After 34 days of suspense, the auction for 3G spectrum is finally over with the government richer by Rs 67,718.95 crores from the proceeds of the sale. This is almost twice what the government had originally hoped to raise.
The extra amount will help reduce India’s fiscal deficit to 4.9 per cent from the 5.5 per cent that was projected earlier. The finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said the extra money will give him more elbow room.
3G spectrum or radio waves would allow telecom firms to offer high-speed Internet and other premium services such as making video calls.
The cost of a pan-India 3G licence is Rs 16,751 crores but no single company managed to bag a licence in every circle. Bharti, Reliance Communications and Vodafone have bagged the bulk of 3G licences; they were successful in bagging the three available slots in the prime circles of Delhi and Mumbai. Idea, Tata and Aircel have also been successful in bagging many of the major circles. Bharti will pay out the highest amount for its spectrum purchases — Rs 12,295 crores.
Delhi and Mumbai were the highest value circles and went for a price of Rs 3,317 crores and Rs 3,247 crores respectively. Five other circles — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu — were sold for more than Rs 1,000 crores.
Etisalat and Videocon, both new operators, failed to get any 3G spectrum at all while Aircel and S Tel bagged a few service areas.
In 2008, the telecom ministry had awarded all-India 2G spectrum to some players for Rs 1,651 crore, which has since flared into a major issue.
Showing posts with label 7%. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7%. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
State, rain leave city battered
A brief but torrid spell of rain and 70 kmph gales left Hyderabad in a shambles on Sunday, with uprooted trees and hoardings leaving the city without power for eight hours and more and a traffic jammed that enveloped most main roads.
The so-called “emergency teams” of the power and civic utilities responded only after three hours.
The rain lasted barely for an hour but gave a preview of what the city can expect in the monsoon next month with the civic authorities in a state of total unpreparedness.
The negligence of civic authorities meant that lakhs of people fretted and fumed and cursed in dark, waiting to perform the auspicious Lakshmi puja on Akshaya Tritiya.
Those who were out on the roads shopping for the festival or attending the thousands of weddings on the auspicious day were stuck in never-ending traffic jams.
Traffic was blocked trees felled by the gales but there was no sign of workers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
Motorists and local residents worked with bare hands to remove tree branches to clear the roads and policemen lent a helping hand. Vehicular traffic was diverted on several routes.
Though the traffic police made frantic calls to the GHMC officials to dispatch emergency teams, it was only after 6.30 pm that the personnel, equipped with equipment to cut trees, started clearing operations.
The so-called “emergency teams” of the power and civic utilities responded only after three hours.
The rain lasted barely for an hour but gave a preview of what the city can expect in the monsoon next month with the civic authorities in a state of total unpreparedness.
The negligence of civic authorities meant that lakhs of people fretted and fumed and cursed in dark, waiting to perform the auspicious Lakshmi puja on Akshaya Tritiya.
Those who were out on the roads shopping for the festival or attending the thousands of weddings on the auspicious day were stuck in never-ending traffic jams.
Traffic was blocked trees felled by the gales but there was no sign of workers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
Motorists and local residents worked with bare hands to remove tree branches to clear the roads and policemen lent a helping hand. Vehicular traffic was diverted on several routes.
Though the traffic police made frantic calls to the GHMC officials to dispatch emergency teams, it was only after 6.30 pm that the personnel, equipped with equipment to cut trees, started clearing operations.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Buck stops with me: PC
Under increasing fire after the Maoists massacred 76 CRPF jawans at Dantewada earlier this week, the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, offered to resign in an effort to salvage his position in the government and the party.
Within hours of Mr Chidambaram made public his offer to resign, the Prime Minister’s Office made it known that Dr Manmohan Singh had rejected it.
Mr Chidambaram’s decision to make his resignation offer known a day before the Prime Minister’s departure on a week-long foreign trip could be significant in the expectation of securing Dr Singh’s full backing ahead of the Parliament session when the massacre is likely to come up. Mr Chidambaram, who had told the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in Lalgarh last Sunday that the “buck stopped with the CM” in the context of political violence in that state, was forced to admit on Friday that the “buck stops at my desk.”
Chronicle had asked Mr Chidambaram on Friday in the Op-Ed article Talk less, do more, Mr Chidambaram, “who does that buck (the Dantewada massacre stop with.”
Later in the day, the home minister, speaking at the CRPF’s Valour Day function, said: “I have been asked directly or indirectly where the buck stops for what happened in Dantewada. I have no hesitation saying the buck stops at my desk. I accept full responsibility for what happened in Dantewada”.
The home minister has been landing the government and the party in a series of controversies, including the December 9 announcement on Telangana — “the process for the formation of Telangana has been initiated — that set off a firestorm in Andhra Pradesh.
