Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today visited the CPI (M) headquarters here to pay homage to Marxist veteran Jyoti Basu.
Jyoti Basu remained as popular in death, as he was when alive. The Marxist leader"s far-reaching appeal ensured that the country"s political establishment, irrespective of party affiliations, paid their last respects to the CPI(M) patriarch on Tuesdsay, save Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today left for Kolkata along with several Cabinet ministers to attend the funeral of Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu.
India’s Vavasi Group and Malaysia’s Al Bukhary Group have together appointed a merchant banker for conducting due diligence and fixing a valuation of Kuwait’s Zain Telecom. The two, along with BSNL and MTNL, the state-run telecom majors, have shown interest in jointly buying a 46 per cent stake in Zain.
Maharashtra government employees can no longer browse online trading sites from Mantralaya now, as the state government has blocked two financial websites moneycontrol.com and bseindia.com.
Nifty ends below 5,000 as players square up pending futures positions.
Business Standard / New Delhi August 27, 2009, 0:13 IST
Apollo DKV Health Insurance is planning to increase its capital base to Rs 400-500 crore by 2012-13, from the current Rs 220 crore.
Financial services firm Edelweiss Capital today announced that it had entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Japanese insurer Tokio Marine Holdings for a foray into life insurance.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would launch Oceansat-2 satellite, which would help identify potential fishing zones and in coastal zone studies, on September 23 in a mission that would have European flavour.
Ten years ago, a survey had projected that the life insurance industry would see its premium income grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.9 per cent.
With JSW Bengal Steel (JSWBSL) failing to raise debt for its integrated steel, power and cement plant in Salboni due to the global financial crunch, group company JSW Energy will go public to raise funds for the power plant.
JSW Energy will set up 10 power plants with a capacity of 1,350 mega watt (Mw) in all, in Rajasthan"s Barmer district.
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.
The much-awaited white paper on railways is likley to be tabled in the coming session of Parliament, bringing forth its financial position and former minister Lalu Prasad"s claim of turning around the PSU behemoth.
A major partner in the Indian Railways’ Rs 60,000 crore dedicated freight corridor project, Japan said it would like the project implemented at the earliest. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the building of exclusive rail lines for freight carriers along with dedicated industrial corridor should take shape fast.
Sanjaya Baru / Sanjaya Baru February 1, 2010, 1:19 IST
The Nifty tested the support level of 4,910 and later recovered on the back of strong openings in European markets and firmness in Dow Jones futures. Telecom stocks tumbled on profitability concerns while buying in FMCG, metal and banking shares helped indices register decent gains by the end of the day.
Nilanjana S Roy / New Delhi October 6, 2009, 0:25 IST
Srei Equipment Finance (SEFL), a 50:50 joint venture between Srei Infrastructure Finance (SIFL) and BNP Paribas Lease Group (BPLG), is planning to foray into agriculture, medical equipment and information technology (IT) equipment finance.
The Union government’s high-level committee on external commercial borrowings (ECBs) has decided to enhance the annual limit of credit on structured obligations to $1 billion from $600 million.
The stock markets rose sharply on Monday on the back of strong gross domestic product (GDP) numbers and firm global cues. The Sensex closed at 16,926, higher by 294 points, and the Nifty re-gained the 5,000 mark to close at 5,026, up 84 points, on a steady day of trade. The Sensex had surpassed the 17,000 mark (17,096) in intra-day trades.
Cases of attacks on Indians in Australia have increased more than five fold this year compared to last year, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
Palak Shah / Mumbai November 26, 2009, 1:21 IST
Jindal Saw"s board has announced that it would split its equity shares, with a face value of Rs 10 each, into five equity shares of Rs 2 each.
Not impressed by the ambitious plans announced by Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath, the Planning Commission has advised the ministry to fix a “reasonable target” for construction of roads this year. “...Fix a reasonable target for award of contracts in the rest of the current year and raise it subsequently as soon as possible,” the commission said in a communiqué to the highways ministry. The commission pointed out to the ministry that it would not be able to award road construction contracts for more than 3,794 km in 2009-10, against a target of 12,652 km.
