Economy

By IANS Gurgaon : A slowdown in the US economy will have some impact on India, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said here Thursday. "If the US economy goes into a recession it will have drastic implications on the global economy and India, too, will have to bear some consequences," Chidambaram said while addressing a session on "Indices for Development: Need for Change?" at The Partnership Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

By Sanjay Singh, IANS, New Delhi : Yet another airfare hike is in the offing from Nov 1 as airlines and travel agents have mutually decided to add a new component, transaction fee, which would be a minimum of Rs.350 for domestic and maximum of Rs.10,000 for international tickets, an industry official said here Monday. The zero-percent commission regime will be replaced by the transaction fee, which will be levied along with the airfare, the official said, adding that this will be reflected as "other charges" on the ticket.

By IANS, New Delhi : Winsome Textile Industries chairman Satish Bagrodia Wednesday formally took charge as the president of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, succeeding L.K. Malhotra. Bagrodia, who was the chamber's second-in-command said he was not satisfied with the stimulus package the government announced Dec 7, and hoped that the second package would bring cheer to the economy.

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : A 13-member delegation of chief executives will visit Britain over June 19-20 to augment economic ties between the two nations. The team, led by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president and ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive K.V. Kamath, is part of the CII CEO's Mission to explore more business opportunities. The delegation will look at innovations in manufacturing, education and healthcare services, and look to address issues faced by both British and Indian investors in each other's markets.

By IANS, New Delhi : Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari Tuesday expressed concern over increasing food prices, which have adversely affected the poor across the world. “The world is facing an unprecedented hike in the prices of agricultural commodities that has led to an adverse impact on the poor,” Ansari said in his inaugural speech to the ministerial retreat of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) here Tuesday. Representatives from 14 countries are participating in the three-day CIRDAP meet.

By IANS New Delhi : The Delhi High court Thursday reserved its order on a petition filed by GSM operators challenging the central government's decision to allow use of dual technology in mobile telephony and allocate radio spectrum required for wireless communications. Judge Gita Mittal reserved the order after hearing both parties.

By IANS, La Paz : Bolivian President Evo Morales has expropriated US-based company Ashmore's 50 percent stake in gas pipeline company Transredes, which transports Bolivia's natural gas to neighbouring Brazil and Argentina, EFE reported Tuesday. Morales signed a decree Monday nationalizing all assets of Transredes, saying the foreign companies that owned half of it had been too slow in negotiating.

New Delhi : Transport fuel prices were hiked effective Friday midnight by Rs.3.13 per litre for petrol and by Rs.2.71 a litre for diesel,...

By Gurmukh Singh, IANS, Toronto : The two co-CEOs of Research in Motion (RIM), the company that makes BlackBerry, are getting richer and richer as the shares of their business continue to surge unabated. With shares having jumped to $141 from just $56 last year, the combined share value of co-CEO and founder Mike Lazaridis and co-CEO Jim Balsillie has crossed the $10 billion mark, according to a management 'proxy' circular.

By IANS, Bangalore : Youngsters in India's IT hub Bangalore, who have been hugely affected by the global economic recession due to large scale job losses and lack of newer employment opportunities, have expressed mixed feelings over Monday's union budget. If young professionals have expressed happiness on the increase in the income tax exemption limit and end of fringe benefit tax, they are dissatisfied over the budget not having given a clear cut indication to end job losses and generation of employment opportunities.

By IANS, Mumbai : The Indian equities market opened on a mixed note Friday but slipped into red during early trade, mirroring weak global markets. Banking stocks were under heavy selling pressure at initial trade. The 30-share benchmark sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange opened with a loss of 325.06 points at 14,451.95 points. Ten minutes into trade, the Sensex was trading at 14,416.95 with a loss of 360.06 points or 2.44 percent.

By IANS, Mumbai: India's largest software services company Tata Consultancy Services Thursday reported a 32 percent rise in the net profit at Rs.2,169 crore for the quarter ended Sep 30.

