Radio Mid-Day goes to SC against tribunal ruling
Mumbai: Radio Mid-Day West (India) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court appealing the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal's (TDSAT) judgment requiring that the radio station shift its broadcast frequency from 92.5 FM to 94.3 FM in Mumbai.

TDSAT's decision, which was handed to Radio Mid-Day last Thursday, had asked the latter to shift frequencies by Monday.

In the petition, Radio Mid-Day challenged the original notification on three grounds claiming that its frequency was part of its identity; that it had acquired "right over" the frequency which cannot be disturbed; and that the Government could only force it to change frequencies in the public or national interest as per clause 11 of the License Agreement with the Department of Telecommunications.
TDSAT's decision is the result of an appeal filed by Radio Mid-Day in September against a government notification issued in June, ordering that Radio Mid-Day shift frequencies. The issue has got further complicated by the granting of the 92.7 FM frequency to Adlabs Film across 45 cities for their Big Radio brand. Regulatory norms require 0.7 or 0.8 MHz between bandwidths. That means one of the two operators would have to relinquish its allotted frequency.

The Government responded by claiming that since Radio Mid-Day had changed its station's name from Go92.5FM to Radio One (1), the frequency was not part of the brand name and, therefore, could be changed.
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Air India, Indian merger to add Rs1,200-cr to new entity
New Delhi: The proposed merger of Air India and Indian, expected to completed in 2-3 years, is likely to add around Rs1,200 crore to the bottomline of the new entity through synergies between the two airlines. A report prepared by consulting firm Accenture says there could be a 3-4 per cent saving in costs and increase in revenue that initially could work out to be around Rs600 crore and progress up to Rs1,200 crore over the next two-to-three years. The savings would come from route rationalisation, common sales distribution network and booking offices. Besides, the creation of a hub and spoke system would also help cut down on costs and increase the revenue of the merged entity.

The merger would lead to a manifold increase in the net profits with the two airlines reporting a combined net profit of Rs84.79 crore during 2005-06. The Accenture report has identified sales and distribution network, fuel procurement, material procurement, passenger amenities, ground handling and parking facilities, among others, as the possible areas in which synergies between the two airlines were possible.
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Inflation at more than three month-high at 5.26 pc
New Delhi: Inflation rose to over three months high of 5.26 per cent for the week ended October 14, from 5.16 per cent in the previous week mainly due to increase in the prices of food and manufactured items.

The wholesale price-based inflation stood at 4.77 per cent during the corresponding week in the previous year.
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