Noted

Risen: By 38.6 per cent, direct tax collections during the first quarter of 2008-09, to Rs 57,373 crore, compared to 28 per cent and Rs 41,391 crore for the corresponding period last year.

Acquired: By the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, a 26 per cent stake in Saudi Arabia-based financial services firm, Riyada Consulting. A few West Asian sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors will buy the balance 74 per cent, but control will vest with R-ADAG, which will re-christen the company—which is engaged in brokerage depository, investment advisory, asset management and investment banking services—as Riyada Reliance Money.

Risen: By 8 per cent, car and utility vehicle sales in June 2008 over the figure for the same month last year. Despite rising prices and an increase in excise duty on bigger cars, the sales of leading manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, M&M, Tata Motors and Honda Siel have all grown in June.

Dropped: By 5.9 per cent, assets of the Indian mutual funds industry in June. The combined assets under management (AUM) of the 33 fund houses in India dropped to Rs 5,64,599.28 crore at the end of June compared to Rs 6,00,266.32 crore in May, according to the AMFI.

Acquired: By Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, seven pharmaceutical brands from Iceland-based generic drug pharma firm Actavis & Bloevna. This will give the Indian company access to the growing Polish market, which is the largest market for pharmaceutical products in central and east Europe. Poland is a big market for these drugs.

Ranked: By BusinessWeek, five Indian companies, Bharti Airtel (#21) and Reliance Communications (#66), Wipro (#74), Satyam Computer Services (#91) and HCL Technologies (#95) on The Infotech 100, its list of 100 bestperforming tech companies in the world. The list ranks companies on the basis of shareholder returns and return on equity. Amazon.com and Apple rank at #1 and #2, respectively.