By Rajeev Ranjan Roy, IANS, New Delhi : An acute shortage of skilled workers is posing a major threat to the Indian economy. The Planning Commission estimates that only 20 percent of the 12.8 million entering the work force annually get some formal training. The plan panel has assessed that in an economy growing at the rate of "over nine percent", skill development poses major challenges. At the same time, it opens up "unprecedented doors of opportunity" if the process of skill enhancement is carried out in an integrated manner.

By IANS, New Delhi : India's annual rate of inflation fell further to 2.43 percent for the week ended Feb 28 from 3.03 the week before, official data showed Thursday. The inflation figure was the lowest since June 2002. The official wholesale price index however rose by 0.04 percent during the week. While the index for primary articles rose by 0.2 percent, that for manufactured products fell marginally by 0.1 percent. The index for fuels remained unchanged for the second consecutive week.

By IANS, New Delhi : Higher inflation and increasing interest rates have forced middle class consumers to cut back their spending on shopping, amusement and eating out by nearly 55 percent in the last one year, according to a survey by an industry lobby. The survey, done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), said middle class consumers slashed their entertainment and luxury spending by 55 percent, which has come down from Rs.5,000-Rs.6,000 per month to less than Rs.2,800.

By IANS Mumbai : Ahead of the crucial meeting of the high-powered, empowered Group of Ministers (eGOM) to discuss the issue of the controversial pricing of the Krishna-Godavari gas, the war of words between the Ambani brothers seems to have escalated.

By IANS, New Delhi : Hindalco Industries, the Aditya Birla group flagship company, Friday said its net profit for the second quarter increased by 12.03 percent to Rs.7.2 billion, against Rs.6.43 billion in the corresponding period last year. Net sales and operating revenue rose to Rs.56.83 billion in the quarter under review from Rs.49.66 billion in the corresponding period last year. Hindalco reported a net profit of Rs.14.16 billion for the first half of this fiscal, a 14.14 percent growth over the corresponding period last year.

By DPA, Washington : US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke Wednesday defended the US government's unprecedented interventions in capital markets over the past months, telling Congress that the stability of the US financial system faced "grave threats". He painted a gloomy picture for future growth, saying "greater- than-normal uncertainty" surrounded any forecast of the pace of activity. "The downside risks to the outlook ... remain a significant concern," Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress.

By Paras Ramoutar, IANS, Port-of-Spain : The Bank of Baroda, one of India's largest public sector banks, is considering opening more branches in Trinidad and Tobago, home to a large Indian origin populace, the bank's new head here said. Yash Pal Chhabra, newly appointed managing director of the bank branch, said the Bank of Baroda will also launch the much-awaited debit card in the country. Chhabra succeeds Kishor Kharat, the first managing director of the Trinidad and Tobago branch, which opened in 2007. Kharat leaves Tuesday to take a promotion in Pune, India.

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets fell sharply by 491 points to touch a two-month low Tuesday, with investors dumping stocks especially of realty, metals, energy and power companies. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened lower at 15,838.63 points, closed at 15,404.94 points, 491.34 points or 3.09 percent below Friday's close at 15,896.28 points. The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed in negative terrain at 4,563.9 points, down 3.14 percent or 147.8 from its last close.

By Arun Kumar, IANS Washington : With India and China among the top five economies, developing countries now produce 41 percent of the world's output, up from 36 percent in 2000, according to the World Development Indicators (WDI) 2008. Measured at gross national income, the United States is still the largest economy, producing $13.2 trillion worth of goods and services; but China is number two, and India is number four, a senior world bank official said Friday.

By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS Chennai : City-based real estate property company ETA Star Property Developers Ltd has decided to enter Madurai, Coimbatore and Kolkata markets with big plans. The company is part of the $4-billion turnover closely held ETA Ascon group of Dubai and has promoted projects in Chennai and Bangalore. In Coimbatore, ETA Star has acquired 80 acres for an undisclosed sum.

By IANS, Mumbai : Reliance Communications, the flagship telecom services company of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Thursday reported a 23.9 percent jump in net profits at $352 million for the first quarter ended June 30. The company's revenues were also higher by 23.7 percent at $1.24 billion, as against $1.06 billion for the like period of the last fiscal, a filing with stock market authorities said. The company had reported a net profit of $301 million during April-June, 2007.