This is not the first time that Mr Chidambaram has offered to step down from a high position — he had resigned from the Cabinet in 1992 accepting moral responsibility for having invested in Fairgrowth, a company allegedly involved in the securities scam, and then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao accepted his resignation.
Questions are now being asked in political circles on what prompted the home minister to take this step: was it to silence critics in the party or to project an image of indispensability?
Guessing games are also on in the Congress on possible successors in case the PM had been inclined to
Within hours of Mr Chidambaram made public his offer to resign, the Prime Minister’s Office made it known that Dr Manmohan Singh had rejected it.
Mr Chidambaram’s decision to make his resignation offer known a day before the Prime Minister’s departure on a week-long foreign trip could be significant in the expectation of securing Dr Singh’s full backing ahead of the Parliament session when the massacre is likely to come up. Mr Chidambaram, who had told the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in Lalgarh last Sunday that the “buck stopped with the CM” in the context of political violence in that state, was forced to admit on Friday that the “buck stops at my desk.”
Chronicle had asked Mr Chidambaram on Friday in the Op-Ed article Talk less, do more, Mr Chidambaram, “who does that buck (the Dantewada massacre stop with.”
Later in the day, the home minister, speaking at the CRPF’s Valour Day function, said: “I have been asked directly or indirectly where the buck stops for what happened in Dantewada. I have no hesitation saying the buck stops at my desk. I accept full responsibility for what happened in Dantewada”.
The home minister has been landing the government and the party in a series of controversies, including the December 9 announcement on Telangana — “the process for the formation of Telangana has been initiated — that set off a firestorm in Andhra Pradesh.
This is not the first time that Mr Chidambaram has offered to step down from a high position — he had resigned from the Cabinet in 1992 accepting moral responsibility for having invested in Fairgrowth, a company allegedly involved in the securities scam, and then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao accepted his resignation.
Questions are now being asked in political circles on what prompted the home minister to take this step: was it to silence critics in the party or to project an image of indispensability?
Guessing games are also on in the Congress on possible successors in case the PM had been inclined to
Thursday, April 8, 2010
PC hints at use of air fire on Maoists
Policemen stood in grief and anger at a special ceremony held on Wednesday at Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, to pay homage to the 76 CRPF men killed by Maoists even as the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, told reporters there that the government may have to reconsider its policy of not using the Air Force in the fight against Naxalites.
[Naxals fired at a CRPF camp in Dantewada district late on Wednesday night, defying stepped-up security after Tuesday’s bloodiest-ever attack against the security forces, PTI reports. The Naxals fired four rounds at the CRPF camp in Palampalli village and security personnel promptly retaliated, the Chhattisgarh DGP, Mr Viswa Ranjan, said.]
In New Delhi, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said all options, like using air power in the fight against Maoists, are “reviewed” from time to time. “I think the policy has to be reviewed practically from time to time, learning from experience. We are too close to the event to take a view that the existing policy needs to be modified,” he stated.
In Gandhinagar, the IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, said he was not in favour of the use of air power in anti-Naxal operations but added that the IAF would be ready to join operations against the Naxals if a decision is taken.
[Naxals fired at a CRPF camp in Dantewada district late on Wednesday night, defying stepped-up security after Tuesday’s bloodiest-ever attack against the security forces, PTI reports. The Naxals fired four rounds at the CRPF camp in Palampalli village and security personnel promptly retaliated, the Chhattisgarh DGP, Mr Viswa Ranjan, said.]
In New Delhi, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said all options, like using air power in the fight against Maoists, are “reviewed” from time to time. “I think the policy has to be reviewed practically from time to time, learning from experience. We are too close to the event to take a view that the existing policy needs to be modified,” he stated.
In Gandhinagar, the IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, said he was not in favour of the use of air power in anti-Naxal operations but added that the IAF would be ready to join operations against the Naxals if a decision is taken.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Maoists kill 76 in savage attack
Bhopal/New Delhi, April 6: At least 76 security force personnel were killed on Tuesday when Naxalite guerrillas used guns and explosives against a surrounded Central Reserve Police Force contingent in the Mukarna forest near the village of Chintalnar-Tarmetla in Dantewada district, which lies in Naxalite-affected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. It was one of the most savage ambushes mounted by the Naxals.
The attack came 48 hours after Union home minister P. Chidambaram visited West Bengal and told state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee that as far as Maoist violence was concerned, "the buck stops with the chief minister".
It was early on Tuesday morning that the Maoists launched the attack on the CRPF personnel, who were returning from a search operation following "information" that they had received on the Naxalites. However, it was a "well-laid trap" that the security forces appeared to have walked into as the Maoists fired at them from atop a hillock.
Nearly 1,000 Maoists are believed to have been involved in the massacre, outnumbering the approximately 100 security personnel. The area where the combing operation was being carried is known to be a Maoist stronghold.
