New Delhi, August 10
Global cola majors Pepsico and Coke, which are at the receiving end of a pesticide row, today got unexpected support from apex industry body Ficci that cautioned states against taking any hasty decisions.

A day after Kerala banned production and sale of colas of both Coca Cola and Pepsi, Ficci said it would write to the state government to "follow the process of law" as action against these companies without validating charges would adversely impact the investment climate.

"If without following due process of law, governments start announcing a ban, India's credibility as a law-abiding country may come into question," Ficci President S.K. Poddar told reporters.

Karnataka had yesterday decided to ban sale of Coca Cola and Pepsi in educational institutions and hospitals, while Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have already banned the sale of Pepsi and Coca Cola in educational institutions and government offices.

Ficci Secretary-General Amit Mitra said action without following regulatory process "will not only affect foreign investment, but also domestic investment".

He termed the action of Kerala government to impose a ban and asking the company to take its investment back as a "dangerous precedent for the industry."

Mr Mitra said the chamber would also write to the Prime Minister on the issue.

When asked what he meant by due regulatory process, he said the Health Ministry was the guardian of the due process. “There is a process of law. There are accreditated labs of government. The government must act on that and not based on a report from an NGO,” he said.

“Ficci feels if government bans a product without due process, without serving notice, without giving opportunities to explain... then their position is dangerous,” he said.

He said action by state governments in going ahead with a ban on colas could affect investments not only in that specific sector but also in other industries like pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and clinical research.

Mr Mitra referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee recommendation that the said results of an NGO must be validated so as to ensure transparency. There was no harm in NGOs conducting tests “but government must validate it.” The action by states was based on the findings of Centre for Science and Environment’s study that said colas manufactured by these two companies were high on pesticide content.
— PTI

Mumbai, August 10
The Bombay High Court today directed Hutchison Essar and BPL Mobile Communications (Mumbai circle) to approach the arbitration tribunal (AT) within 30 days in the case of their dispute over the share-purchase agreement.

Ms Justice Nishita Mhatre also directed the tribunal to take up the matter within four weeks, after the recent termination of the Hutchison Essar and BPL’s joint venture. She also passed an injunction order restraining Essar from selling its stakes in BPL to any third party.

Hutchison Essar’s lawyer Iqbal Chagla had earlier contended that Rs 1,616 crore (97.5 per cent) of the consideration for the share-purchase agreement (SPA) had already been paid to BPL and only about Rs 50 crore remained to be paid.

The approval from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has already been applied for and if the application was not approved, it was Hutch’s concern, Mr Chagla said. But, the transfer of shares was not subject to the DoT approval, he added.

However, BPL’s lawyer Janak Dwarkadas argued that the DoT approval was a pre-requisite and had to be fulfilled before the transfer of shares, as per the agreement drawn for the joint venture.

The court was also told that the BPL Board had passed a resolution in May, stating that subject to approval from the DoT, all shares would be transferred in the name of Hutchison Essar.

According to the SPA, the proposed merger could not be completed (including transfer of shares) until all precedent conditions were met, which included approval, and it could not be waived. — PTI

New Delhi, August 10
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora today reviewed the impact of floods in Gujarat on oil installations and supply of products, including natural gas.

Directing oil firms to gear up emergency response mechanism, he expressed satisfaction that supplies of petroleum products had been maintained with minimum disruption, a Petroleum Ministry press release said here.

While oil refineries in Gujarat worked normally, ONGC's Hazira gas processing complex has been shut down for three days now.

"Floodwater has started receding and the complex is expected to be cleared of floodwater by tomorrow," it said.

ONGC is mobilising its resources, manpower and expertise to restore the operations of the plant as soon as possible.

Natural gas supplies to industries has been hit, it said, but added that supplies to priority sector, particularly CNG for transport sector in Delhi, was being maintained from stocks available and were likely to remain unaffected.

The closure of ONGC plant has resulted in a revenue loss of about Rs 20 crore per day, besides loss of about 700 tonnes of oil production from ONGC's Mehsana oilfield.

Meanwhile, ONGC hopes to revive its water-marooned Hazira gas plant in Gujarat by weekend.

"Water has receded some bit, but the plant is still under a meter of water. We plan to put back the plant in operation in phases once water recedes," ONGC Chairman and Managing Director R.S. Sharma said here.

