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.