Honest

LOL ! Its not possible to block the radio waves even if you go to universe. If your handset supports the Call Blacklist facility then you just Blacklist that number from your handset for particular period. The caller will hear the engage tone or the this message "The number you are trying to reach is unreachable......" Regards.

Chinese Brand ZTE Targets Indian Expansion Planning major thrust into Indian cellular market If you thought Chinese mobile phones meant cheap, substandard handsets with little or no R&D going into producing them, think again. The Chinese mobile phone major ZTE has India in its sights and is planning a major thrust into the ever-growing Indian cellular market very soon. Dr. D. K. Ghosh, chairman and managing director of ZTE Telecom India Pvt. Ltd., is spearheading the Indian operations. ZTE is also reportedly looking to further strengthen its existing R&D center at Bangalore. ZTE has a 1600-member strong R&D center and is on the lookout for more people. According to Dr. Ghosh, it is the strength of the research and development activity that has enabled ZTE to bring out cheap products into the global market without compromising on the quality. With as much as 10% of ZTE's global revenues coming from India, this is one market the company cannot afford to ignore. The core Chinese market accounts for 30% of ZTE's global revenue. The company has over 16 R&D centers spread across the world -- 7 inside China and the rest spread across US, Sweden, France, India, and Pakistan. It also holds as many as 12,000 core patents. ZTE is also working with BSNL in the broadband segment, with special focus on the rural population. Courtesy : Techtree

Regulator, TRAI differ on number portability Business Line l 4 Dec l New Delhi The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has pointed out that the Department of Telecom had changed some of its recommendations on introducing Mobile Number Portability. In a paper put out its Web site on the status of the recommendations, TRAI said while it had suggested that the entire country should be treated as a single zone, the DoT had made it into two zones. The telecom regulator had also suggested that telecom operators could have up to 10 per cent stake in the company which will implement MNP, DoT has completely barred operators from having any stake in the company. While TRAI had suggested a performance bank guarantee of Rs 10 crore and zero entry fee for the company which will set up the MNP system, DoT has imposed an entry fee of Rs 1 crore and bank guarantee of Rs 1 crore. The regulator has pointed out several other changes which the DoT has made compared to the original recommendations. The regulator has also put up a legal view it had taken earlier on the powers of TRAI. The TRAI had said it was mandatory for DoT send back the recommendations to the regulator if there were any changes which the Government wanted in the original suggestions. This assumes significance in the wake of recent claims by DoT that its decision to give fresh licences to new players on a ‘first come first served’ basis was based on the suggestions made by TRAI. This is despite the regulator clarifying repeatedly that the Government was selectively implementing its recommendations. The move to put out the status report on MNP can be seen as an attempt by the TRAI to get more transparency in the decision making process.

Spectrum allocation for 3G to be over before Feb '09: Behura Press Trust of India l 4 Dec l Kochi The allocation of spectrum for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access will be completed before February 2009, Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura said on Thursday. "The bid document has been finalised and we expect to keep the time line", Behura said in his inaugural address at a seminar here. Promising that the allocation and auction of 3G will be industry friendly, he said there will be a pre-bid conference between the industry and the government. "The industry thinks we are doing a good job. We are doing our best. All circumstances cannot be foreseen. There were differences within the industry and government and they have been sorted out more or less," he said. The country is now poised for the next generation area of 3G. The broad policy guidelines for 3G and BWA have already been issued and allotment of spectrum has been planned through simultaneously ascending e-auction process, Behura said. "The 3G will become the predominant platform on which we will build and deliver upon India's broadband objectives. It can also be the effective tool for undertaking the social initiatives of the Government such as e-education, tele-medicine, e-health and e-Governance," he said. India will exceed the targeted 500 million subscribers by 2010 and the bulk of the growth would be on mobile platform, he said adding the total number of mobile telephone connections in the country has reached over 320 million by October this year. The mobile subscriber additions per month have now crossed 10 million mark and India has surpassed all other nations in terms of mobile subscriber additions, he further said.

