Economic Growth Of India In 2011

India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The Indian economy is characterized by
population bursts, poverty, unemployment and child labour. These rising issues have become a major
concern for the Indian economy but yet have proven to bring a raise in the Indian economy for the 2011
year. This economic burst will not be sustainable for the Indian economy in the approaching years.

Researchers have found that India is becoming a very populous nation. It readily has an increasing birth
rate and statistics show that the numbers will keep growing. Indias population is expected to reach 1.5
billion in 2030, accounting Indians to occupy 20% of the human population on earth. If the population
bursts continue then the economy of India will go downhill. It will have an effect on many factors that
play a role in the economy. This will not only make life harder for people who are already on the verge of
poverty but make those who are under the poverty line have a harder time surviving.

Poverty is a growing concern in India especially when the nation has been estimated to have a third of the
worlds poor. Population bursts are causing poverty in the society, making it harder for families to gain
access to their daily necessities. The increase in poverty is the leading cause of children being
malnourished and underweight. If this continues than there will not be a future generation to run the
Indian economy. Due to the baby boomers and poverty on the line Indians are on high demand for jobs.

The unemployment rate is increasing slowly due to the baby boomers. The poor are looking for any job
opportunities viable to the. Although, many dont have the proper education and dont meet the criteria
for the jobs due to not sufficient education, a major issue due to poverty. Indian officials need to make
more jobs for the people and offer free education to children throughout middle and high school. At this
rate many children will remain uneducated and will be a victim of child labour.

To make the economy boom the nation needs to put a stop towards child labour. It is very unhealthy for
these children to work for long periods of times in an unhealthy environment. Just like other nation India
needs to set aside money to help under privileged families meet their basic needs. Indians need to pitch in
and work together to make the economy grow. On this rate not only will the Indian economy decline but
also we will be endangering the future of our young generation. In order to have a sustainable economy
we need to stop the population bursts, poverty, unemployment and child labour by educating the citizens
of India.

Collapse of Kingfisher Airlines

Many of the management gurus and experts were perceived to be behind the global recession of 2008, but
there is only one man whos mismanagement could have done thisyes the Big Bang collapse of Indias
most fashionable and luxurious airline brand Kingfisher. There are several reasons for the much
touted financial collapse of Kingfisher which was foresaw by Gopinath and many other experts on
Kingfisher board itself.

First of all, Mallyas inability to strategize and place the critical airline business on the national and global
front, which is totally different both in nature as well as in approach, than his liquor business. His attitude
of Ekla Chalo Re in airline venture caused him much harm than good as he didnt delegate the business
operations and decision making rights to other skilled executives who could have taken much better
decisions than him. Secondly, he has mastered the art of squandering away opportunities, first when he
acquired Air Deccan and then ignoring the microeconomic conditions prevailing within the countrys
boundary (where there is a sustained large market for Low Cost Carrier Airline) as majority of people
belongs to the economy class, he continued to take care of the elite and executive classes. Thirdly, he
always considered Air Deccan as his step child and continued allocating globally operating flight slots to
Kingfisher ,completely ignoring the core competence of Air Deccan in operating flights on international
skies which otherwise could have generated profits for the ailing airline carrier.

Not able to cope up with ever mounting debts due to insufficient passenger traffic on such routes and
increasing fuel prices, he then resorted to salary cuts and pay loss of the airline employees which further
aggravated the airline woes as the employees started venting out their frustration in the form of
misbehavior and mistreatment of passengers which broke the cordial link between the airline and its loyal
customer base. One of the board members of UB group correctly pointed out that at the time of thinking
about starting a new venture, had Mallya would have started the telephony business (which was one of
the viable option mooted then), the scenario could have been different. If he could have worked on his
strengths, he might had achieved a lot better than this. Airline business needs a long term vision and
strong determination, infact every business does, and both have been seen missing in Mallayas approach
so far.

There is another critical feature to this failure is that he has been over indulged and wasting away
resources in Kingfisher calendar activities and of course, the multi crore rupee event, IPL where he had
diverted huge sums of money from his core businesses. Despite asking GoI to bail his debt-ridden airlines
out (accumulated losses stands at 8200 crores), he better would have invested this money in restructuring
the Airlines organization structure and strategize the course of action to be taken with his top executives
and lenders. Government, though did the right thing not to give away any relief package to him as the
national funds are meant to be used in bailing out national ventures (Indian Airlines in this case) first
rather than a private one, and that too until and unless it is of some strategic importance to the nation and
Kingfisher is surely not fits into the picture.

Lastly, the kingfisher should learn from its competitor, Indigo who is faring quite well in the domestic
skies as a LCC airline and eyeing to explore international skies soon. The one important thing that allows
Indigo to set such high aim is the ability of its promoters to think long term and stick to it rather changing
vision frequently, lack of which certainly hurt the Kingfisher badly. I seriously hope Mallya would learn
from his past mistakes and come out with a business model which would be profitable as well as
sustainable in the long term and bring back the Good Times for his fathers and UB group creator Vittal
Mallyas soul.

Why Indian athletes are falling back in Olympics 2012?

Its time to celebrate, for India has won 6 medals in Olympics for the first time. This is the best
performance from the country. Last year, we could bring home, an individual Gold and this time most
number of medals ever. But these strides are too small and a tally of '6' is a pittance for a country which is
home to world's second largest population and one of the fastest growing economies.
Indian contingent this year was the best both in quantity and quality consisting of 86 sportspersons, in
form and high on expectations. Many of them despite having clinged gold in CWG, Asian games and
international championships, unfortunately, could not convert that success to medals in Olympics.

What went wrong?

Our sports stars are highly capable but are not Happy Individuals. Olympics being the biggest sporting
event draws the best sportspersons from across the world who fight their heart out to make it to the
podium. In this throat cut competition the sportsperson has to deliver his/her best, both physically and
psychologically. And this is where our stars are falling back.

Now lets take a closer look into the ground realities. The truth of Indian sports is that it is a sleeping
dragon, hiding and forgotten most of the time but blowing fire only when Olympics are around.

Firstly, there are structural and logistical gaps in facility chain and infrastructure provided by govt to
sports development. Major upgradations indeed have taken place in boxing, hockey, track events,
wrestling, weight lifting & shooting in recent times. But still sportspersons and their coaches time and
again complain that these facilities are neither of international standards nor lined on latest technologies.
And most of other sports like swimming, rafting, tennis, badminton are growing outside the umbrella of
sports authority, confining them to privileged only.

Secondly, the sportspersons do not receive as many incentives as claimed on the paper by authorities,
which is a demotivator indicating that they are an ignored lot. Third is lack of professionalism. Neither
the sport nor sportsperson's needs are taken seriously. The delivery of goods is not timely. Management is
more cynical than analytical.

Fourthly, Indian athletes are always behind their counterparts when it comes to Stamina. Absence of a
disciplined nutrition plan and guidance of a professional dietician or nutritionist at the sports centers is the
reason to this. And also they are more prone to injures, fractures, ruptures, muscle tears. This was seen
this year too. Scientific and technical aspects of the sport are not inculcated in the training. Study on
impact of stretching, lifting, landing, footwork and adoption of techniques to minimize the stress on body
are not focused upon.

Fifthly, the training is solely sports oriented with least work done on psychological robustness of the
sportsperson. Focus, stress busting techniques and counseling help the athlete a lot on the field. After
failing in the qualifier round, the statement given by Deepika Kumari's- "I am too young to cope with the
stress" is an example of this setback.

Hockey team which displayed a game of dismay, has a story to tell. Political influence, non merit
selections and poor training facilities are the main causes of the poor performance.

Last but the most important is lack of international exposure. Many of our sportspersons find it difficult to
adjust to foreign climate and food. Also they find foreign crowd to be not supportive and fall to home
sickness.

All these factors acting together left India far behind its potential this year too. Indeed the overall
performance and rankings of Indian players have improved but could not reach top three medal earning
slots once again.
Jan Lokpal Bill

The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil
society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would investigate
corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in
the next one year. Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta
of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft
Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the
complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to
prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission. Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and
other known people like Swami Agnivesh, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai are
also part of the movement, called India Against Corruption. Its website describes the movement as "an
expression of collective anger of people of India against corruption. We have all come together to
force/request/persuade/pressurize the Government to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill. We feel that if this Bill
were enacted it would create an effective deterrence against corruption."Anna Hazare, anti-corruption
crusader, began a fast-unto-death today, demanding that this bill, drafted by the civil society, be adopted.
The website of the India Against Corruption movement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an
"eyewash" and has on it a critique of that government Bill. It also lists the difference between the Bills
drafted by the government and civil society.

