BSNL's proposed acquisition of Zain on hold

"We had sought some information from Vavasi about the company itself, which we have not got. To that extent it can be implied that the acquisition of Zain Telecom is on hold," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goyal said.
Asked if BSNL is looking to approach Zain Telecom directly, he said "nothing like that at the moment".The PSU, which today announced a partnership with the UK -based BT to offer managed global conferencing solutions to Indian corporate, said the company has a Rs 14,000-crore capex plan for the current fiscal, a major portion of that has already been spend on mobile line expansion and network.Vavasi is a New Delhi-based company with diversified interest, including telecom and renewable energy.Goyal said the revenue of the PSU would take a hit due to a host of low tariff announced by the company following the stiff competition in the segment, but he hoped that volume growth will make up for that.Asked about reports of any CBI probe in BSNL-Swan Telecom deal, Goyal said he is not aware of any such probe.

Tatas may launch electric Indica by early 2011

With many automakers planning to launch eco-friendly vehicles for the domestic market, Tata Motors said on Tuesday that it may launch the electric version of the small car Indica in early 2011.
The company has been developing the car with Norway-based Miljøbil Grenland/Innovasjon, in which it has a 50.3 per cent stake. It plans to start a feasibility study for this in the next year and may launch the car simultaneously with the European launch.
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“It will be available for India at around the same time as the global launch. It will be launched in Norway, Denmark and the UK in 12-14 months. We’re evaluating the option of an Indian launch, but are still not sure if the electric vehicles (EVs) are the best option for the country,” said Mr Prakash M Telang, Managing Director, India Operations, Tata Motors.
He further added that the main problem is the high cost attached to EVs, which is mainly because of the expensive batteries. “It will be 70-150 per cent more expensive depending on batteries. While lead acid batteries are not good enough, lithium-ion is too expensive. We have to look into the cost equation,” he said.
Responding to sales outlook for the remaining half of the fiscal, Mr Telang said that the shift from Bharat Stage III emission norms to Bharat Stage IV in April, may lead to good sales in the fourth quarter.
“There is optimism – I see good sales in the fourth quarter. In commercial vehicles (CVs), there may be pre-buying because of the change in emission norms. Even passenger cars may see better volumes, but not as much as CVs since price escalation will not be as much in them. This has been the experience in most countries across the globe,” he said.
Automakers and especially commercial vehicle manufacturers are expected to raise prices from April, because of the newer engines that companies will have to deploy on their vehicles in order to meet the new emission norms.
When asked about the status of the Nano’s Sanand plant, Mr Telang said that the company is producing around 3,000-4,000 units of the low-cast car a month at the Pantnagar facility and it will start the trial production at Sanand by the fourth quarter of the fiscal. The Sanand plant will have an initial annual capacity of 2.5 lakh units a year, which will later be increased to 3.5 lakh units. The Pantnagar plant mainly produces the light commercial vehicle (LCV) Ace.
“We’re striving between the Ace requirement and the Nano. The plant has a capacity to produce 1.5 lakh Ace LCVs a year,” he said.

