Arvind Kejriwal Says Rahul Gandhi 'Just a Kid', in Row Over Delhi Slum Demolition

Arvind Kejriwal today called Rahul Gandhi a "kid" in a political war of words over the controversial demolition at a Delhi slum on Saturday, in which a baby died.

The Chief Minister derided Mr Gandhi for blaming Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for the demolition at Shakur Basti by the railway police, which reports to the Centre.

"Why is AAP doing dharna? They are in power in Delhi," Mr Gandhi was quoted as saying, in response to AAP lawmakers protesting at Parliament.



The Chief Minister then tweeted in Hindi: "Rahul Gandhi ji is still a kid. His party has perhaps not told him that railway comes under the central government, not Delhi government."

Another AAP leader, Ashutosh, said Mr Gandhi's comments show why the Congress was routed in the national election last year. "Now I know y Congress is reduced to 44?(sic)," he tweeted.

The demolition has provoked a political war with Rahul Gandhi making a high profile visit to the slums today and AAP taking its protests against the Centre to Parliament.

AAP alleges that no warning was given before the demolition, which has left thousands without a home in deepening winter. A six-month-old died allegedly because a heap of clothes fell on her while her family was trying to pack up and hurry out of their home.

The homes were razed allegedly to make way for a railway terminal. Mr Kejriwal visited the area in the early hours of Sunday and said: "Those who did this are not humans, they are beasts. God will not forgive them."

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said in Parliament that several warnings were given to the slum residents. "Such encroachments are the main source of garbage and are a safety hazard," he said.

Micromax to invest Rs 300Cr for 3 manufacturing plants in India

Indian smartphone manufacturer Micromax will invest Rs 300 crore in India over the next few months to set up three new manufacturing units, reportsIBNLive. The new plants will be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana, and will be operational by next year.

As of now, Micromax claims that it has allotted 20 acres of land in Telangana and 25 acres in Rajasthan for the manufacturing plants. The construction on both these plants will begin soon, while the location for the Andhra Pradesh will be decided soon. Overall, the company aims to have a capacity of 4 million units once these plants are fully functional. It will invest Rs 100 crore in each plant.

Micromax currently has an assembly unit in Rudrapur which produces around 1 million units, accounting for one third of the company’s requirements, with the rest of the units imported from China. The company had started manufacturing at this plant in April last year, where it also manufactures all the tablets sold in the country. Interestingly, Micromax mentions that by 2017, it will start to manufacture batteries and other components in India.

Manufacturing in India: The Indian government has been encouraging domestic companies to start manufacturing electronics goods within the country instead of importing them and had approved a National Policy on Electronics. Since then, various smartphone manufacturers have said they will start manufacturing in India or have already started doing so.

– Last month, Optiemus Infracom, the founder of the domestic mobile brand Zen Mobile, signed a joint venture with Wistron Corporation to set up a mobile manufacturing unit in Noida.

– Various manufacturers have tied up with Foxconn to manufacture phones in India. Earlier this month, Oppo started contract manufacturing in India in partnership with Foxconn while in September, Gionee tied up with Foxconn and Dixon to manufacture its phones in India. In June, the company started making Xiaomi phones in the country.

– The month before, Foxconn was in talks with Adani Enterprises to form a joint venture (JV), likely to make iPhones in India. The company had first reported in June that it could possibly set up base in India to manufacture iPhones, iPads and iPods for Indian and international sales.

– In August, Lenovo started the local production of smartphones with Flextronics under a contract manufacturing deal at its Sriperumbudur plant.

– Videocon Mobile Phones, Videocon Group’s mobile company, started manufacturing mobile phones in the country.

– In June, homegrown mobile phone maker Celkon opened its first manufacturing unit in the country in Telangana.

– In March, Samsung and Sony had announced plans for setting up manufacturing bases in India as a part of the Make in India initiative.

– Earlier this year, Spice Group said it would invest Rs 500 crores to set up a manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh.

Chennai rains: Narendra Modi mocked and Jayalalithaa heckled after Chennai floods

Yet, within hours, Modi became the object of mockery on social media after his press office released a doctored photo of him inspecting flood damage. For both him and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the image of strong leadership created by their publicity machines was undermined.

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One of India's most powerful politicians, a former movie star called "Amma" or "Mother" by her followers, is being heckled and abused for going missing in action after floods swept the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which she rules.