T-Mobile G1: Your Cold Virus Tracker New program predicts cold outbreaks Matrixx Initiatives, an Arizona based company, has released a program for the G1 that is designed to predict flu and cold outbreaks in an area and help people stay away from "affected areas". Matrixx is a renowned maker of 'over the counter' drugs in the US and sells its products under the brand name Zicam. The program will warn the user of the phone how many people in an area are sneezing and have been affected by the cold virus. That apart, the program will also use data from Surveillance Data that will estimate the percentage of people who might be having respiratory illnesses in your area. Depending on the number of cases reported, the program will assign a risk potential label and will classify areas into "low", "moderate" or "high" risk level areas. Users will also be able to search for risk levels in other areas in case of a journey there and can hence take necessary steps to keep away from the place till the risk subsides. The application, called "Companion", will be available for download at the Android Marketplace very soon. The company also plans an iPhone version in the near future. Courtesy : Techtree

Ministry agrees to refund Reliance Comm Rs 112 cr Business Line l 4 Dec l New Delhi On company surrendering dual technology approval in six circles. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In earlier instances, the Government had refused to give back the entry fee when operators had surrendered their licences. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In an unprecedented move, the Communications and IT Ministry has agreed to refund about Rs 112 crore to Reliance Communications (RCom), which the company had paid as part of the entry fee at the time of taking the approval for offering dual technology in 2007. The refund is on account of the company surrendering the permission for dual technology in six circles where it already has GSM services. However, in earlier instances, the Government had refused to give back the entry fee when operators had surrendered their licences. The Unified Access Service Licence terms and conditions also stipulate that the entry fee is non-refundable. While RCom had paid Rs 1,651 crore for rolling out dual technology (both CDMA and GSMs mobile services) in 20 telecom circles (each circle is equivalent to a State), the company already has GSM-based cellular services in six circles in the eastern part of the country. RCom was asked by the Government to surrender the newly acquired dual technology approval in six circles since DoT rules do not permit a company to hold GSM spectrum under two different entities in the same circle. RCom sought a refund of the entry fee for the six circles. Until now, DoT had refused to refund the entry fee to any operator. For example, Idea Cellular was asked to give up its new licences for Punjab and Karnataka after the Aditya Birla-owned company acquired Spice Telecom. Since Spice had mobile operations in these two circles, DoT wanted Idea to give up its licences in these areas without getting any refund. Idea Cellular had paid Rs 350 crore for acquiring the two licences prior to acquiring Spice. Earlier in 2004, DoT had refused to give back Rs 145 crore to Bharti Airtel after the company had surrendered four fixed line telephony licences. In all these cases, DoT has been taking a stand that entry fee, once paid, is non-refundable. Explaining the rationale for refunding the fee in the case of RCom, senior Government officials said that it could not be compared to earlier cases and a distinction has to be made between surrendering a licence and withdrawal of an approval. They said that since DoT was withdrawing the in-principle approval given to RCom for dual technology in the six circles, it would be illegal to hold the fee. “There is no surrender of licence in this case. Reliance continues to have all the licences it already had before it was given the approval to offer dual technology. In the earlier cases, operators were asking for a refund after giving back their licences. The permission to roll out dual technology was given to RCom on top of its existing unified access licences,” said a Government official. According to an internal note, DoT had also suggested that instead of refunding the money, it could be used to adjust any outstanding dues or future payments to be made by RCom. According to DoT’s estimates, RCom would have to pay Rs 200 crore in the third quarter of the current year as licence fees and, therefore, the excess money paid by the company could be used in that regard. However, this has been rejected by the Communications Ministry on the grounds that since DoT was withdrawing the approval for dual technology given to RCom in the six circles, it may not be legally tenable to adjust the money against dues in other circles.

