Aircel chooses ZTE to deploy 4G network

Mumbai: Telecommunications equipment provider ZTE India has won a contract to deploy 4G LTE network for Aircel, a move that would help in boosting the mobile operator’s enterprise and retail businesses. The financial details of the contract were not revealed.

“We believe that data are the growth engine of the future and a cutting edge technology such as 4G LTE has the ability to empower consumers like never before,” said Aircel Chief Marketing Officer Anupam Vasudev.

Rising demand
“The huge demand for Internet-enabled devices such as smartphones and tablets among the largely young population, along with increase in consumption of data on Internet and rising demand for content are some of the factors fuelling the exponential growth in data,” Vasudev added.

The deployment of 4G LTE (fourth generation mobile services) will be initiated in Chennai, Rest of Tamil Nadu (RoTN) and a few other business critical circles. The details of other circles were also not divulged.

ZTE India will design, supply and deploy LTE ecosystem for Aircel.

“In the initial phase of our rollout, we aim to offer our customers some of the highest data speeds in the country – in excess of 65 MBPS,” said Xu Dejun, CEO, ZTE India.

Key vendor
ZTE India has also completed migrating Aircel’s data services to ZTE’s 4G LTE evolved packet core for Chennai and RoTN circles. The Chinese telecom equipment major had been working with Aircel since 2008, supporting rollout of 2G and 3G services in three circles of the north zone.

It has also been the key vendor for Aircel in Next Generation Networks across India, and had provided Aircel with high capacity and capability solutions for 2G, 3G and 4G LTE services

Solar plant commissioned in West Godavari district

Hyderabad: A roof top, solar photovoltaic power plant has been commissioned at the Sri Vishnu Educational Society, Bhimavaram Campus in West Godavari district.

The Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh, M. Kamalakar Babu commissioned the plant on Saturday, which has an installed capacity to generate around 3 lakh units per year.

The 200 kWp grid-tied unit has the capacity to produce 820 units per day average. However, in summer, the peak capacity of 1000 units can be generated while during rainy season, the minimum units produced would be around 600 per day. K.V. Vishnu Raju, Chairman of the Educational Society, said the installed project will meet about 10 per cent of the campus power requirement in base case i.e. 10 per cent of energy shall be off settled in the power imported from the grid and diesel generator.

The total project cost is Rs 2.6 crore. Of this, 30 per cent was obtained as grant from the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy as capital subsidy.

The remaining has been funded by the Vishnu Educational Society, he said in a press release.

The break even for the project is four-five years.

The power plant has been designed, supplied, installed and commissioned by Varshini Power Projects, Hyderabad. It is the biggest solar power plant in the district as well as the biggest roof top project under APEPDCL, the release said. Recently, the educational society also installed a solar PV plant on the rooftop of its engineering college in Narsapur, Medak district near Hyderabad.

FIPB gives go-ahead to Tesco, Vodafone investment proposals

New Delhi: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Monday approved two major investment proposals: the UK-based Tesco’s plan to enter the Indian multi-brand retail segment with an initial outlay of $110 million (Rs 680 crore) and Vodafone Plc’s bid to raise its stake to 100 per cent in the Indian venture paying over Rs 10,000 crore.

British retailer Tesco’s proposal to set up a joint venture with Tata group company Trent Hypermarket is probably the fastest ever to be processed and cleared by the FIPB. The proposal was filed with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotions on December 17, after which it was processed and sent for inter-ministerial consultations. It came before the FIPB last week and brought up for consideration by a committee chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram.

Tesco will invest $55 million (around Rs 340 crore) in three years to develop back-end infrastructure. Tesco and Trent will have 50 per cent equity each in the joint venture. The Government opened multi-brand retail to foreign investment in September 2012, but with an equity cap of 51 per cent.

Since the Centre’s FDI policy on retail is an enabling one, the proposed venture will have to take approval from State governments and local authorities before opening stores. Foreign retailers can set up shop in 12 States and Union Territories. The joint venture is expected to open its shop first in Maharashtra and Karnataka, and operate under Star Bazaar, Star Daily, Star Market or Star Extra brand names.

