Economy

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington : With the India-US civil nuclear deal in place, Washington is sending its largest ever nuclear trade mission to India with an eye on a major share in its projected $150 billion nuclear business. Visiting India Dec 2-9, the team of commercial nuclear executives will be led by Jack Fuller, CEO of GE-Hitachi, a world-leading provider of advanced reactors, nuclear fuel and nuclear services. It will also have senior executives from Westinghouse Electric Company, the other world leader in commercial reactors.

By Gyanendra Kumar Keshri, IANS,

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities markets extended losses Monday afternoon, with a key index ruling 3.02 percent lower than its previous close about an hour before the closing bell. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was at 9,139.94 points, 3.02 percent or 284.3 points lower than its previous close. At the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was at 2,791.3 points, 2.9 percent down from its Friday close of 2,823.95 points.

By IANS Abu Dhabi : More than 1,400 exhibitors from 55 countries will participate in the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference 2008 (ADIPEC) Nov 3-6, WAM news agency reported Monday. The exhibition is one of the world's largest oil and gas events in which major national and international oil companies and manufacturers of related equipment take part. ADIPEC was launched in 1984 and is supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s Ministry of Energy. The event is being organised under the patronage of President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan.

By IANS New York : The government of India must pay $42.4 million to the New York City in pending property taxes after a federal judge ruled that diplomatic privileges do not exempt a foreign country from tax obligations. India owes the money, bulk of which is accumulated interest on unpaid taxes, related to its 26-story tower near the United Nations with 20 floors of the building occupied by diplomatic employees.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities fell the second consecutive day Tuesday as a key index closed 2.43 percent amid continued selling by investors. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed at 9,686.75 points, a fall of 241.6 points or 2.43 percent from its previous close Monday of 9,928.35 points.

New Delhi: Regressive foreign direct investment (FDI) policy of the government has hurt Indian defence industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and...

By DPA, Tokyo : Asian stock markets surged Monday on renewed optimism related to large-scale economic stimulus plans by the US and China. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed up 411.54 points, or 5.2 percent, to 8,329.05, the biggest gain in almost two weeks, carrying over Friday's positive sentiment on Wall Street. Investors speculated that US demand was to rebound soon, after president-elect Barack Obama pledged the biggest public works programme in more than 50 years.

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram: A tribunal will be set up to recover Rs.216.26 crore from Coca-Cola for the socio-economic damages caused by its bottling plant in Palakkad that has now been shut down, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said Wednesday. The cabinet came to this decision after the report submitted by a nine-member expert panel headed by Additional Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar was accepted, Achuthanandan told reporters here.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities markets will remain closed Wednesday on account of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

By IANS, New York : The partisan stand adopted by India's petroleum ministry in the dispute over natural gas between two corporate houses will erode investor confidence and goes against the government's reforms direction, industrialist Anil Ambani has said. In an interview to the Wall Street Journal, Ambani, whose Reliance Natural Resources is fighting a legal battle with brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries over supply of gas from fields off the Andhra Pradesh coast, said the oil ministry's position also violated the sanctity of contracts.

By IANS, New Delhi : Indian equities markets were trading on a dull note late Tuesday morning, with a key index 0.6 percent below its previous close. The 30-scrip Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex), which opened at 8,583.06 points, was at 8,555.12 points shortly before noon, a fall of 51.96 points or 0.6 percent from its previous close. Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 0.35 percent from its last close to rule at 2,665.2 points. The BSE midcap index was 0.76 percent lower, while the BSE smallcap index was down 0.5 percent.

By IANS, Mumbai : As part of its ongoing commitment to the US-India Energy Dialogue, the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Friday awarded a $370,000 technical assistance related grant to oil major Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). BPCL will utilise the grant to introduce advanced safety technologies and inspection methodologies to minimise risks and vulnerabilities to its petroleum refinery and pipeline operations. The USTDA grant will also be used for training personnel on a comprehensive strategy for evaluating risk to petroleum refineries and related facilities.

