Economy

By IANS, Raipur : Chhattisgarh and Bihar have agreed to start bus services between key towns and cities soon, a move that will bring much cheer to thousands of people who currently have to take a train to travel between the two states, officials said Saturday. "The Chhattisgarh and Bihar governments have agreed to begin bus services on 28 inter-state routes for the first time," a government press statement said here. The agreement was signed July 31, but the date for commencing the services has not yet been announced.

By IANS New Delhi : Bharti Airtel, India's leading mobile service provider, Tuesday said it would launch calling cards for non-resident Indians (NRIs) in Singapore and Canada by April-June of this year. The company also launched an enhanced version of the CallHome Service, its calling card for NRIs in the US. The upgraded version enables a caller in the US to make payments through Indian credit cards for purchasing talk time for calling to India.

By IANS, Hyderabad : Infotech Enterprises Ltd Friday announced that it has been awarded a three year contract to provide solutions in geographic information services (GIS) and data management services by Powercor Australia Ltd, one of the largest electricity distribution companies in Australia. "This reflects Powercor Australia's continued confidence in Infotech's abilities to deliver high-quality database management services. The company has been consistently meeting the aggressive performance criteria set down by Powercor Australia," said a statement by Hyderabad-based Infotech.

By IANS, Ahmedabad : A three-day renovation work initiated at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport here has left fliers of bigger aircraft fuming after an Air India flight to London was axed. National carrier Air India Thursday cancelled its Ahmedabad-London flight (AI 133), leaving passengers who had reported for boarding stranded at the airport. Many passengers protested vocally saying they were not warned about the cancellation in advance. Landing and takeoff of bigger aircraft have been affected after work on the runway renovation began Wednesday.

By IANS, New York : After a failed take-over bid by Microsoft and a partial technical collaboration with competitor Google, a former AOL chief, Jonathan Miller, is now eyeing to take over Yahoo Inc, which runs the popular internet search engine and website by the same name.

By IANS, New Delhi : The government Monday said there were no differences between the defence and the communications and IT ministries over the issue of vacation of spectrum. Minister of State for Communications and IT Jyotiraditya Scindia told Lok Sabha that the work of laying optical fibre cable (OFC) network for the Indian Air Force (IAF) was in progress. Providing OFC network will fulfil the communication requirement of the defence sector, Scindia said.

By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has pleased the "aam aadmi" (common man) but made the "khaas aadmi" (the elite) unhappy in his 2009-10 budget proposals. Constrained by the global recession and domestic economic strains, he has provided a much awaited further stimulus to the economy by raising plan expenditure by as much as 25 per cent in real terms.

By IANS, Chennai : Commercial vehicles manufacturer Ashok Leyland Wednesday reported 57 percent year-on-year fall in its February sales. The company sold 3,245 units (domestic 2,669 and exports 576) last month, compared to 7,501 units (domestic 6,824 units and exports 677 units) in February 2008, an official statement said. Production also went down sharply to 2,028 units in February 2009 from 8,218 units a year ago, it added. However, the February sales are 33 percent higher than January figures. Ashok Leyland produced 1,170 units and sold 2,444 vehicles in January 2009.

By IANS, Dhaka : Only seven multinationals have shown interest in the 16 offshore blocks that Bangladesh hopes to throw open for oil and gas exploration. Media reports said Thursday that some of the offers were overlapping different blocks and oil companies wanted to invest a total of $1.6 billion. The offshore bidding was announced in February for 20 deep sea blocks and eight shallow water blocks - each with an exploration area between 3,000 and 7,000 sq km. Only nine companies demonstrated seriousness by purchasing block data.

By IANS, Mumbai : Leading mining solutions provider Metso Minerals Friday said that it will supply a Rs.1.12 billion iron ore machine to Essar Steel Holdings Ltd. The iron ore induration machine, which is expected to be ready by 2010, will be commissioned at Essar's Paradeep Pellet Plant in Orissa. A Metso statement said the 744 sq metre machine with 270 pellet cars will have a feed rate of 700 tonnes per hour of iron ore pellets.

By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,

By DPA, Vienna : The price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) fell below $60 Friday, despite the cartel's decision to curb production. Growing recession fears sent stock markets and oil prices downward, with one barrel (159 litres) of Opec crude standing at $57.57 Friday, $2.70 lower than on the previous day, according to data provided by Opec Monday.

By IANS,

By IANS, Kolkata: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday said the government will expand the banking and insurance networks in the eastern and northeastern states.

By NNN-PTI, New Delhi : Rupert Murdoch-run Global media conglomerate News Corporation Thursday brought its social networking website MySpace to India -- a market already bustling with the presence of international giants like Google's Orkut and Indian billionaire Anil Ambani group's Bigadda.Com. Like other players already present in the market, News Corp is also looking to attract the younger generation in India, which is home to world's youngest population with over half of its residents aged below 25 years, industry experts said.

