DOT IMPOSES RS 150 CR FINE ON RELIANCE : (DoT) sent a notice to the company imposing a penalty of Rs 150 cr.

FOREIGN FUNDS FLOCK TO DALAL STREET: Dalal Street has turned out to be the hottest investment destination across Asia over the past 12 months.

RBI HIKES MARGINS ON LOANS AGAINST SHARES: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the margins borrowers have to keep with banks for loans against shares and investments in primary equity issues.

NPPA FOR FRESH LEGAL BATTLE AGAINST OVERCHARGING DRUG FIRMS: Drug price watchdog National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is gearing up for a fresh round of legal battle against overcharging drug-makers, including the who's who of Indian drug industry.

TELECOM COS CAN OFFER PREFERENTIAL TARIFFS TO THEIR SUBSCRIBERS: Telecom operators will now be able to offer a special set of tariffs for calls to their own customers and different rates to subscribers of any other network.

BUSINESS NEWS

MUKESH GIVES UP RS 50-CR RCIL SHARES: Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and one of the promoters of Reliance Infocomm, will forego the Rs 50-crore worth of sweat equity given to him in the company…

PLASTIC DEPB RATES SLASHED BY 4.1% : The Director General of Foreign Trade amended the DEPB rates of plastic products by a public notice issued on 23 November 2004…

FIIS CAN INVEST ONLY $500M IN CORP BONDS: In a regulatory fiat that stunned the debt market, Sebi has slapped a $500-m cap on FII investments in corporate bonds.

UNISYS TO HIRE 2,000 IN INDIA : Unisys, the Fortune 500 technology services and solutions company said that its hiring plans in India are on track.

INDIAN BPOS TO FACE US REGULATOR: After Indian tax authorities, it's now US financial regulators' turn to train their guns on Indian BPO firms.

AUTO FIRMS PUSH INDIA AS SOURCING HUB FOR PARTS : Auto companies want to share the global limelight with services. Indian carmakers are pushing the manufacturing card in the outsourcing story, hoping to make India a sourcing base for critical components.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND JOINT VENTURES

ACTIS GETS FIPB NOD FOR 25% STAKE IN SWARAJ MAZDA : The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has approved private equity firm Actis' proposal to acquire a 25% stake in Swaraj Mazda through an open offer,

S&N TO ACQUIRE 17.5% IN UBL FOR RS 217 CRORE: UK-based Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) will pick up a 17.5% stake in Vijay Mallya's United Breweries (UBL), owners of the Kingfisher beer brand, through a preferential allotment, in a deal worth Rs 217 crore at Rs 575 per share...

IOC OKAYS SHARE SWAP RATIO FOR MERGING IBP: The IOC board has approved the share swap ratio for merging IBP into its fold. The swap ratio has been proposed at 1.25:1….

BIO FERTILISER FIRMS ON HIGH AS WEST STRESSES ORGANIC: It could be boomtime for Indian bio fertiliser companies from next year as they get set to tap the huge organic fertiliser and fertiliser market in UK and the rest of the Western world.

12,000 PATENT APPLICATIONS, WOULD BE OPENED ON JANUARY 1st: Nearly 12,000 patent applications, a majority of them from multinational pharma companies, would be opened by the government on January 1 as the government has complied its with World Trade Organisation (WTO) obligations by issuing an ordinance to bring about product patents for chemicals, agrochemicals and food sectors.

HOTLINE BUYS OUT TAIWANESE JV PARTNER IN GLASS VENTURE : Hotline Group has bought out its Taiwanese joint venture partner Picvue in Hotline Glass. The Indian promoters have bought the 14.44% equity stake held by Picvue, one of the largest producers of LCD micro-display products in the world, in Hotline Glass for an undisclosed amount.