Bajaj reduces motorcycle prices by up to Rs 3,000

Supply-demand mismatch in foodgrains: Chidambaram

TV serial will help me connect with the audience: Vinod Khanna

Tatas to invest $500 mln in Wimax; may sell minority stake

TDSAT imposes Rs 10k cost on COAI seeking deletion of portion

NEW DELHI, Mar 4: Telecom tribunal TDSAT has dismissed COAI’s application seeking deletion of a portion in an order, passed two weeks ago, on a petition over crossover technology and spectrum allocation as this could hurt existing operators’ interests.

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal Chairman Justice Arun Kumar also imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on the Cellular Operator’s Association of India saying the application has been moved with an ulterior objective.

"The application has been moved almost two weeks after the date of the order suggests to me that it is an after thought and has been moved with some ulterior objective and is not bonafide," said TDSAT Chairman dismissing the application.

In their application, the GSM operators sought deletion of some lines of the order passed by the tribunal on February 14, 2008.

In that order, TDSAT had recorded that the spectrum, which had to be offered to new LoI allottees, was yet to be released by the defence forces. The tribunal also had taken into record that this fact was not opposed by COAI.

COAI was fearing that in the intensified legal battle, this sentence may hamper their position.

However, turning down the plea, Justice Kumar said "the order was dictated in open court and nothing was pointed out at that stage".

During the proceeding the Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh sought the adjournment of the case and informed the tribunal that the Delhi High court has still not given its judgement.

This was opposed by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, counsel representing COAI, who said it would increase the pendency of this matter. (PTI)

BJP says farm loan waiver package too little, too late

NEW DELHI, Mar 4: BJP today sought waiver of loans to farmers holding up to 10 acres of irrigated land as it claimed that the farm package announced by the Government for peasants was "too little, too late".

The main Opposition party also wanted the Government to spell out its plan to raise the resources for implementing the Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver package for farmers announced in the Budget.

A meeting of the party's Parliamentary Party discussed in detail the issues faced by farmers and noted that the loan waiver was "inadequate" to address the distress in agrarian sector.

The party also decided to set up a committee headed by senior leader Yashwant Sinha to study the problems faced by farmers and to puncture what it called the "illusion" created by the Government by announcing the package.

"The Government should announce waiver of loans to farmers holding up to 10 acres of irrigated land and 16 acres of non-irrigated land," BJP Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha V K Malhotra said after the meeting.

The Government had announced waiver of loans of small and marginal farmers holding up to two acres.

Claiming that two-third of the farmers have taken loans from private money lenders at exhorbitant rate of interest, he said there was no mention on their plight in the Budget.

"The package announced by the Centre was too little, too late," he said emphasising that the UPA Government did not take any steps in the last four years to address the crisis in the agrarian sector. (PTI)

Bajaj reduces motorcycle prices by up to Rs 3,000

NEW DELHI, Mar 4: Reeling under the pressure of an industry slowdown, country’s second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) today reduced prices of its various motorcycle models by up to Rs 3,000 to revive sales fortunes.

The reduction reflects a correction in prices post Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s proposal of cutting excise duty on two-wheelers to 12 per cent from the earlier 16 per cent. The company has, however, reduced prices over and above the excise duty benefits to revive sales.

"The excise duty cut roughly translates into a price correction of Rs 1,000 per unit but we have reduced prices more than the benefit on certain models," BAL General Manager Marketing Amit Nandi said.

Prices of BAL’s entry-level 100cc model Platina have been reduced in the range of Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 and it would now be available for Rs 30,000 (ex-showroom).

"On certain Platina variants the price cut is Rs 2,000 but most of its variants would see a reduction of Rs 3,000," Nandi said.

Prices of Discover (125cc and 135cc), Pulsar (150cc and 180cc) and automatic scooter Krystal have been reduced by Rs 1,000. BAL is not offering any price cut on Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi.

The company’s 125cc XCD DTS-Si (kick-start variant) would now cost Rs 1,500 less and would be available for Rs 37,500. It has, however, not cut the prices of the self-start variant of XCD.

BAL was pegging XCD as its main weapon to exit the low- margin high-volume entry-level or 100cc motorcycle segment, which accounts for 60 per cent of the overall bike sales in the country.

BAL’s motorcycle sales declined 8 per cent to 1,58,662 units in February this year, against 1,71,780 units in the same month last year.

The company had launched the bike in September 2007, and had targeted to sell 70,000 units a month from November onwards. However, due to an overall slump in the two-wheeler industry, BAL is managing only half of of its original estimates with XCD sales touching close to 35,000-mark.

Though BAL has been claiming that customers have been moving away from the 100cc segment, sales of its 100cc model Platina have not been much affected due to the industry slowdown with the company managing sale of 50,000-60,000 units of the model in a month.

"We are still selling 50,000-60,000 units of Platina’s in a month, while XCD sales are in the mid 30,000. The company is comfortable with XCD numbers as we have managed to capture 20 per cent share in the 125 cc segment," Nandi said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Mar 4: Blaming demand-supply mismatch in foodgrains for the rise in inflation rate, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the Government will carefully watch the situation and take appropriate monetary measures.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, he said there was a supply-demand mismatch in foodgrains, pulses and edible oil that was the primary cause of rise in inflation rate.

