Economy

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By IANS Raipur : A tribal leader said Wednesday that the administration was harassing farmers in Chhattisgarh's southern Bastar region because they refuse to hand over prime farmland to steel major Tata Steel for its proposed plant. The district administration strongly refuted the charges and described the allegation a "cooked-up story".

By IANS, New Delhi : India can increase its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by as much as 4 percent if the employment rate for women is pushed up, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said Monday. In a report released on the occasion of the International Women's Day, it said: "In countries such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia, conservative estimates show that GDP would increase by 2-4 percent annually if women's employment rates were raised to 70 percent, closer to the rate of many developed countries."

By IANS, Dubai : Bahrain has commissioned leading American provider of credit information on businesses and corporations Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) to conduct a detailed study of the Gulf nation's small and medium enterprises (SME) sector. Bahrain's Labour Fund has engaged D&B Research & Advisory Services to develop a customised business-scoring model in order to streamline financing support for SME development in Bahrain, according to a D&B statement. The scoring model will enable SMEs to identify growth opportunities and utilise feedback for improved business performance.

By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net Bhopal : Under International Competitive Bidding (ICB), India's giant Public Sector Undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, (BHEL), has won orders for the supply and installation of the Main Plant Package at the upcoming Jhajjar Super Thermal Power Project in Haryana, involving three units of 500 MW each. Valued at over Rs. 29,000 million, the orders have been placed on BHEL by Aravali Power Company Private Limited (APCPL), a joint venture company of NTPC, IPGPL and HPGCL, an official Press release said.

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By IANS New Delhi : The current bout of inflation was imported from the global market, and more corrective measures would follow to contain prices of essential goods, union minister Kapil Sibal said here Friday. "The government is exceptionally concerned about inflation. Measures like import duty cut on edible oils and banning the export of rice and pulses have been taken, and more measures will follow if needed," Sibal told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

By IANS Mumbai : Gurgaon-based C&C Constructions Ltd has been awarded two contracts worth Rs.2.02 billion ($500 million) from Himachal Pradesh Road and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. According to a company release issued Monday, the two contracts also fall under the World Bank Development Scheme and they incorporate widening and strengthening of roads within the state. With the addition of these orders, the company's order book now stands at Rs.10.08 billion ($2.5 billion) which it will execute by June 2009.

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By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities shut shop 155 points lower Tuesday amid weak global cues and selling pressure on heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,650.82 points, closed at 17,486.06 points, down 155.02 points or 0.88 percent from its previous close at 17,641.08 points. Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC added to the drag on the Sensex.

New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) Less than five percent of an estimated Indian urban population of 350 million takes more than a cursory look at the maximum retail price (MRP) printed on goods, says an industry survey. "There is a total lack of awareness even amongst urban customers about the maximum retail price of food, grocery, toiletry, cosmetics and other FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) products before buying them," the survey conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said.

By IANS Gurgaon : Humour was in abundance at the Partnership Summit here Thursday, with one Indian minister saying he would have been termed a "congenital idiot" if he had spoken of nine percent growth a quarter of a century ago. Another minister said the US should give visas to 10,000 Indian farmers who will lose their livelihood if Washington did not scale down subsidies for American farmers.

By DPA, Washington : US stocks posted sharp losses Thursday as oil prices continued to fall and weekly jobless numbers sparked wider concerns about the state of employment in a sluggish US economy. The job fears came ahead of monthly unemployment figures due out Friday, and dragged down shares in Caterpillar Inc and United Technologies Corp among others. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted a further 75,000 jobs were lost in August.

By IANS, London : Ranbaxy CEO Malvinder Mohan Singh said Thursday his company, together with the merged Daiichi Sankyo of Japan, will dominate the Japanese generics medicine market in the “next few years”. “This combination provides Ranbaxy with a very substantial edge and advantage as the Japanese generic market opens up, which is the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world," Singh told a meeting organised in London by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

By TCN News Hyderabad: A network of Muslim professionals working for the empowerment and development of the community announced the launch of www.idohelp.org, an online...

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By RIA Novosti Moscow : Russia's agricultural watchdog has approved the resumption of Indian sesame and peanut imports from Sep 17, the regulator said in a press statement. "Accepting the guarantees of safety and quality of Indian sesame and peanut imports by the Indian Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority, Rosselkhoznadzor has decided to allow the resumption of the imports as of Sep 17, 2007," the agency said Thursday.

