11 Pages 14th JANUARY

8/7/2019 11 Pages 14th JANUARY

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11 Pages 14th JANUARY 20th JANUARY 2011 www.xedintellect.com

BUSINESS NEWS

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 2 COVER STORY 3 PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK 4 BUSINESS NEWS 5-8

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 9 MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 10 GENERAL AWARENESS 11

NEWS DIGEST

IN BRIEF

PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK

COMPILED BY

INDIAN MOBILE

SERVICE PROVIDERS

BSE SENSEX 19046

NSE NIFTY 5711

RS/$ 45.58

(as on 20th Jan 2011)

ECONOMIC

INDICATORS

Vibrant Gujarat 2011:

Foreign delegates

pledge 35k-cr biz for

Gujarat

COVER STORY

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

By 2020, world to be

2.4C warmer, India to

be hardest hit

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

U.S. national debt


2/23

reaches $14 Trillion

XED NEWSLETTER

a weekly news bulletin

TOP 10 HEADLINES OF THE WEEK

1. Vibrant Gujarat 2011: Foreign delegates pledge 35k-cr biz for Gujarat.

2. MNP is here. But think before you switch.

3. Aircel ties up with Facebook.

4. Now, ICICI customers can withdraw cash at shops.

5. IndiGo is joint India No. 2 with Kingfisher.

6. Infy told to pay 400-cr tax on onshore sales.

7. U.S. national debt reaches $14 Trillion.

8. Obama presses China's Hu on human rights.

9. 'By 2020, world to be 2.4C warmer, India to be hardest hit'.

10. Nokia most trusted brand in India, Tendulkar ahead of Mahatma.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Demographics are the characteristics of a human population. These types of data are used widely insociology,

public policy, and marketing. Commonly used demographics include gender, race, age, income,educational

attainment, employment status, and even location.

Demographic Trend: As a country develops the proportion of elderly population increases andyounger population

decreases.

Stock Market Indices as on 20th Jan 11 Values

BSE SENSEX 19046

NSE (NIFTY) 5711

Current Market Rates as on 20th Jan 11 Values

Rupee / US Dollar 45.58

Rupee / Euro 61.45


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Rupee / Pound 72.73

Gold (10 Gram) in Rs. 19961.1

COVER STORY: PETROL SHOOTS UP!!!

Across thousands of small cities and towns that dot India s landscape, millions

go about their daily chores using two-wheelers or three-wheelers, all of which

run on petrol. They are forced to depend on their own vehicles simply because

there is no public transport worth the name in their cities.

Petrol on fire: In December 10 petrol prices rose by Rs

3.5/litre, while kerosene rose by Rs3, diesel by Rs2 and

cooking gas by Rs35 a cylinder. Oil companies have hiked

petrol prices by Rs 2.5/lt once more in Jan 11. So from

petrol costing around Rs53-56/litre, it is now in the range of Rs59-63. The latest revision means

that the petrol prices have risen 5 times in the last 6 months.

Deregulation is the mantra: As crude import prices are once again shooting up, the

government has finally implemented petrol price deregulation, lifting government control and

allowing oil companies to fix prices of Petrol on the basis of market forces. Diesel prices will also

get deregulated, but will be implemented in phases. Deregulation became essential to reduce thefiscal deficit which

has reached 5.5% of GDP. Kerosene & LPG prices, however, will continue to remain government-determined. This

means petrol price hikes could come in frequent little doses fortnightly or monthly, rather than one-shot hikes. No

country can afford to keep domestic inflation under the lid ignoring global trends in energy prices.India cannot afford

to see a runaway increase in petrol consumption at a time when the trade and current accountdeficits are rising.

Oil companies bear the subsidy burden: Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan

Petroleum are losing Rs 1.22/litre on petrol despite last week s Rs 2.50 price hike, on diesel the

companies are losing nearly Rs7/lt, Rs19.6/lt on kerosene & Rs366/LPG cylinder. The three firms


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are losing about Rs 290 crore a day in revenues on selling diesel, LPG and kerosene below cost.

They are projected to lose Rs 73,600 crore in revenues during the 2010-11 financial year, 55% of

which the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Murli Deora wants the Finance Ministry to

meet by way of cash from the central Budget.

There is no denying that trucks and tempos transport our food items from

the villages to the cities, and hiking the price of diesel will see an immediate

rise in food prices. Yet, the government can always come up with an

alternative policy on how to subsidize trucks carrying food items directly so

that it benefits the common man. Worse, it is evident is that some the most

expensive cars and SUVs run on diesel. Subsidizing the rich at the expense

of the poor is not just bad economics; it is bad politics as well.

