New Delhi, March 31
The Supreme Court today dismissed three petitions filed by Birla family members against the Calcutta High Court order that denied them the right to raise objections to late Priyamvada Birla's 1999 Will.

It also dismissed another petition filed by Birlas' challenging her chartered accountant R S Lodha's right to object to M P Birla and his wife Priyamvada's 1982 Will, through which the couple left their property for charity.

However, through a purportedly revised 1999 Will after her husband's death, Priyamvada had bequeathed her Rs 5,000-crore estate to Lodha.

A bench headed by Justice S B Sinha, while dismissing the petitions, has imposed cost of Rs 10 lakh (2.5 lakh each) on the petitions filed by the three Birla family members — K K Birla, B K Birla and Yashovardhan Birla.

It also directed the Birlas to deposit the money with the West Bengal Legal Services Cell within four weeks.

However, the Bench while dismissing Lodha's petition upheld the caveatable interest of another Birla family member, G P Birla, executor of the purported July 13, 1982 Will of M P Birla and his wife Priyamvada. Earlier, the high court had held that G P Birla only had the right to challenge the purported 1999 will as a 'sham and invalid document'.

The apex court also allowed Lodha's plea challenging the appointment of Yashovardhan Birla as executor of the Will.

Justice Sinha while reading the operative portion of the judgment also directed the high court to decide the probate pleas expeditiously and hear the Priyamvada 1999 Will first, followed by the 1982 Will of M P Birla.

Challenging the high court's decision, K.K. Birla, B.K. Birla and Yashovardhan Birla had submitted that it was not merely the power of the trustees but also their duty to see that the Rs 5,000-crore Priyamvada Birla estate was not being appropriated and was given to three public charities as designated under the mutual Wills executed by M P Birla and Priyamvada in 1982.

As trustees and potential beneficiaries under the mutual Wills of 1982, they were duty-bound to contest the Will of 1999 and oppose the grant of probate so that they were not being accused of breach of trust, they argued.

Lodha, on the other hand, said under the 1982 Will, M P Birla's widow Priyamvada Birla had got the absolute rights in the property, and she had bequeathed the entire estate to Lodha after her death in July 2004 through a Will of 1999.

"The three Birla members are opposing the probate because they have got nothing and want to claim interest by contesting the 1999 Will," he said in its petition.

Their interests can be carried on by other Birla family member and the executor of the purported July 13, 1982 Will, G P Birla, and other executors who have been given the right by the high court to challenge the purported 1999 Will," Lodha added.

According to the petitions, the three Birla family members in their capacities as relatives of the deceased, had interests coupled with duty to ensure that the wishes of M P Birla (being a Hindu) to attain spiritual well being and atonement of his sins, if any, by bequeathing his property to charity after his demise or his wife's demise were fulfilled.— PTI

New Delhi, March 31
Allaying fears that India will be hit by the US recession, finance minister P Chidambaram today said India's economy could easily expand between 10-11 per cent if half of the population, left out from the growth process, is brought into the mainstream of economic activities.

"Please remember India's economy is driven by one half of the population. The other half is mute witness to what is happening in India. If other half also becomes part of the driving forces of growth, India's economy will grow not by 8-9 per cent, it will easily grow between 10-11 per cent," Chidambaram said at a Delhi-based bank's function here.

As many people as possible should be brought into the mainstream of economic activity, the finance minister said at the Oriental Bank of Commerce function. "What is more important is to give them advantages of vibrant banking system," he said.

Indian economy's average growth rate is 8.8 per cent in the first four years of the UPA rule, based on the advance estimates of CSO for 2007-08. However, soaring inflation in recent times may require that some of this growth is moderated. The finance minister had said recently after inflation spiralled to over 13-month high of 6.68 per cent, "The government is determined to take all steps — fiscal, monetary and supply side — to moderate inflation. If that means, we have to live with slightly lesser growth, so be it."

At the function to launch technology-based initiatives of OBC, he said it was a misconception that Indian masses would not accept new technologies. 

New Delhi, March 31
India's external debt has gone up by $31.8 billion in first nine months of the fiscal to $201.4 billion (about Rs 7,94,017 crore). According to a finance ministry statement, the external debt stood at $169.7 billion at end-March 2007 and increased by $10.3 billion in the third quarter this fiscal.

In fact, the rupee appreciation led to rise in external debt by $ 6 billion during April-December 2007. Thus comparing it with the total population of the country of about 110 crore, per capita debt on each Indian stood at Rs 7,218.

The long-term debt rose by $6.3 billion to $166.2 billion, while short-term debt increased by $4 billion to $35.2 billion over the third quarter.

Amongst the components of long-term debt, which accounted for 82.6 per cent of the total debt, commercial borrowings increased by $4.9 billion (9.4 per cent) to $57 billion during the nine months.

