INDIA COUNTRY BRIEF110321

Basic Political Developments

The cash-for-vote scam is expected to cast its shadow on Parliament on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party planning to move a privilege motion against Prime Minister.

The income tax department in Kerala has started its work to monitor money flow during the assembly elections in the state.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said another protest will be launched by the party from March 25.

The Congress and the Trinamool Congress reached seat-sharing agreement with the former settling for 65 seats, against its original demand of 90, and the Trinamool taking 229 seats for the West Bengal Assembly elections.

National Economic Trends

With slowdown in FDI by 25 per cent, India’s dependence on FII inflows, considered as hot money for maintaining its current account, has increased this fiscal.

With day-to-day living turning costlier, companies have raised salaries to as high as 40 per cent especially at the junior levels.

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Voltas Limited and KION Group GmbH have agreed to establish a joint venture in India.

TCS on Monday announced plans to ramp up its customers base for its product meant for Small and Medium Business (SMB) to more than 1,000 by the end of current year.

RBI said increasing raw material cost and rising salary bill eroded the profitability of India Inc during April-September period of the current financial year.

Government report said Coal India Limited's (CIL) 77 projects having a production capacity of almost 185 million tonnes (MT), have been cleared by the government and are under different phases of completion.

NHPC's 2,000-MW Subansiri project in Assam is likely to be delayed by at least two years due to resistance from locals.

Hindustan Copper plans to invest Rs 3,677 crore to almost quadruple its existing copper ore production capacity to 12.41 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2016-17.

Essar Steel's capacity expansion at its Hazira plant is 'almost' complete, which will take its total production capacity to 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).

JSW Steel and JSW Energy said in separate statements on Monday the income tax department authorities had carried out survey, search and seizure operations on the company at certain locations on March 16-18.

The Supreme Court has admitted the petition of Reliance Communications challenging the order of the telecom tribunal TDSAT.

The government has imposed fines worth Rs 700 crore on various telecom operators for carrying out illegal and clandestine activities in their services.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

London-listed Essar Energy Plc today said it expects to sign by month-end a deal to acquire Royal Dutch Shell's Stanlow refinery in northwest England for USD 350 million.

Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) may defer the planned 15-day shutdown of a 60,000 barrels per day crude unit at Mumbai refinery to Septmber to meet local fuel demand.

Indian Oil Corp may consider deferring shutdowns of units at some of its refineries to meet local fuel demand.

The finance ministry has said that the government should not arm-twist Cairn Energy by linking the approval of the $9.6-billion Cairn-Vedanta deal with disputes between the British explorer and its estranged partner, ONGC.

Militant Activity/Terrorism (Particularly in Bangalore, Mumbai, Noida, Chennai, Coimbatore)

The pro-talks faction of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam has announced that the group will have nothing to do with the forthcoming assembly election in Assam.

The latest terror alert concerning the cricket world cup has been issued by the Union Home Ministry.

Militants attacked a police patrol by opening fire in Sopore area of Baramulla district of north Kashmir this afternoon.

Labor/Social Unrest

Tight security arrangement has been put in place ahead of a meeting of Jat leaders today to deliberate on the future course of action in view of their ongoing stir in Haryana.

Agitating Jats today threatened to block the Delhi-Ambala rail route if their demand for reservation in Central government jobs under the OBC category was not met by March 25.

Full Text

Basic Political Developments

BJP may move privilege motion against PMhttp://www.rediff.com/news/report/bjp-may-move-privilege-motion-against-pm/20110321.htmMarch 21, 2011 14:55 ISTThe cash-for-vote scam is expected to cast its shadow on Parliament on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party planning to move a privilege motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allegedly misleading both Houses over the WikiLeaks expose.

Some Congress MPs are contemplating moving a breach of privilege notice against Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj for allegedly defying Speaker Meira Kumar last week over the issue.

Discussion over the Finance Bill is scheduled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday while Rajya Sabha will take up a calling attention on nuclear safety in India in the wake of recent disaster in Japan. Parliament will be meeting after an extended holiday on account of the Holi festival.

Government sources fear that the proceedings could be thrown out of gear in case of fresh uproar over the WikiLeaks issue.

In such a scenario, the Congress members could also utilise the opportunity to hit back at BJP over its "double standards" on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal as revealed by WikiLeaks cables of 2008.

On the cash-for-vote scam, an assertive prime minister hit back at the opposition last week for raising "old charges that have been debated, discussed and rejected by the people of India."

After the statement, the BJP said it will move a privilege motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for "misleading" Parliament by saying that no bribe was paid to MPs, which, it alleged, was contradictory to the findings of the parliamentary probe committee.

