Daily News Roundup - Dec 8 2008

Jet Airways, Kingfisher, IndiGo cut fuel surcharge by Rs400 per ticket.(ET)
M&M to shut down plants for 3 to 6 days.(BS)

General Motors India said it would increase prices by 3% in January.(DNA)

Steel Ministry says all expansion and future plans of SAIL would be at stake if high-grade iron ore from Chiria mines not given soon.(BL)

Eicher Motors' CV sales in November down 71% yoy.(BS)

British Airways not in talks to buy stake in Kingfisher Airlines.(ET)

Indian Oil Corp, Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals merger may be approved soon.(BL)

Vodafone says it would challenge the government decision to impose capital gains tax on it following its acquisition of Hutchison Essar.(DNA)

Reliance Industries’ petrochem prices decline by up to 60% as demand slows.(Mint)

Unitech to raise up to Rs25bn to retire debt.(BL)

RPG group company Spencer's Retail plans to scale up its hypermarts chain to 400.(DNA)

Apollo Tyres declared a lockout in its unit in Kerala which employs 1,100 people.(FE)

Tata Motors raises Rs10bn from LIC to part-refinance bridge loan.(Mint)

Infosys to freeze new hiring, but no job cuts.(FE)

Promoters of Great Offshore have pledged their ~13% stake with Bharati Shipyard.(ET)

Reliance Industries’ puts on hold plans to reopen petrol pumps.(Mint)

Petroleum Ministry and ONGC Videsh accept they had considered a re-negotiation of the US$2.6bn deal to acquire Imperial Energy in the wake of depressed global economic situation.(FE)

BHEL receives order from Oman for gas turbines.(BL)

Indian Oil Corp commissions its first cross country LPG pipeline between Panipat and Jalandhar.(BL)

Indo Tech Transformers promoters to sell their entire shareholding to Prolec-GE International based in Mexico.(BL)

Videocon has put its DTH rollout plans on hold.(ET)

Dr Reddy's Laboratories remains in litigation for two patents in the US, while one patent has been dismissed from the case.(ET)

Dr Reddy's Laboratories is considering settling Sanofi-Aventis dispute out of court.(ET)

Wockhardt stalls PE fund raising plans.(ET)

HDFC Bank has sought RBI permission to buy 10% in MMTC-Indiabulls promoted commodity exchange, which is expected to be operational by March 2009.(TOI)

Madras high court has set aside Roche’s patent on key drug, valganciclovir, on procedural grounds.(TOI)

Six infotech SEZ projects of the Unitech Group have been delayed by as much as three years owing to slowing demand and delays in government approvals.(BS)

Sivasankaran to sell part of 8% stake in TTSL to DoCoMo.(BS)

Aditya Birla Nuvo mulls delisting PSI Data Systems.(BS)

NMDC has submitted a proposal to the Karnataka government seeking permission to set up a five million tonne capacity steel plant in Bellary.(BS)

Economic Front Page

Government cut the retail prices of petrol by Rs5 a litre and diesel by Rs2 following the sharp drop in international crude oil prices over the past few months.(DNA)

Government cuts excise duty, offers sops for key export sectors; stimulus package includes additional Plan expenditure of up to Rs200bn .(BL)

Government effects an across-the-board cut of 4% pts in the ad-valorem cenvat rate for the remaining fiscal on all products except petroleum.(BL)

India and Russia sign nuclear pact.(BS)

Government will borrow an additional Rs450bn during the remaining part of this fiscal year over the budgeted amount of Rs1,450bn.(ET)

Forex reserves jump by US$1.9bn to US$248bn for week ended November 28.(BL)

RBI cuts repo rate by 100 basis points to 6.5% and the reverse repo rate at which it borrows overnight to 5% from 6%.(FE)

RBI proposes norms for takeover by asset reconstruction companies.(ET)

Public sector banks to unveil package for home loan borrowers.(FE)

Interest rates futures likely soon according to SEBI.(ET)

The proposed 4000 Mw Ultra Mega Power Plant (UMPP) being set up by the Centre in Sunderagarh district in Orissa is likely to be commissioned by 2013.(BS)

Reserve Bank of India has reduced the interest rate on post-shipment credit and directed banks not to charge penal interest for delayed payments up to six months.(FE)

Direct tax collections in November dropped 36% yoy.(ET)

Housing finance companies are contemplating a cut in their prime lending rates.(BS)

Quick estimates available with the commerce ministry show that exports dipped 12% in November, almost the same as that in October.(BS)

Reserve Bank of India allows companies to buy back FCCBs prematurely through rupee resources.(FE)
RBI data shows incremental credit from the banking sector to the economy has become negative, till November 21.(FE)