International Business
Eleven students of Osmania University, who have been on an indefinite hunger strike demanding a separate Telangana state, were shifted to hospital on Monday after their health deteriorated.
With the acute ethanol shortage derailing the programme to blend the sugarcane extract in petrol, Oil Minister Murli Deora will meet Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar next week to salvage the programme.
Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Lalit Modi today brushed aside concerns that the Twenty20 League"s franchise team owners are miffed at not being compensated for extra expenditure incurred during the 2009 event held in South Africa.
Markets opened weak this morning following cues from the Asian markets. The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) move against Reliance also dampened the sentiment. The stock slipped below the Rs 1,000-mark in early trades.
More than 150 entrepreneurs participated in business guidance and mentoring camp at Ludhiana organised by Punjab Infotech in association with TiE Punjab & Chandigarh for MSMEs. The campaign aims to take mentoring – TiE’s key value proposition and core philosophy – to Tier 2 cities across India and help entrepreneurs realize their dreams and is a part of TiE’s Pan-India campaign called "Enterprising India – Changing the nation. Leading the World".
Significant new capacities in the coming months could depress cement prices leading to a drop in profitability
Corporate India is optimistic about improvement in the country"s economic situation in the next 18 months and believes developing nations will become more powerful as a fallout of the global slowdown, a survey says.
Hyderabad-based Maytas Infra today said that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has asked state-run Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) to allow the infrastructure firm continue work on two projects it had bagged earlier and also release the required funds.
India today indicated that it would take up with Pakistan the issue of spoofing of terrorists" satellite phones which hamper efforts to track them.
The country"s largest liquefied natural gas importer, Petronet LNG Ltd, may come out with a $100 million follow-up public offer or a rights issue in 2011-12 to part fund a 1,200-Mw power plant, to be set up at Dahej in Gujarat.
India"s natural rubber exports slumped to just 94 tonnes in May compared with 3,159 tonnes in the same month last year, as domestic prices far exceeded global rates, according to state-run Rubber Board.
With the global venture capital industry showing signs of recovery, investment levels into India are expected to increase the most compared to others in the Asia-Pacific region over next three years, says a survey by Deloitte.
Among those who were willing to buy gold at current prices, the preference for purchasing jewellery was higher as compared to any other form of gold, a survey by brokerage firm India Infoline Ltd (IIFL) said.
Business Standard / New Delhi October 07, 2009, 1:12 IST
The Centre is preparing a development plan for harnessing renewable energy in Ladakh keeping in mind the expected load and hydro power potential of the region.
Essar Oil net zooms 450%
FIIs back in the game, buy shares worth Rs 769 crore.
Mining giant Grupo Mexico today said it regained control over bankrupt copper miner Asarco after winning a year-long legal battle with Vedanta group firm Sterlite Industries for acquiring the ailing company.
Voicing concern over the nuclear test carried out by North Korea, India today said the act amounts to violation of its international commitments and that the development could have "adverse effect" on peace and security in that region.
Amid reports of over half a dozen leaders in the race for the post of Maharashtra Chief Minister, Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh today met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, but maintained he not was in contention for the top job.
As the Congress held its fort in the key industrial states of Haryana and Maharashtra and strategically important Arunachal Pradesh, the three incumbent chief Ministers — Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Ashok Chavan and Dorjee Khandu — are likely to retain their place in the new governments.
In the wake of the recent controversies over Chinese incursions, India and China have reaffirmed the need to maintain peace and tranquility on border pending resolution of the “complex” issue.
A day after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao smoked the peace pipe, New Delhi today said it was in discussion with Beijing for a free trade agreement aimed at breaking the duty barriers for bilateral trade.
NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has donated 15 million pounds towards creation of a landmark art installation in East End in honour of the 2012 Olympics.
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to order a CBI inquiry into the helicopter crash in which former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and four others died.
The autopsy reports of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others killed in the chopper crash will be handed over to CB (CID) and Directorate of Civil Aviation probing the mishap.
Former US President Bill Clinton would be leading a trade delegation to Haiti in October, in his capacity as the UN Special Envoy for Haiti.
In a development that would enable better and more affordable treatment for HIV/AIDS patients on second-line antiretroviral (ARV) therapy in the developing world, the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI), Mylan Inc and Hyderabad-based Matrix Laboratories have signed an agreement to offer a once-daily dose of the second-line regimen of four ARVs for under $500 (nearly Rs 24,000) per patient per year.