By IANS Mumbai : US Secretary of Treasury Henry M. Paulson, Jr., declared here Monday that the US remains "committed to the historic Indo-US agreement on civilian nuclear co-operation which would be beneficial to both the countries." "We understand that economic growth and environmental responsibility are necessary, compatible goals. Moving forward with the civilian nuclear agreement is one part of the solution," said Paulson.

By DPA Detroit : General Motors has introduced an ethanol-adapted "green" version of its heavy gas-guzzling military compact truck derivative, the Hummer, at the Detroit auto show, where media continued getting a preview before the show opens later this week to the public. The unveiling, coupled with an announcement of a partnership in a bio-fuel company Monday, was part of GM's efforts to raise its image as a company trying to reduce carbon emissions blamed for global warming.

By Fakir Hassen, IANS, Johannesburg : If it can manage to get just half a percent of the $2 trillion held as savings in banks by Indian investors, its new joint venture with Indian share broker SMC will be profitable by 2015, South African insurance giant Sanlam Investments chief executive Johan van der Merwe said here. Van der Merwe was commenting on the granting of a licence to Sanlam Investments to start a portfolio management company in India with SMC, the third largest share broker in India. SMC is a distributor of financial products for about 50 other companies.

By Neena Bhandari, IANS Sydney : The National Australia Bank (NAB), one of Australia's leading banks, is considering outsourcing more IT jobs to India, causing much ire among its IT workforce here. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday, NAB is considering proposals that threaten the jobs of about 400 IT employees, causing angst throughout the bank's 2,700-strong IT workforce.

By IANS New Delhi : Industrial production in India has risen to an annual 7.6 percent in December because of a spurt in manufacturing, official data showed Tuesday. The country's Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) said in a statement that the cumulative growth for April-Dec 2007-08 stood at 9 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year. As many as 13 out of 17 industry groups in the index of industrial production registered positive growth during Dec 2007 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Supreme Court Thursday said it will fix on Sep 1 the date of final hearing on the dispute over the supply of natural gas between Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources and his elder brother's Reliance Industries. A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan communicated this when the counsel for Reliance Natural Resources moved a petition seeking early settlement of the dispute. The court said it will hear Sep 1 all the petitions, including one from the government as an intervener on the matter.

Mumbai: A strengthening rupee, buoyant equity markets coupled with a fall in dollar value boosted India's foreign exchange (Forex) kitty by $2.26 billion, experts...

By DPA Washington : The US Department of Agriculture has mandated one of the largest meat recalls in US history - a record 65 million kg of beef - after it determined a California slaughter house had pushed cows with poor health into the food chain. US Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer Sunday said the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company had slaughtered cattle "unfit for human food". The meat was sold to schools, emergency food recipients and Indian reservations.

By DPA, London : The British government Tuesday approved a comprehensive rescue package to stabilize the banking system with a capital injection of an estimated 50 billion pounds ($87 billion), the BBC reported. In addition to the capital boost, aimed at shoring up the balance sheets of leading banks, the agreement includes the creation of a standby facility for the provision of any funds that might be needed to guarantee the day-to-day operations of banks.

By IANS, Mumbai : The benchmark index for Indian stock markets fell two weeks in a row as domestic traders looked to book profits, with stocks having rallied handsomely in the past few months.

By IANS, Chandigarh : Seeking economic federalism for all states in the country, the Punjab government Thursday urged the 13th Finance Commission that states should get at least 50 percent share from the gross central receipts and taxes collected. The plea was made during a meeting of the state's top brass, including Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, with the Finance Commission led by its Chairman Vijay L. Kelkar here.

By Paras Ramoutar, IANS Port-of-Spain : Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago has said that the $1.2-billion steel unit proposed in the country by the Mumbai-based Essar group will proceed on schedule despite "emotional" protests. The construction of the steel plant proposed by the Ruias-led Essar group will begin shortly, Manning told reporters here. "This is an emotional issue (for) many. But when you examine the facts of the case they are not borne out by the emotion you're seeing. In fact people are shedding heat on it, not light," Manning said.

