It was 5:25 p.m. in Amsterdam, 8:55 p.m. in India and 6:25 p.m. in Nairobi.

The brave new world

quite tellingly was being created in the old world, at Amsterdam in the Netherlands. As Sunil Bharti
Mittal signed across the dotted line on Tuesday, he created what explorers would call the big
footprint. As he shook hands with Zain Chairman Asaad Al Banwan and was congratulated by his
Airtel colleagues Akhil Gupta and Manoj Kohli, Mittal was writing a new chapter in Indian
entrepreneurship. The $10.7-billion deal, the second biggest acquisition by an Indian outfit, made
Airtel the world's fifth largest telecom player. But more importantly, it made India a major player in
the yet uncharted continent of Africa.

"The strength of our brand and the historical connect coupled with our unique business model will
help us to unlock the potential of Africa."
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL, CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, BHARTI
TELECOM 

Soon after the takeover, in his typically succinct manner, Mittal indicated at the direction of India
Inc's ambitions and said, "We are excited at the growth opportunities in Africa, the continent of hope
and opportunity. We believe that the strength of our brand and the historical Indian connect with
Africa coupled with our unique business model will allow us to unlock the potential of these
emerging markets." This was also the coming together of an unprecedented public private
partnership. India Inc and Government of India are working together to expand both commercial
influence and geopolitical clout. The two are doing the tango very well.
There is a paradigm shift in India's diplomatic focus on Africa and it is the beginning of a new
African Safari, a well calibrated strategy to rediscover the continent which is crucial to spur India's
strategic ambitions and its growth story. In a continent where aid has been used as a password for
market access, India has been sensitive and cautious. In addition to a $5.4-billion line of credit, Rs
2,000 crore was sanctioned by the Cabinet to implement the prime minister's capacity building
commitments.

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"We have always considered the African people close to the

Indian ethos. We have a common legacy of a colonial struggle
and now we are helping them to improve the quality of their
lives by building a win-win partnership for us," External Affairs
Minister S.M. Krishna told INDIA TODAY.
Besides old ties, Africa is strategically important for India's
energy security. With many countries having untapped oil
reserves, countries like Nigeria still account for a major chunk
of India's energy requirements and according to some estimates
Africa will account for 12 per cent of global oil supplies. India is
keen to tap a major chunk of that, given India's burgeoning energy needs. And India Inc's presence
underlines this.

 "We are helping the African people to improve the quality of their lives by building a win-win
partnership for us."
S.M. KRISHNA, UNION MINISTER FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

While the Zain deal is a landmark, the $10.7-billion will raise the level of Indian investments in
Africa to $16.7 billion. A bulk of the other investments comes from oil and gas majors, truck makers,
hotel chains and electronic and white goods manufacturers making a beeline for African shores. They
include auto majors Ashok Leyland, Mahindras and Tata Motors. Also present are consumer
durables giant Videocon, now a major energy player, liquor baron Vijay Mallya's UB Group, pharma
majors Cipla, Dr Reddy's and of course ITcompanies like NIIT.
In fact, India's African trade has grown steadily in recent years with the current levels of trade
estimated at $39 billion. Not only does Africa offer a big market for Indian products, it's also
strategically important. Many African countries have large uranium reserves and India is in
discussion with countries like Gabon to source uranium.

Huge response to 3G auction on Day 1; five rounds

completed

The 3G spectrum auction evoked an excellent response from mobile operators on day one, with the
reserve price of Rs 3,500 crore for pan-India operations escalating nearly 12 per cent to Rs 3,913.81
crore.

According to information posted on DoT website, five rounds of auction were completed.

All the nine operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, RCom and Tatas, participated in the
online auction.

Delhi circle, for which the reserve price is set at Rs 320 crore, generated the maximum interest from
bidders with the winning prices at the end of round five was Rs 373.29 crore. Mumbai and
Maharashtra were a close second at Rs 362.66 crore. Nine circles saw negative demands. The quotes
are provisional.

When contacted, government officials said the auction process may go on for 10-12 days looking at
the response from the operators.
Asked whether there was any glitch in conducting the auction, government officials said the process
was extremely smooth.

