China launches own GPS to gain 'independence' from US satellites

China has begun operating a homegrown satellite navigation service in order to reduce its 'dependence' on the US' Global Positioning System (GPS). 


The new system called 'Beidou', or 'Big Dipper', would cover most parts of the Asia Pacific by next year and then the world by 2020, said Ran Chengqi, a spokesman for the system. 


Beidou started providing initial positioning, navigation and timing operational services to China and its surrounding areas from Tuesday, a spokesman for the system said. 


China was keen to assemble a home grown satellite system of its own to reduce dependence on GPS, specially for its armed forces who apprehend that that the reliance on US systems could be dangerous for the security. 


Six more satellites will be launched in 2012 to further improve the Beidou system and expand its service area to cover most parts of the Asia-Pacific region, spokesman Ran Chengqi, who is also director of the management office of the China Satellite Navigation System, told media here. 


China began to build the Beidou system in 2000 with a goal of breaking its dependence on the GPS and creating its own global positioning system by 2020. 


So far, China has launched 10 satellites for the Beidou system, with the tenth being lifted into orbit earlier this month. 


The Beidou system is compatible and interoperable with the world's other major global navigation satellite systems, according to Ran. 


Ran encouraged enterprises at home and abroad to join the research and development of application terminals compatible with Beidou, saying a beta version of the system's Interface Control Document (ICD) could be accessed online starting Tuesday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

BSNL to tap into the Indian Telecom Service pool for filling 700 posts

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is looking at filling 700 positions at deputy general manager and higher grades to prevent a collapse of the state-owned telecom company, a top company executive with direct knowledge told ET. 


The company lost more than 90% of its top managers last month. It is exploring ways to woo back telecom professionals from the Indian Telecom Service (ITS) cadre. 


"The board is about to approve an emergency recruitment plan to cherry pick some 700 senior managers at the levels of DGM and above from the ITS pool," said a top BSNL executive. The board is scheduled to meet later this week. 


BSNL had recorded staggering losses of 6,384 crore for the year ended March 2011. Cash-strapped company had 1,300-plus ITS officers who were deputed to it nearly 11 years ago when the telco was carved out as a separate corporate entity from the DoT. Last month, barring 13 officers, virtually the entire ITS cadre comprising executives in the ranks of DGM, GM, PGM and CGM opted to return to the telecom department, robbing BSNL of its middle and senior management. 


While over 300-odd ITS officers have already reported to the telecom department's technical wing, the Telecom Engineering Centre, most don't have much work. It is precisely this situation that the BSNL leadership is trying to cash-in by setting in motion a special emergency recruitment drive to buy back the best ITS talent that is available. A selection board will shortly be constituted to complete the process in the next three months. 


"We are looking at hiring 400 executives in the rank of DGM and another 300-odd in the rank of GM and above. We will only target ITS officers in the first phase. In case, the numbers prove hard to come by, we will have to take the more expensive route of poaching top industry talent from the private sector," said another BSNL executive familiar with the matter.

Micromax poaches senior executives from Airtel, HTC & Sony Ericsson

Indian handset maker Micromax has roped in senior executives from Airtel, HTC and Sony Ericsson in a bid to strengthen its management and its position in the Rs 30,000-crore domestic handset market.

Giving the company a slight makeover from an entrepreneurial venture to a corporate, Micromax has created a new position of chief executive officer. It has divided its handset business into feature phones and smartphones, which will be lead by separate directors, the phone maker said in a statement on Tuesday.

Bharti Airtel's Deepak Mehrotra has joined the handset maker as chief executive officer, a new position created in the company. Mehrotra was working as operations director of mobility business at Airtel before joining Micromax.

"We will move up (the company's) share in the market and map geographies were under-represented in each category," Mehrotra told ET and added that his experience of sensing the customer's requirements and infusing it into the brand in his former company would help him at Micromax.

HTC's former country head Ajay Sharma will head the mobile phone maker's smartphone business. The smartphone division was created recently to focus on creating affordable high-end phones as the company intends to move up the value chain and differentiate itself from others in the market.

Sharma said Micromax is looking at garnering 10% market share. Sony Ericsson's head of modern trade Khaja Muzaffarullah will now lead sales of Micromax's feature phone business. In his new role, Muzaffarullah will leverage his expertise on emerging markets and create stronger distribution channels and robust network.

