30-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•BHEL has bagged a Rs. 1.7 bn order from Chennai Petroleum Corporation for setting up gas turbine-based co-generation power plant at its Manali refinery. (BS)
•Welspun-Gujarat Stahl Rohren has bagged orders worth Rs. 9.6 bn from India and overseas for producing pipes and others. (BS)
•Areva T&D has bagged an order from aluminium major Hindalco for erecting 440 KV substations at its plants in Singrauli (MP) and Sambalpur (Orissa). (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•The government has decided to compensate states for any revenue loss on account of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, a move that will encourage states to go in for the new tax structure scheduled to be implemented from April 1, next year. (BS)
•Japan's manufacturers plan to limit production increases this month and in July, signaling the economy may be slow to recover from its worst postwar slump. (Bloomberg)
•European confidence in the economic outlook rose 73.3, more than economists forecast in June, adding to signs that record low interest rates and stimulus measures are helping to pull the region out of a recession. (Bloomberg)
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29-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline • Reliance Industries has signed a gas sales and purchase agreement with state-owned power major NTPC to supply gas at the government-mandated price of USD 4.2 per mmBtu. (BS) • Unitech is planning to raise USD 200 mn within the next three months by selling stake in its affordable housing projects to private equity players. (BS) • DLF said that it will reduce its huge debt of Rs. 140 bn to half by the end of this fiscal by raising funds through sales of non-core assets/businesses, and internal accruals. (BS)   Economic and Political Headline • The RBI has allowed Public sector banks to give more relief to farmers under the debt relief scheme, provided the lenders do not ask the Government to bear the losses. (BS) • The US Consumer spending rose 0.3% in May as benefits from the Obama administration's stimulus plan spurred a jump in American incomes, a sign that efforts to revive the economy are starting to pay off. (Bloomberg) • Japan's consumer prices fell 1.1% from a year earlier in May, adding to the risk that deflation will become entrenched and hamper a rebound from the nation's worst postwar recession. (Bloomberg)

26-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•GAIL India is planning to invest over Rs. 75 bn in laying natural gas transportation pipelines from Dabhol on Maharashtra coast to Bengaluru and Kochi to Mangalore. (BS)
•Areva T&D India has bagged an order worth about Rs. 12 bn from domestic steel major Jindal Steel & Power for a power project. (BS)
•Unitech reported Q4'09 result; total sales dropped 30.21% yoy to Rs. 28.89 bn, and net profit fell 27.93% yoy to Rs. 11.97 bn. (BS) 