SEBI’s bold initiative
Policy makers, alive to the special needs of SMEs, have tried to simplify the procedural requirements, thereby reducing certain costs. The preferred route has been to create a niche market or a separate exchange for them. The OTC Exchange of India (OTCEI) set up in 1990 was the first exchange to deal exclusively with smaller sized companies. It had as its twin objectives helping smaller companies raise capital in a cost effective manner and providing the investors with an efficient and transparent method of trade. The OTCEI has been a pioneer in introducing screen-based trading and market making. Yet it failed to take off probably because it was ahead of its time.
SEBI is now addressing the issue by exempting companies listed on the SME exchanges from eligibility norms applicable for IPOs. SME companies for the purpose of these new regulations will have a paid-up capital of not more than Rs. 25 crore. They can list on the main boards of NSE/BSE with a minimum paid-up capital of Rs. 10 crore. In what is by far the most noteworthy of the current measures, the minimum IPO application size will be Rs. 1 lakh. This way the regulator hopes to have informed financially sound and well-researched investors with some risk taking ability. Yet the high minimum requirement will shut out many small investors. It will also reduce the number of shareholders. How far that will impact on liquidity of the company’s stock remains to be seen.
Merchant bankers have been given special responsibility in market making (for a minimum period of three years) and underwriting the issue. Guidelines have been laid down for procedures to be followed when the paid-up capital of the listed company exceeds Rs. 25 crore and when an investor’s holding falls below Rs. 1 lakh.
It remains to be seen whether SMEs and the capital market intermediaries will be sufficiently enthused by the new measures.
Will a potential investor who is not averse to capital market investment be attracted to an SME issue in preference to other market instruments?
The decision to permit auctions as an additional method of book building in public issues is welcome. Bidders would be free to bid at any price above the floor price. Allotments will be top down, that is, the highest bidder will first get the shares. Obviously shares will be allotted at different prices. Retail investors will be allotted at the floor price.
Two advantages are claimed for this method. One, it will help the issuer get a higher price for its shares as there is no upper price band. At the same time, retail investors will get shares at the lower floor price. Two, there will be no oversubscription. In traditional book building, because of uncertainty of firm allotments, institutional investors make large applications to stand a better chance of getting allotments. In book-building, shares are allotted proportionately.
On the flip side, the auction method can trigger what is known as a ‘winner’s curse’, a scenario in which certain investors bid recklessly high.
It is also possible that the relatively uninformed investors will be the winners in the auction.

US President Barack Obama’s question-answer session with students in Shanghai preceded a good amount of back-door haggling with China on


US President Barack Obama meets students following a town hall meeting at the Museum of Science and Technology in Shanghai. (AFP)
what questions will be put to him and how it will be shown on local television. Obama finally spoke his mind on internet freedom, which China restricts, but skipped the controversial Tibet issue. The US did not wish to contain China’s rise, Obama said. But it would push for freedom of expression, political participation, respect for ethnic minorities and the need to empower women, the US president said before taking the questions. Focusing on the growing political and trade relations between the two giants, he said, “More is to be gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide.” The first black US president was expected to make use of his meeting with Shanghai students to directly address the Chinese public on issues considered sensitive by the local government. Obama did touch on the need to give citizens more freedom, but most of the meeting had the look and feel of a pre-scripted talk show. "These freedoms of expression and worship, of access to information and political participation, we believe are universal rights, they should be available to all people including ethnic and religious minorities," he told the assembled students at the town hall in Shanghai. "I'm a big supporter of not restricting internet use," he said. "The more open we are, the more we can communicate and it also draws the world together," he said. The session was not aired nationally by China Central Television, which had shown live meetings with students in China by former US presidents like George Bush and Bill Clinton. Chinese authorities allowed its telecast in Shanghai city while making no attempt to curb the broadcast from the White House website. The official Xinhua news agency distributed Obama’s comments on the internet. The CCTV is expected to release an edited version of the meeting later today. There are enough reasons for Obama to avoid ruffling Chinese feathers by talking about the Dalai Lama or human rights issues. His administration depends heavily on China’s ability to support its economic recovery package by buying and holding vast quantities of US treasury bonds as well as the two-way trade, which helps boost US business. During the session, Obama pointed out that US-China trade now stood at $400 billion compared to just a few billion dollars when Washington established ties with the People's Republic of China in 1979. "This trade could create even more jobs on both sides of the Pacific ... as demands become more balanced it can lead to even more prosperity," Obama said.