The district administration has made efforts to connect with the locals affected by the proposed steel project of Posco in the state ahead of the meeting of the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) scheduled for November 16 this year
Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) President K Chiranjeevi has appealed to his party MLAs to withdraw their resignations after 11 of his 18 party legislators quit their assembly membership in protest against the Centre"s decision to carve out a separate Telangana state.
The two major ports in Chennai and Tuticorin are planning to set up wind mills to cater their power requirements. The two ports are planning to invest around Rs 82 crore.
Ennore Port Limited (EPL) on Friday handed over Rs 4.15 crore as dividend to the Government of India and Rs 2.07 crore to the Chennai Port Trust, thus becoming the first port in the country to pay dividend to the Centre.
State run power firm NTPC today said it is looking for long-term supply of coal from overseas market to meet the requirements of its local plants.
Chennai-based Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd (PSTL) said the company suffered a business loss of over Rs 100 crore last year which resulted in an erosion of working capital. Meanwhile, N Narayanan, one of the promoters of the company, took over as the new chairman from P S Saminathan, who will continue to remain managing director.
Software major Wipro today accepted a 50-acre plot at Rajarhat near here for its second campus, two months after Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee stepped in to assure alternative land after scrapping the controversial Kolkata Links IT Township project.
The government may extend the tax holiday for software exporters beyond March 2010, in the Budget tomorrow.
Indian solar power companies now want to light up the domestic market, with a little help from the government, of course.
In addition to the slowdown which is taking its toll on the economy, the IT industry faces multiple challenges, including a decline in sourcing spends, price reductions, competition from other countries and protectionism.
The markets are likely to open on a flat note amid mixed cues from the global markets.
Will spend $58 million to acquire McCamish Systems
The Rural Development Department of Andhra Pradesh government and Infosys BPO Limited today signed a Memorandum Of Understanding(MoU) for setting up rural BPO centres in 22 districts across the state.
Pinched by rising raw material prices, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, especially manufacturers of packaged foods and soaps, may raise prices or reduce grammage per pack over the next one or two quarters.
The Nifty futures moved in a narrow band and closed higher at 5,239 on poor volumes in both cash and derivates segments. The trading volume in Nifty January futures declined to 11.86 million shares from around 42 million shares on the first day of the December series. It is difficult to predict the market movement in the near future due to extremely poor volumes. However, the intra-day trading pattern in Nifty futures and options suggested that traders booked profits while bears built short positions at higher levels.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday submitted a copy of the draft direct taxes code to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in the wake of apprehensions in various quarters on a proposal by the draft code to tax the employees’ provident fund (EPF) at the time of withdrawal.
Voicing concern over the challenge posed by proponents of extremist ideologies through intimidation and terror, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said steps need to be taken to tackle this "grave menace".
Several complaints had been received about illegal and unlicensed television channels and action had been taken against them, the government today informed the Rajya Sabha.
Jyoti Basu, the 95-year-old communist, has lost touch with many of his comrades. But this morning the former chief minister of West Bengal did not forget to call his favourite Congressman to say, “Happy Birthday!”
Nonagenarian Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu was admitted to a hospital today after he fell unconsious following acute breathing trouble.
This is one of the few IPOs to be oversubscribed in the retail category this year.
Helped by cash subsidy from the government, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), India’s third-largest refiner, managed to report a net profit of Rs 31.4 crore in the quarter ended December 2009. It posted a net loss of Rs 422 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
Satyam Computer Services founder B Ramalinga Raju had made trips to the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad, to Visakhapatnam and even the US, to convince the independent directors on the his board for acquisition of Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, the two companies promoted by his family members.
T N Ninan / New Delhi October 17, 2009, 1:55 IST
- Sunil Sethi: Remembering Oct 31, 1984">Sunil Sethi: Remembering Oct 31, 1984 - Sunil Sethi: The price of a filmmaker's estate">Sunil Sethi: The price of a filmmaker's estate - Sunil Sethi: Marketing the gifts of gods">Sunil Sethi: Marketing the gifts of gods - Sunil Sethi: The difficulty of being Khan">Sunil Sethi: The difficulty of being Khan - Sunil Sethi: Delhi's double displacement">Sunil Sethi: Delhi's double displacement - Sunil Sethi: Virtue, vice and VIPs">Sunil Sethi: Virtue, vice and VIPs
Business Standard / New Delhi January 28, 2010, 0:16 IST
Fred Bergsten & Arvind Subramanian / August 22, 2009, 0:01 IST
The heavy votes polled to Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidates during the recent Lok Sabha elections ensured a defeat for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in atleast 10 constituencies in Maharashtra. Taking a congnisance of this, the Shiv Sena seems to have taken the MNS factor seriously ahead of the state assembly polls scheduled in October.
