Monday, November 30, 2009

India's economy continues to grow

India's economy grew at a faster-than-expected rate of 7.9% in the three months to September, compared to the same period last year. The growth was helped by government stimulus spending. A boost in manufacturing and services helped the country expand at the fastest pace for 18 months. Some analysts said this could give the central bank room to raise interest rates as early as December to combat rising inflation. "This data could be a green light for the Reserve Bank of India to hike rates, and there are greater chances of this by the end of the calendar year," said Robert Prior-Wandesforde from HSBC. "The exit from the fiscal stimulus by the government may also be earlier post-the GDP data," he added. However, a government official said he expected no change in stimulus policy for the current fiscal year. Farm output was up 0.9% in the third quarter but economists warned that the figures did notreflect the poor monsoon season. The central bank warned that the poor season was more likelyto drive food price inflation.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Senate report: Bin Laden was 'within our grasp


WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden was unquestionably within reach of U.S. troops in the mountains of Tora Bora when American military leaders made the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force, a Senate report says.The report asserts that the failure to kill or capture bin Laden at his most vulnerable in December 2001 has had lasting consequences beyond the fate of one man. Bin Laden's escape laid the foundation for today's reinvigorated Afghan insurgency and inflamed the internal strife now endangering

Friday, November 27, 2009

'Outrageous' Raju ranks high on CEO shame list


It's one Forbes list where none would want to figure, but Ramalinga Raju, the founder-chairman Satyam Computers (now Mahindra Satyam), has managed the feat of being among the world's ‘10 Most Outrageous CEOs’.Raju has been ranked as the world's fourth most outrageous CEO in 2009 on the list compiled by the Forbes, known for its rankings of the richest and the most powerful the world over.Giving Raju company are Sri Lankan-origin American hedge fund manager Raj Rajarathnam (third), former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain (2nd) and Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein (1st).Raju, the only Indian on the list dominated by Americans, owes his place on the list to his disclosure in January about committing the country's biggest ever corporate fraud.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Mahindra Satyam recovers after a steep slide


Mahindra Satyam rose 1% to Rs 91.45 at 14:00 IST on bargain hunting after the company's top official told media that customer attrition has stopped and the firm is not resorting to price cuts to bag new deals.Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 126.81 points, or 0.74%, to 17072.14.On BSE, 2.17 crore shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 78.23 lakh shares in the past one quarter.The stock hit a high of Rs 93.80 and a low of Rs 83.05 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 251 on 1 December 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 11.50 on 9 January 2009.The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 25 November 2009, falling 18.24% as compared to the Sensex's 2.31% rise. It underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 16.12% as against 9.63% increase in the Sensex.The large-cap software company has an equity capital of Rs 235.13 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.Mahindra Satyam's president, global operations, Atul Kunwar was quoted by the media as saying on Wednesday, 25 November 2009, that Mahindra Satyam has added about 36 clients since July and currently has about 420 customers. It has renewed over 50 deals in the last three months.Mr Kunwar said the company is working on reviving contracts with customers who left in the wake of the scandal, and is in talks with the World Bank to lift an eight-year ban imposed last December.The company, which is looking at expanding its board with independent directors, is not seeing any payment delays, he said.The stock slumped 10.92% to Rs 90.55 on Wednesday, 25 November 2009, after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found evidence of an additional Rs 4739 crore corporate fraud in the company, perpetrated by its founder R Ramalinga Raju and his associates.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

India ready to discuss Kashmir with Pakistan: Singh


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing the council of foreign relations in Washington on Monday said that New Delhi is ready to pick up the threads of the dialogue with Islamabad, including issues related to Jammu & Kashmir. Singh also reasserted of better relations with Pakistan if Pakistan acts to curb terror networks operation from its soil.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Anil present in apex court for gas row hearing


Anil Ambani was on Tuesday present in the Supreme Court for the ongoing hearing of the gas row between his group RNRL and his brother's RIL."My presence in the Hon'ble Supreme Court today reflects my deepest regard for our judiciary," Anil said in a brief statement to the media."I have come here today not just on my own behalf but on behalf of nearly 11 million shareholders of the Reliance ADA Group-the largest shareholding family in the world-whose interests will be directly affected by the outcome of this case," he said.The Ambani brothers are locked in a bitter battle over the supply and price of the gas from KG basin.
While RNRL is seeking gas at a committed price of $2.34 per unit, RIL says it cannot honour the commitment made in the 2005 family agreement due to government's pricing and gas policies.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Maruti Suzuki to launch van to replace Versa


