Daily Excelsior...Business

Steel industry gears up for another round of price hike .....

Revive economic ties between two Punjabs, say economists ......

Lupin bags DGCI nod for phase I clinical trials for 2 ind ......

Symantec rolls out ‘information integrity’ in India .......

Birlas claim Priyamvada’s 1999 "will" void

KOLKATA, Dec 2: The Birlas today stated in the High Court that a mutual will could not be revoked if one of the two persons who made it died, claiming that as such the purported will of Priyamvada Birla bequeathing Rs 5000 crore worth assets of the M P Birla group to Rajendra S Lodha was void.

Appearing for the Birlas at the hearing of Lodha’s application for discharge of the Birlas’ caveats, barrister Satyabrata Mukherjee submitted before Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta that the concept of mutual will was very much valid in India, contrary to the claim made by Lodha.

Mukherjee submitted that the provisions of a mutual will could be changed or the will itself revoked only when both the persons who made it were alive, but not after one of them died.

He submitted that the question of M P Birla having died intestate, as claimed by Lodha, had not been decided, and as such Lodha could not claim that the Birlas had no caveatable interest in the matter on this ground.

The hearing on Lodha’s application for discharge of caveats by K K, B K, G P and Yashovardhan Birla on Lodha’s probate application for the will of 1999, vide which Priyamvada purportedly bequeathed the assets of the M P Birla group to Lodha concluded today.

Justice Sengupta reserved judgement on the matter, which would be delivered at a later date.

Earlier, Lodha’s solicitor Anindya Mitra concluded his argument.

He claimed that the concept of mutual will as given by the Birlas destroyed their argument for caveatable interest in the probate application filed by Lodha for the assets of the M P Birla group, which he claimed was bequeathed to him by Priyamvada through a purported will of 1999.

Mitra also claimed that an executor is not an heir, but only an administrator of assets, and as such the executors in the 1982 mutual "wills" had no caveatable interest in Lodha’s probate application.

He submitted that Priyamvada was the sole heir to the property of M P Birla, who predeceased his wife 13 years ago.

As such, even if the mutual wills of 1982 existed as claimed by the Birlas, the said executors had no role to play, Mitra claimed.

The court would take up Birlas’ application for discharge of caveat by Lodha on the probate application by Birlas for the 1982 mutual "Wills" of M P and Priyamvada on December 15. (PTI)

Britain’s brown breaks with budget rituals

LONDON, Dec 2: His watchword may be "stability" but blunt-talking British Chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown has no qualms about upsetting age-old traditions at one of the world’s oldest Parliaments.

The "Iron Chancellor", who delivers his annual pre-budget report on Thursday, is sure to return to the virtues of "prudence" and Herald what is set to be Britain’s longest uninterrupted period of economic growth since records began.

He is sure, too, to praise himself — yet again — for the fact that interest rates are much lower than when Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party came to power in 1997.

However, the Chancellor pays much less attention to the budget’s more ancient traditions.

Brown set out to break moulds right from his first main budget in 1997 by moving the annual event to a Wednesday rather than the Tuesday favoured by his many predecessors.

Last year the Chancellor moved the budget to 1230 local time for the first time ever, from the usual 1530, although that was largely because Parliamentary sittings generally take place earlier in the day than they used to.

The pre-budget report itself marked a break with years of tradition when in his maiden year as Cchancellor in 1997 Bbrown presented the first such foretaste of changes to come in the next main Government budget.

The update on the nation’s economy was introduced in the hope of matching openness in other European countries by replacing the traditional pre-budget secrecy, or "purdah", with a national economic debate.

And this year, just to keep everyone on their toes, the pre-budget report is being held on a Thursday for the first time.

No more duck-feeding

And as he introduced new elements he cast away old ones.

The old battered budget box, in the hands of conservative Chancellors for 18 years previously, was abandoned in favour of a brand new one made by craftsmen in Brown’s native Scotland when he took over.

The then-new Chancellor, now Labour’s longest-serving, also did without the traditional photo opportunity of the Finance Minister standing outside his official downing street resident, budget box held aloft, opting to be pictured with his breakfast instead.

