■ Oil
Indian sale halted
The Supreme Court yesterday prevented the Indian government from going ahead with the sale of two state-owned oil companies. The court restrained the government from selling its stakes in fuel companies Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) without parliamentary approval, officials said. The supreme court bench said the two companies were acquired by the government in the 1970s by special parliamentary legislation and therefore required a similar legislation process now to privatize them. After months of postponement, the Indian cabinet had in January cleared the sale of stakes in the two firms. The sale has been resisted by some key allies of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, including Defense Minister George Fernandes and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik.
■ Exports
BOJ raises assessment
The outlook for Japanese exports is improving and companies are increasing investment, the central bank said in its monthly report for September, raising its assessment of the economy for a second time in three months. While economic activity "continues to be virtually flat as a whole," the bank said in Tokyo, "signs of improvement have been observed in such areas as the environment for exports." Consumer prices will decline at the current "moderate" pace, the bank said today, although price declines may slow temporarily. The bank said it should watch "volatile" movements in government bond yields. The central bank last week also decided to keep monthly purchases of government bonds from banks unchanged at ?1.2 trillion (US$10.2 billion) to pump money into the economy.
■ Consumer goods
LG seeks investor deal
South Korea's LG Group said yesterday it would seek a new deal with unspecified foreign investors to counter the proposed injection of US capital into Hanaro Telecom. LG, the largest shareholder of Hanaro, suggested it was ready to raise US$1.1 billion for the country's second-largest broadband Internet company through a mix of a rights issue and foreign capital. The plan is the latest in LG's repeated attempts to block a consortium of American International Group (AIG) and Newbridge Capital from buying into Hanaro. The consortium, backed by creditors, has proposed a US$1.1 billion fund to acquire a controlling 39.6 percent stake in Hanaro, which has 2.97 million customers.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Dolly cloners sell up
Confronted by mounting losses, the executive board of the firm that cloned Dolly the sheep said on Monday it was putting the company up for sale. PPL Therapeutics PLC, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, lost most of its senior executives in a mass resignation after announcing that net losses for the six months ending June 30 had more than doubled to ?12.8 million (US$20.5 million) from ?5.5 million for the same period last year. PPL's chief executive Geoff Cook and four other members of its seven-member board resigned with immediate effect, it said. The board appointed financial services firm KPMG to help in selling the company. PPL's collapse followed its failure to generate sufficient shareholder support for a plan to restructure and focus on developing Fibrin I, a sealant that stops bleeding during surgery. It had hoped to have the product on the market by 2006.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from