Top 10 Indian business news

Here’s a look at this week’s top 10 Indian business news.

Sensex passes psychological barrier of 19,000, ends the week at 19,339.90

Sensex rallied over 300 points on Thursday to end at 19,170.91 amidst positive sentiment regarding the government being able to pull off FDI in retail and Goldman Sachs reportedly upgrading India’s status from market-weight to overweight. The index rose by 168.99 points on Friday to close at 19,339.90, toppling a 19 month high in the process.

Suzlon Energy Ltd, Videocon Industries Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd, Unitech Ltd and Strides Arcolab Ltd were the top 5 Group (A) weekly gainers on BSE according to Rediff Money.

Suzlon Energy Ltd to restructure debts worth Rs. 11,000 crore

Suzlon Energy Ltd struck a deal with lenders to restructure approximately Rs. 11,000 crore of its debt. Reports of the debt recast propelled the world’s 5th largest wind turbine maker’s stock price 28.62% during the week, eventually closing at Rs. 19.55 on Friday.

Jaguar Land Rover launches 2013 Range Rover in India for Rs. 1.72 crore

Jaguar Land Rover launched a new version of the Range Rover at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 1.72 crore.

"The new Range Rover is one of the most iconic vehicles from the JLR portfolio. The global reveal of the vehicle took place in September this year. As India is our priority market, now we are introducing the model here" said Scott Dicken, Brand Manager, Range Rover. The SUV will have a diesel variant powered by a 4.4-litre V8 twin-turbo diesel engine and a petrol version powered by a 5.0-litre V8 petrol engine.

Depending on the specifications and variant, ex-showroom prices can reportedly stretch up to Rs. 1.92 crore.

Flipkart launches eBooks on Flyte

India’s leading e-tailer Flipkart started selling eBooks on Flyte, its digital store platform. The eBooks can be purchased, downloaded and read on the dedicated Flyte eBooks app on android devices. Users can preview up to 10% of an eBook before buying after which they can be purchased and downloaded instantly. The purchase can be downloaded on up to 6 devices.

ReGen to invest Rs. 450 crore for manufacturing facility in Udaipur

Domestic wind energy player ReGen is setting up a wind turbine manufacturing facility in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The company will reportedly invest Rs. 450 crore in the plant and will also manufacture generators and wind towers in the same facility.

IOC planning Rs. 30,000 crore refinery in Gujarat or Maharashtra

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd plans to set up a 15 million tonnes refinery at the cost of Rs. 30,000 crore on the west coast, possibly in Gujarat or Maharashtra, according to reports.

"We have commissioned Engineers India to do a configuration and location study for the west coast refinery" said Rajkumar Ghosh, Director, IOC. A detailed feasibility report will be commissioned once the study by Engineers India comes through.

PVR Cinemas’ Cinemax takeover deal finalized, acquires 69.3% stake for Rs. 395 crore

PVR Ltd acquired 69.3% stake in Cinemax India Ltd for Rs. 395 crore. News of the deal pushed PVR Ltd’s stock price up 18.11% to Rs. 301.70 while Cinemax Ltd’s stock rose 6.3% to Rs. 190.55. With PVR Ltd’s 213 screens and Cinemax India Ltd’s 138, the Ajay Bijli led group became India’s largest multiplex operator.

BHEL executing order worth Rs. 3,395 crore from UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam

BHEL is executing an order worth Rs. 3,395 crore in Uttar Pradesh for UP Vidyut Utpadan Nigam. According to reports, the order is being executed by the state owned engineering giant at the Anpara thermal power station in Sonebhadra district, UP.

"The scope of work for BHEL includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of Boiler, Turbine and Generator Package along with associated auxiliaries, some balance of plant and civil works" said Praful Patel, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

CSLA sells stake in Apollo Hospitals for approx Rs. 494.95 crore

CSLA (Mauritius) reportedly sold 70.11% of its stake in Apollo Hospitals for Rs. 824.92 per share. The global brokerage services group sold about 60 lakh shares of the leading hospital chain, taking the total value of the deal to approximately Rs. 494.95 crore.

HSBC’s takeover of RBS’ India arm lapses

A proposed takeover of RBS’ Indian retail and commercial banking operations by HSBC failed after the agreement was initially announced in 2010.

"Consistent with RBS’s strategic objective to reduce or exit its non-core assets and businesses, it will begin to wind down its retail and commercial banking business in India, whilst meeting all customer obligations" said RBS in a statement as news of the failed deal came through.

Sibal for 80 Percent in Class XII as Minimum eligibility for IIT JEE

Sibal for 80 Percent in Class XII as Minimum eligibility for IIT JEE

The Way Our Honorable HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is going about the transformation in the Indian Education System, the word “Sibalization“ should be heard more often.

As per the recent news in TOI , HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Monday wanted more weightage to be given to Class 12 Board exam for IIT entrance and proposed raising the required minimum of 60% marks to at least 80%.

Sibal said the 60% minimum was unacceptable as the government move came in an attempt to ensure that students taking entrance tests to the premier institutes gave equal importance to the secondary school exam and to check the growth of IIT coaching centres.

A Committee of IIT directors has been appointed to work out a revised system for IIT entrance from 2011.

Sibal told reporters the move is aimed at ensuring that students take their class XII seriously and checking the growth of coaching centres, which are thriving on imparting coaching to students for IIT entrance.

“The present criteria is that students need to secure 60 per cent at class XII for appearing in IIT-JEE. This is not acceptable. The minimum marks required for IIT-JEE could be raised up to 80 to 85 per cent,” Sibal said after a meeting of the IIT Council, the apex decision making body for the elite institutes, here.

At the same time. he added that the decision about the required percentage will be taken by the committee.

“The coaching centres are giving training for the IIT entrance. As a result, the students are not studying seriously for class XII exam and giving more attention to entrance. We want to get rid of the coaching centres by giving more weightage to the board exam,” Sibal said.

Source : TOI