Tax dept to issue notices on other Vodafone-type deals Business Standard l 5 Dec India’s income tax department today said it would scrutinise more than a dozen cases of offshore mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in which the deal results in an ultimate change of ownership of Indian firms. The latest move by the tax department comes in the background of a favourable ruling from the Bombay High Court yesterday in a case filed by Vodafone International Holding BV. “The high court’s decision has strengthened the hands of the income tax department in its attempt to bring to tax in India transactions involving transfer of assets situated in India between entities located outside the country,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman NB Singh told reporters here. “This was a test case. There may be other similar cases that may have escaped scrutiny,” added Director General of International Tax, CBDT, Prakash Chandra. We will now be issuing notices on over a dozen cases,” he said. The department did not disclose which deals are under scrutiny. But if the tax department succeeds in its efforts to tax such overseas transaction involving Indian assets, it stands to gain substantial payment of tax along with penalty and penal interest. (Recent offshore M&A deals of India-registered companies are listed in the table on Page 7, though it is not certain whether these face similar tax issues.) Vodafone, the world’s largest wireless service provider, picked up controlling stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd, India’s third largest mobile service provider, by acquiring a company in 2007 that is registered in Cayman Islands, a known tax haven. Vodafone contended that the transactions relate to two overseas entities and thus not liable to tax in India. But the tax department rejected the contention and sent out a show cause notice saying the overseas transaction relate to assets in India. Thereafter, Vodafone moved the Bombay High Court to reject the department’s notice. The department is aiming to collect over $2 billion (around Rs 10,000 crore) from Vodafone by way of tax deducted at source on the $11.2 billion it paid to Hong Kong’s Hutchison International. Meanwhile, with the Bombay High Court giving Vodafone eight weeks time for Vodafone to file an appeal in Supreme Court, the department will move a caveat in Supreme Court seeking a hearing before giving any further stay in the case. This is important for the department to proceed with the case and other similar cases. A tax expert said the development may have a negative impact on foreign investment. “For a foreign investor India seems to be a very tax-challenging environment. The ruling will obviously have negative impact on similar cases and future investments on Indian assets,” said an income tax expert.

World's Toughest Cell Phone on World Tour For those rugged, outdoorsy, always-dropping-their-mobile folks, here's what could truly be a godsend. A US-based telecom company called Sonim Technologies has recently launched what it claims is the 'world’s toughest' GSM mobile phone. The phone, called the XP1, is apparently engineered and certified to withstand shock, water, wind, dust, dirt and extreme temperatures. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? To set such doubts at rest, the phone is currently on a world tour that began in Sweden. Tests are being conducted by the company, which has invited journalists, bloggers etc. from around the world to show the versatility and endurance of the phone. The company offers a three-year warranty on the phone and a lifetime warranty for the phone housing, with immediate in-store replacement if necessary. Apart from its apparent indestructibility, the XP1 is also equipped with Bluetooth and Push-To-Talk. "The Sonim XP1 is designed with the demanding user in mind, and will fulfill the requirements of a large number of Russian users," said Johan Bergstrom, Senior Director at Sonim Technologies. "As it will also work in very low temperatures, it will be the best choice in several Russian regions. The XP1 is also the only IP-52 classified water/dust-resistant GSM handset commercially available in Russia."

Sonim Joins Forces With Land Rover for 3 New Handsets Sonim’s rugged XP3 Enduro only made an appearance last week and the company seems to be speeding along with new models getting ready to launch in a tie up with Land Rover. According to reports, a total of 3 new GSM handsets will emerge out of this collaboration – The Land Rover S1, S2 G4 and one more a little later next year. Scott Wilson, a designer from Chicago will create the products for the companies. Much like the XP3 Enduro, these handsets will also be hardcore enough to withstand elements like salt, fog, humidity, thermal shock and a 1.6 meter drop onto concrete, no less, from any angle. The S1 and S2 handsets are scheduled to be launched sometime in the first half of next year. Pricing isn't known yet so stay tuned. Courtesy : Tech2

Microsoft Turns the Heat on Online Counterfeiters Initiates legal action across the globe Microsoft's ongoing campaign against software counterfeiters has taken a new turn with the company targeting online auctions of its fake products. The software major today initiated legal action against scores of people across 12 countries including the US, Germany, France, the UK, Canada and Japan, among others. The counterfeit versions sold at online auction sites mainly concerned Microsoft Office and Windows, according to the company. Amazon.com, Craigslist, eBay, MySpace, PCWorld and PriceGrabber were some of the sites where the illegal activity took place, it added. The latest crackdown on counterfeiters brought to light a novel modus operandi to lure gullible buyers. The scamsters announced a special edition of Microsoft software, called Blue Edition, offering it at a low price ostensibly to clear the stock. Blue Edition is fictional. Complaints about this scam came directly from customers to the company when they realized their product was a counterfeit. Most of the Blue Edition cases involved customers in the US. To determine whether the Microsoft software they buy is genuine or not, people should check with Microsoft's "How To Tell" site. Courtesy : Techtree

