GENERAL
1)India has surpassed China as the largest global arms importer
and New Delhi's share in the global arms market is double than
that of its neighbour, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
Indian Express
ECONOMY
2)COUNTRIES like India, China and the US, which pursued aggressive
reforms, have improved their global trade logistics performance
despite the slowdown in progress in the sector over the last two
years amid the global recession, the World Bank has said. India
now ranks 46th in global trade logistics performance, whose top
five slot are occupied by Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, Ger-
many and Netherlands in the list of 155 countries.
FE
3)Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said he would
impose new austerity measures, howsoever unpopular they may
be, to address India's fiscal problems and spur growth.
ET
CORPORATE / INDUSTRY
4)The Ajay Piramal-led Piramal Healthcare Ltd has agreed to acquire
US-based health information company Decision Resources Group
(DRG) for $635 million (Rs 3,400 crore), marking its entry into the
$5.7 billion global healthcare database and consulting services
industry.
mint
5)Drug firms Lupin and Aurobindo Pharma on Wednesday said they
have received US health regulator's approval to sell generic Com-
bivir tablets, used in treating HIV infection, in the American mar-
ket.
FE
6)The Indian pharma secondary sales (sales made by the distributor
to chemists) data for April suggests strong buoyancy in the market.
The value growth for the pharma market remained strong for the
third consecutive month, posting a growth of 18.2 per cent in
April.
BL
7)Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday said it has received tenta-
tive approval from the US health regulator for generic Zolmitriptan
tablets used for treating migraines.
FE
MONEY & BANKING
8)The rupee today plunged against the dollar to a historic low
of 54.56 before closing slightly better at 54.50 despite RBI's
intervention, raising widespread concerns about the health
of the economy.
BL
9)Competition watchdog CCI has approved the proposal of
Japanese major Nippon Life to acquire 26% stake in Reliance
Capital's mutual fund arm RCAML.
FE
10)Mutual funds and insurance companies have found a new ally
in chit funds, a traditional savings scheme, for reaching out to
small-town investors. Large chit funds in states like Tamil
Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and New Delhi are
diversifying into financial product distribution to step up re-
venues.
ET
INSURANCE
11)IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company is planning to expand
its pilot life insurance scheme for vehicle buyers. The pilot,
called 'Autolife', was launched in association with Varun
Motors in Andhra Pradesh in January.
BL
MARKETS
12)A big sell-off across the globe coupled with a new low for the
rupee resulted in Indian equities falling to their lowest level in
nearly five months. The 30-share Sensex fell below the psycho-
logical mark of 16,000 during intra-day trades on Wednes-
day, before closing at 16,030, shedding 298.16 points. The
broader 50-share Nifty closed the session at 4,858, down 84.55
points or 1.71%. This is the lowest close for the Sensex since
January 9, 2012 when the benchmark gauge closed at 15,814.7.
FE
13)The MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) global indices
are being reconstituted and will see three new additions - Bank
of Baroda, Cairn India and Godrej Consumer Products - with
effect from May 31.
ET
14)Reliance Industries and various companies belonging to the Anil
Dhirubhai Ambani Group were among the top 10 entities on the
BSE that saw a decline in retail shareholding in 2011-12. Under-
performance of these shares compared to benchmark indices has
resulted in retail investors' interest in these stocks dwindling in
recent times.
ET
15)HDFC shares lost 3.7 per cent on Wednesday after a reduction in
its weight on the MSCI index, with effect from May 31. A company
spokesperson said the revision had been made on an erroneous con-
sideration of foreign investor investment in the firm.
BS
COMMODITIES
16)Gold prices fell for the third straight day to trade five weeks
low on reduced offtake by stockists, sparked by a weakening
trend in international markets. After losing Rs 270 in the last
two sessions, the gold prices fell further by Rs 100 to Rs
28,440 per 10 gm on stockists selling and retailers expecting
more correction in the metal's prices.
FE
REAL ESTATE
17)IIFL Alternate Asset Advisors Ltd, a part of the India Infoline
Group, has made the first investment from its first private equity
(PE) fund, putting money in a central Mumbai slum redevelopment
project. The transaction marks the entry of IIFL, which also has
a non-banking financial company (NBFC) that has exposure to real
estate, into the private equity funding space.
mint
18)Mumbai-based developer Housing Development and Infrastructure
(HDIL) has stepped up efforts to reduce its debt by 25-30% in the
current financial year through floor space index (FSI) sales, TDR
sales and project launches.
ET
19)Real estate developer Ansal Properties & Infrastructure said
it planned to expand its two big townships in Lucknow and Greater
Noida by a total of about 4,000 acres, for which it has sought per-
mission from the Uttar Pradesh government.
BS
COMMUNICATIONS
20)Finnish mobile telephone maker Nokia lost its 14 years of global
leadership in mobile phone sales to South Korean rival Samsung
in the quarter between January and March, driven by smartphone
sales.
FE
21)Qualcomm is asking Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile-phone
operator, to pay about Rs 5,000 crore ($928 million) for its
Indian unit as the two companies seek to conclude talks in the
next two weeks, according to two persons with knowledge of the
matter.
ET
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
22)Facebook, which is primed for the biggest ever share offering
by an internet firm, counts India, along with the United States
and Brazil, as its main growth drivers, the company has said
in a regulatory filing. Nearly one in two Indian internet users
are now on Facebook, which makes India the second-largest
user base for the Menlo Park-based social networking firm head-
ed for a $12-billion listing on the Nasdaq.
ET
INTERNATIONAL
23)Industrial production in the US climbed more than forecast in
April, propelled by gains in auto manufacturing and utility use.
Output at factories, mines and utilities increased 1.1% last
month, the most since December 2010, after a 0.6% decline
in March that was revised from no change, the Federal Reserve
reported on Wednesday in Washington.
ET
24)Shares in Samsung Electronics slumped more than 6% on Wednes-
day, wiping $10 billion off the electronics giant's market value, on a
report that Apple placed huge chip orders with troubled Japanese
chip rival Elpida.
ET
25)Greece put a senior judge in charge of an emergency government
on Wednesday to lead it to new elections on June 17, and bankers
sought to calm public fears after the president said political chaos
risked causing panic and a run on deposits.
BS