By IANS, New Delhi : Infosys BPO Ltd, the business processing outsourcing (BPO) subsidiary of software major Infosys Technologies, is looking at fresh acquisitions and hiring people. Speaking to reporters here Monday, Infosys BPO managing director and chief executive Amitabh Chaudhary said his company was "looking at acquisitions in the range of $80-200 million". "We will hire 2,000-2,500 people in four months," he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit.

By NNN-SANA Damascus : Arab senior economic experts and officials have concluded the preliminary meeting of the Arab Economic and Social Council, chaired by head of the Syrian side, Dr Ghassan Habash.

By IANS, Mumbai : Indian equities markets moved further up into green territory in the afternoon trade Friday. Nearly 90 minutes before the closing bell, a key index was trading 2.52 percent higher than its previous close. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 9,161.49 points, was trading at 9,320.09 points, up 2.52 percent or 229.21 points. The BSE midcap index was trading 1.61 percent higher, while the BSE smallcap was up 1.56 percent.

By IANS,

By IANS New Delhi : The union cabinet Thursday approved the development of an offshore container terminal at Mumbai port by Gammon India and Spanish Dragados SPL. The total cost of the project is Rs.12.28 billion, of which a consortium of Gammon India, Gammon Infrastructure Ltd and Dragados will invest Rs.8.62 billion and Mumbai Port Trust the rest, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the cabinet meeting. The terminal will facilitate handling of large size container vessels at the port. The project is also expected to enhance trade and employment.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday asked the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to call for a round-table conference on the global financial crisis for it has affected Indian industries as well. “We demand that the government must convene a round-table conference to discuss the issue (of global meltdown) with economists and all other major parties in another 15 days,” party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

By IANS,

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities closed 1.17 percent lower Friday. On what was a volatile and eventful trading day, the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,939.58 points, shut shop at 16,788.43 points (provisional) -- 199.1 points or 1.17 percent lower than its previous close. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed at 5,030 points, a loss of 1.2 percent or 60.85 points from its previous close.

By IANS,

Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday sought Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) support for youth empowerment in the state,...

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities Tuesday closed 451 points lower on sell-off across the globe due to Euro zone debt worries and rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,444.57 points, ended 451.58 points or 2.74 percent down at 16,017.97 points (provisional) from its previous close at 16,469.55 points.

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities ended 30 points lower Friday, bringing an end to a day that saw low-volume trading with heavyweight stock RIL adding to the drag. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,604.31 points, closed at 17,554.3 points -- down 30.57 points or 0.17 percent from its previous close at 17,584.87 points. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5,252.2 points, against its previous close at 5,259.9 points, a loss of 7.7 points or 0.15 percent.

By IANS, New Delhi : Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Thursday said financial services must reach all sections of society, particularly those living in villages and urban slums. “Every branch must enrol new 250 households every year in rural and semi-urban areas and take banking services to them,” Chidambaram said here. The minister said the poor were still excluded from the banking services, and must be brought under the ambit of financial services. He was speaking after launching the micro-credit scheme for Ekta Vihar slum residents in southwest Delhi.

Mumbai: Over a million commuters, office-goers and students were hit badly as around 20,000 autorickshaws went off the roads Wednesday in Mumbai, Thane and...

By Gyanendra Kumar Keshri, IANS, Agra : India's garment industry is losing out to Bangladesh due to rising input costs, especially on labour and tax incentives, a minister has said.

By IANS, New Delhi : A day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked its short-term lending rate, a global rating agency Thursday said the central bank may increase rates further, while also predicting an economic slowdown. "Amid tight monetary policy conditions which weigh on household consumption and business investment, the Indian economy looks set to slow this year," Moody's Economy said in a report. "Moody's Economy.com expects GDP (gross domestic product) growth to decelerate from an impressive 8.9 percent in 2007 to around 8 percent in 2008," the agency said.

By IANS, Abu Dhabi : The fifth Abu Dhabi Conference, highlighting investment opportunities in the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) biggest emirate, will be held here Thursday and Friday. The two-day conference is being organised by the Abu Dhabi government's Department of Planning and Economy in association with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) and Middle East Business Intelligence (MEED), a leading business intelligence provider of the region, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

By IANS, Mumbai : After the Nano small car, Tata Motors has launched a complete range of ready-to-use municipal application vehicles catering to various civic services, the company announced here Monday. The fully-built vehicles would cater to requirements relating to areas such as health and sanitation, solid waste collection and transportation, town maintenance and water supplies -- basic functions of any civic body from the village level to giants like Mumbai's municipal corporation.

