Indian Telecom Folder

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svinayak
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by svinayak »

How the Cloud Can Enable Shared Phones For Millions
By Kevin C. Tofel Oct. 21, 2010, 4:19pm PDT 6 Comments

http://gigaom.com/2010/10/21/how-the-cl ... -millions/

In highly developed countries, it’s not uncommon for a majority of the population to have one or more mobile phones: Germany, for example, has 1.2 phones per person. For residents in emerging countries, however, where income can be under a dollar per day, a handset purchase is considered a luxury. Dual SIM handsets from Nokia and others are targeted for these specific markets, allowing two people to share the same phone. That’s one solution, but it pales in scope next to what Movirtu offers with its MX Share platform, which leverages the cloud to make millions of mobiles potentially sharable among a number of different people.

With MX Share, subscribers purchase airtime minutes, services and their own phone number, even if they have no phone. Using either a pay phone or someone else’s handset, a subscriber can log-in to their phone account to place prepaid calls, send text messages or check voicemail. No special handset or other hardware is required.

Essentially, the model is similar to sharing a computer through multiple accounts; sign in to get your data and use the device. The key difference is that the account management enabling handset use is handled in the cloud, not on the individual device. Discovery likens the approach to using web-based email, another communications method that people can use on practically any web-connected computing device.

The approach reminds me of Google Voice, which allows callers to reach me regardless of the phone I’m currently using. Of course, Movirtu’s product is geared to a different audience: individuals, families or villages that could benefit from sharing a single handset. Those who can afford a mobile device can also benefit by offering their handset to others due to Movirtu’s SharePaid feature — handset owners earn a small credit for allowing non-phone owners to borrow their device for calls or service. It’s a win for all parties involved.
Vasu
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Vasu »

A. Raja's garage sale of spectrum, considered a scarce national resource, has cost the Indian exchequer INR 1.8 lakh crore, or USD 40 billion.

CAG pegs revenue loss due to Raja at Rs 1.8L cr
The country’s chief auditor has formally indicted communications minister A Raja for causing a loss of up to Rs177,000 crore to the government by selling airwaves, a scarce national resource, at a fraction of their original value, disregarding the advice of several government departments, a development that provides fresh ammunition to Opposition parties who have been baying for his blood since 2008.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in its report submitted to the government on Wednesday after an 18-month probe, added that the telecom minister had caused losses between Rs90,000 crore and Rs140,000 crore by awarding scarce airwaves to new entrants in 2008 using a faulty and outdated policy.

Pan-India licences and airwaves were sold to nine companies, including Swan (now Etisalat), Datacom (Videocon), Unitech, Sistema-Shyam and Loop, for a mere Rs1,651 crore each, a price fixed in 2001, when the mobile subscriber base was 45 million and industry valuations were poor. Along with these nine companies, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices were also given dual licences at the 2001 price, enabling them to offer services on both GSM and CDMA technology platforms.

The report also points out that licences given to five companies—Essar Group-owned Loop Telecom , realty firm Unitech, which in turn ceded majority control to Norway’s Telenor, Datacom (Videocon), Swan (Etisalat DB) and S Tel—were illegal as these companies did not fulfil the eligibility criteria for obtaining telecom licences while adding that the communications ministry failed to reject their applications, further embarrassing the government, which has been battling allegations of a cover-up in investigating the allocation of mobile permits awarded in 2008.
The CAG report adds that Mr Raja’s ministry doled out extra airwaves to existing telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, BSNL among others, beyond what they were entitled to, causing an additional loss of nearly Rs 37,000 crore to the exchequer.

The chief auditor, in its damaging report, concluded: “The minister (Raja) for no apparent logical and valid reasons ignored the advice of the ministry of law, ministry of finance, and avoided the deliberations of the Telecom Commission (the highest decision-making body of the communications ministry) to allocate 2G airwaves, a scarce finite national asset, at less than its true value on flexible criteria and procedures adopted to benefit a few operators. Trai, the regulator, also stood by as a helpless spectator when its recommendations were being either ignored or misused.”

Many of these companies, which bagged licences in 2008 for a mere Rs 1,651 crore, later sold stake to foreign companies for huge valuations. For instance, Swan offloaded a 45% stake to the UAE’s Etisalat for $900 million; Unitech divested up to 67.25% in its telecom venture to Norway’s Telenor for $1.1 billion; while S Tel sold 49% to Bahrain’s Batelco for about $225 million. The CAG report adds that the high valuations provided further proof that a pan-India telecom licence was worth anywhere between Rs 7,442 crore and Rs 47,912 crore.
There have been murmers of this CONgressi getting the sandal too.

Licenses been taken away will probably not happen, but maybe the government (if not this corrupt Congressi government then any other) forces these companies to pay retrospective charges. Quite possible that we may see days of higher tariffs ahead, but its all very unclear right now.
Tanaji
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Tanaji »

manish wrote: The implications of this move will be huge as merging circles will result in a drastic reductions in instances of 'roaming' for customers. The move will hit the revenues and bottom lines of operators. Remember the reaction of the telcos when EU tried to clampdown on roaming charges a couple of years ago?

They make really nice margins on roaming calls - any effort to touch them will be met with cries and howls.
Well in the end, in face of the EU regulator they rolled over and played ball. Roaming charges in EU are now capped for voice. For data, most operators will send you a text laying out exactly what amount they will charge. Furthermore, they will offer you the option to purchases "passes" of fixed duration and data limit for a price lower than pay as you go.

But you are right there will be howls of protests.

The worst rip offs are the SMS charges.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Vasu »

huh, might as well bang your head against the wall. And why should the PM act on something that I am positive is sanctioned by the top.

2G spectrum scam: Supreme Court criticizes PM for alleged inaction
The Supreme Court on Tuesday was critical of the Prime Minister for taking 16 months to decide on whether Telecom Minister A Raja could be prosecuted for giving away 2G spectrum at throwaway prices in 2008. "The alleged inaction and silence is worrying us," said the court.

Raja has been formally indicted in a report by the government's auditor for costing the government nearly Rs. 1.76 lakh crore by refusing to auction the spectrum. That report - by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, though it was leaked to the media last week.

In November 2008, Subramaniam Swamy, former Law Minister and Janata Party leader, wrote to the PM asking for permission to prosecute Raja. For Raja to have been prosecuted by a court, the PM's sanction was needed because he was a serving minister.

In March this year, the Department of Personnel (who the CBI reports to) wrote back to Swamy saying that since the CBI was investigating the case, it would not be appropriate to consider Swamy's request at this stage.

The Supreme Court wants the Solicitor General to find out what happened during the year between Swamy lodging his complaint in November 2008 , and the filing of an FIR in the 2G case in October 2009.

The court also wants to know what transpired between then and March 2010 when Swamy finally received his reply.

