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| Wednesday, January 3, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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PM’s holiday may leave Taj poorer by 50 lakh 500 cr lost in a day due to power failure
Counter claims on SBI strike in HP
Soros: US landing to be bouncy |
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| Teachers call Maruti ad ‘anti-education’ FIIs enter market, delight stock brokers
Hughes good pick
Women embrace IT and love it Radiophone for cars Kumbh visitors insured
Being single in America Sperm donors to lose privacy
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| PM’s holiday may leave Taj poorer by 50 lakh KUMARAKOM (Kerala), Jan 2 — The one-week holiday of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the Taj Retreat in this Kerala district might have left the resort poorer by Rs 50 lakh. Giving the break-up of the figures, a source at the Taj told this reporter that of the Rs 50 lakh, boarding and lodging of the 50-strong tour party account for Rs 25 lakh. ‘‘We also spent Rs 25 lakh on various cultural programmes that were arranged every evening for the holidaying party,’’ he said. The source pointed out that normally every year during this period the resort has 100 per cent occupancy in its 23 rooms. ‘‘If one takes into account the business which we could have had during the time of the Prime Minister’s visit, we would have made Rs.30 lakh,’’ the source said. ‘‘Ninety-nine per cent chances are that the visit of the Prime Minister will be complimentary and we will not levy any charge.’’ The source also said guests lined up to occupy the resort as soon as Vajpayee’s party left at 12 noon on Monday. By 3 p.m. in the evening almost 90 per cent of the 23 rooms were full. ‘‘The SPG (special protection group) left by around 7 p.m. and by 9.30 p.m., the remaining rooms were also occupied,’’ he said. But Mr Shankar Menon, General Manager of the Taj Retreat, was tight-lipped and preferred not to say a word about the total expenses, nor about whether the stay at the Taj was complimentary. Meanwhile, Kumarakom residents, having basked in international glory for almost two weeks on account of preparations for the VVIP visit, are now a relieved lot. ‘‘While we all enjoyed the visit of the high profile tourist party, the only botheration was the police force which treated all of us as terrorists. Our movements were partly restricted and we were subjected to severe restrictions on using our country-made boats in the Vembanad lake (on whose banks the resort stands),’’ said Pappachan, who stays close to the Taj. ‘‘For the last 10 days, most of us stopped going fishing due to a large number of security persons who looked at us with suspicion. Several of us preferred not to go out and as a result we were unemployed for almost 10 days. From today (Tuesday) onwards we have to work overtime for the loss of earnings,’’ said K. Johnny, a fisherman. Prices of fish in the area had shot up from Rs.90 a kilogram to Rs.170 in the market in the past week. ‘‘For a few more days it is going to hover in the range of Rs.150; then only we will make up what we have lost,’’ added Johnny. — IANS |
| 500 cr lost in a day due to power failure NEW DELHI, Jan 2 (UNI) — The total power failure in the northern grid has resulted in a production loss in excess of Rs 500 crore in a day as industrial activity remained shut in the entire northern India. ‘‘It has been estimated that around Rs 250-500 crore may have been lost by industry today’’, CII said here. FICCI said the fertiliser industry alone suffered a loss of Rs 140 crore as plants in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab went out of production. The alkali industry faced a production loss of three million tonnes, the Alkali Manufacturers Association of India said. Likewise, the distillery industry which has 60 plants in northern India suffered a loss of 4000 mandays of work, the All India Distillers’ Association of India said. CII said the production loss between Rs 250 and Rs 500 crore was estimated despite the operation of backup diesel generators in many units. ‘‘In addition,the intangible losses suffered by the service industry such as hospitals,railways etc and the subsequent inconvenience to which the general public was placed in, would put the overall economic loss at a much higher figure’’,the apex chamber said. All leading chambers said the distribution system may have collapsed due to the lack of protective devices and inadequate supervision to detect and correct systemic disturbances. |
| A ride for the bride Mumbai: A local businessman, Mustafa Hussain, and his bride of three days, Mohak Bhingara pose with a flower-decked helicopter in Bangalore on Tuesday. Mustafa, who got married to his fiancee of eight years Mohak on December 30, gifted her a 75-minute helicopter ride, costing Rs 1 lakh to a fishing resort for their honeymoon. Gifting a helicopter ride is fast becoming a romantic symbol in Bangalore. Choppers are now being used to fly for unusual reasons, including a 'nikah' conducted in the air as the chopper hovered over a mosque in 1998. —AFP