The country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), today said it will launch a new van within this fiscal to replace its MPV versaVersa, whose production has been stopped. "We will be launching a new van by the end of this fiscal. This vehicle will replace the Versa, whose production has already been stopped," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Executive Officer (Engineering) I V Rao told reporters on the sidelines of the Fourth Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Conference here. He, however, did not give the price point of the soon-to-be launched vehicle. MSI is also looking to produce one million vehicles by the end of this fiscal. "Hopefully, we will have one million units in production by the end of this financial year by utilising our full capacity," Rao said. He added the company is working on making all its models Bharat Stage-IV compliant as required under the government norms. "We have not completed BS-IV compliance norms on all our models but we are working towards that direction.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Airtel slashes cell roaming rates by 60 per cent


Bharti Airtel has launched a new mobile phone tariff plan with 60 per cent lower roaming rates, opening a new front in the ongoing price war that has impacted the profitability of the country’s telcos.The country’s largest telecom firm on Friday said that the new plan will bring down the roaming rates to 60 paise per minute forcalls within its network and 80 paise per minute for calls to other networks. Reliance Communications, the country’s second largest cellular operator, is already offering a lower roaming rate of 50 paise per minute for all its customers on all networks. Other GSM operators such as Vodafone Essar, BSNL and Idea Cellular are also expected to launch new billing plans that offer lower roaming rates within the next couple of days. Bharti Airtel president for mobile services, Atul Bindal said that this is an attempt to join the price war scenario currently prevailing in the industry. “Our primary aim is to bring the advantage of our network to our customers. Recent research has shown that customers need benefits while travelling and are not satisfied with just local calling benefits and our network is uniquely positioned to offer similar benefits on roaming all across the country.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Sachin completes 30,000 runs in internationsl cricket


Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has reached another milestone in his career by completing a phenomenal 30,000 runs in international cricket during the ongoing Ahmedabad Test against Sri Lanka on Friday.Tendulkar, who completed 20 glorious years in cricket on Sunday (November 15), needed 35 runs to reach the landmark at the start of India's second innings in the Ahmedabad Test against Sri Lanka.Next in line for the feat is is Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who had recently crossed 24,000 runs.Tendulkar has 17,178 runs in ODI cricket, 10 runs in the only T20 International he's played, and 12,812 Test runs at the time the landmark was reached.He holds the record for most ODI and Test runs and centuries.Tendulkar is clearly widening the gap between him and his contemporaries and it is certainly going to be difficult for anybody to catch up with the great batsman.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Ambanis, Mittal in Forbes' list of richest Indians


Mukesh Ambani has emerged the wealthiest person in India with a net worth of $32 billion, as the number of Indian billionaires in Forbes' ‘India Rich List’ this year has nearly doubled to 52, thanks to the rebound in stock markets. London-based Lakshmi N Mittal with $30 billion, Anil Ambani with $17.5 billion, Azim Premji with $14.9 billion, Shashi and Ravi Ruia with $13.6 billion and K P Singh with $13.5 billion make up the top five billionaires on this year's list. "The combined net worth of India's 100 richest people is $276 billion - almost a quarter of the country's gross domestic product," the magazine said, adding the number of Indian billionaires has also nearly doubled from 27 last year.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

TVS to launch 110-cc clutch less motorcycle


The country’s third largest two-wheeler manufacturer, TVS Motor Company, is set to launch a 110-cc clutch-less motorcycle, a first in the world's second-largest two wheeler market.The bike will be unveiled to the company's 600-strong dealer network in Macau on Wednesday and would be launched in the country later this month. It will be powered by a 110cc engine with four gears, comparable to most other vehicles in its category, but will have an auto clutch system coupled with an anti-stall mechanism, which make the bike almost gearless.“The bike will be launched in India shortly and it will be an answer to stressful driving in the cities," said a senior company official who did not wish to be named. "Despite the break through in technology, it will not have a premium price tag."

