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Karnataka re-imposes BANGALORE, Dec 20: The Karnataka Government has re-imposed a ban on the sale and distribution of soft drinks within schools, colleges . .........more Essar holds the key in mobile JV Hutch-Essar NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Corporate house Essar holds the key for the future of telecom joint venture Hutch-Essar, as domestic and global firms, including .......more Canara,
Syndicate BANGALORE, Dec 20: India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL), a special purpose vehicle floated by the ......more SBI
mutual fund DUBAI, Dec 20: State Bank of India’ Mutual Fund (SBIMF) has unveiled a close-ended growth fund ‘SBI One India Fund’ in Qatar. ......more |
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TDSAT reserves order NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Broadcast tribunal TDSAT has reserved its order on regulator TRAI’s decision to fix Rs 5 per pay channel as fee for subscribers in CAS........more Vijaya
Bank sets HYDERABAD, Dec 20: Vijaya Bank executive director T Valliappan today said the bank would achieve Rs 60,000 crore business by the end of March 2007. ......more AV Aviation partners with German school for training pilots CHENNAI, Dec 20: Private sector AV Aviation Consultancy today said it has tied up with . ......more CERC aims to set up Power Exchange next year NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Power regulator CERC today said it expects to set up the country's first Power Exchange (PX) for electricity trading next year, a development that will raise investor. .........more |
Karnataka re-imposes ban on sale of soft drinks BANGALORE, Dec 20: The Karnataka Government has re-imposed a ban on the sale and distribution of soft drinks within schools, colleges and hostels with immediate effect. On read with entry 6 of list-II of schedule VII of the constitution and inherent and general powers vested in it, the notification said. Karnataka had earlier slapped the ban on sale and distribution of soft drinks in schools, colleges, hostels, hospitals and public places on August 14. The State Government also filed a case in a small causes court after banning the sale of soft drinks but withdrew it recently, fearing the court might strike it down, and reimposed the ban by invoking powers under Article 162 of the Constitution, official sources said. (PTI) |
Essar holds the key in mobile JV Hutch-Essar NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Corporate house Essar holds the key for the future of telecom joint venture Hutch-Essar, as domestic and global firms, including Reliance Communications and British giant Vodafone, reportedly vie with each other to acquire the country’s third-largest mobile operator. There are indications that Vodafone is already in touch with Essar, but it could not be confirmed from either side. While an Essar spokesperson refused to comment, saying it was "speculation", Vodafone officials could not be contacted. Essar is holding its cards close to chest on whether it would sell its 33 per cent stake in the joint venture with Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International Ltd or be open to forge alliance with any of the international players. Besides Vodafone, Maxis of Malaysia and Egypt’s Orascom are also being said to be interested in the acquisition race. In fact, Orascom CEO N Sawiris had last week confirmed that he was interested in picking up a direct stake in Hutch-Essar, provided there was more clarity on Government’s FDI policy. In case Essar decides to hold on to its shares in the JV, then foreign players would have the advantage in joining hands with the Indian corporate as such a scenario would virtually have no regulatory hurdle. But this could possibly put pay to the hopes of Anil Ambani group company RCL, which is believed to have tied up with four US private equity funds for acquiring Hutch-Essar. Sources said Reliance Communication would be interested in the venture only if ruias’ of Essar decide to exit in favour of the ADAG company. (PTI) |
Canara, Syndicate and Vijaya Banks sign MoU with IIFC BANGALORE, Dec 20: India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL), a special purpose vehicle floated by the Government for long term funding of infrastructure projects today signed MoUs with public sector Canara, Syndicate and Vijaya Banks to ensure greater flow of funds to infrastructure projects. The area of cooperation under the MoU also includes creation of a deal flow of infrastructure project for IIFCL, due diligence and risk profiling of projects, syndication of funds, co-financing and a host of other banking services including cash management, treasury and non fund based services. A new entrant into the financial sector IIFCL, formed in January this year had already firmed up 40 projects with a total funding of Rs 6800 crores. It had tie up with Canara Bank for 13 projects with the bank financing Rs 900 crores with a similar exposure from IIFCL. Similarly the Syndicate Bank was exposed in four projects and the Vijaya Bank in two