9 million users connect to 3G in 4 months

As many as 9 million consumers have taken a third generation (3G) mobile connection since the services were launched in the country four months ago.

This number assumes significance when one considers that there are only 11 million wireline broadband customers till date.

The leader of the 3G pack is Bharti Airtel with 3 million subscribers followed by Tata DoCoMo with 1.5 million users. Idea Cellular, Vodafone and BSNL have over a million 3G customers each. Reliance Communications did not give out its numbers but sources said that it also has close to a million 3G connections. “The initial trend clearly shows that 3G is giving a boost to broadband uptake in the country. Wireless is the way forward,” said Mr Alok Shende, Principal Analyst, Ascentius Consulting.

The initial numbers have added up despite the poor quality of service being experienced by consumers. While 3G is expected to give data speeds of about 500-600 kbps, consumers across the country are complaining of frequent call drops, poor speeds and erratic connectivity as operators have not yet fully set up their networks. “There is no excuse for operators to offer poor 3G connectivity given that technology is available to them.

The initial uptake shows that there is a huge pent-up demand for broadband and operators should use that opportunity. At present, they are not even doing personalised marketing to high-end consumers who already have a 3G handset,” said Mr Kunal Bajaj, Director of technology advisory firm Analysys Mason. Another issue is the high cost of roaming. Most operators are charging as much as Rs 15 per MB of data even if the subscriber is roaming on the same network.

But operators say that these are only teething troubles and they are well on their way to meet the target of 100 million 3G connections by 2015 as projected by analysts. Mr Shireesh Joshi, Chief Marketing Officer -Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, said, “The initial response from customers has been overwhelming - but we believe the revolution has just begun. The game changing differentiator for 3G in India will be content and services and not price points.”

Health Tip of The Day (2.15.2011)

Health Tips: 5 Myths of Health-Care Reform.

With confusion and misinformation coming from both sides of the spectrum, many Americans are trying to separate the facts from fiction regarding health-care reform and its influence on their pocketbooks.

Not only will this legislation affect millions of Americans, but will also have a long- lasting impact on businesses.

The majority of companies will now be required to provide health insurance for their employees, while some businesses will be able to use tax credits to offset the cost of this benefit, many companies will need to factor this expense into their business plan.

Here are some common myths regarding the health reform and a look at the law's financial repercussions for individuals and businesses.

1.) The Bill Will Not Impact Insurance Premiums: In the individual market, the cost of premiums will slightly increase due to subsidies and mandates of better coverage. The more comprehensive benefits design is required under federal law but the increased rates will apply to those who are newly enrolled.

2.) You Will Be Forced to Switch Coverage: Health-care plans in existence before the law’s adoption are exempt from certain requirements, but are mandated to provide certain benefits. If insurers restrict coverage of specific conditions, they risk losing their “grandfathered status.” For companies that do not meet the grandfather conditions, consumer protections will be added which may increase expenses. However, many grandfathered plans already offer the majority of consumer protections required of new plans.

3.) Seniors will Lose Medicare Benefits: There are no cuts to the traditional Medicare benefit but rather to the Medicare Advantage- a program that uses private insurance firms to deliver Medicare benefits. The law aims to capture productivity savings in the health system by adding coverage of preventative services such as annual wellness exams to help save Medicare money in the long run.

4.) Businesses Will be Required to Provide Coverage: Employers with 50 or more employees will be subject to “play or pay” rules. If qualified companies don’t provide “minimum essential coverage” to full-time employees they will have to pay a penalty. To ease the rising cost of care, employers will most likely provide coverage that encourages the most cost-effective treatments.

5.) Health Care Reform Will Increase Your Taxes: Health-care reform will not be funded by broad-based income or payroll tax increases but rather by a surtax that will only apply to the highest earning 1.2% of American households. However, more expensive health-care plans may be subject to a “Cadillac tax” where the expenses will likely be passed on to you or your employer.

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Dave Lindahl Scam

AOL buy Huffington Post

AOL acquires Huffington Post for $315 million.

AOL, the online media company that has recently snatched several smaller content firms, has agreed to purchase news blog service The Huffington Post for $315 million, the two companies announced Monday.

The companies said Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post's co-founder and editor-in-chief, will be named president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which will include all Huffington Post and AOL content.

Huffington Post is known for its political coverage, with a left-of-center bent, as well as blogging about sports, entertainment and local news in selective markets.

An executive on an AOL-Huffington Post call with reporters said that Huffington sales are expected to reach $50 million in 2011. Huffington says her company is profitable.

Arianna Huffington told CNN's Christine Romans in an e-mail message that her blog has 26 million unique visitors a month, a Web traffic measurement used by marketers. She said AOL has a total of 110 million unique visitors a month in the United States and 250 million unique visitors worldwide.