It's a salutary lesson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who at first drew nods of approval when he rushed to Chennai last week, promising to stand by its people in their hour of need.

Yet, within hours, Modi became the object of mockery on social media after his press office released a doctored photo of him inspecting flood damage. For both him and Tamil NaduChief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the image of strong leadership created by their publicity machines was undermined.

Until the floods that ravaged the city of 6 million, the lofty remoteness of Jayalalithaaadded to the aura around a leader with an almost hysterical following. Devotees of the 1960s screen idol have immolated themselves in her defence in the past.

Now, she faces a backlash from residents fed up with the sight of her image on billboards, aid packets and her own Jaya Plus TV channel. She has been since in public only twice during the crisis - once with Modi.

Angry youths heckled a state minister and officials in Jayalalithaa's north Chennai constituency, where people were sitting on the roadside amid sludge and mountains of garbage, their shanties swept away by the worst rains in a century.

"Forget about Amma coming here, there was no sign of the party cadres," said one of them, called Dorairaj.

About 280 people have died across Tamil Nadu since torrential rains on Dec. 1 submerged tracts of Chennai under up to eight feet (2.5 metres) of water, trapping people on rooftops with no communication.

There was further revulsion after a party legislator put up a poster of Jayalalithaa lifting a baby above the floodwaters, in a scene from a blockbuster movie. "Adding salt to the wounds," said one Twitter post.

Avadi Kumar, a spokesman of her ruling AIADMK party, said there was anger among the people but the administration was doing all it could to bring relief: "It is impossible to reach all areas immediately or be present everywhere at all times."

GOOD DAYS 

Modi's own promise to voters of good days to come for India is also starting to face disenchantment, 18 months into his five-year term, with key reforms stalled by bureaucratic inertia and political gridlock.

Ambitious initiatives, such as a "Clean India" campaign, have made little headway - even as Modi has built up huge followings on social media and addressed enthusiastic diaspora Indians at packed stadiums on his many trips overseas.

"If today he appears to have lost control over his own narrative, it is his own fault," commentator Tavleen Singh wrote in Sunday's Indian Express, urging Modi to hire a professional media team. Modi does not have an official spokesperson.

Jayalalithaa, 67, in the past considered as a possible prime ministerial candidate backed by regional groups, faces an election in Tamil Nadu next year.

Modi's nationalist party has little presence in Tamil Nadu, a state of 70 million. It would rather the iron-fisted Jayalalithaa stays in power, believing she is more inclined to back his reform agenda in parliament than her rivals.

But there are concerns around her health and that she may have to curtail her campaign.

Earlier this year a higher court acquitted her in a graft case for which was briefly jailed which had caused an outpouring of anger from her supporters. Some lay down on roads and tried to persuade bus drivers to go over them.

"She is supposed to be a fantastic administrator. But this time there was no presence of government at all. Ordinary people did all the work that government and police were supposed to do," said S. Raja, one flood-hit resident of Chennai.

Chennai floods: Brand Amma could take a severe beating for inefficiency

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When Jayalalithaa was voted into power as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the expectations from here were high. People felt that she could undo all the wrongs done by the previous government focus on the people of the state. And she did. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu did everything from setting up Amma Canteens, Amma Water, Amma Cement to launching a state health scheme that provided plenty of free benefits for women and children.

But what happened during the rains and ensuing floods that hit Chennai and many parts of Tamil Nadu – especially over the week - is a completely different story. The state machinery that should have kicked into action immediately on December 2 in rescuing and providing relief to people seems to have gone missing in action.

TASMAC​ open despite the rains
While it was pouring incessantly with houses and buildings being submerged in three to five feet of water, the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation liquor shops were fully functional. In fact, they even functioned under candlelight when power was out. Many of the inebriated men were found to be harassing women. Citizens were heard complaining about how this seemed to be the one state department that seemed to functioning extremely efficiently during this horrific time in the city. Many people have requested that the TASMAC shops be shut for a few weeks till the city returns to normalcy.

Amma stickers on relief items
While thousands of people were trying to get one meal a day and struggling to rebuild their lives, many men who were allegedly AIADMK volunteers were busy sticking Amma posters on relief supplies that were being distributed - not by the state - but by ordinary citizens. People on Twitter alleged that trucks carrying relief supplies were being allowed to pass through to areas only if the items had Amma posters on them. The efforts of good samaritans were seen to be hijacked by partymen who had nothing to do with the massive relief efforts undertaken by the public. There was outrage on social media and even on the ground by people over this act​.

