Hiked

Hiked: By India’s leading car maker Maruti Suzuki, the prices of popular A-Star, Swift, DZire and SX4 models, due to increased input costs and the appreciation of the Japanese yen vis-à-vis the Indian rupee. The price hikes range between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000. However, the company has left the prices of M800, Omni, Alto, WagonR, Zen Estilo, Gypsy, Versa and Grand Vitara untouched.

Acquired: By Pfizer, of drug maker Wyeth in a $68-billion cash-and-stock deal, expected to increase the former’s revenues by 50 per cent. Pfizer, maker of cholesterol drug Lipitor and impotence pill Viagra, is also cutting 10 per cent of its workforce of 83,400, slashing its dividend, and cutting the number of manufacturing sites. Lipitor will face generic competition in 2011. It brings in nearly $13 billion per year for the company. The deal will be the biggest merger since AT&T and BellSouth combined in a $70-billion agreement in 2006.

Banned: Import of toys from China. The ban, notified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, will remain valid for six months. Concerns had been raised over the safety of children playing with Chinese toys, which were found to be toxic. The Toys Manufacturers’ Association of India said it was pleasantly surprised by the decision of the commerce ministry to prohibit the import of cheap toys from China.

Appointed: N.S. Kannan Executive Director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, as the new CFO of ICICI Bank. Madhabi Puri-Buch, one of the Executive Directors of the bank, will take over as CEO of ICICI Securities.