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Investment board okays A-I’s fleet acquisition plan
Govt plans 20 handicraft clusters
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Ranbaxy sues firms in USA
Citigroup chief meets PM, FM
Today is World Standards Day
BP, HPCL ink pact on Bathinda refinery
NY Life Insurance to pick up stake in JBC India
Indian tea firms acquire foreign giants
Rs 10,000 PC unveiled
Trinidad attracts Punjab traders
Indo Rama Synthetics
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Investment board okays A-I’s fleet acquisition plan
New Delhi, October 13 “I am happy to announce that the PIB has decided to recommend to the government the two proposals for the purchase of 68 aircraft,” Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad said after a three-hour meeting of the PIB chaired by Expenditure Secretary Adarsh Kishore. A team from Air -India had been carrying out the negotiations in the hope that they would be over before the PIB met for taking a view on the aircraft purchase. The clearance from the PIB comes just weeks after the CCEA gave its go- ahead to Indian Airlines for the purchase of 43 aircraft from Airbus Industrie at a cost of Rs 9,890 crore. “The exact amounts are going to be looked at and re-worked...It will, however, be on a ‘not exceeding basis’,” Mr Prasad said in reply to questions about the proposed multi-billion dollar deal. The proposal, cleared by the PIB, would now be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for approval. In April this year, the AI Board had approved a proposal to acquire eight Boeing 777-200 (long range), 15 B-777-300(extended range) and 27 B-787s at a total estimated cost of about Rs 30,000 crore prior to the negotiations with the US company. The Board also decided to purchase 18 B-737-800s for its subsidiary. Mr Prasad said that as part of its proposal to the government, the PIB would also give its recommendation on the grant of sovereign guarantee on the credit to be taken by the international carrier. Maintaining that AI would be asked to “drive the best bargain”,the Expenditure Secretary said the sovereign guarantee would back approximately 85 to 90 per cent of the total cost, which the airline was likely to finance through credit. The PIB recommendations to the CCEA would also be accompanied by the result of the ongoing price negotiations between AI and Boeing. “If the negotiations continue even then, we might seek further instructions from the CCEA. The final decision is the privilege of the CCEA”, Mr Kishore said. Air- India plans to fund 85 per cent of the acquisition programme by external commerial borrowings and the rest from internal accruals. While the pre-negotiation dealof 50 aircraft was estimated at Rs 30,000 crore, the cost of 18 planes for Air-India Express is about Rs 10,000 crore.
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Govt plans 20 handicraft clusters
New Delhi, October 13 He said despite handicraft exports touching the Rs13,000 crore mark last year, India still had to go a long way to gain its due share in the $ 235 billion international market of handicrafts and gifts. Amritsar and Hoshiarpur districts in Punjab had been identified for their potential in wooden artware and zari products. The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), said Mr Navratan Samdria, Chairman, EPCH, had decided to set up an India Exposition Mart for round -the -clock international marketing at Greater Noida.
ILO to host talks
Meanwhile, business ,labour and
government leaders from textile producing and consuming countries would gather at Geneva on October 24-26 under the aegis of International Labour Office (ILO) for wide-ranging talks on the future of the industry in the wake of phase-out of the multi-fibre arrangement (MFA). The participants will discuss strategic and policy responses that concern more than 40 million workers worldwide and thousands of enterprises in the $350 billion global clothing and textile sector.
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Ranbaxy sues firms in USA
Mumbai, October 13 Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc along with Agvar Chemicals Inc has filed the complaint also for fraud and tortuous interference associated with the supply of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients regarding the commercialisation of fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets, RLL informed Bombay Stock Exchange. “We operated in good faith over a period of five years lending technical expertise to Barr in the development of the fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets and investing heavily in facilities to meet the demands of Barr, only to be surprised by an undisclosed relationship between Barr and
Teva,” Ranbaxy’s Vice-President of Global Intellectual Property Jay Deshmukh said. “We believe this is a breach of our agreement with Barr and accordingly are now seeking all appropriate relief from a state court in New Jersey,” he added Florida-based Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the
RLL, is engaged in the sale and distribution of generic and branded prescription products in the US healthcare system. Meanwhile, a British court has ruled in favour of Indian generic drug maker Ranbaxy in a case against pharma major Pfizer over an European patent of cholesterol-lowering drug
Lipitor, but said its product infringed another patent. The UK High Court was handing down rulings to Ranbaxy’s case against Pfizer involving two key European patents on
atorvastatin. Atorvastatin is a cholesterol- lowering drug, which is marketed by Pfizer as
Lipitor. — PTI
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Citigroup chief meets PM, FM
New Delhi, October 13 The Citigroup chief’s visit comes weeks after Mr Chidambaram’s US visit, where he met top CEOs and invited them to participate in India’s growth process. Officials were tight-lipped over the outcome of the meetings of the Citigroup head with Mr Manmohan Singh and Mr
Chidambaram, which lasted about 20 minutes each in the morning. Mr Prince is slated to meet the RBI authorities and Citibank employees during his two-day visit, a Citibank official told PTI
here. Citigroup, which has presence in about 100 countries and 100 million customers worldwide, is one of the major foreign banks in the country. India is one of the fastest growing markets for most of the foreign banks like
Citi, Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC. Earlier, top executives of Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays were in India with an EU delegation. Most foreign banks want greater access to the Indian market and have been pitching for further opening up of the financial sector.
