1. Weekly news 5 Sept – 12 sept

2. British Airways keen to come on board in India British airways, world’s third largest carrier, is keen to be a strategic investor in an indian aviation company when foreign carriers are allowed to invest in the sector. Airline may pick up stake in domestic firm when foreign carriers are allowed to invest in the country. British airways ceowilliewalsh announced a code-share agreement with kingfisher airlines and introduced the latest plane from the boeing stable — boeing 777-300er — in some select indian routes.

3. Vedanta may be told to reveal more for Cairn Sebi, will direct Vedanta Resources to inform the shareholders of oil explorer Cairn India about the claims of state-owned ONGC on it as well as details of the recent denial of a mining licence to its affiliated company. Vedanta Resources, controlled by London-based billionaire Anil Agarwal, had agreed to buy up to 60% of Scottish firm Cairn Energy Plc’s Indian unit for $9.6 billion. The London-listed company has filed a draft letter of offer with securities market regulator Sebi for approval to buy an additional 20% of Cairn India from its shareholders in keeping with regulatory requirements.

4. Vedanta’s open offer letter to Cairn India’s shareholder for acquisition of a further 20% shares had indicated September 7 as the cut-off date.

5. FIIs PROPEL SENSEX TO 31-MTH HIGH Indian shares rose to a 31-month high as global investors poured in their cheap funds seeking higher returns, sparking fears that it may be causing the next asset price bubble here, reports Our Bureau in Mumbai. The Sensex rose 1.9%, or 339 points, to 18,560, and the broader 50-share Nifty gained 1.8%, or 98 points, to 5576.9.

6. Ohio bans offshoring of IT projects by govt.depts. THE US state of Ohio has banned outsourcing of government IT and backoffice projects to offshore locations such as India There are pervasive service delivery problems with offshore providers, including dissatisfaction with the quality of their services and with the fact that services are being provided offshore. Offshoring work to India is a $50-billion industry, and the Indian tech industry has benefitted immensely from American firms wanting to take advantage of its low wages and top-quality skills.

7. HC says vodafone must pay tax on hutch buy A decision by the Bombay High Court in the landmark Vodafone tax case has tipped the equation in favour of the Indian taxman, as the court has accepted its jurisdiction over Vodafone’s India acquisition. The high court ruled that Vodafone must pay capital gains tax on its $11-billion acquisition of a controlling stake in mobile phone operator Hutchison Essar that was completed in 2007. Estimates published prior to the judgement assign a $2-billion tax liability on Vodafone.

8. Vodafone will appeal to the Supreme Court in the next two-to-four weeks. The court has given the company eight weeks. The final outcome of the case may influence valuations and structuring of M&A transactions between offshore entities with underlying assets in India.

9. Obama raises pitch against outsourcing US PRESIDENT Barack Obama once again targeted the outsourcing of jobs overseas by American companies, increasing the pressure on local firms in an attempt to secure some benefit in the polls ahead of the crucial November elections in his country. Obama said he remained firm on ending tax breaks for American firms that send jobs abroad. One of the keys to job creation is to encourage companies to invest more in the United States

10. Industry grows 13.8% in july, rate hike looms INDIA’S industrial output beat analysts’ expectations by a huge margin in July, strengthening the case for further monetary tightening ahead of next week’s crucial monetary policy review. Industrial production expanded 13.8% during the month, compared with 5.8% growth in June. Most polls had predicted a 7-8% growth in the index of industrial production in July.

11. Inflation based on the wholesale price index stood at 9.97% in July. Manufacturing, which generates employment, is doing well,” the minister said. Manufacturing, which has an 80% weight in IIP, grew 15%, powered by a 63% increase in capital goods output. The central bank has the difficult task of tackling high inflation without upsetting the growth momentum in the economy amid doubts about the global recovery