"For good governance, there must be some time-limit for granting sanctions, if not three months. But 11 months is too long," said the court.
Governance seems to have failed at all levels during this corrupt CONgress regime.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Tanaji »

Cross posting from Nukkad thread:
Stan_Savljevic wrote:Tanaji, are you watching the 2g scandal? Any idea as to who the f owns Unitech and Swan?

I thought it was reliance with swan, some digging shows that schreiber foods is involved. Some more digging shows a gazillion subsidiaries based in mauritius. Seems like the balwas and goenkas are well-connected politically, which can only mean that the scam is a pyramid scheme. To boot, none of these folks have any idea about telecom and are realty majors with a lot of money to spare. I am clueless on unitech.
Tanaji wrote:Well Swan is the definition of pyramid schemes with lots of benaami owners. As you say no one can quite figure out with public info who is behind Swan. My guess is eventually, some connection will lead back to the Congress (not just Cong bashing here), but this benaami offshore ownership concept was pioneered by them especially Mauritius.

Unitech is more straightforward and is owned by the Chandras. These are major real estate guys, but the key question is on what basis did they even get a telecom license? Sure they roped in Telenor which is a major Nordic telco with experience in Asian markets, but at the time they bid for the license, the Chandras had majority stake. Based on this alone, there was no way they would have gotten a license. With the RE crash, apparently Telenor has picked up 60% stake in the Uninor venture. The Chandras now brazenly admit that they had no intention from beginning to go into telecom... so the scam was to pick up a license, and mint money off it later. A. Raja opened the shop, these guys paid.

It is inconceivable that A. Raja and DMK were alone in this given the money involved. There are just too many babus around and A Raja does not have that kind of authority. The other question is why the regulator TRAI was silent in this affair, I mean this is one of the key areas for TRAI... so someone shut up the TRAI or ensured that it didnt raise a big stink. That sort of power requires serious pull.
Marten wrote:Tanaji, it reeks of payoffs right from the top. We're only being exposed to the top layer of these scams. Can you imagine how much money has been lost in all? I'm afraid all of us will pay for the inability to vote out these slugs for a fresh bunch which will of course start with their counter at 0! Gareeb junta is screwed either ways...
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Post by Tanaji »

So it is appearing that a whole host of entities were involved and it was a mil baat ke khaayenge at the feeding trough:

http://www.rediff.com/news/special/dr-s ... 101117.htm
Also interesting is the fact that all through the brewing controversy which has now erupted in the sacking of A Raja, almost every authority and interested party were closely involved in serious wrangling on key issues relating to allocation of spectrum, procedures for issue of licenses, dual technology and number portability, etc.

Apart from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India [ Images ], Telecom Engineering Centre, and the law and justice ministry, other players who were deeply involved in pro-active lobbying and recommendations were the Cellular Operators Association of India and a specially convened Group of Ministers and even the ministries of defence and external affairs.

The Solicitor General of India had also been periodically and frequently approached and so to was the Delhi [ Images ] high court and the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal before which the COAI and other players filed petitions at various times.

In addition a committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of the additional secretary DoT with two professors from IIT Kanpur [ Images ] and IIT Chennai, with specialisation in radio frequency, had also submitted a report on the contentious issue of subscriber based criteria for additional spectrum to existing operators.
Am sure this will be covered up as usual.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Tanaji »

Yuvraj has said that he will fight corruption.

This is the best issue for him to take on. Wanna bet if he will?
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by manish »

Tanaji wrote:Yuvraj has said that he will fight corruption.

This is the best issue for him to take on. Wanna bet if he will?
Probably not saar. He prefers to limit himself to playing the 'soldier of the oppressed in Dilli' role which is far simpler and easier.

That role also appeals instantly to the jholawallah brigade while simultaneously shooting down the aspirations of business houses aligned against the 'friendly forces'. No such 'synergies' in play here - rather it is quite the opposite with many 'friends and family' likely to face scrutiny if the issue stays in the limelight much longer IMVVHO.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by jagga »

Its a very good article,Posting in full
How to create Indian Huaweis & ZTEs
Did you know that Indian operators import virtually all the telecom equipment needed for setting up a network?

These imports were Rs 46,158 crore (Rs 461.58 billion) in 2008-09 and account for about 13 per cent of India's current trade deficit.

As of September 2010, India had 684 million mobile subscribers. By 2015, this number is expected to cross 1.2 billion, including 115 million 3G users, growth that is expected to fuel demand for telecom equipment worth $70 billion to $100 billion till 2015.

A big inflection point would be 3G investments, which would be approximately $15 billion across operators. Therefore, India has the world's second-largest wireless market after China.

Only a few years ago, China was in a similar situation. Today, Huawei and ZTE are reputed vendors.

Instead of knowing what India did not do, it would be useful to know what it can learn from China.

First, the government started the 'China 863' programme or State High-Tech Development Plan to develop new technologies.

It forced vendors like NSN and Ericsson to manufacture with 95 per cent local staff and 100 per cent local content. Huawei and ZTE came up through domestic partnerships that NSN and Ericsson set up. Operators supported them through forced purchases for five to seven years.

China also took the lead by defining its own 3G standards (TD-SCDMA) and developed an ecosystem for manufacturing network infrastructure and devices.

Since telecom operators are controlled by the government, they created a window for indigenous R&D products.

Chinese vendors ensured that a certain technology that was not in the portfolio would be developed in-house.

For example, China delayed the 3G rollout until domestic manufacturing competence was in place. Tax breaks, research grants and cheap loans from state-owned banks helped reduce cost.

What must we do to build a telecom industrial complex?
First, develop a political will and acceptance of a long-term policy by ruling and key opposition parties. Every vendor wants uniform policies, irrespective of which party is in power.

To avoid a Commonwealth Games-like fiasco, the mission to produce locally should be headed by a CEO, a respectable name from the telecom industry, who holds rank of minister of state.

To remove inter-departmental hurdles, a group of ministers consisting of the finance, home and communication ministers and the CEO should meet monthly.

Second, lack of R&D and testing facilities is a weak link in India. Developing R&D could be a joint effort between, say, ISRO, BEL, the IITs and IT companies.

To this end, a dedicated R&D fund could be created from the auction of spectrum and the balance in the underutilised USO fund, which was Rs 14,157 crore (Rs 141.57 billion) on March 31, 2010.

One of the critical resources for a telecom start-up is access to testing facilities.

The government should develop processes for facilitating access to a national telecom test-bed (such as C-DOT, ALTTC) and state-of-the-art private test-beds (like that of Bharti, Vodafone or Reliance) and support the creation of standards and the affiliation with standard creation bodies.

Third, the regulatory framework for manufacturing equipment needs to change. The company must be a joint venture between a foreign vendor and an Indian partner where the latter holds a favourable stake.

