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Thursday,
May 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Calling party pays from today
Reliance STD call at 40 p in WLL network
Bharti enters BPO sector
JCT clocks profit after six years |
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8 pc growth rate achievable: CII
Proposal to export surplus sugar
Bank of India net rises 68 pc
ICICI launches HomePoint for NRIs in Canada
Hindalco net dips 4.8 pc
BSNL largest firm in the world
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Calling party pays from today New Delhi, April 30 The multi-structured interconnect user charge (IUC) will roll out tomorrow. Effectively, it will mean that calls made from landlines to mobile phones will be charged at a different ( higher) rate. Under the previous regime local landline calls were charged at a uniform rate irrespective of the service it terminated on. According to the Telecommunication IUC Regulation, 2003, subscribers will be charged at the rate of Rs 1.20 per 90 seconds i.e. Rs 0.80 per minute for calls made from fixed to cellular mobile phones. TRAI has also approved all basic telephony tariffs filed by fixed line operators till April 27, and these tariffs would also come into effect from tomorrow. The regulator has also said since it was in the process of examining cellular and WLL tariff packages submitted late by operators for May it would allow them to implement tariffs without the prior approval and at their responsibility, subject to certain general regulatory principles. But all tariffs to be implemented after May 31 should have prior approval of the authority. Elaborating on the criteria required to be met by operators for introduction of tariffs, TRAI Chairman Pradip Baijal said the operators should themselves withdraw the tariffs which were not IUC compliant (meaning tariffs which do not allow margins for payment of the IUC rates) and cellular operators should ensure it that from May 1 that no tariff was levied on incoming calls. In non-metro circles subscribers will be charged at the rate of Rs 1.20 per minute for calls from a fixed line to a cellular phone. In a metro circle, a fixed line operator has to pay the cellular operator at the rate of Rs 0.30 per minute for a call terminating at a cellular network, while a cellular operator has to pay at the rate of Rs 0.50 per minute for call made from its service to a fixed line phone. Similarly, while a fixed line operator will pay Rs 0.30 per minute to a WLL ( M) operator for terminating a call, the WLL (M) operator will pay the Rs 0.50 per minute as termination charges to a fixed line operators in a metro circle. In both metro and non-metro circles, TRAI has given the freedom to both cellular and WLL (M) operators to fixed the tariff for calls made to fixed line networks. In a non-metro circle fixed line operator has to pay Rs 0.40 per minute to a cellular operator as termination charges, while the cellular operator will pay Rs 0.60 perminute for getting through to a fixed line. A WLL (M) and cellular operator will both pay Rs 0.40 per minute for terminating calls in each other’s network. TRAI has a fixed the rate at Rs 0.30 for calls originating from a WLL (M) phone and terminating at a cellular phone. In other words, a WLL (M) operator has to a Rs 0.30 per minute for a call made from its service to a cellular network in any metro circle and vice versa. |
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Reliance STD call at 40 p in WLL network
New Delhi, April 30 Above 400 minutes, local and intra circle (irrespective of distance) and inter-circle calls up to 50 km will also cost 40 paise, a Reliance Infocomm statement said, adding that these tariffs had been filed with TRAI and were subject to approval by the regulator. The charges for above 400 minutes and inter-circle calls over 50 km will be charged at Rs 1.90 per minute. In the case of calls made from Reliance IndiaMobile to any cellular network, the tariffs will be charged at Rs 1.20 per minute up to 50 km for local, intra-circle and inter-circle calls irrespective of distance. For a call made from the Reliance IndiaMobile network to the fixed line network, the tariffs will be Rs 1 per minute for local, inter and intra-circle calls up to 50 km, the statement said and added that Rs 1.90 per minute will be charged for both intra-circle calls above 50 km and inter-circle calls within 50-200 kms range. For inter-circle calls within a range of 200-500 km, the tariffs will be Rs 3 per minute while for above 500 km it will be Rs 4 per minute. PTI
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Bharti enters BPO sector