"The prime minister and the UPA government were principal beneficiaries of cross voting... The prime minister says he was not aware (of bribe being paid). But he is definitely a beneficiary. Under the law of jurisprudence, being a beneficiary of this offence he is equally liable," Swaraj had said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has already dismissed charges that the prime minister has committed any breach of privilege, insisting that "no part of the statement is incorrect."

The notice for calling attention in the Rajya Sabha on nuclear safety in India has been given by several members including D Raja (CPI) and Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP).

The prime minister has already said that he has ordered an immediate technical review of India's atomic plants to check if they can withstand the impact of major natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes in the wake of the catastrophe in Japan threatening a nuclear meltdown.

The Finance Bill will be put for vote on Wednesday. This is the last week of the Budget session which will conclude on March 25.

IT squad to monitor money flow during electionshttp://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article1558694.eceThe income tax department in Kerala has started its work to monitor money flow during the assembly elections in the state.

Squads had been formed in all districts and started monitoring the activities of political parties, an official press release here said.

“This is for the first time the department has been entrusted to handle the exercise during the elections. The department has already set up a toll-free number (1800-425-5708) to receive complaints,” the release said.

The monitoring system would work under the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Kerala. Big functions including marriages and other ceremonies in towns, cities and villages would be under surveillance.

Special teams would be posted in bus stands, railway stations, airports and hotels to check suspicious money movements. Bulk cash withdrawal from banks and movement of cash and hawala brokers would be monitored.

The IT department would verify the assets declared in the affidavits by candidates and would report to the Election Commission. Air Intelligence units had been installed at the three airports in the state to track movement of bulk cash by air, the release said.

The general public could inform the income tax team about suspicious movement of money and other activities of political parties in the toll free number, it said.

Samajwadi party to launch another protest on Mar 25 http://www.ptinews.com/news/1446777_Samajwadi-party-to-launch-another-protest-on-Mar-25-Etawah, Mar 21 (PTI) Claiming that the agitations against the BSP government were successful despite atrocities by police, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said another protest will be launched by the party from March 25.

"The three day agitation from March 7-9 and village level agitation on March 17 were successful despite atrocities and high-handedness by the police. We will again launch an agitation again the state government from March 25," Mulayam Singh said yesterday while addressing party workers on the occasion of Holi at his residence in Saifai.

The party has registered a complaint with National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against the policemen for beating up of Samajwadi Party activists.

In the coming Assembly elections (in 2012), the party would give priority to youths and they would be given a chance to contest the polls, he said.

Congress, Trinamool reach seat-sharing deal for West Bengal pollshttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1558635.ece?homepage=trueEnding days of suspense, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress reached seat-sharing agreement with the former settling for 65 seats, against its original demand of 90, and the Trinamool taking 229 seats for the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The deal was announced within hours of a meeting between Congress president Sonia Gandhi with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the latter’s telephonic talk with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.

“Congress has entered into a seat-sharing agreement with Trinamool Congress for West Bengal Assembly polls. We expect that the alliance will give a chance to the people of

Bengal to end misrule of the Left,” AICC spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters in New Delhi.

Under the agreement, Congress will contest from 65 seats while Trinamool will contest from 229 seats, Mr. Ahmed said.

Congress initially had demanded 90 seats but Trinamool was not ready to give more than 45. During the several rounds of negotiations, Congress dropped the demand to 70 seats but Trinamool said it could give only 64 seats.

As the stalemate continued, Trinamool went ahead and unilaterally declared candidates for 228, saying it could not wait endlessly.

'No compromise in agreement'

Replying to queries, Mr. Ahmed insisted that there was no compromise in the agreement on part of the Congress.

“There is no question of compromise or surrender when two parties agree for a negotiated settlement. All should honour it,” he said.

“Every party wants to contest as many seats as possible but when they sit at negotiating table, they arrive at a mutually agreed number,” the Congress spokesman argued.

West Bengal Congress chief Manas Bhunia, who was also present at the press conference, did not reply to questions as to whether the local party unit was satisfied with the deal.

Mr. Bhunia had earlier given to the Congress High Command a list of 98 seats, which it wanted to contest.

“Ours is a national party and I am the PCC chief of Bengal. I had communicated the views of my people to the party High Command. Now a decision has been taken between the central leadership of the parties. West Bengal parties will abide by that,” was his refrain to repeated questions on whether the deal was a success or not for Congress.

AIADMK releases revised list of candidateshttp://www.ptinews.com/news/1448058_AIADMK-releases-revised-list-of-candidatesChennai, Mar 21 (PTI) AIADMK today released a revised list of 160 candidates for the April 13 Tamil Nadu polls after settling differences with its allies.