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Nokia N97 Mini Arrives in India


Nokia has launched the younger sibling of the N97, the N97 Mini, in India just a few months after the bigger, better endowed Nokia N97 was announced. Positioned as the cheaper alternative to the N97, the phone comes with a slightly smaller screen and unlike the N97, this device does not have the navi-pad on the keyboard.
The N97 Mini, on all other fronts, is visually similar to the N97 and is at par with its larger sibling in terms of features as well. The device will be on sale by the last week of November and will be available in Cherry Black, Garnet and White colors. The phone is priced at Rs. 30,939 - which is slightly lower than the price of the N97. Along with the phone, Nokia has also launched a new contest wherein four winners will be shortlisted by a panel of judges and two stand to win Nokia N97 mini for free every week.
The N97 Mini, just like the N97, supports Nokia's Ovi range of services. It also comes with the Lifecasting application from Nokia that allows users to publish location and status update directly to their Facebook account from the mobile device.
You can prebook the N97 Mini starting November 23.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Taj launches tough task of back-to-glory mission

Tata Sons are at work on Taj Palace Hotel to live up to Gregory Peck’s dream. Peck, one of Hollywood's greatest stars, had checked into the Taj by the Gateway in 1980, his return to Mumbai after 28 years. What he saw around surely impressed him.
“The old Taj is the same-like a jewelled crown,” he famously remarked. Almost three decades and a devastating terrorist attack later, Ratan Tata & Co have now deployed an army of engineers and designers to lift up the old Heritage Wing of this showpiece hotel and make it India’s crown jewel once more, an earshot from the Queen’s Necklace Nariman Point drive way.
It’s not an easy task to rebuild what Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata had crafted by painstakingly collecting the best jewels from Europe during his personal trips, whether it was a soda and ice-making factory, silver polishing machines, a laundry, elevators, an electric generator or even pillars of soft iron that held the famous ballroom up.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

PVR snaps up DT in Rs 62 crore deal


Movie theatre chain PVR on Friday acquired DLF-owned DT Cinemas —seven cinema halls in NCR and one in Chandigarh, 29 screens in all -- in a stock-cum-cash deal of Rs 62.2 crore. PVR will run all these multiplexes under PVR Cinemas brand; DT Cinema will now cease to exist.In the deal to acquire DT Cinemas, PVR paid Rs 20.2 crore cash to DLF Ltd. Besides this, it also gave 25.57 lakh new shares, which constituted 10% of the post diluted equity capital of PVR. According to the deal, PVR will also have exclusive rights to operate as a key anchor multiplex partner in all future malls developed by DLF.

Friday, November 13, 2009

HP TO BY 3 COM


HP that's mean Hewlett Packard Co is making a move into the network equipment market by striking a $3.1 billion deal for 3Com Corporation in a major challenge to Cisco Systems Incorporation.

HP acquires IBRIX


HP has announced a definitive agreement for the company to acquire IBRIX, a leading provider of enterprise-class file serving software that includes data protection, high-availability features and data management services for extreme scale-out, cloud and high-performance computing deployments.Customers with large-scale, data-intensive application environments find that storage performance often becomes a bottleneck for their workflows. IBRIX's solutions allow enterprises to easily and cost-effectively store massive amounts of user-generated data."Customers need highly scalable storage solutions that efficiently and cost-effectively manage massive amounts of information," said Jim Wagstaff, Vice President & General Manager StorageWorks Division,Enterprise Storage, Servers and Networking, HP Enterprise Business."This acquisition expands our portfolio to better support the needs of this market segment. In addition, IBRIX's highly scalable software leverages industry-standard hardware allowing customers to fully maximize their existing investments."IBRIX's software is currently available with HP StorageWorks storage area networks (SANs), HP ProLiant servers, HP BladeSystem, and HP ProCurve Ethernet switches and management software.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Travellers give thumbs up to India as a global brand


