The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	RBI downplays money-laundering allegations against private banks Says perfect system in place to prevent such offences Mumbai, March 21 The RBI today sought to downplay the money-laundering allegations against three private sector banks, saying the country has a "perfect" system to prevent such offences and that not a single such transaction took place in the sting operation. The country's three largest private banks - ICICI bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank - were last week accused of indulging in money laundering both within and outside with an online portal, Cobrapost, claiming that the sting operation conducted by it had revealed a scam. "Allegations do not mean flouting norms. There is not a single transaction which has taken place. KYC violations will happen in any system. These are all transactional issues and have nothing to do with money laundering," Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty told reporters after a meeting with bankers here. He was responding to a question on the issue. He said, "There is no scam (that) has happened...as no transaction has taken place." "Let us not unnecessarily downgrade ourself. Our system to prevent money laundering is perfect, absolutely nothing (wrong with it)," he said. Chakrabarty also said RBI will further tighten the anti-money laundering norms if needed. "If we find there is a need to further tighten any guidelines, we'll do that." The comments come even as the RBI, the Finance Ministry and the banks concerned are probing the allegations that some officials of these banks offered to facilitate money laundering. On March 14, Cobrapost had released the contents of purported video recording of officials of HDFC, ICICI and Axis Bank allegedly agreeing to receive unverified sums of cash and put them in their investment schemes and benami accounts in violation of anti-money laundering laws. RBI has also initiated scrutiny of the three banks for alleged violation of KYC guidelines. It has said final reports will be completed by March 31 and thereafter further course of action as necessary will be initiated. The footage, taken in 'Operation Red Spider', purportedly showed some executives of the three banks verbally agreeing to take huge amounts of cash from the undercover reporter and putting them into a variety of long-term investment plans so that the black money ultimately is converted into white. Meanwhile, Chakrabarty admitted that some people may not be paying taxes and some such money flows into the system. "We have given sufficient instructions to banks (about) how to avoid this. Our people have gone for scrutinising, not only these three banks, but we do it for all other banks," he said. On the likelihood of other irregularities like flouting of KYC norms and suspicious transactions, he said there were sufficient guidelines to prevent them and banks were following them. "We are going for a large scale financial inclusion drive, if we make KYC too stringent, then banks will not open the accounts," Chakrabarty said. Stating that the country has good rules and regulations, he said some stray incidents or allegations don't make India's system bad. "We don't make it as a systemic issue," he added. — PTI
	ECB gives bailout ultimatum to Cyprus Nicosia/Frankfurt, March 21 The European Central Bank (ECB) gave Cyprus time till Monday to raise billions of euros to clinch an international bailout or face losing emergency funds for its banks and inevitable collapse. The ultimatum came as the island's leaders struggled over a "Plan B" to try to raise 5.8 billion euros demanded by the EU under a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) rescue, after angry lawmakers threw out a tax on deposits as "bank robbery". The government said party leaders had agreed to create a "solidarity fund" that would bundle state assets as the basis for an emergency bond issue, but parliament speaker Yiannakis Omirou insisted a revised levy on larger bank deposits, many of them held by Russians, was not on the table. The ECB, which has kept Cyprus's banks operating with a liquidity lifeline, said the government had until Monday to get a deal in place, or funds would be cut off. "Thereafter, Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) could only be considered if an EU/IMF programme is in place that would ensure the solvency of the banks concerned," it said. Cyprus's central bank governor said he expected to clinch a financial support package by then. He did not say how. The government has ordered banks to stay closed until Tuesday. The stock exchange also suspended trading for the rest of the week. There were long queues at some bank branches in Nicosia as staff replenished cash machines, which have continued to operate while banks have been closed since last week. In Moscow, Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris said he was discussing possible Russian investments in the island's banks and energy resources to reduce its debt burden, as well as an extension of an existing 2.5-billion-euro Russian loan. "The banks are the ultimate objective in any support we get, so it'll either be a direct support to the banks or the support that we get through other sectors will be channelled to the banks," Sarris said during a second day of talks with his Russian counterpart, Anton Siluanov. He said Cyprus had no plans to borrow more money from Russia and add to its debt mountain. — Reuters Limited options left The chairman of euro zone finance ministers, Dutchman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, told the European Parliament that Moscow had informed the EU it had no intention of ploughing more money into Cyprus beyond the existing loan. "Any other options, to go further, another loan or an investment in the banks, the Russians let us know that they are not willing to do that," he said. Among the other options, nationalising pension funds of semi-public companies could yield between 2 billion and 3 billion euros, although European officials say it would raise less.
	Civil Aviation Ministry abolishes Aircraft Acquisition Committee Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 21 The Civil Aviation Ministry today abolished the Aircraft Acquisition Committee (AAC) which used to permit import of planes by airlines and other operators, thus doing away with time-consuming procedures that affected the companies. Airlines had started objecting to the delays in meetings of the AAC, constituted to consider, examine and make recommendations on all proposals for permitting import or acquisition of aircraft for various purposes. Sources said the decision was taken at the behest of the top-most authorities in the government following complaints that the Committee was delaying the acquisition procedure of aircraft and promoting licence raj. At the first meeting of the AAC after Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh made himself the final approval authority, IndiGo’s proposal to import 16 aircraft was slashed to five. According to an official statement, the government had decided to do away with the control over acquisition of aircraft by scheduled and non-scheduled operators, private operators and flying training institutes. The abolition of AAC “will reduce delays in seeking approval and do away with the cumbersome procedure which airlines have to follow before the acquisition of aircraft. It will help airlines to plan better for future induction of aircraft,” the statement said.