By IANS, New Delhi : Telecom major Bharti Airtel has posted a net profit of Rs.2,647.95 crore (Rs.26.48 billion/$547 million) in the first quarter of 2009-10, a 22.2 percent year-on-year increase. The company's total income during the period under review rose 22 percent to Rs.10,448.69 crore from Rs.8,567.8 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, the company said in a regulatory statement. The increase in profits was also because of a Rs.250-crore gain that accrued after payouts on its foreign currency loans fell due to rupee appreciation.

By IANS, New Delhi : Mobile phones will provide marketers the key to increase their reach, the head of India's second largest bank, ICICI Bank, said here Tuesday. "Mobile advertising and marketing through mobile will revolutionise the way people do business in India," ICICI chief executive K.V. Kamath told reporters on the sidelines of the ninth CII Marketing Summit, 2008, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). "This is not only true for banks. All businesses will have to take the mobile route to do business," he added.

By IANS, New Delhi : Steel producers in India have agreed to cut prices after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met them here Wednesday and sought their help in bringing down prices that have pushed the country's inflation rate to a 42-month high. At the meeting, the steel producers, who account for over 60-percent of the country's output, agreed to lower prices of products by between Rs.2,000 and Rs.4,000 per tonne with immediate effect, an official statement said.

By Prensa Latina New Delhi : In January India received 584,765 foreign tourists, representing a 9.9 percent increase over January 2007. In fact the Indian government informed that visitors have increased over the last three years. India expects that the tourist flow this year will contribute up to 1.43 billion dollars, 32.6 percent more than the 1.08 billion last year.

By IANS New Delhi : Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan Thursday said strong measures would be taken if steel producers were found to have increased prices more than the input costs. "The government must first examine the ratio of pricerise between raw materials and steel," Paswan said. "If it is found that steel makers have increased prices more than the rise in input costs, then necessary steps would be taken."

By IANS, Agartala : The biggest gas-based steel plant in northeast India started commercial production in Tripura Friday. The Noida-based Dharampal Premchand Ltd (DPL), manufacturers of the "Baba" brand of tobacco products, has diversified into steel production to set up the Rs.250-crore steel plant at Bodhjungnagar, 12 km north of Tripura's capital Agartala.

By Parveen Chopra, IANS, New York : As bookshop chains rush to create front-of-store displays featuring finance or personal finance titles to address widespread public anxiety, Charles Morris's "The Trillion Dollar Meltdown", which predicted market turmoil caused by subprime mortgages and Wall Street greed, is among the five titles most favoured by readers.

By IANS Ahmedabad : Synchron Research Services Private Limited, a research organisation based here that helps develop new medicines, Monday announced the acquisition of a laboratory in France. Synchron acquired the bio-analytical and bio-marker lab of PAREXEL located at Poitiers, south of Paris, for $6.7 million. At the same time, PAREXEL increased its stake in Synchron from 19.5 percent to 31 percent, a company statement said here.

By IANS, Mumbai : India's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank and biggest housing loan firm Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) Monday decided to hike interest rates for their fixed deposits as well as consumer loans. ICICI Bank said the interest rates on fixed deposits of less than Rs.1.50 million will go up by 0.5 percent to 1 percent from July 1. The bank's floating reference rate (FRR) for consumer loans including home loans will go up from 12.75 percent per annum to 13.50 percent.

By IANS, Bangalore : Serial entrepreneur and NewPath Ventures co-founder Vinod K. Dham resigned from the board of Sasken Communications as an independent director, a top official of the communications solutions provider said Monday. "Yes, Dham has resigned as a director of the company from the board on January 17," Sasken chairman and managing director Rajiv C. Mody told IANS but declined to elaborate. "We will inform you later, as we are busy with investors and analysts in a conference call on our third quarter performance," Mody added.

