Airtel joins tariff war; introduces pay-per-second plan

In this plan, called Freedom Plan, Airtel customers will be charged one paise per second for all Local and STD calls to Airtel numbers and 1.20 paise per second for local and STD calls to other networks. Some of the new operators, however, are offering pay per second tariff plan across networks. The plan will be available initially only to pre-paid subscribers of Airtel, an Airtel statement said. This will be one of the tariff plans besides others already existing. "As the undisputed leader in the Indian telecom industry, we are committed to delighting our customers through superior network, great customer service and best value for money. Today, our network covers 110 million customers, has 100,000 sites and is available across 4.25 lakh towns and villages in 1.5 million outlets," Atul Bindal, President, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, said.

A jab that cures snoring in two minutes

The "snoreplasty" involves injecting a chemical called sodium tetradecyl into the roof of the mouth -- the two-minute treatment eases snoring by stopping the soft tissue at back of the mouth from vibrating, the 'Daily Mail' reported. In fact, the scientists led by Dr Hadi Al-Jassim, have treated 400 patients in Liverpool with the new injection as an alternative to painful surgery. "As everyone knows, snoring can cause major problems for patients and in particular their partners. In most cases it's the men who snore and their partners suffer sleep deprivation and at the end of the day you have to keep your partner happy -- though women do snore as well. "It causes all sorts of problems between partners and leads to marital, social and health problems. I am delighted with the treatment because, until this, there has been no effective treatment other than surgery," Dr Al-Jassim of Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust was quoted as saying. The jab costs just three pounds.

Balancing act? Did mom plan field for Mukesh, cheap gas for Anil: SC

"The KG basin gas fields were joint assets. So, when the division took place, there appears to be some balancing done by the mother - RIL kept the gas field assets and the other son got gas supply at a lower price to make profit by selling it. Otherwise, how do you explain the MoU or whatever scheme that was worked out as per MoU promising gas at NTPC rate," the court asked RIL counsel Harish Salve. Notwithstanding a quick clarification that it understood RIL's argument - the MoU between two shareholders could not bind the board of directors - a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendran and P Sathasivam asked, "What is the backdrop of the demerger and division?" Salve explained that RIL was still willing to give gas to Anil Ambani's RNRL at the price of $2.34 per unit, the price committed to NTPC after global tendering. "But what RNRL refuses to read is that RIL's commitment was always with a caveat that supply of gas to NTPC at $2.34 was subject to government approval," he said and accused RNRL of cherry picking the best of the clauses from the MoU, gas supply master agreement and the production sharing contract. He said, "The consistent stand of RIL was that gas price is subject to government approval. The government does not equate RNRL with NTPC saying the latter is a PSU and hence completely different from RNRL." The Bench said, "If that is the case, then there is no need of a fight between the brothers. They should actually be fighting against the government on issues." Salve said if the government approved a price of $4.20, then it would hardly be a suitable agreement for RIL to supply gas at $2.34 to RNRL. "Where it hurts is that RIL is not being able to supply gas to its captive plant even at $4.20 because of the prioritisation of supply to core sectors by the government through the gas utilisation policy (GUP)," he added. Salve said the MoU, far from stating that government approval was irrelevant, provided that both groups would work jointly for getting approvals. He said there had been a sea change in the scenario after the MoU as government came out with GUP taking away the marketing freedom from RIL and many other decisions taken by the EGoM having a vital bearing on gas supply. "The structure of transaction in MoU is unsurprisingly at variance with the structure of demerger. The principle is that the final agreement is what matters, nothing else, not the background," Salve said.

