"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Eleanor Roosevelt ...

NEW DELHI: The government on Monday unveiled guidelines for the rollout of Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) the delivery of television content through broadband that will open doors for more investment in this sector.

"These guidelines bring clarity on various platforms capable of providing IPTV services, the regulatory provisions and licensing requirements and other issues to encourage stakeholders to launch IPTV," the information and broadcasting ministry announced here.

The guidelines were announced nearly a fortnight after the cabinet approved a policy framework for regulating IPTV. IPTV would require either a computer and software media player or an IPTV set top box to decode the images in real time.

Under the new guidelines those eligible for providing IPTV include telecom Access Service Providers who have licence to provide triple play services and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with net worth more than Rs.1 billion (around $25 million).

Cable TV operators registered under Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995 or any other telecom service provider duly authorised by the Department of Telecom will be able to provide IPTV service under their licences without requiring any further registration, the ministry clarified.

However, the telecom licensees and cable operators will be required to give self-certified declaration to the information and broadcasting ministry, department of telecom and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) indicating the detail of licence or registration under which they propose to offer IPTV service, it said.
The date of commencement of the service, the area being covered and details of network infrastructure should also be included in the self-declaration, it added.

Internet TV has a huge potential to capture the new net-savvy generation who may like to watch their favourite television programmes without having to put up with cable wires or a direct-to-home (DTH) satellite dish.
Internet TV is not expected to cost more than DTH or cable.


The cabinet decision last month removed the last hurdle in the way of making IPTV popular by making it clear that IPTV providers would get channels from broadcasters as per broadcasters' rates fixed by TRAI.

Downlinking norms which earlier only allowed broadcasters to share their channels for the cable and DTH platforms have now been amended to include sharing of channels with the IPTV platforms.

State-owned BSNL and MTNL are already providing IPTV services in several cities. Private players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications are also eyeing the burgeoning IPTV market.

ET...........................

N-deal to attract Rs 2,00,000 cr investment in power sector: Assocham

With the Indo-US nuclear deal to be a reality soon, the power sector will attract investment to the tune of about Rs 200,000 crore, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (Assocham), the apex industrial body in India.
In fifteen years time, a minimum of Rs 2 lakh crore is expected to go for nuclear power generation,” said Venugopal N Dhoot, immediate past president of Assocham while releasing a study carried out by Assocham on the measures to be put in place to achieve 15 per cent growth rate in the manufacturing sector.

Manufacturing sector which has been assigned the highest weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), has grown at a slow pace of 6.6 to 8.8 per cent in the past five years.

The share of manufacturing has also remained unsatisfactory, going down to 15.5 per cent last year from 18 per cent in 1995-96.

Dhoot, who is also the managing director of the Videocon group of Industries, added that 40 Indian companies including Videocon group, Jindal power and Tata power, have already started negotiations with the government and their foreign counterparts for nuclear power generation.

He also added that as the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement comes through, it will help generate an additional 40,000 mw of power in 15 years and thus reduce the price of power.

The study titled, “Indian Manufacturing : aiming to achieve 15 per cent sustainable growth” focuses on the strategies to be formulated for achieving a 15 per cent growth in manufacturing sector on the backdrop of a 9-10 per cent GDP growth, Dhoot said.

The study also mentions how foreign industries can take the advantage of cheap labour cost in India. It also draws a comparison of India’s industrial sector with that of China.

Expressing his views on the Tata Motors pulling out of Singur, he said that the industry should learn lesson from the controversy.

“We (manufacturers) should not overburden the state government to have land acquisition. manufacturers should talk to the farmers themselves. State government can only provide infrastructure,” he said.




BS......................

Youth must invest-
When we are a college fresher or in first job, saving and investment are the last things in our mind.

Our priority is the latest gadget, movies or a dream car. This is natural among the youth.

With so much media exposure, you get tempted to buy these items. It is advisable for the youth to follow five personal finance steps:

Budgeting-
It’s easy to find ourselves wondering where our money went. Putting a budget in writing can show how we are actually spending our money and what we can do to help control where it goes.

