Corporate
Aiming to make safe drinking water affordable to rural masses, Tata Group company Tata Chemicals today unveiled a water purifier named Swach under Rs 1,000 price tag and announced Rs 100 crore investment over the next five years for the project.
The Sensex is swinging between zones owing to alternate bouts of buying and selling. The index is now at 16,878, down 34 points.
Asian markets are mixed this morning. The Hang Seng has dropped 112 points to 21,702. However, the Nikkei has added 100 points (1%) to 10,184.
The Hang Seng advanced 203 points or 1% at 21,902.
Ranju Sarkar / December 4, 2009, 0:36 IST
Promising to push economic reforms, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited US investors to tap "enormous opportunities" in sectors like infrastructure, energy and agriculture, exuding confidence that India would return to 9 per cent growth within two years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today steered clear of the controversy over awarding Nobel peace prize to US President Barack Obama.
The All India IIT Faculty Federation (AIIITFF) President M Thenmozhi today urged faculty members of all the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to accept and implement the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.
Blackstone Group, the world’s largest private-equity firm, may buy the amusement-park business of Anheuser-Busch InBev for about $2.5 billion to $3 billion, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The Sensex is quoting at 17,013, higher by 30 points and the Nifty is at 5,076, up 9 points.
Troubled insurer American International Group (AIG) will take two years to repay the bailout funds, which it had received from the US government at the peak of the financial crisis last year, says a media report.
Away from the silver screen, Chitrangda Singh tries her hand at everything from golf to snorkeling to scuba-diving to, now, skydiving.
Kalpana Pathak / New Delhi December 01, 2009, 1:30 IST
Over 2.4 lakh aspirants will vie for entry to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs), the Common Admission Test (CAT) for which will be computer-based for the first time this year.
The echo of India’s controversial Rs 10,000-crore Barak surface-to-air missile deal with Israel is being heard in faraway London. According to a leading London newspaper, “One of the Liberal Democrats’ most generous donors has been accused of accepting tens of millions of pounds in kickbacks from an arms deal between an Israeli company and the Indian Government …” The newspaper quotes Indian sources to say the payments were disguised as ‘business charges’ since India officially prohibits the use of middlemen in defence deals.
The Delhi High court has directed Kingfisher Airlines to return all components leased out to it by Lufthansa Technik India following a petition by the latter that the carrier was using them even after it breached an obligation to make timely payments.
Russians may still be humming their all-time favourite song — mera joota hai japani — but they are now choosing to buy Hindustani in big numbers.
Sayantani Kar / New Delhi September 22, 2009, 0:51 IST
The NSE Nifty today opened flat at 4,501, and touched a high of 4,524 before slipping into the negative zone. Post-noon trades, the index slipped deeper into red to a low of 4,436 - down 88 points from the day"s high owing to profit-taking in IT stocks.
DHL, world"s leading logistics company announced today that its freight forwarding division DHL Global Forwarding has signed a security partnership with Air India-SATS, Bengaluru.
China today dismissed a British editorial accusing it of "hijacking" the UN-sponsored climate talks in Copenhagen as baseless and politically motivated.
The government today said it has penalised Kingfisher Airlines with a fine of over Rs 26 crore for delay in the payment of tax deduction at source (TDS).
Kolkata-based Jai Balaji Industries has raised Rs 198.50 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue.
A cartoon in a Delhi newspaper, which allegedly depicted a Victoria policeman as a member of hate group Ku Klux Klan in the wake of attacks on Indians, has sparked an outrage in Australia with acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemning it as "deeply offensive".
Spending target raised to Rs 53,000 crore for 2007-12.
Universal Cables Limited, belonging to the M P Birla group, has clocked in a net profit of Rs 6.95 crore for the quarter ended September 30, from a net loss of Rs 1.37 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Net sales were at Rs 130.11 crore against Rs 157.96 crore in the previous corresponding quarter. D R Bansal, chief executive officer, attributed this performance to the initiative of putting up a vertical continuous vulcanization line for the manufacture of XLPE cables up to 400 kV in technical collaboration with Furukawa Electric Co Ltd, Japan.
IN MY MIND
I am a first time buyer of a four wheeler. I don’t change my vehicles often and plan on using my next acquisition for the next 12 to 15 years. I have shortlisted the Chevrolet Spark LT, Hyundai Santro Xing GLS, and Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo LXI.
