Response from Devas

BANGALORE: In response to reports on the spectrum deal, published in Business Line and The Hindu, Devas Multimedia, in
a response sent by e-mail, stated thus:

“There are factual inaccuracies in the stories reported, and Devas Multimedia has not received any communication,
regarding the contract, from ISRO/Antrix or any other government agency. We do not own any spectrum, and the
services we provide will be based on satellite transponders leased from ISRO/Antrix, wherein both — the satellite and
spectrum — belong to the space research organisation.

“Contrary to reports, the GSAT 6 satellite programme already has approval from the Union Cabinet and Space
Commission for its services, and Devas is developing an innovative satellite system. With reputed investors
backing the company, Devas has already secured permanent Government approvals and licences to offer ISP services on
its system, for which specific time-bound technical trials were conducted in 2009.”

India raises visa fee hike, but U.S. highlights trade barriers

NEW DELHI: While remaining unmoved by India's concern at the visa fee increase for IT professionals, U.S. Commerce
Secretary Gary Locke expressed concern on Monday at tariff and non-tariff barriers in India.

Mr. Locke, leading a 24-member business delegation, was addressing journalists after meeting Union Commerce and
Industry Minister Anand Sharma here. Besides reviewing trade ties, both sides discussed wide-ranging issues, including the
World Trade Organisation, the visa fee increase and outsourcing.

“Even though India has made tremendous strides in opening up its economy, there is much more work… left to be done,”
Mr. Locke said. “While many tariffs have come down, others remain. Even when there are no outright tariffs, there
are non-tariff barriers that limit trade and investment.”

Mr. Sharma raised the increase in the fees for some categories of visas (H-1B and L1) that are mainly used by
Indian IT professionals and stressed that the Obama administration should not take any step detrimental to
their interests. “We hope that there will not be any measure which negatively impacts the movement of professionals
between the two countries, particularly our IT professionals in the U.S,” he told the press.

Both sides also discussed the issue of market access, reduction in trade barriers and technology transfer for
solar power plants. The bilateral trade stood at $50 billion in 2010.

U.K. plans liberal visa rules for “super rich''

LONDON: Even as visa rules for ordinary people are being tightened with an annual cap for non-European Union nationals
set to kick in soon, the “super-rich'' would be able to literally buy their way into Britain under new plans to
attract wealthy investors.

Media reports on Monday said the proposed rules would not only make it easier for the rich to enter Britain but,
depending on how much money they bring in, they would be able to obtain British residency rights without going
through too many hoops.

Industrialists, willing to invest millions of pounds in Britain, would be required to spend only six months — against nine
months under current rules — to qualify for a visa and the waiting time for permanent residency would be “dramatically
cut for the wealthiest entrants,'' according to The Financial Times.

The newspaper said investors bringing in £10 million would qualify for permanent residency within two years and those
with at least £5 million would qualify in three. The “poorest'' of them — those investing £1 million — have to wait for five
years.

Currently, anyone on an investor visa must stay for at least five years to become eligible for permanent residency.
“Those applying for an entrepreneur visa would also see restrictions eased. It is expected businesses will be allowed to
bring in an extra employee from overseas in return for an additional investment of £50,000,'' said the report.

The so-called “high net worth individuals'' are already exempt from the controversial annual cap which will see
visas for skilled workers and students drop sharply as part of the Tory-led government's plans to reduce
annual net migration from “hundreds of thousands'' to “tens of thousands.''

GDP growth satisfactory, says Pranab Mukherjee

NEW DELHI: Amid rising concerns about rising inflation and trade imbalance, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on
Monday said the 8.6 per cent economic growth estimates released for the current fiscal were satisfactory.

“An 8.6 per cent is quite encouraging despite all these difficulties. Now the other issue is inflation, trade
imbalance and these are to be addressed,” Mr. Mukherjee told reporters here. He said despite challenges it is quite
encouraging that it (GDP) is not deteriorating.

In the July-September quarter this fiscal, the Current Account deficit (CAD) surged by 72 per cent to $15.8
billion from $9.2 billion in the same period in the previous year due to higher imports. The CAD, representing the
difference in inflows and outflows of foreign exchange, barring capital movements, stood at 2.9 per cent of the GDP last
fiscal.

Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu said a 9 per cent economic expansion for the next financial year was well within
target. “The prospects for the world as a whole are looking better but still there are uncertain clouds. In that scenario
growth of 8.6 per cent is absolutely remarkable. So the 9 per cent which we are aiming for next year is now looking well
within target,” Mr. Basu told reporters.

Decision on Takeover Code norms deferred

MUMBAI: Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Monday said that new norms for takeover of
companies, as also for ownership and governance issues of stock exchanges, would take some time as they need more
deliberations, including by the government.

After a board meeting, Chairman C. B. Bhave told reporters that decision on the new Takeover Code has been
deferred. The Takeover Code relates to changes in a host of regulations governing merger and acquisitions of
listed companies.

Asked about the Jalan Committee report, which has recommended sweeping changes in the way stock
exchanges and other market infrastructure institutions are owned and run, Mr. Bhave said the matter was not
discussed at all.

While the SEBI was awaiting some more clarity from the government on the Takeover Code, the regulator was
still collating the feedback received on Jalan panel recommendations, he said.

Economy to grow at 8.6 %: CSO

NEW DELHI: Pumped by a strong agriculture growth and allied activities, the Central Government on Monday declared that
the economy would grow at an estimated 8.6 per cent during the current financial year as against 8 per cent a year ago.

