Airtel tests 3G services; set to launch operations

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has successfully tested 3G applications with various equipment suppliers and is all set to start services as and when the spectrum was allocated.

"We have tested 3G applications at three places – Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore – on a trial indoor spectrum given to us," Bharti Airtel President (Mobility) Sanjay Kapoor said.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has already announced to allot 3G spectrum through auction and the existing players like Airtel are gearing to start 3G service which enables subscribers much faster downloading facility and also wireless broadband.
Asked whether Bharti Airtel has the technology to offer 3G mobile services, Kapoor said, "We as an operator have 3G services in Seychelles. Our license for Sri Lanka is for 3G services as well and by the time 3G services are launched in India we will have enough experience.

"Moreover, we have SingTel as our partner who has wide experience of offering 3G services," he said adding that for an operator who has 2G operations, 3G is just an incremental service.
On the equipment suppliers, with whom Bharti tested the services, Kapoor declined to specify their names but said they engaged more than one network companies.

Currently Swedish network company Ericsson and Nokia of Finland are vying for market share in the 3G space besides Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE.

Bharti Airtel has offered the 3G services contract to Huawei in Sri Lanka. "Once we start here we will negotiate with all the players before taking a final decision," Kapoor said.

Asked how long the company would take to offer services once the spectrum was alloted, he said, "We will take 6-9 months from the date of allotment of spectrum. But we are still waiting for the final guidelines to be announced by the DoT."

On the issue wi-max, Bharti official said the High Speed Data Packet Access (HSDPA) would be the right technology for wireless broadband as this is a tested technology in various parts of the world.

He also said the company is getting applications ready for the 3G contents. "We have started working on that and should be ready by the time services start."

Parekh had major role in GTB's closure

Ketan Parekh played a major role in the closure of the Global Trust Bank (GTB) three years later, according to official investigators.

The broker is also accused of manipulating the stock markets in what became a multibillion-rupee scandal in 2001.

According to top sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), records have been found of five bank accounts that were used to transfer a sum of over Rs 4 billion from the Hyderabad-headquartered GTB from 1999 to 2001 to Parekh. These funds were never returned.

"We have found bank records indicating that money from these accounts was sent to Parekh," a top official of the agency said.

Worse, the CBI has sufficient evidence to show that the funds were used by Mumbai-based Parekh in the scandal that rocked the stock markets in 2001.

"We were surprised to find money dealing in his name while investigating the closure of the bank," said the official. He added that preliminary investigations have revealed these figures but the probe could reveal a bigger amount of fraud.

The CBI is now trying to widen the scope of the investigations.

"We believe that some top bank officials were involved with Parekh because a fraud of such a huge amount could not be carried out without the help of bank officials."

Official sources said the CBI could only investigate cases that involved fraud of at least Rs 5 billion.

The CBI official said after the closure of GTB, the government had ordered an inquiry into the dealings that led to its becoming non-functional.

Parekh used to buy stocks at rock bottom prices and then push them up through market manipulation with funds borrowed from banks. He was arrested by the CBI on August 10, 2001, but is out on bail.

The stock market scam carried out by Parekh involved the siphoning off of Rs 13 billion from the Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank (MMCB) and the State Bank of India (SBI).

Officials said Parekh had played a major role in the closure of the Gujarat-based MMCB by defrauding it of Rs 10.5 billion. In that case, CBI officials said some of the bank officials were involved in the scam.

Similarly, Parekh had allegedly siphoned off Rs 2.5 billion from SBI for the sale and purchase of shares by his K-10 companies.

However, a CBI official said, "If we don't find the money, we will not let him enjoy it either."

CBI sources also said they might never be able to recover at least Rs 2.78 billion, which were transferred to Britain through investments made by companies operating in Mauritius.

"These funds were first transferred to Mauritius and from there they were transferred to bank accounts in England. We know who the people involved are but we do not have much proof to strengthen our case," said a source.

"We know about the remaining sum but we might never be able to recover this amount from Parekh," said the source.

Investigators following the money trail also suspect that a few non-resident Indian businessmen in Britain were involved in carrying out Parekh's operations in that country.

The officials also said some key conspirators of the scam were hiding in Britain but since the government of India did not have an extradition treaty with that country, it could not bring them to India.

SEBI for strengthening Know Your Customer norms

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India has proposed that brokers should limit trading exposure of their clients based on their financial position, a move intended to avoid any default from investors.

"The exposure or turnover limit given by the trading members should be commensurate with the financial details of the clients reported in the Know Your Customer (norms)," SEBI said in its draft proposals on improving sales practice by the members of the stock exchanges.

The exposure limit shall be in proportion to the financial details of the client, said the proposals on which SEBI has invited public comments by April 15.

The limits will have to be specified in KYC and will have to be strictly adhered to, SEBI said adding that if the details require modification, they should be appropriately altered.

Also, the regulator said only those who have a financial standing comparable to that of the client can act as introducers.

To ensure the identity of investor, documents like PAN card, income tax return and proof of residence have to be maintained along with the KYC norms.