Transfer of technology and software codes must be mandatory. Also, the joint venture must start with 60 per cent indigenisation in year one, going up to 95 per cent in year three.

Between years one and three an offset policy should be in place that requires 20 per cent in the form of core Indian parts. Also, 95 per cent of the employees in the joint venture must be local.

Equipment sold by the joint venture to Indian operators should be given a price preference of, say, 20 per cent, like Bhel used to get in power equipment.

Like the Indian software industry, telecom equipment joint ventures must be supported by incentives. Industry sources say just as the diamond industry is allowed to import raw stones for cutting and polishing, import of all base components (PCBs, chips) should be allowed duty-free subject to reasonable value-addition norms.

Allowing external commercial borrowing for working capital, equalising central sales tax and VAT on equipment sales at 2 per cent, allowing a 10-year tax holiday but exempting these joint ventures from Minimum Alternate Tax would also help.

The benefits of producing locally are manifold. One, the multiplier effect of approximately $100 billion worth of equipment bought would be 2.5-3 times. It would create at least 75,000 skilled jobs and 250,000 unskilled ones. It would help reduce India's current account deficit.

The indigenous manufacture of equipment would also make India less susceptible to threats by any country. During the recent stand-off between China and Japan, the Chinese retaliated by delayed export of rare earths to Japan.

Also, as operators like Bharti acquire a global footprint a localised equipment industry means they can source equipment from India.

The writer is managing consultant, Surya Consulting.
*Some recommendations in this article are borrowed from industry's response to Trai's consultation paper on the issue.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Stan_Savljevic »

Anil firm in report --- Swan tied to Reliance Telecom
http://telegraphindia.com/1101117/jsp/f ... 187355.jsp
Audit report bares all on Raja ---- Minister ignored PM advice
http://telegraphindia.com/1101117/jsp/b ... 186608.jsp
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Tanaji »

Stan, have you noticed how *everyone* is in on the scam?

Earlier it used to be just the ruling party that used to get the loot, this time it seems robbing the exchequer was organized so that the businesses profited massively and everybody co-operated. Lets start making a list of people/organizations whose duty was to prevent this but deliberately did not:

TRAI
Law Ministry
Bureaucrats such as T K Vishwanathan
PM's Principal Secretary T K A Nair
Cabinet Secretary Chandrashekhar
All bureaucrats of DoT for various lapses, including not referring to ministry of company affairs, EGOM etc etc
PM himself because it ends with him

Complicit in the loot were

Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal
COAI
Most telecom majors

What is sad is that A. Raja opened a shop, and the entire telecom industry lined up, ethics, morals and law of the land be damned.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Virupaksha »

X- posting from psy-ops to the location where it should be in all it's glory
Mauli wrote:
The man who felled a king
November 17, 2010 10:03:34 AM

Chandan Mitra | New Delhi

The Pioneer felicitates J Gopikrishnan, who unearthed the spectrum scam


The Pioneer Investigative Team asked Gopi to unravel his journey from a fledgling political reporter to giant killer. Excerpts from a chat:

Q: How did you come across the 2G scam story?

A: We sensed a scam when Swan and Unitech started offloading shares at whopping prices of `4,500 crore and `6,200 crore in September 2008. Bureau chief Navin Upadhyay asked me to dig for information and luckily we got a great whistleblower, who knew the ins and outs of the Telecom Ministry. He once told me the PM was totally unhappy with Raja and had summoned him to ask what was going on.

Slowly, the whistleblower narrated the entire range of corruption in the Ministry. Those days, Minister Raja was making false claims that he had followed his predecessors. This young Government officer told me about the parking of funds in front companies by the Minister and his associates in the name of relatives. He told me who the actual beneficiaries of the scam were, including corporates, politicians and lobbyists.

This officer asked me to talk to my Editor and get his consent and only then would he reveal further. The Editor told me to go ahead and the whistleblower became a goldmine of hidden information for The Pioneer. Days and nights of discussion and checking the authenticity of facts happened in his office and at many crowded places in the city, once it became important to avoid detection.

Q: Which was the first story you did and what was the reaction?

A: After finding out the gamut of front companies dealing in real estate, we decided to expose Raja’s ill-gotten wealth. Chandan Mitra and Navin Upadhyay saw all documents and decided to go ahead with the series. The first story appeared on December 11, 2008, on Raja’s main real estate front company, Green House Promoters. The details of other companies and hidden irregularities in the spectrum scam were published over the following days.

Q: Did you come under pressure to stop the campaign? How did you ward them off?

A: I met Raja after the first report, as directed by the Editor. He alleged that I was being funded by his rivals in the party and even told me some names. He was visibly shaken asking me how I got the details of his personal assets. He requested me to avoid writing. My reply was that I had been deputed by the Editor only to take his version, nothing else. Raja agreed to speak, but repeatedly requested me to stop writing further on this. Similarly, many corporate groups were after me with the same plea. I must say none threatened or behaved badly.

Those days, Raja was planning to conduct the 3G auction at cheap base rates without Cabinet’s approval. Many agents from the corporate sector requested us to stop our series of exposes, saying our reports would force the Government to refer the 3G auction to an EGoM. We told them that was exactly what we wanted. But I must say some friends with contacts in high places warned me I may be targeted. It was a hidden warning, which I ridiculed. It would not be fair to reveal what kind of offers were made by different entities to avoid the 3G issue going to an EGoM. But finally, the Cabinet referred it to an EGoM, which put Raja out of the picture and the nation netted `1.06 lakh crore.

Q: Did any political or corporate entity offer you financial inducements to stop writing on this?

A: Yes, they did. The figures were mind-boggling. Corporate lobbyists and Raja’s people even asked me to stop informing the Editor and end the series abruptly. I told them even the meeting with them was in the knowledge of the Editor and the Bureau chief. Some shameless fellows tried to access Raja, claiming friendship with me. Some were acting as double agents. One top lobbyist was actually a double agent. That person was leaking information against Raja while providing information to him too. Pressure on the whistleblower was enormous by now, but he stood by us fearlessly. There were several politicians who enlightened and encouraged me. Some bureaucrats and police officials also guided our investigations.

Q: Do you think the matter will end with Raja’s resignation or will more heads roll?

A: I personally feel the court cases filed by Subramanian Swamy and Prashant Bhushan would come to logical conclusions, leading to the cancellation of all licences which were found illegal by CAG. The court may direct auctions to be held like the old petrol pump scam of Satish Sharma. I don’t expect anything from the Government in this matter. Some persons, including Raja, may face the wrath of the law. I don’t think anything harsh will happen to corporates from the Government’s side. After the CAG report and PAC findings, if the Government has the willpower, it can -- by executive order -- cancel all licences and order auction, which will definitely fetch around `2-3 lakh crore.

Q: How do you think the Government can make the spectrum policy transparent and above board?

