Siemems Jan-Mar quarter Net profit up 83%

Power transmission firm Siemens today reported a whopping 83 per cent jump in its Net profit at Rs 161.86 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 due to gains from exceptional items.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 88.26 crore in the January-March quarter 2014, Siemens said in a regulatory filing.
Total Income has decreased to Rs 2689.03 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 from Rs 2715.07 crore in the year-ago period.
The company made exceptional gains by selling its unit Metals Technologies business during the January-March 2015 quarter.
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MOU for Semiconductor Characterization Lab in Bhubaneswar * To boost the IT sector in the state, Odisha government today signed an MoU with the Bangalore based Tessolve Semicondoctor Private Limited to set up a Semiconductor Characterization Laboratory here.

The MoU was signed by the director of STPI (Software Technology Park of India), Bhubaneswar branch Manas Panda and Tessolve's President V Veerapan. Odisha's IT Minister Pranab Prakash Das was also present.

The laboratory would be estalished in six month's time, officials said.
The proposed laboratory to be set up near the International Institute of Information Technology(IIIT) here, will have software and hardware incubation centres, data centre for the use of IT industries. The STPI and Odisha government would spend on 50:50 basis while Tessolve would maintain and operate the laboratory.
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Pearl millet production improved despite declined area * Despite a 22 per cent decline in cultivated area, pearl millet production has significantly improved over the years, a top official in Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said today.

In his address to the 50th Annual Group Meet of All India Coordinated Research Project on Pearl Millets, ICAR Assistant Director General (Food and Fodder Crop) I S Solanki urged researchers to look at improving nutritional factors, production without compromising on quality and water conservation techniques.
Hailing private sector seed companies for their efforts for improved production, Solanki said farmers should go for demand-driven achievement to popularise these millets."
However, Vice Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, K Ramasamy said contribution by private companies was only 17 per cent against 83 per cent by public sector.