Economy

By IANS, Bhubaneswar : The state-owned National Aluminium Co (Nalco) is focusing on diversification, including setting up a nuclear power plant and moving into other metals, to meet the economic meltdown. As part of its plans, the company has begun talks with the Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) to set up a nuclear power plant of 1,000 MW capacity, said Nalco chairman and managing director C.R. Pradhan. "We are in talks with NPCIL. We have plans to become an independent power producer," Pradhan said after the company's 28th annual general meeting here saturday.

By Anand Philar, IANS, Bangalore : There is a perceptible sense of excitement on the eve of the Karnataka-1000, the second round of the Speed-Indian National Rally Championship to be held here over the weekend. The expectations are much to do with the kind of Special Stages that the organisers, the Karnataka Motor Sports Club, have laid out for the 63 participants who include the "big boys" of the sport, Team MRF and Red Rooster Racing in their swanky, modified and powerful Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia cars.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Indian government Thursday approved the inking of a pact with Syria to prevent double taxation and the evasion of income tax. The cabinet took the decision at a meeting here presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Double taxation avoidance agreements aim to avoid and reduce the burden of double taxation on the same tax payer in two countries in order to promote international trade and investments between the two countries," an official spokesman told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

By Sheikh Qayoom

By Soudhriti Bhabani, IANS Kolkata : The union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has effectively halted the West Bengal government's proposal to set up a chemical hub in Nayachar after the fiasco in Nandigram, where it was originally planned, saying the island was in an ecologically fragile area.

By IANS

New Delhi : As commuters in the capital continued to suffer due to the shortage of city buses, Delhi Metro grossed Rs.8.46 million revenue from tickets Monday, its highest since it started operations in December 2002.

"Delhi Metro recorded its highest gross revenue Monday with earnings of Rs.84.61 lakh (Rs.8.46 million). The Metro carried 724,000 commuters Monday, which is the second highest," Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesman Anuj Dayal said.

DMRC calculates the passenger and revenue a day later.

By IANS,

By IANS, Bangalore: The bank rates were raised March 19 by 25 basis points to contain the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rate, which shot up to 9.9 percent in February, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subba Rao said late Monday. "Given the inflation pressures and given the growth is consolidating, some normalisation was required. Both the repo rate and reverse repo rates were increased by 25 basis points to contain the inflationary pressures," Rao told reporters here.

By IANS, Doha/New Delhi : Qatar Airways Wednesday said it has inked a long-term partnership with leading Indian IT company Wipro to develop new technological solutions.

By Xinhua Beijing : China's Zhongyi Electronic Ltd., which is a high-tech provider of major Chinese font and input method, has sued Microsoft for intellectual property rights (IPR) violations, a claim that Microsoft disputes. The Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court, where the complaint has been filed, hasn't yet set a date for hearing. The case filed by the Beijing-based company involves Microsoft's use of Zhengma, a Chinese input method (IME) that allows Internet users to type in Chinese in Roman alphabet, which is then transcribed into Chinese characters.

By DPA Bangkok : Thailand's low-cost airline Nok Air has suspended its daily Bangkok-Bangalore flights after five months of operations, citing rising fuel costs and aircraft shortages for the cancellation of its first international route, media reports said Tuesday. The airline, a subsidiary of the national carrier Thai Airways international (THAI), will stop its Bangkok-Bangalore route Friday, said The Nation newspaper.

By IANS, New Delhi : India and Britain Tuesday urged all countries to show greater flexibility while dealing with issues like multilateral trade that will benefit both the world's poor countries and global economy. In a joint statement issued after the UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue, held in London, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and British Chancellor of Exchequer Alistair Darling said they were "deeply disappointed by the recent pause in the Doha Development Round talks".

By IANS, New Delhi : The prices of wheat, rice and sugar have remained steady at the weekend at most of the reporting centres where rates are monitored by the consumer affairs department, the government said Friday. "Prices of wheat decreased in Chennai, Dindigul and Guwahati, and remained steady at all the reporting centres except for an increase at Vijayawada, whereas prices of rice decreased in Delhi and Dindigul, and remained steady at most of other reporting centres," said the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution in a statement.

