Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati…Angela Merkel.
India is perhaps unsurpassed in the world in terms of the power wielded in the upper echelons of government by women. And the contrast was stark last year when the distinctly male heads of all five permanent United Nations Security Council members – the U.S., France, China, Russia and the U.K. – trooped to New Delhi to push for more trade and enhance relations.
Now, finally, a female global leader is heading this way to make nice.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives Tuesday, doing her own version of what all those other leaders did, too: Make a pitch for closer bilateral relations and closer commercial ties. Among them: The much talked-about $10-billion fighter jet deal that India is expected to award in the next several months that now is a race between France's Dassault Aviation SA and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.'s Eurofighter Typhoon. Germany is part of the EADS consortium.
Ms. Merkel’s trip comes close on the heels of the visit last week by French Minister of Defense Gérard Longuet to lobby India to pick Dassault.
Ms. Merkel also is expected to push the candidacy of another woman who could soon become one of the world's most prominent females. Not that being finance minister of France counts as an also-ran post, but if Christine Lagarde succeeds in her bid to become the next chief of the Internation [...]
By Megha Bahree and Amol Sharma
Kapil Sibal, minister of Communications and Information Technology, recently sat down with The Wall Street Journal for a conversation on how he's planning to reshape India's telecom sector. Here are some highlights:
On whether there too much competition in telecoms and too little spectrum:
“There was a time when the price of a telephone call was 90 rupees,” said Mr. Sibal. “Now it's 50-60 paise.” He said that India offered a vast market and he would ensure that there was sufficient spectrum available, so telecom operators should have nothing to worry about. But, he added, the telecom operators should also realize that ultimately technology has to be accessible and affordable to the consumer even as operators get a return on their investments.
On what technology standard for mobile would be adopted in the future:
"We must move toward a technology neutral regime, in which the licensee is entitled to use any technology he wants,” he said. “We must move toward convergence." Under the new policy, a licensee will be entitled to use CDMA and GSM, 2G, 3G, data and voice—or a combination of his choice. "The licensee should be able to tailor-make his business to the needs of the consumer," he said.
On the future of the 2G licenses that had been issued:
Mr. Sibal said some 124 licenses had been issued and he didn’t know what would be “the fate of those licenses.” One possible outcome was that some of the licenses would be revoked. Another was that some spectrum would be freed up if people didn’t roll out services in time. “We are waiting for the Supreme Court to make a judicial determination,” he said. “Whatever the result of that litigation is, we're committed to move toward the environment I'm talking about." [...]
The tables are turning in India’s glamorous information technology sector. Some smaller niche software exporters have garnered more attention of investors than blue-chips such as Infosys Technologies Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Wipro Ltd., especially after their modest financial performances in the six months through March 2011.
In the last three months to date, shares in medium sized IT companies KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd. are up 15%, Hexaware Technologies Ltd. is 22% higher and outsourcing firm eClerx Services Ltd. has gained 22%. In contrast, sector heavy weights TCS – India’s largest software exporter – is up 3.3%, second-largest outsourcer Infosys is down 7.5%, while Wipro is 1.2% higher. The benchmark Sensex rose 3.5% during the period.
Sustaining their winning streak, Monday, shares of mid-cap companies KPIT Cummins closed up 3.8% at 170.05 rupees ($3.78), while Hexaware was up 2.5% at 64.50 rupees. Larger players Tata Consultancy closed up 1.0% at 1,153.25 rupees, while Infosys Technologies was down 0.3% at 2,780.20 rupees. The benchmark index was down 0.2%.
The small-sized Indian technology companies were trailing their larger counterparts in growth through a greater part of the global slowdown that began in 2008. Most of them lacked the scale to deal with the severe cutback in IT spending by global clients and incurred heavy losses.
And in 2010 the smaller firms didn't reap the benefits of a peak in outsourcing demand for India's IT sector as clients cleared backlogs of projects which they had deferred for nearly two years. They lacked exposure to the financial services sector that led the turnaround and faced competition with the larger firms, which started eyeing low value deals, too.
But as growth is returning to the near pre-recession levels, the large companies are expected to focus on high-value deals, leaving room for smaller peers to spread t [...]
Here is a roundup of news from Indian newspapers, news wires and Web sites on Monday, May 30, 2011. The Wall Street Journal has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
Pakistan seeks ‘clarifications’ on India's terror list: Pakistan has asked for “clarifications” on the exact status of India’s “most wanted” terrorists’ list after New Delhi goofed up big time on the contents. (Source: The Times of India)
Rs 46.76-crore scam in Mizoram: The state Accountant General's report countersigned by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) was tabled in the assembly on March 29. It contains the shocking revelation that Rs46.76 crore was withdrawn from the treasury against "before actual commencement of approved works" between 2005-2010. (Source: Hindustan Times)
CPI(M) MLA jumps to death from building, suicide note found: CPI(M) MLA from Basirhat North constituency Mostafa bin Quasem today allegedly leapt to his death from the third floor of the MLA’s Hostel building here. (Source: NDTV)
FBI ignored warnings on Headley’s jihadist career: Federal Bureau of Investigation detectives disregarded multiple warnings that the Pakistani-American jihadist David Headley was working with the Lashkar-e-Taiba – two of which came from his own wives. (Source: The Hindu)
Metro set to start work on 'challenging' Red Fort line: Work on the Delhi Metro Phase-III line connecting ITO, Daryaganj, Jama Masjid and Red Fort is expected to started in the next six months as the authorities target to meet the completion deadline of early 2016. (Source: The Indian Express)
Soon, internet connectivity for every panchayat: Very soon, every panchayat in the country will have an internet equipped service centre to ensure rural access to vario [...]
