1) Aurobindo Pharma receives US FDA nod for anti-infective drug.
- Aurobindo Pharma Limited has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture and market anti-infective drug linezolid injection, 600 mg/300 mL (2 mg/mL).
- The company expects to launch the product, a generic version of Pharmacia & Upjohn Company’s Zyvox injection, by Q2 FY2016-17.
- Linezolid injection is an anti-infective used to treat infections caused by susceptible (likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing) gram-positive bacteria in some specific conditions.
2) Vodafone renews IT deal with IBM for 5 years.
- Vodafone India has renewed its multi-million dollar agreement with IBM to manage IT services support for its infrastructure and applications for another five years.
- IBM will manage IT services support for Vodafone IT infrastructure and applications environment, which is likely to help the telecom operator derive benefits like enhanced customer experience, cost optimisation, scalability of IT infrastructure and overall improvement in efficiency of network operations.
- IBM will also support Vodafone IT environment transition into IBM hybrid cloud, allowing the telecom services company to leverage and integrate existing IT resources and data assets with private cloud environments.
3) Reliance General enters `bancassurance` deal with co-operative bank.
- Non-life insurer Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd announced a bancassurance tie-up with Shamrao Vithal Co-operative Bank (SVCB).
- Reliance General will distribute its insurance products to the customers of SVCB having a network of 194 branches.
4) Deskera brings GST compliant cloud-based enterprise software in India.
- Deskera, a business software provider in Asia Pacific has claimed to be the first cloud-based software provider to offer Goods and Services Tax (GST) ready software suite in India.
- Deskera been working with various government departments and businesses in Singapore and Malaysia in helping them move to the GST based system.
5) Randstad to acquire Monster Worldwide to transform the way people and jobs connect.
- Randstad Holding NV, the world`s second-largest staffing company plans to acquire Monster Worldwide.
- Monster is known primarily for its mid-level jobs listings and its database of job-seekers` resumes.
6) Teva acquires US-based drug distributor Anda for $500 million.
- Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has agreed to purchase Allergan’s Anda Inc, the fourth largest distributor of generic pharmaceuticals in the US, for $500 million.
- Anda distributes generic, brand, specialty and over-the-counter pharmaceutical products from more than 300 manufacturers to retail independent and chain pharmacies, nursing homes, mail order pharmacies, hospitals, clinics and physician offices across the US.
7) Mahindra Intertrade, MSTC to build auto shredding facility.
- Mahindra Intertrade Ltd, a unit of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, has signed an agreement with state-run MSTC Ltd to set up India’s first auto shredding facility.
- Proposed facility will be equipped with fully automated end-of-life vehicle recycling equipment. This will go a long way towards the efficient recycling of scrapped automobiles.
8) Govt to set up committee to review e-commerce rules.
- Government has decided to set up a committee to look into all issues including foreign direct investment norms pertaining to the fast growing e-commerce industry in the country.
- Committee will be headed by the NITI Aayog CEO. The other members in the panel include officials from Commerce and Industry Ministry and Department of Electronics and IT among others.
- Representatives from four states, including Maharashtra and Karnataka, are also members of the panel. Some e-commerce firms are facing taxation-related problems in a few states.
9) Parliament passes bill for easier debt recovery.
- Parliament today passed a bill which empowers banks to confiscate security in the case of loan default,
- The Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Bill, 2016, will not, however, apply to loans for agricultural land as well as student loans.
- The bill amends four laws - Sarfaesi Act, DRT Act, Indian Stamp Act and Depositories Act.
10) NHAI Signs MOU with IIT - Kharagpur for Research Project on Paneled Cement Concrete Pavements for Highways.
- National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed MOU with IIT-Kharagpur for research project on Laboratory and Field investigations on Paneled Cement Concrete Pavements for Highways.
- Duration of the research project is 3 years and NHAI have paid Rs. 1.25 crore for the project, excluding cost of construction of trial pavement section on NH.
- MOU to develop a technology to construct Panelled Cement Concrete (Pre-fabricated in a small panel size) which can replace the design of construction of existing cement concrete road.
11) 1.36 crore non-filers identified under NMS: Govt.