At its meeting on Monday, the FIPB cleared the way for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) to consider a proposal allowing Vodafone to raise its stake to 100 per cent with an investment of over Rs 10,000 crore. Any foreign investment proposal of or over Rs 1,200 crore needs CCEA approval after FIPB clearance.

Vodafone now holds 64.38 per cent equity stake in the Indian venture, while the remaining is with Piramal Enterprises and Analjit Singh. Piramal will get Rs 1,241 crore for selling 10.97 per cent share, while Analjit Singh will pocket Rs 8,900 crore for parting with 24.65 per cent holding. The shares will be bought by CGP India Investment associated with Vodafone Plc.

Central Government approves ten water supply projects for Chennai city

New Delhi: The Central Government has approved a proposal for 10 new projects for providing comprehensive water supply to various areas of Chennai city. These projects were approved at the meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) of the Union Ministry of Urban Development in New Delhi recently. These projects include water supply scheme for Pallikarani, Chinnasekkadu, Puzhal, Surapattu, Puthagaram, Kathirvedu, Vadaperumabakkam, Theeyambakkam, Edayanchavadi, Sadayankuppam, Kadapakkam, Palavakkam, Mugalivakkam, Manali, Kotivakkam, and Perungudi. These projects have been sanctioned at an approved cost of Rs. 27114.11 lakhs. The Central Government will contribute 35% towards the total cost.

The highest amount of Rs. 6959.90 lakhs has been sanctioned to Puzhal, Surapattu, Puthagaram, and Kathirvedu.

Borewells is the primary source of water in many of these areas. At other places, majority of the existing distribution systems in these areas are very old and not sufficient to carry the required water to the population. Water connections are also not metered. Also, there is prevalence of high water loss in the distribution network. The projects aim to improve the quality and quantity of service, water metering, reduction in leakages and energy consumption and enhancement in customer satisfaction and revenues to water supply organizations.

The projects will also ensure that the distribution pipeline network reaches out to the maximum population. Also, since the population for these areas is increasing there is a demand for an increased supply of water, which is aimed to be provided through these new water supply projects sanctioned by the Ministry of Urban Development.

Isro clears launch of GSLV-D5

Chennai: Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) Mission Readiness Review (MRR) team and the Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) have given the go-ahead for the launch of GSLV-D5 on January 5, 2014. The 29-hour countdown will commence at 11 hrs (IST) on January 4. The spacecraft will be carrying advanced communication satellites.

“Things are progressing well,” said Isro Chairman K Radhakrishnan. Clearance by MRR and LAB came on Saturday, with the launch time fixed at 16:18 hours (IST) on January 5, 2014. The vehicle was moved from the vehicle assembly building to the umbilical tower (the launch pad) in the morning of December 28.

It is after three continuous failures that GSLV (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) is getting ready for its new mission. Isro, which has successfully concluded the crucial stages of Mars Orbiter Mission, is confident the GSLV launch will be successful.

GSLV-D5’s mission would be to carry the advanced communication satellite GSAT-14 in orbit. The GSAT-14 will be used for telecasting and telecommunication purposes. Its mission life is 12 years.

The vehicle carries Indigenous cryogenic engine, which will be used for the second time in the GSLV. It was developed by Isro’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri near Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu. The first flight which used Indian-made cryogenic stage had failed in April 2010.

This would be the eighth flight of GSLV and the second flight of GSLV with indigenous cryogenic upper stage (CUS) developed by the LPSC.

It may be noted that the GSLV-D5 was scheduled for launch at 16.50 hrs on August 19, 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. However, it was called off at the last minute after a leak was found, during the pre-launch pressurisation process, in the fuel system.

The GSLV was first launched with GSAT-1 on April 18, 2001, which was a successful mission.

Out of the seven GSLV launches earlier, three were unsuccessful. The GSLV-F02 launched with INSAT-4C on July 10, 2006; GSLV-D3 launched with GSAT-4 on April 15, 2010; and, GSLV-F06 launched with GSAT-5P on December 25, 2010 were unsuccessful, according to the Isro website.

In the first mission, the GSLV-D1, using a Russian cryo engine, underperformed and in 2007, in the GSLV-F04 mission, one strap-on control failed though both the missions were successful.

