Noted

Awarded: To Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, the JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award, for his outstanding contribution to Indian industry.

The award was presented by Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Approved: By the government, a scheme to provide an additional Rs 500-crore interest subsidy to Indian exporters to compensate them for losses on account of the rupee’s appreciation against the dollar. Under the scheme, banks will lend to exporters at rates cheaper than those prevailing in the market, and be reimbursed the difference by the government.

Permitted: Standard & Poor’s, by FIPB, to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India. The new company will provide cross-border credit ratings, index services, investment research services and S&P’s global data and information products to markets in the region. The company is already operating in the domestic market through Crisil.

Surpassed: For the first time in India, the number of private equity deals over the number of M&A deals. As many as 60 private equity deals took place in January against 56 M&A transactions, according to global consulting firm Grant Thornton. However, the total value of PE deals was lower at $2.05 billion, compared to $3.01 billion worth of M&As transactions.

Permitted: By Sebi, Renaissance Technologies, the world’s largest hedge fund firm, to operate on Indian stock markets as an FII. Other hedge funds that recently entered India include the Vikram Pandit-founded Old Lane, DE Shaw and Och-Ziff Capital Management. Renaissance is based in the US, and has returned more than 50 per cent in the first three quarters of 2007, according to a Bloomberg report.

Cleared: By the Board of Approvals headed by Commerce Secretary Gopal Pillai, 10 proposals for setting up SEZs.

Among those approved are proposals by Videocon Realty (in West Bengal) and Mahindra Worldcity (in Rajasthan).