23 Feb - Kerala - Halla-Bol Protest against Corporate Retailers

[IFP.E...@googlemail.com]

Dear Friends,

India FDI Watch along with its partner organizations calls for Halla
Bol on 23rd February 2008 in all the major cities of India taking
demonstrations to the doorstep of corporate stores. Militant
demonstrations will be organized before the corporate stores as part
of the action. In Kerala, Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti will
organize a Halla Bol rally in Trichur on 23rd Feb. Lakhs of small
shopkeepers are expected to join the rally to raise their voice
against corporate retail.

The political resolution draft for XIX Party Congress of CPM says,
"The Party firmly opposes FDI in retail trade as it will seriously
affect the livelihood of millions of shopkeepers and small traders.
The entry of big Indian corporates into retail trade has a similar
effect. At present there is no law to restrict the entry of corporate
sector. Taking advantage of this, companies like Reliance have entered
retail trade in a big way. The CPI(M) has set out a policy document
for licensing and regulating the entry of corporates in retail trade.
Till the Central Government puts in place such a policy, the Left led
governments should take steps to regulate their entry." Leaders of
the party informed India FDI Watch that West Bengal Govt. has decided
to regulate the entry of corporates in retail trade according to its
policy draft and a committee will be formed having traders and hawkers
to issue licenses to corporations to do retail.

National Statistical Office (NSO) of South Korea reported that, Mom-
and-Pop shops are disappearing from neighborhoods, losing to cutthroat
competition against giant retail outlets and convenience stores.
Korean Mom-and-pop shops are seeing sales drop. It says, - Losing the
competition, these small retailers are disappearing from the market.
According to the Bank of Korea, the number of these shops dropped to
585,996 in 2005, from 739,059 in 1995. Another statistic showed that
an average 6.3 mom-and-pop shops closed down everyday between 2001 and
2006. The number of corporate stores, meanwhile, surged to 8,855 from
1,557, increasing 20 percent on average every year during the last 10
years.

Below is the link of an informative short video, reflective of the
unsustainable wasteful consumption culture being developed by
corporate retailers: - www.storyofstuff.org

In Solidarity !
Dharmendra Kumar
Director
India FDI Watch
M-09871179084
Email:dkford...@yahoo.co.uk, dkford...@gmail.com

Drug wholesalers of Mumbai boycott Subhiksha :
http://www.planetretail.net/NewsFeed/NewNewsFeed.aspx
Drug wholesalers of Mumbai have boycotted Subhiksha. Subhiksha has
sent legal notices to drug wholesalers in Mumbai for withholding
supplies. Subhiksha Managing Director R Subramanian said, "wholesalers
have boycotted us and have stopped supplying medicines.
Wal-Mart did lobby Blair over Asda

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/01/27/cnasda127.xml

Details of a secret Downing Street meeting held between Tony Blair,
the then prime minister, and a senior Wal-Mart executive just months
before the world's biggest retailer pounced on Asda have finally been
released, some nine years after the £7bn deal was struck. The Sunday
Telegraph can reveal that Bob Martin, the then chief executive of Wal-
Mart International, complained at the meeting to Tony Blair about
Britain's restrictive planning rules. The minutes of the meeting,
released last month by the Cabinet Office after a direct order from
the information watchdog, lay bare the lobbying strategy employed by
Wal-Mart before it bought Asda in July 1999. The three-page document
exposes the frantic lobbying of a country's leaders that top
executives carry out before making a major acquisition.

Mom-and-Pop Shops Disappear As Giant Retail Shops Pop Up :

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/02/123_18403.html

Mom-and-pop shops are disappearing from neighborhoods, losing to
cutthroat competition against giant retail outlets and convenience
stores. According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), huge
retail outlets like E-Mart posted sales growth of 9.8 percent last
year. Mom-and-pop shops, meanwhile, are seeing sales drop. Small
markets below 50 pyeong (165.3 square meters), excluding convenience
stores, saw sales decrease of 2.9 percent. They were the only
retailers to see sales fall. Losing the competition, these small
retailers are disappearing from the market. According to the Bank of
Korea, the number of these shops dropped to 585,996 in 2005, from
739,059 in 1995. Another statistic showed that an average 6.3 mom-and-
pop shops closed down everyday between 2001 and 2006. The number of
convenience stores, meanwhile, surged to 8,855 from 1,557, increasing
20 percent on average every year during the last 10 years. Retail
outlets also explosively surged to 316 from mere 25 a decade ago,
growing 28.9 percent on average each year.

