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Sunday,
September 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India
  
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HC settles
Coke-Pepsi dispute Record
kharif foodgrain production likely Newspapers
record 5.34 pc growth China an
area of risky investment |
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Sky
marshals can pose problems
Special provisions
for eviction
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HC settles Coke-Pepsi dispute New Delhi, September 29 The battle between Coca-Cola and Pepsi started well before spring and only judicial intervention enabled the marketing guns from blazing through electronic channels right to living rooms of the thirst-choked Indian consumer. The game of oneupmanship between the two companies started when Pepsi roped in Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador in an apparent response to Coke’s own promo star— the latest Bollywood heartthrob Hritik Roshan. Pepsi’s ad features Shahrukh being spurned by an adolescent girl for a Hritik look-alike, only to later find out that he had ugly teeth. Pepsi freak Shahrukh Khan eventually turned out to be the right choice for the girl. This television commercial virtually set the tone for a one-on-one negative promotional campaign among the cola majors. The issue that really took the matter to court rooms was Coca-Cola’s Thums Up and Sprite campaign that began in the later half of February this year building into the peak summer season. The Thums Up commercial titled the `Thums Up Challenge’ campaign featured a bottle of Thums Up and a fictitious bottle bearing the name PAPPI and globe device with red and blue colours in it, but without the wave in the middle that is contained in the Pepsi Globe Device. The other commercial under challenge was the Sprite commercial which parodied an earlier Pepsi roller coaster commercial. Pepsi submitted that there was “slighting” of Pepsi’s product as the Thums Up advertisement was portraying in a negative manner to dilute its brand equity. Pepsi held that its rivals were using “globe device” on which the company has a copyright. The company also pleaded that fictitious cola with the name of “Pappi” in the advertisement should also be stopped as there were only three cola products in the market and two of them being held by Coca-Cola. Pepsi’s contention was that the purpose of Coca-Cola’s comparative advertisement was to injure Pepsi’s reputation in the eyes of the younger generation. Coca-Cola contented that there was no prima-facie case of violation of rights as mentioned in Pepsi’s petition. The registration of the" globe device" does not prevent another trader from using a circular device. Nor is Pepsi entitled to any exclusivity in respect of the colours employed by the company in its "globe device" Coca-Cola contended. Coca-Cola contended that “the entire campaign only signifies trade puffing which is always there in trade rivalry. We are not comparing the product in our advertisement to defame, dilute or disparage the product of our rival”. The Delhi High Court ruled that “prima facie no case is made out for disparagement and the defendants (Coca-Cola India) are not passing off their goods as those of the plaintiffs ( Pepsi)”. There is no material on record to show that the advertisement given by the defendants ( Coca-Cola) harm the business of the plaintiffs (Pepsi) or the goods of the plaintiffs are bad...”, the court further held. According to marketing experts, the court judgement establishes the fact that comparative advertisement is gaining ground in India. Comparative advertising has been and continues to be widely used in the USA and much of the western world.  |
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Record kharif foodgrain production likely New Delhi, September 29 This would be 2.5 million tonnes more than the last year production of 103.1 million tonnes. The record production during kharif season so far has been 104.8 million tonnes achieved during 1999-2000. This assessment was made at the National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign 2001-2002 which concluded here yesterday. The Agriculture Ministry said the estimate of 105.6 million tonnes maybe a conservative one based on information furnished by state governments and feed back received from Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad. The actual production during the current kharif season could turn out to be higher when results of crop cutting experiments are available and position is reviewed in December 2001. Performance of foodgrains production is as usual led by the impressive kharif rice production which is expected to be 76.4 million tonnes, about two million tonnes more than the production of 74.4 million tonnes achieved last year. The likely production of kharif maize is expected to cross 10 million tonne mark for the first time. This is against the previous year’s production of 9.9 million tonnes. The production of bajra at 7.5 million tonnes is expected to be about 1.1 million tonnes, higher than last year while the overall kharif coarse cereals production is expected to be around 23.9 million tonnes, slightly lower than the last year production of 24 million tonnes due to lower contribution from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The production of kharif pulses at 5.3 million tonnes is expected to be higher by 0.6 million tonnes than the production of last year. The conference reviewed the prospects of kharif crop production for kharif 2001 season. The overall rainfall during the current monsoon season up to September 19 was deficient by about 8 per cent. The redeeming feature this year has been than Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chattishgarh which suffered acute moisture stress and drought-like situation last year received good rainfall. Besides, rainfall during the current monsoon was quite good for
North-West India. The kharif oilseeds production is expected to be around 12.5 million tonnes during the current season as against 11.6 million tonnes produced last year. Both kharif groundnut and soyabean are expected to contribute about 11.1 million tonnes which would be higher by one million tonne compared to last year’s production. Among the non-food crops, the area of coverage under cotton increased substantially. The production prospects suffered some set-back due to widespread incidence of American Ballworm in Northern India. Even then the expected cotton production of 12.5 million bales would be approximately 33 per cent higher than the production of cotton last kharif. On the strategy for the forthcoming Rabi season, the conference fixed foodgrains target at 107.87 million tonnes and for oilseeds at 11.5 million tonnes.
