Govt scraps ISRO-Devas deal on S-band

spectrum allocation
PTI, Feb 17, 2011, 01.14pm IST
NEW DELHI: The controversial S-Band spectrum deal between ISRO's commercial
arm Antrix and private firm Devas Multimedia was scrapped today.

The decision to annul the deal was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security
(CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the basis of a recommendation from
the Space Commission.

The annulment comes in the wake of a raging controversy over the deal for handing over 70
MHz of S-Band spectrum to the private firm for Rs 1,000 crore on which the CAG has already
initiated action.

According to certain estimates, this deal may have resulted in a loss of Rs two lakh crore to
the exchequer.

After news reports about the possible revenue loss appeared, the Government and ISRO said
the project was already under review and action has been initiated for termination of the
contract.

The Prime Minister said yesterday that the deal had never been operationalised and rejected
suggestions that his office had held "backroom" talks with Devas after the Space
Commission's decision to scrap the deal.

He had said that if there has been delay in scrapping the deal, this has been "only
procedural".

Devas Multimedia had yesterday termed as "disturbing and inappropriate" the government's
"unilateral" decision to terminate the agreement and threatened to take legal action.

It said the government had reached the decision "without due investigative process and
without following the principles of natural justice".

Rickshaw ride for captains in World Cup

opening ceremony
Sumit Mukherjee, TNN, Feb 16, 2011, 10.06pm IST
DHAKA: Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni may find it difficult to recollect when
he had last taken a rickshaw ride, but he is scheduled to take one on Thursday when captains
of all the 14 participating countries are taken around the new-look Bangabandhu Stadium on
tri-cycles during a glitzy opening ceremony of the 2011 World Cup.
In a nation where rickshaws continue to be the most popular mode of conveyance, it is
Bangladesh's way of fusing tradition with modernity. The Pontings and Sangakkaras may
find Thursday's rickshaw ride amusing but, for the 14 rickshawalas handpicked to ferry the
cricketing luminaries --- it could well be a life-changing experience. As television cameras
capture the moment and telecast the images to a worldwide audience, they will not only get
their two minutes of fame but also become part of World Cup history, leaving the rest of their
ilk to envy these chosen 14.

The much-hyped rickshaw ride is not the only thing that will be on view during the two-hour-
long opening ceremony whose tickets have long been sold out. A few thousand fans who
braved long queues and to buy tickets can consider themselves lucky because it offers them
two shows for the price of one. The gates of the stadium will open at 2.30pm (3pm IST) and
fans will be treated to a pre-show (from 4 to 6pm) before the big show gets under way with
the welcome song --- O prithibi, tumi aaj chine nao (O world, it's time to know us) --- sung by
local artistes.

The high point of the function is expected in the segment where Canadian rock singer Bryan
Adams takes over from top singers from the three host nations --- Bangladesh, Indian and Sri
Lanka --- following the formal opening of the tournament by prime ministerSheikh Hasina,
who has spared no effort in branding the country's image with the ICC's quadrennial
showpiece event.

Three of Bangladesh's top lady singers --- Runa Laila, Sabina Yasmin and Mumtaz will kick
off this segment by belting out some of their chart-bursting numbers, while the mellifluous
voice of Sonu Nigam will tug at our heart strings even as the 14 skippers enjoy a rickshaw
ride. And there will the trio of Shankar, Ehsan and Loy to sing the theme song De Ghuma Ke
(whack it will all your might) in Hindi, Bengali and English to set the tone of the competition
which involves a staggering 49 matches spread over six weeks. There will also be a band from
Sri Lanka to entertain the fans before Adams gives it to us straight from the heart in what
promises to be a one night love affair.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), which was keen to rope in Shakira for the opening
ceremony, opted for Adams after the representatives of the Colombian singer reportedly
asked for a cool $2 million appearance fee!

An aerial cricket show, touted to be first of its kind, promises to wow the spectators. The last
time the World Cup was staged in the sub-continent in 1996, the opening ceremony at
the Eden Gardens had been an unmitigated disaster. First-time co-hosts, Bangladesh, are
taking every precaution to prevent any glitches. Having spruced up the nation's capital for
the World Cup, the Hasina government is ready to showcase Bangladesh in a new light even
as Dhaka doubles up as the capital of the cricket world for the next few days.
 Graduates are affordable, learn fast, say
companies
Hemali Chhapia, TNN, Feb 17, 2011, 12.53am IST
MUMBAI: One of the most enduring family-room debates, "what should our child study?" is
undergoing a transformation, probably led by the fact that the line between a once trite
graduate course and an intense professional programme is blurring.

