 |
Wednesday,
November 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Bill Gates
to pump in $ 400m
India-Canada
flight soon: Herb Govt may
ask ONGC for special dividend |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Industrial
output grows by 5.2 pc
Indians
need to be reliable: expert Coca-Cola
forays into hot beverages Chautala
invites German entrepreneurs Esteem
Diesel launched in city Corpn
Bank, OBC to share ATMs HAL
declares highest dividend
Wipro
enters a ‘definitive’ pact
|
|
Bill Gates to pump in $ 400m New Delhi, November 12 The money, pledged by the company, will be pumped in over a period of three years. Articulating the views of the company here, Mr Gates said commitment by the company was part of the broader vision of Microsoft of “Realising potential in the digital decade”. He termed the period of 2002-2009 as the “digital decade”, a period in which people will take for granted the online functioning of certain basic operations such as bill payment etc. Specifically for India, he said the goal was to create millions of high paying jobs in the software and services sector, providing education at all levels, a certain commitment to creation of a minimum level of infrastructure and the development of software to connect people. “One of the strengths of India has been its education... for infrastructure I was worried initially but the trajectory seems to be right and by the end of this decade number of high paying jobs in India should increase from half-a-million to 1 million”, he said. The announcements made by Microsoft today include the ‘Project Shiksha - Empowering the Future, the ‘Partnering with India Programme’, local languages versions for Office and Windows XP and investments in the India Development Centre of the company in Hyderabad. The project Shiksha programme, for which the company has earmarked $ 20 million, aims to accelerate computer literacy in the country to over 80,000 school teachers and 3.5 million students in five years. The software giant will partner with the state education departments to set up 10 Microsoft IT academy centres and collaborate with 2,000 partner-driven school labs in five years. The firm will also sponsor teacher and student scholarships to recognise teachers committed to delivering effective IT education, and students for driving innovation through technology. The partnering with India programme is geared towards investing in skills development and .NET readiness of Microsoft’s India based partners to enable them “leverage global opportunities”. “Microsoft will also work with Indian IT companies to develop .NET ready solutions and devise go-to-market strategies to offer these solutions in the global market”, Mr Gates said. A part of the $ 400 million investment also includes plan to launch Windows XP and Office in Hindi. Towards this Mr Gates announced that the company would make available the Hindi language version of XP and the next version of Microsoft(R) Office, codenamed Office 11. In addition, Microsoft will work with local partners to extend Windows XP language support to include Bengali and Malayalam. This will take the total number of languages supported by Windows XP to 11. These are Hindi, Sanskrit, Konkani, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Gurmukhi, Telugu, Kannada, and Gujarati. The plans also include increased investment in the India Development Centre and the Microsoft Development team strength will go up by 500 by 2005. The software giant has also pledged to contribute $ 1 million for Media Lab Asia. Earlier in the day Mr Gates called on the President A P J Abdul Kalam and Minister of Communications and Information
Technology Pramod Mahajan. President Kalam, who was keen on knowing about Microsoft’s IT initiatives in India, took the world’s richest man for a walk to the sprawling Mughal Gardens in the Rashtrapati Bhavan complex here.
|
|
India-Canada flight soon: Herb New Delhi, November 12 The Canadian Government realises the importance of direct flights primarily for the business communities in both countries and is keen on resuming it. “We have already had discussions with the President of Air Canada on the issue and have also talked to the Russian authorities so as to facilitate direct flights between Canada and India which will reduce the travel time substantially”, said he while replying to a question from an Indian business delegation at Ficci here today. He agreed with the business community that the closure of Canada 3000 , which operated direct flights between the two countries about two years ago, was creating problems for businessmen who travelled frequently on this route. Addressing an interactive meeting on Indio-Canada Business Opportunities at Ficci, he said despite at increase in bilateral trade between India and Canada, there still existed the huge untapped potential for increasing the trade. The total value of the trade increased to $ 1.1 billion in 2001-02 compared to $ 468 million in 1990-91. However while Canada’s share in India’s trade is 1.25 per cent, India’s share in Canada’s trade is 0.23 per cent. Asked why Canadian companies, which had expertise in hydel power generation, were not coming forward to invest in India, he cited the high transmission and distribution losses here as the main reasons in case of large projects. “But we are keen on having small and medium projects”, he stated. He also said the tremendous potential existed in software, power, mining, geo-sciences in which both countries could benefit. Later, an MoU on Industrial Energy Efficiency was also signed between Natural Resources, Canada and Ficci . The MoU was signed by Mr Irwin Itzkoviteh, Assistant Deputy Minister, Natural Resources, Canada, and Ficci President R.S. Lodha.