What subsidies give taxes take away: There is another concern. Out of every

rupee spent on petrol, much of it goes to the government by way of taxes and levies.

This is what makes petrol so expensive in India. Over the years, the government has

been loath to reduce the taxes and lose an important source of revenue. Yet, revenue

can be earned from other areas rather than hitting the common man where it hurts

the most: in his daily commute to office or factory. In order to provide cushion to the

oil marketing companies and, perhaps, the public at large, the government may halve

excise duty on petrol to Rs7 a litre from the current Rs14.45.

Political Drama and Protests: Every incident of fuel

price rise gives more weight to opposition s sticks to

beat the Government with.

The opposition parties slammed Congressled

UPA government for increasing the prices of petrol and threatened to launch a

relentless struggle until the Centre rolls back the prices.

Riding cycles, cycle rickshaws and even bullock carts, a large number of BJP workers

held a demonstration on Parliament Street in Delhi on 11th Jan 2011 to protest fuel


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price rise.

Kolkata is bracing for political rallies as both the CPM and the Trinamool have planned

protests against the price rise. CPM had called a 3-hour transport strike.

Activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India blocked traffic in

Thiruvananthapuram on 16 Jan as a protest against hike in petrol prices.

To protest, the Telugu Desam Party would organize dharnas in AP on Jan 22.

On 20th Jan 11, Narayanguda police stopped a bicycle rally held by BJP activists who

were protesting against the increase in the prices of petrol, and arrested the protesters.

PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK

Allah Rakha Rahman- The Musical Maestro

At an advertising awards function, young Rahman met one of India'smost famous

directors, Mani Ratnam. Rahman played him a few of his music samples. Mani loved

them so much that he asked Rahman to compose the music for his film, Roja (1992).

The rest, as they say, is history. A. R. Rahman was born in Chennai to a musically

affluent Mudaliar Tamil family. He had become an atheist as a result of childhood

struggles, and eventually in 1989 converted to Islam. He is married to Saira Banu and

has three children, Khatija, Rahima, and Ameen.

Career: His notable film career began in 1992, when he began the Panchathan Record

Inn, a music recording and mixing studio. In the 2000s Rahman created hit scores for

Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades and Rang De Basanti. In 2006, Rahman launched his own

music label, KM Music. Vande Mataram, an album of his original compositions released

on India's 50th anniversary of independence in 1997 and enjoyed great commercial

success. In 2010, Rahman composed "Jay Jay Garvi Gujarat" in honor of the 50th

anniversary of the formation of Gujarat State. Rahman, who had composed the highly

successful signature tune for Airtel, released a new version of the song on 18 November 2010. Healso released the

theme song for Radio Desi Beats, of which he is a brand ambassador. Automobile brand Toyotaroped Rahman in to


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endorse their India specific car Etios in 2010.

Controversy: Rahman s Commonwealth Games theme song "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto" courtedsignificant controversy

with many having questioned whether it was Rahman's own hard work. Rahman has not given any

hits since Slumdog

Millionaire and most of his new releases have been unsuccessful in catching viewer s attention.

Feathers in the Cap: In 2008, he scored the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, for which he won aGolden Globe and

two Academy Awards, becoming the first Indian citizen to do so. Rahman was awarded the PadmaBhushan, India's

third highest civilian honor, in 2010. Rahman has been nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Awardfor Best Original

Score for the film 127 Hours.

Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales: The Man behind Wikipedia

Jimmy is an American Internet entrepreneur and a co-founder and promoter of

Wikipedia. As a child, Wales was a keen reader with an acute intellectual curiosity

and spent hours over the Britannica and World Book Encyclopedias.

Inspired by the remarkable initial public offering of Netscape in 1995, he decided to

become an Internet entrepreneur and, in 1996, founded the web portal Bomis, with

two partners. Bomis was a men's web portal featuring entertainment related content.

This website provided the initial funding for the peer-reviewed encyclopedia Nupedia

(2000 2003) and its successor, Wikipedia. In 2001, together with Larry Sanger,

Wales helped launch Wikipedia, a free, open content encyclopedia that enjoyed rapid

growth and popularity, and as Wikipedia's public profile grew, he became the

project's promoter and spokesman.

Role: In a 2004 interview with Slashdot, Wales outlined his vision for Wikipedia.

"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to

the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing." The growth and

prominence of Wikipedia made Wales an Internet celebrity. Wales continues to edit


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Wikipedia articles and identifies an Anglophile streak in him as responsible for his

particular interest in UKs House of Lords, a subject area he spends most time studying on Wikipedia,sometimes

editing the articles himself.