By DPA, San Francisco : Yahoo maintained a defiant silence Friday on Microsoft's $40-billion takeover bid, as Saturday's deadline to wrap up the deal came down to the wire. Instead of publicly responding to the software giant's ultimatum, Yahoo ignored the issue entirely and instead unveiled plans to rewire its Internet services to make them more flexible for users and more compatible with other websites.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS Kathmandu : Nepal Maoists have asked the government to scrap a deal between India's GMR Energy Ltd and the state's water resources ministry to develop a hydropower project in one of the remotest regions of the country. An MoU was signed between the two just a couple of days ago. The Maoists have warned the ruling alliance to either scrap the deal within 48 hours or face a "deadly" protest.

By IRNA New York : Oil prices have surged to record levels as traders bet that the Opec oil producing nations will reduce output. In New York, the main contract for light sweet crude oil closed at a record dlrs 101.01 a barrel, up dlrs 4.51. Market analysts say OPEC producers might cut production in response to the slowdown of the US economy, which is the world's biggest oil user. There was also concern over supplies from Nigeria and the ongoing row between Exxon Mobil and Venezuela. OPEC oil producers meet on 5 March.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities markets were trading weak Monday morning with a benchmark index down about 75 points and broader market indices ruling flat.

By IANS, New Delhi : The government Friday gave its nod for a development fee on air passengers travelling out of Mumbai airport, who will have to pay Rs.100 per trip for domestic flights and Rs.600 for flights abroad. The approval comes after a similar decision for passengers flying out of Delhi. The GMR-led consortium that is developing Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport will get the extra amount for three years from March 1.

By Sujeet Kumar, IANS Raipur : Land acquisition for two plants of Tata Steel and Essar Steel and a coal-fired power unit in Chhattisgarh will be completed with the consensus of farmers and tribals, says Chief Minister Raman Singh. "Both the steel plants and the power plant will come up in tribal areas. Acquiring land in tribal habitats is always a tough task. I have always said that land will be acquired only on the basis of consensus," Raman Singh told IANS in an interview at the state secretariat.

By TCN Staff Reporter Delhi: In an attempt to help people from marginalised communities set up their own businesses, the Union Budget has allocated Rs...

By IANS, Johannesburg : Plans by South African mobile giant MTN and India's Bharti Airtel to form a huge network straddling Asia, Africa and the Middle East could be affected by Iran's blockage of mobile network signals in the wake of the ongoing strife there. Analysts estimate that MTN stood to lose at least a month's revenue in Iran, the company's third largest market, but the telecom giant declined to comment on its operations in that country. "MTN has no comment regarding its operations in Iran at this stage," group Nozipho January-Bardill told the daily Times here.

By IANS, Mumbai : After finishing in the green Thursday, Indian equities markets again slipped into the red Friday with a key index shedding more than 264 points to again go below the psychologically important 9,000 mark by the close of trading. The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) finished Friday at 8,965.20, down 264.55 points or 2.87 percent from its previous close Thursday at 9,229.75 points. The Sensex opened some 25 points lower at 9,204.69 points, hit a high of 9,340.69 before slipping to its closing value.

Mumbai : Anticipation of reforms expected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his maiden Independence Day speech and healthy buying by foreign investors on...

By IANS, Bangalore : Leading IT firms Infosys and Wipro Friday said the serial blasts here had not impacted their operations and all their employees were safe. Both have, however, increased security at their campuses. Seven bombs went off within an hour in this IT hub's central business district and other crowded areas Friday afternoon, killing a woman at a deserted bus stop and injuring seven people.

By IANS,

By IANS, Hyderabad : The New York Stock Exchange Wednesday halted trading in the stock of beleaguered Satyam Computer Services prior to the opening of the market at 9.30 a.m. US eastern time, the NYSE said in a statement. “NYSE regulation is currently evaluating the news relating to Satyam and will continue to closely monitor further developments. Trading was halted prior to the opening of the market. The security will remain halted until further notice,” the exchange's regulation office said in a statement.

