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Cipla restrained from exporting anti-cancer drug

New Delhi, April 22: The Delhi High Court today restrained pharma major Cipla from exporting 'Tarceva' to those countries where Swiss company Hoffmann La Roche has patent registration for the anti-cancer drug.

The court also sought response from Cipla on an appeal filed by Swiss pharma company against the order of single bench that had refused to restrain the Indian firm from manufacturing and selling anti-cancer drug 'Tarceva', alleged to be a copy of the former's patent.

"Respondent (Cipla) in the meantime shall, while complying with the order of single bench, not export the drug in the question where plaintiff (La Roche) has patent registration," a bench of Justice Manmohan Sarin and Justice Manmohan said.

The bench, however, also made it clear that observations made by the single bench shall not be used by any third party as precedent for the purpose of manufacturing the drug.

It gave Cipla two week's time to file its reply and also directed La Roche to give the list of countries where it has got patent registration for the drug.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Swiss company, contended that the single bench passed an order that was alien to the patent law.

The single bench order was said to be in the public interest on the ground that there was a huge price differentiation in the product of the two firms, however there was no correlation between patent law and public interest as patent grants a company statutory monopoly, Singhvi said.

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Crisil revises GDP growth forecast to 8.1% in FY`09

Mumbai, April 22: Rating agency Crisil has revised downward India's GDP growth forecast for fiscal 2009 to 8.1 per cent, from the earlier 8.5 per cent, in view of high inflation and global growth outlook.

"Our earlier GDP forecast of 8.5 per cent had assumed a cut in the policy interest rate by the Central Bank in response to the slowing economy. This is now ruled out since current inflation and inflationary expectations are way beyond the RBI's comfort zone of 4.5 to 5 per cent," Crisil principal economist Dharmakirti Joshi said.

The rate of inflation zoomed past the seven per cent mark by the end of last fiscal.

Inflation is expected to remain high in the next few months due to continuation of global pressures and an unfavourable base effect.

However, Crisil expects it to soften toward the end of the year and stabilise at an average of 5.5 per cent in fy'09.

"If monsoons are sub-normal and agricultural production falters, inflation scenario could worsen," the agency said in a statement.

Nothwithstanding the moderation, the overall growth scenario is expected to remain strong with investment as the main driver.

"Domestic private consumption demand will also provide some support to the economy against slowing external demand," it said.

The recent scaling down of global growth projections has resulted in Crisil revising growth projections. The country's growth will be slower but at a healthy 8.1 per cent, it said.

Crisil has also adjusted downward the sectoral forecast for industry and services to 8 per cent and 9.8 per cent, respectively. Growth of agriculture, assuming a normal monsoon, is likely to be at three per cent.

The agency said that with RBI raising the cash reserve ratio by 0.5 per cent ahead of the policy announcement will exert upward pressure on interest rates.

"Crisil has revised the ten-year g sec rate upwards accordingly to 7.7-7.9 per cent by March 2009," it said.

It observed that with fiscal situation under pressure, growth in tax collection is expected to decline.

There will be a further loss of revenues on account of recent duty cuts to tame inflation.

The subsidy bill of fuel and fertilisers is set to rise due to the global food and crude price scenario.

Crisil's forecast on fiscal deficit for 2008-09 based on the above factors has been revised upwards to 3.9 per cent of GDP, inclusive of the off-budget items, it said.

Govt not to intervene in NTPC vs Reliance court case

New Delhi, April 22: Government on Tuesday said it will not intervene in the litigation initiated by power PSU NTPC for procuring gas from Reliance Industries, while admitting that it has intervened in the court battle between the Ambani Brothers on gas sourcing issue.

"The court case filed by NTPC against RIL is a commercial dispute between the two companies regarding gas supply agreement and the government is not a party to this gas supply agreement," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said in a written reply.

NTPC has taken RIL to court for not supplying gas at a price of 2.34 dollars per million British thermal unit (mbtu) it had quoted in the state-run firm's gas supply tender.

Replying to another query Patel said in the court case initiated by Anil Ambani Group company RNRL against elder brother Mukersh-led RIL the government has intervened to protect its interest and that of public at large.

RNRL had moved the Bombay High Court seeking gas supplies at the same price under the family demerger agreement.

The Bombay High Court, he said, had on October 15, 2007 asked RIL and RNRL to renegotiate, reconsider and settle afresh within four months the terms of gas supply.

"Since there was no settlement, the government considered it appropriate to intervene at expiry of this period in order to protect the interests of the government and public at large, in terms of early start of production from KG-D6 block, entitlement of government share of gas and freedom to commit/ sell gas to third parties other than RNRL and NTPC," he said.

RIL is to begin gas production from eastern offshore KG-D6 block from third quarter of 2008 and RNRL has claimed 28 million standard cubic meters per day gas. NTPC is to get 12 mmscmd.

Deccan Aviation names Vijay Mallya Chairman

Mumbai, April 23: Budget airline Deccan Aviation Ltd on Wednesday said its board named Vijay Mallya as Chairman, replacing N S Narahari who will continue as director.

Mallya is the founder of spirits maker UB Group which holds about 49 percent stake in Deccan. Deccan Aviation's founder GR Gopinath will be the Vice Chairman, the company said in a notice to NSE.

