Daily News Roundup - May 11 2010

Vedanta Resources through its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc has acquired UK-based Anglo American Plc’s zinc business for US$1.34bn in an all-cash deal. (BS)

Fortis Healthcare will raise Rs3.8bn through issue of 22.35mn equity shares on a preferential basis to Singapore-based private equity firm GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd. (BS)

The Maharashtra government intervened with GAIL India to organise gas supply till end-June for one unit of Tata Power’s Trombay plant. (BS)

Bolivia has said that the multi-billion dollar contract it signed with Jindal Steel to develop an iron ore mine has not been rescinded, but the steel company would have to pay a penalty for not fulfilling the terms of the agreement. (BS)

Tata Power has said that it is not inclined to accept a Maharashtra government order asking it to supply around 300MW to Reliance Infrastructure, setting the stage for an unusual confrontation with the state government, reports Our Political Bureau from Mumbai. (ET)

US-based Purdue Pharma has filed a patent infringement suit against Ranbaxy, after it had applied for marketing approval of a low-cost version of Purdue’s pain relieving medicine, Oxycodone. (BS)

Radico Khaitan is 'in talks' with Britan's Diageo Plc to reduce stake in their joint venture Diageo Radico Distilleries Pvt Ltd. (FE)

Usha Martin has chalked out a Rs12bn capital expenditure program, to be invested over a period of 36 months. (BS)

Tata Teleservices has approached the communication to seek a level playing field and ending the discrimination against the company on the policy front. (ET)

Fidelity Growth Partners India, the private equity arm of Fidelity International, has taken a significant minority stake in PL Engineering, a subsidiary of Punj Lloyd. (ET)

Prithvi Information Solutions has acquired US-based Percentix, a business intelligence consulting company specialising in Enterprise Performance Management. (ET)

Axis Bank has acquired 1.2% stake in Karnataka Bank. (ET)

Telecom operators with more than 6.2 MHz of spectrum in GSM will have to pay more if the new Trai formula plans to replace subscriber-based allocation for spectrum. (BS)

The telecom regulator will unveil sweeping new rules that could strain the finances of some of India’s top mobile phone companies and set the stage for consolidation in a crowded and ultra-competitive market. (ET)

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India plans to allow spectrum sharing between operators on commercial terms (ET)

The government has now formally banned foreign direct investment in cigarette manufacturing, closing the door on many foreign companies. (ET)

The finance ministry and the RBI have asked public sector banks to consider taking over urban cooperative banks, after their efforts to spur consolidation among large lenders drew a blank. (ET)

Merchandise exports grew by a healthy 54.1% in March to US$19.9bn. (FE)