CORE EDUCATION- FROM Rs 299 TO 67

MUMBAI, FEB 27:  

Core Education and Technologies has moved SEBI seeking a probe into the high volumes of trading in its shares that led to a steep fall of 81 per cent in share prices.The stock fell from a high of Rs 300 to a low of Rs 56.55, in just three days.“We would like to request your office to assist the company in conducting your investigation in such unusual high volume and price movement…,” the company said in its letter to the market regulator.The technology-enabled education solutions provider has also sought the market regulator’s assistance in providing appropriate price circuits for its scrip. This is to prevent “further damage and repose shareholders and all stakeholders’ confidence,” it added.Though the stock is not traded under F&O list directly, since it is a part of CNX-IT, which has derivatives contracts, no circuit filter is applicable to the stock.

TUMBLES CONTINUOUSLY

Last Monday, the company’s shares fell by more than 62 per cent on market talks that lenders were diluting shares pledged by the promoters. The prices recovered by noon on Tuesday, after it clarified that pledged shares were not sold in the market. On Wednesday, it fell further by 46 per cent to close at Rs 60.30.“Further, we would like to clarify on the rumours of promoters pledged shares being sold, that we have confirmed with all the financial institutions that none of them have sold the pledged shares and that they continue to hold the same,” it said. However, today IFCI sold 36.95 lakh shares.On Monday, Cresta Fund informed the exchanges that it sold 28.16 lakh shares or 2.4598 per cent stake in the company on February 25. After the sale, their holding reduced to 2.3572 per cent.On Tuesday, SEBI Chairman in Hyderabad, U.K. Sinha, said: “Whenever we worry either through our own surveillance mechanism or through other medium that somebody has tried to manipulate the market, we take action.” rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/core-education-moves-sebi-for-probe-as-stock-crashes-81-in-3-days/article4459326.ece

Policy inconsistency...TELECOM---ISSUES...

Business Standard  |  New Delhi  February 21, 2013 Last Updated at 21:32 IST

The same mistake, again

Policy inconsistency and suspicions of favouritism in telecom

Inconsistencies in policy have turned the Indian telecom industry into a case study of the damage caused by poor regulation. The sector has suffered controversy on account of 2G licences, differential treatment of CDMA and GSM technologies, intra-circle 3G roaming, changing joint venture norms for foreign direct investors, and so on. Now, changes in the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) policy may create fresh issues. The Telecom Commission recently cleared the offering of voice services via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) by BWA spectrum-holders, provided they buy a unified licence. The department of telecommunications is also mulling the modalities of BWA providers switching from the 2,300 megahertz (MHz) band to the 700 MHz band. If it happens, the price paid for 2,300 MHz in the 2010 auctions will be adjusted against the price discovered for 700 MHz in auctions scheduled for 2014-15.
Both changes have disturbing implications. Some 32 months after BWA auctions, only Airtel has rolled out its BWA service. Others like Reliance Jio Infotel, Tikona Digital, Aircel and Augere, who have not met BWA rollout obligations, may decide to wait further for clarifications. Delays would further retard the development of a high-speed data network in India, leaving the country two generations behind the curve. The strong positive externalities of high-speed networks imply that such delays will also have large macro-economic opportunity costs. Of course, allowing voice on internet is in itself, a good thing. The ban was conceived to protect PSU monopolies and it should not have been imposed, or dispensed with long ago. However, non-transparent, retrospective changes in terms leads to suspicions of favouritism, particularly when those BWA spectrum-holders who fail to roll out the service are seen to be benefitting from accessing a more efficient band, instead of being slapped with a penalty. Reliance Jio Infotel is the only player with BWA spectrum across all 22 circles.
At the 2010 BWA auction of 2,300 MHz spectrum for 4G/LTE (Long-Term Evolution) data services, new bidders had to opt for either an internet service provider (ISP) licence for Rs 30 lakh, or a unified access licence costing much more — Rs 1,658 crore. VoIP services were banned, even on unified licences. All the new entrants opted for ISP licences, while unified licence-holders bid selectively. However, India is a voice-driven market. Pure internet data (excluding text messages and ringtones) contribute only six per cent to mobile revenues, while voice contributes 85 per cent. BWA spectrum sold at Rs 642 crore per MHz. In contrast, 3G spectrum (voice+data) cost Rs 1,675 crore per MHz and the reserve price for 2G (voice+data) spectrum in November 2012 auctions was Rs 2,800 crore per MHz. Crucially, if VoIP was known to be on the cards, BWA bidding would have gone much higher. There is another inconsistency. The New Telecom Policy, 2012 sets the unified licence fee at Rs 30 crore, so charging Rs 1,658 crore under the old policy terms may now be debatable.
In technical terms, 700 MHz is more efficient than 2,300 MHz, meaning that less capital expenditure is required for rollout at 700 MHz. Hence, 700 MHz is standard for BWA services across Asia-Pacific and Latin America. However, capex savings are offset if 700 MHz spectrum is much more expensive than 2,300 MHz spectrum. The regulator recommends a 700 MHz reserve price at over five times the 2,300 GHz price, making it prohibitively expensive. On the other hand, if 700 MHz spectrum was offered cheap, the government would lose. Ideally, telecom policy should be technology-neutral with unified licences that leave operators free to decide what services they offer. Flip-flops and repeated post-facto policy changes have already vitiated what used to be the world’s fastest-growing market. The proposed changes in BWA terms could be yet another adverse development.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/the-same-mistake-again-113022100832_1.html