US space agency NASA has signed an agreement with ISRO to use data from Indian satellite Oceansat-2, for various American agencies for research activities, including weather forecasting.
A new helpline (2785 4321), a bulk SMS and e-groups have been launched for the newly set up Industrial Security Task Force (ISTF) to protect the companies from agitators.
The recent accident at the Delhi Metro site in South Delhi that claimed six lives was caused by "serious deficiency" in design and inadequate concrete strength, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Beijing has threatened to ban import of seafood and other food products from India if New Delhi continues to restrict import of milk products from China, the government informed the Lok Sabha today.
Hyderabad-based vaccines and biotherapeutics manufacturer Bharat Biotech International said on Wednesday that its anti-staphylococcal molecule Lysostaphin had secured patent rights in US, Europe, China, Australia and other nations.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is all set to make another serious bid to clean up the river Ganga, the World Bank has agreed in principal to make available $1 billion for the purpose.
Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company, the joint venture between Apollo Hospitals Group and Munich Health of Germany, has come out with a new mass media campaign.
Iran today offered 40 per cent stake in a giant gas field in the Persian Gulf to India"s ONGC Videsh (OVL) and NRI business conglomerate Hindujas, who would split the stake equally.
With Volvo, Daimler and Scania gaining a foothold in the over-40-tonne heavy commercial vehicle category, it was time for Indian players to get their act together. “Indian manufacturers were not strong in heavy commercial vehicles because there was not much demand for them. But with exports and infrastructure stirring up, these have received a shot in the arm over the last four to five years,” says PricewaterhouseCoopers Leader (automotive practice) Abdul Majeed.
Kiri Dyes and Chemicals today said it will raise up to Rs 150 crore through issue of securities in the domestic and international markets for expanding its business operations.
Everyone with a reasonable memory remembers 26/11, but how many can instantly recall 31/10, 21/5 or 6/12? Those were equally shattering dates in the nation’s political calendar that led to convulsive bloodletting, grief and trauma. They are the dates when Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were assassinated and the Babri Masjid was demolished. Public memory is notoriously short, but unless personally affected by tragedy, catastrophic moments lie chiefly in the province of chroniclers of history. There are thousands of others who perished in other recent calamities, natural or man-made — terrorist strikes, Naxalite encounters, floods, earthquakes and rail accidents — but can anyone precisely recall when? Of course not.
Barely a week before the first anniversary of Mumbai terror attack, Union Home Ministry has expressed hope of completing the investigation into the incident within next six weeks.
M J Antony / New Delhi October 14, 2009, 0:01 IST
The Insurance Brokers Association of India (IBAI) today demanded implementation of a mechanism to reduce delays in renewal of licences and dubbed the recommendations of the Swarup Committee as being “unpractical” and “misconceived”.
The Finance Ministry today said the financial crisis in Dubai, triggered by a slump in real estate, may not impact remittances sent by Indian expatriates in the Gulf.
The state-owned oil exploration major ONGC is eyeing 20-25 per cent stake in a giant Iranian gas field even as it awaits Tehran"s nod for its plan to develop a gas field it had discovered two years ago.
The Nifty closed above the crucial resistance level of 5,080 on strong buying in index stocks such as Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Tata steel and Cipla. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Jaiprakash Associates and State Bank of India closed in the red on shorts build-up on the F&O segment. The Nifty November and December futures closed at a premium to the spot on intraday short-covering and fresh long build-up.
ICICI Bank today said it has raised $750-million (around Rs 3,465 crore) by issuing five-year bonds at its Bahrain branch.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) signal on raising interest rate to manage inflation pushed the rupee to a one-year high against the US dollar.
Global banking major Barclays today reported a 10 per cent growth in net profit at 1.88 billion pounds in the first half of 2009, bolstered by strong performance of its investment banking arm.
British financial services major HSBC Holdings Plc has reported a 57 per cent plunge in profit at $3.35 billion in the first half of 2009, hit by the ballooning loan impairment charges in many markets including India.
