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Bank of India told to pay $82 m in BCCI case London's High Court ordered the Bank of India to pay around $82 million in compensation on Friday over fraudulent transactions with the collapsed Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).
BoI to appeal against order
Oil firms bail out Reliance again
Corporate news
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The Coca-Cola Co said on Friday it had recalled its entire Dasani range of bottled water from the British market after levels of bromate were found to exceed UK legal standards.
Bagrodia is CII Chairman Graphics
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Bank of India told to pay $82 m in BCCI case
London, March 19 Judge Nicholas Patten said the Bank of India's London-based manager K.L. Samant knew that the BCCI's deposits with India's sixth-largest commercial bank were being used to defraud BCCI creditors and that the Bank of India must bear responsibility for the manager's actions. The BCCI collapsed in 1991 owing over $16 billion in the world's biggest banking fraud. The BCCI's liquidator, Deloitte, is currently pursuing a separate lawsuit of nearly one billion pounds ($1.8 billion) against the Bank of England over its regulatory role in the collapse. The Bank of India denied knowing what was going on but Patten launched a scathing attack on its oversight procedures and said allowing it to duck responsibility would set a precedent. "It will allow banks such as BOI, which choose to rubber-stamp the recommendations of their senior managers without ensuring that all proper diligence has been carried out, simply to sidestep liability by relying on ineptitude." The case focused on six BCCI deposits with the BoI between 1981 and 1985. Patten awarded damages of $43.2 million to Deloitte, which along with interest of $39 million resulted in a total sum of just over $82 million. The Bank of India, with 22 million customers, posted a 16 per cent rise in the net profit to Rs 2.29 billion ($51 million) in its third quarter ended December 31. It shares closed up almost 1 per cent at Rs 58.20 on Friday. The BCCI was closed in 1991 by regulators in a worldwide swoop, partly organised by the Bank of England, after it discovered the lender had disguised losses and was insolvent. Founded in 1972 by Pakistani banker Agha Hassan Abedi, the
BCCI grew from a small Asian bank to an empire spanning 69 countries
with $20 billion of assets. — Reuters |
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BoI to appeal against order
MUMBAI: Bank of India (BoI) Chairman M
Venugopal said today he would appeal against London’s High Court order,
charging a compensation of around $ 82 million for its alleged
“fraudulent” transactions with the collapsed the BCCI.
Reacting to the
court order, Mr Venugopal said he would first study the court order in
detail and then decide to move the court with an appeal. — UNI |
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Glaxo loses patent case in UK
London, March 19 India’s Cipla Ltd and other generic firms
had challenged a key patent on Seretide — also known as Advair — on the
grounds of obviousness, Justice Pumfrey said the claimants’ case was
overwhelmingly strong. Given the limited size of the British market,
the financial impact of a defeat will be limited but industry analysts
believe it could damage sentiment and raise fears about patent threats
in other markets. Analysts at JP Morgan calculate that loss of UK
patent protection could slice some 1.2 per cent off the group’s 2008
earnings per share. — Reuters |
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Oil firms bail out Reliance again
New Delhi, March 19 But the 3.7 million tonnes diesel, oil
companies plan to buy from Reliance Industries in 2004-05, will be less
than 6.2 million tonnes of current year which the private sector firm
wanted IndianOil, HPCL and BPCL to continue buying after the expiry of
current contract on March 31, 2004. Besides, Reliance Industries will
also have to sell petroleum product at a discount so as to make the
backing down in public sector refinery output commercial attractive,
senior government officials said. According to a deal brokered at a
meeting convened by Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, state-owned oil
retailers will buy 6.5 million tonnes of petroleum products from
Reliance for another year to give time to the country’s sole private
sector refiner to set up its first phase of 1,500 petrol pumps. The
state firms had planned to cut purchase of petrol, diesel, kerosene and
LPG from RIL to 4.3 million tonnes from current year volumes of 12
million tonnes owing to expansion of Mumbai refinery of BPCL and Chennai
refinery of the IOC and recognition of Mangalore refinery’s full
capacity. “The 4.3 million tonnes requirement had not factored in the
shutdowns the refineries are due to take for maintenance next year and
so the volumes will go up,” Petroleum Secretary B K Chaturvedi told PTI
here. This is the second instance of public sector oil firms bailing
out Reliance Industries. In 2002, the state-run firms had agreed to buy
products from the private firm for two years to enable it to set up
petrol stations. Though Reliance got the government permission to set up
5,849 petrol pumps in 2002, only three have seen light of the day.
