Garment exports slip 15.4 percent in first quarter
By IANS,
New Delhi : Garment exports fell 15.4 percent in the first quarter this fiscal, an industry body said Tuesday.
According to data released by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), India exported garments worth $2.41 billion in the quarter ended June 30 as compared to $2.85 billion it earned in the like period last year.
In June, the garment exports fell 10.15 percent from $968 million to $870 million, AEPC said.
Hindustan Construction net profit dips 72 percent
By IANS,
Mumbai : Engineering and construction major Hindustan Construction Co (HCC) Friday said its net profit for the quarter ended Sep 30 fell 72.3 percent to Rs.5.51 crore from Rs.19.94 crore in the like period last fiscal.
The net profit figures were, however, not comparable with the previous period as the company had booked a one-time loss on the sale of capital assets during the second quarter, HCC said in a regulatory statement.
Sensex opens 500 points lower
By IANS
Mumbai : Indian stocks crashed by more than 500 points at the opening bell Thursday after the Independence Day holiday, in empathy with a global stock market meltdown.
The benchmark 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened more than 500 points lower than Tuesday's close and almost immediately went down further before staging a partial recovery, all within the first half hour of trading.
SBI denies takeover report of South African bank
By Fakir Hassen, IANS
Johannesburg : The State Bank of India (SBI) here has denied reports about its takeover bid of South Africa's Capitec Bank.
The Economic Times in New Delhi had earlier published a story about the proposed takeover bid, sparking strong market speculation that saw Capitec's share price rocket, but both banks have strongly denied the claims.
Gujarat firm acquires Hong Kong mining company
By IANS,
Ahmedabad : Sadbhav Engineering Ltd, which is into mineral prospecting and infrastructure development, has acquired a 74 percent stake in the Hong Kong-based mining company Ocean Bright Corporation Limited (OBCL), a move that gives it entry into Africa.
The city-headquartered Sadbhav made the acquisition through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Sadbhav Natural Resources Pvt. Ltd.
‘Information on ATM operation not to be revealed’
By IANS
New Delhi : Commercial banks cannot be compelled under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to divulge the operational details of their ATMs installed across cities, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled.
"Information pertaining to operation of ATMs is really a matter of commercial confidence. As a matter of fact, a lot of security is involved in such a procedure and such information cannot be given to any outsider," CIC's Information Commissioner Padma Balasubramanian held in a ruling on Jan 29.
Congress wants Parrikar to cut diesel price
By IANS,
Panaji : The Congress in Goa now wants Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to extend his petrol price slashing formula to diesel.
US is open to expanding G7, Paulson says
By DPA,
Washington : The US is open to letting more countries into the select group of top world economies known as the Group of Seven (G7), Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said.
Paulson Friday suggested the current bloc was not broad enough to deal with today's economic problems, in a press conference just after G7 finance ministers and central bank heads met in Washington to discuss the financial crisis.
"I don't think it reflects the global economy today," Paulson said.
Bangladesh’s per capita income goes up to $599
By IANS,
Dhaka : The per capita income in Bangladesh has shot up to $599 this fiscal year (July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008) from $523 last year, mainly due to remittances from its citizens working abroad.
The latest economic indicators of the impoverished South Asian nation show a fall in growth by one to three percentage points in agriculture, manufacturing, construction and service sectors. Part of this is due to natural calamities.
Australia debates selling uranium to India to combat climate change
By Neena Bhandari, IANS,
Sydney : Nuclear power has to be an option if Australia has to meet its targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, believe many in Australia’s opposition Liberal Party, with at least one frontbencher adding Australia “can and must export uranium to India” for the same purpose of combating climate change.
Gujjar agitation, rains hits Himachal tourism industry
By IANS,
Shimla : Untimely rain in the northern plains and the prolonged Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan have affected the tourism industry of Himachal Pradesh, with many tourists having cancelled their bookings.
In May and June, the hill state usually gets a lot of tourists from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana, wanting to escape the summer heat. However, there are few tourists this year and over 20 percent of the hotels and travel agencies here are reeling under losses, Ashwani Sood, general secretary of the Shimla Hotel Association, told IANS.
India’s inflation dips sharply to historic low of 0.44 percent
By IANS,
New Delhi : India's annual rate of inflation fell by as much as 200 basis points to a historic low of 0.44 percent for the week ended March 7 against 2.43 percent for the week before, official data showed Thursday.
The statistics on wholesale price index, released by the commerce and industry ministry here, showed that the inflation rate dropped to an all-time low because of a decline of 1 percent in the index for primary articles and 0.8 percent in that for fuels over the week.
The index for manufactured articles remained unaltered.
India remains popular for overseas merger deals: KPMG
By IANS,
New York : Central and East European countries emerged favourites for cross-border mergers in the first half of this year, but India along with China, Russia and Brazil remained popular targets despite the global slowdown, says a new study.
In the first half of 2009, US companies made the majority of their high-growth market acquisitions in China with 17 deals, Brazil with 13 and India with 12. In the second half of 2008, these countries accounted 45, 17 and 19 deals, respectively, says the study by global consultancy KPMG.
New China funds to shore up falling stocks
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's securities regulator has approved the issue of three new funds in an apparent move to shore up the falling domestic equity market, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said Friday.
The CSRC gave the green signal to one stock fund managed by New Century Fund Management Corp Ltd and two hybrid funds managed by Lion Fund Management Ltd and Changsheng Fund Management Corp Ltd.
The industry watchdog didn't reveal the ceiling of these new funds.
Reserve Bank survey lowers India’s growth forecast to 5.7 percent
By IANS,
Mumbai : A study based on a survey conducted by India's central bank has lowered the country's economic growth forecast to 5.7 percent for this fiscal from the earlier projection of 6 percent because of a sharp downward revision in the anticipated expansion of industrial output.
The study, conducted on the basis of a survey among 17 professional forecasters, has kept unchanged the growth rate for the farm sector and the services industry at 3 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, as per a statement issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Thursday.
Heavy Engineering Corp, BHEL to start joint venture
By IANS,
Ranchi : City-based Heavy Engineering Corp (HEC) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a joint venture company that will manufacture casting and forgings.
The agreement was signed between HEC chairman and managing director G.K. PIllai and his BHEL counterpart K. Ravi Kumar in HEC campus Friday afternoon.
HEC's present unit of forge and foundry will be transferred to the new entity, to be set up on 55:50 equity participation.
Air Arabia floats budget carrier with Yeti in Nepal
By IANS
Bangalore : Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia is setting up a new budget carrier jointly with Yeti Airlines of Nepal to expand its operations in Asia and the Far East, the airline said Wednesday.
"The new low-cost carrier will be based in Kathmandu, which will be our Asian hub to operate flights to destinations in south and central Asia, Far East and the Indian subcontinent," Air Arabia chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani said in a statement released here.
