Economy

By IANS, Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh government Friday announced setting up of a trust to provide collateral security for loans to entrepreneurs belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST). The trust, the first of its kind in the country, will provide collateral security for loans up to Rs.50 million. "The trust is being formed to facilitate the collateral security by banks. Initially, 5,000 entrepreneurs will be covered during 2008-09," said a statement from the chief minister's office here Friday evening.

By IANS, Chennai : Industrial infrastructure developer, GK Industrial Park Pvt plans to woo overseas engineering fabricators wanting to set up shop in India to its 600 acre park being developed near Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). "We are looking at tying up with overseas engineering fabricating clusters serving oil and energy sectors. With Indian oil and power equipment sector expected to grow, we will be targeting fabricators currently serving the global companies," its director K.G. Muralidharan told IANS.

By IANS,

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington : Americans have lost 1.8 million jobs in just the last three months with employers slashing 598,000 more jobs in January, taking the unemployment rate up to 7.6 percent, the country's worst in 34 years. According to a government report released Friday, the latest job loss is the worst since December 1974, and brings job losses to 1.8 million in just the last three months, or half of the 3.6 million jobs that have been lost since the beginning of 2008.

By IANS, Riyadh : Saudi Arabia, one of the top global oil exporters, is planning to build the world's largest gold factory by the end of 2011.

By IANS Ahmedabad : The Indian government is trying to resume sesame seed exports to Russia, halted in May due to quality concerns, officials said. The ice between India and Russia was broken by the Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council (Shefexil) through the union commerce ministry. Russia has agreed to dispatch a team from its quality certifying agency - the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phyto-sanitary Surveillance (FSVPS) - in October to study rice, sesame seed and groundnut cultivation and their processing.

By IANS, Kolkata : Monotona Tyres Ltd became a subsidiary of Falcon Tyres Ltd, manufacturers of two-wheeler tyres, from Friday, a company statement said here Monday. Monotona supplies high-quality tyres to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) like Bajaj Auto and also exports substantial number of tyres to Dubai, Egypt, Guatemala, Nigeria, Sudan and other countries. The company has production capacity of 300,000 tyres and 500,000 tubes a month for two- and three-wheelers and light commercial vehicles (LCV) at its plant in Wada, about 85 km from Mumbai.

By Khalid Al-Zaid, KUNA Cairo : Kuwait-based Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation (IAIGC) was and still is considered the "receptacle" of a huge number of investment institutions, IAIGC Director General Fahad Al-Ibrahim said on Friday.

By IANS Mumbai : Indian shares Tuesday bounced back from a major fall Monday riding on mixed cues from global markets, with a key index rising 0.20 percent with energy stocks leading the recovery. The 30-share benchmark sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed 29.74 points or 0.20 percent higher from its previous close at 14,932.77 - after a high of 15,142.04 during intra-day trade. The broader 50-issue Nifty National Stock Exchange index closed 16.85 points or 0.39 percent higher at 4,356.35.

By DPA, Bangkok : When world rice prices hit $1,000 per tonne in May, more than doubling over five months, Asian governments were forced to take a serious look at their neglected agriculture sectors. Before the Asian economic miracle of the 1980s and '90s, there was the green revolution of the 1960s. Asia's green revolution combined the introduction of high-yield seeds for staple crops such as maize, wheat and rice with massive public expenditures on rural infrastructure. Productivity soared and famine became a thing of the past.

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By IANS New Delhi : An ambitious and innovative four-year UN project that aims at boosting India's role as a world leader in the cane and bamboo industry was launched here Wednesday. Mani Shankar Aiyar, union minister for development of northeastern region (Doner), launched the project in the presence of Kandeh Yumkella, director general, UN Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).

By IANS New Delhi : India's public relations (PR) industry is poised to double itself to $6 billion by 2010 from current $3 billion due to increasing competition among companies to build brands resulting in more sales, said an industry chamber. The PR industry, which has undergone a major paradigm change in the last decade, is also witnessing large-scale attrition level of up to 40 percent, said the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) in a survey conducted over 400 PR professionals.

By IANS, Chennai : City-based VGN Developers Pvt Ltd will build 37,700 residential apartments under different segments during the next five years. The sale value of these projects will be to the tune of Rs.114 billion, a senior official said. "The total sale value of the projects will be to the tune of Rs.114 billion," said company's Managing Director D. Pratish. He said the projects are planned in Padikuppam, Mogappair, Velappanchavady, Vandalur, Ambattur, among others. The company is promoting eight apartment projects totalling to a constructed space of around 30 million sq. ft.

By IANS, New Delhi : Indonesia's power expansion programmes offer Indian companies a good investment opportunity, according to Purnomo Yusgiantoro, the South-east Asian country's energy and mineral resources minister. Indonesia is set to launch 10,000 MW accelerated power expansion programme - its second - aimed at beefing up electricity generation from new and renewable energy sources, Yusgiantoro told a business meet here Monday.