By Rabita Islamic News Agency(RINA), New Delhi: Annual Report of Jamia Cooperative Bank Ltd. (JCBL), Sarai Julena, New Delhi, for the financial year 2007-08 approved by the 12th General Meeting of the members of the Bank held on August 24, 2008, and made public here ends on optimistic note with the Board of Directors' decision to announce dividends at the rate of 16 per cent. Banks' prospects have also swelled with an increase in the number of its members.

By IRNA,

By IANS New Delhi : The government Saturday decided to maintain 8.5 percent interest rate for the 40 million subscribers of the employees' provident fund (EPF) scheme for 2006-07. "The central government has notified 8.5 percent rate of interest for the year 2006-07," Central Provident Fund Commissioner A. Viswanathan told reporters here. The fund's trustees had also recommended the same interest rate. The fund commissioners have been asked to immediately implement the decision.

By Xinhua, Manila : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Wednesday said it has adopted a new benchmark for poverty line that is more accurate and more relevant to the Asia-Pacific region. The new benchmark, called the Asian Poverty Line, has been fixed at an income of $1.35 per day, the Manila-based regional lender said in a press release while releasing its annual statistical publication -- Key Indicators 2008. ADB said according to the new evaluation system, there were probably 843 million people in Asia who lived under the poverty line in 2005.

By IANS, Chennai : The much expected wage talks in the state-owned non-life insurance sector has ended in a stalemate. The employees unions were upbeat about getting better offer from the General Insurers Public Sector Association (GIPSA) as the heads of National Insurance Company, New India Assurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company were present for the first time at the negotiations in Mumbai Saturday. The unions were hoping for a good wage settlement in the wake of a 14 percent growth the insurers have logged in 2009-10.

By Syed Zahid Ahmad Though Raghuram Rajan Committee was silent about Islamic Banking in its draft report released on 7th April 2008, it has suggested Interest-free banking as a part of recommendations made for financial sector reforms. The term of ‘interest-free banking’ instead of ‘Islamic banking’ is needed to avoid any communal uproar before coming election. The next two paragraphs on interest-free banking have been inserted in final report as submitted to the Prime Minister on 12th September 2008.

By Vishal Gulati, IANS, Shimla : Himachal Pradesh is planning to export trout, a delicious coldwater fish species found in abundance in the state. The trout - both the brown and rainbow varieties - is found in the Beas, Sutlej and the Ravi rivers in the upper Himalayas. This year, production is expected to increase to 100 tonnes from 80 tonnes last year. The increased production, coupled with the fine taste of the fish, has opened up export options.

By Priyanka Sahay, IANS, New Delhi : Low-cost sleek tablets, some with exceptional features, have flooded the price-conscious Indian market in recent months, challenging expensive brands.

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : The government Wednesday said it will provide Rs.2,700 crore for the development of the national capital region (NCR). "The NCR Planning Board has agreed to provide a total financial assistance of Rs.2,700 crore for 2009-10 and 2010-11," Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said here at the 31st annual meeting of the board.

By IANS, Dubai : Leading global marine terminal operator DP World has announced its 100 percent takeover of the container terminal in India's Chennai Port. The United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company said in a statement that it bought out the stakes of Chettinad Logistics (20 percent) and the Jakari Group (5 percent) in Chennai Container Terminal (CCT). "We value the long relationship with both partners and the company remains committed to realising its objective of expansion of the terminal in the near future," DP World senior vice-president and chairman of CCT Ganesh Raj said.

By IANS, New Delhi : The communist Party of India (CPI) has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to "immediately intervene" to cancel the "in-principle clearance" given to two projects in the tribal dominated areas of Jagatsinghpur and Lanjigarh in Orissa. "Handing over people's resources without complying with the Forest Rights Act first, and respecting their rights under it, is simply government-facilitated robbery on a grand scale," said CPI national secretary D. Raja in a letter to the prime minister.

By IANS, New Delhi : State-run refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) Thursday announced 172 percent rise in net profit for the quarter ended Dec 31 over the year-ago period. The company's net profit went up to Rs.7.9 billion (Rs.790 crore/$161 million) in the third quarter from Rs.2.9 billion a year ago. The total income rose 10 percent in the October-December quarter to Rs.321.8 billon against Rs.292.5 billion in the corresponding period last year.

By IANS, New Delhi : Nestle India, a leading multinational food company, reported a standalone net profit of Rs.1,318 million for the third quarter ended Sep 30, as against Rs.1,161 million in the same quarter last year, up 13.53 percent. Net sales for the quarter rose 22.46 percent to Rs.11,104 million over the corresponding period last year. Total income for the quarter rose by 22.29 percent to Rs.11,157.90 million, against Rs.9,124 million in the corresponding quarter last year. The company also announced the second interim dividend for this year at Rs.14.80 per equity share.

