• NATIONAL NEWS

Ministry of Finance, RBI may prohibit overseas borrowings route to LLP's

The Ministry of Finance and RBI may not allow limited liability partnerships to access overseas borrowings at attractive interest rates, a move which could discourage big firms from switching to this form of business. The finance ministry is of the view that FDI can be allowed in LLP's, but not overseas debt.

EU proposes new visa norms for foreign workers

The European Commission has proposed a directive on "intra-corporate transferees" which will make the lives of non-EU nationals employed by multinational corporations in Europe easier. The directive is currently pending within the European Council and Parliament.

India signs international Nuclear Damages pact

India signed the UN Convention of Supplementary Compensation on nuclear damage, to make it easier for US based nuclear suppliers to enter into Indian nuclear energy market.

Government may dilute IFRS norms before implementation

The government may dilute some key provisions relating to foreign exchange and overseas borrowings. It is looking at an option where companies need not provide for any loss in the profit & loss statement but rather just carry forward the value as at the end of March 2011. The National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS) is in favour of allowing companies not to provide for mark-to-market (MTM) losses on their foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

Disinvestment Department set to push for higher retail quota in public floats

The department of disinvestment is planning to pitch for a higher quota for retail investors in forthcoming public issues of state-run companies. Existing norms stipulate that at least 35% of the shares offered in the book-building process to be reserved for retail investors. Moreover, SEBI's decision to double the retail investment limit in public offers to Rs 2 lacs will help small investors benefit more from higher reservation.

Orissa Government to formulate Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act

The Orissa government is planning to come out with a new law called 'Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act' modeled on similar legislations framed by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to curb large scale land-grabbing in urban areas. The Bill is likely to be introduced in the winter session of the state assembly.

Government clears ICEX's iron-ore futures contracts

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has paved the way for the Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) to launch iron ore contracts for futures trading and has asked Forward Market Commission (FMC) to include the mineral in the list of commodities that can be traded under Section 15 of the Forward Contracts Regulation Act (FCRA).

MSME changes procurement policy

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has decided to do away with the plan to make it mandatory for PSUs and government departments to procure at least 20 percent of their total requirements from Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) as it views the policy intervention to be more aspirational rather than mandatory.

Ministry of Law announces transfer of judges

The Ministry of Law and Justice announced the appointment of Mr Gian Parkash Mittal as a Delhi High Court Additional Judge for two years and transfer of eleven judges, including three from Punjab and Haryana, two each from Andhra, Allahabad and Delhi and one each from Madras and Orissa High Courts.

DGCA License mandatory for airports from July 2011

The government has issued a notification which says that no person would operate scheduled air transport services to/from an aerodrome from June 30, 2011, unless it has been licensed by Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Telecom companies to require environment nod for towers

The Ministry of Environment & Forests is likely to make it mandatory for telecom operators to obtain sanction from its Wildlife Division before installation of communication towers across India, in order to check the harmful effects of radiation on biodiversity and human health.

Madhya Pradesh HC to go online by February, 2011

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has developed a software for providing all its judgments on the internet by February, 2011.

Government to establish Green Bank to fund renewable energy projects

The government is planning to set up a green bank by leveraging National clean energy fund estimated to garner around Rs 5,000 crore through a cess on domestic and imported coal. The proposed bank will fund projects to generate electricity from wind, solar, tidal and other renewable energy sources to reduce country's dependence on fossil fuels.

Ministry of Finance proposes NABARD to regulate MFI's

The Ministry of Finance is in the process of putting together a bill that will make NABARD responsible for regulation of all non-profit micro-finance institutions structured as trusts, cooperatives, or mutual benefit societies to ensure that over-regulation by states does not kill the sector which holds the potential to drive financial inclusion in India.

RBI wants lock-in-period for real estate FDI

The Reserve Bank of India has suggested strict rules including a lock-in-period for original investment meant for hotels or tourism by foreign funds and setting up of a monitoring mechanism to check FDI violations in the real estate sector.