The government today asked the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to initiate prosecution proceedings against persons involved in the Satyam accounting fraud and partners of Price Waterhouse, the auditors of the IT company.
The eight team owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are all set to lock horns with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by refusing to pay their next instalment of the franchisee fee which is due in January 2009.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament is expected to see renewed high-stakes bidding with two new teams up for grabs from the fourth season starting 2011.
Media/content: Connectivity is king. As painful as that admission would be for empire-building media moguls, it also looks to be true. Content may be sexy - it’s the driving force behind deals like Comcast’s possible purchase of NBC Universal, for example. But a simple look at market values or the willingness of wireless customers to pay for data services, suggests connectivity is worth more than content.
Entertainment major Walt Disney Company will acquire Marvel Entertainment, the firm well known for comics of super heroes, for an estimated $4 billion in a cash and stock deal.
To really understand the power of execution, you need to be in the East Stand of Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, when India is playing an opponent like Australia in a one day international. Every time Sachin Tendulkar touches the ball, an electric current passes through 60,000 spectators who let out a humungous roar of excitement. It is a zing that almost physically tries to reach out and touch this diminutive teacher’s son. A man who realizes a million dreams as he sends the ball scorching across the ropes.
After the near-flat growth in the first two quarters quarters, the third-quarter earnings of the 30 Sensex companies are expected to increase by 20 per cent, indicate analysts from Angel Broking, IDFC-SSKI and Motilal Oswal.
Social networking site Facebook has received a $200 million investment from Digital Sky Technologies, an internet investment group, in exchange for a 1.96 per cent stake in the company.
Russia is considering buying up to $10 billion worth of International Monetary Fund (IMF) bonds to help boost the institution"s resources, the country"s finance minister said today.
US nuclear companies will start cooperating with India under the bilateral Indo-US atomic deal once the issues relating to liability insurance as raised by some American companies are sorted out by the two sides.
India and Russia are expected to sign a number of key agreements during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh"s December 6-8 visit here, including those on extension of the long-term defence cooperation programme beyond 2010 and construction of four more nuclear reactors at Kudankulam.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today accused the Congress of being "responsible" for the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, saying the Liberhan Commission that probed the incident should have indicted the party and its leaders.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has sold a third of its holding in Mahindra Satyam, or 27.24 million shares, for Rs 306.54 crore, taking the software company’s share price down by 6.6 per cent, the biggest fall in five months.
Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company, the joint venture between Apollo Hospitals Group and Munich Health of Germany, has come out with a new mass media campaign.
What does a Taylor guitar worth $3,500 have in common with a pornographic comic-strip Indian bhabhi? The curves, sure, but they both also have songs protesting their mistreatment. In the process, they’ve got the Net buzzing.
For several months, construction work for the Saket metro station has been going on just outside the block of flats we live in, and the sight of a giant crane hovering over the tops of neighbouring houses makes for a grand view, especially after dark. In every other respect our enclosed colony park is quiet as a village green, but here’s an enormous, brightly lit mechanical pulley moving back and forth in a portion of the sky. It makes us feel like characters in John Wyndham novels set in quiet British towns where nothing much was ever expected to happen.
What does a Taylor guitar worth $3,500 have in common with a pornographic comic-strip Indian bhabhi? The curves, sure, but they both also have songs protesting their mistreatment. In the process, they’ve got the Net buzzing.
What does a Taylor guitar worth $3,500 have in common with a pornographic comic-strip Indian bhabhi? The curves, sure, but they both also have songs protesting their mistreatment. In the process, they’ve got the Net buzzing.
Here’s one thing that leaders of the Group of 20 (G-20) nations don’t need to work on at their Pittsburgh meeting—accounting rules. There is no surer way to give investors short shrift, or lay the groundwork for future financial crises, than to politicise accounting. Nor do investors need bank regulators sticking their noses into this area. If regulators want to ensure that banks are better able to withstand losses, they have the power to do so on their own.
China is getting all worked up about the wrong thing when it comes to the US. Forget these nascent trade wars over tires, cars and chickens. China’s real problem is how quickly the dollars they hold in great quantity are getting all the respect of pesos these days. Sounds like hyperbole? Not when you consider what may be the hottest investment of 2010: the dollar-carry trade.
