance in the first half and is expected to continue its good run in the remaining half of FY01.

* A section of the market feels that NIIT can move up once again. Sources say NIIT has a good order book position. Besides, with the sharp rise in e-business revenue, the performance of the company should improve in the future.

* The Tata Tea stock is showing signs of revival. Some funds as well as speculators are accumulating the stock.

* While the Kerry Packer group association has no doubt enhanced Balaji’s pedigree, there is considerable doubt that this share is being operator driven. It would be prudent to start taking partial profits herefrom.

* Mascot Systems is available at a discount to its offer price and is being recommended by one of the reputed domestic funds.

*Wockhardt will be signing a marketing pact with Bayer AG. With this agreement, Wockhardt will be allowed to market formulations of an anti-diabetic bulk drug. It may further improve the sentiment at this counter.

* A positive announcement is expected at the Pentamedia, Graphics counter. According to informed sources, the company is going in for a private placement.

* Pharma scrips are attracting fund based buying. One brokerage firm is executing several buy orders at the Glaxo counter.

Tax & You

— by R. N. Lakhotia

Q: I am one of the directors of a private limited company. I am drawing salary from the company from its very inception and also claiming standard deduction from the salary. The said deduction has been allowed by the department continuously but last year case was fixed in scrutiny and the I.T.O. disallowed the standard deduction claimed by me amounting to Rs. 15,000 and also considered the salary as income from ‘other sources’.

Will you please guide me on this point whether it is salary or not and standard deduction is allowable or not. Kindly quote some ruling favourable to me.

— H.C. Gupta, Moga.

Ans: On the facts stated by you, you would be eligible to claim standard deduction in respect of director’s remuneration received by you. The assessing officer has wrongly acted to treat your director’s remuneration as Income from other sources and not salary income. Within the permissible schedule of standard deduction available to a salaried employee you would also be eligible to claim the same standard deduction from your salary income as Director of a private limited company.

Q: I would request you to please give your valuable advice on the following:

I. If section 80GG of Income Tax Act applicable for financial year 98-99 i.e. 1.4.98 to 31.3.99 (Assessment Year 99-2000) in case of pensioner who is living in rented residential house.

II. If deduction u/s 80GG available at all places in India or in some specified cities of India.

III. If we should deposit I.Tax after deduction u/s 80GG i.e. house rent upto 25 per cent of my income subject to maximum of Rs.2000 per month or I should claim refund from I. Tax authorities by depositing Income Tax before claiming deduction under 80GG.

— Amar Singh, Jalandhar City.

Ans: On the facts stated by you the benefit of section 80GG is applicable to a tax payer in any part of India after 12-10-1998. Prior to this date the tax deduction u/s 80GG was applicable only for certain specified towns in India. While you deposit your tax payment for the above year you can yourself claim the tax deduction u/s 80GG and then deposit the tax on the balance amount. Please remember that now as per rule 11B you are required to file a declaration in Form No. 10BA together with your Income-tax return to claim this deduction in respect of rent payment.

Q: I shall feel obliged in case your goodself send reply of the problem given below:-

A Haryana Govt. employee is retiring on 31.8.2000 and he wants to subscribe towards G.P.F.@ 2000 P.M. upto 31.8.2000 and he may also receive final withdrawal of G.P.F. during the Financial year 2000-2001 i.e. upto 31.3.2001. Whether the GPF subscription of Rs. 12000 (2000x6) will qualify for tax rebate or not under section 88 of Income Tax.

— Jagminder Aggarwal, Hisar.

Ans. You are advised to go in detail to the various rules of Haryana Government concerning GPF contribution. However, under the Income-tax law, the benefit or tax rebate would be permissible to you for GPF contribution during the current Financial Year. 

Aviation notes

by K.R. Wadhwaney

Airbus Ind plans new aircraft

AIRBUS Industry is highly optimistic that an aircraft, with the capacity for 500 plus passengers, will be essential in the 21st century. Aviation analysts opine that the recent trends of travelling reveal that large capacity carriers will be in demand on long-haul international routes.

In view of the recent survey, Airbus Industry has decided to go ahead with the manufacturing of A3XX, which will be known as A-380. The jetliner, according to AB officials, will be commercially flying by 2006.

Air France, Emirates, Qantas and Singapore Airlines are among 50 which have already placed firm orders for the new jetliner. Virgin Atlantic, which operates flight to India in collaboration with Air India, has placed an order for the new version of the aircraft.

