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Last week, even if Maoists had killed over 2000 and left them on any main street in New Delhi including in front of Parliament House or if T Rajendhar had won both the Oscars and the Grammy for lifetime achievement or if Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden were revealed to be gay partners, we would not have had even a clue about them from the various sections of the Indian media. You know they (the media) had no time for them as they were fully immersed in giving us the most inside of info and up-close details on the IPL shenanigans.

The coverage of the IPL has been so comprehensive that even a man in the street can tell you now with authority as to what brand of inner-wear Lalit Modi sport inside his bespoke suits or whether Sunanda Pushkar and Shashi Tharoor use…well, forget it, this is getting too intimate.
The point is we are all so well fed on the IPL that we know everything about it, except the part that is shady —- that is to say all parts of it. The round-the-clock frenzy on television over the murky sideshow in the IPL must go down in history as those moments that were accompanied by round-the-clock frenzy. Beyond this, nothing is clear.

Here is what happened on three main English news channels. What you are going to read may sound silly and stupid. But understand, satire has its limitations. The reality was far worse.

Times Now


Arnab Goswami: We can now confirm to the viewers that this channel is the first one to break the news this afternoon after breaking news in the morning and also breaking news last night in the continuing saga of rapidly unfolding events of fast breaking news for the benefit of viewers of this channel.
We now have on the phone line our chief political editor who has been constantly tracking all that is happening on the cricketing arena for the last 20 years or so (To the correspondent on the phone line) Okay, tell us what breaking news do you have for the viewers of this channel that has been breaking news in breaking news?
Correspondent: Arnab, our sources in the Home Ministry, which has been probing cricket events, have just confirmed to us to that the latest developments that we have been breaking to the viewers of this channel are indeed confirmed. We can also tell the viewers of this channel that we break only confirmed news. Back to you, Arnab
Arnab Goswami: Indeed it is a very damning piece of information. It has been a momentous period and the time has come to ask the question that every cricket fan in every corner of this country who has been watching this channel is dying to ask in the light of what has been unfolding before us in the last week ever since we first reported the first-ever reported ….. and as I am speaking to you, we have more breaking news coming in from our chief cricket correspondent who has been keeping track of politics for the last 20 years…

CNN IBN

Rajdeep Sardesai: As the clamour for the nationalisation of the IPL gets louder and louder, CNN-IBN has learnt from extremely reliable sources in the External Affairs Ministry, which takes care of cricket played across the globe, that the government has decided to completely internationalise the IPL and bring it under the ambit of the UN. For the latest on this development, we are joined in by our sports editor who is in charge of foreign affairs.
Correspondent: Rajdeep, indeed sources close to the development aver that the government has moved close to the idea of internationalising the IPL in the face of mounting concerns in Parliament. With heavyweights like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, who are neither allies nor rivals but wouldn’t mind if Ministerial posts are offered to them, making it clear that they want to do something to the IPL including banning it, the government has veered down to the view of internationalising cricket and pushing it to the UN.
Rajdeep: To get a true perspective on this new turn, we have now with us, okay he never gets anywhere out of the studio, Suhel Seth, who is an expert in being an expert on all matters whenever a mike is proferred near him.
Suhel Seth: This is backdoor cronyism. The government seems to have bowed to the pressures of the lobby that wanted the IPL banned.
Rajdeep: How does IPL being taken to the UN amount to it being banned?
Suhel: (Shaking his head and dishevelling his already dishevelled hair further), Rajdeep, who heads the UN? It’s Ban. So taking IPL to UN is prima facie, not to speak ipso facto, banning it.
Anyway, the way out of this mess is more clarity. The need of the hour is transparency, especially since Shilpa Shety and Priety Zinta are involved in this. As far as Sunanda Pushkar goes, let Shashi Tharoor bother about transparency. But any way, her case is a see-through.

NDTV

Barkha Dutt: According to reports just in, the Congress has made it clear that the IPL mess has to be cleaned at the earliest. In fact Congress sources are telling us that Sonia is discontented with the developments that has brought disrepute to the game and also seen several thousand crores of rupees flow to the NCP. It is also learnt that Rahul Gandhi is unhappy with the state of affairs. (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for his part, continued to maintain a facial expression that means to mirror Sonia’s anguish. Of course, Barkha did not say this).
We have in our studios, Shashank Manohar, the president of the BCCI, which is supposed to run the affairs of cricket in this country.
Barkha: Mr Manohar, Hasn’t IPL done more harm to cricket than develop it?
Shashank: The game of cricket is…
Barkha (interjecting): So you mean to say cricket is just a game; if so how do you explain the crores and crores of rupees flowing to the game that has caused anguish to Sonia, Rahul, and perhaps others?
Shashank: Money and market forces….
Barkha (interjecting): You are suggesting that the market is forcing things upon your organisation? Are these forces inimical to the nation’s secularism and Sonia Gandhi (and Rahul Gandhi)?
Shashank: Modi is….
Barkha (naturally interjecting): Ok, without needing to put any words into his mouth, Shashank has eloquently stated that Modi’s presence is detrimental to the country’s secular fabric and leather.
(clang, cling, bang …sound of TV screens being smashed to smithereens in many households).

Source: NT

Serious allegations that matches were fixed during the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) add to concerns that Indian cricket is skidding towards an apocalypse now.

Sources confirm to NDTV that 27 cricketers are being investigated for match-fixing during IPL2. In a report submitted to the Finance Ministry, income tax officials discuss allegations of betting involving IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.

The owners of different IPL teams have expressed their unhappiness with reports of match-fixing; they want clarifications as soon as possible.

