Telecom Tellall
This high stakes game continues to fill the coffers of corrupt private players, even as the government loses millions.
Surbhi Chawla on the sector’s ugly past and present
Wireless telephony reached Indian shores in 1995 – the year Spectrum was allocated to private players for the first time. From those early days itself this sector has been plagued by controversies. Every minister who took charge of the telecom ministry found himself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The unfortunate trend was started by Sukh Ram – the first telecom minister to take charge after the sector was liberalised. In 1996 when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided his house, the sleuths had found crores of rupees stashed away in – of all places – his prayer room. The investigations that followed the seizure revealed that the minister had made this illgotten fortune from private players keen to hop onto the telecom bandwagon. The immense potential of the segment had the minister taking huge advantage.
It was in 2002 – during the NDA regime – that Reliance Infocom (now renamed Reliance Communications) and Tata Teleservices began introducing the CDMA technology in the country to replace GSM, which was all we had at the time. Back then the late Pramod Mahajan, who was telecom minister in that government, was alleged to have favoured big corporates by giving them Spectrum at a relatively low cost. Mahajan subsequently drew heavy flak in Parliament, where some among the Opposition had gone to the extent of branding him as the Reliance man in the NDA government.
Dayanidhi Maran was the next to be asked to vacate, though his own case was rather different from the others. For though Maran was M Karunanidhi’s poster boy, his brother Kalandhi, who headed the SUN TV network, was unacceptable to many.
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Surbhi Chawla on the sector’s ugly past and present
Wireless telephony reached Indian shores in 1995 – the year Spectrum was allocated to private players for the first time. From those early days itself this sector has been plagued by controversies. Every minister who took charge of the telecom ministry found himself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The unfortunate trend was started by Sukh Ram – the first telecom minister to take charge after the sector was liberalised. In 1996 when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided his house, the sleuths had found crores of rupees stashed away in – of all places – his prayer room. The investigations that followed the seizure revealed that the minister had made this illgotten fortune from private players keen to hop onto the telecom bandwagon. The immense potential of the segment had the minister taking huge advantage.
It was in 2002 – during the NDA regime – that Reliance Infocom (now renamed Reliance Communications) and Tata Teleservices began introducing the CDMA technology in the country to replace GSM, which was all we had at the time. Back then the late Pramod Mahajan, who was telecom minister in that government, was alleged to have favoured big corporates by giving them Spectrum at a relatively low cost. Mahajan subsequently drew heavy flak in Parliament, where some among the Opposition had gone to the extent of branding him as the Reliance man in the NDA government.
Dayanidhi Maran was the next to be asked to vacate, though his own case was rather different from the others. For though Maran was M Karunanidhi’s poster boy, his brother Kalandhi, who headed the SUN TV network, was unacceptable to many.
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difficult. Just a query about this “maker of sarees from banana fiber” is enough to get us specific directions, right down to the last turn. Tucked behind a few shops lies his dilapidated rented one-room factory-house and the only way to reach it is a narrow pathway with an open sewer running along. When we entered the asbestos-roofed room, Shekhar, the unconventional saree weaver was swinging cotton threads in a hand charkha.
a commission of inquiry to study the migration and polarisation of population on religious basis hasn’t gone down well with Gujarat’s human rights activists. They believe that Modi is preparing his communal agenda for the 2012 assembly elections.
Devi has not got a farthing by way of state assistance, Malik got immediate relief and Rs 3,000 stipend for 48 months, but no promised ‘seed’ money which could help him launch into something of an alternative career. Malik is, nonetheless, better placed than some of the others but that is because of his high ranking in the Maoist hierarchy. Lesser known figures who took the government’s offer at face value, are trying hard to organise their own protection and lead a normal existence.
business. There are over 460 large business houses having significant asset value in the country. Interestingly, most of them are controlled by women- a trend which is forcing companies to engage more women into the workplace. Researches show that there are 20,000 firms which account for around five per cent of all registered businesses today in Saudi Arabia, controlled or owned by businesswomen. Interestingly, membership of women in local commerce chambers is on the rise. For example, Jeddah Chamber has 2,000 women members out of a total of 50,000. The same can be seen in Riyadh where there are 2,400 women members out of 35,000 — showing a fourfold increase in just ten years. Business-women in the Eastern Province chamber has increased to 1,000 (out of 14,000). This gradual emergence of Saudi businesswomen forced the Government to revise its years-old labour laws and business proceedings and include women too. Many chambers also came out with centres to facilitate women. Jeddah Chamber of Commerce established Khadija Bint Khwailid Centre to guide and facilitate Saudi businesswomen.