While announcing that Airbus has a new flagship, the manufacturers have gone on record as saying: “This is a major breakthrough for Airbus as a full range competitor on world markets". The manufacturers are convinced that the aircraft will have a bright and extremely successful future.

The new aircraft will provide 15 to 20 per cent lower operating costs than the largest flying at present, 10 to 15 per cent more range, and with the most spacious cabin, 35 per cent more seating and 49 per cent more available floor space.

Bargain offers

Jet Airways bargain fares for Tirupati and Goa have been a “hit” judging from response from the passengers. The bargain fares are valid until March 31, 2001. Apart from considerable discount, the airline offers the “package”, which includes hotel accommodation. Of late, Goa has become a very prominent tourists resort.

Airmiss incidences

The DGCA authorities are considerably concerned about repeated violations by pilots belonging to reputed airlines, including foreign carriers. It is just sheer providence that no major accident has taken place recently. During first fortnight this month, there were two instances of “airmisses”. In both pilots of Jet Airways Boeing 737 and Indian Airlines Airbus - 320 were involved the pilots the carriers were to blame for their “negligence”. As there was breach in safety norms and violation of the laid-down DGCA procedures, action has been taken against erring pilots.

Market scan

by J.C. Anand

ICE stocks leave investors in the cold

THE calendar year 2000 was bad for the stock market; would the year 2001 be any better ? It is too early to express any definite view but indications are that it would need tons of good wishes to make it a better one. Much will depend on the behaviour of the monsoons. So far, there are near-drought conditions in a number of states. There have been no post-monsoon rains except in some southern states. Rabi crop is expected to be lower than during the year 2000. The industry already has many ailing sectors. Any shortfall in agricultural output would further slow down industrial growth by cutting down demand for consumer goods as well as by adding to the cost of production. The industry will have to face greater competition from imports due to lifting of quantum restrictions as required by the WTO norms.

During the year 1999, the Sensitive Index had closed at 5005.82 points at the close of trading in December, 1999; last week, the sensitive Index closed at 3972.72 points, registering a fall of 1033.1 points ( 20.63 per cent ). The ICE stock suffered the most. According to an analysis based on a study of 30 major companies in the information, communication and entertainment sectors by the FE Research Bureau, almost all the top technological stocks suffered badly in market capitalisation. The fall in the market price varied from 20 per cent to 60 per cent.

This year too is likely to witness sluggishness in the ICE stock. The global economy is slowing down. There are reports of lower profits in many of the US companies. This would have its impact on the order books of the Indian companies too. Mastek has already announced a fall of 60 to 70 per cent in its net profit in its third quarter results. Both the FIIs and mutual funds have been unloading the ICE stock to dilute them from their holdings.

The old economy stock are expected to do better than the ICE stock. Some companies like Reliance, Reliance Petro, L & T, Sterlite Opt, Vikas WSP are even expected to improve their market prices and market capitalisation. The pharma stock can easily hold their own. In case, the government implements its declared policies regarding housing, road-building and other infrastructural projects, the industry might be able to come out of its present depressed condition.

On the negative side, elections to a number of Vidhan Sabhas in major states would slow down the pace of economic reforms as well as lead the governments to pursue populist policies.

In January, the major companies are expected to announce their third quarter results. In case, these results are encouraging, the market is bound to welcome them with improved market indices. In February too, the market should do well in the hope of getting a good budget for the next financial year. The Finance Minister has already said that the next budget will be friendly to the industry. But he has only limited options and has to move cautiously to balance the budget.

It has often been seen that in the post-budget months the market falls. In case, the investors wish to book their profits or to cut down their losses, pre-budget weeks in February would be the right time.

BIZ BRIEFS

FIIs seller
MUMBAI, Dec 31 (UNI) — FIIS continued to be the net sellers on Indian bourses to the tune of Rs 332 crore during the week ended December 29. According to a data available from Sebi, the FIIs have so far withdrawn investment of Rs 576 crore during the month ended, December 29, 2000.

Inflation static
NEW DELHI, Dec 31 (PTI) — In a stark contrast to previous few weeks’ stance, the annual inflation rate remained static at the previous week’s 8.01 per cent despite a substantial fall in primary articles’ price and a minute rise in the prices of manufactured goods. The point-to-point inflation based on wholesale price index for all commodities (Base year: 1993-94 = 100) stood firm above 8 per cent and was only 2.89 per cent a year ago.