<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[NOT IN PLACE: India’s biofuel policy is
pending with the Cabinet for approval
(Bloomberg)
Governments worldwide, including that of India, have the dual challenge to implement a biofuel policy and manage food security. A policy on biofuels should help farmers extract moolah from biofuels and ensure availability of food to the poor.
It is a delicate balance, says Food and Agriculture Organizations’ (FAO) report on the State of Food and Agriculture 2008. The report examines biofuels: prospects, risks and opportunities. “A balanced policy for biofuels is critical for food security,” says Keith D. Wiebe, chief of comparative agricultural development service, agricultural and development economics divisions of FAO.
While India’s biofuel policy is pending with the Cabinet, experts assure it will be able to balance what FAO has suggested.
“The discussions within the ministries so far suggest that there would be no compromise on food security,” says Pradeep Chaturvedi, international consultant on biofuel and chairman of Indian Association for the Advancement of Science.
But Gavin Wall, FAO representative in India and Bhutan, says, “Removal of subsidy and tariff barriers will bring in a level playing field and it should be examined by India.”
GLOBAL NEWS
Canada’s elections, held on 14 October, have produced a minority government. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party has improved its performance, but still falls short of a majority in the House of Commons. After coming to power in 2006, Harper had set an election date of October 2009, but abandoned the idea last month and called for elections.
ENTERTAINMENT
Bollywood’s Emi
Bollywood often flags off signs of the times. The latest is a film named EMI scheduled for a Diwali release. Produced by Balaji Films and Suniel Shetty’s Popcorn Productions, the film is obviously not referring to the international music label, but to the more mundane equated monthly instalment.
The film is a parody woven around four plots — a housing loan, a car loan and a honeymoon loan. But here’s the anti-climax: the film’s producers had problems selling the movie, though finally they did do a deal with Sahara Entertainment.
But the real sign of the times is that recession has finally caught up with Bollywood, too. After Shah Rukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om sold to Eros for Rs 73 crore, and Singh is Kinng to Studio18 for Rs 60 crore, film producers thought they could up their ante even further. However, the latest big banners — Blue from Shree Ashtivinayak Productions and Kites from Rakesh Roshan — have not found buyers.
Gurbir Singh
BAILING OUT PAKISTAN: Amid reports that Pakistan’s economy is in deep trouble, President Asif Ali Zardari visited Beijing on 15 October. Zardari and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao (right) signed several agreements, including a deal under which China will launch a communications satellite for Pakistan by 2011 (AP)
TELECOM
Hard Facts
Trai’s efforts at curtailing unwanted callers have not been successful
(Pic by Amit Verma)
Far from the telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) claim about the effectiveness of its Do Not Call (DNC) registry, facts point to the contrary. On the first anniversary of its DNC Listing, Trai claimed 10,151 telemarketers were disconnected for repeated violations. Further, 8,543 telemarketers were fined Rs 500, and 2,801 were fined Rs 1,000 for repeatedly violating DNC rules. It clearly shows that the fine amount is not a deterrent. Moreover, more than 20 million ‘unleashed’ telemarketers are out there, according to industry estimates. “It has not been effective; they switch to individual mobile numbers and cannot be caught,” says Sanjit Chatterjee, director of global sales at FLYTEXT, a mobile marketing company. Perhaps it is time Trai implemented the Supreme Court’s suggestion of permission-based marketing.
M. Rajendran
NOBEL PRIZE
Krugman’s Moment
(Bloomberg)
Paul Krugman, professor of economics at Princeton and a New York Times columnist, has won this year’s Nobel Prize for economic sciences. Krugman was awarded for his research on international trade in the 1980s. His theory says that economies of scale materialise when companies move to competitive geographies. Krugman is known for his relentless criticism of the Bush administration, including the $700-billion bailout plan.
POWER
A Question Of Quality
(Pic by Amit Verma)
The government is bringing back what it abolished a decade ago. Power utilities will now have to get technical clearance for the equipment they source from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) under the power ministry.
Such scrutiny stems from some problems faced with equipment sourced from Chinese power equipment firms. Last week, a panel under V.S. Verma, member (planning) of CEA, studied Durgapur, Sagardighi and Yamunanagar power plants — all of which use Chinese equipment. Its report says that despite India being an emerging market for power equipment, Chinese manufacturers were not “forthcoming” and “transparent” in providing technical details. The report also says Chinese firms need to do more hand holding as “adequate owners’ engineers were not posted at site”.
Kandula Subramaniam
PHARMACEUTICALS
The Saga Of A Deal
Daiichi Sankyo is taking a major write-off on the Ranbaxy deal
THE AFTERMATH: Ranbaxy’s
new owner will have to write off
nearly $3 billion (Bloomberg)
Putting an end to the controversy around the deal with India’s leading generic drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories, the management of Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo told investors that it will take a significant write-off after completing the acquisition of Ranbaxy. Daiichi Sankyo’s shares hit a one-year low on 10 October at 1,777 yen, and analysts predict that the write-off will be of about $3 billion.
In spite of the steep fall in Ranbaxy’s share price, as the Indian company found itself in a legal tangle in the US, Daiichi Sankyo will pay Rs 737 per share, a whopping 263 per cent premium over Ranbaxy’s current share price of Rs 280.75 (as on 14 October), as agreed last June.
But while Ranbaxy may be close to sealing the deal with Daiichi Sankyo, its mishaps with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could be far from over. The criminal proceedings against the company have been dropped, but the drug maker is marred by allegations that it sold misbranded or adulterated drugs in the US.
The company remains under investigation by the US Department of Justice, leaving its $400-million US business in serious jeopardy.
Noemie Bisserbe
(Businessworld Issue 21-27 Oct 2008)