New Delhi, April 30 Sunil Mittal, Bharti, Chairman and group Managing Director said, “we will be amongst the top three BPO companies in this country in the next three years.” On the expected revenue from the new entity, Mittal said in the first year the company expected to clock over Rs 100 crore revenue with a break-even in the second full year of operations. The new company will provide both offshore and in-country solutions, said Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and group Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, addressing a press conference here today. He said the new company would offer the entire spectrum of BPO services ranging from back office administration, including credit and collections, account maintenance, application processing and claim processing, sales and marketing and provision of infrastructure support services. The company would have a special focus on human resource training programmes to better the industry customer satisfaction standards. With this, the existing people, business and assets of Bharti’s existing customer solutions management arm — Bharti Infotrac — will be transferred to the new joint venture entity. The company will start its operations in the second quarter of this fiscal. “The fisrt facility is under development at Gurgaon and in the next three years the company is expected to expand into a multi-facility, pan-India footprint”, Mr Mittal said. TNS
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JCT clocks profit after six years New Delhi, April 30 "The turnaround of the company has resulted due to better plant utilisation, increased operational margins and substantial cost-cutting measures in the various areas such as energy, packing material and manpower", Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the company Samir Thapar said. Export turnover for the year stood at Rs 85 crore as compared to Rs 62 crore in the previous year. Mr Thapar said an increase in the profit had primarily emanated from the textile unit in Phagwara and filament unit in Hoshiarpur. The company has plans to set up a captive power plant under the technology upgradation fund (TUF) scheme to cut down its energy costs which is substantial in the case of these units. Earnings before interest, depreciation and taxes in the filament units stood at Rs 5.46 crore in the quarter ending March 31, 2003 as against Rs 2.39 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. |
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8 pc growth rate achievable: CII New Delhi, April 30 Addressing newspersons after taking over the CII President, Mr Anand Mahindra, said here India had recorded one of the highest growth rates in the 90s. “Only China has had a GDP growth rate higher that India and grew faster than India. Given the size of our market, the choice is not India versus China but India and China”, Mr Mahindra said. For achieving the targeted rate of 8 per cent GDP growth, the CII President said it would require an industrial growth rate of 11 per cent and share of the industry would have to rise to 33 per cent.
CII centre for Baghdad
Mr Mahindra said the CII had identified 40 Indian companies which would be part of its committee looking to bag contracts in the reconstruction process in Iraq. Mr Mahindra said a CII office would be soon opened up in Baghdad to promote sub-contracts for Indian firms besides working with international agencies in post-war Iraq.
CII debate
Chandigarh: Over 1,000 representatives of the manufacturing industry in the Northern Region participated in the CII’s unique interaction programme with the world famous management guru, Dr C.K. Prahalad, Harvey C Fruehauf Professor of Corporate Strategy, Michigan Business School, the USA, at 22 different centres in the North today. The national debate was initiated by the CII in 82 centres throughout its entire network in the country to create an awareness of the opportunities for the revival in the manufacturing industry. In Punjab, the centres in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Bathinda organised the session. Ludhiana alone attracted over 100 participants. In Rajasthan, 104 delegates participated in Jaipur alone. |
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Proposal to export surplus sugar Chandigarh, April 30 A memorandum regarding the proposed sugar export policy was submitted before the Council of Ministers here yesterday. The state government is expected to approach the Central Government soon to get clearance for the export of surplus stocks. According to sources in Sugarfed, 50.23 lakh quintals of sugar was stocked in 14 state cooperative sugar mills as on April 15, this year against a storage capacity of 33.39 lakh quintals in permanent godowns. It included about 7 lakh tonnes of levy quota sugar that had not been lifted by the Centre. About 11.23 lakh tonnes of sugar was now stored in temporary makeshift godowns, and the quality of sugar was deteriorating due to exposure to heat and moisture. About 6 lakh quintals of sugar was over-stocked in permanent godowns affecting the quality of stocks. Dr Ramesh Dutt Sharma, Minister of State for Cooperatives, has admitted that the defective policy of the Central Government is the root cause of the loses of sugar mills in the state. Due to delay in the sanctioning of monthly release quota, he said, the sugar mills had to suffer an additional burden of 14 per cent interest rate on the capital invested. |
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Bank of India net rises 68 pc
Mumbai, April 30 The total income in FY-03 increased to Rs 7,570.59 crore as against Rs 6,711.95 crore in previous year.