Nor was there the traditional glass of dilute Scotch whisky to be sipped through the budget speech.

Businesslike Brown prefers mineral water and also avoids the photo opportunity pulling pints of beer in a pub favoured by one predecessor with a greater reputation for Bonhomie.

Brown even got rid of the "red book", as the massive tome detailing the budget measures was called, and replaced it with a white document.

But some traditions die hard.

Besides the focus on deficit forecasts and clues to any petrol price rises on the horizon, traders will be guessing as usual this year how long the Chancellor speaks.

William Gladstone, who was Chancellor for over 12 years in four separate stints in the 19th century, won the prize for the longest non-stop budget speech, lasting four hours and 45 minutes, back in 1853.

So far Brown’s budget speeches have been shorter than the average, usually taking around an hour — but still longer than the record brevity of 45 minutes by Benjamin Disraeli, Gladstone’s greatest political rival. (AGENCIES)

Nikkei up 1.6 pct by midday on wall st jump

TOKYO, Dec 2: Japan’s nikkei average rose 1.62 percent by midsession today as investors, cheered by a jump in US stocks, bought a broad range of shares including those they had avoided recently due partly to doubts about US demand.

Major banks extended gains and short-covering pushed up recently battered exporters such as copier and camera maker canon inc., even though the yen remained strong against the generally weak dollar.

The nikkei was up 174.75 points at 10,959.00 after falling almost 200 points in the previous two sessions following weak Japanese industrial output data.

The broader topix index gained 1.35 percent to 1,102.06.

"The market looks pretty short-sighted lately, moving up and down on one factor or another day-by-day. Today, it focused on the rally in US stocks and nothing else," said Yoshinori Nagano, chief strategist at Daiwa asset management.

Data showing strength in the US manufacturing sector and personal spending yesterday helped push the standard poor’s 500 index to its highest close in nearly 3- years.

The biggest one-day fall in oil prices in three years in New York also benefited US manufacturers, which are sensitive to high energy costs, and did so in Japan as well today.

Crude oil futures were fetching around 45.56 a barrel in Asia on Thursday after falling over three dollars in New York.

"Short-covering propped up recent losers, and day traders were also putting their money in," said Koichi Seki, equity manager at Chuo securities.

"Their targets are high-tech and other exporters which have been a bit oversold. The yen at the 102 level (versus the dollar) is somewhat acceptable, and a fall in oil prices is a plus for the global economy," he said.

But analysts said that unlike the heavy trading behind yesterday’s rally in US stocks, the lack of participation by institutional investors here suggested lingering worries about the yen.

A higher yen reduces the value of exporters’ overseas sales when repatriated home.

The dollar was trading around 102.40 yen in Asia, approaching a 4-1/2-year low of 102.15 yen. The US currency sank to a record low against the euro for a second straight session.

Trading edged up, with 620.25 million shares changing hands, the highest morning total since November 16.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,226 to 229.

Sony corp., which gets around 30 percent of its sales from North America, was up 0.81 percent at 3,720 yen.

Sony and several other high-tech firms fell in the previous two sessions due partly to fears of weak Christmas sales in the United States. By midday, Matsushita electric industrial co., the maker of Panasonic goods, was up 1.59 percent at 1,532 yen and canon was up 2.17 percent at 5,190 yen.

Toyota motor corp., the world’s second-biggest auto maker, was up 1.05 percent at 3,850 yen after closing at its lowest level since May 11.

Rival Nissan Motor Co Ltd was up 2.32 percent at 1,103 yen after the company posted another month of double-digit gains for US car sales in November, with a rise of 31 percent in vehicle sales. US sales for Toyota rose 8.8 percent.

Denso corp., Japan’s top maker of car electronic and electrical parts, recovered from a five-and-half-month closing low the previous day and rose 3.49 percent to 2,520 yen.

Elsewhere, Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co rose 1.88 percent to 3,800 yen after the drug maker moved closer to US approval for its treatment for hyponatremia, conivaptan, as US regulators gave it an "approvable letter".

Oil-related stocks fell, however, with oil explorer inpex corp. Falling to a fresh intraday low of 493,000 yen since its listing on November 17.