projects with the funding from the banks being Rs 300 crores and Rs 200 crores respectively. IIFCL Chairman and Managing Director S S Kohli, speaking on the occasion, said the institution was in negotiations with various multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank and also bilateral agencies such as KFW to raise around Rs 7000 crores. He said that IIFCL has signed MoUs with nine banks so far besides the IL&Fs and a few more mous were in the pipeline. Canara Bank Chairman M B N Rao who signed the MoU on behalf of the bank said that the bank had so far provided loan to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore for infratructure projects forming 14 per cent of the total credit. By the end of the current fiscal the exposure would increase to Rs 20,000 crore, he added. He said the bank would also float a bond to raise additional funds during the next quarter. The tenure and the quantum of the amount to be raised would be decided soon, he added. He said the strategic alliance with iifcl was yet another historic move by the bank to fructify the ambitious goals set for the infrstructure sector. Speaking on the occasion Union Joint Secretary for Finance Ramesh Singh lauded the MoUs and said this would enable cooperative and collaborative ventures in infrastructure financing. Stating that agriculture and infrastructure have a key role to play to ensure india maintain its nine per cent gdp growth over the next five years. The agriculture should double its current level growth of around two per cent, he added. On infratructure alone he said over the next five years the country needed to spend around Rs 300,000 crore annually. The credit requirement alone would be Rs 225,000 crore. He said it was a daunting task for which there would be budgetary support also. Vijaya Bank Chairman said his bank had provided loan to the tune of Rs 3500 crore to infrastructure projects, amounting to 18 per cent of the total credit portfolio. (UNI) |
SBI mutual fund launches ‘One India Fund’ in Qatar DUBAI, Dec 20: State Bank of India’ Mutual Fund (SBIMF) has unveiled a close-ended growth fund ‘SBI One India Fund’ in Qatar. The primary aim of the fund is to invest in diversified equities of companies across India as well as in debt and money market instruments, SBIMF head (equity) Sanjay Sinha said during a road-show in Doha. The fund, which will be open till Friday, would invest at least 15 per cent and not more than 55 per cent of its exposure in each of the four geographies of India. The fund will invest a minimum of 70 per cent in equity and equity-related instruments and the remaining 30 per cent in debt and money market instruments the performance of which has been benchmarked to BSE 200 index, he said. SBIMF, which has assets worth 50 billion dollars under its management, offers automatic conversion into open-ended scheme on maturity and the re-purchase facility will be available on a daily basis on all business days from January 19. The ‘SBI One india fund’ provides investors with prospects for long term growth in capital through exposure to a diversified portfolio of investments from all the four regions of India, Mr Sinha said. (UNI) |
TDSAT reserves order on fee for pay channels in CAS areas NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Broadcast tribunal TDSAT has reserved its order on regulator TRAI’s decision to fix Rs 5 per pay channel as fee for subscribers in CAS areas. However, Telecom Disputes and Settlement Appellate Tribunal Chairman Justice Arun Kumar did not stay TRAI’s notification issued for the purpose. Though the appeal would be pending, this would not come in the way of rolling out the conditional access system, he said at a hearing yesterday. Two broadcasters — ESPN Star sports and set discovery —had earlier approached TDSAT against the decision by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on August 31 to fix the fee. On December 12, the two broadcasters had argued before TDSAT that TRAI’s decision was "arbitrary". Their counsels had contended that according to TRAI’s own figures, tariff per channel should be between Rs 10-14. They had also contended that regulation was meant for free-to-air channels and there was no law to regulate pay channels. However, TRAI counsel Rakesh Dwivedi justified the order and said the regulator had the power to fix tariff. He said trai fixed the price keeping in view the interests of both subscribers and broadcasters. Dwivedi contended the broadcasters arguments that CAS was working properly in Chennai without fixing prices and said it cannot be a right example as only 3.7 per cent subscribers opted for CAS in that city. "Subscribers are not moving towards CAS in Chennai due to high prices. It is preventive," the counsel added. Dwivedi also submitted that prices have to be reduced if CAS has to succeed. Implementation of CAS would increase revenue earnings of broadcasters, he added. (PTI) |