Bal Thackeray slams Sachin over 'Mumbai for all' remark

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray slammed master blaster Sachin Tendulkar in an editorial piece published in party's mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ on

Monday over the latter's ‘Mumbai for all’ remark. Thackeray criticised Tendulkar saying there was no need for the cricket icon to take a "cheeky single" and hurting the Marathi psyche by moving to the pitch of politics. "There was no need for him to take a cheeky single by making such remarks," Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna' quoted Thackeray as saying. "By making these remarks, you have got run-out on the pitch of Marathi psyche. You were not even born when the 'Marathi Manoos' got Mumbai and 105 Marathi people sacrificed their lives to get Mumbai," he said. Thackeray expressed displeasure that Sachin "left the crease" and moved to the pitch of politics by making these remarks which have hurt Marathi sentiment. In a rebuff to the "Marathi Manoos" plank of Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray's MNS, Tendulkar had said on Friday that Mumbai is for all Indians. "Mumbai belongs to India. That is how I look at it. And I am a Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that but I am an Indian first," said Tendulkar Shiv Sena and MNS have often played the "Marathi Manoos" card in a bid to attract votes. Raj Thackeray's fledgling party had even unleashed an anti-north Indian campaign inviting criticism. QnA: Is the resentment of Bal Thackeray against Sachin Tendulkar justified?

HDFC to buy 41% in education loan provider

The country's largest home loan player HDFC Ltd will acquire 41% stake in education loan provider company Credila Financial Services.

With this, HDFC will enter a specialised education loan market, estimated at over Rs 30,000 crore. HDFC is purchasing the 41% stake in Credila from DSP Merrill Lynch Capital Ltd, an Indian subsidiary of global financial services major Merrill Lynch. Commenting on the deal, HDFC's senior general manager (treasury) V S Rangan said that though it was a very small investment at less than Rs 10 crore, it will mark HDFC's entry into fast-growing education loan market, which is expanding at around 30% per annum. "Education loan provides a large business opportunity in the country with more and more people going for higher studies," Rangan said. As it has become a very specialized market, HDFC decided to enter this segment through buying stake in a company, which has proper domain knowledge. Credila Financial Services has disbursed loan of around Rs 16 crore in 2009-09. "Currently, the market is mostly dominated by banks, but the requirement for education loans is growing day-by-day. The company would disburse loan for studies in India as also overseas," Rangan said. At present, HDFC Ltd offers very specialized education loan to students in select institutions like Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, Indian School of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and Symbiosis, Pune.

Despite Karantaka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa claiming to have resolved the political crisis in the state, the leader of the dissident camp Janardhan Reddy rejected his claims and said there was no change in his stand on the issue.
Yeddyurappa, facing demands from dissidents to step down, today said "everything has been resolved".
"Everything has been resolved....I am thankful to the party leadership for reposing faith in me. I will take everyone into confidence," he said.
Yeddyurappa, who was here to meet the Central leadership on the issue, was talking to reporters before leaving for Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu.
"The BJP government in Karnataka will complete its full term," he said.
Dissident BJP leader in Karnataka Janardhana Reddy today maintained that there was no change in their demand for change of leadership and expressed hope that the party would take a "good" decision in a day or two.
"In the interest of the party, betterment of the state and in the interest of BJP workers, I am confident that the party high command will take a right, correct and a good decision," Reddy, who is spearheading the campaign for the removal of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa told reporters here.
Reddy, who came here from Hyderabad this morning after a series of meetings with BJP central leadership in Delhi, dismissed talk of any compromise formula to resolve the crisis.
"We are not aware of any formula. I don't know anything about it," he said on reports from Delhi that a compromise formula was being worked out to resolve the crisis.
To a question about the Chief Minister's claim that the crisis has been resolved, he said that they have placed the demands before the high command.
"We hope the party leaders will give a good leadership to Karnataka. I am 100 per cent sure they will take a good decision in this regard," he said.
On Friday, Top BJP leaders went into huddle at L K Advani’s residence for what was seen as a final take on the situation that has brought the party’s first government in the south to a halt for the last 10 days.
Playing the game of brinkmanship, dissident leader tourism minister Janardhan Reddy stuck to his demand for a "better leadership" in the state.
He is said to have told BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Venkaiah Naidu that he had received resignations of 53 BJP MLAs from Karnataka who wanted the CM to go.

