Daily News Roundup - June 14 2011

Tata Communications has increased its effective holding in South Africa's second-biggest fixed-line phone operator Neotel to 61.5% from 49%. (BS)

The CAG said, the Oil Ministry and its technical arm, the DGH, bent rules for Reliance Industries. (FE)

Hindustan Zinc has hiked the price of lead by 2.6% to Rs1,32,000 per ton in sync with the rise at the London Metal Exchange. (BL)
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Reliance Brands, a part of Reliance Industries (RIL) said its association Timberland in India will not be impacted by VF Corporation's global takeover of the latter. (BS)

Reliance Communications has protested BSNL's move to pull the plug on interconnections between networks of both companies in Punjab and Haryana last month over a financial dispute. (ET)

Larsen & Toubro expects its electrical and automation business to double to Rs80bn by 2015. (BS)

The Goldman Sachs unit picked up 9.1% stake in Max India for about Rs5.22bn (US$116mn). (BS)

Larsen & Toubro has bagged a Rs1.10bn order from the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company to supply energy meters. (ET)

Power Grid Corporation of India and Birla Institute of Management and Technology have signed a MoU to jointly explore opportunities abroad for assignments in capacity building, institution development and training and development programmes. (BS)

Gitanjali Gems has acquired Italy-based jewellery firm DIT Group SpA for US$11mn. (BS)

ICICI Bank has reversed its decision to exchange three bonds with new ones due to negative reaction from investors and to avoid speculation about its funding position. (ET)

Infosys Technologies has bagged the first of the Department of Post’s IT modernisation contracts. (BS)

Punj Lloyd has won an EPC nuclear power contract from NPCIL worth Rs6.78bn for critical nuclear piping work at four pressurised heavy water reactors of 700 MWe each. (FE)

JSW Steel Ltd has approached six small mining companies in Goa to procure enough to feed its existing steel plant and the proposed pig iron project in the state. (BS)

The stalemate between the Maruti management and its striking workers at the Manesar plant continued for the 10th day, as a series of negotiations between the two parties failed to yield any result. (BS)
Economy Snippets

India will become the third largest market in the world after China and the US for light vehicles, including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs), by 2020, according to market research firm JD Power Asia Pacific. (BS)

The telecom department has pegged the total subsidy for financing the countrywide rural wireless broadband rollout at Rs60-80bn. (ET)

The Commerce and Industry Minister urged the SAFTA member states to bring down all the protectionist trade barriers to achieve regional economies of scale at a much greater pace. (BL)

Farm credit flow surpassed the target by about 14% to Rs4,265bn during 2010-11 financial year. The government had set the target of farm credit disbursal at Rs3,750bn during the year. (BS)