India: Deserves more appreciation

Investors remain worried about shifting macro risks in India, despite the majority of actual economic outcomes being better than expectations. Indian policymakers have done a good job of cushioning the economy from the global credit crisis and positioning it for a strong rebound.

Investors continue to generally misinterpret the broader policy framework and the likely course of policy moves in India.

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Maruti’s Japanese parent Suzuki raises its stake in the company

India’s leading auto maker, Maruti Suzuki’s Japanese parent — Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) — is believed to have increased its stake in the company by 0.8% to 55%, as indicated in some media reports.

As per the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) Takeover code – if any entity raises its stake in another company beyond 55%, the former will be required to launch an open offer for additional 20% stake in the latter.

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Punj Lloyd imposed GBP 23.1 mn penalty – Analysis

Punj Lloyd obtained the takeover certificate of the engineering & construction of the bio ethanol plant at Teeside , England for its clients Ensus ltd. UK.

The company will pay the liquidated damages of GBP 23.1 million (~ INR 160 Cr) due to delay in achieving the completion of the project. The original completion date for the said project was January 2009. Out of the total penalty of GBP 23.1 million (~ INR 160 Cr), the company has already booked a loss of GBP 13.5 million ( INR 104 Cr) in Q2 FY10.

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Infra spending to push steel demand by 10% in FY11

India’s steel demand is likely to increase by 10% in the next fiscal year ending March 2011 riding on the increasing spending on the infrastructure development, said the Union Steel Secretary Atul Chaturvedi on Wednesday.

‘Steel demand will continue to rise because a lot of emphasis has been put in the budget on infrastructure development,’ he said on the sidelines of a conference. Indian steel industry has remained much buoyant compared to its global peers after the global financial crisis surfaced, thank to the monetary-fiscal stimulus which pushed overall domestic demand and consumption.

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Rural Rollout Oblgation for New Banks – RBI

Taking a leaf from the Indian Telecom Success story and to emphasize more on inclusive growth story, the RBI is considering a rural and semi-urban stint for the new banks in order to strengthen its prospects of financial inclusion for the unbanked people of India.

A finance ministry official has quoted of saying

new entrants may only be allowed to open branches in rural areas for the first two years and the subsequent period will depend on the basis of their direct lending to the agriculture sector, opening of no-frill accounts and other financial inclusion criteria

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Transgene Biotek Patents for Liver – Breast Cancer Research

Transgene Biotek has informed us that the company has filed two patents for its cancer drug technologies based on its proprietary RNAi platform.

The company has filed its first patent for a liver cancer drug, following excellent results demonstrated in the latest animal studies. It covers a novel technology that employs an AAV vector system genetically modified by Transgene to efficiently express specific microRNA that silence a particular metastasis-promoting gene in liver cancer cells.

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