We should remember to add entertainment and shopping expenses into monthly budget and not forget to include savings.

We should treat it with the same importance we would treat utility bills.

In fact, the earlier we start saving, the earlier that money can start working for us.


Plastic woes-
Easy availability of credit cards has provided a major boost to spending. We should use credit cards in a proper way like for emergency payments or life insurance premium payments.

If we are not careful and use “minimum payment option”, it could mean getting entangled in a debt trap. Interest rates are as high as 42% in most of the credit cards now.

We should stick to the rule: “If we can’t pay cash, then we can’t buy it.” We should not use credit card unless absolutely needed.


Start early-
As investor when we are young, we have time and money on our side. Most of the people are unaware about power of compounding.

According to Albert Einstein: “Compounding is mankind’s greatest invention because it allows for the reliable, systematic accumulation of wealth.”

The sooner we start, makes the difference. We should start SIP (systematic investment plans) at an early age to benefit from the power of compounding.

The term ‘systematic investing’, applies to the process of investing regularly ie. at fixed intervals, say, monthly or quarterly.

Even we may start at as little as Rs 500 per month.


Set objective-
This should be starting point of any investment plan. We should split the objective in short term, medium term and long term.

Some examples are like buying an electronic gadget (short-term), planning for higher studies (medium term) and planning for house (long-term). An investment objective is a simply a wish which we want to fulfil.

After setting the investment objective, calculate the amount needed to achieve the financial goals.

We should be able to earn decent return on the investment after assessing risk profile. The more we earn, makes a difference.


Pay off debt-
We should always retire the high cost debt first. We should never accumulate the debt on credit cards.

Nowadays we have access to educational loans which are cheaper then credit cards. We should consolidate the debt when possible to take advantage of lower rates.

It is better to take loans from parents and friends then to accumulate high cost debt.



Economic Times...................

Nuke deal: A win for PM, but will UPA also score?????????????
Getting the nod of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for the Indo-US nuclear deal—this is expected to be passed by the US Congress later this month—will be recorded as the most important achievement of the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at theCentre.

What does consummating this deal mean to Prime Minister Singh and the Congress-led UPA towards the end of their five-year term? And, how will this affect the principal political players as India heads for a poll season with a string of assembly elections barely two months from now and the a general election slated for April-May?
For Singh, the culmination of the nuclear deal is a vindication of sorts. He has always maintained that the deal is in the nation’s interest. He held his nerve at crucial moments when his government appeared shaky and secured the full backing of his party and coalition’s leadership.
Until a few months ago, the widespread impression among people was that Singh was a “puppet” prime minister who was not just weak but could take no decisions on his own.
Recent political developments and the imminent success of the nuclear deal have brought about a phenomenal transformation in this image and Singh is now seen as a strong-willed leader and as a man with firm convictions who will stay in office only on his terms. In today’s politics, when political leaders cringe and stoop to stick to office, Singh’s firm stand has won him support. As the UPA government’s term is drawing to a close, Singh has gained in stature and has emerged out of the shadows of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi who is the “real” leader of the coalition. He has also proved his newly acquired political management and negotiation skills in securing the support of an arch rival, the Samajwadi Party (SP), to stave off a threat to his government after a key ally, the Left Front, withdrew support to the UPA government over the issue of the nuclear deal.
The image of Singh’s government has been sullied by the murky developments leading to the UPA government’s trust vote in the Lok Sabha on 22 July, which it won by a wide margin. Fortunately for the Prime Minister, allegations that representatives of opposition parties were bribed to support the government have not dented the public perception of Singh as an “apolitical” leader with unquestioned personal integrity.
Can the nuke deal be a poll issue?
The Congress party is in raptures over the success of the nuclear deal and has begun talking about it as a panacea to all energy ills that ail India. Someone in the Congress party has already come up with a weird slogan: “Give your vote to the Congress; we will give you electricity ”. After 20 years?
Will the nuke deal—billed as the UPA government’s major success—translate into electoral support? This is unlikely as the deal is a complete non-issue as far as voters are concerned. Imminent elections to the state assemblies of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will vindicate this assessment. At one level, people are completely unaware of what the deal is all about and at another, they seem hardly bothered about it due to its esoteric nature and long-range benefits. Therefore, any attempt to highlight it as a major achievement of the government to gain political mileage would come a cropper.
However, UPA can take solace from the fact that pursuing the nuclear deal has not cost it the Muslim vote as was feared earlier. The Muslim vote is intact with the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, the SP in Uttar Pradesh and the Congress in all its strongholds. The campaign by the opposition parties that the deal draws India closer to the Bush administration in the US and, by implication, makes the country anti-Muslim has come unstuck.
In my assessment, it would be a monumental blunder for the UPA to pitch its political campaign on the nuclear deal. And it will be no less a blunder than the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) “India Shining” campaign before the last general election.
Equally, the NDA and the Left Front will be making a huge mistake if they carry their opposition to the nuclear deal to the electoral battlefield as they will be sidestepping the key issue of inflation which has made the life of the “common man” unbearable.
The UPA government that is basking in the glow of nuclear success should realize that its failure to contain inflation will likely become the key poll issue in next year’s general election. If UPA hopes to win elections on the issue of nuclear power, darkness is sure to shroud it in the next polls