Citizens perform relief and rescue operations
Citizens of Chennai came together and mobilised relief and rescue efforts. Today, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp are filled with groups who are diligently working 24X7 mobilising relief supplies and teams to distribute them. Volunteers have come out in thousands to help Chennai and Cuddalore. People in other states are collecting relief materials and sending them by the truckloads. The big question being asked where are the partymen to help people and where is the state machinery on the ground? A state minister and partymen who visited parts of North Chennai were heckled when they finally did turn up to see the ravaged area.

In lieu of all this, Brand Amma could take a severe beating and have an impact on the impending elections in 2016.

India’s Nexus Venture Partners Announces New $450M Fund

Nexus Venture Partners — the top-tier Indian VC firm which counts Snapdeal, Etsy-like Craftsvilla and medtech startup Lybrate in its portfolio — has reloaded for more deals after it announced its newest $450 million fund.

The fund, which is the nine-year-old firm’s fourth to date, takes it to over one billion in capital under management — becoming the first Indian VC to reach that milestone. Nexus, which has invested in more than 60 companies to date, said the capital will be used for seed and early stage deals once again. In particular, the firm is looking closely at retail, financial services, health and education in the consumer space, in addition to promising companies in the enterprise space.

Nexus’ previous fund — its third — closed at $270 million in 2012, but now it has ramped up in line with increased interest and activity in India’s startup space.

“We are thankful to our investors that continue to back us and believe in our investment philosophy,” Naren Gupta, cofounder and managing director of the firm said in a statement. “Most significantly, the Nexus team is fortunate to have exceptional entrepreneurs partner with us on their journey to build market leading companies.”

Other firms to raise new funds this year include Helion Ventures, Accel, and Qualcomm. New York-based Tiger Global, the hedge fund that has been among the most active investors in India, closed $2.5 billion in new capital last week, while Japan’s SoftBank has pledged to spend more than $10 billion on deals with India-based startups.Sequoia, SAIF and Lightbox are among other well-funded and active VC firms in India.

Privacy Advocates Celebrate The End Of The NSA’s Phone Record Collection Program

The NSA shut down its bulk phone record collection program yesterday, more than two years since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed the program to journalists and prompted a global debate about surveillance technology.

The program has been marked to sunset since Congress passed the USA Freedom Actearlier this year. But in light of the terror attacks that rocked Paris earlier this month, many hawkish lawmakers have attempted to hold off on shutting it down.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced on Sunday that the program shut down as scheduled.

As the program came to a halt, privacy advocates took a victory lap on Monday. Here are those hot takes.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote:

“This program’s very existence was concealed from the American public for over a decade.  Across two administrations, senior officials from US intelligence agencies and the Justice Department repeatedly made false and misleading statements that concealed the truth about what they were doing.  These officials relied on a secret body of law to justify the mass surveillance of the American people. Fortunately, in America sooner or later the truth always comes out.  When Americans found out about this secret, unconstitutional surveillance two years ago, they were rightfully outraged.  And they made their voices heard.  The result was historic reform legislation that required the government to shut this program down.”

Senator Mike Lee said:

“Today both the safety and Constitutional rights of American citizens are more secure thanks to the USA Freedom Act. Not only did the USA Freedom Act strengthen the Fourth Amendment rights of all Americans by ending the bulk collection of personal data, but it also better ensured national security by closing a loophole that prevented the government from tracking foreign terrorists once they entered the United States.”

Members of the House of Representatives also reiterated their support of the law. Bob Goodlatte, John Conyers, Jim Sensenbrenner and Jerrold Nadler issued the following statement:

“The implementation of the USA Freedom Act represents government at its best: it is the product of a robust public debate and intense bipartisan negotiations dedicated to finding a way to protect our Constitutional rights while enhancing the safety of our country. The bipartisan law ends the bulk collection of telephone metadata once and for all, enhances civil liberties protections, increases transparency for both American businesses and the government, and provides national security officials targeted tools to keep America safe.”