Vodafone verdict may impact M&A deals Business Line l 4 Dec l Mumbai Wednesday’s High Court dismissal of Vodafone’s writ petition against the income tax demand on them could have a potential implication on several other M&A deals, industry watchers feel. Mr Rajesh Chaturvedi, Managing Partner of CA firm Chaturvedi and Shah, who were representing the income tax department in the case feels that this High Court judgement cannot be applied as a general rule for all M&A activity in the country. “If the transfer of shares were done through a country such as Mauritius, with which India has a tax treaty, then the laws governing the tax treaty would have applied. Since India does not have any treaty with Cayman Islands, local Indian laws would apply,” he said. A senior CBDT official said this would have a bearing on only deals in which both the parties are incorporated overseas. “Where even one of the parties is resident in India, such a situation would not apply,” he said. No transfer of assets Mr Uday Ved, Tax Head, KPMG: “A non-resident is taxable in India under Section 9 of the Income-tax Act only if income accrues or arises through or from a business connection or transfer of capital asset situated in India. In the present case, there was no business connection in India. Further, there was no transfer of capital asset situated in India because the situs of shares of the Cayman Island company were situated outside India. By acquiring shares of the Cayman Island company, Vodafone did not acquire any right or controlling interest in the assets of the Indian company. “Under the Income-tax Act, the tax needs to be withheld only when income is taxable in India. If the income is not taxable in India, there is no question of withholding of any tax in India,” Mr Mukesh Bhutani, partner, BMR Advisors said: “The written ruling is not out as yet. The case was evenly balanced on an issue of law, which was not clear. The Bombay High Court move would strengthen the revenue department’s resolve to bring to tax in India a number of cases where there was offshore transfer of ownership of shares.”

^^^ Thats really great my dear friends. We are eagerly waiting for December 28th.

Wow, second Google Android handsert. Its so fast they have introduced their second handset my dear friends. This handset looks like the Blackberry. Qwerty Keypad and 3G is an added advantage. Overall it seems to be a good handstet.

@Dintis Wow, thats a great experience you had with your Chinese hadnset my dear friend. I too wanted to state in all my posts that Chinese handsets are not that bad. Infact China brought the revolution in not only mobile market but also in electronics and computer hardwares. The PC which we use daily is equipped with many hardwares which are made in China. Now a days many Chinese handsets comes with proper IMEI. And thats necessary too. Otherwise that could be a risk to our National Security. My dear friend, things has changed now. Please search the market you will find the replaceable accessories for Chinese Handsets in throwaway prices. All accesssories including LCD, BOARD, KEYPAD, CAMERA, SPEAKER, etc. are available at very cheap price. So repair of these handsets is not a problem as of now. Well, my dear friend, I don't think their's even a need of Operating Manual for these handsets. As most of the features are very simple. These handsets are really user friendly. Anyways, its good to see your positive experience with Chinese Handsets. Regards.

Motorola Launches New ROKR EM35 Slider The latest Motorola ROKR handset to make the scene is the ROKR EM35 slider. The phone features advanced audio-enhancing CrystalTalk technology, music player, virtual stereo surround sound and MOTOMUSIC player which enables users to play, discover and purchase music. With access to online music stores and stereo Bluetooth, EM35 should offer an all-around multimedia experience. With MOTOMUSIC player, users can listen to music while simultaneously being connected to the music store. Once connected, you’ll be able to access, discover, preview and purchase music from the phone or a PC, get artist information, share favorite tracks with friends, gift tracks from the EM35 and watch videos and free Podcasts. Over time, MOTOMUSIC player will even make personalized recommendations to match your musical tastes. The ROKR EM35 has an integrated FM antenna that enables FM radio to be played over stereo Bluetooth or external stereo speakers without the use of a headset, and built-in FM radio (RDS) with SONGID technology to complete the music experience. With support for an optional 32GB micro SD removable storage card, you can store songs and take your entire music library wherever you go. And use the FastScroll navigation wheel to quickly access content and search for music (music mode), calendar (phone mode) and multimedia (imaging mode). It's equipped with a 2.2-inch QVGA display with 262K colors. The handset also has a 3.1 megapixel camera and an edit feature available. Pre-installed and downloadable widgets will give users access to real-time information such as weather, stock reports and more. The handset should be out soon but there’s no pricing available on it yet. Courtesy : Tech2

Support of upto 32 GB external memory card is another added advantage in this handset my dear friends.

My dear friends, no matter if such a trick exist or not. But always remember such tricks are not allowed to be discussed on this neat and clean forum. So, if anyone do have the trick then please AVOID posting it here. Regards.

