Karnataka HC judge recuses himself from KFA cases

Karnataka High Court judge Justice Anand Byrareddy, who was hearing the winding-up petitions against Kingfisher Airlines, on Friday recused himself from the cases. The judge had, in January too, recused himself from the winding-up petitions against Vijay Mallya’s United Breweries Holdings, citing a potential conflict of interest and those cases are now being heard by a different bench. Two winding-up petitions, filed by a consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) and Aerotron, a UK based aviation services firm, have been admitted by the court in recent months, while several other petitions are pending admission.

Lupin launches generic cholesterol drug Niaspan

Lupin reported the launch of generic version of blockbuster cholesterol drug Niaspan in the US after receiving approval from the US Food and Drug Administration on March 20. The drug had 2013 sales of $1.46 billion, according to Bloomberg Industries. Analysts were bullish on the drug for Mumbai?s Lupin as it is one of the few blockbuster therapies whose patent protection expired in 2013. Israel?s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had first-to-file advantage on the drug and had won 180-day of marketing exclusivity which ended in March 2014. Nomura analysts, in a December 9 report, said Mumbai-based Lupin is likely to have 100 days of limited competition, before other generic players enter the market.

HCL Infosystems names Sinha as non-exec chairman

IT firm HCL Infosystems on Friday appointed Nikhil Sinha as the non-executive chairman and added three new members to its board. Sinha, who has been a non-executive director on HCL Infosystems board since July 2009, is the founding vice-chancellor of Shiv Nadar University and a senior adviser to the Shiv Nadar Foundation and HCL Corporation. The three non-executive directors are Group CEO of Apollo Hospitals S Premkumar, DK Srivastava (responsible for HR functions at HCL Corporation and Shiv Nadar Foundation) and Pawan Kumar Danwar (executive vice-president and CFO of HCL Corporation and Shiv Nadar Foundation), the company said.

Myntra ties up with Harvard for exclusive apparel line

Online fashion site Myntra has partnered with Harvard University to sell its exclusive apparel line in India from August. In the past, brands like Ralph Lauren, NIKE, Champion Sportswear and Tag Heuer have designed their collections inspired by Harvard’s style and have sought licence to use its name. “It is an exclusive arrangement with Harvard to create lifestyle clothing products, both online and offline,” Myntra COO Ganesh Subrahmanian said.

TCS ranked No 1 employer in Europe

IT major Tata Consultancy Services on Friday said it has been named as the top employer in Europe for the second consecutive year by the Top Employers Institute. The company was recognised as an exceptional performer across six core human resources areas ? primary conditions, secondary benefits, working conditions, training, career development and company culture. “We are delighted to have been rated as the foremost employer across Europe for the second consecutive year and we look forward to building on this success as we continue to grow and develop our talent base across the UK and Continental Europe,” TCS executive vice president and global head, human resources, Ajoy Mukherjee said.

ASCI addressing ad complaints in 12 days

Pressed with the demand to quickly address the issue of misleading ads, advertising industry watchdog ASCI has reduced the time for action to 12 days from about 45 days earlier, thereby increasing the number of complaints processed by over 10 times in almost three years. ?The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has taken effective action to reduce the complaint processing turnaround time from 45 days two years back to just 12 days on an average currently,? the self-regulatory body said in a statement.

Microsoft announces Trade-In scheme for SMBs

Microsoft on Friday announced the launch of a Trade-In scheme for small and medium businesses (SMBs) which gives them the opportunity to exchange legacy hardware for Windows Azure. Through this scheme, customers can sell their legacy hardware with the option to use the proceeds towards obtaining monthly credit on Windows Azure, based on an upfront initial commitment, the company officials said.

PIB clarification on JNNURM amount

With reference to the report ?Centre okays projects worth R28,000 cr under JNNURM?, published in FE on February 25, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has clarified the amount mentioned should be read in R lakh and not R crore. The PIB, in a press release, had erroneously mentioned the amount in R crore.