26th October - The Mint

Rupesh Kumar Chaturvedi
Rotash Chandra Sahu
Section - H

1. SEBI Clears IPO norms for Insurers

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India cleared the decks for initial public offerings (IPO’s) by life insurance firms, but the much-anticipated changes in the takeover code weren’t approved by the watchdog as discussions at the board meeting remained “inconclusive”. Regulator postpones discussion on takeover code changes to next board meet; IPO retail investment cap doubled.

2. Trade deficit narrows to lowest level since April as import growth slows:-

The rising rupee has been a growing worry for Indian exporters. Exports continued to grow smartly in September while import growth slowed, as a result of which the trade deficit shrunk to its lowest level since April, coming in at $9.12 billion ( Rs 40,492.80 crore).

3. Price hikes, tax sops help HUL profit rise:-

Marginal price increases along with tax incentives helped Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) exceed expectations on Monday with a 32% jump in net profit for the quarter ended 30th September.

4. DBS aims to widen Indian focus, build customer banking base:-

Singapore’s largest lender DBS Bank Ltd aims to widen its focus to build a consumer banking base in Asia’s third largest economy. The Indian arm of Singaporean lender seeks to generate 25-30% of deposits from retail clients.

5. Japan, India ink deal to boost investment:-

The leaders of India and Japan signed a broad agreement on Monday aimed at increasing trade and agreed to speed up talks towards a civilian nuclear energy deal- despite sensitivity in Japan over India’s past atomic tests.

6. SC rejects L&T plea for stay on awarding of NTPC contracts:-

The SC on Monday dismissed engineering firm Larsen & Toubro Ltd’s plea to hold the award of bids by NTPC Ltd, clearing the way for the state-owned power utility to award the contract, the largest ever supply of power equipment in the country.

7. Number portability likely to be delayed by 2-3 more months:-

Mobile phone users are likely to get the option of retaining numbers while changing service providers by the end of this year or early 2011. Some analysts say MNP will pose a higher risk to CDMA operators than GSM ones.

8. Idea profit drops on salary hikes, tariffs:-

Idea Cellular Ltd, India’s sixth largest mobile telephony services provider by subscribers & also a part of the Aditya Birla Group, reported a 10.7% decline in profit in the September quarter. The consolidated profit was Rs 179.7crore, down from Rs 201 crore during June quarter.

9. Manu Anand to head PepsiCo India:-

PepsiCo Inc. on Monday announced the appointment of Manu Anand as its new India-head following the promotion of incumbent chairman and chief executive Sanjeev Chadha as chief of the beverage and snacks giant’s Middle East and Africa operations with effect from January 1st, 2011.

10. Titan Q2 net beats forecast, up 64%:-

Titan Industries Ltd posted a 64% year on year jump in net profit to Rs 128 crore, beating a Reuter’s poll forecast of Rs 109 crore. Net sales of the firm rose to Rs 1536 crore from Rs 1147 crore posted a year ago.

11. Inflation to moderate to 6% by December:-

The Planning Commission on Monday exuded confidence that inflation would to 6% by December end from over 8% currently, mainly on account of good farm output. The agriculture sector growth output during 2010-2011, according to Planning Commission member (agriculture) Abhijit Sen, is expected to be around 7%, the highest in the 11th Five Year Plan.

12. Wal-Mart pitches for FDI hike in retail:-

Mike duke, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. urged India to foreign investors, saying this would benefit the consumers and help bring down inflation. He says opening up the country’s retail sector will help the consumers and help the government bring down inflation.

13. Rajasthan Royals moves Bombay HC:-

The Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals has moved the Bombay High Court against the termination of its franchisee contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

14. Bharti to launch 3G services this year:-

Bharti Airtel Ltd on Monday said it will launch the much- awaited 3G services before the end of this year, making it the 3rd private operator in the country after TATA TELESERVICES Ltd and Vodafone to unveil plans for offering mobile broadband.

15. PMO fixes terms for CWG probe panel:-

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday fixed the terms of reference of the committee set up to probe irregularities during the Commonwealth Games held from 3rd October to 14th October in Delhi. It also added a member to the panel headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General V.K. Shunglu.

16. Aditya Birla Group’s PE arm to invest $30-40 million byApril:-

Aditya Birla Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd, or Abcap, the private equity (PE) arm of the Aditya Birla Group, plans to invest around $30-40 million by April, said Abcap’s managing director and chief executive Bharat Banka. The company plans to have a portfolio of 10-15 firms and will target deals sized around $15-20 million.

17. Sensex rises as foreign investors increase holdings of local shares:-

India’s stock rose, driving the benchmark index to its highest in more than a week, as foreign investors increased holdings of local shares. The benchmark index gains 0.7% to 20,303.12 from 20,225.31. The Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange rose 0.7% to 6,105.80.

18. HUL grows revenue, but at a high cost:-

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) surprised the Street with a record volume growth of 14% in the quarter ended September. The company had taken some price cuts, due to which revenue growth was lower at around 11%, which again, was higher than Street estimates.

19. Dollar weakens after G-20 talks:-

The dollar fell broadly after the Group of 20 nations agreed over the weekend to avoid “competitive devaluation” of their countries. As a result of which dollar falls to a 15-year low against the yen, and now it could even test its record low this week.

20. Trail in Satyam scam to begin on 2nd November:-

The trail in the multi-crore Satyam Computers Ltd fraud case will begin on 2nd November, nearly 22 months after its founder B. Ramalingam Raju admitted in January last year to fudging the company’s accounts to the tune of Rs 7,200 crore.