Rupee breaches crucial 40 mark vs Dollar

Mumbai, April 23: The Indian rupee today lost 10 paise against the greenback and breached the crucial 40 level for the first time in two weeks at 40.05/06 on heavy demand for dollar from oil refiners following crude prices touching record levels.

In wide movements at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market, the local currency moved in a range of 40.09 and 39.90 during the day after resuming steady at last closing level 39.95/96 a dollar.

The rupee premiums on forward dollar ended sharply lower on sustained receivings by exporters.

The benchmark six-month forward dollar premiums payable in September ended at 41-43 paise, down from 52-1/2- 54-1/2 paise on Tuesday and far-forward maturing in March also finished lower at 73-75 paise from 85-87 paise previously.

Forex dealers said oil companies heavily bought dollars to meet their import bills as global crude prices moved closer to USD 120 a barrel in Asian trade,

A weakening US dollar, supply worries in Nigeria and the OPEC cartel's reluctance to increase output have all contributed to the oil price surge, analysts said.

News that the basket price of crude oil that India imports has crossed an all-time high of 110 dollars a barrel prompted oil corporates to accumulate dollars on fears of further rise in global oil prices, traders said.

Meanwhile, Indian benchmark Sensex cut short its winning streak and fell by about 86 points, or 0.51 per cent, dampening the prospects of dollar inflows, a key driver of rupee movements. Asian indices, however, ended moderately higher.

In overseas markets, the dollar dropped to a new low against the Euro on Tuesday.

Ispat, JSW, Essar to hold on to price line for next 2-3 months

New Delhi, April 23: Domestic steel giants sail and Tata Steel's decision to hold prices at current levels for the next 2-3 months - a gesture to help the government fight inflation - has prompted JSW, Ispat and Essar too to offer to keep prices intact for the same period.

"We appreciate the concern of the Prime Minister on importance of steel sector vis-a-vis inflation in the country. Considering the government's concern about inflation, Ispat has no intention to increase steel prices till June 2008," the Mumbai-based steel maker said in a statement.

The company reminded that its domestic steel prices were much lower than prevailing international prices despite a massive increase in input costs mainly on account of high iron ore, pellets, coal, coke and logistics costs.

Another leading utility JSW's Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal said his company would hold on to the price line for the next 2-3 months.

Gujarat-based Essar Steel said it too shared government's concern on prices and will maintain prices till June. "We share the government's concern. We will maintain prices till June and we request the government for allocation of gas and iron ore on a priority basis," a company spokesman said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday asked steel industry not to manipulate the market for short term gains.

Steel prices have risen by up to 49 per cent in the last 12 months, partly causing headline inflation to surge to a three-year high.

Infosys acquires IP technology from Australian co for Finacle

New Delhi, April 23: IT bellwether Infosys technologies on Wednesday said it has bought advanced technology module from an Australian company to enhance the features of its banking software product Finacle.

"We have acquired IP (Internet Protocal) from an Australian company this month to add more functionality to Finacle. The IP, which provides a comprehensive set of financial tools to our existing product line, is suitable for large banks in European countries who use advance technology," Infosys technologies banking division (Finacle) head Haragopal M told media.

He said finacle with the IP module would be priced separately, which would add to the company's topline and bottomline in the current financial.

"We do see this as adding momentum to Finacle. A good traction is already there," Hargopal said.

When asked about the deal size, Hargopal said, "as per our understanding we cannot name the company from which we have acquired the technology and at what price."

Finacle is used by 109 banks spread across 60 countries in the world. Finacle clocked a turnover of USD 150.8 million, registering a growth of 31.7 percent year-on-year.

Finacle, the universal banking solution from Infosys, empowers banks to transform their business leveraging technology. The solution addresses the core banking, e-banking, Islamic banking, treasury, and wealth management and CRM requirements of retail, corporate and universal banks worldwide.

The company faces competition from TCS, Oracle's Flexcube, Temenos and Misys.

OBC posts Rs 99.44 cr loss in Q4, expects 25% rise in biz

New Delhi, April 23: State-run lender Oriental Bank of Commerce on Wednesday said it has incurred a net loss of Rs 99.44 crore for the fourth quarter of 2007-08 due to larger provisioning for losses of Global Trust Bank, which it acquired in 2004.

The bank with 1,402 branches had reported a profit of Rs 54.86 crore for the fourth quarter last year.

The Delhi-based lender expects its total business to grow by 25 per cent in the current fiscal.

The fourth quarter number is down on account of advancing of write-off of amortised GTB losses for 2008-09 to the tune of Rs 242 crore, OBC Chairman and Managing Director Alok K Misra told reporters here.

OBC had acquired GTB in 2004 and has been making provisioning of Rs 246 crore every year for losses, aggregating Rs 1,250 crore, that the private sector bank brought.

However, total income has increased to Rs 2,071.01 crore for the three-month period from Rs 1,577.29 crore in the same period last year.

The bank's board of directors has recommended a dividend of 47 per cent for fiscal 2008, it said.

OBC has posted a net profit of Rs 353.22 crore for the year ended March 31, a 39 per cent decline as compared to Rs 580.81 crore in the preceding fiscal.

Talking about the growth strategy for 2008-09, Misra said the bank expects 25 per cent rise in its total business to Rs 1.66 lakh crore by the end of March 2009.