In a bid to become a $ 50 million within two years, Elitecore Technologies is mulling to take the inorganic route. The Ahmedabad-based company is looking at a Rs 100 crore acquisition in the US or European markets in the network security segment.
India today said it is not looking at finalising negotiations with the US on a pact on reprocessing of spent fuel, a key step in implementation of the nuclear deal, during summit talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama here.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to address the US Congress on his next visit here, as she thanked India for extending hospitality to Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for Washington today for talks with President Barack Obama, saying India attaches “high priority” to its relations with the US and a “sustained and dynamic” partnership between them is essential to meet major global challenges like terrorism, climate change and economic slowdown.
To help India attain low energy-intensive growth, the World Bank aims to increase its lending to the country’s clean-power generation and energy-efficiency programmes.
Buoyed by optimism, offshoots of economic revival and more stable job market vis-à-vis 2009, the people are loosening their purse strings and splurging on shopping sprees to mark the arrival of 2010.
The benchmark indices rose for the second straight day today with S&P CNX Nifty closing at a 22-month high of 5,278. Nifty January futures closed at a premium to the spot and added 1.05 million shares in open interest through buy-side trades, indicating fresh long build-up. However, the Nifty remained range-bound after opening at higher levels.
Pradipta Mukherjee / Kolkata January 1, 2010, 1:43 IST
Surajeet Das Gupta / New Delhi August 20, 2009, 0:11 IST
Abhineet Kumar & Sidhartha / Mumbai December 31, 2009, 0:26 IST
Bajaj Auto, the country’s second largest motorcycle manufacturer, has quietly discontinued two of its flagship products in the past three months to make way for more expensive models.
Work on Metro projects in Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi is expected to start shortly.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised to talk to Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, as a final effort to stop the Corus steel plants in Teesside from being shut at the month-end, thus saving 1,700 jobs.
fashion designer Wendell Rodricks, in his activist avatar, keeps the goan cause afloat.
Some trends of the decade in popular music, encompassing hits, losses, challenges, rivalries, victories, tv, movies — and himesh reshammiya.
With an average internet connection speed of 1,100 Kbps for the second quarter of 2009, Karnataka has been ranked second in a study of the top 10 Indian states for their average connection speeds. The state has recorded a 32 per cent increase in the average connection speed over last year.
ITC has posted a 26 per cent rise in net profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1009.91 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 as compared to Rs 802.7 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.
Galla Foods Private Limited, owned by the promoter family of industrial and automotive battery manufacturer Amara Raja Group, is targeting to capture 10 per cent share of the fruit drinks market in India in the next five years.
Pennar Industries, a leading player in engineered metal products, has clocked a 24 per cent rise in its first quarter net profit at Rs 38.1 crore as against Rs 30.8 crore in the same period previous year.
Battery major Exide Industries today said its net profit rose by 48.90 per cent to Rs 122.40 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, over the same period last year.
World"s largest car maker Toyota today said it is looking to expand its dealership network in the country with plans to have a total of 150 outlets by 2010.
Carmaker Fiat India Automobiles today said it will consider raising prices of its products as the margins are under pressure.
R Gopalan, a 1976-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the Financial Services Secretary in the Finance Ministry.
The government today said it will soon come out with a uniform and single licence fee for telecom service provider, which is currently between 6 and 10 per cent of the revenue of these companies.
The Indo-US nuclear deal and India"s subsequent entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), ending 34 years of nuclear isolation, has thrown open business opportunities worth an estimated $100 billion by the year 2032. The country is planning to increase its nuclear power generation by about 60,000 mega watts (Mw) within the next 25 years. This planned capacity addition is being executed by the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). Its head, Chairman and Managing Director SK JAIN, tells P B JAYAKUMAR about his plans and expectations. Excerpts:
The stock touched a high of Rs 233 and finally settled 4% higher at Rs 228. The counter clocked volumes of 1.93 million shares on the BSE.
Wipro finally ended at Rs 625, up 1% from the previous close and Infosys settled flat at Rs 2,323.
While sugar prices are likely to stay at high levels, stock valuations reflect most of the positives.
The stock jumped 4.24 per cent to Rs 227.65 to an all-time high, after the company acquired Vale Do Ivai SA (VDI), a Brazil-based sugar and ethanol firm. The acquisition includes two sugar and ethanol production facilities with a combined cane crushing capacity of 3.1 million tonnes per annum.