It's not just arts and culture or history that makes India popular, but also its way of doing business.The FutureBrand's latest Country Brand Index (CBI) has ranked India among the top five countries for value for money, authenticity, history, best brand for art and culture and business.India has also made it to the list of this year's "rising stars" -- the places which are likely to become major tourist destinations in the next five years, according to the survey.Other rising stars include United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, Vietnam, Croatia and South Africa.CBI is a comprehensive study of about 3,000 international business and leisure travellers from nine countries -- the US, the UK, China, Australia, Japan, Brazil, UAE, Germany and Russia.The survey was conducted by FutureBrand, a leading global brand consultancy, along with public relations firm Weber Shandwick's Global Travel & Lifestyle Practice.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Online activists hijack 300 Facebook groups


Activists claimed to have seized control of nearly 300 Facebook community groups in a self-proclaimed effort to expose how vulnerable online reputations are to tampering.A contingent that identified itself as Control Your Info (CYI) claimed credit for commandeering 289 Facebook Groups, saying it was simple to get into poorly protected administrative settings at the website."This is just one example that really shows the vulnerabilities of social media," said a blog post at controlyour.info."If you chose to express yourself on the Internet, make sure the expressions are your own and not a spammers. This isn't some kind of scare tactic, nor is it a hack, it's a feature that can be used, and is being used, in bad ways." CYI claimed its motives were pure and that the move was more of a "take-over" than a computer hack of Facebook groups.Facebook Groups are themed chat venues that users of the social networking service can join to socialise online with people who share interests."Facebook Groups suffer from a major flaw," said a message on the CYI blog."If an administrator of a group leaves, anyone can register as a new admin. So, in order to take control of a Facebook group, all you really have to do is a quick search on Google."

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Nokia Exchanges Chargers


ESPOO, Finland -- Nokia today initiated a charger exchange program, in which consumers owning certain Nokia-branded chargers manufactured by a third-party supplier are recommended to exchange these chargers for free replacements.
During a routine quality control process, Nokia identified a potential product quality issue with certain chargers manufactured by one of its third-party suppliers. The plastic covers of the affected chargers could come loose and separate, exposing the charger's internal components and potentially posing an electrical shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket. Nokia is not aware of any incidents or injuries related to these chargers. Only a limited number of chargers of certain model types manufactured by a single third-party supplier during a specific time period are within the scope of the exchange program. They are the AC-3E and AC-3U models, manufactured between June 15, 2009 and August 9, 2009; and the AC-4U model, manufactured between April 13, 2009 and October 25, 2009. For more information, including how consumers can check to see if their chargers are part of this exchange program, Nokia has established a website. Consumers are asked to visit http://chargerexchange.nokia.com or their local Nokia website.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Indian eves lose to China in Asia Cup final


The valiant Indian women hockey team had to be satisfied with the after they went down 3-5 to formidable China in an action-packed final of the seventh Asia Cup here on Sunday. Surinder Kaur and her teammates, who have already booked their berth for the 2010 world cup in Argentina with this final appearance, tried every trick in the book but just could not get the better of their Chinese opponents.Surinder earned the lead for India in the eighth minute, while Mamta Kharab (47th) and Deepika Thakur (54th) sounded the board in the second half but the Chinese scored thrice in the first session (13th, 18th and 27th) and twice (47th, 51st) in the second to emerge victorious.This was China's second Asia Cup triumph, coming exactly 20 years after their 1989 victory in Hong Kong.India took the initiative early in the match with Surinder's eighth minute goal but the joy lasted only five minutes as the Chinese changed to top gear putting the Indian on the defensive mode.Veteran Fu Bao Rang trapped a free hit to equalise in the 13th minute and soon Ma Yi Bo's straight drive off the team's first penalty corner made it 2-1 for China.Right winger Zhao Yu Dia then made good use of a feed from the left to stretch the lead to 3-1 in the 27th minute and go into the breather with a two-goal advantage.Ma Yi Bo converted another penalty corner and De Jiao Jiao struck another in a counter attack in the second half to complete the tally for the winners.Earlier, the match started 30 minutes late due to power failure and because of heavy rains. Half-time break had to be increased from usual 10 minutes to about 40 minutes.The Chinese juggernaut rolled smoothly today befitting their world number three status. The forward line of Zhao Yu Dia on the left, Fu Bao Rong in the centre and Li Hong Xia at the right flank masterminded innumerable sallies that had the Indian defence on its toes.With neat trapping at a high pace, they tormented Indian defenders Subhadra Pradhan and Binita Toppo. With goalie Deepika Murthy and Ritu Rani extending helping hand, India did thwart some nippy attacks in time.India got a handful of chances in the first half. Midway through the first half, defender Binita surged to the 25-yard line before giving a precise cross but Rani Ramphal could not trap inside the circle and a golden chance was thus frittered away.Quickly after the second session started, Mamta miscued a close range shot and within five minutes, India wasted two penalty corners. On the first occasion, Jasjeet's grounder proved too feeble, while Saba Anjum's deflection was blocked by China goalie Zhang Yi Meng.India suffered a setback in the 40th minute when medio Asunta Lakra got an yellow card and the team had to make do with one player less and in this spell China scored twice.In the last five minutes, two penalty corners came India's way but neither Jasjeet nor Saba could sound the board.Once China established a comfortable 4-2 lead, India coach M K Kaushik brought Savita Punnia under the cage and she certainly lived upto the expectations with some fabulous last second kicks and clearances.The silver medal gave India valuable 700 points which will boost India's world ranking when it is revised this year.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Hitler's birthplace on sale amid Neo Nazi fears