A: Spectrum management should be handed over to ISRO, but no politician would like that for obvious reasons. In India, spectrum is not yet audited. No one knows how much spectrum is available. This was purposefully done for making easy money. First the Government should ask an organisation like ISRO to audit spectrum availability in all departments. Only then will transparency come.

Q: After Telecom what? Do you have more targets in mind?

A: No idea. I felt totally exhausted upon learning of Raja’s resignation. I was expecting good news on Sunday, when sources told me Pranab Mukherjee had firmly asked Karunanidhi at 11.30 am to remove Raja. This was doubly confirmed when they later said Raja was forced to sign the papers around 5.30 pm. Anyway, no idea what’s for me next…life will go on. I was covering Health and Left (parties) those days. By a stroke of luck, Raja came on our radar…

http://www.dailypioneer.com/296854/The- ... -king.html
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Vipul »

What is very sad is taht the resignation of Raja is considered by many as the price that he should pay for his role in this massive scam.He should be jailed and all his ill gotten wealth should be confiscated and given into the national treasury.
The DMK goons have acted only because of the upcoming election and they got into a panic because of the AIADMK offer to Congress I for a tie-up.
Supreme Court has rightly pulled up the PM for his tacit involvement in the scam by not taking action against Raja for the last 18 months inspite of all the proofs.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by ramana »

Stan_Savljevic wrote:Anil firm in report --- Swan tied to Reliance Telecom
http://telegraphindia.com/1101117/jsp/f ... 187355.jsp
Audit report bares all on Raja ---- Minister ignored PM advice
http://telegraphindia.com/1101117/jsp/b ... 186608.jsp
Wasn't Anilbhai the priem over in the formation of UPA govt in 2004? It was his trip to Lucknow to persuade Mulayam Singh Yadav to support the UPA swallowing his disgust with SG led INC that enabled the govt formation.

So its but natural for him to benefit from the loot.

Best option is to cancel the 2G licences and let them re-bid openly.

Look like Raja was robo-signer too!
The Anil Ambani group has been identified as the biggest beneficiary of A. Raja’s decisions in January 2008 when the just-resigned minister had doled out a record 122 licences in a single day.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by AjayKK »

Tanaji wrote:

What is sad is that A. Raja opened a shop, and the entire telecom industry lined up, ethics, morals and law of the land be damned.
Yesterday, on Headlines Today, the panel consisted of Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, journalists Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Sandeep Bamzai (?).
Swamy made the point that Raja is only the last and the smallest link of the scam. It is as good as saying that he was led into it by his real-estate brokers, whom he came in touch while at the MoEF. This article sums up what Swamy was saying:

DNA: Not just Raja; the buck stops with Sonia and Manmohan
The media is barking up the wrong tree because it has put three people — the PM, Sonia Gandhi and Karunanidhi — in the “beyond reproach” category. Going after them, and the businessmen involved, has consequences for journalists and the media — loss of access to the dynasty, harassment of Tamil Nadu-based journalists, etc. This is why the focus is on Raja and some faceless bureaucrats.

Raja is the symptom of the underlying rot. The disease is something else. The prime minister knows the answer to the Supreme Court’s question, but he cannot utter it. Sonia Gandhi also knows the answer, but she is completely unaccountable to anyone. Raja knows the answer, but he cannot speak ill of his mentor and master. Karunanidhi knows the answer, but why will he say anything to incriminate himself?
The discussion had its share of funny moments when Sandeep Bamzai tried to portray MMS as someone who was clean and "promised action" in his letters which he had written. At that instant, Subramanian Swamy pulled out the letter which stated :
Received your letter dated dd/mm/yyyy
Regards,
...
It is funny how merely an acknowledgment letter was being portrayed as Action Promised Letter by those batting for MMS!
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Murugan »

The scandal managers of congress are running helter skelter. The spokesperson like Manish Tiwari et al are no more visible on idiot box.

Rahul bhai does not know hat is happening. Genie is out of bottle and congress is praying hard.

Hope the ruling major party learns something outta these many scandals and allows an elected common indian origin man/MP to become a PM of Bharat, asking dynasty to step back and go to oblivion 'cause people need a desi capable person elected by them and not from dynasty. this will surely wash the many scandulous sins.

+ bringing back all the people's money to nation's treasury will be of great service to the people.
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Post by Murugan »

TRAI urges the govt to cancel the licenses

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_tr ... rs_1468494
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Post by Murugan »

By the time they (scandal managers) have found the scape goat again a bureaucrat

http://www.timesnow.tv/Probe-closes-in- ... 358632.cms

(this is similar to arresting darbari and mahendroo in CWG scam) No minister will ever be arrested or punished.

Jai Ho etc.
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Post by Murugan »

Now see How sidhe saade PM is being made a scapegoat

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dmk-armtwist ... 37-64.html


"You had kindly assured me that the Terms of Reference of the GOM would be drawn up exactly the way we wanted it which was to focus only on the issue of vacation of spectrum. The GOM has much wider Terms of Reference, which impinge upon the work of the ministry itself. I will be grateful if you could kindly instruct the concerned to modify the Terms of Reference as suggested by us," Maran wrote in the letter.

The then cabinet secretary BK Chaturvedi issued fresh terms of reference in a letter dated December 7, 2006, a copy of which is with CNN-IBN. The Cabinet Secretary's letter was written with the consent of Manmohan Singh.

But in 2007, the then finance secretary Ashok Jha complained to cabinet secretary BK Chaturvedi to re-include spectrum pricing in EGOM's mandate. But there was no reply to the finance secretary's letter.

Reacting to CNN-IBN's expose DMK sources have reacted, saying, "The only issue that was contentious at that point of time was how much spectrum should be vacated by the defence forces. The GoM was initially set up only to discuss and decide on that issue. There were several discussions and several letters between the Prime Minister and telecom minister on this as spectrum was scarce. The matter was resolved and decided upon. Pricing and all other issues have to be done according to TRAI recommendations not by a GoM. Several lobbies were operating but everything was done in a clean and transparent manner."

Manmohan Singh could not apparently counter the demands of Maran because the DMK has been a very crucial ally of the Congress since 2004. The Prime Minister could have done very little because of the nature of coalition politics prevailing at the Centre.

But the big questions CNN-IBN is asking: 1) Did coalition pressures force the Prime Minister to accept DMK's terms?

2) The Prime Minister was keen to go in for an auction route in determining spectrum pricing. Why could not he push for it?

3) What was the Congress 'party' doing if the Prime Minister was being overruled by an ally like the DMK?

4) Should the Prime Minister have called the DMK's bluff much earlier?

5) Why did the Prime Minister succumb to DMK and keep spectrum pricing out of EGoM?
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by jamwal »

jagga wrote:Its a very good article,Posting in full
How to create Indian Huaweis & ZTEs

It forced vendors like NSN and Ericsson to manufacture with 95 per cent local staff and 100 per cent local content. Huawei and ZTE came up through domestic partnerships that NSN and Ericsson set up. Operators supported them through forced purchases for five to seven years.

