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Friday,
May 11, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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PM, ministers meet on selloff rules
Bharti to invest 56 cr in call-centre trade
Infosys chief predicts 30 pc IT growth Connect to open Internet centres 150 cr tax from MNC staff recovered |
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India confident of 7-9 pc
growth PNB plans to go for Rs 400 cr
IPO IT profession
under tax net Tata Telecom launches
networking solutions Tata Info denies
report Chinese cycle 'is no threat'
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PM, ministers meet on selloff rules
New Delhi, May 10 The meeting attended by Home Minster L.K. Advani, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie is also believed to have discussed the issue of national security in relation to the bidders for the state owned companies. The meeting lasting one and a half-hour discussed the progress of the economic reforms and the pace of disinvestment after the Balco episode is behind the government. When contacted, Mr Shourie refused to comment beyond saying “It was a routine meeting’’. However, he indicated that another round of discussions could be held with the Prime Minister before he leaves for Malaysia on Sunday. While he declined to divulge the details, Mr Shourie is believed to have briefed the Prime Minister about the Balco issue and how the disinvestment process could proceed further. With the government opening the defence manufacturing sector for the private sector and the foreign investment and liberalising FDI norms in many other sectors and the Balco episode behind it, the pace of reforms and the disinvestment is expected to pick up in the coming few weeks. Mr Shourie had said yesterday that the government would soon publish a set of guidelines governing the issues raised by indictment of Videocon, Sterlite Industries and BPL by the SEBI in rigging prices of their shares. He said there should a discrimination as what is a general run-of-the-mill kind of an offence and what amounts to moral turpitude reflecting character of a company. The government would also examine whether the companies causing embarrassment to it could be allowed to bid for the PSUs. In the last session of Parliament, the Opposition parties had tried to corner the government for having no clearcut policies about the issues raised by SEBI. The Law Ministry is examining as to how far the government can go and restrict the companies from bidding. It is studying aspects like whether the ban could be from retrospective effect; whether the group as a whole should be black-listed or whether the punishment could be confined to an individual entity. Defence production “There is no change in the strategic status of the ordnance factories’’, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie told reporters here today. Mr Shourie said the opening up the defence manufacturing for private sector and disinvesment policy were two different things. However, he agreed that whatever sectoral cap is there for the FDI would hold good for the public sector companies being put on sale.
UNI
Warning against new virus New Delhi, May 10 Homepage e-mail worm (also known as VBS/VBSWG.X.Worm, VBSWG. X and VBS.Homepage), is a threat created with the VBS Worm generation kit, CA said in a statament here. It arrives in the e-mail with subject line “Homepage” and a message body text “Hi! You’ve got to see this page! Its really cool; O)” and the attachment “Homepage.HTML.VBS”. Upon execution, the worm sends itself to all e-mail addresses listed in the infected user’s Microsoft Outlook address book. Next, VBS.Homepage searches the user’s Microsoft Outlook Inbox and deleted items
folders for any message with the subject ‘homepage’ and deletes them. CA said the latest signature updates to CA’s
inoculate IT protects users against this menace and for further information users may log on to
‘http:/ca.Com/virusinfo’. |
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Bharti to invest 56 cr in call-centre trade
New Delhi, May 10 Bharti Infotrac, a new fully-owned subsidiary of Bharti Teletech, the group’s manufacturing arm, will set up call centres in leading Indian cities over the next three years, Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Bharti Teletech’s Vice-Chairman said. The company has no presence now in the call centre market. Bharti’s first call centre due to start in early 2002 will be a 1,000-seat facility in Gurgaon on the outskirts of Delhi. The centres will first offer voice and e-mail services and later provide financial data processing and e-Commerce services, Mittal said. After Gurgaon, Bharti plans to roll out call centres in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore in phases. A 150-seat pilot call centre will be commissioned in Delhi in July as a marketing tool, Mr Mittal said. Over 100 call centres have been issued licences to set up operations by federal telecommunications agencies, Nasscom said. Earlier this week, the Bharti group had won commitments for $ 460 million in equity investments from global investors including Singapore Telecom to fund its ambitious growth plans. “We plan to corner 10 per cent market share in the call centre business in the next 3-5 years,’’ Mittal said. After Gurgaon, Bharti plans to roll out call centres in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Bangalore and possibly other cities in a phased sequential manner. The sequence, however, is yet to be firmed up. Mittal said “we will have state-of-the-art equipment and software installed which will include Automated Call Distribution (ACD), Integrated Voice Response System, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software,’’ Mittal said. The orders are likely to be placed in a couple of months. “We will decide on the location of the second call centre in early 2002, after the first one is up and running. The decision will depend on customers requirement and preferences,’’ Mittal said.
