GENERAL
1)With cancer cases rocketing in India, the Union health ministry
has prepared a Rs 15,855-crore plan for its early diagnosis and
treatment over the next five years. This is the largest chunk
of India's overall budget for non-communicable diseases (Rs
58,000 crore - a 500% increase from the 11th Plan).
TOI
CORPORATE / INDUSTRY
2)The Cabinet on Tuesday gave its final consent to the $8.5-
billion Cairn-Vedanta deal after the companies met all condi-
tions set by the government to complete the transaction,
government officials said.
ET
3)Pharmaceutical company Strides Arcolab has sold its Australian
subsidiary a few weeks after consolidating its ownership of the
company, a step which could be a precursor to sharper focus
on its fast-growing injectables business. The Bangalore-based
company said it will use most of the money from the sale of
Ascent Pharmahealth to retire debt, sending its stock soaring
by more than 17% to Rs 478, its highest level ever.
ET
MONEY & BANKING
4)The rupee on Tuesday moved higher to sub-50 level for the first
time in 10 weeks for a brief time intra-day before closing flat at
50.09/10 against the US dollar on alternate bouts of buying and
selling.
BL
5)IN a move that cheered equity and bond markets, the Reser-
ve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday chose to boost both senti-
ment and liquidity, cutting the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50
basis points to 5.5%. "The cut signals a reversal of monetary
policy stance but not of policy interest rates," RBI governor
Duvvuri Subbarao observed, adding in RBI's view, CRR was a
monetary policy tool with a liquidity dimension. "Banks say
it will help lend at lower rates and we hope the move will
send positive signals," Subbarao said.
FE
6)The CRR cut may not yet allow banks the elbow room to think of
a cut in interest rates, says Mr Abheek Barua, Chief Economist,
HDFC Bank. It has been an extreme case of liquidity crunch and
a one-time infusion of Rs 32,000 crore doesn't really help, he
told Business Line. The liquidity deficit has been variously esti-
mated to be in the region of Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
BL
7)Worried about a sub-prime type of situation in its car loan
portfolio, State Bank of India (SBI) has increased the minimum
income norm for availing its attractive car loan. The bank will
provide car loans only to those with annual income of more than
Rs 2.5 lakh per annum against Rs 1 lakh earlier.
ET
8)YES Bank reported a 32.94% jump in net profit to Rs 254.09
crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011. The bank
had posted a net profit of Rs 191.12 crore for the correspond-
ing year-ago period.
ET
MARKETS
9)Action is picking up in the equity market. The policy move by
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today saw traders returning to
the Street and pushing up stock prices a 10-week high. The
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark, Sensex, touched
the 17,000-mark, as sentiments got a boost on the announce-
ment of a 50-basis-point cut in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) -
money banks have to deposit with the RBI. The Sensex gain-
ed 224 points, or 1.46 per cent, to 16,995. The broader S&P
CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose 81 points,
or 1.61 per cent, to 5,127. Futures and options contracts
worth over Rs 2.5 lakh crore were traded on the NSE, the high-
est turnover seen on the bourse since November 25, 2011.
BS
10)After a series of investor-friendly measures, the Securities
and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the capital market regulator,
plans to back it up with a first-of-its-kind advertising campaign,
expected to be launched next month. The primary objective of the
campaign will be spreading investor awareness and increasing
penetration.
IPO
11)THE Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is not
done with its investigations relating to initial public offerings
(IPOs). The capital market regulator will soon release a list
of six to seven IPOs where rules on due diligence and use of
proceeds were violated. Sources add the public issues of Rushil
Decor, Timbor Home, Indo Thai Securities and Flexituff Inter-
national are among those under regulatory scrutiny.
FE
BUYBACK
12)The country's most-valued firm Reliance Industries on Tues-
day said its Rs 10,440 crore share buyback offer will start from
February 1 and close on January 19, 2013. In a public announce-
ment, Reliance Industries said the buyback, which is possibly the
largest such programme in the history of the Indian capital mar-
ket, would start on February 1 and closes on January 19 next
year (12 months from the date, the board of directors of the
company approved the buy back).
FE
MUTUAL FUNDS
13)Mutual fund houses are rushing to launch fixed maturity plans
(FMPs) in anticipation of a decline in interest rates in the com-
ing months. The RBI indicated the reversal of its monetary stance
by slashing the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points on
Tuesday.
FE
CORPORATE SCORE
14)Buoyed by better sales and operational performance by its cement
subsidiary - UltraTech Cements - Aditya Birla Group's flagship com-
pany Grasim Industries reported 33% rise in the net profit in the
three months to December 31. Revenues grew 17% to Rs 6,364
crore while net profit rose to Rs 669 crore.
ET
COMMODITIES
15)Brent crude oil slipped to $110 on Tuesday as investors looked
away from tension between Iran and the West and supply concerns
in Africa and focused on the chances of a Greek debt default that
could hit energy demand.
BL
16)London copper futures edged higher and stayed near four-month
highs on Tuesday, spurred by hopes that demand from China will
stay brisk and the global market will remain in deficit. Three-
month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2 per cent
to $8,385 a tonne by 0716 GMT, after hitting a session high of
$8,402.75.
BS
17)Gold eased from six-week highs on Tuesday after the euro fell
following the breakdown of talks over the restructuring of
Greece's debt, but the bullion price was still set for its strong-
est monthly gain since August. Spot gold was last down 0.6 per
cent on the day at $1,667.19 an ounce at 12:26 GMT.
BL
REAL ESTATE
18)IIFL Venture Capital Fund, the private equity arm of the India
Infoline group, is close to raising Rs 500 crore for investing
in real estate. The fund-raising will mark the brokerage's foray
into the private equity business. The fund, which has raised
the money from high net worth individuals, will focus on invest-
ing in residential properties in top cities, a top official said.
ET
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
19)Information technology industry, which is spending sleepless
nights following bleak forecasts for North America and Europe,
has a reason to smile. Indian enterprise IT spending across all
industries is going to grow by 10.3 per cent to over $39 billion
in 2012 as against $36 billion last year. Consumption by Govern-
ment and foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail are going to
be the biggest drivers for this growth, according to Gartner Inc,
that has just come with India-specific findings.
BL
20)India's technology majors reported a healthy set of numbers for
the October-December quarter but stumbled in their BPO busines-
ses, which stayed flat to marginally lower for three of the top five
IT services firms. Back-office businesses have been growing in
line with IT services in the past few quarters but in the past six
months, the total value of BPO deals has been at the lowest in
the past three years.
ET
VARIETY
21)For the first time, scientists have used embryonic stem cells
to improve the sight of two almost blind women, a breakthrough
which they say raises the hope of a cure for age-related vision
loss.
TOI
22)Scientists have come up with a new pacemaker-style device
which they claim when implanted underneath one's tongue could
help stop snoring.
BL
INTERNATIONAL
23)European Union finance ministers Tuesday piled pressure on
Greece and its private-sector creditors to ensure that a pro-
posed deal to restructure Greece's private-sector debt will be
enough to put the country back on a firm fiscal footing.
mint