India has a huge infrastructure problem and the solution so far appears to be to throw more money at the problem, without much effort to fix the core issues. A McKinsey analysis suggests India could lose up to around 10 per cent of GDP in the year 2017-18 due to shortage of infrastructure. While this is not a startling result, what is worrying is that the quality of expenditure has gone down with more money being spent. So, in the power sector, actual expenditures have fallen from 75 per cent of those planned in the 9th Plan period to a mere 58 per cent in the 10th one — roughly speaking, the 9th Plan was the NDA period and the 10th Plan the UPA’s first term.
The government is beginning a review of the administered interest rate structure for small savings schemes and plans to set up a committee headed by a former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor to suggest a roadmap for possible decontrol.
Govindraj Ethiraj / Mumbai June 9, 2009, 0:40 IST
Ashish Sinha / New Delhi August 25, 2009, 0:40 IST
Most know private sector firms are a lot more efficient than public sector ones, but a little bit of perspective is required here. According to data from the latest budget documents, public sector firms, on average, pay around a fifth more effective tax rates in comparison to their private sector counterparts. So, while public sector companies paid an effective tax rate of 25.69 per cent in 2007-08, the figure was a lower 21.28 per cent for private sector firms. The average of 22.24 per cent for all firms, of course, was much lower than the statutory 33.99 per cent. The reason for this is the tax benefits claimed, obviously more by the private sector, particularly for export profits under the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme (Rs 11,734 crore) and accelerated depreciation (Rs 14,344 crore of taxes were foregone on this account).
Media/content: Connectivity is king. As painful as that admission would be for empire-building media moguls, it also looks to be true. Content may be sexy - it’s the driving force behind deals like Comcast’s possible purchase of NBC Universal, for example. But a simple look at market values or the willingness of wireless customers to pay for data services, suggests connectivity is worth more than content.
Despite Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan anchoring the third season of big-ticket reality show Bigg Boss on Colors, data from aMap, the overnight ratings agency, showed that the launch episode aired on October 4 generated an average television rating point (TRP) of just 3.
The National Textile Corporation (NTC) has begun talks with the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and others for sale of its surplus land in four cities that is expected to fetch the state-owned firm Rs 5,000 crore.
Torrent Power shares rose 9 per cent to Rs 214 after its Sugen plant entered commercial operation. The company has started commercial generation of electricity from the second unit of Sugen power plant (gas-based combined cycle power plant). With this, the installed capacity stands at 765 MW from the two units. The third unit is also expected to commence commercial operation during the quarter. The stock opened at Rs 193.5, the lowest point of the day and made an intraday high of Rs 215.7. The trading volumes stood at 13.37 lakh shares, about 2.5 times higher of its two-week average.
Pharma firm Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals today said it has received the US drug regulator"s nod for its Piperacillin and Tazobactam injection, used to treat infections caused by certain bacteria.
Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) company Radico Khaitan, registered a consolidated net profit increase of 55.6 per cent for the quarter-ending June 30, to Rs 10.7 crore as compared with Rs 6.88 crore in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
Indian stocks trading on the American bourses added nearly $3.6 billion to their market capitalisation, with copper producer Sterlite and private sector lender HDFC Bank accounting 70 per cent of the total gains.
Joining the battle being fought in the market for mortgages, India’s second-largest lender, ICICI Bank, has cut rates for home loans from August 20.
ICICI Bank has asked the government not to take into account overseas securities such as American Depositary Receipt (ADR) and Global Depositary Receipt (GDR) while deciding on a bank’s nationality.
There’s really no room for revolution in the design of a book. Makers and users — not professional designers — have perfected its form and features over millennia. (The real revolution, if we’re looking for one, was the invention of the alphabet by the Phoenicians 5,000 years ago.) After all, a book is basically a text-bearing surface, organised for convenience.
After a promising start during the first week of the year, five of the country"s top 10 companies saw an erosion of nearly Rs 25,000 crore from their market capitalisation (m-cap), while PSU oil firm ONGC added over Rs 8,000 crore to its kitty.
ICICIdirect.com, a part of ICICI Securities, today launched its new product for online trading in currency futures.
Eight out of the 10-most valued firms saw their market capitalisation (m-cap) tumble by as much as Rs 85,000 crore till date in 2010, as the stock markets witnessed a down-slide.
