India kicks off New Communications Satellite

India's geostationary satellite GSAT-8 was successfully put into orbit in the early hours of Saturday, 21st May, 2011. As we had reported earlier, it was launched aboard the Ariane-VA-202 rocket from Kourou space port in French Guiana in South America. The rocket belonging to European Space Agency (ESA) consortium's Arianespace, lifted off with two other payloads aboard.

The 3.1 tonne satellite lifted off at 2:11 am IST and successfully separated from the rocket's upper stage after 31 minutes, putting it in an elliptical equatorial geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) at 1,800 km above the Earth. Now under control of ISRO's (Indian Space Research Organisation) Master Control Facility (MCF) facility at Hasan, about 180 km from Bangalore, the satellite will gradually be boosted to its final geostationary orbit at an altitude of about 36,000 km above the Earth in the next couple of days and its solar power panels will be deployed.

ISRO Director, S. Satish said, "The MCF will test and monitor the health parameters of the payloads by June 1. It will be available for DTH services from July 1". As reported earlier, the GSAT-8 carries 24 high-power Ku-band transpoders for Direct-To-Home (DTH) services run by private and government operators. The satellite also has a global position system (GPS) aided geo-augmented navigation (Gagan) as an additional payload. This seeks to improve the accuracy of the widely popular U.S.A.-owned GPS global positioning and navigational system.

Recent Indian firm of TCS

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the latest Indian IT service provider to announce financial results that suggest demand for outsourced IT services is becoming more predictable. For the final three months of its latest fiscal year TCS, India's biggest IT service provider, made $2.2bn of sales which was 33.2% higher than the same period last year and 4.7% higher than the previous quarter.

Profit was £531m in the quarter, which was 25.4% higher than the same period a year ago and 2.7% more than the preceding quarter. TCS's full-year results showed sales worth $8.2bn and a profit of $1.9bn. These were just over 29% and 31% higher than the previous year, respectively. TCS now employs just under 200,000 people.

Like HCL and Infosys before it, TCS's results display that demand is stabilising after recovering over the last year. TCS's key wins in the quarter (see below) show, like HCL and Infosys, that it won services contracts from customers looking to make their operations more efficient. Similarly to Infosys, TCS shows signs of customers spending on IT to transform business.

India-Pakistan peace match

Pakistan tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has resumed calls for a peace match on the Indian border to foster reconciliation efforts between the two South Asian rivals. Qureshi, whose doubles pairing with Indian star Rohan Bopanna has been dubbed the "Indo-Pak Express", wrote to Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani calling for "tennis for peace."

The star's father Ihtesham told AFP that Aisam had made the request as a "unique effort to promote peace". Qureshi and Bopanna, currently 17th in the ATP world doubles rankings, made headlines around the world when they reached the final of last year's US Open. "They floated the idea after the US Open. We hope Pakistan will take the initiative," said Qureshi.

Unveiling the idea last year, the pair said they wanted a net strung across the Wagah border crossing, as part of a "Stop War Start Tennis" campaign. Qureshi last year said the International Tennis Federation and Peace and Sport, a charity run by Prince Albert of Monaco, supported the idea and had also written to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

India broke off diplomatic and sporting links after Islamist gunmen launched coordinated attacks on targets in Mumbai, killing 166 people in November 2008. India blamed Pakistan-based militants for the assault. But hopes are being revived that India and Pakistan could agree to resume direct sporting ties after the prime ministers of both countries watched the World Cup cricket semi-final between India and Pakistan two weeks ago in India.

Indian actor Shiney Ahuja prisoned in rape case

 

The actor was found guilty by a special fast-track court in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay). He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial. His lawyer said he would appeal against the sentence.

Ahuja was arrested in June 2009 and charged with rape, criminal intimidation and wrongful confinement. He was granted bail in October. But the court ordered the actor to stay away from Mumbai while on bail.

Judge PM Chouhan pronounced Ahuja guilty on Wednesday despite the 20-year-old victim withdrawing her allegation of rape last year. She said she was told to complain to police by another woman who had got her the job with the actor.

Ahuja is seen as an up-and-coming actor who has made an impression in Bollywood's independent cinema scene. He has acted in films such as Life in a Metro and Gangster, and worked with a number of leading directors.

He won several awards for his 2003 debut in the critically acclaimed film Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi.

Three Indian cellcos moves closer to 3G sharing deal

 

Idea Cellular is the latest Indian operator to go live with 3G services, and the long expected spectrum sharing deal with rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar could be around the corner. Idea has switched on commercial 3G services in parts of the Himachal Pradesh telecoms circle, starting with the state capital Shimla and the city of Baddi. It is offering a wide range of services including mobile TV, the Idea Mall app store and video on demand. The cellcos says it will have its 3G services available in 200 towns by the middle of April, 750 by year end and 4,000 by the close of 2012.

Its talks with Bharti and Vodafone are said to be in the final stages, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. None of the cellcos gained 3G licenses in all 22 of India's operating regions or circles, so they will need to sign roaming or spectrum sharing deals to gain national coverage. The larger players are likely to want this level of coverage, and a Bharti/Vodafone/Idea alliance would create a strong contender to the state-owned providers (MTNL has 3G licenses in Delhi and Mumbai and BSNL everywhere else).

