Nov/17/2011

Science

Google opens music store in U.S., challenge to Apple

Google unveiled its much-anticipated digital music store, opening a new front in its battle with Apple to provide services over mobile devices.

For the first time, Google Inc. will sell songs on the Android Market, its online store for apps, movies and books. The service is available over the next few days to customers in the U.S., but it aims to roll it out eventually to some 200 million Android users globally.

Some songs are free, while others were priced at 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29 the same prices as on Apple’s iTunes. Artists whose work is available right away include Adele, Jay-Z and Pearl Jam. The store will feature dozens of free tracks from artists like Coldplay, Rolling Stones and Busta Rhymes.

Google is offering 13 million tracks for sale, from three of the four major recording companies Vivendi SA’s Universal Music, EMI Group Ltd. and Sony Music Entertainment and a host of independent labels. Warner Music Group was the major recording company left out. Warner spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.

Google is allowing sharing of purchased songs over its social network, Google Plus. Friends will be able to listen to one another’s songs once for free.

Once someone buys a song, it can be downloaded and is automatically uploaded for free into an online locker. The song can then be streamed over computer and mobile phone browsers, including the Safari browser, which comes on Apple Inc. devices such as the iPad. People who download the Google music app on devices running Android 2.2 and higher can stream stored songs or download them for offline playback within the app.

Google’s director of digital content for Android, Jamie Rosenberg, took a dig at Apple’s online song storage service, iTunes Match, which costs $25 a year. Google’s cloud storage service is free for up to 20,000 songs.

“Other cloud music services think you have to pay to listen to music you already own. We don’t,” he said.

Recording company executives said that, although some of Google’s features go beyond what is offered at iTunes specifically the one free listen for friends, the concessions were worth the benefit of reaching new customers.

“How many people do you know have both an iPhone and an Android device?” said Universal’s president of global digital business, Rob Wells. “I encourage any new entrant into the digital music space who is going to help us reach a broad audience and sell legitimate songs.”

National:

KG basin contract: PAC grills top Oil Ministry officials

A Parliamentary panel on Thursday posed probing questions to top Oil Ministry officials on how they allowed Reliance Industries to violate contract for Krishna-Godavari basin field and why the losses from rise in spending on the gas fields were not quantified.

Oil Secretary G.C. Chaturvedi and head of oil regulator, the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons S.K. Srivastava appeared before the Public Accounts Committee, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader M.M. Joshi, to answer issues raised by CAG audit of RIL’s eastern offshore KG-D6 gas block.

Members sought to know why RIL was allowed to retain the entire exploration area when as per the contract, it was to relinquish 25 per cent of the area after first phase of exploration.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report tabled in Parliament in September, had criticised the ministry and DGH for allowing RIL to retain the entire KG-D6 block in contravention to the signed Production Sharing Contract (PSC).

Mr. Chaturvedi explained that declaring entire block as discovery area and allowing operators to retain is permissible but sought more time from the Committee to provide details of the pertinent policy.

Members also asked why CAG had not quantified loss to the government from RIL revising capital expenditure in developing KG-D6 field from $2.4 billion proposed in 2004 to $8.8 billion in 2006.

Mr. Chaturvedi is understood to have explained that the ministry did not quantify the losses as it comes under CAG’s domain.

At this some members pointed that losses were quantified in the draft report and the Ministry’s internal auditors should have worked on the issue.

Mr. Joshi is understood to have given the Ministry time till November 30 to reply to a set of questions PAC will send to it.

Some members asked the Ministry representatives as to why no single policy was followed by the Ministry in giving the KG-D6 gas block and the reasons behind frequent change of stand.

On the issue of single point bidding, panel members asked the officials why the CAG was not explained the reason despite the government auditor raising objections on it.

Mr. Chaturvedi is learnt to have said that he would get back to the contractor and inform the committee.

At this, some members questioned the failure of the Oil Ministry in getting facts before deposing before the panel as the report was tabled in Parliament as back as September this year.