The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) has caught the fancy of students of the HEC School of Management, Paris, who are planning to prepare a case study of the same in association with students from the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore (IIM-B). The students were in Bangalore as part of the first year of the HEC IIM-B Exchange Programme (HIEP).
The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B), has selected SunGard higher education"s Banner Unified Digital Campus (UDC) solution to help increase its efficiencies in course administration, improve student services and enhance capabilities for collaboration with institutions in India and abroad.
Says government needs to increase subsidy on kerosene and LPG
After trouncing Congress by winning five out of seven seats in Gujarat by polls on Monday, BJP today surprised the rival by taking over the reins of Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) from Congress. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was elected as its president in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the body.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is used to industry chambers asking for all manner of sops in the run-up to the Budget, so Assocham’s latest pre-Budget request has to come as a big surprise. Assocham has asked that he bring in medical and educational institutions under the ambit of the tax system.
Shahana Joshi / New Delhi November 11, 2009, 0:34 IST
Has capital requirement of Rs 50,000 cr over the next five years.
Allied Blenders and Distillers today said its heritage whisky brand, Officer"s Choice, has crossed the 10 million cases mark to become the fastest growing whisky brand in the country clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31 per cent over the last three years.
The budget may not mention the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from next fiscal as there are already voices expressing doubts about meeting the deadline.
Key roadblock: Constitutional amendment required to provide wider taxation powers to Centre, states.
Intermediate correction may continue.
Outlay on setting up new lines, gauge conversion down by 11.55 per cent.
The Indian pharmaceutical market will treble to $20 billion from $7.1 billion (2007 figure) by 2015, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3 per cent.
The Tamil Nadu government has sought an additional Rs 461 crore from the railway ministry for speedy completion of projects in the state.
A joint venture led by NHPC, the country’s largest hydel power producer, will develop the 1,500-Mw Tipaimukh hydropower project in the north-eastern state of Manipur.
Amid a hectic rush of investors for subscribing the initial public offer of NHPC, shares of power companies, led by Tata Power, today tanked in afternoon trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE).
In a surprise move, ABG Shipyard today exited the race to acquire Great Offshore and sold its 8.2 per cent stake to three financial investors. The ABG moves comes after seven months of intense rivalry with Bharati Shipyard through a series of competitive counter-bids.
Eyeing the scope among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as big firms in Gujarat, workforce management solutions provider Kronos is in talks with manufacturing, pharma, ports and logistics firms in the state for its next version solution "Workforce Central Suite 6.2"
The European Union has settled its decade-long anti-trust dispute with American software giant Microsoft, paving the way for consumers in Europe to have a wider choice of web browsers.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) today announced its partnership with software major Microsoft for offering Windows Mobile solutions on its wireless networks.
Sixty-three per cent of Indian IT organisations have deployed green server rooms to increase energy efficiency or have a pilot project underway, according to a joint study by IBM and the InfoTech Research Group. Even in a very difficult economic environment, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India are eager to actively invest in initiatives that reduce the environmental impact of their information technology, the study notes.
BJP MLAs from North Karnataka, particularly those loyal to Assembly speaker Jagadeesh Shettar, are in a dilemma. They do not know whether to support the candidature of Shettar as an alternative leader or to continue supporting CM Yeddyurappa.
The Karnataka government today sought the guidance of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for auditing accounts of local bodies in the state.
The rift between Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his mine-owning ministerial colleagues continued as they stepped up their campaign against a new cess imposed on lorries transporting iron ore. Tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy, himself a mine owner in the ore-rich Bellary district, took the lead in holding parleys with like-minded fellow miners since yesterday to mobilise support against the Rs 1,000 cess on each lorry load of iron ore, sources close to them said here. There are 92 licenced owners of mines in the district and about 40 of them have been carrying on mining.
The markets are on the path to recovery, thanks to the strength in consumer durables, auto and metal sectors. The Sensex has retraced nearly 150 points from its intra-day lows and is now down merely 50 points at 16,300 and the Nifty is flat at 4878.
Tata Steel has ended at Rs 568, higher by Rs 11 or 2.1%, on the BSE. The stock opened at Rs 555, which was also the day"s low, and a high of Rs 570 during the day.
The Delhi High Court has upheld the right of Godrej Sara Lee to advertise the virtues of its mosquito repellent cream marketed under the Good Knight brand.
FMCG major Nestle today said its board of directors, in a meeting scheduled to be held on December 9, would consider the acquisition of nutrition business of Speciality Foods India.
