Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) is set to enter the television broadcasting space. Reliance Broadcasting Network (RBN), will form an equal (50:50) joint venture with US media conglomerate CBS to own and operate TV channels. The deal will be completed within a month. With this JV, the biggest TV broadcast network company of the US will enter the Indian market. CBS Corporation has a market capitalisation of $11 billion and is credited with developing hit shows like ‘Two and a Half Men’, ‘Young and the Restless’, ‘America’s Next Top Model’, ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’, ‘Judge Judy’, and ‘Entertainment Tonight’.
The ADAG statement said the business of the JV company will initially include English language general entertainment channels and it will explore owning and/or operating Hindi and regional languages general entertainment channels in the future.
21.6.10
Sariska to get 2 more big cats
The Sariska National Park is set to get two more tigers, one male and another female. The Centre has approved their relocation, likely to take place on July 4, from the Ranthambore reserve.Sariska at present has two tigresses and a tiger that were airlifted from Ranthambore park between July 2008 and early 2009.
However, more such relocation was stopped after some wildlife experts expressed fears that relocating tigers without testing the genes to see if they belonged to the same family might prove hazardous. “An expert team of Aparajita Dutta from the National Conservation Trust and John Singh, former professor of the Wildlife Trust of India, has been camping at Ranthambore for long. The move to relocate more tigers came in response to a letter written by Dutta to the ministry about the rising tiger population pressure on Ranthambore,’’ said state forest minister Ram Lal Jat. However, state forest department officials said the DNA testing would continue simultaneously as it takes a lot of time. “The scats have been collected and sent for a DNA test. In this relocation, our prime objective would be to shift the two tigers that have strayed out of Ranthambore to Kota and Kailadevi. In case we fail to locate them on July 4, we will shift other identified tigers,’’ the official said. The two tigers, a female T-37 and a male T-47, had strayed from the Ranthambore reserve earlier this year and have failed to return. Forest officials have been keeping a watch on them and trying to bring them back.
However, more such relocation was stopped after some wildlife experts expressed fears that relocating tigers without testing the genes to see if they belonged to the same family might prove hazardous. “An expert team of Aparajita Dutta from the National Conservation Trust and John Singh, former professor of the Wildlife Trust of India, has been camping at Ranthambore for long. The move to relocate more tigers came in response to a letter written by Dutta to the ministry about the rising tiger population pressure on Ranthambore,’’ said state forest minister Ram Lal Jat. However, state forest department officials said the DNA testing would continue simultaneously as it takes a lot of time. “The scats have been collected and sent for a DNA test. In this relocation, our prime objective would be to shift the two tigers that have strayed out of Ranthambore to Kota and Kailadevi. In case we fail to locate them on July 4, we will shift other identified tigers,’’ the official said. The two tigers, a female T-37 and a male T-47, had strayed from the Ranthambore reserve earlier this year and have failed to return. Forest officials have been keeping a watch on them and trying to bring them back.
19.6.10
Canadian police indicted for Kanishka crash
The damning indictment of the Canadian police for its failure to avert an avoidable mid-air disintegration of Air India’s ‘Emperor Kanishka’ aircraft by a bomb planted by terrorists will allow the airline to seek appropriate damages from Ottawa, feel legal experts .Of the 329 persons who died in the bomb blast in the airborne craft near the Irish coast while on its way to London from Montreal on June 23, 1985, 280 were Canadian nationals mostly of Indian origin, 22 Indians of which 21 were crew members, and 27 British nationals.
What was clinching, experts feel, was the clear finding of the Justice John Major Commission clearly laying the blame at the door of the police agencies of Canada. “A cascading series of errors contributed to our police and security forces failing to stop the bombing,” the Commission said, winding up the fouryear inquiry into the incident. Canada had stubbornly refused to accept liability for compensating victims even though in the late 1980s it had made part-contribution to a fund raised by Air India to pay up the families of the victims.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said that with the blame being affixed on the Canadian authorities, Ottawa would be liable to reimburse Air India for the contribution it made into the fund for compensation. “Moreover, the airline can claim damages from the Canadian government for the loss of aircraft since it was the negligence of their police which led to the bombing incident,” he said. Senior advocate K T S Tulsi agreed with Rohatgi that the relatives of Indians who died in the bombing would be eligible to get as much compensation as the Canadian nationals would get after the Justice Major Commission forced Ottawa, for the first time, to talk of disbursing adequate compensation.
