Reliance Comm loses 20.5 mln mobile customers in July

 NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Reliance Communications lost more than 13 percent of its mobile customers in July as it cut off inactive subscribers who have not used their phones for two months, although the firm said the move would have no impact on revenue.

About 95 percent of the mobile phone users in India, the world's second-biggest mobile phone market, are prepaid customers and many have multiple accounts.

For the last year or so, carriers have been cancelling inactive accounts in a clean-up exercise, as focus shifts to increasing revenue rather than flaunting customer base.

Tata Teleservices has reported a decline in customer base several times in the past months after the clean-up began, but the 20.5 million customer cutoff is the first time Reliance Communications reported a fall.

"This is in line with the industry practice and has no impact on customer experience or (the company's) revenues," Reliance Communications said in a statement after the sector regulator released July customer data for the industry on Friday.

Reliance Communications' total mobile subscribers fell to 134.1 million mobile subscribers at the end of July, from 154.6 million in the previous month, pu shing it one spot down to rank No.3 by subscribers.

Sixth-ranked Tata Teleservices also lost 2.4 million customers in July, shrinking its total to 77.8 million. Telenor's India unit, which is set to lose all its operating permits after a court order, saw its customer base declining 1.1 million in July.
Market leader Bharti Airtel gained 1.5 million customers in July to have a total of 188.8 million, while Vodafone's local unit signed up 1.2 million customers in July to boost its total to 154.9 million and became the No.2 carrier by subscribers.

India's total mobile user base fell to 913.5 million at the end of July, 20.6 million lower than June, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said. About 76 percent of the industry subscribers are "active" customers, it said.

Australia can fall behind Ireland in Twenty20 world rankings

Sydney, Sep 7 (ANI): Australia will suffer more humiliation and fall behind Ireland in Twenty20 world rankings if they fail to avenge their record first match loss to Pakistan on Saturday.

Only a slender 0.57 of a ratings point separates Australia from Ireland after George Bailey-led side was handed a seven-wicket thrashing by Pakistan with 31 balls to spare, their heaviest loss in terms of balls remaining.
Failure to level the three-game series in Dubai would not only hand Pakistan an unassailable lead, but also result in Australia slipping behind the Irish to 10th on the official ICC table, above only Zimbabwe.

Such a rating would make a mockery of the market forces in the Twenty20 game. While the semi-professional Irish do not have a player on the roster of any Indian Premier League franchise, the 13 Australians in their 15-man World Cup squad commanded more than $US6.4 million in fees at the lucrative 2011-12 auctions.

Many also hold deals in other Twenty20 leagues such as the Big Bash and competitions in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and England.

Bailey said his side can recover from the rout, in which Australia made their second lowest Twenty20 total of 89, and win the World Cup, but they have just two more games against Pakistan and two warm-up matches against England and New Zealand to restore their confidence before their World Cup.

"I'm very disappointed and there's plenty to go away and work on. You don't ever want to be setting those sorts of records. But in terms of the group we've got together and what we're capable of, it certainly hasn't altered my thoughts that we can still be a very good team," Bailey said.

"I still think we can win it. Definitely. Absolutely. I certainly don't think we'd win if we played like we did today."

Bailey said he couldn't pinpoint one reason for the team's batting collapse. (ANI)

कपिल देव ने उन्मुक्त चंद को लगाई फटकार

 

 

 

पूर्व भारतीय क्रिकेट कप्तान कपिल देव ने युवा क्रिकेटर उन्मुक्त चंद को अभ्यास छोड़कर ‘यूथ समिट’ में हिस्सा लेने के लिए फटकार लगाई. उन्होंने उन्मुक्त को सलाह दी कि उसे अपने खेल पर ध्यान लगान चाहिए. भारत की अंडर 19 विश्व चैम्पियन टीम के कप्तान उन्मुक्त ने क्रिकेट पर बोलने के लिए इंडिया टुडे के यूथ समिट में हिस्सा लिया जबकि उन्हें मैच में हिस्सा लेना था जिसमें सचिन तेंदुलकर को भी खेलना है.
उन्मुक्त भारत ए टीम का हिस्सा हैं जिसे जल्द ही न्यूजीलैंड दौरे पर जाना है. टीम फिलहाल बैंगलोर में अभ्यास शिविर में हिस्सा ले रही है.
कपिल ने उन्मुक्त को कार्यक्रम में देखने के बाद कहा, ‘तुम यहां क्या कर रहे हो. तुम यहां क्यों आए हो.’ कपिल ने उन्मुक्त को सुनने आए लोगों के सामने कहा, ‘अगर मैं उसका कोच या मैनेजर होता तो मैं उसे यहां नहीं आने देता फिर चाहे मुझे लाखों डालर ही क्यों नहीं मिलते. मैं यहां आने के लिए उसको लात मारकर भगा देता.’
कार्यक्रम के प्रस्तोता ने जब मजाकिया लहजे में कहा कि वह भाग्यशाली हैं कि कपिल उनके कोच नहीं हैं तो भारत को 1983 में पहली बार विश्व कप दिलाने वाले इस कप्तान ने कहा कि असल में यह युवा ‘दुर्भाग्यशाली’ है कि वह उनके कोच नहीं हैं.
उन्होंने कहा, ‘मैं उससे अगले तीन साल कड़ी मेहनत कराता जिससे कि वह अगले 20 साल राजा की तरह जीता.’ कपिल और मोहम्मद अजहरूद्दीन दोनों ने उन्मुक्त को सुझाव दिया कि वह विनम्र बना रहे.
अजहर ने कहा, ‘तुम शानदार प्रतिभा के धनी हो. विनम्र बने रहो.’ अजहर ने साथ ही दर्शकों के बीच मौजूद युवाओं से अपील की कि वे गलत संगत में नहीं पड़ें.