In the revised list released by party chief J Jayalalithaa, she has denied ticket to presidium chairman E Madhusudhanan, who was fielded from R K Nagar in the first list against his relative and former AIADMK strongman P K Sekar Babu.

Babu had quit the party and joined DMK from which he has been fielded as party's candidate from the constituency.

Party seniors O Panneerselvam (Bodinayakkanur), K A Sengottaiyan (Gobichettypalayam), V Jayaraman (Udumalpet), D Jayakumar (Royapuram) find place in the list.

Jayalalitihaa will begin her camapign from Tiruchirappally from March 24. She was scheduled to have hit the road on March 18 from Madurai.

National Economic Trends

Widening gap between FDI, FII inflows causing concernhttp://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/article1558489.eceWith slowdown in FDI by 25 per cent, India’s dependence on FII inflows, considered as hot money for maintaining its current account, has increased this fiscal.

Moreover, the gap between the foreign direct investment (FDI) and the inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) mainly in the stock market, has grown to $ 14 billion in 2010-11, according to the latest official data.

While, FIIs invested $ 31.03 billion during April-January 2010-11, India received FDI of $ 17.08 billion during the same period, showing a gap of about 45 per cent between the two.

In 2009-10, the difference between FII and FDI was only $ 1.9 billion.

However, in the previous years of 2007-08 and 2008-09, FDI inflows were way ahead of the money coming through the share market.

Although the country’s current account deficit (CAD) has been kept under check due to large capital flows coming through the FII route, but the quality of the inflow remains an issue.

In its mid-quarterly policy review, the RBI had estimated the CAD for 2010-11 at around 2.5 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“...it is necessary to focus on the quality of capital inflows with greater emphasis on attracting long-term components, including FDI, so as to enhance the sustainability of the balance of payments (BoP) over the medium-term,” RBI had said while expressing concerns on the decline in FDI.

The drop in FDI inflows to $ 17.08 billion during the ten months of the current fiscal from $ 22.96 in the corresponding period (April-January) of the previous financial year is attributed to the financial troubles in several European economies.

Germany, France, the Netherlands and UK are the main investors in India.

Inflation solace : Cos hike salaries by 40 pc http://www.ptinews.com/news/1446848_Inflation-solace---Cos-hike-salaries-nbsp-by-nbsp-40-pc-New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) With day-to-day living turning costlier, companies have raised salaries to as high as 40 per cent especially at the junior levels, say experts.

In recent times, inflation has been at high levels due to soaring prices of essential commodities.

"Inflation has affected the salary hikes towards the higher side," executive search firm GlobalHunt's director Sunil Goel told PTI.

"As inflation has raised cost of living, so direct impact is visible more at junior and entry level where companies have increased salaries up to 30-40 per cent," he said.

Last month, inflation climbed to 8.31 per cent as compared to 8.23 per cent in January. Food inflation stood at 9.42 per cent in the week ended March 5.

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Voltas Ltd, KION Group join hands togetherhttp://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-172936.htmlMumbai Mar 21 : Voltas Limited and KION Group GmbH have agreed to establish a joint venture in India for the development, manufacture, marketing, and servicing of forklift trucks and warehousing equipment. Voltas’s material handling operations will be integrated into a new joint venture company (JV), where the KION Group will hold a majority share. The JV Company will be named Voltas Materials Handling (VMH) and is expected to start operations in April 2011, a release issued here today said.

As the KION Group's sixth brand, Voltas will be used by VMH to focus on the Indian market with a product range that includes diesel/LPG and electric trucks with load capacities of 1.5 to 16 tons. VMH will have twenty-five branches and dealerships all over India.

Until now, the KION Group has been supplying forklift trucks to India through its Linde Material Handling and STILL brands and is a leading international supplier of material handling equipment to the Indian market. VMH will serve the volume market with its existing, highly competitive product range. Demand in the Indian market is expected to grow rapidly in the course of the country’s dynamic industrialization. VMH is well positioned to take full advantage of the potential of the Indian market as one of the world´s most promising growth markets, the release added.

TCS eyes 1000 customers for ‘iON’ by year-endhttp://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article1558682.eceLeading IT company TCS on Monday announced plans to ramp up its customers base for its product meant for Small and Medium Business (SMB) to more than 1,000 by the end of current year.

This is in line with its plans to generate USD 1 billion revenue in next five years from its newly launched IT solutions product ‘iON’. “We are targeting to increase our customers for our ‘iON’ solution to over 1,000 from 200 at present by focusing on domestic sector,” company’s Global Head, V. Ramaswamy told reporters here on Monday.

