MUMBAI | 14 PAGES | .`3.00 OR .`6.

00 ALONG WITH THE TIMES OF INDIA

SATURDAY, 23 MARCH 2013
Dutt Gets Support
from Within & Without
PURE POLITICS 2
Maruti to Focus on
Utility Vehicles
CORPORATE 3
New Tech War: How
Green is My Valley!
GLOBAL BUSINESS9
BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD.
THE ECONOMIC TIMES
WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM
Is India Inc right in criticising
implementation of reforms?
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
Are lower interest rates and not apartment
size key to realty revival?
TODAYS QUESTION
86%
YES
8%
NO
6%
CANT SAY
SRUTHIJITH KK
NEW DELHI
T
here comes an age in every-
bodys life when you must
lock up your childhood fan-
tasies. Rahul Narayan is well past
that age. He has a family to feed.
He is 39. He has neither rich par-
ents, nor indulgent benefactors.
He has sunk all his savings and
nearly two years into a hobbyist
project. He needs upwards of $20
million to see it through. When he
meets potential funders with his
plan, it elicits looks of amuse-
ment. Some people laugh, asking
metres and transmit back to
earth, at a distance of nearly 4
lakh km, pictures, video and data.
The competition was an-
nounced in 2007. Registration
closed in December 2010 and the
target must be achieved before
December 31, 2015. Of the 34
teams that registered, 23 remain
active around the world. Many
are superbly funded and staffed.
The US-based Astrobotic, for in-
stance, is based out of Carnegie
Mellon University. Its lead, Wil-
liam Red Whittaker, is a research
professor of robotics at the uni-
versity and something of an au-
thority in the field.
Narayans Venture Modest3
him if his whole project is just an
elaborate con.
For a year and a half now, Na-
rayan has neglected the IT compa-
ny he runs with partners some
are classmates from IIT-Delhi
to set up a ragtag team of dreamy
graduates fresh out of engineer-
ing college, trying to do what only
big governments with classified
budgets have done before land a
spacecraft on the moon.
Narayan is the leader of Team
Indus, a Delhi-based startup that
is the lone entrant from India in
the Google Lunar X Prize compe-
tition. With a purse of $30 million,
the competition will reward the
first privately funded team to soft-
land on the moon, travel 500
ARagtag Team Living a Once-in-a-Blue Moon Dream
A STARRY TREK: Rahul Narayan (6th from right) with his team of spacefarers
on
Narayans Dream
Whether or not they
succeed eventually
will depend on wheth-
er they can marshal
the resources and sup-
port on time. But that
is immaterial to me.
What India needs are
teams like these doing
ambitious things.
KKASTURIRANGAN
Former Chairman, ISRO
The tiny state of Cyprus racing to secure a bailout to stave
off bankruptcy may seem like a dot in the larger nancial picture. But
look closer, you will see the elephant in the room: soaring global debt.
In the Long Term,
We are All Debt
GWP, or total
world GDP, is just
37% of total debt
Of total
central-bank
reserves
(2011) equals
6% of total
debt
Debt Woes: Beginning
of Spending Cuts?
India: Slow and Steady
All The Worlds Bank Deposits Cant Pay Off Debt
Market
capitalisation
of companies is
one-fourth
of global debt
MOREOVER,
the more debt a
country holds,
the less money
its able to put
away in savings
and reinvest
in the nations
economy
AS A GOVT
borrows more
to bridge budget
deficits, it
leads to interest
rates going
up, affecting
purchasing
power of people
AS A RESULT,
international
organisations and
bond investors
pressurise
governments to
cut public debt
through austerity
measures
Indias
GDP
US debt (public, private, retail)
US public debt
US bank deposit amount
US GDP
$56 tr
$16.7 tr
$9.3 tr
$15 tr
Biggest risk? The notional
value of the global
derivatives market is 9 to 17
times the world economy
$600trillionto
$1,500trillion
2
3
1
$70trillion
$50 trillion*
$47 trillion
cover only
26% of total debt
World's bank
deposits of
* Estimates
$190
TRILLION
Total World Debt
Public
debt
Bank
deposit
amount
$749 b
$1.19 tr
$1.75 tr
$11.9
trillion
Public Debt
$50 trillion
WHEN THE RATIO
of a nations total
debt to what it
produces shoots
up, the likelihood
that the country
as a whole will be
able to repay its
debt goes down
Source: Union Budget 2012-13, IMF, globalresearch.org
THE
LIGHTER
SIDE OF
DEBT
Page 14
OUR BUREAU
NEW DELHI
Ahigh-powered panel set up by the
government has recommended
splitting financial sector regula-
tion between two watchdogs the
Reserve Bank of India for banking
and monetary policy and another
one for non-banking sectors.
In its report submitted to Fi-
nance Minister P Chidambaram
on Friday, the Justice BN Srik-
rishna-headed Financial Sector
Legislative Reforms Commis-
sion (FSLRC), which was set up to
suggest changes in financial sec-
tor laws, has also sought to re-
place multiple regulations with a
single Indian Finance Code and a
complete clean-up of capital con-
trols to attract foreign flows. It
has further proposed a Unified
Financial Agency to subsume the
Securities and Exchange Board
of India, Insurance Regulatory
and Development Authority, Pen-
sion Fund Regulatory and Devel-
opment Authority, and Forward
Markets Commission.
The government decided not to
make the report public immedi-
ately. I intend to brief the prime