A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the
governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be
able to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will
have to be completed in one year. Trial
should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within
two years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any
government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as
compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if
police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will
have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration
being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal
will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go
to jail within two years.
7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be
possible because its members will be
selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely
transparent and participatory process.

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will
be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the
officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-
corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery
to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising
their voice against corruption.

Introduction
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
It is not easy to define corruption. But in a narrow sense, corruption is mostly concerned with "bribery"
and it takes several forms. Corruption is a global phenomenon and it is omnipresent. Corruption has
progressively increased and is now rampant in our society.National scenario. Corruption in India is a
consequence of the nexus between Bureaucracy, politics and criminals. India is now no longer considered
a soft state. It has now become a consideration state where everything can be had for a consideration.
Today, the number of ministers with an honest image can be counted on fingers. At one time, bribe was
paid for getting wrong things done but now bribe is paid for getting right things done at right time.

Effects of corruption
Indian administration is tainted with scandals. India is among 55 of the 106 countries where corruption is
rampant, according to the Corruption Perception Index 2004 Report released by Transparency
International India. Corruption in India leads to promotion not prison. It is very difficult to catch big
sharks. Corruption in India has wings not wheels. As nation grows, the corrupt also grow to invent
new methods of cheating the government and public.

Causes of corruption
The causes of corruption are many and complex. Following are some of the causes of corruption.
Emergence of political elite who believe in interest-oriented rather than nation-oriented programmes and
policies.
Artificial scarcity created by the people with malevolent intentions wrecks the fabric of the economy.
Corruption is caused as well as increased because of the change in the value system and ethical qualities
of men who administer. The old ideals of morality, service and honesty are regarded as an achronistic.
Tolerance of people towards corruption, complete lack of intense public outcry against corruption and the
absence of strong public forum to oppose corruption allow corruption to reign over people.
Vast size of population coupled with widespread illiteracy and the poor economic infrastructure lead to
endemic corruption in public life.
In a highly inflationary economy, low salaries of government officials compel them to resort to the road
of corruption. Graduates from IIMs with no experience draw a far handsome salary than what government
secretaries draw.
Complex laws and procedures alienate common people to ask for any help from government.
Election time is a time when corruption is at its peak level. Big industrialist fund politicians to meet high
cost of election and ultimately to seek personal favour. Bribery to politicians buys influence, and bribery
by politicians buys votes. In order to get elected, politicians bribe poor illiterate people, who are slogging
for two times meal.

Measures to combat corruption

Is it possible to contain corruption in our society? Corruption is a cancer, which every Indian must strive
to cure. Many new leaders when come into power declare their determination to eradicate corruption but
soon they themselves become corrupt and start amassing huge wealth.
There are many myths about corruption, which have to be exploded if we really want to combat it. Some
of these myths are: Corruption is a way of life and nothing can be done about it. Only people from
underdeveloped or developing countries are prone to corruption. We will have to guard against all these
crude fallacies while planning measures to fight corruption.
Foolproof laws should be made so that there is no room for discretion for politicians and bureaucrats. The
role of the politician should be minimized. Application of the evolved policies should be left in the hands
of independent commission or authority in each area of public interest. Decision of the commission or
authority should be challengeable only in the courts.
Cooperation of the people has to be obtained for successfully containing corruption. People should have a
right to recall the elected representatives if they see them becoming indifferent to the electorate.
Funding of elections is at the core of political corruption. Electoral reforms are crucial in this regard.
Several reforms like: State funding of election expenses for candidates; strict enforcement of statutory
requirements like holding in-party elections, making political parties get their accounts audited regularly
and filing income-tax returns; denying persons with criminal records a chance to contest elections, should
be brought in.

Responsiveness, accountability and transparency are a must for a clean system. Bureaucracy, the
backbone of good governance, should be made more citizen friendly, accountable, ethical and transparent.
More and more courts should be opened for speedy & inexpensive justice so that cases dont linger in
courts for years and justice is delivered on time.
Local bodies, Independent of the government, like Lokpals, Lokadalats, CVCs and Vigilance
Commissions should be formed to provide speedy
justice with low expenses.
A new Fundamental Right viz. Right to Information should be introduced, which will empower the
citizens to ask for the information they want. Barring some confidential information, which concerns
national and international security, other information should be made available to general public as and
when required. Stringent actions against corrupt officials will certainly have a deterrent impact.

Conclusion
Corruption is an intractable problem. It is like diabetes, can only be controlled, but not totally eliminated.
It may not be possible to root out corruption completely at all levels but it is possible to contain it within
tolerable limits. Honest and dedicated persons in public life, control over electoral expenses could be the
most important prescriptions to combat corruption. Corruption has a corrosive impact on our economy. It
worsens our image in international market and leads to loss of overseas opportunities. Corruption is a
global problem that all countries of the world have to confront, solutions, however, can only be home
grown. We have tolerated corruption for so long. The time has now come to root it out from its roots.

FDI

In a global economy today, FDI is becoming more important than trade as a mode of international
economic transactions. There are two categories of investment: direct investment and: portfolio
investment.

Direct investment implies that investment is followed by control - it implies an ownership share of at least
10 or 25 percent; otherwise, it is considered as portfolio investment. Portfolio investment (i.e., investment
devoid of control) has its own importance in a firm's financial management and strategy. It is also an
influencing factor affecting exchange rate.

IMF defined FDI as "investment that is made to acquire a lasting interest in an enterprise operating in an
economy other than that of the investor. The investor's purpose being to have an effective voice in the
management of the enterprise." (IMF 1977).

FDI refers to an investment in a foreign country that involves some degree of control and participation in
management. The FDI corresponds with the investment undertaken by a multinational enterprise in a
foreign country. It should not be misconstrued with portfolio investment, which is solely motivated by
profit through financial investment and does not seek management control.

012 Olympic Games. Custom 2012 Olympic Games Essay Writing Service || 2012 Olympic Games Essay
samples, help

Executive Summary

The impacts derived from major events are enormous especially when effective and efficient strategies
are applied to manage the event. The Olympic Games have been held after two years during winter or
summer, and for the year 2012, London successfully won the bid to host the event. An Economic Impact
Assessment prepared for the event to be held in London by Blake, (2005) estimates that a low of
9,399,414 and a high of 10,388,826 tickets will be sold. This gives the estimates of how huge the visitors
will be.

Bedfordshire and other cities need to be very prepared to cash in on the influx of visitors during this
period. The businesses must establish themselves before the games and also remain afloat after the games;
this means they must be sustainable. Bedfordshire has its strengths and opportunities to attract the visitors
and make the businesses benefits in their venture from the Olympics. Such strengths include a rich
historic heritage and numerous tourist attraction sites. The business described offers catering, hospitality
and accommodation services which must be marketed to the countries before the event. The business will
have social, economic, and physical impacts during the entire period. For the business to be successful
there is need to offer quality and efficient services which will be packaged to suit various clients during
and after the games.
Introduction

The Olympic Games are among the world's major events in which athletes from the world over take part
in different competitions. The games are divided into two; the summer and winter Olympics where the
host cities manage both the Olympic and the Paralympics games. The games are held after two years
alternatively, and thus occur after four years of those specific seasons. These Games have a history dating
as far back as 8th century BC where they were held in Olympia, Greece. Ever since then the games have
seen drastic changes including the formation of the International Olympic committee (IOC) in 1894. This
committee is charged with the responsibility of overseeing the running of these games (Malfas, et al.
2004).

The impacts of the Olympic are numerous and some remain immeasurable since the may not be identified
immediately. These include both positive and negative impacts. The Olympics have been very
instrumental in the nurturing cooperation and understanding of people's way of life in various nations and
cities. It is an event where the best of the best in sports come to prove their skills while the audience
cheers them on bringing a spirit of unison, love and peace. On the other hand, it improves the economic
situation of the host city where residents reap the short term and long term after the event (Malfas, et al.
2004). However, there are also negative impacts occur which necessarily do not overtake the benefits of
the events; there are also direct and indirect benefits involved.

