Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Four children killed in blast in Allahabad

Four children were killed and six others injured in a blast in a slum area of the city on Wednesday.The blast occurred in Kareli area the nature of blast is still a mystery.As the bomb explosion acts both in up and down directions and this inflammable material in scrap and the smoke coming out depicts the explosion is not of bomb nature.
While four children were killed, six persons were injured, Senior Superintendent of Police of Allahabad Naveen Arora said.
"People have been rushed to various hospitals and we are in the process of joining the dots," he said.
Police said the explosion appeared to have occurred at a scrap dump.
"Prima facie it appears that the children were playing near the scrap dump when the explosion occurred," B P Singh, IG (Law and Order) said in Lucknow.
An Anti-Terrorism Squad team has been rushed to the city to probe the case, he said.
Some of the residents, however, claimed that the bomb was "hurled by an unidentified person who fled immediately", while others said that the explosive device was lying abandoned in a garbage heap and went off when a group of rag-pickers fiddled with it.
Dell Reports First Quarter Financial Results
·         Revenue of $14.4 billion
·         GAAP Earnings of $0.36 per share, non-GAAP earnings was $0.43 per share
·         Dell Enterprise Solutions and Services revenue grew 2 percent year over year to $4.5 billion
ROUND ROCK, Texas, May 22, 2012 – Dell announced its fiscal 2013 first quarter results today, continuing to show progress in its move to being a total enterprise services and solutions provider. Revenue for the quarter was $14.4 billion, with GAAP operating income of $824 million, and earnings of $0.36 per share.
“We’re committed to continuing our strategy to re-shape Dell’s business as an end-to-end IT provider,” said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO.  “We saw continued progress in our first quarter with the innovative IT solutions we’re providing – notably our latest Dell servers, storage, networking and services that deliver customers enhanced productivity.”
“We continued to shift the mix of our business during a challenging environment,” said Brian Gladden, Dell chief financial officer. “Our enterprise solutions and services businesses now account for 50 percent of our gross margin, and we’ll continue to make the necessary investments to maintain our progress.” 
Results
·         Revenue in the quarter was $14.4 billion, a 4 percent decrease from the previous year.
·         GAAP earnings per share in the quarter was 36 cents, down 27 percent from the previous year; non-GAAP EPS was 43 cents, down 22 percent.
·         GAAPoperating income for the quarter was $824 million, or 5.7 percent of revenue. Non-GAAP operating income was $1 billion, or 7 percent of revenue.
·         Cash used in operations in the quarter was $138 million. For the past four quarters, Dell has generated $4.9 billion in cash flow. Dell ended the quarter with $17.2 billion in cash and investments.
Fiscal-Year 2013 First Quarter Highlights

                                                                 First Quarter                                             

(in millions)                                        FY13          FY12    Change                       

Revenue                                       $14,422     $15,017        (4)%

Operating Income (GAAP)                      $824        $1,212       (32)%                       
Net Income (GAAP)                               $635           $945       (33)%
EPS (GAAP)                                         $0.36          $0.49       (27)%
Operating Income (non-GAAP)             $1,010        $1,376       (27)%
Net Income (non-GAAP)                         $761        $1,050       (28)%
EPS (non-GAAP)                                   $0.43          $0.55       (22)%

 

