Tuning into the community

TATTLE

Finally, there seems to be some movement on the community radio front. For starters, the information and broadcasting ministry is organising a workshop in May to discuss how to go about its community radio programme and make it a success.

Though the government has already started allotting frequencies to educational institutes, it wants to radio to reach the "real community", that is, smaller, targeted sections of society.

Since scores of radio frequencies will have to be allocated to promote community radio, the ministry is also sending two of its officials to Thailand and Indonesia to study spectrum separation.

Says a source: "Community radio is big in these two countries and they have good frequency management which we are plan to study."

Mum's the word

Accenture, one of the biggest software service providers in the world, has signed a multi-million dollar deal with one of the largest retailers in the US, Best Buy.

So what? Well, Best Buy has multi-million dollar deals with two of India's leading software service biggies. Both have well over 400 people working on Best Buy accounts.

According to market sources, both these companies may over a period of time have to draw down their engagements with Best Buy. Only a couple of years ago, one of the software duo went to town about it having signed up with Best Buy.

The other company quietly let slip to journalists that Best Buy had been its client much earlier and it had never mentioned this earlier.

Both now are mum on the Accenture development and hoping against hope that their accounts won't get hit because of the Accenture deal.

Mumbai reckoner

Visitors to Mumbai will soon have a ready reckoner of what India's capital has to offer by way of eating out, theatre and so on. Essar group vice chairman Ravi Ruia's daughter, Smiti, who is back from studying at New York University (NYU), is working on a city magazine, along with friends from NYU.

Once the magazine is out, it could be available on airlines and the like. The Ruias have even set up a media company called Paprika Media for this.