The report focuses on the business environment, marketing, and finance elements of the impacts that will
be experienced during and after the Olympic games. Its main objectives include; describing and
explaining the basic functional elements of business and a range of generic and specific environments in
which businesses are active. To investigate and evaluate specific effects, influences and changes deriving
from environments and unique situations in Bedford during and after the Olympics. To understand the
purpose and role of the concept of Management; to describe, explain and apply models, concepts and
techniques to specific business and management examples, problems and contexts. To demonstrate an
understanding of the interaction between the functional elements of business; and to describe and evaluate
a range of organisational structures, concepts, and models and apply them to a variety of current business
institutions and organisations.

Background

The last summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing city in 2008 and the 2012 games will take place in
London, United Kingdom. London got the bid to host these games that will take place between 27th July
to 12th August 2012 after beating the rival cities Moscow, New York, Paris and Madrid in a hotly
contested voting on the 6 July 2005 in Singapore during the IOC 117th session.

UK enjoys and indeed has one of the best world's arts, commerce, healthcare, entertainment, media,
tourism, professional services, transport and fashion making it one of earths leading city. Its business
potential is stunning with a high GPD and numerous financial institutions in Europe. London hosting the
Olympics in 2012 came after a successful bid following a decision on 19th October 2005; the Bedford
Olympic Opportunities Support Team (BOOST) was formed to further the agenda of a successful bid.
Bedfordshire is strategically placed geographically to get the benefits from the successful London bid of
the Olympics. The city has to ensure that the Olympics Games benefits trickle down to them. The factors
that favour Bedfordshire is the efficient transport links to London, sporting facilities that exist in the city,
a 2000m rowing lake in Willington, a multi-cultural community, plenty of accommodation, and sport
science facilities. Bedfordshire is a city in the central part of England; which is ceremonial and historic
city. It borders Cambridgeshire to the North-East, Northamptonshire to the North, Hertfordshire to the
South-East, and Buckinghamshire to the west. Politically it has three unitary authorities which are the
boroughs of Luton and Bedford and the District of central Bedfordshire.

Findings

The Economic Situation in other Host Cities

In a report by Blake (2005) "The Economic Impact of the London 2012 Olympics" identifies the nature of
contention on the issue of the bid. Political ideologies had been brought to figure out the impacts of mega
events to cities, however the bid was successful and they have to deal with the impacts both negative and
positive. An economic impact assessment (EIA) conducted involved the spending on committees and
individuals; spending on infrastructure; other costs involved such as transport, accommodation, food, and
entertainment. The spending is accounted for in terms of goods and services and the spending is measured
on how it translates to income to the businesses, employment and output to the residents.

Previous Olympic Games have had their economic impacts to the countries they have been held since
1984. The Los Angeles Olympic Games was estimated to have a US $2.3 billion and created 73,375 jobs
(Blake, 2005). The games held in Seoul 1988 provided approximately $1.6 billion and supported 336,000
jobs; for Barcelona in 1992 the economic impact was estimated to be $30 million and supported 296,640
new jobs Atlanta in 1996 was estimated at $5.1 billion and provided 77,026 jobs. In the Sydney 2000
Olympic Games generated US $ 5.1 billion and an extra 156,198 jobs (Blake, 2005).

The Sydney games not only generated income and employment in Australia alone but also in New South
Wales (NSW). In the pre games period the gross domestic product was estimated at $ 546 for NSW and $
564 for Australia. The Real Household Consumption for the pre games period was at $ 255 and $200 for
NSW and Australia respectively. The employment was estimated at 101,000 and 111,000 for NSW and
Australia respectively during the same period see table 1 (Blake, 2005). In the games year the GDP, the
Real Household, Consumption and employment estimated at $1237, 255, and 24,000 respectively for
NSW; and $1,128, $382, and 29.4 for Australia. In the post games period till 2006 the GDP, the Real
Household, Consumption and employment estimated at $291, $273, and 3000 respectively for NSW, and
$309, $473, and 400 for Australia. The Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 estimated an impact of US $
10.2 billion and an employment figure of 300,400 (Blake, 2005).

The London Estimates

The estimated spending in the London games was based on the visitors spending, costs of infrastructure,
running costs and tourism costs. The benefits must be reflected in the nation i.e. UK, then in London (host
city), and other regions around London. The revenues must surpass the costs for the nation to benefit
economically. According to Brake (2005) the estimates for local sponsorships would be at a low of 240
million and a high of 590 million. The ticket sales would be at a low of 250 million and a high of
350 million. Transport would be at a low of 30 million and a high of 50 million. Asset sales would be
at a low of 35 million and a high of 110. Catering would be at a low of 7 million and a high of
10. Television rights would be at a low of 410 million and a high of 500 million. TOP sponsorship
would be at a low of 98 million and a high of 120 million. As indicated in table 2 a total estimate low
of 1,164 million and high of 1,627 million would be expected in the event (Blake, 2005).

The operating costs would be in establishing new and refurbishing existing venues and estimated at a low
of 23 million and a high of 46 million. Technology would be at a low of 240 million and a high of
300 million. Establishing an Olympic village would be at a low of 42 million and a high of 144
million. Administration would be at a low of 210 million and a high of 300 million (Blake, 2005).
Providing security would be at a low of 16 million and a high of 27 million. Transport would be at a
low of 50 million and a high of 60 million. Ceremonies and culture would be at a low of 30
million and a high of 60 million. Advertising and promotions would be at a low of 70 million and a
high of 90 million. As indicated in table 3 a total estimate low of 931 million and high of 1089
million would be expected in the event (Blake, 2005).

For Bedfordshire organisations need to tap into the visitors markets; this will mean investing in the
accommodation, catering and hospitality sector. The businesses need to start planning for the numerous
visitors in this period. Such investments need to encompass the whole period and beyond thus they must
be long term. The estimates given by Blake, (2005) indicate that estimates of a low 9,399,414 and a high
of 10,388,826 tickets will be sold during the Olympics. The athletes are estimated to be more that 11,550
while the number of officials will range from 7,200 and 8,800. In addition, there will be approximately
22,000 media visitors, 51,700 volunteers, and 7,700 sponsor visitors. The foreign Olympic family was
estimated to range from 4,500 to 5,500 while the UK Olympic family will range from 2,700 to 3,300.

The Impacts

The social economic impacts

The major revenue source will involve selling of tickets; however there are other revenues from various
activities that will be done by businesses in and out of the host city. As the visitors troop the venues they
will contribute a lot to economic growth from their spending and consumptions (Zimbalist, 2010). There
will also be jobs created by the events for instance establishment of business that will need attendants and
also self employment.

The social impacts on the other hand may be negative especially in the host city where people may be
evicted to give room for Olympic building and accommodation. For the purpose of the Olympic
numerous funds are diverted to making the preparations and the actual event from the poor and low
income earners. Social services are also at times interrupted to give way for expansion or so that they may
serve visitors while the locals are pushed aside. The costs of products and services increase during this
period due to the upsurge of visitors or expectations and speculations leading to higher costs of living
(Zimbalist, 2010). For the business it must consider whether the decision to change its structure for the
event will be sustainable not only for the one time but in the long run.

Socio-cultural impacts
The host city becomes home to very many people of different cultures, this will definitely affect the
culture of the residents. The benefits of such events will be such as the residents will change their attitude
towards certain things such as sports and get more involved (Lenskyj, 2000). The events can reinforce
regional traditions and values and improve regional pride and community involvement. The country has a
chance to showcase its culture which might attract visitors in future contributing to sustainable tourism.
On the other hand the influence of culture by those who visit is also possible and this may cause loss of
culture for the residents.

Physical Impacts

The event creates a chance to create very efficient and effective services to support the visitors. These
physical structure and services established during the event will stay for a longer period and serve the
residents later. These include stadiums, hospitals, hotels, and social amenities.

Political impact

The local regional and central government are all involved in the preparations and the administration of
the event. Therefore, political decisions are inevitable since public governance has to be involved
(Lenskyj, 2000). The decisions made are subject to political interests and private profit making
organisations.

