What is it: A new digital camera called EasyShare One

What are the new features: It's a Wi-Fi-enabled camera that allows users to share images with anyone anywhere in the world at the click of a button and also transmits voice messages via an in-built IP phone, says Steven Sasson (R), inventor of the digital camera and Project Manager at Eastman Kodak. Kodak is working with Skype for this photo-sharing feature

What else does it do: A new image correction software allows users to edit images on the camera itself, i.e., without a computer

What prompted these innovations: George Eastman's 1888 motto "One button push and we do the rest;" and competition from mobile phones

When will it be available: It's still at a concept stage, but will hit the market by the end of the year

What else is on the anvil: Kodak has entered into a JV with Motorola to supply sensors for enhancing the image quality in its camera-phones

-Soumik Kar

Voice SMS

What is it: Simply put, instead of sending short and curt messages in SMSese it is now possible to send short voice messages to any phone

How is it different from voicemail: Unlike voicemail, you do not have to subscribe to this service, all you need to do is dial a special short code followed by the number you want to go to; the receiving person (who gets regular SMS intimating him that he has got a 'VSMS') dials a special number to retrieve his message within 24 hours. So, everybody can access this service, no matter what phone he/she uses

Where can I get it: Operators like Airtel, Hutch, Spice and Reliance Infocomm have already rolled out this service in some circles. A nationwide rollout is expected in a few months

How much will it cost: Initial pricing has been kept at Rs 2 (for both sides) by Reliance; other operators are still working out their pricing strategies

Will it work: Well, despite all predictions to the contrary, voice remains the killer application, so it might well work. Unless of course, spam VSMS comes into vogue

-Kushan Mitra

ECONOMY WATCH

PRIMARY DEFICIT

Status: Rs 8,863 crore, down 45.09 per cent.

Impact: Primary deficit indicates the current fiscal situation in the country (it is arrived at by deducting interest obligations of past and current debt from the fiscal deficit figure). A lower primary deficit helps in controlling inflationary pressures.

SIXTH PAY COMMISSION

Status: The government has announced plans to set it up.

Impact: The government says it will have little adverse fallout as the states are sitting on surpluses of about Rs 40,000 crore. But the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations ravaged state finances to such an extent that 13 states did not have money to pay salaries in 2000.

-Compiled by Anand Adhikari and Shaleen Agrawal

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

POLICY PIROUETTE

One sector that has definitely felt the heat from the change in government two years ago is pharmaceuticals. The previous NDA regime released 273 drugs from the clutches of price control. Had it stayed on, another 44 would have been freed, reducing the controlled list to a mere 30. The UPA government is planning to more than reverse this. The Ministry of Chemical and Fertiliser's proposed drug policy plans to bring more drugs under the price control regime. Criticising the draft policy, which seeks to include another 374 drugs in the list, pharmaceutical companies have voiced their concern on the count that the lower margins will pare their ability spend on R&D. They argue that taxes constitute around 70 per cent of the price paid by consumers and believe the government can reduce cost to customers by paring taxes, not controlling prices. The Finance Ministry has turned down this proposal on the grounds of revenue loss. Still, this government has a way to deal with unresolved issues, constituting a Group of Ministers (GoM), and this looks set for one.

-mit Mukherjee

LEFT WHEEL DRIVE

The amendments to the banking regulation act are unlikely to be taken up in the monsoon session of Parliament as the Left Front remains intractable in its opposition to it. The Left fears this could allow foreign banks greater control over Indian private sector banks. At present, regardless of the share holding pattern, no stakeholder can exercise in excess of 10 per cent voting rights. The amendment seeks to allow proportionate voting rights. The government is attempting to convince the Left parties that there are safeguards that ensure that the RBI has the final say on the shareholding itself. Ironically, the Left parties are constituents of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that approved the amendments twice.

-Shalini S. Dagar

LIMITED MOBILITY

The ministry of communications and it is adamant. it refuses to relent on its demand for 100 per cent verification of the entire subscriber base of cell phone operators by October-end, according to industry sources. With the government unwilling to soften its stand, and the industry unable to meet (so it claims) the March 2007 deadline, consumers across the country might, one day soon, find their mobile phones going dead. And this predicament is more likely to visit the lower strata of the work force in the country-the domestic help, chauffeurs, or the plumbers, for that matter. Ironically, these also happen to form the 'active' voting class of the population-one reason the government is likely to finally yield on the deadline.

-Shaleen Agrawal

P. Chidambaram: Rate Raj

MICRO CONTROLS

The anti-reform contagion is spreading. The Finance Ministry has "advised" public sector banks to get board approvals before raising interest rates (read: go slow). The apparent intent: to ensure productive sectors are not starved of funds given the consistent and buoyant credit growth. Since across-the-board rate hikes were almost a given after the RBI hiked short term rates in July, the government's move looks like interference in what are usually commercial decisions.

-Shalini S. Dagar

EOU SOPS

Export oriented units (EOUs) may soon be extended sops to fulfill their positive net foreign exchange (NFE) obligation against sales to domestic tariff area (DTA), if the payment is from the exchange earners' foreign currency (EEFC) account. The ministries of commerce and finance are discussing the move which, if implemented, is likely to benefit more than 3,000 EOUs, especially those dealing in books, textiles, plastic granules, bio-tech and IT services.

-Amit Mukherjee