By IANS, Mumbai : The Indian equities market was trading with loss in afternoon trade Monday amidst volatility. Banking, realty and capital goods were under selling pressure. At 12:30 p.m., the 30-share BSE Sensex was down by 178.61 points or 1.29 percent at 13,623.61. At the day's low, it touched 13,586.98. At the same time, the broader-based S&P CNX Nifty was down by 35.37 points or 0.86 percent at 4,100.90 The market breadth was negative. On BSE, 697 shares advanced compared to 1,688 that declined and 54 that remained unchanged.

By Mayank Chhaya, IANS, Chicago : The proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is "absolutely infeasible" in the foreseeable future because financial, political, legal and security circumstances do not support it, a well-informed American expert says.

By IANS, New Delhi : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday proposed to extend the scope of presumptive tax to all businesses with a turnover of up to Rs.40 lakh. "This will facilitate the business operations of all small tax payers and reduce their compliance burden," the finance minister told parliament after tabling the union budget for 2009-10. This will come into effect from 2010-11, he added.

By IANS New Delhi : The government Wednesday reiterated that special economic zones (SEZs) that have already been "notified" were legal entities and there was no provision to scrap such projects. Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai said this while commenting on the Goa government's decision to recommend withdrawal of permission to all such projects in the state. "There is no provision under law to recommend de-notification of special economic zones," Pillai said.

By IANS, New Delhi : Low-cost carrier SpiceJet Wednesday announced a cut in fares up to 15 percent on tickets purchased in advance, besides withdrawing congestion charges. The carrier, however, did not spell out how many days ahead a ticket has to be purchased to avail of the benefit.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Delhi government has built for slum dwellers and other urban poor 9,817 houses that are now ready for allotment, a senior official said Sunday. Manoj Parida, managing director of the Delhi State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corp (DSIIDC), said the houses had been built under the Rajiv Ratan Aawas Yojna. United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi had launched the housing scheme in September 2007.

By P.S. Anantharaman, IANS, Ahmedabad : Indian salt is becoming uncompetitive in the global market due to the rising cost of transport even as Australian exports are on the increase, says an industry representative. "The transport cost has increased. Fuel prices have trebled in the last decade. A hundred percent increase in ship freight and a similar increase in wagon costs in the last two years are rendering Indian salt exports uncompetitive," said B.C. Raval, secretary of the Indian Salt Manufacturers Association.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Monday imposed a fine of Rs.50,000 on public sector National Textile Corporation Limited for filing a frivolous petition. The court told the company to recover the fine amount from the salaries of delinquent officials who pursued the case against an eviction order issued by a trial court against its unit. "Frivolous litigation clogs the wheels of justice, making it difficult for courts to provide easy and speedy justice to the genuine litigants," said Justice V.B. Gupta while dismissing the petition.

By RIA Novosti Abu Dhabi : OPEC ministers will opt to keep crude output unchanged at their meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, the Saudi oil minister told a national newspaper. The U.S., the world's largest oil importer, has called for a production rise to ease its economic difficulties. Al-Hayat quoted Ali al-Naimi, the most influential minister in the cartel, as saying: "The situation on the oil market is stable. There is no need to interfere with the market."

By IANS, New Delhi : The government should at the earliest levy duty on refined sugar being imported into country as it will not only stabilise the sweetener's prices but also help the industry cut its losses, said a top official of a sugar company. "Due to speculation in the market that the government may impose tax, there is a great volatility in the prices. The imposition of import duty will not only help check excessive import of cheap refined sugar but will also lead to sugar prices stabilising," said Sunil Kakria, managing director of Mawana Sugars, in an interview to IANS.

By IANS, Kolkata : The Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) sector in West Bengal was severely hit Wednesday following a nation-wide strike called by Leftist trade unions to protest inflation, price rise and other economic policies of the Union government. "The IT sector is affected due to the strike. The percentage of attendance at the state's IT hub Salt Lake sector-V is very low," West Bengal IT principal secretary Siddharth told IANS.

