Indian Business News – Selected Extracts (12/06/08)

1. Interest rates to be hiked again. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raises its short-term lending rates to banks by 0.25% to rein in inflation. The move will force banks to raise the loan rates in turn.
2. India’s biggest lender bank, State Bank of India said that India is witnessing an “indirect” impact of the US sub-prime crisis. This is felt in the form of a tightening liquidity system and firmness in pricing.
3. Ranbaxy CEO, Mr. Malvinder Singh announced the largest sell-off for a listed company in domestic market Ranbaxy to Japanese MNC Daiichi Sankyo at a cost of over US$ 4 billion. It will be a win-win for both, say analysts. The Japanese drug market is worth US$60 billion, second largest in the world.
4. Stock markets in Mumbai moved up, with the BSE sensex closing at 15,185, 296 points higher. Realty, capital goods and banking stocks were in demand. In bullion market, gold closed at Rs.12,120/10gm and silver at Rs.23,910/kg.
5. An Indian firm, Lupin managed to get approval for the sale of a generic medication, Ramipril capsule by the FDA, US, despite stiff opposition from the patent holder. The capsule is the generic equivalent of US-based King Pharmaceuticals Altace capsule.
6. As per the report of International Energy Agency, Russia was the biggest crude oil producer in the world in the first quarter of 2008. The crude oil out put was 9.5 million barrels per day (MBPD) as compared to Saudi Arabia’s 9.2 MBPD. The US is ranked third with 5.1 MBPD.
7. India’s GSM cellular subscriber base touched 205.4 million in May, 2008. India is the world’s second largest wireless market.