International Business
Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah said revenues coming to the government in the form of taxes had taken a beating due to the turmoil in the state. “Trade was first affected by the agitations for a separate Telangana and now for a unified Andhra,” he told reporters here on Thursday.
Oil marketing companies (OMCs) want a price cut of as much as Rs 8 in the procurement price of biodiesel from the producers, who, however, do not agree to this idea.
The political crisis in Andhra Pradesh over the Telangana issue has hit cricket as well and the BCCI is planning to shift the second India-Sri Lanka one-dayer in Visakhapatnam to another venue due to security concerns.
Organised retailers and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms have begun their slugfest yet again as the time approaches for redrawing of annual sales contracts.
BJP = 10, Congress = 10, JD(S) = 5 in Council.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has sent a notice to Cipla for allegedly overcharging customers. The government arm has imposed a fine on the company for selling Ciprofloxacin and Doxycycline medicines at a higher price than the one stated by the government.
FMCG major ITC, the largest player in the domestic cigarette market, has increased prices of two of its brands, India Kings and Benson & Hedges, by Rs 10 and Rs 5, respectively.
Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) is likely to get the Forward Markets Commission’s nod to offer concessional transaction charges for its 100-odd members in the first 3-6 months, according to BC Khatua, chairman, FMC.
The year 2010 will start on a promising note as we have held on to the gains of 2009, even if it means consolidating for the first few months of the year, says Sundaresan Naganath, chief investment officer at DSP Blackrock mutual fund. After having worked with Credit Suisse Asset Management New York and Merrill Lynch Asset Management Hong Kong, Naganath oversees some of the best performing funds such as DSP Blackrock Equity and DSP Blackrock Top 100. In an interview with Vandana and Neha Pandey, he says challenges that markets face are more external than domestic. Excerpts:
Emerging-market equity funds inflows tripled last week as the outlook improved for developing-nation exporters, EPFR Global said.
The Hyderabad police has registered cheating and criminal breach of trust cases against the promoters of Maytas Properties, an unlisted company owned by the family of Satyam Computer Services Ltd founder B Ramalinga Raju, who is in jail after confessing to manipulating Satyam’s accounts.
Shivani Shinde / Mumbai July 20, 2009, 0:27 IST
Maytas Infra Ltd, the troubled infrastructure company promoted by the family of Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju, is making efforts to recover Rs 380 crore inter-corporate debt from Satyam Computer Services, according to Maytas Chairman K Ramalingam.
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".
Concerned over reports of some Indian students in Australia retaliating in the wake of spate of attacks on them, Government today asked them to exercise restraint.
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.
Global FMCG major Procter & Gamble will be bullish on winning consumers in emerging markets of India and China as it eyes increased sales in the two strong economies, its new chief said today.
Zhao Hang, who helped devise China’s auto-stimulus package, is facing demand from car buyers battling an unexpected consequence — two-month waiting lists.
Petronet LNG will be setting up 1,068 Mw capacity power plant at nearby Puthuvypu at an estimated cost of Rs 3,250 crore, a top official said.
For the Tata group, which owns the luxury hotels brand Taj, Ginger Hotels are a sort of "Nano Taj" in terms of business.
Succeeding S Ramadorai, N Chandrasekaran today became the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country"s largest software exporter.
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.
The police have finally arrested top officials of Vedanta Resources charged with the collapse of an under-construction power unit chimney at Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) in September, killing 41 persons.
As violence in Manipur and Assam continued unabated, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said situation in the North-Eastern states was far from comfortable.
General Electric (GE), which is in contention as the engine supplier for the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract of the IAF with three of its engines, is keen on sourcing components from Indian industry.
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.
Bloomberg / October 27, 2009, 0:05 IST
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.
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.
Telecom Minister A Raja today said any deviation by lower-rung officers from the government’s policy decision on spectrum allocation would be dealt with.
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.
Telecom Minister A Raja today said any deviation by lower-rung officers from the government’s policy decision on spectrum allocation would be dealt with.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is desperately short of aircraft for training its flight cadets. With the entire fleet of basic trainers — the HPT-32 Deepak — grounded after a series of crashes, advanced training is suffering equally due to unexpected delays in the manufacture of the Hawk advanced jet trainer (AJT) in India.