He said TCS is eyeing revenue to the tune of $ 1 billion from ‘iON’ in next 5 years.

Based on pay per use model, TCS rolled out its fully integrated IT solutions for SMB using scalable cloud computing technology last month. It aims to address the entire SMB technology needs ranging from HR, Finance and inventory.

The listed entity has already garnered 200 customers since its launch of ‘iON’ catering to manufacturing, retail, education and wellness sectors.

Mr. Ramaswamy said there was a huge potential in country’s SMB segment which is spending three times more than what large companies spend on IT.

He said the total domestic IT market was likely to grow to $48.5 billion by 2015 from $11.9 billion in 2010.

“Market (in India) is highly untapped..60 per cent of SMB do not have IT infrastructure,” he said while claiming that its new product reduces IT expenditure by 35-40 per cent.

The key market for TCS to tap SMB potential will be several states like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, NCR, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Rising raw material,staff cost eroding profits: RBI http://www.ptinews.com/news/1447598_Rising-raw-material-staff-cost-eroding-profits--RBI-Mumbai, Mar 21 (PTI) Increasing raw material cost and rising salary bill eroded the profitability of India Inc during April-September period of the current financial year, says an RBI analysis.

According to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) study which analyses the performance of the Indian private corporate sector during the first half of the current fiscal, sales growth was robust on the back of pick up in demand.

"However, despite robust revenue growth, companies in aggregate could not generate higher profit margin primarily on account of higher input prices and rise in interest outflow," the RBI study said.

It said even as the sales growth in both manufacturing and the services sector was robust during the period under review, profit growth in both the sectors was comparatively lower during the period.

77 projects of Coal India under various stages of completionhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/77-projects-of-coal-india-under-various-stages-of-completion/articleshow/7752752.cmsNEW DELHI: Coal India Limited's (CIL) 77 projects having a production capacity of almost 185 million tonnes (MT), have been cleared by the government and are under different phases of completion.

"...77 projects with an ultimate capacity 184.78 Mty (Million tonnes per year) have already been approved and are under various stages of implementation," Outcome Budget 2011-12 document said.

The said projects are among 142 projects identified by CIL, which are to be taken for the XI Plan Period (2007 - 2012), the document added.

The remaining 65 projects, according to the Outcome Budget 2011-12 document, having a capacity of 195 million tonnes are under different phases of approval.

"Rest 65 projects, with an ultimate capacity of 195.44 Mty are under various stages of approval/formulation," the document said.

Coal Ministry had earlier in March said that 46 projects of CIL were delayed due to various reasons, including environmental hurdles.

Of these, 11 projects of the Navratna firm are behind schedule because of the unavailability of both forestry and environmental clearances. While 14 projects of the firm have got delayed due to land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation (R&R) issues, the ministry had said.

Coal India, the ministry had said, has taken various measures to combat the issues that are delaying the projects.

It has undertaken vigorous follow up action with land acquisition officials to fast-track acquisition proceedings. It has also held regular meetings with state authorities to solve acute problems.

NHPC's 2000-MW project delay in Assam may disturb targethttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/nhpcs-2000-mw-project-delay-in-assam-may-disturb-target/articleshow/7753389.cmsNEW DELHI: The target of adding 62,000 MW of power capacity in the 11th Plan may come under pressure, as commissioning of NHPC's 2,000-MW Subansiri project in Assam is likely to be delayed by at least two years due to resistance from locals.

The project was earlier scheduled for commissioning in March, 2012. The Rs 8,000 crore project is facing severe resentment from locals in the northeastern state as they fear that the dam would impact the biodiversity and environment of the state.

"Subansiri can be commissioned by August, 2014, despite the fact that there is pressure from Assam locals," a Power Ministry official told media. The 2,000-MW Lower Subansiri project was originally due to get commissioned during the current XIth Five-Year Plan (2007-12).

Meanwhile, the Power Ministry has pulled up NHPC many times in the past for not executing projects in time and conducted review meetings seeking reasons for delays in execution of its hydro power projects, mainly the 800-MW Parbati-II project in Himachal Pradesh and the 2,000-MW Lower Subansiri project in Assam.

However, the company has always maintained that these projects have been delayed due to environment-related issues. In West Bengal, protests by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha have hampered work on the Teesta Low Dam III (130 MW) and IV (160 MW) projects.

Not only Subansiri, geological issues have also hit NHPC's 231 MW Chamera-III project in Himachal Pradesh. Law and order problems in Jammu & Kashmir have adversely impacted work on three of the company's hydro projects, the 240-MW Uri, 45-MW Nimmo Bazgo and 44-MW Chutak projects, in the state.