The implementation of the Freedom Act highlights that in a government marked by gridlock, there have been many major policy decisions that impact the tech industry from Washington this year. After little happened for the industry last year, 2015 brought significant reforms to the government surveillance and made net neutrality the law of the land.

When Rahul Gandhi Didn't Quite Get the Audience Reaction He Wanted

Rahul Gandhi's potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet "Swachh Bharat" and "Make in India" campaigns appeared to misfire today as he addressed students at a college in Bengaluru.

During a Q and A at the prestigious Mount Carmel College for women, Mr Gandhi spoke on a range of subjects with a common idea, that the "suit-boot" government was failing on all fronts.

Warming up to his theme of "all talk and no direction", Mr Gandhi said: "With the Modi government, I don't see a clear direction, I hear a lot of talk. Are we serious? Clean your country is a strategic national government programme? Well it's not working, is it?"


If he hoped for a loud, resounding "no", he did not get one. His surprise was visible when he heard: "It is!"

Stumped, the Congress leader pressed: "You see it working?" Again, he got a louder "Yes" than "No".

He recovered and said: "Ok I don't see Swachh Bharat working very well."

Mr Gandhi then tried another question. "You think Make in India is working?" This time, he got a mix of ayes and nays. "You think youngsters in India are getting jobs?" he asked.

He finally stopped asking. "I don't see a vision that the BJP is projecting. So for the Congress...we have to come up with a potential vision for the people of India," he said.

Targeting PM Modi, the Congress leader said: "Only one man decides everything in this government. I don't believe that only one man has the solution to India's problems."

To a question on the youth opting for the Aam Aadmi Party and BJP rather than the Congress, Mr Gandhi admitted: "In 10 years, there was some fatigue with the Congress. There were some things we did wrong...and we lost the elections. We need to give a new face and image to the Congress."

France retaliates with 'massive' airstrike against ISIS in Syria

France launched "massive" air strikes on the Islamic State group's de-facto capital in Syria Sunday night, destroying a jihadi training camp and a munitions dump in the city of Raqqa, where Iraqi intelligence officials say the attacks on Paris were planned.

Twelve aircraft including 10 fighter jets dropped a total of 20 bombs in the biggest air strikes since France extended its bombing campaign against the extremist group to Syria in September, a Defense Ministry statement said. The jets launched from sites in Jordan and the Persian Gulf, in coordination with U.S. forces.

A spokesman for France's defense minister told CNN that the airstrikes also hit an ISIS command center and a recruitment center.

Iraqi intelligence told the Associated Press on Sunday that it had warned Western coalition members of imminent attacks by ISIS only a day before the Paris assaults.

The news agency cited Iraqi intelligence as saying they had sent a dispatch about the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ordering an attack on coalition countries fighting against them in Iraq and Syria, as well as on Iran and Russia, "through bombings or assassinations or hostage taking in the coming days."

It also said that the Paris attacks were centrally planned in Raqqa, where the attackers were trained specifically for the operation.

Additional reporting by Mashable. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Anupam Kher to lead counter-Award Wapsi march to President's House

Actor and BJP sympathiser Anupam Kher will now lead a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest against Award Wapsi, calling the campaign by a section of filmmakers and actors an attempt to tarnish India's image.

"There is no threat to democracy. Vested interests intolerant to the Narendra Modigovernment are behind this campaign," the veteran actor, whose wife and actor Kirron Kher is a BJP parliamentarian from Chandigarh, told India Today on Wednesday.

                     

Kher said he will meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday with a contingent of top Bollywood actors and even common men. "It will be a campaign for truth," Kher said.

After a host of filmmakers, including names like Dibakar Banerjee and Anand Patwardhan, returned various government awards and honours they had received to express solidarity with the agitating FTII students, a few members of the Hindi film fraternity termed it as a "publicity gimmick" and an "insult".

Apart from Kher, filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Ashoke Pandit are leading the group which called the step by protesting filmmakers "disrespectful" and "politically-motivated". Last week, apart from Banerjee and Patwardhan, Paresh Kamdar, Nishtha Jain, Kirti Nakhwa, Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Hari Nair, Rakesh Sharma, Indraneel Lahiri and Lipika Singh Darai returned their national awards.

"This #AwardWapsiGang has not insulted the government, but the jury, the chairman of the jury and the audience who watched their films," Kher had tweeted in response last week. "Some of these usual suspects of #AwardWapsiGang were instrumental in getting me out of Censor Board the moment Congress came in Power. #Agenda," added the veteran actor.