India to have 15.8 mn WiMAX users by 2012: Springboard 4 Jul, 2008, 0010 hrs IST NEW DELHI: India will be the leading market for WiMAX in the Asia pacific and is expected to have 15.8 million WiMAX subscribers by 2012. With this, India will represent 46.7% of total subscribers in Asia-Pacific and 35.7% of revenues from the region, analyst firm Springboard Research said in a report released on Thursday. It must, however, be pointed out that India had only 3.4 million broadband subscribers as on January 2008, far short of the government’s target of 9 million. India’s market leadership will be enhanced by support from the government, ambitious investment plans by players like BSNL and Tata Communications, and improvement in fixedline broadband infrastructure, the report explains. “The next couple of years will be critical for WiMAX growth in Asia Pacific, and during that time, we are expecting services to be available for end users in over 10 countries,” said Springboard research director Bryan Wang. According to the report, revenues from WiMAX services in Asia Pacific region will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 148% to reach an estimated $5.46 billion by 2012 compared to $58 million in 2007. The chunk of the revenues will be sourced from mobile WiMAX services during the forecast period, the report adds. “The majority of WiMAX subscribers will be from Korea, Pakistan, India and Australia. At the same time, billions of dollars of investment is going to be spent on WiMAX infrastructures over the next five years, which also creates a big potential market for telecom equipment manufacturers. We see tremendous potential for WiMAX deployment in many emerging markets in the region,” Mr Wang added.

Google Desktop Gets Gmail Gadget Works with version 5 and higher The Gmail team has finally addressed requests for gadget on Google Desktop. Interested users on Windows can download the Gmail gadget for their desktop. James Yun, the Developer Programs Engineer for Google Desktop, mentions in a blog post at Gmail blog that the gadget covers basic email functions - reading, searching, and sending messages. In this gadget, users can maximize their productivity with same keyboard shortcuts, can star messages, and also enjoy the contact auto-complete feature. This Gmail gadget works with the latest release of the Google Desktop for Windows version 5 or higher. However, certain features like email notification will make you dependent on Gmail Notifier. Courtesy : Techtree

WiMAX bidding likely to be over by Jan Business Line l 3 Dec l Hyderabad E-governance plan: Mr A Raja (right), Union Minister for Communications & Information Technology, and Mr Jainder Singh, Secretary, IT, at the Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The Union Government expects to complete the process of bidding for broadband spectrum based on WiMAX technology by January next year. The Government also expects to open the auction for 3G spectrum in December. “We have already allotted 3G spectrum to both BSNL and MTNL with a view to ensuring early roll out. While MTNL is expected to roll out 3G services by mid-December, BSNL is scheduled to do the same by January-end or February,” Mr A. Raja, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday. Mr Raja, who was in the city to inaugurate the four-day Internet Governance Forum (IGF), also said that wherever the 3G spectrum was available, there would be three or four slots that will be auctioned to the private players. “We have also got to know that the existing private operators have got their infrastructure ready to launch 3G services and will do so once we give them the allocation through the auction route,” Mr Raja said. The department, he said, will also seek an extension to the STPI sunset clause and put the same in the Vote-on Account Budget. Service centres He said that the Government through the National e-Governance Plan will be investing around Rs 25,000 crore in the next five years to make available all Government services to the citizens through Common Service Centres (CSCs). “Under the plan, one lakh village Internet kiosks or CSCs will be set up that will provide access to six lakh villages. Presently, over 20,000 such centres are already in place and we expect the rest of them to be operational by second half of 2009,” Mr Raja said. Challenges Mr Nitin Desai, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that some of the challenges that IGF has identified includes multi-lingualism, cost of Internet access and questions relating to infrastructure.

