 |
Friday,
October 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Infosys net profit rises 12 per cent
EPF recovers 25.63 cr from defaulters
They get Nobel for economic lab experiments
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allahabad Bank slaps notices on 583 defaulters The perfume school
Markfed leads in paddy procurement Chandigarh, October 10 The Mozambique Government will sign an MoU with the Punjab Government next month to benefit from the advances made by the state in the field of agriculture. This was stated here today by Mozambique High Commissioner Carlos Agostinho during his meeting with state Chief Secretary Y S Ratra.
Immigration firm opens
|
|
Infosys net profit rises 12 per cent Bangalore, October 10 Unveiling the quarterly results, Infosys CEO, President and Managing Director Nandan M Nilekani told a news conference that the company had also revised upwards by 12 per cent its guidance for revenue for the fiscal ending March 31, 2003. The company, he said, also hired the highest number of 1,806 employees in its history during the quarter. Mr Nilekani said the company registered the net profit of Rs 225.77 crore as against Rs 201.56 crore posted for the corresponding quarter of 2001. For the quarter ended June 30, 2002, it was Rs 216.85 crore. Infosys’s income from software development services and products was Rs 879.57 crore, reflecting a 35.29 per cent jump over comparable income for the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Projects higher income Revising upward the guidance for revenue for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003, Nilekani projected income to be between Rs 3,433 crore and Rs 3,467 crore and earnings per share between Rs 142 and Rs 145. “We have increased our guidance for fiscal 2003, despite a very challenging economic environment”, he said, announcing the revenue growth beyond company’s own initial projections. The results are also better than expected from the market which had forecast the quarterly net profit to rise by 5.5 per cent. Yahoo! back in black Bunnyvale, Calif: Yahoo Inc today reported a third-quarter profit as well as sharp increase in sales, reflecting a modest rebound in its core advertising business and growth in some new services. The Internet services company, which has built up a stable of fee-based services to offset the sluggish advertising business, said it earned a profit of five cents per share in the third quarter, compared with a loss of four cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The profit was higher than the estimates of most analysts who had forecast a profit of four cents per share, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. The company said its revenues grew to $ 248.8 million from $ 166.1 million a year earlier. IBM hides earnings Tokyo: IBM Japan has failed to declare about 3 billion yen ($ 24.4 million) in earnings over a period of three years through December 2000, the tax authorities said Thursday. Of the 3 billion yen in unreported earnings, IBM Japan hid about 1.7 billion yen in income and has been found with accounting errors amounting to some 1.3 billion yen. The firm is believed to be asked to pay about 1.5 billion yen in penalties and additional taxes.
Agencies |
|
EPF recovers 25.63 cr from defaulters Chandigarh, October 10 He disclosed that 65th meeting of the regional committee of the Employees’ Provident Fund, Punjab, held on October 8, had also recommended stern action against those employers, who were not providing correct information about the number of their employees, and were not depositing their share in the provident fund of employees. The meeting was chaired by Dr Brajendra Singh, Principal Secretary, Department of Labour and Employment. Mr Sharma disclosed that the Punjab region of the EPF department was settling on an average 1000 claims per day. During 2001-02, 17.68 lakh accounts slips were issued against 16.58 lakh during the previous year. It has brought 727 new establishments under the EPF net during last year against 662 establishments during the previous year. Incidentally, the state government has also brought brick kilns under the purview of the Factories Act. The Provident Fund department has also introduced computerised settlement of claims in the Punjab region. With that step, the settlement ratio within 30 days has gone up to 75 per cent. He said in death cases, all efforts were being made to settle the claims within three days. Regarding the action against defaulters, he said, the department was empowered to take action against them under Section 7 A and Section 14 B.The department has also powers to attach the properties and bank accounts of defaulters, however, we encourage them to follow the rules voluntarily. They should understand that the social security of workers contributes to the productivity level as well. |
|