Retail policy stuck over Rs 16 lakh bill :
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14596372
The Centre's proposed retail policy seems to be stuck over, believe it
or not, an uncleared bill of Rs 16 lakh. ICRIER, it seems, will not
submit the report till this bill is cleared by the government. The
government's objective was to draw up a comprehensive retail policy
from the findings of the ICRIER study.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Mumbai Marches on Against Globalisation :
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40953
MUMBAI, Jan 27 (IPS) - There was grim determination on the faces of
the 500-strong crowd that marched through the streets of this western
port city for the World Social ForumâEURO(tm)s Global Day of Action on
Saturday.
Defiantly, they carried banners that read âEURO(tm)Another World is
Possible". The slogan -- familiar enough in this city which hosted the
WSF in 2004 -- has a special ring to it because memories linger of a
year-long strike in 1982, by some 250,000 textile mill workers, which
failed.
"India's retail sector is facing the onslaught of national and
multinational corporations which will lead to the destruction of
livelihoods of over 40 million people in the country," said V. Shetty,
lawyer and coordinator of India FDI Watch, an organisation
spearheading a national campaign against foreign direct investment
(FDI) in the retail sector, and the Vyapar Rozgar Suraksha Samiti
(Committee for Protection of Livelihoods and Retailers), a coalition
of small traders, hawkers and workers.
"Multinational chains have started selling vegetables at predatory
prices, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of
hawkers who make a subsistence income on this work. And Indian
companies like Reliance, Godrej and the Birlas open retail outlets and
lure middle-class customers with prices that are below cost, running
"Mom and Pop" stores out of business after which they can hike their
prices sky high, said Shetty. ''The ground realities are in complete
contrast to stated government policies of not allowing FDI in the
retail trade. Walmart, the largest company of any kind in the world,
is slated for entry into India in 2008, in a joint venture with an
Indian company."

Reliance Fresh on Orissa govt watch list :
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Services/Retailing/Reliance_Fresh_on_Orissa_govt_Watch_list/articleshow/2738944.cms
NEW DELHI: Reliance Fresh could be headed for an Uttar Pradesh-like
situation in Orissa with the state government learnt to have assured
an India FDI Watch delegation that it will re-scrutinise the
permission given to Reliance Fresh for opening outlets in Orissa. â
EUROOEWe have been assured by a senior state government official that all
possible steps would be taken for the rehabilitation of roadside
vendors. The permission given to Reliance Fresh for opening outlets
would also be scrutinised,âEURO India FDI Watch director Dharmendra Kumar
told ET.
India FDI Watch is a national association of small traders that is
opposing big and foreign retail players. The Orissa government has,
meanwhile, also offered a helping hand to the roadside vendors,
notifying specific zones for them across the state.
To start with, 15 such vending zones will be opened in the Cuttack
district of Orissa, aimed at rehabilitating roadside vendors, whose
business has reportedly suffered major losses due to entry of
organised retail players. Reliance Fresh has had a difficult time
operating in the state. Even its launch in September last year was
marred by violent protests from local traders and the company had to
close down its Bhubaneshwar store for a couple of hours on the day of
the launch itself.
The state government had also refused to extend any preferential
treatment or additional security to the corporate giant.
Farmers urged to come under one umbrella :
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Farmers-urged-to-come-under-one-umbrella/267068/0
The former Union agriculture minister and the CPI leader, Chaturanan
Mishra urged the farmers' organizations affiliated to different
political parties in country to come under one platform to fight for
the just cause. The conference passed a resolution demanding hike in
the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy to at least Rs 1000 per
quintal and that of paddy and that of wheat to at least Rs 1600 per
quintal. It criticised the wheat imports done by the government at
higher prices in 2006 and 2007, when ample wheat was available in the
country. The government should have purchased wheat from farmers by
raising the MSP, instead of buying wheat in the global market at
higher prices, it said Expressing concerns over the government's
apathy towards the increasing incidences of suicides committed by
farmers, the Bharatiya Krishak Samaj president, Krishan Bir Chaudhary
demanded reversal of the anti-farmer policies. The resolution
criticized the government for opening the doors to the corporate
houses and multinationals in Indian agriculture and in the retail
chains as this would lead to greater exploitation of farmers. The
resolution also called for a ban on futures trading in agro
commodities. The resolution also demanded a ban on genetically
modified crops. The farmers have suffered huge losses on account of Bt
cotton cultivation.

