Anil Ambani gets go ahead for DTH

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Nothing can beat the relaxed hours one spends before a television
after an office/school rigour. Be it a bloody battle between Brazil
and Argentina (people call it football!!) or be it the Devil's
Advocate with Karan Thappar at his articulate best, everybody enjoys
watching TV. However here and there, a middle class wife will fight
with her husband around 28th or 29th of every month to cancel the
cable TV subscription pointing to the ever-burgeoning cable cost and
the dip in the quality due to illegal usage. Well here is an answer
to all the problems abovementioned- DTH expanded to Direct To Home.

When DTH was first introduced in the late nineties by private
players, the Government was not in all favours citing security
problems. However the idea was revamped in 2001 and Rupert Murdoch
owned iSkyb launched he first DTH service and the government too
forayed with the DD direct plus. Now the market has become
competitive with the entry of R-ADA into the broadcasting setup.

If one has followed the recent activities of Anil Ambani he/she
wouldn't be surprised with this move. Anil has began to expand his
grip over the Indian market by including diversity in his ambit and
it is evident from his investment in joint ventures with PVR and
Adlabs in building multiplexes, in FM radio channels and in
producing films in synergy with high network bollywood people.

A smart businessman that Anil is, has been fast in realizing the
growth potentials one has in the broadcasting market.
PricewaterhouseCoop er has predicted a manifold increase in the
number of DTH subscribers. From a mealy 3.25 millions to 15 millions
in two years is a real growth if PricewatrhouseCoope r is to be
trusted. Further more Anil could also make his viewers subscribe to
his multiplex shows or listen to his FM if he can gain a strong hand
in the DTH market.

This R-ADA foray into DTH market may make profound implications on
1) The market cap of Reliance
2) The competitors' interest and
3) The public

Despite the split of the Reliance Empire, Reliance stocks still soar
high and Anil's strategic moves have been instrumental in
maintaining the momentum. The latest arrow from the Ambani quiver is
Reliance Blue Magic the subsidiary, which will deal with the DTH
market. With only four major private players viz IskyB of News Corp,
Dish TV of Zee groups, Sky TV- an 80:20 venture of Tatas and Star TV
and the South Indian major SUN Network, much is at the offering and
Anil has displayed immaculate entrepreneurial skills in setting up
this DTH service providing venture. With the Midas touch that he
has, no doubt Reliance Blue Magic will hit the target and bring in
more revenue to Reliance Energy, the parent organization of Anil
Dhirubai Ambani enterprise.

The Cable TV operators' honeymoon is going to end soon with CAS and
DTH's taking over. Zee is offering its DTH services at Rs 200/- and
the package includes eventy five channels. Star offers similar
number of channels for Rs 180/-. These charges do not include the
setting-up charges and with the entry of RBM will only make the
setting more interesting and it will be a good spectacle to watch
how these competitors battle it out.

With all these private parties engaging in a gripping combat, the
viewers will be promised the best of the quality, making TV watching
a pleasant experience. The viewers now have a wide choice of service
providers to choose from, with the package from each being more
attractive than the competitor's in one way or the other. Gone are
the days of illegal usage and cable operators' escapade from higher
entertainment taxes.

Having done all the formalities and with the LoI of the government
in its kitty, RBM is all set to make its presence felt in the DTH
services. Anil's strategy to win the battle will also be a thing to
watch out and having seen him all these days I am sure it will be
unique and successful as usual.

H k

HDFC to raise Rs 3240 cr from FDI

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They say, "When it pours, it pours heavy". It is indeed pouring
heavily in India. Apart from the torrential rains the FDI is also
pouring into the country, which is expected to quadruple in the next
seven years. Gone are the days when the government was reluctant in
allowing foreign companies to enter the Indian market. These days
India and China are branded as the best places to invest for at
least another 25 years and no surprises foreign organizations are
competing big time to be a part of this FDI spree. The latest
participator is the housing finance leader HDFC. The proposal of
HDFC o invest a staggering Rs 3240 crore ($720 mn) into the Indian
real estate business has been a given an affirmative nod by the
Cabinet Committee on External Affairs.

India is currently holding the position, which was
formerly held by the US (in the post war years) as the best place to
invest thanks to the burgeoning economy and scrupulous economic
planning. The Real Estate Market of the country deserves a special
mention, which is expected to grow from the current $12 bn market
position to an Himalayan $90 bn in the next decade, courtesy Merrill
Lynch. May be that will be an eye opener for those who wonder at the
reason behind giants Farallon Capital Management, Morgan Stanley,
Merrill Lynch and GE Commercial Finance Real Estate craving to
dominate the Indian real estate space, needless to mention the local
players. Now HDFC has forayed into the market by registering India
Offshore Real Estate Investments, a fund raising company in
Maurtius, which will invest in the Indian real estate. Its inviting
International Banks, Financial Institutions and high network
Individuals to invest in the fund for a minimum period of three
years.