NHPC was earlier scheduled to commission these three power projects during the current XIth Five-Year Plan, but these projects are now likely to miss their commissioning schedule. NHPC has an installed capacity of over 4,000 MW and plans to ramp up this capacity to over 10,000 MW by the end of the XIth Five-Year Plan (2007-2012).

If these obstacles continue to disturb the progress of these hydro projects, the planned capacity addition seems unlikely. The government plans to add 62,000 MW of electricity by the end of the current plan period.

HCL plans Rs 3,677cr investment to quadruple capacity by FY'17http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/metals-mining/hcl-plans-rs-3677cr-investment-to-quadruple-capacity-by-fy17/articleshow/7752686.cmsNew Delhi: State-run Hindustan Copper plans to invest Rs 3,677 crore to almost quadruple its existing copper ore production capacity to 12.41 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2016-17.

"The company has prepared an ambitious expansion plan to expand capacity of 3.21 million tonnes to 12.41 million tonnes at an estimated cost of Rs 3,677 crore, which would be funded from internal resources, fresh issue of shares and debt," the Mines Ministry's Outcome Budget for 2011-12 said.

The entire expansion would be completed by 2016-17 and in the meantime, the company would also take up greenfield projects for exploration and ore production, it said.

HCL would spend a total of Rs 297 crore next fiscal through internal sources for part-funding expansion of the Khetri, Kolihan, Banwas and Singhbhum mines and reopening of the Rakha and Kenadadih mines.

The only copper ore producer in India, HCL's existing capacity caters to about 3 per cent of the requirement of optimum utilisation of installed capacity for smelting/refining of copper in the country.

"The gap in supply and demand provides a huge opportunity to the company to expand its operations in the mining of copper ore," the note said.

HCL plans to invest a total of Rs 174 crore for expansion of the Khetri mines from 0.5 mtpa to 1 mtpa. In the Kolihan mines, it would invest Rs 275 crore for expanding the capacity to 1.5 mtpa from 0.5 mtpa now and Rs 91 crore to develop the Banwas mine with a capacity of 0.6 mtpa.

The Surda mine's capacity will be expanded to 0.9 mtpa from 0.42 mtpa now at a total cost of Rs 216 crore. HCL would also invest Rs 347 crore to reopen the closed Rakha mine and Rs 87 crore for enhancing the capacity of the Kendadih mines to 0.21 mtpa.

The note said that HCL has already applied for prospecting leases across the country for greenfield exploration and it proposes to explore and develop these mines in a joint venture with global mining majors.

Essar Steel Hazira plant capacity expansion almost completehttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/steel/essar-steel-hazira-plant-capacity-expansion-almost-complete/articleshow/7752813.cmsNEW DELHI: Ruias-owned Essar Steel's capacity expansion at its Hazira plant is 'almost' complete, which will take its total production capacity to 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), a senior company official said.

"All the units at Hazira (steel plant) will be commissioned in a month or so... Expansion work at Hazira is almost complete, except for the coke-oven battery, which will be commissioned in 2012," Essar Steel CEO Malay Mukherjee told PTI.

The Ruia's promoted company has earlier said it would invest about Rs 30,000 crore to have a total production capacity of 10 MTPA in its integrated plant at Hazira, Gujarat by the end of this fiscal.

In December, 2010, the company had said it aims to commission a Corex module capacity of 1.74 MTPA and CSP Caster and mill of 3.5 MTPA capacity by the current fiscal-end.

Mukherjee added that construction of 12 MTPA pellet plant at Paradip, Orissa has also been completed and "mechanical commissioning has got started".

"It is in a final stage of commissioning," he said. Post-commissioning, the company will have a total pelletisation capacity of 20 MTPA as it already has an 8 MTPA pellet plant at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh.

Pellet, made from iron ore, is a processed raw material used for steel making.

On the tie-up with Japanese firm, Kobe Steel, for setting up a specialised unit of auto-grade steel, the Essar Steel CEO said that a feasibility study is still on and a team of Kobe Steel was here last week in this regard.

"They (Kobe's representatives) were here last week only. It is not only about putting up a plant... it is also to ensure that there is a market for the products and that's why the study is going on," Mukherjee said, adding that the MoU is valid for a year within which the agreement has to be finalised.

He added the company plans to focus more towards making specialised steel used for automobile manufacturing, as the Hazira plant is now capable of making it and its plans will not be hurt by the devastating impact of tsunami in Japan.

Essar currently has a market share of about 18 per cent in the regular steel market in the country.