China’s top chemical firm plans no-pollutants emissions
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's largest chemical firm has said it is working on a 700-million yuan ($96 million) technology upgradation project to achieve the target of zero pollutants in the industrial effluents discharged by its plants.
Ren Jianxin, president of ChemChina, told the annual work meeting Thursday, "In 2008, ChemChina will reduce the energy consumption of unit output value by seven percent, while the discharge of waste water, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide will be lowered by more than three percent," he said.
India’s key market index scales 17,000-point mark
By IANS
Mumbai : Taking barely a week to jump 1,000 points, a key Indian share market index crossed the 17,000-point level for the first time Wednesday, taking cues from global developments and buying interest among foreign funds.
Amid buying interest in energy, banking and tech stocks, the 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) shot up to 17,073.987 points during intra-day trading - the highest ever level for the index.
ONGC net dips 27 percent in first quarter
By IANS,
Mumbai : The net profit of state-run energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) dipped for the fourth consecutive quarter, declining 27 percent to Rs.4,847.92 crore (about Rs.48.48 billion) for the quarter ending June 30 owing to lower oil prices.
ONGC had logged a revenue of Rs.6,636.33 crore (Rs.66.37 billion) in the corresponding quarter the previous fiscal.
Trade remains range-bound, markets still sluggish
By IANS,
Mumbai : The Indian equities markets were stayed low Thursday afternoon with a key index trading about 4.38 percent below its previous close Wednesday.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was down 4.38 percent or 410.7 points from its previous close and was trading at 8,959.79 points an hour before the day's close.
The Sensex opened at 9,098.08 points Thursday, lower than Wednesday's close of 9,370.49.
Budget session begins on stormy note
By IANS,
New Delhi : The budget session of parliament began on a stormy note Thursday as almost the entire opposition staged angry protests over the hike in petrol and diesel prices, forcing the speaker to adjourn the Lok Sabha.
The protest, led by the Left parties, started soon after Speaker Meira Kumar concluded reading obituary references to two former members minutes after the house assembled.
As realty market becomes tight, developers goaded to lower prices
By Anuradha Shukla, IANS,
New Delhi : After the government, it is now the turn of banks and private equity funds to urge developers to reduce property prices.
According to bankers, the demand is still there in the housing segment, but the soaring property prices are keeping customers away.
"Despite an industry bailout programme and the relaxation of lending rules, constructors are refusing to cut the inflated property prices," said Deepak Parekh, chairman of mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd (HDFC).
Democrats insist Republicans back finance rescue plan
By DPA,
Washington : The US Congress wrestled Friday across political divides over a deeply unpopular giant financial industry rescue plan as majority Democrats insisted that Republicans get on board before putting it to a vote.
The White House pulled out all the stops, sending its representatives to Capitol Hill where negotiations continued over the controversial $700-billion life raft for Wall Street.
Decision on milk prices taken by state federations: Pawar
By IANS,
New Delhi : Asserting that his ministry had nothing to do with hiking milk prices, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Monday said it was the state milk federations that had decided to raise the prices.
"It is the decision of state (milk) federations," Pawar told reporters when asked about the milk price hike particularly in major cities like Delhi.
Pawar did not say whether his ministry was planning to control the rise in price of milk.
Food inflation climbs to 9.13 percent
By IANS,
New Delhi: India's food inflation rose to 9.13 percent for the week ended June 11, compared to 8.96 percent recorded in the previous week, official data showed Thursday.
NCDEX to resume futures trade in four items in September
By IANS,
Chennai : The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) will resume futures trade in four banned items - soya oil, potato, channa and rubber - in September, said a top official.
"The four-month futures trading ban on these four items issued May 7 this year automatically ceases Sept 6. We would allow futures trade in these four commodities," R. Ramaseshan, managing director and CEO of NCDEX, told reporters here Saturday.
However he said the earlier ban on food commodities like wheat and rice would stay as it was not restricted to any specific time period.
Bahrain track working to draw crowds for V8 race
By DPA
Sakhir (Bahrain) : The Bahrain International Circuit has launched an aggressive marketing campaign ahead of the November Australian V8 Supercars race that it is hosting for the second time by targeting Australian and European markets and cutting ticket prices by a third.
The track's chief executive officer, Martin Whitaker, said the venue is seeking to attract more foreign business and investment into Bahrain and solidify the position of the track as the home of motor sport in the Middle East.
Sensex ends choppy day 141 points lower
By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities Wednesday ended 141 points lower Wednesday with profit booking kicking in during what was a very choppy day of trade.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,042.18 points, closed at 15,900.82 points (provisional), down 141.36 points or 0.88 percent from its previous close.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty shut shop at 4,754.7 points against the previous close at 4,792.65 points, a loss of 0.79 percent or 37.95 points.
Ahead of monetary policy, Sensex in green
By IANS,
Mumbai : Ahead of the annual policy statement by India's central bank, a key equities index Tuesday started trade in the green and was ruling about 58 points higher than its previous close about 90 minutes into trade.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,394.68 points, was ruling at 17,459.11 points, up 58.43 points or 0.34 percent from its previous close at 17,400.68 points.
Markets end in green on confidence boosting cues
By IANS,
Mumbai : Despite the arrest of a state-level politician and the resultant violence here, Indian equities finished in the green Tuesday buoyed by the cut in a key lending rate by the central bank, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the Indian economy continued to be resilient and strong global cues.
Thanks to satellite-based communication technology there were also no disruptions, as trading today in Bombay Stock Exchange, for example, is routed through as many as 25,000 trader workstations located across over 450 cities in the country.
Asian property market weathers sub-prime rate storm
By DPA
Bangkok : Asia's property markets weathered last year's global financial storm triggered by the sub-prime crisis in the US and are expected to perform well in 2008, Jones Lang LaSalle predicted in its latest Asia Pacific Property Digest.
"Rental and capital value growth over the past 12 months has been generally strong, exceeding expectations in some markets, while yields have held firm or compressed. Investment volumes in Asia Pacific also held up well in 2007," said Jones Lang LaSalle, one of the leading real estate consultants in Asia.
Singur, Nandigram are ‘political conflicts’: Ratan Tata
By IANS
London : Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata has said the raging battles at Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal are the results of "political conflicts" between the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the Trinamool Congress.
"Nandigram and Singur are issues of political conflict between two political parties," he said answering questions at the close of a lecture delivered at the Chatham House, a foreign affairs think tank, Monday.
Japan to introduce $107 bn recovery package
By DPA,
Tokyo : The Japanese government Friday unveiled an economic stimulus package totalling 11.7 trillion yen ($107.03 billion) to lift the financial burden caused by rising oil prices and shore up the economy.
The government was to install the package to help small- and medium-size firms raise funds, financially support business sectors hit hard by rising oil prices such as truckers or bus and taxi operators, and reduce income and residential taxes.
Unitech to foray into telecom
By IANS
New Delhi : Unitech Ltd, India's second-largest real estate firm, Friday said it is planning to foray into the telecom sector and has applied for licenses in 22 network areas.