This is the second time that Bell has exited from the combat chopper acquisition process.
Taking charge as the defence minister for the second time, AK Antony on Monday laid out the roadmap for India’s armed forces — modernisation and transparency. Antony’s very first day in office was marked by India receiving the state-of-the-art AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) platform from Israel. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is slated to get two more AWACS platforms, which is miles ahead of ground-based radars in detecting incoming missiles, enemy aircraft and monitor troop movement.
The insurance sector seems to be the most vulnerable to frauds as companies are losing a whopping over Rs 15,000 crore every year due to exaggerated claims by customers or agents, a survey has found.
This is the second time that Bell has exited from the combat chopper acquisition process.
The district administration of Jagatsinghpur has advised the Essar Steel Orissa Limited to provide a uniform rate for land acquisition for its proposed steel project at Paradip.
Emphasizing on the urgent need of a multi-prong approach to curb corruption, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said it is hurting India’s economic growth and discouraging investors from coming to this country.
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
The fissures in the Congress over the Telangana issue today came to the fore in the Lok Sabha with Y S Jaganmohan Reddy along with some other party members joining a TDP protest against the decision to carve out a separate state from Andhra Pradesh.
TDP members today vociferously opposed the creation of Telangana leading to a brief disruption of the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.
The Chennai port-Ennore road connectivity project has hit a roadblock with the National Highway Authority of
The Centre today said wheat sowing has fallen a bit in the key growing states of Punjab and Haryana but increased in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and hoped the overall crop output would not be affected.
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.
Uncertainty looms large over the Rs 5,000-crore 1050 Mw thermal power project of KVK Nilachal Power (P) Ltd at Kandarei in Cuttack district with the Orissa High Court staying the construction work of the project.
India, the world’s second-biggest producer of wheat, won’t end a ban on exports of the cereal to avoid food shortages after drought and floods damaged crops of rice and sugar cane.
After receiving encouraging response from private players in developing a 1,320 Mega Watt Rajpura Thermal Power Project, the Punjab State Electricity Board is expecting to issue a Letter of Intent (LoI) to the successful bidder for this project by the end of this month.
The Union government’s move to initiate the process for a separate Telangana state has raised both political and business concerns.
Wipro, India’s third largest IT services company, is planning to replicate its success in the government space in India. It is now courting the state sector across the world.
Wipro today inked a new partnership with Symantec Corporation to provide data back up and loss prevention, in addition to recovery infrastructure consultancy services.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 03, 2009, 1:32 IST
The Supreme Court last week ruled that ‘Skyline’ is not a specific word on which a company can make a trade mark claim, as it has become a ‘generic’ name. In India 117 companies including software firms are using the word as part of their name. In the US there are 10 educational institutions with the same name as the first word. In the UK also there are two such institutions. Therefore, one company could not stake claim to the word in the name of trademark. The court made this ruling while dismissing the appeal case, Skyline Education Institute (India) Ltd vs S L Vaswani. It affirmed the judgement of the Delhi high court in this case, with minor modifications regarding admission of students to one institution. Both were educational institutions operating around the capital and they were litigating over the word ‘Skyline’.
Rex Cano / Mumbai December 09, 2009, 9:22 IST
The German luxury carmarker today said it will invest $50 million (about Rs 230 crore) to set up a financial services subsidiary to better serve its customers besides industry as a whole.
Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) centres in India would be subjected to taxation under the new proposed Direct Tax Code (DTC) but some clarifications, especially on double taxation, were still needed, an expert said.
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!”
Unity Infraprojects, the construction major, has bagged a contract for re-development of R N Cooper Hospital at Vile-Parle (West), Mumbai from Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
Construction company Unity Infraprojects today said it has received a contract worth Rs 54.56 crore from Amanora Park Town for construction related works.
Artist Anita Chauhan cooks as well as she paints.
Chef Daoud Mohammed Tarhini always packs in a little bit of Lebanon, on his travels.
Foreign exchange trading services provider, Alpari today launched its Indian operations by offering its forex trading platform for institutional and retail customers.