Wikimedia Foundation: In mid-2003, Wales set up the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profitorganization. He has

been a member of the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees since it was formed and was itsofficial Chairman

from 2003 through 2006. From 2006 to date he serves under the honorary title of ChairmanEmeritus and holds the

board-appointed community founder seat. His work for the foundation, including his appearances topromote it at

computer and educational conferences, has always been unpaid. Wales has often joked thatdonating Wikipedia to the

foundation was both the dumbest and the smartest thing he had done. On one hand, he estimatedthat Wikipedia

was worth US$3 billion; on the other, he acknowledges that donations have made Wikipedia asuccess.

Wikia: In 2004, Wales and then-fellow member of the WMF Board of Trustees Angela Beesleyfounded the for-profit

company Wikia. Wikia is a wiki farm a collection of individual wikis on different subjects, all hostedon the same

website.

BUSINESS NEWS

1. Vibrant Gujarat 2011: Foreign delegates pledge 35k-cr biz for Gujarat- ET Jan 14

FOREIGN delegates looking for Gujarati investments mopped up proposals worth 35,000

crore at the 5th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. Small and medium businesses from the

state signed agreements during the 2-day summit that concluded in capital Gandhinagar on

Thursday promising investments abroad. Close to 1,400 delegates coming from 101

countries thronged the venue, Mahatma Mandir, hardselling sectors in their home countries

to small industries. Together, they could pocket 2% of the 21 lakh crore committed during


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the summit.

The Vibrant Gujarat summit, which began as an event for promoting Gujarat as an

investment destination in 2003, gave local companies a big platform to widen their footprintoverseas. With Canada

and Japan as partner countries, the summit saw local firms either starting business abroad orentering joint ventures

with foreign partners. Even earlier, the summit had become a platform for investment overseas.

2. MNP is here. But think before you switch-ET Jan 20

With mobile number portability ( MNP )) becoming operational from Thursday,

telecom consumers now have the choice of switching their operator without having

to change their mobile number. This facility is available to both postpaid and

prepaid customers and subscribers of GSM as well as CDMA service. The only

restriction is that you can change your operator without changing your number

only within your current service area. Which means subscribers cannot take their

Delhi number to an operator in Mumbai. They can only change their operator within

Delhi.

The cost of porting a number to a new operator is Rs 19, with the maximum

porting time capped at 7 working days by telecom regulator Trai except in Jammu

and Kashmir, Assam and North East service areas, where it will be 15 working

days. However , consumers will have to remain with the new operator for three months beforemoving on.

3. Aircel ties up with Facebook- BS Jan14

Aircel, a telecom player with pan-India operations and a subscriber base of over 50 million

announced its tie-up with social networking site Facebook to provide its subscribers voice

updates. This service will let people connect to their contacts on Facebook in their own voice

without Internet access on their mobile phones, making it an easy access for a large audience

anytime anywhere.

4. Now, ICICI customers can withdraw cash at shops-BS Jan 19

ICICI Bank, the country s largest private sector lender, today launched cash withdrawal facility


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for customers at point of sale (PoS) terminals or merchant outlets. According to RBI guidelines

issued in July 2009, cash withdrawals of up to Rs1,000 a day from PoS terminals were permitted

through all debit cards issued in India. RBI, however had left it to the banks discretion to decide

on the fee.

However, Union Bank of India, the first bank to start this facility about a year back, albeit only in

rural areas, said the experience was not encouraging.

5. IndiGo is joint India No. 2 with Kingfisher- TOI Jan 19

IndiGo is India's No. 2 airline. Just a month after pipping Air India-domestic to

take the No. 3 spot, the low-cost carrier moved up the ladder to share the second

position with Kingfisher in December. The Jet-JetLite combine occupies the top

slot. While both Kingfisher and IndiGo had a market share of 18.6%, the Jet-

JetLite combine was ahead with 25.4%, according to figures released by

the DGCA.

Also, last year witnessed 520.2 lakh people hitting the Indian skies-8 .7% more

than the 2009 figure of 438.4 lakh. This is the first time that the annual domestic

carriage has crossed the five crore mark. In fact, 2010 ended on a recordbreaking

spree, with December seeing 52 lakh people flying within the country-the

highest for a month. It beat the previous high of 48.7 lakh set just a month earlier

in November. The best prior to that was 47.8 lakh in May.

