Public Company
Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today visited the CPI (M) headquarters here to pay homage to Marxist veteran Jyoti Basu.
Jeera future prices are likely to firm up in January as there is a possibility for renewed export demand in the market. The demand from overseas market is expected from first week of January 2010 and this may support the price to strengthen.
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi December 22, 2009, 0:02 IST
A consortium comprising BSNL and MTNL looks to acquire 50 per cent stake.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is planning to make the one-second pulse a mandatory tariff option for all operators, a move that will benefit consumers by potentially reducing call charges and adding transparency to their tariff plans.
Aditi Phadnis / New Delhi November 28, 2009, 0:00 IST
Aditi Phadnis / New Delhi November 14, 2009, 0:26 IST
Asian stocks fell, sending the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to an eight-week low, on speculation a US economic recovery will be delayed and as Japan’s Prime Minister called national elections.
Most Asian stocks fell, sending the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its longest losing streak since December 2007, as a stronger yen threatened the value of Japanese exports and Australian unemployment rose.
Business Standard / New Delhi August 27, 2009, 0:13 IST
Construction work on complexes to provide rail users with facilities like shopping and food courts at 66 railway stations will begin in a month, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said today.
With Indian Railways having developed two automobile wagon rakes (trains), with a holding capacity of almost 550 cars each for transport of vehicles from sites closer to their manufacturing bases to their final destination, auto manufacturers say they look forward to increasingly using this form of transport for their products.
Sunanda K Datta-Ray / New Delhi October 24, 2009, 0:25 IST
With an aim provide innovative products, services and solutions to the rural poor, Villgro, a social enterprise incubator is set to launch "Wantrapreneur 09" Business Plan Competition, which challenges entrepreneurs to come out with innovative technology, solutions (products / services) with direct application at the rural level.
Pre-selection likely to save 18 months.
Allcargo Global Logistics today said it will raise Rs 100.97 crore by issuing debentures to Black Entities (Investors) on preferential basis.
The Joint Action Committee(JAC), spearheading the Telangana agitation, received a boost today with Telugu Desam leaders from that region agreeing to join it, even as Congress ministers demanded a ‘time-frame’ for the formation of a separate state.
GHCL promoter Sanjay Dalmia appears to be in control of the country’s largest soda ash maker, and is believed to have increased his shareholding significantly above the 18.5 per cent he held till recently when a battle for control of the company raged.
Congress-JVM(P) combine today won 10 assembly seats and was leading in 20 in Jharkhand while BJP- JD(U) alliance got 7 and was ahead in 17 as the state headed for a fractured verdict with JMM saying it would support any combine that makes its leader Shibu Soren the chief minister.
Continuing its agitation for the cause of Maharshtrian youth, Raj Thackeray-led Maharasthra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has written a letter to State Bank of India (SBI) for considering locals for its new job openings.
Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi December 06, 2009, 0:25 IST
T N Ninan / New Delhi December 5, 2009, 1:54 IST
Six out of the top 10 companies added over Rs 24,000 crore to their market capitalisation last week with telecom giant Bharti Airtel alone contributing one-third of the gain.
CORPORATE AFFAIRS MINISTER SALMAN KHURSHID:
The year was the best in more than a decade. 2010 could churn out modest returns while being increasingly volatile.
The murder of a 21-year-old Indian national, Nitin Garg, in Melbourne has further tarnished Australia’s reputation for hosting Indian students. For the academic year 2010, overseas education consultants are predicting a 20-50 per cent fall in the number of students applying to Australian universities.
India today said it is not in a position to resume the composite dialogue with Pakistan till "vigorous prosecution" is mounted against the accused in the 26/11 case and the infrastructure of terror across the border, responsible for the numerous attacks, is dismantled.
Forty years ago, man landed on the Moon. Also in 1969, the Vietnam war ground on, high hippydom ruled Western youth culture, feminism was in its so-called second wave, and the collectivist kibbutz movement in Israel was at the peak of its post-war efficacy. In 1969, Ursula Le Guin was just gaining renown as a writer. In that year she turned 40, and published her best-known science fiction novel. In 2009 the author turned 80 and her book, still in print and now a classic, turned 40.
- BofA likely to pay bonuses close to 2007 level - Future Group pulls the plug on "Bijli Ghar" - PowerMin wants gas at $2.34 for NTPC - Another RIL cash raising on anvil - RIL to drill six new wells in KG-D6 block this year - Reliance Industries: Filling its coffers
The scene is New York City in 2025. Henry Poiret, a former FBI scientist, is a specialist in environmental balance sheets who tracks down energy wasters of all kinds for his clients. For the very first time, he allows a journalist to watch him at work — and to get an inside glimpse of his new lab.
