RCom Special Audit: Govt may have lost Rs 250cr

The Telecom Ministry has said a special audit carried out by a government-appointed auditor has shown Reliance Communications under-reported its revenue.“Reliance Communications under-reported its revenue during financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08,” the ministry said, pegging the FY07 misrepresentation at Rs 1,000–1,500 crore.In April this year, the Department of Telecom (DoT) ordered a special audit on five telecom companies: Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communication, amid concerns of misreporting of revenue and evasion of tax and licence fee.In October, the DoT said the audit on Reliance Communications, conducted by a firm Parakh & Co, confirmed under-reporting, a claim questioned the company later. Reliance Communications slammed the special audit and accused it of being biased and said it conflicted with industry practices.The Telecom Ministry today said the government may have lost Rs 250 crore on account of under-reporting.

PM to attend Copenhagen summit on December 17

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the Copenhagen summit on climate change on December 17, days after India announced that it would consider an emission cut of 20 to 25% by 2020, but would not be coerced into accepting unilateral cuts decided by developed countries.Till now, speculation was rife that Dr Singh would not attend the summit and that India would be represented by its minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh and the Prime Minister's special envoy for climate change Shyam Saran. It was speculated last week that the Prime Minister had revealed that he would think of going if he thought the inking of a deal to reduce climate change was possible.

CAT schedule extended by one day

After the online Common Admission Test collapsed in several places, creating confusion among thousands of B-school aspirants, the CATauthorities on Friday extended the exam schedule by one day. "Prometric and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) have extended the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009 till Dec 8. CAT 2009 was scheduled to run for 10 days from Nov 28 to Dec 7 2009," the US headquartered Prometric said in an official communique. "We understand and regret the additional stress and inconvenience caused to candidates who have not been able to test on their scheduled day due to technical difficulties," said Ramesh Nava, Prometric vice-president and general manager for Asia Pacific, Japan and Africa.

Assam ready for peace process, ULFA leader offered safe passage

It's official. The government has offered peace talks and safe passage to the top rung of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).The offers come a day after ULFA's Chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa, was found along the Triupara border by the Bangaldesh government. Rajkhowa was handed over to the Indian government and was later flown to Delhi on Tuesday night in a special plane. He now becomes a key player in any discussions for peace. That's rattled ULFA's military chief, Paresh Barua, who is underground in Myanmar. He has asked the group's militant cadres in Assam to unleash violence using bomb blasts. Barua's calls to his cadres were intercepted on Tuesday by intelligence officials. Gogoi said that peace talks should be held even without Baruah. However, he clarified that all negotiations are being supervised by the Home Ministry.