6. Infy told to pay 400-cr tax on onshore sales- ET Jan 18

TAX authorities have asked India s second-largest software firm, Infosys Technologies, to

fork out over 400 crore, refusing to acknowledge onshore services derogatorily called

`body shopping as software exports. Onshore software development is the practice

where Indian firms send their software engineers on three- to six-month assignments to

work in companies based in the US, Europe and other markets. While the company abroad

pays for every professional deputed, the Indian firm pays a regular salary and a daily

allowance to each of them for all days spent abroad at the premises of the overseas client.


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In its order issued to Infosys a fortnight ago, the tax department said deputation and

technical manpower (DTM) contract for deputing software professional abroad is not an

eligible activity for claiming deduction under sections 10A/10AA of the Income Tax Act .

The sections concerned relate to tax-free income arising out of exports. Such services, said theorder, cannot be done

within software technology parks (STPs), export-oriented units (EoUs) or special economic zones(SEZs).

7. Mahindra & Mahindra to use 'Rise' as new brand positioning. To spend Rs 120cr for rebranding-ETJan

17

Keeping with its global ambition, homegrown farm equipment-to-software group Mahindra

& Mahindra today said it will embark on a new brand positioning to project a singular

voice for various entities under its umbrella. The group, which has decided to use 'Rise' as

the new brand position, said it will be spending Rs 120 crore in the next three years towards

promoting the new initiative. The USD 7.1 billion group had hired New York-based

advertising agency StrawberryFrog two years back to create the new brand positioning.

Explaining reasons for choosing the word 'Rise', M&M Executive Vice-President Corporate

Strategy, Ruzbeh Irani said the group had spoken to its customers across the world andthey expressed a common optimism about future and shared a common desire to rise , to

succeed and create a better future for themselves.

8. TCS hires 50,000 in 9-months of FY 11- PTI Jan 18

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest software exporter, today said it has

hired 50,000 personnel in the nine-month period ended December 2010 and expects to

add another 12,000-15,000 in Q4. TCS added 20,219 people (gross) during the quarter,

its highest addition yet, taking its total headcount to 1,86,914 at the end of the

December quarter.

"Given the strength of business demand, we have exceeded the hiring target of 50,000

employees, we had set for this fiscal year," TCS's Vice-President, Head, Global Human


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Resources, Ajoy Mukherjee, told reporters here. The attrition rate in Q3 for IT Services was 13.2 percent and BPO

24.7 per cent while overall attrition was at 14.4 per cent. At the end of Q3, non-Indian nationalsformed 6.8 per cent

of the total employee base and 31 per cent were women.

9. Infosys Q3 net rises14.2% to 1,780 crore- ET Jan 14

INFOSYS Technologies raised fresh concerns over the pace and depth of recovery in the IT

sector by reporting lower-than-expected third quarter earnings due to wage costs, currency

fluctuations and sluggish European economic growth.

The first among its peers Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro to announce earnings,

investors and experts tracking the sector take cues from Infosys performance, which in many

ways sets the agenda for the entire industry. While rival TCS will announce its December

quarter earnings on Monday, Wipro is set to report its third quarter results on January 21. In

rupee terms, Infosys posted October to December quarter revenues of 7,106 crore, lower

than 7,241 crore Morgan Stanley had forecast.

10. Anil & co to keep off listed stocks for a year- ET Jan 15

ANIL Ambani and four top executives of two firms controlled by him will not be able to invest

in listed stocks till the end of this year as part of a settlement of an investigation into the

alleged use of borrowed overseas funds to invest in the stock market.

Two Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Natural

Resources (RNRL) will also have to keep away from the secondary market till December 2012,market regulator Sebi

said in an order posted on its website on Friday evening. But both will be free to raise funds byissuing new

securities. The above shall not apply to primary issuances, buybacks and open offers, says the Sebiorder.

11. Govt admits it can t tame price devil- TNN Jan14

THE government on Thursday announced a 14-point menu to tame food inflation but said it

has limited leverage over vegetables and fruit, soaring prices of which have fuelled the


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current round of inflation. A statement issued by the prime minister s office said the

government would review export and import of all essential commodities regularly and

initiate stringent action against hoarders and black marketers.

It directed public sector units to intensify purchases of essential food items, such as pulses

and edible oils, for distribution through their retail outlets at subsidised rates. The

government also asked agri cooperative Nafed to undertake sale of onions at 35 per kg.

Onion prices have been a big factor in pushing up food inflation.

12. Cabinet secretary favors FDI in retail- ET Jan 14

THE country s highest-ranking bureaucrat has favored

foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail saying

it will help tame soaring food prices. Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar made the

suggestion in a presentation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his senior

cabinet colleagues in Delhi on Tuesday.

