Brihat Bangalore Mahanagar Palika BBMP Office Locked by Farmers and Vendors

[Nagarjuna]

Brihat Bangalore Mahanagar Palika (BBMP ) Office locked by Farmers and
Vendors :

Dear Friends,

Farmers and vendors blocked and locked the Brihat Bangalore Mahanagar
Palika (BBMP) office -

(as reported by Mr. Babu Khan, Campaign Organizer, India FDI Watch,
Bangalore)

Bangalore, March 11th 2008 : Tuesday a busy day for K.R.Puram farmers,
traders and vendors, because Tuesday is the weekly market day in this
area. Many farmers, local retailers and vendors usually comes to
K.R.Puram to sell and purchase the goods. Local people of surrounding
areas also visit the market because the vegetables and other
commodities are available at cheaper rates. This market is having a
history of more than 50 years and the daily market started almost 15
years back to support the local retailers and consumers. Farmers are
coming here as far as from 60-70 Kms from rural areas. The business
usually starts around 4am in the morning and continues till the
evening. More than 2000 local vendors and retailers depend on the
market. Farmers, coming from the rural area, to sell vegetables have
to pay tax for each bag and vendors also pays daily tax for the small
space they occupy.

Along with India FDI Watch, hundreds of farmers and vendors marched
towards BBMP office, shouting slogans. They blocked and locked the
office, the Deputy commissioner of Bangalore arrived and discussed the
issue with protesters and announced that, the issue will be solved
within 2 days. For two days no tax will be collected from the farmers.

Recently an order was issued by the Assistant Revenue Officer ordering
higher taxes for the farmers and retailers. Contractors in nexus with
corporation officials were exploiting the farmers and vendors to
encourage corporate malls coming around in the area. Protesters
demanded immediate removal of the officers and contractors involved in
the exploitation of farmers and vendors. They also demanded the Deputy
Commissioner that, within the radius of 5 Kms of the market,
corporation authorities should not give permission for any corporate
store.

Other demands include basic facilities in the market, drainage and
rest house for the farmers.

Mittals name retail stores Bharti EasyDay

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Mittals-name-retail-stores-Bharti-EasyDay/282409/

New Delhi, Mar 9 Bharti Retail, which has tied up with Wal-Mart, the
world’s largest retailer, will name its convenience stores Bharti
EasyDay. The first batch of stores will be launched on April 2. A
total of five stores will be launched initially�€”four in Ludhiana and
one in Chandigarh. The convenience stores will focus heavily on the
food and beverages section. According to industry sources, the stores
would be modelled on Reliance Fresh stores. The store size will vary
from 1,300 square feet to 3,000 sq ft.

As is known, Wal-Mart has a technical agreement with Bharti for Its
front-end retail stores. For the back-end cash and carry segment the
two Companies have entered into a 50:50 joint venture. As earlier
reported by FE, Wal-Mart Inc’s vice-chairman Mike Duke had clearly
hinted that the front-end stores would not carry the Wal-Mart tag.
This is because three-fourths of Wal-Mart’s international business
earnings are under 52 local brands across the globe. “We want to be
seen as local retailers serving the needs of the local people in an
area,” Duke had said. However, Rajan Bharti Mittal, managing
director, Bharti Enterprises, had earlier said the final rollout plans
of the retail and cash and carry stores would be made in April, and
brand names for the retail and cash and carry stores would be
announced then. According to industry sources, the forced closure of
Reliance Retail stores in Uttar Pradesh might have prompted Bharti to
rework its branding strategy, and drop the Wal-Mart name to avoid any
negative brand perception.

The first cash and carry store operated by Wal-Mart will be rolled out
by the year-end. Bharti-Wal-Mart is expected to open 10-15 cash and
carry stores in seven years and employ about 5,000 people.

Reliance Retail in JV for optical stores

The JV hopes to roll out its stores by September and expects to have a
large network of outlets

http://www.livemint.com/2008/03/03002658/Reliance-Retail-in-JV-for-opti.html

Reliance Retail Ltd has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Europe’s HAL
Holding NV to open stand-alone optical stores throughout India, eyeing
a business that is virtually controlled by the unorganized sector.

The joint venture proposes to seek permission from India’s Foreign
Investment Promotional Board, which approves and regulates foreign
investment in the country, to operate stores here. The stores are
kosher under India’s fairly restrictive laws regulating foreign
investment in the retail sector because the country allows 51% foreign
ownership in single-brand retail. HAL is the holding firm for a raft
of leading European optical retailers who collectively run more than
2,500 outlets in two dozen countries and operates stores under Vision
Express in the UK, Apollo Optik in Germany, Pearle Opticiens and
various other brands in countries from Norway to Australia.

Joint venture hopes to roll out its stores by September and expects to
have a “large network” of outlets across the nation. “The (brand) name
is still being firmed up but Vision Express looks like the most
prospective name as it’s very popular in the UK and other countries.

In Solidarity!

Dharmendra Kumar

Director

India FDI Watch

M-09871179084

Email:dkford...@yahoo.co.uk, dkford...@gmail.com