By Midday, inpex was down 2.34 percent at 500,000 yen, compared with its initial public offering price of 465,000. (AGENCIES)

Oil technologists recommend sowing of
gm variety of oilseeds

NEW DELHI, Dec 2: Edible oils industry technologists converging here on December four will impress upon the Government the need to introduce and propagate Genetically Modified (GM) seeds for a breakthrough in oilseeds production, stagnated at 25 million tonnes in the country for five years.

After achieving self-sufficiency in oilseed production in 1995-96, India slipped back to a net importer of edible oils ranging 4 to 5 million tonnes a year.

What worries oil technologists particularly is that the stagnant production has resulted in import of 4.5 Million Tonnes (MT) in 2003-04 and also led to closure of 60 per cent of the oil processing industry.

The three-day meet will be attended by Food Secretary S K Tuteja and other senior officials from the Agriculture Ministry,

As the country witnessed a steady growth in oilseeds production following the Government’s adoption of ‘oilseeds mission’ in late 1980s and early 1990s, the oil industry too expanded crushing and processing capacity but at a faster pace.

Due to stagnated oilseeds production because of low productivity, of late, coupled with tough competition from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia Vanaspati industry, enjoying duty-free import of crude palm oil, Indian oil industry plunged into a difficult phase struggling for its mere survival.

Oil Technologists Association of India (OTAI), holding an annual seminar on "research and development in the oil, fat and allied industries" here feel that the Government should endeavour to enhance the oilseeds production by 50 per cent to at least 35 mt.

The GM seeds could be handy in this endeavour, they said.

Oil technologists also sought to draw the Government’s attention to duty-free import of palm oil raising the manfactured Vanaspati costs per 15 kh tin to rs 150 less than that of manufactured by the domestic industry.

Indian industry pays 65 to 80 per cent duty on the import of palm oil.

Another anonmaly which the Indian industry seeks to remove is the presence of carotins in imported palm oil, the value of which invariably comes down to the prescribed limit of 500. Any dip in crotins value (less than 500) import consignment attracts higher duty of 75 per cent than the applicable one of 65 per cent.

Besides, some concessions given by states also skewed the competitive edge of industry in other states. For example, Gujarat exempted excise duty to the tune of Rs 1000 to 1250 a tonne on refined and vanaspati respectively. Similarly, excise incentives provided by the Uttranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have given the competitive edge to their oil units over the industry in other parts of the country. (UNI)

P G female sex-drive patch questioned by FDA staff

WASHINGTON, Dec 2: US regulatory reviewers on Wednesday said it was unclear if procter Gamble co.’s testosterone patch for boosting sexual desire in women produces meaningful benefit, or is safe over the long term.

The food and drug administration reviewers will ask an advisory panel on Thursday if more safety studies are needed before the patch could be approved, according to a summary posted on the FDA’s web site.

Several companies are searching for a "female viagra," a counterpart to Pfizer inc.’s blockbuster male impotence treatment that could help women with sexual problems. Analysts say the market for women could top 1 billion annually.

P G’s Patch, called Intrinsa, is being developed with watson pharmaceuticals inc.. The patch delivers testosterone, a hormone involved in sex drive, through the skin.

Two studies showed women treated with Intrinsa had about one more satisfying sexual experience over a four-week period than women given a dummy patch, the FDA reviewers said.

"It is not clear that the differences are clinically meaningful," said the reviewers’ memo posted at: http://www.Fda.Gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/04/briefing/2004-4082b1.Htm

Long-term safety of testosterone therapy is a concern in light of findings that other hormones raised the risks of cardiovascular problems and breast cancer, the fda reviewers said.

"It is unknown whether the addition of a different hormone, testosterone, might have similar and unanticipated adverse effects," the memo said.

In clinical trials, Intrinsa therapy was combined with the hormone estrogen.

FDA staff will ask the advisory panel "whether there are unanswered safety questions that should be further assessed pre-approval in appropriately sized randomized trials of adequate duration, or whether these questions can be appropriately answered post-approval," the memo said.

"Only a very small number of subjects" have been treated more than one year, the FDA reviewers said.

P G spokeswoman Elaine Plummer said the questions raised by the FDA staff were "what we would expect to be asked and they will be addressed" at the advisory panel meeting.