Indian IT majors will probably tell you they were the first to discover the graduates when
they invaded science colleges in Mumbai after facing a drought of programme coders. What
started as a hunt for BSc graduates about five years ago has not just picked pace, but also
expanded.

Accounting and auditing firms are lapping up commerce students who have studied banking,
and investment firms and marketing agencies are substituting their requirements for MBAs
with those who have just tasted management education at the bachelor's level in the BMS
programme.

Last week, there was a frenzy at the Jai Hind College campus when Google shortlisted over
50 students. HR College (comerce), this year, was host to all the big four accounting firms.
While Pricewaterhouse Coopers visited the undergraduate college for the first time,
McKinsey is likely to storm in next year, said placement co-ordinator Bidia Batheja. Global
firms are hiring our students and placing them in exciting positions. Our students are not
being approached for frontdesk or BPO jobs anymore. The average campus salary is in the
range of Rs 3 lakh," said KC college principal Manju Nichani.

Interestingly, that is the average annual compensation students in Mumbai's second- and
third-tier management schools are also talking about. Although placements are still on,
recruitment cell co-ordinators at N L Dalmia Management College quote the same kind of
salary numbers.

Lala Lajpatrai, an institute with a commerce college and a management school, is seeing
corporates getting equally enthused about hiring graduates and postgraduates.

"Management students often wonder how salary levels for them and for commerce students
are similar. After all, management students who have invested good money would like to get
higher salaries. We tell them that management students can have an edge over commerce
graduates by taking one more degree,'' said Asha Aggrawal, placement officer at the college.

The trend at Edelweiss is similar to many other investment companies. Shaily Gupta, group
head for Human Resources, said they hire 200% more undergraduate commerce students
than the candidates they select from B-schools now.

"Apart from the fact that they are more affordable, the undergraduates come with no baggage
and have a high learning orientation," she added. No matter the degree they hold, everyone
starts at the same level, that of trainees; they all undergo a six-month long training
programme to understand the Edelweiss business and move up based on their performance.

K V Mangaonkar, principal of Mithibai College, said companies coming to his campus were
hiring large numbers of undergrads who specializing in niche courses like accountancy and
finance, management studies and economics. To ensure that students are suave in their
interviews, Mangaokar even hires an external communications agency to help polish their
interpersonal skills. "From broking houses wanting students to operate the bolts to selecting
candidates for analytics, almost every student who wants to be placed has an offer letter."

For most students then, the choice comes easy. It's not just the country's engineers who are
getting some hands on industry experience before joining management programmes. Even
traditional arts, science and commerce students are doing that now before pursuing a
professional degree. And companies are rolling out the red carpet.

Sensex opens 31 points lower on profit-

booking
PTI, Feb 17, 2011, 09.48am IST
MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by over 31 points in opening
trade today as investors locked in gains registered during the previous four sessions.

The 30-share barometer, which rallied by nearly 840 points the previous four sessions, slid
by 31.16 points to 18,269.74 points in the first few minutes of trade as realty, oil and gas and
capital goods stocks succumbed to profit-booking.

In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index declined by 7.90
points to 5,473.80 points.

Brokers said profit-booking by market participants, following a near 4.6 per cent rise in the
Sensex during the past four sessions, influenced the trading sentiment.

They also said investors were adopting a cautious approach ahead of the Union Budget for
the 2011-12 financial year.

Stocks of Reliance Communications fell by 1.25 per cent to Rs 98.45 after its chief, Anil
Ambani, appeared at CBI headquarters in connection with the probe into the 2G scam.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up by 0.17 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei
gained 0.69 per cent in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.50
per cent higher in yesterday's trade.
 Mahindra Satyam moves to settle US suit, to
pay $125m
PTI, Feb 17, 2011, 10.50am IST
MUMBAI: Mahindra Satyam, formerly known as Satyam Computer Services, today said it
has agreed to pay $125 million to settle a putative class action suit filed against the company
in a United States District Court.

The litigation relates to the 2009 accounting fraud at Satyam Computer, which was later
taken over by Tech Mahindra and renamed.

Furthermore, the company will also pay the lead plaintiffs 25 per cent of any net recovery
that it may obtain in future from PricewaterhouseCoopers-related entities that helped
Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju perpetrate the fraud.

"The company has agreed to pay to the class members as consideration, USD 125 million,
subject to the approval of the RBI and the determination of the authority for advance ruling
and 25 per cent of any net recovery that the company may in the future obtain against any of
the PwC-related entities," Mahindra Satyam said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The settlement amount includes taxes, compliance costs, attorney's fees and expenses, the
filing added.

If the settlement is approved by the court, the claims against Satyam would be released by
the lead plaintiffs, it said.

