Daily News Roundup - Jan 13 2009

World Bank bars Wipro and Megasoft from deals for offering Bank employees shares and setting up a JV in China with a former bank employee. (BS)
HC could modify the injunction that prevents RIL from selling gas to third parties. (BL)
RIL expects to start the trial production of gas from its KG basin fields by February-end. (BL)
Reliance Power is likely to announce the financial closure of its 3,960MW Sasan ultra mega power project (UMPP) in a few weeks. (BS)
NTPC and BHEL have tied up with Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd to set up thermal and wind power plants in Karnataka to generate 6,900 mw of power. (FE)
NISSAN-Renault is going slow on its ultra-low-cost car project in partnership with Bajaj Auto. (ET)
Cairn India indicated that specifications of its crude to be produced from Rajasthan fields are similar to that of Indonesian crude varieties. (BL)
Bajaj Auto plans to launch six new bikes in 2009 to rev up market share. (ET)
HCC to build Rs400bn ‘water front city’ in Gujarat. (BL)
IOC expects its GRM for the current quarter ending March 31 to be at US$4-5 a barrel. (BL)
DLF has repaid loans of about Rs10bn in December. (BL)
Diwan Housing Finance Corporation is set to buy out IDBI Home Finance for ~Rs3.1bn. (ET)
An independent auditor will conduct a system audit of Financial Technologies’ trading software. (ET)
The Bombay High court has asked the Government to clarify the price at which the gas from Reliance Industries’ KG basin would be sold to NTPC. (ET)
Tata Motors is planning to raise ~Rs27bn through public borrowing, offering upto 13.5% returns. (ET)
Ashok Leyland has bagged an order for 139 vehicles worth US$10.5mn from the Honduras Armed Forces. (ET)
The telecom tribunal TDSAT has dismissed Reliance Communication’s plea for GSM spectrum in six circles. (FE)
A government official said Satyam's receivables were estimated to be Rs25bn and that the company's debt liability is not huge. (BS)
Tata Communications has asked the Government to relax the shareholders’ agreement that puts a cap on the total indebtedness of the company. (BL)
ONGC Videsh Ltd has paid US$2.1bn for Imperial Energy buy and will further invest US$500-600mn in Imperial’s Russian fields. (FE)
Unitech has managed to clear land acquisition problems in West Bengal and has also restarted its work. (BS)
SBI and ICICI review funding to Maytas Infra and Properties. (BS)
Apollo Tyres may increase tyre prices to absorb spiraling raw material costs and maintain margins. (ET)
Bharti Airtel has launched mobile services in Sri Lanka, becoming the fifth mobile operator in the country. (ET)
Chennai Petroleum Corporation has commissioned a reverse osmosis-based desalination plant along the Bay of Bengal. (ET)
Kingfisher Airlines has hedged 10-15% of its jet fuel requirement for the remaining part of this fiscal. (ET)
NPCIL is likely to sign a three-year contract with Kazakhstan’s state owned Kazatomprom to get natural uranium stock. (FE)
The Government has not yet accorded the status of Ultra Mega Power Project to the 4,000 mw thermal power plant to be set up by NTPC in Karnataka. (FE)
PS Saminathan, the founder chairman and MD of Pyramid Saimira has sold over 6% stake through off-market deals. (FE)
Binani Industries has received High Court’s order for abandoning the share swap scheme of Binani Cement Ltd, its wholly-owned subsidiary. (FE)
Aditya Birla Nuvo has temporarily shut its fertilizer unit located in Jagdispur in Uttar Pradesh. (FE)
State Bank of India has ~Rs5bn exposure in Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure. (FE)
DS Kulkarni Developers has got a formal approval from Department of commerce (SEZ Section) for its Multi Service SEZ at Fursungi, Pune. (FE)
Mounting pressure from shareholders against its merger proposal, Hirco deferred its EGM. (BS)
ICRA suspends ratings of Maytas Infrastructure. (FE)
Bombay Dyeing has bought 10,000 shares of Rs10 each of White Horse Real Estate Company, making it a 100% subsidiary. (FE)
Shoppers Stop has closed down one of its Crossword stores at Ghaziabad. (FE)
General Electric has agreed to guarantee repairs and maintenance of its equipments supplied for Dabhol power project. (ET)
Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) resumed work on Rs40bn alumina project in Orrisa. (BS)
The Index for Industrial Production registered 2.4% growth in November 2008 against 4.9% in November 2007. (BS)
Production in six core infrastructure industries expanded 2.2% in November 2008 compared with 5.1% in the year-ago month. (BS)
The Government may again impose an excise duty of Re1 per litre on non-branded petrol and diesel. (ET)
The Government has relaxed captive coal mining norms to allow power companies to divert surplus coal from one of their projects to another. (ET)
3G spectrum auctions may be delayed from an already rescheduled date of January 30. (BS)
Total domestic vehicle sales in December declined by 18% yoy to 597,622 units. (BS)
The DoT has sought legal opinion on whether it can further double the reserve price which telecom companies would have to pay for 3G spectrum. (FE)
India’s GSM players have added over 8mn mobile customers in December 2008. (ET)
The State Government has served notices to several sugar cooperatives seeking a return on dues on share capital. (FE)