Direct Taxes Code: changes in procedural law
An improvement as regards assessment procedure in the Code is the need for a draft assessment order to be served before any variation to returned income.
The Direct Taxes Code, 2009, makes a distinction between a stop filer, who was once an assessee but has not filed return, and a non-filer who has taxable income but has not filed return. Both are treated alike for default. Time limit for filing return for non-business is proposed to be advanced to June 30, while for others it will be August 31. Time limit for revised or belated return will also be curtailed to 21 months from the end of the financial year. If the fiscal yea r as in most countries is calendar year, this time limit would be convenient, besides ensuring advance tax on correct income instead of being on estimate.
Where no voluntary return is filed, the assessing officer can issue notice requiring return within 21 months from the end of the financial year as against the present limit of 12 months. The return will be acknowledged by electronic mode. There would be automatic processing of return to correct arithmetical errors and incorrect claims inferable from the return, apart from the determination of tax, interest or eligible refund after giving credit for pre-paid taxes.
The notice for scrutiny will be issued only in select cases chosen by criteria framed by the Board in line with “risk management strategy” with such criteria not being revealed to any person. The need for tax audit report where the gross income exceeds Rs. 10 lakh or turnover exceeds Rs. 40 lakh will continue. The limits are inconsistent with the limit of Rs. 1 crore recognised both for gross receipts and turnover for presumptive taxation. Commissioner has been recognised for approval of application of Rule 12 to ignore impermissible avoidance agreement covered by Sec. 112 listed under the title “General Anti-Avoidance Rule” (GAAR) and to issue appropriate instruction thereon after a show cause notice.
One material change is that the right to require pre-assessment interference from the Joint Commissioner under the present Sec. 144A will be available under the Code only for the assessing officer and not the assessee under Sec. 164 of the Code. But where he issues direction, it can be done only after hearing the assessee.
An improvement as regards assessment procedure in the Code is the need for a draft assessment order to be served before any variation to returned income. Where the proposed addition exceeds Rs. 25 lakh, it will go to Disputes Resolution Panel, if there is any objection to the addition by the assessee. Opportunity will be given by this Panel which will consist of three commissioners. There is a direct appeal to the Tribunal against the order of the Panel.
Reopening of the assessment would be on the same basis under the present law with additional power to act on any objection or observation by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India or where the assessment is not in accordance with Board Circular or any order or direction or instruction or Circular issued by any superior officer.
Time for rectification is proposed to be curtailed to two years from four years. Rectification will be possible on the basis of the decision of the Supreme Court or jurisdictional High Court or on the basis of a retrospective amendment or to accord with finding or direction in any order passed on to the assessee for any other financial year or an order in appeal, reference or revision or in any other proceedings under any other law. Jurisdiction for rectification will get widened.Penalties and prosecutions
The law, at present, for penalties and prosecutions do not have any significant changes except for re-drafting of the provisions. Penalty for transactions by modes other than account payee cheque or draft by acceptance or repayment of loan or advance, is dropped, replaced by treating such receipt or payment as concealed income.
Penalty for concealment under Explanation to Sec. 271(1), which was a complete code, the interpretation of which is a matter of settled law, is now sought to be replaced by a set of rules. The corresponding provision for under-reporting of tax base under Sec. 224 of the Code, parallel to Sec. 271(1)(c) is, therefore, bound to create more problems of interpretation.
Occasion has not been taken to simplify either the penalty or prosecution proceedings providing for different penalties or fines/ imprisonment for different defaults, which could be more easily grouped. Prosecution provisions will continue to be as onerous as before, but with compounding option continuing to be available.Grievance redressal
There is no specific provision to deal with the grievances of the taxpayer but these are available in the present law under rectification, appeal and revisional powers. These provisions under the existing law are proposed to be curtailed by the Code.
Curb on assessing officer’s powers: The assessment power stands restricted in view of the fact that the Joint Commissioner can suo motu call for a file and issue such directions “as he thinks fit for the guidance of the assessing officer”. The Joint Commissioner may also seek directions of the Commissioner. Though it is provided that an opportunity will be given, if Commissioner or Joint Commissioners issue any adverse instruction, there is no provision by which the assessee is made aware of the fact that the matter has gone to the Joint Commissioner or Commissioner. As it now happens in practice, the assessee may not even be aware of internal communications so that such a remedy can remain only on paper.
Power to seek assistance of Joint Commissioners removed: The Joint Commissioner has power to entertain the pre-assessment application from an assessee for interference against any proposed action of the assessing officer under the present law in Sec. 144A. Now the corresponding Sec. 164 would limit such interference only at the instance of the assessing officer himself and not at the instance of the assessee by omitting reference to the assessee.