minister either today (Friday) or
tomorrow (Saturday) and place
the report in the public domain in
the next 3-4 days, the finance
minister said.
Code to be Legible to Consumer 3
Panel Moots
2Financial
Regulators
BANKING & NON-BANKING
New Ideas
Single Finance Code for
entire financial sector
Unified Financial Agency
for regulating other
financial sectors
Clean-up of capital
controls to attract
foreign flows
Independent office for
managing govt debt
Statutory status to FSDC
Special monitoring of
systemically important
financial institutions
Regulation to be
split between two
regulatory bodies
RBI to oversee
banking and
monetary policy
GULVEEN AULAKH
NEW DELHI
It is an iPhone 5 or is it? It has the
same iconic design. It almost feels as
light. But then you look at the price tag
and heres something even Apple
has never managed to achieve
. `8,999. It is a true iPhone clone, as it
has been helpfully named in shopping
portals and comes for less than one-
fourth the price of the original.
Its not just Apple products that have
been ingeniously cloned. Reproduc-
tions of the in-demand Samsung Gal-
axy line are also at hand. Made in Chi-
na, websites ranging from the
somewhat cheekily named Kaunsa-
.com to popular B2N site Indiamart-
.com are offering them, with a ship-
ping period of only a few days.
The iPhone 5 32GB clone is Apple on-
ly on the surface. The screen of the
true clone is a 4-inch OLED capaci-
tive touchscreen that runs on iOS 5
while the Cupertino-based companys
fastest-selling phone runs on the su-
perior iOS 6 and has an LED-backlit
LCD screen with retina display.
The true clone of the Samsung Gal-
axy S3 is more expensive than the true
clone of iPhone 5 . `11,999, less than
half the price of the original.
AMockery of IPR Laws?3
Four robots to help market regulator scan truckloads of Sahara papers stored in a warehouse
REENA ZACHARIAH
MUMBAI
A
third kind of player is about to join the
bitter battle between market regulator
Sebi and Sahara Group. Robots.
In a forgotten warehouse, built in another
era for another purpose, robots will trundle
along to fish out papers from a mountain of
documents Sahara has dumped on Sebi.
In defending the stand that it has to pay only
a fraction of what Sebi has ordered it to,
Lucknow-based Sahara Group has des-
patched millions of documents, packed in
31,000 cartons loaded in 128 trucks, to the Sebi
headquarters at Bandra Kurla, which simply
lacks the space to store the papers.
A flummoxed market watchdog, which for
weeks tried to figure out how best to handle
the situation, has now hit upon a remedy. The
regulator has now moved the documents to a
warehouse in Navi Mumbai, in the outskirts
of the city.
Built in the early 90s to store share certif-
icates, the warehouse belongs to Stock Hold-
ing Corporation of India (SHCIL), a custodial
and depository services firm. At the time, the
government was unsure whether it could
transform the stock markets to introduce de-
materialised (demat) shares. But with the ad-
vent of the paperless era in 94, the 80,000-
square-foot facility with 40-foot high walls
was left largely unused.
After two decades, it has now come handy.
SHCIL has installed one robot and is in the
process of placing three more to quicken Se-
bis humongous job of scanning millions of
documents to verify Saharas claim. This is
the first time that a regulatory authority in
India is banking on robotics to prove itself in
what has become a high-decibel tussle.
Ashok Motwani, managing director and
chief executive of SHCIL, refused to discuss
client-specific details. But he confirmed the
use of robots by the custodian. there will
be faster retrieval of documents. Also, we
eliminate human errors associated with stor-
age of documents, he said.
Among other things, robots have been typ-
ically used by automobile and aerospace com-
panies on shop floors to perform hazardous
tasks, but rarely in record-keeping.
When we tell the robot to get a particular
file, it gets it, relieving the pain to search for it
among the cluster, Motwani said.
Two companies owned by the Subrata Roy-
led Sahara Group have been asked by Sebi to
refund more than . `20,000 crore to three crore
investors who had put money in convertible
debentures issued by the entities concerned.
According to Sahara, less than . `3,000 crore
has to be refunded as most of the money has
already been repaid. But, the regulator
thinks otherwise.
Sebi has set up a Sahara Enforcement Cell
to fast-track the document verification and
refund process. In the course of the exercise,
it sought the services of SHCIL, which offers
services like collecting documents from cli-
ents offices, scanning and storing them in
digital form.
Now, Robots Come to Sebis Sahara
Cant Afford an iPhone?
Get a True Copy for . `9k
Websites hawking dirt cheap made-in-China clones
PUT TO GOOD USE: SHCIL warehouse in Navi
Mumbai where the documents are housed
Hailed as a game changer,
the $35 Aakash tablet now
faces an uncertain future,
reports Our Delhi Bureau.
The human resource de-
velopment ministry has
put on hold its plans to ten-
der its biggest order till
date for 50 million tablets.
It says many inexpensive
tablets are available in the
market now.
FULL REPORT5
Aakash
Tab Under
aCloud
Rajat Gupta Sues New Silk Route
Chief for Contract Breach