Don't create the hype around Yuvraj: Dhoni

Visakhapatnam, Sep 7 (IANS) Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said it was important that Yuvraj Singh should not burdened with the hype of his return to international cricket, after recovering from cancer, with the first of the two Twenty20 against New Zealand to be played here Saturday.

Dhoni feels it was important to keep things normal for Yuvraj.

"I feel we need to keep as normal as possible. Don't create the hype around him," Dhoni said.

Dhoni was upset with the media scrutiny on Yuvraj's return. The media closely followed Yuvraj's training session at the Dr YSR Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium.
Dhoni feels the media is putting pressure on Yuvraj, who has now recovered from rare germ cell cancer.
"The whole world is talking about his comeback in a manner as if they are helping him out. In a way, it puts the burden on the individual. It's important to keep it as normal as possible. Not to let him think what has really happened in his life," he said.
Dhoni said Yuraj is a "strong character" and hoped that the flamboyant all-rounder, who was India's hero in the 2011 World Cup, would enjoy his second innings.
"He has fought through it as he is a strong character. As I said, he needs to turn up and just enjoy his cricket. That's what he has done from age-group cricket till now. So he should not think about anything else," Dhoni said.
"The manner in which he joked and fooled around seemed as if he has never ever been away from his teammates. He looked happy and while enjoying a game of soccer, he even showed his predatory instincts by scoring a goal.
"Right now, we had a soccer session, followed by a net session. He looks very joyful," he said.
Dhoni said the wicket could help the bowlers but slowly it would ease out.
"The wicket looks good and that means we will have something for the bowlers. It should come onto the bat nicely. We hope batsmen can play nice strokes."
Dhoni also felt nostalgic and recalled his magnificent 148 against Pakistan way back in 2005 at the same venue.
"I started over here... in the sense my first big innings was here. I've some fond memories," he said.
Dhoni admitted that he missed Yuvraj's company when the cricketer was out of international cricket fighting with cancer.
"We missed him for a long time. He has gone through tough times. But the good thing is he is enjoying it. We missed him for close to a year now. We are hoping that he comes back strong enjoys the game. We just want him to turn up on the field and enjoy the game," he said.

New Zealand captain Ross Taylor said it was great to see Yuvraj back in action.

"It's great to see him back in action but when we are on-field, it's going to be very competitive. Once we are off the field, we are all friends," he said.

Worth of our ministers

Going by their declared assets, the PM’s men are getting richer & richer. Here's a look at some of them and their riches.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Tuesday declared the updated assets and worth of the members of the Union council of ministers as in 2012.

The figures show that our ministers are only getting richer by the year. Leading the richie rich pack whose details were available till Tuesday night, is DMK’s MK Alagiri, the Union minister of chemicals and fertilizers, who is worth over Rs 37 crore along with the assets of his wife, Kanthi. Alagiri owns a Range Rover worth Rs 35 lakh and a Honda City, while his wife owns a BMW worth Rs 75 lakh. The couple, with their assets taken together, have seen their worth jump by almost 17 per cent from 2011.

The most meteoric rise — 76 per cent increase — in worth from last year has, however, been of parliamentary affairs minister Rajeev Shukla along with his wife who heads a news channel. The couple was worth around Rs 16.56 crore last year but the present declaration shows they are now worth nearly Rs 29.25 crore. Shukla’s wife alone is worth Rs 23.34 crore, including the value of shares she holds in her company. Shukla’s own assets have grown from Rs 1.8 crore in 2011 to Rs 5.9 crore in 2012 — that includes Rs 1.7 crore in fixed deposits. Shukla, however, still drives around in a 2003 model Hyundai Ascent, which is the only vehicle the family owns.

Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, meanwhile, has no vehicle in his or his family’s name, according to his latest declaration, though his total worth along with his wife’s has grown by 33 per cent from last year to over Rs 16 crore. The Pawar couple has parked Rs 2.5 crore in fixed deposits in banks and owns a flat in Dwarka Sector 3 in Delhi, which they claim is worth nearly Rs 1.15 crore.

Finance minister P. Chidambaram and his wife have also seen their worth grow by nearly 26 per cent to nearly ` 30 crore this year.

