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DoT for sharing of infrastructure
Haryana gets Rs 680-cr FDI
India, France to boost trade ties
Kalam advocates energy independence by 2030
US keen on Consulate in Hyderabad
M’rashtra corners maximum SEZs
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Reliance to supply CNG to Chennai
Amend FC (R) Act to curb manipulation of prices: Assocham
Air Sahara announces special fares
Deaths make Pfizer cut off trials
Two Indian entrepreneurs awarded
Reva receives $20 m funding
More IT returns may be under scanner
SEBI to set up Investor Protection Fund
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DoT for sharing of infrastructure
New Delhi, December 4 The DoT has already asked TRAI to look at this issue with stakeholders. It has flagged the milestone of passive infrastructure sharing and is exploring the possibility of an appropriate legislation or amendment in the licence for ensuring effective sharing of passive infrastructure. As of now, the sharing of passive infrastructure building, tower, dark fibre is permitted whereas active infrastructure sharing still has not been allowed. It is also mulling over the need to permit active infrastructure sharing by modifying the existing licensing conditions. This includes sharing of antenna, feeder cables, nodes, transmission equipment and can ultimately include the sharing of spectrums allocated to companies individually. The DoT has also expressed its concern that while increasing effectiveness of infrastructure sharing, it should be ensured that such sharing should not come in the way of growth of mobile subscribers in the country. Taking note of the exponential growth of mobile subscribers in the country, a DoT official said mobile companies needed a large number of the towers to sustain this growth pattern, huge expenditure and time to roll out services. The overriding concern is to ensure that any derived efficiencies do not result in tainting the competitive environment. This has been one of the main reasons that regulators the world over have been desisting from mandating infrastructure sharing. Active sharing has not been favoured by various regulators in this background. Regulators favour passive sharing of infrastructure The capital costs for creating new infrastructures are formidable. It is estimated that 60 per cent roll-out cost of a mobile service is towards the setting up of passive infrastructure and only 40 per cent contributes towards active infrastructure. Though active infrastructure sharing considerably reduces the cost and time to roll out networks by the service providers, the issues involved are more complex as compared to passive infrastructure sharing. Provision of exit clause in case of dispute will be almost impossible as separation of Networks between the service providers may not be easy. Active infrastructure sharing is not popular across the globe as it increased inter- dependency between the service providers. — PTI |
Chandigarh, December 4 An official spokesman said after the new industrial policy, 29 large and medium- scale industrial units had been set up in the state at a cost of Rs 348 crore and employment provided to 3,365 persons in these units. As many as 1,356 small-scale units had also been set up during the same period by investing Rs 31 crore, besides providing employment to 8,415 persons. The Central Government had also accorded approval for setting up a national institute of food technology entrepreneurship and management in the state at a cost of Rs 350 crore. This project would be first of its kind in the country. The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation had offered to allot 100 acres for this project at Kundli. The spokesman said the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries had approved the setting up of a national automotive testing and R and D infrastructure project at a cost of Rs 400 crore at Manesar. The government would provide 40 acres for this project. A textile cluster at Panipat was being developed at an investment of Rs 54.53 crore. Besides, a light engineering goods cluster at Faridabad was also coming up at an investment of Rs 80 crore. The Centre was also actively considering the setting up of an auto parts cluster at Gurgaon at a cost of Rs 67 crore. — PTI |
India, France to boost trade ties
New Delhi, December 4 Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and French Minister for Foreign Trade Christine Lagarde set a target to raise the bilateral trade engagement to $10 billion in the next five years. Speaking at the inaugural session of the ‘Indo-French Business Meeting, 2006’, organised by FICCI here today, Mr Nath said the presence of 217 French businessmen, half of them representing SMEs in sectors such as manufacturing, IT, pharmaceutical, environment, aeronautics, life sciences and food processing testified to the fact that the French meant business. He sought the cooperation of the French side in developing and modernising India’s food processing sector as the demand gets stimulated by changing socio-economic situations like rapid urbanisation, bias towards nuclear families and greater work participation among women. The French Foreign Trade Minister, Ms. Christine Lagarde, said the largest-ever French business delegation comprising 217 business representatives and 1,000 Indian company representatives who were meeting over 2,000 scheduled appointment showed that bilateral trade was set to rise. France had targeted India as one of the five countries for enhanced trade and investment cooperation. “We will deliver on the promise of doubling the number of French companies operating in India as also those in the SME sector,” she said. FICCI President Saroj Kumar Poddar said the Indian business community remained committed to continuing the ongoing engagement in Indo-French relations in the known territory as also to explore the hidden potential in areas such as education, environment, energy, infrastructure, software services and agro processing. |