(Source-The Bottom Line
G.V.L.Narasimha Rao)...

'Wear helmets, or no insurance claim'



Kochi, Sep 6 (PTI) The Kerala High court observed that it will be desirable to include in the insurance policy that two wheeler drivers shall wear helmets. The observation was made by a division bench comprising justices C N Ramachandran and V K Mohanan.

The court said police while reporting motor accidents shall record in the mahazar whether the victim was wearing a helmet or not and the injury was on account of not wearing a helmet.

The bench directed DGP to issue circular in this regard.

The court was considering an appeal by Siby Paul of Sreemoolanagaram, who met with an accident, for enhancing of compensation awarded by the Motor Accidents Tribunal.


OutLook..................
...

HYDERABAD: Infrastructure majors are now busy working out plans to tap the business opportunity India’s nuclear deal is set to throw open.

GMR and Lanco Group, the Hyderabad-based entities with significant interest in the power sector, are ready to hit the drafting board.

“We are interested in a nuclear power foray. But we’ll have to wait and see for things to develop,” a GMR group spokesman told DNA Money on Sunday.

GMR has three power plants currently with an installed capacity of 808 mw though two of them are facing uncertainties due to fuel and power purchase agreement issues.
Projects with a capacity of another 3,000 mw are at various stages of development. The new capacities include 1,100 mw hydro projects and 1,050 mw coal-fired projects.

A Lanco spokesperson said the company is also in evaluation mode. Chairman L Madhusudan Rao could not be reached for a comment.

GMR has been working on a plan to make it big in the power sector even without the nuclear option.

Analysts tracking the sector said both GMR and Lanco are well-positioned to enter the sector.

“Technology need not be an issue for these groups. However, the funding part is crucial,” he said.

But another analyst said there are many units of groups such as GMR and Lanco, which have often been running into problems due to issues related to fuel linkage. “Nuclear would be a better option even for them since they are in a position to satisfy its capital intensive nature,” the analyst said.

Lanco’s current power portfolio stands at about 8,433 mw. This includes about 518 mw operational capacity and another 3,808 mw under construction.

In addition, another 3,960 mw is at various stages of developments. The group intends to have a 15,000 mw capacity operational by 2015.

According to sources tracking the sector, both GMR and Lanco are well positioned to enter into technology tie ups to make forays into nuclear power.

DNA...............