India currently allows 51% FDI in single-brand retail and 100% in wholesale cashand-

carry. The cabinet secretary s suggestion has come at a time when rising food

prices have become a headache for the government. Although, food inflation for the week toJanuary 1 eased

marginally to 16.32%, it remains far beyond the government s comfort zone.

13. Citibank to compensate investors duped by Puri-TNN Jan 15

The bank is in the middle of reconciling the accounts of these high net-worth

individuals (HNIs), who either put money in the sham investment scheme floated by

Puri or trusted him to manage their savings.

Well-known venture capitalist Sanjeev Aggarwal and members of the Hero group may

not be among the first set of investors that Citi will compensate. According to banking

circles, Citi is likely approach these customers at the next stage because their accounts

reflect high investments and multiple transactions. Aggarwal has said he lost 32 crore

in dealings with Puri while the Gurgaon Police, which are investigating the fraud, said


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Hero group members invested close to 250 crore in the unauthorised scheme sold by Puri. The MNCbank may have to

set aside around 300 crore to compensate the investors.

14. Indian farmers look to reap rich gains in Madagascar-ET Jan 15

AS STRANGE as it may sound, the island nation of Madagascar, located off Africa s

southeast coast, is drawing farmer-entrepreneurs in large numbers from India s

breadbasket, Punjab and Haryana. Over the past few years, these new migrants from

the cradle of India s first Green Revolution have grown maize, pulses and peanuts,

and are looking to try new crop varieties there.

While Madagascar, which opened up its economy recently, is hard-selling itself to

attract overseas funds and skills across sectors with sops, entrepreneurs such as Gurcharan Singh theformer army

officer, For me it is like a dream come true, Two years ago, he leased 500 acres at Diego-Suarez,300 km from

Madagascar s capital city Antananarivo. I will be paying $15 per acre a year for the next 50 years. InIndia, I could

never imagine having so much land for that price, says Singh who has sown maize and peanuts inhis farm. The rent

for cultivable land in Punjab ranges between $400 and $1,000 per acre a year. Agriculture accountsfor 30% of the

GDP and employs about 75% of the work force in Madagascar.

15. Angry Bird: Biggest mobile game with 50 mn downloads-ET Jan17

As the world spends 200 million minutes a day fighting for these wingless cacklers, a

small Finnish company has taken flight. It took Rovio Mobile more than 25 games to hit

upon the idea of catapulting birds on grunting pigs. Eight months of work and an

investment of $100,000 later, Angry Birds has put it on an unprecedented trajectory.

Last checked, the sling fest has 10 million Android users of the free ad-supported

version and 13 million paid downloads on Apple iOS. Put together, the ticker shows 50

million downloads on different platforms the highest ever for any mobile game. Every

tech entrepreneur now craves an Angry Birds in his portfolio.


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An app that outsmarted 3 lakh others to become your daily entertainment snack. A game enjoyedacross countries, by

six- and 60-year-olds alike. So addictive, that instead of using it to kill time, users find time for it.

16. Eight of top-10 firms lose Rs 61k cr in m-cap, RIL top loser-PTI Jan 16

The market capitalisation (m-cap) of eight of the country's top-10 firms have declined by Rs

61,097.38 crore during the week, with the country's biggest firm in-terms of market

worth, Reliance Industries emerging as the top loser. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries

(RIL) saw an erosion of Rs 20,864.68 crore from its m-cap to take its market valuation to Rs

3,27,665.38 crore at the end of Friday's trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

IT bellwether Infosys Technologies's valuation diminished by Rs 9,447.15 crore, hit by the

company's below-expectations third quarter numbers which was announced on Thursday. The

market valuation of Infosys stood at Rs 1,83,830.35 crore as on last trading session. Sector

giant TCS whose third quarter earnings will be announced on Monday too lost Rs 4,481.99 crorefrom its m-cap which

was at Rs 2,18,951.96 crore. Top lenders SBI and ICICI Bank also displayed a laggard show during theweek on

worries of a probable rate hike by the RBI this month to contain inflation. Together these banks lostRs 10,498.94

crore from their combined market valuations.

17. Carlson to employ around 30,000 people in India by 2015-PTI Jan 16

Global hospitality major Carlson, which runs the luxury chain Radisson, plans to open 19 more

hotels in India by the year-end and 100 by 2015 with a total expected headcount of 30,000 by

then, a company official said. The US-based hotel chain currently employs around 10,000

people across its 34 hotels (3,234 rooms) in India. The company has already signed

management contracts for about 54 hotels, of which 19, with a total of 2,670 rooms, will open

this year. The total project cost of these 19 hotels is estimated at around Rs 2,250 crore.

