Economy

By IANS, Toronto : With the rapidly disappearing Arctic Ocean ice raising prospects of a scramble for rich seabed resources among neighbouring nations, Canada is flexing its muscle, extending its jurisdiction over the region from 100 nautical miles to 200. Until now, the Arctic Ocean ice bed melted only during summer months, opening the so-called Northwest Passage (from the Pacific to the Atlantic) for shipping activities. But with the Arctic ice-bed melting fast due to global warming, the Northwest Passage could remain open and thus navigable year-long for international shipping.

By IANS,

By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS, Bonn : India said it was disappointed at the slow pace of progress as global talks to confront climate change ended in Bonn Wednesday amid a widening chasm between developed and developing countries on the future course of action. As delegates from 175 countries wound up discussions ahead of a final conference in Copenhagen set for mid-December, the leader of the Indian delegation criticised the world's richest countries for refusing to agree binding cuts on their emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

By RIA Novosti Moscow : Around 140 Indian companies will be in the spotlight when they showcase their products at the international trade fair being organised in St. Petersburg March 11-14. Companies from 17 countries, including India, Germany, Denmark, Britain and China, will participate in the four-day event. "The first day of the fair will be devoted to Indian industry to commemorate the Year of Russia, which is now under way in India," said Igor Kirsanov, director general of the Restek Company and organiser of the event.

By KUNA,

By IANS, New Delhi : In a bid to consolidate its position as India's largest private lender, the board of ICICI Bank Sunday approved the merger of the Bank of Rajasthan with itself in a swap deal valued at Rs.3,000 crore ($650 million) without any cash outgo. The board approved a share exchange ratio of 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of Rajasthan. This works out to one ICICI Bank share for every 4.72 shares of Bank of Rajasthan shares, and falls within the range suggested by consultants Haribhakti and Company.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday demanded that the central government immediately slash the petrol and diesel prices after the fall in international crude prices. “The oil prices are below US$50, which is almost one third of the peak time when the government raised oil prices four times. Why is the government not taking any steps to reduce the prices of petrol, kerosene and diesel,” BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS Margherita (Assam) : As simmering tension and violence continues in Assam's tea heartland, hundreds of plantation workers are in the grip of hunger. More than a million tea workers are hit hard by the violence and not getting their daily wages because the gardens have shut down following frequent protests and general strikes. "The worst sufferers are the workers. Staging a strike or protest means the gardens are closed and they do not get paid," Madhusudan Khandait, leader of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), told IANS.

By IANS Bangalore : Tim Pawlenty, governor of Minnesota, one of the states in the US, visited the Wipro facility here Friday along with a 30-member business delegation. In the absence of Wipro chairman Azim H Premji in the city, Sudip Banerjee, President, Enterprise Solutions, received Pawlenty and conducted a tour of the campus in the electronics city. According to a company statement, a presentation on the IT major's global operations was made to the delegation that is on a trade mission to India.

By Xinhua, Beijing : Chinese stocks continued thier downward spiral Friday with the main index falling to a 15-month low as investors were still nervous about the inflationary pressure and tightening policy. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, shed 3 percent to 2,868.8 points, declining for the eighth consecutive trading day. The key index has fallen nearly 53 percent from a record high in October.

By IANS, London : Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned that the country's immigrants may face the anger of the white working class currently disadvantaged in both education and employment when compared to foreign migrants. EHRC chairman Trevor Phillips has said at a conference of the Confederation of British Industry that in some parts of the country, “the colour of disadvantage is not black or brown, it is white”.

By NNN-SANA, Cairo : Oil and Energy Ministers of Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon have agreed to start promotion and extension of the Arab gas pipeline to link it to the European gas pipeline after the completion of the four stages of the projects which extends from Egypt to Syria and Jordan. Building the networks for carrying the gas from Syria to Turkey is underway as part of the first Arab regional gas grid that links up to the European network to help diversify the sources of energy in Europe.

By IANS, Mumbai : Tata Motors has posted a net profit of Rs.21.67 billion for the financial year 2007-08 -- down from Rs.21.69 billion during the previous year. The company reported a consolidated gross revenue of Rs.403.40 billion in 2007-08, a growth of 9.3 percent compared to Rs.369.22 billion in 2006-07. The company has reported a Basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) of Rs.56.24 for its consolidated operations as against Rs.56.43 in 2006-07.