Economic and Political Headline

•Driven by higher prices of food items like pulses, cereals, milk, and fruit and vegetables, inflation rose marginally to (-)1.14% for the week ended June 13 against (-)1.61% in the previous week. (BS)
•The US economy shrank 5.5% in the first quarter of 2009, much less than expected amid rising hopes of an early economic turn around. At the same time, the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits climbed by 15,000 to 6,27,000 for the week ended June 20, indicating that labour market recovery may take longer time than expected. (BS)
•The Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said that the central bank acted with the "highest integrity" in talks on Bank of America Corp.'s takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co., defending his record against some lawmakers who have alleged officials' actions were inappropriate. (Bloomberg)
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25-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Tata Steel is learnt to have submitted a Rs. 1 bn revival plan for cable manufacturer Incab, awaiting clearance from the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. (BS)
•BHEL has secured an order worth Rs. 1.05 bn from Indian Oil Corporation for setting up a captive power plant at its Barauni Refinery Complex. (BS)
•ABB India has won orders worth Rs. 2.2 bn from Tata Projects to provide power products and solutions for a super-critical coal-fired power plant under construction in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•Excise collections for April have been badly hit, resulting the fiscal deficit touching 16% of target in the very first month itself, which could douse expectations of interest rate cuts. (BS)
•Orders for the US durable goods unexpectedly jumped 1.8% in May, a sign companies are gaining confidence the recession is easing. (Bloomberg)
•Japan's export slump deepened 40.9% from a year earlier in May, casting doubt on the nation's growth prospects as the economy struggles to emerge from its worst postwar recession. (Bloomberg)
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24-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•ONGC has made 28 oil and gas discoveries, including in the prolific Krishna Godavari basin, in the last fiscal but did not put reserve number to the findings. (BS)
•KEC International has bagged three orders totaling to Rs. 1.1 bn. One of the orders is in Peru, in the South American continent, and two in Chhattisgarh. (BS)
•NTPC is planning to sign the gas purchase agreement with RIL for its gas-based power plants other than the projects for expanding the Kawas and Gandhar units, on which litigation is going on with RIL. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•In the face of rising global crude oil prices, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that domestic prices of petrol, diesel, and cooking gas should be linked to oil prices in the international market. (BS)
•The sales prices of existing homes in the US dropped 17% in May from a year before, spurring a second straight gain in purchases and helping reduce the nation's glut of unsold properties. (Bloomberg)
•The President Barack Obama said that he expects the US unemployment rate will exceed 10% this year, though a second stimulus package is not needed yet. (Bloomberg)
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23-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Jindal Saw has secured orders worth Rs. 10 bn for supplying pipes in both domestic as well as international markets. (BS)
•BHEL has bagged a Rs. 1.05 bn order from IOC for setting up a captive power plant at the latter's Barauni Refinery Complex. (BS)
•ABB India bagged orders worth Rs. 550 mn to provide electrical infrastructure for modernisation of Kolkata airport. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•The government is planning to hike the price of natural gas produced by ONGC and Oil India by over 17% and index it to inflation rate to help the two firms cut losses on selling fuel below cost. (BS)
•The UK home sellers lowered asking prices in June for the first time in five months as banks scaled back lending and required buyers to stump up bigger deposits. (Bloomberg)
•European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said that there's still a risk that renewed financial turmoil could hamper an economic recovery. (Bloomberg)
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22-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•NALCO has added 120 MW capacities at its captive power plant under its ongoing second phase of expansion. (Reuters)
•Indian Oil Corporation's refinery project at Paradip in Orissa would be operational from November 2012 after its completion in August that year. (BS)
•IRB Infrastructure Developers has emerged as the lowest bidder for the Rs. 12 bn project of National Highway Authority of India. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•The Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said that the Reserve Bank of India should look at eventually reversing the expansionary policy pursued in the wake of the global economic crisis. (Reuters)
•Seeking to mollify the fears of banks that high government borrowing would not allow interest rate to come down, the Planning Commission said that the fiscal deficit will be high but not in "double digits". (BS)
•The European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet dismissed concerns over a possible threat of deflation and said that the ECB would guarantee price stability over the medium term. (Reuters)
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19-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Tech Mahindra has received approval from the US anti-trust authority regarding its Rs. 11.54 bn open offer for the purchase of an additional 20% stake in Satyam Computer. (BS)
•Shree Renuka Sugars said that it will expand its sugar refining capacity at its Athani unit in Karnataka to 2,000 tonne per day from 1,000 tonne per day. (BS)
•ONGC is resuming operations in insurgency-hit Nagaland after a gap of 15 years and has opened a liaison office at Dimapur. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•Inflation turned negative 1.61% for the first time in thirty years but the prices of food items like fruit and vegetables, cereals and oil were still higher than last year. (BS)
•The index of the US leading economic indicators rose 1.2% in May for a second consecutive month and a regional factory gauge climbed more than forecast in June, showing the worst recession in five decades may soon end. (Bloomberg)
•The UK retail sales unexpectedly dropped 0.6% in May for the first time in three months and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said the economic recovery may be sluggish as banks ration credit. (Bloomberg)
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18-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Omaxe said its subsidiary has bagged a contract worth Rs. 1.28 bn from UP Projects Corporation Ltd for various construction related works. (BS)
•Ansal Properties & Infrastructure sought shareholders approval to raise Rs. 40 bn from private placement of shares with qualified institutional buyers and through international fund raising routes. (BS)
•BPCL has entered into an agreement with Engineers India for commercializing the in-house technology developed by BPCL- Kochi Refinery. (ET)


