New Delhi, August 28
The Supreme Court today decided to commence final hearing on the high profile gas dispute between the group firms of Mukesh Ambani and his younger brother Anil from October 20.

The government’s petition on the issue and those of various power producers, mainly from Andhra Pradesh, and the Fertiliser Corporation of India would also be heard on that day.

A bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan adjourned the matter for final hearing after RNRL mentioned that the matter, which was originally scheduled for September 1, may not be taken up on that day as the Chief Justice would be leading the Constitutional Bench.

RNRL is fighting to get RIL to supply gas to it at $2.34 per mmBtu, the Mukesh Ambani group has maintained that the price of the fuel needs to be approved by the government.

The government has filed a Special Leave Petition seeking to assert its right on the national resource. It has also sought to declare as null and void that part of the Ambani family MoU that provides for dividing natural gas from KG-D6 fields between RIL and RNRL.

Counsel for all the parties, including Mukesh Ambani’s RIL and Anil Ambani group firm RNRL, said that they were ready for daily hearing of the matter from October 20.

While senior counsel Harish Salve, representing RIL, suggested the date, the counsel for both RNRL as well as the government said that they do not have any objection.

“We will start on that day and will finish as soon as possible,” Salve said. The bench also directed all the parties to file the documents including responses and rejoinders by that date. — PTI

Mumbai, August 28
Banks have decided to put a Rs 10,000 cap per third party ATM cash withdrawal from October 15, besides limiting such transactions to five in a month.

Indian Banks' Association, which is the industry lobby of Indian banks, has sent a circular to its 150 member banks directing them to implement the decisions from mid-October, a source close to the development said.

“IBA has sent a circular to all banks asking them to implement these decisions on third party ATM transactions from October 15,” the source said.

Early this month, the Reserve Bank had put a Rs 10,000 cap per withdrawal from ATMs not owned by the bank in which the customer has an account, besides limiting such transactions to five in a month.

The apex bank had sent a communication in this regard to Indian Banks' Association (IBA).

IBA had submitted its recommendations to the Central Bank last month citing the financial burden faced by banks on account of large number of third party usage.

Since April 1, RBI had declared third party ATM usage, including cash withdrawals and account inquiries, free for all customers and said that banks can charge Rs 18 to 20 per month from other banks in case of third party ATM transaction.

With the number of third party transactions surging post - April, banks approached the Reserve Bank through IBA to revisit the current norms and make necessary modifications.

Though IBA had also recommended a minimum limit of Rs 1,000 on third party ATM withdrawals, this was rejected by the Reserve Bank to protect the interest of small withdrawers. — PTI

Singapore/New Delhi, August 28
B K Modi-promoted Spice Group today acquired over 20 per cent stake in Singapore-based IT company MediaRing Ltd for about Rs 200 crore.

"Spice will hold approximately 18.81 per cent to 20.14 per cent of the fully diluted share capital of the company, depending on how many employee option shares are purchased by Spice from the employee option holders," MediaRing said in a filing to Singapore Stock Exchange.

MediaRing is a service provider for voice, data and computing services with a leading edge on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, and has global presence with subsidiaries in Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing.

Spice is in digital and wireless space. The acquisition of MediaRing would further strengthen its position in the technology-driven services, a senior Spice official told PTI.

Asked whether Spice would further increase its holding in MediaRing, the official declined to comment.

The deal is likely to be completed by the end of this month, they confirmed.

Pursuant to the transaction, and subject to the approval of the Board, B K Modi and two others shall be appointed as new directors of the company with Modi as chairman of the Board, the filing said. — PTI

Shimla, August 28
Singapore-based multinational company MG International Pvt Ltd is keen to invest Rs 1,000 crore in Himachal Pradesh in the afforestation sector by creating world class plantation fields and forest produce processing units.

Ranvir Singh Rana, general manager and Vikas Aggarwal, head finance and projects, called on Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal yesterday to discuss the investment proposals.

The CM welcomed the proposal and apprised the delegation about the facilities being provided to the entrepreneurs in the state. He said the government was concerned about preservation of environment and would welcome any project which could supplement its efforts in raising plantations. He added that the plantations would not only increase the green cover but also generate income to the local people.

Forest Minister JP Nadda also briefed the CM about the project components and its implementation in a phased manner.

Chandigarh, August 28
In order to ensure a regular supply of coins in circulation, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has now asked all banks in the region to install coin-vending machines at district headquarters. The apex regulatory bank has also assured a 70 per cent subsidy on cost of these machines to banks installing these machines in rural areas.