Mahindra Satyam reboots on order win

Mahindra Satyam jumped 3.28% to Rs 102.20 at 13:29 IST after the company won an IT outsourcing contract from Swedish defence and aerospace firm, Saab, to develop solutions in India for the global defence and homeland security market.
The announcement was made after market hours on Tuesday, 3 November 2009.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 399.78 points, or 2.60%, to 15804.72.
On BSE, 23.62 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 84.21 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 104.90 and a low of Rs 100 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 319 on 3 November 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 11.50 on 9 January 2009.
The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 3 November 2009, falling 15.93% as compared to the Sensex 10.09% fall. It underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 4.26% as against 3.26% decline in the Sensex.
The large-cap software company has an equity capital of Rs 235.13 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.
The current price of Rs 102.20 discounts the company's Q2 September 2009 annualised EPS of Rs 35.48, by a PE multiple of 2.88.
Mahindra Satyam and Saab have already initiated moves to set up a Centre of Excellence for Network Centric Warfare. One of the activities under this initiative is that Mahindra Satyam and Saab will jointly address the battlefield management system (BMS) for the Indian Army.
Mahindra Satyam, which counts Citigroup, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, Cisco Systems Inc and Nissan among its top five clients, has over 430 clients now. Over the last four months, the company, erstwhile Satyam Computers, gained over 32 new customers including some large clients.
Satyam was acquired by Pune based IT services firm Tech Mahindra in April 2009, after the firm's defamed founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to perpetrating India's biggest corporate fraud. Customer confidence took a knock after Raju's confession.
The company is attempting to regain contracts and enter into new strategic alliances to turn-around.
Mahindra Satyam's net profit rose 3.7% to Rs 597.43 crore on a 6.9% increase in sales to Rs 2700.52 crore in Q2 September 2009 over Q1 June 2009.
Mahindra Satyam is a global consulting and IT services company, offering a wide array of solutions; from strategy consulting right through to implementing IT solutions for customers.

