The Hindu Business Line : News round-up for the week

Bear Stearns appears to have unwound a significant portion of its equity holdings in India in recent trading sessions as the company decided to sell equities as it faces near bankruptcy.

Bear Stearns Asset Management sold securities worth over Rs 265 crore in delivery-based transactions.

Reliance denies insider allegations

Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister of State for Finance, said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha last Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Board of India was looking into the alleged insider trading activities in the shares of Reliance Petroleum Ltd.

However, the company issued a press statement saying that Reliance Industries and its group companies had complied with all rules and regulations and would co-operate and provide all the information to the authorities.

Centre bans export of edible oils

The Centre has banned exports of all edible oils as a measure to curbing their rising prices and check inflation.

In a notification issued late last Monday, the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade, an arm of the Commerce Ministry, said the ban, with immediate effect, would be applicable for one year.

SEBI's fiat on Institutional short selling

The Securities and Exchange Board of India in a circular issued last Wednesday said that institutional investors would now have to pay margin on their share transactions in the cash segment from April 21, in the same way as applicable to other investors,

SEBI also operationalised short selling and securities lending and borrowing from the same date.

Delhi HC declines stay against Cipla

The Delhi High Court refused to grant an interim stay against Cipla that would restrain the company from making and selling its generic version of Roche's lung-cancer drug Tarceva. Now, Cipla will be able to continue selling the medicine.

Dip in Industrial producion

On the heels of the deceleration in industrial production in January this year, the six core infrastructure industries grew by 4.2 per cent in that month, almost half the 8.3 per cent growth seen in the same month last year.

The cumulative growth rate in these sectors during the 10-month period of April-January 2008 declined to 5.5 per cent as against 8.9 per cent in the same period last fiscal, according to the official data.

Inflation spikes to 5.92 per cent

Inflation surged to a 10-month high to come within touching distance of the 6 per cent mark.

The inflation rate was up nearly a full percentage point at 5.92 per cent during the reported week ended March 8.

Inflation has been rising for the last nine weeks and the current inflation level is the highest witnessed since May 5, 2007.

CRH Group acquires stake in My Home Industries

The Dublin-based $20-billion CRH Group has entered India by picking up a 50 per cent stake in the Hyderabad-based privately held My Home Industries Ltd, for a consideration of $456 million.

According to an agreement reached, CRH, the Irish building materials major, will take 42 per cent of the promoter's stake for about Rs 1,337 crore, while investing Rs 500 crore into My Home Industries for the remaining 8 per cent.

New rule for H-1B visas

With barely a week to go for the start of H-1B visa rush, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services introduced new rules prohibiting companies from filing multiple H-1B visa applications for the same employee.

The move is aimed at ensuring a fair and orderly distribution of H-1B visas.

Forex edges up

The country's foreign exchange reserves went up by $3.028 billion to $306.488 billion for the week-ended March 14. The increase is mainly on account of revaluation of currency assets.

Compiled by M J Madhavan