SEBI INVESTIGATION EXPOSES “AGENT” ALAWANI FOR HELPING ATUL KIRLOSKAR IN 275 CR FRAUD AT KIRLOSKAR INDUSTRIES LIMITED

 

SEBI has slapped a penalty of Rs.15 lakhs to Kirloskar Industries (KIL) Director, AN Alawani for indulging in fraudulent and unfair trade practices and alleged that he helped the promoters who owned 15% of the company to walk away with Rs. 275 crores. The regular has also barred him from the capital markets for period of six months.

Even though  Mr. Alawani did not trade in shares in his own personal trading account, SEBI in their note said he  was an insider as he was in possession of the UPSI. He was trading as an authorised “agent” for and behalf of the Kirloskar Industries (KIL). The note added that he aided KIL promoters in selling their shares of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (KBL) to Kirloskar Industries (KIL) thus together have allegedly committed fraud on KIL and public/ minority shareholders of the company.

In KBL’s board meeting held on 27th July 2010, the management disclosed the poor profitability of KBL. This was clearly confidential information, and also UPSI under SEBI regulations. KBL directors Gautam Kulkarni, Rahul Kirloskar and AN Alawani who attended the said board meeting, were privy to this UPSI. The very next day, on July 28, at the Kirloskar Industries board meeting, its Chairman Atul Kirloskar, Rahul Kirloskar's brother, added a new item, not on the agenda, shockingly suggesting that Kirloskar Industries invest its surplus funds by buying KBL shares on the false representation that KBL would do well.

After suggesting that Kirloskar Industries buys KBL shares, Atul Kirloskar and Nihal (Gautam Kulkarni’s son) being directly interested as sellers, “excused” themselves from discussions on this subject. It was left to two Group executives AN Alawani – the then Audit Committee Chairman, AR Sathe who chaired the board meeting in the absence of Atul Kirloskar, and another director, to vote to buy the KBL shares.

SEBI said, that Mr.Alawani who was on the audit committee chairman of Kirloskar Industries was also on the board of KBL and being a non-executive director, makes him a ’connected person’ with KBL, and thus it is reasonably expected that he had access to unpublished price sensitive information  of KBL. He had participated in Kirloskar Industries board meeting and thus had a direct role and access to UPSI leading to the inducement of KIL to buy shares of KBL.

Despite hearing about the poor profitability of KBL the previous day, Mr. Alawani did not tell the other directors that it would be wrong to invest Kirloskar Industries’ funds in KBL shares, but participated and voted to buy the shares of a company he knew was going to have very poor profitability for the long term. He helped the promoters who owned 15% of the company to walk away with Rs. 275 crores.

SEBI has also asked Gautam Kulkarni, Rahul Kirloskar, Atul Kirloskar, Alpana Kirloskar, Jyotsna Kulkarni and Arti Kirloskar to pay up Rs. 31.21 crore in 45 days and have been barred from the capital markets for six months, for indulging in insider trading and committing fraud on public shareholders.

 

 

 

Leading Ad Agency Drags Danik Bhaskar To Court For

Copyright Infringement, Plagiarism

 

All About Ads Private Limited, a leading award-winning advertising agency having its operations in 16 states in India, has dragged Divya Bhaskar of Dainik Bhaskar Group to court for copyright infringement and plagiarism of its work "Desh ke Hero" campaign which was created for the Government of India (GoI). The campaign aimed at felicitating Corona Warriors across the nation.

A civil suit has been filed by Ankur Jain, director of All About Ads Private Limited, before the Commercial Court at Mizapur, Ahmedabad and sought damages to the tune of Rs 9.5 crore along with seeking a restrain on Divya Bhaskar from publishing the contentious ad campaign.

Apart from Divya Bhaskar (Dainik Bhaskar Group), its Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Chauhan and Managing Directors Girish Agarwal and Sudhir Agarwal have also been named in the suit. The media house’s Brand Head Amit Rathod and Eight Petals Creative Solution Private Limited have also been added as defendants in the suit.

Divya Bhaskar is a leading Gujarati newspaper in Gujarat owned by D B Corp Ltd. It has one of the highest circulation of Gujarati dailies, with the most number of editions in Gujarat. The Dainik Bhaskar Group started its Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar in Bhopal in 1958. Later, it launched its Indore edition in 1983. Today, Dainik Bhaskar Group is present in 12 states with 65 editions in Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati.