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Newspapers record 5.34 pc growth New Delhi, September 29 According to the report of the RNI, the number of registered publications rose by 2502 from 46,665 in 1999 to 49,145 in 2000. The total circulation of publications showed a marginal decrease of 2.40 per cent from 13,00,87,493 copies in 1999 to 12,69,63,763 in 2000. The number of dailies has also increased by 4.01 per cent from 5,157 in 1999 to 5,364 in 2000. The number of periodicals increased by 5.54 per cent from 41,161 in 1999 to 43,442 in 2000. The circulations of periodicals, however, showed a marginal decline. The report mentions that of the total newspapers published in 101 languages, the maximum number of publications came out in Hindi (19,685) followed by English (7,715), Urdu (2,848) and other languages. The report states that Hindustan Times, an English daily published from Delhi and printed in seven cities was the largest circulated single edition daily in the year with a circulation of 8,47,346. According to the report, 25,616 out of a total of 43,442 periodicals deal with news and current affairs while 4,246 are literary and cultural magazines.
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China an area of risky investment New Delhi, September 29 A leading US-based technology consultancy firm, Gartner Inc., has warned that high-tech companies proposing to invest in China must be extremely cautious. The warning comes despite the fact that Beijing has been attracting billions of dollars as investment in different sector even though global economic slowdown has forced many companies to reposition their investment commitments. Whether this rating would spurt investments in India has to be seen, but going by the past recommendations of Gartner, technology firms in the country can have caution optimism. China’s technology sector is inhibited by the lack of a safe harbour of investment by small to medium foreign companies whose innovation drives the growth in the high-technology industries in developed countries, the finding of Gartner research report said. “For these companies, despite the attractiveness of China’s market and technically competent workforce, the maze of rules, regulations and corruption in China are too much of a hindrance,” said French Caldwell, Gartner Researcher Director. “Without significant political and economic liberalisation, foreign technology investment in China will continue to be lethargic, the province of companies large enough to make long-term investments and shrewd enough to avoid the pitfalls of China’s multi-layered bureaucracy,” the report said. Gartner said Western companies are intrigued by China’s population of 1.8 billion people. The country’s economy has grown, on average, 8 per cent per year for almost a quarter century, has growth has created a huge demand for the products, services and knowledge that Western companies can supply, especially those in the IT industry. |
Special provisions for eviction Q: Is proceeding before Rent Control Authority a suit within the meaning of S. 10. CPC? Was the order of Rent Control Authority holding eviction application not maintainable legal? Ans: That issue came up before MP High Court in Bherulal Bhatt v Kamal Singh (2001(1) RCJ 488). Proceedings under Ch. III-A of the MP Control Act are special provisions for eviction of tenant on the ground of bona fide requirement of residential accommodation as well as non-residential accommodation to certain category of persons which are mentioned in S.23.-J. In view of this clear position the finding recorded by RCA that two suits cannot be filed is absolutely illegal and the dismissal of the application on that ground is also illegal. Since the proceedings before RCA is not suit within the meaning of S.10 CPC therefore, the provisions of S. 10 are not applicable on the proceedings pending before the RCA under S.23.-A. The matter in issue is also not directly and substantially the same in the two proceedings. A separate civil suit maintainable for the recovery of the arrears of the rent and also for eviction on the ground of nuisance and also on other grounds except the ground which are covered by S.23.-A. of the Act. In this case, the application before RCA was pending applicant as he is a retired Govt. servant within the definition of S.23.-J. The RCA has also committed an illegality in considering the two proceedings as the same proceedings. It has not considered that the suit pending in the Civil Court is for arrears of rent and eviction on the ground of nuisance and here application was filed for eviction on the ground of bona fide requirement for personal use. In view of this factual and legal position on record this revision was allowed by the HC and the impugned order passed by RCA on 26.4.2000 was set aside holding that the provisions of S.10 CPC are not applicable and a separate suit is also maintainable on other ground. The case therefore was remanded to the RCA. The RCA shall proceed further in the matter and decide the application on merits in accordance with law. That way the present revision application was allowed. |