The government has set an ambitious target of raising up to Rs 35,000 crore from the sale of
spectrum for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) services.

Telecom Minister A Raja, however, said that the collection from the sale of spectrum may go up to Rs
40,000 crore as the players are too keen to acquire air waves for 3G mobile services

Foreign investors likely to skip Naxal-hit areas only

At a time when India is bouncing back to the high growth path, insurgency, particularly of the
Maoists/Naxalites' kind is posing a threat. Though experts do not see this as a major deterrent for
foreign fund inflows, they feel incidents like the recent Maoist attack on paramilitary forces in
Chhattisgarh will keep foreign investments away from insurgency-prone areas.

Naxalites/Maoists, born out of the Naxalbari movement in West Bengal in the late 1960s, are the
followers of violent 'class struggle' on behalf of the poor and landless labourers and the tribal people,
against landlords and their so-called agents, which includes the government.

Ashvin Parekh, partner, National Leader-Global Financial Services of global consultants, Ernst &
Young, said, "Though it (insurgency) will be a negative, foreign investors may not be influenced by
these acts fully. It will only be considered as one of the risk factors. But they may shy away from
mining activity in the country."

Foreign investors invest in emerging markets like India mainly through two means--foreign direct
investment (FDI), through which they set up a production unit or service centre, and through
portfolio investments in the Indian markets, when they have to register themselves as foreign
institutional investors (FIIs).

Foreign investors usually seek some additional return from their investments in other countries than
what they could expect to earn in their own or their neighbouring countries.

"As long as India can offer that kind of additional returns they expect, they would keep investing in
such opportunities," Parekh added. Already Citibank has identified Naxalites as one of the risk
factors of inward investments into the country, along with disputes arising out of land acquisition
proposals by industrial groups. It has mentioned

had deployed paramilitary forces as part of its pilot scheme called 'Operation Greenhunt', which
combines use of paramilitary forces to conquer the Naxalite threat along with economic
development.
It is the FDI into mining activity that is getting affected. Foreign and domestic steel makers such as
Posco, ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel have planned huge investments in the eastern states of Orissa,
Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, but failed to get captive mine linkages to their proposed plants, so far.

Protests from farmers at the behest of Naxalites are cited as one of the major reasons for status quo
on the issue.

Pawan Burde, vice-president (research) at PINC Research, said, "The Centre allows foreign
companies to set up steel plants if they want ore mine allocations. Many steel projects are in a limbo
due to the Naxalite threat against acquisition of land." Foreign steel majors want a presence in India
for it has significant iron ore mines, besides domestic demand. What can we do sitting here in the
jungles?" the CRPF commandant wondered.

Until those answers are found and the problems addressed, the battle between the central forces and
the armed guerrillas could go any way

SEBI bans 14 insurance companies from raising money

for ULIP
Market regulator SEBI on Friday banned fourteen major private insurance companies, including SBI
Life, ICICI Prudential and Tata AIG, from raising money from public for any Unit Linked Insurance
Products (ULIP).

While passing the order late on Friday night, SEBI said the entities have not obtained any
registration from the regulator though the ULIPs launched by them had an investment component in
the nature of mutual funds.

"I hereby direct the entities...not to issue any offer document, advertisement, brochure soliciting
money from investors or raise money from investors by way of new or additional subscription for any
product (including ULIPs) having an investment component in the nature of mutual funds, till they
obtain the requisite certificate of registration from SEBI," said Prashant Saran, wholetime SEBI
member in an order.

The other insurance companies against whom SEBI passed an order are Aegon Religare Life, Aviva
Life, Bajaj Allianz, Bharti AXA, Birla Sunlife, HDFC Standard Life, ING Vysya Life, Kotak Mahindra
Old Mutual Life, Max New York Life, Metlife India and Reliance Life.

The order said ULIPs launched by the insurance companies were prima facie found to be akin to the
mutual fund schemes.

While the SEBI regulates mutual funds and their schemes, Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority (IRDA) oversees functioning of insurance companies.
Why Apple iPad's 'killers' won't kill
It's been just a week since Apple launched the iPad last Saturday, and there is already talk of new
gadgets that are being dubbed as iPad killers.