An Austrian house where Adolf Hitler was born is being put up for sale amid frantic efforts by authorities to block the auction over fears it could fall into the hands of neo-Nazis who would turn it into a memorial for the Nazi dictator.Hitler's mother Klara and father Alois rented a suite of rooms above a pub and lived in the apartment until 1892 when they moved to Linz.The owner of the house in Braunau-am-Inn where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, wants to put it on the market with a likely asking price of over 2 million pounds, The Scotsman newspaper reported today.The local authority in Braunau-am-Inn has vowed to resist the sale to private individuals because it fears the house could end up in the hands of extreme right-wingers, it said.The local council, which is facing financil problem, plans to appeal to the government in Vienna to help with the purchase.The mayor of Braunau, Gerhard Skiba, said ideally the town council would like to purchase it and so control its future fate.But there is not enough money in the coffers to buy Salzburger Vorstadt 15

Mickey sneaks into IIM-A summers


Mickey Mouse sneaked its way into the Louis Kahn Plaza causing a flutter on the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A)
campus which is recovering from the jolt of the global meltdown.

For the first time Walt Disney picked interns from Asia’s best B-school for summer placements this year for marketing jobs. A first for the B-school and Walt Disney Company, the good news is that Disney is expected to be back for the final placements to be held in February-March next year.

The company, which was the world’s best producer of family entertainment in the 60s, has now diversified into Disney merchandise, parks, and even food, its latest characters being Hannah Montana, a favourite among young girls. By the end of Day One of the summer placements several media groups had also joined in the list of recruiters like Starcom Media Vest, HT Media and Star TV.

Realty companies Oberoi Construction and Ramky Infrastructure were also firsts on campus this year. Summer recruitments are on for interns from Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP-I) and Post Graduate Programme in Agri-Business Management (PGP-ABM)
Other regular recruiters on the campus this year included Dabur, Asian Paints, Cadbury’s and Renault, the car makers. Airtel and Starcom MediaVest offered roles in branding and sales and marketing. Five students will be joining Starcom MediaVest across locations in South-East Asia.

Microsoft returned to the campus to pick eight students for summer internship. It had first come to IIM-A last year. After dominating the first two days of the process, consulting firms continued to recruit interns. These included Cognizant and Synergy Consulting. Vivek Jain, a placement committee coordinator said, "Cognizant offered roles in IT consulting and recruited six students."

Thursday, November 5, 2009

PNB sets up joint venture with FIM Bank of Malta


Punjab National Bank on Wednesday said it had entered into an agreement with FIM Bank of Malta and Italy-based Banca IFIC for setting up a joint venture for providing factoring, forfeiting and trade finance related business.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Ambani Case: Judge drops out, 6 days lost