China building Asia's biggest thermal power plant

China's Shenhua Group will build the largest coal-fired power station in Asia over the next five years, the official Xinhua news agency said today, as the country struggles to meet its energy needs. 


China's biggest coal company and officials in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region signed a deal for the 8-gigawatt thermal plant yesterday, according to Xinhua and the local government's website. 


The plant would be built in the southern port city of Beihai to help ease power shortages caused by drought, which has strained power supplies. 


China relies on coal for nearly 70 per cent of its energy needs, which have soared in recent years as the country's economy grew at a blistering pace. 


Power outages and rationing have been imposed in 17 provinces this year and shortages could worsen if coal supplies are not increased or if the country's north sees particularly harsh winter weather. 


Shenhua's plans come days after local governments were ordered to reduce emissions of "major pollutants" by as much as 10 percent by 2015, amid growing public anxiety over bad air. 


China is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter with many of its cities cloaked in a polluted haze. 


Shenhua and the Guangxi government will ensure the new plant's eight power generators get a steady supply of coal from company mines in Indonesia and Australia by building four 100,000-tonne deepwater loading docks, Xinhua said. 


Beihai city will also build a coal storage facility capable of handling 30 million tonnes a year in the nearby port of Tieshan.

Vajpayee turns 88, PM, senior leaders greet him

Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who turned 88 on Sunday, was greeted by a host of senior leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 



Singh presented a bouquet to the senior BJP leader. Vajpayee's birthday is being observed as good governance day by the BJP. 

"Today is Atalji's birthday and we have decided to observe his birthday as good governance day. Because people still remember the good governance during Vajpyee-led NDA rule," BJP president Nitin Gadkari told reporters after meeting Vajpayee. 

Senior BJP leader LK Advani followed byRajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Ravi ShankarPrasad and many others also visited Vajpayee's residence to greet him on his birthday. 

"Greetings and well wishes are coming from all over the country for Atalji. He is the tallest leader of the BJP and is our source of inspiration. Though he is not able to work actively, his presence is still a source of inspiration for all party workers," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. 

Scores of BJP workers and supporters carrying bouquets had come to greet Vajpayee. Vajpayee has not been keeping well for sometime now and did not contest the 1999 Lok Sabha elections. 

Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha Karia Munda, Uttarakhand chief minister B C Khanduri, Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi and BJP leader Najma Heptullah were among others who greeted Vajpayee on the occasion.

Stock song of 2011: Why This Kolaveri Di?

'This is investors' cry. A loud cry. For the year going by. Why this kolaveri, di?' 

This is how a broker sums up the stock market trend for 2011, while copying the grammar-less lyrics and format of one of the most talked about song of the year. 

The chartbuster song could well be the stock market's unofficial anthem for the year, where investors are crying about a 'murderous rage' that has cost them millions of dollars in every single minute of trade in 2011. 


The song, 'Why This Kolaveri, Di (Why this murderous rage, girl?), has crossed 20 million hits on the video sharing internet platform YouTube, becoming one of the biggest ever chartbusters from the Indian entertainment industry. 

On the other hand, the stock market is fast approaching towards a full-year loss of Rs 20 trillion in 2011, thanks to the ever-growing 'murderous rage' of the bears (a term used for the factors behind a stock market downslide). 

A deeper look at the statistics indeed presents a gory picture of the state of affairs in Dalal Street, once home to a vast majority of share trading activities in the country and still widely used as a kind of synonym for the stock market. 

The market has suffered an average loss of one million dollars in every ten seconds of trade so far in 2011 and the final figures might not be much different as only five days of trading is left for the year. 

This came after a year 2010, when the market had gained one million dollar in every 20 seconds of trade. 

The total erosion in the investor wealth for 2011 currently stands at about 600 million dollars -- a figure nearly double the quantum of gain in 2010. 

The investors' wealth, measured in terms of total value of all listed stocks in the country, grew by 317 million dollars in 2010, but has fallen by $600 million this year. 

The total market wealth even fell below the trillion dollar mark last week and is now barely keeping above the mark at $1.02 trillion. 

In rupee terms, the total market wealth has fallen by about Rs 19 lakh crore since the beginning of 2010 and currently stands at about Rs 54 lakh crore. In comparison, it was close to Rs 73 lakh crore at the end of 2010. 

The market barometers, the Sensex and the Nifty, have fallen by about one-fourth in 2011, as against a gain of about 18 per cent in the previous year. 

