Cipla Ltd Announces Firm Offer To Cipla Medpro South Africa Ltd To Acquire 100% Equity Stake

Cipla Ltd announced that its Board of Directors at its meeting held February 27, 2013,have decided to make and have made a firm offer to the Board of Directors of Cipla Medpro South Africa Ltd to acquire (either through itself or through its nominated subsidiary) 100% of the ordinary shares of Medpro at a price of ZAR 10.00 per share, and to settle all outstanding share options therein. Based on Medpro’s current shares and share options outstanding, the total consideration payable by Cipla or its nominated subsidiary would be approximately $512 million. The Board of Directors of Medpro have recommended to its shareholders to vote in favour of the offer. Also, the independent expert appointed by the Independent board of Medpro is of the opinion the offer is fair and reasonable to the Medpro shareholders. 

Money Market In India

                     

 The Indian money market is "a market for short-term and Long term funds with maturity ranging from overnight to one year and includes financial instruments that are deemed to be close substitutes of money." It is diversified and has evolved through many stages, from the conventional platform of treasury bills and call money to commercial paper, certificates of deposit, repos, FRAs and IRS more recently.

The Indian money market consists of diverse sub-markets, each dealing in a particular type of short-term credit. The money market fulfills the borrowing and investment requirements of providers and users of short-term funds, and balances the demand for and supply of short-term funds by providing an equilibrium mechanism. It also serves as a focal point for the Central Bank's intervention in the market.

The Indian money market consists of the unorganized sector: moneylenders, indigenous bankers, chit funds; organized sector: Reserve Bank of India, private banks, public sector banks, development banks and other Non Banking Financial Companies(NBFCs) such as Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Unit Trust of India (UTI), the International Finance Corporation, IDBI, and the co-operative sector.

·                  Call money market :-

·                                            The call money market deals in short term finance repayable on demand, with a maturity period varying from one day to 14 days. S.K. Muranjan commented that call loans in India are provided to the bill market, rendered between banks, and given for the purpose of dealing in the bullion market and stock exchanges. Commercial banks, both Indian and foreign, co-operative banks, Discount and Finance House of India Ltd.(DFHI), Securities trading corporation of India (STCI) participate as both lenders and borrowers and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Unit Trust of India(UTI), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)can participate only as lenders. The interest rate paid on call money loans, known as the call rate, is highly volatile. It is the most sensitive section of the money market and the changes in the demand for and supply of call loans are promptly reflected in call rates. There are now two call rates in India: the Interbank call rate ‘and the lending rate of DFHI. The ceilings on the call rate and inter-bank term money rate were dropped, with effect from May 1, 1989. The Indian call money market has been transformed into a pure inter-bank market during 2006–07.  The major call money markets are in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Ahmadabad.

         Treasury bill market  :-

                             Treasury bills are instrument of short-term borrowing by the Government of India, issued as promissory notes under discount. The interest received on them is the discount which is the difference between the price at which they are issued and their redemption value. They have assured yield and negligible risk of default. Under one classification, treasury bills are categorized as ad hoc, tap and auction bills and under another classification it is classified on the maturity period like 91-days TBs, 182-days TBs, 364-days TBs and two types of 14-days TBs. In the recent times (2002–03, 2003–04), the Reserve Bank of India has been issuing only 91-day and 364-day treasury bills. the auction format of 91-day treasury bill has

changed from uniform price to multiple price to encourage more responsible bidding from the market players. the bills are two kinds- Adhoc and regular. the adhoc bills are issued for investment by the state governments, semi government departments and foreign central banks for temporary investment. they are not sold to banks and general public. The treasury bills sold to the public and banks are called regular treasury bills. they are freely marketable. commercial bank buy entire quantity of such bills issued on tender . they are bought and sold on discount basis.

         Ready forward contract (Repos) :-

                                   Repo is an abbreviation for Repurchase agreement, which involves a simultaneous "sale and purchase" agreement. When banks have any shortage of funds, they can borrow it from Reserve Bank of India or from other banks. The rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks is called repo rate, a short term for repurchase agreement. A reduction in the repo rate will help banks to get money at a cheaper rate. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive.

·                Money market mutual funds :-

·                           Money market mutual funds invest money in specifically, high-quality and very short maturity-based money market instruments. The RBI has approved the establishment of very few such funds in India. In 1997, only one MMMF was in operation, and that too with very small amount of capital.