Information about Dell’s use of non-GAAP financial information is provided under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below. Non-GAAP financial information excludes costs related primarily to the amortization of purchased intangibles, severance and facility-action costs, and acquisition-related charges. All comparisons in this press release are year over year unless otherwise noted.
Strategic Highlights:
·         Dell Enterprise Solutions and Services revenue grew 2 percent year over year to $4.5 billion and contributed half of Dell’s gross margin. The ESS revenue grew 5 percent excluding third-party storage.
·         Dell Services revenue was $2.1 billion, up 4 percent. Services backlog increased 9 percent to $15.4 billion.
·         Dell-owned storage grew 24 percent to $423 million.
·         Server and networking revenue grew 2 percent.
Business Units and Regions:
·         Large Enterprise revenuewas $4.4 billionin the quarter, a 3 percent decline. Operating income for the quarter was $402 million, or 9.1 percent of revenue.
·         Public revenue was $3.5 billion, a 4 percent decrease. Operating income for the quarter was $271 million, or 7.8 percent of revenue.
·         Small and Medium Business revenue grew 4 percent to $3.5 billion. Enterprise Solutions and Services revenue increased 17 percent, led by services revenue growth of 23 percent and servers and networking of 16 percent. SMB had $389 million in operating income, or 11.2 percent of revenue.
·         Consumer revenue was $3 billion, a 12 percent decline. Operating income was $32 million or 1.1 percent of revenue.
·         Asia-Pacific and Japan revenue was flat but China increased 9 percent. EMEA revenue was down 1 percent in the quarter. Americas was down 7 percent. Revenue in the BRIC countries increased 4 percent.
Company Outlook:
The company expects second quarter revenue to be in line with historical seasonal trends and be up 2-4 percent from first-quarter levels. 
About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers worldwide innovative technology, business solutions and services they trust and value. For more information, visit www.dell.com. As previously announced, the first-quarter analyst call with Michael Dell, chairman and CEO; Brian Gladden, CFO; and, Steve Felice, Chief Commercial Officer, will be webcast live today at 4:00 CDT and archived at www.dell.com/investor.To monitor highlighted facts from the analyst call, follow on the Dell Investor Relations Twitter account at: http://twitter.com/dellsharesor hashtag#DellEarnings. To communicate directly with Dell, go to www.dell.com/dellshares.
Segment Realignment:
In the first quarter of Fiscal 2013, Dell made certain segment realignments in order to conform to the way Dell internally manages segment performance. These realignments affected all of Dell's operating segments, but primarily consisted of the transfer of small office business customers from the Small and Medium Business segment to the Consumer Segment. Dell has recast prior period amounts to provide visibility and comparability. None of these changes impacts Dell's previously reported consolidated net revenue, gross margin, operating income, net income, or earnings per share.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
This press release includes information about non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP earnings per share (collectively with non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP operating expenses, the “non-GAAP financial measures”), which are not measurements of financial performance prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. In the following tables, Dell has provided a reconciliation of each historical non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure under the heading “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and has presented a detailed discussion of its reasons for including the non-GAAP financial measures and the limitations associated with those measures under the heading “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.” Dell encourages investors to review the reconciliation and the non-GAAP discussion in conjunction with Dell’s presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures.
Special Note on Forward Looking Statements:
Statements in this press release that relate to future results and events (including statements about Dell’s future financial and operating performance, trends relating to mix shift, macroeconomic uncertainty, organic and inorganic investments and success relating to strategic transformation, as well as the financial guidance with respect to cash flow from operations, net income and non-GAAP earnings per share) are forward-looking statements and are based on Dell's current expectations. In some cases, you can identify these statements by such forward-looking words as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “confidence,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “should,” “will” and “would,” or similar expressions. Actual results and events in future periods may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements because of a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including: intense competition; Dell’s reliance on third-party suppliers for product components, including reliance on several single-sourced or limited-sourced suppliers; Dell’s ability to achieve favorable pricing from its vendors; weak global economic conditions and instability in financial markets; Dell’s ability to manage effectively the change involved in implementing strategic initiatives; successful implementation of Dell’s acquisition strategy; Dell’s cost-efficiency measures; Dell’s ability to effectively manage periodic product and services transitions; Dell’s ability to deliver consistent quality products and services; Dell’s ability to generate substantial non-U.S. net revenue; Dell’s product, customer, and geographic sales mix, and seasonal sales trends; the performance of Dell’s sales channel partners; access to the capital markets by Dell or its customers; weak economic conditions and additional regulation affecting our financial services activities; counterparty default; customer terminations of or pricing changes in services contracts, or Dell’s failure to perform as it anticipates at the time it enters into services contracts; loss of government contracts; Dell’s ability to obtain licenses to intellectual property developed by others on commercially reasonable and competitive terms; infrastructure disruptions; cyber attacks or other data security breaches; Dell’s ability to hedge effectively its exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates; expiration of tax holidays or favorable tax rate structures, or unfavorable outcomes in tax audits and other compliance matters; impairment of portfolio investments; unfavorable results of legal proceedings; Dell’s ability to attract, retain, and motivate key personnel; Dell’s ability to maintain strong internal controls; changing environmental and safety laws; the effect of armed hostilities, terrorism, natural disasters, and public health issues; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in Dell’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended February 3, 2012. In particular, Dell’s expectations with regard to cash flow from operations, net income and non-GAAP earnings per sharefor the full fiscal year ending Feb. 1, 2013 assume, among other matters, that there is no significant decline in economic conditions generally or demand growth specifically, that macroeconomic uncertainties do not materialize into significant economic difficulties, no significant change in product mix patterns, and continued geographic customer demand trends. In particular, Dell’s expectations with regard to second quarter revenue amounts assume, among other matters, that there is no significant decline in economic conditions generally or demand growth specifically, that macroeconomic uncertainties do not materialize into significant economic difficulties, no significant change in product mix patterns, and continued geographic customer demand trends. Dell assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements.
Consolidated statements of income, financial position and cash flows and other financial data follow.
Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.
Contact Information
Media Contacts: (512) 728-4100
David Frink
Dell
(512) 728-2678
Jess Blackburn
Dell
(512) 728-8295
Investor Relations Contacts:
Robert Williams
Dell
(512) 728-7570
Michael McMullen
Dell
(512) 724-4448
David Mehok
Dell
(512) 728-4225

