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Satyam money for boozing????
YSR & Naidu hiding Satyam
It is apparent that YS Jagan and Naidu have benefitted most out of Satyam saga. Apart from mudslinging in the Assembly, neither ruling Congress nor main Opposition TDP wanted concrete follow- up action on the scam. Apparently, both their hands are soaked in the blood of Satyam scam
A joke that made rounds in the Assembly this week is that to get the whole truth about Satyam fraud, one must follow both Eenadu and Sakshi Telugu dailies. Yes, it is not the time to crack jokes about Satyam scam involving Rs 8,000 crore of public money and future of lakh of youngsters and investors.
But, the way the issue has been discussed in the Assembly during the brief vote-on-account session belied the expectations of people that a political resolve would be made to nail the culprits. Instead, it turned out that both Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu both had a role in plundering of the firm.
Entire nation waited and watched how Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly would handle this biggest financial fraud committed by a man, who not long ago hailed as the icon of India Inc. They thought the government would do some soul searching and take steps to get back the swindled money from Ramalinga Raju and family.
But, nothing of this sort has happened. Angry exchanges, accusations and counter-accusations and the usual spectacle of Assembly marshals forcibly throwing out the opposition members and breaking of window panes on the lobbies - were the outcome of the session.
Good. Finally, third-rate politics triumphed and the truth was buried as neither Congress nor Telugu Desam Party wanted an in-depth debate on Satyam scam. Knowing fully well that this issue would rock the Assembly, both sides have prepared in advance to divert the attention.
If ruling Congress discovered Heritage Foods land deal, TDP dug up into the laundering of money by Jagati Publications, printers of Sakshi newspaper. Going a step further, Congress managers have made former Naidu loyalist PNV Prasad cough up some truth about Naidu-Ramalinga Raju links.
It is not surprising that Naidu extracted his pound of flesh from Raju, for making him sit next to the then US president Bill Clinton. Raju returned the favour by bearing the expenditure of Naidu’s son, Lokesh education in America and donated huge sums to NTR Trust, owned by Naidu and his family.
PNV told Deccan Post that over a period between 1999, after Naidu came to power, and 2004,
Ramalinga Raju must have benefited Naidu to a tune of Rs 2,000 crore, through various deals. During this time, Raju could promote his sons Teja Raju and Rama Raju, who headed Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties.
“Naidu knew how to milk his share from Ramalinga Raju. Naidu awarded irrigation contracts worth of Rs 15,000 crore to Raju’s firms and got a share of Rs 1,000 crore as commission. Naidu awarded construction of Singapore Class Township at Pocharam by AP Housing Board to Maytas and took a commission of Rs 300 crore”.
Naidu took blame for promoting L&T during his time. However, L&T has not directly benefited Naidu in a big way. He made L&T sub-lease major works to Maytas and through Maytas the former chief minister got his share. “It will be difficult to anyone to prove that Naidu was guilty,” Prasad said.
Raju, on his part, utilized this political influence, boosted Satyam stocks value, sold them, and began left and right buying lands. “This is a quid pro quo. If Naidu extended his political patronage to Raju, the latter paid a price to each and every benefit he received,” said a senior officer, who worked in the Chief Minister’s Office till 2004.
After Congress came to power in 2004, it did not take much time for Raju to befriend with YSR. Though initially he threatened to review all major deals entered during TDP time, YSR has approved almost all the deals, albeit with a price tag. YSR has seen through the game plan of Naidu and decided to exploit the same on a much higher scale.
So, YSR has started helping out Maytas firms by awarding projects worth of Rs 18,000 crore in the last four years, if various irrigation works, SEZs and other projects are put together. Sources say at least Rs 3,000 crore have gone back as kickbacks to the powers that be.
There is no wonder that Jagati Publications and Raghuram Cements (Now Bharati Cements) have pushed up their stocks through fictitious deals and netted funds to a tune of Rs 1,000 crore. CID police is learnt to have information that YS Jagan owns around 800 acres lands as benami through Maytas Properties.
“It is strange that Maytas got several contracts like Kakinada SEZ and port works, from the government, though the company has not evinced interest in it. The projects came to Maytas, thanks to the extra interest shown by someone powerful from the Chief Minister’s side,” said an investigating officer.
The value of these 800 acres would be at least Rs 2,000 crore at the present meltdown prices. If Naidu has siphoned off Rs 2,000 crore of Satyam money, YSR has a share of not less than Rs 3,000 crore. Both are equally guilty, explained the officer. This money will surely be coming out during the next elections.
