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.
The Shiv Sena has raked up the Belgaum card to trump the proponents of a separate Vidarbha state out of Maharashtra. The saffron party, which is yet to recover from its successive defeats in the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, has already reiterated that it will launch an agitation for an undivided Maharashtra. At the same time, the party dared the Congress-led governments at the Centre and the state to take concrete measures for the inclusion of Belgaum (currently in Karnataka) in Maharashtra. The demand is currently pending in the Supreme Court.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has extended Sahara"s contract for another six months as the Indian team’s sponsor for the same price the company had paid earlier. Sahara had paid around Rs 1.9 crore per test match and one-day international (ODI), while it will pay Rs 1.5 crore for T20 matches.
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said today that the swine flu virus had apparently not yet mutated into a more serious disease and that the development of vaccines was proceeding on track.
Dilip Kumar Jha / Mumbai October 13, 2009, 0:49 IST
Technology may just get you love, or so it seems according to a new report from internet security firm Symantec which reveals that more than a third of adults have used the web to flirt. The 45 million active internet users in India have been steadily using the web to socialise with people.
The World Health Organisation(WHO) will conduct a survey in various relief camps in Sri Lanka"s North to check the health conditions of displaced Tamils, even as it described reports of the number of deaths due to diarrhea as "exaggerated".
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 ratio of volatile capital flows, consisting of cumulative portfolio investments and short-term debt, to India’s foreign exchange reserve moved up to 51.1 per cent at March 2009-end from 45.4 per cent a year ago.
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.
Yemen has sought an increase in Indian investments in the areas of trade, especially in industrial, fishery, tourist sectors.
The intermediate trend is weak despite the net gains last week
In contrast to official optimism about recovery in India"s global shipments after September this year, financial services major Citi has estimated 10 per cent contraction in the country"s exports in the current fiscal.
Obama"s top diplomatic nominee for East Asia said that the rise of China has enormous implications for the United States. And as the Obama Administration plans to engage China on a host of economic and diplomatic issues, human rights and Tibet would continue to remain a subject of concern, he said.
Petronet LNG, the nation"s largest liquefied natural gas importer, today signed an agreement to import 1.5 million tons of LNG Australia.
The International Monetary Fund has welcomed the Chinese decision to invest $50 billion in notes issued by IMF which would help in addressing the issues of the global financial crisis in third world countries.
Global rating agency Standard & Poor"s today warned that corporate defaults are likely to rise in the Asia-Pacific region over the next year due to contraction in economic output.
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%
Natarajan Chandrasekaran (called Chandra by colleagues and friends) will take charge as the managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of India’s largest information technology services provider, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), from S Ramadorai tomorrow. He’s the third in the line of TCS’ CEOs, after F C Kohli and Ramadorai.
After making three futile attempts to sell the controversial Crystal IT park, the only IT-specific SEZ in Madhya Pradesh, the state government has again invited tenders for a co-developer.
Disappointed with the arrest of three of its officials in connection with the chimney disaster incident, Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) has put the ball on the court of construction companies for the collapse of the structure.
While govt banks are offering lower rates, private lenders are dangling higher loan-to-value proposition.
As violence in Manipur and Assam continued unabated, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said situation in the North-Eastern states was far from comfortable.
Despite the surge in automobile sales in recent months and new vehicle development programmes of car makers, auto component makers are wary of committing further investments in building new capacities. They have adopted a wait-and-watch attitude to see if the demand sustains. “Component makers are investing with caution and moving in a phased manner. They are not adding capacity in big strides, like a few years ago, but only incrementally,” said Ashok Taneja, president, Shriram Pistons.
Swiss banking major UBS is looking to raise 3.8 billion Swiss francs (about $3.5 billion) through issue of fresh shares and has warned of second quarter losses.
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.
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.
Congress nominee and President Pratibha Patil"s son Raosaheb Shekhawat further consolidates his lead, by a margin of 6,640 votes, over Congress rebel Sunil Deshmukh, at the end of eleventh round of counting in Amravati constituency.
Imagine this scenario. While you are booting your computer or notebook, an advertisement pops up and the screen freezes for some time. The ad could be an audio or a plain visual one. Regardless, it may offer you some product or could even offer the operating system (which enables you to start or boot your computer) free or at a lower cost. Tying you down for a few more seconds, the ad automatically fades away and allows you to continue with the booting process.
I want to invest in equity mutual funds. Should I take the systematic investment plan (SIP) route or the lumpsum route? Which strategy works better?
Dancer Prathibha Prahlad bridges worlds, and makes us a lasagna.