Announce intense agitation against Rs 30,000-cr project
Siemens closed at Rs 571, down by 2.5% or Rs 14 on the BSE. The stock opened at Rs 590 and touched a high of Rs 605 and a low of Rs 565 during the day. A total of 272,659 shares were traded on the BSE as against the 2-week average of 109,271 shares.
Brazil’s CSN and Tata Steel, which had once battled for control of Corus, the European steel company, are set to become stakeholders in Australia’s Riversdale Mining.
Simbhaoli Sugar reported profit of Rs 71.9 crore in the second quarter of financial year 2010. The company has made a loss of Rs 29.1 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
- A K Bhattacharya: Who's batting for GST?">A K Bhattacharya: Who's batting for GST? - A K Bhattacharya: Waiting to exhale">A K Bhattacharya: Waiting to exhale - A K Bhattacharya: Congress Minus Partners">A K Bhattacharya: Congress Minus Partners - A K Bhattacharya: Too few good men">A K Bhattacharya: Too few good men - A K Bhattacharya: Where are the experts?">A K Bhattacharya: Where are the experts? - A K Bhattacharya: Saving the other PPPs">A K Bhattacharya: Saving the other PPPs
Infrastructure development firm Maytas Infra today said it has bagged an order worth Rs 790 crore from IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL) for road construction work.
As exports dipped by 30 per cent in May -- extending the fall to eighth month in a row -- the government today reviewed the grave situation with top exporters promising them incentives.
The government would contest the claims of European steel product makers that it is subsiding domestic manufacturers and has asked the engineering industry to collect data that would help in defending Indian firms.
Trinamool Congress, Left blame each other for starting violence
The government will set up two regional directorates to assist companies in the north western and north eastern regions, Parliament was informed today.
Business Standard / Mumbai October 31, 2009, 0:51 IST
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has opposed finance ministry directive of parking its surplus funds with only PSU banks saying it is losing Rs 360 crore of interest revenues annually as state-run banks offer lower interest rates when business is given to them on nomination.
The government today said the total service tax collected from stock broking firms reduced to almost half in the last fiscal when compared with the previous fiscal.
The Steel Ministry has sent the proposal to sell 10 per cent of the government"s holding in state-run Manganese Ore India Ltd to the Department of Disinvestment, Parliament was told today.
Foreign investment in the Indian stock markets may cross $10 billion-mark by the end of this month as a hefty $9.8 billion (Rs 47,674 crore) have already been poured into the bourses by overseas entities so far this year, analysts feel.
Indiabulls Power IPO was subscribed 5.95 times on combined (BSE +NSE) basis.
Apparel and FMCG segments will be the driving forces for the Indian retail sector, which is likely to grow annually by 9 per cent to touch $521 billion by 2012, a senior retail industry official said.
Public sector Indian Overseas Bank today said it will raise an amount totalling to Rs 800 crore by issue of bonds on private placement basis.
Business Standard / New Delhi October 30, 2009, 0:45 IST
Karnataka government has decided to provide airlink as an added attraction to lure tourists to this year’s Dasara festival at Mysore. The state’s tourism department has decided to charter a 65-seater ATR short haul aircraft to fly passengers from Bangalore to Mysore from September 22 for five days, Minister for Tourism G Janardhana Reddy told reporters here.
Tata Steel has reduced flat steel products prices 4 per cent on account of a weakening global trend. The new prices will be effective November 1. Prices of long products will remain unchanged.
Fortis Healthcare is likely to come up with two low-cost hospitals in two years in an effort to test its affordable health care model. Although the firm is reluctant to divulge the exact locations of these greenfield ventures or the total investment into the project, the health care major is likely to open these hospitals in north and western India while attempting to cut down its capital expenditure there by about 50 per cent.
I had invested Rs 25,000 each in HDFC Top 200, HSBC Equity, Reliance Growth and Magnum Taxgain in April 2009. At the time of investment, all these funds were 5-star rated, but now I notice their ratings have come down to 4-star. Have I chosen the correct funds? And, should I remain invested or withdraw? Also, please guide me where I should invest Rs 2-3 lakh for a period of around three years.
Powering its way ahead in tapping renewable energy sources for power generation, public sector power utility NTPC (formerly National Thermal Power Corporation) has set the ball rolling for its two solar thermal units of 50 Mw each in Gujarat. The company has firmed up its plans to initially install a solar power generation capacity of 100 Mw in the state, which may go up to 300 Mw at a later stage.