SEBI deliberating on rules to fix erring merchant bankers

The Securities and Exchange Board of India is mulling over ways to rein in erring merchant bankers who hype public issues through misleading advertisements and media reports outside the regulatory ambit, resulting in overpricing of IPO's.

EPFO decides to stick to debt, not to invest in equity

The Employee Provident Fund Organisation has decided to continue to focus on investment in high-quality paper like bonds of triple-A rated companies & PSU's and stay away from equities, as it is too risky an investment.

New aviation sector regulator in 2 years

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will be instituted by the government as the new aviation sector regulator with greater autonomy, replacing the existing Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a period of two years.

• INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Psychiatrist, lawyer convicted in Smith drug case

A boyfriend and two doctors who were part of Anna Nicole Smith's inner circle in her final days and were charged with enabling her prescription drug use were acquitted of most drug charges Thursday, but two were convicted of conspiring to use false names to get her prescriptions. Howard K. Stern, Smith's boyfriend-lawyer, and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, her psychiatrist, were convicted of conspiring to get the former Playboy model and reality TV star painkillers and sedatives. 

Prosecutors contended during the nine-week trial that the defendants were dazzled by Smith's glamour and fulfilled her demands for prescription drugs to protect their insider status in her personal life and celebrity world.

750M$ paid by Glaxo SmithKline to settle bad drug case

British pharmaceutical company Glaxo SmithKline PLC paid $750 million to settle allegations that it knowingly manufactured and sold adulterated drugs, including the popular antidepressant Paxil. U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced that the London-based company will pay $150 million in criminal fines and $600 million in civil penalties related to faulty manufacturing processes at its plant in Cidra, Puerto Rico. The company allowed several drugs to be adulterated between 2001 and 2005, including Paxil CR, a skin-infection ointment called Bactroban, an anti-nausea drug called Kytril, and a diabetes drug called Avandamet.

Glaxo SmithKline said in a statement that it regrets operating the plant in a manner that violated good manufacturing practices. The company said the plant closed in 2009 due to declining demand for the medicines made there. Executives disclosed a $750 million charge to the company's second-quarter 2010 earnings on July 15 in connection with the agreement. The investigation began after Cheryl Eckard, the company's global quality assurance manager, went to the Puerto Rico plant in August 2002 to lead a team of scientists and quality experts to correct manufacturing violations cited by the FDA. Eckard discovered numerous violations, including a contaminated water system and an air system that allowed for cross-contamination between different products being made there. She reported the problems to her superiors and the company's compliance department.Eckard eventually went to the Food and Drug Administration to report the problems and later filed a whistleblower lawsuit.

FBI caught Ohio company fraud fugitive in Mexico

FBI says an Ohio woman who fled two years ago after being convicted in a massive corporate fraud case has been arrested in Mexico.

FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas  in Columbus said that Rebecca S. Parrett was picked up by Mexican authorities and will be turned over to U.S. authorities in Los Angeles. Eventually she'll be returned to Columbus. Parrett disappeared in March 2008 following her conviction on securities fraud, wire fraud and other charges in a $1.9 billion fraud scheme at health care financing company National Century Financial Enterprises. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison in absentia.

Arizona appeal of order blocking execution rejected

A federal appeals court has denied Arizona's request to lift a judge's order blocking the scheduled execution of death row inmate Jeffrey Landrigan.

Court will hear appeal of ex-AG to stop lawsuit

The US Supreme Court will consider an appeal by former Attorney General John Ashcroft to throw out a lawsuit seeking to hold him personally responsible for improperly arresting a Muslim U.S. citizen after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The justices stepped into a dispute that, at its roots, concerns the Bush administration's aggressive moves against Muslims and Arabs in the United States following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Abdullah al-Kidd was one of at least 70 people detained under a law aimed at insuring that witnesses would be available to appear in court and testify at trial, according to a study by civil liberties groups. Like many others, al-Kidd was never called to testify before a grand jury or in open court and was not charged with a crime.

