HOME LOAN MAJORS RAISE FLOATING RATES BY 75 BASIS POINTS : Home loan rates are back to where they were in ’99-00, just before the start of the retail boom. Two of India’s largest housing finance providers, HDFC and ICICI Bank, hiked interest rates on floating loans by 75 basis points....More....

DIRECT TAX COLLECTIONS JUMP 47% IN APRIL-JULY : BELYING apprehensions of a slowdown, net direct tax collections grew by a whopping 46.95% in the first four months of the current fiscal (April-July 2008) to Rs 71,648 crore against Rs 48,765 crore in corresponding period of the previous fiscal..........More....

AUSTRAL COKE FILES 600CR DEFAMATION SUIT AGAINST GUJARAT NRE COKE : Austral Coke has filed Rs 600-crore defamation suit against the promoters Gujarat NRE in the Bombay High Court, for maligning Austral Coke’s ongoing initial public offer........More....

SUPREME COURT’S BLANKET STAY ON RETAILERS SERVICE TAX CASES IN HIGH COURTS : THE Supreme Court has stayed the proceedings challenging the legality of imposition of 12.36% service tax on renting out premises. Various multiplexes, members of the Retailers Association of India, Confederation of Real Estates Developers Association of India and others had moved various high courts against levy of such tax.......More....

DELHI HIGH COURT REJECTS GSM COS’ PETITION ON DUAL TECHNOLOGY :THE Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition by GSM players that challenged the government’s decision to allow telcos to offer mobile services under dual technology (both GSM and CDMA technology platforms).....More....

VARANASI BLASTS ACCUSED GETS 10 YRS IN ARMS CASE : SANKATMOCHAN blasts mastermind Waliullah has been sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment by a Lucknow court for illegal possession of a firearm. He has also been slapped a Rs 1-lakh fine..........More....

CONVICTION ON BASIS OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL CONFESSIONS OKAY: SC: THE Supreme Court has ruled that extra-judicial confessions of an accused could be relied upon for convicting the person. It is not open to any court to start with a presumption that extra-judicial confession is a weak evidence, said the apex court.......More....

INDIA INC RAISES ECBS WORTH $2.5 B IN JULY : India Inc has raised a total of $2.5 billion in July this year by way of borrowings from the international markets. However, borrowings from the automatic route have almost dried up with most of the funds being raised from the approval route.......More....

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF SIXTH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION : The Union Cabinet gave its approval for implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission. The revised pay scales will come into effect from 1/1/2006 and revised rates of allowances from 1/9/2008 .......More....

SENIOR LAWYERS R K ANAND, I U KHAN DEBARRED FOR 4 MONTHS FROM COURTS : The Delhi High Court found senior lawyers R K Anand and I U Khan guilty of the contempt of court and debarred them from appearing in the High Court and all Delhi courts for next four months for influencing a witness in the BMW hit-and-run case......More....

COMPANIES BILL 2008 GETS THE NOD OF UNION CABINET :The Union cabinet today gave its nod for the introduction of the Companies Bill 2008 in the next session of Parliament to replace the existing Companies Act, 1956 by incorporating far-reaching changes......More....

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BHEL BAGS RS 200-CRORE CONTRACT IN VIETNAM : State-run equipment firm Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) has said that it has bagged an order worth Rs 200 crore for a hydro-electric power project in Vietnam......More....

TATA CO BAGS $100M JAGUAR & LAND ROVER (JLR) SOFTWARE DEAL : THE Tata Group has started integrating operations of its recently acquired British marques, Jaguar & Land Rover (JLR), under its own umbrella. INCAT, a Tata Technologies company will develop critical software for the JLR operations .........More....

JPMORGAN SUFFERS LOSSES OF $1.5 BILLION SINCE JULY : US INVESTMENT bank JPMorgan Chase & Co incurred losses of about $1.5 billion since July, hurt by turmoil in the credit and mortgage markets and by wider credit spreads and lower levels of liquidity, the company has said in a regulatory filing.......More....

RIGHTS ISSUES TO NOW GET CLEARED IN JUST 43 DAYS : INDIAN corporates looking to raise money will now be able to reach out to their shareholders faster, with capital market regulator Sebi reducing the time line for approving a rights issue from 109 days to 43 days.......More....

ICICI BANK IN $250-MILLION PACT WITH US EXIM BANK: Private lender ICICI Bank has entered into a $250-million agreement with Export-Import Bank of United States to finance capital goods imports of Indian companies from the US........More....

PIRAMAL GETS NOD FOR CLINICAL TRIAL OF TWO DRUGS : Piramal Life Sciences has said that it has received the go ahead from the drug controller to take forward its clinical trial on two of its molecules in India........More....

FIPB GIVES APPROVAL TO DAIICHI-RANBAXY DEAL : The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has approved the acquisition of domestic drug maker Ranbaxy by Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo........More....

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NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND JOINT VENTURES

LUPIN ACQUIRES GERMAN GENERIC DRUGMAKER HORMOSAN : Indian pharma firm Lupin has acquired German generics drugmaker Hormosan for an undisclosed sum. The deal will help Lupin access Europe’s biggest generic market.........More....

WIPRO COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF GALLAGHER FINANCIAL SYSTEMS : Wipro Technologies has completed the acquisition of US-based Gallagher Financial Systems (GFS), which brings into its fold around 100 people.....More....

TATAS IN $5-B JV WITH VIETNAM STEEL, CEMENT CO : THE world’s sixth-largest steel maker Tata Steel has joined hands with Vietnam Steel and Vietnam Cement Industries Corp to set up a 4.5 million tonne steel plant in the south-east Asian country.......More....

ORCHID ACQUIRES MAJORITY STAKE IN DIAKRON PHARMA : Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals has acquired majority control in US-based drug firm Diakron Pharmaceuticals Inc, which has an exclusive license agreement for an anti-coagulant drug candidate, discovered and developed by Merck & Co......More....

CINEMAX TIES UP WITH VIP FOR FILM PRODUCTION : AFTER setting foot in the distribution arena with Kismat Konnection, multiplex chain Cinemax India is getting into film production. It has taken the first step towards this by signing a co-production agreement with Vinay Choksi’s VIP Enterprises......More....

TIMES INTERNET LIMITED (TIL) PICKS UP 50% STAKE IN WEBNOTIONS : TIMES Internet Limited (TIL), a part of India’s largest media house (Times Group), has recently made a strategic investment, equivalent to 50% stake, in Webnotions Books India Private Ltd......More....

PANACEA BAGS $35-M CONTRACT FROM UNICEF : Panacea Biotec is learnt to have bagged a $35-million drug supply order from Unicef to supply pentavalent vaccines, the first Indian company to get such a contract, reports Khomba Singh........More....

LUPIN TAKES 35% IN AUSTRALIAN CO GENERIC HEALTH : MUMBAI-BASED drug major Lupin has acquired nearly 35% stake in Generic Health Pty, one of the top generic pharmaceutical companies in Australia, for an undisclosed amount......More....

MERRILL LYNCH BUYS 1.03% STAKE IN ANSAL PROPERTIES: Ansal Properties and Infrastructure said that Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Espana has acquired a further 1.03% stake in the company to raise its holding to 5.96%......More....

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