Tesco proposal to invest in Trent Hypermarket gets DIPP nod

New Delhi: The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has approved Tesco's application to invest in Tata-owned Trent Hypermarket, paving the way for the clearance of the first foreign investment proposal in multi-brand retail by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) at its upcoming meeting on Monday.

"We have recommended the Tesco application for clearance," a senior DIPP official told ET. The DIPP vets all foreign investment proposals in the retail sector before they are sent to FIPB, the inter-ministerial body that clears foreign direct investment in sectors where government permission is required.

The DIPP approval means that it has found the proposal to be compliant with India's foreign investment policy for retail.

The FIPB has separately circulated the proposal for comments from departments of economic affairs and revenue within the finance ministry, ministry of consumer affairs and ministry of small and medium enterprises.

A senior finance ministry official said the FIPB will examine the proposal to see if it fulfilled all requirements of the country's policy for the sector, and not go into the structuring of the Tesco investment.

"We need to encourage foreign investment in the country. It's up to foreign investors what structure or route they wish to adopt to meet the policy conditions," the official said.

India had opened the retail sector to foreign investment but waited impatiently for almost 15 months before Tesco became the first foreign company to apply for permission to invest in the country. Industry minister Anand Sharma has already welcomed the proposal and it is unlikely that too many obstacles will be put in its way.

Tesco in its proposal has stated that it wishes to take a 50% stake in Trent Hypermarket, which is currently totally owned by the Tatas. The company plans to initially invest $110 million and will put at least 50% of the first tranche of $100 million in back-end infrastructure, as required by the multi-brand retail policy. It has said it will also use this infrastructure for wholesale activities as well.

The company may be asked by the government to give details of existing back-end infrastructure to ensure proper monitoring of the fresh investment. Tesco has also promised to comply with the 30% local sourcing condition in the FDI policy.

The UK retailer will invest $90 million, of its total $110 million investment, to subscribe to equity shares of Tent Hypermarket Ltd while $20 will be employed to acquire existing equity from Trent. Both Trent and Tesco will hold 50% each in the venture after the induction of foreign equity.

World’s biggest fish satellite-tagged in India

Veraval (Gujarat): As the year comes to an end, India took another small step towards learning more about the world’s biggest fish when a female whale shark was successfully satellite-tagged on Saturday in order to learn more about the movement and preferences of this gentle giant, known as “Vhali” or Gujarat’s Daughter, in the Saurashtra region.

The tagging, second-ever in the country, was done this morning by the Whale Shark Conservation Project team members with the help of the fishing community in Sutrapada, under a project supported by Tata Chemicals Ltd.

A joint initiative of the Gujarat Forest Department and International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI), the project works to gather more information on the species to help develop effective conservation strategies.

Whale sharks, an endangered species, usually travel a distance of over 20,000 km from Australia to the Indian coast in Arabian Sea every year in winter. Alka Talwar, Head, Community Development, Tata Chemicals, said, tagging will aid in exploring new facts and data on whale shark’s habitat and provide information on their migratory pattern, breeding, and survival on the Gujarat coast. Aradhana Sahu, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Junagadh, said, “Gujarat has been leading the way in conservation of whale sharks in the country, with the fishing community coming forward to save the species over the past decade.”

B.C. Choudhury, Project Advisor, WTI, added that the project would be tagging more fish in the coming days, applying modified methodology to ensure minimal stress on the fish. The female whale shark tagged this morning was around 18 feet long, said WTI biologist Prem Jothi, who implanted the tag. It was caught in fishing net, and was released post-tagging.

Whale sharks were once brutally hunted in Gujarat for their liver oil used to water proof boats. In 2001, the whale shark became the first fish to be listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Following the successful Whale Shark Campaign launched by the Forest Department, IFAW-WTI and Tata Chemicals, in 2004, the fishing community of Gujarat began releasing whale sharks accidentally caught in their nets.

Five More Port Projects Appraised

New Delhi: The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC-a high level committee of the Government of India) has appraised five proposals in the Port Sector. These projects as listed below will now be recommended for grant of final approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The Ministry of Shipping will submit a Cabinet Note to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for the purpose.

(i) Development of 4th Container Terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) on DBFOT- Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer basis.

(ii) Development of Container Terminal at Ennore Port Limited (EPL) on DBFOT.