These KYC norms were introduced under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 as a part of the client identification process.

SEBI had prescribed certain requirements to know about clients. These included verification of identity and address, providing information of financial status, occupation and such other demographic information.

BSE to launch Sensex futures on US bourse: Report

India's leading bourse Bombay Stock Exchange, which is planning listing on its own platform, is all set to launch benchmark Sensex-based futures on the US Futures Exchange in Chicago this week, a media report said on Monday.

"Futures based on its benchmark Sensex index are set to launch on the US Futures Exchange in Chicago this week," the Financial Times reported.

The BSE could list on its own platform through an initial public offering or a direct listing this year, the daily said.

Speaking to the newspaper, BSE's managing director and chief executive Rajnikant Patel said a number of issues, including whether to hold an IPO and raise cash or to list the shares directly on the market, were yet to be resolved.

"In terms of time to market, listing without an IPO would be the quickest way. We don't need additional cash as of now," Patel was quoted as saying by the newspaper in an article published in its online edition.

According to the report, there were technical issues which need to be addressed by the regulators such as the question that with whom the BSE would sign its listing contract.

Currently, firms listing on the bourse ink a contract with the exchange itself. Another issue was how the exchange would be regulated. The easiest option would be direct monitoring by market regulator SEBI of the exchange's activities to ensure it is conforming with the listing requirements, it added.

Pointing out that once these matters were resolved, a listing could be held in a matter of months, Patel told the newspaper, "Suppose we received SEBI and other regulatory approvals, whatever is required, it would take 90-100 days".

Further, the report added that the move to list BSE, part of "efforts to reform India's second-largest equities market after its demutualisation in 2005, comes as it seeks to raise its international profile."

Infy, TCS among 1,000 to lose mkt wealth in FY'08

Investors mostly got a raw deal from the stock Markets with as many as 1,000 Companies, including top five IT firms Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Satyam and HCL Tech, collectively losing over Rs 2,50,000 crore in market value in 2007-08.

The total market cap of all the listed Companies in the country, however, rose by about Rs 18,00,000 crore during the fiscal, counting close to 100 that got listed during the year.

But as many as 1,000 Companies including newly listed firms, recorded a fall in their market capitalisation, while another 1,400 firms managed to add about Rs 15,00,000 crore to their valuations.

Those that witnessed a fall in their market cap include the big names of IT sector, such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Service, Wipro, Satyam Computer, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, i-Flex, MphasiS, Patni Computer and Moser Baer.

Besides, firms like Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's, Cipla, Hindustan Zinc, Mahindra and Mahindra, Zee Entertainment, Jet Airways, Parsvnath, Videocon Industries, Financial Technology, United Breweries, Indian Hotels and Container Corporation also shed value.

Infosys, TCS and Wipro lost Rs 18,000-42,000 crore, while Satyam, HCL Tech and Patni lost Rs 2,000-4,500 crore. Tata Motors, M&M, Hindustan Zinc, Cipla, Container Corp, Dr Reddy's, Tech Mahindra, i-Flex, Videocon, MTNL, Bharat Forge, Sobha Developers, United Breweries, Amtek Auto, Cadila, Wockhardt, Aventis Pharma, Ansal Properties, Aurobindo Pharma, Mindtree Consulting, Hexaware, Subex and NIIT Tech all lost between Rs 1,000-10,000 crore each.

Together these 1,000 firms saw their market value falling to about Rs 7,24,000 crore, from about Rs 9,82,000 crore at the end of fiscal ended March 31, 2007.

In comparison, the market capitalisation of 1,400 other Companies rose to about Rs 40,40,000 crore from about Rs 25,40,000 crore at the end of previous fiscal.

The most prominent gainers included Reliance Industries, ONGC, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, NMDC, MMTC, Reliance Comm, SBI, BHEL, L&T, ICICI Bank, ITC, SAIL, Reliance Petro, HDFC, Indian Oil, Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries.

RIL, NMDC and MMTC each recorded gains of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore, while market capitalisation of MMTC rose by about Rs 98,000 crore.

Besides, market values of Companies, like ONGC, NTPC, SBI, BHEL, L&T, Reliance Petro, ITC, SAIL, HDFC, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Steel rose between Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore.

Firms like Reliance Communications, HDFC Bank, Unitech, Cairn India, Suzlon Energy, GAIL India, Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy, Nalco, Axis Bank, GMR Infra, Tata Power, Essar Oil, Neyveli Lignite, RNRL and Hindustan Copper also saw their market capitalisations growing by over Rs 10,000 crore.

Collectively, the market capitalisation of all the listed Companies, including those that made a debut on the bourses during the year, rose by over 50 per cent during the fiscal.

The total market capitalisation of all the listed firms currently stands at Rs 53,09,319 crore, as against Rs 35,44,979 crore at the end of previous fiscal.

Besides, the market capitalisation of the 30 Sensex Companies rose to Rs 23,26,429 crore from Rs 17,11,241 crore at the end of the previous year -- representing a gain of about 36 per cent or over Rs 6,00,000 crore