- Government has identified 1.36 crore non-filers with potential tax liability under the Non-Filers Monitoring System (NMS).
- The total number of the Income Taxpayers in the country for the last financial year was over five crore 24 lakh.
- The Income Tax department has implemented the NMS, which analyses and assimilates all in-house information as well as transactional data received from third parties.
12) Robbers cut open roof of train coach, steal Rs. 5.78 crore.
- In Tamil Nadu, unidentified robbers have stolen soiled currency notes worth Rs. 5.78 crore belonging to a few public sector banks from a train while transferring from Salem to Chennai.
- The soiled and damaged currencies worth Rs. 342 crore have been sent to the Reserve Bank of India branch in Chennai by the Salem-Chennai Express.
13) Tata Chemicals sells urea business to Yara Fertilisers.
- Tata Chemicals has entered into an agreement with Norwegian company Yara International ASA to sell its Babrala urea plant and distribution business in Uttar Pradesh for $400 million (Rs. 2, 670 crore).
- First time that Yara is investing money in an asset in India though it has been operating in India through its Indian subsidiary since 2011.
14) Hindustan Copper Limited inaugurates country`s first facility to produce nickel.
- Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) has inaugurated the country`s first facility to produce nickel, a metal for which the country is completely dependent on imports.
- New facility - Nickel, Copper, and Acid Recovery Plant is located at the company`s Indian Copper Complex (ICC) at Ghatshila in Jharkhand.
- The capacity of the plant is initially poised to be 50 tonnes per annum and Annual demand for pure nickel in India is around 45,000 tonne and its domestic market is solely reliant on imports.
15) Ola launches intra-city rental service `Ola Rental`.
- Ola has launched Ola Rentals which will simplify intra city travel with affordable hourly packages on Ola Lux, Ola Prime Sedan & SUV vehicles as well as OLA mini.
- OLA rentals currently being available in 35 cities and will be rolled out in 100 cities across India soon. This Rentals platform is the only platform that provides luxury A/C cabs at hourly packages.
- Launch also offers luxury vehicles, sedans and SUVs as well as high rated drivers along with all in-app safety features like SOS button and live tracking.
16) IRDAI Slaps Rs. 35 lakh fine on Bharti AXA General Insurance.
- IRDAI has imposed Rs. 35 lakh fine on Bharti AXA General Insurance Co Ltd for violation of various norms including outsourcing activities and corporate governance guidelines.
- Fine is based on violation related with an inspection finding during December 2012 to March 2013.
- The insurer was making payments towards infrastructure expenses to corporate agents, making additional payout to licensed entities in the name of workshop, training, distribution of publicity material which was in violation of outsourcing guidelines, and fined Rs. 5 lakh.
17) Gamesa bags contract for KCT Renewable`s 40 MW wind energy project.
- Gamesa has received order from KCT Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd for a 40 MW wind power project located at Molagavalli site in Andhra Pradesh.
- The project essentially comprises 20 units of G114-2.0 MW T106 turbines which are due to be commissioned by March 2017.
- Gamesa will be responsible for the supply, erection and commissioning of the wind farm.
18) BSE gets approval to establish International exchange at GIFT.
- BSE has got approval from the Corporate Affairs Ministry to establish BSE International Exchange and BSE International Clearing Corporation at Gujarat International Finance Tec-city (GIFT).
- Exchange had signed an MoU with GIFT SEZ Ltd in January 2015 to set up the two entities - India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
- BSE intends to develop an international exchange providing an electronic platform for facilitating trading, clearing and settlement of securities, commodities, interest rates, currencies, other classes of assets and derivatives by international investors in the GIFT SEZ-IFSC, subject to necessary approvals and operating guidelines for IFSCs.
19) Manipal Tech acquires fraud detection solution from Bengaluru company.
- Manipal Technologies Ltd (MTL), which is a secure print solutions organization, has acquired CrossFraud – an advanced fraud detection and anti-money laundering solution - from the Bengaluru-based Saraansh Software Solutions Pvt Ltd.
- Acquisition comes with four international patents in risk and fraud detection area.
- Cross Fraud is already implemented in two banks in Thailand and six banks in India.