Daily News Roundup - May 25 2011

Ministry of environment and forests has tied up with RIL to set up a National Centre for Marine Biodiversity in Jamnagar, the first research institute in the PPP mode. (FE)

A district court in Texas, US, has issued a subpoena to Infosys Technologies seeking details of the company’s use of B-1 business visas. (BS)

Punjab National Bank is close to buying as much as 33% stake in MetLife India. (ET)

Wipro, in collaboration with Belgian research institute IMEC is setting up a high-end nanotechnology R&D centre in Bangalore. (ET)



NMDC signed an agreement to acquire up to 50% stake in Australian mineral exploration company Legacy Iron Ore. (ET)

Indian Oil Corporation would invest around Rs140bn during the current fiscal and would soon look for a partner for its Rs100bn LNG Terminal project near Chennai. (BS)

Jindal Steel & Power which is setting up a 6mtpa greenfield steel plant at Angul, expects its plate mill to be operational by August this year. (BS)

Coal Minister has said that the government is not entirely in favour of Coal India importing coal from abroad and if at all necessary, lower price and good quality would be major parameters for it. (BS)

Bharti Wal-Mart, a JV between Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart, announced the opening of 8 to 10 new wholesale cash and carry stores in 2011. (ET)

M&M announced the launch of its sedan Verito in the Kerala market. (ET)

The All India Motor Transport Congress has announced that it would not carry raw material supply to Apollo Tyre’s three plants in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujarat and would also block the supply of Apollo’s products in the market to protest against price hikes. (BS)

IDBI Bank has firmed up plans to raise up to US$300mn through a medium-term Swiss franc bond issue. (FE)

Adhunik Metaliks is spending Rs5bn for a pellet plant in Orissa. (ET)

Aurobindo Pharma has received has received a warning letter from the USFDA based on a field alert report for packaging and labeling compliance for unit-III, seeking a detailed action plan for improvement. (FE)

Peter Unsworth, CEO of Tata Global Beverages has resigned. (BS)

KPIT Cummins has signed an agreement to buy 50% stake in Mumbai-based firm Systime, for Rs1.03bn. (BS)

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet will start operating its regional subsidiary from July 14 with two Bombardier Q400s. (BS)

Following the Reserve Bank of India’s objection, government-owned UCO Bank has declassified loans worth Rs40bn. (BS)
Economy Snippets

India’s fiscal gap may not narrow to the targeted 4.6% of GDP in the current financial year if oil prices continue to stay high, according to chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu. (BS)

The 12th Plan will aim at increasing funding to R&D to 2% of the GDP, up from 0.98 % of GDP during the ongoing 11th Plan. (ET)

Union Minister for Coal ruled out scrapping e-auction of coal, rejecting the demand of the Power Ministry. (ET)

India received FDI worth US$3.39bn during January-March, 2011, a decline of 32% vis-a-vis the same period last year. (FE)

Credit default swaps will be permitted in India from October with banks, primary dealers and NBFCs’ participation and some strict rules to prevent abuse. (ET)

The government plans to ask drugmakers to carry out fresh clinical studies on anti-anxiety drug Deanxit to verify its safety and efficacy and whether it should be allowed to be sold in the local market. (ET)

India's tea imports in the first quarter of this calender year declined by almost 16%. (ET)

RBI has asked the states to do their bid in inflation management by addressing the supply-side constraints. (ET)