R.N. Lakhotia Arrears Q:
“ I was appointed as Medical Officer in the Health Deptt Haryana on November 5, 1998 on contract basis on a fixed salary of Rs 8000 p.m. and I am drawing the same having a annual income of Rs 96000. Now the Supreme Court of India has ordered that I should get my salary on regular scale from now onwards and the arrears from my date of appointment (according to regular scale of basic pay of Rs 8000 p.m.) should be paid before February 21. Now my next salary will be around Rs 13500 p.m. and the arrears for the last more than 2 years amounting around Rs 1,30,000 shall also be paid. What shall be my tax liabilities? Whether the arrears shall be counted as income of this year or last 2 years? What are the ways to save tax by various saving schemes, where & how much should I invest I save tax? — Dr R.K. Arora Ans: The arrear salary received for last two years normally would be liable to tax in the year in which the same has been received by you. If, however, you desire the arrear salary to be spread in two different years, then it is possible to do so by taking advantage of s.89(1) of the Income-tax act, 1961 which provides you relief on arrear salary. For this purpose you should submit Form No. 10E to your DDO who is competent to grant you necessary tax rebate. If you want to pay tax on the full amount in the current year itself then you should invest upto Rs 80,000 to avail tax rebate u/s 88 and thereby reduce the balance of income-tax payment. Building loan Q:
I have taken house building loan from a Nationalised Bank. The loan amounting to Rs 3,00,000 is in the joint name of me and my wife. The land on which the house has been constructed and the house (both) are in the name of my wife. My wife is serving HP Govt as a teacher. We are residing in the house. A small portion is on rent (annual income is 12000). Kindly explain whether she is allowed Income-tax rebate on payment of interest. The loan was taken in 1999. We have already started repayment of principal + interest on monthly basis. I am also a government servant. — Ashok Gautam Ans: Your wife will be entitled to deduction in respect of repayment of the interest on loan. If the loan was taken prior to April, 1999 the maximum deduction would be limited to Rs 30,000 only. However, if the loan was taken after April 1, 1999 the deduction would be upto Rs 1,50,000 from the F.Y. 2001-2002. Similarly, in respect of instalment of the loan, etc. tax rebate would also be permissible u/s 88 of the income-tax Act, 1961 on maximum Rs 20,000 for the one F.Y. Medical allowance Q:
(a) Is it necessary to incur that much expenditure on medical treatment of a neurological disease, or would it suffers if only some travel expenses are incurred in connection therewith, for availing the benefit of deduction of Rs 40,000 each u/s 80DDB and 80-U; and (b) Would it make any difference if expenses are incurred but its major part is re-imbursed by the Punjab Government. (c) What is the minimum percentage of disability for becoming eligible to avail the benefit of deduction u/s 80DDB and 80U? (d) Is D.D.O. competent to allow the above-mentioned deductions? — Manjit Singh Ans:
For the purposes of Section 80DDB in respect of deduction for medical treatment for the assessee or his dependent relative the deduction would be permissible if the expenditure has been incurred for medical treatment of the disease or ailment. However, with regard to Section 80U there is no specific condition to this effect. Hence for a person claiming deduction u/s 80U for permanent physical disability, the deduction will be allowed even when the expenses are incurred for travelling, etc., etc. It would not make a difference if part of the expenses are reimbursed to the employee by the government. The DDO is competent enough to grant the above mentioned deduction. As regards the percentage of disability for becoming eligible to avail the benefit of deduction u/s 80DDB or u/s 80U please refer to Rule 11DD and Rule 11D. Before claiming any of the above deductions you must carefully study the specific diseases and the permanent physical disability for the purpose of above section and also comply with the procedural formalities of submitting certificate, etc. from the doctor. |
Opportunism at its best The grapevine has it that there is a growing buzz in corporate circles that a petroleum company whose proximity to a possible Indian airbase for American use had caused worry was now causing cheer. Why? From where do you think the Yanks would refuel? TVS without Suzuki While there was some initial panic when Suzuki decided to part ways with TVS, there is a strong school of thought that the TVS group has the capital base and know-how to steam ahead on its own. Remember MRF?
Empty vessels It is common knowledge that empty vessels make the most sound. Hence, it came as no surprise when a tall-talking private sector telecom group announced that it was deferring its over-ambitious IPO plans which was a non-starter in the first place. Ever head of Don Quixote? |
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