The share of government debt in total external debt stood at 26.3 per cent or $53 billion, while private debt was 73.7 per cent or $148.5 billion. The share of US dollar in the external debt portfolio continued to show an increasing trend going up to 54.5 per cent at end-December 2007 from 52 per cent at end-March 2007.

New Delhi, March 31
With continued loss of export earnings and a likely bleak future for exporters in view of recessionary pressure in the US, the government is considering some tax-based measures to give relief to this section. In a meeting held by the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry recently, there was discussion on the restoration of tax benefits and giving exemptions to exporters.

Commerce ministry officials told this correspondent that though the Revenue Department of the finance ministry has reasoned that there would be a loss of revenue by giving tax holidays to exporters, the issue was still being considered at the highest level.

What the government is mulling is the revival of tax deductions in respect of export profits derived from the export of goods.

However, now that rupee is rising and is expected that it will continue to remain strong in the coming fiscal year, the export community is expecting income tax sops for a period of at least two years. This is another measure by the government after announcing two bailout packages earlier this fiscal.

The finance ministry, while disapproving these suggestions, has, however, stated that regulatory restrictions on export-oriented units for supplying to the domestic market could be temporarily relaxed rather than extending direct tax incentives during this period of distress.

The fear of giving more incentives to exporters is that since the domestic growth is scaling up than the growth in production capacity, any incentive for exports would create shortages in the domestic market and lead to more inflation.

Another argument given against the tax sops is that long-term competitiveness of Indian exports should be built on comparative advantage and not on the back of tax concessions. The Union Budget 2008 provides sufficient incentives to push domestic household consumption, which in turn, would create demand for labour- intensive sectors like textiles, leather goods, handicraft etc. The loss of market due to the appreciation of rupee and world recession is sought to be fully compensated by the increase in the size of the domestic market through increase in the domestic purchasing power.

Commerce ministry officials concede that there is a loss of jobs and the projected target of $160 billion of exports will not be met in the fiscal 2007-08. But what is really an area of concern is that there could be a shift away from the exports for many small exporters as this may not be a lucrative business proposition any longer.

New Delhi, March 31
With a view to giving relief to distressed export sector, the government has decided to continue incentives under the Duty Entitlement Pass Book Scheme (DEPB). The scheme was to expire today, but it has been extended in the wake of rising rupee.

While the scheme has been extended by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), its announcement does not give the time frame till when the DEPB will remain in force. This is a gray area and the notification only states that the scheme will continue till further amendments in the scheme.

The government is likely to fix the date for continuation of the export incentives under the scheme only after it gets approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

The CCEA, which could not take up the issue at its last meeting, is likely to consider it this week, official sources said.

DEPB is the most preferred route through which exporters claim refund of various taxes so that their shipments do not bear the cost of the government levies and become competitive in the global market.

Chandigarh, March 31
The first liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline in North India will be commissioned by the end of this year. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which is laying the 275-km pipeline for the supply of LPG from its Panipat refinery to Jalandhar, hopes to complete the project by December.

Top officials in IOC informed TNS here today that they have received all permissions for execution of the work after getting a Right of Way (RoW) from the Punjab government. The laying of this pipeline will help movement of LPG through the pipeline, instead of tankers. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 186 crore.

It may be noted that the only other LPG pipeline in the country is between Jamnagar (Gujarat) and Loni (Noida) and has been laid by Reliance Industries.

The pipeline, with a 10-inch diameter, will have a discharge capacity of 243 kilolitres per hour. Officials said the pipeline would be laid from Panipat to Jalandhar, via Lehragagga, Nabha and Khanna. Since a pipeline already exists between Panipat and Lehragagga (Kandla Bathinda pipeline (KBPL)) and between Khanna and Jalandhar (part of Mathura-Jalandhar Petro Line (MJPL), a fresh pipeline is being laid only between Lehragagga and Jalandhar.

“The laying of this pipeline will help the company deal with the problem of unloading and loading of tankers and save transportation costs. This will also help us to deal with the problem of losses suffered as a result of road accidents involving tankers,” said a senior official in IOC.

He also informed TNS that IOC has increased its total capacity of LPG at its bottling plant in Jalandhar. The capacity of the Jalandhar plant has been increased from 150 thousand metric ton per annum (TMTA) to 220 TMTA. This has been done keeping in view the increasing demand for LPG. With this increase in capacity, the total bottling capacity of our plants in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir would be around 480 TMTA. 

Mumbai, March 31
Market regulator Sebi today proposed to ban brokers from recommending shares to investors based on subjective and arbitrary information, as part of the exercise to guard against insider trading.

"Trading members shall not recommend to their clients securities or derivative contracts on such securities in a concentrated manner, which represents a subjective or arbitrary supply of information", said SEBI’s draft policy for improvement in sales practice by the members of stock exchanges.

The guidelines, on which SEBI has invited comments from public by April 15, further said investors would be required to have a minimum net worth of Rs 5 lakh for trading in derivative segments.