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi October 21, 2009, 0:18 IST
Three friends went to college together, became software engineers, went to Silicon Valley, got cushy jobs and, after a few years, decided to become entrepreneurs. Sounds like a run-of-the-mill story? But this is where Tushar Makhija’s story takes a serious turn. It’s common to hear of entrepreneurs struggling to get that one big idea to start a business, but for Makhija and his two other friends, it was simply about taking inspiration from several popular online portals and creating a unique one of their own.
I am 34 and employed in an IT company in Gurgaon. I began investing in June 2007, with a sum of Rs 2,500 a month. Gradually, I increased the SIP amount to Rs 16,500 a month. Can you help me with my financial plan? I have provided all the details below.
I am a 65-year-old retired engineer and live with my wife, 58. Both my children are married and well-settled. My wife and I have a mediclaim policy of base value Rs 1 lakh each (now approximately Rs 1.5 lakh). We would like to be financially independent all our lives. Advise me as to any change required in my financial plan, particularly with regard to regular investment in mutual funds.
In a major setback to cash-strapped infrastructure company Maytas Properties, promoted by former Satyam Computer founder B Ramalinga Raju’s family, a local court has passed an order barring it from using land as collateral for loans.
Ten years ago if you had compared the film and television broadcasting businesses in India, you wouldn’t have given films a second chance. Today the film industry looks attractive while the TV business seems to be falling apart.
The government today lauded RIL chief Mukesh Ambani"s decision to take a pay cut and said the industrialist had shown a “remarkable sensibility” towards the prevailing scenario with this voluntary step.
The government has allocated Rs 1,740 crore to expand educational and economic opportunities for the disadvantaged section of the minorities through various schemes, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
In yet another move to increase the flow of Japanese investment into India, visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama today assured India’s leading industrialists and bankers to look into the option of directly linking the rupee and yen.
Those who seized the opportunity and made a difference.
India has been successful in phasing out ozone depleting substances (ODS) like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 17 months ahead of the targeted date, said Union Minister for Environment & Forests, Jairam Ramesh, while addressing a conference to observe International Ozone Day here today.
French pharma major Sanofi-aventis today said its vaccine division Sanofi Pasteur has acquired majority stake in Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics, which has been valued at euro 550 million (over Rs 3,770 crore).
India"s exports fell 6.6 per cent in October extending the decline for the 13th month in a row, but the downward trend has slowed down amid some revival in demand in overseas markets.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and its partners will invest about $10 billion in two giant gas fields and an LNG project in Iran, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Seifollah Jashnsaz said.
Trades between FIIs generated a volume of Rs 140 crore on the BSE Tuesday-an increase of 182.67% from Rs 49 crore clocked on Monday. As many as six stocks witnessed trades of 16 lakh shares on Tuesday.
The government has approved an amendment to the Air Service Agreement between India and Saudi Arabia with a view to enhance bilateral economic relations and promote tourism.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), which is setting up a 15 million tonne per annum refinery at Paradeep, has so far invested Rs 2,200 crore in the project. While the cost of the refinery excluding the petro-chemical complex is estimated at Rs 29,777 crore, IOCL has already committed Rs 4,680 crore, said state industry minister Raghunath Mohanty.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation"s largest oil firm, will invest Rs 4,650 crore in laying crude oil and petroleum product pipelines over the next three years, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Parasada said today.
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.
As government mulls hiving off Oil and Natural Gas Corporation"s (ONGC) Assam oilfields, state-owned Oil India has said it is willing to take over the assets and can run the fields more efficiently than that the current owner.
International companies would be allowed to hold 100 per cent ownership of businesses they set up in the United Arab Emirates under a new legislation aimed at boosting foreign investment.
Says government needs to increase subsidy on kerosene and LPG
Notwithstanding the UAE being India"s top destination for exports, the government today put up a brave face stating financial concerns in Dubai would not impact the Indian economy and the country"s real estate sector.
Realty stocks crashed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today on fears of a debt crisis in Dubai raised by Middle East"s largest property firm Dubai World asking creditors if it could defer repaying $60 billion in loan until may next year.
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.
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.
Telecom entity Motorola today posted a profit of $26 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009, even as revenues plunged.
The Sensex ended at 16,357, up 50 points, and the Nifty ended at 4,891, up 24 points (provisional closing).