The zeitgeist builds itself; being right up close to events, we see at first only the separate bricks. At some particular moment, however, a precipitating event suddenly converts the soup of soluble doubts to a crystal of certainty. Bricks become house.
“Prices of crude palm oil (CPO) are expected to surge 20 per cent to surpass 3,000 ringgit later this year, on falling output in the mainland production centres that are Malaysia, Indonesia, Argentina and Ukraine,” a paper presented by Dorab Mistry, director of Godrej International said in Jakarta on Monday.
Gold futures prices declined by 0.11 per cent on the Multi Commodity Exchange today as speculators indulged in reducing their positions in tandem with weak overseas trend.
Biotechnology firm Transgene Biotek today said it has signed a pact with Dr Reddy"s Lab to manufacture a drug named, Orlistat used in treating obesity.
Akash Prakash / New Delhi December 25, 2009, 0:38 IST
India faced the curse of drought and floods in 2009 that saw consumers paying towering prices for vegetables, pulses, sugar and foodgrains, and the shortage of supplies punctured the euphoria over the return of the Congress-led government in May.
The poor, as the Bible has it, will always be with us and, therefore, accepted as part of the human condition. But it isn’t the poverty that is unacceptable; it is destitution, the hopelessness of life at the end of its tether that raises the question, What’s to be Done? And to paraphrase Marx, it isn’t enough to understand why India remains an overwhelmingly poor country after more than 60 years of Independence; the task is to change it. Professor Amit Bhaduri’s The Face You Were Afraid to See: Essays on the Indian Economy (Penguin, Rs 250), which is a sequel to his 1996 book, (along with Deepak Nayyar) The Intelligent Person’s Guide to Liberalization, tells us why and what could be done to get out of the hole we have dug ourselves in.
With food inflation scaling a decade high of around 20 per cent for the week ended December 5 and the overall headline inflation rate for the month of November at 4.78 per cent, economists and policymakers have started debating about the rollback of a lenient monetary policy that was put in place to inject liquidity in the system during the crisis period.
All successful publishers and authors have an impeccable sense of timing and generate literature with an eye upon the calendar. So it isn’t surprising that we have a flood of books on the fall of the Berlin Wall that started the process of disintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism in Europe. But what we have is an embarrassment of riches which try to unravel why such an all-embracing system that Alexander Solzhenitsyn described as “all pervasive, paranoid, oppressive, incompetent, lethal” in the latest edition of The First Circle (Harper, $18), came to an unexpected end. Almost everyone had expected that it would have to be killed; instead it collapsed, as if a house had fallen in on itself. What happened?
The government is committed to financial sector innovations and reforms, a senior government official said.
Cotton exports may rebound to 1.4 million tonnes (MT) in the 2009-10 season as a recovery in the global market is expected to boost demand for the fibre, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has said. “Exports from India could rebound to 1.4 MT,” ICAC said in a statement.
India"s cotton exports in 2008-09 season, which ends today, are estimated to have plummeted by a whopping 55 per cent to about 38 lakh bales due to higher prices in the domestic market.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 22, 2009, 0:28 IST
The Reserve Bank may start sucking out money from the system to combat inflation, but this depends on how food prices move this month, the Prime Minister"s Economic Advisory Council said today.
A spike in inflation numbers took its toll on stock indices as both Sensex and Nifty closed in the red. The Sensex fell 21 points to close at 17,097 and the Nifty was down by 11 points at 5,105. FMCG, banking and consumer durables sectors were among the weak links.
Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today hit her predecessor Lalu Prasad where it hurt him most—on the supposed turnaround of Indian Railways during Prasad’s regime.
Britain today called on Pakistan to see through in "a full way" the trial of seven suspects arrested in connection with the Mumbai attacks and to punish them if they are found guilty.
Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has concluded the calender year 2009 on a high note by notching up the highest saleable steel production of 2.02 million tonnes (MT) for any calender year.
Second-largest shareholder Templeton seeks management change, to vote against directors.
Banks and corporations see value in 140 characters.
Reliance Footprint, a branded retail chain of footwear stores from Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL), has opened its first store in Nashik.
Fashion and lifestyle retail chain Shoppers Stop today said its board of directors has approved raising funds by allotting 40 lakh shares to qualified institutional buyers.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission, which submitted its report to President Pratibha Patil earlier in the day, will be reflected in the Budget 2010-11.
As is now well known, the Task Force appointed by the Thirteenth Finance Commission, Government of India, has issued a report on December 15, 2009 detailing the recommendations on various issues relating to the design and implementation of the proposed GST in India.