Chidambaram’s successor in the home ministry, Sushil Kumar Shinde, has emerged as another rich minister with his family’s assets worth Rs 14.18 crore — his favourite investment seems to be in flats. He has one in Pune worth Rs2.14 crore and another in Bandra worth Rs 1.98 crore. But Shinde does not own a car. The only vehicle he mentioned is a 2003- model Mitsubishi Tractor worth Rs 1.89 lakh.

But some big guns from last year have intriguingly not declared their assets so far. Among them are Kamal Nath who was worth Rs 260 crore and Praful Patel who was worth Rs 101 crore in 2011.

Assets of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pranab Mukherjee have not been declared for 2012 yet.

PM calls parliament logjam a negation of democracy

REUTERS - India's parliament passed just four bills in a month-long session that ended on Friday, prompting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to question the state of democracy in the Asian power struggling with an economic crisis.

Parliament in the country often dubbed the world's largest democracy had been due to debate 30 bills in the sitting known as the monsoon session.
Sensing a chance to sully the prime minister's image as an honest politician, opposition members obstructed proceedings for two weeks by shouting, punching the air and demanding he resign over a report criticising the way coalfields were allocated.

"We have just ended a wasted session of parliament," Singh told reporters outside parliament as both houses were adjourned again after just a few minutes of work.

"This is a negation of democracy. If this thought process is allowed to gain any momentum, that will be a grave violation of the norms of parliamentary politics as we have understood."
In between the shouting, unruly behaviour and general uproar, members did pass a bill against sexual discrimination, and three others. But it failed to debate the economic crisis or policies that Singh says are vital to shield India from the global slowdown and revive growth.
"Parliament should have discussed these issues - what is our economic strategy to deal with these global tensions, these global developments - but parliament was not allowed to do any of these things," Singh said.
The recess until the last few weeks of the year gives the prime minister some breathing space and the government may decree a rise in fuel prices, a move economists say is needed to keep India's fiscal deficit at a manageable level.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for more than three-quarters of the session that started on August 8. The Rajya Sabha worked less than a third of the time alloted to it and the session was further tarnished by a shoving match between two MPs over an affirmative action bill favouring lower castes.

OBSTRUCTING PARLIAMENT

In recent years, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has frequently resorted to obstruction in parliament to denounce government policies and scandals.

"This session is likely to be remembered for the work that was not done," said the chairman of Rajya Sabha, Hamid Ansari, while adjourning the chamber until the winter session.

The Congress party-led government has been on the back foot since a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in parliament mid-session queried coal mining concessions awarded to power and steel companies without competitive bidding, potentially denying the treasury billions of dollars in revenue.

Singh, 79, won a second term in office in a 2009 election. He has denied his government did anything wrong in what has been dubbed "coalgate" by the media.

The prime minister had already been weakened by previous corruption scandals in his government. The BJP may try to keep up the momentum against the government with protests leading up to state elections later this year.

"In this political game, the economy has been the worst victim," said D.H. Pai Panandiker, head of Delhi think-tank the RPG Foundation.

How to Train Your Creative Mind

 As Louis Pasteur once famously said, "Chance favors only the prepared mind." To be an innovative entrepreneur, you want to foster creativity in your daily life so that your mind is ready when opportunity arises.

"Creative ideas often come from unusual combinations," explains Steven Smith, professor of cognitive psychology at Texas A&M University. "The best solution is not going to be the thing everyone thinks of. It's going to be something unusual."

These unusual combinations, called "remote associations," are related ideas that may seem unrelated at first glance. They are the essence of creative thinking.

To cultivate creativity, you want to increase your chances of stumbling on an unexpected link. Here are four strategies you can use in your everyday life that will train your mind to be more creative in business:

 1. Shake up your routine. To expand your creative horizons, surround yourself with a broad range of perspectives and experiences. A diverse workplace is helpful, but it isn’t enough. Outside work, seek variety in what you eat, where you hang out, the types of art you look at, the places you travel, or the books you read. 

"Diversity introduces all kinds of new stimuli," Smith says. "It opens you up to a number of new possibilities." You are more likely to find an unusual solution when you have more options at your fingertips.

2. Cast a wide net for feedback. We often discuss important ideas with the same inner circle of colleagues, but in doing that we can miss the obvious answers. "Someone less expert may notice invisible assumptions right away," Smith says. They may help you see a problem or idea in a new light.

Find intelligent people with little knowledge of your business and talk through whatever you're working on now. You may be surprised by the solutions they help you discover. 

3. Let go of rigid rules. Like the queen in Alice in Wonderland who thinks of impossible things for half an hour each day, you want to train your mind to be more open. Practice letting your mind wander and come up with as many ideas as you can, however absurd they may seem. You can even be silly or funny. "Humor helps loosen up your constraints," Smith explains.

Relaxing your standards while you generate ideas increases your openness and boosts creativity. "If you think of 99 stupid, impossible ideas and one that works, then that was time well spent,"

4. Observe the world around you. "When you get wrapped up in your own head, creative ideas can slide under your nose," Smith says. The most creative people are always on the lookout for interesting things, even if they don't apply to whatever they're working on now, he adds.

Keep a notebook or a computer folder full of interesting ideas, articles, images, or even passing thoughts. They will likely come in handy at a moment you least expect.