Huffington said that among her goals for the deal is "to do so much more in the living space especially for women, (and) to do more and more original reporting telling the stories of our time and putting flesh and blood on the economic data."

In an online posting, Huffington compared the impending merger to "stepping off a fast-moving train and onto a supersonic jet."

The boards of directors of each company and shareholders of The Huffington Post have approved the transaction, but the proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of government approvals, the two companies said.

The transaction is expected to close in the late first- or early second-quarter of this year, according to the statement.

This is AOL's (AOL) latest acquisition in its effort to gain a stronger foothold in the online media world it once dominated. Among the company's acquisitions last year were the blog network TechCrunch, the online video distributor 5Min Media and social media company Thing Labs.

AOL is paying for most of the Huffington Post purchase in cash, eating up more than 40% of the $802 million AOL had on hand at the end of last year. For the first nine months of 2010, AOL turned a profit of $6.5 million on sales of $1.8 billion.

Dave Lindahl Scam

A Divisive Indian Official Is Loved by Businesses

Indian Official Businesses News Updates.

In a soaring, unfinished conference hall in western India, thousands of businessmen and diplomats from around the world gathered recently for an investment meeting.

They were there to pay homage to a politician for accomplishing something once thought almost impossible in India: making it easy to do business.

The politician, Narendra Modi, the chief minister of the state of Gujarat, sat onstage, stroking his close-cropped white beard, as executives from the United States, Canada, Japan and elsewhere showered him with praise.

Ron Somers, head of an American trade group, called him a progressive leader. Michael Kadoorie, a Hong Kong billionaire, enveloped him in a hug.

“I would encourage you all to invest here,” Mr. Kadoorie, chairman of the Asian power company CLP Group, told the audience, “because it has been an even playing field for me.”

The coastal state of Gujarat, famous as the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, has become an investment magnet. The state’s gross domestic product is growing at an 11 percent annual rate — even faster than the overall growth rate for India, which despite its problems is zipping along at 9 percent clip.

And Mr. Modi receives — some would say claims — much of the credit. The year before he took office in 2001, Gujarat’s economy shrank by 5 percent.

But critics of Mr. Modi, a Hindu nationalist, point to another legacy of his early days in office — something that has made him one of the most polarizing figures in Indian politics. Months after he became chief minister, Gujarat erupted in brutal Hindu-Muslim riots that killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims.

Despite Mr. Modi’s subsequent denials, he has not fully escaped a cloud of accusations by rival political groups, victims and their families, and human rights groups that he and his aides condoned the attacks against Muslims and — as one case now before the Supreme Court charges — may even have encouraged them.

A special investigation team formed by the Supreme Court has filed a 600-page investigative report on the riots, which has not been officially released. Numerous other lawsuits related to the riots are also winding through India’s courts. In 2005 the United States refused to grant Mr. Modi a visa, on grounds of religious intolerance. Meanwhile, environmental activists and local tribesman who have been protesting the construction of seven dams in Gujarat that will displace 25,000 people say they the protesters have been regularly jailed by the state police, charged with being Naxalites, a militant rebel group.

Mr. Modi, who has declined interview requests from The New York Times for several years, did not comment for this article.

Of the lingering controversies, a spokesman for Mr. Modi, Steven King, with the Washington public relations firm APCO Worldwide, wrote in an e-mail responding to questions: “The government has very highly developed grievance proceedings.”

Corporate executives, though, tend to concentrate on Mr. Modi’s pro-business attributes, which they see as something of an anomaly in an India where government bureaucracy, bumbling or corruption too often impedes commerce.

“In India there is a sense that efficiency is at such a premium because there is so little to go around,” said Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell who has served as an adviser to the Indian government. “When people find an effective politician who can make things happen on the ground, they are willing to ignore the character flaws.”

Under Mr. Modi’s watch, the energy companies Royal Dutch Shell and Total have opened a major liquid natural gas terminal in Gujarat, and Torrent Power, an Indian company, has built a huge power plant. Meanwhile, Tata Motors, DuPont, General Motors, Hitachi and dozens of other foreign and Indian companies have built factories, expanded operations or invested in projects in the state.

When the Canadian heavy machinery company Bombardier won a contract to supply subway cars to the Delhi Metro in 2007, it needed a factory site, quickly. It found one in Savli, an industrial estate in Gujarat. Just 18 months later— when in many parts of India, the permit process might still be grinding away — the factory was built and operating.

“It was incredible,” said Rajeev Jyoti, the managing director of Bombardier in India, “and it was a world record within Bombardier.”

Compared with most other states, Gujarat has smoother roads and less garbage next to the streets. More than 99 percent of Gujarat’s villages have electricity, compared with less than 85 percent nationally.

In 2009, Gujarat attracted more planned investment than any other state in the country, about $54 billion by value of announced plans, according to Assocham, a trade association of Indian chambers of commerce.