It couldn’t have been more apt. The most generous tribute to former ONGC chairman Subir Raha comes from somebody with whom he had a hugely uneasy relationship. After Raha lost more-than-a-year-long battle with cancer on Monday, former petroleum minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, said he found in Raha “a man worthy of my steel, particularly when we disagreed”.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy had egg on his face today over his earlier statement that as the BJP did not get the mandate to rule in Jharkhand it should sit in the Opposition.
DuPont India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based E I du Pont de Nemours and Company, plans to invest about Rs 150 crore in DuPont Knowledge Centre at Hyderabad over the next three years.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 17, 2009, 0:58 IST
TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao today threw the ball in Centre"s court on the creation of a separate Telangana state and insisted that Hyderabad will be the capital of the proposed state.
Pratibha Industries zoomed 10% to close at its upper circuit limit of Rs 178. The counter witnessed a near five-fold increase in its total traded of 51,462 shares as against its two-week average traded quantity of 10,784 shares.
The government and various PSUs may be on an austerity drive, but this didn’t stop ONGC from sending a calendar to a director in the oil ministry by registered post — the stamps on the calendar were worth Rs 122. It would have been cheaper for ONGC’s office in the capital to send it with a driver.
Ranbaxy Laboratories, the domestic pharma major, has got the Good Manufacturing Practice certificate from the Ministry of Health and Labour Welfare - Japan for its non-sterile drug plant at Dewas in India.
Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories today said its US-based subsidiary, Ranbaxy Laboratories Inc Priceton NJ, is recalling capsules used in the treatment of acne (a type of skin disease) from the US market.
Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal will get a 1 billion pound windfall from a European scheme to curb global warming under the "carbon credits" given to it.
Long before L N Mittal told a British newspaper that he may pull out of the 12 million tonne greenfield steel project in Orissa, the writing was on the wall. The sequence of developments on the projects, since the signing of the agreement between ArcelorMittal and the state government in December, 2006 had already put it in the ‘doubtful’ category.
New dy governor of RBI says capital flows, inflation challenges
The Steel Ministry today said it will stick to its earlier proposal of divesting up to 10 per cent of the government"s equity in iron ore miner NMDC even as the finance ministry has proposed 15 per cent sale of Centre"s holding in the navratna company.
With sugar mills facing cane shortage, prices of sugar are likely to firm up further in the retail market.
Rising prices, high production deficit led to better profits.
Those hoping for a respite from deficit-driven high sugar prices next year have a long wait ahead, as tight supplies, high cane prices and expensive imports leave little scope for any substantial price correction.
A day after receiving a rap from the Union Cabinet, Oil Minister Murli Deora today called a meeting of fuel retailers and sugar millers to ensure compliance with a programme to sell ethanol-doped petrol.
Optimistic on job losses, but closely watching the situation, says overseas Indian affairs ministry
Amid rising food prices hitting the household budget, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said he has no "instant solution" to the problem.
Kerala, which relies on West Asian remittances for a quarter of its economy, plans to sell the nation’s first Islamic bonds next year to help pay for infrastructure projects.
The Punjab government today said it will set up a fund of Rs 150 crore to upgrade industrial infrastructure in a bid to give a boost to the state industry.
The food and commerce ministries are at loggerheads over exempting sugar mills from export- obligation and the Cabinet will now decide whether or not the obligation can be waived beyond December 31, official sources said.
The Centre today constituted a committee of industry ministers of seven states to prepare guidelines for creating land banks for meeting industrial needs.
The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) has for the second consecutive year been recognised as the number one business school in India.
International Management Institute (IMI), a New Delhi-based B-school, will invest Rs 50-crore in setting up its campus on 15.8 acres of land at Gothpatna on the outskirts of the city.
With fissures widening between the warring factions in the BJP in Karnataka the party’s top leadership summoned them to New Delhi after rebels remained firm on their demand for change in the leadership of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa.
The state-run power major NTPC today said it will invest about Rs 3,000 crore in solar energy to add over 300 Mw of generation capacity by March 2014.
Telecom Minister A Raja is understood to have broached the issue of BSNL"s Rs 35,000- crore expansion programme with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, amid controversy following propriety issues raised by two government nominees on the company"s Board.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said China had not constructed any dam on the Brahmaputra river that would have been a matter of concern for India, according to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorje Khandu.