The government has asked the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to discontinue its enquiry into the siphoning of funds by Satyam Computer to avoid duplication of work as the CBI is trailing the funds parked abroad by the IT company.
Subir Gokarn / New Delhi November 16, 2009, 0:04 IST
HSBC InvestDirect today said its Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary IL&FS Investmart Asia Pacific will surrender the capital markets services license granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
ICICI Prudential AMC has emerged as the top earner by providing a return of 8.73 per cent on the EPFO funds, invested by the private fund house during the nine months period ended June 30.
Sanjaya Baru / New Delhi November 4, 2009, 0:58 IST
Various central levies such as excise, value added tax and service tax are proposed to be subsumed in the the Goods and Services Tax (GST), making it a lot easier for the business and industry.
The excise revenue collections in Orissa surged by 32.48 per cent during the first six months of the current fiscal, compared to the same period in the previous fiscal, bringing cheers to the state finance minister, Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, who is struggling to mobilose the required funds to finance the state plan outlay of Rs 9500 crore fixed for 2009-10.
Contrarians, depending on their risk appetite, can enter aviation or maritime stocks
Progressive global cuisine, molecular gastronomy, nameless dishes. This one is truly exclusive.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 22, 2009, 0:28 IST
Even as the economy is showing signs of revival, industry"s fears about dumping by other countries is on the rise, prompting the government to initiate as many as 20 fresh anti-dumping investigations since the beginning of current financial year, compared to 21 in all of 2008-09.
Close on the heels of implementing an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) scheme for beneficiaries under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the Orissa government is in the process of appointing Ombudsmans for the works taken up under the scheme.
Car maker Honda Siel Cars India today said it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with private lender Axis Bank for vehicle finance.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) today lost a bid to acquire a large oilfield in Iraq to a consortium of Chinese, Malaysian and French energy firms.
The United Arab Emirate"s central bank has allayed concerns about local banks, saying these lenders have raised their capital and proved themselves by weathering the global financial crisis.
The Committee for Determination of Terms of Reference (CDToF) under the Central Environment and Forest Department has turned down the application of Bhoruka Power Corporation Ltd (BPCL) to set up a thermal power plant at Halga village beside Hanakon in Karwar taluk in Uttara Kannada district.
The rupee today appreciated by 2 paise to 45.69 a dollar in early trade in line with other firming Asian currencies.
With global oil rates stabilising at around $70-80, Reliance Industries, Essar Oil and Royal Dutch/Shell today joined the chorus for freeing petrol and diesel prices to give private sector a level playing field as also lower government"s subsidy burden.
Sports Minister M S Gill had to face some tough questioning by his cabinet colleagues today as he sought additional funds for Commonwealth Games (CWG) preparation.
Riding on lower crude oil prices and a reduced under-recovery, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country’s largest oil marketing company, has reported a net profit of Rs 284 crore for the quarter ended September 30, compared to a loss of Rs 7,047 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Net sales, however, declined 18.7 per cent to Rs 60,392 crore on account of lower prices of petroleum products.
In a fresh initiative, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed the Centre’s willingness to “talk to anyone” having “meaningful ideas” to promote peace in Jammu and Kashmir and offered to resume dialogue with Pakistan provided it curbed activities of those engaged in terrorism in India.
With demand for power growing in the state, both from the domestic and industrial consumers and generation remaining more or less fixed, the state is now feeling the pinch of severe power shortage.
Mining, manufacturing grow in double digits.
The Nifty closed around 4,800 on Friday on short-covering by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and strong global cues. However, the trading pattern on the F&O segment suggests that the index may face strong resistance above the 4,800 level. Technically, the Nifty has to cross its Friday high of 4,835 to keep its bullish momentum. If the index slips below its Friday low of 4,755, it may revisit the recent low next week. The SGX Nifty (November futures) closed at 4,767 as against its Friday close of 4,797 indicating weak opening on Monday.
Timothy Geithner / November 1, 2009, 0:58 IST
Trades between FIIs generated a volume of Rs 107 crore on the BSE Friday-an increase of 39.82% from Rs 77 crore clocked on Thursday. As many as seven stocks witnessed trades of 20 lakh shares on Friday.