Mr. Modi, who has no business or economics background, deserves praise for this, corporate leaders say. Before entering politics in his late 30s, he was a religious volunteer for the Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which sponsors schools and provides aid during natural disasters, but has also been widely criticized as being intolerant of other religions and of secular Hindus.

In India, where corrupt politicians often seem to be raiding the public coffers to benefit their offspring, Mr. Modi’s success is sometimes attributed to his apparent lack of a family life. Acquaintances and local news reports say he was married at a young age but separated soon after from his wife. Mr. Modi has never commented on reports about his personal life.

Mr. Modi’s administration has brought novel solutions to some of India’s most tenacious problems. Corruption became less widespread after the state government put a large amount of its activities online, from permits that companies need to build or expand, to bids for contracts. To plow through a multiyear backlog of court cases, and prevent day laborers from losing income, Mr. Modi asked judges to work extra hours in night courts.

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Dave Lindahl Scam

Easy way to get more income

The Easiest Financial Lesson You'll Ever Learn.

Finance News Updates! Saving and investing wisely is not an easy achievement. How much do you need to save for retirement? Where should you put your money? There are thousands of financial advisors who offer differing opinions on these matters. But if there is one utterly clear maxim of saving for retirement it's this: contribute at least enough money to your 401(k) to maximize your employer's contribution.

Much to my shock and dismay, 39% of 401(k) participants don't follow this totally noncontroversial advice, according to a new study by Financial Engines, via the NY Times Bucks blog. That's crazy. Here's why maxing out your 401(k) is the biggest financial no-brainer you'll ever encounter.

When your company promises to match some contribution to a 401(k), it's like giving you a raise. Refusing the match is like telling your company that you don't want extra money. Imagine an example where you make $1,000 per paycheck. Now imagine if your company agrees to match 50 cents per dollar up to 6% of your 401(k) contribution per paycheck. That means you can put up to $60 per paycheck into your 401(k) and your company will also contribute $30.

Did you see what just happened? You got a 3% raise. Sure, you had to contribute $60 of your gross income as well, but this money just becomes savings -- something you will surely need some day anyway. Unless you are one of the few people who believe Social Security alone will be sufficient to allow for a pleasant, comfortable retirement at a reasonable age.

Moreover, that $60 you contribute doesn't reduce your take home pay by 6%, because it's taken pre-tax. For example, let's say after all taxes are taken, your income would normally have been 30% lower. If you didn't contribute to your 401(k), your after-tax income would be $700. If you contribute $60 pre-tax, however, your after-tax income is $658 -- only $42 less, instead of $60. This is the second reason why it's so great to contribute to a 401(k): you can delay taxes on that money, so you won't feel like you're saving as much as you actually are.

Let's reflect on this scenario where you contribute to your 401(k) as described above. Your after-tax income declines by $42, but you save $90. This is one of the best deals you'll ever get, and it's virtually impossible to beat.

Let's consider poor reasons not to contribute enough to receive your full employer match:

I Want More Freedom Investing

Maybe you don't like your employer's 401(k) plan. You hate mutual funds. You think you can do better on Scottrade. Good luck with that. In the example above, imagine if you decided to shun your 401(k) and invest $42 (the difference in after-tax income) from each paycheck yourself instead. You would need an investment that would more than double your money -- even if you saved your 401(k) as pure cash. The return would have to be 114% to get $90.

I Worry About Losing Money in the Market

Investing is hard, so this is a fair point. But you would have to do incredibly poorly to lose more than you gain from your 401(k) match. For that $90 savings to decline below your $42 contribution, it would have to decline by more than 53%. Even from the Dow's peak prior to the financial crisis to the bottom it hit in early 2009, the market lost less than 50% -- and that's about as bad as it gets. Moreover, you can generally diversify your 401(k) holdings to include stocks, bonds, and cash.

I Can't Afford to Contribute That Much

Saving isn't a financial constraint: it's a choice. Unless you're living very near the poverty line, then it's possible to find ways to cut expenses. And slicing 4% off your take home pay won't require most people to dramatically change their lifestyle. Go out to dinner less often or wait until a movie comes out on video to see it. Move a few miles further out of town to get a cheaper rent. Remember, you aren't actually lowering your income by contributing to a 401(k); you just don't spend as much of your money immediately. In fact, you're actually implicitly increasing your income by maximizing your employer's match.

I Don't Want My Savings Tied Up

If you need to get at your 401(k) money for some reason before you retire, you will get hit with a penalty and be forced to pay taxes on it immediately. That means the money is essentially tied up. But this isn't a good reason to fail to contribute up to your full employer match.