The Orissa government has decided to introduce e-Registration of land transfer replacing the present system of manual registration.
The Civil Aviation Ministry tonight set up a four-member committee to probe the cause of Andhra Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy"s helicopter crash in which he was killed.
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.
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.
The stock finally ended at Rs 141, down 2.5%. Over 1.18 shares were traded on the BSE today.
India Cements today said it will set up two thermal power plants of about 50 Mw capacity each in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for internal consumption.
The Indian industry is expecting animation and gaming to gradually evolve into a full-fledged career option among youth, according to K Rajesh Rao, chief executive of Bangalore-based game development company Dhruva Interactive.
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.
IT giant Wipro today settled the land issue with the West Bengal government for its second unit near Kolkata and would buy 50 acre at Rs 75 crore.
Business Standard / New Delhi August 13, 2009, 0:48 IST
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has rejected a proposal from German firm EADS Deutschland GmbH and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for setting up a joint venture company for manufacturing, distribution and marketing of products pertaining to electronic warfare, military avionics, radars and defence-related mobile systems. This was done after taking up the matter in six of its previous meetings
Suggesting that layoffs in the information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry are still less than 1 per cent of the total workforce, top National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) executives have said that the industry has not yet come in the grip of large-scale layoffs.
Come 2010 and the small-car market is likely to witness intense competition with at least four new players set to launch their products in the market.
The pilot run for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), headed by Nandan Nilekani, could cover nearly 60-70 per cent of citizens in Karnataka within a period of one year post commencement. Karnataka would be the first state to come under the UID project that seeks to issue a unique ID number for each citizen.
The country"s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, today said it expects sales to grow around 10 per cent in 2010.
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!”
Mumbai-based Unity Infrastructure posted a 22 per cent jump in its profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 18.75 crore for the September quarter of financial year 2010 as compared to Rs 15.4 crore it posted in the second quarter of last financial year.
Business Standard / New Delhi October 15, 2009, 0:37 IST
I am 59 years old and wish to retire in February 2010. I want to create a pension fund and also seek regular tax-free returns from mutual funds. I own a house and don"t have any liabilities.
In a major setback to cash-strapped infrastructure firm Maytas Properties, promoted by former Satyam Computer founder B Ramalinga Raju"s family, a local court has passed an order barring the company from using land as collateral for loans.
Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani has decided to take a big pay cut. His pay for 2008-09 has come down by 66 per cent, or nearly two-thirds, to Rs 15 crore from Rs 44 crore in the previous year.
Business Standard / New Delhi January 28, 2010, 0:16 IST
Sticking to the austerity drive launched by his ministry, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today travelled to Chennai by economy class, airport sources here said.
After a brief lull in attacks on Indians in Australia, three members of the community were "brutally bashed" by a group of around 70 youths, including women, who were attending a birthday party in a bar here after making racist remarks against the trio.
In response to Pakistan"s announcement that it would begin trials of the suspects held for Mumbai attacks from October 3, Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has said that India would not "monitor" these proceedings.
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.
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.
Leaders from as many as 43 countries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, are scheduled to attend a nuclear summit convened by US President Barack Obama in April, the White House said today.
India has said that developed countries should "not expect miracles" at the key Copenhagen climate summit in December and the goals sought for emission controls should be more "realistic".
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.
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.
Oil fell in Asian trade amid lingering worries over energy demand in the United States, the world"s biggest oil user, analysts said.
Mobile telephony service provider Aircel is taking the philanthropic path. While most brands and advertisers offered discounts this festive season, Aircel came out with a 35-second corporate social responsibility TV campaign that urged youths to donate their unused mobile handsets to old people.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 18, 2009, 0:15 IST
Even as the Indian IT industry is studying the fine print of the European Union (EU) to expand the scope of value-added-tax (VAT) from January 1, to include services like back-office operations, call centre work and administrative services delivered from non-EU nations (including India), it does not appear to be unduly perturbed.
ADAG will provide help in production and distribution in India.
Government today renamed its flagship rural job guarantee programme - National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) - after Mahatma Gandhi.
Ahead of the first meeting of the Ganga River Basin Authority (GRBA) in New Delhi on October 5, intensive lobbying is on to build pressure on the Centre and the Uttarakhand government for the resumption of three hydel projects — 600-Mw Lohari Nagpala, 480-Mw Pala Maneri and 381-Mw Bhaironghati — which were suspended under the pressure of environmentalists and VHP leaders.
Buoyed by ramping up output from Barmer oilfield, Cairn India today reported a 23 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 291 crore in the third quarter.
