Economy

By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS Aizawl : Thousands of rats are rampaging through rice and vegetable fields in India's northeastern state of Mizoram, fuelling fears of a famine in the region even as international aid agencies have warned of a serious crisis unfolding in the mountainous border state. "Countless numbers of rats have raided paddy crops and vegetables, leading to serious problems in almost all the eight districts of the state," C. Lalnithanga, a Mizoram government agriculture scientist and plant protection officer, told IANS.

By Murali Krishnan, IANS, Beijing : The global financial crisis and ways to reshape the international economic system will be uppermost on the agenda at the seventh Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) beginning here Friday that India will attend for the first time. For India, its engagement with Asia and Europe is expected to get a further boost after its induction into the grouping. In addition, this will also be the first multilateral meeting that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be attending after the inking of India's historic civil nuclear pacts with the US and France.

By IANS Chandigarh : Buoyed by the success of its Mercedes-Benz luxury sedans in north India, German automobile maker Daimler-Chrysler Friday announced it would concentrate on the north Indian market, particularly in Punjab and Chandigarh. Managing director and chief executive officer of Daimler-Chrysler Wilfried Aulbur told reporters here that the highest concentration of Mercedes cars in the country was in Punjab.

By IANS, Hyderabad : The World Bank will provide a loan of $770 million (Rs.3,720 crore) to Andhra Pradesh for road development, rural water supply and sanitation and municipal development. The agreements for the World Bank assistance to three projects were signed here Friday in the presence of Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and World Bank country director Roberto N. Zagha. The World Bank will provide $320 million (Rs.1,568 crore) for Andhra Pradesh State Road Sector project to provide better quality, capacity and safe roads in a sustainable manner.

By IANS, Brasilia : Brazil has urged calm in the wake of the global market mayhem that saw the country's main bourse suffering its biggest collapse till date, and assured that the economy is capable of tackling the crisis, EFE reported Tuesday. Finance Minister Guido Mantega told reporters Monday "the country is solid, its banks are solid and its businesses are solid". Mantega said the worldwide credit squeeze was in its "most acute moment" but called it a "transient situation", without indicating when he expected it to end.

By IANS,

By DPA Singapore : Mid-sized mergers and acquisitions were expected to flourish across emerging Asia with China the market leader, followed by India, a report by a consulting and auditing firm said Thursday. Asia's mid-market deals currently make up more than 20 percent of the world's total, according to the Deloitte report. The volume of mid-sized deals, defined as $50 million to $250 million, has grown tenfold in the past four years, it added.

By Fakir Hassen, IANS, Johannesburg : South African mobile giant MTN Thursday got a boost with an upgrade from A+ to AA- by the Fitch Ratings Agency, but the silence on continuing talks with India's Reliance Communications has seen the company's share price see-sawing in recent weeks. With less than a week to go on the 45-day talks' exclusivity agreement between MTN and Reliance Communications, MTN is still not saying anything about the proposed deal. Analysts have speculated that Reliance wants to buy out MTN.

By IANS, Mumbai : A key Indian equities market index opened on a firm note Thursday but in five minutes slipped to rule 0.22 percent above its previous close. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened higher at 17,274.07 points and, five minutes into trade, was at 17,269.09, 37.98 points or 0.22 percent higher than its previous close at 17,231.11. The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also followed the Sensex and was ruling at 5,128 points, up 0.19 percent from its last close.

By Vatsal Srivastava, As one would expect, Indian equities have decided to take a breather before the big budget announcement day (July 10). It is a clear case of profit booking as the sharp sell-off in the small-cap and mid-cap space came on the back of no major disappointments post the railway budget on Tuesday (July 8). This is the most anticipated budget in recent years and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley must manage the market’s expectations - which in this column’s view have become quite overstretched. Markets hate uncertainty and although Jaitley may not be able to implement key reforms in his first budget, a clear road map will cheer the markets further to lifetime highs.

By IANS Chennai : Aditya Birla Retail Ltd plans to invest some Rs.80 billion (over $2 billion) in 3-5 years to open stores across India, said a top company official. "The company is targeting to have at least 1,000 outlets and have a pan-India presence," Suman Sinha, CEO of the company, told the media here Thursday. "This is one of the fastest ramp-ups I am seeing," said Andrew Denby, CEO, supermarkets, who has had overseas experience in retail with Marks & Spencers in South East Asia.

By IANS,

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities markets closed in the red Wednesday, with a key index ending trade 167 points lower than its previous close. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 12,100.69 points, lost 167.47 points or 1.38 percent from the previous close to end trade at 11,963.61 points. Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 0.95 percent to close at 3,627.25 points.

By IANS

New Delhi : As inflation dipped to a 13-month low, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Friday said steps to tackle price rise seem to have worked but cautioned policy makers against premature exuberance.