Justice RV Raveendran, one of the judges hearing the high-profile Ambani vs Ambani case, has dropped out of the case, citing a possible conflict of interest. He said, "I came to know only yesterday that my daughter is associated with a firm which is advising RIL relating to global acquisitions. My conscience is clear that justice should not only be done but is seen to be done."When the case began last month, Justice Raveendran told the court that he has sharer in Mukesh Ambani's RIL; he offered to withdraw from the case if anyone had any objections. At that point, lawyers for both Mukesh and Anil Ambani said they were fine with his hearing the case.Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani are battling over gas. Mukesh wants to revise the price at which Anil can buy gas from him. The price agreed upon is below rates, and was arrived at through a family agreement. With Justice Raveendran dropping out, six days have been lost; the case will start afresh on Thursday with a new bench. Justice Raveendran will be replaced by a new judge; there are two other judges hearing the case. The Chief Justice of India has committed that all hearings in the case will finish before the end of November. The schedule for the case will see 4 days of arguments each by Mukesh and Anil's then the government and other interested parties will have two days to present their case.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Net could run out of web addresses


The world could well run out of Internet addresses next year, unless urgent action is taken to switch to a new generation of net addresses, the European Commission has warned.According to the commission, businesses urgently need to upgrade to Internet protocol version six or IPv6, a new version of the Internet's addressing protocol, which will hugely increase the number of available addresses.The IPv6 system has been ready for over a decade and is providing 340 trillion, trillion, trillion web addresses. But, not many companies are actually ready to migrate to the new platform.In fact, a survey, conducted by the Commission, found that few companies are prepared for the switch from the current naming protocol, IPv4, to the new regime, IPv6, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.The IPv4 and IPv6 protocols refer to the way in which web addresses are created and assigned. Each website has a unique IP address, represented by a string of numbers, such as 192.168.1.1, which are then given a user-friendly web address to make them easier to remember.The IPv4 protocol uses 32-bit addresses, which enables the web to support around 4.3 billion unique addresses while IPv6 uses 128-bit web addresses, creating billions of possible new web addresses.The EC survey found that of the 610 government, educational and other industry organisations questioned across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, just 17 per cent have upgraded to IPv6.The Commission has warned that the timely deployment of the protocol is vital to the growth and stability of the Internet. Detlef Eckert, Director in Commission's information society and media directorate-general, said: "In the last 10 years, the Internet has become hugely important worldwide from a socio-economic perspective."Only by ensuring that all devices connected to the internet are compatible with IPv6 can we stay connected and safeguard sustainable growth of the Internet and the global digital economy, now and in the years to come."

Amitabh Bachchan gets clean chit in Barabanki land row


A five-member committee constituted by the Barabanki district administration has given a clean chit to Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan in a case of alleged land forgery.The committee, headed by a sub-divisional magistrate, in its report submitted on Saturday, turned down the charges of forgery against Bachchan following which a complaint lodged by son of the Daulatpur village head was quashed, Superintendent of Police Alok Singh said on Sunday.The committee, constituted by District Magistrate Vikas Gothwal, in its report said Bachchan had only proposed to donate two plots in Daulatpur village to the gram samaj."As the process to donate plots to the gram sabha was not completed, it cannot be proved that plot numbers 711 and 793 were to be transferred to the gram samaj," the report said.As the village head gave her consent to take the land in donation without the approval of land management committee of the district administration, the entire process was 'null and void,' it said."The committee in its inquiry found that the allegation of fraud against Bachchan was baseless," a senior official said. Two days after the complaint was lodged against 67-year-old Bachchan on October 27, his former representative Vinay Shukla had said the land to be donated to the gram sabha was by 'mistake' included in the gift deed towards a foundation for construction of a college named after his daughter-in-law Aishwarya.Shukla had said on coming to know of the mistake, Nishtha Foundation, on the request of the actor, had made a formal request to the district administration to do the needful but Avnindra Singh, son of Daulatpur village gram pradhan, Rajkumari Singh, lodged a complaint with the police.On October 23, Bachchan through his representative had transferred 16 bigha land at Daulatpur village to the foundation run by Bollywood actress Jaya Prada for construction of a girls college.Later, the DM constituted the committee to inquire into the allegation. In the meantime, Nishtha Foundation had returned the two plots to Bachchan after which filmstar's representative Rajesh Rishikesh Yadav submitted a letter to the DM stating the superstar wished to donate both the plots to gram sabha as proposed by him earlier by completing all the legal formalities.