         Reserve Bank of India :-

                      The influence of the Reserve Bank of India's power over the Indian money market is confined almost exclusively to the organised banking structure.It is also considered to be the biggest regulator in the markets. There are certain rates and data which are released at regular intervals which have a huge impact on all the financial markets in INDIA. The unorganized sector, which consists mostly of indigenous bankers and non-banking financial companies, although occupying an important position in the money market have not been properly integrated with the rest of the money market

Indian Trademark Law

Indian trademark law statutorily protects trademarks as per the Trademark Act, 1999 and also under the common law remedy of passing off. Statutory protection of trademark is administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, a government agency which reports to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The law of trademark deals with the mechanism of registration, protection of trademark and prevention of fraudulent trademark. The law also provides for the rights acquired by registration of trademark, modes of transfer and assignment of the rights, nature of infringements, penalties for such infringement and remedies available to the owner in case of such infringement.

The law of trademark in India before 1940 was based on the common law principles of passing off and equity as followed in England before the enactment of the first Registration Act, 1875. The first statutory law related to trademark in India was the Trade Marks Act, 1940 which had similar provision like the UK Trade Marks Act, 1938. In 1958, the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 was enacted which consolidated the provisions related to trademarks contained in other statutes like, the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Sea Customs Act.  The Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 was repealed by the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and is the current governing law related to registered trademarks.  The 1999 Act was enacted to comply with the provisions of the TRIPS. Though some aspects of the unregistered trademarks have been enacted into the 1999 Act, but they are primarily governed by the common law rules based on the principles evolved out of the judgments of the Courts.  Where the law is ambiguous, the principles evolved and interpretation made by the Courts in England have been applied in India taking into consideration the context of our legal procedure, laws and realities of India. 

According to Section 2 (zb) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, “trade mark means a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others and may include shape of goods, their packaging and combination of colors ” A mark can include a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numeral, shape of goods, packaging or combination of colors or any such combinations.

Suzlon Loses Top Spot in India Wind Market Installations

Suzlon Energy Ltd. ceded its position as India’s top wind-turbine supplier in the year ended March 31 for the first time in at least a decade, according to figures from an industry group.

Wind World (India) Ltd., formerly known as Enercon (India) Ltd., took the top spot after installing 454 megawatts of turbine capacity last fiscal year, according to data from the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers’ Association. Suzlon trailed with 415 megawatts of installations, while ReGen Powertech Pvt. was third with 273 megawatts.

“The rankings offered a number of surprises as new market entrants pushed aside incumbents,” said Shantanu Jaiswal, a New Delhi-based wind analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

General Electric Co.’s installations surged more than sixfold to 122 megawatts, the biggest jump among the companies surveyed, according to the IWTMA data. The company’s gain in orders may indicate a shift in customer preferences as GE sells turbines alone in contrast to competitors who include land acquisition and permitting as part of supply deals.

GE won orders from developers such as Greenko Group Plc that are separating project development from turbine orders to improve returns.

Suzlon, which committed India’s biggest convertible bond default in October, reported difficulties in carrying out orders due to a lack of working capital in the past three quarters. The company completed a 95 billion-rupee ($1.8 billion) debt reorganization plan last month that will allow it to execute $7 billion of orders, Group Chief Financial Officer Kirti Vagadia said in an April 23 statement.

‘Regaining Leadership’

The company’s performance last year was hampered by its debt problems and by the suspension of two government incentives, Suzlon said in an e-mailed response to questions today.

“We are confident of regaining market leadership in our home market - that we helped unlock and shape from the start,” the company said. Suzlon shares rose as much as 1.5 percent to 14.57 rupees in Mumbai today and traded at 14.48 rupees as of 11:16 a.m. local time.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, which tied with GE as the world’s biggest turbine maker, posted an 87 percent drop in installations to 34 megawatts, IWTMA figures showed. The Danish manufacturer, one of the first to enter the Indian market more than 25 years ago, focused on bigger, more profitable markets elsewhere, Jaiswal said.

In total, India wind installations dropped 47 percent on year to 1.7 gigawatts of wind capacity after the expiry of government incentives, according to IWTMA figures.

Globally, a record 48.4 gigawatts of new wind capacity was added in 2012, according to BNEF. A tax incentive drove a record 13.6 gigawatts of installations in the U.S., where GE commissioned 96 percent of its turbines and Vestas sold 40 percent. The U.S. was Vestas’ biggest market.

CCI to probe Cipla, 4 others for anti-competitive practices

NEW DELHI: Fair trade regulator Competition Commission is probing allegation of anti-competitive practices against five entities related to pharmaceutical industry, including drug maker Cipla.

The complaint has been filed against the five entities for allegedly engaging in anti-competition practices in granting stockist licence for medicines in Himachal Pradesh.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is probing the allegation against Macleods Pharmaceutical, FDC Ltd, Cipla, Himachal Pradesh Society of Chemist & Druggist Alliance and its President.

the Commission is of the opinion that there exists a prima facie, case to direct the Director General to cause an investigation into the matter," CCI said in an order dated April 11.

