Telecom major Telenor writes off Rs 3,500 crore India assets

May 1, 2012

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New Delhi, May 1: Norwegian telecom major Telenor on Monday wrote off its remaining fixed and intangible assets in India worth Norwegian Krone 3.9 billion (over $680 million or Rs 3,500 crore) saying "the uncertainty has increased significantly" following the Supreme Court's ruling in February to cancel Unitech Wireless's 22 licences and the recent Trai recommendations on the re-auction of 2G licences and spectrum.

The statement from the company came a day after the company's Asia head Siggve Brekke told TOI that Telenor was considering exiting India if the regulator's recommendations were accepted by the government in their current form.

It joins Sistema and Etisalat in taking a hit on their balance sheets due to their exposure to India. All these companies have been affected by the Supreme Court order. Etisalat had written off around $820 million of its investment, while Sistema, which like Telenor is still to announce a pullout, took a $700 million hit. So, the three companies between them have written off close to Rs 15,600 crore due to their India exposure. Telenor and Sistema have also threatened to initiate international arbitration and seek damages from the government.

The Norwegian firm holds 67% stake in Unitech Wireless which was controversially awarded licences and spectrum by former telecom minister A Raja, who is facing charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption. In February, the company had announced a write down of around $730 million, taking the total to over $1.4 billion (around Rs 7,200 crore at the current exchange rate).

"Telenor is working actively towards Indian authorities to bring forward an acceptable framework for continued operations. As a precautionary measure, Telenor ASA has decided to write down the remaining fixed and intangible assets in India amounting to NOK 3.9 billion. The write down will be included in Telenor's results for the first quarter 2012, to be presented on 8 May 2012. After the write down, Telenor has no further accounting exposure related to India as of 31 March 2012," the company said in a statement on Monday.

In a separate development a few hours later, the Telecom Commission decided to seek certain clarifications from Trai. "We wanted to understand the basis on which this reserve price has been arrived at... what is the likely impact on tariff," telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar said. A ministerial panel is also due to meet on Tuesday to discuss spectrum auction although a final view is expected around mid-May.

On Sunday, Brekke had cited various problems with Trai recommendations, including the rural rollout obligations. "In totality, if this is becoming policy, then the government is forcing us to leave. It's quite clear that it will not work for us... We are willing to write off the Rs 14,000 crore that we have invested," he had said.

Brekke's outburst coincided with petitioning done by the telecom companies to get the government to dilute the proposals. But given the controversy around allocation of scarce natural resources, such as spectrum and coal, below the market price, it is unlikely that the government will risk reducing the floor recommended by Trai.

The telecom regulator has suggested that the government start the auction with a base price of Rs 3,600 crore per megahertz, which translates into over Rs 18,000 crore for 5 Mhz, nearly 10 times higher than what Raja had charged for licence and spectrum.

Brekke was also critical of the move to auction only 5 Mhz spectrum and termed it as a "trial balloon" to set the price level for future rounds.

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News Network
March 2,2020

New Delhi, Mar 2: As communal violence spiked in north-east Delhi earlier this week, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh residents of a colony came together and stood guard against frenzied mobs which ran riot in nearby areas vandalising homes, shops and torching cars.

They have not let their guard down even as the situation is limping back to normalcy following four days of violence that has claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.

The B-Block colony in Yamuna Vihar has a Hindu-dominated Bahjanpura on one side and Muslim populated Ghonda on the other.

People from all faiths in the locality sit outside their homes at night and deal with any suspected outsider, Arib, a dentist in his 30s, said.

"It is the sloganeering by mobs that causes panic in the dead of night. Such slogans are from both sides and we hear groups of people moving forward towards our area.

"This is where we let the Muslim locals deal with Muslim groups and Hindu residents deal with Hindu groups coming from outside," he said.

Businessmen, doctors and people working at government offices stuck together as violence reached its crest on Monday and Tuesday, and have been guarding the locality round the clock.

Earlier, the locals had claimed inadequate police deployment in the area, but were satisfied as patrolling by security personnel increased in the last two days.

Charanjeet Singh, a Sikh who owns a transport firm, said residents have ensured that not too many people gather to guard the colony at night. It has been decided not use sticks or rods, an idea which seems to have worked in maintaining peace, he said.

"I was 10 years old when we came to this locality from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut in 1982. There were riots in 1984 and tension in 2002, but even then our area remained peaceful. We have always been united and that is the way we have helped each other," Singh, who is now in his 50s, told PTI.