This investment plan of HDFC has direct implications on
1) Its own revenue
2) The "home country" economy and
3) The market capitalization of local players

HDFC has made many smart moves in the past, joining hands with SBI,
being one such and this investment plan is another strategic move,
every economic pundit would say. The Indian government has signed a
treaty not to tax the Mauritius investors, which will directly
benefit HDFC. The stock value has already increased by 3.07% in BSE
and the future looks really rosy for the organization.

The liberalization and the globalization binge have benefited
the country largely with its economy growing at a breakneck speed.
This approval by CCEA will attract other international players to
pour in investments and thereby adding to the FDI revenue. It's a
win-win situation and surely India would cash in by making use of
these opportunities.

The real problem is for the Indian players who with their
already fragile investment now should meet this external pressure
from the foreign investors as well. If only they stand tall in this
competition, it would make the market positions more exciting and
the investors more interested. Companies like UB group of Vijay
Mallaya have the financial cushion and they can offer stiff
challenge to HDFC and only time will decide the winner.

Harish Krishnan

Google Offers Classics for Free

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Books are no doubts " treasures of knowledge and wisdom" , and making
them accesible in this way via internet has really helped the
information on net to be gathered in organised form,all credits to
Google.Getting a printed copy is now going to be less expensive than
to pay the cost of toner and paper.The Google mechanism,would also
beuseful for a book that's hard to find.

By taking this huge step forward Google has helped realising words of
'Charles W. Eliot ' who said "Books are the quietest and most
constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of
counsellors, and the most patient of teachers", google has helped in
realising these word into physical world with this step. The step
taken by google in this direction is really a big step which is not
only going to help the current generation but is also going to add
feathers in knowledge of future generations who'll have very easy and
free of cost access to all hidden knowledge of their past and
future.This step also has added to the reputation of expanding google
as a big-wig under the leadership of 'Larry Page',Sergey Brin' and
'Eric Schmidt' who have allready prooved Google's brilliance in
fileds like Search Engine,Google Earth,Mail,Chat,Video's ,Image's etc
etc. the step taken by google can now help an avid reader to scan
through his list of books on internet and see what is available
easily.


Though the other side of google step may sound little bit shaky as
formainstream publishers It's certainly going to hurt a little bit, but
one should be surprise to see if it hurts very much.Google has also
tried it' best to make it's critics silent by not allowing access to
books still under copyright, for them only bibliographies are
available along with limited extracts Also for books made available
toGoogle via publisher, including editions from Oxford University
Press,Penguin, and Dover the viewer would only gets only a "limited
preview"of a few pages. In other cases, where Google believes that a volume
might be in copyright, but has no relationship with the publisher,
Google provides an even more restricted "snippet view."

I guess the step taken by google should be really appreciated as it
has tried its best to save the interest of both the publisher's and
ofcourse the readers.
Gurpreet

Volvo in talks for stake in Ashok Leyland

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Today's market is full of competition, with one firm trying to
usurp another.Competition brings out the best in anybody and it has
direct implications in all kind of markets. The partnership talks
between two automobile majors, Volvo and Ashok Leyland is only a
testimony for the aforesaid.

Volvo has been India for the past eight years, doing decent
business by selling buses and trucks to both government and private
parties. In Volvo's perspective, entering into the medium commercial
vehicle market is very crucial for its expansion. The medium
commercial vehicle business has not been in its ambit as far as the
Indian market is concerned and this partnership would suffice its
needs to gain a stronghold. Volvo was forced to payback a sum of
$2.2 bn due to recent pressure from its shareholders and this has
made it inquisitive in making acquisitions and adding to its
repertoire. So this alliance would and could prove to be beneficial
to the Swedish giant.


On the other hand, Ashok Leyland would consider this partnership
as a filling of gap caused due to the quitting of IVECO Fiat, the
Italian player. With IVECO Fiat- the heavy truck arm of Italian
automobile giant, having joined hands with rivals, Tata Motors after
selling its 15% stake in LRLH, the Hindujas are all set to enter
into a partnership with Volvo. LRLH, the holdings firm of the
Hindujas family who now hold 51% of Ashok Leyland, requires
technology for its own betterment and it would expect the much
needed technology exchange would happen in this partnership. With
global conglomerates like Daimler Chrysler, International Truck &
Engine Corporation and MAN Nutzfarhzeuge vying the Indian Market and
Tata Motors planning to introduce world truck range in 2008 Ashok
Leyland has to try every trick to be competitive enough in the
market.

Though the fiscal dealings haven't been disclosed yet, this
partnership would certainly be fruitful to both the parties. The
salubrious competition would also bring the best out of the people,
as said before and when two firms, best in their business, tie up,
it is needless to say it would benefit the people and the nation at
large.

KRISHNAN