The filing also noted that the settlement is exclusively for and on behalf of the company and
does not affect the other defendants to the class action litigation.

Bolstered by the development, shares of Mahindra Satyam jumped by 6.14 per cent to an
early high of Rs 66.50 a piece on the BSE.

Food inflation at 9-week low of 11.05%

PTI, Feb 17, 2011, 12.11pm IST
NEW DELHI: Food inflation fell for the second straight week to a nine-week low of 11.05 per
cent for the week ended February 5 as pulses, wheat and potato prices declined.

Food inflation fell by 2.02 percentage points during the week ended February 5 from 13.07
per cent in the week ended January 29.
On an annual basis, prices of potatoes declined by 13.63 per cent, while pulses became 5.88
per cent cheaper and wheat 2.54 per cent less expensive, data released by the government
showed.

However, on the whole, vegetables became nearly 24 per cent costlier during the week ended
February 5, pushed up mainly by a 31.33 per cent increase in onion prices.

Furthermore, fruit and milk prices rose by 12.21 per cent and 11.66 per cent, respectively,
while egg, meat and fish became 15.14 per cent dearer on an annual basis.

At 11.05 per cent during the week ended February 5, food inflation was at its lowest level
since December 4, 2010, when it stood at 9.46 per cent.

Investment-oriented tax saving

measures for retail investors
-- By Suresh Surana, Founder, RSM Astute Consulting Group

It is that part of the year wherein the rush for investment in tax-savings schemes is at its peak. With
only a few days to close the financial year (March 31, 2011), retail investors are keen to offload their
earnings into savings instruments which are investment-oriented as well as assist them in saving taxes
to a certain extent. As such, to assist the investor class in making such investment decisions, we have
endeavoured to present a brief overview of the preferred investment tax-saving avenues.

Under the Income Tax Act 1961, tax deduction is available to certain tax savings instruments up to Rs
100,000. Instruments which a retail investor should strongly consider are as under:

Life Insurance Policies: Investment in life insurance policies serves three objectives, namely risk
cover, investment and tax benefit depending, upon the scheme of the life insurance policy. An
individual can buy and pay premium on an insurance policy in his name or in the name of his spouse
and children. There is no limit on the insurance premium paid on such policies though for tax
deduction, the maximum cap is of Rs 100,000.

Public Provident Fund: A PPF account is a long-term investment instrument for pre-meditated
purposes such as children’s education, marriage, retirement planning etc with a tenure of 15 years. An
individual can invest up to `70,000 in a PPF account either in his name or in the name of spouse or
children during a financial year. PPF scheme offers a rate of interest of 8% p.a. The contributions and
interest earned thereon is wholly exempt from tax at the time of expiry of the account.

Fixed Deposit Schemes: Fixed deposits (FDs) with scheduled banks having a lock-in period of five
years is also a favoured investment instrument under Section 80C. The rate of interest on FDs would
vary from bank to bank. However, the interest on such fixed deposits is is taxed.

Children’s Tuition Fees: Amount paid towards tuition fees of any two children of an individual for full-
time education is also eligible for tax deduction under Section 80C. However, it shall not include
payment towards development fee or donation or capitation fees or payment of similar nature.
National Saving Certificates: Popularly known as NSCs, they are also favoured by retail investors
considering that they are backed by the government and are one of the safest investment options with
a maturity period of six years. The annual interest on NSC is chargeable to tax. However, the accrued
interest for the first five years is deemed as reinvested and is entitled for Section 80C deduction.

Home Loans: The principal portion of your home loan repayment instalment is eligible for deduction.
Further, the stamp duty and registration charges are also eligible for deduction in the year of payment.

Equity-Linked Savings Scheme: An ELSS offered by mutual funds is a diversified equity scheme
with a three-year lock-in, providing tax benefits under Section 80C. Taking an ELSS SIP (systematic
investment plan) is the best solution to counter the volatility in the markets and average out the cost of
investment over time.

In addition to the above instruments for which tax deduction is available under Section 80C, additional
relief from tax is available under Section 80CCF on investments in long-term Infrastructure bonds of
specified companies notified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The maximum deduction that can be claimed for these bonds is Rs 20,000 and the interest rate these
bonds fetch is between 7.5% and 8%. Considering the higher interest offered by bank FDs, bonds do
not seem an attractive option for investment. However, looking into the additional tax shield offered by
these bonds, they are worth investing for middle and upper slab income earners.

The utility and preference of investment instruments will depend on the investor’s liquidity position,
return and risk expectation and affordability of the lock-in period. Nevertheless, in the rush hour where
retail investors want to make a quick and at the same time purposeful investment, it is advisable for
such investors to consider the above instruments.