After a swarm of daughters moved into companies controlled by their fathers think Godrej, Nadar, Reddy, Biyani, Chauhan, Piramal, TVS, et al the male heirs are stepping forward to claim their inheritance.

Investment bankers have quoted less than a rupee as their fee to manage the around Rs 8,000-crore follow-on issue of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

Cipla, the largest player in the domestic drug market, could play white knight for Cipla Medpro, South Africas third-largest drugmaker and a key ally of the Indian company. Cipla is looking to acquire around 25 per cent in the manufacturing division of Cipla Medpro, where it does not hold any stake at present. The deal size could not be ascertained, but it will be the first overseas acquisition by 75-year-old Cipla in any pharmaceutical company.

The diversified steel-to-telecom Essar Group, with revenues of $15 billion, is readying to consolidate its retail initiatives under one roof to maximise synergies and explore new avenues of growth. To shape its plans, Essar is forming a centralised retail think-tank at a group level to strategise the conglomerates future course of action.

The appointment of a deputy governor to the countrys central bank has always been surrounded by controversy. And this time is no exception. One of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) executive directors, C Krishnan, who was called to an interview for the post, has declined to appear before the search committee.

While the tax burden for an average taxpayer will lighten marginally, for tax evaders the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) proposes to reduce penalties substantially. The DTC Bill, tabled in Parliament on Monday, proposes that anyone under-reporting their tax base would have to pay a maximum penalty of two times the tax sought to be evaded.

A day after the government released buoyant growth figures of 8.8 per cent, there was corroborating evidence on Wednesday that the India story was firmly on track. Automakers, for instance, posted robust sales for August over the same month last year. Maruti, which accounts for one out of every two cars sold in the country, said sales grew nearly 24 per cent.

New Delhi: The economy has expanded 8.8 per cent in the quarter ended June 2010—the fastest pace in nine quarters—on the back of strong manufacturing and services growth.

New Delhi: The Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill has proposed to substitute all profit-linked incentives with investment-linked incentives for businesses that enjoy tax sops under the existing law.

Mumbai: Adman Sam Balsara-promoted Madison World has formed an equal joint venture (JV) with UK-based advertising company Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB).

Chennai: The Union Shipping Ministry has sanctioned Rs 100 crore (US$ 21.33 million) to the Chennai Port Trust to procure around 125 acres of land from the Tamil Nadu government on a long-term lease to set up a dry port and multi-modal logistics hub near Sriperumbudur special economic zone.

Chennai/ Hyderabad: NSL Textiles, part of the Rs 1,500-crore (US$ 320 million) group that owns Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, has set up a textile processing facility at Chandolu near Guntur with an investment of Rs 300 crore (US$ 64 million).

Chennai: Nissan Motor India is likely to commence exports of the Nissan Micra through the Ennore Port in the first week of September, according to Ennore Port Chairman, S Velumani.

New Delhi/ Chennai: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and its partner Hardy Oil and Gas plc have found more natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin close to the country's biggest gas field D6, off the East Coast.

New Delhi: Switzerland and India has signed a protocol for revision of the existing double taxation agreement (DTA).

Bengaluru: As per an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) release, the National Committee of Experts has finalised seven payloads that will go on the second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2 in 2013.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu expects investments in the state to exceed Rs 20,000 crore (US$ 4.25 billion) in 2010. The government has already received proposals worth Rs 7,000 crore (US$ 1.69 billion), mainly from automobile companies including South Korea's second largest car marker, Kia Automotive.

Kolkata: Bank of India plans to expand its presence in West Bengal (WB) by establishing more branches. The bank plans to add 33 new branches in the State during 2010-11, according to a press statement issued by the bank. The bank currently has about 236 branches in WB.

Chennai: Indonesia looks forward to investments from Indian companies. As per Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre, the prospective sectors for investment are energy, petrochemicals and refinery, iron and steel, telecommunications and automotive.

New Delhi: Jubilant Organosys has signed another custom research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) contract with a US Life Sciences company. The total contract value is estimated at US$ 33 million for the initial term of four and a half years.