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.
The Congress-JVM(P) alliance was leading in 20 seats and the BJP-JDU combine was ahead in 19, according to trends available for 70 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly.
Introduction of GST would help attain higher GDP growth and pull down prices of manufactured items, but would make farm goods and services expensive, the 13th Finance Commission Task Force on Goods and Services Tax (GST) said here today.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 19, 2009, 0:08 IST
Bank of Baroda (BoB), Andhra Bank and Legal & General’s insurance joint Venture, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Co, has received all regulatory approvals for its products, and would launch operations in the second or third week of December, P Nandagopal, chief executive officer, IndiaFirst Life Insurance, said.
The stock erased all its gains and slipped into the negative terrain to touch a low of Rs 90. The scrip finally ended at Rs 91, down 2% from its previous close. The counter clocked volumes of 3.71 million shares as compared to the two-week daily average traded volumes of 1.11 million shares on the BSE.
Around 35 per cent voting was recorded till 1300 hrs today in the first phase of elections to 26 Assembly seats in Jharkhand.
Polling began today at 7 am for the first of the five-phase assembly elections in Jharkhand under air surveillance and tight security, state election commission sources said.
Indian diplomats are expected to meet Australian officials in a bid to difuse diplomatic tension between Canberra and New Delhi after the murder of 21-year-old Indian migrant in Melbourne.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), at the 56th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), chalked out an extensive agenda for education in the country, based on the principles of expansion, inclusion and excellence.
His boss may have been upset enough to tick him off publicly, but there’s a reason why minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor is so agitated about the proposed new visa rules. The home ministry has said no tourist can now visit the country within a period of two months of the last visit.
Unfazed by reservations from nations like the US and UK, the Government appears to be in no mood to relent on the new visa rules for tourists, saying it would not like to compromise with the country"s security interests.
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.
Pakistan has said "political compulsions" and "divisions in Indian polity" were preventing India from holding dialogue with Islamabad, after the foreign ministers of the two countries avoided a meeting despite being under the same roof.
By far the most important skill in business,” wrote the London Times’s Sathnam Sanghera in a recent column (also carried in this paper), “is the ability to tell a decent anecdote.” I think he’s right, especially when it comes to the old-fashioned way of doing business — face to face. “Frankly,” said Sanghera, “banter should be taught at school alongside Geography and Maths. Nothing will benefit your career more.”
The commodity futures market, which has a turnover of over Rs 50 lakh crore, will see more changes and a deepening of the market with the entry of two new exchanges in the second half of 2009.
India’s energy scenario poses the challenge of investing adequately to narrow the demand-supply gap and reducing import dependence.
Emerging-market telecoms: Emerging-market telecoms are in hot demand – so much so that the valuation attributed to Kuwait-based operator Zain Telecom by a consortium of Asian investors seems, well, zany.
Next month, India’s homegrown Arjun tank will take on the new Russian T-90 in a long-awaited comparative trial.
Upbeat from the success of his designer limousine rental business, Shashin Shah of Yogi Auto Care has now come up with a second lounge-look limousine developed by leading designer Dilip Chhabria. Shah plans to expand his limousine fleet to have at least one such modified car in every major city of Gujarat in the coming years.
Jagdish Khattar-promoted Carnation, a multi-brand car sales and servicing network, and the Dilip Chhabria-owned car design boutique DC Design have entered into a joint venture that will help the design studio offer its services to the mass segment at lower price points. Before this, DC’s services were restricted to high networth clients.
HOW MUCH THE RECOVERY HAS GAINED GROUND is best seen from the fact that the IMF has, once again, raised its forecast for global growth for 2009 as well as 2010. But, as was underlined at the G-20 meet, the recovery is fragile, heavily dependent upon government spending and support — global deficits are up 6 percentage points and governments in advanced economies have provided guarantees of over 30 per cent of their GDP to prevent their banks from collapsing.