Among the three, Bharti gained 3G spectrum in 13 circles, Idea in 11 and Vodafone in nine, although the latter was more heavily focused on large metros, and paid more than twice what Idea shelled out. The three companies already share their towers via their joint venture Indus Towers, which has about 110,000 locations. Idea may also be considering the sale of its 7,500 towers that are not part of Indus, which could raise it about $1bn towards its new roll-outs. So far, Indian operators to have launched live services are Bharti, Vodafone, Aircel, Reliance and Tata Teleservices, while BSNL and MTNL gained their franchises ahead of last year's auction and are already building out their offerings.

Indian Navy catches 16 Somali pirates

 

Indian Navy on Sunday captured 16 Somali pirates off the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea. Defence spokesperson captain M Nambiar said in Mumbai that the Navy also rescued 16 crew members - 12 Iranians and 4 Pakistanis - of a hijacked vessel following a three-hour operation against Somali pirates.

Capt Nambiar said, INS Suvarna intercepted the pirates' mother vessel Morteza following a distress call received by the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at 11 am from a merchant ship MV Maersk Kensington.

The Coast Guard ship ICGS Sangram was also diverted for the operation. This was the second pirate attack thwarted by the Navy and Coast guard in the Arabian sea in a fortnight. The Navy has been maintaining surveillance off the Lakshadweep islands over the several months as part of 'Operation Island Watch'.

Pakistan reveals “We welcome India's invitation”

 

Pakistan has hailed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to watch the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket semifinal clash at Mohali. On March 30, India and Pakistan will face each other for the first time since 26/11 attacks in 2008.

Yesterday, in his identical formal invitations to both Mr Zardari and Mr Gilani, Dr Singh had said, "I propose to be at Mohali to watch the World Cup semi-final match between India and Pakistan to be held on 30th March." The Pakistan government will decide on the matter today. "We welcome the invitation," Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said.

"PM Gilani is out of the country and a decision will be taken once he is back from Tashkent tour," Babar added. Official sources said the invitation would also be discussed by the Foreign Office before a decision is taken.

India and Pakistan have faced each other four times before in the World Cups. The men-in-blue have emerged victorious in all the encounters played in the 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003 editions of the tournament.

India looks for Goods, Services Tax, Change in Banking Laws

 

India's federal government Tuesday introduced a draft bill in the lower house of parliament that seeks to amend the constitution to enable the introduction of the proposed Goods and Services Tax. The government also introduced a bill seeking to amend three banking laws, including the removal of restrictions on the voting rights of a bank's shareholders.

India plans to introduce a uniform Goods and Services Tax across the country from April 1, 2012, replacing multiple taxes presently levied by the federal and provincial governments on goods and services.

The proposed Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2011, meanwhile, aims to arm the country's central bank with powers to seek and inspect information and data from associate enterprises of banks such as insurance or mutual fund subsidiaries.

Under existing rules, the voting rights of a shareholder are capped at 1% in state-run banks and 10% in private banks, irrespective of the equity holding. The bill proposes aligning the voting rights in private banks in proportion to the equity holding and raise the ceiling in state-run banks from 1% to 10%.

The proposed changes will also let state-run banks issue bonus shares and rights issues. The amendments also propose letting state-run banks raise their authorized capital beyond the current 30 billion rupees ($668 million). The bill, if cleared by Parliament, will let the Reserve Bank of India inspect banks' merger proposals, exempting them from the provisions of the Competition Act.

KPMG reveals Indian media industry rises by 11%

 

The Indian media and entertainment industry grew 11 percent in 2010, driven largely because of a jump in advertising revenue, an FICCI-KPMG report said.

* Forecasts industry to grow 13 pct in 2011

* 2010 ad spend rose 17 pct to 266 bln rupees

The report forecasts the 652 billion Indian rupee ($14.5 billion) media and entertainment industry to grow by 13 percent in 2011.

The resurgence in advertising, growth in subscription revenues, thrust on digitization, and emerging avenues for content monetization were the key growth drivers for the Indian media and entertainment industry in 2010, Rajesh Jain, head of media and entertainment at KP said.

Advertising spend in 2010 rose by 17 percent to 266 billion rupees, the report said. However going forward, it will become imperative for media companies to reset their business models and build greater focus on profitability and changing consumer preferences, Jain said.

Volvo unveils its new S60 in India

 

Renowned Swedish company’s latest car Volvo S60 has hit Indian roads. This will be the cheapest car on offer in India till date. The S60 D5 Kinetic, D5 Summun and T6 Petrol will be available in Indian showrooms at a price tag of Rs 27 lakh, Rs 32 lakh and Rs 34 lakh respectively.

The booking of these models had begun prior to its launch and its delivery will be made to customers within a month. The D5 will be preloaded with safety, technology and manifold features such as 2.4 litre twin turbo, massive 42 kgm@1500-3240 rpm, a straight –five diesel motor with 205 bhp@4000 rpm on offer.