China also took the lead by defining its own 3G standards (TD-SCDMA) and developed an ecosystem for manufacturing network infrastructure and devices.

Since telecom operators are controlled by the government, they created a window for indigenous R&D products.

Chinese vendors ensured that a certain technology that was not in the portfolio would be developed in-house.

For example, China delayed the 3G rollout until domestic manufacturing competence was in place. Tax breaks, research grants and cheap loans from state-owned banks helped reduce cost.
Huawei & ZTE didn't design or manufacture a thing on their own. All the products that I've seen are rip-offs of foreign brands with much lower reliability and performance. China can show the finger whenever foreign companies raise the issue of violation of patent rights, theft of technology etc. Can India do the same ?
Except for BSNL and MTNL, none of telecom companies are owned by government. India can't hold up rolling out of new technologies or force vendors to buy indigenous equipment just like that either.
BTW, Chinese policies regarding telecom sound quite a bit like Indian policies for defence. :mrgreen:
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by manish »

jamwal wrote:
Huawei & ZTE didn't design or manufacture a thing on their own. All the products that I've seen are rip-offs of foreign brands with much lower reliability and performance. China can show the finger whenever foreign companies raise the issue of violation of patent rights, theft of technology etc. Can India do the same ?
Except for BSNL and MTNL, none of telecom companies are owned by government. India can't hold up rolling out of new technologies or force vendors to buy indigenous equipment just like that either.
BTW, Chinese policies regarding telecom sound quite a bit like Indian policies for defence. :mrgreen:
Saar, I would say that the bolded part is no longer completely true and would indeed be a gross generalization IMHO.

The (in)famous Cisco umm...incident of 2003 was a turning point in many ways within Huawei at least. Slowly but steadily the share of in-house R&D has risen according to the best of my knowledge. They would not (could not) become the top 2-top 3 players in most segments on the back of copying and price advantage alone is what I would like to think - esp not with Western European telcos where they would surely get in trouble for selling their own stuff back to them with different badging.

But what you say is 400% applicable to how they started out and grew - how many realize that Huawei started out as a mere distributor of imported PBX eqpt and did just that till the mid-1990s? The Great Leap Forward came in the late 1990s fueled in large part by the 'tactics' that you have attributed to them (along with the home advantage in PRC).
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by jamwal »

I'm talking of my experience of about 2-3 years back. It's entirely possible that they've changed somewhat in the meantime. Back then, the Chinese stuff that I worked on was just a poor imitation of established European brands, Nokia-Siemens, Ericsson and so on.
Engineers at the telecom company constantly complained how their Huawei switches keep crashing and give lower performance than much older non-Chinese stuff.
I think I've posted all this in this thread sometime ago.

I'm not aware of Huawei, ZTE selling anything in Europe or US even now. Almost all of their overseas business is concentrated in Asia and Africa AFAIK.


BTW, who owns Anda Telecom ? It's MD is a UK based NRI. This company is starting to get a little visibility in some circles.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by manish »

jamwal wrote:I'm talking of my experience of about 2-3 years back. It's entirely possible that they've changed somewhat in the meantime. Back then, the Chinese stuff that I worked on was just a poor imitation of established European brands, Nokia-Siemens, Ericsson and so on.
Engineers at the telecom company constantly complained how their Huawei switches keep crashing and give lower performance than much older non-Chinese stuff.
I think I've posted all this in this thread sometime ago.

I'm not aware of Huawei, ZTE selling anything in Europe or US even now. Almost all of their overseas business is concentrated in Asia and Africa AFAIK.


BTW, who owns Anda Telecom ? It's MD is a UK based NRI. This company is starting to get a little visibility in some circles.
jamwal ji, I am not questioning your real world experience and I even concurred with your assertion on them copying stuff. But as I said earlier, a gradual but very pronounced shift was seen post-2003 at least and the effects would probably trickle down to commercialized installations starting around 2006-07 at the earliest given the long road from concept to development to testing and finally onto commercialization.

Huawei has had a strategic partnership going with Vodafone (for the past 2-3 years at least) and is one of the chosen partners for BT's ambitious 21CN network (Huawei's selection in that bid effectively sealed Marconi's fate which had to be sold off to Ericsson eventually). Huawei was building out key sections of KPN's 3G/UMTS network as far back as 2005 itself. Telefonica is very big customer as well and their LatAm ops provide good business to Huawei.

It is the US market where they haven't had a major victory yet (although there have been persistent rumblings about imminent deals, especially in the 4G/LTE space). Once upon a time they had a US based subsidiary named Futurewei (the parent's name got a serious beating there post the 'Cisco Fiasco') which has since been absorbed back into the dragon. They do (or at least used to) run two R&D centers there.

It seems like the EU decided to rollover and play dead in front of Chicoms a long time ago in comparison to US/NA. But everywhere the forts are crumbling - Nortel's dead and 3Com is no more an independent entity (strangely enough it survived in its last few years almost solely on the back of its Huawei-3COM subsidiary). Alcatel has been forced to merge with Lucent and NSN hasn't had a great year or so. In fact NSN's bosses have been on record saying that the world market has space for only 3 biggies - it remains to be seen who they will be but there HAS to be some consolidation/casualties on the way to get there.

Huawei would perhaps be the last company to qualify for a morality and ethics prize but their inhouse capabilities are far better than they used to be, and are only getting better. That is all that I wanted to convey.

Couple the above with the downturn in the Western economies and the easy availability of low cost vendor financing from the PRC firms and you end up with the perfect storm that has seen the likes of Huawei and ZTE report their best ever sales and earnings during the global economic downturn. They are definitely not good news for our nation and as I have repeatedly lamented on this very thread in the past, we are guilty of criminal negligence when it comes to the development of a world-class telecom infrastructure industry.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by jamwal »

Manish saar, no need for ji

We both are saying the same thing. Last time I worked on such equipment was in 2007. They might have changed a lot by now.
All is still not lost. Among existing players, Tejas still manufactures fairly good equipment that engineers like, ITI is kind of shoddy, but can do well with better management and quality control. I don't know what's stopping other players from entering the field ? Fear of competition from existing players may be . You can't expect Tata and Reliance Telecom to manufacture their own equipment separately or even jointly. Or can you ?? It'll save these companies a hell lot of money.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Tanaji »

I'm not aware of Huawei, ZTE selling anything in Europe or US even now. Almost all of their overseas business is concentrated in Asia and Africa AFAIK.
Not true. At least 2 major operators in UK have Huawei . In US, some operators have them as well.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Singha »

huawei was kept out by GOTUS recently from a couple of huge RBOC contracts, but worldwide they are very strong now.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by manish »

Singha wrote:huawei was kept out by GOTUS recently from a couple of huge RBOC contracts, but worldwide they are very strong now.
With the main doors being closed, they tried the back door route via M&As but so far success has eluded them there as well. They have tried long and hard, but to no avail so far.