M J Antony / New Delhi October 21, 2009, 0:30 IST
The D Swarup committee on investor awareness and protection has reached a tentative conclusion on moving to a no-commission regime for financial products. The committee will submit its report in two-three weeks.
Shilpy Sinha / New Delhi September 22, 2009, 0:17 IST
National Security Guard (NSG) commandos deployed at their new hubs in four cities and currently housed in temporary locations will have permanent structures at their earmarked lands by next year.
Foreign companies planning to do business in India often set up a liaison office for undertaking promotional work as a prelude to their actual commercial activities. It is generally believed that a liaison office does not affect the taxability of the parent company in India because commercial activities are not permitted from such offices. But if the liaison office results in the creation of a “permanent establishment” in India, the foreign company may become liable to tax in India.
Concurrent (India) Infrastructure today said it has inked an agreement with Ellis Richardson Inc for technical assistance in the field of power plants.
In a fallout of the Ruchika molestation case, all complaints received at police stations are to be treated as FIRs, while a move is afoot for automatic revoking of police and gallantry medals awarded to convicted officers.
As governments and NGOs fight on contamination levels, Bhopal gas tragedy victims continue to die a slow death
The board of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) is meeting tomorrow to look at ways to create demand for the Rs 10,000 crore that it had raised earlier this year to refinance highways and port projects. The New Delhi-based financial institution has not received a single proposal for the fund.
Media and entertainment giant Walt Disney has reported 18 per cent growth in net income at $895 million in the fourth quarter, boosted by strong performance of its network business, including cable channels ESPN and ABC family.
Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG), a division of Walt Disney Company, is contemplating introducing localised console and PC games for the Indian market shortly.
Walt Disney Company India Private Limited would design its Disney Channel (DC) and Hungama Channel programmes in regional languages, Vijay Subramaniam, strategic sales and market development director, Walt Disney Television International (India).
The Walt Disney Co and Hong Kong"s government have reached a deal to expand the territory"s Disneyland theme park at a cost of about $465 million, officials announced today.
Seema Sindhu / New Delhi January 7, 2010, 0:24 IST
The Nifty closed in a Doji pattern on the last day of this month’s expiry today, indicating continuation of indecisiveness in the next series. Global cues are strong and hence the Nifty is likely to trade above 4,800 with strong support at 4,820.
Anguished over delays in procurement and supply of military equipment, Defence Minister A K Antony today urged foreign vendors, including those from Russia and Israel, to stick to deadlines.
India and Russian Federation has reached a new administrative arrangement on shipping and export of fish and seafood products from India, according to Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).
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.
C K Birla group company Hindustan Motors(HM), the makers of the Ambassador car, is all set to launch a niche car in the premium segment.
The Kathalguri Tea Estate in the Dooars, is now closed. Situated 40 km from Jalpaiguri, on the India-Bhutan border, it was a big garden with more than 1,200 acres of plantation and 1,479 workers. The annual output of the garden used to be 12 million kg of processed tea and sources in the Dooars Branch of the Indian Tea Association say it could have yielded up to 16 million kg of tea if it had been run properly..
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.
The government is likely to announce more sops to exporters engaged in labour-intensive sectors like engineering, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said today.
The ministry for commerce and industry may approach the shipping ministry for improving the operations at ports on the eastern coast of the country with an eye on improving trading infrastructure before the Asean free trade agreement (FTA) comes into force in January 2010. Presently, Asean is a 10-nation Southeast Asian organisation to promote trade and culture, among others.
With its advanced features, Microsoft’s Windows 7 comes off better than Vista and the last generation Windows XP
Microsoft today launched its new operating system (OS), ‘Windows 7’, with a host of tools for multimedia applications for business and retail customers. The much-awaited Windows 7 promises significant improvement in productivity levels, enhanced security, reduced risk and manageability costs.
Margaret Carlson / September 13, 2009, 0:26 IST
Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, has appointed Matthew Ginsburg as Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking, Asia-Pacific.
Former Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan will join consulting firm McKinsey as a part-time global advisor from October this year.
From the moment I left Yale and started working for Goldman Sachs, I’ve felt uneasy interacting with those who don’t.
Banks are fully geared to check the menace caused by fake currency, a senior official of the Reserve Bank of India said.
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.
Murdoch - pay content: Rupert Murdoch’s promise to end the great news free-for-all is bold but risky. The media mogul is vowing to do at News Corporation what most of his rivals dream of — charge for access to all online news content. The flagging industry has seen profits disappear with the rise of the internet, a trend accelerated by the recession, and needs a powerful player to move first. But even Murdoch will find this endeavour tricky.
