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| Tuesday, January 23, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Post offices to offer e-mail services in villages
Infosys’s plans for Mohali unchanged
VSNL net profit climbs 34.1 pc Hindalco net may rise 15 pc |
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Siemens India more than doubles
profit NIIT net profit seen up 83.8 pc
Drink milk for bones’
sake Do it three times a week Having a wheat intolerance? |
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E-banking for children
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Post offices to offer e-mail services in villages NEW DELHI, Jan 22 — The days of the ubiquitous Post Office supplying routine stamps and envelopes and select fixed deposit schemes are over. Hi-tech post offices offering financial instruments, high-speed international monetary transfers, e-mail and speed post services at par with private courier companies will greet customers in the present century. It is not just tall talk. The Postal Department has started implementing its business plans. The moolah expected from these ventures would run into hundreds of crore of rupees. Capitalising on its extensive network in the country, private companies are more than eager to share the services of the Postal Department. Making a beginning today was the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) Principal Asset Management Company which entered into an agreement with India Posts to make available all its current and future investment opportunities to the Indian investors. The Department of Posts is shortly going to enter into an agreement with Western Union Financial Services International for providing international money transfer service using the postal network. A pilot project to provide e-mail facilities at the grass roots is also being launched in six states at 200 locations. According to the Communications Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, the post offices will now provide new services to the Indian investors besides just delivering mail. The rollout will cover 80 post offices in the four cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Patna in phase one and will be extended to the rest of the country within a year. The expected revenue for the first year will be about Rs 100 crore. The agreement with the Western Union International will enable instant transfer of money from over 184 countries to India on a real time basis. It would earn revenue for the department in excess of Rs100 crore in foreign exchange within three years of operation. The pilot project to provide e-mail facilities will cover the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal which send the largest number of people abroad for employment. The e-mail messages received from all over the world, including those from within the country, would be converted into a hard copy and delivered through traditional channels of the remote villages in the selected states. The facility would be known as “e-Post”. India Post already has the distinction of operating the country’s largest retail bank, “the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB)”. With a network spanning over 154,000 branches, a customer base of 110 million account holders and deposits in excess of Rs 1,82,000 crore, the POSB is positioning itself as a major financial service provider. The project with IDBI is a precursor to POSB’s formal entry into the business of distributing financial-service products across the country.
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Infosys’s plans for Mohali unchanged CHANDIGARH, Jan 22 — Dispelling all apprehensions regarding Infosys moving out of Mohali, the Senior Vice President - HRD of the company has said that for its expansion plans in the region, the company will focus only on Mohali as its destination. While talking to The Tribune, Ms. Hema Ravichandar, who was here today, said that the unit here was not facing any problems and was looking forward to recruit more people from the region. Ms Hema said that the Mohali development centre has shown good performance and employees at this centre can look forward to the best of facilities which are being provided by the company at other centres. However, she said that improvement in connectivity in terms of transport is required. “Though the company does make proper transport arrangements, but access to and from Mohali and within , really becomes a problem at times due to insufficiency of proper means of public conveyance. More and better airlinks and hotels are also needed”, said she. On press reports about Infosys entering into a deal with Karnataka to set up a 100 acre facility, which was otherwise to be set up in Punjab, she said that the company had always planned to set up the facility in Karnataka. “Punjab has not lost on any such deal,” she stated. Commenting on the BT survey rating Infosys as the topmost employer in the country, she said: “I have been with the company when there were only 250 employees and have found it to be the best one”. On recruitment of personnel, she said that the process is on and Infosys will recruit more software engineers, personnel in HR, finance and also other areas. “For the software engineers, particularly, the development centre at Mohali will prefer people from within the region”, she said.