They get Nobel for economic lab experiments New York, October 10 Designing experiments that can explain why people can make such irrational economic choices in a theoretically “rational’’ marketplace helped Princeton University cognitive psychologist Daniel Kahneman win a share of the 2002 Nobel economics prize. The prize, announced yesterday, went to Kahneman, whose work examines just how irrational economic decision making can be, along with experimental economist Vernon Smith, whose experiments tested fundamental precepts of economic theory. Smith, a Kansas-born, pony-tailed professor of economics and law at George Mason University in Virginia, was honoured for his work in establishing controlled laboratory experiments as a vital tool for understanding how financial, labour and product markets work. Kahneman, born in Tel Aviv in 1934, a US and Israeli citizen and professor of public affairs at Princeton University, was honoured for using insights gained from psychological research to challenge the traditional economic theory that self-interest and rational decision-making govern people’s economic choices. Smith told a press conference that he hadn’t expected the Nobel Prize, but was very happy that his friends who had been predicting that outcome for the past 22 years had “finally got it right.’’ Kahneman, the first Israeli to win the Nobel economics prize, said he was ‘’much honoured’’ by the prize, but saddened that he could not share the honor with his friend and colleague Amos Tversky, with whom he developed his influential approach to the study of judgment and decision-making. Tversky died in 1996. “The award is given largely for work that I did many years ago with Amos Tversky”, Kahneman said. “The thought of his missing this day saddens me.’’ “For a long time, economics based its models on the idea that people act rationally,’’ said Nicholas Barberis, Associate Professor of finance at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. “It’s a simple way to view the world, but Daniel Kahneman has shown us ways in which people don’t act rationally.’’ Kahneman — in collaboration with the late Amos Tversky — showed that people are incapable of fully analyzing complex decision situations when the future consequences are uncertain, relying on short cuts or rules of thumb instead. The studies developed the idea of representativeness, in which people are too quick to see patterns in data that are actually random. For instance, an investor may conclude that a fund manager who beat a benchmark index two years in a row is systematically more competent than average investors, whereas the true statistical implication is much weaker. The studies also developed the concept of availability biases. Such studies have led to a lively area of research known as behavioural finance which applies psychological insights in an attempt to understand the functioning of financial markets. And a new generation of economists is gradually joining two previously distinct research traditions in experimental economics and economic psychology in which Smith and Kahneman, were key figures. Along side his research, Kahneman co-teaches “Introduction to Psychology,’’ better known as “Psych 101.’’ at Princeton. “He likes introducing students to the field,’’ said Deborah Prentice, chair of Princeton’s Department of Psychology.
Reuters |
|
Allahabad Bank slaps notices on 583 defaulters Chandigarh, October 10 “We have issued notices to 583 defaulters for recovering Rs 84.4 crore,” Allahabad Bank General Manager Dr Bikash Ghosh told media here today announcing the bank’s initial public offer (IPO) for Rs 100 crore after which the government stake in it would come down to 71.16 per cent from the present 100 per cent. The government had recently re-promulgated the Securitisation Ordinance, enabling banks and financial institutions to slap notices on wilful defaulters to tackle the NPAs worth over Rs 100,000 crore in the system. The 137-year old bank, whose IPO opens on October 23 and close on October 31, is offering the 10 crore equity at par, even as the book value of the share is Rs 29.25 crore as on March 31, 2002. Citing the offering without any premium, Mr Ghosh said “it will be a good bargain for the customers and capital adequacy ratio (CAR) will improve to 11.5 per cent from 10.62 per cent.” The bank has been booking net profit for the last seven consecutive years. For the year ended March 2002, the net profit of the bank jumped up by over 100 per cent to Rs 80.21 crore from Rs 39.91 crore in 2001-02. The growth of deposits and advances of the bank is consistent over the years. The CAGR of deposit and advances during last five years were 13.75 per cent and 18.03 per cent respectively said Mr Ghosh. Gross credit of the bank grew to Rs 11815 crore as on 31.3.2002 from Rs 10316 crore, showing a growth of 14.5 per cent. SBI Capital Markets Limited, JM Morgan Stanley Private Limited, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Bajaj Capital Limited and Allianz Securities Limited are the lead managers to the issue and M/s Karvy Consultants Limited is the registrar to the issue. |