Ramsarup Industries, a leading manufacturer of steel wires in India, has signed a power purchase agreement for its waste heat, CO-gas based 22 MW power plant with West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) , a state government owned electrical utility company.
A committee set by the Petroleum Ministry to probe into the causes of the devastating fire at the IOC depot near here began its inquiry today by visiting the site.
We call it Nano, they don’t have to, says Vice-Chairman Ravi Kant
Imagine walking into a washroom at one of the multiplexes and being welcomed with a message that terms you “the Fourth Idiot”. Don’t feel offended as you are just watching the promotion of 3Idiots, an Aamir Kan-starrer to be released this Friday.
China today started operation on its fastest rail link in the world with a high-speed train connecting the modern cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 350 kilometres an hour.
Ruias-owned Essar Oil is set to emerge as India"s third-largest oil refining company and one of the most complex refineries worldwide after it completes expansion of its Vadinar unit, according to an analyst report.
Amid criticism from some quarters for the Copenhagen accord on climate change, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today advocated the need for an “informed and rational” debate on solutions that suit India.
Haryana Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav has directed the financial commissioner and principal secretary, urban local bodies, that the matter could be taken with the Government of India to increase the allocations under JNNURM and Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT). The finance minister was reviewing the progress of central sponsored schemes with the officers of finance, public health and urban local bodies department. These schemes were being launched in the state for the welfare of all sections of society.
From teaser ads to the Big B visiting schools – the producers are pulling out all stops on marketing.
Refraining from making any comment on the Shahrukh Khan detention episode, the Obama Administration today said it wants to build better relationship with the Muslim world.
"Vulgar" salaries became a sore thumb in 2009 and everyone from CEOs to office assistants felt the pinch of the economic downturn, but Indians still managed a worldwide-best average six per cent hike in their pay.
Infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has accepted all the demands in its implementation agreement with the Uttarakhand government on the 99-Mw Singoli-Bhatwari hydel project in the hilly Rudraprayag district.
Taking a leaf from positive signals emanating from the stock markets in the last few sessions, companies in Uttar Pradesh hope to see further boost to the state’s industrialisation in 2010.
GVK Power & Infrastructure, which recently took a 12 per cent stake in Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), has said it is open to taking a controlling stake in the airport.
Wind power turbine maker Suzlon Energy today said its three promoters have, in total, pledged a further 2.80 crore shares, taking the total shares pledged by the company"s promoters to 28.28 per cent.
The Vedanta Group has asked the Orissa government to restrict the entry of foreign non-government organisations (NGOs) in the area where it proposes to mine bauxite, as part of its $8-billion project in the state, saying they were instigating locals. “These NGOs comprising Survival International and Action Aid are instigating locals to go to the hill top, where we have proposed to mine bauxite, and set up houses. The Orissa government has already said there is no tribal population in our proposed mining site. Such efforts by these NGOs are aimed at harming the project and investments in the state; their movement has to be regulated,” Vedanta Aluminium Ltd COO Mukesh Kumar told PTI.
M J Antony / New Delhi December 16, 2009, 0:59 IST
Uncertainty surrounds the proposed IT investment region in Orissa with the state government not showing any resolve to expedite the project.
Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that construction on coal bearing areas should not be a problem, allaying apprehensions from the state government over Coal India’s objections on having industrial projects in the Asansol-Durgapur belt of Bardhaman district.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 03, 2009, 0:48 IST
When telecom executives went into a meeting with Communications Minister A Raja on Tuesday evening inside the peeling walls of Sanchar Bhawan in New Delhi, they may have believed that things were so bad they could not get any worse. They were wrong. The highlight of the meeting was Raja asking mobile telephony operators to reduce termination charges, the money that an operator pays another to whose network the call is made.
Starbucks Corp Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz is shifting the coffee seller’s focus from cost cutting to growth by promoting new products, including Via instant coffee and its Seattle’s Best Coffee brand.
Apalya Technologies Private Limited, a Hyderabad-based mobile video platform developer, is planning to enter overseas markets with its flagship mobile live streaming and video on-demand product ‘MimobiTV’ by the second quarter of the next financial year.
Telecom operator Tata Teleservices (TTSL) today said its subscriber addition in November at 3.3 million is the highest for the fourth time in a row among all service providers, including GSM operators.
India has the potential to emerge as a global innovation hub and the US"s collabortion with Indian pharma and health companies will not only help the two countries, but also entire world, eminent experts and industry leaders said.