Panels sometimes, but not always, concur with FDA staff reviews when making recommendations on approvals. The FDA makes the final decision and usually takes the advice of the panels.

P G is seeking approval to market Intrinsa to women who have had their ovaries removed and are bothered by a lack of sexual desire. In 2005, 2 million women may fall into that category, P G estimated. The company has not given sales estimates for Intrinsa.

Potential rivals are being developed by vivus inc., which is studying a testosterone spray, and biosante pharmaceuticals inc., maker of an experimental testosterone gel, as well as other companies.

The shares of cincinnati-based P G, seller of a range of consumer products such as tide laundry detergent and crest toothpaste, rose 1.05, or nearly 2 per cent, to 54.53 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The shares of P G’s Intrinsa partner, Watson pharmaceuticals, were up 20 cents, less than one per cent, at 29.25 a share on the Nyse.

Vivus shares dropped 10 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to 5.77 on the Nasdaq market. Biosante shares fell 1.07, or 10.63 per cent, to 9 on the American Stock Exchange. (AGENCIES)

Steel industry gears up for another round of price hike

NEW DELHI, Dec 2: With Tata steel hiking the prices of all its products by an average Rs 500 per tonne, the stage is all set for another round of price increase in the steel industry this time triggered by the rise in railway freight rates.

Tisco yesterday hiked the prices of steel products by an average Rs 500 per tonne due to sudden spurt in input costs for the steel industry.

Public sector steel giant SAIL also indicated that the issue of freight hike might come up for discussion during its regular review of steel prices.

The price review is done from time to time and any change is considered after throughly analysing the market conditions, sources said.

SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd had hiked the prices of structurals and rounds by Rs 1,000 per tonne and Rs 500 per tonne, to Rs 26,000 per tonne and Rs 26,500 per tonne, respectively only last month.

Another major steel producer Essar steel, said that though it is yet to decide on increasing the prices following the freight hike as the hike directly does not effect the company.

"If our suppliers, from whom we buy steel pellets, pass on the impact of the increase to the company, then a review is possible," sources said.

The issue is likely to come up during the Steel Consumer Council meeting scheduled today, which will be addressed by Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

The Indian Railways had increased the freight charges of coal, iron ore, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, bauxite, manganese ore, cement and clinker last month due to rise in market prices of diesel and iron and steel, of which it is one of the largest consumers.

The impact of the three hikes in the diesel price on the fuel bill of the railways has been about Rs 540 crore during the current year, the railways said.

The freight of coal, iron ore and manganese ore and clinker will be higher by 7.7 per cent. The railways also rationalised the freight rates for the entire group of ‘raw materials for steel plants’ at a single class-140 at par with coal.

The hike in freight of coal and iron ore by the railways — one of the most important inputs for the steel industry — is expected to hit the industry hard. (UNI)

Revive economic ties between two
Punjabs, say economists

PATIALA, Dec 2: The mutual trade potential between the two Punjabs on either side of the Indo-Pak border is around 7,000 million dollars, while both the countries could have gained somewhere between Rs 15,000 to 20,000 crore during the last five decades had they fully exploited this potential.

Such observations were made by the intellectuals of both the sides, including the renowned economists from Jawahar Lal Nehru University (Delhi), Punjab Agriculture University, Punjab University, Punjabi University and from various academic institutions from Pakistan who sat together at a technical session here yesterday as part of the ongoing ‘World Punjabi Conference here.

"We the children of same basin must come together to improve our economic conditions," said Mr Suleman Ghani, Chairman of the Lahore-based Planning and Development Board of the East (Pakistan) Punjab.

Pointing out that pakistan was strong in light engineering goods, he said that the common punjabi market must emerge.

The market structure was highly biased towards major crops instead of vegetables, live stock and other high value added goods, Mr Ghani said, while stressing that the opening of the Wagah border, at least for trade purposes, could yield excellent results to benefit the farmers and traders both.

He said only seven per cent of Pakistan based Punjab’s credit requirements of small scale industry were met by banking institutions. Land tilling was a problem so the computerisation of land records was a big project there, he added.