CLOUD TECHNOLOGY, LACK OF AWARENESS....

"Gadgets that amalgamate two different technologies fascinate me"

Naveen Bhandari is the Managing Director and CEO of Techzone – a mobile value-added service provider. His key responsibility is to handle and implement the strategic goals and objective of the organisation, acquisition and investment decision.

What gadgets do you use?

Remote controlled chopper, iPad-controlled CCTV cameras, wrist watch mobile phone, iPhone 5 and Bluetooth-controlled toy cars. Any out of the box gadget that has amalgamation of two different technologies is fascinating to me.

Which brand you like and why?

The brand which I am in love with is Apple. Apple is a success story in its own. It did not run appealing the masses, rather it created a niche for itself. It is attractive and user friendly. More importantly, you cannot give its flawlessness a miss. Every Apple product comes with a reliability of being absolutely bug free which is a rare found attribute.

What is your dream machine?

Complete home automation through iPad or iPhone.

Which apps are you addicted to?

Spy tools app, nova sync photo sharing app, etc

One funny / nostalgic anecdote relating to tech (or the lack of it)

The funny incident that I can recollect of is watching a YouTube video about a government bureaucrat of telecom sector. It was an interview with one of the TV channels regarding cloud storage. This gentleman in the video was completely ignorant of the technology and its functionality and he said, “The world is all moving towards cloud today but what everyone is forgetting is what happens when it rains or a thunderstorm strikes, all is lost then which is a disaster.”

What’s the biggest tech disaster according to you?

Technology is to ease our lives and not complicate it. It turns into a disaster depending upon how you make it work for you. If used in control, it is a blessing; but if used in excess, anything can turn into a disaster. Ride on the technology wave, don't let technology ride you.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/weekend-life/gadgets-that-amalgamate-two-different-technologies-fascinate-me/article4386267.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

Tax evasions worth Rs 9,800 crore in April-December, 2012,

6 FEB, 2013, 04.00AM IST, DEEPSHIKHA SIKARWAR,ET BUREAU Taxman hounds Nokia, Japan Airlines, Country Inn, others for paying less tax
NEW DELHI: The Indian tax authorities have sent sternly-worded letters asking several companies to explain lower payment of excise duty and service tax, belying hopes of a non-adversarial tax administration promised by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Corporates that paid lower service tax or excise duty than last year have been asked to explain the decline, raising fears of a return to heavy-handed tax compliance that is regarded as one of the reasons behind the decline in business sentiment after the UPA government returned to power in 2009.On Tuesday, Chidambaram reiterated the promise of a light-touch tax administration, directing officials to collect revenue in a "just and fair manner". 