Mom, Pop stores impacted by big retail: ICRIER :
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Mom--Pop-stores-impacted-by-big-retail--ICRIER/266673/

The neighbourhood kirana stores will initially feel the heat with the
growth of big super markets and malls, Rajiv Kumar, Director of
ICRIER, which has been entrusted with a government study on the impact
of organised retail on Mom & Pop stores, said. "Small retailers will
be initially impacted by the entry of large scale retail houses.
However, the impact is likely to be diluted over a period of time",
Kumar said.

Draft Political Resolution For XIX Party Congress :
http://pd.cpim.org/2008/0127_pd/01272008_draft.htm

The Party firmly opposes FDI in retail trade as it will seriously
affect the livelihood of millions of shopkeepers and small traders.
The entry of big Indian corporates into retail trade has a similar
effect. At present there is no law to restrict the entry of corporate
sector. Taking advantage of this, companies like Reliance have entered
retail trade in a big way. The CPI(M) has set out a policy document
for licensing and regulating the entry of corporates in retail trade.
Till the Central Government puts in place such a policy, the Left -
led governments should take steps to regulate their entry.

Reliance to unveil new speciality format; plans to set up 100 AutoZone
stores :
Having already launched its first âEURO~AutoZoneâEURO(tm) in the recently
opened Reliance Mart (Hypermarket) at Jamnagar (Gujarat) on the 30th
January, Reliance Retail, is ready to rollout a super speciality
retail chain of auto stores across the country. Apart from selling
auto spares and repairing two wheelers and four wheelers, AutoZone
stores will also retail two wheelers and pre-used branded
cars.Reliance plans to set up about 100 such AutoZone stores across
the country, within a year.

Landmark group to undetake aggressive retail expansion; plans $500 mn.
investment in 3 years :
indiaretailbiz.com

Landmark Group, owned by Dubai-based group of NRIs, which currently
operates 19 stores under three retail chains across 9 cities in India,
according to a Business Standard report, is planning to invest another
$500 million in the next three years (by 2010) in the country. The
group, in the past 10 years, since 1998, has invested $100 million in
the country. Landmark group operates over 650 stores across West Asia,
India, China and Spain. Landmark's current operations comprise 13
Lifestyle stores, 5 Home Centre stores and a Babyshop store operating
out of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad,
Mumbai, Vashi and Pune.

Reliance could soon foray into travel retail business :
To begin with, before venturing into full fledged travel business, the
company would first like to leverage on the domestic and international
travel business worth about Rs. 100 crore being generated by the group
and on promotional schemes that offer travel related incentives like
holidays to its retail customers. The company, incidentally, has
already incorporated a subsidiary called Reliance Retail Travel &
Forex Services Ltd. The new company appears to have tied up with
Indian, the national airline, for up to 30% discount on airfares.

Kamal Nath defends retail FDI policy :
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/02/09/stories/2008020952401000.htm

Bangalore, Feb. 8 The Union Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, on
Friday said that the government will continue to reduce customs duty
but it will also ensure that every fiscal policy decision it takes
stimulates economic growth. But he defended IndiaâEURO(tm)s policy on retail
FDI stating that there was a need to protect smaller retail shops and
the conditions in the country were different from other countries. â
EUROOEWe need to see that the policy does not dislocate small retailers,âEURO
he told delegates at the India Sourcing Summit.

Birla Retail in talks with farmers' co-ops for direct procurement :
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Birla-Retail-in-talks-with-farmers---co-ops-for-direct-procurement/269189/

Bangalore, Feb 4 Even as India's largest business conglomerate
Reliance Industries is facing trouble over its retail venture over
procurement of farm products, its competitor Aditya Birla Retail Ltd,
the retail arm of the $23-billion Aditya Birla Group, is trying to
overcome the hurdles by tying up with farmers' cooperative societies.
The company, that has set a target of establishing 1,000-1,500
superMarkets and has earmarked Rs 8,000-9,000 crore in the next five
years, is planning to tie-up with cooperatives to procure fresh farm
products, vegetables and fruits.

Spencer's first hypermarket in Kolkata launched; plans to invest Rs.
2,500 Cr. in expansion :
SpencerâEURO(tm)s, among the oldest names in retail sector, threw open the
doors of its Hypermarket store on in Kolkata on the 1st Feruary, 2008.
The store was opened by the group patriarch R P Goenka. Besides
Kolkata, Spencer's also operates hypermarket format stores in Mumbai,
Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Calicut, Hyderabad, Vizag, Vijayawada,
Aurangabad and Durgapur. The group is planning to scale up its
operations to 52 cities in the coming months.