	Cabinet clears five oil and gas blocks New Delhi, March 21 The Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) has given clearances to oil and gas activity in five blocks off the East Coast, majority of them belonging to Reliance Industries, an official statement said today. CCI in its meeting yesterday considered eight blocks which the Defence Ministry had declared 'No-Go' areas for reasons like overlapping with proposed Naval base or being close to missile launching and Air Force exercise area. The blocks were declared 'No-Go' after several years of oil and gas hunt which led to more than two dozen discoveries and one of them, RIL's KG-D6 started production nearly five years ago. The statement said CCI had given clearances to oil and gas exploration in five blocks — KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6, NEC-OSN-97/2 or NEC-25, KG-OSN-2001/1 (all of RIL), KG-OSN-2009/3 of Cairn India and KG-OSN-2009/4 of ONGC. "Due to the clearances given in this meeting, the investment already made to the extent of $10.71 billion will be put to use and further investment to the extent of $0.6 billion is envisaged in the next few years," it said. The government expects much higher investment after discoveries are made in these blocks. The three remaining blocks — KG-OSN-2005/1, KG-OSN-2005/2 of ONGC and KG-DWN-2009/1 of BG Group of UK "will remain NO-GO areas for the exploration and production activities due to national security considerations," the statement said. RIL's KG-D6, which has been producing oil since September 2008 and gas from April 2009, was fully cleared for oil and gas activity with total area of 7,645 sq km reduced by 495 sq km to meet defence needs. — PTI
	Videocon offers free roaming on incoming calls New Delhi, March 21 Telecom operator Videocon Mobile Services today said its subscribers will not be charged roaming fee for incoming calls. "We reiterate our commitment towards 'One Nation - Free Roaming'...our subscribers roaming across Videocon Network will stand to benefit from free incoming calls," Videocon Mobile Services CEO Arvind Bali said. The company said subscribers will not be charged roaming fee for incoming call, irrespective of its origin. Videocon operates in four circles - Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat — while it has a licence to operate in seven circles. The company is finalising its plans to start operations in rest of the circles - Bihar, Uttar Pardesh East and West. “We will absorb the expenses that will be incurred on free incoming calls. There are no strings attached to the proposition, no special vouchers or recharges required”, he said. — PTI
	Suzuki Motorcycle workers threaten to go on strike New Delhi, March 21 Trouble is brewing at the Gurgaon plant of Suzuki Motorcycle India with workers threatening to go on strike after Holi demanding reinstatement of three suspended colleagues. The union leaders said two office-bearers of Suzuki Motorcycle India Employees Union - president Anil Kumar and general secretary Avinesh Kumar - along with another colleague Pradeep Kumar, who have been suspended on "unfounded disciplinary grounds", must be reinstated. "We have had talks with the management and labour department officials but nothing has happened. The workers will wait for about 15-20 days after Holi and if their demands are not met, they will go on strike," Suzuki Motorcycle India Employees Union (SMIEU) president Anil Kumar said. SMIEU is the only workers' union at the plant. While Kumar himself was suspended on March 19 on disciplinary grounds, Avinesh Kumar and Pradeep Kumar have been put under suspension since February 12 following an alleged altercation with their supervisors. "The charges of indiscipline against us are completely unfounded. The supervisors were also equally responsible for the altercations and while they continue to work, we have been suspended," Anil said. Company’s vice-president (HR) Anil Munjal said the workers have neither given any notice nor informed the company about the strike. "We have suspended three workers, including the general secretary and president of the union, for beating up senior officials of the company in February and March. At present, a departmental enquiry is going on against them," he added. — PTI
	SAIL floor price set at Rs 63/share New Delhi, March 21 The government today decided to sell 5.82 per cent stake in SAIL at a minimum price of Rs 63 apiece, a 1.41 per cent discount to closing price, to raise Rs 1,514 crore. "The EGoM has set the floor price for SAIL stake sale at Rs 63 per share," a top government official said. The government will sell 24.03 crore shares or 5.82 per cent stake through Offer for Sale (OFS) tomorrow. In an unusual move, a high-powered ministerial panel met for the second time in two days to deliberate on the pricing of the OFS as the stock slumped 8 per cent in the past one week. — PTI
	Sabeer Bhatia’s firm launches global SIM card Mumbai, March 21 Jaxtr Inc, a company co-founded by Hotmail fame Sabeer Bhatia, today launched Jaxtr SIM, a global SIM card with an eye on increasing number of international travellers out of the country after rolling out the product in the US recently. Priced at Rs 600, the card is 70 per cent cheaper than other existing solutions, Jaxtr Inc co-founder Sabeer Bhatia said, adding with the Jaxtr SIM, travellers to Europe, including UK, US, and Canada, can make inexpensive calls by using a local number, while in other markets, they can avail of this facility at cheaper tariffs. — PTI