Discussion

According to Cashman (2002) in the article "Impact of the Games on Olympic host cities: university
lecture on the Olympics" the impacts can be divided into four periods; they include firstly, the period
when preparing for the bid and the winning of the bid to host the Olympics; secondly the seven years
required for preparing for the Olympic games, thirdly is during the staging of the games which is a short
period of around 16 days; and fourthly, is the period after the games.

The impacts that are likely to be experience for the host city consist of, change in the city design, the
physical environment change, the influence of the culture, the improvements on infrastructure i.e. air, rail,
and road transport. In addition there are costs and expenses that are involved, changes in decision making
and governance, political changes and improved relationships (Zimbalist, 2010). It is no doubt that
tourism increases tremendously where businesses benefit a lot from the spending from the sportsmen and
audience. The sports require increased services and products such as venues and other facilities which are
present even after the games. Moreover, communities create a common situation which will create an
understanding environment thus more consultations and involvement.

For Bedford the bidding period is over and London has won the bid. Maximising the business, financial
and marketing benefits from the event is the next move. Tapping into being a major participant in the
Olympics will play a major role in sharing the cake brought to England by the visitors and sportsmen as
they celebrate the Olympic spirit.

It is evident that the benefits do spill over to other town and cities that surround the cities hosting the
games. In this cases since London is hosting the games, Bedfordshire stands to benefits from the event.
This means that whether the organisation is offering products or services the stand to gain if they apply an
effective marketing strategy (Lenskyj, 2000). The sales can be targeted to the various visitors present
during the games. The visitors may include; international, sponsor, the broadcasters, the Olympic family,
athletes and officials and domestic visitors.

Each period generates different economic, cultural, social and environmental impacts to the organisations
that take the advantage. The economic benefits run high during this time and businesses are always at
their peak. The organisations in Bedfordshire need to keep their plans ready and invest in the services
industry since at this time services are mostly

demanded. Providing high quality services and very affordable services will attract the numerous
customers to the city as tourists or participants.

In order to tap this potential the borough, local and central authorities need to have a strategy to attract the
visitor to the city. Biding for tenders to build training centres, and other essential facilities will be the first
step in exploiting the event. The organisations in Bedfordshire have to market themselves appropriately
before and during the event, so that the visitors may visit the city (Zimbalist, 2010). Re-branding the city
is necessary including all tourist sites and evaluation of the services and products organisations to ensure
they will impress the visitors. The political will must be present in the ideas since any unstable area will
be avoided by the visitors and might even have negative effects to the whole event. The environment in
Bedfordshire is safe and friendly which will act as an added advantage to attract the visitor. It has a multi
ethnic community that makes it easy for all visitors to fit in the society. Technological advancements also
favour the organisations in the city since it is technologically advanced.

The city also has numerous tourist attraction sites due to its rich history. Castles, museums, art galleries,
national trusts, a heritage railway amusement and theme parks, and cathedrals will form part of the tourist
attractions to the city (Lenskyj, 2000). Other strengths about the city are the presence of a networked
transport i.e. rail, road and air that is linked to London making it easy for the visitors to commute to the
venues and back. Its central location in the UK makes it better placed to attract visitors. The city however
does not have a coastal beach that can attract beach lovers. Language is a very important factor and the
use of English in the UK is a great advantage not only to the country but also the city of Bedfordshire
(Lenskyj, 2000). Most visitors know English as it is the most spoken language in the globe. For those who
don't know English the city and organisations will offer translators in various stations to guide the
visitors.

Conclusion

The organisations in Bedfordshire can have a successful implementation of businesses that ensure they
tap the numerous benefits to their city. Strategic planning is require to ensure the business prepare
adequately for the Olympic. During the seven year preparation period they should aim at focusing on
setting up the services required. Setting up of training venues so that they may attract visitors to the city is
an important strategy. This will involve the local government which must have ideas to invest in such
avenues. For the business organisations such as those that are going to offer accommodation, catering and
accommodation services, they should aim at getting as much visitors as possible.

They can start by building extra rooms in view of the fact that the number of visitors will be large. In this
venture, the seven year preparation period is enough to establish the investment. There is need for a
marketing strategy which will involve selling attractive packages to the participating countries. Such
packages will include high quality services, and attractive offers that will make the countries participants
and visitors opt for the services. This must be done prior to the effective date of the Olympics, to ensure
the hotel rooms are booked to capacity before the event.

There is also need to have a strategy to ensure the clients have easy access to the game venue or are able
to view the games from televisions at accessible places. Such as strategy would involve having buses to
take the visitor to the venues and back to the hotel, including tours to different tourist sites in the city.
Those who love swimming will not be left out since there can be artificial beaches developed during the
construction of the facilities making it all inclusive. The clients should also be assured of security during
their stay and a very efficient customer care should be in place to serve the customers better.
on August 12, 2012, London bade a flamboyant and madcap farewell to the Olympic
Games with a romp through British pop and fashion, bringing the curtain down on
more than two weeks of action that ended with USA topping the sporting world with
46 gold medals.

Actor Timothy Spall read from Shakespeares The Tempest dressed as war-time
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and after a London rush hour featuring real
cars and trucks, Prince Harry entered to represent his grandmother Queen Elizabeth.

The Spice Girls, Take That and George Michael were among the acts taking part in
an exuberant finale that sought to sum up Britains enthusiasm for the Games despite
reservations about the 9 billion pound cost.

During a special eight-minute segment, the stadium was bathed in the colours and
sounds of Brazil, as the Olympics looked ahead to 2016 when Rio de Janeiro is the
host city.

The Olympic flag was handed to Eduardo Paes, Rios Mayor, before International
Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge described the London Games as
happy and glorious and declared them closedthe words taken from Britains
national anthem to the queen.

The main stadium was the setting for some of the most spectacular moments of the
Games, including Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt defending the 100, 200 and 4x100
metres titles he won in Beijing, the latter in a world-beating time.

British supporters will also cherish memories of the venue, where Somali-born
runner Mo Farah won the 5,000 and 10,000 double to deafening roars and was
celebrated as a symbol of the capitals multi-culturalism.

The hosts won 29 golds to take third place in the rankings, their best result for 104
years, helping lift a nation beset by severe spending cuts and worried about social
stability a year after violent riots swept parts of the capital.

Many will remember London 2012 for the record-breaking exploits of American
swimmer Michael Phelps, who took his life-time medal haul to 22 including 18
golds, making him the most decorated Olympian in history. His tally helped the
United States to the top of the Olympic table with 46 golds to second-placed Chinas
38, reversing the order of the Beijing Games in 2008.

There was, of course, Bolt, the biggest name in athletics and a charismatic
ambassador for sprinting. After winning the 4x100 he went on to a London nightclub
to delight dancing fans with a turn as a DJ, shouting out I am a legend to the
packed dance-floor.

Opening Ceremony
On July 27, 2012, Britains Queen Elizabeth declared the London Olympics open
after playing a cameo role in a dizzying ceremony designed to highlight the grandeur
and eccentricities of the nation that invented modern sport.

Childrens voices, intertwining from the four corners of her United Kingdom,
ushered in an exuberant historical pageant of meadows, smokestacks and digital
wizardry before an audience of 60,000 in the Olympic Stadium, and a probable
billion television viewers around the globe.

Many of them gasped at the sight of the 86-year-old queen, marking her Diamond
Jubilee this year, putting aside royal reserve in a video where she stepped onto a
helicopter with James Bond actor Daniel Craig to be carried aloft from Buckingham
Palace.

A film clip showed doubles of her and Bond skydiving towards the stadium and,
moments later, she made her entrance in person.

More than 10,000 athletes from 204 countries competed in 26 sports over 17 days of
competition in the only city to have staged the modern Games three times.

Most of them were there for the traditional alphabetical parade of the national teams,
not least the athletes from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen competing in their first
Olympics since their peoples overthrew autocrats in Arab Spring revolutions.

Brunei and Qatar were led in by their countries first ever female Olympians and so,
along with Saudi Arabia, ended their status as the only countries to exclude women
from their teams.

At the end of a three-hour extravaganza, David Beckham, the English soccer icon
who had helped convince the IOC to grant London the Games, stepped off a
speedboat carrying the Olympic flame at the end of a torch relay that inspired many
ordinary people around Britain.

