Top 10 Business News: Jewellers strike called off, Infibeam IPO today, Vijay Mallya, Gold prices, Devendra Fadnavis, more

Jewellers strike - Traders calls off strike; gold imports to rise: Jewellers called off a 19-day strike late on Saturday after government assured they will not be "harassed" by the excise department in collecting a new tax, the head of a trade body told Reuters. Jewellers from the world's second-biggest gold consumer went on an indefinite strike from the start of March after government reintroduced a 1-percent excise duty on gold jewellery after four years. (Express Photo)

Infibeam IPO to hit markets today; 10 things you should know: Infibeam Incorporation is going to hit capital markets today with an initial public offerings (IPO) of 1,25,00,000 shares of Rs 10 each in a price band Rs 360-432 per equity share. Not more than 75 per cent of the issue will be allocated to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), including 5 per cent to the mutual funds. Further, not less than 15 per cent of the issue will be available for the non-institutional bidders and the remaining 10 per cent for the retail investors.

Vijay Mallya case: Sebi widens L'affaire Mallya probe, finds prima-facie lapses: Finding prima facie evidence of non-compliance to various norms including on insider trading and corporate governance, Sebi has widened its probe into dealings of Vijay Mallya-led UB Group, including in its own shares and with UK-based Diageo and other foreign players. The capital markets watchdog may also seek information from other regulators in India and abroad, as also from the stock exchanges, as it seeks to de-clog the complex transactions Mallya had entered into, including for sale of stake and transfer of rights in his various group companies. (Express Photo)

JSPL slaps Rs 123 crore ‘liquidated damages’ notice on BHEL for project delays: Navin Jindal-promoted Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) has slapped a Rs 123-crore notice on the state-run power equipment maker BHEL, citing delays in execution of projects at two units of JSPL’s 2,400 MW coal-based plant at Tamnar in Chhattisgarh. JSPL invoked the contractual clause titled ‘liquidated damages’. BHEL is executing the boiler, turbine and generator (BTG) packages for all the four units of the plant. While it commissioned the first and fourth units on schedule, there were delays of four and eight months respectively in case of the second and third units.

Jewellers in Maharashtra have called off their strike temporarily, from April 14 to 24. (Express Photo)

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis sends legal notice to Digvijay Singh: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has sent a legal notice to Digvijay Singh seeking his apology for levelling baseless allegations, a day after Congress leader accused him of "nepotism" over a state agency's order asking developers to open accounts in a private bank where his wife works. Fadnavis' lawyer Ganesh Sovani has asked Singh to tender an unconditional apology to Fadnavis within two weeks on his twitter handle after the receipt of the notice. (Express Photo)

India-Iran deal soon on Farzad-B project: In what marks renascent India-Iran commercial ties and New Delhi’s aggressive focus on overseas energy assets, both countries may finally agree on a deal for the development of the long-languishing Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf by an Indian consortium led by ONGC Videsh (OVL), which helped discover the field in way back in 2008. Sources privy to the matter told FE that petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan would visit Iran on April 6-7 with the intent of signing a “definitive agreement” for the project.

Andhra Pradesh minister lays foundation stone for power sub-station: Andhra Pradesh Minister Kollu Ravindra today laid the foundation stone for an indoor power sub-station here. The 33/11 kv power sub-station will come up in the Laxmanaraopuram area with an estimated cost of Rs 4 crore. Ravindra, Minister for Excise and BC welfare, also laid foundation stones for cement concrete roads and central lighting system, which is expected to cost the state exchequer Rs 25 lakh. (Reuters)

Drug ban: HC to resume hearing on pharma companies pleas against govt order: The Delhi High Court is likely to resume tomorrow the hearing on pleas by over 30 pharma majors, including Pfizer, Glenmark, Procter and Gamble (P&G) and Cipla, challenging the government's decision to ban sale of some of their fixed dose combination medicines. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, who has stayed operation of the government's notification till March 21 and directed the Centre not to take coercive steps against these companies, is expected to resume hearing the matters tomorrow. Initially the interim relief was given on March 14 to Pfizer's cough syrup 'Corex'. Later the same was granted to over 30 companies, which also included Glaxo Smithkline, Reckitt Benckiser, Abbott Healthcare, Piramal, Lupin, Mankind Pharma and Wockhardt. (Reuters)

Flydubai crash: Aviation experts examine black boxes from Russian crash site: Aviation experts today began examining the black boxes from the FlyDubai flight that crashed amid high winds at an airport in southern Russia, while emergency workers finished combing the debris-laden runway. FlyDubai's Boeing 737-800 from Dubai nosedived and exploded in a giant fireball before dawn yesterday after trying to land for a second time in strong winds in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. FlyDubai confirmed all 62 people on the plane were killed. Most of the passengers were Russian. (Reuters)