The churn within the film fraternity also comes in the middle of a raging controversy over the comments made by superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who told India Today earlier this week that there is extreme intolerance in India, a remark that has been slammed by the BJP and its affiliates.

Google Play Music might soon launch in India

Google already sells apps, games, movies, and magazines in India through its Google Play Store. However, the company still hasn’t started selling music and TV Shows in the country. Now, it looks like the search giant might launch its music services in India soon. The company recently unveiled YouTube Red, which is an unlimited music and video streaming service, but it is not available in India.

A redditor from India has posted screenshots on the Internet, claiming that Google is testing the Play Music service in India, and that it might launch soon in the country. The redditor accidentally got access to an internal unreleased build of the Play Store, and after he installed it, he could use the Google Play Music service.

As you can see in the screenshots, the Google Play Music app has listings of Indian music genre such as Bhangre, Bollywood, and Indian Classic. The music albums in the Google Play Music services are priced anywhere between Rs. 140 to Rs. 630. Currently, Apple is selling digital music in India through its iTunes service, and the company has also launched its unlimited music streaming service Apple Music, which costs Rs. 120 per month for a single account and Rs. 190 per month for a family plan.

Even if Google launches the Play Music service in India, we are not sure whether its music streaming service Play Music All Access would be available to users in the country. Some of the music streaming services, which are popular in India are Saavn, Gaana, Rdio, Airtel Wynk, and Guvera.

Under Fire, Haryana Chief Minister Visits Family of Dalit Children Burnt Alive

Under attack from the opposition, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today met the family of the two Dalit children who were burnt alive at a village near Delhi on Monday and assured them that the guilty would be punished at the earliest. But soon after he left, angry locals held a protest march and raised slogans against him.

Mr Khattar was expected to meet the family yesterday, but his visit was cancelled after protests by angry locals. When asked why he was visiting the village three days after the deaths, he said his ministers were keeping a watch on the situation. "My eyes are on this case every minute. My ministers have been here from day one on my behalf."

When Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi visited Sonped village in Faridabad district yesterday, he attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his party the BJP which rules the state and chief minister Mr Khattar and blamed their "attitude" for such tragedies.
 

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi met the family of the two Dalit Children in Sonped yesterday.

"This is an attitude shared by the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister, the BJP and the RSS - if somebody is weak, they can be crushed. This government is not for the poor," he had said.

The children-- two-and-a-half year old Vaibhav and 11-month-old Divya - died after their house was set on fire, allegedly by members of an upper caste community.

Their mother Rekha has suffered 70 per cent burns, their father also sustained injuries.

Vaibhav and Divya were sleeping in their house when it was set on fire, allegedly by members of an upper caste community.

Seven accused have been arrested for the death of the children. Four more are yet to be traced. Mr Khattar's government yesterday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI probe into the deaths.

The family of the children has alleged that the attack was the fallout of a long-standing feud with a group of upper caste people in the village. But the kin of the accused have denied the allegation.

Angry locals blocked a highway near the national capital yesterday and said they would not cremate the children till all those accused in the case were arrested. They also held a march carrying the bodies of the children.

Angry locals blocked the Faridabad-Balabhgarh highway yesterday

Later in the day, the protest was called off after the police managed to convince the family to cremate the children. Their last rites were performed late in the evening.

Japan Offers India Soft Loan for $15 Billion Bullet Train in Edge Over China

Japan has offered to finance India's first bullet train, estimated to cost nearly Rs 1 lakh crore ($15 billion), at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent, officials said, stealing a march on China, which is bidding for other projects on the world's fourth-largest network.

Tokyo was picked to assess the feasibility of building the 505-kilometre corridor linking Mumbai with Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, and concluded it would be technically and financially viable.

The project to build and supply the route will be put out to tender, but offering finance makes Japan the clear frontrunner.

Last month China won the contract to assess the feasibility of a high-speed train between Delhi and Mumbai, a 1,200-km route estimated to cost twice as much. No loan has yet been offered.

Japan's decision to give virtually free finance for PM Modi's pet programme is part of its broader push back against China's involvement in infrastructure development in South Asia over the past several years.

