New Delhi, September 14
The Planning Commission sees stronger economic expansion in the second half (H2) which could push up the growth rate for the current fiscal to beyond 6.3 per cent projected earlier by the panel.

"On the industrial front in the last couple of months there is sequence of good news. I am hoping that the second half of this year, that means from end of September up to end of March, you will see stronger growth than you did in the first half," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters.

"When we had full Planning Commission meeting (on September 1), I had said our central assumption is about 6.3 per cent... but you know it could be little bit more...," he added.

Pointing out that the Indian economy, which, too, was hit by the global financial meltdown, has already stabilised, he said, "except drought which is affecting agriculture adversely ... we expect to see revival from the last quarter. The next six months will be better than the first six months (of 2009- 10)."

The economy, which slipped from a high of 9 per cent to 6.7 per cent 2008-09 because of the impact of the global financial crisis, reported a growth of 6.1 per cent the first quarter of the current fiscal.

Ahluwalia said, "We never had contractions. At the moment economy is growing. There is no negative growth. I am not sure what the second quarter growth rate will be, because we have to see the effect of drought."

Asked whether the economy is yet stabilised or not, he replied, "I think it (economy) has stabilised already, I think except from drought which is affecting agriculture adversely, non-agriculture part of the economy has stabilised and now we want to go further."

Expressing satisfaction over the economy's growth so far, he said, "It is too early to tell (about growth of economy in this fiscal) but I am saying 6.3 per cent is reasonable." The Planning Commission has recently revised the average annual growth rate of economy during the XIth-Five Year Plan to 7.8 per cent from earlier target of 9 per cent. — PTI 

New Delhi, September 14
Anil Ambani group company RNRL today sought the Supreme Court’s permission to be a party to power PSU NTPC’s case against Reliance Industries for getting gas at a contracted price, saying its case against the Mukesh Ambani-led firm was similar.

“Since the issues that arise in the case filed by NTPC in the Supreme Court directly affect the case of RNRL against RIL, it is just and necessary that RNRL is permitted to be impleaded as a party in the present case,” Reliance Natural Resources said in its application for intervention.

Listing out a number of issues that are “common” in the cases instituted by NTPC and RNRL against Reliance Industries for enforcement of an agreement to supply gas, RNRL said: “RIL is relying upon the pleadings in RIL vs RNRL case to support its defence against NTPC. Therefore, any decision on NTPC’s petition, filed on September 5, would have a bearing on RNRL’s case already pending before the Supreme Court”.

Both RIL and RNRL have filed cross-appeals on a June 15 judgement of Bombay High Court that asked RIL to give gas at $2.34 per mmBtu and suggested the two firms to reach an enabling agreement for the same.

The apex court would commence hearing on October 20 on these appeals, as also a related petition filed by the government. NTPC’s petition, challenging a Bombay High Court decision that allowed RIL to amend its petition on th gas dispute citing the government’s pricing policy, is yet to be heard by the apex court.

A Division Bench of the High Court had allowed amendment to the petition wherein RIL had prayed that the government’s gas pricing policy would frustrate its contract with NTPC.

NTPC had moved the Bombay High Court seeking 12 mmscmd gas from RIL that had emerged winner in a global competitive bid quoting a price of $2.34 per mmBtu. — PTI

Jammu, September 14
The State Bank of India has stopped giving car loans to the applicants in the state of Jammu and Kashmir after a large number of customers in the region turned defaulters in paying their EMIs.

According to sources, around 600 borrowers of the bank have turned defaulters and haven’t paid their EMI for the past many months, forcing the higher-ups of the bank to block clearance of loan applications.

Even though festive season is round the corner when a large number of people prefer to buy new cars but the SBI, which was offering attractive interest rates as compared to other banks, has ceased to give loans for purchasing new cars.

“Our interest rates are more competitive as compared to other banks. We offered only eight per cent rate of interest for the first year and then it was 10 per cent for the next two years on purchase of a new car,” KK Iyer, DGM, zonal office, SBI told The Tribune.

He further said, “Though I cannot share the figures, but as the number of defaulters have increased so we got an order from the head office to stop issuing new car loans in the state”.

“The head office has issued clear cut instructions to first collect the amount that has been issued to the customers only then the new car loans would be sanctioned,” Iyer said.