In signs of easing labour market situation in the US, the number of first time claimants for jobless benefits declined by 26,000 to 550,000 for the week ended September 5.
Jamal Mecklai / New Delhi July 24, 2009, 0:34 IST
Measures like de-hoarding and selective import of certain items could help tame the soaring food inflation, said Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 21, 2009, 0:39 IST
All fiction has its autobiographical roots, but Evelyn Waugh puts it as “experience totally transformed”. The autobiographical impulse is particularly strong in JM Coetzee, the South African Nobel Prize winner (2003), but his writings lie at the frontier between life and the freedoms of fiction. Summertime (Harvill Secker, special Indian price Rs 799), the final volume of a trilogy — the other two being Boyhood and Youth — is subtitled Scenes from a Provincial Life, charts the border territory with multiple skills of a biographer and fiction writer so that it can pretty well mean what you would want it to be.
The public sector Indian bank, with a lot of expertise in the field of recovery of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), is exploring the possibility of floating a subsidiary for undertaking NPA management.
Exporters today appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to suspend export of raw cotton saying rising prices of the commodity has become a double whammy for textiles industry, hit by the global demand slump.
India is unlikely to achieve the $200 billion export target this fiscal due to the continuing global financial crisis, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
Cotton prices across the country have seen an unabated rally in the last one and a half months due to international and domestic buying as well as tight supply in the global market. The prices of various benchmark varieties have touched peak levels of the season.
With the price of domestic cotton rising and a high level of export contracts, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (Citi) has renewed its demand for restricting the latter.
Encouraged by the outcome of earlier initiatives, the Centre is preparing a roadmap to take the disinvestment process forward over the next two years.
Oman Oil Company (OOC) has paid a full 50 per cent premium for a re-entry into the Rs 11,397-crore Bina Refinery project of the state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL).
Infrastructure major Punj Lloyd today said it will bid for up to 25 national highway projects, valued at an estimated Rs 40,000 crore, in the next one year.
The Indian bourses ended in the green, aided by rising FMCG, oil and public sector undertakings’ (PSUs) stocks.
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.
The paper industries in Orissa have urged the state government to roll back its move to raise the selling price of the bamboo.
Inflation proved to be the market"s Archilles heel this week. The Sensex traded in a narrow range of 582 points before ending weaker by 399 points at 16,719 and the Nifty closed at 4987, lower by 129 points. Dalal Street closed below the dotted line on four out of the five trading sessions.
Conservation, metering, end-use languish under deficit-ridden Board.
Indian pharma industry found that it had no medicine to cure adversities that came its way in 2009 -- when it battled shipment seizures by EU authorities, tightened US regulations, Chinese drug piracy and currency fluctuations.
As part of the energy conservation awareness, Orissa State Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation (Omfed) launched packets of milk sold by it with a message on energy conservation.
Garment and apparel retail chain Shoppers Stop today said it has obtained shareholders approval to issue 40 lakh shares by way of qualified institutional placement to garner resources for its expansion plans.
The Supreme Court today asked the Madras High Court to first hear on Thursday the amalgamation plea of cash-strapped retail chain Subhiksha Trading Services with its subsidiary Blue Green Construction and Investments (BGCIL).
CMD Shanghvi’s hard-hitting letter contrasts financial returns of the two firms.
The Supreme Court today hinted that it will ask the Madras High Court to hear together the winding up and the merger proceedings of cash-strapped retail chain Subhiksha Trading Services with Blue Green Construction and Investments (BGCIL).
Having spent thousands of dollars for many quarters lobbying on bilateral ties and for the nuclear deal with the US, India cut down on these expenses in the last quarter, even as neighbour Pakistan paid a higher quarterly bill for canvassing support for it in America.
US President Barack Obama says he is eagerly awaiting to host Manmohan Singh for the first State Visit next month and that he considers India and the Prime Minister as “part of his family”.