"There are several (players) offering the high-speed technology. But technology and funding together, we only have one offer. That is the Japanese," said A. K. Mital, the chairman of the Indian Railway Board, which manages the network.

The two projects are part of a 'Diamond Qaudrilateral' of high speed trains over 10,000 km of track that India wants to set up connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Japan has offered to meet 80 per cent of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project cost, on condition that India buys 30 per cent of equipment including the coaches and locomotives from Japanese firms, officials said.


Japan's International Cooperation Agency, which led the feasibility survey, said the journey time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad would be cut to two hours from seven. The route will require 11 new tunnels including one undersea near Mumbai.

"What complicates the process is Japanese linking funding to use of their technology. There must be tech transfer," said Mital.

Rickety Rail

JICA declined to comment on the details of its offer. "The report has already been handed over to India, and the Indian government is now in the process of making a consideration," a spokeswoman said.

Toshihiro Yamakoshi, counsellor in the economic section of the Japanese embassy, said Japanese companies were keen to collaborate with their Indian counterparts on the rail project as part of PM Modi's Make-in-India programme. He said it was too early to provide details of the cooperation.

Tokyo's push in India comes just weeks after it lost out to China on the contract to build Indonesia's first fast-train link.

Beijing offered $5 billion in loans without asking for guarantees, an Indonesian official said, ending a months-long battle to build the line linking Jakarta with the textile hub of Bandung.

Japan's NHK broadcaster quoted Transport Minister Keiichi Ishii as saying that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had instructed him to step up exports of transport systems to India and Southeast Asia.

"It is very regrettable that a high-speed railway project in Indonesia was awarded to China," he said.

China won the Delhi-Mumbai survey after securing clearance from Indian security agencies long worried about China's involvement in Indian infrastructure.

The two neighbours fought a war in 1962 over a border dispute that remains unresolved, though trade between them is booming.

India's cabinet will take a decision on the Japanese proposal over the next few weeks, an Indian railway official said. He said there were lingering concerns about whether the billions of dollars required for high-speed rail might be more usefully spent in modernising the railway system.

"There is a lot of money involved in this. The different departments are weighing the implications. Should we be committing all our resources to a single high-speed line," the railway official said on condition of anonymity."


"The railways have not attempted anything as big as this before in terms of costs," the official said.

India's rickety state-controlled rail system, which moves 23 million people a day, has a poor safety record and is in desperate need of funds to modernise it.

The average speed of trains is 54km/hour, and rail experts have argued that the priority ought to be to improve the speed and safety on existing trains and routes.

Nifty Hovers Around 8,250; Vedanta Slumps 6%

The BSE Sensex and Nifty continued to trade on a lacklustre note in the late noon deals on Tuesday owing to selling in metal, oil & gas and banking stocks. Earlier in the day, the Sensex and Nifty traded in a narrow range. The Nifty touched high of 8,294 and the Sensex touched high of 27,432.

Here are the latest developments:

1) IT, auto, banking and capital goods stocks led the gains. TCS rose 1.5 per cent while Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Bank of Baroda gained 1-1.5 per cent.

2) On the Nifty, apart from TCS, other Tata Group companies - Tata Power and Tata Motors - also attracted strong buying. Tata Motors and Tata Power rose over 3 per cent.


3) Metal and oil & gas stocks struggled, tracking selloff in global commodities. Cairn India, Vedanta, Hindalco and ONGC fell 1-2 per cent. Reliance Industries, which surged 5.6 per cent yesterday on strong Q2 earnings, was down 0.72 per cent on profit-taking. Drug maker Cipla was the top Nifty loser, down nearly 3 per cent.

5) Hero MotoCorp, which is set to report its earnings today, traded flat. ACC traded nearly 1 per cent lower ahead of its earnings announcement.

6) Hindustan Zinc, which reported better-than-expected earnings on Monday, gained 1 per cent. SKS Microfinance however pared early gains to trade flat, despite reporting strong earnings.

7) Analysts attributed the cautious mood in the Street to wariness after strong gains in the previous three sessions and a truncated week. Markets will remain closed on Thursday on account of Dussehra.

8) TS Harihar, chief executive and founder of HRBV Client Solutions, said that markets are likely to consolidate in the near term. The next trigger for the market is the outcome of the Bihar elections, he added. Analysts say that as long as 8,200 levels are held by the Nifty, the trend remains positive.

9) Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 898 crore (net) in the cash market on Monday, taking their overall purchase to over Rs 3500 crore. "FIIs have come back to the Indian market after a gap of about two months as emerging markets have stabilized after absorbing the implication of slowdown in the economies," said Vinod Nair of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

10) Domestic investors continued to offload shares. On Monday, they sold shares worth Rs 246.26 crore (net) in the cash market. They have sold shares worth Rs 1,500 crore so far this month.

Rcom introduces smartcare, customers can now manage and customize their account on twitter

Reliance Communications, today announced a milestone launch in the Digital Social Media space—Smartcare on Twitter—providing various user account management services to the Company’s wireless subscribers via Twitter’s live, public platform. Smartcare on Twitter empowers wireless customers to manage their user account by simply using their Twitter account login.

This new customer service initiative platform will let users explore a range of account information and services without having to reach out to traditional Customer Service representatives. As the first-ever such initiative in the country by a telecom player, Smartcare on Twitter allows customers to Tweet to ‘@RelianceMobile’, using specific keywords and hash-tags in order to get account information such as their balance/outstanding amount, facilitate online recharges and make bill payments, activate and deactivate any specific services, and more. Once the customer Tweets a query, the requisite information will be sent back to him/her as a Twitter Direct Message (DM). This will significantly increase customers’ digital interaction with RCOM and greatly reduce the need to physically contact Customer Care.

Announcing the launch of this game-changing service, Mr Gurdeep Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Business, Reliance Communications, said: “This is part of our endeavor to empower customers, making service and self-help possible on Twitter’s popular social media platform, creating pride of ownership. This is the country’s first such initiative by a telecom player, utilizing the Twitter platform, including real-time back-end analytics tracking to enable customers to make informed choices and customize their accounts as per their preferences and usage requirements.”

The Twitter-based SmartCare service enables users to take control of their mobile account, data usage, recharge and pay bills, etc., through the use of simple Tweets. To introduce this unique service to its users, RCOM has launched a Digital Campaign—#KaashEkTweetSe—asking users to share what they would want to achieve with just one Tweet, and tagging Reliance Mobile’s Twitteraccount @RelianceMobile.

Mr Arvinder Gujral, Director, Business Development, Twitter Asia-Pacific, said: “As Indians spend more and more time on social media, most forward-thinking and successful organizations such as Reliance Communications are integrating Twitter into their operations to increase engagement and satisfaction with their customers. As a platform for live, public conversations, Twitter is transforming customer relationship management by making it easier and faster for RCOM’s subscribers to get a whole range of account services with a simple Tweet. Smartcare on Twitter is an innovation that will provide an essential daily service in the lives of RCOM’s subscribers.”

RCOM unveiled the service by revealing that while not everything may be possible with just one Tweet, managing your Reliance Mobile account is now possible with SmartCare on Twitter. “The excellent and very creative participation from users in the campaign gives us confidence that this further innovation adds tremendous value to our customers,” Mr Singh added.

3G vs 4G: Why is 4G a superior technology?

The 3G vs. 4G question seems quite obvious as there is an entire generation gap between these two telecommunication technologies. Moreover, in India, it is not just generation that divides 3G and 4G apart, but even more factors. Let us take a look into the technical and economical aspects of 3G and 4G in India.

A Little History About 3G

3G is an old technology, which evolved over the years, and entered very late into India. The first 3G networks in the world were introduced in as early as 2001. Earlier versions of 3G like W-CDMA (UMTS) offered speeds of upto 384 Kbps. 3G networks were not widely implemented before 2005 as existing 2G network could be easily upgraded to 2.75G EDGE network, which offered speed of upto 236 Kbps. While the rest of the world started moving to 3G networks starting 2005, the first 3G network in India was deployed by BSNL in 2009. By this time 3G technology had evolved a lot and 3.5G HSPA networks started offering speeds of upto to 3.5Mbps, which were rolled out by BSNL and MTNL. In late 2010, Tata DoCoMo rolled out its 3.75G HSPA network, offering speeds of upto 21.1Mbps, and this was soon followed by other operators.