By IANS, Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh government Tuesday scrapped the Rs.12,230-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail contract awarded to a consortium led by Maytas Infra, the firm owned by the family of disgraced Satyam founder and former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju. Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development Anam Rama Narayana Reddy told reporters that the deal was scrapped after the consortium failed to achieve the financial closure even after the government extended the March 17 deadline to July 6.

By DPA, Manila : The Asian Development Bank said Thursday that it approved two loans worth $470 million to fund infrastructure and agricultural projects in India.

By IANS Mumbai : Chemicals major BASF Catalysts is expanding its automotive catalyst plants in Chennai in southern India and Shanghai in China to meet the growing customer demand over the next few years. BASF Catalysts already is a market leader in automotive catalysts throughout Asia and the planned expansions will support the company's continued leadership in the region. Domestic car sales in China and India are expected to grow significantly over the next few years, spurring growth in demand for light-duty automotive catalysts.

By IANS,

By IANS,

By IANS Mumbai : Tata Capital and Japanese brokerage giant Mizuho Securities Co (MHSC) will work together in private equity and investment banking including cross-border mergers, acquisitions and securities business, a Tata company statement said here Friday. As a part of the alliance, Tata Capital - a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd, which is the apex holding company of the Tata Group - in its statement said the firm is also exploring the possibilities of drawing upon MHSC's reach for its private equity business in future.

By IANS, Bangalore : India's IT hub Bangalore and the rest of Karnataka showed little signs of being derailed by Wednesday's fuel price hike, which has made petrol and diesel in the city the costliest in the country. Bangalore roads were as usual choc-a-bloc with public and private vehicles. Educational institutions, commercial establishments, banks and offices functioned normally. There were similar reports from other major towns like Mangalore, Mysore, Hubli, Shimoga and Gulbarga.

By DPA Tokyo : Japanese manufacturers have picked India over long-time favourite China as the most attractive business location, media reports said Friday. A survey conducted by Japan Bank for International Cooperation showed that 70 percent of 600 Japanese manufacturers preferred India as a place to do business for the next decade.

By IANS New Delhi : Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), a subsidiary of the state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL), will reopen 13 coal mines in Jharia in Jharkhand. The mines were closed due to local protests over spreading mine fires, CIL Chairman Partha S. Bhattacharyya said here Wednesday. According to industry sources, these mines are rich in bituminous coal that is used by the steel industry after it is converted into coking coal. This natural resource is scarcely found in the country.

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Tuesday rose in a late rally, closing 130 points up, with some large heavyweights seeing healthy buys.

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By DPA, Brussels : The European Union (EU) and the UN have completed all the tests necessary to link their respective schemes for trading emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) by the end of the year, officials in Brussels said Wednesday. A successful link-up would mean that European companies which sponsor emissions-reduction projects in developing countries such as China and India would be able to get credit for it at home.

By DPA, Frankfurt : Oil prices are ending the week on a record high after surging towards $125 per barrel in trading Friday. A weak US dollar combined with American supply worries ahead of the summer holiday season along with strong demand from the world's leading emerging economies have led to oil prices posting their biggest weekly gain in more than 12 months. After hitting a record 124.70 dollars in Asian trading Friday, oil prices continued to edge forward in early European trading, after rising to $124.80 a barrel.

By IANS

Dubai : The Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) here has, for the first time in the organisation's history, elected a woman in to its governing board.

Ruby Celly was selected Thursday from among 19 contestants to join the highest level of the IBPC, which is the only recognised representative organisation of Indian businesses and professionals in Dubai, reported WAM news agency.

Mumbai: India-based global pharmaceutical major Cipla on Friday said its Britain arm - Cipla EU - has entered into definitive agreements to completely acquire...

By IANS, New Delhi : India has been ranked 13 in a survey of 85 countries on transparency of national budgetary allocations and financial activities. According to the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) and the International Budget Partnership based in Washington, India is among 27 other countries which provides some, albeit incomplete, information to the public on the national budget. The listing puts Britain and South Africa at the top of the list with Rwanda and Congo trailing at the end.

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities Wednesday closed 242 points higher than its previous close, with realty, metal and telecom stocks soaring. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,027.12 points, closed at 18,214.08 points (provisional), 242.96 points or 1.35 percent up from its previous close at 17,971.12 points. It had risen to 18,227.14 points earlier. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended 0.6 percent up at 5,435 points.

By IANS New Delhi : A global conference is being organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at its Rome headquarters in June on how to tackle global food security in the backdrop of rising prices and falling stocks. All 191 member countries of the UN agency, apart from inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, will be invited to attend the crucial conference to find answers to prevent food riots, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said here Wednesday.

By IANS, London : Swiss banking giant UBS, which employs 6,000 staff in Britain and 65,000 across the world, will chop 3,500 jobs, a media report said.