While two Country Inns will come up at Gurgaon and Mussourie, 1 Park Inn will be opened in

New Delhi (CBD) and 5 Park Plazas will open at Bangalore, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, New Delhi andNew Delhi


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(Dwarka). Park Plaza is in the premium segment and Country Inn and Suites and Park Inn are in themid-segment.

About 90 per cent of the hotels are operated, globally, through management contracts and franchisemodel.

18. Salaried taxpayers may be spared filing returns-BS Jan 19

Salaried taxpayers with no other income could get a respite from filing tax returns. The income-tax

(I-T) department is open to examining a proposal to exempt them from the annual chore. Asked

whether the department would think about doing away with income-tax returns for employees, who

had no other income apart from salaries in a financial year, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

Chairman Sudhir Chandra said the department would certainly consider the proposal.

He agreed that for a substantial chunk of salaried employees, savings bank interest is the onlyadditional income and

that in most cases, this not substantial. This proposal, if approved, will benefit a large section of people and would

reduce the I-T department's workload in a big way. Of the country s 35 million taxpayers, roughlyhalf are salaried

employees.

19. Compulsory off for SBI staff to sniff out frauds-ET Jan 19

THE banker who never goes on a holiday is suspect. Perhaps, he doesn t want anyone to

discover what he has been up to. He may have given funny loans, done fake trades, played

around with clients money, and covered his tracks by cooking up books. The easiest way for

the bank to catch him is to send the person on leave and ask someone else to do the job. In

MNC banks and brokerages, it has been a customary practice for decades. Now, the country s

largest lender, State Bank of India, is trying it out.

While reviewing high-value frauds, the committee found they had been perpetrated by officers whohad established a

reputation for being dedicated and hardworking. These are employees who did not avail of any leaveearned by them.

The frauds only came to light when such employees went for training or took leave for some otherreason. There are


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MNC banks which go a step further. For high-risk activities like bond and foreign currency trading,these banks assign

compliance officers to scan the books while the dealer is holidaying.

20. Soon, a $1 billion yacht with buildings, beach- TOI Jan18

Ever thought of a yacht having buildings, helicopters, submarines and a beach? Well, you could

take a ride in one such yacht worth a billion dollars the most expensive ever very soon.

The staggering 155-metre Streets of Monaco yacht is expected to cost over $1.1 billion to build

and is modelled on a section of Monte Carlo.

Currently in the design stage, the super-ship will feature smaller versions of the state s famous

landmarks such as the Monte Carlo Casino and racetrack, as well as swimming pools, tennis courts, acinema, a gokart

track and a Hotel de Paris. Instead of traditional decks the one-of-a-kind ship will have buildings, andinstead of a

swimming platform it will have a beach. Travellers would also be able to enjoy spot waterfalls, aswim-in Jacuzzi-bar,

helicopters and submarines on board.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

21. U.S. national debt reaches $14 Trillion- EU Times Jan 17

The United States just passed a dubious milestone: Government debt surged to an all-time high,

passing $14 trillion $45,300 for every person in the country. That means Congress soon will have

to lift the legal debt ceiling to give the almost maxed-out government an even higher credit limit or

dramatically cut spending to stay under the current cap. Either way, a fight is ahead on Capitol Hill,

inflamed by the passions of tea party activists and deficit hawks.

The national debt is the accumulation of years of deficit spending dating to the days of George

Washington. The debt usually advances in times of war and retreats in times of peace. Remarkably,

about half of today s national debt was run up in the past six years. It soared from $7.6 trillion in

January 2005 as President George W. Bush began his second term to $10.6 trillion the day

President Obama was inaugurated and to $14.02 trillion now. The period has seen two major warsand the deepest


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economic downturn since the 1930s With a $1.7 trillion deficit in fiscal 2010 alone, and thegovernment on track to

spend $1.3 trillion more than it takes in this year, annual budget deficits are adding about $4 billion aday to the

national debt. Put another way, the government is borrowing 41 cents for every dollar it spends.

22. Obama presses China's Hu on human rights- Reuters Jan 20

U.S. President Barack Obama pressed President Hu Jintao to give China's 1.3 billion

people more freedom, stepping up the forcefulness of his message on a contentious

issue between the two countries. Obama won an acknowledgment from Hu that China

needs to do more but the Chinese leader also made clear at a joint news conference

on Wednesday that any dialogue on the subject must avoid interference in his

nation's affairs.

Obama has faced accusations at home of giving short shrift to human rights concerns

in his policies toward China, Russia and other countries. He was heavily criticized for

not pushing Hu harder on human rights during a 2009 visit to China. Hu's

participation in the news conference was itself a victory for the White House. Hu

rarely takes questions from reporters and Obama's aides had pressed hard to have the session with

media included inHu's four-day state visit.