New Indo-Nepal trade treaty comes to life

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and his Nepali counterpart Rajendra Mahato Tuesday signed a new bilateral trade treaty in Kathmandu, which comes into effect immediately offering an upgraded seven-year pact with proviso for automatic renewal every seven years, cutting down red tape and opening a new port as well as land and air routes to Nepal.
“The new treaty retains all the positive aspects of the old treaty,” Sharma said, referring to the earlier 1996 trade treaty that saw bilateral trade reach Rs. 204.8 billion in 2008-09 from Rs. 28.1 billion in 1995-96. In the same period, Nepal’s exports to India increased from Rs. 3.7 billion Rs. 40.9 billion while Indian exports grew from Rs. 24.4 billion to Rs. 163.9 billion.
Sharma said the new treaty will have a seven-year validity instead of the earlier five years and will be extended automatically every seven years, creating a “stable framework for bilateral trade and investment”.
The cumbersome Duty Refund Procedure has been scrapped to provide Nepal a direct control on the customs duty revenues on import of manufactured goods from India. Besides the Calcutta Port, Nepal can now also avail of the Vishakhapatnam port while four additional land customs stations will be established to facilitate bilateral trade.
Also, for the first time, bilateral trade will be allowed by air through international airports connected by direct flights between Nepal and India (Kathmandu/Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai).
The two ministers also signed an Agreement of Cooperation to Control Unauthorized Trade that will allow export of goods imported by Nepal from India to the third countries without the necessity of carrying out any manufacturing activity in Nepal. This will enhance exports from Nepal to third countries where it has a better market access as compared to India.
India has also agreed to allow Nepal access to the Banglabandh port through Indian territory, allow items like rice, wheat and sugar to be sent to Nepal at a time they are not allowed to be exported to other countries and will authorize the export about 50,000 tonne of fertilizer.
Sharma said India is appreciative of the steps Nepal’s people have taken to strengthen democracy in the Himalayan nation and sought stability, progress and welfare in the neighbouring country.
Asked what India hoped to gain from the new treaty, Sharma said in would lead to increased economic growth which would in turn lead to greater stability and greater opportunities for the young people of Nepal.
“That would be to India’s benefit,” he said.

'India has become an important global player'

The strategy reflects Norway’s increased focus on India. One of the new instruments is an India research programme in the Norwegian Research Council. We want to forge multiple and close links between institutions of research and higher education in India and Norway. Norway is keen to pursue a knowledge-based policy towards India. We have established an India Forum in Norway in order to further strengthen collaboration between the public and the private sector, academia, NGOs and cultural actors. What is the rationale behind it? With its strong economic growth over the last 20 years, the dynamic development of its political system, and the world’s second largest population, India has become an increasingly important global player. Co-operation between Norway and India is in a dynamic phase. It has changed from traditional development assistance, which started in the 1950s to today’s modern political dialogue, institutional co-operation, commercial engagement and catalytic efforts in selected areas of societal development. What are the focus areas? The main objectives include further strengthening of co-operation on societal issues and research between Norway and India. The ministry of education and research has a strong focus on the higher education and research co-operation through the follow-up of the Science and Technology Agreement between India and Norway (from 2006) and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Co-operation in the Field of Education between India and Norway (from 2008). We have recently had meetings with our Indian counterparts under the two agreements. These discussions make a good basis for future higher education and research co-operation between the two countries. Will there be any exchange programmes for Indian and Norwegian scholars? The strategy introduces a programme to be administered by the Research Council of Norway, to promote research co-operation between India and Norway in certain priority areas. This programme will provide additional resource, help to ensure stability and a long-term approach, and also provide incentives for co-operation on regional challenges in South Asia. The strategy will also facilitate exchange of students and researchers.

"Hyperspectral Remote Sensor" that can spot disasters

An omniscient eye in the sky can spot natural and man-made disasters, give advance warning about forest fires, water contamination or an oil slick. A new Tel Aviv University (TAU) technology combines sophisticated sensors in orbit with ground based sensors to create a "Hyperspectral Remote Sensor" (HRS). Eyal Ben-Dor, geography professor at TAU, describes his team's HRS technology as a combination of physical, chemical and optical disciplines. Today, it can take years before authorities can detect chemicals that can compromise our health. For example, about 90 percent of all petrol stations leak contaminants into the soil, says Ben-Dor. The HRS simultaneously acquires hundreds of optical images, each from a different frequency, that enable a "spectral assessment" from distances high in the air via airplanes and in orbit using satellites. This raw data is then processed by Ben Dor and his team to yield sophisticated thematic maps. "These are not regular maps at all," says Ben-Dor. "We are combining properties from the physical, chemical and optical worlds, using all the latest technologies available from these fields. Ours is one of a few leading teams in the world exploring this novel way of mapping earth." His new HRS can monitor gas stations and identify problematic areas. "Our space sensors combined with ground measurements and GPS data will be able to detect and map hydrocarbon contamination in real time. Within a year, we'll be able to identify these problematic areas far more quickly than with traditional methods," he says. It can also indicate where water runoff should be directed and what minerals may be lacking in a given parcel of land, says a TAU release. "Water is an expensive commodity today," says Ben Dor. "Knowing how to better manage water resources is a top priority for states like California, and our new tool could help them do that." Details were published in journals like Soil Science Society of America Journals, Soil Science Journal and the International Journal of Remote Sensing.

