N- DEAL: WITH RUSSIA NOW? On the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s talks with President Vladimir Putin, India let it be known that it did not expect “old friend” Russia to defy the international order to supply it with the four nuclear reactors for which a memorandum of intent is already in place. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. Recalling the supply of fuel by Moscow for Tarapore and the two nuclear reactors under construction at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said the 8th Summit under the bilateral strategic partnership would afford an opportunity for talks on elevating the MoI, signed during Putin’s January visit, to an inter-governmental agreement on the reactors on offer. The PM’s delegation significantly includes Dr Anil Kakodkar, secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, and Dr G. Madhavan Nair, secretary, Department of Space. However, Menon avoided taking head-on the question of whether the Putin regime would bypass Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines to help India out. “We are sure Russia will help us secure a clean exemption from the NSG,” he said. Menon, interacting with media-persons on board the PM’s Special Aircraft en route to Moscow along with National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, took questions on a range of issues – civil nuclear cooperation with Russia, the situation in Pakistan and its implications for India’s security. He said the 1988-89 Soviet era “grandfather” agreement the Russians invoked to set up two reactors at Kudankulam did not provide for the additional four for which there was an expression of intent in January. The burden of his argument was that India had to go through the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement and NSG waiver to obtain the additional reactors. It was obvious the government is not contemplating such avenues of nuclear cooperation with Russia that could jeopardize the India-US deal for reasons other than the domestic logjam with the Left. Briefly though, Narayanan spoke about the UPA’s latest offer to the communists for their support for opening talks with the IAEA – that New Delhi will not sign the agreement with the nuclear watchdog without their approval of the agreed text. The two officials were also at pains to dispel reports of a chill in Indo-Russian ties. “Moscow is one of our most strategic partners… There is no chill. The ties are so warm, almost hot,” said Narayanan. [...]
Archive for January 4th, 2008
Posted in 
When N-deal is taken is court
January 4th, 2008 
krishna THE question has become most relevant after the recent nuclear deal between the Government of India and the US since the government and its spokesman are taking the stand that the executive has the power to enter into deals, treaties and agreements with foreign governments and organisations, without the approval of and without even reference to the legislature and the people. The government’s contention, in other words, is that it has inherent powers to administer the country’s affairs with foreign governments and bodies which are independent of the legislature, the people and the Constitution. While the government may, therefore, be responsible to the people and the legislature for internal administration, the external administration is beyond its reach and the government is not responsible to them for the same. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. In other words, the Constitution, the rule of law and democracy are all confined to the internal affairs and do not extend to foreign dealings. We have, therefore, only a partial democracy in this country confined to internal governance, and external dealings, even if they are concerned with internal governance (and all of them are, directly or indirectly),are beyond the rule of law, and fall within the realm of the extra-constitutional autocratic powers of the executive.The country has to be administered both in respect of its internal and external affairs. Both are concerned with the well-being of the people and affect them in a big or small way, depending on the subject matter. In a democratic country, therefore, the people must have control over both, and should have a say in how both are administered. Democracy is indivisible, and though democratic power may be decentralised and distributed among different institutions of society, no part it can be alienated in favour of any institution so as to be impervious and unaccountable to the people. Democracy by its very nature is antithetical to the autocratic exercise of power by any of its institutions, and more so by any of its governing arms, be it the legislature, the executive or the judiciary.The rule of law is the foundation of democracy. It is the enacted law and not the arbitrary, discretionary, exigent or ad hoc exercise of power by an individual or a group of individuals which governs the affairs of the democratic country, and even where emergency or exigency impels an [...]
IS THIS LACK OF SPECTRUM?
January 4th, 2008 krishna Cellular operators, the government and regulators in India are euphoric about the seven million monthly net additions in subscribers and the lowest call rates in the world, while the consumer is facing poor quality of service. Conversations on mobile phones are usually interrupted by call drops or disturbance in the line. This means additional cost to the consumer, but to the operator it means additional revenue since consumers are charged even if the call is disconnected. Operators blame spectrumWhen asked telecom operators whether their customers in Delhi experience call drops, poor connectivity and bad quality of voice. The answers were evasive. Almost all the operators took refuge in lack of spectrum as the cause for call drops and bad connectivity.Bharti AirTel Ltd, the leading operator in Delhi, promptly supplied statistics on the number of existing and proposed towers but refused to give any assurance that more towers would resolve the problem of call drops. While the telecom operators are taking adequate steps to meet the huge growth, certain constraints, which are beyond the operator’s control, such as availability of spectrum and approvals to set up cell sites in critical locations, sometimes affect quality of service. Hutch and Idea claimed that they are well within the specified standards of call drops set for all service providers by the telecom regulator. They too blamed lack of spectrum for bringing down service quality. The Hutch spokesperson claimed call drops were a loss of revenue to operators and said they would improve infrastructure to avoid it. Tata Teleservice Ltd claimed it have a congestion-free network. “Delhi has a large concentration of users… problems like call drops, signal not reachable and bad voice quality are possible but not for Tata Indicom,” said Debashis Sur, COO, Tata Teleservice, Delhi and NCR. He said spectrum was not a problem at present but definitely more would be required for future services. Reliance Communications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd are yet to respond. They did not reply to the above question till the time of writing this story. Experts disagree: Claims of operators about inadequate spectrum notwithstanding, industry experts and analysts believe spectrum is just a fraction of the real problem. The true reasons for poor network quality, they say, are inefficient use of the spectrum by operators and the allocation policy of the government. <!–[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]–> <!–[endif]–> Lack of investment in infrastructure and technology, [...]
TATA FORD or FORD TATA
January 4th, 2008 Tejinder Barely days before it launches the world’s cheapest car, Tatas were today named the preferred bidder for Ford’s British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover – to begin the negotiation process. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. The Indian conglomerate, in the meantime, said that it was hopeful of reaching an agreement over the sale in the coming weeks. “Ford is committed to focused negotiations at a more detailed level with Tata Motors concerning the potential sale of the combined Jaguar Land Rover business,” said Ford Motor Company executive vice president Lewis Booth, who is responsible for the company’s Premier Automotive Group and Europe business. Booth, however, added that no final decision on the sale has been taken yet, as there were issues to be addressed. “There is still a considerable amount of work to do, and while no final decision has been made, we will proceed with further substantive discussions with Tata Motors over the coming weeks with a view to securing an agreement that is in the best interests of all parties concerned,” Booth added. Meanwhile, Tata Motors also said it was entering into a detailed discussion with Ford and was hopeful of inking a final deal soon. “…we have had positive discussions so far with Ford concerning the possible purchase of Jaguar, Land Rover and we are now entering a period of more focused and detailed negotiations with Ford,” a company spokesperson said in India. While both the companies did not comment on the possible valuation of the sales, sources in the know of the development had said Tatas offered over $2 billion 10 acquire the two brands. Tata Motor’s bid for Jaguar and Land Rover, once through, would bring in a treasure trove of technology to its stable, The two luxury car Marques – Land Rover and Jaguar currently hold a number of technology patents, including one for a new engine that complies with Euro IV emission norms, However, the gambit for the two Marques has vast amounts of complications regarding intellectual property. Since both the luxury Marques have for decades been frontrunners in technology; they have a massive amount in their kitty. The successful bidder will have to sign an estimated 40 contracts as part of the takeover, ranging from engine production to the operation of information technology systems. Other than that, the two brands have tie-ups with a [...]