— PTI
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Today is World Standards Day
Standardisation is a sine-quo-non for development of the national economy all over the world. The goals of quality are set by standards. The standards have always been closely connected with exchange of goods and services between supplier and consumers. With the increasing globalisation of trade, consumer’s choice of products has been widened to include offerings from around the world.
Today organised standardisation, besides being essential for the success of industrial development and building international competitiveness, is also being viewed as an important element required for ensuring safety and security of all concerned. The consumers of the 21 century view safety in a differently way. While consumer product safety still remains a key priority of the consumers, catastrophic event such as tsunami, environmental emergencies, epidemics have certainly brought broader issues of safety and security to the fore front of public agenda. The world market is calling for
harmonisation, globalisation, efficiency and speed. The development and harmonisation of consumer product safety standards means more safety and greater protection of consumers. Among these benefits are, increasing the safety of imported consumer products; creating an alternative to costly product recalls; reducing the regulatory costs of lebelling and other means of informing the public about product hazards, minimising protracted legal disputes and dealing more effectively with imported harmful products. The Indian Standards published by the Bureau of Indian Standards
(BIS) numbering more than 18,000 provide the requisite information on quality of large variety of products, processes, their testing procedure and criteria of the final conformity. These standards provide a common technological foundation for producing goods, services and systems anywhere. The three leading organisations that develop and disseminate standards and recommendations for the global market are the International Electro Technical Commission
(IEC), the International Organisation for Standardisations (ISO) and the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU). These standards organisations help to achieve the objectives of truly global trade. The Bureau has taken conscious decision to align national standards with international standards, wherever possible. BIS has so far aligned over 4,000 standards with international standards.
BIS is a nodal agency for implementation of the Indo-EEC industrial cooperation programme in the field of industrial standards, quality assurance and conformance
testing. BIS taking cognizance of the international development has initiated action for developing Indian standards in tune with world trade, introduction of certification systems, both for products and quality system on international models and for entering into emerging international scheme for certification being operated by international agencies. — The writer is Dy Director-General,
BIS.
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BP, HPCL ink pact on Bathinda refinery
New Delhi, October 13 The letter of intent (LoI) was signed between BP and HPCL today coinciding with the visit of BP chairman Sir John Browne. Sir Browne is visiting India to explore opportunities for BP in deepwater exploration, oil refining and fuel retailing. The HPCL is looking for foreign partners for the refinery and has held preliminary talks with BP, Total of France and Petronas of Malaysia. The agreement does not mean that BP would pick stake in the refinery, but only marks the beginning of formal talks between the two companies. The British firm will decide on a stake based on the outcome of these talks. HPCL and the foreign partner will hold 26 per cent stake each in Guru Gobind Singh Refineries Ltd, the company that is implementing the 9 million tonnes per annum refinery project. The remaining 48 per cent would be offered to public through an IPO in 2007. The refinery would be completed by 2009. BP and Total are keen to enter India’s oil retailing market and see Bathinda refinery as an ideal opportunity to meet the minimum investment criteria that would give them the retail licence. A licence to sell petrol and diesel in India is contingent on a company investing a minimum of Rs 2,000 crore in oil infrastructure projects like refineries, pipelines, exploration and production and terminals.
— PTI
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NY Life Insurance to pick up stake in JBC India
New Delhi, October 13 NY Life has picked up stake in the JBC India through its investment banking arm New York Life Investment Management Holdings, LLC. “We have signed a deal on Tuesday for picking up 24.6 per cent stake in Jacob Ballas. We are waiting for regulatory approval,” Mr Brian A Murdock, president of NY Investment, told reporters here today. The market capitalisation of New Delhi-based Jacob Ballas is about $10 million. Mr Murdock said NY Life Investment, a wholly owned subsidiary of NY Life Insurance Company, is planning to invest $30 to 40 million from its capital in the Indian equity market from the first quarter of 2006 in phases. New York Life Investment and Jacob Ballas have formed a strategic partnership to tap private equity opportunities.
— PTI
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Indian tea firms acquire foreign giants
Mumbai, October 13 Good Earth Corporation owns the Good Earth brand, which is licensed to FMALI Herb Inc. Good Earth is one of the fastest growing specialist tea brands in the US, with particular strength on the West coast. It has a 3.7 per cent share in the US specialty tea market, the company said. Good Earth will continue to blend and pack tea at its base in Santa Cruz, California, and its teas will continue to trade under the Good Earth brand name, Tata Tea in its statement to BSE said.
Apeejay Surrendra
Apeejay Tea Ltd today said Apeejay Surrendra Group, a leading tea producer, would acquire the entire tea business of UK-based Premier Foods Plc for Ł80 million. Apeejay’s tea business will benefit from increased investment and focus, combined with the company’s extensive experience in the global tea market and vertically integrated approach, the company’s statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) said.
— Agencies
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New Delhi, October 13 AMD in association with HCL announced the availability of India’s most affordable home computer by offering a ready-to-use Linux PC for Rs.9,990.The HCL PC is also available bundled with the Microsoft Windows XP starter edition at Rs 11,240. — TNS
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Trinidad attracts Punjab traders
Phagwara, October 13
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Indo Rama Synthetics
Mumbai, October 13
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Sterling to buy Torrent facility UTI MF scheme |
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