“Economic Factionalism”
Now three Telugu dailies are carrying out the political war. If Sakshi is leading the Congress front, Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy are batting for TDP, said a senior political analyst. “Even British tabloids would be put to shame, when compared to the writings in these papers,” he said.
Another political editor of a leading English daily from Hyderabad said: “This is nothing but economic factionalism. Both YSR and Naidu are targeting each other’s source of funding. They want to bleed the opponent financially. If you see that proceedings of the Assembly in last four years, it will be clear,” he said.
YSR wants to weaken Naidu’s milking cow - Heritage group, and Ramoji Rao’s Margadarsi group. At the same time, Eenadu paper targets CM’s son YS Jagan’s Sakshi paper and his other firms like Raghuram Cements. “As a result, people’s issues have taken a back seat and scams like Satyam got unattended,” he said.
source: deccan post
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Indian media industry growing at 12.4 per cent: Study
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1823541
Mumbai: The Rs 58,400 crore Indian Media and Entertainment industry grew at 12.4 per cent over the previous year. It is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5 per cent over the next five years to become a Rs 1,05,200 crore industry by 2013, says a Ficci & KPMG report on the sector release on Tuesday.
The report also highlights the increasingly challenging market environment for the sector, on the back of economic slowdown and the consequent slowdown in advertising revenues, especially in the last quarter of 2008. Sectors like TV, print, radio and outdoor which depend on advertising revenues were largely affected and this is estimated to continue into the current year too.
Advertising spends grew at CAGR of 17.1 per cent in the past three years. Going forward, it is expected to exhibit a robust growth rate CAGR of 12.4 per cent over the next 5 years. Potential upsides could take this higher.
Growing acceptance of the digital TV distribution technology, entry of DTH players the success of many small budget movies,
and the rising competition in the regional market were some of the key highlights of the previous year. However, it was IPL
which proved that innovation in traditional formats resulted in runaway success.
Dr Amit Mitra, secretary general, Ficci says, "India is one of the few countries where economic growth will be led by
domestic consumption. With a low advertising spend to GDP ratio of 0.47 per cent, a growing consumer class, and middle class,
young population, low media penetration and increasing discretionary spending; India continues to be an attractive market for
Media & Entertainment".
Commenting on the highlights of the report, Rajesh Jain, head (Information, Communication & Entertainment), KPMG India said,
"Media companies are under pressure to change, innovate and re-examine their existing business models. Players need to draw
upon new capabilities to survive in this environment. In the immediate future, media corporates are likely to focus more on
operating margins, and assess opportunities for consolidation, while building on core strengths".
Ficci-KPMG report highlights
• Media & Entertainment Industry projected to grow at 12.5 per cent over next five years to Rs 10,520 crore
• Advertising spends down from CAGR of 17.1 per cent in last 3 years to 12.4 per cent CAGR for next 5 years
• Television industry at Rs 24,100 crore recorded a growth of 14.2 per cent over 2007. It is projected to grow at the rate of
14.5 per cent over 2009-13 and reach a size of Rs 47,300 crore
• The filmed entertainment sector is projected to grow at the CAGR of 9.1 per cent over the next 5 years and reach the size
of Rs 16,860 crore by 2013. The industry clocked revenues of around Rs 10,930 crore in 2008, a growth of 13.4 per cent over 2007
• The Indian Print Media industry grew at 7.6 per cent in 2008 to be a Rs 17,260 crore industry. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9 per cent over the next five years and reach around Rs 26,600 crore by 2013
• Radio ad spends have doubled from 2 per cent in 2004 to 4 per cent of the total advertising spends in India today. Over 2009-13, radio ad industry will grow at a CAGR of 14.2 per cent to be a Rs 1,630 crore industry
• The size of the Indian music industry was estimated at around Rs 7.3 billion in 2008, down from Rs 8.3 billion in 2005, implying a degrowth of 4.8 per cent during the period
• OOH performance was affected in the second half of the year owing to the overall economic slowdown. The media has grown at a CAGR of 17.3 per cent over the past 3 years and is projected to grow at a compounded rate of 12.8 per cent over the next 5 years. It will be around Rs 2,930 crore industry by 2013
• The Indian animation industry has been growing rapidly with an estimated CAGR of 20.1 per cent in 2006-08. It is estimated to reach a size of about Rs 3900 crore by 2013
• In 2008, the Indian console gaming segment registered total revenues of Rs 410 crore which is expected to go up to Rs 940 crore in 2013
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