JRD Tata Biography
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Born: July 29, 1904Died: on November 29, 1993Achievements: He had the honor of being India's first pilot; was Chairman of Tata & Sons for 50 years; launched Air India International as India's first international airline; received Bharat Ratna in 1992.JRD Tata was one of the most enterprising Indian entrepreneurs. He was a pioneer aviator and built one of the largest industrial houses of India.JRD Tata was born on July 29, 1904 in Paris. His mother was a French, while his father was Parsi. JRD's full name was Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and he was popularly known as Jeh to his friends. JRD's father Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and Sri Jamsetji Tata shared their greatness from the same great-great-grandfather, Ervad Jamsheed Tata, a priest of Navsari.JRD Tata was the second of four children. He was educated in France, Japan and England before being drafted into the French army for a mandatory one-year period. JRD wanted to extend his service in the forces but destiny had something else in store for him. By leaving the French army JRD's life was saved because shortly thereafter, the regiment in which he served was totally wiped out during an expedition in Morocco.JRD Tata joined Tata & Sons as an unpaid apprentice in 1925. He has great interest in flying. On February 10, 1929, JRD became the first Indian to pass the pilot's examination. With this distinctive honor of being India's first pilot, he was instrumental in giving wings to India by building Tata Airlines, which ultimately became Air India. His passion for flying was fulfilled with the formation of the Tata Aviation Service in 1932.In 1938, at the age of 34, JRD was elected Chairman of Tata & Sons making him the head of the largest industrial group in India. He started with 14 enterprises under his leadership and half a century later on July 26, 1988, when he left , Tata & Sons was a conglomerate of 95 enterprises which they either started or in which they had controlling interest.JRD was the trustee of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust from its inception in 1932, which remained under his wings for over half a century. Under his guidance, this Trust established Asia's first cancer hospital, the Tata Memorial Center for Cancer, Research and Treatment, Bombay, 1941. It also founded the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 1936 (TISS), the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1945 (TIFR), and the National Center for Performing Arts.In 1948, JRD Tata launched Air India International as India's first international airline. In 1953, the Indian Government appointed JRD as Chairman of Air-India and a director on the Board of Indian Airlines-a position JRD retained for 25-years. For his crowning achievements in Aviation, JRD was bestowed with the title of Honorary Air Commodore of India.In 1956, JRD Tata initiated a program of closer "employee association with management" to give workers a stronger voice in the affairs of the company. He firmly believed in employee welfare and espoused the principles of an eight-hour working day, free medical aid, workers' provident scheme, and workmen's accident compensation schemes, which were later, adopted as statutory requirements in India.JRD Tata cared greatly for his workers. In 1979, Tata Steel instituted a new practice; a worker is deemed to be "at work" from the moment he leaves home for work till he returns home from work. The company is financially liable to the worker if any mishap takes place on the way to and from work. Tata Steel Township was also selected as a UN Global Compact City because of the quality of life, conditions of sanitation, roads and welfare that were offered by Tata Steel.JRD Tata received a number of awards. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1957 on the eve of silver jubilee of Air India. He also received the Guggenheim Medal for aviation in 1988. In 1992, because of his selfless humanitarian endeavors, JRD Tata was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna-one of the rarest instances in which this award was granted during a person's lifetime. In the same year, JRD Tata was also bestowed with the United Nations Population Award for his crusading endeavors towards initiating and successfully implementing the family planning movement in India, much before it became an official government policy.JRD Tata died in Geneva, Switzerland on November 29, 1993 at the age of 89. On his death, the Indian Parliament was adjourned in his memory-an honor not usually given to persons who are not Members of Parliament.

FBI 'kills' V S Naipaul in court footnote

WASHINGTON: Indian ethnic origin V S Naipaul, considered to be one of the finest living novelists writing in English, has been "killed off" by the

American secret service FBI. Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, the very-much-alive 77-year-old British writer who received the Nobel Literature Prize in 2001, was "killed off" by the FBI in a footnote, no less. The slip-up was noticed after documents presented to a Chicago court were unsealed on Tuesday wherein the acclaimed writer is referred to as "the late V S Naipaul, a Nobel prize winning author" in the footnote of sworn testimony by Special Agent Lorenzo Benedict, according to The Smoking Gun, an entertainment and crime news website. The mistake was part of documents Chicago court linked to the trial of two men accused of plotting to attack staff of the Danish newspaper that published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the report said. The Indo-Trinidadian descent writer is mentioned in connection with his wife Lady Naipaul, a journalist and the sister of a Pakistani general who was allegedly killed by Islamic militants last year. Trinidad-born Naipaul's works include A House for Mr Biswas, A Bend in the River and The Enigma of Arrival and is widely considered to be one of the masters of modern English prose.