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| PSLV
LAUNCH BY ISRO |
Indian
Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space
Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh was thrilled when it
announced the countdown for the launch of the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV C8). Its 535kg luggage consisted of
Agile, the Italian satellite weighing 352kg and ISRO's own
185kg advance avionics module (AAM). The Agile is an X-ray
and Gamma ray astronomical satellite. The AAM is like a
second equipment bay installed inside the PSLV to test launch
vehicle avionics systems like mission computer, navigation
and telemetry systems.
Twenty-two minutes into the flight, the 44-metre high rocket
performed flawlessly. It slung the Agile, mounted on the
dual launch adaptor, into a 550 km circular orbit inclined
at an angle of 2.5 deg to the equator, or simply, into an
equatorial orbit.
Since its first successful launch in 1994, PSLV has launched
eight Indian remote sensing satellites, an amateur radio
satellite- Hamsat, a space recoverable capsule SRE-1 and
six small satellites for foreign customers into 550-800
km high polar sun synchronous orbits (SSO).
Besides, PSLV has launched India's exclusive meteorological
satellite, Kalpana-1, into geosynchronous transfer orbit
(GTO). PSLV will also be used to launch India's first spacecraft
mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1, during 2008. |
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| India:
the next destination for foreign VCs |
Bundeep
Singh Rangar, chairman of the UK-based India-focused cross-border
advisory firm, IndusView reports that at last count, 44
US-based VCs had announced plans to set up India-based funds
of an average fund size of $100 million. Silicon Valley-based
VC firms are taking the lead to enter India, a market that
offers the best of the three key location-based advantages.
Not surprisingly, Silicon Valley based VC firms are taking
the lead. If successful, that would imply about $4.4 billion
in new investment capital would be available for venture
investments in India over the next five to six years. That's
more than twice the $2.03 billion total in venture capital
and private equity investments in India in 2005 and comparable
to the investments in 2006 at $7.8 billion.
Few things excite venture capitalists more than the possibility
of investing at a low price in a company with global disruptive
potential that offer an exponential return. Internet start-ups
offer among the best potential for high-growth, capital
efficient and exit-able investments. As India's internet
user base of 50 million grows at 25 per cent each year,
more internet companies are being formed to target the online
market. Consequently, more funds are being set up to invest
in such companies.
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| SEZ’s-Is
its role justified? |
SEZ's
(special Economic zones) play a vital role to help the manufacturing
sector overcome infrastructure bottlenecks and become globally
competitive. After 60 years of Independence, ideally the
whole country should have had access to far superior infrastructure,
than what it has today. But today, that would be asking
for too much given the decades of neglect. Accordingly SEZs
could have become a shortcut to creating pockets of growth.
The government's first mistake was to promote such zones
with tax benefits as a primary incentive rather than better
infrastructure. Even supporters of SEZs would accept that
the tax breaks being offered were simply too liberal to
be necessary.
The liberal tax benefits attracted a lot of small developers,
who came up with proposals to set up tiny single-product
zones. Many of these proposals for tiny zones came from
IT services and BPO companies, who flocked in to invest
in these SEZs only protect their low-tax status for another
decade or more. Ironically, a policy aimed at boosting the
manufacturing sector became even more attractive to service
sector companies who are already globally competitive in
every respect. It is arguable whether many of these IT services
giants really need the tax holidays they enjoy now, let
alone another decade or more of nearly tax-free existence
that can only help them boost their market valuations, rather
than acquire new competencies.
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