Tulsi also said that the airline could claim damages not only for the loss of the aircraft, but also for the future loss of income from its operation as well as loss of business due to the scare the incident caused in the minds of potential customers abroad to fly the airline.
Somewhere in Guwahati....
Sukhdev Baba Shanti, a saadhu exhibits his 16-feet-long hair at Kamakhya temple in Guwahati
Prithvi-II tested successfully
The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) on Friday successfully carried out the test firing of Prithvi-II, the nuclear capable indigenous ballistic missile, off the Orissa coast. The tri-service SFC looks after most of the strategic weapons that can deliver nuclear warheads. Prithvi-II took off from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, some 15 kilometres off the Orissa coast, at 6.50 am. “The trial of Prithvi-II, conducted by the Army, has gone through nicely,” ITR director SP Dash told reporters. The user trial was carried out by military officers who are part of the SFC, and was primarily meant to have them acquaint themselves with the missile.
Prithvi-II, fired from a mobile launcher, has a maximum range of 350 kilometres, and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg. It is a single-stage missile that uses liquid fuel.Prithvi-II is the advanced version of Prithvi, the first ballistic missile developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. It is capable of carrying conventional warheads, and is also nuclear capable. However, the short-range ballistic missile is no longer a key nuclear delivery means for India.
Prithvi-II, fired from a mobile launcher, has a maximum range of 350 kilometres, and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg. It is a single-stage missile that uses liquid fuel.Prithvi-II is the advanced version of Prithvi, the first ballistic missile developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. It is capable of carrying conventional warheads, and is also nuclear capable. However, the short-range ballistic missile is no longer a key nuclear delivery means for India.
May 2010 exports snapshot
Exports marked the seventh straight month of growth in May, rising by over 35%, essentially on low base effect, to $16 billion but exporters may take a hit on earnings due to the sharp decline of the euro, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said .Don’t get carried away by these numbers. These are essentially being driven by the base effect. In May 2008, exports were in the range of $18.5 billion. We are still below that number,’’ Khullar said. Exports had dropped to $12 billion in May 2009 in the wake of recession in the Western markets that consume the bulk of Indian shipments.
A sharp erosion in the euro because of the still lingering debt crisis in the Eurozone economies has reduced the margins of exporters. Since December 2009, the euro has depreciated about 18% against the rupee. “Exchange rate depreciation of the euro is making European goods more competitive, and Indian goods more expensive. That’s how depreciation works,’’ Khullar said adding if exporters’ margins are small they cannot continue in business. Echoing the same view, Federation of Indian Export Organisations president A Sakthivel said: “We must watch the developments in Europe cautiously as the crisis in Greece may spread to other countries’’. Of the $176.5 billion exports last fiscal, Europe accounted for 23%.
For the April-May 2010-11 period, exports grew by 35.7% to $33 billion against the year-ago period. Labour-intensive sectors like engineering, gems and jewellery, leather and man-made fibres have registered healthy growth rates, Khullar said.
Imports too surged by 19.8% in May to $27.4% billion, indicating the rapid pace of domestic economic activity and leading to a trade gap of $11.3 billion during the month under review. Khullar said by the end of first quarter, exports are likely to be around $48 billion compared to $37.9 billion in the year-ago period. Imports during the first two months of this fiscal grew by 29% to $54.7 billion against $38.9 billion in the same period last year.
A sharp erosion in the euro because of the still lingering debt crisis in the Eurozone economies has reduced the margins of exporters. Since December 2009, the euro has depreciated about 18% against the rupee. “Exchange rate depreciation of the euro is making European goods more competitive, and Indian goods more expensive. That’s how depreciation works,’’ Khullar said adding if exporters’ margins are small they cannot continue in business. Echoing the same view, Federation of Indian Export Organisations president A Sakthivel said: “We must watch the developments in Europe cautiously as the crisis in Greece may spread to other countries’’. Of the $176.5 billion exports last fiscal, Europe accounted for 23%.
For the April-May 2010-11 period, exports grew by 35.7% to $33 billion against the year-ago period. Labour-intensive sectors like engineering, gems and jewellery, leather and man-made fibres have registered healthy growth rates, Khullar said.
Imports too surged by 19.8% in May to $27.4% billion, indicating the rapid pace of domestic economic activity and leading to a trade gap of $11.3 billion during the month under review. Khullar said by the end of first quarter, exports are likely to be around $48 billion compared to $37.9 billion in the year-ago period. Imports during the first two months of this fiscal grew by 29% to $54.7 billion against $38.9 billion in the same period last year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
