Abhineet Kumar &Amp; Joe C Mathew

Stories by Abhineet Kumar &Amp; Joe C Mathew

Swan Telecom to sell 26% stake to foreign firms

Swan Telecom to sell 26% stake to foreign firms

Rediff.com   21 Jul 2008

Swan Telecom, which has received licences to operate mobile phone services in 13 out of the 22 telecom circles in India, is in talks with foreign companies for diluting 26 per cent of its equity for around $470 million.

US FDA to set up Indian offices by '09

US FDA to set up Indian offices by '09

Rediff.com   21 Jul 2008

Under fire from some United States senators for allegedly taking lenient positions in granting product approvals to generic companies from countries like India, the US FDA is planning to speed up its plans to set up offices in India by 2009. FDA, in its latest newsletter dated July 21, has said that the agency will set up offices in Mumbai and Delhi to intensify its monitoring efforts.

M&M set to buy Kinetic assets

M&M set to buy Kinetic assets

Rediff.com   17 Jul 2008

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India's largest sports utility vehicle maker, is buying a major portion of two-wheeler maker Kinetic Motor Company's assets in a deal valued at Rs 110-120 crore (Rs 1.1 to 1.2 billion).

'I am not a businessman who wants  a hospital'

'I am not a businessman who wants a hospital'

Rediff.com   16 Jul 2008

When Fortis Healthcare wanted heart surgeon Naresh Trehan out of its new acquisition, the Escorts Heart Institute in New Delhi, last year, Trehan's ambitions to set up his own healthcare facility -- Medicity -- was cited as the cause. However, Trehan's plans were not new. Medicity, to be set up in Gurgaon, was first announced in 2005, the year Fortis acquired Escorts Heart Institute. Trehan continued as the Escorts' executive director for two more years.

Ranbaxy to file response within a month

Ranbaxy to file response within a month

Rediff.com   16 Jul 2008

Under fire in the United States for giving distorted information on the generic drugs it sold, Ranbaxy Laboratories on Tuesday said that it will file all relevant information within a month after which the legal case initiated against it by the US government will be withdrawn.

ADAG eyes cement acquisition

ADAG eyes cement acquisition

Rediff.com   14 Jul 2008

Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is looking for acquisitions to start its cement business much before it completes its 4,000-Mw mega power project at Sasan in eastern Madhya Pradesh, which is to provide the fly ash that is used to make cement.

Anil Nanda moves HC in Escorts case

Anil Nanda moves HC in Escorts case

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2008

Anil Nanda, a former member of the governing body of Escorts Heart Institute, today moved an appeal before a division bench of the Delhi high court challenging the dismissal of his petition by the court last Thursday.

Ranbaxy, others to scrap 60 drug combinations

Ranbaxy, others to scrap 60 drug combinations

Rediff.com   7 Jul 2008

The voluntary move comes a little more than a year after the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, the central authority that approves new drugs for marketing, had asked the drug makers to withdraw the 'combination drugs' as they are 'unnecessary' and may pose health hazards. The Drugs Controller General of India had banned 294 combination drugs sold under nearly 1,053 brand names from the market in June 2007.

Loss making drugs may go off the shelf

Loss making drugs may go off the shelf

Rediff.com   27 Jun 2008

Facing a steep rise in raw material and interest costs, pharmaceutical companies have sought an increase in prices of regulated medicines, saying otherwise they may be forced to curtail production of certain medicines that have become unprofitable.

Pharma firms bank on brand extensions

Pharma firms bank on brand extensions

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2008

Stiff competition in a highly fragmented market has led the domestic drug makers to depend on brand extensions rather than new product launches to corner a market share. A market intelligence study, organised by prescription audit company ORG IMS Health, has found that one in every three brands launched in the country is a brand extension. Such products comprise 18 per cent of the Rs 28,000-crore domestic pharmaceutical market.

Indian pharma firms boost Wal-Mart revenues

Indian pharma firms boost Wal-Mart revenues

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2008

Ranbaxy, Cipla and other Indian drug makers are helping US retailer Wal-Mart sell drugs at low cost and boost revenue.

Daiichi Sankyo gets a patent advantage

Daiichi Sankyo gets a patent advantage

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2008

Apart from a five per cent share of the Indian pharmaceutical market, the purchase of Ranbaxy will take Daiichi Sankyo way ahead of others in the race among Indian companies for patent-protected drugs. A recent paper on 'Patenting Landscape in India' by Evalueserve shows that Ranbaxy alone accounts for over 23 per cent of the total medicine patent applications filed by major domestic companies in India.

Malvinder: The man who put business before family

Malvinder: The man who put business before family

Rediff.com   13 Jun 2008

Malvinder, who has made his family richer by Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion), was brought up in relative austerity. While his cousins zipped around the town in fancy cars, he would travel to college in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses.

Pfizer may counter Daiichi's Ranbaxy offer

Pfizer may counter Daiichi's Ranbaxy offer

Rediff.com   13 Jun 2008

US giant expected to bid for 65% non-promoter stake.

IT space to see 50 per cent rise in M&As

IT space to see 50 per cent rise in M&As

Rediff.com   12 Jun 2008

With a gradual erosion in valuation of mid- and small-sized IT and IT enabled services firms on the stock markets due to rupee fluctuations and a US slowdown, experts estimate as much as 50 per cent rise in merger and acquisition deals in the domestic IT industry over the next 12 months.

Patent offices come under lens

Patent offices come under lens

Rediff.com   9 Jun 2008

The medicines include tuberculosis drug moxifloxacin, antipsychotic olanzapine and valgancicloivir, a medicine often needed for HIV/AIDS patients. The groups allege that none of these drugs qualified the criteria specified under the Indian Patents Act and were given patent protection because the patent examiners overlooked the legal safeguards meant to avoid grant of patents to known substances or their mere improvements.

NPPA revises prices of 440 medicines

NPPA revises prices of 440 medicines

Rediff.com   7 Jun 2008

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has revised prices of 440 medicines. Around 300 medicines have seen price cuts, while the others have seen a hike, sources said. The extent of the revisions is not known as yet.

Idea bid for Spice hits pricing hurdle

Idea bid for Spice hits pricing hurdle

Rediff.com   7 Jun 2008

Idea Cellular's bid to acquire a controlling stake in the B K Modi-promoted Spice Communications has hit a pricing roadblock. Investment banking sources said that B K Modi had asked for Rs 70 a share for his 40.8 per cent stake in Spice, valuing the company at Rs 4,829.47 crore, but Idea is reluctant to pay that much."Any price valuing Spice Communications beyond Rs 4,200 crore would be expensive for Idea Cellular," said an analyst with a domestic brokerage.

Now, Carrefour cajoles Indian realtors

Now, Carrefour cajoles Indian realtors

Rediff.com   3 Jun 2008

While Wal-Mart is facing delay in the rollout of its retail plan, Carrefour SA, the world's second-largest retail chain, is still struggling to finalise its Indian partner even after six years of persistent search.

Where Wal-Mart went wrong

Where Wal-Mart went wrong

Rediff.com   2 Jun 2008

Eighteen months hence, Reliance Retail is a 600-store chain, while Wal-Mart, which had planned to start operations by the year-end, has deferred the launch to 2009.