ONGC had to shut its Bassein, B-55 and Panna Mukta and Tapti gas fields as water-marooned Hazira complex could not take any gas. About 40.5 million standard cubic metres per day of natural gas went out of the system as a result of the closure, affecting operations of industries.

"The plant might have suffered some damage... we have to access it before restarting the plant," Mr Sharma said, adding that it may take another 2-3 days for water to recede.

Meanwhile, a Reliance Industries' official said it continued to keep its petrochemical plant at Hazira partially closed due to floods caused by torrential rains and non-availability of gas.

ONGC's Hazira plant, which produces 1,650 tonnes of LPG, 3,350 tonnes of aromatic naphtha, 417 tones of kerosene and 48 tonnes of diesel using the 40.5 mmscmd gas received from the Mumbai offshore fields, had to declare a 'force majeure' on the export of three naphtha cargoes due to plant closure. — PTI

New Delhi, August 10
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd said today it would sell off its manufacturing unit in Ireland with a view to consolidating production activity for Europe and the CIS countries, at the plant of recently acquired Terapia in Romania.

“The company has decided to divest the manufacturing facility of Ranbaxy Ireland Ltd located in Cashel, Ireland, as a going concern,” a statement by Ranbaxy said.

Explaining the reasons for the move to sell its Ireland unit, which has been used as a tablet formulation facility, the company said there were significant efficiencies to be gained from consolidating the company’s European operation in Romania.

“This is consistent with the company’s strategy to make Romania the strategic hub for markets in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States,” it added. Company officials declined to divulge further details.— PTI

Kolkata, August 10
Amid resistance by the Opposition, the West Bengal Government said today it would go ahead with land acquisition for the Rs 1,000-crore small car project of Tata Motors at Singur in Hooghly district and make it available to the company next month.

‘’The government will start the process of handing over the land to Tata Motors before the Durga Puja festival next month,’’ Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen told reporters.

Tata Motors would require 1,253 acres for setting up a Rs 1 lakh people’s car project.

Opposition Trinamool Congress has said that it would resist the move to hand over fertile agricultural land to industries. ‘’We are not against industries in the state, but industries should come up in areas earmarked for it,’’ Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has said. — PTI

New Delhi, August 10
Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries has submitted a Rs 288-crore bid to revive the ailing shopping cooperative Super Bazar, a move that would help the corporate house’s ambitious foray into consumer retail segment. Reliance’s offer follows the government’s decision to invite bids in May after the Supreme Court asked Centre to examine ways to revive the cooperative.

The government has 50 per cent holding in Super Bazar, which has a membership of 40,000 and 2,200 employees.

Super Bazar falls under the purview of the Department of Consumers Affairs and has been under liquidation since 2002 until the court intervened on a petition filed by the employees union against the regulator’s decision to wind up the retail chain.

Reliance is believed to have proposed to invest Rs 60 crore in the share capital of Super Bazar, with another Rs 85 crore for working capital, sources said. The company would also spend Rs 143 crore to revamp the chain and expand it to retailing pharmaceuticals, fruit and vegetables, online shopping and institutional sales.

An evaluation committee is understood to have favoured Reliance because of its financial capacity and development plan for reviving Super Bazar.

Reliance has also proposed to settle the dues of over Rs 10 crore to government agencies and Rs 25.58 crore to suppliers, besides retaining all staff.— PTI

New Delhi, August 10
The Finance Ministry and RBI today sought to play down their differences in perception on interest rates, saying the direction from North Block was only to ensure that productive sectors are not starved of liquidity at a time when the economy was on high-growth path.

There may be slight differences in perception on interest rates but it did not mean that that there was a rift between the Finance Ministry and RBI, senior Finance Ministry officials said.

The RBI too felt it was not proper to read too much into the absence of its nominees from the recent Board meetings of the Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, which reviewed hike in interest rates.

The Finance Ministry officials said a letter written by North Block to PSU banks to seek their Board's approval for hike in prime lending rates was just aimed at ensuring that there was no starving of credit for productive purposes.

The RBI, on the other hand, is of the view that inflation should be kept under control by sucking out excess liquidity from the system, sources said.

As such, the central bank is not averse to some adjustments in interest rates, they added.

The Finance Ministry has based its view in the backdrop of 1997 East Asian currency meltdown during which South-East Asian countries hiked interest rates as a measure to deal with liquidity situation dampening the booming investments in those countries at that point of time.