23. Swiss banker gives secret documents of super rich to WikiLeaks-TOI Jan 17

A former Swiss banker today handed over documents of 2,000 high net worth people from

US, Britain and Asia to WikiLeaks that he claims would expose attempts by these business

leaders and lawmakers to evade tax payments.

Rudolf Elmer , a former employee of Swiss-based Bank Julius Baer , said the account holders

include celebrities, business leaders and lawmakers. According to a report in Swiss

newspaper Der Sonntag, the data covers multinationals, financial firms and wealthy

individuals from many countries, including the UK, US and Germany, and covers the period

1990-2009. The Swiss banker has previously leaked banking documents to the secretspilling

site and told journalists that he wanted to expose the offshore banking system.


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24. Hong Kong ranks world's freest economy for 17th year- Reuters Jan 16

Hong Kong was rated the world's freest economy for a 17th straight year in a ranking by the

U.S.-based Heritage Foundation, above rivals Singapore and Australia for the title. Hong Kong,

with a score of 89.7, is well above the world average of 59.7, the Washington-based Heritage

Foundation said in its 2011 Index of Economic Freedom report released on Wednesday. Freedom

in trade and finance was the biggest boost to Hong Kong's ranking, while investment freedom

and property rights, business and monetary freedom all scored highly.

The United States fell to the 9th freest from 8th last year and United Kingdom slipped to 16 place

from 11 in 2010 due to more policy responses to the global economic turmoil, it added. North

Korea ranked 179th, at the bottom of the list with a score of 1.0. Afghanistan, Iraq, Liechtenstein and

Sudan were

unranked.

25. Australia wants skilled migrants from India: Envoy- ET Jan 14

Australia, already one of the favorite destinations for Indian migrants, wants more skilled

people from India, the Australian envoy said here Friday. "India is the second largest source of

skilled migrants to Australia and we want this number to increase further. Therefore, we would

organize a promotional campaign in India in 2012. We would target Chandigarh, Punjab and

other cities of northern India," said Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese here.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

26. 'By 2020, world to be 2.4C warmer, India to be hardest hit'- ET

Jan 18

The Earth will be 2.4 degree Celsi US warmer by 2020 if the world continues

with the business-as-usual approach to climate change and India would be

one of the hardest hit countries witnessing upto 30 per cent reduction in crop

yields, a new study has claimed. The rising temperatures will adversely affect

the world's food production and India would be the hardest hit, according to

the analysis by the Universal Ecological Fund (FEU-US), the US subsidiary of

FEU founded in Argentina in 1990.


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The report titled 'The Food Gap -- The Impacts of Climate Change on Food Production: A 2020Perspective' predicted

that crop yield in India, the second largest world producer of rice and wheat, would fall up to 30 percent by the end

of this decade. India could see a fall in its crop yield, China -- the largest producer of rice and wheatin the world -- is

expected to increase its crop yields up to 20 per cent, said the report.

27. Nokia most trusted brand in India, Tendulkar ahead of Mahatma-PTI Jan19

Finland''s mobile handset maker Nokia has emerged as the most trusted brand in India ahead of

homegrown Tata, while master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has been ranked ahead of Mahatma

Gandhi by a survey. The survey titled The Brand Trust Report, India Study 2011, released here on

Wednesday, puts Japan's Sony in the third position, ahead of Korean consumer electronics and

appliances makers LG and Samsung that are ranked at number four and five, respectively.

Undertaken by Trust Research Advisory (TRA), the survey that also included personalities as

brands, puts actor Aamir Khan at 242nd rank. Surprisingly, Bollywood''s legendary actor Amitabh

Bachchan's name does not figure in the top 300 list. The survey is based on responses and views on16,000 brands

from 2,310 participants across nine top cities in India. Other big names that made their way into the

''top ten trusted

brands'' slot are Reliance, Maruti, LIC, Airtel and Titan, in that order.

28. Nikki Haley scripts US history- TOI Jan14

Daughter of Sikh immigrant parents from Punjab, Indian-American Namrata Nikki

Randhawa Haley proudly recollected her Indian heritage while being sworn in as the first

woman and non-white Governor of South Carolina. The Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera

Shankar, braved some frigid weather to be present during the historic occasion

Growing up in rural, small town South Carolina, my family experienced this state and this

country at its best. No, not every day was perfect. No, we were not always free from the burdensfaced by those who

look and sound different, said Haley who after Bobby Jindal from Louisiana, is only the secondIndian-American


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Governor. She is also the first ever Indian-American woman governor in the United States.