Economic and Political Headline

•The Finance Ministry is contemplating diluting provisions of Fringe Benefit Tax by which companies may not have to pay taxes on certain perks and allowances availed of by employees. (BS)
•The cost of living in the US fell 1.3% in the year ended in May, the most since 1950, easing concern that government efforts to revive the economy will lead to an immediate outbreak of inflation. (Bloomberg)
•The UK saw a whopping 2.26 mn people becoming jobless in the three months to April 2009, pushing the unemployment numbers to the highest in 12 years, as the economy continued to reel under recession. (BS)
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17-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•RNRL has joined the race to hire the LNG terminal adjacent to the Dabhol power plant to import liquefied natural gas cargoes. (BS)
•Sesa Goa is looking to raise about Rs. 5.83 bn through issue of shares to the firm's promoters and its associates. (ET)
•IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects has secured orders worth Rs. 4.32 bn from Mumbai-based Coastal Gujarat Power Limited for design and construction of all main civil works. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•Available data on advance tax payments for the first quarter of the financial year indicates that the manufacturing sector may take more time to recover, while the financial sector remains buoyant. (BS)
•Housing market in the US starts jumped more than forecast in May while industrial production tumbled, offering a picture of an American economy still struggling to emerge from the deepest recession in half a century. (Bloomberg)
•The UK inflation rose 2.2% from a year earlier in May, at slower than economists forecast after higher taxes and the weakness of the pound sustained price pressures in the economy. (Bloomberg)
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16-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•RIL has received order from the Bombay High Court to assure gas supply of 28 mmscmd from Krishna-Godavari basin D6 block to RNRL for 17 years at USD 2.34 mmbtu. (BS)
•Ansal Properties & Infrastructure is planning to raise funds up to Rs. 15 bn through the issue of securities on a private placement basis to qualified institutional buyers. (BS)
•Deep Industries has bagged two contracts worth Rs. 720 mn from ONGC for hiring natural gas compressors to the company. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•Leaving for Russia on his first foreign visit after assuming office for a second term, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India is ready to play its part in coordinating global efforts to overcome the economic slowdown. (BS)
•The International Monetary Fund has raised its outlook for the US and called for steps to reduce concern about rising public debt and inflation. (Bloomberg)
•Group of Eight finance ministers began drawing up contingency plans for rolling back budget deficits and bank bailouts as the economy shows signs of recovery and investors start worrying about inflation. (Bloomberg)
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12-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Sesa Goa has acquired Goa-based iron ore mining company – Dempo Mining Corporation for Rs. 17.5 bn. (BS)
•ONGC said it will borrow about Rs. 270 bn over next three to four years to fund its projects. (BS)
•NTPC and BHEL have joined hands to set up a major power projects equipment manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•The inflation rate for the week ended May 30 came down to 0.13% primarily due to decrease in prices of manufactured products on an annual basis. (BS)
•Retail sales in the US rose 0.5% in May, for the first time in three months, an increase driven almost solely by shoppers returning to automobile showrooms seeking bargains and the rising cost of gasoline. (Bloomberg)
•The Japanese economy shrank at a staggering rate of 3.8% in the first quarter of 2009, but the pace of contraction is still less than anticipated. (BS)
