Aircel partners IBIBO to offer social gaming

Telecom service provider, Aircel has partnered ibibo. com to offer social gaming on mobile phones for the first time in the country.

The popular game "Great Indian Parking wars" from Ibibo will now be offered on the Aircel Pocket Internet. India's fifth largest GSM mobile service provider plans to add many more games to the offering soon.

The users will either require an ibibo. com ID or can access the games through facebook connect. The users can only access the game through WAP-enabled handsets. The offering also brings the micro-transactions to the mobile phones where users can purchase virtual items in the games and pay through the service provider.

Winners of 3G Bid

After 34 days of hectic bidding, the auction for the 3G spectrum allocation is over. The all-India licence was last bid for Rs 16,751 crore.

Bharti has paid the maximum amount of Rs 12,295.46 crore for 13 circles. Vodafone has got nine circles for Rs 11,618 crore. Reliance Communication has paid Rs 8,600 crore for 13 circles, Idea Cellular pocketed 13 circles for Rs 5769 crore and Tata Teleservices has got nine circles for 5864.29 crore.

In Mumbai and Delhi, R-Comm, Vodafone and Bharti are the winners. Aircel, Vodafone and R-comm are the winners in Kolkata.

It is learnt, the government is estimated to garner Rs 67,719 crore surpassing its earlier expectations.

Sources added that bids for broadband and WiMax are expected to start within two days.

The 3G auction started on 9 April and there were nine bidders in the fray for the slots of 3G spectrum on the block. The government auctioned three slots in 17 telecom service areas and four slots in the remaining five states of Punjab, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Nine leading mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, RCOM, Tatas, are up against each other to grab spectrum. The government selling 3 blocks of spectrum in most of states with four slots in five states of Punjab, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Circle	Winners
Maharashtra	Tata, Idea, Vodafone
Gujarat	Tata, Idea, Vodafone
Andhra Pradesh	Bharti, Idea, Aircel
Karnataka	Bharti, Tata, Aircel
Tamil Nadu	Bharti, Aircel, Vodafone
Mumbai, Delhi	Rel Comm, Vodafone, Bharti
Kolkata	Aircel, Vodafone, Re comm
Kerala	Idea, Tata, Aircel
Punjab	Idea, Rel comm, Tata, Aircel
Haryana	Idea, Tata, Vodafone
UP (east)	Idea, Vodafone, Aircel
UP (west)	Idea, Tata, Bharti
Rajasthan	Rel Comm, Bharti, Tata
Madhya Pradesh	Idea, Rel comm, Tata
Himachal Pradesh	S-tel, Idea, Rel Comm
West Bengal	Bharti, Rel comm, Vodafone, Aircel
Bihar	S-tel, Bharti, Rel comm, Aircel
Orissa	S-tel, Aircel, Rel comm
Assam	Bharti, Rel comm, Aircel
Northeast	Bharti, Aircel, Rel comm
Jammu & Kashmir	Bharti, Idea, Aircel, Rel Comm

A K Antony prioritise Coastal security

Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday asked the top brass of Navy and the Ministry to take immediate steps to ensure that proposals and assets approved by the government for Coastal Security are put in place at the earliest.

Addressing the Naval Commanders' Conference here today, Antony disclosed that the Government was equipping both Navy and Coast Guard for coastal surveillance and patrol both in terms of assets and manpower," said Antony addressing the Naval Commanders' Conference here today.

Don't criticise Dhoni for just ONE bad Tournament - Muralitharan

India's Twenty20 World Cup flop show notwithstanding, Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains one of the best skippers in international cricket and it is unfair to criticise him on the basis of just one bad tournament, said Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.

World's highest Test wicket-taker both in Tests and ODIs, who plays under Dhoni in the Indian Premier League champion side Chennai Super Kings, said he was amused to see the outrage that greeted India's early exit from the showpiece event in the West Indies.

Goa to rope in Ex-Naval officers to guide Coastal security

The Goa government has decided to rope in former defence officers to guide its marine police force, armed with sophisticated boats to man the coast.

“We do not have trained manpower to handle such boats. We will have to be dependent on ex-officers of Indian Navy or Indian coast guard for the guidance,” chief secretary Sanjay Srivastava said.

“Officers can be employed with the special police unit for two to three years. The marine police will work in tandem with the Navy and coast guard to safeguard the state coastline, where vigil has been stepped up after 26/11 and recent terror alerts,” he said.

Food inflation raises to 16.49% for week ending May 8

India's annual food inflation edged up for the second week, rising to 16.49% for the week ended May 8 as shown by the official data released on Thursday.

The food inflation stood at 16.44% the previous week, up from 16.04% for the week ended April 24.

Data on the wholesale price index (WPI) released by the commerce and industry ministry showed that food inflation rose though the index for this group dropped marginally during the week under review.

Desai scandal widens as CBI investigation continues

Within a month of his arrest in a corruption case, the CBI has unearthed clinching evidence against former Medical Council of India (MCI) chief Ketan Desai and initiated the process to register half-a- dozen more cases against him.

Sources said Desai who was arrested by the CBI last month on charges of seeking a Rs 2-crore bribe to help Gyan Sagar Medical College in Patiala, has been found to be involved in showering favours on several other private medical institutions. Not only has the CBI unearthed his movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 50 crore so far, but it has received over 100 complaints from across India.

