FDI PROPOSALS WORTH RS 845 CR GET FIPB NOD : THE Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared 32 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals amounting to Rs 845 crore including a proposal.......More....

BHEL BAGS RS 1,325-CR ORDER FROM ANDHRA POWER BODY : Public sector power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) has said that it has bagged an order worth Rs 1,325 crore for supplying and installing main plant package at a power project in Andhra Pradesh........ More....

TOP 10 COMPANIES LOSE RS 30,000 CR IN MARKET-CAPITALISATION IN A WEEK : EVEN as four companies, including State Bank of India (SBI), managed to add to their market capitalisation (mcap) amid high volatility on bourses, the elite club of country’s top 10 companies saw their valuations tumble by a whopping Rs 30,000 crore in just one week............More....

CITIGROUP GETS $20B CASH INFUSION FROM THE US TREASURY : Citigroup, once perceived as the world’s smartest financial services house, has got US government support of $326 billion ....... More....

OCTOBER EXPORTS SLIP 12% IN DOLLAR TERMS : INDIA’S export growth slipped into negative territory for the first time in five years, falling 12.1% in US dollar terms in October as a recession in key developed markets hit global trade, underscoring the need for exporters to tap the domestic market........More....

INSURERS TO GET M&A NORMS IN MARCH : THE Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) will announce guidelines for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the insurance sector by the end of March 2009. The regulator is formulating the guidelines in consultation with the Institute of Actuaries, Irda chairman J Hari Narayan said......... More....

NATIONAL HOUSING BANK (NHB) TIGHTENS FINANCING NORMS : HOUSING finance companies (HFCs) will now need a larger capital base if they wish to finance the entire value of a property, and if the size of a single loan exceeds Rs 30 lakh. The National Housing Bank (NHB)....... More....

COS GET BIGGER IPO WINDOW, CAN LAUNCH OFFERS UP TO 1 YR AFTER SEBI NOD : THE Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has granted greater flexibility to corporates to raise funds and outlined measures to prevent the kind of panic redemptions that brought the mutual fund industry to its knees in October........ More....

BOMBAY HIGH COURT PULLS UP VODAFONE FOR SUPPRESSING FACTS ON HUTCH BUY : THE Bombay High Court has come down heavily on Vodafone International for “suppressing facts” regarding the $11.2-billion purchase of stake in Vodafone Essar and said in such a scenario, the court can dismiss the petition without entering into the merits of the matter......... More....

COGNIZANT WINS $100-M US PHARMA CONTRACT : COGNIZANT Technology Solutions, which competes with Indian offshore biggies such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro, continues to win new contracts from its existing customers including Astrazeneca and Merck, even as the industry prepares to cope with lower information technology spending in the top markets of US and Europe........ More....

EXIM BANK GETS REFINANCE PUSH FROM RBI : TROUBLED exporters will now be able to avail fresh lines of credit from the Export Import Bank of India, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deciding to provide refinance worth Rs 5,000 crore to the financier.......... More....

NATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL PRICING AUTHORITY (NPPA) CUTS DRUG PRICES BY 3% : AMEDICINES sold at government-set prices have become cheaper by nearly 3% after the country’s drug price regulator ordered a price cut in the wake of the recent cut in excise duty....... More....

INSURANCE MAJOR METLIFE WINS TRADEMARK CASE AGAINST MANKIND PHARMA : INSURANCE major MetLife has won a trademark case against Mankind Pharma preventing the drug company from selling its diabetic drugs branded as ‘Metlife’ in India. The Delhi High Court...... More....

HDFC CUTS RATES ON NEW & EXISTING FLOATING LOANS : THIS marks the beginning of a softer interest rate regime for home loans—a subject that touches millions of Indian households. Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC),...... More....

UK-BASED PRIVATE EQUITY FUND DUET GROUP ENTERS INTO THREE HOTEL VENTURES : UK-BASED private equity fund Duet Group has acquired three new hotel ventures in India from their bankrupt British owners Starlight Investments and Insureprofit. The acquisition of three companies that owned hotels in Pune...... More....

CREDIT CARD ISSUERS CUT DIRECT SELLING AGENTS (DSA) BY 25% : BANKS and credit card issuers such as ICICI Bank, Citibank and HSBC, have reduced their cold calls to potential customers by around 50% as against 200 calls made in a day even six months ago........More....

TATA SONS HIKES STAKE IN TATA COMM TO 10.88% : Tata Communications has said that Tata Sons, one of its promoter group firms, has consolidated its stake in the company to 10.88% by acquiring ....... More....

RCOM FIRST CO TO BUY BACK BONDS IN GLOBAL MARKET : RELIANCE Communication (RCOM) has become the first corporate to buy back its bonds in the international market.......More....

RELIANCE INFRASTRUCTURE BAGS RS 2,676-CR ROAD PROJECT : Reliance Infrastructure has bagged a Rs 2,676 crore-expressway project connecting Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad and Sonepat. The company, a sole bidder for project, will recover its investment in 20 years...... More....

BANKS NOT LIABLE TO PAY INTEREST ON EXPORT SUBSIDY: SUPREME COURT : The Supreme Court has held that banks are not liable to pay interest on subsidies they get from the RBI for giving concessional loans to exporters. Dismissing an appeal filed by the incometax department recently........More....

HIGHWAY PROJECTS WORTH RS 16,300 CR GET CLEARANCE FROM THE CABINET COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AFFAIRS (CCEA) : IN ORDER to give a fillip to the infrastructure sector, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 13 highway projects worth Rs 16,300 crore. The projects include widening and construction of about 1,300 kms....... More....