Sunita Narain / New Delhi October 23, 2009, 0:27 IST
Apollo Pharmacy today said it has received licence from the national health regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for selling Oseltamivir capsules, used in the treatment of Swine Flu (HINI A Influenza).
Two days after a student at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) tested positive for H1N1, the management institute has got its act together to handle the situation.
In sync with the economic revival, India"s textile industry, including exports, has shown an improved performance during the April-November period of the current fiscal, Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran said today.
The top 10 companies saw their market capitalisation dipping by over Rs 40,000 crore last week with NMDC losing the most.
The Tatas are planning a new-look for their first prestigious acquisition Corus Steel next year, a move that coincides with the company emerging from the financial burdens and the global downturn.
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.
Joe C Mathew / New Delhi September 30, 2009, 1:08 IST
Before Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress MLA from Huzurnagar (Telangana), left Hyderabad yesterday for Delhi to prepare himself for the all party meeting convened by Home Minister P Chidambaram on statehood for Telangana, he called upon the students who were agitating in Osmania University to hear what he already knew: laathi goli khayenge; Telangana le jayenge. Emotions ran high. The students asked: “those of you who are ready to be killed for a separate state, raise your hands” most of the 500,000-strong crowd raised its hands. “Those of you who are ready to kill for Telangana, raise your hands” was the next question. The same number of hands were raised again. Reddy heard the students and then boarded his Delhi-bound flight.
Eleven of the 13 Congress ministers from the Telangana region, who had resigned from their posts demanding a concrete action on the formation of Telangana state, decided to withdraw their resignation on Thursday.
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.
The Sensex finally ended (provisional) at 15,540, up 520 points.
Market-regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) wants listed Indian entities to disclose sufficient information to the market to ensure transparency in their functioning.
Shareholders’ meeting on October 20.
The Indo-US strategic relations deepened further in 2009 which saw installation of Barack Obama as the first black President, who attached high importance to bilateral ties and invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his first State Guest.
Google Telangana and you are likely to find more books on the communist-inspired “struggle” of the 1940s and 1950s than the “separatist” agitation of 1969-70 or the one in progress. While there is no link at all between the “struggle” and the “agitations”, it is becoming increasingly clear that Telangana’s Maoists hope to climb on the separatist bandwagon to further their own cause. So, it is not surprising that both M Bharath Bhushan and N Venugopal — editors of this slim and eclectic collection of essays on various facets of Telangana life, culture, politics and economics — labour hard to link the two and, in the process, denounce the mainstream separatist leadership.
Land, and not mines, has emerged as the biggest stumbling block for steel projects, threatening to derail the government’s target to boost the capacity from 55 million tonnes now to 124 million tonnes by next year.
The global merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the property sector so far this year amounted to $151.8 billion (around Rs 7 lakh crore), the lowest level in the last six years amid the economic downturn.
Sensex ends up 35pts
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.
Mahindra Satyam today said its board has approved settlement of lawsuits brought by its former client Upaid Systems by paying $70 million.
The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is not responding positively in connection with the contract awarded to it for revival of the closed sugar mill at Motipur in Bihar"s Muzaffapur district, according to state Industry minister Gautam Singh.
Mahindra Satyam, the new brand identity of Satyam Computer Services, has embarked on international expansion and as part of this, is expanding its global solution centre (GSC) operations at its 15-acre campus in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.
After a year long slump due to global meltdown, first year students of elite B-schools are back in the radar of companies in finance and banking sectors which are now hiring them for summer internship programmes.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Wednesday agreed for restructuring the government hospitals in the state in tune with the requirements of the Aarogyasri scheme, which provides cashless treatment to the poor.