JSW Steel, JSW Energy assessing IT raid implicationshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/steel/jsw-steel-jsw-energy-assessing-it-raid-implications/articleshow/7752951.cmsMUMBAI: JSW Steel and JSW Energy said in separate statements on Monday the income tax department authorities had carried out survey, search and seizure operations on the company at certain locations on March 16-18.

The material implications, if any, on the companies are being assessed and would be intimated on completion of the process, the companies said

SC admits RCom petition challenging TDSAT orderhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/sc-admits-rcom-petition-challenging-tdsat-order/articleshow/7753193.cmsNEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has admitted the petition of Reliance Communications challenging the order of the telecom tribunal TDSAT, which had set aside the plea of Anil Ambani group firm challenging penalty imposed by the state-run firm BSNL.

Apart from penalty, BSNL had also issued a disconnection notice from its network to the ADAG group firm for wrong routing of international calls in Karnataka Circle in 2003. A three judges bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia admitted the appeal filed by RCom and posted the matter for final hearing on September 15, 2011.

"The civil appeal is admitted. The order dated 4th March, 2011, shall continue to operate till further orders. Place this appeal on 15th September, 2011," the bench said.

Earlier, on March 4, the apex court had stayed the order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal .

BSNL in 2005 had slapped RCom with two bills of Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 4.26 crore stating that RCom was tampering with Caller Line Identification and showing international calls as local ones. Also, it issued a disconnection notice to the company in March 27, 2007.

This was challenged by RCom before the TDSAT, which on January 21, 2011 rejected it by saying that plea was barred by limitation and there was no need to look into the merit of the case.

The TDSAT bench had said the impugned bill raised in 2005 was related to calls made in 2003. However, RCom approached TDSAT only in 2010 and hence it was not entitled to challenge it, the bench observed. "In view of the fact that this petition is barred by limitation, it is not necessary for us to enter into the merit of the matter. This petition is, therefore, dismissed," the bench had said.

As per the rules, the state-run telco had imposed highest slab of international calls for such unauthorised calls, which was challenged by RCom before TDSAT.

The tribunal further observed that Rcom was also not pursuing its case "bonafidely" by not providing Call Data Records of its Point of Interconnections (PoI) despite several earlier orders. "It cannot, therefore, be said that the petitioner was pursuing its remedy bonafide. The cause of action for bringing an action on the part of the petitioner was the disconnection of PoI and not the bill," the tribunal said.

PoI between two operators is needed before subscribers can make and receive calls from different networks.

Govt slaps Rs 700 cr fine on telcos for violation of lawshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/govt-slaps-rs-700-cr-fine-on-telcos-for-violation-of-laws/articleshow/7753408.cmsNEW DELHI: Acting tough, the government has imposed fines worth Rs 700 crore on various telecom operators for carrying out illegal and clandestine activities in their services, particularly for non-compliance of the subscriber verification process.

The penalty was imposed by Telecom Enforcement , Resource and Monitoring (TERM) Cells till January 2011 on various telecom service providers operating in different licence service areas for non-compliance of subscriber verification guidelines, a Home Ministry report said.

The fine was imposed on defaulting entities which did not comply with government orders despite repeated warnings that 100 per cent verification of each and every subscriber was absolutely necessary for interests of the country's security.

There have been several instances in the past where terrorists used mobile phone connections, which were issued without verification, to carry out terror acts in India.

"Consultations are regularly held with the service providers to streamline the guidelines. Apart from the fine, wherever the shortcoming is serious in nature and whenever necessary, local police even register cases against the defaulter," a Home Ministry official said.

Because of non-compliance of the government rules, the Centre had in the past suspended operations of pre-paid mobile connections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Cellular services to nearly 38 million pre-paid cell phone subscribers in Jammu and Kashmir, who comprise 60 per cent of total clientele in the state, was restored only after seven telecom operators -- Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata Teleservices, Reliance Communications and state-run BSNL promised full compliance with the verification process.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Essar to acquire refinery in Britain for USD 350 mln http://www.ptinews.com/news/1447057_Essar-to-acquire-refinery-in-Britain-for-USD-350-mln-New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) London-listed Essar Energy Plc today said it expects to sign by month-end a deal to acquire Royal Dutch Shell's Stanlow refinery in northwest England for USD 350 million.

The company, announcing financial results for 2010 full year, in a press statement, said it is "expecting to sign deal to acquire Stanlow, the UK's second biggest refinery, from Shell over the next 10 days, by March 31."

"Acquisition price will be USD 350 million plus inventory at cost price," Essar said.

Essar had on February 18 announced acquisition of the Stanlow refinery to make the Ruias-promoted firm the first Indian refiner with "truely global footprint".