By Xinhua, New York : Share prices on the Wall Street plunged amid economic woes Monday as investors cashed in some of their gains from the big rally in the previous week. Retail sales data failed to boost the market. According to preliminary calculation by RCT ShopperTrak, a research firm that tracks total retail sales at more than 50,000 outlets, sales rose slightly on Black Friday, which is traditionally one of the biggest shopping days of the year, showing that consumers were cautious as the economy slows down.

By IANS, New Delhi : The slowdown-hit Indian corporate sector will reduce annual salary hikes by about five percent, a survey by human resource consultants Hewitt Associates released Thursday said. Companies are looking at an average 8.82 percent hike in salaries as compared to 13.3 percent last year, the survey of 480 companies across India said.

By IANS Mumbai : One of the largest transformers manufacturing companies, Maharashtra-based Emco Ltd has bagged contracts worth Rs.3.25 billion ($85 million) from Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MSETCL), the company said in a statement here Friday. The projects comprise the construction and execution of three new substations on turnkey basis at Bhusaval, Khaparkheda (both in northeast Maharashtra,) and Chakan (western Maharashtra).

By IANS,

By IANS New Delhi : A rising craze among men to use cosmetic products has boosted their expenditure by as much as 20 percent and is contributing to a greater erosion of the family budget, said a recent survey conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham). The survey, which interviewed 5,000 consumers, said that an increase in cosmetics usage by men, as compared to women, has boosted their expenditure by 18-20 percent, increasing the monthly expenditure of the family in turn.

By IANS,

By IANS Mumbai : The bull run in Indian stock markets achieved another milestone with the benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) hitting the 20,000 points mark and the broader S&P CNX Nifty of National Stock Exchange crossing 5,900 points. There was massive buying by domestic players such as insurance and mutual fund companies, which propelled the indexes to the new highs. In a day of all-round gains, the maximum increase was seen in the capital goods sector.

By IANS,

By IANS, Mumbai : Liquor major United Breweries's net profit increased 54.09 percent to Rs.355.5 crore for the quarter ended June 30 from Rs.225.9 crore in the same period a year ago. Total sales by the company stood at Rs.5,564.5 crore during the period under review, growing by 17.24 percent from the previous corresponding quarter's figure of Rs.4,746.2 crore. Interest charges paid went up in the first quarter to Rs.170.7 crore from Rs.127.1 crore. Earnings per share stood at Rs.1.39 from Rs.0.87 in the corresponding previous period.

By IANS, Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to get tough with leading winemaker Indage Ltd for its failure to procure apple and grape crop from within the hill state, a senior leader said Monday. "A notice has been issued to Indage Ltd as it's not procuring apples and grapes from the farmers here. It has not fully operationalised its two plants," state horticulture minister Narender Bragta told IANS.

By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS, It's the coolest design on the planet. It's the super brand of the decade. And it has come to India - at midnight. The iPhone, like so many things Mac, defies logic. Apple products, pulled out of Steve Jobs' jeans at Macworld expos, tend to get fans screaming and queuing up, cash in hand, a day before launch. Experts point out missing features and flaws, but they don't care. They must have one. At over Rs.31,000, the iPhone will sell in India at over three times its US price of $199. If you list the features, you can get them at less than half the price.

By IANS Bangalore : This is one distinction India's IT capital can live without. The city's 1,500-km road network is dotted with over 29,000 potholes. At nearly 4,000 places, roads have been cut, either by state agencies or private parties. Civic authorities promise that the potholes and road cuttings will be repaired in about a week's time. "The filling of the potholes has started since Nov 13 and will be completed in a week," a spokesperson of the Greater Bangalore City Corp told IANS. The work to rid the city of potholes will cost Rs.100 million.

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington : World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick wants the United States, India, and China to work with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy to come up with a compromise on the Doha round of world trade talks Brazil, a developing country that is both a major agricultural exporter and home to many poor farmers, can help, he said in a statement Monday. Indonesia and Australia may be in a position to contribute to a solution too.

By IANS

New Delhi : The government Monday launched an Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC), a one-stop shop to help overseas Indians invest in India.