Indian court refuses to lift ban on colas

An Indian court refused to lift a regional ban on the production and sale of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products on Friday. The ban imposed after an environment group said the drinks contained dangerous levels of pesticides. The Kerala high court said it would not give temporary respite to the two global giants until their petitions against the state government's ban were heard and the case disposed. The next hearing of the case would be on September 11 when the court convenes after holidays for a local festival. The communist government of Kerala imposed a blanket ban on the production and sale of soft drinks made by the two companies saying they were harmful to consumers, earlier this month. The ban came days after the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said tests conducted on samples of the drinks across the country found high levels of pesticide traces in them. Six other states imposed partial bans on Coca-Cola and Pepsi products by prohibiting sales at or near schools, colleges and hospitals. The two firms have said that their products were safe and a government-appointed expert panel this week said that CSE had failed to prove its claims and there were inconsistencies in its chemical analysis. The environment group, however, has rejected the government's findings and said the health ministry was pandering to big multinationals at the cost of public health.