By IANS New Delhi : In an effort to ensure timely implementation of power projects in the country, a national board will be set up soon that will monitor their progress at all levels, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Thursday. "With 50,000 MW of power projects already under implementation, and the balance orders for 28,000 MW expected to be placed by year end, the target for next five years does not seem over-ambitious," Shinde told a power conference here.

By EuAsiaNews, Brussels : Air passenger traffic between the European Union and India grew by 57.2% in 2006 compared to the year 2004. It increased by 25.6% in 2006 compared with 2005. Traffic between the EU and China rose by 38.3% in 2006 compared with 2004. The fastest growing region in 2006 was the Indian sub-continent recording a growth of 21.5% compared with 2005, according to figures released by Eurostat, the EU's statistical bureau, this week. This was followed by East Africa with 12.6% growth and the Near and Middle East with 9.1% growth.

By Himank Sharma, IANS, New Delhi : There will be no respite from inflation that zoomed to a 13-year high for the week ended June 7, say experts. "The current year will continue to see inflation in double digit. It will start moderating only in March 2009," said D.K. Joshi, chief economist with the Mumbai-based credit ratings firm Crisil. Joshi blamed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's “lax policy” over the past two years for the galloping inflation figures.

By IANS, Shimla: The World Bank has agreed to provide a loan of $450 million to Himachal Pradesh for sustainable environmental growth, an official statement said Thursday. "The World Bank has agreed in principle to sanction a Programmatic Development Policy Loan of $450 million," the statement quoted Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal as saying. Dhumal was in Washington Wednesday to meet World Bank officials.

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By Anuradha Shukla, IANS, New Delhi : India's corporate sector has lost some $1.25 billion since May 23 due to the ongoing Gujjar stir, apart from cancellations of at least 75 trains by the railways, as per estimates by official agencies and industry chambers. The losses are in addition to the physical damage to train tracks because of the stir called by the Gujjars to demand Scheduled Tribe status in Rajasthan with support from people of their community in adjoining states.

By Bernama, London : Growing literacy and new technology have resulted in India emerging as the second largest newspaper market in the world, according to latest research by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). The new figures show that the four largest markets for newspapers are: China, with 107 million copies sold daily; India (99 million); Japan (68 million) and the United States, with nearly 51 million.

By IANS, New Delhi : India will suggest opening of two more trade centres in Nagaland and Mizoram with Myanmar during trade and investment talks beginning Oct 15, officials said here Monday. Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh will head a delegation for the talks in Mandalay, the economic and spiritual hub of Myanmar. “India will take up the issue of expanding trade centres along the 1,600-km India-Myanmar border. At present, Moreh in Manipur is the only operational trade centre on the border,” said the commerce ministry in a statement.

By IANS, New Delhi/Mumbai : India Inc heaved a sigh of relief Tuesday after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government won the trust motion, hoping economic reforms would now get a push as pressures from Left parties would no longer carry the same weight. "The worst for the Indian economy is still not over. But hopefully the political instability that was adding to the problems and the government's woes now stand hugely diluted," said a leading industrialist.

By Gurmukh Singh, IANS, New York : Apple, Google, Research In Motion (RIM) are neck and neck in the cut-throat smart phone market in the US, according to a Nielsen survey Thursday.

By Arun Anand, IANS, Dubai : In a move to strengthen its presence globally and consolidate its position in the domestic market, UFLEX Ltd, a leading Indian flexible packaging company, has announced its aggressive business and investment plans of more than $250 million for the next two years. "We are setting up new units across the globe, primarily to cater to the global market. Our target is to have one billion dollar turnover by the year 2013," Ashok Chaturvedi, chairman and managing director, UFLEX Ltd told IANS at its Dubai plant.

By IANS, Beijing : China's annual GDP growth is expected to reach 9.2 percent this year and continue to experience a moderate cooling in 2012, a senior official said Thursday.

By IANS Mumbai : New York-based private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Wednesday said it is investing $250 million in Bharti Infratel, a subsidiary of leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel in the towers business. The investment will be made by KKR's Asia dedicated private equity fund and its global private equity fund, the company said in a filing with stock market authorities here.

By IANS, New Delhi : Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi Tuesday has taken exception to the state-owned State Bank of India (SBI) decision not to extend loans to farmers for buying tractors and other agricultural equipment. "It is unfair, and raises suspicion as the decision comes on the eve of assembly polls in Karnataka," Ravi told IANS, and sought some control over the public sector financial institutions to restrain them from taking any unilateral step.

By IANS, Ranchi : The residents of Jharkhand's Jamshedpur town Wednesday blamed the management of the Telco plant, run by the Tata Group, for the leakage of chlorine gas from its water purifying plant, which led to the hospitalisation of about 150 people with breathing problems. The gas started leaking from the plant at about 11 a.m. Tuesday. By evening, residents started having respiratory problems and vomiting since the density of the gas had increased.

By IANS

Kolkata : Sajjan Jindal-controlled JSW Steels Ltd Thursday said it would offer free shares to those whose land would be acquired for its upcoming mega plant in West Bengal - an unprecedented move amid protests over land acquisition.