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11-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Tata Teleservices announced the launch of its services in GSM platform in partnership with Japanese firm NTT DoCoMo and said it will invest USD 2 bn by this fiscal to roll out operations across the country. (BS)
•SAIL received the nod for acquiring four pending mining leases in Chiria iron ore mines of Jharkhand. (BS)
•RIL has increased LPG supplies to Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum from its twin refineries at Jamnagar, forcing the state-run firms to sell cooking fuel cargoes that they had contracted from overseas suppliers. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that banks have agreed to consider interest rate cuts, responding to his strong pitch saying measures to ease their burden were not being passed on and that industry needed credit at reasonable rates to push overall growth. (BS)
•The UK manufacturing rose 0.2% for a second month in April, as a rebound in motor vehicle production helped end the yearlong factory slump and temper Britain's recession. (Bloomberg)
•The orders for Japanese machinery fell 5.4% in April and producer prices tumbled as dwindling profits forced companies to cut costs amid the worst postwar recession. (Bloomberg)
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10-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•ONGC said its overseas crude output will fall this year as fields age, and an increase is likely after new areas in Brazil and Myanmar start production by 2012. (Bloomberg)
•NTPC has agreed to buy natural gas from RIL but is opposed to paying marketing margin to the private firm and wants to use the fuel at plants other than Kawas and Gandhar that were identified by the government. (BS)
•Infotech Enterprises has secured a multi-million dollar contract from Malaysia-based inCONTROL Tech for implementing GIS information system for a power utility in that country. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the country's economy is even now capable of growing by 8%-9%, the same rate as it did before the global financial meltdown set in. (BS)
•JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Morgan Stanley were among 10 lenders that won the US Treasury approval to buy back USD 68 bn of government shares, freeing them from added oversight that curbed lending practices, hiring, and pay. (Bloomberg)
•China's passenger-vehicle sales rose 47% in May, the biggest jump since February 2006, as tax cuts and government subsidies helped extend the country's lead over the US as the world's biggest auto market this year. (Bloomberg)
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9-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Areva T&D India has bagged four contracts worth Rs. 3.5 bn from power transmission utility Power Grid Corporation of India for developing four substations in the country. (BS)
•Wire & Wireless is planning to raise Rs. 1.92 bn on a private placement basis from institutional investors. (BS)
•Power Trading Corp is planning to acquire coal properties overseas and has identified mines in Australia and Indonesia for the purpose. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•With economic condition turning better compared to that three months ago, the Planning Commission said economy should record at least 6.7% growth rate this fiscal, the same as was witnessed in 2008-09. (BS)
•The Bank of England is proposing an extension to its Asset Purchase Facility to buy secured commercial paper as part of its plan to restore liquidity to credit markets. (Bloomberg)
•Japan's corporate bankruptcies dropped 6.7% in May, for the first time in 12 months and merchant sentiment climbed to a one-year high, signs that the economy is starting to recover from its deepest postwar recession. (Bloomberg)
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8-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•JSW Steel has reported a 33% rise in crude steel production to 4.59 lakh tonnes in May 2009. (BS)
•C&C Constructions has bagged two orders worth Rs. 3.75 bn from Jaiprakash Associates. (BS)
•ONGC approved the revised cost estimates for developing the nation's most prolific on-land oilfield in Rajasthan and agreed to invest around USD 350 mn more in the fields operated by Cairn India. (ET)