Indian Premier League (IPL), the annual Twenty20 cricket championship aired on SET Max, will make a homecoming of sorts this year. In 2009, the second edition of IPL was played in South Africa because it coincided with the General Elections and the country’s security apparatus was stretched. This time it’s back to the country of its origin.
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..
The fall in steel prices in the wake of global economic meltdown has consigned many balance sheets of groups taking the metal in the red. The drop in demand in the final quarter of 2008 was so steep and steel product prices turned so uneconomic, particularly for high cost mills in western countries, that the industry in many regions was forced to switch off half the capacity.
A few students in Hyderabad could not reach the test centres in time to appear for the Common Admission Test (CAT) today, the penultimate day of the computer-based test, due to the bandh call given by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, a political outfit fighting for a separate statehood for Telanagana.
Agricultural commodity prices have started falling in the past one week. The prices have come down by 5-15 per cent. How long these will fall is not known but traders and analysts say that more rise would not be sustainable.
Lalit Modi’s high-profile auction of international players for the domestic Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament failed to attract the big bucks today. Eight teams ignored the star-studded Pakistan players. They were expected to be sold at fancy prices.
Microsoft Windows 7, Adobe, Symantec software stuck at Customs over excise duty
BCCI to partner Google India for the venture.
They said the day a black man became president of the United States, pigs would fly. Well, lo and behold, Obama was sworn in and one hundred days later... swine flu!”
Mahindra Satyam announced today that it has joined the Symbian Foundation, which, together with its ecosystem, is creating an open and complete mobile software platform.
A ncient Indians discovered the Zero, but modern, cyber-savvy Indians everywhere are discovering the Zed. That’s Rajan Zed, a Nevada-based Indo-American statesman who modestly refers to himself as an “acclaimed Hindu spokesperson” in an endless series of press releases that are slowing down the Internet, or at least my home connection.
Self-deprecating humour isn’t something one sees too much of in this country (where making fun of others is held a nobler pursuit than laughing at one’s own foibles), so I’m always pleased to read Saad Akhtar’s webcomic Fly, You Fools! (People are Mindless Cattle), a good-natured, witty take on some of the things we read about in the newspapers every day. It isn’t brilliantly written or drawn (in fact, it mostly uses photos and mixed media rather than fresh illustrations) but it’s goofy and perceptive, casting fresh light on (among other things) security checks at mall entrances (http://tinyurl.com/5s25pe), rich kids mowing down pavement-dwellers in their Mercs (http://tinyurl.com/mhpwep), and loud honking at traffic signals as a substitute for sexual inadequacy (http://tinyurl.com/kl7knc).
Self-deprecating humour isn’t something one sees too much of in this country (where making fun of others is held a nobler pursuit than laughing at one’s own foibles), so I’m always pleased to read Saad Akhtar’s webcomic Fly, You Fools! (People are Mindless Cattle), a good-natured, witty take on some of the things we read about in the newspapers every day. It isn’t brilliantly written or drawn (in fact, it mostly uses photos and mixed media rather than fresh illustrations) but it’s goofy and perceptive, casting fresh light on (among other things) security checks at mall entrances (http://tinyurl.com/5s25pe), rich kids mowing down pavement-dwellers in their Mercs (http://tinyurl.com/mhpwep), and loud honking at traffic signals as a substitute for sexual inadequacy (http://tinyurl.com/kl7knc).
At least the Shiney Ahuja rape case has taken some pressure off Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s shoulders, a friend says on Twitter, and he’s right: it takes something very special for the captain of a World Cup-losing cricket team to be only the second most vilified public figure in the country.
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.
Margaret Carlson / September 13, 2009, 0:26 IST
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty today allayed fears of excess liquidity in the banking system saying it was just "adequate".
Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao today said the ongoing global crisis has resulted in a massive breakdown of trust in the financial system and that the study of economics could lose its value base.
Miffed by the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee removing him from the post of 2010 CWG Chief Executive, Mike Hooper has struck back by declaring that the preparedness of the mega-event was far from satisfactory.
Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland’s associate company, Ashley Alteams India Pvt Ltd (AAIPL) will commence manufacturing high pressure die castings. The production of the castings, which will primarily be for the telecommunications and automotive sector, will begin next month at the company’s new facility in Chennai.