They tried to buy out Marconi - it went to Ericsson.
They tried to buy 3Com along with Bain Capital (rumoured to be a temporary arrangement supposed to lead to a Unitech like selloff to Huawei eventually) - it went to HP
They tried to buy Nortel's Metro Ethernet unit - it went to Ciena
They tried to buy Motorola's networking unit - it went to NSN
They tried to buy 2Wire - it went to Pace.
Closer home, they tried to buy ITI (at least publicly claimed that they were interested) - GoI would have none of it.

There were even rumours of a possible bid for AlcaLu earlier this year but it later fizzled out.

They certainly are trying hard. But the Governments around the world are not going to back down so easily against a company that has uncomfortably close ties to PRC's 'establishment'. India and NA have been the toughest to crack for them, but in a country run by people like Jairam Ramesh (Google 'Jairam Ramesh Huawei') the first cracks in the fort have already appeared.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by rahulm »

When its possible to make a decent profit by being a buyer of technology why would Indian telcos; commercial enterprises that they are, invest in creating local telecom IP? No one is stopping them from trying.

What success the Chinese TD-CDMA has,time will tell but at least they seem to be thinking on the right lines:
TD-SCDMA is being pursued in the People's Republic of China by the Chinese Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT), Datang and Siemens AG, in an attempt not to be dependent on Western technology. This is likely primarily for practical reasons, other 3G formats require the payment of patent fees to a large number of Western patent holders [4].
One of the pillars of power is IP. China is trying to create the IP. We are busy consuming western IP.

We need a national effort to create IP in many areas, including telecom.

In the terrestrial space,the good effort started by Sam Pitroda and C-DOT got watered down. Apparently, Alcatel tried and succeeded to a degree in sabotaging it.

For the size of the market, we are a buyer not producer of mobile phone IP.

We seem to heading in the right direction in the automobile space (minus engines, off course!)
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by rahulm »

Won’t cancel 2G licences, will get firms to pay: Sibal
The new Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today strongly defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 2G spectrum controversy and ruled out cancellation of licences awarded to companies in January 2008 as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Thursday.

Instead, the government would arrive at a fresh valuation of the spectrum given to licencees and ask them to pay the difference{And why should the licencees pay now. They could well argue that they paid the GoI the price asked by the GoI's representative, Raja.? If I pay the price the super market asked me at the time of purchase and the supermaket at a later date asks me to pay a higher price because they got it wrong, its not my problem. Possibility of a stay order & lengthy court case by the licencees.}

“We will recover the revenue lost...we will define parameters and assess the value of spectrum. We will say keep your spectrum but give us more money for the cheap licences you got. We cannot do injustice to genuine investors and cannot deprive customers of telecom services. But the loss the exchequer has faced must be compensated,” Sibal said. {This is good intent. Lets see if this can be translated into action. By some accounts the loss was circa $40 billion}
And what about Raja? He laughed all the way to the bank and is still laughing, I am sure. First, Raja must be stripped of all his assets, every single one of them, the proceeds deposited in a special recovery vehicle and then the GoI must pursue the licencees.

There must be severe financial pain for Raja's ill-gotten gains firstly to do justice and then to set an example for others. Only a combination of severe financial pain, a lengthy hard labour jail term and a life term ban on political participation at every level will be apt justice and an example else the robbing of the exchequer will continue.

Does not the value of this thievery beat Harshad Mehta + Telgi combined?
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Vasu »

Rahul, I had made the same point earlier as well. There seems to be an unwritten code among all politicians that even if one is implicated in any scandal, the money stolen will not be forced out. In Indian scandals, money once lost remains lost. There is absolutely no effort to retrieve it.

The media does need to question Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and K Karunanidhi harder. It is absolutely incomprehensible to me why the media worships Sonia Gandhi so much. She is apparently beyond question and beyond reproach. The same goes for Karunanidhi. The Hindu newspaper regularly features him as the great savior of the Tamil nation. Bah.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by geeth »

The new Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today strongly defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 2G spectrum controversy and ruled out cancellation of licences awarded to companies in January 2008 as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Thursday.
How can he say it won't be canceled, when the matter is sub judice? What if the Supreme Court rules that it be canceled?
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Raghavendra »

Vasu wrote:The same goes for Karunanidhi. The Hindu newspaper regularly features him as the great savior of the Tamil nation. Bah.
N.Ram editor of The Hindu is married to niece of Dayanidhi Maran of DMK
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by manish »

Raghavendra wrote:
Vasu wrote:The same goes for Karunanidhi. The Hindu newspaper regularly features him as the great savior of the Tamil nation. Bah.
N.Ram editor of The Hindu is married to niece of Dayanidhi Maran of DMK
Really? But saar isn't N Ram quite a bit older than D. Maran? Or do you mean Murasoli Maran?

N Ram's first wife was English and the second one was/is a Keralite. Don't know if she is related to the Marans though.
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Raghavendra »

^naana taapu saar

should be Dayanidhi Maran is married to N.Ram's niece

Full list of connections between media honchos
Image

Suzanna Arundhati Roy is niece of Prannoy Roy (CEO of NDTV)
Prannoy Roy married to Radhika Roy
Radhika Roy is sister of Brinda Karat (CPI(M))
Brinda Karat married to Prakash Karat (CPI(M) - General Secretary)
CPI(M)'s senior member of Politburo and Parliamentary Group Leader is Sitaram Yechury.
Sitaram Yechury is married to Seema Chisthi.

Seema Chisthi is the Resident Editor of Indian Express

Burkha Dutt works at NDTV
Rajdeep Sardesai was Managing Editor at NDTV
Rajdeep Sardesai married to Sagrika Ghose
Sagarika Ghose is daughter of Bhaskar Ghose.
Bhaskar Ghose was Director General of Doordarshan.
Sagarika Ghose's aunt is Ruma Pal
Ruma Pal is former justice of Supreme Cour
Sagarika Ghose's another aunt is Arundhati Ghose.
Arundhati Ghose was India's permanent representative/ambassador to United Nations.

Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy is the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
YSR Reddy is from the Congress party (INC).
YSR Reddy's father, Raja Reddy, setup a degree college and a Polytechnic in Pulivendula.
YSR Reddy has said that his one year study at Andhra Loyola College (ALC), a Jesuit institution, influenced him so much that he handed over the Pulivendula colleges to the Loyola Group.
The YS family has established several educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh.
YSR Reddy's daughter is Sharmila.
Sharmila married Anil Kumar, Anil Kumar converted to Christianity after the marriage.
Anil Kumar set up "Anil World Evangelism" and is an active Evangelist.
YSR Reddy's son is YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
YS Jagan is a youth Congress Leader.
YS Jagan is Chairman of Jagati Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Bhumna Karunakara Reddy is close to YSR Reddy.
Karunakara Reddy is the Chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam.
JPPL publishes the newspaper Sakshi.
Chandra Babu Naidu has claimed that Lanco group was forced to invest in JPPL.
L. Sridhar is alleged to have made the investment from Lanco Group.
L Sridhar is Lanco Infratech's Vice Chairman
L Sridhar's brother is L.Rajagopal.
L.Rajagopal joined Congress in 2003.
L Rajagopal is the son-in-law of P.Upendra.
P.Upendra is a former Minister from Congress.
Lanco Group's Chairman is L. Rajagopal
Andhra Prabha is a telugu newspaper started in 1938.
Andhra Prabha is owned by The New Indian Express Group.

Andhra Jyothi is a telugu newspaper.
Andhra Jyothi's Managing Director is Vemuri Radhakrishna.

SUN TV Network is owned by Kalanidhi Maran.
Kalanidhi Maran is the Chairman & Managing Director of SUN TV Network.
SUN TV network owns: Sun TV, Gemini TV, Teja TV, Surya TV, Kiran TV, Udaya TV, Surjo TV among other channels.
Kalanidhi Maran owns the tamil daily `Dinakaran'.
Dinakaran was started by a former DMK Minister K.P.Kandasamy.
Kalanidhi Maran's brother is Dayanidhi Maran.
Dayanidhi Maran was Minister of Communications and IT in the UPA government.
Kalanidhi Maran's father was Murasoli Maran.
Murasoli Maran was a Union Minister from the DMK party.
Murasoli Maran edited a tamil daily `Murasoli'.
Murasoli Maran was an editor to `The Rising Sun' a English weekly.
Murasoli Maran as a publisher published the following tamil magazines: Kungumam, Muththaram, Vannathirai & Sumangali.
Murasoli Maran's uncle is M.Karunanidhi.
M.Karunanidhi is Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, from the DMK party.
M.Karunanidhi launched Kalaignar TV in 2007.
M.K.Azhagiri owns Kalaignar TV.
M.K.Azhagiri is M.Karunanidhi's son.
M.K.Stalin is another son of the M.Karunanidhi..
M.K.Stalin was named after Joseph Stalin.
Joseph Stalin was the authoritarian leader of the Soviet Union.
M.K.Stalin is the Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration in Tamil Nadu.
Kanimozhi is one of the daughters of M.Karunanidhi.
Kanimozhi was a sub-editor for the `The Hindu'.
Kanimohi was Editor in Charge of `Kungumam' a tamil weekly.
Kanimozhi became a Rajya Sabha member in 2007.
Kanimozhi conducted programs in SUN TV and Vijay TV.
Kanimozhi's second husband G.Aravindan is Singapore based Tamil literary figure.


Dilip D'Souza was member of PIPFD
Dilip D'Souza's father was Joseph Bain D'Souza.
J.B.D'Souza was former Maharastra Chief Seccretary and activist.
Teesta Setalva member of PIPFD
Teesta Setalvad married to Javed Anand
Teesta and Javed run Sabrang Communications.
Javed Anand is General Secretary of Muslims for Secular Democracy { ?? }
Javed Akhtar is spokesperson for Muslims for Secular Democracy
Javed Akhtar married to Shabana Azmi
Karan Thapar owns ITV
ITV produces shows for BBC
Karan Thapar's father was General Pran Nath Thapar COAS during 1962 war, when India lost under his watch.
Karan Thapar was very good friend of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.
Benazir Bhutto was Pakistan's Prime Minister.
Benazir Bhutto's father was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Z.A.Bhutto served as Pakistan's President.
A.A.Zardar is the current Pakistani's President.
Karan Thapar's Mama was married to Nayantara Sahgal.
Nayantar Sahgal is daughter of Vijayalakshmi Pandit.
Vijayalakshmi Pandit was sister of Jawharlal Nehru.

Medha Patkar is a leading spokesperson for Narmada Bacho Andolan.
NBA was helped by Patrick McCully of International Rivers (formerly Internal Rivers Network.)
Angana Chatterjee was on the board of IRN
Dipti Bhatnagar was an Intern/Volunteer at IRN.
Dipti Bhatnagar is an activist at NBA.
]Dr. Angana Chatterjee part of PROXSA
PROXSA mother-ship of FOIL
ASHA endorsed by FOIL
Sandeep Pandey co-founder of Asha for education (ASHA)
Dr. Angana Chatterjee is married to Richard Shapiro
Richard Shapiro is Director and Associate Professor of the Grad. Anthropology Prgm at CIIS
Shubh Mathur co-wrote a letter with Angana on 'Humanitarian Crisis in J&K'
Biju Matthew is co-founder of FOIL.
Vijay Prasad is co-founder of FOIL.
Vijay Prasa co-authored with Angana Chatterjee and wrote against IDRF.
ASHA has association with AID
AID works with FOSA
FOSA started by a Pakistani - Ali Hasan Cemendtaur.
Amitava Kumar associated with FOIL
FOIL & FOSA opposed California Text Book Edits.
California Text Book Edits was opposed by Michael Witzel.
M.Witzel is Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University.

Rahul Bose is brother-in-law of Khalid Ansari.
Khalid Ansari is the Chairman of Mid-Day Group of Publication based in Mumbai.
Khalid Ansari is Chairman of M.C.Media Ltd.
M.C.Media Ltd. has a join-venture with BBC for FM radio brodcasting.
Khalid Ansari's father was Abdul Hameed Ansari.
A.H.Ansari was a freedom fighter and active Congressman.
Dr.John Dayal worked as a journalist with the N.Delhi edition of Mid-Day.
Narasimhan Ram is the Editor-in-Chief of 'The Hindu'.
N.Ram's first wife was Susan.
Susan, an Irish, was in charge of Oxford University Press publications in India.
N.Ram and Susan's daughter is Vidya Ram.
Vidya Ram is a journalist.
N.Ram is now married to Mariam.
N.Ram, Jennifer Arul and K.M.Roy participated in closed door Catholic Bishops Conference of India in Thrissur, Kerala.
Jennifer Arul is the Resident Editor and Bureau Chief in South India for NDTV.
Jennifer Arul is Chief Operating Office for Astro Awani - Indonesian news and information channel.
K.M.Roy was a reporter in `The Hindu'
K.M.Roy is the General Editor of the group of the `Mangalam' Publications.
Mangalam Group of Publications was started by M.C.Varghese
K.M.Roy received the `All India Catholic Union Lifetime Award'
All India Catholic Union's National Vice President is Dr.John Dayal.
Dr.John Dayal is also Secretary General of All India Christian Council (AICC)
AICC's President is Dr. Joseph D'souza
Dr. Joseph D'souza founded Dalit Freedom Network (USA)
Dr.Joseph D'Souza participated in the inaugural Religious Freedom Day

