At an outdoor public pool in Bangalore filled with toddlers in rubber rings and dive-bombing teenagers, two of India’s Olympic swimmers prepare for the biggest race of their lives.
Separated by lane markers from at least 400 locals who pay 38 cents for a cooling dip each day, the elite swimmers carve their way through water turned cloudy green by the chlorine needed to combat the pool’s bacteria. There are no changing rooms, while a lone coach watches over the athletes with a stopwatch.
Amid scant funding from the government, which is struggling to contain the widest budget deficit among major emerging economies, billionaires Lakshmi Mittal and Mukesh Ambani, pictured, have stepped in to bankroll training and equipment for athletes and try to put more Indians on the podium in London. Photographer: Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg
“The government thinks all you need to be successful in swimming is water,” said Virdhawal Khade, 20, India’s 100-meter freestyle record holder who will lead his nation’s team in London from July. “Unless they start taking sport seriously, it’s hard to see things changing.”
India has won just 18 medals at 21 summer Olympics since 1920, more than half of them in men’s field hockey. At the 2008 games in Beijing, the country where cricket is a national obsession ranked last in the per-capita medals table. Amid scant funding from the government, which is struggling to contain the widest budget deficit among major emerging economies, billionaires Lakshmi Mittal and Mukesh Ambani have stepped in to bankroll training and equipment for athletes and try to put more Indians on the podium in London.
‘Frankly Disgraceful’
“Sport has never been a government priority, it always faced bigger challenges like poverty reduction, that is why our past performance has, frankly, been disgraceful,” Indian Olympic Association Acting President Vijay Kumar Malhotra said May 2. “As the economy has grown, so have expectations.”
The world’s second most populous country, whose economy has surged fivefold over two decades, allocated $48.1 million to fund athletes in the 16 months leading up to the London Olympics. China spent $450 million each year on sports in the decade before Beijing, where it claimed 100 medals. About half of the 54 Indians who have qualified for London in individual sports rely on some form of corporate support.
Most of the 26 Olympic disciplines, including swimming, rowing and gymnastics, are solely in the hands of poorly run federations lacking world-class training facilities and coaching, said Manisha Malhotra, the administrator of the Mittal Champions Trust and a former tennis player who competed at the 2000 Sydney Games. She’s no relation to India’s acting Olympic chief.
‘Plugging Holes’
“We are plugging the holes, putting Band-Aids on the shortfalls,” Malhotra said. “None of the private bodies can have the bandwidth that the government has neither do they have the outreach.”
The two richest Indians, Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), and U.K.-based Mittal are funding programs to give athletes access to personal trainers, nutritionists, psychologists and state-of-the-art equipment that would otherwise be out of reach. Tata Group (TATA), India’s largest business group and owner of Jaguar Land Rover, runs an archery academy. The country’s No. 2 software services exporter, Infosys Ltd. (INFO), backs an athletics school.
Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal (MT), the world’s biggest steel company, decided to intervene after being disappointed with the lack of compatriots to cheer at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He pledged $10 million for a breakthrough in time for this summer’s event.
“This should be the best performance of an Indian contingent,” Mittal told reporters at a press conference at the end of March. “The athletes have worked relentlessly hard for the last four or five years, so some medals have to come.”
Monkey God
For the 150 wrestlers, including Olympian Rajiv Tomar, training in a mud pit near Delhi’s Mughal-era Red Fort, international glory seems a long way off. The men lift rusting barbells as flies buzz around in summer temperatures climbing toward 40 degrees centigrade.
The center, founded by Guru Hanuman, a legendary Indian wrestler who took his name from the monkey god worshiped by many Hindus, sits on land donated in an earlier bout of corporate philanthropy by industrialist Krishna Kumar Birla. The wrestlers train on threadbare mats that also double up as their sleeping quarters.
“We are struggling for the basics like good diet and these boys have to fend for themselves until they get recognized at the national level,” said Maha Singh Rao, a coach at the center as he watched teenagers grappling during evening practice. “It is tough and these kids aren’t from rich families.”
Cricket Billions
The underfunding of Olympic disciplines stands in sharp contrast to India’s sporting passion, cricket, which isn’t an Olympic sport.
Fueled by money from sponsors, television coverage and ticket sales, the Indian Premier League, the world’s richest cricket franchise, is worth $3.67 billion, according to Brand Finance Plc, a London-based consultancy firm.
While India’s national cricket squad has access to the best equipment, dietitians and fitness trainers, the country’s Olympic shooters have been left without bullets to practice, archers without bows and arrows, and boxers with torn gloves, according to Rahul Mehra, a lawyer who took all India’s Olympic sports federations to the Delhi High Court in 2009, seeking fixed terms for sports chiefs and greater transparency.