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VSNL net profit climbs 34.1 pc NEW DELHI, Jan 22 (Reuters) — Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) on Monday reported a 34.1 per cent rise in its third-quarter net profit, beating most analysts' expectations. VSNL said the net profit rose to 4 billion rupees ($86.28 million) during the October-December quarter from 2.98 billion in the year-ago period. Net sales rose 17.3 per cent to 19.50 billion rupees. Analysts had generally expected third-quarter net profit to be flat to just marginally higher. VSNL's shares fell 13.85 rupees or 4.3 percent to 311.45 ahead of the results, which were announced after the close of trading. The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark index rose 1.73 per cent on Monday . "Results have been probably better as margins have improved," said one analyst with a foreign brokerage who declined to be identified. "Their Internet business seems to have done well." In addition to its monopoly on providing international telecommunication services, VSNL is India's largest Internet access provider. VSNL's bottomline was boosted by non-operating income of 1.12 billion rupees, up almost five fold from 191 million in the year ago period. Earnings per share fell by more than half to 14.04 rupees from 31.40 rupees a year earlier as the company's issued capital trebled to 2.85 billion rupees, due to a two-for-one bonus issue. Navneet Singh, a telecom analyst with ICICI Securities, said VSNL's profit was in line with what he expected, adding: "Value-added services have contributed to net sales and pushed up margins." TNS adds: VSNL today indicated plans of entering the cellular, basic telephone and DTH market even as the Communication Minister said his Ministry and the Disinvestment Ministry have reached a consensus on a phased privatisation of VSNL. “The Disinvestment and Communication Ministries have come out with a consensus that will work out a formula where neither VSNL nor the government will be a loser in the privatisation process,” Mr Ram Vilas Paswan said today. Mr Paswan said in any case VSNL will not be a loser in the process that would begin with 7 per cent disinvestment in the first phase. He, however, added that “the complete scenario will be clearer after the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) meets on January 30.” Refusing to comment on the quantum of equity, the government must disinvest, VSNL Chairman, S.K. Gupta said there are two broad ways through which the government could move towards disinvestment. Mr Gupta said the whole process would take one year. The VSNL chairman said they are looking for new avenues to invest. “VSNL has chalked out investments in various new services/ facilities such as DTH services, cellular telephony and more and more value added Internet services,” he said.
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Hindalco net may
rise 15 pc KOLKATA, Jan 22 (Reuters) — Hindalco is expected to report on Tuesday net profit rise of 15 per cent in October-December from a year earlier, as metal prices increased and the rupee fell against the dollar. The net profit is forecast at 1.75 billion rupees ($37.74 million), on a 11.04 per cent increase in sales to 5.58 billion rupees, according to the average of estimates received in a Reuters poll of brokerages. "Profit will increase basically because of higher aluminium prices in the world market," said Pritam Lala, an analyst with Jet Age Securities in Kolkata. He said world aluminium prices had risen about 10 per cent compared to the year-ago quarter. Analysts also said the company would gain from the depreciation of the rupee — to 46 to 46.8 per dollar during the quarter, from 43.5 in the year-earlier period. "Exports contribute significantly to Hindalco's profit," said Rajat Bose, an analyst with CD Equisearch, a Kolkata-based brokerage. "The change in the exchange rate will increase their export earnings." A weaker rupee also wards off competition from imports. "Their price is much lower than imports. They can even raise prices and remain competitive," Lala said. Hindalco's sole plant in Renucoot, Uttar Pradesh, operated in excess of its rated capacity over the first nine month's of the company's business year, which begins in April and ends in March. The plant has a stipulated production capacity of 242,000 tonnes of aluminium per year. In the October-December quarter, it produced 63,771 tonnes, up 1.6 per cent from 62,787 tonnes a year earlier — and 3,271 tonnes more than its rated quarterly capacity of 60,500 tonnes. In the nine months through December, production totaled 187,828 tonnes, up from 186,577 tonnes in the same period a year earlier. |
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Siemens India more than doubles profit SIEMENS India has more than doubled its net profit for the first quarter ending December 2000 at Rs 15.87 crore compared to Rs 5.69 crore in the same period last year. The turnover, however, declined by six per cent to Rs 214.5 crore as compared to Rs 227.5 crore for the same period in the previous year. The company said a lower turnover was due to weak market demand and delays in the off-take in new projects, specially in the infrastructure and industrial solutions business. The order book position also showed a decline with the company receiving orders worth Rs 227.3 crore in the first quarter against Rs 242.2 crore in the same period previous year.
Zydus Cadila Zydus Cadila Healthcare on Monday reported a 78.2 per cent rise in the net profit at Rs 17.45 crore over the sales of Rs 117.09 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2000. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 9.79 crore in the third quarter of the previous fiscal. Compudyne Winfo Compudyne Winfosystems (CWL) has achieved a sales turnover Rs 691.67 lakh for the three months ended 31 st December, 2000, as against Rs 165.36 lakh during the corresponding period last year registering a growth of 297 per cent. The net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2000, increased to Rs 190 lakh as against Rs 49.02 lakh for the corresponding previous year period, registering a growth of 288 per cent. CWL’s main focus area of e-commerce/e-business contributed 60 per cent of the total revenue and the remaining 40 per cent came from multimedia activities.