Brokers, it added, "shall not executive transactions for own account in securities ahead of making recommendations to their clients in such securities." Brokers would also be prohibited from executing contracts which are "not explicitly authorised" by their clients.

Brokers, as per SEBI’s draft guidelines, would be under obligation to ensure that no fictitious accounts were established to execute unauthorised transactions.

They will also be prohibited from misusing funds and securities of customers, the draft said, adding, "trading members or their representatives shall not indulge in any fraudulent activities, such as forgery, non-disclosure or misstatement of material facts, manipulations and various deceptions." The draft guidelines also specifically prohibit brokers from encouraging investors to indulge in excessive trading or speculation, "which is not in accordance with the objectives, risk appetite and financial situation of the client involved." 

In addition to ensuring timely execution of transactions, the brokers would also be under obligation to satisfy themselves that the client understands the risk and has sufficient net worth to bear the potential loss.

The proposed guidelines also cast a duty on the brokers to explain to their clients the implications of transactions and "the facts and the circumstances which the client needs to know in order to make informed purchase or sale decision." With regard to institutional investors, the draft guidelines make it mandatory for brokers to obtain various information regarding the client such as financial status, investment objectives, past investment experience, risk appetite etc. — PTI 

Ludhiana, March 31
Vehicle finance companies are expecting high growth in market for trucks in Punjab. To tap the high potential that this segment holds, these companies are concentrating on providing facilities like helping small truck operators get cheap and easy credit and generating health awareness.

"We are expecting our customer base in Punjab to increase to 50,000 within the next two years for which we are focussing on small truck operators. To help small operators get access to cheaper credit, we have come out with a co-branded card in association with HPCL and Axis Bank, which would enable users to get fuel without paying an additional surcharge," said U.G. Revankar, executive director of Shriram Transport Finance Company, which has an asset base of over Rs 18,000 crore and more than 6 lakh customers.

The company has set a target of reaching 1-lakh customer base in the country for the card that was launched for the first time in Punjab today. 

Taking about growth in the market, Revankar said it increased by enormous 25 per cent last year after the Supreme Court ruling on overloading. "However, as most of the states did not implement it seriously, the demand declined to around 15 per cent this year. Overloading leads to a decline in the efficiency of the vehicle and we hope that the ruling would be implemented properly soon."

Small truck owners, he added, hold almost 70 per cent of the total market and the company would focus on them. 

The company is also generating health awareness, particularly on AIDS, among truck operators.

Mumbai, March 31
Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today said it would be investing an additional Rs 1,500 crore at its proposed manufacturing plant at Chakan near Pune to double its overall capacity.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra Government to this effect. The first MoU on initial investment was inked in January last year.

Earlier, M&M had agreed to invest Rs 2,500 crore in the plant that would make medium and heavy commercial vehicles. — PTI

BRIEFLY

CPI-IW up by 1 point
Shimla: The All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) Number for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW), on base 2001-100, for February this year has increased by one point to stand at 135 points. The index increased by six points in Labac Silchar centre, five in Darjeeling centre, three each in Giridih, Kodarma, Bokaro, Quilion and Amritsar centres, two each in 10 centres and by one point each in 29 centres. — UNI

ISO certification for NHPC
Dalhousie: National Hydroelectric Power Corporation’s Region-II, based at Banikhet in Chamba district, has been awarded ISO certification by the International Organisation for Standardisations for its outstanding “corporate social responsibility” towards community development. — OC

Industry to upgrade ITIs
Kumarhatti: CII HP State Council and PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry are set to revolutionise the industrial education in Himachal Pradesh. Under the plan, the CII has already taken over seven Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) for upgradation in the state. Rajinder Guleria, chairman CII, HP State Council, said here on Sunday that the move was targeted at strengthening the industry-institute partnership under central government scheme. — OC

Reliance Comm offer
CHANDIGARH:Reliance Communications (RCoM) on Monday announced free unlimited outgoing calls to all Reliance mobile subscribers in Punjab. A Reliance subscriber can make unlimited calls to more than 10 lakh Reliance mobile subscribers in Punjab, including Chandigarh, for just Rs 99 per month, said Sanjeev Garg, CEO, Reliance Communications, Punjab circle. This pack is available with a validity of 30 days for all Reliance mobile subscribers, including lifetime subscribers. — TNS

Stake in Global Trade Fin
Mumbai: Country's largest lender, State Bank of India, on Monday said it has acquired a majority stake in Global Trade Finance Limited, a company engaged primarily in extending factoring services. The acquisition was a part of SBI's overall strategy to be able to offer a full bouquet of services to its large and diverse client base, SBI said. — UNI

Bhushan Steel plans
New Delhi: Bhushan Steel said on Monday that it was planning to set up a value-added steel plant in Chennai with a total investment of Rs 500 crore. The plant will have a production capacity of 0.5 million tonnes per annum, it added. 
— UNI