Half of India’s 25 Olympic sports federations are run by politicians or their aides with little involvement of former players or professional managers, Mehra said May 3.
Chief on Trial
The Judo Federation of India is headed by Jagdish Tytler, a former Congress party government minister who was probed and exonerated by federal investigators over allegations he incited anti-Sikh riots in 1984. Yashwant Sinha, a senior leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, chairs the tennis body. Politicians also oversee the boxing, swimming and archery federations.
“Politicians across parties are running the show and they unite to block change the moment you say reforms,” Mehra said in a phone interview.
The Indian Olympic Association has refused to fire its President Suresh Kalmadi, a legislator from the western state of Maharashtra, even after he was jailed and put on trial for alleged corrupt contracts during preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Kalmadi, who has been suspended by the ruling Congress Party of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was bailed in January.
Surrounded by splashing children at the open-air pool in Bangalore, Virdhawal Khade rues India’s sporting failures.
Khade holds the Indian record with a time of 49.27 seconds in the 100 meter freestyle. That’s almost 2.2 seconds slower than the fastest time this year by the Australian swimmer James Magnussen, the world number one over the distance.
Khade was meant to travel to Australia this month to train in a modern pool with other top athletes. The proposal was approved by the National Sports Development Fund, he said, yet the money never materialized.
“They promise but then they don’t deliver,” Khade said.
Humans have been inventing weird (and often unsavory) ways to get themselves embarrassingly drunk for centuries. But the makers of Wahh, a new inhalable alcohol mist, say their product is designed to do just the opposite.
Wahh is the invention of David Edwards, the Harvard professor whose inhalable caffeine and smokable chocolate have appeared on this site before. Edwards’s line of “breathable food sprays” (yum!) called Quantum Sensations includes Aeroshot, a vaporizing caffeine inhaler that received over $8.5 million in venture funding earlier this year. Edwards collaborated with French designer Philippe Starck to bring us the latest Quantum Sensation, Wahh, which debuted last week in Paris.
About $26 will buy you a Wahh canister, which contains around 25 “puffs” of vaporized alcohol. Hold the lipstick-sized tube up to your mouth, breath in, and a burst of Vodka-flavored mist delivers a dizzying sensation. The feeling fades within seconds, leaving you sober enough to pass a breathalyzer test.
The science behind the vaporizer is pretty simple. Each puff of vapor contains only .075 milliliters of alcohol--the equivalent of about 1/1000th of a shot of liquor. Edwards explains that by vaporizing a single drop of alcohol, Wahh “increases its surface area by approximately 1,000 times.” In other words, the vapor tricks your brain into thinking that you’re inhaling a thousand droplets of alcohol, rather than one.
“Everyone has an occasional need of light-headedness, distraction, and another place,” says Starck, but we tend to use alcohol as a “social placebo.” The idea behind Wahh, explains the duo, is to enjoy “the sensation of lightheadedness, without the risk of utter drunkenness.” And yes, if you were wondering, the name Wahh was chosen for the sound users make after using it.
The duo say that Wahh is mostly meant for use on food (there’s a spicey flavor called Demon), but the canisters will undoubtedly be popular for the “buzz” they produce. The real question, of course, is whether or not such a product perpetuates our collective misuse of alcohol.
According to their website, Wahh will appear in design stores in the U.S. sometime this summer.
GM Pulls Its Facebook Ads Three Days Before IPO
Via WSJ: General Motors’ marketing executives have decided to pull the company’s $10 million in paid Facebook after deeming the efforts had “little impact” in reaching consumers. The announcement comes three days before Facebook’s initial public offering. The company will continue to use the Facebook platform to promote its brands, operating on a $30 million budget that covers content creation and management. GM, the third largest advertiser in the U.S. behind Procter & Gamble and AT&T, spent $1.83 billion on U.S. advertisements in 2011. Though GM’s decision may be immaterial to Facebook’s $3.7 billion revenue figure, the announcement comes as Facebook executives attempt to assure investors that its advertising business is solid enough to merit the company’s near-certain $100 billion valuation.
ISIS Announces Mobile Payment Merchant Partners
H/T The Verge. NFC's slow start in the U.S. just got a bit of a boost--ISIS, the mobile payment consortium formed by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, is announcing a slew of national and local merchant partners. Coca-Cola, Aeropostale, Dillard's and Macy's are among the first U.S.-wide adopters of the ISIS Mobile Wallet. Salt Lake City and Austin in Texas (a state that got a jump start on enabling ISIS payments)each have more than a dozen local participants that include cafes, grocery stores and car washes. According to the release, NFC devices with the ISIS Mobile Wallet will go on sale in Salt Lake City and Austin this summer.