The company, in its communiqué to the National Stock Exchange of India, has said eight of its subsidiaries will submit applications to department of telecommunications to provide telecom services in the country.
Markets close in the green, Sensex up 2 percent
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets stood up against falling global bourses Wednesday as a key index shut shop almost 2 percent higher than its previous close Monday.
The 30-scrip Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex), which opened at 10,283.58 points, rose 207.47 points or 1.97 percent to close at 10,742.34 points (provisional).
Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 2.77 percent from Monday's close to end trade at 3,346.75 points.
The BSE midcap index gained 3.11 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was up 4.47 percent.
MTNL rolls out 3G services in Delhi
By IANS,
New Delhi : State-run telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) Thursday launched its third generation (3G) mobile services, Jadoo, in limited areas of Delhi on an initial investment of about Rs.4 billion (Rs.400 crore).
"We have spent Rs.300-400 crore (Rs 3-4 billion) on the 3G services roll-out so far," MTNL chairman and managing director R.S.P. Sinha told reporters here on the sidelines of a conference.
The company can currently support around 150,000 subscribers on its 3G infrastructure, he said.
Portal launched to promote India-Japan business cooperation
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Confederation of India Industries (CII) and Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) have launched a web portal to bolster trade and investment partnerships between India and Japan, with special emphasis on the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
Called Indo-New Window, the portal will act as a business-matching site to encourage Indian and Japanese companies to identify potential business partners for import and export, technology transfer, investments, and business tie-ups specifically in the proposed DMIC.
On Srinagar’s ‘freedom road’, a hot favourite pizza outlet
By F. Ahmed, IANS,
Srinagar : Walls awash in colour, wacky posters, anti-skidding ceramic floors, upholstered furniture and uninterrupted pop music. The first pizza outlet in Srinagar offers all this - with a dash of 'freedom'.
The Smoking Joe Pizza restaurant in uptown Rajbagh area is slowly becoming a landmark in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located on what has been christened as the 'Hurriyat (Freedom) Road' here - and the symbolism does not escape anyone stepping in for a steaming pick of his or her favourite pizza.
First India-Sharjah Business and Cultural Forum to be launched
By IANS,
Sharjah: The first 'India-Sharjah Business and Cultural Forum' will be launched Wednesday by the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) at its headquarters here, a media report said.
India is way down 124th in economic freedom
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : With an economic freedom score of 53.8, India has been rated the 124th freest economy in the world, according to the 16th annual Index of Economic Freedom, released by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.
India's score is 0.6 point lower than last year as a result of declines in freedom from corruption, business freedom, and monetary freedom. India is ranked 24th out of 41 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and its overall score is below the world average of 59.4 on a scale of 100.
GSPC gets eco-clearance for 16 more wells in KG basin
By IANS,
Gandhinagar : The state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has acquired environmental clearance for 16 of its additional wells to be drilled in its Deendayal gas field in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin on the eastern coast of India, a state official said here Monday.
The industry department official said the 16 additional wells in the Block KG-OSN-2001/3 received clearance from the environment and forests ministry for exploration after the firm submitted a pre-feasibility report a month back.
Indian carriers spread their wings in international skies
By Varada Bhat, IANS,
Mumbai : With international passenger traffic to India increasing by 18 percent every year, Indian carriers are busy expanding their reach across the continents through what is commonly known as code-share agreements with global carriers.
Code-share refers to business practice where a flight operated by an airline is jointly marketed as a flight for one or more airlines.
For example, a traveller can purchase a single ticket on a journey, which has two flights, like Mumbai-Singapore and Singapore-Sydney, on two different airlines.
India awaits monsoon to decide on Malaysia’s rice request
By P. Vijian, NNN-Bernama,
Mumbai : India, the world's second largest rice producer, will wait until its summer crop is harvested before deciding on Malaysia's request for purchase of rice to build up its grains stockpile.
Millions of Indian farmers plant the summer crop in June and July when the monsoon sets in and harvest in October -- yielding nearly 90 million tonnes during the season.
"We will consider your request after three months but now you can take our Basmati rice. We have a gap of three million tonnes (of normal rice).
Hyundai India defers third shift plan on slowdown fears
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : India's second largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor India Ltd. has deferred a decision to introduce a third shift at its new plant near here, according to a top company official, in the wake of predictions that the Indian auto industry will slow down in the coming months following rising interest and input costs.
"We are watching the situation and a decision will be taken accordingly," Ashok Jha, the company's president, told IANS.
Rupee falls to five-month low
Mumbai : The Indian rupee fell to 61.34 against a dollar Wednesday from its previous close of 60.85, attributed to the exiting of foreign...
BHEL mulls Rs.480 crore third phase expansion
By IANS,
Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) : The Rs.27,500-crore power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) plans to further expand its boiler plant facility here on an outlay of Rs.480 crore, a top company official said Friday.
The state-run company has already spent Rs.190 crore in the first phase of expansion and the Rs.732-crore second phase is now under implementation.
Malaysia Airlines offers Indians more Australian connections
By IANS
New Delhi : Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will offer Indian travellers seamless connectivity to over 60 Australian cities through a proposed interline agreement with Virgin Blue, the airline said Wednesday.
"The new interline agreement offers an enhanced travel experience with a range of competitive benefits from unified ticketing to simple auto-priced fares for destinations in Australia and New Zealand," a MAS statement said.
India’s central bank leaves key rates untouched
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.
Onion prices will dip by mid-January, say traders
By IANS,
New Delhi : The sky-rocketing prices of onion that have come down marginally are expected to fall further by mid-January, Delhi's wholesale traders said.
ArcelorMittal wins EU approval for JV with Swedish firm
By Xinhua
Brussels : ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, won approval from the European Union (EU) Thursday to form a flat carbon steel joint venture (JV) with Swedish company BE Sverige.
"The proposed transaction would not impede effective competition," the European Commission said in a statement.
ArcelorMittal was a leading global steel company based in Luxembourg. BE Sverige, which belongs to BE Group, is a steel distribution company on the Scandinavian market and is active in the steel service centre sector in Sweden.
Jet fuel in India costlier than Singapore, Hong Kong
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : Airlines in India pay the most for fuel when compared with other Asia Pacific hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong and Colombo, mainly on account of higher tax rates.
Aviation Turbine Fuel or jet fuel in Delhi, the city that houses the nation's second busiest airport, costs USD 1,291 per kilolitre while the same in Singapore is sold at USD 1,067 per kl. It costs USD 1,100 per kl in Hong Kong and USD 1,113 in Colombo.
Starbucks brews its first coffee in India
By IANS,
Mumbai : Starbucks opened its first store in India Friday in a joint venture with the Tatas, hoping to redefine the coffee market in the country.