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| Counter claims on SBI strike in HP SHIMLA, Jan 2 — The functioning of various branches of the State Bank of India in Himachal Pradesh was severly affected by the two-day strike of the employees. The bank authorities tried to run branches with the help of officers and a few loyal employees but without much success yesterday. While not much transaction could take place in various branches, the clearing house also did not function. The bank remained closed today as the state had declared a holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act on account of the Birth anniversary of Sri Guru Gobind Singh. Mr D.S. Thakur, Deputy General Secretary of the bank employees union, claimed that the response to the two-day strike was almost cent percent. Only a few employees attended office in some branches. He alleged that the management was resorting to repressive measures and harassing employees on false charges. Some important office-bearers of the union under Chandigarh Circle had been transferred and charge-sheeted. CHANDIGARH: Claiming that the two-day strike call given by the SBI Staff Association in Himachal had fizzled out, Mr R.M. Midha, Dy General Manager, State Bank of India, said in a statement here on Tuesday that in spite of the inclement weather, staff attended their duties and all branches in the state functioned normally. He lauded the role of staff members in providing uninterrupted customer services, managing clearing houses and conducting government business yesterday. The management has decided to take disciplinary action against the agitating section of the employees. Strike on Jan 3, 4 The SBI employees will go on a two-day strike from January 3 in Chandigarh and Punjab. According to the Circle President of the SBI Staff Association, S.N. Aneja, said: “Some transfers of the employees have been done without any basis and out of vindictiveness. We want to highlight the callous attitude of the management towards its employees.’’ |
| Soros: US landing to be bouncy LONDON: Billionaire financier George Soros warned on Monday that the American authorities were powerless to prevent the long running US economic boom from turning to bust this year, with damaging consequences for the global economy. “I believe that the [US landing] will be bouncy and hard,” he said in a newspaper interview. Mr Soros said he expected the US Federal Reserve to slash interest rates early this year, but that it was too late to avert a sharp slowdown which would have serious consequences for emerging markets, already weakened by the 1997-98 Asian crisis. “We are in a fairly classic slowdown cycle in the USA. I am much more worried about the consequences on the edge of the system because this edge has been weakened because of the (last) crisis — and I believe will have more serious repercussions in distant regions, such as southeast Asia.” Speaking in Chile, where Mr Soros is on holiday, the financier said: “I think this time the Federal Reserve is more following the market than leading the market. But I believe it will lower rates very aggressively at the beginning of next year.” Asked if the crisis could be stopped, Mr Soros said: “It cannot be avoided, but I believe that positive incentives can be created that could promote investments in emerging countries and those should be put in place by the international financial institutions.” He joins a chorus of senior financiers predicting that hard times in the world’s largest economy will damage global growth prospects this year. Last week, Sir Eddie George, Governor of the Bank of England, warned that a US slowdown could check Britain’s eight-year economic expansion. “If America really sneezes we all catch cold,” he said in a BBC interview. Transatlantic trade and investment links place Britain in a vulnerable position if the USA slows down. Economists at HSBC Bank estimate that after America’s immediate neighbours, Canada and Mexico, the UK would be the most damaged by a US recession. — By arrangement with The Guardian | |||||
| Teachers call Maruti ad ‘anti-education’ NEW DELHI, Jan 2 (UNI) — The Federation of Central Universities Teachers’ Association now finds itself at loggerheads with Maruti Udyog over its advertisement for a car brand which the teachers say trivialises education. The advertisement, being shown on television, shows a school child being asked by his father about the marks obtained in tests while travelling in a Maruti Esteem car. When the father asks his child about the marks obtained in mathematics, the son urges him to go on a drive again and the father readily agrees. The association finds it very objectionable as the advertisement takes away the seriousness of studies from the child and encourages a negative attitude toward studies through a leisure drive. ‘‘The ad depicts an irresponsible father having a casual attitude towards the child’s education ... Maruti Udyog must realise that there is something called socially responsible marketing and being a public sector undertaking, it has to perform such responsibilities,’’ the association President, Prof Kapil Kumar, said in a statement today. ‘‘We must realise that children are most vulnerable to such negative ads on television,’’ he said. The association has written to the Maruti Udyog Chairman urging him to withdraw the advertisement immediately. | |||||
| Ebony floats own dollars CHANDIGARH, Jan 2 — The Ebony chain of department stores has introduced its own currency — Ebony dollars. This new payment instrument promises to make shopping exciting for regular shoppers at the various Ebony stores in New Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh and Ludhiana. Any person who shops at Ebony would be eligible to collect Ebony dollars ( E-currency) in the denominations of Rs 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 from the Elite Club Desk. The value of these dollars would be equivalent to 10 per cent of the amount of purchases made by the person, rounded off to the nearest 50.