Former Goldman Sachs group director Rajat
Gupta, convicted last year on insider-trading
charges, filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit
against Parag Saxena, CEO of New Silk Route.
Corporate4
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Third Hike Since Jan: Diesel Price
Increased by 57 Paise/Litre
Diesel price has been hiked by 57 paise per litre
from Saturday. This is the third increase since
the January 17 Cabinet decision empowering oil
firms to raise diesel rates in small dozes every
month till all revenue losses are eliminated.
Corporate5
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Retail Investors Dump Equity
Funds, Flock to Debt Schemes
Domestic retail investors have moved away
from equity funds and towards debt, exiting
4.49 million equity and equity-linked saving
scheme accounts over the year to end-February.
Markets + Finance6
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Exports May Not Even Match 2012
Numbers, Warns Anand Sharma
Indias exports may not be able to reach even
last years level of about $306 billion, and the
trade deficit is likely to widen to $193-196 bil-
lion in the current fiscal, Commerce and Industry
Minister Anand Sharma said on Friday.
Economy13
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Railways to Hike Freight Rate
by 5.7% from April 1
The transportation of goods, including food
grains, edible oil, cement, coal and iron ore will
be costlier from April 1 as the railways has de-
cided to hike the freight rate by about 5.7% to
absorb the rising fuel costs.
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AClarification
In response to an article titled Bumper Bonuses
for HUL Execs This Year, published in ETon Fri-
day, the company has said the report mentions
exaggerated and incorrect average annual per-
formance bonus paid by HUL to its employees
across work levels. The error is regretted.
Inside story
GULVEEN AULAKH
NEW DELHI
In a major setback to Vodafone India,
the telecom department has denied its
request for extension of licences in
Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata that are
coming up for renewal in late 2014. A
top communications ministry official
said a similar request from Bharti Air-
tel has been rejected as well.
In a communication to Vodafone, ac-
cessed by ET, the telecom department
(DoT) has said under the new policy on
spectrum allocation, airwaves have
been delinked from licence. There-
fore, the firm must participate in the
auctions to be held later this year to ac-
cess airwaves at market price.
Unless you participate in auctions
and get your bid confirmed, you would
not be entitled to wireless licence,
which is a requisite, DoT said. It add-
ed that Vodafone was given a chance to
participate in auctions, concluded
early this month, but it stayed away.
In the circumstances, we find no
reason to grant you an extension con-
templated by Clause 4.1. It is also not
expedient to do so as there is no incli-
nation shown by you to come to settle
new terms and conditions in pursu-
ance of and in conformities of the ex-
tant policies...Consequently, your re-
quest for an extension for 10 years on
the same terms and conditions stands
rejected, the DoT notice said.
DoTs Refusal to Prolong Legal Battle4
OUR POLITICAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI
The 12-day-old row between India and
Italy ended on Friday when two Ital-
ian marines returned to face murder
trial here, allowing the government to
claim a major diplomatic victory.
Officials from both countries
claimed there was no back-channel
deal behind Italys decision to change
its stance and return the marines to
face trial on Indias assurance that
they will not be arrested and their
case does not merit the death penalty
under Indian jurisprudence.
A potential diplomatic crisis has def-
initely been avoided The situation
has been defused, said Italys Minis-
ter of State for Foreign Affairs, Staffan
de Mistura.
Mistura said Italy had decided to
keep the marines back due to extraor-
dinary concern in his country that
they could face the death penalty.
Marines Returned after Assurance4
Govt Claims Victory as
Italian Marines Return
NO DEATH PENALTY, NO ARREST
Vodafone, Bharti Airtel can
approach Delhi High Court
again as per courts order
Legal recourse may further
push back possibility of
holding 900 Mhz band auction
May put more hurdles in the
governments plan to refarm
the 900 Mhz spectrum band
A Missed Call?
Entitled to fair and reasonable
extension of licence as per
mutually agreeable terms
Policy and licence agreement
provide for continuity
DoT arbitrarily withdrawing
900Mhz spectrum is against
policy and licence provisions
BHARTI, VODAFONE SAY
NEXT COURSE OF ACTION
I
M
P
A
C
T

DoT Refuses to
Extend Licences
of Voda & Bharti
Rejects request for auto
renewal in Mumbai, Delhi
and Kolkata; says telcos
willve to win spectrum
Lone Indian in Google Lunar X Prize competition, Rahul Narayan is fighting to raise resources
S
A
L
A
M
SUNIL

CBI Director Okayed

Car Case on February 12
On Edit Page
CBI with Real Teeth
Bar Council President Anil Divan on
how to make CBI independent.
PURE POLITICSPAGE 2
India Inc & Politics
Entrepreneur Jaithirth Raoon why
politicians outsmart CEOs.
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