John Paulson disclosed that his hedge-fund group acquired 300 million shares of Citigroup during the third quarter, while selling its entire stake of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Business Standard / New Delhi September 28, 2009, 0:36 IST
Business Standard / New Delhi October 13, 2009, 0:04 IST
Business Standard / New Delhi January 08, 2010, 0:53 IST
Luxury car maker Honda Siel Cars India today launched a new version of its sports utility vehicle, Honda CR-V, priced between Rs 21.9 lakh and Rs 24.12 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
The Planning Commission today said it would start interacting with Union ministries over the next two-three weeks over their demands for gross budgetary support for 2010-11.
No one can repair the BJP, former party ideologue K N Govindacharya tells Sreelatha Menon
Rajat Roy / New Delhi November 22, 2009, 0:36 IST
To double annual production capacity at Manesar plant
The world"s largest car maker, Toyota, today unveiled concept small car -- Etios -- which has been specifically developed for the Indian market.
Last decade’s unthinkables become this decade’s symbols.
Vallee de Vin, maker of the premium Zampa brand of wines, is looking at investing upto Rs 35 crore on expansion as well as verticalisation by offering a range of services centred around the core business of wine manufacturing. Ravi Jain, chief executive officer of the Sanjegaon, Nashik-based vineyard, said that the company has a horizon of upto three years to raise the amount.
Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi September 27, 2009, 0:09 IST
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) is likely to submit its preliminary report to the Civil Aviation Ministry tomorrow on last night"s near-miss incident at Mumbai airport when two aircraft took off almost simultaneously from the same runway.
The Telangana imbroglio got Andhra Pradesh in a political bind towards the end of 2009 with the Congress struggling hard to find a way out of the mess as votaries for and against a separate state showed no signs of relenting.
Tata Steel Managing Director H M Nerurkar today said the new year would be equally challenging as last year as the global recession is still continuing.
The prices of flat steel — used in automobile and consumer durables — are set to increase by Rs 700-1,500 a tonne from January 1, after showing a soft-to-downward trend in the last five months.
Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi November 15, 2009, 0:36 IST
Business Standard / New Delhi January 08, 2010, 0:53 IST
World"s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal believes that India is not equipped to handle big-ticket investments, although the country needs over half a trillion dollars to shore up its infrastructure.
Will leave for Denmark on December 17
Courts cannot review the evidence and documents already examined by arbitrators.
Ivy League colleges – Yale, Harvard, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – have approached the ministry of human resources development to collaborate in the proposed Innovation Universities across the country, official sources said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will kick-start the pre-Budget consultations on January 5, with industry leaders getting the first opportunity to present him their wish-list that includes continuation of stimulus.
Bike maker Royal Enfield, a part of Eicher Motors, today said it will shift entire production to a new engine platform from April this year to make products compliant to stricter emission norms "Bharat Stage III".
30 companies in queue for Cabinet nod in Jan
After having turned down the proposal of Torrent Power Ltd (TPL) to raise power tariff rates, Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) today directed Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (erstwhile Gujarat Electricity Board) and its affiliate power utilities to keep power tariffs unchanged and continue to levy existing tariff rates.
Japanese digital camera maker Canon today said it plans to acquire Netherlands-based copier and printer maker Oce for euro 730 million in an all cash deal, aiming to create a global leader in printing industry.
Dr Kushagra Katariya, CEO and chief cardiothoracic surgeon of Artemis Health Institute, Gurgaon, thinks that YouTube can be the smartest way to reach millions in the field of medical science. So long as he is not reading about electricity-generating solar panels, he has no gadget wish-list, and buys whatever he likes, whenever he likes.
Auto components maker Mann and Hummel Filter, a subsidiary of German Mann and Hummel Group, today said it will invest Rs 100 crore in its Indian operations in the next 3-5 years.
Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Steel is collaborating with JFE Steel Corporation, the world"s sixth biggest and Japan"s second largest steelmaker, for a manufacturing and mutual shareholding agreement.
JSW Steel is in talks with Japanese firm JJFE Holdings on equity sharing arrangement of JSW Bengal Steel, which is setting up a 10-million tonne steel plant in West Bengal.
British structural steel major Severfield-Rowen today announced that it has signed second joint venture in India to establish a structural metal decking ompany in Mumbai and Bellary (Karnataka). Based in Thirsk, Yorkshire, the company has reached an agreement between JSW Severfield Structures and SMD Asia.
Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today said Maoists are hindering acquisition of land for Tata Steel"s proposed five million tonne integrated greenfield steel plant in the state.
B K Modi-promoted Spice Group and British Virgin Mobile have bid for MTNL"s franchise deals to offer 3G services in Mumbai and Delhi.
French auto major Renault today said it was looking at launching zero emission electric vehicles (EVs) in India by the middle of this decade. The company, which today unveiled its city two-seater ‘Twizy’ in the country, also plans to produce up to 500,000 units of EVs globally by 2014.
