Noted

Inked: By Ranbaxy, an agreement with the US-based Merck for discovery and clinical development of antiinfective drugs. Ranbaxy will be paid an undisclosed sum upfront, and will potentially receive over $100 million (Rs 430 crore) per drug on achieving various R&D and regulatory milestones. Ranbaxy CEO & MD Malvinder Singh said the returns will start flowing to the company from this (second quarter) itself.

Announced: A general insurance joint venture, between State Bank of India and Australia’s Insurance Australia Group (IAG). SBI will hold 74 per cent in the joint venture and IAG the remaining 26 per cent. SBI said the JV plans to commence the business in the current financial year.

Risen: By $1.38 billion, India’s foreign exchange reserves, to $314.08 billion, during the week ended May 16. This is the second week in a row that forex reserves have increased. In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $200 million to $312.71 billion.

Simplified: By Securities and Exchange Board of India, the format of offer documents for mutual fund schemes to enhance transparency. These documents will have two parts— one containing all information on the mutual fund and the other on the scheme. The new application forms will be issued from June 1.

Named: By semiconductor company AMD, chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, as its brand ambassador in India. Globally, AMD is associated with Ferrari and Lance Armstrong. India is the only country where the company has opted for a brand ambassador.

Bought: By Britain’s richest man, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, a new mansion in London costing £117 million (Rs 994.5 crore), making it possibly the world’s costliest home, for his 32-year-old son Aditya. The development comes just months after he put his £40-million (Rs 340 crore) house in London’s Bishops Avenue, in which he no longer stays, up for sale.