The Generation Gap Of 4G

The most promising technology of this decade, 4G LTE, was first deployed in 2007. The generation gap with 3G makes 4G much more advanced, and it is able to offer several times higher speed than existing 3G networks. 4G LTE networks around the world offer typical speed of 100Mbps, while LTE Advance (LTE-A) networks that offer speeds of upto 300Mbps have been deployed around the world. When it comes in India, operators will offer 4G LTE with max speeds of upto 48Mbps. The network can be upgraded to higher speeds if required in future.

Also read: 4G in India: 2016 is going to be the year of 4G

Default Network Speeds

Even though operators claim that they offer 21.1 Mbps speeds on their 3G networks, 7.2 Mbps BTS is deployed in most location, while 21.1 Mbps and 14.4 Mbps speeds are offered only in city limits. It is also worth noting that existing 3G networks can be upgraded to 42.2 Mbps HSPA+ networks easily, matching with current 4G speeds. When it comes to 4G, it is expected that almost all 4G BTS will provide default speed of upto 48 Mbps.

More Spectrum = More Capacity

3G networks are typically deployed in India over the 2100 MHz spectrum band. The problem with this high-frequency spectrum band is its low coverage. Operators are trying to solve this problem by deploying 3G over more efficient 900 MHz band, but both bands are very limited in supply in India, and operators have just 5 MHz paired frequency in each band. This causes the 3G network to run out of capacity as soon more users get connected, which leads to network congestion and speed drops. There is also an artificial scarcity of spectrum in 2100 MHz band that is primarily due to defence department holding a significant portion of it, which is yet to be fully released.

When it comes to 4G, 20 MHz unpaired frequency in 2300 MHz band is allocated to the operators. Moreover, telecom operators in India have bagged additional 5 MHz paired frequency in 1800 Mhz to solve the coverage issue faced in the 2300 MHz band. Combining both these bands will give 4G operators like Airtel and Reliance Jio 20 to 30 MHz of spectrum in each circle for deploying 4G services. This is two to three times more than what 3G operators have, and incidentally this will result in two to three times more capacity. Also, 4G can be deployed on 850 MHz CDMA spectrum used in India, which is more efficient in terms of coverage than 900 MHz 2G/3G spectrum.

Device Ecosystem

Initially, 3G didn’t pick up pace in India due to high cost of devices and higher-priced 3G data packs. Cost of devices fell rapidly after the entry of smartphones, which comes default with 3G support. Now, 3G has superiority in device ecosystem, which is soon set to change as almost all the latest smartphones support 4G LTE.

Also read: How is 4G Mobile Network Technology different from 3G Technology?

4G Tariffs To Be Cheaper Than 3G Tariffs

It is a general outlook that 4G will be more expensive than 3G. This is due to the fact that 3G was almost 5 times more expensive than 2G when it was first introduced in India. Also, Airtel charged a hefty rate when they first launched 4G in India. Airtel soon learned their lesson and reduced 4G tariffs to 3G tariff levels.

From operators’ perspective, 3G is an expensive gamble. The 2100 MHz and 900 MHz bands are one of the highest paid spectrums in India. While 4G spectrums like 2300 MHz, 1800 MHz and 850 MHz are the cheapest ones available in India. As spectrum is cheaper, and has better capacity to handle more users, operators will be able to offer 4G at almost half the rates when compared to 3G. With increased competition from pure-play 4G operators like Reliance Jio, the 4G data rates are all set to fall in the coming years.

Also read: Airtel 4G plan details

Support For Voice Calls

The last thing standing in its way to become a superior technology is voice support. The best advantage of 3G network is its support for voice calls and ability to handle voice and data at the same time. While 4G network is data only, it doesn’t have support for traditional voice calls. One way of solving this problem is to use Circuit Switched Fall Back (CSFB) to 2G/3G network for voice support. But for pure-play 4G players, this won’t be an efficient long-term solution. The latest Voice Over LTE (VoLTE) solves this problem and offers HD voice quality to the users. This technology is currently being implemented by major 4G operators across the globe.

Is This The End of 3G In India?

Seen as the most promising technology of the last decade, 3G is going to be short-lived in India. With mass deployment of 4G networks, 3G will soon become obsolete. Operators like Airtel are already offering 4G at the rate that is similar to 3G rates, and consumers get to choose the network they want, so 4G will be the obvious winner. 

Global operators like Telenor Norway has already announced its plans to shutdown 3G networks by 2020, five years ahead of 2G network shutdown. The days of 3G are already being counted, and it will eventually reach its end in India as well.