Consensus on reserve price, 3G auction soo

Finally, the long-awaited auctions of 3G spectrum, the airwaves that enable faster data download and video streaming on mobile phones, is poised to take place within two months.

The way for the auctions has been cleared on Tuesday after the finance ministry and the department of telecommunications (DoT) have buried their differences over what should be the minimum reserve price for the auctions. The two have agreed on a reserve price of Rs 3,510 crore, which is higher than Rs 2,020 crore proposed by DoT earlier and lower than Rs 4,040 crore suggested by the finance ministry.

Another significant development is that a 2% administrative charge, proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), on the successful bidders annually has been dropped.

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When falling Sensex becomes a butt of joke

Everything about the financial crisis need not be depressing. People are finding humour in the middle of the stocks meltdown, although punters who have burnt their fingers and much more would find it rude.

Mobile phones are abuzz with funny SMSs doing the rounds about the financial storm and the stocks crash.

Consider this SMS that goes: “Markets are set to regain 20,000 mark... (But only if) Sensex, Nikkei and Hang Seng are put together at 5,000 points each, NYSE Composite at 1,000 points, Dow Jones Industrial Average at 3,500 and Nasdaq at 500 points.” In the real world, Sensex is still above 10,000-point mark, but has nearly halved from its record high level seen early this year, DJIA has dipped to near 8,450, Nikkei is trading near its 20-year low at over 8,000 points.

There are also jokes online like “Black Mondays used to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Now they are coming along more regularly than Delhi Metro trains.” Another SMS doing the rounds says: “Respected Sensex Sir passed away on October 10, 2008 after not keeping well for nine months.

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