Daily News Roundup - Apr 29 2009

Reliance Industries and power companies ink agreements on KG gas. (FE)

Vedanta Resources has bought 9.5% stake in Hudbay Minerals, a Canadian mining company for US$80mn. (ET)

Some Tata group companies led by Tata Motors are in talks with merchant bankers to float debt securities. (ET)

SEBI has sought clarifications from Bharti Airtel on stake hike in the company by way of creeping acquisitions. (BS)

Morgan Stanley picks up 5.1% in Unitech for Rs4bn via QIP. (ET)

PNB may cut deposit and lending rates. (BL)

Wipro BPO to hire 1,200 at Hyderabad unit in 6 months. (ET)

Petronet LNG is eyeing gas fields in Papua New Guinea and Australia in partnership with ONGC. (BS)

IOC plans to shut half of its Panipat refinery for 45-50days in March-April next year to raise its capacity to 300,000bpd. (ET)

Reliance Big TV plans to divest 49% in DTH arm. (BS)

ABB bags Rs4.25bn orders from Power Grid. (BS)

Dr Reddy’s Lab launches a variety of gel (Nexret) used in the treatment of skin diseases. (FE)

Britannia Industries to buy out New Zealand’s Fonterra from an existing dairy JV. (ET)

3i Infotech to buy JP Morgan Treasury Services National Retail Lockbox business to expand capacity and capabilities of its unit Regulus. (ET)

KPIT Cummins freezes hiring; cuts variable pay by 50%. (ET)

AB Nuvo is restructuring its retail garment business to save at least Rs1bn through a slew of cost-cutting measures. (ET)

Maytas Infra is likely to divest some projects nearing completion in a bid to raise funds to complete other assignments. (BS)

According to MET, monsoon could arrive one week early. (FE)

RBI allows Indian companies to buy back FCCBs up to US$100mn. (FE)

Retail prices of several ant-diabetes and anti-fungal drugs will come down following cut in prices of bulk drugs by NPPA. (ET)

Government may impose additional import duty of 20% on some paper products. (BS)