steel shell, but most bikes are much faster and more nimble, and they give you a complete feeling of freedom – bikes win hands down for fun. For safety, cars are definitely the winner, but the flirt with danger and exposure to the elements on a bike can't be beaten!
was passing through the main commercial district of Dallas, driving from the airport to the city centre. A bystander alleged that shots were fired from the casement of a construction across the road. The President buckled into Jackie Kennedy’s arms, who was heard crying out “Oh no”. The President’s limousine was immediately driven at speed to the Parklands Hospital. He died 35 minutes after being shot. Within hours of the shooting, a cop approached Lee Harvey Oswald, believing he matched the description of the killer. The cop was shot dead. Oswald was arrested straightaway, suspected of being the assassin. Shortly afterwards, he was charged. The suspect was never tried as he was shot dead two days later.
leaders. It started with Mahatma Gandhi in January, 1948 and looks be on a brief ‘pause’ mode since December, 2007 when Benazir Bhutto was sacrificed at the altar of South Asian history. In between, in the late 1970s, her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was ‘judicially’ assassinated by a military strongman called General Zia-ul Haq who himself died mysteriously in a plane crash in 1988. No country has been spared the trauma; no ruling ‘family’ has been spared the agony and the despair. Even as you read this, India is paying tribute to yet another victim of assassination – Indira Gandhi whose grandson Rahul Gandhi is preparing himself to become Prime Minister in 2014.
thinking. As Turkey continues to industrialise, its thirst for energy is all set to increase. With Turkey being the largest supplier of low-cost goods to the Russian market, the influence of Turkey’s soft power can be easily felt over the Russian land. Since most of Russian corporations (heavy industry) can’t afford expensive western imports, Turkey found its foot into Russian economy by providing them economically affordable alternatives. Moreover, Turkey has a significant intervention and trade-ties in former communist states like Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. For the uninitiated, most of the Balkan states are already members of the European Union. Furthering this trade related ties, Russia is Turkey’s chief trading partner, with energy accounting for a huge pie. Talking in numbers, presently Turkey depends on Russia for 65-70 per cent of its natural gas and 40 per cent of its oil imports.
three decades to do what it should have done earlier: ensure that militancy in the state did not grow into an industry with ‘surrendered’ militants ruling the roost. It is now that the government has set up a committee to prevent such ‘fake surrenders’.
Kerala was sad that the state had only 20 constituencies. As the results came out, he boarded himself up inside Delhi’s AKG Bhavan. Party committees blamed chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan’s remarks, his studied silence on controversial issues and the LDF’s relationship with Abdul Nasser Madani’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the loss of 16 seats. Now, the party faces yet another litmus test. The three Assembly seats, which fell vacant after the representatives got elected to the Lok Sabha, go to polls on November 7.
throws up is that, if indeed every person could sprint like an Olympian, then would we still host these games and competitions? If skill and hard work, the very cornerstones of competition, are replaced by technology, then will these ‘robots’ masquerading as humans compete in an arena where human error and skill are the deciding factor between triumph and defeat? “The charm of competition and the spirit of sports would be lost for ever if such health enhancers put every individual at the same pedestal,” opines Jugraj Singh, hockey gold medalist at the Asia Cup and Junior World Cup. If these nanobots could reverse ageing, I would wish that legends like Dhanraj Pillai come back and change the face of Indian hockey once again,” adds Singh. Living forever and being with our loved ones is something we dream of, but if this dream becomes a reality and no one dies a natural death, soon we’ll have to device an automatic switch-off programme which manages the ever-growing population on the face of the earth. “Personally, I would never want to live forever. Although I always wish for the wellbeing of my dear ones, but if I had the chance to give this technology a shot and make someone immortal, it would be someone like Lance Armstrong, who in spite of enduring great suffering, has still retained the will to live and compete,” says ace pugilist, Akhil Kumar, Arjuna Awardee and a gold medal winner at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. It is true that the spirit of a soldier and a sportsman is worthy of admiration. The never say die attitude has always carried them a long way regardless of the hurdles. Every technology is good if we know how to use it for the right reasons. It is essential to live within the realms of nature and respect its laws. Like two sides of a coin, even nanotechnology would have its downside. The way humans have now seemingly tapped the way to cheat death, soon, man would find ways to compete again and make life more interesting. “A sportsman’s spirit is different. Even if these nanobots bring all humans at par as far as health is concerned, an athlete would work hard, develop further skill and soon find a way to be better than the others...” Olympic Bronze Medalist, Sushil Kumar signs off. 