Prof Ranjit Singh Ghuman of Punjabi University (Patiala) made an observation that the mutual trade potential of both the Punjabs was around 7000 million dollars while both the countries could have gained somewhere between Rs 15,000 to 20,000 crore during the last five decades had they fully exploited their mutual trade potential.

"It is very strange that a war of fifteen days blocked the trade for nine years between two countries, and this has not happened in the history of any other country," he commented, while stressing that there was an immediate need to reduce the defence expenditures on both the sides.

Stating that there was a need of concerted efforts to revive the economic relations between the two Punjabs, Punjab State Planning Board Chairman Prof S S Johl argued that even though there were many problems, the hopes were simultaneously alive at different fora.

The paper presented by Prof R S Sidhu and Prof A S Bhullar of Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana highlighted that the yield levels of wets Punjab were lower than that of Indian Punjab in the case of wheat, rice, sugarcane, mustard and maize. However, the west Punjab had maintained an edge in the cotton yield.

"The technology exchange programme in the agri sector could benefit the farmers on both the sides, who also have a great potential for setting up agro-industry units to collectively face the challenge of the west in the era of globalisation and wto restrictions," they stated..

Another renowned economist Nasim Mehmood from Pakistan also emphasised that sharing of agricultural research could prove vital.

Dr Ashok Mathur of the Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU, Delhi), raised certain points like fading of agricultural revolution, diversification towards non-farm activities and employment avenues and depletion of water resources.

"These problems are being faced by both of us (India and Pakistan) and we can look forward to collectively deal with such issues," Prof Mathur said.

In the end, Dr Johl concluded that contract farming was a panacea "if implemented faithfully". He lamented it was strange that he did not get even a chance to make a presentation of his report before the Council of Ministers of the Punjab Government.

Dr Johl had come out with a fact finding report two years back in an effort to popularise and encourage the contract farming in Punjab. (UNI)

Lupin bags DGCI nod for phase I clinical trials for 2 ind

MUMBAI, Dec 2: Lupin Ltd today announced that it had received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) for conducting the first phase clinical trials for two of its investigational new drug candidates— ll 4858 (sudoterb) and ll 4218 (desoside-p).

With this, Lupin now has 4 ind applications approved by DGCI.

The anti-TB drug candidate ‘ll 4858’ has shown excellent anti-mycobacterial activity against multidrug resistant strains of tuberculosis, the company officials said.

Ll 4218 is a pure compound, isolated from plant, for the treatment of psoriasis.

Beside these, Lupin is focusing of nce research for inflammatory disorders, respiratory diseases as well as antibacterials.

"The approval of ll 4858 and ll 4218 marks a significant milestone in Lupin’s nce research program. With 4 drug candidates in clinical trials, this puts us in the league of a select few", said D B Gupta, chairman, Lupin Ltd. (UNI)

Symantec rolls out ‘information integrity’ in India

MUMBAI, Dec 2: Symantec, a leading information security company has unveiled a fundamentally new way for enterprises to view and manage the risks around protecting, securing, and using their most valuable asset—their information, in India.

Backed by partners and customers, the concept which symantec has dubbed, ‘information integrity’, addresses the need to keep businesses up and running, even in the event of internet threats or other disruptive events.

"Digital information has become an influential phenomenon," said Michelle Amery, vice president, Symantec Asia Pacific.

"In fact, many believe a substantial part of the world’s economy revolves around the use, storage and movement of digital information. It is a powerful enabler, but only if it is both secure and available," she said.

Balancing security risk with business opportunity is key for any organization, as they need to ensure they are able to analyse risk and plan for growth while protecting their assets and brand,’’ she added.

Symantec’s approach provides customers with an end-to-end business process for balancing security with availability beginning with the need for organizations to assess the risk of vulnerabilities, exposures and threats. Once a valid risk assessment has been performed, organizations must act to shield information from attack, mitigate threats, prioritize preventative actions based on real-time threat alerts and design in the recovery capability to deal with accidents and disasters when they happen.

"The unification of security and systems management is inevitable. Starting with patch management and moving towards full-fledged configuration management, security issues are increasingly associated with business continuity," according Chris Christiansen, VP of IDC’s security products services. (UNI)