Average temperatures not increased for last 11 years: Research

Amid stepped up efforts to curb global warming, a recent research has revealed that average temperatures have not increased for over a

decade. Average temperatures have not increased for over a decade and the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998, according to a research published by the Royal Society. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures and our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise, it said. Climate change skeptics argue that there are natural cycles, over which we have no control, that dictate how warm the planet is. But what is the evidence for this? During the last few decades of the 20th Century, our planet did warm quickly but a the research has ruled out solar influences on increase in temperature, a BBC report said. "Warming in the last 20 to 40 years can't have been caused by solar activity," said Dr Piers Forster from Leeds University, a leading contributor to this year's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The scientists' main approach was simple: to look at solar output and cosmic ray intensity over the last 30-40 years, and compare those trends with the graph for global average surface temperature.

BA offers $40 round trip US- India fare by mistake, cancels tickets

It was a deal -- a steal! -- too good to be true. It really was.
Regulars on the US-India flight route erupted in joy last week when British Airways offered, erroneously as it turned out, a $40 round-trip fare (plus taxes, fees and surcharge) from any city in the US to any destination in India. Scores of eager beaver flyers snagged the tickets in the two-hour window on October 2, before BA realized its error and shut down the offer, even as word about the Gandhi Jayanti gift sped through the desi bush telegraph. Now BA says it cannot honor the tickets because it was a systems' glitch. The airline claims it was actually filing for a $40 increase in fares between US and India and somewhere down the line the plus sign got knocked off. "As these fares were so clearly below the normal fare levels, British Airways is unable to honor these bookings," the airline said in an e-mail to travel agents. "We have cancelled all affected bookings made during this two-hour window, and will make a full refund for any paid for and issued ticket." Not so fast, say furious customers. Many of them say they have made other onward bookings and plans. Some dumped other airlines and tickets, incurring a cancellation fee, to pile on the BA bonanza. Besides, say some customers, the $40 fare tag is misleading. "What they're leaving out is that taxes and fees amount to $530+. So sure it is a good deal, but not a give-away by any means," one buyer wrote to the LA Times travel blog, which first broke the story. Others said they paid between $600 to $700 including taxes, fees, and surcharge, and insist BA should honor the deal. On Friday, BA budged just a bit, offering a $ 300 discount on a future BA fare to India in addition to the full refund. In its e-mail to travel agents, the airline apologized for the error and said refunded customers could get an additional $300 off "any published retail World Traveller fare from the US to India when booked between now and Nov. 12, 2009." It said the offer was valid for travel through Sept. 30, 2010. It remains to be seen if buyers are pacified. The public relations fiasco underlines the steady decline of European airlines and against emerging Gulf and eastern carriers for the US-India market, even as state-owned Air India is flailing around. For the longest time, European carriers such as BA, KLM, Air France and Lufthansa have had a run of the US-India route, especially from the East Coast, with transit through European hubs. But now gulf carriers such as Qatar Airways and Emirates are muscling into the market, enticing Indian flyers to fly through the Doha and Dubai, instead of through London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt etc. Commencing Sunday, Qatar Airways will begin a direct service four times a week from its Doha base to Amritsar, allowing a wide base of Sikhs/Punjabi diaspora in North America (where it flies direct to Washington DC, Houston/Dallas among other cities), Europe, Africa and the Gulf/West Asia region to make their Golden Temple pilgrimage expeditiously. The airline, which already flies from Doha to eight other cities in India, will also begin a Doha-Goa service on October 25, making it one of the "best spread" foreign airlines in India. Qatar flies directly non-stops from Doha to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode. A Doha-Bangalore flight is next in line. Likewise, its Gulf rival Emirates (over which Qatar brags a five-star rating) offers a several connections into Indian cities for Indian expats flying in from U.S. Many flyers from the US prefer a 13-hour first leg to Gulf hubs (allowing eight hours of sleep) which brings them within 3-4 hours to India, rather than the approximately 7 hour-9 hour split while flying from US to India via Europe. Not surprisingly, all six airlines which have a Skytrax five-star rating (Qatar, Kingfisher, Cathay Pacific, Asiana, Singapore and Malaysia) are Asian, with no European or American airline making the grade. Crisis ridden Air India meanwhile is trying to retrieve the situation in a U.S market where it has poor ratings. Starting December 1, India's sarkari airline is going to meet a long standing demand from passengers in the Washington DC region to connect directly to New Delhi. "Direct" but not non-stop, since the flight will be a Washington DC--New York--New Delhi-Kolkata shuttle. The current New York-Delhi non-stop is just getting an extension at both ends. Still, it's the first step in directly linking the two capitals with the same aircraft. There are already Washington DC-Tokyo and Washington DC-Beijing direct non-stops.