published The Prospect of Immortality that set off a minor revolution in the process of thinking about the dead or, more precisely, return of the dead. If a person’s body could be frozen immediately after death — Ettinger had suggested — future technologies might make it possible to bring the same back to life. Ettinger's thesis became the rallying point of a new philosophy, or shall one call it the science of Cryonics.
ask him! I’m presuming he saw just beyond numbers. That would be an obvious presumption on my end but I’m sure that question should be probably answered by him. I’ve played my part, as a performer. And the kind of director that he is, I’m sure he is not going to okay a take from anybody for his film if he is not okay with it. I still happen to be the protagonist of his film along with Priyanka but I’m sure he wouldn’t even okay an extra’s or junior artiste’s shot till he is not okay with the performance.
of Indian classical dance remains one of India’s greatest assets. From the sculptured elegance of Bharatanatyam and the ebullient spring of Kuchipudi, to the gentle sway of Manipuri and Odissi, the endless twirls of Kathak and waves of Mohiniattam, Indian classical dance offers the performer and the viewer a path to transcendence. The newly inducted Sattriya of Assam also joins her sisters in the mutual goal of evolved rhythm and imaginative poetry to portray the range of human experience.
flowers also play an important role in it. It appears as if nature itself has worn a red stole. Love, pampering, teasing and enjoyment are an inseparable part and parcel of this festival. And it is not only the weather that plays the seductress; there are relations that have their own charm. Nanad-Bhujai, Devar-Bhabhi, Jija-Saali, the festival dispel the shyness in the relationship and strengthen it. The seduction is compounded by nature itself. Mahua, Kadamb, Mango, Palas and Amaltas trees, among other things, emit fragrances that leave people a little high. Therefore it is only logical that the festival reflects the mood.
of Macaulay. The course content, though enriching and informative, fails to help candidates land jobs. So students turn to coaching institutes. Bureaucrats who run the education system are totally out of touch with the present day needs of students. Coaching institutes, on the contrary, have a planned and scientific approach to things. They are, therefore, as much a necessity as a compulsion. They are likely to remain so until the government changes its approach.
seem to be fighting imaginary adversaries. We violate traffic rules, throw garbage wherever our heart desires and go all out to prove how tough we are by breaking basic norms of decency. How dare the municipal corporation tell us where to urinate and where not. We relieve ourselves on roadsides and on public walls at will. Our cities have turned into free-for-all urinals. In India, lovers are frowned upon if they hold hands or kiss in public, but it's perfectly to urinate or defecate out in the open. We spot a board that says "Photography prohibited" and we do everything we can to assert our freedom by posing before that very board and going click, click, click... Rules are made to be broken. Park your car under a no-parking sign, pluck flowers from gardens that are out of bounds and jaywalk with gay abandon meters away from a zebra crossing or a subway. We are Indians and we don't like to be dictated to.
become impostors themselves. Yet this is exactly what the West Bengal police are being accused of. Posing as journalists of two non-existent publications – one as a reporter of Asian News Agency of Singapore and the other as a camerman of Tazaa TV channel of Kolkata – they arrested Chatradhar Mahato, the most vocal face of Lalgarh’s Police Santras-Birodhi Janaganer Committee (People’s Committee against Police Atrocities).