Rebekah Brooks To Be Charged In Phone Hacking Case
Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of News International, will been charged in connection with the U.K. phone hacking inquiry, on three counts of conspiracy to prevent the course of justice. Her husband Charlie Brooks, driver, and security staff are also being formally charged. According to the Telegraph, they are being accused of attempting to conceal information, documents and eletronics from Scotland Yard detectives. It's the latest development in a potentially international privacy scandal that has resulted in the closure of one long-running UK newspaper.
Baidu, China's Google, To Release Own-Brand Smartphone, Cloud Service
Baidu dominates search and many web services inside China, and now it's poised to release an inexpensive smartphone powered by its own operating system, backed up by extensive cloud services (does that sound familiar?). According to the Wall Street Journal the system comes with 100GB of cloud storage and includes Baidu maps and licensed music services, and the handset is just $158 in equivalent price. The device, merely the first of many that Baidu expects other operators to launch carrying its OS, is being made in collaboration with Foxconn--Apple's most significant manufacturing partner. Apple has been seeing incredible sales of its iPhone inside China, despite its high price.
Update: The Changhong H5018 has now been revealed. Carrying a forked and gutted version of Android, the device is actually rather attractive with its colored plastic chassis seeming to take a number of design cues from Nokia's N9 and Lumia range. It has a 3.5-inch screen and is an all-touchscreen affair that also includes Baidu's own voice-recognition technology
Via WSJ: General Motors’ marketing executives have decided to pull the company’s $10 million in paid Facebook after deeming the efforts had “little impact” in reaching consumers. The announcement comes three days before Facebook’s initial public offering. The company will continue to use the Facebook platform to promote its brands, operating on a $30 million budget that covers content creation and management. GM, the third largest advertiser in the U.S. behind Procter & Gamble and AT&T, spent $1.83 billion on U.S. advertisements in 2011. Though GM’s decision may be immaterial to Facebook’s $3.7 billion revenue figure, the announcement comes as Facebook executives attempt to assure investors that its advertising business is solid enough to merit the company’s near-certain $100 billion valuation.
ISIS Announces Mobile Payment Merchant Partners
H/T The Verge. NFC's slow start in the U.S. just got a bit of a boost--ISIS, the mobile payment consortium formed by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, is announcing a slew of national and local merchant partners. Coca-Cola, Aeropostale, Dillard's and Macy's are among the first U.S.-wide adopters of the ISIS Mobile Wallet. Salt Lake City and Austin in Texas (a state that got a jump start on enabling ISIS payments)each have more than a dozen local participants that include cafes, grocery stores and car washes. According to the release, NFC devices with the ISIS Mobile Wallet will go on sale in Salt Lake City and Austin this summer.
Rebekah Brooks To Be Charged In Phone Hacking Case
Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of News International, will been charged in connection with the U.K. phone hacking inquiry, on three counts of conspiracy to prevent the course of justice. Her husband Charlie Brooks, driver, and security staff are also being formally charged. According to the Telegraph, they are being accused of attempting to conceal information, documents and eletronics from Scotland Yard detectives. It's the latest development in a potentially international privacy scandal that has resulted in the closure of one long-running UK newspaper.
Baidu, China's Google, To Release Own-Brand Smartphone, Cloud Service
Baidu dominates search and many web services inside China, and now it's poised to release an inexpensive smartphone powered by its own operating system, backed up by extensive cloud services (does that sound familiar?). According to the Wall Street Journal the system comes with 100GB of cloud storage and includes Baidu maps and licensed music services, and the handset is just $158 in equivalent price. The device, merely the first of many that Baidu expects other operators to launch carrying its OS, is being made in collaboration with Foxconn--Apple's most significant manufacturing partner. Apple has been seeing incredible sales of its iPhone inside China, despite its high price.
Update: The Changhong H5018 has now been revealed. Carrying a forked and gutted version of Android, the device is actually rather attractive with its colored plastic chassis seeming to take a number of design cues from Nokia's N9 and Lumia range. It has a 3.5-inch screen and is an all-touchscreen affair that also includes Baidu's own voice-recognition technology
• Lundbeck Inc. (LUN.CO) Boosted by Ph3 Antidepressant Data More...
• Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACHN)'s Hepatitis C Drug Gets FDA Fast Track More...
• Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CBST) Announces First Scientific Presentations of Phase 2 Data for CB-5945 in the Treatment of Opioid-Induced Constipation More...
• Achaogen Announces All Objectives Met in Phase 2 Plazomicin Complicated Urinary Tract Infections Study and Start of First-in-Human Study with ACHN-975 More...
• Helix Biopharma (CC:HBP) Commences Polish Phase I/II Clinical Study of Its Lung Cancer Drug Candidate L-DOS47 More...