By IANS Mumbai : Tata Communications Ltd, part of $29-billion Tata Group, has selected US-based Telsima Corp to provide wireless broadband services in India, it was announced Tuesday. In the initial phase, Tata Communications will offer broadband Internet access and content services to business and residential customers in all the major cities in the country. Telsima is a global player in Wimax systems. Wimax technology uses fixed, local radio cells to provide high-speed wireless Internet access. It is considered a successor to wireless fidelity (wi-fi) technology.

By IANS, Kolkata : India may be well known for journeys on exotic trains, but not many people can associate the country with adventurous river cruises. Come September, Britain-based tour operator TransIndus will start a 15-day cruise from Kolkata to Varanasi on the Ganga, to give a flavour of river tourism in India to tourists. "I made a presentation on the possibilities of river tourism in India at the London tourism and trade fair way back in 2007. TransIndus was very interested," Manab Pal, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's state tourism cell, told IANS Friday.

By Noor Mohd, IANS New Delhi : In what could emerge as a windfall for Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL), the government is looking at a proposal to remove some major conditions on developers who want to avail themselves of fiscal sops for building mega power projects. Under the policy governing mega power projects, state-run and private players have to resort to international competitive bidding while awarding contracts to suppliers of equipment such as boilers and turbines for obtaining fiscal sops.

By IANS Ahmedabad : The Consumer Redressal Forum of Ahmedabad city has held that delivery of a motor vehicle without a temporary registration number was improper and contravened provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. The forum's order related to purchase of a Maruti Wagon-R bought from Cargo (Motors) Gujarat Pvt Ltd in 2004. The car was delivered at the buyer's residence without any temporary registration number.

By IANS, New Delhi : India has vital stake and a role to play in the global economic stability, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Thursday as he left for the US capital to attend the G20 Summit among leaders of rich and developing nations to find ways that could reverse the current global economic slowdown and avert a future financial crisis. "It has become clear over the last several weeks that the effects of the crisis are spreading," the prime minister said in a statement, before leaving for the Nov 15 Summit in Washington, called by US President George W. Bush.

By IANS, New Delhi : Inflation will ease to 10 percent by December, according to Rajya Sabha member and immediate past chairman of the prime minister's economic advisory panel C. Rangarajan. "Even though crude oil prices are cooling off, inflation will remain in double digits at the end of this year. My own estimate is that probably by December, inflation rate may go down to 10 percent," Rangarajan told reporters on the sidelines of a business meet here Monday. "Global financial systems are under stress and this is really a critical situation," Rangarajan added.

By IANS New Delhi : State-owned refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will set up a 15-million tonne per annum capacity refinery and petrochemical complex at Paradip in Orissa, State Petroleum Minister Dinsha Patel said here Tuesday. He was replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. "IOC expects to complete the project by Oct 2011," Patel said. "The state government has agreed to provide key fiscal concessions to the project like deferment of state and central sales tax and entry tax exemption for sourcing crude."

By IANS, Mumbai : Tina Ambani, industrialist Anil Ambani's wife, Thursday evening inaugurated a toll free helpline for senior citizens seeking information about a government financial scheme for the elederly. Harmony for Silver's Foundation has joined with the National Housing Bank (NHB) for introducing the all India toll free helpline through which interested people can get information on the central government's scheme of Reverse Mortgage Loan (RML). The helpline number 1800 100 1111 will be available to callers countrywide from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

By IANS, Mumbai : The Indian equities markets turned flat in early trade Thursday, despite buying interest in metal, realty and banking stocks. The markets had opened in the green mirroring strong markets elsewhere in Asia. The 30-share benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, opened with a gain of 140.66 points at 16,666.03. Ten minutes into trading, it went down to 16,575.16, still with a gain of 49.79 points or 0.30 percent from its closing figure Wednesday.

By IANS, New Delhi : Indian truckers, whose nationwide strike entered the third day Wednesday, are hoping that the government will talk to them to end the impasse arising from their demands that includes a diesel price cut. A senior board member of All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), that called the strike, told IANS it is "likely" that the government will call the transport body for talks. The truckers went on a nationwide strike in the early hours of Monday, demanding lower diesel and tyre prices.