Forget all this chatter about finding a new reserve currency. We already have one, and it’s called the yen. OK, stop laughing.
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.
The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), has chalked out strategies to grow aggressively in overseas markets, especially Singapore, in this fiscal, a top SBI official said. This would help the Indian banking behemoth to move a step closer to consolidate its position in the global financial services industry.
After being subscribed by more than 23 times, the state-run National Hydroelectric Power Corporation’s (NHPC) initial public offer (IPO) has been hit by uncertainty in the stock market.
State"s contribution had tanked below 20% from 42% in last two years.
The below-average monsoon this year and the subsequent shortfall in the production of sugarcane in India will see the prices of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) increase by 10-15 per cent in the next financial year, say industry experts.
Dissatisfied with the way NREGA is being implemented, the Centre has directed the states to ensure that the rural job guarantee scheme is run properly and transparently.
Credit demand from consumers seemed to be back on track, especially in sectors such as auto and home loans though banks had cut down unsecured loan exposures, said KV Kamath, chairman of ICICI Bank.
Martin Feldstein / September 8, 2009, 0:31 IST
Packaging solutions provider Bilcare today said it is planning to raise $35 million (about Rs 170 crore) through the issue of securities.
Eight out of top-10 firms managed to add over Rs 22,000 crore to their market capitalisation (m-cap) in the holiday-truncated past week, with NTPC contributing a major chunk to the kitty.
The yellow metal could move in two diverging paths in the future, an independent global metals research consultancy firm said.
Gold is likely to touch Rs 18,000 per 10 grams during the forthcoming festival season as the demand for the yellow metal peaks around Diwali time, according to a projection by industry body Assocham.
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.
With less than five months left for the proposed roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the empowered group of state finance ministers today suggested a model of inter-state goods and services tax (IGST) for inter-state transactions. The Centre would levy GST which would comprise central and state GST, with appropriate provision for consignment or stock transfer of goods and services.
The long-awaited meeting of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers (EC) was recently held in Delhi and, as was perhaps expected, the EC has come out with a recommendation on what can legitimately be called a “Dual Rated Dual GST System”. There were expectations in certain quarters that the dual GST would be a single rated one at the Federal and the State level for both goods and services. This has not been possible and the EC has now come out with a dual rate model for goods. There has been no mention of whether there will be a dual rate for services as well but the understanding and expectation is that services will be taxed at just the one rate, at the Federal and State levels respectively. This article discusses the dual rate dual GST model for goods in some detail.
Business Standard / New Delhi September 18, 2009, 0:34 IST
The Union government is likely to announce yet another incentive package for labour-intensive export sectors by early December, after a full review of the measures announced earlier.
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.
Has capital requirement of Rs 50,000 cr over the next five years.
Swine flu claimed its first victim in South Africa when a 22-year-old student died after contacting the virus, prompting the government to assure people not to panic.
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.
With the key IT outsourcing markets showing positive signs in terms of demand, Ness Technologies which provides R&D services to its global clients from offshore locations, has announced to expand its Indian operations. The company which presently employs close to 3,000 people in India, has announced opening a new facility in SEZ in Bangalore with 300 seats at present to be scaled up to 600 by March 2010.
Key roadblock: Constitutional amendment required to provide wider taxation powers to Centre, states.
Even as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the finance ministry have failed yet again to reach a consensus on the reserve price for 3G auction, Communications Minister A Raja today assured that the auction would definitely find mention in the coming General Budget. After meeting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today, Raja said no decision had been taken on the base price and further discussions were on.
Prices of the sweetener may go up by 15-20 per cent.
Charging the multinational companies with making several drugs beyond the reach of the poor, visiting Commerce Minister Anand Sharma today asserted it is the Indian generics which have challenged such a "suffocating stranglehold" and made the medicines affordable.
The Tamil Nadu government has sought an additional Rs 461 crore from the railway ministry for speedy completion of projects in the state.
To facilitate flow of credit to various sectors of the state’s economy including the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), ancillary and downstream industries, the state owned Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd (Ipicol) today entered into a pact with the Central Bank of India (CBI).
Facing opposition from a section of brokers for advancing opening of the stock market by an hour, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today said it would not allow trading beyond scheduled 1530 hours.