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| FIIs enter market, delight stock brokers Cement shares were in the limelight, prompted by a smart rally in old economy stocks aiding the sensex to shoot up by about 64 points at close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday on hectic speculative buying as well as good purchases by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Cement stocks constantly attracted enquiries on hopes of better prospects of key Indian stocks. Dealers said the maiden entry by FIIs in the new year injected confidence in the broking fraternity that had been awaiting news of allocation of funds by foreign funds. Reliance Industries rose sharply on heavy buying support from speculators ahead of its third quarter working results. The company is expected to announce the financial results by the month end. Information technology (IT), telecom and media stocks, which plunged in early trading, bounced back to close in positive territory on late bargain buying by smart speculators and domestic infotech mutual funds. The rise in the sensex was mostly attributed to a significant rise in trend-setters. Reliance and other blue-chips prices. Stock brokers said reports that the country’s trade deficit for the first eight months of 2000 is estimated to be lower at $ 6.17 billion rather than $ 6.67 billion in the previous fiscal as exports maintained a healthy growth of 20 per cent had a positive impact on the trading sentiments particularly in economy-related stocks. Cement price hiked: Cement majors ACC and Larsen and Toubro have announced another round of price hike in cement prices. Expectations of allocations of foreign funds for the current year by foreign institutional investors too contributed to speculative activity towards the fag end of session. Tech giant Infosys Technologies Wipro, Himachal Futuristic Communication, Balaji Telefilm, Software Solutions from the new economy and SBI and Grasim from the old economy were in the limelight. Market sources said the sensex is likely to break the next two resistance levels at 4090 and 4150 within a few days as the bullish trend is expected o gather momentum. Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company has declared a dividend of 1.84 per cent (0.184 per unit) for the Birla income plus scheme. For the gilt scheme, it has declared a dividend of 1.84 per cent (0.184 per unit) under the liquid plan and 2.05 per cent (0.205 per unit), both, under the investment and long term plans. The record date is December 15, 2000. Crisil forcasts bright times for domestic paper companies. Riding high on firm paper prices in the domestic market, large and integrated players are expected to report strong cash flows in the medium term. “Market conditions have improved considerably after an extended downturn and we expect domestic prices to remain firm in the medium term”, CRISIL has said in its sectoral report on the paper industry. Indian paper companies will utilise these earnings to reduce debt and improve their financials, making them less susceptible to the inherent cyclicity. Companies in printing, writing and newsprint segment will benefit significantly from firm price trends, but packaging paper firms will accrue limited gains, since this sector has considerable demand-supply imbalances. Softwood pulp prices, a raw material for paper industry, has also firmed in tandem with international paper prices and limited the gains for Indian companies sourcing fibre overseas. International paper prices were expected to firm up further this year, Domestic prices have increased by more than 25 per cent since its low in early 1999. — PTI | |||||