|
|
Govt may ask ONGC for special dividend
New Delhi, November 12 The firm, which paid a record Rs 1,697 crore dividend to the government for 2001-02, is likely to be asked to pay up to Rs 42 per share special dividend this month, informed sources said. At Rs 42 per share, the government will net over Rs 5,000 crore while the total payout by the ONGC to all shareholders, including Indian Oil and GAIL who hold 9.81 and 4.8 per cent equity each, will be close to Rs 6,000 crore. For the ONGC, which has committed most of the Rs 46,500 crore of investment during the Xth Five Year Plan period (2002-07), this will be a bad news as it would have to encash some of its term deposits for the payout. The sources said the ONGC, which posted a net profit of Rs 6,200 crore in first half of current fiscal, has just about Rs 6,000 crore in cash reserve, half of which it will pay in the next two months for acquiring a 25 per cent stake in a Sudan oil field.
PTI
|
|
Industrial output grows by 5.2 pc
New Delhi, November 12 The growth during September this year stood at 6.1 per cent as compared to a 2 per cent growth during the period last year. According to the quick estimates of the Industrial Production (IIP), the cumulative growth in the mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors during April-September this year stood at 6.5 per cent, 5.3 per cent and 3.4 per cent. The IIP with base at 1993-94 also reveals that the growth in these three sectors during September stood at 1 per cent, 7.3 per cent and -0.4 per cent. As many as 14 of the 17 two-digit industry groups have shown positive growth during September, 2002, as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, says an official release. While beverages, tobacco and related products have shown the highest growth of 40.3 per cent, food products grew by 27.1 per cent and textile products (including apparel) 22.4 per cent, the release has said. On the other hand, leather and fur products have shown a negative growth of 36.1 per cent followed by a decline of 32.5 per cent in wood and wood products, furniture and fixtures and 3.2 per cent in machinery and equipment other than transport equipment.
PTI
|
|
Drought relief still awaited Chandigarh, November 12 According to information available, about 24 lakh tonnes of paddy have so far reached in the state mandis compared to about 28 lakh tonnes of paddy procured by the state agencies during the corresponding period last year. However, the officials admitted that the total area under paddy had fallen from 10.27 lakh hectares during the last sowing season to about 7.45 lakh hectares this year. The total production of rice in the state is expected to fall drastically this year against 27.24 lakh tonnes processed during previous cropping season. The reports compiled by the district agricultural officers point out that though total area under paddy plantation decreased in almost all major producing districts, but area under paddy declined more sharply in Ambala, Kaithal and Sonepat districts as compared to other districts, due to shortage of irrigation water. The late sowing of basmati in these districts had also affected the total production estimates.. However, the report said the impact of drought in the state was very severe in Southern districts including Mohindergarh, Rewari, Bhiwani and Sirsa, which were already facing scarcity of irrigation water supply. Due to the impact of the drought, said officials, the farmers would have to suffer losses not only account of fall in production of bajra, jowar and pulses, but they are also forced to cut down their area for the next crop. Since there has not been any rains during the past few days, the crucial sowing time, the area under wheat, gram and other oilseed crops is also likely to fall drastically this season.