For most consumer product players in the country, the upcoming festive season is being looked upon as the best platform to return into the black. However, for the biscuit and confectionary makers, the customer preference of traditional sweets over packaged items is expected to affect business. To counter this, companies are devising strategies to hold their profits through gift hampers and customised products.
Axe angels are working overtime these days. Ever since Hindustan Unilever launched the ‘Call Me’ campaign that shows a girl giving her phone number to a boy doused in Axe, the angels (as the girls in the commercials are called) have received 3.5 million calls. And the phones just don’t stop ringing these days.
Robots by Indian entrepreneurs are being developed at less than half the cost of imported ones.
Germany-headquartered BrainLAB group, a privately held manufacturer of software-driven medical technology, is planning to form an Indian subsidiary next year to localise its growing Indian operations.
The Punjab government has decided to launch a Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Technology in the Basmati growing areas of Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts covering 150 villages at a cost of Rs 1.06 crore in collaboration with Sir Ratan Tata Trust for the year 2009-10.
The government today fixed a price band of Rs 950-1,050 per share for the initial public offering (IPO) of Oil India (OIL), the second state-run firm to hit the market this year, and will raise up to Rs 4,982 crore.
Oil India, the second state-run firm to hit the market with an offering of equity shares this year, may price its IPO that opens on September 7 at Rs 1,000-1,100 a share.
A day after revised schedule for the borrowing for the first half of the current fiscal was announced, the government today said it would raise Rs 12,000 crore from sale of two government papers.
Nitin Desai / New Delhi July 16, 2009, 0:43 IST
The huge government borrowing is likely to put pressure on interest rates in the remaining part of this fiscal, Member of Parliament and former Reserve Bank Governor C Rangarajan said today.
Indian stocks trading on American bourses lost over $1 billion last week, with IT bellwether Infosys accounting for more than half of the total loss.
New telecom licensee Etisalat DB Telecom has awarded a $400-million (nearly Rs 2,000 crore) IT applications and infrastructure outsourcing contract to Tech Mahindra. The contract is spread over a 10-year period.
Jaimini Bhagwati / August 21, 2009, 0:43 IST
Denying large-scale dumping of cheap steel from China and the CIS countries into India, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the government will take tough measures if such cases are brought to its notice.
UNAIDS has welcomed the effort of the Clinton Foundation in association with the major pharmaceutical companies – Pfizer and Matrix – to reduce the prices of antiretroviral drugs for people living with AIDS and tuberculosis.
The country"s largest two-wheeler maker, Hero Honda Motors today reported a 35.88 per cent jump in its sales at 4,15,137 units in August compared to sales in the same month last year.
The high level of pre-paid churn in an increasingly competitive market is worrying.
Entrepreneurs in this traditional town of family- managed companies, popularly known as the Manchester of south India, are now more open to entering into equity collaborations with both domestic and international partners.
Jamal Mecklai / New Delhi July 24, 2009, 0:34 IST
One of the nicest things that has happened to Kolkata in recent times is the creation of two new parks around the eastern and southern periphery of Victoria Memorial. Earlier, for most of the year the place used to collect rubble, coming alive once a year for the book fair, only to relapse into being an eyesore.
The government today said in the Rajya Sabha that there were difficulties in meeting targets of thermal power generation because of shortage of equipment and manpower and pointed out that the country faces a shortage of 15,000 Mw.
The second largest DTH player is way behind the market leader in subscriptions. But it is pushing value-added services to maintain its leadership in average revenue per user
Naya Theatre, sans its founder — thespian Habib Tanvir, who passed away recently — is firmly back on its feet. The 50-year-old theatre group opened to housefull shows of Tanvir saab’s classic Charandas Chor earlier this week in the capital. After the veteran theatreperson passed away in June this year, his daughter Nageen and group manager Ram Chander took over the reins of the 20-people strong group, based in Bhopal. Naya Theatre is now busy preparing for the group’s 50th anniversary, an event that will be held in Bhopal and will see many of Tanvir saab’s plays being performed.
Pfizer Inc sales folks had one tough customer in psychiatrist Stefan Kruszewski. He didn’t buy their pitch to prescribe the anti-psychotic drug Geodon to children, a use that hadn’t been approved by federal regulators. Nor did he go for the so-called off-label uses, such as treating dementia in the elderly, they suggested.