The government will soon have "star" ratings for its commercial buildings to keep a tab on their power use and to ascertain consumption by various appliances.
Spot the odd one out: ICBC, CCB, HSBC, BOC. The four big banks operating in China may have similar sounding initialisms, but one of them – HSBC – isn’t Chinese at all. The UK-based lender, listed in London and Hong Kong, sees itself as stateless. But its national agnosticism may be getting harder to sustain.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said food prices would ease during the coming months and economy would grow more than 6.3 per cent, as estimated earlier by the Plan panel.
The Planning Commission today said it will soon set up a separate independent evaluation office (IEO) to assess the progress of the government"s flagship schemes in benefiting the poor.
US has forged the most comprehensive engagement with India, which Washington ever had with any country, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
Diversified auto component maker RICO Auto is looking to achieve Rs 1,000 crore turnover this fiscal on the back of investment in new models and sales growth in both domestic and overseas market.
With the economic slowdown hitting the exchequer hard, the Centre today proposed that the states accept half of the compensation on account of their losses due to cut in the Central Sales Tax (CST) for the current fiscal.
In takeout financing IIFCL will enter into a pact with banks to take over some of their infrastructure loans on its books.
With more infrastructure projects needing funds, India Infrastructure Finance Co (IIFCL) expects a 50 per cent rise in disbursals to Rs 4,900 crore in 2009-10. Last year, it had disbursed Rs 3,200 crore.
No takers for road, port projects.
The Visakhapatnam zone of Andhra Bank is targeting to end the current financial year with a total business of Rs 3,600 crore.
The next time you call up Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s Delhi mobile, you could well get to hear “services to this number have been temporarily disconnected”. A few days ago, while Mukherjee was holding a meeting with his top bureaucrats, he got a call from a Vodafone customer service executive who said that since the bill, of a fairly large amount, had not been paid, the company would have no option but to disconnect the phone in another day or so.
The Polo produced at the Volkswagen plant in Chakan in Maharashtra may be good enough for the Indian market, but made in India is not good enough for Volkswagen. At the Polo’s launch in the auto fair in the Capital, most things in the company’s stall, right down to the chairs, had been imported.
Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has set a target of Rs 20, 000 crore business by March 2010 from the present Rs 16,000 crore.
Bharti Airtel is likely to sign an agreement with Bangadeshi firm Warid Telecom for acquiring 70 per cent stake during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina"s visit to India next week.
Seeking to justify its action of putting on hold the creation of a Telangana state, the government today said "one-sided" decision cannot be taken as consensus was required on the issue and expressed confidence that people will "accept it" after some time.
The economic slowdown might have squeezed credit flow, but primary market remained robust in 2009, with 21 companies mopping up an average of over Rs 900 crore.
India has cautioned against immediate withdrawal of stimulus packages by the governments as it may lead to "collapse" of the world economy.
The long-standing dispute over the finalization of the rate of private land for Essar Steel"s pelletisation project in Paradip has been finally resolved with the company authorities agreeing to pay Rs 19.1 lakh per acre to the land losers. This is the highest rate paid by any company for land acquisition in the state till date, sources said.
Jindal Power Ltd, a part of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), today said it plans to raise Rs 7,200 crore from its initial public offer (IPO).
*What was founded by Darbari Seth of Tata Chemicals in 1974 to find solutions to energy efficiency?
Emerging-market stock funds lost $1.87 billion in the week ended June 24, the first week of net outflows since early March, on concern that a rebound in exports will be delayed, EPFR Global said.
At a time when the finance ministry is abuzz with talks of divestment, the existing disinvestment corpus -- the National Investment Fund (NIF) -- has managed to give only single-digit returns.
India-born steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal remains the richest business tycoon in South Africa despite his fortune having halved in the past year due to the global recession.
The Madras High Court today stayed a directive of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to stop state-level drug authorities from issuing export clearances for medicines.
The Madras High Court today dismissed Subhiksha’s scheme of arrangement proposal, which was filed by Cash and Carry Wholesale Traders Private Limited (C&C), a subsidiary of cash-strapped Subhiksha Trading Services.
Enquiry into the helicopter crash in which Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy was killed will be completed by this month end, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel informed the Lok Sabha today.
Global steel giant ArcelorMittal"s open offer for a 29.4 per cent stake in domestic company Uttam Galva will begin on December 19, according to a Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) filing by the secondary steel maker.
The world"s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal may cut 10,000 jobs globally next year and plans to reduce costs in order to regain its lost market share particularly in Europe, a media report says.
ArcelorMittal today said it has not made any money from its excess carbon credits, bulk of which was purchases during the global economic crisis.