Industries

3G Finally in Indian Hands

Dec. 12 – 3G or the third generation in mobile telephony was officially launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday. After years of debate on spectrum allocation and price the new technology will offer urban India richer multimedia content with the convenience of better speed and mobility. Some countries in Europe, Japan and South Korea have all deployed 3G. China has developed their own version of 3G which was deployed just prior to the Olympic games. 3G hasn't taken the world by storm yet as its an expensive technology for consumers and operators.

India's State telecom incumbent MTNL will commence services by the end of January in Mumbai, other major private operators have announced they would launch commercial 3G services six months after specturm allocation. The government is expected to auction freed spectrum early next year.

Automakers Slash Prices; Hope to Stimulate Car Sales

Dec. 9 – Hit by a potent mix of liquidity crunch, high borrowing costs and a slowing economy India's auto makers on Monday slashed prices by up to 4 percent. The car companies were reacting to the 4 percent cut in excise duties offered to manufacturers as part of the Central governments stimulus package. A rough industry estimate says Indian auto companies are likely to take a hit of Rs 1,000 crore (US$200 million) on unsold cars, trucks, buses and two-wheelers as they pass on the benefit to consumers, hoping to spur demand by lowering costs.

After five-years of uninterrupted growth, total sales of passenger vehicles (including SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles) dropped drastically in October. The industry's decline of 6.59 percent to 98,900 vehicles in October (compared with 105,000 vehicles last year) was the largest drop in sales in eight years. Top car makers Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India (HMI), Tata Motors, Honda Siel Cars India, General Motors, Ford Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) are already experiencing a drop in sales and don't expect the situation to get any better especially since footfall in showrooms has dropped by 50-70 percent in November.

Oil & Gas Companies Go Shopping

Dec. 3 – The value of global oil and gas companies has decreased in the last year due to the ongoing economic downturn making it an opportune time for Indian companies to buy global assets as well as global wealth funds particularly from China, the Middle East and Singapore to buy oil and gas assets in India.

“With the ongoing economic downturn and the resultant crash in oil prices, the valuation of oil and gas companies has decreased and this offers Indian companies the opportunity to buy global assets at more reasonable prices than earlier.” Dilip Khanna, partner, Ernst & Young’s oil & gas practice told the Financial Express.

India’s Commercial Capital Mumbai Attacked By Terrorists

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Nov. 27 – Terrorist’s attacked 10 prime landmarks in Mumbai at 10 pm local time last night killing at least 100 people and wounding over 900 others. Prominent amongst those shot down are chief of the anti-terror squad Hemant Karkare, Mumbai’s additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.

A group called the Deccan Mujahideen, have claimed responsibility for the attack, however it is yet to be ascertained to which terrorist outfit they belong. Reports state that the terrorists are targeting foreigners in the city. Besides attacking prominent tourist hot spots such as the Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Towers and Leopolds café in South Mumbai the terrorists reportedly asked guests in these hotels for British and American passport holders. Adding to the panic, hospitals including Cama hospital and Bombay Hospital as well as Mumbai’s largest railway station, the CST station and the Municipal Corporation headquarters have also been attacked.

Turkey to Ship Oil, Gas, Water, Electricity to India

Nov. 26 – Following the failure of the Turkey-Iran-Pakistan-India oil and gas pipeline due to security and cost pressures, visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Turkey could ship oil and gas to India via Israel. The proposed route, through the red sea, will avoid the over- crowded Suez Canal and the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope.

According to the new plan,Turkey would supply India with not only oil and gas but also water, electricity and fiber optic cables. The project is expected to cost over US$10 billion (Rs.496 billion).

Energy abundant Turkey and India plan to increase bilateral trade to US$6 billion by 2010 from the current US$2.6 billion.

India Tricolour to be Planted on the Moon Tonight

Nov. 14 – India is keeping her date with the moon tonight. If everything goes as planned, the tricolour will be firmly planted on the surface of the moon at (around 8.30pm Indian Standard Time or 3pm GMT) after having flown 3,86,000km from the earth. India which has already planted her flag on Mt. Everest and Antartica will be the 18th country to place her flag on the moon.

The flag will be planted on the moon by a Moon Impact Probe which is attached to the main orbiting spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, which was launched on October 22. India's presence will then be confirmed alongside the U.S., Russia and Japan.

Plans are also afoot to create an internet-based mapping system, India's equivalent of google maps. The mapping system named Bhuvan, is expected to be powerful enough to zoom upto 10 meters. Google earth can currently zoom upto 200 meters and WikiMapia can zoom up to 50 meters. The images on the system will also be updated once a year – more frequently than competitors.

India Test Fires First Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile

Nov. 12 – India test fired its first submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) K-15, from a land-based launcher today. Nicknamed 'Shaurya',the medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a 600-km range is to be used by the Indian Army. The missile was successfully test fired from an Integrated Test Range (ITR) about 230km from Orissa's state capital Bhubaneswar.

The sophisticated tactical missile is capable of carrying conventional warheads with a payload of about one tonne. "With longer shelf-life, as it is stored in a canister just like the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, the Shaurya is easily transportable and user-friendly. This is a technology development project," DRDO sources told the Indian Express in New Delhi.

China’s FAW Interested in Manufacturing Cars in India

Nov. 6 – Even as the dust settles on what would have been the Tata Nano plant in Singur, the West Bengal government reportedly offered the land to First Automobile Works Limited (FAW), a Chinese automobile manufacturer. Reports by the Hindu said a 12-member delegation from Chinese automobile company FAW Group Corporation met West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen expressing interest in setting up a joint venture automobile unit on about 600 acres – about the same size that is ‘undisputed’ in Singur — to set up a small car factory in Bengal.