Ahmadinejad to visit Beijing next month

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Beijing next month, a spokesman for the Islamic republic's embassy said Wednesday, amid an escalating crisis over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Ahmadinejad will be in the Chinese capital for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a Central Asian grouping headed by Beijing and Moscow, said spokesman Mohammad Ali Ziaei.
"Yes, it has been confirmed. The exact date of arrival is not set, but for sure the president will be here on June 7," the spokesman said, giving no further details.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will also attend the June 6-7 gathering, to be chaired by China's President Hu Jintao.
Tehran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful use, but it faces a raft of sanctions from the United Nations, the United States and the European Union over suspicions that it is trying to develop atomic weapons. China, a close ally of Iran, has criticised the measures.
Ahmadinejad last visited China in 2010, when he attended the World Expo in Shanghai. Iran has observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and focuses on regional issues including anti-terrorism.

Measures for Checking Extinction of Wildlife

The Minister of State (I/C) for Environment and Forests Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan today listed the steps taken by Government to check the extinction of wildlife in the country as follows in Rajya Sabha in reply to a question.

The Government has taken the following steps to check the extinction of wild life in the country:

i) A network of 668 Protected Areas, viz., National Parks, Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves has been created in the country under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to provide for in situ conservation of wildlife and its habitats.

ii) A network of Zoos has been created in the country, which are financially supported and statutorily regulated by the Central Zoo Authority, to ensure ex situ conservation of important species of wild animals, including undertaking conservation breeding programmes for such species.

iii) The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of `Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats` includes the component `Recovery Programmes for Saving Critically Endangered Species and Habitats` to provide for special measures to support such species. Presently, 16 species have been identified for support under this component which include Snow Leopard, Bustards (including Floricans), Dolphin, Hangul, Nilgiri Tahr, Marine Turtles, Dugongs and coral reefs, Edible Nest Swiftlet, Asian Wild Buffalo, Nicobar Megapode, Manipur Brow-antlered Deer, Vultures, Malabar Civet, Indian Rhinoceros, Asiatic Lion, Swamp Deer and Jerdon’s Courser.

iv) Legal protection has been provided to endangered species of wild animals and plants against hunting and commercial exploitation under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

v) The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, has been amended and made more stringent. The punishments in cases of offences have been enhanced. The Act also provides for forfeiture of any equipment, vehicle or weapon that is used for committing wildlife offence.

vi) Financial and technical assistance is extended to the State Governments under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes, viz., ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats`, ‘Project Tiger’ and ‘Project Elephant’ for providing better protection and conservation to wildlife.

vii) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been empowered under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 to apprehend and prosecute wildlife offenders.

viii) The State Governments have been requested to strengthen the field formations and intensify patrolling in and around the Protected Areas.

ix) The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has been set up for control of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and its products.