The gross domestic product (GDP) estimates released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) are higher than the
predictions made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Finance Ministry but are also an indication of the fact that the
economy had slowed down somewhat in the second-half of the current financial year.

The Advance Estimates released by CSO on Monday revealed that agriculture and allied activities are likely to grow at 5.4
per cent in 2010-11 as compared to just 0.4 per cent in 2009-10 making a huge stride.
Earlier, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had exuded confidence that the economy would grow by 8.5 per cent despite
rising inflation. The RBI had also projected that the economy would expand by 8.5 per cent in its quarterly monetary policy
review last month.

The latest GDP growth estimate of 8.6 per cent for the entire fiscal implies that the pace of economic expansion slowed in
the second-half of 2010-11, given that GDP growth in the April-September 2010, period stood at 8.9 per cent.

According to data released, agriculture and allied activities are projected to grow by 5.4 per cent this fiscal, as against 0.4
per cent a year ago.

The official figures said growth this fiscal is likely to be driven by an 8.8 per cent expansion in the manufacturing sector,
the same as in the year-ago period. According to the advance estimates, mining and quarrying is likely to grow by 6.2 per
cent as compared to 6.9 per cent a year ago, while electricity, gas and water production will grow by 5.1 per cent as
against 6.4 per cent.

“The growth rate of 8.6 per cent during 2010-11 has been due to the growth rate of over 8 per cent in sectors of
manufacturing, construction, trade, hotels, transport and communication, financing, insurance, real estate and business
services,” an official statement said here.

During the current fiscal, the trade, hotel, transport and communication sectors are projected to grow by 11 per cent as
against 9.7 per cent last fiscal and construction by 8 per cent as compared to 7 per cent in 2009-10. Furthermore, the
finance, insurance, real estate and business services sectors are likely to grow by 10.6 per cent this fiscal as against 9.2
per cent last fiscal.

However, community social and personal services are likely to witness a slowdown in growth and register just 5.7 per cent
expansion as compared to 11.8 per cent in the year-ago period.

The global financial crisis pulled down the growth of the Indian economy to 6.8 per cent in the 2008-09 fiscal from over 9
per cent in the preceding three years. The advance GDP estimates are released before the end of a financial year to enable
the government to formulate various estimates for inclusion in the Budget.

Per capita income

The CSO said India's per capita income was projected to grow by 17.3 per cent to Rs.54,527 in 2010-11 from
Rs.46,492 in the year-ago period.

Per capita income is calculated by evenly dividing the national income among the country's population.
However, the increase in per capita income would be only 6.7 per cent in 2010-11 if it is calculated on the basis of 2004-
05 prices.

Per capita income (at 2004-05 prices) stood at Rs.36,003 in 2010-11 against Rs.33,731 in the previous fiscal, according to
the latest data on national income.

The size of the economy at current prices is projected to rise to Rs.72,56,571 crore at the end of the current fiscal, up 18.3
per cent from Rs.61,33,230 crore in 2009-10. Based on 2004-05 prices, the Indian economy is projected to expand by 8.6
per cent in the current fiscal ending March 2011.

This is higher than 8 per cent growth recorded in fiscal 2009-10.

The country's population is expected to increase to 118.6 crore at the end of March 2011, from 117 crore in fiscal 2009-10.

Creeping intolerance

Indonesia's reputation as a model of democratic religious pluralism and tolerance for the Muslim world is well deserved.
The country has the world's largest population of Muslims — who constitute 86 per cent of its 240 million people.
Efforts over the decades to create a national identity drawn from its diverse religious and ethnic heritage have largely paid
off. The Indonesian Constitution enshrines the state's belief in “the one and only God” but also guarantees freedom of
worship according to a person's religion. There is none of the confusion that has beset Pakistan since its founding day
about the role and place of Islam in the state. Unfortunately, some recent developments in Indonesia seem to parallel
those in Pakistan. In an incident ominously reminiscent of the attacks on Ahmadiyah mosques in Lahore in May
2010, activists of the extremist Islamic Defenders Front (FDI) gathered outside an Ahmadiyah mosque in Makkasar
in South Sulawesi in late January, threatening to storm it. The police evacuated the congregation to safety but the
mob was able to inflict some damage on the mosque. Since 2005, when the Indonesian Council of Ulemas declared
Ahmadiyah as “deviant” from Islam, the community has repeatedly come under intimidation. The sect was founded in
Qadian, near Gurdaspur in Punjab, in the late 19th century. Its adherents consider themselves Muslim but do
not accept the finality of Prophet Mohammed. In India, they are Muslim by personal law. The attacks against Ahmadis
in Indonesia increased after a 2008 government decree prohibited the sect from “spreading its beliefs” and
worshipping in public. Last year, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali called for a ban on Ahmadis.

Despite his forward-looking vision for Indonesia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has shown disappointing timidity in
the matter. As in Pakistan, support for religious political parties is not high but radical Muslim groups wield a
disproportionate amount of street influence — and in this way succeed in shaping the responses of politicians and
government officials. After all, in Pakistan it was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a ‘progressive' leader, who brought in a constitutional
amendment to declare the Ahmadis non-Muslim to appease religious lobbies. It is to be hoped that Indonesia, which has
moved ahead politically and economically with much speed after getting rid of Suharto, will tackle the intolerance with the
same determination it has shown in dealing with the Islamist terror group Jemaah Islmiyah.