By IANS, New Delhi: Tata Teleservices Tuesday said it has crossed the 80 million subscribers mark, adding 2.14 million users in September.

By IANS Hyderabad : The biotechnology sector in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh is expected to attract Rs.17.30 billion worth of new investments. Minister for Major Industries J. Geetha Reddy Wednesday said that while Biocon has proposed an investment of Rs.10 billion, integrated systems biology platform company Avesthagen and US-based firm DuPont are planning to invest Rs.5 billion and Rs.3 billion respectively. The investments are expected to generate employment for about 60,000 people.

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram : The IT special economic zone (SEZ) being developed by software major Infosys on a 50-acre plot adjacent to the Technopark IT campus here will open shortly. The SEZ would have two separate buildings, one is almost ready and work on the other is progressing, said M. Vasudevan, senior business development manager of Technopark. "Each building has a capacity to seat 1,500 professionals. The first one will open shortly, some last bit of work on common amenities and a food court remains. The other building is also nearing completion," Vasudevan told IANS.

By IANS, Mumbai : Amid lacklustre trading, Indian equities markets opened on a positive note Monday, but slipped into the red as trading progressed. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened Monday at 9,381.78 points, against the previous close at 9,323.59, was ruling at 9,313.16 points, some hour-and-a-half into trading. At this level, the key index was down 10.43 points from Friday's close.

By IANS, Chennai : BharatMatrimony, one of India's leading matrimony portals, has tied up with Metropolis Health Service India Pvt Ltd to provide premarital health check ups to the matrimonial site's clients. The web portal members can avail the pre-marital health check up at special prices, and also upload the certificate as part of their profile. "This helps in promoting complete transparency in the process of matchmaking," Murugavel Janakiraman, founder and CEO of BharatMatrimony, said Wednesday.

By IANS, Dubai : India's national carrier Air-India and its low cost subsidiary Air-India Express recorded revenue growth in operations of 45 percent and 38 percent, respectively, out of Oman in 2007-08. National Aviation Corporation of India Ltd (NACIL) executive director for Middle East and Africa F.D. Warden said Air-India Express's revenues grew from 2.8 million Omani riyals ($7.3 million) in 2006-07 to RO3.9 million ($10.1 million) in 2007-08.

By IANS, Mumbai : A key index of the Indian equities markets rallied in the morning session Thursday, rising more than 324 points from its last closing figure, about 45 minutes into trading. At 10.40 a.m., the 30-scrip benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, which opened higher at 15,008.78 points, was at 15,167.2 points -- 324.08 points or 2.18 percent higher than Wednesday's closing figure. The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too was ruling in the green, 2.31 percent up at 4,500.45 points.

By IANS New Delhi : Leaders of Indian industry are hopeful of a possible reduction in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) following rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, a survey said Monday. A day ahead of the credit policy review by the Reserve Bank of India, Indian industry honchos demanded policy support that would help in retaining the growth the country has been witnessing, the survey of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said.

By Rajeev Khanna, IANS Rajkot : In the vast farmer-dominated belt of Saurashtra, water and power shortages will dominate the Gujarat assembly elections. An area predominantly rural, Saurashtra is a region known as the groundnut bowl of India. In addition, it is a major producer of cotton. It is a region that is drought-prone, not because there is no rainfall but because of its inverted pan topography, marked by impermeable rock structure.

By IANS, Chennai : State-run Electronics Corp of Tamil Nadu Ltd (ELCOT) will soon cover around 28,000 public distribution shops in the state under its e-governance initiative, a top official said here Monday. "Currently implemented in around 210 shops, the electronic billing project will be shortly extended to other outlets in the states," ELCOT chairman Santhosh Babu told reporters. As per the system, the shop keeper will feed in the purchase details in the hand-held device and thereby convert the data to electronic format.

By IANS, Gandhinagar : The Videocon group has an ambitious plan to set up four thermal power generating units with a combined capacity of 6,000 MW at four locations around the country with a total investment of Rs.30,000 crore, company chairman Venugopal Dhoot said Sunday. With its Rs.5,000-crore 1,200 MW thermal power generating facility coming up at Pipavav in Gujarat's Saurashtra region and expected to go operational in the next 30 months, the company is exploring the possibility of putting up another 1,200 MW facility at the same location, he said.

