The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Goodbye to pesky calls, SMSes Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal to launch All-India service today Girja Shankar Kaura Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 26 Come tomorrow and it would be the end of the road for telemarketing companies sending out unsolicited SMSes to mobile phone users in the country with Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal all set to launch the service. This is expected to provide respite to over 860 million subscribers. ‘The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation,’ the service would give relief from pesky commercial calls and messages. It is an upgraded version of ‘National Do Not Call (NDNC)' service launched earlier. The ‘National Do Not Call (NDNC)’ number 1909 would become operational as Sibal would launch the All- India service. According to the amended regulations, the violators would be penalised heavily and habitual offenders would also have their licences revoked. “Relevant clauses of regulations have been amended and the regulations are being implemented from Sep 27, 2011,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had earlier said. To avail the service, the customers will have to get themselves registered with the National Customer Preference Registry, earlier known as "Do Not Call" Registry. For registering under the fully blocked list, a customer may SMS ‘START 0’ to 1909 The regulations include fines ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh for the defaulting companies. Mobile phone users can opt for not receiving SMS in seven categories such as real estate, credit cards, consumer durables, banking and finance. There is also the partially blocked category whereby one can opt to receive SMS on specific topics like healthcare, real estate, banking and automobiles. Under the partially blocked category, consumers will not receive any commercial calls but only SMS for which one has opted for. Under the earlier guidelines, 130 million subscribers had registered in the ‘Do Not Call’ registry. While this had brought down the telemarketing calls, unwanted SMS is still a major problem. To add more teeth to the new guidelines, the Department of Telecom has made it mandatory for all telemarketing companies to use number series starting with ‘140’. This will help consumers to know that the call is from a telemarketer by just looking at the incoming phone number. On the first offence, a fine of Rs 25,000 will be imposed and a similar amount will be imposed on subsequent five offences after which the registration of the tele-marketer will be cancelled. Disconnection of telecom resources of defaulting telemarketers and provision for blacklisting them had also been provided for in the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation. BLocked For registering under the fully blocked list, a customer may SMS ‘START 0’ to 1909 Mandatory for all telemarketing companies to use number series starting with ‘140’
	India should get MFN status: Pak delegation Mumbai, September 26 Members of a high-level business delegation from Pakistan led by Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim today said there was a strong opinion in his country that India should be given the Most Favoured Nation status. The delegation, led by Fahim, met Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan at Raj Bhavan here. “Members of the delegation told the Governor that there is a strong opinion in Pakistan that India should be given the status of a Most Favoured Nation,” an official release said. While India bestowed MFN status on Pakistan in 1996, it is yet to reciprocate. The Commerce Minister expressed confidence that his visit at the head of a top-level business delegation will prove to be a “stepping stone for future relations between Pakistan and India”. Members of the business community accompanying the Minister said it was high time that India and Pakistan forgot their differences and dealt with political and business issues. The CEO of Pak Denim Mirza Ikhtiar Baig described the visit by Pakistan Commerce Minister to India as "path-breaking". He said regional trade has proved to be a successful business model for all the regional blocks across the world. — PTI
	Dollar demand rises in the region Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 26 With the US dollar emerging as one of the safest financial instruments, the region is now witnessing a huge demand for this currency. So much so that many people are now trying to convert their unaccounted for Indian Rupees into dollars, by paying a premium of Rs 1-1.50 per dollar. The huge demand for dollars in this region has now become an opportunity for many money changers to earn a quick buck. Compared with the official exchange rate of Rs 49.50 to a dollar, some money changers in Ludhiana and Jalandhar are allegedly asking for Rs 50.50- 51.50 per dollar. This hiked exchange rate is only in case you are buying dollars from your unaccounted for money, or the transaction amounts to several lakhs of rupees being exchanged for a dollar. Though banks and big money exchange companies are sticking to the official exchange rate, others are apparently making quick money. One of these money changers in Ludhiana told the Tribune that ever since the currency volatility had hit the market, there was an unprecedented demand for dollars. “Whatever amount of dollars that I have in the morning, I manage to sell them by late afternoon. Almost anyone with spare money is now trying to convert their black money into dollars. This is specially true for the big exporters from the region,” he said. Currency experts said that for the past ten days there was huge demand for dollars not just across the country, but even in other countries. Many governments, especially of the major oil importing countries, too, are buying a lot of dollars. Naveen Mathur, associate director, Commodities and Currencies, Angel Broking, said that the reason for this surge in demand for dollars was that everyone was considering dollar as being the safest asset. “With the turbulence in the European markets, more and more people were buying dollars,” he added. Even in the futures market, the September contracts of dollar is being traded at Rs 49.57, while the October contract is being traded at Rs 49.78 for a dollar. Money rules The huge demand for dollars in this region has become a chance for many money changers to earn a quick buck. Many governments, especially of the major oil importing countries, too, are buying a lot of dollars
	Open Chinese market to Indian IT, pharma cos: Montek Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 26 At their first strategic economic dialogue , held just days after the tension between them over New Delhi’s decision to go ahead with oil exploration in the Vietnamese blocks in the South China Sea despite Beijing’s objection, India and China decided to focus their efforts on domestic economic growth to provide stability to the world economy. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Zhang Ping, Director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, held ‘an in-depth and frank exchange of views’ on a host of issues. These included the world economic situation and domestic macro-economic situations, said the minutes circulated after the first economic dialogue held in Beijing. Ahluwalia requested China to open its huge markets to Indian IT and pharma products to bring about balance in bilateral trade. “I believe the Chinese side is aware of our market access concerns,” he said. India has been pressing China, but not with much success, to open its markets to Indian IT, pharmaceuticals and engineering products. earlier too. He said that India looks up to China. The two sides also agreed to strengthen communication on macro-economic policies, share development experiences and enhance coordination in addressing economic challenges. According to the External Affairs Ministry here, the two sides agreed to stay committed to deepening bilateral investment cooperation, further opening of markets and improving the investment environment in both countries to lay a solid foundation for pragmatic cooperation between the businesses of the two countries on the basis of complementarities, mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. They agreed to strengthen cooperation on energy efficiency and conservation, as well as on environmental protection. Enhanced exchanges in these spheres would be the new engine for greater cooperation between the two sides. Increased cooperation in the infrastructure figured prominently in the discussions. “They agreed to enhance cooperation in these sectors, particularly in the railway sector on the basis of mutual complementarities and benefit.” The mechanism of strategic economic dialogue was unveiled during the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010. India exports mostly primary commodities and raw materials to China, including iron ore. The trade deficit has already reached $14 billion.