Thanks for adding one valuable pearl to this chain. ...

latikav,your collection of poetry is fantastic n fabulous means fantabulous but i am sorry to bring to your notice dear some one or even moderator is deleting all my serious collection of poetry,cant help but if u could give me ur E-mail(plz dont take otherwise)i could also share some of my memories coz i have lost all my collection coz of several transfer n here in mumbai,its difficult to continue my taste any way your treasure is beyond any admiration keep it up JAGDISH...

latikav,a nice potry dard jab hud se gujar jata hai dawa bun jata hai will be back bye n take care...

dear latikav -please also see my post - reproduced here. VINAYAKA CHATHURTHI FESTIVAL - September 3, 2008 TODAY IS VINAYAKA CHATHURTHI - MAY THE SUPREME ENTITY WHO MANIFESTS AS GANESHA FOR OUR SAKE BLESS ALL BOARDERS, THEIR FAMILIIES, FRIENDS, ENVIRONMENT - SARVE JANAAH – ALL – ASESHA – LEAVING OUT NONE – WITH GOOD HEALTH, PROSPERITY, FREE FROM VIGNA ON LEGITIMATE PURSUITS. – AND ULTIMATE FULFILMENT OF LIFE. Vinayaka Chathurthi is a great festivalin southern and western India and only tolesser extent in eastern India and northern India. Only after invoking Ganesh Ji, all auspicious functions start in Bharat. In North & East India, Ganesh ji is traditionally with devis, His sakthi known as Buddhi (intellect) and Sidhi (achievement). Bengal’s greatest festival – Durga Puja starts with Ganeshs devi fetching sacred water from Ganga with accompaniment of drums and music. In the South, in most temples and pictures, Maha Ganapathi is shown alone. In some places he appears as Sakti Ganapathi – vallabhaya saha - with Vallabha. The elephant head is figurative – clever poetic descrip of the qualities of the supreme omnipotent God. The eyes, ears, trunk – the eyes small but powerful can see even the minutest thing in the universe, ears always active and hearing the most feeble prayers of devotees,sharp intellect which can give instantaneous directions, broad forehead showing wisdom, superb memory, trunk denoting immense strength for heavy duty, ever active, flexible to reach distant objects as well as very minute near objects. God, Controller of the Universe is ever active 24 x 7, alert, ready always to meet devotees prayers. He is the SUPREME itself appearing in that most easily approachable God-form. – rich or poor, or poorest of the poor seek Him No wonder Students line up before him to seek blessings before going to the examination hall. He is easily pleased with a devotionl offer of even one blade of durva grass, - easily available everywhere even in the footpath in those days. Cocoanut and modaka are the offerings. He is shown with modaka in his hand. Modaka from mudha – all that which pleases you. – everything, ultimately bliss. The sweet filling inside the modaka is known as - poorna - meaning full, the whole. – like 100% guaranteed success. Sometimes he is shown as having in his palm the fruit Bijapura (pomegranate). He rewards devotee with fruit of actions. The name of the fruit itself gives out the secret. Can one count the number of dhana (seeds) in one fruit - imagine if each seed denotes one universe, how many universes – aneka koti brahmandanam – many crores of Universes – all in his safe custody. He presides over them - visvotpathi, vipathi, samsthithakara – their creation, final withdrawal and sustenance in the meantime. NO WONDER GANAPATHI IS THE MOST POPULAR GOD FORM WORSHIPPED. In Maharashtra Ganesh Chathurthi is something like a national festival – full 10 days – It was always observed as a festival, from time immemorial – but it was Lokmanya Bala Gangadhar Tilak who gave the nation the present form – people assemble in a common platform for worship – forgetting all enmity and developing friendship. In Karnataka it is noted as GOWRI GANESHA FESTIVAL. – Goddess Gouri is worshipped on previous day, following which Ganesha worshipped on Chathurthi.It is like a family reunion, looked forward with great enthusiasm in all families. In T.N Ganesh chathurthi is observed throughout. In city like Chennai, every street has its own Ganesh temple, and one could spot small Ganesh temples in front of big buildings, wherever roads cross, or wherever there is T formation when a street (road) takes off from another road. The festival is celebrated in all temples and houses. Andhra follows Maharashtra pattern. With immersion of the idol after the 10 days Puja. Request other boarder friends to help complete the ALL INDIA picture. Regards ARG ...

Saved onto PC for reference at times of introspection....

latikav,if you find ur messages are being deleted,then can send on my mailing address available on my profile bye n take care...

now my 3 posts have been deleted :((...