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).
General Electric Co reported a 47 per cent decline in second-quarter profit as a global recession hurt the finance, health care and NBC Universal divisions, contributing to a bigger drop in sales than analysts predicted.
Banking stocks have gained between 5 per cent and 11 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in the last two days on higher advance tax payments by banks and a correction in valuation of small banks.
Unitech Wireless, the joint venture between realty major Unitech and Norway"s Telenor, has raised Rs 5,000 crore as loan from State Bank of India to finance the roll-out of its network as the firm will be launching mobile services in next three months.
The Registrar of Companies has given a clean chit to Reliance Industries, while disposing of complaints that its merger with Reliance Petroleum would benefit only promoter Mukesh Ambani.
In lacklustre trade last week, six out of top-10 companies added Rs 65,128.41 crore to their total market capitalisation (m-cap).
Parliamentarians will soon head monitoring committees to check progress of various rural development works in their constituencies, the government told the Lok Sabha today.
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.
A spectacular rally on the back of strong global cues has helped our fund managers rake in the profits last week. However, the Smart Portfolios benchmark BSE 200 declined 5 per cent to 1,684 as against 1,773 the preceding week. The value of benchmark"s portfolio appreciated sharply from Rs 9.45 lakh to Rs 9.95 for the week ended May 29, 2009. However, the net worth is still down marginally (0.52 per cent) since the inception of Smart Portfolios on September 1, 2008.
India may have been hailed for long as the world"s top outsourcing destination, but a new study has named as many as eight cities in the country among the world"s 25 riskiest places for offshoring, mainly on concerns like terrorism, pollution and geopolitical issues.
Adventure tourism operators in Uttarakhand are up in arms against the state forest department for its move to withdraw lease permits for the Ganga beach.
Japan Airlines Corp (JAL), restructuring under state supervision, is likely to tap financial institutions for around 170 billion yen in additional loans while considering cutting more than 1,000 jobs through an early retirement program after October, sources said.
With power situation improving following good rains, Karnataka minister for energy K S Eshwarappa today said urban areas would get 22 hours of supply a day from August one, while load-shedding in rural ones would be to the extent of 14 hours. In Bangalore, the Bangalore Electricity Supply company (Bescom) has said it would make all efforts to provide 24-hour power supply, he told reporters here. Rural areas would get power supply for five hours in case of single-phase and five hours for irrigation purpose (IP sets) which means they would face load-shedding for 14 hours.
The World Bank assisted Targeted Rural Initiative for Poverty Termination and Infrastructure (TRIPTI) project being implemented by the state Panchayatiraj department is yet to make headway.
GE Capital Business Process Management Services has bagged "Asia"s Best Mature Captive Services Delivery" award for credit card operations.
Pearson, the British-based education and education technology company, which recently picked up a stake worth $30 million (around Rs 150 crore) in Educomp Solutions’ vocational business and online tutoring firm, TutorVista, is leveraging these tie-ups to increase its India footprint.
People are nervous. A DTC bus had stopped near an under-construction Metro line, near Nehru Place in the capital. Nervous passengers asked the driver to move on, saying, ‘It’s a metro line, let’s not take a chance’.
Three years ago, Officer’s Choice was selling just five million cases a year and its market share was around 10 per cent in the regular whisky segment.
The apex body of IT software and services, Nasscom, today lowered its forecast for the animation and gaming industry for 2012 on account of the global economic downturn.
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 human resource development ministry has decided to keep its Budget allocation demands within the limits of what it had made in the Interim Budget, especially in the case of primary education.
CEOSPEAK: Amitabh Das Mundhra, Director, Simplex Infrastructure
Gail India
The government is assessing the needs of major export-oriented sectors hit by the economic slowdown to provide support for their fast recovery, Director General of Foreign Trade R S Gujral said today.
The Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Dubai is one of the few Indian business schools to have got an approval from the UAE’s ministry of higher education and scientific research to offer an accredited MBA programme and executive education to companies operating in the UAE. IMT Dubai’s director Farhad Rad – Serecht told Kirtika Suneja how the institute plans to remain different from other B-schools. Edited excerpts
The Tamil Nadu government has sought an additional Rs 461 crore from the railway ministry for speedy completion of projects in the state.
Thai authorities are about to slap up to 32 per cent anti-dumping duty on the import of a vital steel product from India, even when the Indian government has remained indecisive on a similar curb against inflows from China, Ukraine, Egypt and other countries.