• Hospira, Inc. (HSP) Recalls Pain Drug Cartridges More...
• TG Therapeutics, Inc. Announces Investigational New Drug (IND) for TGTX-1101, Receives Clearance by the FDA to Commence Clinical Trials in the U.S. More...
• Touch Sensitivity is Genetically Linked to Hearing, Max Delbruck Center Study More...
• Brain Circuitry is Different for Women With Anorexia and Obesity, University of Colorado Study More...
• Playful Games Promote Reading Development, University of Gothenburg Study More...
• Pulmatrix Demonstrates iSPERSE Capabilities for Inhaled Dry Powder Delivery of Antibiotics and Antibodies More...
• Liquidia Technologies Inc. Studies Show PRINT® Engineered Particles Hold Promise in the Delivery of Respiratory Therapeutics More...
• New US Patent Grant for ValiRx Plc's Cancer Screening Gene Biomarker More...
• How Payers View Pfizer Inc. (PFE)'s Rheumatoid Arthritis Pill More...
• U.S. FDA Approves Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) Devens Biologics Manufacturing Facility for Production of ORENCIA® (abatacept) More...
• AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) Chops First Round of CNS R&D Scientists More...
• Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (WPI) Shuts Down Groveport Warehouse, Lays Off 55 More...
• Gamida Cell Ltd. Raises $10 Million to Progress Phase III-Stage Hematologic Cancer Cell Therapy More...
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to Fully Buy Cellzome AG for $99 Million More...
• Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc. to Acquire EKR Therapeutics, Inc. for $125 Million Cash, Plus $25 Million in Milestones More...
• Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMLN) Said to Attract Interest From Pfizer Inc. (PFE), AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), Sanofi (France) (SAN.PA) More...
• Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) Acquires All Rights for Pre-eclampsia Biomarker From Nephromics More...
• Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (FURX) Says Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Returns Sexual Dysfunction Drug Rights More...
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) and Tsinghua University Enter Strategic Partnership More...
• Scil Proteins GmbH, Ono Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. Establish Affilin Therapeutics Discovery and Development Collaboration More...
• ChinaBio(R) LLC Release: New China-Australia Research Center to Study TCM More...
• Research and License Agreements between National Cheng Kung University Medical College and Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) More...
• Promedior Moves Fibrosis Pipeline to Boston, Hires Shire plc (SHPGY) Vet as CEO More...
• Aptiv Solutions Announces the Appointment of Luis Gutierrez as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer More...
• IntegenX Names Biotechnology Veteran David V. SmithChief Operating Officer More...
• Antares Pharma, Inc. (AIS) Appoints LeRoux JoosteSenior Vice President Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing More...
• Medivir AB (MVIRb.F) Release: New Executive Vice President Commercial Appointed More...
• Aeolus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AOLS.OB) Announces Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Results More...
• Athersys, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2012 Results More...
• Atrium Innovations Announces 2012 First Quarter Financial Results More...
• AxoGen, Inc. (LECT) Announces Record First Quarter 2012 Revenues More...
• Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACHN)'s Hepatitis C Drug Gets FDA Fast Track More...
• Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CBST) Announces First Scientific Presentations of Phase 2 Data for CB-5945 in the Treatment of Opioid-Induced Constipation More...
• Achaogen Announces All Objectives Met in Phase 2 Plazomicin Complicated Urinary Tract Infections Study and Start of First-in-Human Study with ACHN-975 More...
• Helix Biopharma (CC:HBP) Commences Polish Phase I/II Clinical Study of Its Lung Cancer Drug Candidate L-DOS47 More...
• Hospira, Inc. (HSP) Recalls Pain Drug Cartridges More...
• TG Therapeutics, Inc. Announces Investigational New Drug (IND) for TGTX-1101, Receives Clearance by the FDA to Commence Clinical Trials in the U.S. More...
• Touch Sensitivity is Genetically Linked to Hearing, Max Delbruck Center Study More...
• Brain Circuitry is Different for Women With Anorexia and Obesity, University of Colorado Study More...
• Playful Games Promote Reading Development, University of Gothenburg Study More...
• Pulmatrix Demonstrates iSPERSE Capabilities for Inhaled Dry Powder Delivery of Antibiotics and Antibodies More...
• Liquidia Technologies Inc. Studies Show PRINT® Engineered Particles Hold Promise in the Delivery of Respiratory Therapeutics More...
• New US Patent Grant for ValiRx Plc's Cancer Screening Gene Biomarker More...
• How Payers View Pfizer Inc. (PFE)'s Rheumatoid Arthritis Pill More...
• U.S. FDA Approves Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) Devens Biologics Manufacturing Facility for Production of ORENCIA® (abatacept) More...
• AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) Chops First Round of CNS R&D Scientists More...
• Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (WPI) Shuts Down Groveport Warehouse, Lays Off 55 More...
• Gamida Cell Ltd. Raises $10 Million to Progress Phase III-Stage Hematologic Cancer Cell Therapy More...
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to Fully Buy Cellzome AG for $99 Million More...
• Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc. to Acquire EKR Therapeutics, Inc. for $125 Million Cash, Plus $25 Million in Milestones More...
• Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMLN) Said to Attract Interest From Pfizer Inc. (PFE), AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), Sanofi (France) (SAN.PA) More...
• Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) Acquires All Rights for Pre-eclampsia Biomarker From Nephromics More...
• Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (FURX) Says Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Returns Sexual Dysfunction Drug Rights More...
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) and Tsinghua University Enter Strategic Partnership More...
• Scil Proteins GmbH, Ono Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. Establish Affilin Therapeutics Discovery and Development Collaboration More...
• ChinaBio(R) LLC Release: New China-Australia Research Center to Study TCM More...
• Research and License Agreements between National Cheng Kung University Medical College and Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) More...
• Promedior Moves Fibrosis Pipeline to Boston, Hires Shire plc (SHPGY) Vet as CEO More...
• Aptiv Solutions Announces the Appointment of Luis Gutierrez as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer More...
• IntegenX Names Biotechnology Veteran David V. SmithChief Operating Officer More...
• Antares Pharma, Inc. (AIS) Appoints LeRoux JoosteSenior Vice President Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing More...
• Medivir AB (MVIRb.F) Release: New Executive Vice President Commercial Appointed More...
• Aeolus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AOLS.OB) Announces Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Results More...
• Athersys, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2012 Results More...
• Atrium Innovations Announces 2012 First Quarter Financial Results More...
• AxoGen, Inc. (LECT) Announces Record First Quarter 2012 Revenues More...
Update 1: One should exit short positions around 4840 ( Spot Nifty ), Congratulations for profits.
US markets were down on a second day of the week, VIX spiked above 22. S&P 500 traded below 1340, a key psychological level for traders. Germany's GDP expanded more than expected, which helped markets to limit the downside in the early morning trade as markets were flat initially but the report that Greece money were coming out of banks and feared that banking capital will dry up soon. News prompted a fear in a markets and lead to a late sell off in US markets. Following the cues from US, Asian equities are sold off in morning trade as fear mounting about Greece collapse and its Euro Exit. All asian markets were down.
Nifty Trading Tips & Outlook
There is a definite downtrend to emerge today as we will see a sell off led by global cues and weakening rupee, Short Nifty at current levels. Don't try to bottom pick Nifty for a bounce, as US markets are loosing grounds and might impact more to downside in the global markets.Those who have shorted at around 4950 levels as mentioned in our previous day recommendation, they can hold the short positions, book partial profit at 4880 and next target will be 4850.
Check out our previous recommendation here
Keep Profiting from our tips, Happy trading
Thought: 2G spectrum chronology of events, it has a start date, but might not have full stop. It happens only in India
Summary:
Following is the chronology of the events in the 2G spectrum allocation scam in which the prime accused and former Telecom Minister A Raja was on Tuesday granted bail:
May 2007: A Raja takes over as telecom minister.
August 2007: Process of allotment of 2G spectrum for telecom along with Universal Access Service (UAS) Licences initiated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
September 25, 2007: Telecom ministry issues press note fixing October 1, 2007 as deadline for receiving application for UASL licences.
October 1, 2007: DoT receives 575 applications for UAS licences of 46 companies.
November 2, 2007: The Prime Minister writes to Raja directing him to ensure fair allotment of the 2G spectrum.
November 22, 2007: Finance Ministry writes to DoT raising concerns over the procedure adopted by it. Demand for review rejected.
January 10, 2008: DoT decides to issue licences on first-come-first-served basis, preponing the cut-off date to September 25, from October 1, 2007. Later on the same day, DoT posted an announcement on its website saying those who apply between 3.30 and 4.30 pm would be issued licences in accordance with the said policy.
2008: Swan Telecom, Unitech and Tata Teleservices sell off a part of their stakes at much higher rates to Etisalat, Telenor and DoCoMo respectively.
May 4, 2009: An NGO Telecom Watchdog files complaint to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on the illegalities in the spectrum allocation to Loop Telecom.
May 19, 2009 : Another complaint filed to the CVC by one Arun Agarwal, highlighting grant of spectrum to Swan Telecom at throwaway prices.
2009: CVC directs CBI to investigate the irregularities in allocation of the 2G spectrum.
July 1, 2009: Delhi High Court holds advancing of cut-off date as illegal on a petition by telecom company S-Tel.
October 21, 2009: CBI registers an FIR against "unknown officers of DoT and unknown private persons/ companies under various provisions of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.