Mr Ankur Jain’s advocate, Dr Sarvam Khare, said that the civil court issued summons - notice to Dainik Bhaskar Group on September 19. The civil suit is kept for hearing on October 1.

All About Ads has also filed a criminal case before the magistrate court at Mizapur, Ahmedabad which was heard on September 7. “As per the directions of the magistrate, the police have recorded my statement,” said Mr Ankur Jain.

It is pertinent to note that Intellectual Property Rights of plaintiffs are recognized by the Event Management Federation.

Details from the plaint

In April, plaintiff created the project “Desh Ke Hero” for the GoI as a national campaign to facilitate honouring of Corona Warriors, wherein merchandise and certificates were to be presented to the awardees. This project was created in the form of literary script, dramatic, artistic and visual work presentation under title “Desh Ke Hero” which qualifies to be original literary, artistic and dramatic work within the meaning of Section 2(y) of the Copyright Act 1957.

The campaign was proposed to the GoI and was first published by the plaintiff on April 11, 2020.

Mr Ankur Jain, who started from a one-room office in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2010-11, has worked for various MNCs, BJP and GoI, including on the ‘Fir ek baar Modi Sarkar’ campaign for 2019 the Lok Sabha election. He said, “My team and I worked really hard for ‘Desh ke Hero’ campaign and it was wrong on the part of Divya Bhaskar to steal the concept and showcase ‘Gujarat Hero’ campaign as theirs.”

The plagiarism

Mr Ankur Jain, who has known Mr Amit Rathod (Brand Head, Divya Bhaskar) since 2013 as they have worked together commercially on several campaigns created by the plaintiff, shared his work with the latter in good faith for his feedback and review.

 

Dr Khare, said that the shared work bore a “specific DISCLAIMER at the end which specified that the information contained in the presentation was privileged and that the entire presentation was the property of the plaintiffs.” Mr Amit Rathod, not only breached the trust, but also infringed the plaintiffs’ copyright by sharing the campaign work with Sanjeev Chauhan, CEO, Divya Bhaskar.

On July 31, 2020, Mr Ankur Jain learnt that the defendants had reproduced his work and put their name on another campaign titled “Gujarat Hero”. The campaign “Gujarat Hero” is not a case of innocent adoption, but of a fraudulent and dishonest adoption. The defendants did not obtain any license, permission and/or consent from the plaintiffs and have used the said script for campaign solely for the self-serving interest.

On confrontation, Mr Amit Rathod admitted that he had made a mistake and that he will discuss this with his editor. On August 1, 2020, Mr Ankur Jain, Mr Amit Rathod and Mr Sanjeev Chauhan had a telephonic conversation. Later, Mr Amit Rathod also sent a WhatsApp message to Mr Ankur Jain apologizing for the incident. The transcripts of all the calls and a screenshot of the message have been annexed with the plaint before the civil court.

Fraud with the Gujarat Government

It was later learnt that the defendants dishonestly obtained the consent of the Gujarat Government for the campaign. The Plaintiffs have utmost belief that Gujarat government would not have supported or contributed in their campaign “Gujarat Hero” if it was aware that the defendants have committed theft of the intellectual property of plaintiffs; and have misappropriated their confidential data. The defendants also suppressed the fact from the Gujarat Government that the plaintiffs were in talks with the GoI for the release of the campaign “Desh Ke Hero”.

The plaintiffs have issued a legal notice to the defendants on August 5, 2020. Also, an intimation letter has been sent to Mr Ashwini Kumar (Secretary to Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat) giving details of the dispute and the illegality committed by Dainik Bhaskar Group.

Prayers in the plaint

The plaintiffs have sought that the defendants be restrained from using their campaign “Gujarat Hero”. It is further sought that the court declare that the campaign “Gujarat Hero” is a work of copyright infringement and plagiarism of the plaintiffs’ campaign “Desh Ke Hero”. The plaint also prays that the defendants be ordered to destroy all the material prepared for “Gujarat Hero” campaign and the domain www.gujarathero.com. The plaintiffs have also sought token damage for illegally using their work. It is also prayed that the defendants be directed to produce their books of accounts to ascertain the profits earned by the defendants by commercializing and reproducing the plaintiffs’ work.

About Ankur Jain and All About Ads Private Limited

Ankur Jain is founder director of All About Ads Pvt. Ltd. He is an author and owner of various types of literary, dramatic, artistic, cinematic, visual work used in advertising scripts and is a veteran in the industry of advertising and promotions since more than a decade.