Essar owns a refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat which can process 2,80,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

It also owns a 90,000 bpd unit in Kenya and is expanding Vadinar to 400,000 bpd (20 million tons).

HPCL may defer Mumbai shutdown on local demand

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/oil-gas/hpcl-may-defer-mumbai-shutdown-on-local-demand/articleshow/7751466.cmsNEW DELHI: India's Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) may defer the planned 15-day shutdown of a 60,000 barrels per day crude unit at Mumbai refinery to Septmber to meet local fuel demand , its head of refineries K. Murali said on Monday.

"We have to do some corrections in tower. We are looking at deferring the shutdown because industry demand has come," Murali told Reuters.

Indian refiners are struggling to find takers for their diesel import tenders as traders target more lucrative sales to disaster-hit Japan.

Murali, however, said the company has no plans to change a 45-day maintenance shutdown of a 60,000 bpd crude unit, a visbreaker unit and a fluid catalytic cracker ( FCC ) at Vizag refinery. The shutdown will begin in November, he said.

HPCL runs a 130,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery in Mumbai and a 166,000 bpd plant at Vizag, in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

IOC to relook at refinery units shutdown: Exechttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/oil-gas/ioc-to-relook-at-refinery-units-shutdown-exec/articleshow/7751731.cmsNEW DELHI: State-run Indian Oil Corp may consider deferring shutdowns of units at some of its refineries to meet local fuel demand, its head of refinery B. N. Bankapur said on Monday.

"If situation continues like this, when Indian fuel demand is rising at a fast pace and so are international fuel prices, being the largest state-run oil marketing firm we may have a re-look at our shutdown plans," B. N. Bankapur told Reuters.

Indian refiners are struggling to get a good response to their diesel import tenders as traders target more lucrative sales to quake-hit Japan. Lack of participation by traders led to IOC skipping award of its diesel tender.

"I am a state-run firm, I have to run for the country," Bankapur added.

IOC plans to shut a hydrocracker and some other units at its biggest Panipat refinery in May for routine maintenance.

IOC is India's biggest refiner with a capacity to process 1.294 million bpd oil.

ONGC row should not spoil Vedanta deal: FinMinhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/oil-gas/ongc-row-should-not-spoil-vedanta-deal-finmin/articleshow/7750059.cms

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry has said that the government should not arm-twist Cairn Energy by linking the approval of the $9.6-billion Cairn-Vedanta deal with disputes between the British explorer and its estranged partner, ONGC.

The deal to sell a controlling stake in Cairn's Indian unit to London-listed Vedanta Resources has been mired in controversy since it was announced in August last year. Cairn said it did not need government approval for the transfer of the Rajasthan block, which produces 1,25,000 barrels per day. Later, it backtracked and sought approval.

ONGC holds 30% in the block and pays its partner's share of royalty, as stipulated in the production-sharing contract (PSC), but it maintains that the same contract also says that this cost can be recovered from the field's total revenue - a point that Cairn contests because this reduces the profit that is shared between the companies and the government.

Guarding ONGC's interests - in particular getting rid of its obligation to pay all of the royalty - has seemingly been central to the strategy of the oil ministry, both under Murli Deora and the current minister, Jaipal Reddy. Eventually, it referred the matter to the Cabinet, whose decision is awaited.

But the finance ministry letter, dated March 16, says that ONGC's problems not be linked to the deal, that involves a sale of shares.

"The transfer of shareholding of CIL ( Cairn India Limited )) and settlement of pending disputes under various PSCs are two distinct issues. The government of India should strictly go by the letter and spirit of the contract and follow the legal provisions while considering the issue of grant of consent...," the finance ministry said.

It has also cited the law ministry's opinion that sanctity of the terms of the contracts should also be maintained. "Since there is a dispute between the parties regarding the interpretation of the provisions of the contract, the government of India cannot be seen using this opportunity to settle pending disputes in its own favour," the finance ministry has said in a note accessed by ET.

It goes on to say that the way out of a "bad contract" is through mutual negotiations and not through government directives which are not recognised in global legal proceedings. "Besides a liberalised FDI policy, we need to create an environment that promotes foreign investment."

Militant Activity/Terrorism (Particularly in Bangalore, Mumbai, Noida, Chennai, Coimbatore)

Pro-talks ULFA faction to stay away from pollshttp://www.rediff.com/news/report/pro-talks-ulfa-faction-to-stay-away-from-polls/20110321.htmMarch 21, 2011 11:58 IST

The pro-talks faction of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam led by its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa has announced that the group will have nothing to do with the forthcoming assembly election in Assam.