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Hughes good pick THE first couple of trading sessions of the new year seems to suggest that the undercurrent in the market is still nervous and although some investors are not averse to mustering courage to go bottom-fishing, sustained selling by domestic funds and downsizing of open positions by operators has translated into a picture of a market that is yet to find its bottom. Even amidst this confusion, there are trading gains to be had and those with a bearish sentiment could consider taking up short positions at the counters of Infosys Technologies at Rs 5669 (cover up at Rs 5487) and Television Eighteen at Rs 255 (cover up at Rs 231). Long positions could be considered at the counters of Cadila Healthcare at Rs 152 (square up at Rs 171) and Telco at Rs 88 (square up at Rs 99). The dark horse bet of the week is Mastek whose stock has been beaten down sharply but could bounce back as things could only get better here from. The portfolio pick of the week for discerning investors searching for value among infotech blue chips is Hughes Software whose current valuation does not clearly reflect its intrinsic strength. Yet again, the optimal course of action this week would be to continue making selective purchases. | |||||
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NEW DELHI, Jan 2 (PTI) — Many women have occupied key positions in IT firms. ‘‘Surprisingly, Indian women are far advanced in the IT career as compared to their counterparts in Europe. It feels nice to be ahead of the herd,’’ says Gagandeep Kaur, who works with an IT MNC in Sweden. ‘‘It is a lucrative industry. There is a lot of scope in this field and no stagnation as in the fast-moving consumer goods industry like automobile,’’ says Misha Dange, Business Development Manager, Dishnet DSL Ltd. Gagandeep Kaur, who is a Masters in Computer Science and an MBA, has a host of other international certifications to her credit, notes that IT is a great equaliser. More and more women are embracing it.’’ ‘‘In Europe, the pace of IT is surprisingly slower than in India. We have flexi-timings and work-from-home environment.’’ ‘‘I am a hardcore technical person and feel that women have an edge over males when it comes to convincing a customer,’’ says Misha. With a team of eight to ten senior people working under her, Misha enjoys being on her feet. Minni Bhambri, a Senior Programme Manager at C-DOT, who took up a career in IT in 1986, says: ‘‘At that point of time, it seemed a very promising and upcoming field and IT suited my vision of career.” According to Abhilasha Khaitan, Deputy Manager at Feedback Reach Consultancy Services Ltd, the IT industry is in for a boom and is constantly evolving. Having got selected for both Chemical Engineering at IIT (Delhi) and Computer Engineering at Roorkee Engineering College, Monika Lal, dropped the former. What prompted her choice was her personal interest as well as the high emoluments the profession commands. Sridevi Nair, though an MA in English, has transformed herself into a high-calibre IT professional within the space of two to three years and is now Content Manager with Net4india in New Delhi. Sridevi is now into web designing and enjoys every part of it. ‘‘I did the GNIIT programme after my MA and have joined Net4india purely out of academic interest,’’ she says. She enjoys writing for the web and is computer savvy. Software is an area where women feel extremely at home, says Vijaya Pandya, who is working as a consultant with Tata Consultancy Services for the past eight years after doing an MCA in Applied Electromagnetics in 1992.
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| Radiophone for cars CHANDIGARH, Jan 2 — Now you can use your car radio to make telephone calls as well. All you have to do is to insert your GSM-SIM card or Key card into the instrument and use the radio to receive and make phone calls. Blaupunkt of the Bosch group launched “Blaupunkt Radio Phone” in Bangalore recently. The radiophone is available in Chandigarh with the local dealers of the company. The product costing nearly Rs. 48,000 can be used hands free as well. One can operate this radiophone directly from the steering wheel with the operationally available RCT 07 infrared remote control unit. “Targeting the niche market, the product will provide facility of a top notch radio as well a powerful GSM mobile phone”, said a local dealer.