By IANS New Delhi : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee heads an empowered group of ministers (EGOM) that was set up Monday to fix the price of natural gas Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) extracts from its eastern offshore Krishna Godavari basin block. Set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the EGOM has been given a month's time to give its recommendations, official sources said.

By IANS Bangalore : Wipro Technologies is set to acquire US-based IT solutions provider and BPO Infocrossing for $600 million, it was announced here Monday. Wipro vice president Suresh Senapaty said the two companies had entered into an agreement for Wipro to buy the entire firm for $18.70 per share in an all cash deal. The entire acquisition will be completed by the end of this year, he said.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities markets moved north Tuesday, with a key index gaining 0.68 percent over its previous close. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 9,589.95 points, gained 64.95 points or 0.68 percent to close at 9,648.84 points (provisional). At the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) moved up 0.42 percent to close at 2,932.1 points. The BSE midcap index was up 0.76 percent, while the BSE smallcap index gained 0.29 percent over its previous close.

By IANS, Shimla : Facing criticism from the opposition Congress over the recent hike in electricity rates for domestic consumers, the Himachal Pradesh government Tuesday clarified that "it does not determine the tariff". The rates for domestic consumers have been hiked by 20-30 paise and for industries by 20-25 paise per unit. Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board's (HPSEB) chairman Ajay Mittal said: "The state government does not determine the tariff. It has been done by the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission."

By Anuradha Shukla, IANS, New Delhi: Agriculture and retailing of farm-based products will be the next focus areas for the diversified Bharti group with a war chest of $2.5 billion. The group reached a major milestone last week with a telecom subscriber base of 100 million. The group's founders, the Mittal brothers, whose Bharti Enterprises has a tie-up with global retail giant Wal-Mart in the wholesale business, is quite upbeat on the farm sector, hoping for a pan-India presence, as also exports, over the next few years.

By IANS,

By IANS

New Delhi : Thanking the Indian government for speedy clearance of his group's joint refinery project in Punjab, London-based steel mogul L.N. Mittal Wednesday injected Rs.5 billion ($120 million) in the company that would set up the $4.6 billion venture.

Mittal Energy Investments, an L.N. Mittal company, and the state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) will each hold 49 percent equity in the nine million tonne per annum Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bathinda.

Financial institutions will hold the remaining two percent.

By TwoCircles.net staff Washington DC: U.S. Secretary of...

By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net Kolkata: General strike called by seven Left trade unions affected the normal lives in all districts of West...

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington : The World Bank estimates the global economy will contract in 2009 by "close to three percent", a far bleaker assessment than its March estimate of a 1.7 percent contraction. But the International Monetary Fund (IMF) differed, predicting a global recovery in 2010 may expand at a 2.4 percent clip. The world economy is set to contract this year by more than previously estimated and poor countries will continue to be hit hard by multiple waves of economic stress, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Thursday.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities were down in the dumps Tuesday, with a key index losing 370 points over its previous close as investors booked profits across sectors. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 11,371.34 points, fell 370 points or 3.25 percent from the previous close to end trade at 11,001.75 points. However, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shed 3.17 percent to close at 3,360.1 points.

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities Wednesday closed 153 points lower, with energy, banking and metal stocks coming under selling pressure. Broader markets also ended flat. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,623.66 points, was ruling at 17,460.66 points (provisional), 153.82 points or 0.87 percent down from its previous close at 17,614.48 points.

By IANS Jaipur : The 5th edition of the Jaipur Jewellery Show (JJS) will be held Dec 22-25, officials said here Thursday. Gaetano Cavalieri, President of the London-based CIBJO (Confédération Internationale de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie et Orfèvrerie), also known as the World Jewellery Confederation, will inaugurate the show. Stating this at a press conference on Saturday, the convener of the JJS, Vimal Chand Surana, said at least 360 exhibitors, 50 more then last year, have booked their stalls in the three-day fair.

