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Voda, Idea told to stop 3G pact, fined
Rs 8.5 bn
Police probing Google mapping contest
Nifty at lowest close since pre-’Big Bang’ reform levels
Road construction hits new low in 2012-13
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Infy co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan is new CII president
Patent row: HC refuses interim relief to Merck
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Voda, Idea told to stop 3G pact, fined Rs 8.5 bn
New Delhi, April 5 The orders follow a similar directive to top mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd last month, which the company is fighting in courts. Vodafone and Idea are also expected to challenge the government orders. The department of telecommunications has asked Vodafone India to pay a penalty of Rs 5.5 billion and Idea Cellular to pay about Rs 3 billion, the official said. Vodafone India and Idea declined to comment. The dispute over 3G pacts is one of several regulatory challenges hurting carriers in the world's second-biggest mobile phone market. In a 2010 auction, no single carrier managed to win 3G airwaves for all of India's 22 telecom zones as bid prices were far higher than expected. Bharti, Vodafone and Idea provide 3G services beyond their licensed zones through pacts with each other. The government says such pacts are "illegal". — Reuters Idea, ADITYA BIRLA TELE get TAX demand of nearly
Rs 4,000 crore , may challenge order
Idea Cellular Ltd, India's third-largest cellular carrier by revenue, said the company and another AV Birla Group entity, Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd, had received tax demands from authorities over a restructuring exercise approved by courts more than three years ago. Idea did not disclose how much tax it was being asked to pay, but said it believed the demands were "unjustified and based on erroneous interpretation of current tax laws". Idea said it was evaluating options including challenging the tax demand. According to media reports, the income tax department has slapped a tax demand of nearly Rs 4,000 crore on the two firms. |
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Police probing Google mapping contest
New Delhi, April 5 Google, which ran the "Mapathon" in India in February and March, said its aim was to make more local information accessible to all and that it did not break any laws. Police are acting on a complaint filed by Survey of India, the country's national survey and mapping agency, which said the contest was illegal and may threaten national security. "One complaint has been received and we are forwarding it to the cybercell for further action," said Chhaya Sharma, a deputy commissioner of police in New Delhi. Google officials said the company had not yet received an official communication from the police. Google invited users to help "create better maps for India" by adding knowledge of their neighbourhoods and promised the top 1,000 mappers prizes of tablets, smartphones and gift vouchers. Survey of India first wrote to Google saying its "Mapathon" was against rules and then filed a police complaint, R.C. Padhi, a top official at the agency, told Reuters. "We have to ensure that security is not compromised at any cost," Padhi said, adding that some information uploaded on Google Maps could be "sensitive". Google is open to discussing specific concerns over the issue with public authorities in India, Paroma Roy Chowdhury, a company spokeswoman in India said in a statement. "Google takes security and national regulations very seriously, and the Mapathon adhered to applicable laws," Roy Chowdhury said. LATEST IN SERIES OF DISPUTES: The investigation is the latest in a series of disputes between various governments and Google over privacy and security issues involving its popular mapping products. In March, Google agreed to pay US $7 million in the United States to settle an investigation into an incident in which its Street View mapping cars allegedly collected passwords and other personal data from home wireless networks between 2008 and 2010. In 2011, city police in Bangalore ordered Google to suspend a Street View service over security concerns, three weeks after the company started collecting images from the city. Tarun Vijay, a lawmaker from the main opposition BJP, last month complained to the government over the "Mapathon" contest. "If there is a law, it has to be followed. I have asked whether Google followed the law," Vijay told Reuters on Friday, after meeting India's defence and interior ministers over the issue. "I’ve taken up that they should be acting urgently." Separately, Google and other social media companies are also fighting a criminal case brought by an Indian journalist related to allegedly "offensive" content on their websites. — Reuters
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Nifty at lowest close since pre-’Big Bang’ reform levels
The broader Nifty ended down 0.39%, or 21.50 points, to 5,553.25, its lowest close since Sept 13, 2012. The BSE Sensex fell 0.32%, or 59.47 points, to 18,450.23, marking its lowest close since Nov 20, 2012, falling 2.05 percent for the week. — Reuters |
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Road construction hits new low in 2012-13
New Delhi, April 5 With the new series of bonds, NHAI is looking at raising about Rs 4,000 crore and the bonds are open until March 31, 2014. Any individual, approved institution or NRI can invest in these bonds provided certain conditions are met. The condition is that only long-term capital gains earned by selling a residential flat or independent house, which you held for at least three years, can be invested in this bond. Reports emerging from the road transport & highways ministry said NHAI’s dismal performance in 2012-13 came after a high in the previous fiscal when the ministry and NHAI together awarded a record 8,000 km road construction projects In 2008-09, the ministry had managed to award projects for only about 600 km. Officials said the main reason for the slow progress in the awarding of the road projects has been the lack of investor’s confidence and also due to delay in getting clearances from various other ministries involved. They added fewer projects awarded by NHAI would also adversely impact the government’s truncated target of 5,000 km road projects this year. |
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Infy co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan is new CII president
Ajay Shriram, chairman & senior MD of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd, is CII president designate. — TNS |
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Patent row: HC refuses interim relief to Merck
New Delhi, April 5 Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw dismissed the interim application of the multinational pharma major that the Mumbai-based firm be restrained from manufacturing and selling the anti-diabetes medicines on the grounds that the salt used in the drugs were not of generic nature. Merck, in its plea, alleged that the Indian pharma company has violated its intellectual property rights (IPR) over its anti-diabetes medicines, Januvia and Janumet, by coming in the market with their own drugs containing the same salts. The development assumes significance as on Monday the Supreme Court had rejected the plea of Novartis AG for patent protection of its anti-cancer drug Glivec. Reacting to the order, the US firm expressed disappointment over the decision. — PTI
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Mumbai, April 5
NHAI, which recently launched the bonds in a bid to raise revenue, awarded projects for the construction of just about 787 km of roads in the country in 2012-13, a low which was last witnessed in 2008-09 when there was the lowest downturn in the global economy.
New Delhi, April 5