General Motors repays government loan
By DPA,
Washington : General Motors has repaid $4.7 billion in government loans issued last year, clearing its remaining debt under the Treasury Department's rescue plan to contain the fallout from the economic downturn.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday that General Motors had completed repaying its total government debt of $6.7 billion five years ahead of the loan's maturity date and ahead of the company's own accelerated plan for returning the money.
Bharat Heavy Electricals mulls power plant at Singur
By IANS,
Singur (West Bengal) : Top officials of state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) Thursday inspected the abandoned site of Tata Motors here, initially intended for a factory to produce the small car Nano, to consider a power generation plant.
The team was led by BHEL general manager S.C. Mittal.
"We came here to inspect the site. BHEL general manager is with us," said West Bengal Power Development Corp managing director Debashis Sen after visiting the spot, some 40 km from Kolkata.
Reliance Industries buys US shale assets for $1.3 bn
By IANS,
Mumbai: Reliance Industries (RIL) Thursday said it will pay $1.3 billion for a 45 percent stake in US-based Pioneer Natural Resources' shale gas assets.
"Reliance will acquire a 45 percent interest in Pioneer's core Eagle Ford Shale acreage position in two separate transactions. Reliance will pay $1.315 billion for its implied share of 118,000 net acres," the company said in a statement.
Market rally continues, Sensex up 77 points
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities continued their rally for the fifth consecutive session Wednesday, with a key index ending 77 points higher than its previous close.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened higher on strong Asian cues at 15,763.09 points, ended at 15,765.65 points (provisional), up 77.18 points or 0.49 percent.
Around noon, the index had slipped to a low of 15,695.94 points, but recouped losses and touched an intra day high of 15,831.49 points.
Apeda gets powers to protect Basmati patent rights
By IANS,
New Delhi : India Thursday decided to empower Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development Authority (Apeda) to protect patent rights for basmati, India's super quality rice, among other similar rights.
A Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday, approved the necessary amendment in existing laws to vest Apeda with statutory powers to deal with registration and protection of intellectual
property rights (IPRs).
BSNL to install over 600 towers in rural Uttar Pradesh
By IANS,
Lucknow : Indian telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nagar Limited (BSNL) will expand and improve its mobile connectivity in rural Uttar Pradesh by installing over 600 new base transmitting station towers (BTS) in the state, a top company official said Friday.
"The exercise of setting up BTS towers will be undertaken within a month," BSNL's general manager (establishment and development), UP, G.C. Srivastava told IANS.
Oil strike should not occur again: Petroleum secretary
By IANS,
New Delhi : The oil industry will do "introspection" to ensure that there is no recurrence of the strike that paralysed the economy this week, Petroleum Secretary R.S. Pandey said here Sunday.
"We have to ensure that the trauma does not occur again. The oil industry will have to undertake introspection," Pandey told reporters at the inauguration of the media centre for the country's premier oil and gas conference, Petrotech 2009.
Swatch posts $714 mn dollar profit
By DPA,
Geneva : Swiss watchmaker Swatch reported Tuesday a 763 million franc ($713 million) profit in 2009 - an 8.9 percent decline on the previous year's net income but better than analysts had expected.
The group's total sales stood at 5.4 billion francs, down 8.1 percent from 2008. Swatch also reported gains in market shares over the last year.
Government hints at steps to stabilise steel prices
By IANS,
New Delhi : With economic growth slowing down and inflation soaring, the government Monday hinted at more measures to stabilise steel prices.
At a function here Monday, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the government was committed to initiating further steps to contain steel prices, if needed.
“The government has taken certain measures to stabilise prices of steel, and is committed to taking further steps if the need arises,” Paswan said.
Citibank chosen official partner of DLF-IPL
By IANS,
Mumbai : The DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) Friday announced that Citibank has been chosen the official bank of the cricket extravaganza. The deal was signed for five years.
Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of DLF-IPL, said: "It's a mutually beneficial agreement and the association of Citibank with IPL proves the fact that event is here to stay."
Northeast India records 28 percent deficit rainfall
By IANS,
Agartala/Guwahati: The northeastern region, comprising eight states, has recorded deficit rainfall during the current monsoon season and this may affect agricultural production, an official said Sunday.
"During the monsoon (since June 1), the northeastern region on an average has suffered a 28 percent shortfall compared to the normal rainfall," an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official told IANS in Agartala.
Emirates to operate Dubai-Hyderabad flights thrice a day
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Emirates, the international airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), plans to increase the frequency of its Dubai-Hyderabad flight to thrice a day.
With a world-class international airport operational here and the passenger traffic on the Gulf route growing by leaps and bounds, Emirates has decided to increase the frequency. It presently operates 11 flights per week.
The World Bank extends loans to South Asia
By SPA
Islamabad : The World Bank Group extended loans, credits, grants, equity investment, and guarantees totaling nearly $ 6.9 billion to South Asia in fiscal year 2007.
This is an increase of $ 2.3 billion over the previous year, demonstrating the institution s continuing role in fighting poverty as South Asian countries look for ways to tackle their social challenges even while most of their economies grew aggressively a Bank report said.
Mallya, Gujarat government lock horns over prohibition
By IANS,
Mumbai/Gandhinagar : Citing the latest moonshine tragedy in Gujarat, liquor baron Vijay Mallya Saturday blamed the state's prohibition policy for the loss of 136 lives. But the Narendra Modi-led government tersely told him: Mind your own business.
"The deaths resulting from the consumption of spurious alcohol is not only tragic, but should also serve as a wake up call to all political hypocrites. Narendra Modi knows fully well that every brand of alcohol is available in the state," said Mallya in a statement.
Market trading with loss in afternoon trade
By IANS,
Mumbai : The Indian equities market extended its loss in afternoon trade Tuesday.
At 12:30 p.m., the 30-share BSE Sensex was down by 312.69 points or 2.31 percent at 13,213.30. At the day's low, it touched 13,049.96.
At the same time, the broader-based S&P CNX Nifty was down by 63.20 points or 1.57 percent at 3,966.80.
The market breadth was negative. On BSE, 686 shares advanced compared to 1670 that declined and 59 that remained unchanged.
Equity markets slump after central bank hikes repo rate
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equity markets slumped Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of India raised the repo rate by 50 basis points at its monetary policy announced late in the morning. Capital goods, realty and banking stocks were under heavy selling pressure.
At 12:45 p.m., the 30-share benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex, was down by 527.36 points or 3.68 percent at 13,821.75. It had earlier touched a low of 13,808.92.
At the same time the broader based S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange was down by 155.40 points at 4,176.70.
Sharp tax hikes in Uttar Pradesh irk businesses, consumers
By IANS,
Lucknow : The Uttar Pradesh government's decision to sharply hike the value added tax (VAT) in the state and also impose an entry tax on certain items has raised the hackles of both businesses and consumers in the state.
The state government took the decision late Friday evening.
While the increase in the VAT will lead to rates that vary from 12.5 to 21 percent as compared to the earlier 4 percent, the rate of entry tax will be between 2 to 3 percent.