By IANS, Bhubaneswar : Private bus owners in Orissa Wednesday said they want the government to hike the fares by four to seven paise per kilometre in view of the recent increase in fuel prices. Prakash Mishra, president of the bus owner's association, told IANS: "The state has around 6,000 private buses that run on four categories - ordinary, express, deluxe and super deluxe. The present fares per kilometre are 41, 43, 56 and 69 paise, respectively. We have sent a letter to the chief minister demanding that the prices be correspondingly revised to 45, 47, 61 and 76 paise."

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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.

By IANS, Mumbai : State-run commercial banks Monday cut interest rates on home loans up to Rs.2 million (Rs.20 lakh/$40,000), with several other benefits like nil processing fee and free life insurance. Home loans of up to Rs.500,000 will invite an interest rate of 8.5 percent and those up to Rs.2 million will attract an interest rate of 9.25 percent, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman O.P. Bhatt told a press conference here. The incentives, being offered by all public sector banks, will be available till June 30, 2009, he added.

By IANS, Bogota : In what could be its most important hydrocarbons find in 10 years, Colombia has announced the discovery of a huge oil reserve in the eastern plain region, EFE news agency reported Wednesday. British firm Emerald discovered the the petroleum deposit in the eastern plains region which is home to a number of oil rigs and natural gas extraction plants, Energy Minister Hernan Martinez announced Tuesday. He told Caracol Radio that the field located in Meta province, 200 km east of Bogota, could contain reserves of about 100 million barrels of heavy crude.

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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 KUNA New Delhi : Indias annual budget for the 2008-09 was announced Friday with major amount of money being allocated to the countrys defence, education, health and agriculture sectors. Announcing the budget in the Indian Parliament here today, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said defence budget was increased by 10 per cent to 26.5 bn usd and added that more money would be provided if required.

By IANS, Dubai : Bahrain's leading telecom services provider Batelco is for the moment putting off its plans to enter into the booming Indian market. The company's chief executive Peter Kaliarapoulos, briefing the local media on quarterly results, said though Batelco was in the process of acquiring a licence in India, it was not in a hurry. "The asking price is too much and we do not want to invest that much," reports quoted Kaliarapoulos as saying.

By IANS Agartala : Japan will continue investing in India to boost the country's forestry sector, besides opening avenues for people whose livelihoods depend on forest-based products, officials said here Monday.

By IANS New Delhi : The Indian government is "well poised" on the civil nuclear deal with the US and it will not face any obstacles in its implementation, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said Tuesday. "The government is well poised and the deal would get through," Sibal told reporters on the sidelines of a marketing summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

New Delhi, May 18, IRNA, Ruias-led corporate house Essar group has won an offshore oil block in Nigeria with reserves of up to 80 million barrels. Essar Energy Holdings Ltd, a unit of Essar Global, has bagged a shallow water offshore exploration Block 226 in the African country, industry sources said. Nigeria had offered 45 exploration blocks in its latest licensing round, to which no Indian company except Essar had responded, PTI said.

By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,

By IANS Raipur : After an almost two month long ban, gutka or chewing tobacco Friday returned with a bang to shops and kiosks in Chhattisgarh following a high court order. Vendors hung up rows of gutka pouches in front of their shops after the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur Thursday quashed a five-year ban imposed on the sale of gutka by the state government on Jan 1. As per an official estimate, around Rs.100 million worth of gutka is sold in the state per month.

By IANS, Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh government Sunday denied there were any irregularities in awarding contracts for various infrastructure projects to Maytas Infra, the company promoted by the family of disgraced former chairman of Satyam Computers. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, however, announced that the government would review all the projects given to Maytas in the wake of massive fraud in Satyam.

New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on a plea against RBI's decision to...

By IANS, Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets fell further Monday, with traders taking cues from the negativity at other Asian bourses.

By Xinhua, Washington : The US House of Representatives rejected Monday the $700-billion financial bailout legislation, which Bush Administration said was "urgently needed to address a crisis in our financial system that threatens the entire US economy". The bill was rejected by a vote of 228-205. Leaders in the House said they might reconsider the bill Thursday, as the Senate had planned a vote on the measure Wednesday.

By IANS

Thiruvananthapuram : Coming out strongly against trade unions in the IT industry, Infosys Technologies chief executive S. Gopalakrishnan says the sector should instead opt for self-regulation if there are labour problems.