Following a meeting of the group's leaders, a spokesman of the outfit informed that it was unanimously decided in the meeting, which was attended by all the top leaders of the pro-talks faction, that no leader or cadre of the outfit get involved with the forthcoming assembly election in the state and the message has been sent to all the members of the outfit through 'proper channels'.

It was for the first time that the pro-talks ULFA leaders met after their recent meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi for peace talks.

The formal announcement about 'no election involvement' came in the wake of Opposition political parties in Assam airing apprehension that the ruling Congress, which played a key role in bringing the ULFA faction to talks, will use the ULFA doves in the election for the benefit of Congress candidates.

The faction also called upon the anti-talks hardliners of the outfit led by fugitive 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua to stay away from poll scene in Assam.

The anti-talks faction has issued a threat to carry out attacks on Congress leaders during polls and already triggered a blast at the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee headquarter at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati on March 14 last.

The anti-talks faction earlier called upon the pro-talks faction leader Rajkhowa to call of the 'so called peace talks' with the government of India and take charge of the 'ULFA revolution'.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has made it clear that the Congress is not going to make use of pro-talks ULFA cadres or leaders in election and pledged that the ULFA men in peace process would be lodged in specific shelters during polls as per the directive of the Election Commission.

Gogoi also said that the threat from the anti-talks faction of the ULFA would not affect the party's electioneering given the depleted strength of the faction after a majority of ULFA leaders and cadres joined the peace process.

Security sources on the other hand have words of caution for Congressmen given that the anti-talks faction led by Paresh Barua would be desperate to strike during polls to hog headlines as well as to belittle the on-going peace process with the pro-talks faction of the outfit led by Rajkhowa.

'Serious' terror threat to World Cup final

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-terror-threat-to-world-cup-final/20110321.htmLast updated on: March 21, 2011 15:05 IST The latest terror alert concerning the cricket world cup has been issued by the Union Home Ministry. The threat about an attack planned by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Jamaat-e-Ahle-Sunnat is specific to the world cup final, which will be played on April 2.

Almost a month before the world cup, Intelligence Bureau sources had said that the most important cricketing event would be a target for terrorists.

Although the official line that the Lashkar tows while making its anger public against the game is jihad (holy war), the real reason is that the attention the outfit would get out of such an attack is immense.

Militants fire on police team in Srinagarhttp://www.ptinews.com/news/1448022_Militants-fire-on-police-team-in-SrinagarSrinagar, Mar 21 (PTI) Militants today attacked a police patrol by opening fire in Sopore area of Baramulla district of north Kashmir this afternoon, officials said.

The ultras attacked the police team at around 4.50 pm as it was heading towards the police station in Sopore, 55km from here, the officials said.

They said no one was injured in the firing by the militants who escaped from the spot taking advantage of the melee in the area.

However, Sub-Inspector Ayaz Ahmad suffered minor injuries as he fell to ground while taking an evasive action, the officials said.

No militant outfit has so far claimed responsbility for the attack.

Police assisted by other security forces launched a hunt to nab the militants.

Labor/Social Unrest

Security beefed up in Kurukshetra ahead of Jat meethttp://www.ptinews.com/news/1447180_Security-beefed-up-in-Kurukshetra-ahead-of-Jat-meetKurukshetra, Mar 21 (PTI) Tight security arrangement has been put in place ahead of a meeting of Jat leaders today to deliberate on the future course of action in view of their ongoing stir in Haryana demanding quota for the community in government jobs.

Heavy police presence was seen in the city today, particularly around Jat Dharamshala here, where the meeting was underway.

Among those taking part in the meeting were Santosh Dahiya, President of the women's wing of All India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti and Dharam Singh Chhot, Vice President of the Samiti.

Barricades were placed along the roads leading to the city last night to block the entry of agitators in the city from the adjoining areas of Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal and Kaithal districts.

Jats threaten to block Delhi-Ambala rail route http://www.ptinews.com/news/1448172_Jats-threaten-to-block-Delhi-Ambala-rail-route-Kurukshetra (Har), Mar 21 (PTI) Agitating Jats today threatened to block the Delhi-Ambala rail route if their demand for reservation in Central government jobs under the OBC category was not met by March 25.

They also threatened to cut off the national capital from the rest of North India in the next phase of their stir if the demand was not fulfilled by March 28.

These decisions were taken taken at a meeting of top Jat leaders here as a huge posse of policemen stood guard at the venue.

If the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre did not accept their demand by March 25, Jats would lay siege to the Delhi-Ambala route, community leaders Santosh Dahiya and Dharmpa Chhot told mediapersons here.