	FDI in telecom sector declines Girja Shankar Kaura Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 26 On lines of an overall dip in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country, the Indian telecom sector has also been hit by the phenomenon witnessing an inflow of just about Rs 5,434.5 crore in FDI in 2011-12 till July. Despite the government having raised FDI limits in the telecom sector to 74 per cent from 49 per cent on basic cellular, unified access services and other value added services some five years ago, market watchers say that the upheaval in the sector in the wake of the 2G spectrum scam has had foreign investors watching from the sidelines. The FDI during 2010-11 stood at Rs 7,542 crore while the same during 2009-10 and 2008-09 was at an astounding Rs 12,269.7 crore and Rs.11,684.8 crore, respectively, putting the figure at a cumulative total of Rs 36,931 crore as FDI from April 2008. Analysts say that the FDI in the sector could go down further as the Department of Telecom (DoT) looks at canceling a large number of licences issued in January 2008 on the first-come-first-serve basis by the then Telecom Minister A Raja. It would shake investor confidence as those start-up telecom companies, which had been given licences in 2008 have further sold their majority shares to foreign telecom operators. These operators are looking to grab a piece of Indian telecom market, which despite the slow down, remains one of the fastest growing markets. Among the late entrants in the telecom market were some of world’s biggest names and included Sistema of Russia, Etisalat and Telenor with the Russian firm having more than 73 per cent stake in Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. An analysis at the time of 3G auction last year revealed that the average FDI in the sector was just below 40 per cent. It changed the common perception that FDI levels in the telecom sector were very high. It also revealed that despite the FDI limits being raised from 49 per cent to 74 per cent five years ago, foreign investors have not utilised the higher investment ceiling. The third largest FDI is in Aircel with its foreign investor - Global Communication Services Holding (GCSH) owning 64.9 per cent. Bharti Airtel and Idea, both have roughly 40 per cent FDI. A recent report on telecom sector brought out by FICCI-Ernst & Young while steering clear of increasing the FDI in the sector did recommend a seven-point package of measures to overcome the various challenges faced by the sector. The report recommended that there should be a single unified licence covering all telecom services, allowing spectrum sharing and trading and lowering the operator's contribution from five per cent to 1 per cent of the annual revenues towards the USO fund. No takers for investing in Telecom? Foreign Direct Investment in 2010-11 stood at Rs 7,542 crore while the same during 2009-10 and 2008-09 was at an astounding Rs 12,269.7 crore and Rs.11,684.8 crore, respectively, putting the figure at a cumulative total of Rs 36,931 crore as FDI from April 2008.
	Siemens to launch infrastructure division Sanjeev Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 26 German engineering conglomerate Siemens has announced its plans to set up its 4th Business Division “Infrastructure and Cities”, and will roll out products for infrastructure development in cities in India. The new division will be established on October 1. Siemens Group is already present in energy, industry and healthcare space in India. Siemens plans to add five more manufacturing facilities to its existing 21 factories in India, in the next 3-4 years and will invest around Rs 1,600 crore. These products which will be simple, maintenance-friendly, affordable, reliable and timely-to-market (SMART) will be made as per the requirements of needs in emerging markets. Peter Loescher, President & CEO, Siemens AG, said: “India is a very important market for us and clearly is a growth driver for our global business. That is the reason for our clear strategic investment focus to further growth. We are working on a plan to develop India as a manufacturing hub for those products that are custom-made for emerging markets.” The new facilities by Siemens will include a wind turbine manufacturing facility at Vadodara, a medium voltage switch gear facility at Goa and a motor factory at Chennai.
	Ratan Tata among industry honchos on revamped NMCC New Delhi, September 26 Industry captains, including Tata Group head Ratan Tata and CMD of TVS Motor Venu Srinivasan are among members of the National ManufacturingCompetitiveness Council (NMCC), reconstituted by the government. The government wants to raise the share of manufacturing in the country's GDP to 25 per cent by 2020 from 15-16 per cent at present. Chaired by industry veteran V Krishnamurthy, NMCC is an inter-disciplinary body which serves as a forum for coherent policy in the manufacturing sector. While the NMCC has been giving various recommendations to the government for increasing the country's competitiveness in the global manufacturing, the Industry Ministry initiative for a new policy in this regard, is stuck due to inter-ministerial differences. The proposal of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to relax environment and labour laws in the proposed industrial enclaves has not found favour with the ministries of environment and labour. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has formed a Group of Ministers, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to resolve the differences.
	Sam Balsara is new Chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulation Mumbai, September 26 Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director of Madison World was unanimously elected as the Chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for the year 2011-2012. Sam Balsara has been a Member of the Bureau’s Council of Management since the year 2002 and was the Deputy Chairman of the Bureau for the year 2010-2011. Balsara is the recipient of the Advertising Agencies Association of India’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Ad Club of Kolkata’s Hall of Fame Award. — TNS