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Trai issues consultation paper on satellite radio
S&P not to alter credit ratings of tsunami-hit nations
Bharti to invest Rs 20 crore
Gail to take 33 pc equity
in Ennore terminal
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Rangarajan to head Economic Advisory Council
Eco-friendly thermal plant
Rs 15,000 crore Nabard lending to Haryana
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Trai issues consultation paper on satellite radio
New Delhi, December 29 Trai will accept comments on the nascent technology till January 31 next year, and plans to tackle various issues associated with the technology such as level-playing field between satellite radio service and private FM radio, regulation of broadcast content, licence fee and receiver interoperability requirement in case of many satellite radio service providers. Currently, world over there are four satellite digital radio systems in operation. These are World Space, XM Radio, Sirius Radio and MBCo. The new technology can be used as a disaster warning system, particularly useful in a vast country like India. WorldSpace, which covers the entire African zone, southern Europe, the Middle-East and Asia with its existing operational two-satellite system, is the only service provider in India in this segment, providing about 40 radio channels to an estimated small fraction of 50,000 persons. Of this, 31,800 are subscription-based while the rest receive only free-to-air channels. In the absence of any regulatory or licensing framework for satellite radio service providers, WorldSpace is operating its services after obtaining FIPB approval for setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary for carrying out software programming activities in India, to import digital satellite receivers and accessories and carry out revenue collection services on behalf of its parent/ associate companies. Trai said satellite radio, which is also being used for video and data broadcasting by players like MBCo venture of Japan & Korea, can also be useful as a disaster warning system, especially for India. “India, with its large geographical size, is well placed to benefit from a satellite radio system unlike smaller countries. The large size of the country makes it difficult to provide timely advance warning to those living in remote areas for dealing with natural disasters such as cyclones and floods. “Its countrywide footprint enables the satellite radio system to provide instantaneous reach to all corners of the country, including remote locations, especially the hilly areas. These remote areas may be impossible to cover through terrestrial means,” the regulator said. WorldSpace is already in touch with the Indian government regarding a project for fishermen that would, inter alia, bring them reliable and timely advance weather warnings. The regulator said even after 80 years had passed since broadcasting first started in India, the entire country could not be covered fully by Medium Wave and Frequency Modulation broadcasts. “In terms of reach, combined AM and FM broadcasts cover about 99.13 per cent of the Indian population and about 91.37 per cent of the geographical area, while FM broadcasts alone cover about 30 per cent of the population and 21 per cent of the geographical area. “Satellite radio has the potential to reach 100 per cent of the Indian population (geographically) and so could help to achieve some objectives of India’s development process by reaching out to remote, inaccessible areas,” it said.
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S&P not to alter credit ratings of tsunami-hit nations
New Delhi, December 29 “The effect on the economies of south and south-east Asia will be muted by the inevitable rapid reconstruction of the devastated areas,” says credit analyst Ping Chew, Sovereign and International Public Finance Ratings. “The human losses are tragic and huge, but the dents to the countries’ GDPs will be smoothed by the spike of investment for reconstruction, and return of tourism to most areas,” Mr Chew said. Tourism is the biggest economic casualty in the region, especially in Sri Lanka and the Maldives given their narrow economic base and foreign-currencies earnings, but it will bounce back in the medium term. “Just as Bali in Indonesia survived the terrorist bombing in 2002, so Phuket in Thailand will survive the ravages of this terrible natural disaster,” he added. For most of the affected countries, agriculture and fishing industries dislocated are only a small part of the overall economy generally, with resources and manufacturing increasingly the dominant industries. The budgets of some countries — the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India — will come under pressure, but except for Sri Lanka’s, are not of a major concern to Standard and Poor’s. International aid will help to alleviate the balance of payment pressures of the smaller nations affected, such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives. In the past several years, Asian economies have persistently withstood several environmental, social, and economic shocks to record sustainable high growth. “The fundamental economic and financial structures of country sovereigns will continue to remain very much intact,” concluded Mr Chew.
Help pours in
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has donated Rs 5 crore to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s National Relief Fund for the relief and rehabilitation measures taken up in the tsunami hit areas. LIC said here today in a statement that the donation would be in addition to the special concessions which LIC had already declared for its policy holders affected by the earthquake. The concessions included simplified claim forms, waiver of claim investigation for settling death claims arising out of tsunami, waiver of production of policy document or deed of assignment on the basis of indemnity letter, waiver of strict evidence of title in certain cases on the basis of indemnity bond, waiver of age proof in settlement of claims. Bharti Tele-Ventures announced a contribution of Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. Pepsi, too, announced an initial contribution of Rs 88 lakh towards the relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by tsunami disaster in the country.