Ajanta Pharma Ajanta Pharma net profit declined by 33.25 per cent at Rs 1.50 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2000, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales also fell by 41.18 per cent at Rs 20.94 crore in Q3 as against Rs 35.60 crore in the corresponding period of last year, the company said in a release here today.
PNB Gilts PNB Gilts has posted an 80 per cent increase in the net profit to Rs 58 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2000, over the corresponding quarter of previous year, which stood at Rs 32.19 crore. The profit before tax has gone up by 36 per cent to Rs 70.11 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2000, over the corresponding quarter of the previous year which stood at Rs 51.59 crore. The company recorded income from operations at Rs 43.14 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2000. “The reduction in the Fed rate which has been brought down by 50 basis points has given strong positive signals to the markets coupled with the fact that the government has been able to keep the fiscal deficit with in permissible limits of the budgeted level”. said Mr Arun Kaul, the Managing Director of PNB Gilts.
Indian Rayon Indian Rayon and Industries has reported a 15 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 19.1 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2000, as against Rs 16.6 crore recorded in the corresponding period a year ago. The company has reported a turnover of Rs 380 crore for the quarter ended December, 2000, reflecting an impressive increase of 51 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year (Rs 252 crore).
— PTI, UNI & TNS
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NIIT net profit seen up 83.8 pc NEW DELHI, Jan 22 (Reuters) — NIIT is expected to report on Tuesday a sharp rise in first-quarter net profit, boosted mainly by increased earnings from its software business. Net profit for the October-December quarter is forecast to rise 83.8 per cent from a year earlier to 340.5 million rupees, ($7.34 million), according to the average of estimates received from 10 brokerages polled by Reuters. Estimates of the increase ranged widely from 46.3 per cent to 104 per cent. The same poll forecast on average a 36.7 percent rise in net sales to 1.68 billion rupees. Among its 247 customers, NIIT provides software services to clients such as ABN Amro Bank, Britain's Prudential and Singapore's DBS Bank. "The growth in net profit and sales will come from rising software business," said Sanjeev Goswami, an analyst with SSKI Securities. "NIIT's education business is seasonal and its contribution to profit is minimal in the first quarter." Chetan Shah, software analyst with Mumbai-based DBS Securities, also sees growth being driven by the software division, which he said added some 250 persons in the past quarter. "We are looking at a 45 per cent rise in net sales at 1.78 billion rupees, and a bit (less than half a percentage point) improvement in operating margins," Shah said. "The focus has been on improving margins," said NIIT's U.S.-based Chief Executive Officer Vijay Thadani. "We have been institutionalising changes in the product mix by focusing on higher productivity." "Clients who have renewed their contracts in the last quarter have done so at higher billing rates," Thadani added. NIIT's billing rates for work performed in the USA have averaged $79.6 per hour, triple the $25.4 per hour billed for work performed in India. The company derives 34 per cent of its software revenue from North American clients. Some 54 per cent of revenue in the previous July-September quarter came from its international business and 46 per cent from India. The top 10 clients contribute 21 per cent of revenues. Thadani said the thrust from now on would be on new technologies deployed in the wireless media. "This is the way forward. We've got two clients in this quarter, one from the USA and the other from Japan in this area, and obviously we enjoy higher margins," Thadani said. NIIT's education business is chugging at an annual growth rate of 23-25 per cent, less than half the 60 per cent growth rate of its software services business. Overall revenue is growing by 32 per cent a year, a far cry from industry leaders like Infosys Technologies where revenue is doubling yearly.
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Special model of Qualis launched MUMBAI, Jan 22 (UNI) — Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), today launched a special limited model of Qualis to commemorate its first anniversary on the Indian roads. In the first year alone, the Qualis has captured a market share of 35 per cent in the
MPV segment, selling more than 21,785 vehicles (domestic sales), exceeding the yearly target of 20,000 units. Even with the automobile industry showing signs of a slowdown, Toyota has sold 2,452 vehicles in December, 2000, itself, compared to 1,820 vehicles in the previous month.