High court won't block Maine campaign law

The US Supreme Court has turned down a request to block key portions of a Maine campaign finance law that provides matching funds for candidates and a $750 limit on contributions to candidates for Governor.The court acted on a challenge from Respect Maine Political Action Committee and a Republican state lawmaker. Earlier this year, the justices intervened in a similar dispute over matching funds for candidates in Arizona.Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia said they would have blocked Maine's provision on giving taxpayer money to some candidates.

Corruption trial to start soon

Former House Majority Leader in Austin, Texas, Tom DeLay, saying he committed no crime, has been pressing for a trial since he was indicted five years ago on charges that he illegally funneled corporate money to help Republicans in Texas legislative races in 2002. DeLay is finally getting his wish, with jury selection set to start soon. DeLay's case had been slowed down by appeals of pretrial rulings.

DeLay's attorneys are expected to question potential jurors about any biases they might have against the former Republican lawmaker. His attorneys - fearing DeLay could not get a fair trial in Austin, a Democratic city in one of the nation's most Republican states - unsuccessfully tried to get the trial moved. DeLay has said the charges were politically motivated by Ronnie Earle, the Democratic former Travis County district attorney who originally brought the case.

The 63-year-old DeLay is charged with two crimes: money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. DeLay has  chosen for the judge, not the jury, to sentence him if he's convicted.

Judge Denies Stay in 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Lawsuit

The Ninth Circuit issued a temporary stay halting a district court judge's injunction that prohibited further enforcement of the Don't Ask Don't Tell law, which prohibits homosexuals from openly serving in the military. The judge who issued the permanent injunction has denied the federal government's request for a stay of the injunction pending appeal. The judge ruled that the government was not entitled to a stay since they had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on appeal or shown that they would be irreparably harmed in the absence of a stay. The judge also ruled that denying a stay would not harm other parties interested in the proceedings or injure the public interest.

Playboy Playmate Angela Dorian Charged with Attempted Murder

Playboy Playmate Angela Dorian has been charged with attempted murder. Angela Dorian was Playboy's Playmate of the year in 1968. The now 66 year-old former model was recently in a fight with her lover when she decided it would be a good idea to shoot him in the chest. It has been reported that Dorian (real name: Victoria Vetri, also known as Victoria Rathgeb) has been charged with attempted murder and bail has been set at $1 million. The boyfriend was rushed to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. The couple was in some type of argument that turned physical during the time of the shooting.

As the name so appropriately implies, attempted murder falls just short of murder in that the intended victim did not die. Nevertheless the attempt and the intent were there, and this is a charge that the criminal justice system takes very seriously. She intended to seriously injure (if not kill) her boyfriend by shooting him, the act of shooting him is most certainly an action that was in furtherance of the crime, and she has the ability to complete the crime (and perhaps if her aim was better she would have). That was a very simplistic analysis of the charge. In reality, the charges are just the beginning of the process that is required to convict someone of a crime that can carry such serious penalties.

Mortgage servicers get mixed reviews.

JP Morgan Chase & Co., along with Wells Fargo & Co., and Bank of America Corp.- the three largest mortgage servicers - which collect monthly payments, deal with delinquent homeowners and negotiate loan modifications - have come under a harsh spotlight in recent weeks over their foreclosure paperwork. But the available data suggest a wide variation in how well the firms do their jobs. A number of federal and state agencies are investigating the service's' foreclosure practices. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said last week that there were "significant differences" among the companies but declined to elaborate. J.D. Power & Associates recently gave Wells Fargo the highest rating among large servicers. Chase came in near the middle.

Bank of America, which became the largest mortgage servicer after buying home-loan giant Countrywide Financial in California two years ago, gets mixed reviews. The bank's servicing unit has an "A" grade from the Better Business Bureau but doesn't fare as well with J.D. Power or the Treasury's help-line stats. Among the 4,327 complaints about Bank of America received by the Better Business Bureau in the past three years, one recent submission points to the frustrations many homeowners are experiencing with servicers.