Having its operation in 16 states in India, All About Ads Private Limited designs and executes complete 360 degree campaigns for various organizations including Corporate houses, political parties and various governments, including the Government of India to create awareness among people at large national and state level. It is an ISO 9001:2008 certified advertising agency, having an in-house set up to provide integrated 360 degree solution across India.

The award – winning agency has won many awards in different segments one of them being the Gold Award for “Best Intellectual property of the year” in 2017 at EMF Global Awards, Dubai.

All About Ads has been named in the Limca Book of Records for conceptualizing and executing the biggest Dandia Sticks in 2016. It has also cracked Guinness book, Limca book & golden book of records for its innovative concepts for clients in various events / activations.

 

Website : http://www.allaboutads.co.in/

 

Sebi pulls up Kirloskar Industries Promoters for fraud

 The markets regulator has charged promotors of Kirloskar Industries, Atul & Rahul Kirloskar with fraud in a decade-old case of the promoter group selling a 13.5% stake in the then-ailing company KBL to Kirloskar Industries Ltd, harming the interests of minority investors.

In a show-cause notice to the six promoters of KBL and two others, Sebi alleged that the promoter group was aware of the precarious financial condition of KBL when these shares were sold, committing fraud on minority shareholders of Kirloskar Industries. The notice was sent in December 2019.

As reported in media, Sebi’s assessment is that the ill-gotten gains in the transaction could be in excess of ₹350 crore, which includes the value of the sale transaction and profit

The promoter group on October 6, 2010, sold 10.72 million shares of KBL worth ₹275 crores in the company to Kirloskar Industries. Sebi has charged the individual promoters of KBL and two others under the Prevention of Fraud and Unfair Trade Practices. The regulator alleged that Gautam Kulkarni, Rahul Kirloskar, Atul Kirloskar, Alpana Kirloskar, Jyotsna Kulkarni and Arti Kirloskar were the direct beneficiaries of the sale.

Sebi observed in the notice that four out of the five directors of Kirloskar Industries were aware of the deteriorating financial position of KBL and thus were duty-bound to check if the decision to buy those shares were in the interest of the company and its stakeholders.

Further, these directors, by inducing Kirloskar Industries to buy shares of KBL, allowed the six individual promoters to dump their shares.

According to the notice, Sebi during the course of the investigation had sought information from Kirloskar Industries whether it was aware of KBL’S financial position in 2009 and 2010 before it arrived at a decision to buy its shares. Kirloskar Industries replied that it had only considered the growth and profitability of KBL.

A spokesperson for Kirloskar Industries said: “We reject any suggestion of wrongdoing and refute these allegations. The sale of shares (in 2010) was completed in line with the applicable laws, appropriate stock exchange disclosures and necessary regulatory pre-clearances. We continue to cooperate fully with Sebi in relation to its ongoing enquiries and remain confident of our position.”

Condronet technique performed successfully for the first time in pune at Saishree Hospital

·         Condronet technique or the Graftnet technique is a single stage technique which can be extended to any age group

·         The procedure related morbidity is less since it's minimally invasive, as it’s an arthroscopic surgery

·         Condronet technique is a single-stage technique and precisely the cartilage tissue is removed from the own knee & implanted on the affected side of the kneezzz

 

22-year-old Satej fell in the house and injured himself, and he went to the saishree hospital. As the pain was excruciating, Dr Neeraj Adkar (Chief orthopaedic surgeon & MD of SaiShree hospital) promptly reduced the dislocated patella to provide relief from pain. Usually, in such cases, pain relief is immediate and almost complete. However, Satej was still in pain, though not as severe as with a dislocated knee cap. 

 

Suspecting an internal injury, MRI of the injured knee was done, which showed a cartilage injury on the under surface of the knee cap. Considering the young age, Dr Adkar advised the repair of the injured cartilage. With an important exam lurking around the corner, Satej and his parents were in dubious mind about going ahead with the surgery. Usually, such cartilage injuries are treated with a procedure called Autologous Chondrocyte implantation or ACI, which is a 2 stage procedure, thus the patient has to undergo 2 operative procedures. 

 

However, Dr Adkar firmly advised the patient and concerned parents about the most advanced technique in cartilage repair and performed a single stage procedure which is known as Condronet technique or the Graftnet technique. This surgical technique was performed for the first time in Pune City, where the cartilage was harvested from the non-weight bearing area of the left knee and cartilage graft was prepared using harvested cartilage and patients own PRP which is enriched in growth factors.