UNI
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Infosys chief predicts 30 pc IT growth
New Delhi, May 10 “The slowdown will continue for sometime. However, the opportunities for Indians in the American IT industry are not over,” Mr Narayana Murthy told reporters at the launch of the research programme of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India-Accounting Research Foundation (ICAI-ARF) here. Describing the programme as a small contribution to the nation from the company, the Infosys Chief said the country required high quality of IT experts for overall development. “By 2009-10, we must have a million people well-versed in the information technology to build high quality power stations, good airports, bridges, roads, etc,” he said adding that if the desired level were not attained by the scheduled time, it would lead to a “disaster”. He stressed the need for high quality of teachers and added the fellowship would go a long way in attracting people to research in the IT sector. At present, the ratio of teachers and students in India is 1:50 and if the programme goes well, there will be 20,000 Ph.Ds in 10 years from now, Mr Narayana Murthy said. The Infosys Chairman urged the big Indian companies to come forward and help in the growth of the sector in the country. “Five years from now, India should have good quality and quantity of experts in the field”. Mr Murthy said about 3,50,000 engineering students pass out every year in India, out of which the Infosys accommodated 1,25,000. Some of them are sent outside for higher education. The agreement for the Fellowship schemes was signed by Mr Murthy and Mr N.D. Gupta President ICAI. Under the agreement, the endowment of Rs 9,00,000 per Infosys Fellow to be provided by Infosys to the ICAI-ARF will be used directly for benefiting the fellow for three years. During the period, the Fellow will be given a stipend of Rs 25000 per month. The research can be performed in any branch of accounting, auditing, finance, fiscal and corporate laws, capital markets, corporate governance, Information Technology and related areas. The Fellowship has got recognition from the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi. “The basic purpose of the Fellowship is to attract the best talent in the country to carry out research in information technology,” Mr Narayana Murthy said. ICAI, which was established in 1949, had recently set up the ARF, a non-profit making company, for undertaking and promoting basic and applied research on national and international issues concerning accounting, finance, economics, fiscal laws and management.
UNI
Connect to open Internet centres Chandigarh, May 10 Here one can get booking done for telephone connections, take Internet connections, browse the Net. The chain of centres, as many as 300 throughout the region in less than two years, will be launched under the brand name "Cyber Connect". The company expects a substantial increase in its market share with this concept of retail selling of these products."The idea is to provide a one stop shop for all communication needs" said Mr Vijay Kaul , Chief Marketing Officer, Connect. The retail outlets of Cyber Connect would also provide pre-paid calling cards, limited mobility handsets, regular telephone sets and Come Connect Internet packages. Cyber Connect centres will be located in commercial as well as residential areas, near education institutions, central markets, etc. A demonstration of the products will also be given at these centres. During the initial phase, the centres will be launched in Chandigarh followed by other cities in Punjab. Cyber Connect would have a trained centre in charge also. These centres would also ensure a continuous connectivity through Connect leased line or ISDN lines.
PTI |
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150 cr tax from MNC staff recovered New Delhi, May 10 Submitting a status report on recoveries before a Bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice D.K. Jain, CBDT counsel R.D. Jolly said “we are taking action against the companies wherever it is necessary”. The court, after perusing the report, said “the recovery is substantial and the total amount is about Rs 150 crore.” Jolly said “the status report is not complete as more informations is being collected. But it is not possible to take action against employees posted by them outside India.” To a specific query by the court whether the companies came forward voluntarily to make declaration of taxes of their employees, the CBDT counsel said the matter was being pursued by the Income Tax authorites for quite some time and the MNCs made the payment when investigations were on. “In fact they were compelled to come forward with the tax declaration,” Jolly said. The CBDT submitted the report on court’s earlier direction following a PIL petition alleging the government had accepted declaration of income by employees of certain MNCs under voluntary disclosure of income scheme which was contrary to provisions of the Income Tax Act. The PIL filed by advocate B.L. Wadhera claimed that 163 employees of 15 MNCs had declared income over Rs 46 crore and some employees of two foreign banks had declared income over Rs 23 crore under the VDIS.
PTI
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India confident of 7-9 pc growth Honolulu, May 10 The official, Ajit Kumar, said such a growth rate — up from the current 6 per cent — would require foreign direct investment of around $ 10 billion a year, up dramatically from around $ 2 billion to $ 3 billion now. To achieve that, the government’s process for approving foreign investment must be simplified, Kumar said yesterday. Higher domestic demand also is needed to attract investment, he said. “Unless demand picks up, the investment won’t come,” Kumar said. “We are hoping that by making more government investment in infrastructure projects ... There will be more economic activity.” He said India expects to see some kind of pickup in demand around August or September. In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Kumar said that to boost investment significantly, financial closure needs to be reached on a number of major projects, such as power, telecoms and infrastructure. For instance, he said that investors aren’t willing to invest in power projects in India because the country’s electricity boards aren’t financially viable.