Past Olympic heroes including Muhammad Ali, who lit the cauldron at the 1996
Atlanta Games, and British rower Steve Redgrave, the only person to win gold at
five successive games, welcomed the flame into the stadium.

Yet it was not a celebrity but seven teenage athletes who lit a spectacular
arrangement of over 200 copper petals representing the participating countries,
which rose up in the centre of the stadium to converge into a single cauldron.
To read the complete list of medal winners visit:
www.london2012.com/medals/medal-winners

Indias Performance

Indias tally of two silver and 4 bronze medals was its best tally in Olympics. 81
athletes from India had competed in 13 sports.

Sushil Kumar became the first Indian to get back-to-back Olympic medals. He won
silver medal in 66kg Freestyle Wrestling. He had won a bronze medal in the Beijing
Olympics.

Subedar Vijay Kumar Sharma of 16 Dogra Regiment bagged silver medal in 25m
rapid fire pistol event.

Yogeshwar Dutt, 2010 CWG gold winner, won India its fourth Bronze medal in
60kg freestyle Wrestling.

Five-time world champion MC Mary Kom won a bronze medal in womens boxing
(51 kg) event. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009), Arjuna Award (2003) and
Padamshree (2006) awardee, Mary Kom is the first Indian women boxer to qualify
for Olympics. The 29-year-old boxer from Manipur came back from a two-year
sabbatical after the birth of her twins to clinch her fourth successive world title in
2008, a feat that got her the sobriquet Magnificent Mary.

Ace marksman Gagan Narang opened Indias account in London Olympics by

clinching a bronze medal in the men's 10 meter air. The burly Indian, who narrowly
missed the final in Beijing, raised his gun above his head as his many compatriots in
the crowd cheered loudly at the country's first medal of the Games.

Beijing Games gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, however, could not defend his title
and crashed out of the event.

Saina Nehwal won womens singles bronze in badminton when her opponent Wang
Xin of China broke down with a knee injury after taking the opening game. Nehwal,
ranked fifth in the world, became only the second Indian woman to win a medal in
an individual Olympic sport.

22-year-old Irfan from Kerala did not win any medal but produced the best effort by
an Indian in an Olympic walking event, finishing 10th in the 20km race, with a
national record to boot.
In Hockey, India finished last in their group. This was the first time in Olympic
history that India lost all their group matches.

History of India in Olympics

The first authentic Indian team took part at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games in
athletics and wrestling. A National Olympic Committee was finally formed in 1927.
India's greatest successes at the Olympics have come in mens hockey. They won
every mens title from 1928 to 1956. In 1960 they reached the final but lost to
Pakistan to end the sequence. India were an ever present on the mens hockey medal
podium until 1976 and their last gold medal success in this sport came at the
Moscow 1980 Olympic Games.

Indian shooters have challenged for medals in the new millennium. Rajyavardhan
Singh Rathore won silver in the mens double trap in Athens 2004. Shooter Abinav
Bindra became Indias first individual gold medalist when he won the 10m air rifle
at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

At the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, Norman Pritchard had won silver medals in
the mens 200m and the now discontinued 200m hurdles. He was the first medal
winner born in India but confusion surrounds his nationality as India was then under
British rule.

HIGHLIGHTS
Jamaica's Usain Bolt won the mens 100m race in 9.63 secondsa new Olympic
record. Yohan Blake ran 9.75 for the silver. Justin Gatlin got the bronze in 9.79. With
the exception of former world record holder Asafa Powell everyone finished under
10 seconds.

Bolt sealed his status as the greatest sprinter of all times after retaining the mens
Olympic 100m title. The worlds fastest man and his Jamaica relay team mates
provided three of the enduring moments of the Games. The showman opened his
campaign with a Games record in the 100 metres, followed up by becoming the first
man to retain his titles in the 100 and 200mwhere Jamaica finished 1-2-3and
then anchored the 4x100 relay to a world record time.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica won the womens 100m race. With the victory,
she became the first woman to repeat in the 100 since Gail Devers of the US in 1992
and 1996.

Michael Phelps became the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at
three straight Olympics, capturing the 200-meter individual medley for his 20th
career medaland 16th gold. He touched in 1 minute, 54.27 seconds, just off his
winning time in Beijing, but still good enough for gold. His final tally: 18 career
golds, 22 medals.
Tahmina Kohistani was the sole Afghani female athlete at the London Olympics.

Mexico got first Olympic football gold. It beat 5-time world champion Brazil in the
final. South Korea beat Japan to win the bronze.

Germany won the gold in mens hockey. The womens gold was won by
Netherlands, who became only the second team, after the great Australia side of the
late 1990s, to win back-to-back Olympic titles.

Mo Farah won 5,000 and 10,000 meters gold. Mogadishu-born but proudly British,
Farahs feat was hailed as the greatest in the countrys athletic history. The first
Briton to win a long-distance gold, he was only the seventh man to do the Olympic
5,000/10,000 double.

US women win 4x100 meters relay gold. Their record, a sizzling 40.82 seconds,
smashed the world mark of 41.37 set by the old East Germany in 1985.

Saudi Arabia sent female athletes for the first time, ensuring every country
competing was represented by both sexes. Judoka Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim
Shaherkani, a painfully shy teenager with no international experience and wearing
an ill-fitting suit and head-covering, made a brave debut in front of a global audience
of millions. She lasted only 80 seconds but won plenty of applause nonetheless.

After years of battling for Olympic inclusion, female fighters finally had their
moment. The first to take gold in the ring was 29-year-old British flyweight Nicola
Adams whose previous jobs included tiling and working as an extra in television
shows.

Kenyan David Rudishas world record-breaking time in 800 meters race was hailed
as the standout performance of the Olympics

USA fell in love with gymnast Gabby Douglas, the Flying Squirrel who became
the first African American to win an Olympic title in the womens individual all-
round event.

Kirani James's 400 metres gold was the first Olympic medal for Grenada. However,
equally memorable was the moment after the semi-final heat when he and South
African Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius, the first double amputee to compete on the
track at a Games, exchanged name bibs.

After one hour 59 minutes and 48 seconds of swimming, cycling and running,
Switzerlands Nicola Spirig and Swedens Lisa Norden crossed the line together in
womens triathlon. It took a photo-finish to separate them. The mens race also stood
 out for the sight of British winner Alistair Brownlee winning gold.

Ye Shiwen, the 16-year-old Chinese swimmer, won two golds in London but her
smashing of the 400 meters individual medley world record, with a time five
seconds faster than her personal best, was astonishing.

A huge crowd packed the streets of central London to see Kiprotich win Ugandas
first medal of the Games. Running side by side with Kenyas world champion Abel
Kirui and Wilson Kipsang, the 23-year-old shook off his rivals and crossed the finish
line draped in his national flag. He was Uganda's first gold medalist since John Akii-
Bua 40 years ago in the 400m hurdles.

Mascot
Wenlock was the official mascot of the Games. The mascot was created and
designed by iris, a London-based creative agency. Wenlock is an animation depicting
two drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton. It was named after the Shropshire
town of Much Wenlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic Games.