The hike in VAT and the new tax will fetch over Rs.1 billion to the state exchequer.
France creates investment fund for ‘strategic’ enterprises
By DPA,
Paris : The French government will establish an investment fund to support the country's strategic enterprises affected by the economic crisis, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday.
The fund will make available loans to struggling companies in exchange for shares, which will be sold, presumably at a profit, once the company has stabilized.
The aim of the fund, Sarkozy said, will be to protect strategic companies "from predators looking to profit from a firm's undervaluation" to take control of it.
South African youth to train in India for development skills
By IANS
Pretoria : A group of South African youth will train over the next three months in India in a programme for infrastructure development skill under the auspices of the trade representative body Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), South African news agency BuaNews reported Wednesday.
The selected people, numbering some 100, will be at the National Academy of Construction in Hyderabad, which, apart from classroom instructions, facilitates the development of construction resources, technologies and methodologies and help in laying down construction policies.
Real estate giant IREO to invest $500 mn in India
By IANS,
New Delhi : Global real estate giant IREO will pump in $500 million in various infrastructure projects in India over a period of seven years, the company said Thursday.
IREO, which has invested $1.5 billion in India, is already one of the largest investors in the country's real estate sector.
"Having already invested $1.5 billion, we still have another $500 million available in cash for further investments in our projects," Lalit Goyal, vice-chairman and managing director IREO, told reporters here.
Sensex pulls back, closes about 1.2 percent down
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian markets made a decent pullback Thursday after opening weak, with a key index moving down 1.16 percent from its last closing figure.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 11,774.04 points, almost 245 points lower, climbed back to end trade about 139.46 points or 1.16 percent lower at 11,880.19 points (provisional).
The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 0.94 percent to close at 3,600.9 points.
Neyveli Lignite Corp facing another crippling strike
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : With the Neyveli Lignite Corp. Ltd. (NLC) in Tamil Nadu set to see another strike from Friday, not all seems well in this state-run lignite mining and power generation company.
The Cuddalore district-based NLC has already seen two strikes by contract workers in the last five months. Now the PMK-backed Pattali Thozhil Sangam (PTS) union has called the third one this week for permanent workers.
Sensex rangebound; Tata Power, Reliance Infra up
By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets witnessed a rangebound session Friday after a sharp post-budget rally.
MP to collect only 90 percent of crop loan from farmers: CM
Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government has plans to allow farmers to return only 90 percent of their crop loans from 2015-16, it was officially...
New generation needs to take over from master weavers
By P.S. Anantharaman, IANS,
Ahmedabad : One of the major challenges the Indian handloom industry faces in the era of globalisation is the "reluctance" of the new generation to take the baton from ageing master weavers, according to an expert.
D. Narasimha Reddy, a coordinator in the Centre for Handloom Information and Policy Advocacy (CHIP), a Chirala (Andhra Pradesh)-based NGO, told IANS in an interview: "Most master weavers have today reached their age and are ready to hand over the reins to the next generation."
Real estate business may stay in downward spiral
By Anuradha Shukla,IANS,
New Delhi : India's realty industry is facing its worst crisis in recent years with profits of most listed companies taking a hit after riding on the boom of the last few years, a boom fired by an appetite for new investment avenues for the rich and middle classes alike.
Such has been the impact of the downturn that the realty index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), an indicator of investor mood for the industry, has fallen more than 25 percent in the past month and over 75 percent in the past year.
Banking stocks plummet on farm loan waiver
By IANS
Mumbai : Banking stocks started sliding Friday as soon as a proposal to waive farm loans was announced by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram while presenting the national budget.
The finance minister presented the budget for 2008-09 in the Lok Sabha.
Chidambaram said the government would write off farm loans on landholdings of up to 2 hectares.
The Bankex index on the Bombay Stock Exchange plummeted 261.18 points or 2.59 percent. All the 18 banking scrips in the index were trading in the red.
Ford India logs six percent sales growth in August
By IANS,
Chennai: Ford India registered six percent sales growth in August as compared to figures logged during the like period of 2011.
National Aluminium slashes price fourth time in October
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The state-owned National Aluminium Co Ltd (Nalco), India's second largest aluminium manufacturer, has slashed basic metal prices for the fourth time this month to match international prices, a top company official said Wednesday.
“The standard aluminium prices were slashed last week by about Rs.8,000 a tonne,” Nalco's chairman and managing director C.R. Pradhan told IANS.
There are several other special discounts of about Rs.16,000 to Rs.17,000 a tonne offered to different buyers on different aluminium products, another senior official of the company said.
GoM puts cess on TV and radio sets on hold
By IANS
New Delhi : The Group of Ministers (GOM) on Prasar Bharati Wednesday decided to put on hold a move to impose license fees or cess on radio and TV sets to enable the public broadcaster become financially viable.
CESC to spend Rs.20 bn to upgrade distribution network
By IANS,
Kolkata : Power utility CESC Ltd plans to spend Rs.20 billion over the next three to five years to strengthen its distribution network, a top company official said here Monday.
"We will source the fund through internal accruals," CESC vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka told reporters at a press briefing.
The company will utilise the fund for network augmentation and setting up of more control systems, he added.
Madhya Pradesh beckons industry with new policies
By IANS
Bhopal : With duty exemption in land transfer, power cess and for producing electricity from non-conventional sources, Madhya Pradesh is wooing industry by amending a 2004 policy.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Thursday approved amendments to the state's Industry Augmentation Policy 2004 to make it more industry-friendly.
Apart from the duty exemption, there will be various exemptions for units based on small forest produce, which will now be regarded as a thrust sector, according to an official statement.
Reliance Globalcom ties up with UAE’s Du
By IANS
Dubai : Du, one of the two telecom service providers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has tied up with India's Reliance Globalcom to provide a variety of data services in this Gulf nation.
"We are pleased to expand our services by connecting UAE on Reliance Globalcom network, via a strong regional partner such as Du," Reliance Globalcom president Punit Garg said here.
Markets take a breather, Sensex still above 18,000
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets Tuesday took a breather after rising substantially in the previous sessions, but a key index managed to hold on to the 18,000-level.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,149.9 points, closed at 18,114.83 points, 33.62 points or 0.19 percent up from its previous close at 18,081.21 points.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended 0.15 percent up at 5,439.55 points.
Banks in UAE remain financially strong: central bank governor
By IANS,
Abu Dhabi : National and foreign banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continue to enjoy a strong financial position, according to the governor of the country’s central bank.
In a statement Saturday, Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, governor of the UAE Central Bank, said the ownership of deposits was distributed in such a way that the citizens own 75 percent of the deposits, while Arab nationals and the other expatriate residents own eight percent and 17 percent respectively, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) said.
Indian equities markets suffer worst ever losses
By IANS,
Mumbai : It was Black Friday at Indian equities markets as they finished with their worst ever losses in history both in points as well as percentage terms.