By IANS, Kolkata : Operations at Tata Motors' Nano plant at Singur in West Bengal remained suspended for the third consecutive working day Monday, with the company stating that the situation was not conducive to resuming work. It now seems unlikely that the auto major will be able to roll out the world's cheapest car by next month, as scheduled. "The conditions in Singur are still not conducive for resuming work today (Monday). We are assessing the situation closely," a Tata Motors spokesperson said in a statement.

By IANS Mumbai : Nicholas Piramal India Ltd will now be known as Piramal Healthcare ltd. The company in a statement issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Tuesday said that all formalities including the nod from shareholders and central government have been taken for the name change. According to the company, the group of companies like NPIL Laboratories and Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd has been clumped together into Piramal Diagnostic Services Pvt. Ltd, while another company Gujarat Glass Ltd has been renamed Piramal Glass Ltd.

By IANS, Mumbai : Gujarat-based Adani Enterprises, part of the Rs.30,000-crore diversfied Adani Group, has acquired the coal mine assets of Linc Energy of Australia for a cash and royalty package worth $2.7 billion to expand the group's energy business. "The purchase consideration is AUD 500 million ($455 million) plus a royalty payment for a twenty year period linked to production," the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

By IANS/RIA Novosti,

By IANS Pune : Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL), said here Wednesday that the company is not fully closing down its Akurdi plant near Pune. He clarified that only production of two-wheelers has ceased at the unit. He said the Akurdi unit would be utilised for research and development (R&D), including for the Bajaj-Renault alliance.

By IANS Mumbai : Indian equities markets opened in the red Friday on negative cues from Asian peers. There was heavy selling of banking, auto and consumer goods stocks during initial trade. The 30-share benchmark sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange opened with a loss of 219.06 points at 17,515.62. Twenty minutes into trading, the Sensex fell further to 17,432.30, a loss of nearly 300 points from Thursday's close. Around the same time, the S&P Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was at 5,137, down 55 points from its previous close.

By Rajeev Ranjan Roy, IANS New Delhi : With elections for the Delhi legislative assembly round the corner, budget allocations for urban development, health, education, tourism and senior citizens will get a boost in 2008-09. The state government has sought Rs.90 billion ($2.27 billion) from the Planning Commission as the annual plan outlay for fiscal 2008-09. The total plan outlay for Delhi during the 11th five-year plan (2007-12) has been pegged at Rs.450 billion against Rs.226 billion in the 10th Plan.

By IANS, Shimla : To help apple growers, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to set up another apple juice concentrate facility in the state, according to Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta. "We have decided to set up another apple juice concentrate plant at Gumma in Shimla district. This is in addition to the Parwanoo plant (in Solan district)," Bragta told IANS here Wednesday. The unit will be set up on an outlay of Rs.23 crore, the minister said.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equity markets closed in the red Thursday ahead of the release of weekly inflation data. In extremely volatile trade, realty, IT and healthcare stocks dragged the markets down. The 30-share benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, which opened at 14,895.85 points, touched a low of 14,766.01 before closing at 14,899.10. It went down by 150.76 points or 1.00 percent compared to its closing figure Wednesday.

New Delhi : India Inc. Tuesday welcomed the Reserve Bank of India's decision to reduce assets liability of banks and thereby easing liquidity. The Confederation...

By IANS, Chennai : Integrated lignite mining and power company Neyveli Lignite Corp will outsource mining activities at Bithnok and Hudla in Rajasthan. The Rs.3,354-crore company has decided to mine lignite at Bithnok (2.25 million tonnes a year) and Hudla (two million tonnes) to fire its proposed power plants at Barsingsar, also in Rajasthan. The company already has a 2.1-million-tonne lignite mine at Barsingsar and has set up a 2x125 MW power project there.

By Vishal Gulati, IANS, Shimla : The arrival of buyers from places as far away as Gujarat, Maharashtra and even Nepal have sent the prices of apples soaring in Himachal Pradesh. A large number of apple traders have been camping in various wholesale fruit markets in the hill state for the past week. Partap Singh Kairon, president of the fruit market association, told IANS local markets at Dhalli, Narkanda, Rohru, Solan and Parwanoo towns have attracted the most buyers from outside the state.

