The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, August 07, 2007

ESOPS
Nagarjuna Const ESOP allotment
Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd allotted 11,380 equity shares of Rs 2 each at Rs 11 per share under the terms of the NCC Employees Stock Option Plan (ESOP) 2004 which was earlier approved by the shareholders of the company at its extraordinary ... More

INSIGHT
India Inc: Coming of age
If the M&A deals struck in the first half of 2007 are any indication, it appears that the boom witnessed in 2006 is likely to continue. Corporate finance activity in India saw 382 deals worth Rs 1,047 billion ($26 billion) in the first half of 20 07, a substantial rise of 126 per cent in deal value over the same period last year, and also registered the highest number of deals in any six months since the first half of 2002. More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES
Research-oriented cos may stay away: Novartis
Drug major disappointed over HC verdict on Glivec More

Novartis loses plea; HC upholds Patents Act provision
The Madras High Court on Monday rejected the contention of multi-national pharma major Novartis that the amended law on products eligible for patent is beyond the legislative powers of Parliament. A Division Bench, comprising Mr Justice ... More

Glivec-impact: ‘Thumb’s up for public health’
Mumbai, Aug. 6 At the patient care department of the Cancer Patient’s Aid Association, Ms Vinaya Chacko is happy for the 1,000-odd cancer patients who visit every day. Patients are poor and cannot afford expensive cancer drugs, ... More

CREDIT RATING
Small sector rating agency opens ‘seva kendra’ in Coimbatore
Coimbatore, Aug. 6 The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country, which have secured rating from the SME Rating Agency of India Ltd (SMERA), have been able to obtain financial assistance at concessional rate of interest from the ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Strides completes Diaspa buy
Strides Arcolab said it has completed the acquisition of fermentation company Diaspa SpA, Italy, for an undisclosed sum. The buy marks Strides’ entry into the fermentation business. It also enables backward integration of a large part of ... More

NEW PROJECTS
GVK’s Uttarakhand power project achieves financial closure
Capital cost of project estimated at Rs 2,069 cr More

Isagro Asia plans setting up Rs 50-cr facility
Isagro Asia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Isagro SpA of Italy, has decided to set up a production line at its Panoli (Gujarat) facility to manufacture all new products the company developed for the global markets.The company, which ... More

Apollo telemedicine network adds Muscat
Hyderabad, Aug. 6 Apollo Group of Hospitals has connected its medical centre in Muscat (Oman) with its telemedicine network, facilitating the latter to have access with the specialists in all of the group’s hospitals.Dr Ahmed Bin ... More

Anjani lines up Rs 170 cr for capacity expansion
Eyeing big avenue to tap national market More

OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS
Essar bids for three oil, gas blocks in Iran
Two onshore assets and one offshore More

ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES
Wal-Mart is in; partnership pact signed with Bharti
New Delhi, Aug. 6 Wal-Mart today formally marked its entry into India by signing two agreements with Bharti Enterprises.The first is a franchisee arrangement between the two companies.Bharti will handle the front end, while ... More

SOCIETY & DEVELOPMENT
Coal India initiative
Coal India Ltd (CIL) has sponsored Rs 10 lakh for the supply of artificial limbs to 510 people who were affected in an ammunition dump explosion in Mozambique in March this year. The artificial limbs will be distributed at a rehabilitation camp ... More

DIVERSIFICATION
Bharti entering DTH, Net TV
Ties up with Cisco for IPTV; betting big on DTH service More

SICK UNITS
NTC hopeful of mopping up Rs 400 cr from Gujarat land sale
The National Textile Corporation (NTC) hopes to raise around Rs 400 crore by selling land belonging to nine of the 11 closed textile mills in Gujarat and also plans foray into retailing readymade garments in the next two years. The plan ... More

Pennar Ind comes out of BIFR fold
Following a financial turnaround, Pennar Industries Ltd has come out of the folds of Board for Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR), New Delhi and Corporate Debt Restructuring Cell (CDR), Mumbai.

The BIFR has informed that the ... More

OUTLOOK
Ministerial group formed on Reliance KG gas price
New Delhi, Aug. 6 An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by the External Affairs Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, would go into the issue of pricing of natural gas to be produced by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) from its Krishna Godavari ... More

Cairn hopes to stabilise Cambay basin supplies
Kolkata, Aug. 6 Cairn India is expecting to stabilise natural gas supplies from its CB/OS-2 joint venture in Cambay basin, within this month. According to sources, supplies from the operation have become erratic in last few weeks and ... More

BMW India lines up brand promo efforts
New Delhi, Aug .6 Luxury carmaker BMW India plans more retail initiatives and brand promotion exercises for the domestic market. The company, which signed up with ICICI Bank for a preferred financial solution partnership, now plans ... More

Rig unavailability may delay Reliance’s KG basin plans
Kolkata, Aug. 6 Reliance Industries is facing further delay in availability of high specification ultra-deepwater rig for development and exploration drilling in the deepwater D6 block in Krishna-Godavari basin. As against the original ... More

PERFORMANCE
Ashok Leyland July sales down 19.5 %
Chennai, Aug 6 Ashok Leyland sold 3,391 goods carriers in July, about 20 per cent lower than 4,208 sold in the same period last year.The goods segment sales for the month were also lower than in the previous month (3,973 ... More