Kingfisher board okays Rs 20bn rights share issue

Private sector carrier Kingfisher Airlines said on Friday its board has approved raising up to Rs 20 billion through a rights issue of shares.

The board also amended the terms for the issue of optionally convertible debentures that were issued on January 3, the airline said.

Earlier this year, the carrier had cut its debt through a debt restructuring process under which the airline had issued 116.3 million shares to a consortium of 13 banks led by State Bank of India (SBI), after conversion of compulsory convertible preference shares at 64.48 rupees a share.

Nifty directionless

Trading in Indian market has been listless for the past one hour. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,179.86, up 33.53 points and the 50-share NSENifty was at 4,846.70, up a miniscule 7.1 points.

Investors picked up shares in healthcare, auto and select technology stocks. Buying was seen in ONGC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC and HDFC Bank shares as well, which moved up 1% each.

However, power, cement, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group shares as well as select metal shares were being dumped. SBI, ITC, Wipro and ICICI Bank too were down.

Asian markets continued to trade mixed. Shanghai, Hang Seng and Straits Times were down between 0.2% and 0.8%. However, Kospi and Taiwan gained 0.4%.

Parliament to debate Lokpal Bill

Anna Hazare may break his fast on the eleventh day on Friday as a desperate UPA hopes to initiate a debate in Parliament on the Lokpal issue to break the logjam. Sources say the UPA wants Parliament to discuss all the versions of the Lokpal Bill, including the Jan Lokpal Bill, but is likely to go ahead with the proposal only if the draft resolution is acceptable to Team Anna.

Sources say Anna Hazare is likely to break his 11-day fast the moment a resolution on a strong Lokpal Bill is passed.

But there was confusion even after multiple rounds of talks over whether the Government and Team Anna will reach an agreement at all. Team Anna too seems divided over whether the 74-year-old anti-corruption crusader should call off his fast.

"We will find effective ways and means to discuss Jan Lokpal Bill along with the Government's version of the Bill, along with Aruna Roy's and Jayaprakash Narayan's. All ideas should be discussed and debated to get best possible bill to help us deal with corruption," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday taking the initiative to end the Lokpal logjam.

The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj aslo supported the Prime Minister's formula by saying, "We shall do everything to bring a strong Lokpal Bill".

The team Anna went into a huddle after the sense of the House was conveyed to them, but Anna Hazare was not convinced, and after consulting with his colleagues, he categorically spelt out that he would not concede on the three demands - appointment of lokayukta, lower bureaucracy and the citizen charter.

Start Lokpal debate tomorrow in Parliament, says Anna; govt likely to agree

As the prospect of a compromise emerged that could lead Anna Hazare to end his fast, the 74-year-old activist addressed his by-now-standard crowd of thousands at his protest camp in Delhi. He acknowledged that the Prime Minister and he have exchanged messages about how to end the crisis over his Jan Lokpal Bill that Anna has drafted with his associates.

Anna, who has not eaten in ten days, said he has conveyed to the Prime Minister, "If you are serious, let's start a debate tomorrow in Parliament on the Jan Lokpal Bill. There are three points of dispute... we will test you on these."  He said if there is consensus on these issues, he will consider ending his fast, but may choose to continue his protest.

Anna has vowed not to end his fast till the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by him and his colleagues is placed in parliament. Named for the independent anti-corruption agency that it creates, the Lokpal Bill currently exists in three versions prepared by the government, Team Anna and a group of activists headed by Aruna Roy. The PM has suggested that all three drafts can be discussed by Parliament; a compilation of the best features from each could then be sent to a parliamentary committee for detailed study and feedback.

The fact that the government wants to discuss all three bills in Parliament may not sit well with Anna.

In his speech, Anna referred to the PM's rich tribute to him in Parliament this morning. "Thanks to all those who praised me," he said. "It is actually you who deserve the praise. But I worry that this is just a ploy." He added, "I want to ask Opposition parties why they're silent. Speak up. Say that you support our Jan Lokpal Bill."

The Prime Minister today reached out to the 74-year-old activist with a sincere tribute and a new offer for compromise, both delivered in Parliament. (Read: PM offers new formula for ending Lokpal stand-off) |(Watch: PM's entire speech in Parliament)

Dr Manmohan Singh, who has been criticised for appearing too distant during Anna's massive anti-corruption movement, said, "His point has been registered. I respect his idealism. Anna Hazare has become the embodiment of people's concern and disgust with corruption. I applaud him, I salute him." 

He then sent his party's Vilasrao Deshmukh to meet Anna at his protest camp and convey that a debate in Parliament can begin tomorrow on all versions of the Lokpal Bill. Mr Deshmukh knows Anna well, both men are from Maharashtra where the Congressman has served twice as Chief Minister. Hoping for a breakthrough today, the PM will meet his senior ministers. (Watch: Salman Khursheed vents against Team Anna)

Anna's team has three demands that have been contentious for the government.  Now, ministers are searching for solutions to these. The first is that the Lokpal - a new independent agency to investigate corruption - must be allowed to cover junior bureaucrats so that graft is combatted "from the villages to our ministries."  The second is that the Lokpal Act must be introduced not just at the Centre but in states. Finally, he wants government departments to adopt a citizen's charter that would punish officials for under-performance. 

So far, the government has said that the Lokpal's powers over the lower bureaucracy could give it an authoritarian dimension.  It also wants each state to decide on its own version of the Lokpal Act.

Cipla to see growth of 14% this year

Drugmaker Cipla expects to meet domestic industry growth of 14% this year, its chairman said on Thursday, but warned of a possible slowdown in its business in Libya, Syria and Algeria due to the political situation in those nations.

"There has not been major impact on the overall Africa business but only certain countries have slowdown due to the political situation in the last year," Yusuf Hamied told an annual meeting of shareholders.

The Mumbai-based firm, which enjoys the highest share in India's pharmaceuticals market, is known for selling low-cost generic versions of anti-retroviral drugs used to fight HIV/AIDS.