 

The operating surgeon, Dr. Neeraj Adkar who is the Chief orthopaedic surgeon & MD of SaiShree hospital quotes that, “The Graft net technique is performed on patients with cartilage injury. This technique is a single stage technique and can be performed on any age group. The beauty of this procedure is that it's not age bound, provided there are no arthritic changes in the surrounding cartilage of the patient undergoing this procedure. A successful surgery was done under regional anaesthesia at Saishree Hospital and Satej was discharged within 2 days. Post discharge, Satej successfully went to give his exams one week later. Now after 6 months after the surgery, he is leading a normal life”.

 

 

Doctors took one and a half hours to perform this surgery. The surgical team was led by Dr. Neeraj Adkar. Dr. Mangesh Patil (Senior Trauma & Accident Surgeon) and Dr. Ravi Kerhalkar (Orthopedic Surgeon, Saishree hospital) were present too. Dr. Trupti Pare was the anaesthetist for the surgery. 

Opposition surfaces as state governments plan to grab temple and charitable trust funds

Considerable opposition is building up against various state governments move to forcefully transfer of temple funds and funds of Charitable Trusts under the pretext of funding relief measures.

People in the know say that such unconstitutional ways of grabbing funds from temple trusts have been struck down by various High Courts and Apex Court from time to time in the past and the present move to grab fund will also not stand in court of law.

Bombay High Court Advocate Ravi Ganatra, who is associated with a Mumbai based Trust, said that recently, the Maharashtra Government purportedly drafted a proposal to collect temple funds and funds lying with charitable trusts under the garb of funding CM relief measures. One of the congress leader in state govt also proposed to collect gold lying with temple trusts for funding relief measures.

The Advocate  informed  that due to large scale protests from various temple organisations, charitable trusts and other cultural organisations, the Maharashtra Government withdrew the said proposal at the draft stage itself.

A Trustee with a Mumbai based Religious Charitable Trust Adhyatma Parivar  stated that recently due to intervention of Madras High Court, the Tamil Nadu Government had to withdraw its similar circular of April, 2020. The circular had a provision for transferring Rs.10 crores to Chief Ministers Relief Fund from temple funds of 47 top temples of the State.

The trustee further stated  that In this case the Madras High Court agreed with the contentions of the petitioners that temple funds could not be transferred at will to CM Relief funds through executive fiat.

Advocate Ravi Ganatra also informed that  a division bench of Kerala High Court, made it clear that the donation of Rs.5 crores by the Guruvayur Devaswom managing committee to the Chief Ministers Distress Relief funds would be subject to the final outcome of cases related to diversion of funds of the Dewaswom for non-essential purposes pending before full bench.

It is believed  that a few other State Governments, like UP, Orissa are also toying with their plan to collect funds from temple trusts and other charitable organisations.

.

The trustees of various temple and charitable trust may meet soon to plan out their strategy. 

Adhyatma Parivar trustee said that there was considerable opposition to this state governments’ move. Various well known Hindu/Jain/Buddhist religious organisations and temple trusts like International Society for Krishna Consciousness(ISKON), Sidhapeth Kabir Chauranath Moolgadhi Trust, Varanasi, Adhyatma Parivar, Dharma Sangh Shiksha mandal,Varanasi,Yaduvanshi Janta Shikshan Samsthan, Gazipur(UP)  are opposing the move to grab their funds.  

Numerator, a US based, Data and Tech Company Opened its R&D Center in Pune

Numerator, a US based, data and Tech Company reinventing market research is opening its Engineering center in Pune, Maharashtra. Over the next 2 years, Numerator plans to ramp up staff significantly and will aim to deliver leading edge and mission critical technologies to its large, multinational customers.

Currently, Numerator is headquartered in Chicago, IL, and has 1,600 employees worldwide. The company blends proprietary data with advanced technology to create unique insights for the market research industry that has been slow to change.  The majority of Fortune 100 companies are among Numerator’s clientele.

The center was inaugurated by Mr. Chetan Ghai, Chief Product Officer and a new hire, Ms. Sneha Javheri, joining Numerator on the inauguration day, February 2020. Teresa Grau, Numerator’s Chief Human Resource Officer was also present during the event. The numerator will be located at The Hive at Bund Garden Road, Pune, which is a prestigious office co-working space in the heart of the city near the Sheraton Grand Hotel.

“We are proud to announce that our new location, like our company, is at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and great brands. Investing and growing our capabilities and our business in the Indian market is a strategic step to ensuring we can develop the best solutions possible for our customers. Our new centre is designed to further inspire the innovation, creativity and collaboration we’re known for” said Chetan Ghai, Chief Product Officer Numerator.