TKM has also developed an exclusive dealer network comprising of 27 dealers all over India and plans to increase this number to 45 by the end of 2001, alongside an increase in the production to keep up with demand.
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Bank of Punjab ties up with Nova Scotia NEW DELHI, Jan 22 (TNS) — The Bank of Punjab has tied up with the Bank of Nova Scotia for faster fund transfer from Canada to India. The two banks have worked on a special arrangement to ensure quick, economical and safe remittances from Canada to India through their respective branch networks in the two nations. “Keeping the customers’ needs in mind, we have tied up with the Bank of Nova Scotia wherein Canadian dollar transfer through branches in the American bank in Canada guarantees payment in Indian rupee within 24-48 hours by any of our branch in India,” Bank of Punjab Executive Director Tejbir Singh said in a statement here. The Bank of Nova Scotia is a leading Canadian bank with assets worth 223 billion Canadian dollars and has 1100 branches worldover. |
Drink milk for bones’
sake LONDON: The Christmas issue of Time magazine featured a photograph of Sir Elton John sporting a milk moustache alongside the words `I’m still standing. Want strong bones?’, as part of an advertising campaign to encourage Americans to drink more milk. The childhood and teenage years are the most crucial when it comes to preventing osteoporosis, because this is when we form the strong bones that will support us in later life. The recommended daily intake of calcium is 450mg a day for children up to six years old, rising to 550mg from six to 11 and shooting up to 800mg for girls and 1,000mg for boys thereafter. After the age of 20, when the formation of new bone material ceases, the recommendation decreases to 700-800mg a day for both men and women. Although some children who have a confirmed milk allergy should not consume dairy products, for the majority of children these are a vital component of a healthy diet. It generally makes little difference whether you or your children drink skimmed or the richest Jersey milk, low-fat or whole milk. However, I don’t recommend that children under the age of three drink reduced-fat milk because they require fat to supply their bodies with fat-soluble vitamins, although semi-skimmed milk is usually fine after the age of three and skimmed milk after five. Remember that goat’s milk contains slightly less fat than cow’s milk, while sheep’s milk contains a little more. According to a report made to the World Stroke Congress in Melbourne, Australia, having sex three times a week can halve a man’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Contrary to the conventional belief that cardiovascular exercise should be taken at least three times a week and should last for 20 minutes or longer, according to leading specialist Sahr Ebrahim, it doesn’t matter if the sex doesn’t last very long — even a three-minute quickie could be good for a man’s heart. By way of encouragement, while there is no scientific proof of a specific food’s aphrodisiac qualities, most people can conjure up a sexy thought or two while swallowing an oyster, peeling a prawn or sucking an asparagus spear. Coincidentally, or maybe not, the oyster and other seafood is rich in zinc, a nutrient which if deficient can lead to a poor libido. Less sexy but equally zinc-rich foods include brown rice, crumbly cheeses and wholegrain bread. Oats and wheat are related, as they both contain a protein called gluten, which frequently causes food-intolerance and allergy symptoms. Oats contain far less gluten than wheat, however, as do rye and barley. The first thing to do is to check with the practitioner whether you have an intolerance to wheat or gluten (the names are often misused). If you are unable to digest gluten, you will have to avoid all of its sources, including many manufactured products, such as cakes, pasta, sausages and foods that contain bread. People who are sensitive to wheat alone may be able to eat oats, rye and barley. Although some people can tolerate a small amount of wheat, they find that their symptoms persist when they eat more than their guts can deal with. A stressed gut also reacts badly to the food that you’re sensitive to, so if you avoid eating wheat-based products during the working week and reserve them for the weekend, for example, your body may be able to tolerate them better.
— The Observer E-banking
for children JALANDHAR: Children aged 5 to 14 can now open bank accounts under a scheme “Kid-E-Bank” launched by ICICI Bank here. Account-holding kids can also do Internet banking and browse through their accounts with the help of colourful animations of animals like lions which guide them through the site. Free cheque books will be given to kids who can issue gift cheques on occasions like birthdays of their friends. Such cheques will have to be counter-signed by their guardians. Children are required to maintain a monthly balance of Rs 500. Any balance above Rs 5,000 can be converted into a fixed deposit.
— TNS |
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