The 2G spectrum scam involved politicians and government officials in India illegally
undercharging mobile telephony companies forfrequency allocation licenses, which they would then use
to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money
which the law mandated to be collected is estimated to be 176,645 crore (US$31.97 billion), as valued
by theComptroller and Auditor General of India based on 3G and BWA spectrum auction prices in 2010.
[1]
However, the exact loss is disputed. In a chargesheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the investigating
agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the loss was pegged at 30,984.55 crore (US$5.61 billion)
[2]
whereas on 19 August 2011 in a reply to CBI, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that
the govt gained over 3,000 crore (US$543 million) by giving 2G Spectrum.[2] Similarly Kapil Sibal,
the Minister of communications & IT, claimed in 2011, during a press conference, that "zero loss" was
caused by distributing 2G licenses on first-come-first-servedbasis.[3]

All the speculations of profit, loss and no-loss were put to rest on 2 February 2012 when the Supreme
Court of India delivered judgement on a public interest litigation (PIL) which was directly related to
the 2G spectrum scam. The Supreme Court declared allotment of spectrum as "unconstitutional and
arbitrary," and quashed all the 122 licenses issued in 2008 during tenure of A. Raja (then minister for
communications & IT) the main official accused in the 2G scam case. [4] The court further said that A. Raja
"wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and "virtually gifted away
important national asset."[5] The "zero loss theory" was further demolished[6] on 3 August 2012 when as
per the directions of the Supreme Court, Govt of India revised the base price for 5 MHz 2G spectrum
auction to 14,000 crore (US$2.53 billion), which roughly gives the value of spectrum to be around
2,800 crore (US$506.8 million) per MHz that is close to the CAG's estimate of 3,350 crore (US$606.35
million) per MHz.[7][8]
The original plan for awarding licences was to follow a first-come-first-served policy to applicants. A.
Raja manipulated the rules so that the first-come-first-served policy would kick in - not on the basis of
who applied first for a license, but who complied with the conditions. [9] On 10 January 2008, companies
were given just a few hours to provide their Letters of Intent and cheques. Those allegedly tipped off by
Mr Raja were waiting with their cheques and other documents. Some of their executives were sent to jail
along with the Minister himself.[9]

ndia is divided into 22 telecom zones, with a total of 281 zonal licenses in the market. [13] According to the
telecom policy of India, when a licence is allotted to an operator, some start-up spectrum is bundled along
with it.[14] The policy does not have a provision for auctioning the spectrum. [15] In 2008, 122 new second
generation (2G) Unified Access Service (UAS) licenses were given to telecom companies at the 2001
price and on a first-come-first-serve basis. As per the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI), several rules were violated and bribes were paid to favour certain firms while
awarding 2G spectrum licenses. The audit report ofComptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) says
that several licenses were issued to firms with no prior experience in the telecom sector or were ineligible
or had suppressed relevant facts.[16] In November 2007 Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh had
written a letter to telecom minister A. Raja directing him to ensure allotment of 2G spectrum in a fair and
transparent manner and to ensure license fee was properly revised. Raja wrote back to the Prime Minister
rejecting many of his recommendations.[17] In the same monthMinistry of Finance wrote a letter
to Department of Telecommunications (DOT) raising concerns over the procedure adopted by
it[17] butDOT went ahead with its plan of giving 2G licenses. It preponed the cut-off date to 25 September,
from 1 October 2007.[17] Later on the same day, DoT posted an announcement on its website saying those
who apply between 3.30 and 4.30 pm on that very day would be issued licences in accordance with the
said policy.[17] Companies like Unitech & Swan Telecom got licenses without any prior telecom
experience.[15] Swan Telecom got the license even though it did not meet eligibility criteria. [15] Swan got
license for 1,537 crore (US$278.2 million) and then it sold 45% stake to UAE based
company Etisalat for 4,200 crore (US$760.2 million).[15]Unitech Wireless, a subsidiary of the Unitech
Group, got license for 1,661 crore (US$300.64 million) and later sold 60% stake for
6,200 crore (US$1.12 billion) to Norway based company Telenor.[15]

Following is the list of companies who received 2G licenses during the tenure of A. Raja as Telecom
Minister.[18][19] (The licenses were later quashed by Supreme Court) [20][21]

Telecom regions
Name of
for which license Number of license granted Remarks
Company
was granted

Adonis Projects Haryana, 6 Adonis Projects, Nahan Properties,

Pvt. Ltd. Himachal Pradesh, Aska Projects, Volga Properties,
Jammu & Azare Properties & Hudson
Kashmir, Punjab, Properties were acquired
Rajasthan, Uttar by Unitech. Unitech Infrastructure
Pradesh (East) and Unitech Builders & Estates
 Assam, Bihar,
Nahan North East, Orissa,
Properties Pvt. Uttar Pradesh 6
Ltd. (East), West
Bengal

Aska Projects Andhra Pradesh,

3
Ltd. Kerala, Karnataka

were already subsidiaries

Gujarat, Madhya of Unitech Group. So in
Volga Properties
Pradesh, 3 2008 Unitech had 22 2G licenses.
Pvt. Ltd.
Maharashtra Later in the same year Norway
based companyTelenor bought
Azure Properties majority stake in the telecom
Kolkata 1
Ltd. company from the Unitech Group.
Now it offers services
Hudson under Uninor brand holding 22
Delhi 1 pan India licences.
Properties

Unitech Builders Tamil Nadu

& Estates Pvt. (including 1
Ltd. Chennai)

Unitech
Infrastructures Mumbai 1
Pvt. Ltd.

Loop Telecom Bihar, Gujarat, 21

Pvt. Ltd. Himachal,
Pradesh, Kerala,
Kolkata, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh (East),
Uttar Pradesh
(West), West
Bengal, Andhra
Pradesh, Delhi,
Haryana,
Karnataka,
Maharashtra,
Orissa, Tamil
 Nadu (including
Chennai), Assam,
Jammu &
Kashmir, Madhya
Pradesh, North
East

Andhra Pradesh,
Assam, Bihar,
Gujarat, Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu &
Kashmir,
Karnataka, Kerala,
Kolkata, Madhya
Datacom Pradesh, Operates under brand
Solutions Pvt. Maharashtra, 21 name Videocon
Ltd. North East, Orissa, Telecommunications Limited
Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu (including
Chennai), Uttar
Pradesh (East),
Uttar Pradesh
(West), West
Bengal, Delhi,
Mumbai

Shyam Telelink Madhya Pradesh, 17 Shyam Telelink Limited & Shyani

Limited Kerala, Kolkata, Telelink Limited operate together
Punjab, Uttar with their combined 21 licenses.
Pradesh (East), During late 2008 Russia based
Uttar Pradesh group Sistema bought majority
(West), West stake in the telecom company and
Bengal, Andhra now they operate under brand
Pradesh, Delhi, name MTS India.
Haryana,
Karnataka,
Maharashtra,
Orissa, Tamil
Nadu (including
Chennai), Assam,
Jammu &
Kashmir, North
 East

Mumbai, Bihar,
Shyani Telelink
Gujarat, Himachal 4
Limited
Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat, Haryana,
Karnataka, Kerala,
Maharashtra,
Punjab, Rajasthan,
Swan Telecom Tamil Nadu In 2008, Swan Telecom merged
13 itself with Allianz Infratech (P)
Pvt. Ltd. (including
Chennai), Uttar Ltd. During late 2008 Abu
Pradesh (East), Dhabi's Etisalat bought about 45
Uttar Pradesh percent of the company and
(West), Delhi, renamed it toEtisalat DB Telecom
Mumbai

Allianz Infratech Bihar, Madhya

2
(P) Ltd. Pradesh

Assam, Punjab,
Karnataka, Jammu
and Kashmir, Idea Cellular bought Spice
North East, Communications Ltd. in 2008 for
Idea Cellular Kolkata, West 9 an amount of
Bengal, Orissa, 2,700 crore (US$488.7 million).
[22]
Tamil Nadu So out of 122 spectrum licenses
(including sold in 2008 Idea Cellular owns 13
Chennai) licenses. However of the 13
licenses, only 7 of the licenses are
in use by the company and the rest
Spice Delhi, Andhra are overlapping licenses.[23]
Communications Pradesh, Haryana, 4
Ltd. Maharashtra

S Tel Assam, Jammu 6 In January 2009, Bahrain

and Kashmir, Telecommunications signed a deal
Orissa, North East, with S Tel to buy 49% shares in S
Bihar, Himachal Tel for $225 million. C
Pradesh Sivasankaran owns the remaining
(51%) share.[24][25] In May
 2009, Sahara Group bought 11.7%
stake in S Tel[26]

In late 2008 promoters

of Tata Teleservices sold
26% equity stake to a
Japanese telecom
Jammu and
giant NTT Docomo for
Tata Teleservices Kashmir, Assam,
about 13,070 crore (US$
North East
2.37 billion) or an
enterprise value of
50,269 crore (US$9.1
billion).[27]

[edit]Parties accused of involvement

The selling of the licenses brought attention to three groups of entities politicians and bureaucrats who
had the authority to sell licenses, corporations who were buying the licenses and media professionals who
mediated between the politicians and the corporations.