CCI observed that the Himachal Pradesh Society of Chemist & Druggist Alliance "appears to be controlling and regulating the appointment of stockist-ship of each and every pharmaceutical company in the state of Himachal Pradesh".

"The evidence placed on record...shows that no one can be appointed as the stockist of any pharmaceutical company in Himachal Pradesh without the NOC (No objection Certificate) of Himachal Pradesh Society of Chemist & Druggist Alliance," CCI noted.

A stockist is a retailer or distributor who has stocks of a certain type of item for sale.

As per a complaint by filed by one Rohit Medical Store, the Society compelled the pharmaceutical firms to grant stockist-ship in the state to those persons who had obtained NOC from it.

The complaint alleged that it was not being granted stockist-ship of Macleods Pharmaceutical, FDC and Cipla due to the condition imposed to obtain NOC from the Society.

In its submissions to CCI the complainant has placed on record a CD wherein the President of the Society in a conversation with employees of Macleods was emphasising that NOC was a must.

Besides, the complainant also submitted a letter showing that NOC was being demanded for appointing him as stockist.

CCI has noted that the conduct of the Society which made it compulsory for the complainant to obtain NOC before appointment as stockist of Macleods and FDC appeared to be in violation of the Competition Act.

"...the said conduct of Himachal Pradesh Society of Chemist & Druggist Alliance, "appears to have restricted the supplies of medicines of Macleods Pharmaceutical and FDC Ltd in the State of Himachal Pradesh," CCI added.

The regulator has asked the Director General to submit his report within a period of 60 days from the communication of this order.

US tax agency IRS knew of targeting conservative groups critical of Barack Obama

WASHINGTON: Senior officials at the US tax agency knew agents were targeting conservative political groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general's report that seemingly contradicts public statements by the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.

But on June 29, 2011, Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog's report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with "Tea Party," "Patriot" or "9/12 Project" in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says.

"Tea party" and "Patriot" are favorite terms of the small-government conservative movement that has emerged in recent years and is highly critical of President Barack Obama. The "9/12 Project" is a group started by conservative TV personality Glenn Beck.

The revelation that the IRS targeted those groups is becoming a new headache for the Obama administration, which is already confronting a highly polarized, partisan atmosphere in Washington.

Lerner instructed agents to change the criteria for flagging groups "immediately," the report says.

The Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration is expected to release the results of a nearly yearlong investigation in the coming week.

Among the other revelations, on Aug. 4, 2011, staffers in the IRS' Rulings and Agreements office "held a meeting with chief counsel so that everyone would have the latest information on the issue."

On Jan. 25, 2012, the criteria for flagging suspect groups was changed to, "political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform/movement," the report says.

While this was happening, several committees in Congress were writing IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman to express concern because tea party groups were complaining of IRS harassment.

In Shulman's responses, he did not acknowledge targeting of tea party groups. At a congressional hearing March 22, 2012, Shulman was adamant in his denials.

The portion of the draft report reviewed by the Associated Press does not say whether Shulman or anyone else in the Obama administration outside the IRS was informed of the targeting. It is standard procedure for agency heads to consult with staff before responding to congressional inquiries, but it is unclear how much information Shulman sought.

The IRS has not said when Shulman found out that Tea Party groups were targeted.

G7 smooths divisions over growth, deficit reduction

AYLESBURY: The Group of Seven advanced economies on Saturday appeared to smooth over US-European differences on how to balance deep austerity measures with ways to support fragile growth. G7 finance ministers and central bankers also pledged their commitment to tackling tax evasion during two days of talks in the English countryside, British finance minister George Osborne said.

The United States has put pressure on European nations to scale back their spending cuts amid fears they may harm growth, but Osborne said the meeting in Aylesbury, northwest of London, revealed much common ground.

"This meeting confirmed there are more areas of agreement between us on fiscal policy than is commonly assumed," the chancellor of the exchequer told a press conference afterwards.

He said the G7 had "discussed the importance of having in place credible, country-specific, medium-term fiscal consolidation plans for ensuring sustainable public finances and sustainable growth".

French finance minister Pierre Moscovici appeared to echo Osborne's remarks.

"The consensus is gaining momentum in the way we balance support for growth and fiscal consolidation," he told reporters.

"There is still a real will to reduce the deficits but certainly there is a change of tone" among G7 members, Moscovici added.

The G7 is meanwhile committed to "nurturing" world economic recovery, said Osborne.

"Overall, our discussions over the past two days have reaffirmed that there are still many challenges to securing sustainable global recovery, and we can't take it for granted," he said.

"But we are committed as the advanced economies in playing our part in nurturing that recovery and ensuring a lasting recovery so that we have prosperity in all our countries."

The talks, also attended by top representatives from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, built on last month's wider Group of 20 meeting while looking ahead to next month's G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. The G8 is the G7 plus Russia.