By IANS, Bhopal : With most petrol pumps running out of stock across India due to the ongoing strike by employees of public sector oil companies, Madhya Pradesh Friday woke up to panic buying of the fuel. "As the oil marketing companies' executives from grade A to the level of deputy general managers have gone on strike, the supply chain has been virtually broken as the depots and sales departments have stopped functioning. "With this, most petrol pumps in the district and elsewhere are gradually running out of stock," a petrol pump owner said here.

By IANS, Shillong : The World Bank Wednesday launched its $1 million 2014 India Development Marketplace for implementing innovative service delivery in Meghalaya, Mizoram and...

By Wu Qi, Xinhua, Beijing : Although China does not celebrate Christmas, Lou Qijun is one of the many Chinese toy and gift manufacturers who anticipates a visit from Santa Claus every year in the form of seasonal orders from Europe and North America. Not so this year, says Lou, chairman of Yiwu Qiling Toys Co. Ltd., a leading toy producer in east China's Yiwu city of Zhejiang province, after returning from the Canton Fair, the country's biggest trade show which concluded late last week.

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By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities market climbed 0.50 percent in the morning session Monday on positive cues from other Asian markets.

By IANS, Mumbai : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left key interest rates unchanged and projected an economic growth of 7.5-8 percent during the current fiscal in its mid-term review of the monetary policy here Friday. "Aggregate supply conditions in the Indian economy have shown resilience in the second quarter of 2008-09 in the face of a deteriorating global macroeconomic and financial environment," RBI Governor D. Subbarao said.

By IANS Chennai : Providing an opportunity for co-creation, creating common interest based communities and acting as a nodal agency in the global supply chain are some of the key innovation drivers in the future, said a top management guru. "To create such a delivery network, it would require re-configurable capability and intensive investment in information technology (IT). India has an edge in the latter," C.K. Prahalad, a professor at the University of Michigan, US, said here Friday.

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By IANS/WAM, Dubai : Direct exports from Dubai reached AED 52.4 billion ($14.26 billion) in 2009, according to The Dubai Export Monitor 2010 published by Dubai Export Development Corporation (EDC). The value of exports of nearly 50 percent of EDC's target products such as sugar, cocoa, precious stones and aluminium also increased during the period.

By IANS, Tokyo : Japan will stockpile crude oil produced in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under a bilateral agreement that stipulates Tokyo could receive emergency supplies with priority in the event of a global supply shortage, WAM news agency reported. The first crude oil shipment from Abu Dhabi will arrive in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan Monday. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company leases a storage tank in Kagoshima. The capacity of the tank is 600,000 kiloliters. The agreement, signed in June between Japan and Abu Dhabi, is the first such agreement for Tokyo.

By IANS, Ranchi : A Rajasthan-based firm will promote silk products manufactured in Jharkhand to help the state generate around Rs.20 million annually, the government said here Monday. "The Jharkhand State Handloom and Textile (Jharcraft) and Murarka Organic Food of Rajasthan signed an agreement few weeks ago in New Delhi. As per the agreement, Jharkhand will sell 20,000 stoles and 6,000 silk saris to Murarka. The state will earn Rs.20 million per annum through this deal," Deputy Chief Minister Shudhir Mahto told IANS.

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities lost 442 points during an extended week ending Saturday as selling pressure built up across the markets, especially on the last two trading days. Fears of rising sovereign debt in some European countries and poor US job data spooked global bourses, which was reflected in Indian stock markets as well. Trading at two major exchanges continued Saturday to test the upgraded systems.

By IANS, Mumbai : Despite opening strong, Indian equities markets were again in free fall mode Friday on weak global cues and mid-afternoon a key index had shed more than 260 points at its lowest point before inching up a bit but still more than 240 points in the red. Overnight US markets closed in the green but a key index of the New York Stock Exchange actually went even below Oct lows - below 8,000 - before bouncing back on short covering. Asian markets too were showing gains Friday morning when Indian markets opened.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities markets closed in the green Friday after falling in the morning session, with a key index ending trade 2.03 percent over its previous close. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) shut shop at 9,423.41 points (provisional), 2.03 percent or 187.13 points higher than its previous close. The S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed higher at 2,874.55 points, 1.79 percent up over its last close of 2,823.95.

