The Delhi International Airport Limited's (DIAL) ongoing tussle with the Airports Authority of India/Ministry of Civil Aviation (AAI/MoCA) isn't likely to get resolved in a hurry, though things appeared settled when, a few weeks ago, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said at a press conference that the government would go by the Attorney General's (AG) opinion on the dispute.
TDSAT lifted the stay on distributing spectrum within about 30 minutes, instead of hearing detailed arguments on merits. Perhaps things would have been different if the hearing had come up after the Chief Justice made it clear the courts could interfere in government policy.
What's happening in the telecom sector are classic bullying tactics - do the wrong thing, threaten to do worse, get the threatened party to sue for peace, and walk away smelling of roses after a "compromise".
The Reliance decision was challenged by various GSM-mobile phone firms and there is an attempt to create a split in their ranks -- Maxis Aircel has already withdrawn from the court case, and it is likely another one or two firms will follow as they've been made to believe this improves their chances of getting spectrum.
A note prepared for Communications Minister A Raja by the DoT officials cites the October 18 meeting and offers various options available before the ministry given that it does not have enough spectrum to meet the needs of the 46 companies who have made 575 applications for spectrum in 22 telecom circles across the country.
From a policy point of view, India's telecom industry is getting exciting once again. After a lull of a few years, we're back to the same half-truths from regulators/policy makers, and the all too familiar attempts to help favoured firms.
The way the story went, customers would get dramatically lower prices for everyday groceries (something that takes up 45 per cent of the household budget) and farmers would earn at least a third or more as big retailers began procuring from them directly. But none of this has really happened, and may not either.
Survey reveals why telemarketers can't help calling.
Have inequality levels, as represented by the Gini coefficient, risen from 30.3 in 1983 to 34.3 in 2004-05?
Telecom companies with cases pending before the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal or those hoping to file new ones would be advised to hurry.
Prof B B Bhattacharya says his forecasts are more 'judgemental' today, along the lines of the forecasts of other institutions including the RBI. Excerpts from a conversation with Sunil Jain.
To BSNL's detriment, Raja emerges the clear loser.
For the country's poorest districts, the only hope of escaping grinding poverty is to increase farm productivity in a big way -- in most of these districts, around 85 per cent of those employed work in the agricultural sector.
Dikshit has to allow the huge tariff hike, or subsidise BYPL. There is no other choice.
The latest estimates of poverty reduction in the country, put out by the National Sample Survey (NSS), are unique in that they have not been welcomed by anyone.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has done a great job to try and break the Doha deadlock and get the leading players to now set a new deadline to get things sorted out, but if he is serious about things, India needs to change its tactics somewhat.
Despite the missive on the impact of foreign retail on the small kirana shops in the country written by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, everyone in the government knows that it was never to be taken seriously.
There is the larger issue of whether PSUs should be going through such elaborate tendering procedures when no private company follows the same procedures. In today's ultra-competitive world, it does seem an invitation to disaster.
Five years later, it is obvious Maruti is the better bet.
A third of firms said they wouldn't have existed had it not been for PE and over 62 per cent said they'd have grown slower.
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