AP |
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PNB plans to go for Rs 400 cr IPO New Delhi, May 10 “We are coming up with an initial public offer (IPO) this fiscal year. We have filed offer document with the SEBI,” Kohli told reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI seminar here. He said the size of the IPO would be about seven lakh shares priced at about Rs 40-50 a share i.e Rs 10 face value with a premium of about Rs 30-40 a share. Kohli was hesitant to give the exact time of the IPO but said it would be between third and fourth quarter of this fiscal. The IPO is part of the Boston Consultancy Group’s recommendation for restructuring the bank. The bank has already implemented some of the suggestions including launch of credit card with HSBC and forging an insurance tie-up with Hero Group. Kohli hoped that the bank would get RBI clearances soon and apply to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) next month.
PTI
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IT profession
under tax net New Delhi, May 10 According to an official announcement, a notification has been issued to include the profession of IT within the ambit of section 44AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The government also announced measures to boost the recession-ridden automobile sector. It has raised depreciation on new commercial vehicles acquired in the current financial year to 50 per cent from the existing 40 per cent. Depreciation has been raised from 25 per cent to 50 per cent for plant and machinery used weaving, process and garment sectors of the textile industry in order to encourage investments. Plant and machinery should be purchased under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme on or after April 1, 2001 but before April 1, 2004 and put to use before April 1, 2004. Rates of depreciation on ships and inland water vessels have also been enhanced to 25 per cent from the present rate of 20 per cent/10 per cent with a view to giving a boost to the shipping industry. Further it has been decided to allow 100 per cent income tax deduction for payments made to engineering and medical institutions in rural areas and towns with less than five lakh population.
Tata Telecom launches
networking solutions Chandigarh, May 10 TTL has already launched Avaya’s range of Cajun Campus family LAN switches. Very soon, these will be complemented by Avaya’s brand of Wavelan Orinoco — Wireless LAN products, VPN solutions, and access products. These products complement TTL’s existing portfolio of voice, teleconferencing and video solutions. The Cajun products are “Day One Voice Ready”. This means that they are voice and Qos enabled out of the box. Cajun customers will not require a forklift upgrade to implement real time applications in their data networks. Tata Telecom is now uniquely positioned to help their large installed base of customers leverage existing investments and meet the challenge of building a new generation of network architectures that cost effectively integrate voice, video, and data on a single infrastructure. They provide the reliability, ubiquity, and security to meet the challenges and dynamic requirements of large countrywide
covered networks of their customers.
Tata Info denies report Mumbai, May 10 Tata Infotech, MD, Dr Nirmal Jain
categorically stated, “There are no ongoing discussions or plans for a merger of the two companies’ activities.” Tata Infotech also clarified that while the two companies work together, as well as with other IT entities in the Tata Group, on projects and create synergies for each other and their clients, there is no plan to merge any of these companies in the foreseeable future.
UNI
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Chinese cycle 'is no threat' New Delhi, May 10 “When we do a detailed analysis of the Chinese threat for the bicycle industry, then we find that everything is just hyped up,” said Mr Jai Dev Kapur, president of the All-India Cycle Manufacturers’ Association. He said the country’s market is
heterogeneous and each state is like a different country in its preferences. This would mean that variety and flexibility is of paramount importance. This is a difficult proposition to cater to unless the importer was to set up a huge sales and distribution network in India. The standard roadster bicycle segment accounts for 60 to 70 per cent of the Indian bicycle market. An average quality Chinese bicycle sells about Rs 1,150. With a 40 per cent import duty, this goes up to Rs 1,610. This is the landed price in India and overheads, importer’s margin and the margin of others needs to be added to this. The standard roadsters from the leading Indian brands are available at lower prices and it would be difficult for foreign importers to compete in this segment. In the fancy bicycle market, which accounts for about 30 to 35 per cent of the bicycle industry and sell mainly in bigger towns there could be some imports in the lower end of the market bicycles for kids could be a segment where usage of cheaper plastic parts and thinner tubes could result in prices as low as Rs 350 to 550 and landed cost of Rs 500 to Rs 775. However, in a country where the use and throw culture has not set in, the success of these bicycle is still a question mark, Mr Kapur said. He said without having a quality product and a proper network to distribute, it is going to be a difficult task for the Chinese to cater to the Indian consumers. Further, the question of spares and service also needs to be addressed. With the wear and tear of parts in the bicycles, supply of spares and service is going to be one of the crucial area that has to be looked into by the customes, he said. The president said even if the Chinese products enter the country it will be only through few traders and will be on a small-scale operations. Since the bicycle industry has come a long way, consumers are well aware of the quality of the products available currently. “We are confident that Chinese bicycles are not a threat. If the Chinese products enter the country, there will be a lot of improvement in the competitiveness of the Indian industry,” he added.
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Mazda in network deal with NTT Japan Telecom’s arm to boost capital Malaysian Airline losses set to widen Microsoft sees a glowing future |
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Cathay Pacific Book released Ebony L & T Information IOC investment Dabur |
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