Vijaya Bank sets Rs 60,000 crore target HYDERABAD, Dec 20: Vijaya Bank executive director T Valliappan today said the bank would achieve Rs 60,000 crore business by the end of March 2007. Speaking to newsmen here on the sidelines of inaugurating two atms in the city, Mr Valliappan said the bank has achieved Rs 51,000 crore business by surpassing the Rs 50,000 crore target by the end of October 2006. Stating that the bank was planning to provide uninterrupted banking services in the villages, he said V-Sats and solar power systems would be installed at rural branchs keeping in view regular power interruption. 500 braches would be equipped with the new technology at the earliest. Mr Valiappan said the ‘Demand Draft (DD) Shoppy’ facility would be provided in all metro cities by the end of next year as the banks already launched the service in Chennai and Bangalore. Sepcial counters would be set up at the metro branches to provide DD service to the customers even after the regular bank timings. He said Vijaya Bank training institutes would be established in Hyderabad to provide training for entrepreneurs. (UNI) |
AV Aviation partners with German school for training pilots CHENNAI, Dec 20: Private sector AV Aviation Consultancy today said it has tied up with Germany-based pilot training school, Air Alliance Flight Centre, to offer training and international flying license from that country. The 16-month training programme would provide an Aviation Transport Pilots license, AV Aviation Managing Director Anju Varghese told reporters. The Flight Centre, a subsidiary of Air Alliance Group, was located near Frankfurt and the course offered among other things 165 hours of flight training on a modern fleet, 20 hours of flight simulator training and 15 hours of multi-crew concept on Boeing 737 simulators. (PTI) |
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CERC aims to set up Power Exchange next year NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Power regulator CERC today said it expects to set up the country's first Power Exchange (PX) for electricity trading next year, a development that will raise investors' confidence and establish a vibrant market. "Guidelines for applying for license for setting up and operating a Power Exchange would be issued by the Commission by January 20, 2007. We are targeting to set up an Exchange in the country in 2007," Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) Chairman A K Basu said. The guidelines would lay down the broad principles and criteria for the selection of the entity for creating Power Exchange. It would be a National Exchange to begin with. The decision was taken after a meeting with more than 150 stakeholders, including from CEA, generators, distributing utilities, state electricity boards, traders and commodity exchanges during a public hearing yesterday. Basu said based on the guidelines, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission would invite companies and other players for setting up the Power Exchange (PX). The existing long term contracts for sale and purchase of power, which cater to more than 97 per cent of the demand, would not be disturbed and electricity prices would not increase by the creation of the Exchange, the commission said. CEA Chairman Rakesh Nath has recommended to Power Ministry that by 2010, 10 per cent of unallocated quota of central generating stations should be assigned to Power Exchange and trading for improving liquidity of supply. A few players such as state-run generation major NTPC Ltd and commodity bourses such as NCDEX and MCX have evinced interest in establishing and operating a PX, Basu said. (PTI) |
Telelogic announces India launch of "Telelogic Rhapsody 7.0" BANGALORE, Dec 20: Global software services provider Telelogic today launched 'Telelogic Rhapsody 7.0', the latest version of its model-driven development (MDD) environment for embedded systems and software. Rhapsody 7.0 is packed with enhancements to make C and object-oriented developers more productive, Telelogic India Managing Director Sidharth Malik said. "Rhapsody 7.0 enables code-centric workflow, easing MDD adoption by allowing hand-coders to build models automatically from code and then to leverage those models for analysis and automatic documentation production," Malik said. Developers who prefer a model-based approach can, with the help of the new system, design at a higher level of abstraction, analyse and validate the design at the graphic level, and produce code and documentation automatically, he said. A combination of these approaches is also possible, he added. (PTI) |