Large-scale selling by foreign institutional investors belied expectations of investors. On top of that, the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), kept all key rates unchanged in its mid-term policy review Friday. Plus, poor global cues played havoc with Indian markets.
CESC posts net profit decline in 2007-08
By IANS,
Kolkata : CESC Ltd has posted a decline in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs.6.27 billion for the financial year ended March 31, 2008 compared to Rs 6.37 billion during the previous year.
To meet increased demand, the power purchase from external agencies increased manifold. In 2007-08, the company purchased Rs.3.78 billion-worth of power from other sources while in 2006-07 the figure was Rs.2.68 billion.
Fuel prices increased by more than 10 percent in Dec 2007 which, along with increased requirement of coal to support higher generation, resulted in increase in fuel cost.
Stage set for world telecom meet in Hyderabad
By IANS,
Hyderabad : A meeting here, beginning Monday, of global telecom experts will adopt the Hyderabad Action Plan that will set the agenda for development of telecommunication and information and communication technologies (ICT) over the next four years.
Over 700 delegates from across the world will attend the fifth world telecommunication development conference being organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a leading United Nations agency for ICT issues.
Aroma wonder! 10 feet long incense sticks
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
Mysore (Karnataka) : Now light an incense stick and enjoy its fragrance for over 30 hours. A factory here has started producing incense sticks that are 10 feet long and cost a stiff Rs.3,000 a piece.
"Besides our regular sticks, recently we have started producing sticks as tall as six feet and 10 feet. It takes time to produce them but we have a niche market," said M.R. Suresh, manager operations of Cycle Brand Agarbathies.
Economy in able hands of prime minister: Chidambaram
By IANS,
New Delhi : Outgoing Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Monday said he was “disinclined” to take up his new assignment as home minister but maintained that the reins of the Indian economy would be in able hands, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh kept the portfolio to himself.
As he prepared to move to the adjacent office of home minister in the Byzantine corridors of North Block, Chidambaram also said he had to give in to party's command, adding India's economic growth would be satisfactory with inflation moderating further.
India Inc seeks 100-day focus on divestment, rate cuts
By IANS,
New Delhi : India Inc has readied its 100-day wish list for the new government. It wants the policies to focus on agriculture, divestment, skill development, infrastructure and manufacturing to nurse the Indian economy back to high growth.
These, said industry lobbies including the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), are some of the critical areas where the government's "serious action" was required.
New Zealand to sign free trade agreement with China
By DPA
Wellington : New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark has said her government would sign a "comprehensive" and "high quality" free-trade agreement with China April 7, according to reports Sunday.
Clark told New Zealand's political television programme Agenda that she and her Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao would witness ministers sign the agreement in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and added that she would also raise the issue of Beijing's treatment of Tibetan protesters.
Air India losses could touch Rs.5,000 crore: Patel
By IANS,
New Delhi : Cash-strapped national carrier Air India is expected to register a loss of Rs.5,000 crore last fiscal, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told parliament Tuesday.
"Nacil (National Aviation Co of India Ltd, that operates Air India) is expected to register a loss of approximately Rs.5,000 crore in 2008-09, largely due to high operating expenses, which have been compounded due to the present economic recession resulting in a drop in passengers," the minister said in a reply in Rajya Sabha.
Disappointed by railway budget: Nitish
Patna : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday said that he was disappointed by the "incomplete" railway budget for 2015-16 as there was nothing...
No long-term terror attack impact on economy: Industry
By IANS,
New Delhi : The terror attacks will not have any long-term impact on the economy, though two specific sectors - hospitality and tourism - will be hit immediately, according to India Inc.
“There maybe short-term impact on industry, but there will not be any long-term impact,” said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of an industry lobby, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).
Bearing this out, the Indian equities markets ended Friday in the green, though gains were marginal.
No panic buying in Chennai despite oil officers’ strike
By IANS,
Chennai : There are no signs of panic buying of fuel or natural gas here in the wake of the indefinite nationwide strike by over 55,000 employees of 14 public sector oil companies, vendors said Wednesday, hours after the strike started.
"We have not experienced any panic buying in our petrol/diesel vending unit at least till now. As usual our clients are filling up their tanks with fuel in their vehicles," E. Shanmugham, who manages a fuel-vending unit in the centre of the city, told IANS.
Goldman Sachs considering online bank: Report
By DPA,
New York : New York-based bank Goldman Sachs is considering launching an online bank, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The name of the bank and the details of the plans are still unknown, sources told the daily.
Goldman Sachs already has about $20 billion in deposits, and attracting even more deposits would make it more stable, a valuable asset during the world financial crisis.
Even though it is doing better than most of its rivals, Goldman Sachs is expected to report a net loss of about $2 billion later this month.
Australian stocks slide on US rescue delay
By DPA,
Sydney : Australian stocks slid 3.8 percent Tuesday on news that the US Congress had voted down the long-awaited bail-out package for Wall Street.
The ASX200 slipped 186 points, or 4.8 percent, in the first hour of trading to 4,620. The index plunged more than 5 percent at the opening bell, but bargain hunting later lifted the market off its lows.
Shares fell across the board, with resources stocks worst hit amid fears that the crisis will affect the wider economy and crimp global growth.
Indian firms flood Nepal with hydropower proposals
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Heartened by two Indian investors' entry into Nepal's once closely guarded hydropower sector, more and more Indian companies are now eyeing the Himalayan republic with over two-thirds of the latest applications for licence coming from firms in New Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Hyderabad.
NALCO to resume full-capacity bauxite production at Orissa mine
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : State-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) will resume bauxite production at full capacity at its Panchpatmali mine in Orissa Tuesday, more than a month after the mine was attacked by Maoists, a top official said.
"The workers have agreed to join the late shift from today (Tuesday). Our bauxite output is going to be normal," P.K. Mohapatra, head of the Damanjodi refinery and mine, told IANS.
Production was stopped for several days after Maoist rebels attacked the Panchpatmali mine in Koraput district, some 370 km from here, April 12.
Mumbai hosts textile and apparel machinery expo
By IANS,
Mumbai : The Garment and Textile Machinery and Accessories (Gartexma) 2010 expo showcasing Indian textile and apparel machinery and accessories kicked off here Sunday.
US tastes Indian mangoes after 18 years
By IANS,
Washington : The US has received its first consignment of Indian mangoes after 18 years.
At a mango festival hosted at the US-India Business Council (USIBC) headquarters here Tuesday, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns each received from India's Ambassador Ronen Sen the first gift baskets of ripe Indian mangoes.
Northern Ireland-India trade ties on the upswing
By Prasun Sonwalkar
London, Sep 26 (IANS) Northern Ireland has been better known in India for trouble and turbulence, but is fast emerging as one of the most prominent trading regions of Britain with Indian companies investing there and Northern Ireland companies winning major contracts in India.
Trade relations between Northern Ireland and India have become two-way traffic. Sounds of blasts and gunfire have given way to the tenor of currency as Indian firms such as HCL Technologies and Firstsource set up offices and BPO centres.