|
The perfume school Grasse (France), October 10 Delphine Jelk, an elegant Swiss 25-year-old, screwed up her face in displeasure at the unfortunate smell, but was undeterred as she tried again. After all, she had never assumed that it would be easy to become a nose — the trade-term for the select group of people who create new fragrances. Mlle Jelk used to be a marketing manager at a perfume producer. But she was frustrated by a job that had few outlets for her artistic aspirations and dreamt of creating her own aromas. So when France’s perfume industry set up the pioneering course for would-be noses this year, she jumped at the opportunity. Of course, not all the seven students in Grasse will concoct the scents that will be sold by the likes of Dior and Kenzo in boutiques across the world. Most will probably wind up at the other end of the perfume businesses making smells for shampoos, under-arm deodorants or floor cleaners. Still, they should enjoy plenty of job opportunities in an industry that is expanding all the time and annual salaries that start at about US dollars 60,000. Today, smells are in demand across the world: from the fast food industry, which uses artificial odours in hamburgers, to the automobile industry, which uses them in new cars, the demand for a fragrant “ambience” is growing and unlikely to evaporate. The aroma industry is worth $ 6 billion a year and is made up of about 1,000 firms who are sub-contracted to provide the scents which go into everything from perfumes to soaps and sprays. In France, for instance, just three perfume-makers, Chanel, Patou and Guerlain, employ their own noses, while the rest use specialist sub-contractors. “This is a growing business,” said M Han-Paul Bodifee, the Dutch man who is president of the French National Union of Manufacturers of Aromatic Products, “and everyone is always on the lookout for talented noses.” Which is where the Grasse Institute comes in. Until this year, firms have trained their own noses, with knowledge passed from master to apprentice as managers try to preserve in-house secrets. “These companies have always been wary about taking people who had been trained outside for fear of seeing their secrets divulged,’ said Bodifee. The first lessons, which take place in a classroom overlooking the hills that stretch down towards Cannes, began in February and will last nine months. “People only know ten to 15 smells when they come,” said Latty, a master perfumer who is a consultant to the perfume industry when he is not teaching. “They tend to recognise lemon and nutmeg, for example, but not grapefruit.” “But you have to be able to memorise 400 to 500 smells to become a nose,” Latty said. “Once you have got that under your belt, and learnt the combinations of raw materials that go to make these smells, then you can start thinking about creating.” “A perfume expresses our deepest sentiments, our most intimate feelings,” she said, inhaling the scent of sandalwood as a look of beatitude crossed her face. “The house where I grew up was wood, and it brings back so many memories to me. Just like Marcel Proust and his cakes.”
The Guardian |
|
Markfed leads in paddy procurement Chandigarh, October 10 Punsup: 6.79 lakh MTs Pb State Warehousing Corporation: 3.68 lakh MTs Food Department: 3.90 lakh MTs PAIC: 2.57 lakh MTs A Markfed spokesman stated that cumulative purchase made in Punjab mandis till October 9 was 38.38 lakh MTs. Since the quality of paddy is good, storage and lifting arrangements are complete, the spokesman further stated that funds to the tune of Rs 345 crore have since been released for making payments to the farmers. |
|
Mozambique to buy Punjabi vegetables Chandigarh, October 10 Expressing keen interest in promoting bilateral understanding on agriculture, the agro-processing industry and dairying with Punjab, Mr Agostinho said his country wanted to gain from Punjab’s expertise and experience in these fields, adding that Mozambique was also interested to buy rice, vegetables and other agriculture produce from the state. Reciprocating it, Punjab Chief Secretary said the state government was willing to sign a bilateral understanding on agriculture with Mozambique. The state was keen to export vegetables to Mozambique, adding that it had already started exporting fresh vegetables to the United Kingdom and Gulf countries.
UNI |
|
Immigration firm opens Chandigarh, October 10 He said, “The students pursuing plus 2 and higher education could apply to foreign universities for higher education. We would provide consultancy to get visa and other services.” Mr Kamaljit Singh, another director of the company claimed that the another branch office has been opened at Amritsar, but the central processing would be done at Chandigarh office.
TNS |
bb
Cathay-DHL M&M sales up Bank of Rajasthan Oriental Bank |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