Tata Power to move SC on tribunal's order to pay refund to REL... NEW DELHI, Dec 20: The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity today directed Tata Power Company to refund Rs 354 crore that Reliance Energy had paid it earlier as stand-by charges for electricity supply in Maharashtra, but TPC said it is considering challenging the verdict in the Supreme Court. The Anil Ambani group firm said in a statement that the Tribunal in its final order has allowed the company to claim a refund of Rs 354 crore paid by it to Tata Power as stand-by charges for power supply in Mumbai. However, Tata Power said in a statement: "The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity in its Order has sought to settle the dispute between Tata Power Company and Reliance Energy... The Company is considering going in appeal in the Supreme Court." The Supreme Court, which is currently closed for winter vacations, is already hearing two appeals by Tata Power against the decisions of the Tribunal, which had in May this year ruled in favour of REL in separate cases regarding power supply in Mumbai. REL said the Tribunal with a decision of 2-1 ruled in its favour and allowed TPC 30 days to comply with the order. The matter was decided after Judical Member Justice E Padmanabhan ruled in REL's favour when a bench comprising Technical Member A A Khan and Tribunal Chairman Justice Anil Dev Singh gave different rulings on the issue. REL said the majority judgment turned down TPC's demand of sharing half the stand-by charges it pays to MSEB for ensuring uninterrupted power in Mumbai during an emergency. TPC and REL have been engaged in a legal battle over sharing of stand-by charges since 1998. TPC, which pays Rs 396 crore to MSEB every year, has been asking REL to share 50 per cent of the cost. However, the tribunal has now ruled that TPC would 77 per cent and REL 23 per cent. (PTI) Govt announces policies for pipelines, city gas projects..... NEW DELHI, Dec 20: The Government today unveiled the much-awaited policy on setting city gas distribution projects that allows companies to have monopoly for a certain period in selling natural gas to households and automobiles. "City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects will have marketing exclusivity. A company or consortia granted CGD license for a particular city will have marketing exclusivity for a certain number of years," Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan told reporters here. The period of exclusivity will depend on the size of the city and population. It would also depend on investment made by the companies in CGD projects and would be determined by the regulator, who is likely to be in place by January-end. "It may vary between 3 to 5 years," he said. Simultaneously, the government also announced the pipeline policy that provides for operators to build a minimum of 33 per cent extra capacity for leasing to third parties on common carrier principle basis. The policy aims to facilitate open access for all players to the pipeline network on a non-discriminatory basis and to promote competition among entities. This would avoid abuse of the dominant position by any entity, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said. "The main thrust of the policy is to secure consumer interest, both in terms of gas availability and reasonable tariff," he said. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, who will be in place within one month, would authorise laying of pipelines and setting up of CGD networks, Srinivasan said. (PTI) |
Panasonic aims 30% sales growth in India by FY08 NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Panasonic Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, the 100 per cent subsidiary of Japan-based Panasonic, today said it expects 30 per cent sales growth in India in the next fiscal to Rs 143 crore, as against Rs 110 crore during the current fiscal. ''Last year, the company registered 23 per cent sales growth, and we expect it to grow further 30 per cent in the next financial year to Rs 143 crore,'' Panasonic Asia Country Head Anil Rijhwani told reporters here. Mr Rijhwani said the company would also increase its number of primary as well as secondary partners by the end of fourth quarter of this fiscal. ''We are planning to increase primary partners from the present seven to ten, and the number of secondary partners up to 350 from 240 currently by March-end next year,'' Mr Rijhwani said. The company today launched its new biometric security products -- 'Iris Recognition Camera' and 'Interactive Panaboard'-- at a three-day exhibition 'Workspectrum 2006' here. The Iris Recognition has been priced at Rs 2.5 lakh and the Interactive Panaboard at Rs two lakh. The products are available through the authorised dealer and distribution network, Mr Rijhwani said. ''These products are highly sophisticated and are meant only for high security zones,'' Mr Rijhwani said, adding that the company is constantly in touch with various ministries and hopes to nab a project before March 2007. Besides the newly launched products, key telephone systems including IP-PABX systems, cordless phones, fax machines, audio-conferencing system, network copiers, plasma screens, world's smallest projectors, world's fastest wireless transmission projectors and the legendary Toughbooks -- field and business mobile computers are on display at Workspectrum 2006. Earlier this month, the company said it would develop specialised software for its communications hardware, including IP telephones, in the country. The software will be initially sold in the country and later will be bundled with solutions marketed the world over. Presently, nearly all the software that goes into its hardware is developed in Japan. (UNI) |
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