October 22, 2009: CBI raids DoT offices.
March 31, 2010: CAG says there were large scale irregularities in the spectrum allocation.
May, 2010: NGO Centre for Public Interest litigation moves Delhi High Court seeking probe into the scam by CBI.
May 25, 2010: Delhi HC dismisses the petition.
August 2010: Appeal filed in the SC against the HC order.
August 18, 2010: HC refuses to direct the Prime Minister to decide on a complaint by Janata Party chief Swamy seeking sanction to prosecute Raja for his involvement in the 2G scam.
September 24, 2010: Swamy moves SC seeking direction to the PM to sanction prosecution of Raja.
November 10, 2010: CAG submits report on 2G spectrum to government stating loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to exchequer.
November 14, 2010: Raja resigns as Telecom Minister
December 1, 2010: SC directs original tapes containing conversation between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and others be handed over to it.
December 1, 2010: Raja questions CAG findings in the SC.
December 2, 2010: SC comes down heavily on Raja for bypassing and overruling PM's advice to defer allocation of 2G spectrum by a few days.
December 8, 2010: SC asks Centre to consider setting up of a special court to try 2G spectrum scam case.
December 8, 2010: ED submits report. Says money trail covers 10 countries, including Mauritius.
December 15, 2010: Swamy mentions in complaint that Raja favoured "ineligible" private companies Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd and Unitech Wireless Ltd in allocating the spectrum.
January 4, 2011: Swamy moves SC seeking cancellation of 2G spectrum licences.
Febuary 2, 2011: Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura and Raja's former Personal Secretary RK Chandolia arrested.
Febuary 8, 2011: Shahid Usman Balwa, promoter of Swan Telecom, arrested by CBI.
February 10, 2011: SC asks the CBI to bring under its scanner corporate houses which were beneficiaries of the 2G spectrum.
February 17, 2011: Raja sent to Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
February 18, 2011: Balwa sent to Judicial custody.
February 24, 2011: CBI tells Delhi Court Balwa facilitated transaction to Kalaignar TV.
February 28, 2011: Raja seeks judicial proceedings through video conferencing stating that he faces threat to life from fellow prisoners.
March 14, 2011: The Delhi High Court sets up special court to deal exclusively with 2G cases. Balwa also allowed to appear via video conferencing.
March 29, 2011: SC permits CBI to file charge sheet on April 2 instead of March 31. Two more persons - Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal arrested.
April 2, 2011: The CBI files its first charge sheet in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
April 25, 2011: CBI files second charge sheet and court issues summons to Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar and Karim Morani taking cognisance of the charge sheet.
May 20, 2011: Court rejects bail pleas of Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar and orders their forthwith arrest.
July 25, 11: Arguments on charge framing begins. Raja seeks to make PM and P Chidambaram as witnesses.
August 23, 11: Swamy moves SC for making Chidambaram an accused.
September 8, 11: SC asks Swamy to submit his correspondences with CBI in connection with his plea to probe Chidambaram for his alleged role in the 2G scam.
September 15, 11: Swamy moves Special CBI court to make Chidambaram a co-accused.
September 29, 11: CBI says role of Anil Ambani being probed, gives a clean chit to Tata and Videocon group.
October 10, 11: SC reserves order on Swamy's plea for a probe into the alleged role of Chidambaram in the 2G scam.
October 22, 11: Special court frames charges against Raja and 16 others in the 2G case.
November, 11: Barring Raja and Behura, 12 others get bail.
December 12, 11: CBI files third charge sheet. Names Essar promoters Anshuman, Ravi Ruia, Essar Group director (Strategy and Planning) Vikas Saraf, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan and her husband I P Khaitan as accused.
January 31, 12: SC says filing complaint under the PC Act is a constitutional right and the competent authority should take a decision on giving the sanction within four months.
February 2, 2012: SC cancels 122 licences granted during Raja's tenure. Directs auctioning of licences in 4 months.
May 9, 2012: SC grants bail to Siddharth Behura, upholds bail of RK Chandolia. A Raja too moves court for bail.
May 11, 2012: Behura walks out of Tihar jail.
May 15, 2012: Special CBI court grants bail to former Telecom Minister A Raja.
Thought:
Survey showed that fifty percent of american thinks that Facebook is a passing fad, means it is just enthusiasm about it which will fade soon. But Mr Mark Zuckerberg dreaming it as a big hit and offering price has raised today. Facebook will show ad to the users to earn revenue, but question is " Is there somebody out there who knows computer, internet, social network and still don't have facebook ID? From where the new users will keep joining facebook and how many are those left? Will all the users spend equal or more time day by day, will it be so interesting day by day? Read Why Facebook is a Sell
Survey:
The company Mark Zuckerberg created as a Harvard student eight years ago is preparing for what looks to be the biggest Internet IPO ever. Expected later this week, Facebook's Wall Street debut could value the company at $100 billion, making it worth more than Disney, Ford and Kraft Foods.