Dussehra. But this year I don’t think I will be able to buy any. My husband is working in a private sector company. Due to slowdown he has got no increment this year, which means our budget for the upcoming festivals will remain more or less same as last year. With price of everything rising thick and fast, I don’t think with the same budget I have any chance to buy any gold jewellery.” This is what visibly upset Jyotsna Patra, a home maker from Bhubaneswar, shared with us while discussing about her plans for this year’s festival season. But then, she is not the only one.
K V Dayal was adorned by a heavy bronze bell. Jaitha Dayal, lady of the house and wife of KV Dayal came out to greet us; Dayal was away for a meeting of Nature Club, a conclave of people endeavouring towards organic approach to agriculture. We decided to take, in the meantime, a round of the forest that has supplanted the once-barren Muhamma region in Alappuzha district of Kerala, thanks to the efforts of this 62-year-old nature enthusiast.
was heavily fined when it failed to meet the regulatory norms set up by the European Commission (EC). In 2008, the antitrust regulators fined a whopping $1.3 billion for not being able to comply with the antitrust laws since 2004 and thus bringing the total amount of fines on Microsoft to a gigantic $2.5 billion. In 2009, EC imposed a fine of $1.45 billion (£1.06 billion) on American giant, Intel Corporation on the ground that illegal anticompetitive practices of Intel would harm the continuation of a healthy competitive market. The EC, in fact, has gone unique in this century with its antitrust activities. It fined Archer Daniels Midland, along with 13 other leading pharmaceutical companies, which the EC suspected were seeking to control the European vitamin market. The most horrifying one was when EC blocked the $43 billion merger deal between General Electric and Honeywell on the ground that American firms are targeting and buying European firms to retain their growth. Surprisingly, the deal was allowed by the US regulators.
not been made by a Hollywood star or a punk brat who has made waves in the world of rap music. Nor is he a Richard Branson style flamboyant entrepreneur who loves to flaunt ‘beautiful’ women even as he makes billions. Nor is he the promoter of a soft porn Empire a la Hugh Heffner.
prized possession or much touted about demographic dividend are actually adopting a wrong path. Students (a big part of this demographic dividend) are considered as one of the most important agents of change. In numerous incidences, these students and students' unions have helped in toppling governments and bringing about positive changes. For example, Nepal’s restoration of democracy in 2006. But lately, in most parts of these third world countries, students' unions seem to have adopted the path of violence, crime and power-politics.
It should have been titled Apne Ko Bechna! This serial has had a most deleterious impact on our society and family relations. India has always been celebrated for its social integrity, moral values and strong family bonding. Many things happen in life. But it is wrong to divulge the darker side of it simply to make money. It was painful to hear the anchor asking the participant whether he would sleep with another woman if he was sure his wife would not come to know of it. And it was just as painful to hear the participant responding in the affirmative and the “yes” being followed by frenzied clapping from the audience. Then the anchor wanted to know whether he had had physical relations with a girl younger than his own daughter! Yes, said the man, to more loud clapping.
seeking allotment of 2,400 sq feet of prime land near Chennai (for housing purposes), he predictably agreed. Reason: The DMK is a minority government run with Congress support. Gnanasekaran – the Congress MLA who led the move – had no trouble getting the signatures of 105 MLAs. But some sections of people in the state are at odds with the decision. The question some are asking is – if each legislator is allotted a spacious flat in the MLA hostel, why this new requirement?
Patiala set the cat among the pigeons. The militant outfit claimed responsibility for the murderous attack on Rashtriya Sikh Sangat leader Rulda Singh, who succumbed to his injuries a few days later. This was not an isolated incident.
In the newest act of a political theatre complete with false starts and building expectancy that has been dejected at every turn, a fresh roadmap by Honduran pro tem President Roberto Micheletti to break the two-month old crisis in Honduras is being flaunted as a “breakthrough”.
the cape of a continent, America another world.” This is the doctrine of Winston Churchill, which he shared with Charles de Gaulle. The US and the Europe are truly two different countries with divergent interests. Let us travel back to the past a bit to understand properly the genesis of these two richest and most powerful land spaces on the earth. These two rich brethren worked in close harmony for much of the twentieth century, mainly to defeat the common enemy viz. Germany in the first two world wars and then the Soviet block during the Cold War. During the World Wars, Britain was still holding on to the pivotal position of a great power with the support of its empire, which was still almost half the world. But cold war was an American thing, and by then the US had amassed enormous wealth and military prowess to replace Britain as a superpower. But after the cold war was won by the US and her West European allies, their economic and political interests began to drift apart. The NATO countries of Europe did not need the American protection any more and this heralded a doom for future friendly relation. On the contrary, new opportunities emerged for NATO when the erstwhile Soviet controlled East European states showed keen interest to join the US bandwagon. It showcased a perfect opportunity for them to cut deep into the Russian periphery, who quite naturally was infuriated by American advancements.
