In a dramatic development, the Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to advise Karnataka to rescind its existing MoU with the Tata-Raytheon-Singapore consortium and call for fresh global tenders for the proposed international airport in Bangalore. According to sources close to the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr. C. M. Ibrahim, the State was being advised to look for a new private sector investor-operator if the consortium continued to insist on an exclusive airport status in Bangalore, among other things.

Dip in property prices may botch BIFR cos’ revival

The fate of over six corporates, whose cases have been referred to the BIFR is hanging fire with the downturn in the real estate market threatening to jeopardise their plans to revive their units by raising funds through this route. The sale of property is an integral part of the BIFR-approved rehabilitation schemes of these corporates. Property prices have slumped 25 per cent over the past one year. A major chunk of the funds earmarked for the revival schemes was projected to have come from the sale of real estate and commercial development of property owned by these corporates.

No real facing up to big WTO players

If developing countries have had their say on the polemical points they sought to be incorporated into the final declaration, the developed countries have demonstrated that they had their way in the just concluded first Ministerial Conference of the WTO. It is anybody’s guess as to whether the say is important or the way is important because an inescapable outcome of the first meeting is that developing countries including India which fought to prevent the inclusion of new issues such as investment and core labour standards have had to see their hard-line approach heavily watered down.

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