That's testament to the impressive numbers Facebook has posted in its relatively brief history. More than 40 per cent of American adults log in to the site -to share news, personal observations, photos and more- at least once a week. In all, some 900 million people around the world are users. Facebook's revenue grew from $777 million in 2009 to $3.7 billion last year. And in the first quarter of 2012 it was more than $1 billion.
Just a third of those surveyed think the company's expected value is appropriate, 50 per cent say it is too high. Those who invest in the stock market are more likely to see Facebook as overvalued, 58 per cent said so. About 3 in 10 investors say the expected value of shares is fair.
But price worries won't necessarily stop would-be investors. Half the people surveyed say they think Facebook is a good bet, while 31 per cent do not. The rest aren't sure. Americans who invest in stocks roughly agree, although investors who are more "active" - those who have changed their holdings in the past month -are more negative. Nearly 40 per cent say Facebook would not be a good investment.
Young adults, a majority of whom log on to Facebook daily, are more willing to dance to their hoodie-wearing piper, 28-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Among Zuckerberg's peers, adults under age 35, 59 per cent say Facebook is a good bet. Compare that to the views of senior citizens: Only 39 per cent age 65 and over say Facebook shares are a good investment. Nearly half of Gen X'ers (ages 35-44) say the company is a good bet, as do 55 per cent of middle-aged people.
Those under 35 are the generation most interested in Facebook's IPO because they've grown up immersed in the social network. They were the first users, logging in from their college dorm rooms. Later, Facebook expanded to allow high school-age and even younger students to sign up. It's become an integral part of their lives, giving them a launching pad to spread the news of life's major developments through posts and pictures.
Conversely, it's the rare senior citizen on Facebook: Just 21 per cent have an account. Half of baby boomers - the generation born in the years after World War II - have one. But most of the 56 per cent of the country that's on Facebook is young - two-thirds of Gen X'ers and a staggering 81 per cent of people 18-35 use the social networking site.
Young people aren't just connected. They are constantly tethered to smartphones, tablets and notebook computers. Even with the rise of alternative social networks like Twitter and Google Plus, 55 per cent of Zuckerberg's peers go on Facebook every day. A third log on several times a day. Despite the intensity of their use, a narrow majority of young adults predict Facebook's appeal will fade down the road (51 percent), fewer think it will stick around as a service (44 percent).
The public overall is similarly divided on the company's future. Just under half of adults (46 percent) predict a short timeline for Facebook, while 43 per cent say it has staying power.
Young people are more aware of Zuckerberg and have more positive views of the CEO, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Monday. Overall, one in five Americans say they've never heard of him, 30 per cent don't have an opinion and 14 per cent plain don't like him. Only about a third have a good impression of the CEO, who has alienated some with Facebook's ever-changing approach to user privacy.
But 46 per cent of people under 35 like him. And a scant 4 per cent of those younger adults say they've never heard of him.
The privacy issue is a stinger. Three of every five Facebook users say they have little or no faith that the company will protect their personal information. Only 13 per cent trust Facebook to guard their data, and only 12 per cent would feel safe making purchases through the site. Even Facebook's most dedicated users are wary - half of those who use the site daily say they wouldn't feel safe buying things on the network.
As for how Facebook makes most of its money -selling ads- 57 per cent of users say they never click on them or on Facebook's sponsored content. About another quarter say they rarely do.
Despite user discontent about privacy, Facebook and Zuckerberg have connected with many Americans. The survey suggests that his reputation and youth seem more like assets than liabilities. For those who have heard of the CEO, two-thirds are at least somewhat confident in his ability to run a large public company. Twenty-two per cent doubt he can handle the leadership role. As for the social network he created, 51 per cent of Americans clicked "Like."
The Associated Press-CNBC Poll was conducted May 3-7, 2012 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,004 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Thought :
India decides to cut oil imports by over 11% from Iran, It is not the move decided by our leaders but the influential country US has pressed India to do so. Although US has struggling with its Economy, It is still holding a super influential power to world. No matters how or when India or China will be super powers but US will definitely hold the key to control them. So, In a true manner, they will be superpowers for the world but not for US. They are like puppets of puppet master
News:
This decision comes against the backdrop of intense US pressure on India to cut oil import from Iran. The government had earlier said that it was not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically as that country was important in meeting India's growing energy needs.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week stated that India needed to further reduce imports from Iran to win waiver from US sanctions. The US has already granted waivers to the sanctions for Japan and 10 European countries but has left out China and India, Iran's biggest clients. India has not publicly said it was aiming to cut back oil imports from Iran but has unofficially asked its top imports to prune shipments from Tehran.