This was disclosed by the regional director, RBI, Dr J Saddakadulla, while addressing media persons here today. “We had recently convened a meeting of all top officials of banks having their regional offices here. The lead banks in all districts have been asked to install these machines at the earliest, so that people do not face any shortage of coins,” he said.

He said that such machines have already been installed at four places in Chandigarh, to ensure that the public does not face any shortage. “We have enough coins in circulation and there is no shortage, whatsoever,” he clarified.

The regional director also said that as part of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the RBI, the regional office here was organising a cultural programme at Tagore Theatre tomorrow. “As part of the year long celebrations, we are also planning to reach out to the public in interior places and offering financial inclusion and other banking facilities to them,” he said.

Ludhiana, August 28
Owing to huge losses due to erratic power supply and rising prices of dyes and chemicals, the dyeing industry of the district has decided to increase its rates from September 1.

The prices of dyeing of cloth and yarn of P/C, cotton, polyester and acrylic will be increased from Rs 3-6 per kg.

Bobby Jindal, general secretary of Tajpur Dyeing Association told The Tribune that uninterrupted power supply was required for the functioning of the units. Because of the erratic power supply in the state, they were forced to run their units on gensets for about 8-10 hours per day, which is not a viable option. Moreover, regular discharge of dye waters through effluent treatment plants required costly chemicals and electricity.

To make up with the losses, the dyeing industry has also announced to boycott those garment units that fail to make timely payments.

There has been mixed response from garment industry over the decision. Some say it is an extra burden on manufacturers as they will get lesser margins in exports. With the increase in dye rates, garment and hosiery products too would get costlier, opined Hitesh Gambhir, owner of a garment unit at Focal Point here.

But others sound optimistic about the outcome. “We have been asked to pay for environment protection and I feel we must bear the cost. I do not think that it is going to affect us much,” said president of Knitwear and Apparel Manufacturers Association of Ludhiana, Sudershan Jain.

New Delhi, August 28
Insurance regulator IRDA would soon announce disclosure norms for insurers wanting to raise money from the capital markets.

"Soon we will come out with something," IRDA chairman J Hari Narayan told PTI. He was replying to a question on the disclosure norms for insurance companies seeking listing on stock exchanges.

Narayan said IRDA was also framing the guidelines for merger and acquisition of insurance companies to facilitate consolidation in the sector.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is working with market regulator SEBI on a set of disclosure norms for insurance companies.According to the listing guidelines of SEBI, the companies wanting to raise funds from public are required to make various disclosures in the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) before hitting the capital market. A joint working group of the representatives of IRDA and SEBI is currently working out the disclosure norms for the insurance companies.

As many as 43 insurance companies, including state-owned Life Insurance Corporation, are operating in the country.

A bill is pending in Parliament to raise Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. — PTI 

BRIEFLY

SC denies relief to Roche
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to give any relief to Swiss pharma firm Hoffman La Roche Ltd that had challenged a Delhi High Court order allowing Cipla to manufacture and sell a generic version of lung cancer drug 'Erlotinib'. — PTI

Tata Power net up three-fold
Mumbai: Tata Power Company on Friday said its consolidated net profit jumped nearly three-fold to Rs 572.65 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2009. Total income rose to Rs 4,713.16 crore for the quarter ended June, against Rs 4,069.34 crore in the same quarter corresponding year, Tata Power Company said. — PTI

Dell Q2 net down 23 pc
New York: PC maker Dell ON Friday reported a 23-per cent slump in net profit to 472 million dollars in the second-quarter of the current fiscal due to declining sales. Revenues declined to $12.76 billion in the second quarter ended July 31, 2009 from 16.43 billion dollars in the same quarter last fiscal. — PTI

KEC bags Rs 780 cr contracts
Mumbai: Power transmission infrastructure developer KEC International on Friday said it has bagged two contracts worth Rs 780 crore in domestic as well as global markets for engineering related works. The company has won an order worth Rs 587 crore from the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company and orders worth Rs 193 crore from the Middle East. — PTI

RCom in pact with S Tel
New Delhi: Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications on Friday said it has signed an infrastructure sharing agreement with S Tel, a new entrant in the telecom space which has received licence to roll out services across six circles. The agreementwill give S Tel access to RCom's network coverage of over 10,000 sites across six circles and optic cable fibre backbone. — PTI

BoR ties up with Bajaj Auto
Chandigarh: Bank of Rajasthan has entered into a strategic national tie-up with Bajaj Auto Ltd. to offer loans to two-wheeler customers. The tie-up will enable customers to avail of finance for vehicles at an attractive rate of interest. — TNS