Also hike in home loan rates would not impact the economy as long as it was a correction to deal with speculative investments, they felt. — PTI

New Delhi, August 10
The Mines Ministry would soon approach the Union Cabinet to seek its opinion on a directive of the Delhi High Court for settling the sale of residual equity in the erstwhile Balco to Sterlite Industries Limited within four weeks.

Acting on a petition filed by Sterlite, which acquired a 51 per cent stake in the company in 2001, Mr Justice H.R. Malhotra had asked the Centre to negotiate with Sterlite on its claim for the balance 49 per cent share with the government.

“The issue of selling the residual 49 per cent stake in Balco is pending before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and it would have to take a decision on it. We would approach the CCEA soon in this connection,” a top Mines Ministry official said.

Sterlite filed the petition following the government’s refusal to accept the company’s cheque of Rs 1,098 crore in lieu of the residual stake.

Appearing on behalf of the government, Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subrasmanian submitted that the Centre was ready to “negotiate, conciliate and mediate as per the agreement” on the issue and the government has conveyed its willingness in a letter on August 2.

Senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor-General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Sterlite, said the company wanted to “purchase the share at the price fixed under the contract.”

Mr Rohatgi submitted that if the parties failed to reach a consensus then the matter could be referred for arbitration as per the agreement.

Former Chief Justice of India S.P. Bharucha has been appointed as nominee arbitrator.

The court posted the matter for further hearing in the first week of September.
— PTI

Mumbai, August 10
Five stock exchanges, including the Pune Stock Exchange, may face derecognition by market regulator SEBI in case they fail to fulfil compliance norms before their recognition term ends.

According to information divulged in SEBI's official website, the recognition of five stock exchanges expiring in this calendar year are Pune Stock Exchange (September 01), Coimbatore Stock Exchange (September 17), Cochin Stock Exchange (November 7), Interconnected Stock Exchange of India (November 17) and Magadh Stock Exchange (December 10).

It could not be ascertained whether Pune and Coimbatore bourses which face derecognition next month had filed for renewal or not.

Eight stock exchanges in the country enjoy permanent recognition and these are the Bombay Stock Exchange, Ahmedabad Stock Exchange, Bangalore Stock Exchange, The Calcutta Stock Exchange Association, The Delhi Stock Exchange Association, Hyderabad Stock Exchange, Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange and Madras Stock Exchange.

The NSE, established in 1994, has been receiving five-year contract renewal and its third contract renewal ends on April 25, 2008, the SEBI said.

The bourses, whose recognition expires in 2007 are OTC Exchange of India (August 22, 2007), The Uttar Pradesh Stock Exchange Association (June 02, 2007), Gauhati Stock Exchange (April 30, 2007), Bhubaneshwar Stock Exchange (June 04, 2007), Vadodara Stock Exchange (January 03, 2007), Saurashtra Kutch Stock Exchange (July 09, 2007) and Ludhiana Stock Exchange (April 27, 2007).

The Jaipur Stock Exchange has recognition till January 08, 2009, it added.— UNI

New Delhi, August 10
Television viewers are set to benefit under the conditional access system (CAS) which will be implemented in parts of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and the entire city of Chennai by December, 2006.

Information and Broadcasting Minister P.R. Dasmunshi told the Rajya Sabha today that viewers would pay less under CAS than the prevailing rates of cable operators. “In totality, they will be paying less. There would be a trail for a year,” he said. The minister said while efforts have been made to increase free-to-air DTH bouquet, the government would create awareness on implementing CAS. “The pay channels cannot decide their price without negotiations with TRAI,” he said.

He said Rs 990 is likely to be the security deposit to obtain a set-top box and the monthly payment would depend on the choice of pay channels. — TNS

London, August 10
Airline and travel company shares dropped sharply today after British authorities reported that they thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up several aircraft in flight between the United States and the United Kingdom.

As heightened security measures caused long delays and cancelled flights at airports around the country, including Europe's busiest airport, London's Heathrow, experts said the alert could be a severe blow to both industries.

British Airways (BA) was one of the hardest hit because of its heavy exposure to the trans-Atlantic route.

Its shares were down 3.9 per cent to $7.15 in trading on the London Stock Exchange.

Budget airline asyJet plc was 2.6 per cent lower at $7.84 while fellow low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings plc was down nearly 2.8 per cent to $9.41.

Among other airlines, Air France-KLM was down 2.8 per cent to $24.68 in Paris, while Lufthansa was down 3.2 per cent at $18.21 in Frankfurt.

BAA was up marginally, 0.3 per cent, at $17.88. —AP