Chhattisgarh additional director-general of police (anti-Naxal operations) Ram Nivas told this newspaper that the Naxalites, who were heavily armed, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested area in Dantewada district on Tuesday morning. He said it would not be possible to give a full account of what happened as they were still in the process of assessing the situation.
The Naxalites detonated a landmine, triggered blasts and opened fire at the trapped CRPF men. The Maoist guerrillas outnumbered the security personnel and were able to inflict heavy casualties by surrounding the CRPF contingent. An injured jawan later said there were about 1,000 Maoist guerrillas firing at the patrol party.
An official source in Raipur said a helicopter was sent from Jagdalpur, the Bastar district headquarters, to rush those injured in the attack to hospital. Requesting anonymity, he said the CRPF contingent had gone on an "Operation Green Hunt" mission into the jungle and while returning "walked into the Naxalites’ trap and were massacred".
He said there is something drastically wrong with the anti-Naxal operations. It will have to be investigated, the source said, including how well motivated were the CRPF men and whether or not they were given proper jungle and guerrilla warfare training before being posted in the Naxalite-affected area. Even the performance levels of their supervisors comes under the scanner, he added.
While state police officials said the security personnel were on a mission that is part of the on-going "Operation Green Hunt" targeting the Maoists, the Centre maintained it wasn’t part of this exercise.
Following the attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Mr Chidambaram and also chaired a meeting of the National Security Council to take stock of the situation. Mr Chidambaram admitted that "something has gone drastically wrong" and added that the killings "show the savage nature of the CPI (Maoist)".
The bodies of the slain security personnel are expected in the national capital on Wednesday with the Centre having dispatched an AN-32 aircraft to transport the bodies. According to the home ministry, all security personnel involved in the search operation have been accounted for though the Maoists took away all their weapons.
In Chhattisgarh, a joint team of the BSF and state police swung into action after the bloody attack and arrested 12 suspected Maoists besides seizing their weapons from the Koilibeda area in Kanker district. Belonging to the Panidobir "dalam (unit)" allegedly led by Ram Singh, the joint team caught him along with his assistant Darsu.
The security personnel were returning after their early morning operation when they were ambushed. Literally surrounded by the Maoists, the personnel found themselves taking heavy fire and also stepping on pressure bombs. Among those who fell was a deputy commandant and an assistant commandant of the CRPF.
Dantewada SP Amresh Mishra said the Naxals first blew up a vehicle carrying CRPF personnel near Chintalnar-Tarmetla village in the district. Immediately after the blast, the CRPF personnel and a few policemen tried to take cover but then came the heavy firing from hundreds of Naxals, all well-entrenched atop a hillock.
In New Delhi, Union home secretary Gopal Pillai admitted an element of failure in the anti-Naxal operation had led to the incident. He said the massacre has strengthened the government’s resolve to give a "firmer and fitting reply to the murderers".
The home secretary, however, ruled out the use of air power in the fight against Naxalites. "I don’t think we need to use air power at the moment. We can manage with what we have. Our strategy is unfolding and we should be able to manage without air power," he stated.
The home ministry has sought details of the intelligence received by CRPF personnel which prompted such a large number of them to enter an area which did not fall within the parameters of the planned anti-Naxal offensive by the Centre. "Some information was planted on the security personnel which was so attractive that a large team went inside the jungle," home ministry sources said.
The Maoists laid the trap over days of planning, government sources said. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident to establish whether it was an intelligence failure on the part of the security forces, who probably did not verify the intelligence inputs they received nor reconnoitre the area, thus falling into the trap. It will also establish the sequence of events that led to the attack, a home ministry official said.
CRPF special director-general Vijay Raman rushed to the spot along with senior Chhattisgarh police officers to take stock of the ground situation. Speaking from the spot, he said on Tuesday evening it would not be possible to discuss anything at this stage.
A high alert has been declared in Mandla, Dhindori, Balaghat, Sidhi, Shahdol, Singrauli, and Umaria districts of Madhya Pradesh. These districts are known for Naxalite activity. One CRPF battalion has been deployed for Naxal-infested areas in the state.
The attack came 48 hours after Union home minister P. Chidambaram visited West Bengal and told state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee that as far as Maoist violence was concerned, "the buck stops with the chief minister".
It was early on Tuesday morning that the Maoists launched the attack on the CRPF personnel, who were returning from a search operation following "information" that they had received on the Naxalites. However, it was a "well-laid trap" that the security forces appeared to have walked into as the Maoists fired at them from atop a hillock.
Nearly 1,000 Maoists are believed to have been involved in the massacre, outnumbering the approximately 100 security personnel. The area where the combing operation was being carried is known to be a Maoist stronghold.