Eyes 20% growth in cryogenic engineering business in 2010-11
After frustrating traditional bid attempts for its SEZ-categorised IT parks in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur, the Madhya Pradesh government is likely to re-bid for the parks through Swiss Challenge System, under which the government can also take offers from private parties, unsolicited. It is also likely to change the model of sale of IT parks so that the developers can attract private partners. Crystal IT park in Indore, a complete infrastructure of eight-storied building, has no taker for years, and the Bhopal IT park is reportedly going the same way before it can see the light of day. Few months back Zoom Developers pulled out of the Crystal IT park project after successfully bidding for it.
The BJP has often rubbished its critics who said reciting Vande Mataram was a non-secular act. Ironical then, that at a recent function organised by the BJP, the emcee was the only one who got the stanzas mixed up. All chartered accountants at the function on the direct taxes code organised by the BJP managed to sing the song in the correct order. After the first stanza, however, the emcee jumped to the last stanza while the audience continued to sing it in the correct order.
Even as the Telangana Sadhana Joint Action Committee (JAC) is all set to enforce a bandh tomorrow pressing for a separate statehood to Telangana, the students at Osmania University have ‘urged’ the people to boycott New Year celebrations in support of separate state.
The government today said it may take a call on exiting from fiscal stimulus after reviewing the economic growth in the second and third quarters of this financial year.
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.
After 20 years in the making, the Kaveri jet engine will finally take to the skies.
You can purchase property Directly or go for Sect0ral stock picks and PMS.
Plan panel aims at making data accessible in analytical format
The Union Ministry of Home affairs (MHA) has taken a tough stand on the Indian Premier League (IPL) issue and told its organiser — the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) — that forces could not be diverted from election-related duties for this cricketing extravaganza.
The issue concerning foreign ownership in Indian banks is currently under discussion among the finance ministry, commerce and industry ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is likely to be resolved soon.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has reacted strongly to media reports regarding the central government decision of making 80 per cent marks in intermediate level as cut-off for the IIT entrance test.
After the launch of the country’s first indigenous nuclear submarine, India has the “technical expertise and capability” to build nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and warships, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar has said.
Ecuador"s energy minister has announced that Quito has signed an agreement with Moscow to develop nuclear energy "with solely peaceful purposes."
A sneeze raises eyebrows and coughing makes people nervous in the city, which has emerged as the epicentre of swine flu with 100 casualties.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) is pressing for top management reshuffle in trouble financial institution Citigroup, a move that may threaten Chief Executive Vikram Pandit"s position in the company, a media report says.
Hoping to get the US government"s nod to go ahead with its business in India, GE Hitachi has begun talks with domestic companies like BHEL, Bharat Forge and Larsen & Toubro for making atomic power equipment.
With no clarity on availability of third-generation (3G) mobile spectrum, the government is considering, among others, restricting the number of private players to just two to avoid a situation where it would need to pay damages to operators.
The big three US automakers - Ford, Chrysler and General Motors - saw their US sales decline by double digits in 2009 as growing unemployment and a sluggish economy curbed demand for vehicles.
Global automobile giants converged here as the 10th edition of the Auto Expo opened today, rolling out an array of cars mostly the small ones with a green theme.
Manipal Acunova, the Bangalore-based Rs 80 crore clinical research firm, has raised Rs 30 crore from US-based OrbiMed, a global healthcare-dedicated investment firm, with approximately $5 billion in assets under management.
Three train accidents, 69 flight disruptions and power failure in four states on the first fog of the season
Jyoti Malhotra / New Delhi December 8, 2009, 0:43 IST
The fragmented Rs 30,000-crore stainless steel utensil industry will, for the first time in India, get a quality benchmark soon to manufacture food- grade kitchenwares for domestic supply and exports.
Zee Entertainment is undoubtedly in a revamp mood. In the last two months, the company has made moves towards consolidating the group’s general entertainment channels (GEC) under one roof. Under the latest move, the company aims to merge its 50.18 per cent subsidiary, ETC Network, with itself. Here, ETC Network’s broadcasting namely, ETC Music (a Hindi music channel) and ETC Punjabi (a regional entertainment channel), and education businesses will be merged with Zee. Thereafter, the education business will be demerged into a different entity , Zee Learn.
Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi November 8, 2009, 0:13 IST
Global consulting firm Deloitte today said sectors like healthcare and education are likely to see an unprecedented growth going forward, riding on planned rise in government spendings for the areas.
FMCG player Colgate Palmolive today said production at its Aurangabad factory has been disrupted as workers have gone on strike since Saturday.
Intermediate trend bullish, short-term trend neutral.
Under attack for its climate policy for Copenhagen summit, the government today said India will not accept any legal binding on emission cut and rejected any proposal that would put a cap on the carbon emission.
Stocks fell around the world, driving the MSCI Emerging Markets Index down the most in three weeks, and metals declined after China moved to curb lending. The yen dropped after Japan’s new finance minister said he would welcome a weaker currency.
ArcelorMittal’s open offer to acquire a 29.39 percent stake in Uttam Galva Steels will begin on December 19. The open offer will close on January 7, SBI Capital Markets said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) is targetting a turnover of Rs 1,050 crore in the current fiscal. Last fiscal, NHDC had registered a turnover of over Rs 829 crore despite the economic slowdown in the national and international markets.
Leading car makers are considering to raise prices of their vehicles across the board, if the government withdraws the excise duty benefit in the coming Budget. The benefit was given as part of a stimulus package in December 2008, following the onset of the global economic meltdown.
Noting that there was no barrier that "we cannot overcome", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India could compete with the best in the world given the country harness all the talent that exists.
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.
Digital imaging equipment maker Nikon plans to go "aggressive" with its marketing campaigns as it looks to take on rivals like Canon and Sony for brand visibility and gain better growth momentum in the country.
You are doing it for BSNL, it notes.
Subir Roy / New Delhi January 8, 2010, 0:42 IST
Since the foreign partner isn’t buying equity in JSW Steel, there’s no reason for a re-rating.
Expressing concern over the rising food prices, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today said its move to ask banks to keep more cash with it was a carefully weighed decision to strike a balance between growth and inflation as it will not put an immediate pressure on interest rates.
Terrorist attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and consistently exploiting India’s gaping security loopholes — both on terra firma and in cyberspace. AK-47s and M-series weapons apart, the attack on India’s financial capital Mumbai revealed that militants not only use emails and exploit wireless technologies but also use satellite phones (satphones) and Global Positioning System (GPS) maps to chart their entry and escape routes.
Courts cannot review the evidence and documents already examined by arbitrators.
State-owned BSNL today justified the disqualification of Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) from the mega 93-million GSM line expansion, saying the Finnish company did not provide specification with regard to subscriber information (known as Home Location Register) as per the PSU’s requirement.
Disinvestment is a buzzword now. Economic Survey 2009 indicates that the central government would mobilise Rs 25,000 crore from disinvestment of its holdings in state-owned enterprises (or public sector enterprises). The target is abysmally low (at Rs 1,120 crore) in the budget 2009-10 presented by the Finance Minister. We may assume that the target is Rs 25,000 crore for the year 2009-10. The government is committed to disinvestment, although some of its coalition partners and trade unions are against it. There-fore, although there is no debate on the issue within the lead coalition partner, there are some questions that remain unanswered.
Facebook lovers, here is another survey showing how employee productivity is robbed at workplaces. So put a limit on its usage before employers and the bosses put a stop on its usage at work.
The United States today said it is open to bilateral talks with North Korea if Pyongyang takes some concrete steps to fulfill its commitments.
Agreements between former President Bill Clinton"s foundation and two drug companies will lower prices on medications for patients with drug-resistant HIV in the developing world.
Despite lower revenue projections this financial year, Pune-based manufacturing solutions provider KPIT Cummins Infosystems has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire US-based SAP specialist Sparta Consultant for Rs 180 crore.
With India having reservations on putting a cap on emissions, the United States today said it is willing to have discussions on climate change rather than dictating terms.