Threatened Birds of India

Book Cover
Green Avadavat – by Rajat Bhargava
Great Hornbill – by Anant Zanjale
Flycatcher – BNHS
Lesser Florican – by Ashok Chaudhary
Nilgiri Flycatcher – by Ramki Sreenivasan

“Threatened Birds of India - Their Conservation Requirements”

 
BNHS  today release its new book “Threatened Birds of India - Their Conservation Requirements” authors Director, Dr Asad R Rahmani. Reference book, is a comprehensive detail on birds in India, was today released by Smt Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Government of India, viz on 22nd May 2012 at WWF conference hall in New Delhi. This book is a tribute to avian biodiversity, celebrating its beauty as well as campaigning for the plight of the many fantastic species teetering on the brink of extinction. It is the product of the commitment and dedication of its author, the rigorous science and action orientated approach of BNHS and the collective work of numerous contributing researchers, birdwatchers and photographers. The BirdLife International global partnership of conservation organisations in over 100 countries and territories worldwide, of which BNHS is the Indian Partner, has also played an important role. It is based on the most extensive and reliable database on priority sites and species, on the basis of consistent global standards, data which are crucial to setting priorities, to ensure that policy and action should always be informed by good science and good data.
Conservation is a constant struggle, more so in India which is changing rapidly, as we aim to rightfully find our place as a developed nation. However, this development must be sustainable and equitable or it will bring social upheaval and disaster to the remaining wild areas. In India, most conservation actions are tiger-centric, with little attention paid to other taxa. Non-tiger habitats are not so well protected and some are still considered as wasteland. This book shows that nearly 50% of the globally threatened bird species are not found in any of the 39 tiger reserves of India and therefore draw no benefit from tiger conservation. We must look beyond Project Tiger if we want to save all wildlife and all wild areas. If this book helps in changing the focus of conservation to make it more inclusive, it will have served its purpose.
This book published by Indian Bird Conservation Network, an initiative of BNHS and BirdLife International, is a fine example of worldwide collaboration among organisations and numerous individuals. It uses the BirdLife/IUCN 2011 list as a base and provides India-specific information to make it relevant to the Indian public and decision makers. It also includes most recent detailed information on 15 Critically Endangered, 15 Endangered, 52 Vulnerable, 66 Near Threatened and two Data Deficient bird species, along with articles on various aspects of bird protection.
The book will be of interest to researchers, students, professors, policy makers, bureaucrats, bird lovers, corporates, NGOs and the lay reader interested in the natural world in general, and birds in particular. Priced at Rs 3000, this 870-pages book printed on art paper, has a very attractive cover of Satyr Tragopan and includes 155 maps and 645 photos in colour.

COAI and PWC Unveils their assessment of TRAI's spectrum recommendation On Consumers

The Cellular Operators Association of India today unveiled an assessment conducted PwC India, of TRAI’s recommendations on the auction of spectrum.
The paper ‘Impact of TRAI’s spectrum recommendations on consumers’ undertakes an independent analysis of TRAI’s recommendations of 23 April, 2012 focusing on the spectrum pricing proposed, and its potential consumer and industry impact. The paper also attempts an understanding of the possible effects on tariffs and on the telecoms industry.
Some of the key findings from PwC’s assessment include the following:
1. TRAI underestimates the cost per minute impact by around 50% by counting both incoming and outgoing MOU (Minutes of use) in its calculations rather than just the outgoing MOU which are charged
2. TRAI does not consider the further cost of extension of licenses for renewed usage of spectrum which are at present in use for servicing current customer needs
3. TRAI omits the additional spectrum that will be required to service the huge growth in voice and data traffic implied by TRAI’s workings, which estimate MOU growth of 2.58 X over the 20 year period.
As a result of these considerations, PwC’s assessment estimates that the cost per minute to a subscriber will increase by a range of 29-34 paisa compared to 4.4 paisa (FY13) as estimated by TRAI. The paper points out further that TRAI assumes in its operator estimate that MOU per subscriber will grow by 83% in the 20 year period while in the last four years MOU per subscriber has declined by 13% per annum. Also India is unlikely to see data usage as 50% of revenue by 2020-21 as estimated by TRAI,
Indian mobile operators’ financial performance will be impacted by the recommendations due to the proposed heavy spectrum costs. In the past the operators have absorbed cost increases but the paper suggests that the industry will not have the capacity to do the same in the future given their steadily eroding profit margins and their unsustainable debt service burden. The paper states that India now has the lowest EBIDTA margin for the telecoms industry in emerging Asia.
Sharing  his insights  into the paper Mohammad Chowdhury,Leader Telecom.PwC India stated.'The paper ,on your part,has been an attempt to constructively assess the impact on customers and the industry.Our study reveals that the impact on consumers could be very considerable and also that the industry is not ready to take on any further deterioration and its financial performance." .

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