"Total crude oil imported from Iran by Indian companies during the period 2010-11 and 2011-12 is 18.50 million tons and 17.44 million tons respectively. The target fixed for import of crude oil from Iran for the year 2012-13 is approximately 15.5 million tons," Singh said.
He said the quantum of crude oil imported by Indian refineries from various sources is decided by them on the basis of technical, commercial and other considerations.
"In order to reduce its dependence on any particular region of the world, India has been consciously trying to diversify its sources of crude oil imports to strengthen the country's energy security," he said.
India currently imports crude oil from over 30 countries.
A latest headline about Alibaba.com, an online B2B marketplace to trade goods may consider to go private in a possible $2.5 billion buyout According to Bloomberg News
| Online Romance Scam |
Forget your broken heart and wounded pride. The true cost of Internet romance scams is $50,399,536.16, the amount of losses reported by Americans in 2011 to the The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a low-key quasi-project of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.
Women constituted more than $39 million of the losses, with the most vulnerable segments of the population being specifically women in their fifties and over the age of 60; however, even within that group, women in their fifties are more likely to hand over large sums of money to scammers than their older counterparts. As the IC3 soberly puts it, the scammers “use poetry, flowers and other gifts to reel in victims, while declaring 'undying love.'" Then, of course, the PayPal payments and checks start arriving.
The IC3 is one of the nation's top authorities on cybercrime, and each year it releases an annual report that details the latest trends in online fraud. Unlike most government reports, the IC3's annual Internet crime report is an engrossing read that melds the craziest parts of Elmore Leonard, David Pogue, and inbox spam into a coherent whole.
In addition to outlining details of complaints about online romance schemes, the report states that work-from-home scams are the most prevalent form of Internet fraud in America after stolen credit card numbers. More than 17,000 Americans reported victimization by work-from-home scams last year--and lost over $20 million in the process. Unscrupulous criminals, often based in Nigeria, Russia, or elsewhere, use Craigslist, Monster.com, newspaper classifieds, and other outlets to rope the naïve unemployed into envelope-stuffing or financial services “jobs” that are really fronts for money laundering and identity theft. In one case highlighted by the IC3, a woman in Long Beach, California was arrested by police on suspicion of facilitating the U.S. operations of a Nigerian work-from-home scam. The woman would allegedly accept packages, sell the contents, retain 20% of the profits and then wire the remaining funds back to unknown suspects in Nigeria. All the victims “had posted their resumes or ads online seeking job opportunities.”
Other scams are just plain ingenious. More than 70 New York residents received emails from a spoofed nyc.gov email address that claimed to be from the New York State Police. The New Yorkers, who apparently failed to realize that the New York State Police were unlikely to send mail from a New York City government Internet email addresses, were told they had an outstanding traffic ticket to pay. Payment was supposed to be sent to an address in the upstate town of Chatham Hall--which does not exist. What did exist, however, were the malware-loaded file attachments recipients were instructed to download for “antivirus” purposes.
The Internet is also the perfect place to build a sketchy business empire with numerous fraud opportunities. IC3 officials noted the bizarre saga of Donald Lapre, whose infomercials for “the greatest vitamin in the world” regularly appeared on late-night television. Lapre encouraged out-of-work Americans or folks seeking to start home businesses to sell his vitamins over the Internet; more than 226,000 victims lost a collective $51.8 million in investments. Lapre, who later committed suicide in federal custody, was accused of 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, promotional money laundering, and transactional money laundering. Participants in Lapre's home business projects were essentially hustled into buying expensive online advertising and marketing products.
One of the fastest-growing Internet scams is also tied to the ongoing economic crisis. Nearly 10,000 loan intimidation scams were reported to the IC3 in 2011. In these scams, callers--armed with a person's date of birth, address, employer phone number, bank account numbers, and names and telephone numbers of relatives and friends--call victims' homes, mobile phones, and workplaces demanding that they repay a delinquent payday loan.
Of course, the payday loan in question never existed. The fake debt collectors often claim to be representatives of the FBI or ”Federal Legislative Department,” and threaten arrest or physical violence if the mark doesn't pay up. Although the IC3 doesn't specify how the extortionists obtained detailed personal information on their victims, they strongly suggest that the scam architects built fraudulent online applications for loans and credit cards that the unsuspecting victims filled out.
The IC3 compiles their data through complaints filed directly by victims with the organization, complaints filed by Internet crime analysts working with open- and closed-source public information databases, and complaints filed by law enforcement personnel. Their annual reports are believed to underestimate the amount of annual Internet fraud due to the “shame factor” many scam victims feel.