[edit]Politicians accused

Politicians named as accused in the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the
Special CBI Court, allegations levelled against them by CBI and charges framed against them by the
Special CBI court.[28][29][30][31]

A. Raja :

Political career - Political party DMK, 4 times Member of Parliament, present

constituency Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, former Union Minister of State (Rural Development - 1999), former
Union Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare - 2003), former Union Cabinet Minister
(Environment & Forests - 2004), former Union Cabinet Minister (Communication and Information
Technology - 2007 & 2009)[32][33][34][35]

Allegation - In a joint investigation report prepared by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income
Tax Department the agencies allege that A.Raja could have received 3,000 crore (US$543 million) as
bribe for bringing forward the cut-off date for applications for spectrum from the initial 1 October 2007 to
25 September 2007.[36][37] The deadline switch eliminated many applications, enabling Raja to favour a
few with spectrum.[36][37] The agencies also alleged that he used bank accounts under his wife's name in
Mauritius and Seychelles to channelise the kickbacks he received. [38] A chargesheet filed by CBI alleges
that Raja conspired with the accused, subverted the first-come first-served (FCFS) policy and waywardly
redefined it to ensure that Swan and Unitech got 2G licences. [39] He didnt auction the 2G spectrum or
adopt some other market-determined methodology to determine its real valuation and instead
benchmarked it to a rate discovered in 2001, when the telecom sector was at a nascent stage. [39]
Charges - Criminal breach of trust by a public servant under section 409, criminal conspiracy under
section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under
the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting illegal gratification.[28][40][41]

Status - Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 2 February 2011[42] On 9 May 2012 he applied for bail
for the first time since his arrest.[43][44] and was granted bail on 15 May 2012[45][46][47] As of August 2012,
trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[48]

M. K. Kanimozhi :

Political career - Daughter of 5 time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi. Political party DMK.
She is a Member of Parliament, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian
Parliament).[49][50]

Allegation - As per the chargesheet filed by CBI Kanimozhi has 20% stake in her family owned Kalaignar
TV, her step-mother Dayalu Ammal owns 60% stake in the same channel. [51] CBI alleges that Kanimozhi
was an "active brain" behind the channel's operations [51] and she worked along with former telecom
minister A. Raja to get DB Realty promoter Shahid Balwa to circuitously route 200 crore (US$36.2
million) to Kalaignar TV.[52] According to CBI, Kanimozhi was in regular touch with A Raja regarding
launching of Kalaignar TV channel and its other pending works. [52] CBI alleges that A Raja was further
pursuing the cause of Kalaignar TV not only for getting registration of the company from Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting but also for getting it in the DTH operator TATA Sky's bouquet. She was
also summoned by the Income Tax Department, Chennai for alleged tax evasion charges. [52]

Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy
under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under
the Prevention of Corruption Act.[28][40]

Status - Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 20 May 2011.[53][54] Granted bail on 28 November 2011
after spending 188 days in judicial custody.[55][56] As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special
CBI Court.[48]

Pramod Mahajan- CBI decided to include the name of late Pramod Mahajan in a separate column of the
charge sheet to be filed by it soon against three cellular companies and former officials in connection with
alleged irregularities in spectrum allocation during NDA regime causing a loss of Rs 508 crore to the
exchequer.[

There has been lot of hoopla over Foreign Direct Investment in the Retail sector. With the elections
coming up in few states, the central government has put on hold the 100% FDI in multi-brand retail. FDI
in Retail is likely to usher in further economic reform. This is likely to be a hot topic during the Writing
Ability Test (WAT) rounds at the IIMs for admissions 2012.

Let us discuss the Pros and Cons of FDI in Retail. Before discussing that let us have a look at the overall
economic status of retail sector at present.
Let us have a look at the Indian retail industry

The Indian retail industry has scaled impeccable growth over the last decade with an amiable acceptance
to organised retailing formats. The industry is maturing towards modern concept of retailing, cornering
the conventional unorganised family-owned businesses.

India has been ranked as the fourth most attractive nation for retail investment among 30 emerging
markets by the US-based global management consulting firm, A T Kearney, in its Global Retail
Development Index (GRDI) 2011.

AT Kearney has also conducted a different study which says that organised retailers should follow
hypermarket concept to penetrate through Indias multi billion industry. According to the report, given the
gigantic size of the Indian retail market, it is no surprise that many Middle East retailers, most recently
Lulu, have announced their interests to extend their retail operations to India.

Retail in India

The Rs 18,673 billion (US$ 401 billion) Indian retail market entails only 6 per cent of itself as organised
retail segment as of 2010, according to Booz and Co (India) Pvt Ltd. Hence, there is a great potential to
be explored by domestic and international players.

The Business Monitor International (BMI) India Retail Report for the fourth-quarter of 2011 forecasts
that the total retail sales will grow from US$ 411.28 billion in 2011 to US$ 804.06 billion by 2015. The
report has underlined factors like economic growth, population expansion, increasing wealth of
individuals and rapid construction of organised retail infrastructure as major drivers for the optimistic
forecast figures.

According to a research report named Retail Sector in India by Research and Markets, Indian retail
sector accounts for 22 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and contributes to 8 per
cent of the total employment. The report further highlighted that hypermarkets (currently accounting for
14 per cent of mall space) will witness immense progress in the Indian landscape.

Government move on FDI in Retail

The government has decided to open up the retail sector to global investors through FDI in multi-brand
retail with a ceiling of 51%, and 100% FDI in single-brand retail.

It means that global retailers such as Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco and others can set up mega deep-discount
stores in the country through joint ventures with Indian firms, where the foreign partner can hold up 51%
equity.

Single brand retail companies such as Swedish furnishing giant Ikea or sporting goods and equipment
major Reebok can set up stores of their own in India through their own subsidiaries. Till now they were
required to set up stores through joint ventures in India that allowed the foreign partner to own up to 51%
equity.

The FDI approval (still subject to Parliament giving the go ahead) will come with a string of conditions.
At least half of the FDI should be made in back-end infrastructure such as cold-chain and warehousing,
the minimum FDI in any multi-brand retail project should be $100 million (around Rs 500 crore), state
governments can prohibit FDI in retail in their states if they wish to, stores can be set up only in cities
with a population of at least 1 million, and at least 30% of the value of manufactured items procured
should be sourced from Indian small and medium enterprises.

FOR

-- Opposition parties and small traders are worried that large deep-discount stores of transnational
corporations will drive street vendors and neighbourhood mom-and-pop kirana stores out of business,
endangering their livelihood. But this is unlikely because large deep discount stores cannot offer the
convenience and loyalty of neighbourhood kirana stores who are available at the customers beck and call,
literally.

-- FDI in retail will ensure procurement, at least of fruits and vegetables directly from farmers offering
them higher income. At present, the price that a farmer gets for a kilo of onions is about half of what it is
sold to by vendors and retailers to final consumers. By engaging local producers, organised retail provides
them with an access to a much broader consumer set. For instance, a leading retailer operating in north
India has engaged a local pickle manufacturer in Amritsar and invested to upgrade its equipment.

-- Organised retail provides higher quality of goods on account of the predefined and stringent standards
adopted by the retailers. And of course the price will be cheaper. Studies have shown that consumers, on
an average, will save at least 10% on daily use goods.

AGAINST

-- Though most of the high decibel arguments in favour of FDI in the retail sector are not without some
merit, it is not fully applicable to the retailing sector in India, or at least, not yet. This is because the
primary task of government in India is still to provide livelihoods and not create so called efficiencies of
scale by creating redundancies.

-- Allowing FDI will have immediate and dire consequences. Entry of foreign players now will most
definitely disrupt the current balance of the economy, will render millions of small retailers jobless by
closing the small slit of opportunity available to them.

-- The supermarket will typically sell everything, from vegetables to the latest electronic gadgets, at
extremely low prices that will most likely undercut those in nearby local stores selling similar goods.
WalMart would be more likely to source its raw materials from abroad, and procure goods like vegetables
and fruits directly from farmers at preordained quantities and specifications. This means a foreign
company will buy big from India and abroad and be able to sell low severely undercutting the small
retailers. Once a monopoly situation is created this will then turn into buying low and selling high.
-- Such re-orientation of sourcing of materials will completely disintegrate the already established supply
chain. In time, the neighbouring traditional outlets are also likely to fold and perish, given the predatory
pricing power that a foreign player is able to exert.