Sources said the public sector oil companies plan to take just 0.3
million tonnes of petrol and kerosene each and 2.4 million tonnes of LPG
from RIL’s Jamnagar refinery next fiscal. During the current fiscal,
they are lifting 0.6 million tonnes of petrol from Jamnagar, 2.3 million
tonnes of kerosene and 2.2 million tonnes of LPG. Lower product
offtake from RIL is mainly due to inclusion of the entire 9.69 million
tonnes capacity of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals in the industry
logistics plan and expansion of BPCL’s Mumbai refinery by 3 million
tonnes to 12 million tonnes and Chennai refinery from 7.5 million tonnes
to 10.5 million tonnes. — PTI |
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BSNL unveils Tarang in Jalandhar, Phagwara
Jalandhar, March 19 Addressing a press conference here today,
Mr G.S. Bhatia, Chief General Manager (Telecom-Punjab Circle), who was
accompanied by Mr K.C. Jindal, General Manager (Jalandhar), said after
availing the service, customers of the two cities could get connected to
any type of network, landline, GSM and WLL CDMA. Mr Bhatia said after
Jalandhar and Phagwara, BSNL was planning to introduce the service in
Amritsar and Chandigarh. The service, which was cost effective as it was
without any airtime charges, would put the existing waiting list to an
end and it offered extra facilities like dynamic STD locking, call
waiting, CLI, call forwarding and morning alarm. Mr Jindal said
consumers of Jalandhar, which has one of the highest density of
telephone at 9.7 lines per hundred persons would be at a edge with the
provision of the facility by BSNL. He assured that efforts would be made
to make the service flawless. |
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Corporate news
Mumbai, March 19 The transaction includes acquisition of all Internet assets,
employees and customers of Dishnet’s ISP division. The transaction is
subject to fulfilment of certain conditions precedent and some legal
formalities, which are expected to be completed soon before the
transaction closes. VSNL entered into the transaction after the assets
and liabilities of the business were evaluated by a reputed merchant
banker. Hughes to buy out
more firms Denying reports of its acquisition by Wipro Technologies,
Hughes Software Systems (HSS) said today it was, in fact, evaluating
options for more acquisitions in the telecom space. ‘’A five-member
team is working in this direction. We have not come across the right
candidates, but evaluation is on,’’ HSS Executive Vice-President and
Chief Operating Officer Manoranjan Mohapatra told UNI here. ‘’HSS plans
to expand only on telecom horizons in the near future and we are looking
at suitable firms. The company is in favour of acquiring companies with
a large customer base and having a niche segment presence,’’ he said,
after a press conference by the BITS Pilani Alumni
Association. However, he refused to give a time-frame for the
acquisitions. In November, 2003, HSS acquired a 100 per cent stake in
Bangalore-based Tenet Technologies in an all cash deal of Rs 18 crore.
Tenet had a significant sales and support presence in Japan through a
wholly owned subsidiary, which helped HSS develop key customer contacts
in the Japan market. Vehemently refuting reports of Wipro readying its
bid for the numero uno firm, he said: ‘’There is no truth at all in the
news. It is pure speculation.’’
Bajaj Auto plants for Indonesia,
Brazil Bajaj Auto will open assembly plants in Indonesia and Brazil in
a bid to boost overseas presence even as it has lined up four launches
in the next six months to drive further domestic growth. The company’s
Vice-President (Finance), Sanjiv Bajaj told reporters here that the
Indonesian plant will be set up in the next nine to 12 months, and the
Brazilian one within three years and they will cater to the South-East
Asian and South American markets. Both plants are expected to come up
in collaboration with partners. While investment details are yet to be
worked out, Bajaj indicated that it won’t be a problem, noting that the
company is sitting on a cash surplus of Rs 4,000 crore. — UNI, PTI |
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Coca-Cola recalls Dasani bottled water
London, March 19 The announcement, described by Coca-Cola as a precautionary measure, can prove a serious blow to the company's efforts to break into the UK market for bottled water. It was recently criticised in British media after its disclosure that Dasani was in fact treated and purified tap water, a practice not uncommon in the bottled-water industry. It had consulted the Food Standards Agency, Britain's food quality watchdog, which had confirmed there was "no immediate health or safety issue". The recall of about 5,00,000 bottles of Dasani, which applies only to the British market, had already begun and will largely be completed within 24 hours, the company said in a statement. British limits for bromate, a non-metallic salt, in bottled and tap waters are 10 parts per billion, a Coca-Cola spokesman said, and the Dasani samples had tested at between "borderline" (about 10) and 22 parts per billion. European tap water limits are 25 parts per billion. Growth in bottled water
sales is far outstripping that of other soft drinks across the globe,
and Dasani rapidly became the number two U.S. brand. — Reuters |
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Bagrodia is CII Chairman
Mr. Mahesh C. Munjal is the Managing Director of Majestic Auto
Ltd, a company that exports mopeds and also makes fine blanked
components and health equipment.
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Chandigarh, March
19
Mr Manish Bagrodia, Managing Director
of Winsom Yarns, was the Vice- Chairman of the Punjab State Council last
year. 