"Government will carefully watch the situation and take (appropriate) monetary measures," he said.

But the flip side of monetary measures is rise in interest rates and the Government will have to do a balancing job, he said.

Chidambaram said production of wheat, rice and pulses in the country had stagnated over the past few years even as demand has risen.

Besides, prices of wheat in the international market had risen by 88 per cent since April 2007 and by 15 per cent of rice. Also the minimum support price (MSP) paid by Government to farmers had also been increasing for past three years.

All these had led to some pressure on prices, he said.

Reserve Bank of India has stated that average inflation rate for the current fiscal would be in the range 4-4.5 per cent and efforts would be to contain it below 4.5 per cent. The efforts of the Government, however, are to keep it closer to 4 per cent, he said.

The Finance Minister said the Government over the short to medium term was aiming to reduce the supply-demand mismatch by raising foodgrain production by 10 million tons.

Chidambaram said international prices of crude oil, metals and edible oil were not in control of the government and as long as the nation was dependant on imports to meet its requirement it would not be insulated from global prices.

"Therefore to the extent we are dependant on imports, we are not insulated from world prices," he said.

Increasing production and productivity would be key, he said.

The September 2007 to January 2008 average rate of inflation based on Consumer Price Index in India was 5.7 per cent while the same in US was 3.8 per cent, UK 2.1 per cent, European countries 2.8 per cent and Japan 0.4 per cent. China was the only country which had a higher inflation rate of 6.6 per cent. (PTI)

TV serial will help me connect with the audience: Vinod Khanna

NEW DELHI, Mar 4: Setting aside his bitter experiences of working on small screen after his debut serial ‘Maharana Prata’ got stuck, actor Vinod Khanna, a comeback man with ‘Mere Apne’ feels that the character he portrays in the serial is "within his field of experience" and will help him connect with the audience.

"The character of Kashinath which I portray in the serial is within my field of experience and also I think that I am doing justice to the role," says the 62-year-old veteran actor, whose small screen presence is receiving wide acclaim.

The actor-turned-politician, who began his career as villain in Sunil Dutt’s ‘Man Ka Meet’, says, "Once I decided to make a comeback in acting and utilize my time, offer for ‘Mere Apne’ came and the role was so good that I could not say ‘no’."

"There is the money, of course," quips the actor about his conscious shift to television medium, adding, "I felt the need to justify the demands of my fans who have been asking to see more of me."

The role of Kashinath, which Khanna portrays in the ‘Mere Apne’ serial, is the saga of a person who is powerful in the society but is a soft spoken father.

Comparing the silver screen with small screen, the actor, whose last movie ‘Risk’ did not perform well at the Box office, says, "Commitments in films are different from serials. In movies you can shift the dates but in serials you can’t as episodes have to continue."

"Even I was apprehensive about the reaction from the TV audience and my fans but the positive reaction I am getting at present is really surprising," says the actor.

Vinod Khanna represents Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency and has been active in the political arena since he joined Bharatiya Janata Party in 1997.

The Gurdaspur MP, however, says, "When it comes to politics it would definitely take a front seat but without disturbing the acting career."

Vinod Khanna as a father of two Bollywood starsRahul Khnna and Akshaye Khnna, shares, "I am looking forward to work with my sons but the two will not work with me unless they get their kind of role in the movie."

The veteran actor, who was awarded with Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, has two films in his kitty; one is an untitled movie by Boney Kapoor with Salman Khan and another by Anjum Rizwi.

Oscar awards, according to Khanna, "give Bollywood a chance to compete with the best. But to avoid controversies, the body for selecting nominations should be constituted by bureaucrats and selected people from the film Industry, who could not be manipulated."

Khanna also shares his happiness to comeback at this ‘juncture’ as, "the present era is dominated by ‘multiplex culture’ and the chances for a movie to be flop is rare. The movie finds its own audience." (PTI)

Tatas to invest $500 mln in Wimax; may sell minority stake

NEW DELHI, Mar 4: Tata Communications today announced an investment of 500 million dollars for its wireless broadband venture on WiMax platform and has partnered with US-based Telsima Corporation for equipments.

The company will invest 500 million dollars by 2010 in Wimax technology and is in talks with investors to sell minority stake in retail business, Tata Communications Retail Business Unit President Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

Besides, it has selected Telsima to provide Wimax infrastructure and subscriber equipment solutions to deploy commercial Wimax network, with 3,000 base station sectors already getting deployed, which will enable customers to access video, education, music and business services, he added.

Tata Communications is the first to launch broadband services on the Wimax platform on a large scale for retail consumers in India.

In the initial phase, Tata Communications’ Wimax network will offer broadband internet access and content services to enterprises and residential customers in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, and Kolkata.

By the end of 2008, the company plans to have enabled Wimax retail broadband service in about 15 cities. (PTI)