Vijaya bank net up
Vijaya Bank today reported a 50.2 per cent jump in the net profit at Rs 196.56 crore for 2002-03 over the previous fiscal. The bank's CMD M.S. Kapur told reporters here after a meeting of the Board of Directors that the net non-performing assets declined steeply by 44.86 per cent from Rs 373.25 crore to Rs 167.43 crore.
PTI |
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ICICI launches HomePoint for NRIs in Canada Chandigarh, April 30 He said the bank had decided to explore the untapped market of NRI remittances worth over $ 15 billion annually. Since about eight lakh Punjabis out of 2 crore Indians overseas were settled in Canada, the ICICI had decided to offer money transfer service to them. The bank was expecting, he said, to grab at least 20 per cent share of remittance market. He said the bank would offer money transfer service free of cost for the next three months. |
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Hindalco net dips 4.8 pc
New Delhi, April 30 The profit before extraordinary items and tax also went down to Rs 227 crore from Rs 274.7 crore during the quarter. The net Sales, however, went up to Rs 1,321.5 crore from Rs 647.6 crore during the quarter. The annual net profit of the company before extraordinary items, however, went upwards to Rs 745.5 crore as against Rs 686 crore during the course of the whole year. The annual profit before extraordinary items and tax also remained up at Rs 1,062.7 crore from Rs 1,005 crore.
UNI |
BSNL largest firm in the world New Delhi, April 30 Replying to supplementaries, he said BSNL tariff plans were good which had forced other companies to slash their rates. This had been made possible due to long years of experience of BSNL. Mr Shourie said there was no problem in providing connectivity of Garuda Mobile Service to new subscribers of both Delhi and Mumbai units of MTNL.
UNI
WB extends project in Punjab New Delhi:
The World Bank has agreed to extend the State Health System Development Project-II initiated during 1996 by Punjab, Karnataka and West Bengal up to March, 2004, said Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Sushma Swaraj today. The projects were to come to an end in March, 2002. The WB Review Mission report dated June, 2002, said Punjab had disbursed 81 per cent credit and there had been improvement in the availability of drugs and supplies, enhancement of clinical skills of doctors, nurses and paramedics as reported by the World Bank in November, 2002, she informed.
UNI
IMF chief economist resigns WASHINGTON:
The chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr Kenneth Rogoff, has resigned and will go back to teaching after the fund’s annual meeting in the fall, IMF has announced. Mr Rogoff was IMF’s director of research and would return to Harvard University two years after he left his teaching post. DPA
Vijaya Bank cuts rate to 11.5 pc BANGALORE:
Vijaya Bank today reduced its prime lending rate by 50 basis points to 11.5 per cent with immediate effect, close on the heels of the RBI cutting bank rate by 0.25 percentage points. The Board of Directors of the bank took the decision at a meeting called to consider and approve its annual financial statements for 2002-03, a bank statement said.
PTI
Su-Kam launches digital inverters NEW DELHI:
Su-Kam Communication Systems today announced the launch of its highly advanced DSP Sine-Wave Inverter. Mr Kanwar Sachdev, CEO of the company, said the inverter would have a smart LCD display which would show battery charge levels, load status — overload or short circuits — and would even conduct self test on start up. When not in use, the inverter would keep one informed of the voltage and frequency being supplied from the mains.
TNS
Banks to strike work on May 2 CHANDIGARH:
All nationalised scheduled banks in the country will remain closed on May 2, as four major officers’ unions of national scheduled banks have decided to go on strike that day. The unions supporting the strike include All-India Bank Officers Association and National Organisation of Bank Officers representing more than 2.2 lakh officials. This was stated by Mr Amar Pal, national president, All-India SBI officers' Federation, and Mr Vijay K.Magon, president of the SBI Officers Association, while addressing a meeting of officers of the SBI here today.
TNS
Wipro to set up offshore centre KOLKATA: Wipro Limited said today it was looking at setting up an offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) centre in one of the Asia-Pacific countries. “We are looking at some offshore offices within the Asia-Pacific and currently tapping ground in five countries,” Wipro Spectramind CEO Raman Roy told reporters here.
PTI
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Price index up RIL rating Goindwal units Markets closed Rin Supreme Essel Propack Phulkari profit Seminar
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