In absolute value terms, the sensex has fallen by 4,770 points so far in 2011, as against a gain of over 2,000 points last year. The index, comprising of large names like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Infosys and TCS, is currently trading at 15,738.70 points and some experts have forecast a fall to a level as low as 11,000-12,000 in the coming months. 

It was trading over 20,000-mark at the end of 2010 and even scaled its record high closing level in November that year.

Indians have this attitude of blaming somebody, including God'

One day in the early 1990s, when Krishna Mikkilineni worked in Honeywell, US, as engineering manager, he ran into the then chairman of Honeywell. They got into a conversation and Mikkilineni at one point told him, "A guy like me, with a background from India, will never be on your staff. You guys are all white people." The chairman replied: "Don't be so sure, it's not a conspiracy of white people trying to keep away other people." 

The reply didn't convince Mikkilineni and he lived life convinced about the glass ceiling. Until last year, when the $33-billion, New Jersey-based Honeywell elevated Mikkilineni to its executive management team, reporting directly to chairman and CEO David M Cote. He was also designated as the head of Honeywell's global engineering and operations, including all its factories. And he was asked to fulfill his responsibilities based out of Bangalore. 

"Now I feel my conviction was a myth," says Mikkilineni, who now constantly jets around the world, to the multiple locations that Honeywell has operations in. "Now that I see it from a truly global perspective, I think what matters is the capability, the talent, the energy, the passion, the ability to work with other people and make things happen. It does not matter that your colour is white or black or brown." 


He says his earlier attitude had an impact on his previous role as head of Honeywell Technology Solutions (HTS), which has much of its employee base in India. "I used to think it's HTS versusthe rest of the world. Now I feel we are part of the world. Indians have this attitude of blaming somebody, including God. If you ask somebody why he hadn't completed a certain task, you are likely to be told something like: `I tried to, but these guys in Phoenix did not give me the right inputs at the right time'. As if their job is only to do this, and not that. My response is, you wouldn't have to get inputs if you were capable. You did not raise yourself to that level where you did not need those inputs from Phoenix." 

Today he's convinced that if you have a powerful idea, if you have a powerful business case, people will provide money. Mikkilineni says one of his major tasks in his current role would be to try and convey this perspective to the folks in India. "If I can do that, there would be a significant change," he says. 

Mikkilineni, 52, grew up in different cities in India, because his father worked in multiple places. But Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh was where he spent the longest time, when he did engineering at the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. He went on to do a PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida, worked with Honeywell for 10 years inArizona, and then came to Bangalore in 1994 to establish HTS. 

HTS provides engineering support to Honeywell's strategic business groups, and has grown to more than 7,500 engineers across India, China and Eastern Europe. That's close to a third of Honeywell's total engineering workforce. Mikkilineni says HTS would have participated significantly in at least 30% of Honeywell's global products. "We contributed a lot of software content, but we also contributed in almost all engineering areas - electronics, mechanical, instrumentation, materials. In avionics, we had significant responsibility in areas like flight management and controls. We also did major work in process controls for the power market, billing controls for utilities, turbo chargers for small cars. The Tata Nano uses our turbo charger."

In his executive management role now, he continues to be based in Bangalore for two reasons: there's a heavy technology orientation today in all Honeywell products and much of the growth now is in emerging markets. "Bangalore is ideally positioned to provide leadership on these fronts," he says. This is the first time that Honeywell's overall engineering and manufacturing leadership -- across its four businesses of avionics, controls, transportation and materials -- has been located outside the US. 

"I'm trying to ensure that the entire fabric of the company is looking at where the growth is. It's not just the emerging market guys who need to look at the emerging markets. We have to orient all resources in this direction. In my current role, I'm able to influence the entire value chain." 

So what are these emerging market issues he's looking to tackle? There are a host of them across Honeywell's businesses. He's looking at turbochargers that can bring fuel savings and lower emissions even in India's frequent start-stop traffic conditions, heat and dust. 

He's looking at energy efficiency, given the massive shortage of power in emerging markets. "People don't realise it, but there's a lot of inefficiency even in borewell motor pumps," he says. He's trying to put sensors in power equipment to identify power wastage, leakage, theft or overloading, and send alerts to mobile phones for immediate action. 

Mikkilineni says Honeywell internally uses a complete portfolio of technologies, green fuels, and consumption side equipment. "If the world just uses what Honeywell uses today, it will save around 25% of power." For the future, he's lining up products that can make this even better.