Having a pretty good performance, the Volvo S60 is expected to be the largest selling S60 engine model till date. The T6 Petrol version will be equipped with a stonking 304 bhp@5600 rpm and a fruity 44.6 kgm from just 2100 rpm.

It is preloaded with a 3 litre turbocharged inline 6 cylinder motor. This car will come with all-wheel drive along with a 6 speed automatic gearbox as standard.

India confidence vote was 'influenced by vote buying'

It describes how an aide to senior Congress leader Satish Sharma showed a US embassy official "chests of cash" to pay off MPs ahead of a vote over a controversial nuclear deal with the US. The government survived the vote despite substantial opposition. Mr Sharma denies the allegation, saying he never had a political aide.

At the time of the nuclear deal the government's left-wing allies withdrew their support to protest against the controversial accord.
 
'Uproar'

If the government had lost the vote, India could have faced early elections. A defeat would have also put the nuclear deal in doubt. The Indian government's win in the vote by 275 votes to 256 came amid accusations of vote-buying. Opposition MPs waved wads of money in parliament alleging they were offered bribes to abstain.

The leaks reported in The Hindu newspaper have caused uproar in parliament with the main opposition parties saying that it had "brought shame to the nation." The allegation comes just as the government has been hit by a series of scandals over the sale of 2G telecoms licences and the appointment of an anti-corruption commissioner, who faced corruption charges himself.

The cable by US official Steven White said that the embassy employee had met Nachiketa Kapur, an aide of Congress leader Satish Sharma. Nachiketa Kapur denies the report: "I vehemently deny these malicious allegations. There was no cash to point out to," he said. Satish Sharma also refuted the charge and told a news channel that he did not even have an aide called Nachiketa Kapur.

"I never had and still don't have a political aide," he said. Mr Sharma is described as a "close associate of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi [and] considered to be a very close family friend of [Congress party chief] Sonia Gandhi". The cable says that Mr Kapur told the embassy employee that "money was not an issue at all, but the crucial thing was to ensure that those who took the money would vote for the government".

The cable said that that the embassy employee was shown "two chests containing cash and said that around $25m (£15.5m) was lying around the house for use as pay-offs". The cable said that the "aide" also claimed that MPs belonging to a regional party Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) had been paid 100 million rupees ($2.5m; £1.5m) each to ensure they voted for the "right way". RLD leader Ajit Singh has denied the charge and said that he was "opposed to the nuclear deal" and his party MPs "voted against the government".

Better safety systems for Indian nuclear plants

Japan's warning of possible radiation poisoning in the wake of multiple explosions at its nuclear power plant has raised serious safety concerns for similar plants in India, many of which are located near the sea. But the government says it will ensure that the highest safety standards are met, report CNBC-TV18’s Mehak Kasbekar and Anchal Gupta.

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh, said, “Based on technical reviews that NPCIL does, we will certainly be in touch with them and if additional safeguards have to be built in as part of the environmental clearance, we will certainly look at it.”

Is there any assurance of nuclear safety?

In the view of, the Atomic Energy Commission, India is located in the zone of much lower seismic activity than Japan, so chances of a natural disaster like the one Japan has endured are negligible. It also says that unlike Japan’s reactors, Indian reactors will use only ultra-modern cooling systems.

S Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, said, “We have our own indigenous reactor, there also we are improving the safety level every stage. But when it comes to acquiring some foreign reactors or foreign technologies, we are again trying to see the first point is that is it of the latest version. We are not buying something, which is backdated.”

Nuclear Power Corporation of India adds that India’s reactors are audited every five years, and licenses are renewed only after the latest safety upgrades are in place. Also, to be doubly certain, safety levels at all Indian plants will be reviewed once again.

SK Jain, CMD, Nuclear Power Corporation, said, “Our 20 plants, which are in operation will be revisited. That question was specific to safety of our plants, which we first brought out that they have distinct additional features as compared to the Japan but we will not hesitate in increasing the safety level.”

It clearly means that India is at lower risk from such natural disasters, and will have better safety protocols and systems in place to ensure there is no danger to the population.

Nokia to kick off its First Windows Phone in 2012

Nokia recently announced support for Microsoft's Windows Phone OS. The Finnish company is quite popular in India, one of the booming BRIC markets. Nokia India's Managing Director, D Shivakumar, recently told Daily News that the first Windows Phone will be released in about a year's time.

Nokia users should forget about Windows Phone 7 in its current version though, as Shivakumar said that Nokia is betting on a new version of Windows Phone that is better than previous versions. This version should the upcoming Mango update, which should be released to manufacturers in Q4 2011.

Microsoft recently announced several upgrades for Windows Phone in 2011, and an IE9-based browser is expected to be part of the Mango update. Some rumors are suggesting that the Mango update will be hit by a delay, but at least Nokia already has a prototype of a Windows Phone smartphone in a lab on Iceland.

According to Shivakumar, Nokia plans to release around 20 Symbian smartphones in 2011, however, so we'll keep our fingers crossed for a big Symbian high-end splash later this year. In the years ahead, however, Shivakumar believes Nokia will give Windows Phone a significant footprint in India.