By IANS, New Delhi : Highlights of 2010-11 budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Friday: -- Petrol and diesel prices to go up as basic duty of 5 percent on crude petroleum, 7.5 percent on diesel and petrol and 10 percent on other refined products restored; central excise duty on petrol and diesel enhanced by Re.1 per litre each -- Taxes on large cars and SUVs increased 2 percent to 22 percent

By IANS, New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Monday issued a contempt notice against the managing director of the Central Bank of India for taking action against an official despite its stay order. Justice S.N. Agrawal passed the order after the bank's general manager, Abhijit Ghosh, told the court that a fresh chargesheet was filed against him in an alleged misconduct matter despite the court staying all proceeding against him. Ghosh was suspended from his job on Sep 24 after a chargesheet was filed against him on a charge of misconduct.

By IANS, Bangalore : The Karnataka government has allocated Rs.18 billion for Bangalore's infrastructure development in this fiscal's state budget, tabled by chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa here Thursday. Yeddyurappa, who also holds the finance portfolio, said Bangalore would require a whopping Rs.360 billion to tackle its infrastructure problems over the next five years. "Such a huge investment can be made possible through the state government, public-private partnership and support from the 6.5-million citizens of Bangalore," Yeddyrappa said.

By IANS, New Delhi : Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Friday hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the remarks on inflation, which peaked to a 45-month high, and said their criticism without suggestions was not quite welcome. "I may point out that we have not heard of any concrete suggestion made by the BJP/NDA that, if implemented, would help in moderating inflation," the finance minister said in a statement posted on his Web site.

New York(IANS) : AOL has launched Hindi and Tamil versions of the AOL India portal at www.aol.in. "This shows our commitment to serving online consumers in India, an important market for AOL," Ron Grant, president and chief operating officer of AOL, said in a statement. The AOL India portal offers e-mail, instant messaging, news, sports and entertainment. The Hindi and Tamil portals will have language sections in news, cinema and astrology.

New Delhi : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday allocated Rs.1541.13 crore to the ministry of youth affairs and sports for 2015-16, an increase of...

New Delhi: The central government will provide Rs.3,231 crore to five states -- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthana - for constructing...

By IANS, Dhaka : Indian workers employed in the garment manufacturing sector get the highest wage among South Asians while Bangladesh workers get the lowest, a study published here says. Indian garment industry workers get the highest wage at 51 US cents per hour. The average hourly wage of a garment worker is $0.51 in India, $0.44 in Indonesia, $0.43 in Sri Lanka, $0.38 in Vietnam, $0.37 in Pakistan and $0.33 in Cambodia, says Global Apparel Manufacturing Labour Cost Update 2008, prepared by US-consulting house Jassin-O'Rourke Group.

By NNN-FNA, Tehran : Iranian and Bahraini businessmen are slated to discuss investment opportunities in their fifth joint meeting in Manama on Saturday, despite heavy pressures by the US on the Arab state to end financial ties with Tehran. Setting up companies in the fields of shipping, airline and medicine are expected to top the agenda of talks between the two sides. Iran's economic attaché in Bahrain Mostafa Sadat told the Islamic republic news agency that the five-day meeting between the two countries aims to create investment opportunities.

By Faraz Ahmad, IANS New Delhi : After shaping a dramatic financial turnaround of Indian Railways, Lalu Prasad says the emphasis of his fifth straight budget would be to reach out to areas still untouched while sparing passengers from fare hikes. "One thing stands clearly proven in these four years - by just increasing fares you cannot improve the state of railways," Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said, ahead of his railway budget for the next fiscal to be presented Feb 27.

By Vaishali Bhambri, IANS, New Delhi : Do you enjoy reading books and can you usually tell which book will click in the market? If yes, then a career as a book publisher might just be right for you. These days book publishing courses have become one of the most sought after career options for youngsters, with many institutes and universities offering these, say experts.

By Shilpa Raina, New Delhi : Political tension between India and Pakistan automatically derails the process of getting a visa. This is what has affected...