The two main indices—the Nifty and the Sensex—staged strong intraday rebound on Friday in choppy trades and extended gains for the second straight day. The Nifty bounced back from an intraday low of 4,766 to close at 4,882 on short-covering in interest rate-sensitive sectors such as auto, banks and realty.
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"
Social media sites have enjoyed a steep surge in popularity, but fail to attract advertisers at the same pace. Only 13 per cent of the total Internet ad spends have gone into social media initiatives for the year 2008-09, according to a recent study of the top 500 marketers in India (Digital Media Outlook 2009 report by Webchutney).
Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Limited and the only provider of services oriented storage solutions, today announced platinum partnership with Wipro Infotech.
The Karnataka government today sought the guidance of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for auditing accounts of local bodies in the state.
The government today said Indian Railways proposes to acquire 18,000 wagons in 2009-10,under rolling stock programme during the current fiscal against 11,000 in the previous financial year.
The appeals filed by Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power Ltd (RPL) on acquiring land for its proposed Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh hit a roadblock in the Supreme Court today, as one of the judges had apparently heard the case when he was in the Allahabad High Court.
Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) majors like Britannia, ITC and Parle Products are mulling price hikes and cost-cutting measures on the back of a weak monsoon season, coupled with soaring sugar prices.
Bihar today sought Rs 23,000 crore as immediate assistance from the Centre to tackle the drought situation in the state.
Crisis-hit Maytas Infra today said the Company Law Board (CLB) has allowed it to report quarterly accounts for the current financial year by June 30, 2010.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee holds a couple of Master of Arts degrees, but banker Chanda Kochhar rates him as a great financial engineer for designing the government"s borrowings taking care not to hurt the credit needs of the industry.
State-run power utility NTPC has signed an agreement to buy gas from GAIL India for 10 years at a delivered price of close to $8 per million British thermal unit (mBtu).
Branson: Richard Branson is making headlines on three continents. The serial entrepreneur is selling Virgin Mobile USA to partner Sprint-Nextel well below its IPO price. But his latest mediocre performance in the US isn’t stopping him elsewhere. Abu Dhabi is ponying up money for his loopy spaceship venture and his Aussie airline Virgin Blue is planning a rights issue. Branson"s record doesn"t give investors any certainty.
Concerned over the impact of deficient rainfall on agricultural productivity, the government today said it would stop all exports of non-basmati rice and wheat. This was announced by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in the Rajya Sabha.
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.
It treats KG gas as personal property of the brothers, says SLP.
NTPC Ltd, the country’s largest power generator, has sought permission from the Ministry of Power to allow it to pay the marketing margin on the natural gas it plans to buy from the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
The BPO arm of Mahindra Satyam seems to be on a hiring spree with plans to recruit additional 300 persons by next month even as the parent is rationalising its headcount.
The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sectors of India and the Philippines are joining hands to combat protectionism from European Union nations and the US, and to increase cooperation between both nations which traditionally have been competitors as ‘low-cost’ outsourcing destinations.
The government is considering to divest stake in four PSUs -- NMDC, KIOCL, MOIL and RINL -- administered by the steel ministry, as part of a broader plan to mobilise resources to meet their funding needs.
Business Standard / New Delhi July 16, 2009, 0:41 IST
Clarifying on the reports that Firstsource Solutions is planning to list in the US, the company said that it has "no immediate plans" to do so.
The markets have held on to their gains in the past one hour. The Sensex is now quoting at 17577, higher by 91 points and the Nifty is at 5251, up 25 points.
The government today said it will soon introduce a Bill to enact a Food Security law that will provide 25 kg of rice and/or wheat at Rs 3 to each family below the poverty line - a key poll promise of the Congress that heads the ruling coalition.
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.
Advocating a separate central policy for the Himalayan states, Uttarakhand Chief Minister R P Nishank today sought a special compensatory package from the Centre for preserving natural wealth of the hill state.
Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon has reaffirmed Canada"s 2011 exit from Afghanistan despite reported pleas from NATO"s chief for an extension of Canada"s deployment in the war-torn country.
Former BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur died in Mumbai following protracted illness. Affectionately called as ‘Rajbhai’ in the cricket fraternity, the 73-year-old Dungarpur, who was president of the Cricket Board for three years in the late 1990s, was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Faced with stiff opposition from the faculty of IITs, the government is considering doing away with the lecturer posts in the elite institutes.
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.
Until lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter —African proverb
Jaypee Group firm Jaiprakash (JP) Associates today said it will invest Rs 4,500 crore to take its cement manufacturing capacity from 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 33 mtpa by 2012.
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.