You may argue that it is very difficult to "kill" an Apple product, especially if its name happens to be
iPod or iPhone, but it would also be foolish to underestimate anyone, least of all computing giant
HP's Slate (announced earlier in the year) or the rumoured tablet from the world's largest mobile
telephone company, Nokia. And then there is the rumoured one from the bid daddy, Microsoft,
called Courier, which will be a two-screen booklet PC. All three giants would have to face enormous
challenges that Apple has already thrown at them, none of which is easily conquerable.

Take the iPad's design--it's sleek, it's just like you would want an Apple product to look and feel like,
and it is so elegant that it knocks the pants of even of the most ardent of Apple haters. Microsoft (and
other technology biggies) tried to kill the Apple iPod and the Apple iPhone with their own version of
a media player or a mobile phone. Nothing worked. In fact, with each version of the products, the
Apple iPod-Microsoft Zune gap just kept widening.

While there are more than 220-230 million iPods out there, Microsoft has been able to sell only 5
million Zunes. No other media player even comes close.

The second thing in which the iPad scores (or will score) is its technology. Apple designed the A4
chip for the iPad to speed up operations, and its components are so energy efficient that its battery
can run for a phenomenal 10 hours, even with video running all the time.

The Microsoft Courier, the speculated two-screen tablet from the Seattle-based major, will have
some advantages, but it is to be seen whether it can match the Apple iPad on technology.

HP's Slate will probably fall flat with just its connectivity restrictions.

The iPad is both WiFi and 3G enabled, but the Slate is only WiFi.

Reason number three for iPad becoming the default tablet PC for the world could be its closed
business environment courtesy iTunes (Apple's entertainment download centre) and the Apps Store,
which is Apple's software centre that currently has more than 1.5 lakh applications.

Zune has its own central download store called Marketplace, but with a mere five million gadgets out
there, it is right now just a blip on Apple's radar.

Recognising Apple iPad's potential as a Kindle killer as well as a paradigm changer in the personal
computing market, publishing houses have already tied up with the Cupertino, California based
company to open up new streams of revenue. Apple has promised to keep only 30 per cent of the
revenue that publishers will manage to sell.
So is the case with newspapers and magazines. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal will
have their editions on the iPad, and so will Conde Nast, one of the world's largest magazine groups,
put all of its products on the iPad.

It will be extremely difficult for HP, Microsoft or Nokia to even equal Apple's prowess here, leave
alone better it. It's going to be an exciting new era for personal gadgets, and by all accounts, it will be
Apple who will win the battle.

Essar Energy to list on LSE

Ruias-led Essar Group today announced that it will launch its first share sale offer, the largest by an
Indian entity, of its energy businesses to raise up to USD 3 billion (over Rs 13,500 crore) and list the
same on the London Stock Exchange.

Announcing the intention to go with the public offer, Essar Energy Vice Chairman Prashant Ruia
said that offering of 20-25 per cent shares in the entity would be to institutional investors in the UK
for which it has sought regulatory approvals.

"This will be a landmark event both for Essar Group and Essar Energy... At the time of the offer we
would have already USD 2 billion of capital in Essar Energy... a London listing gives us an excellent
platform to showcase the potential of the Indian market to the world," Essar Energy Chairman Ravi
Ruia said.

Prashant Ruia said, "now is the right time to open the business to global capital to fuel future growth
ambition and address India's significant energy deficit. This offer will help us bridge that deficit
while allowing international investors access to India's growth story."

The proceeds are aimed at funding the equity component of existing growth projects for setting up
power generation capacity, exploration and development of oil and natural gas blocks and
completion of first phase of expansion of Vadinar refinery project to take its capacity to 18 million
tonnes.

The completion of the phase I and II power projects as also acquisition and development of captive
coal mines to raise Essar Energy's total capacity to 11,470 MW would account for the bulk of the
deployment.

Upon completion of the offer, Essar Group would continue to hold a minimum of 75 per cent equity
of Essar Energy, which would operate oil and gas businesses through Essar Oil, a listed entity in
India with a public float of 11.42 per cent.