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Kalam advocates energy independence by 2030
New Delhi, December 4 Inaugurating an international conference on “India R&D 2006: Mind Market”, here today, Dr Kalam unfolded a world knowledge platform that would enable joint designs, development, cost-effective production and marketing of knowledge-based products in various domains based on core competence of partner nations to international markets. The conference, organised jointly by Ficci, Department of Science and Technology and the CSIR, is aimed at bringing a closer interaction between academia and industry. The President said the country had natural and human resources, besides core competence developed during the last two decades. Defining the world knowledge platform to integrate core competence of partner countries to develop knowledge products, the President said initially its mission would be to connect and network R&D institutions, universities and industries, using fiber broadband from partner nations to selected R&D missions. Energy, water, healthcare, agriculture and food, knowledge products, automobile and traditional medicine were the areas requiring utmost attention under the world knowledge platform to make the world a safe, sustainable, peaceful and prosperous place to live, Dr Kalam said, calling for energy independence by 2030. He said the target was to achieve energy security by 2020, leading to energy independence by 2030 and beyond to combat the challenges of continuous depletion of fossil fuels, environmental protection and availability at an affordable cost. |
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US keen on Consulate in Hyderabad
New Delhi, December 4 "Both countries need to sit down and work out a proper regulatory framework by identifying the weak areas," Mr Lavin observed. Drawing attention to the areas of concern, Mr Lavin stressed "India needs to seek more participation by US companies in retail, financial services and infrastructure." Infrastructure is an important area where India needs to concentrate seriously to sustain the current growth. Mr Lavin, who is in India with more than 225 top corporate leaders, was speaking at a seminar on India-US trade. Expressing interest in opening a US Consulate in Hyderabad, Mr Lavin noted there had been an increase of 50 per cent in business visas this year compared to last year. The waiting time for the same had been reduced to a week. The delegation includes, among others, Exxon, GE, Motorola, AT&T, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Bank of America as well as small and medium firms. Representatives of US nuclear energy companies are also at hand looking for opportunities following the Indo-US nuclear deal for peaceful uses being charted by the two countries. |
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M’rashtra corners maximum SEZs
New Delhi, December 4 Maharashtra leads among the states with 48 SEZ proposals getting Central clearance, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 45 projects, indicating the states' eagerness to go the SEZ way. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also appear gung ho about the process and have cornered 29 and 25 SEZs, respectively, official figures here show. Despite frequently expressed misgivings from various quarters, the states are on land-acquisition spree for setting up these special zones. Land being a state subject, the Centre is granting approvals for SEZs based on the recommendations of the state government concerned. According to Commerce Ministry sources, the states have been advised that while acquiring land for SEZs, "if a portion of double cropped agricultural land has to be acquired to meet the minimum area requirements, especially for multi-product SEZs, the land so acquired should not exceed 10 per cent of the total land required for the zone." The Centre is chary of giving clearance to any SEZ proposal which will gobble up prime agricultural land and provokes opposition from the farmers, the sources said. — UNI |
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Reliance to supply CNG to Chennai
Chennai, December 4 Mr Ambani said he had discussed the project with Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi here, which "will be completed within three years". Mr Ambani said pipes would be laid to thousands of individual homes. Mr Ambani said the company also planned to procure agricultural products from Tamil Nadu farmers for the international market. Union Minister for IT and Communications Dayanidhi Maran, who was also present at the meeting, said supplying CNG to homes would reduce the price of gas by 25 to 30 per cent. Vehicles could also use CNG, he added. — PTI |