Tripura power projects capacity to be augmented
Agartala : The generation capacity of three power plants in Tripura will be augmented by 62 MW without increasing fuel consumption, an official said...
Rise in eurozone industrial production points to recession’s end
By DPA,
Berlin : Industrial production in the 16-member eurozone rose in August, the Europe's statistics office said Wednesday, adding to evidence of an end to the recession in the currency bloc.
Eurostat said output rose by 0.9 percent month on month in August and revised up the July figure to a 0.2 percent increase. Economists had predicted a 0.8 percent rise in August.
Darkness, dust, disease plague Rajasthan’s mineworkers
By Anil Sharma, Indo-Asian News Service
Jaipur: No toilets, no first aid boxes, no weekly offs, no safety provisions and, to top it all, the dangerous mineral dust-laden air...The inhuman conditions under which over two million mineworkers in Rajasthan toil away every day is heartrending.
A Jaipur-based NGO - Health, Environment and Development Consortium (Hedcon) - which has taken up the cause of these mineworkers, even dragging the state government to court over it - has highlighted their plight in a report.
Bharat Coking Coal ties up with Chinese firm
By IANS,
Kolkata : China's Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Co (ZMJ) will partner Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) in redeveloping its Moonidih colliery in Jharkhand, it was announced here Tuesday.
The Chinese company would provide the latest technology in the field - powered support long wall (PSLW) mining for the giant coking coal extraction project in the colliery, Coal India Ltd chairman Partha Bhattacharyya said.
India upgrading rail link to help Nepal
By IANS
Kathmandu : India's Eastern Railway is upgrading links between frontier town Jogbani and Kolkata with improved services expected from March, a report said.
Jogbani, located in Arariya district of Bihar, is the nearest Indian railhead for Nepal. Currently, it is connected to Katihar town in Bihar through metre gauge tracks.
Taipei company sues Apple over touch screen patents
By DPA,
San Francisco : Taipei-based company Elan Microelectronics has sued Apple for the alleged infringement of two of its touch screen patents in the iconic US technology company's iPhone and other devices.
The suit was filed Tuesday in the US District Court in San Francisco, close to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, court papers posted Wednesday showed.
Elan, which makes touchpads, claims it owns the patents covering the touch screen technology that has helped the iPhone, MacBook and other Apple products become huge hits.
South Korean president arrives in India, inspects Hyundai plant
By IANS,
Chennai : South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Chennai Sunday, beginning his four-day India visit. He inspected the Hyundai factory near the Tamil Nadu capital and spent some time there.
The South Korean president was received at the airport by Tamil Nadu Labour Minister T.N. Anbarasan. He drove straight to the Hyundai Motor India car plant at Irrungattukottai on the outskirts of the state capital and spent half an hour at the plant, officials said.
He is slated to meet South Korean businessmen living in the city before flying to New Delhi in the evening.
ACC net dips for March-end quarter
By IANS,
Mumbai : Cement major ACC Thursday reported a drop in net profits for the quarter ended March 31 and attributed the under performance to non-availability of railway wagons.
ACC follows a January-December fiscal year.
The company's net profit for the first quarter was at Rs.392.88 crore, down 1.6 percent from the corresponding previous period, while sales fell 2.6 percent at 5.58 million tonnes.
BSNL 3G service to cover all northeast urban areas by March
By IANS,
Agartala/Shillong : The state-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will cover all urban areas in the northeastern region through its third generation (3G) platform, a next generation mobile communications systems, company officials have said.
"For rural areas, WiMAX and WLL EVDO (wireless broadband services) would be introduced very shortly, these services are also more or less similar to 3G," said BSNL general manager of operations Deb Kumar Chakraborty.
Sensex closes 171 points up at 20,060 points
By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities market closed 171 points higher Tuesday on renewed buying support in banking and realty stocks.
Demand for Delhi’s retail rental drops 25 percent: Report
By IANS,
New Delhi : With the economic slowdown impacting consumer sentiments, the demand for retail rental space in Delhi has seen a 25 percent decline over six months, says a report by the global realty consultant CB Richard Ellis released Monday.
According to the report titled Global Retail MarketView, the demand for retail space has declined across the world as consumers cut back on spending and unemployment continued to rise in many countries.
"New Delhi in India saw a 25 percent decline in a six month period," the report said.
Maruti Suzuki’s July sales up 29.18 percent
By IANS,
New Delhi : Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Monday reported a 29.18 percent increase in sales for July at 1,00,857 vehicles as against 78,074 for the like period of 2009.
"This is the second time in this fiscal that the company’s monthly sales figure has crossed 1 lakh mark. Domestic sales in July 2010 are also the highest ever domestic sales in a month," company said in a statement.
The small cars giant reported a 1.9 percent rise in its exports which stood at 10,743 units, while the company's sales volume in the domestic market grew by 33.4 percent.
New estimates value Essar gas reserves at $4 billion
By IANS,
Mumbai : The Ruias-led energy major Essar Oil Friday said its coal-bed methane blocks actually contain about seven trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable gas, over twice than earlier estimates, which industry values at over $4 billion.
"Essar's exploration and production business is set to become a major wealth creator for Essar Oil. Based on the draft reports, we have recoverable resources of seven trillion cubic feet," the company said in a regulatory filing.
Reliance Communications’ plea against Andhra tax dismissed
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a lawsuit by Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Communications challenging an Andhra Pradesh High Court order asking it to pay the state government one-third of the Rs.430 million value added tax (VAT) imposed on the sale of its recharge vouchers.
A bench headed by Justice S.B. Sinha dismissed the lawsuit and asked the high court to dispose of within four weeks the company's plea against the state government order for imposing VAT on its recharge vouchers and various value added services.
India’s forex reserves up by $3.16 billion
Mumbai: India's foreign exchange reserves grew by $3.16 billion to $319.99 billion for the week ended Dec 19, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data...
Telecom deal charges against Maran set to snowball
By IANS
Chennai : The troubles of Dayanidhi Maran have not ended with his forced departure from the union telecommunications and IT ministry. A new storm is brewing in Tamil Nadu over an allegation that he caused the nation a loss of Rs.100 billion in a telecom deal while he was minister.
Indian biotech industry growing, but at slower pace
By IANS,
Bangalore : Global recession and slowdown in the domestic market impacted the Indian biotech industry last fiscal, resulting in a year-on-year (YoY) growth declining to 18 percent from 34 percent notched in 2007-08.
According to data released Thursday at Bangalore Bio 2009, India's premier biotech event, the industry grew to Rs.12,137 crore from Rs.10,274 crore the previous fiscal, reflecting an increase of 18 percent.
"Global recession impacted growth," said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson of biotech major Biocon, at the event.
Haryana agri-markets get computers, internet
By IANS,
Chandigarh : All 108 'mandis' (agriculture grain markets) and 25 sub-centres of the agricultural marketing board in Haryana have been provided with computers and internet facilities to publish the prices of commodities on daily basis for the convenience of the farmers and traders visiting these markets.