Chandigarh, September 14
In a bid to check money laundering by politically exposed persons (PEPs), the RBI has asked the banks to conduct customer due diligence for all accounts owned by these persons, their family members and close relatives.

As per the order, banks must gather sufficient information on PEPs (including heads of states or of governments, senior politicians, senior government/ judicial/ military officers, senior executives of state-owned corporations, important political party officials) in the public domain before establishing a relationship with them.

The decision to open an account for any PEP should be taken at a senior level, which should be clearly spelt out in Customer Acceptance Policy.

Such accounts will be subject to enhanced monitoring on an ongoing basis. The above norms may also be applied to the accounts of family members of PEPs.

In order to check illegal activities, banks have been told to maintain records of all transactions with clients for a minimum of 10 years from the date of transaction.

The Know Your Customer norms issued on July 1, 2009, too have been modified to prevent money laundering.

The Prevention of Money-Laundering (maintenance of records of the nature and value of transactions, the procedure and manner of maintaining and time for furnishing information, and verification and maintenance of records of the identity of the clients of the banking companies, financial institutions and intermediaries) Rules, 2005, will permit reconstruction of individual transactions - both domestic or international - so as to provide, if necessary, evidence for prosecution of persons involved in criminal activity.

Records pertaining to the identification of the customer and his address (e.g., copies of documents like passport, identity card, driving licence, PAN card, utility bills etc) obtained on the opening of the account and during the course of business relationship, would also to be preserved for at least 10 years after the business relationship is ended.

New Delhi, September 14
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has urged the government to consult it before deciding on a uniform licence fee for operators.

Stating that the issue had wide implications for the sector and the Centre’s revenue, TRAI has written to Department of Telecom (DoT) asking it to consult the former before doing away with the variable licence fee structure presently followed, adding that the views of all stakeholders must be taken into consideration.

DoT has decided that the existing variable licence fee structure for telecom operators should be replaced with a uniform one. A departmental notice has suggested a uniform licence fee of 8.5 per cent for all types of services. The proposed rate has to go for Telecom Commission’s approval later this month before a final decision is taken.

A DoT official said if the matter was referred to TRAI, Telecom Minister A Raja would take the call. It might also take some time to be implemented, as TRAI would then go through the usual consultation and recommendation process.

The uniform licence fee is being mooted to help avoid arbitrage over integrated operators allegedly loading up maximum revenues on licence with lower fee.

TRAI officials opine that a change in the licence fee structure will have an adverse impact on long-distance operators and Internet service providers who pay only 6 per cent of their annual revenues as licence fee. It will also hit mobile operators offering services in C Circle states such as Assam, Bihar and Orissa as they pay only 6 per cent. An additional 2.5 percentage point outgo could weigh heavily on their revenue. On the other hand, mobile operators in metro regions and Circle ‘A’ states will profit since they currently pay 10 per cent licence fee.

Meanwhile, the government is of the view that telecom companies that will provide only 3G services must share 3 per cent of their revenue with the government as spectrum usage fee. Incumbent operators entering the 3G space will have to share an additional 1 per cent of their revenue.

Bangalore, September 14
The second unit of the Global Education Centre (GEC), established by Infosys Technologies at its Mysore campus, is all set to be the largest corporate training facility globally.

AICC president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate the unit tomorrow. The unit would enable Infosys to train up to 13,500 employees in a single sitting.

The first GEC (GEC-1) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in February 2005. The GECs provide a centralised residential foundation programme in generic and stream-specific training in various technology areas, besides providing soft skills and leadership programmes, to fresh engineering graduates Infosys employees.

Designed by architect Hafiz Contractor, GEC-2 is a Greco-Roman-style construction. With a built-up area of more than 10 lakh sq. ft., GEC-2 has seven blocks with 84 100-seater, three 200-seater, six 60-seater classrooms, five examination halls and 301 faculty rooms. It has a 300-seater induction hall and a library that can accommodate over 60,000 books.

More than 9,500 persons can be trained at any given point of time there. The new building also has a food court and six kiosks in the basement with a seating capacity of over 1,700.

In March 2000, Infosys had launched its Mysore centre with a makeshift office at SJ College of Engineering, but this new 335-acre campus has emerged as a knowledge hub. The campus also houses a software development centre and Infosys leadership institute, other than the two GECs. The unit provides services to several Fortune 500 clients of Infosys.