By IANS New Delhi : The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Thursday ordered telecom operators to provide hard (paper) copies of bills to subscribers free of cost. The regulator has directed this to operators offering telecom services under both GSM and CDMA technologies of mobile telephony and fixed line services for the benefit of post-paid subscribers. The order will be effective immediately. It has also asked operators to provide itemised bills for long distance calls. Itemised bill for local calls remains under forbearance.

By DPA, Frankfurt : A downbeat end to share trading in Wall Street and across Asia resulted in a weak start to stocks in Europe Wednesday as recession fears resurfaced. After beginning the trading day down 0.7 percent, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx50 continued the downward momentum falling by 2.1 percent to 2358 points by mid morning. Indeed, shares pulled back across national European bourses with stocks falling by 2.10 per cent in Frankfurt and by 1.84 percent in Paris.

By IANS, Mumbai : Profit booking continued at Indian equities markets Thursday as investors sold off realty and metal stocks resulting in a key index closing 257 points in the red, but still above the day's lows, after having plummeted about 90 minutes before end of trade. The benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Sensex, which opened at 14,503.05 points, fell 257.31 points or 1.77 percent from Wednesday's close to end trade at 14,265.53 points. The Sensex hit an intra-day high of 14,630.73 points and a low of 14,188.25 points.

By Pupul Dutta, IANS, New Delhi : Unperturbed by the economic slowdown, Fortis Healthcare is planning to invest around $500 million for expanding operations, and is already in talks with several international as well as domestic hospitals for acquiring stakes, a top official said. "We have earmarked almost half a billion dollars for acquiring hospitals which will be raised through internal accruals mainly," Fortis managing director and chief executive officer Shivinder M. Singh told IANS Monday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum-India Economic Summit here.

By Arjun Sen, IANS, Hyderabad : Global defence and aviation major, the $21.3-billion Raytheon of the US, sees a $1 billion business potential in the Indian civilian sector alone over the next 5-10 years. The company is currently leading the race to bag a $196-million contract to supply technology for India's first satellite-based global aviation navigation system, called Gagan.

By IANS,

By IANS, Bangalore: Networking equipment major Cisco Monday said it had won a major contract to deploy next-generation network at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), but did not specify the value of the deal. "The network comprise routing, switching, security and core technologies to help ensure high network availability, boost network security and expand the exchange’s reach across the country," Cisco India vice-president Anil Bhasin said in a statement here.

By IANS

New Delhi : The Indian government will facilitate South Korean steel major Posco's $12 billion project in Orissa, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan Tuesday assured the country's ambassador to India, Paek Young Sun.

The government has set up an inter-ministerial group headed by the secretary for steel to expedite the implementation of large steel projects, Paswan told Paek when the latter called on him.

By IANS/EFE, Brasilia : The Brazilian finance minister has said that his country's economy will grow by five percent this year and "pull away" from wealthy nations incapable of matching that pace. Only Brazil, India, China and "a few more countries" will enjoy "meaningful growth" in 2010, Guido Mantega said, while the European Union is expected to grow by only 1 percent and Japan, 1.7 percent.

By NNN-Bernama Kuala Lumpur : Malaysia's Integrated oil and gas group, Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd, expects to secure up to US$50 million worth of oil and gas-related projects in the Middle East soon. Managing director, Nagendran Nadarajah. said the group was currently in talks with several parties on the deals. "We have already submitted the proposals for the projects and hope to conclude the negotiations soon," he told reporters after the group's extraordinary general meeting here Monday.

By IANS, Mumbai : Assurances from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram together with positive global cues saw Indian equities markets recover from Black Monday blues to end the week with marginal gains. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ended the week Friday at 14,042.32, gaining 41.51 points or 0.29 percent during the week from its previous close last Friday at 14,000.81.

By Xinhua

Kuala Lumpur : Iran is finalizing details on five proposed refinery projects in Asia, with a total capacity of 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), Iranian Petroleum Minister Seyed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh has said.