Amend FC (R) Act to curb manipulation of prices: Assocham
New Delhi, December 4 In a paper brought out by Assocham, in the wake of volatility and recent rise in essential agro commodities prices such as wheat, sugar and pulses, it observed that the supply and demand in the real economy has little to do but it was primarily because of lack of proper mechanism to guide growers about the future price trends. Assocham paper on ‘Regulatory reforms required in Indian commodity futures market’ says “even though price fluctuations are part of a market economy, allowing speculation without price risk management will make the market a casino with an overwhelming majority of speculators and hardly any real merchandising interest. Futures markets are basically designed towards price discovery and hedging requirements of the actual users of the commodities.” Releasing the paper, Assocham president Anil K Agarwal said what needed to be done was to tighten the margin system by deploying a variety of them like exposure margins, concentration margins, special margins on purchases in a rising market, and special margins on sales in a falling market. Also to be considered are limits on price fluctuations, restricting outstanding positions, taking into consideration available stocks, taking drastic penal action against offenders, etc. While doing so, care has to be taken to ensure that the restrictions do not affect liquidity. |
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Air Sahara announces special fares
New Delhi, December 4 However passengers will have to pay Rs 1,121 extra — Rs 750 for fuel surcharge, Rs 221 for passenger service fee and Rs 150 for congestion surcharge. ''Despite booming demand, there is excess seat capacity with us,'' said Air Sahara's president Alok Sharma. Meanwhile, the company said it was in talks with upcoming low-cost carrier Indus Air, promoted by Kapil Mohan of the Mohan Meakins Group, among others, for a strategic tie-up, including providing pilot, engineers and maintenance support. Mr Sharma said Air Sahara was open to such a strategic alliance, which could be operational or marketing support. "We could provide pilot, engineers and maintenance facility to Indus Air. It needs support for the CRJ aircraft of the Bombardier," Mr Sharma said. Indus Air is expected to start service soon.
— Agencies |
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Deaths make Pfizer cut off trials
New York, December 4 The world's largest drugmaker said it was told yesterday that an independent board monitoring a study for torcetrapib, a drug that raises levels of good cholesterol, recommended that the work end because of "an imbalance of mortality and cardiovascular events." Pfizer said it was asking all clinical investigators conducting trials to warn patients to stop taking the drug immediately. Frankfurt: Shares of Pfizer were down nearly 11 per cent on Monday in German trading after the company halted the development of a key new cholesterol treatment because of an unexpected number of deaths. The stock fell 10.7 per cent to $24.55 on the Frankfurt stock exchange. — AP |
Two Indian entrepreneurs awarded
Houston, December 4 Mr Akula, founder of SKS Microfinance — one of the fastest growing microfinance organisations in the world, has been felicitated for having provided over $33 million in loans and helping over 300,000 people in becoming economically self-reliant. Mr Sawarkar, founder of Neurosynaptic Communications Pvt. Ltd, works in the areas of remote medical diagnostics and telemedicine, and has developed ReMeDiV solution for rural telemedicine.
— PTI |
Reva receives $20 m funding
Bangalore, December 4 |
More IT returns may be under scanner
New Delhi, December 4 The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has informed the Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance that in line with the recommendation of the committee, the IT Department would consider increasing the ceiling of 2 per cent cases for scrutiny out of the total returns filed every year. "Leaving a large percentage of tax returns unassessed might prompt the assessees to take a calculated risk in concealing their actual income," the committee, headed by BJP's B.C. Khanduri, noted in its 42nd report on 'Widening of Tax Base and Evasion of Tax'. In view of the computerisation of the Revenue Department and ability of the assessees, especially the corporates, to file returns electronically, the government should consider enhancing the ceiling on scrutiny.
— PTI |
SEBI to set up Investor Protection Fund
Kochi, December 4 The fines and penalties levied from the listed companies would be used to set up the fund, SEBI Chairman M Damodaran told reporters on the sidelines of a CEO summit. For the fund, the SEBI Act, 1992, would have to be amended, he said. The draft of the proposed new Act had been sent to the Inter-Ministerial Committee, which would later be placed before Parliament either in the tail-end of this session or during the Budget session, he said. By the second half of 2007, the bill is likely to become an act, he said, adding the new act would be on the lines of the US Security Act. By mid 2007, the market regulator would be conducting a country-wide massive investor education programme to educate small and retail investors, he said.— PTI |
Bharti plans telecom hub PFC offering Indian Bank IPO |
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