-- It is easy to visualise from the discussion above, how the entry of just one big retailer is capable of
destroying a whole local economy and send it hurtling down a spiral. One must also not forget how
countries like China, Malaysia and Thailand, who opened their retail sector to FDI in the recent past, have
been forced to enact new laws to check the prolific expansion of the new foreign malls and hypermarkets.

-- It is true that it is in the consumers best interest to obtain his goods and services at the lowest possible
price. But this is a privilege for the individual consumer and it cannot, in any circumstance, override the
responsibility of any society to provide economic security for its population. Clearly collective well-being
must take precedence over individual benefits

YOUR VIEW

Based on the pros and cons, you can conclude like debate this: Entry of foreign players must be gradual
and with social safeguards so that the effects of the labour dislocation can be analysed & policy finetuned.
Initially allow them to set up supermarkets only in metros. Make the costs of entry high and according to
specific norms and regulations so that the retailer cannot immediately indulge in predatory pricing.

Of course, based on the information and your own research, you can summarize your point of view in
your own way.

Coal allocation scam or Coalgate,[1] as referred by the media, is a political scandal concerning the Indian
government's allocation of the nation's coal deposits to public sector entities (PSEs) and private
companies. In a draft report issued in March 2012, theComptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)
office accused the Government of India of allocating coal blocks in an inefficient manner during the
period 2004-2009. Over the Summer of 2012, the opposition BJP lodged a complaint resulting in
a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into whether the allocation of the coal blocks was in fact
influenced by corruption.[2]

The essence of the CAG's argument is that the Government had the authority to allocate coal blocks by a
process of competitive bidding, but chose not to. [2] As a result both public sector enterprises (PSEs) and
private firms paid less than they might have otherwise. In its draft report in March the CAG estimated that
the "windfall gain" to the allocatees was 1,067,303 crore (US$193.18 billion).[2] The CAG Final Report
tabled in Parliament put the figure at 185,591 crore (US$33.59 billion)[3]On August 27, 2012 Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh read a statement in Parliament rebutting the CAG's report both in its
reading of the law and the alleged cost of the government's policies. [4][5][6]

While the initial CAG report suggested that coal blocks could have been allocated more efficiently,
resulting in more revenue to the government, at no point did it suggest that corruption was involved in the
allocation of coal. Over the course of 2012, however, the question of corruption has come to dominate the
discussion. In response to a complaint by the BJP, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) directed the
CBI to investigate the matter. The CBI has named a dozen Indian firms in a First Information
Report (FIR), the first step in a criminal investigation. These FIRs accuse them of overstating their net
worth, failing to disclose prior coal allocations, and hoarding rather than developing coal allocations. [7]
[8]
The CBI officials investigating the case have speculated that bribery may be involved. [7]

The issue has received massive media reaction and public outrage. During the monsoon session of the
Parliament, the BJP protested the Government's handling of the issue demanding the resignation of the
Prime Minister and refused to have a debate in the Parliament. The deadlock resulted in Parliament
functioning only seven of the twenty days of the session. [9][10]

archAugust 2012. Coalgate grows: the media, the BJP, and the CBI investigation

On March 22, the Times Of India, broke the story on the contents of the Draft CAG Report:

NEW DELHI: The CAG is at it again. About 16 months after it rocked the UPA government with its
explosive report on allocation of 2G spectrum and licences, the Comptroller & Auditor General's draft
report titled 'Performance Audit Of Coal Block Allocations' says the government has extended "undue
benefits", totalling a mind-boggling Rs 10.67 lakh crore, to commercial entities by giving them 155 coal
acreages without auction between 2004 and 2009. The beneficiaries include some 100 private companies,
as well as some public sector units, in industries such as power, steel and cement. [24][25]

The story listed the following companies as the leading beneficiaries of the coal allocations:

Windfall Gains to Allocatees (in crore)

Private Sector Public Sector

Company Gains Company Gains

Strategic Energy Tech System (Tata-Sasol) 33,060 NTPC Limited 35,024

Electro Steel Castings & others 26,320 TNEB & MSMCL 26,584

Jindal Steel and Power 21,226 NTPC 22,301

Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd & others 15,967 JSEB & BSMDC 18,648

Ram Swarup & others 15,633 MMTC 18,628

JSPL & Gagan Sponge Iron Ltd 12,767 WBPDCL 17,358

MCL/JSW/JPL & others 10,419 CMDC 16,498

Tata Steel Ltd 7,161 MSEB & GSECL 15,335

Chhattisgarh Captive Coal Co Ltd 7,023 JSMDCL 11,988

 CESC Ltd & J&S Infrastructure 6,851 MPSMCL 9,947

[edit]Allegations against S Jagathrakshakan

See also: S. Jagathrakshakan

In September 2012, several news reports alleged that family of S Jagathrakshakan, Minister of State for
Information and Broadcasting in the UPA government is a part of a company named JR Power Gen Pvt
Ltd which was awarded a coal block in Orissa in 2007. It was the same company which formed a joint
venture with a public sector company, Puducherry Industrial Promotion Development and Investment
Corporation (PIPDIC), on January 17, 2007. Barely five days after, PIPDIC was allotted a coal block.
According to the MoU, JR Power enjoyed a stake in this allotment. However, JR Power had no expertise
in thermal power, iron and steel, or cement, the key sectors for consumption of coal. Later, in 2010, JR
Power sold 51% stake to KSK Energy Ventures, an established player with interests in the energy sector.
In this way, the rights for the use of the coal block ultimately passed on to KSK. [26][27]

Reacting to this, Jagathrakshakan admitted to getting a coal block, and said that, "It is true that we got a
coal allocation but it was a sub-contract with Puducherry government and then we gave it away to KSK
company. Now, we have got nothing to do with the allocation but if the government wants to take back
the allocation it can do so."[28]

Does Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene & Cooking gas price hike affect the people

There are some commodities which affect the society on a very large scale in terms of economic as well
as social fronts. Diesel, Kerosene and Cooking Gas come under such categories. While Diesel is used in
industrial and agricultural work on a very large scale, Kerosene and Cooking Gas have direct relation to
the last household of the country. Thus any increase in the price of these commodities directly affects the
life of ordinary people. The very first consequence of diesel hike is increase in transportation charges that
results in increase in price of almost all commodities and thus fuel inflation, which is already in double
digit figure. Secondly hike in diesel price directly increase the cost of production of the farmers as diesel
is used in almost all agricultural activities from irrigation to cultivation and transportation. Any increase
in diesel price thus push farmers backward as there is no immediate relief, like increase in MSP
(Minimum Support Price) or increased market price to their crops, to them. Hence any increase in diesel
price has a very big impact on the society and worst affected is the poorest section. Increase in price of
kerosene and cooking gas directly raise the price of meal and light to the citizens resulting more problems
for the society already grappling with price rise and poverty. Cooking gas price rise also hamper
Governments plan to promote the use of clean fuels for cooking in rural areas since people would not
prefer costly cooking gas to other cheaper domestic alternatives (i.e. woods and uplas).

On the other hand increase in petrol price doesnt have any direct impact on the poor, it raises the fuel
charges of personal vehicles, thus force people to move to the other cheaper options (i.e. diesel, LPG)
which again increase subsidy burden on the government and cause misuse of subsidy given for welfare of
the ordinary and poor people.

As India import almost 75% of its petroleum needs, it is not possible for the government to maintain low
prices of these commodities for a very long time when price of petroleum products increase day by day in
the international market. It would increase subsidy burden on government and would result in more fiscal
deficit. Hence to curb the negative impact, of such price rise, on the ordinary people we should change
our policies regarding subsidy and APM (Administered Price Mechanism). We should identify the priority
consumers and their need of a certain commodity and then make some blocks of consumers and decide
adequate and different subsidy percentage for them (different for each block as per their capacity and
need). Along with this, direct transfer of subsidy amount to their accounts will curb misuse of subsidies
and lower the impact of such price rise on the most vulnerable section of the society. Promoting use of
unconventional fuels for lighting and cooking (as solar power) will reduce the dependence on petroleum
products and thus would also curb the impact of price rise of these products on the society. Thus it is
obvious that any hike in the price of Diesel, Petrol, Kerosene and Cooking gas affect the society but by
taking preventive and precautionary measures the impact on larger section can be reduced.