I&B Ministry May Allow Cable Operators Right Of Way For IPTV We’ve heard that the I&B Ministry and the TRAI can’t quite see eye-to-eye over IPTV regulations - the regulations were released by the I&B Ministry, but also covered telecom operators. Soma Das writes in The Financial Express that the the I&B Ministry is planning to recommend that Cable Operators also be granted Right of Way for laying down and owning fibre optic infrastructure and setting up transmission towers. At present, only Telecom operators and ISPs are allowed the Right of Way, which gives them a competitive advantage over Cable Operators in case of IPTV services. I wonder how things will play out when Cable Operators offer IPTV or digital cable over fibre - if it’s over Internet Protocol, then they can also provide value added services, over Internet Protocol. In that case, shouldn’t it also be governed by the Telecom Ministry? This is an era of a convergence of Telecom and Broadcast, and we need a convergence of regulation…perhaps even a convergence of Ministries (I&B and Telecom). However, the ideal solution would be to separate content from carriage - in which all content transmitted would be governed by the Ministry of I&B, and the distribution business - of DTH, Cable TV, IPTV, Mobile TV, Broadband and Mobile will come under the Telecom Ministry. I made a few notes from the TRAI Open House Discussion over Cross Media Ownership, and will put those up soon. Courtesy : Medianama

BlackBerry has in-built GPS device Business Line l 3 Dec l New Delhi BlackBerry Storm 9500 is the latest device from RIM’s stable. It has been launched in other countries including the USA. The device is aimed at taking on Apple’s iPhone and Nokia’s N97. Apart from the regular features such as like e-mail, organiser, touch screen and a camera, the Storm has an in-built GPS device which can used to navigate and locate. It also has Bluetooth capability which is useful for wireless transmission with laptops and other Bluetooth devices. It also claims to have a long battery life. Security experts reckon that these features along with the high encryption codes could make the device useful for the terror groups. High encryption is used by RIM to keep the data secure. But the problem is that Indian security agencies do not have the technology to snoop into data that use encryption codes higher more than 40 bit.

Mobile 3G services by March: Raja Press Trust of India l 3 Dec l Hyderabad Mobile 3G (Third Generation) services are expected to be fully rolled out in the country by March 2009. The Department of Communications, Government of India, will complete the auctions for 3G spectrum by the end of this month, according to Union Communications and Information Technology Minister A Raja. The WiMAX auctions too would be completed by the end of January, 2009. Talking to presspersons on the sidelines of the third Internet Governance Forum conference at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre here today, Raja said MTNL would launch 3G services by mid-December while BSNL would offer the services by the middle of January. "We have given some advance leverage to MTNL and BSNL since they are public sector companies," Raja said. He said that three slots would be put up for auction for 3G spectrum in each circle. "Already, some private players have put necessary infrastructure in place to immediately launch the 3G services as and when they get the spectrum allotted," the Minister pointed out. Once on, the 3G services would enable Internet access on mobile phones at a greater speed.

^^^ My dear friend, you can opt for Nokia 6275. Its the best handset available with Reliance as of now. Regards.

Vodafone to move to SC over tax matter with IT dept Economic Times l 3 Dec l Mumbai Vodafone will challenge the verdict of the Bombay High Court which dismissed the petition filed by the UK telecom firm contesting Income Tax Department’s show-cause notice for capital gains tax to the tune of $2 billion arising out of its acquisition of Hutch shares. Hitesh Jain, one of the lawyers for Vodafone, told ET, “when the court dismissed its application they sought a stay on the order so that they could challenge it in the apex court which was allowed by the court”. Earlier, Counsel Beni Chatterji, representing the Income Tax Department, said the court has stayed the order dismissing Vodafone's petition for 8 weeks, allowing time to Vodafone if it wanted to contest the order in the Supreme Court. Division bench of Justices S Radhakrishnan and Anand Nirgude had earlier asked Vodafone why they should not be treated as "assessee in default" as they did not deduct tax at source (TDS) in respect of transaction between Hutchison Hong Kong and Vodafone International as the asset in question is in India even if the transfer of stakes in it took place between two foreign companies. Vodafone, which is fighting tax demands over its acquisition of Hutchison Essar in India in the Bombay High Court for more than a year, said earlier that a share purchase deal between two foreign companies was not taxable in India. “As the deal (between HTIL and Vodafone) is through transfer of a Mauritius-based entity that holds majority stake in Hutch-Essar, IT department's demand of tax on capital gains will not stand," a senior executive of an international chartered accountant firm said. All will depend on which company's shares are being transferred, if it is an Indian company then the tax demand is justified, he said, adding that this is not the case with the HTIL-Vodafone deal. Vodafone, which picked up the stake of Hutchison in Hutchison-Essar to form Vodafone-Essar in a $11.2-billion deal, had challenged IT Department's notice for capital gains tax to the tune of around $2 billion.