A member sought to know the stand of the Ministry on objections raised by the Defence Ministry on carrying out exploration work off the east coast.

Some blocks fall under the missile testing path and others in Naval firing/exercise area, leading to Ministry of Defence objecting to putting up permanent structures there.

The officials were also asked how they plan to deal with the situation in consultation with the Defence Ministry. This issue is not covered by the CAG report.

The audit report does not quantify how much the government lost when Reliance hiked capital expenditure at the nation’s biggest gas field from $2.4 billion proposed in 2004 to $8.8 billion estimate in 2006.

This is perhaps the first CAG report which has gone into a public-private partnership (PPP) contract and some members felt that perhaps this was the reason the auditor did not go into the issue of quantifying the losses.

The CAG had sharply criticised Reliance Industries and the Oil Ministry for violation of contract over the showpiece KG-D6 gas block and called for revamping the current profit-sharing arrangement that reduces government revenues.

Bihar govt to table Lokayukta Bill during winter session

Undeterred by Team Anna’s criticism of the draft Lokayukta Bill, Nitish Kumar government appears firm to table the proposed measure during winter session of Bihar legislature from December two.

“A three-member ministerial team led by Deputy Chief Minister S K Modi is working on the proposed draft. After being fine-tuned, it will be sent to the Chief Minister for vetting,” official sources said on Thursday.

Mr. Kumar has called an all-party meeting here on November 26 to seek opinion of the opposition parties on the draft.

“After giving a final shape to the Bill, it will be examined by the Cabinet. It would be tabled during the winter session of the state legislature,” they said.

Team Anna had criticised the draft of the proposed Bill saying it was nowhere near to the Lokayukta Bill passed by Uttarakhand.

Stung by the criticism, the Chief Minister had said he did not require any certificate from any individual, group or organisation while maintaining they were free to send in their opinions or suggestions in that regard.

Food inflation at 10.63 per cent for week ended Nov 5

Food inflation eased to 10.63 per cent for the week ended November 5 even as prices of agricultural items, barring onions and wheat, continued to rise on an annual basis.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 11.81 per cent in the previous week ended October 29. The rate of price rise of food items stood at 11.41 per cent in the corresponding week of the previous year.

As per data released by the government today, onions became cheaper by 22.89 per cent year-on-year, while wheat price were down 3.63 per cent.

However, all other items became more expensive on an annual basis during the week under review.

While vegetables became 27.26 per cent costlier, pulses grew dearer by 14.44 per cent, milk by 10.74 per cent and eggs, meat and fish by 11.73 per cent.

Fruits also became 5.99 per cent more expensive on an annual basis, while cereal prices were up 3.53 per cent.

Inflation in the overall primary articles category stood at 10.39 per cent during the week ended November 5, as against 11.43 per cent in the previous week. Primary articles have over 20 per cent weight in the wholesale price index.

Inflation in non-food articles, including fibres, oilseeds and minerals, was recorded at 5.33 per cent during the week under review, as against 6.41 per cent in the week ended October 29.

Fuel and power inflation stood at 15.49 per cent during the week ended November 5, as compared to 14.50 per cent in the previous week.

The continued rise in food prices is likely to exert further pressure on the government and the Reserve Bank to tackle the situation expeditiously.

Concerned over the inflationary spiral, the government had yesterday said it is taking steps to remove supply bottlenecks and expects prices to ease from December.

“We are taking care to remove the supply constraints and I do hope from the month of December, inflation pressure would be moderate,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said on Wednesday.

Headline inflation, which also factors in manufactured items, has been above the 9 per cent-mark since December, 2010. It stood at 9.73 per cent in September this year.

The RBI has hiked interest rates 13 times since March, 2010, to tame demand and curb inflation.

In its second quarterly review of the monetary policy last month, the apex bank said it expects inflation to remain elevated till December on account of the demand-supply mismatch, before moderating to 7 per cent by March, 2012.