— UNI, TNS
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Bharti to invest Rs 20 crore
Chandigarh:
Bharti Tele-Ventures, the operator of Airtel mobile phone services, today announced an investment Rs 20 crore in Andaman and Nicobar Islands for restoration of telecommunication link on a war footing by March 31 next year.
Airtel would be using microwave and VSAT for providing its services in the islands, Chairman of the Bharti Group Sunil Bharti Mittal told reporters here today. He said that a number of communication centres would also be set up in the coastal belt of Tamil Nadu to provide telecom link in the areas affected by the tsunami tidal wave recently. Around 7,000 employees of the Airtel group are also pooling in cash and relief material in kind to donate to Chief Minister’s Relief Fund of their respective states, he said. He said that steps had been initiated on a war footing to restore communication links in the affected areas, especially near hospitals, police stations, temporary shelters and other public places along the coastal belt in Tamil Nadu to address the communication needs of he affected people.
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Gail to take 33 pc equity
in Ennore terminal
New Delhi, December 29 Gail will take 8 million metric tonnes of regasification LNG (R-LNG) from Ennore terminal. The company would also construct, own and operate the entire pipeline required for marketing of R-LNG from Ennore terminal, which shall be developed by a consortium comprising Gail, CPCL and IndianOil Corporation. The supply of LNG is expected to start from 2009. Gail is currently undertaking a detailed feasibility study for the Ennore LNG terminal. The deep-water port at Ennore is compatible for LNG imports. A major advantage of this terminal is that LNG could be sourced from multiple countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. The terminal will supply regassified LNG to prospective industries in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which are willing to switch over from liquid fuel to natural gas. Against the current allocation of 6 MMSCMD of gas, only 1.4 MMSCMD was being supplied in Tamil Nadu. The press note added, Gail has also proposed a pipeline from Coimbatore-Erode-Salem-Dharampuri besides the Chennai-Bangalore and Chennai-Tuticrin lines to transport regasified LNG.
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Rangarajan to head Economic Advisory Council
New Delhi, December 29 The council would also have four members with the rank of Ministers of State, a press note said here. The members are Mr Suresh Tendulkar (former director of Delhi School of Economics), Mr G K Chadda (Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University,
Mr Govinda Rao (Director General of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and Ms Saumitra Chaudhuri (Economic Advisor of credit rating agency ICRA). The council will advise on policy matters referred to it by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from time to time, besides preparing monthly report at home and abroad, it said, adding that it would also monitor economic trends on a regular basis and bring to Prime Minister’s notice important developments. Rangarjan, a former Reserve Bank Governor and Andhra Pradesh Governor, had recently submitted to President A P J Abdul Kalam the 12th Finance Commission report on devolution of resources from Centre to states for 2005-10.
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Eco-friendly thermal plant
Chandigarh, December 29 About 60 per cent of the plant’s fly ash is used by the Ambuja Cement factory to manufacture high quality cement. It was invited to set up infrastructure in Ropar as the government wanted to effectively dispose of the waste product without compromising on environmental safety. The PSEB has, over the past nine years, taken the initiative to incorporate processes within its system to make this possible. Originally, fly ash disposal was in the form of slurry. However, for use in cement manufacture, fly ash in the dry form is needed. This required a considerable change in the way fly ash was collected and conveyed by the plant. Despite the capital-intensive nature of such a process change, the PSEB’s initiative has enabled the Ropar Thermal Power plant to steadily reduce the amount of fly ash that is dealt with. In July 2004, it became the only thermal power plant in India to find alternative and eco-friendly disposal for the nearly 12 lakh tonnes of fly ash produced by it. Over this period, the PSEB has also ensured that the cement used by it for its own construction purposes is also fly-ash based cement. These include the board’s structures that are technically critical and complicated. The impact of fly ash disposal goes far beyond the lands used to dump the waste. In Ropar, over 900 acres of fertile land have been used for fly ash disposal. This land is also uncultivable. With the byproduct being taken by Ambuja Cement, the dumping of fly ash has been steadly reduced. It has saved nearly 300 acres of land from being additionally rendered useless. At current market rates, this additional acreage is worth Rs 30-36 crore.
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