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.
ABG Shipyard, which is locked in a take-over battle for Great Offshore with Bharati Shipyard, today backed out of the race by selling 8.27 per cent stake in the offshore drilling firm, a day after its rival raised the open offer price to Rs 590 per share.
Latent Images Private Limited, which currently operates five ‘IIIrd i’ digital camera retail stores in Hyderabad, is planning to open three gadget retail concept stores under the ‘NowGadget’ brand – one each in Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi – in the next six months.
As the three dissident ministers continued their defiance against him, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa today talked tough, hinting at "stern action" against them. "These people cannot cow me down. They are worried about my popularity graph," Yeddyurappa told reporters here, as he hit back at the three ministers who had launched a strong attack on him at a function in their home district of Bellary yesterday.
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.
FMCG major Marico has posted 32 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ending September 30, 2009 at Rs 62.35 crore as compared to Rs 47.12 crore profit it posted in the corresponding quarter last financial year.
Congress-backed candidates today won all the 13 seats on the board of Kheda District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd (KDCMPUL), popularly known as Amul Dairy. On the other hand, BJP once again failed open its account.
The water drawal by the industries from the Hirakud reservoir is much below the approved level, according to the state minister for industry and steel and mines, Raghunath Mohanty.
Is Rs 500 enough to start an entrepreneurship venture?
The Supreme Court has restrained the Uttar Pradesh government and others from initiating recovery proceedings against Kotak Mahindra Bank in a matter related to trading of debts by banks.
After declaring a drought-like situation in Nagaland which affected cultivation of paddy and horticultural crops, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has sent a letter to the Prime Minister seeking the Centre"s assistance to mitigate the situation in the state.
The government today imposed stock limit on bulk sugar consumers, allowing them to keep quantities sufficient for only 15 days of their consumption at any point of time. The stock limit would be in force for six months and would be applicable to consumers whose monthly sugar consumption is at least one tonne, the government said in a statement. The move will affect confectioneries, large biscuit and beverage producing units.
The ambitious project of Reliance Industries (RIL) to put up progressive farming practices in Punjab has been scrapped as the Punjab cabinet has terminated the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with RIL in 2006 for setting up of Agricultural Mega Projects in the state, saying that no action had been taken in accordance with the provisions of the MoU.
WTO chief has confirmed his participation.
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.
The government today said it was taking all measures to check anti-dumping activities by countries, especially China, and said consumer rights would be protected in cases where defective imported goods were sold.
The UK government has asked Indian conglomerate Tatas to accept a revised proposal to guarantee hundreds of millions of pounds of short-term funding for luxury brands Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) or risk the plan being taken off, says a media report.
APEC trade ministers began meeting here today to discuss ways of clinching a global liberalisation deal in 2010 with signs that major recession-hit economies may be on the mend.
New telecom licensee Etisalat DB Telecom has awarded a $400 million (around Rs 2,000 crore) IT applications and infrastructure outsourcing contract to Tech Mahindra. The contract is spread over a 10-year period.
The government today said there would be no restriction on export of iron ore, as there is surplus of the mineral in the country even after its export.
The country"s largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda today said it will upgrade all its existing models to meet Bharat Stage-III emission compliant norms by the end of this financial year.
The country"s largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda today said it will upgrade all its existing models to meet Bharat Stage-III emission compliant norms by the end of this financial year.
Despite the global economic slowdown, State Bank of India (Canada), a subsidiary of SBI, saw an overall business growth of 22 per cent in July 2008 to June 2009, although its profit slightly went down, a top bank official said here on Thursday.
Stock markets pared early gains today and ended in the red owing to subdued Asian cues.
Tata Motors has threatened to scrap its plan to launch Vista electric cars in the UK if it does not receive a £10 million loan from the British government soon, The Observer reported today.
Postpaid users, high spenders and business subscribers are more likely to switch their operator if Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is introduced in the country, while prepaid users may remain loyal to their existing operator, a study today said.
Government today said it was mulling to give preferential shares for employees of BSNL as and when the consensus is reached on the Initial Public Offer from the state-run telecom operator.
The stock was locked ta the same upper circuit with buy orders of 22,895 shares pending. Around 4,319 shares were traded on the BSE today.