Faisal, a businessman in his 30s, said after two days of major violence, there was palpable tension in the area. "Nobody could sleep in the neighbourhood even on Wednesday and Thursday when the situation was brought under control," he said.

Faisal said around 4 am on Wednesday, three to four miscreants had torched a car, but were chased away by vigilant residents. They raised an alarm and others gathered, saving other vehicles parked nearby from being damaged, he added.

On the idea of not keeping sticks while guarding B-Block, Singh said, "Violence begets violence, crowd begets crowd. We thought if somebody would see sticks or rods in our hands from a distance and large crowds standing guard, it is likely they would want to come prepared. This could fuel violence."

"Now, if there is some young man returning late in the night, we identify if he belongs to our area. If not, we normally inform him about the situation and guide him to his destination, if required," he added.

Seventy-year-old V K Sharma said people in his colony never had any trouble with each other, as he blamed "outside elements" for the violence in north-east Delhi.

"Some people have some problem with symbols. If they find a particular religion's symbol on a shop, home or a car, they vandalise it.

"This is on both sides, Hindus as well as Muslims. But not all people in all religion are like that. There are good people who outnumber these handful people involved in violence," he said.

The violence happened for two days but it would take months for fear to subside, Sharma said, as he took out his two granddaughters, aged nine and two, out for ice cream.

"I cannot reduce the tension outside my home, but at least I can make these kids feel good by reducing their craving for ice cream,” he added.

Colony resident Shiv Kumar, a property consultant, and Wasim, a government official, said they too were members of this voluntary guards' team of the colony which stays up at night to fend off miscreants.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Over 50 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in India have taken place among people aged 60 years and above and 37 per cent deaths have been reported among patients in the age group of 45 to 60 years, Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health Ministry said that 11 per cent COVID-19 deaths took place in the age group of 26 to 44.

The 18 to 25 age group and those below 18 years reported one per cent deaths each.
"Currently, 5,86,298 active COVID-19 cases are in India and over 12 lakh people have recovered.

50 per cent deaths due to COVID19 have taken place among the age group of 60 years or above and 37 per cent deaths took place in the age group between 45 to 60 years," Bhushan said.

"A total of 11 per cent COVID-19 deaths took place in the age group of 26 to 44. Only 1 per cent in 18 to 25 age group and 1 per cent in below the age of 18 years," he added.

Bhushan said that 68 per cent of COVID-19 deaths have been reported among male patients and 32 per cent among female patients which is broadly in line with the global scenario.

The number of recovered COVID-19 patients in India is increasing daily and is now over double the number of active cases.

Bhushan said that the case fatality rate (CFR) is lowest since the first lockdown.

"More than 2 crore COVID-19 tests have been conducted, including more than 6.6 lakh tests in the last 24 hours. Recovered cases are now double of the active cases. 

The case fatality rate (CFR) is lowest since the first lockdown," he said
"This is the first time after the first lockdown that the fatality rate is at the lowest, at 2.10 per cent. The fatality rate has seen a progressive decline and it is continuing, which is a good sign," he added.

According to the World Health Organisation, CFR is a measure of the severity of a disease and is defined as the proportion of reported cases of a specified disease or condition which are fatal within a specified time.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

New Delhi, Jul 7: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued revised guidelines regarding the conduct of terminal semesters and final year exams by Universities and educational institutions. It has been suggested that exams may be completed by September in online or offline modes.

Releasing a statement, the UGC said it accepted the recommendations suggested by the expert committee. "In continuation to earlier Guidelines issued on 29.04.2020 and based on the Report of the Expert Committee, the UGC Revised Guidelines on Examination and Academic Calendar for the Universities in view of COVID-19 Pandemic were also approved by the Commission in its emergent meeting held on 6th July 2020," the statement read.

The Commission further said that while it was important to safeguard principles of health, safety and equal opportunities, it was also very important to ensure academic credibility, career opportunities and future progress of students.

"The Commission approved the recommendations of the Expert Committee regarding the conduct of terminal semester(s)/ final year(s) examinations by the universities/ institutions to be completed by the end of September 2020 in offline (pen & paper online/ blended (online + offline) mode," it added.

The UGC also said that if required it would also issue relevant details related to admissions and academic calendar in the universities and colleges. It asked the students to adopt the latest guidelines and complete the terminal semester or final year exams accordingly. 

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