India To Block US Trade Probes

India has decided to block investigations by the United States into its trade policies and patent laws and prepare for a battle at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a move that could escalate already-strained tension between the two countries.

New Delhi is furious about a threat of trade sanctions made by the US Trade Representative's (USTR) office over its protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), preference for domestic producers and non-trade barriers.

Ahead of a general election, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government does not want to be seen as bowing to US pressure, amid lingering tension over the recent arrest and strip search of a female diplomat in New York suspected of visa fraud.

On Wednesday, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) - which represents about 50 US business groups - asked the USTR to designate India a Priority Foreign Country in its 2014 report.

"This designation appropriately would rank India among the very worst violators of intellectual property rights and establish a process leading to concrete solutions," NAM said in a letter to US Trade Representative Michael Froman.

The USTR is holding public hearings for its annual report due in April. The report will provide details on nations denying protection of IP rights or fair market access to US firms.

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Airtel First To Cross 200 Mn User Mark In India

The telecom major said in a statement said that it "has crossed the 200 million mobile subscriber mark in India, further consolidating its leadership position in the world's second-largest mobile market."

The company, which is in its 20th year of telecom services, became the first mobile operator in the country to get more than 200 million mobile users.

The company got its first permits for mobile telephony in November 1994 and started services in 1995.

Airtel is the largest telecom operator in India, in terms of both customers and revenue. It is the fourth-largest mobile operator in the world by subscribers.

The latest 100 million users were added in less than five years, according to the Airtel statement. It had crossed the 100 million mark in 2009.

The company led the mobile market with a 28.1 percent share at the end of January, according to data released by the Cellular Operators Association of India.

Vodafone was in second place with 162.1 million users and a 23.06 percent market share, COAI said.

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Chidambaram May Announce Some Sops In Interim Budget

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram is likely to announce some sops in the interim budget for fiscal 2014-15 to be presented in parliament Monday.

Chidambaram is also scheduled to present a vote-on-account to seek parliamentary approval for the government's spending till July.

Traditionally no major policy announcements are made in the interim budget. However, Chidambaram may announce some sops apparently to please voters, keeping in mind the forthcoming general election.

"We cannot propose amendments to the Income Tax Act, Customs Act or the Excise Act. But any proposal short of amending a law can be made," the finance minister had said recently.

Chidambaram is also likely to highlight the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance government's achievements and outline the vision for the future.

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Toyota To Recall 1.9 Mn Prius Cars

Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday issued a recall covering all 1.9 million of the third-generation Prius cars sold worldwide, due to a programming glitch in their hybrid system.

About half of the recalls are in Japan and 713,000 in North America, a Toyota spokeswoman said. No accidents have been reported related to the defect.

Toyota said the problem was in the software used to control the boost converter in a module that is part of the hybrid system.

"The setting of the software could cause higher thermal stress in certain transistors within the booster converter, and these transistors could deform or become damaged as a result," Toyota said.

"This will result in various warning lights being illuminated, and will probably cause the vehicle to enter a failsafe mode," it said, noting that the car can be driven but with reduced driving power.

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Microsoft Names Satya Nadella As CEO, Bill Gates Steps Aside As Chairman

Microsoft has named Satya Nadella, an executive in charge of the company's small, but growing business of delivering software and services over the Internet, as its new CEO. Company founder Bill Gates is leaving the chairman role for a new role as technology adviser.

The software company announced on Tuesday that Nadella will replace Steve Ballmer, who said in August that he would leave the company within 12 months. Nadella will become only the third leader in the software giant's 38-year history, after Gates and Ballmer. Board member John Thompson will serve as Microsoft's new chairman.

Nadella, who is 46 and has worked at Microsoft for 22 years, has been an executive in some of the company's fastest-growing and most-profitable businesses, including its Office and server and tools business.

For the past seven months, he was the executive vice president who led Microsoft's cloud computing offerings. That's a new area for Microsoft, which has traditionally focused on software installed on personal computers rather than on remote servers connected to the Internet. Nadella's group has been growing strongly, although it remains a small part of Microsoft's current business.

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Vodafone Draws Up Plan To Take On Airtel, Reliance Jio

Vodafone India is drawing up strategies to take on Mukesh Ambani headed Reliance Jio Infocomm and current market leader Bharti Airtel, hoping to use spectrum garnered from the upcoming sale to deepen network coverage as well as deploy future technologies.

UK-based Vodafone Group Plc's India unit expects intense competition for spectrum in the 900 Mhz band in the important Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles where its licences are ending later this year, Vishant Vora, company's technology director told media.

While the more efficient 900MHz bandwidth is particularly suited for indoor coverage - increasing its attractiveness for operators - India's No. 2 operator will also be interested in the 1800 MHz bandwidth which can later be used to offer fourth generation (4G) telecom services. Both Jio and Bharti have bandwidth in the 2300 Mhz to offer 4G services, but Vodafone doesn't. So far, Jio hasn't started its 4G services - which allows downloads almost 10 times faster than 3G, while Bharti Airtel offers it in a few cities.

Hefty earnest money deposits for auctions starting February 3 by Vodafone India, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Idea Cellular indicate that all four could be part of a major slugfest in Delhi and Mumbai circles in the 900 Mhz band, say analysts. Some key circles in 1800 Mhz band could also see keen fights for airwaves.

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Reliance Jio Enters 2G Race

Shares in top mobile carriers such as Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular fell sharply on Thursday on fears that Reliance Jio Infocomm's participation in the upcoming spectrum auction will hurt profitability of telecom companies.

Reliance Jio, a unit of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries and seven other companies will bid for 2G spectrum starting February 3. Cash-rich Reliance will be able to offer basic mobile phone services along with its yet to be launched 4G service if it wins spectrum, increasing competition in the market that has about a dozen players.

Read full  article on ViraLRays.

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