|
|
Indians
need to be reliable: expert New Delhi, November 12 Attributing the same to cultural and infrastructural differences between the countries, Prof Heil, Director, Chinese Business Programme, University of Applied Sciences, Rosenheim, emphasised that Indians should change their attitude. “The world likes Indians but would not do business with them whereas they may not like Chinese but do business with them. This is because of the attitude of the Chinese’, he said. Indians need to be reliable — productwise and personally —and punctual, if they are to improve business ties and their position in the global market, he said. Professor Heil was in India to conduct a two-day workshop on marketing, organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation. Stressing on the importance of cleanliness for business, he said a massive awareness campaign where every citizen of the country realises the importance of cleanliness, needs to be carried out. |
|
Coca-Cola forays into hot beverages New Delhi, November 12 Both tea and coffee will be available under the Georgia brand name and will supplied through customise vending machines across different outlets. Different flavours of the beverages will supplied through these machines. The roll out plan includes Delhi and Kolkata initially. This will followed by a more elaborate national roll out over the next three months. A cup of tea will cost Rs 4 while coffee has been priced at Rs 5 per cup.
|
|
Chautala invites German entrepreneurs
Chandigarh, November 12 Chautala, now on a six-nation tour heading a high level delegation to attract foreign investment, addressed a meeting of industrialists and representatives of multinational corporations in Frankfurt, Germany, yesterday. Tracing the business relations between Germany and Haryana, Chautala said that out of 600 foreign collaborations in the State, 88 were with German companies and 133 with Americans. These industrial units were engaged in producing optical microscopes, electrical instruments, industrial machinery, food flavouring material, computer software, radial tyres, medical equipment, refrigeration and water purifiers. Chautala told German entrepreneurs that Gurgaon was fast emerging as the “Corporate Capital of India” and the state government was extending every possible help to foreign entrepreneurs to set up their units, an official release said here. Addressing Non-Resident Indians at a function organised by them in his honour in Frankfurt, Chautala said that his government was taking steps to provide all minimum basic facilities to the people and generate employment opportunities. The President of the Association of NRIs settled in Germany, S. Mani welcomed the Chief Minister and said that Germany had about 50,000 people hailing from India and 5,000 of them were settled in Frankfurt. Of them 1800 were from Haryana. The Indian Ambassador to Germany. T.C.A. Rangachari raised the developmental strides taken by Haryana during the last few years.
PTI
|
|
Esteem Diesel launched in city Chandigarh, November 12 Mr Malhotra said the product is being introduced to cater to the needs of customers who are looking for economy of owning and running a diesel vehicle. The price of Maruti Esteem D is Rs 5.48 lakh and Esteem D1 (with power steering) Rs 5.75 lakh. It is fitted with proven Peugeot TUD5 engine which gives a maximum power of 57 bhp at the rate of 5000 rpm. Mr H.S. Brar, Regional Manager, MUL, Chandigarh region said the Esteem Diesel is cheaper by Rs 1.57 lakh from its nearest competitor. The car is available in seven exciting colours, he added.
|
|
Corpn Bank, OBC to share ATMs
Mumbai, November 12 Corporation Bank Chairman K. Cherian Verghese said the two public-sector banks had joined hands to share their infrastructure at a very low cost which will later be extended to cash management services and cheque delivery services. Mr B.D. Narang, CMD of Oriental Bank said the agreement would result in consolidation of strength of both the banks in their respective areas. Corporation Bank has already installed 250 ATMs across the country and a similar number of ATMs would be installed by March 2003. Oriental Bank which has 40 ATMs now has planned to increase their numbers to 200 by March-end.
UNI
|
|
HAL declares highest dividend
New Delhi, November 12 The dividend cheque was recently presented to Defence Minister George Fernandes by HAL Chairman N.R. Mohanty. HAL had recorded a profit before tax of Rs 373 crore over a turnover of Rs 2,775 crore during the year ended March 2002, a release said today.
PTI
|
bb
HDFC Bank Centurion Bank Vardhman contest Philips Manager |
 |
| 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 | |
In video (