The IPL, earlier celebrated as an infusion of cricket, fans, and Bollywood has been passing through its darkest hour, ever since IPL Chairman unloaded on twitter revelations that forced Shashi Tharoor to resign as minister, PUT Modi’s own job on the line, and forced Parliament to confront the very real possibility of senior politicians holding dangerously vested interest in a sport that is bursting at the seams with crores (the Indian cricket board is the richest in the world).

The government has ordered a wide inquiry involving the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate. Among the charges are foreign exchange violations, tax evasions, proxy ownership of different teams, and sweet deals for relatives and friends of politicians and cricket organizers and administrators.

In an interview to NDTV, IPL Governing Council member Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi said that of the many problems that the IPL is riddled with, it’s the prospect of match-fixing that worries him the most

In line with the global launch, Microsoft has announced the general availability of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 in India.In a press release, the company also announced that Silverlight 4 will release to Web (RTW) later in the week. Together, these technologies simplify the entire development process, enabling developers to target new platforms and build high-quality applications, the press release said.

Developers will be able to download Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 in conjunction with Microsoft Tech.Ed 2010, which commenced in Bangalore.‘Visual Studio 2010, .NET Framework 4 and Silverlight 4 brings a powerful combination of functionality to create an unparalleled developer experience, and deliver unmatched value to the software ecosystem across the world and in India,’ according to S Somasegar, senior vice president, Microsoft Corporation.

Software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has recorded an operating profit of Rs 8,018 crore for the year ended March 2010, a growth of 22 per cent from that of previous year.Net profit stood at Rs 7,001 crore for the fiscal 2010, a growth of 33 per cent from the previous year. For the fourth quarter ended March 2010, operating profit touched Rs 2,165 crore, a growth of 29 per cent from the same quarter of the previous year.
Net profit for the Q4 touched Rs 2,001 crore, a growth of 50 per cent from the same period of the last year.
Commenting on the results, TCS CEO and managing director N Chandrasekaran said, ‘our ability to react to growth opportunities and execute efficiently has helped the company deliver a superior performance for the fourth successive quarter. Our volumes have grown and margins are at near historic highs.’ On the performance in the last year, he said a strong volume growth of 17 per cent during the year has rounded off an exceptional year for TCS. ‘Our sales and execution machine is primed and we have laid a solid platform for growth.

There is significant traction for our strategy of full services which together with global engagement model that helped us achieve rapid growth.According to TCS chief financial officer S Mahalingam, ‘in the fourth quarter, our focus on superior project execution and efficient utilisation of professionals had helped deliver a superior gross margin in performance despite strong currency headwinds. Sustained cost efficiency and treasury management have also improved operating margins and net margins sequentially.’

While fiscal 2010 was a challenging year, the company had used this time to improve efficiency and generate better returns by boosting margins. ‘Our cost base has remained constant and we have leveraged this to support higher business growth. Looking ahead, we will continue our focus on managing costs and efficiency while ensuring that investments are aligned to capture growth opportunities that emerge across the spectrum,’ said Mahalingam.

Caught in a cleft stick, the Reserve Bank has played safe and predictable. It’s Credit Policy has struck to the groove. The central bank tightened liquidity but in minimal fashion with increases of 0.25 per cent in each of the repo (post-hike 5.25 per cent), reverse repo (3.75 per cent) and CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio).
The trend of tightening started in January when CRR was raised for the first time in over 12 months. In March, RBI pushed up the Repo and Reverse Repo policy rates by 25 basis points each. The 25 bps increases in the repo and reverse repo rates and the cash reserve ratio are broadly in line with market expectations given the strong economic growth and elevated level of inflation.

At the same time, RBI has also articulated as a priority the availability of credit to meet the growth needs of the Indian economy. Thus, the Annual Policy Statement has balanced the twin objectives of growth and price stability. For the RBI, policy options were limited since inflation is still rising. The hike in key policy rates as well as the CRR was at the lower-end of market expectations. Analysts were expecting a 25 to 50 basis points hike in short term rates and the CRR. The various measures relating to infrastructure financing will aid banks in serving this crucial growth sector. Measures relating to interest rate and currency derivatives and credit default swaps, as also the corporate bond markets, will help in enhancing market liquidity and sophistication.

RBI has also looked at the structure of the financial sector and announced the formation of a working group on financial holding companies and bank holding companies.
This would be beneficial for the management and regulation of financial conglomerates in the country. Banks will now be allowed to classify their investments in non-SLR bonds issued by companies engaged in infrastructure activities under the category held-to-maturity (HTM). Such bonds were earlier subjected to mark-to-market requirements. With this move, banks can now subscribe to such long-term bonds issued for the long-term funding of the projects. This would especially benefit companies engaged in BOT (build, operate, transfer) projects that require long-term funding for 15-20 years. Also, companies can now partly manage their long-term interest cost which, in an adverse situation, could have repercussions on the overall return on equity of the project. This move is a real fillip to the infrastructural growth. The increase in policy rates could have an impact on housing loans with a lag effect.

While it is unlikely that there would be any impact in the short term, home loan rates may see an upward movement, to the tune of 25-50 bps, two quarters hence. The impact on new or existing loans might not be substantial due to rising incomes. Realty companies will not be affected due to rising rates as most of the debt is long term in nature and cash flows on the back of an improving environment is strong enough to take care of short-term requirements. Overall, the credit policy by playing safe has not queered the pitch nor raised the bar (pardon the mixed metaphor). On the whole, it has remained a typical tweaking exercise, with little to cheer or complain.