‘closed’ after the court acquitted Mridul Phukan – the prime accused in the journalist Parag Das murder case due to “lack of solid evidence”.
time things just happened in a way where I got offered a few ads and I started doing them and I enjoyed doing them. And then I started thinking about the fact that it’s actually fun doing this. Then I got serious about it and I started assisting in direction so it just happened and it happened on its own. I didn’t really plan it as such. But I guess somewhere deep inside I was curious about it and so it interested me and once I got into it I fell in love with it.
Himachal and Chandigarh are managed by the Amritsar based SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) – a statutory body under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. SGPC – dominated by the Akali Dal – manages the gurdwaras in Haryana with an annual budget of about Rs 500 crore. Besides managing the shrines, this body plays a very significant role in guiding Sikhs on religious matters too.
Manna Dey’s ‘Ae Mere Pyare Watan’ are dreams that have gone from the flag to flak. No one wants to watch films about a social awakening any longer. Raj Kumar Santoshi’s “Halla Bol” was proof of it. Films that once gloriously addressed the question of patriotism like Ramesh Sehgal’s “Shaheed” and Manoj Kumar’s “Upkar” are passé. Aggressive self-interest is in. “Rang De Basanti” marked the end of an Iraq.
in Amritsar came to us regularly, but from unconfirmed sources. At the time of Operation Blue Star the broadcast and print media were much less active than they now are. For the most part people depended on the BBC or the AIR, or waited for the next day’s newspapers from Ranchi and Patna. Rampur’s former member of the legislative assembly, Yamuna Sharma, still remembers the day – June 7, 1984 – when it had looked like all was finished.
online ads are on a decline since the past few months. Positive for the surfer, given the irritant value that comes combined with pop up ads. According to ComScore’s AdMetrix data, internet surfers were exposed to 12% less display-ad impressions per page view than they were a year ago. Whether it’s a conscious decision of the advertisers present on the digital media or just a mere coincidence, the fact is that the falling growth rate of the online ad industry is good news for advertisers! Surprised? We called it, dumb meets dumb. Well, a study conducted by Dynamic Logic, Starcom and DoubleClick in 2007 found that a 15% increase in ads on a page results in about a 10% decline in click-through rates. Well, if that is not a positive correlation, read on to get confused a bit more.
the various IT companies. A study titled ‘IT opportunity in the SMB sector’ by Zinnov Management Consulting reports that this segment in India spent nearly $6.6 billion during 2007-08, which is 30% of the total expenditure on IT in India during the year. Indeed great news for the IT sector, but what about a time when funds are quickly drying up? Indeed, for the SMBs, it is getting difficult by the day to maintain the expenditures for keeping pace with speed at which technology is getting upgraded, reinvented and reinnovated! And that’s where Cisco Capital comes in, to help solve the financial problems that the SMBs are facing to buy/utilise latest in the field of technology. Cisco Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems and therefore a captive financing arm of Cisco. It however also deals directly with high-end enterprises and high end customers. It was incorporated in 2005, with an initial corpus of $150 million. It is dedicated to providing financing solutions and options to Cisco’s channel partners and its customers. In an exclusive interview with 4Ps B&M, Gautam Munish, Country Manager, Cisco Capital, discloses how Cisco Capital helps organisations derive maximum from investments in technology...
need to maintain steady economic growth of 7-8% to lift millions out of poverty. Unfortunately, for countries like US, who are staring at prospects of economic degrowth, the challenge seems to be with respect to millions that are not in poverty yet. The challenge increasingly would be how to keep them there; as companies, one after another are sounding the alarm about not so impressive times ahead.