Economic and Political Headline

•The government's direct tax collection in May this year recorded a 16.88% jump to Rs. 119.19 bn from Rs. 101.98 bn in the same month last year. (BS)
•Payrolls in the US fell by 345,000, the least in eight months, after a revised 504,000 loss in April, reinforcing signs that the deepest recession in half a century is starting to abate. (Bloomberg)
•Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, scrapped an investment from Aluminum Corp. of China in favor of raising USD 21 bn from a share sale and an iron-ore venture with BHP Billiton Ltd. (Bloomberg)
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5-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Parsvanath Developers has bagged a Rs. 200 mn contract from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for construction of a residential project at Mundka Depot for phase II of Delhi MRTS project. (BS)
•RIL has won a contract to supply up to 50,000 barrels of petrol per day to Iran until the end of this year but may have temporarily halted exports to the Persian Gulf nation. (BS)
•Kingfisher Airlines has got crucial funding of Rs. 20 bn from SBI and a consortium of other banks to meet working capital requirements. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•Inflation declined to 0.48% for the week ended May 23, giving head room to the government to initiate expansionary measures and prompt banks to cut rates. (BS)
•President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said that India may allow greater overseas investment, sell stakes in state-run companies, and inject more capital into lenders to stoke economic growth. (Bloomberg)
•The Bank of England left the benchmark interest rate at a record low to 0.5% and kept up its plan to buy bonds with newly created money to pull the economy out of the worst recession in a generation. (Bloomberg)
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04-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•HPCL is planning to invest Rs. 6.14 bn in the two sugar mills it had bought in Bihar to manufacture ethanol. (BS)
•Jaihind Projects has received an order of Rs. 2.31 bn and Rs. 148.4 mn from Gujarat State Petronet Ltd. (BS)
•BHEL has bagged Rs. 3.75 bn order from Oman for supplying and erection of two gas turbine generating units of 126 MW each. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•As exports dipped by 30% in May -- extending the fall to eighth month in a row -- the government reviewed the grave situation with top exporters promising them incentives. (BS)
•Service industries in the US shrank to 44, at a slower pace in May, while job losses mounted, indicating that any economic recovery will be slow to develop. (Bloomberg)
•The UK service industries from banks to airlines unexpectedly grew 51.7 in May, the first time in a year, adding to evidence the deepest recession in a generation may be past its worst. (Bloomberg)
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3-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•HDIL has entered into a joint venture with Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority for the development of 525 acre of land under rental housing scheme at Virar. (BS)
•Infosys Technologies has incurred a capital expenditure of Rs. 630 mn in its three loss-making subsidiaries in China, Mexico, and the US. (BS)
•SBI is planning to raise Rs. 280 bn from bonds to meet regulatory capital requirement and to fund business growth during the current fiscal. (BS)


Economic and Political Headline

•The Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Dinsha Patel said that the government will address the credit needs of the tiny and small firms, while a separate fund for enterprises in the unorganised sector is proposed. (BS)
•The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes climbed 6.7% in April, more than forecast and the fourth increase in five months, as lower prices attracted buyers. (Bloomberg)
•The UK mortgage approvals rose 43,201 in April, compared with 40,038 in March, the highest level in a year, underpinning demand for homes as the property-market slump shows signs of easing. (Bloomberg)
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2-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Maruti Suzuki India reported a 15.75% jump in the total sales in May at 79,872 units as against 69,001 units in the same month last year. (BS)
•Parsvnath Developers is planning to invest Rs. 7 bn to develop a premium luxury housing project at Civil Lines in the national capital and expects a realisation of about Rs. 13 bn in three fiscals. (BS)
•Sun Pharmaceuticals is planning to spend Rs. 3.32 bn in research & development of low-cost version of original drugs to be sold in domestic and global markets. (ET)


Economic and Political Headline

•The global downturn has taken the wind out of the sails of India's exports, which fell the most in 14 years in April, by 33.2%, over the same month last year, while domestic slowdown led to imports dropping by 36.6% in the same period. (BS)
•The US factory index rose to 42.8, the highest level since September, from 40.1 in April, spurred by the first gain in new orders since the recession began, a sign companies are increasingly confident the slump will end this year. (Bloomberg)
•The UK manufacturing index rose to 45.4 from 43.1 in May, more than economists forecast and to the highest in a year, adding to signs that the recession may be past its worst. (Bloomberg)
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1-June-09 News Headlines

Corporate News Headline

•Power Grid Corporation of India has bagged Rs. 10.33 bn worth transmission project from Punjab State Electricity Board. (BS)
•BHEL has signed an MoU worth Rs. Rs 18.5 bn with SAIL for supply of steel materials like flats and long products. (BS)
•Anant Raj Industries is planning to raise Rs. 20 bn by issuing securities, including ADRs and FCCBs, to qualified institutional buyers on a private placement basis. (BS)

  
Economic and Political Headline

•Braving the global recessionary trends, India managed 6.7% economic growth in 2008-09. (BS)
•The UK house prices unexpectedly jumped 1.2% in May, matching the biggest gain since 2006, displaying signs of an easing property market slump. (Bloomberg)
•Japan's consumer prices fell 0.1% for the second month in April, adding to signs that the recession will herald a return to deflation. (Bloomberg)
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