By Xinhua, Shanghai (China) : China is set to unveil its own jumbo jet manufacturing company here Sunday, marking a crucial stage for the country's research and development of giant passenger planes. The new company, China Commercial Aircraft Co, will have a registered capital of 19 billion yuan (about $2.7 billion), with the central government and the Shanghai government among the major shareholders, sources close to the project said.

By IANS, Jammu : The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is setting up a skills development centre in Jammu and Kashmir, a state that has around 300,000 jobless youth who are often targeted for recruitment by militant outfits. CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee said they would establish the centre in partnership with the state government on an investment of Rs.1 crore (Rs.10 million) in various skill development initiatives. The announcement follows a meeting between Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Banerjee in this winter capital of the state.

By IANS, New Delhi : The finance ministry had cautioned the cabinet about the effect of raising fuel prices on India's inflation, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said here Friday soon after inflation reached 11.05 percent. He also hinted at stronger monetary measures. As inflation for the week ended June 7 hit a 13-year high, Chidamabaram told reporters: "The increase in petroleum product prices has contributed 94 percent to the inflation recorded." The central government had on June 4 raised petrol prices by Rs.5 a litre, diesel by Rs.3 and cooking gas by Rs.50 a cylinder.

By TwoCircles.net news desk,

New Delhi: “If Islamic Banking is adopted in India, it will be beneficial to all segments of the society and a boon to the marginalized and minority community," said H. Abdur Raqeeb, national convener of Indian Centre for Islamic Finance (ICIF) at a programme of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi.

By IANS,

By KUNA Vienna : The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) basket of 12 crudes dropped Monday 35 cents to reach USD 91.38 compared to USD 91.73 the day before, the cartel said on Tuesday. According to an OPEC bulletin, the average annual price of the basket of 12 crudes last year was USD 69.10 per barrel.

By IANS, Kolkata : Software major Infosys Technologies Ltd will set up a new development centre here with a proposed investment of Rs.5 billion ($125 million) in the first phase, a top company official said here Thursday. "Infosys will set up a development centre near Rajarhat Township with an investment of Rs.5 billion in the first phase of the project. The unit will come up on 90 acres of land. It will create employment for about 5,000 people," Infosys Technologies Ltd chief executive officer S. Gopalakrishnan told reporters after meeting Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya at the

By IANS, New Delhi : Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Uranium Corp of India Tuesday signed an agreement for cooperation in exploration and development. The deal was signed between ONGC chairman R.S. Sharma and UCIL chairman Ramendra Gupta in the presence of Department of Atomic Energy secretary Anil Kakodkar. According to an ONGC statement, the initiative is based "on complementary expertise of the two public enterprises". "The cross-fertilization of ideas and technologies are bound to synergise the new endeavour of uranium prospecting and mining," it added.

By Rajat Rai, IANS, Lucknow : More than Rs.2 million worth fake Indian currency notes seized during the past week in two incidents and half-a-dozen people arrested in this connection -- Uttar Pradesh appears turning into a major fake currency hub in the country. The Special Task Force (STF) of the UP police Tuesday arrested a person from Siddharthnagar district, bordering Nepal, and recovered fake currency notes of Rs.500,000 from him.

By IANS, Dubai : Exhibitors from India are among those from 20 countries participating in a global gem show taking place in Dubai. Over 100 exhibitors from the coloured stones industry have gathered here for the International Gem Show Dubai 2008 that started Monday. The three-day exhibition, under the patronage of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), is being organised by the International Coloured Gemstone Association (ICA) and supported by the Middle East GemBureau.

By IANS, New Delhi : With global fuel prices touching record highs, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said state-run oil marketing firms will not be allowed to suffer. “I will not allow oil companies to suffer,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function to mark four years of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The benchmark New York light sweet crude rose to a high of $135.09 per barrel, before climbing down. It had first gone through the $130 barrier Wednesday.

By IANS New Delhi : Telecom operators offering the GSM technology of mobile phone services Thursday slammed the government over not following the regulator's recommendations while allocating frequencies. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing some of the leading GSM players, expressed its discontent in a letter to the Wireless Planning Commission (WPC), a body responsible for the allocation of the frequencies, for not following the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations.

By Aroonim Bhuyan, IANS

New Delhi : Real estate investment tops the list of queries received by the Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) launched by the government.