But on the ground, the reality appears to be different. The indirect tax authorities have written to service providers, including a number of telecom operators as well as companies in sectors like infrastructure, real estate, hotels, oil exploration, airlines and manufacturers, asking them to explain why their tax payments had remained flat. 
Japan Airlines, handset maker Nokia, Country Inn and Simplex Infrastructure are some of the companies that have received such letters. 
The department has also appointed a chartered accountant to look into the books of a number of telecom players to figure out tax payments, according to tax practitioners. A number of companies, including Airtel, India's largest telecom company by subscriber numbers; Uninor, the Indian arm of Norway's Telenor; andIndus Towers, a telecom tower operator, are facing such a scrutiny, the practitioners said. Nokia said it is cooperating with the Indian tax authorities while officials from the other three companies denied any such development. The letters sent out to service providers are premised on the theory that there should be an automatic increase of 20% in tax payments as the service tax rate was raised by 2% in Budget 2012-13. "You are requested to furnish detailed reasons for the shortfall in revenue, indicating why the growth in your case is not commensurate with the target projected in the Union budget," says one such letter reviewed by ET.They have been asked to furnish documents such as copies of agreements, contracts, invoices and customer ledgers for closer scrutiny. In the case of excise duty, the letters only seek explanation for subdued payments.Tax department officials said the need for closer scrutiny was based on the theory that a number of service providers had collected tax from consumers, but had failed to deposit it with the government or were claiming higher cenvat credit. Others are suspected of delaying tax payments. 
"There is a tendency to suppress or defer payments... The exercise is aimed at ascertaining the real reasons behind lower tax payments," said an official. Industry, already peeved after the CBEC made it mandatory from January 1 this year for companies to pay indirect taxes even if a plea seeking a stay was pending before an appellate body, is clearly unhappy at the latest turn of events. "Such a communication only creates phobia in the minds of industry and when it is dealing with a slowdown... what if a company's business has come down," said JK Mittal, co-chairman of the indirect taxes council at Assocham. Mittal said the letters are so generic that in some cases the department has not even taken cognisance of the reduction in effective tax rate due to higher abatement despite the increase in overall service tax rate to 12%.Assocham has already approached the finance ministry, complaining about the reopening of assessments of previous years leading to what it termed as "extreme harassment". CII had also raised the new-found zeal of the revenue authorities in its discussions with the finance ministry, an official with the industry body said. "It might be worthwhile to examine or investigate specific sectors that are evasion prone," said Pratik Jain, partner, KPMG India. But tax officials, under pressure to deliver the budgeted taxes, are in no mood to relent. Revenue SecretarySumit Bose had issued a warning on January 2 that those avoiding payment of indirect taxes risk prosecution, arrest and attachment of property. 
Chidambaram, who was addressing excise, Customs and service tax officials, urged them to beef up their collection efforts to achieve the budget target, but insisted that efforts would be made to end the hostile relationship between officials and assessees. 
"There is of course apprehension that you may fall short of the budget target. But, nevertheless, in the remaining seven weeks or so, you must make efforts to achieve the budgeted target," he said. 
The minister also underlined the need for moving ahead on the path of replacing "heavy-handed" tax administration with a technology-driven regime. "Once the taxpayer is confident that the relationship between a taxpayer and officer is not a hostile relationship, you (tax officers) will find that more and more people have become compliant to tax laws," he said. The government has budgeted over 5.05 lakh crore in the current fiscal from indirect taxes, which comprise excise, Customs and service tax, an increase of 27% over the previous fiscal. Indirect taxes collection grew 16.8% in April-November, 2012. The service tax department unearthed tax evasions worth Rs 9,800 crore in April-December, 2012, as against about Rs 6,000 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/taxman-hounds-nokia-japan-airlines-country-inn-others-for-paying-less-tax/articleshow/18358496.cms