Bank of Rajasthan to be merged with ICICI

Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) will be merged with ICICI Bank. A decision to this regard was taken on Tuesday by both the banks. According to ICICI Bank, the share swap ratio has been fixed at 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of rajasthan.

ICICI Bank has entered into an agreement with Tayal family of BoR to effect the amalgamation with a share exchange ratio of 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of Rajasthan. This is based on an internal analysis of the strategic value of the proposed amalgamation, average market capitalization per branch of old private sector banks and relevant precedent transactions, ICICI Bank in a statement said. The proposed merger would substantially enhance ICICI Bank's branch network, already the largest among Indian private sector banks, and especially strengthen its presence in northern and western India.

Power tariff to be hiked by Re.1/unit

Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Thursday said that power tariff would go up by about Re 1 per unit (kwh) owing to the government's decision to hike gas prices on Wednesday evening.

"The power tariff would go up. We have not worked out the details, but it is likely to be about Re 1 per unit," Shinde told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci event.

Power tariff is regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

Allahabad HC refuses to revive Babri Masjid Demolition case

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani and 20 others got a reprieve on Thursday with the Allahabad High Court rejecting a plea to revive criminal cases against them in the 18-year-old Babri Mosque demolition case.

The Lucknow bench of the court dismissed a plea of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to revive criminal cases against the accused.

In his 44-page judgement, Justice Alok Kumar Singh of the Lucknow bench of the high court said, "...Nothing is found against the correctness, legality, propriety or regularity in respect of any of the findings of the lower court".

RBI ready to Cope Huge Cash flow for 3G spectrum Bids

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will keep liquidity ready to support the banking system cope with huge cash outflows following the just-concluded third- generation spectrum auction, its top officials said on Thursday.

The auction, that lasted 34 days, will generate USD 14.6 billion for the government, nearly double what it had earlier expected.

"I want to assure you that we are taking into account... we are monitoring the liquidity situation," RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said after a central bank board meeting in Thiruvananthapuram.

Maoists are 'our own people' --- Narendra Modi

BJP's forthright poster boy, Narendra Modi, today embarrassed his senior party leaders by calling Maoists "our own people" and urging the government to sit down for talks with them. His statement came as a surprise to the top brass of the party that has been insisting on dealing with the Maoists with an iron hand. While defending the Gujarat CM, the party spokesperson blamed the media for misquoting him and said the issue was unnecessarily being blown out of proportion.

BJP later clarified that Modi was just responding to a question posed by a student on what his message was for the youngsters who are picking up arms. The statement by the Gujarat government's spokesperson read: "Narendra Modi was not asked about what the government must do to tackle Maoism and he has not responded to any such question... However, he is of the view that the government should not bow to the Maoists and strong action should be taken against those who are involved in killing innocent civilians."

Reliance & Videocon to Facebook free of charge @ 0.facebook.com

  Popular social networking site Facebook can now be accessed through mobile devices for free or without any data charges in 45 countries, including India, on select mobile networks.

Facebook, which has over 400 million users worldwide, has tied up with Indian wireless operators -- Reliance Communications and Videocon -- to make the site available for cell phone users with zero data charges.

For this purpose, the entity has launched a new site ’0.facebook.com’ that includes all key features of Facebook but is optimised for speed.

Ruchika case Verdict postponed till May 25

A sessions court here on Thursday deferred the verdict on plea for enhancing sentence of former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore in a molestation case to May 25.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh deferred the verdict to May 25 saying since the judgment is lengthy it is being postponed by five days to provide time to complete the process of writing the judgement.

The Judge had on May 11 last fixed the verdict for today on the three pleas — one by the former DGP challenging his six month rigorous imprisonment for “outraging the modesty” of 14-year-old tennis player and two appeals by the victim’s family and the CBI seeking enhancement of the sentence awarded to him by the trial court.

Ruchika case Verdict postponed till May 25

A sessions court here on Thursday deferred the verdict on plea for enhancing sentence of former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore in a molestation case to May 25.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh deferred the verdict to May 25 saying since the judgment is lengthy it is being postponed by five days to provide time to complete the process of writing the judgement.

The Judge had on May 11 last fixed the verdict for today on the three pleas — one by the former DGP challenging his six month rigorous imprisonment for “outraging the modesty” of 14-year-old tennis player and two appeals by the victim’s family and the CBI seeking enhancement of the sentence awarded to him by the trial court.

Cyclone Laila lashes Coastal Andhra

Heavy rains lashed all the nine districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh on Thursday inundating low lying areas and disrupting normal life as the severe cyclonic storm, `Laila', in the Bay of Bengal, threatens to cause devastation.

Although it showed signs of weakening, `Laila' continued to be severe and travelling steadly towards the direction of Bapatla in Guntur district. According to a bulliten issued by the Indian Meteorological Department at 7 am, "the system is weakening due to wind shear and land interaction".

Mumbai-Lucknow Kingfisher airline lands on Bomb scare

A Lucknow-bound Kingfisher Airlines flight with 166 passengers on board was grounded here on Thursday after an anonymous phone call warning of a bomb planted in the plane.

The aircraft was taken to a remote bay and all the 166 passengers have been deplaned, a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said.

The flight, IT-3149 was scheduled to take off from the Mumbai's domestic airport at 1645 hrs when the call came.