6th Consecutive year of IPTEX & 4th edition of GRINDEX Will kick start from 13th February 2020

Two mega-events first time in Pune on one platform: IPTEX & GRINDEX 2020

·         The 3 day Gear & Grinding Expo will start on 13^th February to 15^th February 2020 at Auto Cluster Exhibition centre, PCMC Pune.

·         Time: 10 am to 6 pm

·         Organized by: Virgo Communication and Exhibition (p) Ltd

·         For Register : Website : www.iptexpo.com | www.grindexpo.com

·         Explore the Great collaboration between Gear and Grinding Technology

The 6th edition of IPTEX & 4^th edition of GRINDEX 2020 is organized by Virgo Communications & Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. It is scheduled to take place from 13^th to 15^th February 2020 at Auto Cluster Exhibition Centre, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Maharashtra. The exhibition will take place for the first time in Pune. The previous five IPTEX and three GRINDEX editions were held in Mumbai. Timings will be 10 am to 6 pm.

IPTEX 2020: IPTEX is developing as one of the most encouraging platforms for members of the Gears and Power Transmission Equipment industry to network with peers and potential buyers, which will help them to market their products. This exhibition includes the latest manufacturing technologies and solutions to leverage their manufacturing capabilities.

The aim of IPTEX is to provide a clear channel of communication, which helps exhibitors to come together under one roof. They will also share their expertise with fellow members. It will give them an opportunity to engage with the latest technologies & process. The exhibitors will get more knowledge on industry practices, safety & standard with quality control.

With more than 5 successful editions, IPTEX is the ideal platform which helps exhibitors to showcase their abilities. In order to meet the growing demand for excellence in all aspects of Gears and Power Transmission, it is important for all players to remain competitive. IPTEX 2020 is a significant event for all relevant stakeholders.

IPTEX will be the perfect platform for companies from the mechanical power transmission, Electrical power transmission, liner motion drivers, Fluid power & system & IOT & smart technology.

Visitors to the expos will gain insight into new solutions to multi-industry challenges while exploring the latest trends and debating various business issues and challenges. Power transmission, Electrical power transmission, IOT & smart technology together and is an important trade platform that showcases the latest in products, machinery, technologies and services that these and associated industries can offer.

GRINDEX 2020:  4^th edition of GRINDEX which is India's only exclusive exhibition for grinding technology and surface finishing process, posing as a significant industry platform that helps to meet the growing need for excellence in all aspects of the manufacturing industry.

Grindex will be held along with the IPTEX’20. As manufacturing industry needs to adopt new high-end solutions and applications, the prime focus is to decrease cost and process efficiency. Grindex is specifically designed to meet the resultant demand for precision driven applications.

GRINDEX 2020 will be crucial to meet & build new business relations as well as generate sales leads.

The exhibition will feature exhibit of products of machinery from the following field:

·         Grinding Machine

·         Gear Grinding Machine

·         Super Abrasives & Surface finishing solutions

·         Industrial Grinding Wheels

·         IOT & smart technology

“IPTEX & GRINDEX has grown from featuring 40-50 exhibitors to over 100 exhibitors identifying niche industry segment. Presence of global industry players in this edition of IPTEX & GRINDEX is higher than ever, as they recognize the opportunity of investing in the Indian machine tools sector, which has been due to the “MAKE IN INDIA” campaign.

In this 2020 edition of IPTEX & GRINDEX we have confirmed the participants from China, Germany, Switzerland, USA, Italy, Taiwan, UK & Austria.” Said Mr.Vashdev S.G – Vice president Sales & marketing, Virgo Communication & Exhibition Pvt.Ltd

Mr.Vashdev S.G added, “Despite a challenging trading environment over the years, trade shows are well supported, which indicates their relevance across various industries. We have been successful in retaining 85% of our exhibitors who recognize this platform as being one of the prime contributors to the development of machine tool industry, that enables its participants & visitors with cutting edge & power house technology that stands for engineering excellence, innovation, quality & reliability.”

Some of the companies exhibiting at IPTEX & GRINDEX 2020 are-        Shanti Gears, Gleason, Klingelnberg, Reishaur AG, UCAM, Eifco Machine, Kapp Niles, Matrix Machine Tool, Toyoda, Jielida (China), Grindwell Norton, Hermes Abrasives among many more industrial leaders of the gear and grinding industry.