Singur divided between those who want Tata back and those who just want their land.
The decision by India and Pakistan to scale up the number of freight trains between the two countries to five a day has not yet materialised due to lack of sufficient freight traffic between the two countries. At present, two freight trains each from Pakistan and India cross the border post at Attari and Wagah every day.
Under the RFQ, companies had to initially participate in technical bids based on certain minimum criteria such as net worth, experience and so on. Only five or six companies that scored the highest on this basis were then permitted to put in financial bids.
The regulator has suggested that all spectrum will be auctioned as opposed to the current policy of bundling it with a 2G licence. A beginning has been made with the auctioning of spectrum for 3G services, which is due later this year. Trai has also suggested that licences for any telecom service should be auctioned as opposed to the current policy, where it is given on a first-come-first-served basis. The new policy is expected to be ready by the end of December this year.
At least three major broadcasting companies have held discussions on forming a combine, the first of its kind, to counter the might of media buying houses in dictating commercial air-time rates.
The Chaturvedi Committee and the public sector oil marketing companies have suggested that all industrial and commercial establishments including the state transport undertaking and the railways, which are the largest consumer of diesel in the country, should pay for the fuel at the market rate. The public sector oil marketing companies sell diesel and petrol at highly subsidised prices in order to shield customers from the rise in crude oil prices.
"We have received various representations over the new eligibility criteria which enables foreign bidders to score higher than Indian bidders. This, in the long run, may lead to a major chunk of infrastructure projects being bagged by foreign companies. To ensure a level playing field, we are considering whether an additional weight of 30 to 33 per cent should be given for projects developed or constructed in India," a senior government source said.
India will be one of the key centres for design and development of the A350 aircraft, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus' answer to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
It is not clear, however, whether the two players are considering a majority stake or would be content as investors with 26 per cent.
To add to company's 'three-screen' strategy of mobile phones, IPTV and broadband.
In the last one year, it has brought down its operating ratio to 0.52 from 0.64. The ratio measures that part of the income which goes to meet the operational expenditure of a railway. To put it in perspective, the operating ratio of the rejuvenated Indian Railways stood at 0.78 during 2007-08.
However, operators said the chief beneficiary would be the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which have already been given the spectrum for 3G services, as well as Reliance Communications, which is still to roll out its 2G GSM network.
The Rs 1,808-crore modernisation and expansion plan for Chennai airport, which was recently cleared by the Public Investment Board and expected to begin this September, may not be sufficient to cope with projected growth in passenger traffic.
Talks have failed between the Dhoots of the Videocon group and Mahendra Nahata of Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd to buy out the latter's 36 per cent stake in all-India mobile licence-holder Datacom Solutions.
3G mobile services, to be launched in India on August 22, is set to have serious competition. The reason is simple: if you are looking for high quality video streaming of movies and want to play multiplayer on-line games, it's not 3G services alone you need to look at.
The development took place irrespective of the recent escalation in tension and war of words between India and Pakistan. The matter has been referred to the external affairs ministry which is learnt to be favourably disposed towards it. Once it gets South Block's go-ahead, DMRC will send a team of its officials to Karachi to prepare a detailed project report. DMRC Managing Director Elattuvalapil Sreedharan said this will include all aspects of the project.
Global railway companies have emerged the top contenders on technical parameters for the country's first railway station modernisation and operation project in New Delhi, the first of private-public partnership schemes.
The Planning Commission has recommended that the private company in 50:50 joint sector infrastructure projects should be selected through competitive bidding.
Each logistics park will have a container terminal for both domestic and international operations, mineral-handling terminals, cement and fertiliser terminals, automobile terminals, storage and distribution as well as trans shipment facilities, conventional, cold storage and product-specific warehouses as well as hotels, banks, food parks and entertainment centres. Logistics companies said the multi-modal logistics parks offer a huge growth opportunity.
We will not be in the ultra-low-cost car segment. Our focus will be on the A1 and A2 segments, which are growth areas in which many of the new players like Nissan, Volkswagen or Toyota are planning to enter. Our entry-level car will remain the Maruti 800.