After a gap of almost two months, inflation dipped marginally to 0.7 per cent but there is no respite for people as prices of items of common consumption like potato and vegetables continue to rule high.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today announced the launch of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) that aims at training about 500 million people by 2022 to meet the growing demand for skilled workforce in the country.
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.
A new draft bill to replace the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation Act, 1957, would be placed before the Cabinet soon, a senior government official said here today.
Drops 177 press notes in draft FDI policy.
US-based auto component maker Arvin Meritor today said it has opened its first technical centre in India and would be recruiting 100 engineers for the facility as part of its efforts to improve product development.
German auto major Volkswagen today said it will offer package options to customers of its soon-to-be launched small car Polo, which will include features like accessories, safety and sports, and entertainment systems.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wants the Income Tax forms to be simple so that a taxpayer can understand his liability without consulting experts or chartered accountants.
The government is likely to miss the April 1 deadline to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and a decision on a fresh date is expected tomorrow.
As the scheduled date for introduction of new tax regime GST draws closer, states will meet here tomorrow to discuss the fine contours of the proposed system.
The bank has been functioning with 3 directors.
Union Bank is on a restructuring drive to become the country’s top nationalised bank.
Government-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has halved the penalty for premature withdrawal of deposits – a move aimed at attracting more depositors at a time when the medium-term outlook on interest rates is uncertain.
The country’s second-largest public sector lender, Punjab National Bank (PNB), has bet big on rural customers in the Indo-Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Keeping in sync with its target, the bank unveiled its plans to open 100,000 biometric Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in rural areas by the year 2013 for providing easy access to the illiterate and semi-literate customers.
IT infrastructure provider Birla Shloka Edutech today said it has fixed the price band of it follow-on-public offer between Rs 45 and Rs 50.
Long delays in environment and forest clearances are turning out to be a major hindrance to implementation of various development projects.
As a political backlash erupted in Andhra Pradesh over the decision to put Telangana on the backburner, the Centre was today said to be considering setting up a States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) amidst pressure mounted by pro-Telangana leaders.
The government today said credit growth from banks has slowed down to 9.8 per cent till November 6 in the current fiscal against 27.7 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago.
The bank extends 8% home loan scheme till March.
Agitation hits livestock delivery to other places
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.
Cash iron ore prices may fall to about $70 a tonne in the “near term” as China, the world’s biggest buyer, cuts purchases, said Rana Som, chairman of NMDC, India’s top producer of the steel making material.
*What was founded by Darbari Seth of Tata Chemicals in 1974 to find solutions to energy efficiency?
The market is likely to be volatile on the last day of the expiry of the December series as rollovers in index and stocks futures on the penultimate day were substantially lower than the same time last month.
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.
Paving way for its disinvestment, the country"s largest coal miner, Coal India, will soon become a "Public Ltd" company from a private one at present.
The prospect of a revival of the disinvestment agenda has prompted bureaucrats in the power ministry to revive plans for utilities to raise money from the markets, so that the government gains the opportunity to sell its shares.
Italian car maker Fiat is going to hike the prices of the Linea sedan and Grande Punto hatchback by Rs 15,000-25,000 from January on the back of rising input costs, according to a statement released today.
With the launch of utility vehicle Grande MK II, an upgraded version of its premium Sumo Grande, Tata Motors is looking to increase its market share by 2-3 per cent in the utility segment. Utility segment at present constitutes 17-18 per cent of the total car market in the country.
Environmental think tank Teri wants to commercialise its technologies. Here’s how.
Some aspects of global warming may not be entirely understood and data may be sparse, but scientists do not dispute that global temperature has increased, especially since 1950, as pointed out in the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Indian matrimonial website says its competitors’ ads cannot be shown.
In the face of alleged multi- crore rupee kickback, which is being probed by CBI, the government is considering cancelling power PSU NTPC’s Rs 2,000-crore contract with a Russian equipment firm.
To encourage sales of tractors abroad, the government has announced a four per cent duty incentive on export of the vehicle.