(iii) Development of Multipurpose Cargo at Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) on DBFOT.

(iv) Development of Mega Container Terminal at Tuna Tekra at Kandla Port (KPT) on BOT.

(v) Development of Container Terminal at Diamond Harbour at Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) on BOT.

These projects are proposed to be awarded in the current financial year by various Major Ports for implementation under Public Private Partnership mode. The proposed projects are to create an additional capacity of 150 MMTPA with an investment of about Rs. 17630 Crores.

This year, the Ministry of Shipping has so far conveyed approval for 16 projects against a target of 30 and the Major Ports have already awarded these projects. These already awarded projects include six under PPP and 10 under non-PPP mode and they are expected to add a capacity of 89 MMTPA with an investment of about Rs.4200 Crores.

UK begins to woo students from smaller Indian towns

Mumbai: Following a 25 per cent decline in Indian students heading to the UK in the last two years, the British Council has embarked on a 20-city roadshow in non-metro cities such as Jaipur and Nagpur to reach out to new students.

The campaign follows the recent controversy over the UK visa bond, where visitors were required to cough up £3,000 for a visa. Though it was scrapped later, the issue dented the international image of that country.

Richard Everitt, British Council’s Director Education (India), said the number of Indian student applications to the UK has fallen to 30,000 from 40,000 over the last two-three years. “Fall in the rupee significantly reduced the share of household income spent on education abroad. Rumours about visa and access and increasing awareness about education options in competing countries such as Germany, Australia and Canada have all contributed to the decline,” he said. The UK attracts an average of four lakh international students every year of which 30,000 are from India.

“The idea of the 20-city tour is to raise awareness, reach out to a wider network of students and help bring back the numbers that have declined since the last few years. We want to dispel rumours of the UK having become an unfriendly destination for Indian students. There is no visa issue for them and they are free to work during study and after study based on certain conditions,” he added.

According to Everitt, Indians can work up to 20 hours a week during study and fulltime after study for a period of three years provided it is a high value job earning over £20,000.

“The only change from two years ago is the change in post study work options for Indian students from low value jobs earlier to high value jobs now,” he added.

The British Council plans to increase scholarships for Indian students in the UK. It plans to offer a microsite on UK’s education that can be accessed even from a handheld device, to cater to the tech-intensive generation.

In November, the British Council announced scholarships worth Rs 10 crore for Indian students, covering 260 post-graduate and under-graduate courses across 36 universities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for semesters starting in September 2014 and January 2015.

PM asks industry to invest in education, research

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Saturday, urged the country’s private sector and industry to invest in enhancing education and research in the country as India looks to increase its gross enrolment ratio from a meagre 18 per cent to 30 per cent by 2020.

“Today, our universities depend largely on grants for undertaking research. Greater support from industry will not only lead to better research outcomes but also enable industry to utilise these outcomes for meaningful practical application. It may be worthwhile on the part of our university academics to make a detailed study of how this interface works in other countries so that we can replicate the international best practices”, Singh said during the diamond jubilee celebrations of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Singh’s request for funding comes at a time when a number of bills proposed by the Human Resource and Development Ministry are pending in Parliament including the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill and Foreign Educational Institutions Bill. In addition, proposals to amend the AICTE Act and setting up a regulator for distance education has been pending at various stages.

The Prime Minister also expressed concerns about the lack of quality of education at India’s premier institutes and the shortage of faculty in the country. “This brings me to the related issue of shortage of faculty in our institutes of higher education. This problem is likely to become even more acute with the expansion that is planned in the coming years,” PM added. The government is currently in the midst of rolling out the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) which will create 278 new universities and 388 new colleges in addition to converting 266 colleges to model degree colleges by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan.

Singh also hinted at the need to create new models of financing for the higher education sector as the funding from the central government has declined in real term over the past years. “Although the demand for higher education has increased enormously over the years, the central and state governments’ financial support to institutions of higher education has declined in real terms. New models of financing higher education, based on well established norms, and improvements in the existing system of funding by the central and state governments, therefore, are critical concerns”, the PM said.

Higher educational institutes in the country had come in the line of fire after none of them could figure themselves amongst the Top 200 institutes in the world.