The Religious Freedom Day was attended by former Republican Sentor Rick Santorum
AICC claims Confederation of SC/ST Organizations (India) as a sister organization.
AICC claims Christian Solidarity Worldwide (UK) as a sister organization.
AICC claims Release International (UK) as a sister organization.
Release International states it supplies bibles and literature to meet the need of growth and evangelism.
Dalit Freedom Network's partner's with Operation Mobilization India.
OM India's South India Regional Director is Kumar Swamy
Kumar Swamy is the State President of Communal Harmony Committee.
Kumar Swamy serves with Karnataka State Human Rights Commission.
OM India's North India Regional Director is Moses Parmar.
Moses Parmar serves as North India Public Relations officer of the All India Christian Council (AICC)
OM seeks to plant and strengthen churches in areas of the world where Christ is least known.
OM ministries work with Dalit-Bahujan people in India.
Operation Mercy Charitable Company (OMCC) grew out of OM India
OMCC works with Dalit Freedom Network.
DFN has Dr. Kancha Illaiah on its Advisory Board.
Dr. Kancha Illaiah is a Professor in Osmania University, Hyderbad.
DFN has William Armstrong on its Advisory Board.
William Armstrong is a former US Senator from Colarado (Republican).
William Armstrong is currently the President of Colorado Christian University.
Colorado Christian University's one of the strategic objective is to share the love of Christ around the World.

Suhasini Haidar is daughter of Subramanian Swamy
Suhasini Haidar is daughter-in-law of Salman Haidar
Nadira Alvi married V S Naipaul
Nadira Alvi, a journalist, is sister of recently assassinated Maj Gen Amir Faisal Alvi, the ex-chief of Pakistan's elite SSG
"Resalat" is a Tehran-based Persian daily.
"Ettela'at" is another Tehran-based Persian daily.
"Resallat" and "Ettela'at"signed MoU with "Siyasat" and "Munif"
Siyasat and Munif are Hyderbad, Andhra Pradesh based dailies.
Toseeh is another Persian daily.
Toseeh has tied up with Vaarta.
Vaarta is one of the dailies from A.G.A.Publications Pvt Ltd.
A.G.A Publications Pvt Ltd is one of the companies in Sanghi Group
Sanghi Group was co-promoted by Gireesh Sanghi with his brothers.
Gireesh Sanghi is Congress M.P, Rajaya Sabha
Gireesh Sanghi is All India Vaish Federation National President.
Mahendra Mohan Gupta is on the Advisory Board of AIVF
Mahendra Mohan Gupta is Chairman of Dainik Jagran Group
Ramoji Group is headed by Ramoji Rao
Ramoji Rao is Founder & Chairman of Eenadu
Eenadu is the largest Telugu news daily in Andhra Pradesh.
Ramoji Group also owns ETV Network.
ETV Network produces content in Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Kannada, Oriya, Gujarati, Urdu & Hindi.
Ramoji is reported to be close to Chandra Babu Naidu and supported of Telugu Desam Party.
Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt. Ltd's parent company is Ramoji Group.
Blackstone Group is reported to have invested Rs600 crore in UEL.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd brings out The Deccan Chronicle newspaper.
DCHL also brings out "Andhra Bhoomi" a telugu newspaper.
DCHL also brings out "Asian Age".
DCHL became a publishing parter of `The New York Times'.
DCHL began publishing `The International Herald Tribune'
T.Venkatram Reddy is the Chairman of DCHL.
T.Venkatram Reddy is fromer MP, Rajhya Sabha from Congress.
M.J.Akbar was Editor-in-Chief of Deccan Chronicle and Asian Age.
M.J.Akbar is Founder and Chairman of the fortnightly the Covert.
M.J. Akbar worked at `Times of India', `Sunday' & `The Telegraph'
M.J.Akbar was an Congress MLA from 1989 to 1991.
M.J.Akbar joined The Brookings Institution, Washington in 2006, as a Visiting Fellow on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World.
M.J.Akbar was a member of the `Forum of Islamic Scholars and Intellectual' held in Makkha al-Mukaramma in 2005.
M.J.Akbar's wife is Mallika Joseph.
Mallika Joseph worked at Times of India.
Pratyush
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Pratyush »

Guys,

A few days ago driving home and waiting at a traffic intersection. I saw a rikshaw puller speaking to some one on the phone. I was amazed at the fact that some one who makes only Re 100 to 150 day can afford to buy and use a mobile phone. Truly an inclusive example of the telecome revolution in the country.

No I see the news of the scam.
rahulm
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Joined: 19 Jun 2000 11:31

Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by rahulm »

This is no longer between the GoI and licencees. Licencee clients (the person on the street) is now a key stakeholder and its hard to see how the licences will be cancelled if that means discontinuation of service.

Recovery of the true value of licencee fees is important but paramount is exemplary punishment for Raja.

The Media ownership family tree is an eye opener.Dalits are allied with the evangelists.Why do they feel the need to do so? However, OT for this thread.
uddu
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by uddu »

Is Pranab da also involved? It's reported that there was initial objections from the PM and he has asked the minister to have a transparent deal. Then this guy had a talk with Pranab and after that he has replied back with some strong words indicating support from Pranab. Then the PM says "Do what you want" etc. So this scam seems to shake the foundation of the congress party. The ones who were believed to be clean are also corrupt.
uddu
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by uddu »

There are outfits that utilize Hindu names to claim legitimacy. And in the background all illegal works are carried out.
Vipul
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Vipul »

Mediagate gets murkier!

The full transcripts of alleged conversations between Niira Radia, Barkha Dutt, Vir Sanghvi and others, published in Open Magazine. The magazine's story seeks to expose the networks of lobbyists and power brokers that dictate how this country is run.
Pranay
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Re: Indian Telecom Folder

Post by Pranay »

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/world ... ia.html?hp

Once upon a time, there was A Raja...
He was a small-town lawyer from a regional political party in a southern Indian state. By almost any measure, Andimuthu Raja, who had no background in telecommunications or in business, seemed an unlikely candidate to be the government minister presiding over the fastest-growing cellphone market in the world.

But he had the only qualification that mattered: the ironclad backing of the political chieftain of his party, a crucial ally of the governing Congress Party. Without his party’s 16 members of the lower house of Parliament, the government cobbled together from squabbling allies would collapse
“He was loyal and he was not a threat,” said Vaasanthi, an analyst who has written extensively about Tamil Nadu politics and who goes by one name. “That was his qualification for the job.”

Mr. Raja may not have been a threat to Mr. Karunanidhi’s children, who jealously guard control of the party as their birthright. But his handling of the spectrum sale has undermined confidence in what initially appeared to be India’s most stable and competent government in years.
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