29. ECONOMIC, INFRA MINISTRIES GET A FILLIP IN COSMETIC RESHUFFLE-ET Jan 20

The prime minister went in for only a limited expansion, and a more comprehensive

cleansing exercise is expected to follow after the conclusion of the budget session of

parliament. The reshuffle-cum-expansion exercise saw the induction of three new

faces, elevation of five ministers, three of them to cabinet rank, and easing the burden

of ministers holding more than two portfolios.

While petroleum minister Murli Deora was moved to the less-glamorous corporate

affairs, civil aviation minister Praful Patel, after being elevated to cabinet rank, was

sent to heavy industries. Overseas Minister Vayalar Ravi has been given additional

charge of civil aviation. As reported earlier, the prime minister left the Big Four

Pranab Mukherjee (finance), AK Antony (defence), P Chidambaram (home) and SM Krishna (externalaffairs)

untouched.

30. Lavasa breached green laws, but spared the axe-TNN Jan 19

Lavasa Corporation violated environmental laws while building its hill station close to Pune,

the environment ministry concluded in its report submitted to the Bombay high court on

Tuesday.

In view of the substantial investments made, the employment generated, the claimed upliftment of the area under

consideration and interests of those who had bought into the project, the ministry decided toconsider the project on

merits with imposition of various terms and conditions, the report said. The illegal constructionwould be condoned if

the company paid a hefty fine, set up an Environmental Restoration Fund with a large corpus to bemanaged by an

independent body to be supervized by the ministry and adhered to strict rules in future, it said.

INDIAN MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS

The Indian telecommunications industry is the world's fastest


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growing telecom industry, with 706.69 million mobile phone

connections and 35.43 million Landlines as of Oct 31st 2010. It is

also the second largest telecom network in the world in terms of

number of wireless connections after China. The Indian Mobile

subscriber base was 5 million in 2001. By 2010 it increased 140

times to 706.69 million by Oct 2010.It is projected that India will

have 1,159 million mobile subscribers by 2013 exceeding the

subscriber count in China.

The industry is expected to reach a size of Rs3,44,921 crore by

2012 at a growth rate of over 26%, and generate employment

opportunities for about 10 million people. Tele-density in India has

increased to 62.31% by Oct 31st 2010. The wireline segment saw

a decline of 0.14 million.

Bharti Airtel Limited,India operates in 19

countries across South Asia, Africa and the

Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all

countries, providing 2G or 3G services. Airtel is

the fifth largest telecom operator in the world

with over 200 million subscribers as of October

2010. It is the largest cellular service provider in

India, with over 143 million subscribers as of

September 30, 2010. Airtel is the 3rd largest incountry

mobile operator by subscriber base,

behind China Mobile & China Unicom. It has a 29% market share of the GSM mobile service in India.

Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification. It alsoacts as a carrier for

national and international long distance communication services. The companyhas a submarinecable connecting


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Chennai and Singapore. It is known for being the first mobile phone company in the world tooutsource everything

except marketing, sales and finance.

Reliance Communications stepped in 1999 and brought a surge in the Indian telecom market. It

penetrated the

market by undercutting all existing players with rates unheard so far. The company's

aggressive sales and marketing made it one of the country's biggest wireless operators

almost overnight. Cellular operators cried foul, saying Reliance was using license for

land telephony to provide wireless services. The battle went to the Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India, the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal and finally, the

Supreme Court, where Reliance won the battle. Forking out a license fee of Rs 10,000

crore, Reliance migrated to the newly-installed Unified License regime. Likewise,

Reliance Comm is capable of delivering services covering entire gamut of information &

communication value chain. Their products and services include infrastructure setting, applications& consultancy.

Vodafone Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in

India. It was formerly known as Hutchison Essar. It is the Indian subsidiary of

Vodafone Group 67% and Essar Group 33%. Vodafone is often praised for itsaward winning advertisements which all follow a clean, minimalist look. To tell its

customers that Wherever you go, our network follows they used the very

successful puppy following boy ads. Recently to explain their value added features

they launched the series of ZooZoo ads.

Vodafone Essar will launch third-generation (3G) services in the country in the

January-March quarter of 2011 and plans to spend up to $500 million within two

years on its 3G networks. The partners are presently involved in a bitter dispute over Essar proposalfor a reverse

merger of group company Essar Telecom Holdings.

Operator

Subscribers


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(million)

Market

Share

Bharti Airtel 146 21.34%

Reliance

Communications 119 17.37%

Vodafone 118 17.08%

All India 706 100%

Documents

11 Pages 14th JANUARY