Daily News Roundup - Feb 18 2014

The employees’ union at Bajaj Auto Ltd’s Chakan plant near Pune has rejected the management’s offer to give each of around 850 workers a monthly wage hike Rs. 10,000. (BL)

Tech Mahindra has entered into a global partnership with Acidaes Solutions, the owners of CRMnext Solution, to jointly develop software solutions for the financial services industry. (BL)

State Bank of India, has sanctioned loans totalling Rs100bn to six telecom companies to help them buy spectrum. (ET)

Bharti Airtel has said rates would rise continually in the next few years. (BS)

Wipro said it would take 150 graduates as interns in South Africa in 2014, up from 70 last year. (BS)

Acting on the recommendations of a high-level inter-ministerial panel, the coal ministry cancelled 10 coal blocks allocated to 18 companies including Adani Power, Jindal Steel and Power, Rungta Mines and a joint venture between Tata and South African Sasol. (BS)

Muthoot Finance said it was evaluating options for foraying into the insurance sector and was on the lookout for a foreign partner in this regard. (ET)

Kingfisher Airlines Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Aggarwal has quit after three and a half years at the company. (ET)

Government auditor CAG pulled up BHEL for delays in augmenting the equipment manufacturing capacity, needed for supporting the expansion of power sector. (ET)

Finance Minister has provided Air India a budgetary allocation of Rs55bn as equity infusion. (BL)

Economy Snippets
For 2014-15, the deficit has been pegged at 4.1% of GDP, 1% point lower than the target in the fiscal consolidation road map, even as the government cut excise duties to spur manufacturing growth, particularly in consumer durable goods, which fell for the 13th month in a row in December. (BS)

In what could be a major reprieve to manufacturers in the automobile industry, Finance Minister in the interim Budget slashed excise duty on two-wheelers, passenger cars, sports utility vehicles and commercial vehicles between 3-6%. (BS)

A Parliamentary panel has rejected the Bill on microfinance institutions and asked the government to bring a fresh legislation before Parliament. The Bill had sought to empower the central bank to regulate them and fix interest rates ceiling on loans to be provided by MFIs. (BS)