What: 3 is Hutchison Telecom's global brand for their third-generation (ergo, 3) mobile-phone networks that is present in markets across Western Europe, Australia and Hong Kong

What about it: This correspondent spotted a Yellow WagonR festooned with the '3' logo doing rounds of Mumbai's Prabhadevi area late one night. The logo was inside a triangle looking like the Superman logo. (Note to editor: No, I wasn't drunk.)

Is 3 Coming? The Telecom Authorities haven't set out the guidelines for 3G networks in India as yet, but with marketers such as Nokia making WCDMA (3G) available 3G-ready handsets like the N70, you know it's coming. A decision on spectrum allocation for 3G is expected by the first half of 2006 (Even though the 2100MHz bandwidth is the bone of contention for CDMA and GSM operators).

-Compiled by Kushan Mitra

Cigarettes Get The Stick

What: Ban on on-screen smoking, with effect from January 1, 2006

Why: Duh, because cigarettes kill-actually, some 800,000 of them every year in India. The more immediate reason, however, was a study by WHO on impact of on-screen smoking on audiences (Bollywood: Victim or Ally was the study's title)

Small Mercies: Historical and foreign movies, live news and events, and interviews are excluded from the ban. But movies produced before the ban will have to run warning captions

What Now: Last year, the government banned smoking in public places, tobacco advertising and sponsorship of events by tobacco companies. That means your loo at home is the only place where you can smoke-that is, if your spouse doesn't mind

-Compiled by Ritwik Mukherjee

The Guy From 'Bric'Company

Goldman's Blankfein: Point to make

It was his firm that famously put the world spotlight on the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) two years ago, but Lloyd C. Blankfein, President & COO of Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, himself found time to visit India only last fortnight. In Hyderabad to announce a grant of $1 million (Rs 4.5 crore) from the Goldman Sachs Foundation for the Centre for Analytical Studies at the Indian School of Business, Blankfein was too rushed for media interviews, except for a hurried press meet. Did all the traffic snarl-ups at Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad dampen his enthusiasm for India? Hardly. "India has crossed the tipping point (in terms of its attractiveness as an investment destination) and is a fabulous place to invest," he told reporters. He isn't being polite. Goldman already runs a high-end back office in Bangalore and isn't ruling out the setting up of more outside the Garden City. "We are looking at opportunities and I will be surprised if we do not make an investment in India within a year from now," he said. Better still, he didn't think the Sensex's current levels were anything to worry about.

-E. Kumar Sharma

P-WATCH
A bird's eye view of what's hot and what's not on the government's policy radar.

THE FIRST HALF LOOKS ENCOURAGING

Finance minister P. Chidambaram's mid-year scorecard for 2005-06 is more good than bad. The good news first: India remains on the high growth trajectory, buoyed by the first-half GDP growth of 8.1 per cent. The expenditure and receipts trends shows that fiscal and revenue deficits as well as inflation will remain under control. But, as the Finance Minister himself said, "sustaining a growth rate of 8-10 per cent and an investment rate of 26.3 per cent of GDP (2003-04) will be difficult in the medium term". Also, the farm sector is unlikely to grow at more than 3 per cent. That means the overall growth rate will remain at 7 per cent levels.

-Ashish Gupta

FOR A FEW BILLION DOLLARS MORE

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the interest cap on non-resident External Rupee deposits by 25 basis points to 75 bps above libor, which is currently pegged at 4.83 per cent. This means domestic banks can offer NRIs 5.50 per cent on one-two year deposits, and 5.60 per cent on two-three year deposits. "NRIs are our main source of foreign currency," says K. Cherian Varghese, Chairman, Union Bank of India, adding: Till November 17, 2005, outstanding deposits in NRE account are $21.3 billion (Rs 95,850 crore) in Indian banks, compared to $20.56 billion (Rs 92,520 crore) during the whole of calendar year 2005. With the us Federal Reserve likely to hike its rate to 4.50 per cent, the NRI community can expect some more largesse from RBI.

-Anand Adhikari

STAMP OF DISCORD

The Maharashtra government has zeroed in on a golden goose-stamp duties. It wants HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank to pay stamp duties on the entire mortgage value of home loans advanced by them. "The agreements between borrowers and ICICI Bank are merely loan agreements and not documents relating to deposit of title deeds," says a bank official. Such agreements do not attract stamp duties. The Maharashtra government is considering a law to plug this loophole. It also wants bond houses, banks and other market participants to pay arrears in stamp duties on all direct securities deals done over the past 10 years. The bill: Rs 1,000 crore. Dealers are naturally crying foul. If other states also follow suit, housing loans and all bond market transactions will become more expensive. Observers expect the matter to reach the courts.

-Mahesh Nayak

Chidambaram: It's voluntary

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE

The finance ministry wants individuals to voluntarily disclose high-value purchases when they file their income tax returns. The idea is to cull out individuals who use their unaccounted money for such purchases. Says Amarjeet Singh, Partner (Direct Tax), BSR & Co (KPMG's Indian avatar): "People are being made accountable for their spending. And such voluntary disclosures can help assessees avoid the taxman's notice."

CALLING RURAL INDIA

The telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is fast tracking telecom penetration in rural India. A report, authored by Arvind Virmani, Part-Time Member, TRAI, recommends the scrapping of rural spectrum charges. It also wants a National Universal Rural Telecom Licence with a nominal entry fee of Rs 30 lakh. This is expected to lead to the emergence of specialised rural telecom suppliers, which will be subsidised for operating in "inaccessible areas". A decision will be taken on this issue soon.

-Kumarkaushalam