Chhattisgarh additional director-general of police (anti-Naxal operations) Ram Nivas told this newspaper that the Naxalites, who were heavily armed, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested area in Dantewada district on Tuesday morning. He said it would not be possible to give a full account of what happened as they were still in the process of assessing the situation.
The Naxalites detonated a landmine, triggered blasts and opened fire at the trapped CRPF men. The Maoist guerrillas outnumbered the security personnel and were able to inflict heavy casualties by surrounding the CRPF contingent. An injured jawan later said there were about 1,000 Maoist guerrillas firing at the patrol party.
An official source in Raipur said a helicopter was sent from Jagdalpur, the Bastar district headquarters, to rush those injured in the attack to hospital. Requesting anonymity, he said the CRPF contingent had gone on an "Operation Green Hunt" mission into the jungle and while returning "walked into the Naxalites’ trap and were massacred".
He said there is something drastically wrong with the anti-Naxal operations. It will have to be investigated, the source said, including how well motivated were the CRPF men and whether or not they were given proper jungle and guerrilla warfare training before being posted in the Naxalite-affected area. Even the performance levels of their supervisors comes under the scanner, he added.
While state police officials said the security personnel were on a mission that is part of the on-going "Operation Green Hunt" targeting the Maoists, the Centre maintained it wasn’t part of this exercise.
Following the attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Mr Chidambaram and also chaired a meeting of the National Security Council to take stock of the situation. Mr Chidambaram admitted that "something has gone drastically wrong" and added that the killings "show the savage nature of the CPI (Maoist)".
The bodies of the slain security personnel are expected in the national capital on Wednesday with the Centre having dispatched an AN-32 aircraft to transport the bodies. According to the home ministry, all security personnel involved in the search operation have been accounted for though the Maoists took away all their weapons.
In Chhattisgarh, a joint team of the BSF and state police swung into action after the bloody attack and arrested 12 suspected Maoists besides seizing their weapons from the Koilibeda area in Kanker district. Belonging to the Panidobir "dalam (unit)" allegedly led by Ram Singh, the joint team caught him along with his assistant Darsu.
The security personnel were returning after their early morning operation when they were ambushed. Literally surrounded by the Maoists, the personnel found themselves taking heavy fire and also stepping on pressure bombs. Among those who fell was a deputy commandant and an assistant commandant of the CRPF.
Dantewada SP Amresh Mishra said the Naxals first blew up a vehicle carrying CRPF personnel near Chintalnar-Tarmetla village in the district. Immediately after the blast, the CRPF personnel and a few policemen tried to take cover but then came the heavy firing from hundreds of Naxals, all well-entrenched atop a hillock.
In New Delhi, Union home secretary Gopal Pillai admitted an element of failure in the anti-Naxal operation had led to the incident. He said the massacre has strengthened the government’s resolve to give a "firmer and fitting reply to the murderers".
The home secretary, however, ruled out the use of air power in the fight against Naxalites. "I don’t think we need to use air power at the moment. We can manage with what we have. Our strategy is unfolding and we should be able to manage without air power," he stated.
The home ministry has sought details of the intelligence received by CRPF personnel which prompted such a large number of them to enter an area which did not fall within the parameters of the planned anti-Naxal offensive by the Centre. "Some information was planted on the security personnel which was so attractive that a large team went inside the jungle," home ministry sources said.
The Maoists laid the trap over days of planning, government sources said. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident to establish whether it was an intelligence failure on the part of the security forces, who probably did not verify the intelligence inputs they received nor reconnoitre the area, thus falling into the trap. It will also establish the sequence of events that led to the attack, a home ministry official said.
CRPF special director-general Vijay Raman rushed to the spot along with senior Chhattisgarh police officers to take stock of the ground situation. Speaking from the spot, he said on Tuesday evening it would not be possible to discuss anything at this stage.
A high alert has been declared in Mandla, Dhindori, Balaghat, Sidhi, Shahdol, Singrauli, and Umaria districts of Madhya Pradesh. These districts are known for Naxalite activity. One CRPF battalion has been deployed for Naxal-infested areas in the state.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
World Bank gives state Rs 3,720 cr
The state government inked a pact with the World Bank (WB) for a loan of Rs 3,720 crore to improve roads, water and sanitation facilities in addition to other urban services.
The state and WB officials signed the agreements in the presence of the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, and the bank country director, Mr Roberto N. Zagha.
The catch in the loan, however, is that except for the portion of the loan given for roads, the WB funds can be claimed as reimbursement only. The state will have to spend on various projects by itself and then claim reimbursement from the WB.
The government will also adopt the “user-has-to-pay” policy for the water supply and sanitation projects in which the community contribution is fixed at Rs 21 crore. This will be 20 per cent of the government’s contribution of Rs 123 crore. The total project cost is Rs 864 crore.
The state aims to benefit 20 lakh people by improving rural water supply and sanitation in 16 districts.