First, some 401(k) plans allow leeway for when a true emergency hits, where the penalty won't apply. Second, even if a penalty does apply, will it really be greater than your employer match? In the example above, a 10% penalty tax would apply beyond the usual income tax that you would have paid anyway on the income that you contributed. For the example, that penalty would be $9, and you would also need to pay something like $9 in taxes on the employer's contribution. But your employer contributed $30. So again, even if you try to get at your money early, you're still $12 ahead by maximizing your employer contribution.

If you don't already contribute enough to your 401(k) to maximize your employer match, then you should. It's easily the smartest, easiest financial decision you'll ever make. You may want to ultimately save more than that through other methods, but this is the bare minimum saving that you should do.

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Intel Energy Efficient Chips

Intel Launches Energy Efficient Chips.

Shares of Intel (INTC: 18.53 ,0.00 ,0.00%) ticked higher Monday after the chipmaker revealed new design features for its second-generation Intel Core processor that it says will add to chips’ performance and improve battery life.

The chip family, dubbed “Sandy Bridge,” will include a new design that allows the built-in processor to share resources such as cache and memory reservoir, increasing the device’s computing and graphics performance while maintaining energy efficiency.

The features, based on Intel’s first new “visibly smart” microarchitecture, will deliver enhanced visual features focused on HD video, 3D mainstream gaming, multi-tasking and online socializing.

“The way people and businesses are using computers is evolving at an explosive rate, fueling demand for an even more powerful and visually appealing experience,” said Dadi Perlmutter, executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture Group. “Our upcoming 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family represents the biggest advance in computing performance and capabilities over any previous generation.”

Intel will offer the new chips inside Intel-based laptops, which will be available next year, and it plans to scale them across its server data center and embedded computing product portfolio.

Google search working again in China

Google users in China were temporarily blocked from accessing the search engine, the company said Thursday, but the site was was once again working a few hours later.

A notice posted on Google's site had said all services other than Gmail were partially or fully blocked in mainland China. No further details were posted.

But later Thursday evening, a Google spokeswoman said in an e-mailed statement to CNNMoney.com that the issue had been resolved.

"Because of the way we measure accessibility in China, it's possible that our machines could overestimate the level of blockage. That seems to be what happened ... when there was a relatively small blockage. It appears now that users in China are accessing our properties normally," the spokeswoman said.

Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and China have been at odds for months over censorship issues in the country. In January, Google said it was considering leaving China.

Two months later, Google moved its servers out of mainland China to Hong Kong and said it would stop censoring its search results in the country. Google redirected its Chinese users from google.cn to its Hong Kong site, google.com.hk, which offers uncensored search results.

Because Google was not hosting its search operations within mainland China, the company was not forced to acquiesce to China's censorship laws. As such, it was up to the Chinese government to block access to the results it deemed objectionable.

But earlier this month, Google said it had renewed its license with the Chinese government and would be allowed to continue operating in the country -- though the search giant did not make any concessions regarding censorship.

Google shares were down 1% in after-hours trading.

BP puts oil spill cost at $32.2bn

BP to set aside $32.2bn to cover oil spill costs.

BP says it has set aside $32.2bn (£20.8bn) to cover the costs linked to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The company said the charge gave it a loss of $17bn for the three months between April and June - a UK record.

BP's chairman said the costs estimate was based on the company's belief that it was not grossly negligent, and added the bill could be higher. BP also said Bob Dudley, head of the Gulf clean-up operation, will replace Tony Hayward as chief executive

Mr Hayward will leave his post by mutual agreement in October. He is likely to retain a role within the company. BP plans to nominate him as a non-executive director of its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP.

BP also announced it would increase its asset sales over the next 18 months to $30bn, a total that includes the $7bn-worth earmarked for sale last week. The $32.2bn cost of the clean-up includes the $20bn already set aside in an escrow account for compensation claims.

"That estimate is also based on our belief that we are not grossly negligent," BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told the BBC's business editor Robert Peston.

"Of course we will not know precisely because it depends on how many claims are coming in and [other] things that could happen."

But he insisted that the company was in good financial shape, with strong cashflow. "It's of course a huge loss that overshadows everything else, but the underlying performance of the company is actually strong," he told the BBC.

"There is no worry about our financial position and our ability to get through this. It's of course a tragedy and it has large consequences, but we have no doubt that we will be able to rebuild the company," he said.

Stripping out the oil spill costs, BP made a second quarter profit, on a replacement cost basis, of $5bn, compared with $2.9bn for the second quarter of 2009. Bob Dudley, currently managing director and a US citizen, told ABC's Good Morning America programme, that BP would become a leaner organisation.

"It will be smaller and financially, it will grow. We're going to learn a lot from this incident and this accident... There's no question that we will change as a company."

The announcements were welcomed by most investors for their clear-cut approach. Peter Hitchens, of Panmure Gordon stockbrokers, said: "It's basically a kitchen sink job...

"I think it's the board trying to wipe the slate clean."

News Credit : bbc.co.uk/news/business