NEWS as on 15.06.2010

Today news 15-06-2010

1. ACONSORTIUM of PE firm Blackstone and US-based tower company Crown Castle International, Manoj Tirodkar owned GTL, and the world’s largest independent tower company, American Towers, are in talks with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications (RCOM) for acquiring its tower unit through a demerger, said a person with direct knowledge of the development.
2. WHOLESALE inflation soared to double digits in May, beating all forecasts and mounting pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise key rates ahead of next month’s monetary policy review.
3. The move by Reliance Industries (RIL) to acquire Infotel Broadband will help it tap India ’s mobile broadband market but it entails “technological, operational and commercial risks, given the fairly nascent stage of commercial roll-out globally”, global rating agency Moody’s said on Monday. Last week, RIL acquired 95% stake in Infotel for Rs 4,800 crore (around one billion dollar), soon after Infotel bagged a pan-India licence for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA).
4. Anil Ambani group company Reliance MediaWorks on Monday said it has purchased another 0.06% stake in Fame India along with two other group firms, hiking their combined stake in the multiplex chain to 15.34%. Three entities of ADAG—Reliance MediaWorks, Reliance Capital and Reliance Capital Partners—acquired 19,792 shares of Fame India through open market transactions.
5. Strides Arcolab, a Bangalore based pharmaceutical company announced on Monday that it had received the nod from the US Food and Drug Administration for the sumatriptan succinate injection, used to treat patients suffering from migraine attacks.
6. INDIA’S LARGEST IT player in infrastructure management services HCL Technologies has outbid global majors such as IBM, CSC and HP to win a $79-million deal to manage the IT infrastructure of Singapore Exchange.
7. SUN TV Network promoter Kalanithi Maran has offered to buy 20% stake in Spice Jet from the public at Rs 57.76 each. If successful, it will give him majority stake, allowing him to go ahead with plans of rebranding the no frills airline.
This follows a deal where Mr Maran in his individual capacity agreed to acquire 37.7% stake in Delhi-based budget airline from the promoter of the firm besides financial investor Wilbur Ross for around Rs 739 crore. He will have to shell out Rs 479 crore to buy the additional 20% stake.
8. THE country’s drug regulator has banned import of raw material from 10 Chinese drug companies for supplying products without having the mandatory drug manufacturing standards, people familiar with the matter said.
9. MAHINDRA & Mahindra , India ’s largest sport-utility automaker, will begin carrying out due diligence on Ssangyong Motor within two days, as the company aims to expand overseas. A bid will depend on the inspection’s findings into Ssangyong, Mahindra & Mahindra president Pawan Goenka said.
10. JAPANESE IT firm NTT Data Corporation, which was reported to be in negotiations for a controlling stake in Patni Computer Systems, sprang a surprise by announcing it was acquiring the US-based Intelli group, an enterprise software implementation firm with a sizable Indian footprint. The acquisition will be an all-cash deal of $199 million. “This could be the beginning as NTT gets a lot more aggressive in India ,” said an industry expert, requesting anonymity.
11. HARIT Nagpal of Vodafone Group UK is taking over as managing director of direct-to-home (DTH) player Tata Sky, replacing Vikram Kaushik , MD & CEO, who is due to retire in December. Mr Nagpal, an FMCG veteran with over two decades in the industry, was based at the Vodafone Plc headquarters in London as its group marketing director for the past nine years.
12. TATA Tea is stepping up its presence in Pakistan and Bangladesh . It aims to capture at least 10% of the packaged tea market in both countries over the next two years. “We are in the process of enhancing our distribution networks in Pakistan and Bangladesh and will increase points of sales in these countries,” Tata Tea executive director Sangeeta Talwar said.
13. IT SERVICES provider Mahindra Satyam, which is undergoing a restatement of accounts, has sought additional time from the Company Law Board to file the required financial results by September-end this year in India. The company, hit by the Rs 7,000-crore fraud last year, was to submit the financial statements for 2008 and 2009 quarterly reports by June 30 this year.
14. The economy will clock a near-9% growth in the first quarter of 2010-11, finance ministry’s chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu said on Monday. Contrary to popular belief, he said that a partial decontrol of fuel prices would lower inflation and improve the country’s fiscal scenario in the long run. “Fuel prices ought to be decontrolled, in particular petroleum (sector).
15. The oil ministry has approved the sale of 10% government holding in consultancy firm Engineers India (EIL), and a public offering is expected in the second half of July. “The ministry of petroleum and natural gas has granted its approval for the offer, involving disinvestment of 10% paid up equity share capital of the company out of its holding in the company,” EIL said.
16. FARMERS may soon start receiving collateral-free bank loans up to Rs 1 lakh. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it will consider raising the collateral-free lending limit from Rs 50,000, as proposed by the eastern state governments at a meeting with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, the RBI and country’s top public sector bankers.
17. THE country’s largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), plans to enter the reverse mortgage space. LIC is in initial discussion with the housing finance regulator, National Housing Bank (NHB), for introducing this scheme to its clients, a senior official in the company said.
18. THE government will carry out regular reviews of five key export sectors to measure the impact of global developments, such as the recent debt crisis in Greece , on their performance. The commodities division of the commerce ministry will track gems & jewellery, textiles, pharmaceuticals, engineering and agriculture products to make timely policy interventions if anything goes wrong for these sectors, which account for more than half of India ’s export earnings.
19. IFFCO plans to scale up production at its Paradip plant by 30% and its top officials are confident of bettering the Rs 150 crore profit figure achieved by the unit last year.
20. FITCH Ratings has raised the outlook on India ’s long-term local currency to stable from negative on expectations that India ’s debt will come down, therefore reducing pressure on India ’s local currency ratings. It has also revised India ’s growth forecast up to 8.5% from 7% on signs of strong growth momentum.
21. PHARMACEUTICAL shares have been in the thick of action over the past couple of months as investors sought refuge in defensive or low beta stocks in a volatile market. Shares of pharmaceutical and fast moving consumer goods are viewed as defensive bets as they are less reactive to sharp swings in the overall market.
22. UCO Bank plans to come out with a FPO in July to raise around Rs 500 crore. “We are planning to raise Rs 500 crore through an FPO in July,” UCO Bank chairman and managing director, SK Goel said on the sidelines of a bankers’ meeting. The money raised through the public offer will help the bank increase its business.
23. GODAWARI Power & Ispat (GPIL) is one of the few small-cap steel companies that have run ahead of the Sensex despite the recent correction in metal stocks. In the past one year, its stock price has appreciated by nearly 60% against a 15% rise in the Sensex during the period.
24. Oil prices rose above $75 a barrel on Monday as rallying stock markets and a stronger euro bolstered investor confidence. Benchmark crude for July delivery was up $1.66 to $75.44 a barrel at around midday in London (around 11:00 GMT) in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
25. Wheat rose for a third day in Chicago on a forecast that excessive rain will reduce planting in Canada , the world’s second-biggest exporter, and on a weaker dollar. Wheat for September delivery gained 1.4% to $4.6325 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 1:15 pm London time.