ECONOMIC & LEGAL NEWS
SBI
HIKES HOME LOAN RATES: After HDFC and ICICI Bank,
the country's largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI) has
hiked home loan rates by 50 basis points and interest on deposits
by 25-50 basis points.
INDIA
REJECTS FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH MAURITIUS: India
has rejected a proposal from Mauritius for a free trade agreement
(FTA) due to apprehensions that it could turn into a channel
for goods from other countries to evade import duty in the
Indian market.
INFOSYS
FLOATS AMERICAN DEPOSTORY SHARES WORTH 1BN: Infosys
Technologies surprised the bourses by issuing 16m American
Depository Shares (ADSs), which, as per latest quotes on the
Nasdaq, is worth $1.05bn.
OFF-THE-SHELF
SOFTWARE USERS TO PAY SALES TAX: Causing ripples of
apprehension in the IT industry, the Supreme Court has ruled
that off-the-shelf computer software is liable to tax under
the provisions of the Sales Tax Act.
BUSINESS NEWS
EASIER
REGISTRATION NORMS HELP FIIS: Foreign funds are making
a beeline for the Indian stock market. Close to 50 FIIs have
registered with Sebi over the past three months
SBI,
JK BANK SNIP RATES ON SHORT-TERM DEPOSITS: Riding
on a sudden spurt in inflow of short-term funds from high-networth
individuals (HNIs)and private funds, banks are reducing the
interest rates on short-term deposits
MORE
FOREIGN JOBS FOR INDIAN PROFESSIONALS: Indian professionals
wanting to pursue careers abroad will get qualitatively improved
offers by May '05 from the US and other developed countries
STATE
OF MAHARASHTRA WAIVES DUTY ON WINES: The state government,
in a measure to encourage wine producers, has waived the excise
duty, currently levied at a rate of 50% of the manufacturing
cost, for a ten-year period from September '01.
CABLE
& WIRELESS TO INVEST $10 MN IN INDIAN OPERATIONS:British
telecom firm Cable & Wireless (C&W) said it would
invest $10 million in expanding its Indian operations over
the next 18 months.
INTEL
MICROPROCESSORS TO BE DESIGNED IN INDIA: Intel Inside"
will soon spell "designed in India". Having just
beaten Israel to emerge as Intel's largest design centre outside
the US , India centre is now learnt to be working on designing
a microprocessor completely in India.
MARUTI
CUTS PRICES OF ZEN, WAGON R: Maruti Udyog has decided
to cut Zen and WagonR prices in the Rs 8,000-13,000 range
across India.
NEW
DEVELOPMENTS AND JOINT VENTURES
GESTETNER
AND RICOH TO BECOME ONE ENTITY IN INDIA: Domestic
office automation giants Gestetner India and Ricoh India announced
their merger into a single entity.
MICROSOFT
TRIALS FOR NO-FRILLS XP: Microsoft is rolling out
trials for developing a low-cost Windows XP edition in India
in a couple of months
FIPB
REJECTS PROPOSAL FOR UAL MERGER WITH SEAGRAM: Foreign
Investment and Promotion Board(FIPB) has put a spoke in liquor
major Pernod Ricard's plans to merge United Agencies (UAL)
with Seagram India
VEDANTA
PAYS $48M FOR KONKOLA MINES : Vedanta Resources, the
London-listed metals and mining group, has announced the acquisition
of the 51% controlling stake in Konkola Copper Mines (KMC)
in Zambia for a total cash consideration of $48.2m.
POLYPLEX'S
THAI UNIT TO SET UP $45-M FILM FACILITY IN TURKEY:
Domestic companies with a global footprint are finding better
valuations overseas than on home turf. Polyplex Corp, the
fifth-largest manufacturer of metalised polyester packaging
film in the world, is learnt to be investing about $45 million
on a third 24,000 MT film line, which is to be located in
Turkey.