A spokesman of the state IT Department said Sunday that the facilities were part of the government's successful implementation of the national e-governance mission to make all government services accessible to the common people in his locality.
India surpasses US as second largest wireless market
By IANS
New Delhi : India has added a massive 7.6 million new mobile phone users under the GSM technology in March, surpassing the US as the second largest wireless market, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said Friday.
The total number of GSM users till March 31 stood at 192.35 million, an increase of four percent from February when the base stood at 185 million, COAI said. The growth in March was "the highest ever subscriber additions since the inception of GSM service in India", it added.
Indian equities market opens in green
By IANS,
Mumbai : The Indian equities market Thursday opened with a positive gap tracking strong Asian cues.
The 30-share benchmark sensitive index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened with a gain of 90.35 points at 16,288.76.
At the same time, the S&P Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 4,890.60 with a marginal gain of three points compared to its previous close.
Madhya Pradesh to implement Pay Commission recommendations
By IANS,
Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Wednesday said the state government would implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for its employees soon.
Chouhan made the announcement at a convention in the tribal-dominated Khandwa district. The convention was organised to launch a tendu leaf bonus distribution programme.
The implementation of the Pay Commission recommendations will benefit more than 500,000 state employees who would, on an average, see a hike of roughly 30 percent.
US stocks tumble on weak economic data
By Xinhua,
New York : US stocks tumbled Thursday as disappointing economic data of housing and unemployment and corporate earnings report weighed on the market.
Technology shares plunged as Microsoft Corp.'s quarterly profits missed analysts' expectations. Its profit fell to $4.17 billion from $4.71 billion, or 11 percent lower. Microsoft results led the Nasdaq composite index down.
Market ends with gain for second straight day
By IANS,
Mumbai : The Indian equities market ended Wednesday with a marginal gain for the second consecutive day amidst extreme volatility.
Strong global cues triggered a gaining rally in early trade.
However, profit booking by investors erased most of the early gains and by afternoon, the market turned flat but ended the day in the positive zone.
Equity firms buy stake in Jai Balaji Industries
By IANS
Kolkata : Citi Venture Capital Fund and India Equity Partners have decided to buy 15 percent stake worth Rs.2.73 billion ($69 million) in steelmaker Jai Balaji Industries Ltd to partly finance its expansion.
Both the companies have decided to subscribe to 61,18,000 and 22,41,000 compulsorily convertible debentures of Rs.326.90 each respectively, to be converted into one equity share per debenture, aggregating to Rs.2.73 billion, representing 11 percent and 4 percent of the diluted equity through a preferential allotment.
Markets continue to fall
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets, which opened weak Monday, fell further on the basis of weak global markets and a dampened investor confidence continuing from last week. By a little before noon, a key index had fallen 1.95 percent over its close Friday.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was down 183.09 points Monday and was trading at 9,223.38 points.
The Sensex opened at 9,316.33 points Monday, lower than its previous close of 9,406.47.
56% Indian employees apprehend poor retirement benefits: Survey
New Delhi : More than half of Indian employees anticipate that they will be up against a less comfortable retirement than their parents' generation,...
Experts nudge government to spend more on health
By IANS
New Delhi : India's public healthcare system is "virtually collapsing" with less than one percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) allocated towards it, against the government promise of three percent, experts said here Friday.
They said even the funds allocated in the union budget 2006-07 for the sector were not utilised fully.
Cameron leads Britain’s open offer to partner India Inc
By IANS,
New Delhi : Saying he sought the "brightest and best from India", Prime Minister David Cameron Thursday led a renewed British drive to ride the Indian economic growth with a series of multi-million pound deals across all major areas of industry.
In several events coinciding with his two-day visit, some of them attended by British Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne and Business Secretary Vince Cable, the mandate was clear: How to make Britain figure among India's to five trading partners again.
Need for insurance index in India: Study
Chennai : More than measuring insurance penetration as a measure of premium income, it is important to quantify it as a measure...
Left to unleash stir for fuel price hike rollback
By IANS
New Delhi : The Left Front, upset at the government's decision to hike fuel prices and rejection of its call to cut customs duties, Thursday announced plans for a nationwide agitation to force a rollback.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had ignored its advice to avoid a price hike.
ICICI Prudential aiming 45 percent growth this fiscal
By IANS,
Kolkata : Mutual fund major ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co (AMC) Wednesday expressed confidence that it would grow by 45 percent this fiscal.
"We expect a growth in line with market growth. Last year we grew at a rate little more than 45 percent. This year also we are expecting a similar kind of growth," company managing director Nimesh Shah told reporters here during the launch of ICICI Prudential SMART fund.
The asset under management (AUM) of the company was worth Rs.600 billion ($14 trillion) last fiscal.
Anand Vihar Metro line opens for public
By IANS,
New Delhi : Delhi Metro's Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar line, close to the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, was opened for public Thursday.
"The Metro started its operations at 6 a.m. We expect a good ridership," a metro official said.
The official claimed that the frequency of the trains was normal at eight minutes. However, commuters complained that the trains were coming at an interval of 15 minutes.
A commuter said: "We had come with high hopes. But trains are coming after an interval of 15 minutes only."
Indian equity bulls shouldn’t anticipate further crude price decline
By Vatsal Srivastava,
Oil is in a bear market. Over the past few months, both major crude benchmarks - Brent and Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) - have corrected by over 25-30 percent from their 2014 peak. Interestingly, and as it often happens in the financial markets, the timing of this plunge has surprised many. The fundamental factors behind the drop in oil prices—easing - geopolitical tensions, slowing economic growth, especially in the Euro area and China, the Libyan output hitting the supply market again and the US shale oil revolution (the dominant factor) — could have been factored in well before and the plunge could have been smoother and more gradual, unlike the kind of capitulation we are witnessing now.
Markets open on a bullish note
By IANS
Mumbai : Indian stock markets opened on a bullish note Wednesday but investors were cautious as Asian markets were trading in the red.
A key financial market index opened with a gain of 92 points Wednesday. Within a few minutes of opening, it reached 20,452.20 points.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 20,393.10, against Tuesday's close of 20,300.71 points.
The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened flat at 6,144.70 points, against the previous close of 6,144.35.
Highlights of interim budget presented in Lok Sabha
By IANS,
New Delhi : Following are the highlights of the interim budget presented by Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha Monday:
* Plan expenditure for 2009-10 pegged at Rs.952,231 crore (Rs.9.52 trillion)
* Budgetary support for 2009-10 at Rs.2,85,149 crore (Rs.2.85 trillion), 17.16 percent
* Additional plan expenditure between 0.5 percent to 1 percent of GDP may be considered
* Fiscal deficit forecast 5.5 percent of GDP for 2009-10
* Revenue deficit forecast 4 percent of GDP for 2009-10