02.07.2008

• 3G policy on the anvil
• Look at this graphic to get a picture of the contours of the 3G policy that the government is set to announce shortly.
• The government is expecting somewhere in the range of Rs. 2,660 crores from the auctions.
• Our country is divided into various telecom circles which are graded A, B and C. The graphic shows you which are A category and which are B category etc.
• Look at an example of lateral thinking!
• Vijay Mallya wants to import ATF to save on fuel costs! Kingfisher expects to rein in losses with this arrangement, which will start with Reliance. Oil companies will essentially act as handling agents employing their infrastructure at various locations for pumping in imported fuel on behalf of the airline.
• What is the controversy surrounding the Ashish Nandy case?
• He is a Professor, a political psychologist and sociologist. He wrote an article titled “Blame the middle class - they are responsible for Gujarat’s politics of hate” in TOI on January 8, 2008.
• The Gujarat government booked a case against him under Section 153 (A) (B) of the Indian Penal Code. According to it, the article was prejudicial to national integration and intended to cause friction and promote enmity between different communities on grounds of religion, race, language and place of birth.
• The Gujarat government did so after it received a complaint from a certain V K Saxena, the President of the Ahmedabad-based NGO, National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL).
• The Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained the Gujarat government from arresting Ashish Nandy in connection with his article. The court slammed the government for initiating criminal proceedings curtailing freedom of expression.
• India to have its own racing league?
• Move over cricket. Now, India may soon boast of its own Racing Premier League. Team India Motor Racing (TIM), an independent entity formed under the Spice Group of companies, is now planning to set up an Indian Premier Racing League on the lines of BCCI’s Indian Premier League (IPL). TIM, which currently owns Team India in A1 Grand Prix (A1GP), is working closely with A1GP to start a home series by 2009-10.
• The contours of a retail regulator
• In a bid to cushion small retailers from corporate giants, the Centre is in consultation with states for setting up a retail regulator. As per the consultations among states, state level legislative authorities would wield powers to grant licences to retailers for operating business. The regulator in coordination with the state governments would also demarcate zones in the cities for setting hypermarkets. Moreover, the regulators would work in tow with competition commission to oversee pricing of products so that small retailers do not fall prey to predatory pricing.
• The regulator would also look into real estate cornering by large retail chains to restrict competitor access and complaints of muscling out smaller retailers by price undercutting.
• The retail business in India is estimated to grow at 13% from $322 billion in 2006-07 to $590 billion in 2011-12. The unorganized retail sector is expected to grow at about 10% per annum with sales expected to rise from $ 309 billion in 2006-07 to $ 496 billion in 2011-12.
• If you are asked to reel out a couple of measures that you can suggest to soften the international crude prices; what would be your answer? Compare yours with this one excerpted from today's ET:
• OPEC countries, instead of blaming speculation at NYMEX as the root cause for this rally, should delink their pricing from NYMEX futures prices. After all, NYMEX neither produces nor consumes crude oil. For instance, if OPEC countries decide that they will supply crude at $75 per barrel during 2008-09 irrespective of NYMEX futures prices, the prices will automatically stabilise.
• Governments should deploy substantial resources on research to discover cost-effective sustainable substitute for crude oil, which should be renewable and not based on ethanol and so on.
• Governments should divert a significant part of their foreign reserves from dollars to crude and gold, which would function as a cushion against rising crude prices.
• Similarly what measures can you suggest for taming food prices?
• Improve efficiency in agricultural marketing and production process: if the farmers get a higher portion of the consumer paid price, there will be a chain reaction in agriculture economy. That will make agriculture profitable, resulting in higher investment in agriculture. This would improve productivity, which will ease supply-side constraints. This can be achieved through national level electronic spot markets.
• Internal trade barriers, octroi, multiple checks and stopover at toll posts contribute a lot towards marketing inefficiency. Reducing such bottlenecks will lower transportation cost, which in turn will reduce price.