By Sarwar Kashani, IANS Pampore (Jammu and Kashmir) : As they prepare to reap the fruits of their hard labour, farmers here are worried. The yield of the saffron crop - which has brought glory to this part of the Kashmir valley - has been falling year after year. Some 14 km away from the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital, Pampore -- the heartland of saffron where a stone memorial greets you with the message "World's Best Saffron Grows Here" -- is slowly losing its sheen.

By IANS, Hyderabad : Disgraced founder and former chairman of Satyam Computer Services B. Ramalinga Raju and two other former top executives were Sunday taken into police custody for further interrogation in connection with the Rs.70 billion (Rs.7,000 crore/$1.43 billion) fraud. This followed Saturday's court order, remanding the three accused to custody of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh police for four days from Jan 18 to Jan 22.

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Kolkata : The central government is keen to constitute a high-level committee for reopening closed tea gardens in Jalpaiguri district of north Bengal.

"The suggestion of forming this committee was given by West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen in a meeting with me Friday. The committee will be headed by the additional secretary of union commerce ministry," Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Jairam Ramesh told reporters here Saturday after attending the annual general meeting of the Tea Board of India.

By Reino Gevers, DPA Frankfurt : Carmakers are presenting a flurry of new drive concepts at the 62nd International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt Sep 13-23 aimed at making cars of the future cleaner and safer. Japanese, European and American car engineers are in a fierce competition on the best drive solution of the future as oil resources dwindle and the global number of vehicles are estimated to increase from 850 million to 1.2 billion in the next 15 years.

By IANS, New Delhi : Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the oil ministry was siding with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries to scuttle their pact for natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin at $2.34 per unit. The allegation was made by Ram Jethmalani, senior counsel for Reliance Natural, before a three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, which is hearing the dispute between the two companies.

By IANS, Mumbai : The country's largest lender, State Bank of India, Thursday reported a 25 percent jump in net profit at Rs.2,914.2 crore for the quarter ended June 30, beating street expectations, which propelled its scrip to an all time high at the Bombay Stock Exchange. In the previous corresponding quarter, the bank had posted a net profit of Rs.2,330.37 crore. The net interest income grew a robust 45.36 percent to Rs.7,304 crore from Rs.5,024.9 crore in the same quarter of last fiscal.

By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS, London : Bajaj Group Chairman Rahul Bajaj mounted a scathing criticism of France over its protectionist position in world trade talks just as the country took over the presidency of the European Union. In an address to an influential forum of British business, Bajaj also held the position of France - and the US - responsible for India’s reluctance to introduce any further liberalisation of its economy, particularly in the financial services sector.

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New Delhi : India and Pakistan begin two-day talks between their commerce secretaries Tuesday to diversify the trade basket and resolve issues like the opening of bank branches in each other's countries that can spur business ties between them.

Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Syed Asif Ali Shah and discuss a range of issues like easing of trade restrictions, joint patent registration of basmati rice, export of cement by Pakistan to India and opening of more trade and transit points.

By Xinhua Amman : The expected liberalization of petroleum prices, coupled with several other factors, will deal a heavy blow to around 45 percent of Jordanians, the Jordan Times said on Monday.

By IANS, Chennai : City-based Repco Infrastructure Development Co is in talks with the Tamil Nadu government to develop vacant land on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. "We are discussing various BOT projects with the Tamil Nadu government, the total value of which is around Rs.100 crore," M. Balasubramanian, managing director of the Repatriates Cooperative Finance and Development Bank (Repco Bank), told IANS. The Rs.20-crore equity of Repco Infrastructure is shared equally between Repco Bank and and its subsidiary Repco Home Finance.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities markets closed just about in the green Thursday, with a key index ending trade 0.59 percent higher than its previous close. The 30-scrip Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index (Sensex), which opened at 8,905.56 points, pulled its shutters at 8,954.86 points, up 0.59 percent or 52.3 points. The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 2,789.55 points, 0.98 percent higher than its last close of 2,762.5 points. The BSE midcap index was 0.09 percent higher, while the BSE smallcap index was down 0.7 percent.

By Neena Bhandari Sydney, (IANS) Indian and Australian wheat collaborators are using their skills and experiences to focus on the implementation of molecular technologies to develop improved wheat varieties for both countries. University of Sydney's Plant Breeding Institute is collaborating with the Directorate of Wheat Research at Karnal and Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana to study molecular marker technologies for faster wheat breeding in India.

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New Delhi : The government Tuesday cleared commercialisation of five new Bt cotton hybrids by JK Agri Genetics for the coming sowing season.