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| Kumbh visitors insured LUCKNOW, Jan 2 — In an unprecedented move, the state government has decided to provide insurance cover to each of the estimated 70 million pilgrims expected to visit the 42-day long Maha Kumbh Mela that commences at Allahabad on January 9. Allahabad Commissioner Sada Kant who is responsible for the arrangements at the mega event, told IANS here, “Each of the visitors in the 20-60 year age group will be insured for Rs. 100,000. Others will get an insurance cover of Rs. 50,000,” he said. The amount would be payable to the survivors of a pilgrim who dies of causes that are other than natural during the festival, he said. The Kumbh Mela is held every four years at four different locations in the country. However, the Maha Kumbh Mela is held once every 14 years and signifies a rare alignment of planets that is considered auspicious.
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Being single in America IT is tough being single, especially if you are looking to get married. Ask anyone who has done the singles routine in America — the smoke filled bars, glorified personal ads, horrendous blind dates, awkward conversations — you don’t want to be out there. But try being an Indian who is single in America. That takes on a whole new connotation. I didn’t realise it till I received a phone call one day on my cell phone, while I was visiting some relatives. A phone call from a guy! The guy happened to be just a good friend who was happily engaged to some other girl. But that didn’t matter to my relative who heard my side of the conversation. All that mattered was that I was a female and I was having a comfortable conversation with a “male.” And therein lies the biggest problem for single Indians in America. Traditional Indian society looks down upon male-female interaction before marriage. Friendship between opposite sexes is not approved or encouraged, and falling in love is most definitely taboo. While that mindset is changing in recent times especially in the urban population, the fact remains that having a “love marriage” is the exception, not the norm. As a result of this repression and prohibition, the opposite sex continues to remain an alien race for a lot of young people. While they are in India, young singles have their parents/grandparents/uncles/aunts — heck, the entire neighborhood — try and find them a suitable boy or girl. But when they arrive in the USA, they find themselves on their own. They decide while they definitely want to fit into this new culture, they also want to retain their Indian values. So they decide to find a partner of Indian origin. Only thing is they don’t know how. Thanks to the “Don’t Talk-Don’t Hear-Don’t Look” policy towards the opposite sex, Indians find themselves lacking in dating skills and sometimes even in the social and communication skills needed to find a mate. Somehow they stumble along trying to find a balance between the entirely Western concept of dating and the entirely Indian concept of marrying someone you have seen once or twice. Trying to help them are well-meaning relatives living abroad, who are only too eager to help find the perfect person. Based on criteria such as tax-bracket, visa status, car model, in-law hassles, computer skills (for men) and cooking skills (for women) prospective life partners are introduced. It does not occur to the relatives that these young singles might actually be focusing on some non-traditional criteria such as “chemistry,” “communication” or “common interests.” An allusion by a single person to any of these so-called Western concepts will only invoke a highly emotional, long-winded lecture about “getting real” and Indian values. And if this were not enough, the single Indian often has to deal with the preconceived notion that a person living independently in America automatically has a questionable character! So the single, lonely Indian in America continues his or her search for “the (elusive) one.” They organise social groups, have Indian parties, surf the hundreds of matrimonial websites and suffer through some rather unfortunate episodes along the way. While some people find their life partners sooner than others, a single Indian in America carries the additional burden of balancing the methodology, values and attitudes of two opposite cultures in this age-old game of mate-finding. — IANS
Sperm donors to lose privacy LONDON: The British government is about to relax strict rules of confidentiality protecting the identity of sperm donors to allow their children to discover key facts about their genetic origins. Yvette Cooper, Public Health Minister, will produce a consultation paper early in the new year which will spark a public debate in Britain on changing the regulations guarding the anonymity of people donating sperm, eggs or embryos. She does not want children to have a right to learn the identity of their biological parents. Such a prospect would deter donors who might reasonably fear they could be pursued by large numbers of unknown offspring seeking emotional or financial support. But the government will consult on a range of options that could allow the children of ``gamete donors’’ to build up a picture of the biological parent’s characteristics. More than 11,000 children have been born by donor insemination since 1991 when the human fertilisation and embryology authority was set up to license fertility clinics and keep records of all sperm and egg donors. — The Guardian  |
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