5 March 2015: Dilip Sanghavi of Sun Pharma is the richest Indian

Ø  The biggest ever auction of 2G and 3G airwaves on Wednesday began on a high note with operators making bids worth an estimated Rs.60,000 crore after six rounds of bidding in all four bands.

Ø   Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceuticals, with a net worth of $21.5 billion, surpassed Mukesh Ambani as the world’s richest Indian on Wednesday, two days after the Reliance Industries Ltd. chief was ranked India’s wealthiest for the eighth consecutive year. A real-time update by the business magazineForbes reworked the rankings. On the global rich list, Mr. Shanghvi moved up to the 37th position, while Mr. Ambani slipped to the 43rd. Earlier on Monday, Forbes released its annual rich list for 2015, ranking Mr. Ambani at the 39th position and Mr. Shanghvi at the 44th. Azim Premji of Wipro was ranked 48th, from which he has moved up one place now.

Ø  The Indian Space Research Organisation has postponed the launch of IRNSS-1D, its fourth navigational satellite, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, scheduled for March 9. A technical anomaly detected during combined electrical checks of the satellite and the launcher led to the postponement. The flight on the PSLV-C27 launcher will take place after testing and clearing the anomaly, the space agency announced.

Ø  Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. has acquired management control in Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company Ltd., signalling its foray into the emerging business of defence production. In the process, it appears to have piped groups such as Hiro and Mahindra to the post.

Ø  The Centre on Wednesday announced the setting up of task forces that will draw up concrete action plans for the development of Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam as smart cities.

Ø  President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that as a responsible nation, India was firmly committed to peace and stability for which the country needed an effective deterrence and a strong defence force.

Ø  Aiming to counter the United States’ “Pivot to Asia” doctrine, China is set to raise its defence budget by 10 per cent to help fortify its submarine based military deterrent and advance the development of stealth fighter jets. Its adversaries, including the strategic community in the United States, have criticised China for its high military spending, which stood at $130 billion in 2014. But Chinese authorities point out that their defence spending is nearly four-and-a-half times lower than Washington’s 2014 military expenditure of $581 billion.

Ø  Analysts point out that China is beefing up its nuclear and conventional deterrence to counter the “Asia Pivot” of the United States — a military doctrine of the Obama administration which visualises that the U.S. Pacific Command would deploy 60 per cent of the country’s armed forces. In response to the U.S. military build-up on its periphery, China is focusing on establishing a stable nuclear deterrent based on a string of atomic powered submarines that will impart Beijing a “second strike” capability. China’s JIN class of submarines has mounted JL-2 nuclear missiles with a range of 7,350 km. A Russian military website points out that China’s second strike capability is also being reinforced with the development of the 11,000-km range missiles, which will be mounted on the 096 Tang class nuclear submarines. Aware of China’s growing heft in the submarine arena, the U.S. has begun to fly its most advanced surveillance aircraft — the P-8A Poseidon — out of the Philippines for patrolling the South China Sea, according to Reuters. China is also trying to neutralise the U.S. advantage in aircraft carriers — the key to Washington’s control over sea lanes funnelling into the Malacca straits — by developing anti-ship missiles including the 1500-km range DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile. In the military aircraft domain, China appears to be working overtime to develop the J-20 stealth aircraft, which had conducted its maiden test flight in 2011. At the presser, Ms. Fu said that “fundamentally speaking, China’s defence policy is defensive in nature,” in tune with the Chinese Constitution. The defence budget is also likely to address the terror threat that Beijing faces from militants in the far western region of Xinjiang.

Ø  In a cheer for borrowers, banks are likely to reduce their lending rates following a 25 basis point reduction in the repo rate by RBI. The rate cut is expected to have a positive impact, especially for consumers, as it will result in lower EMIs (equated monthly instalments) for the borrowers.