Public Relations
The Uttar Pradesh sugar industry, the largest in the country, may engage Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in talks for resolving the cane price impasse, which is delaying the full fledged crushing in the state.
Pharma company Ranbaxy Laboratories today said it will launch a generic version of the urinary disorder treatment drug-- Flomax, next year.
Move comes within months of acquiring Wockhardt hospitals.
Ashok Leyland is working on a new bus platform, which “will offer a higher level of comfort and safety in public transportation”, says R Seshasayee, managing director. Its portfolio includes high-floor buses comprising the Viking & Cheetah series, vestibule and double-decker buses, semi-low-floor buses, and airport transfer air-conditioned coaches. Seshasayee was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the company’s U-Truck series.
Going by the performance so far, Maruti seems to be on track to achieve sales of 1 million vehicles in 2009-10.
Assurances from governments that stimulus packages around the world would continue and China"s strong industrial production numbers were welcomed by the markets. Indian government"s thrust on disinvestment also lifted market sentiments as proceeds may be used to reduce fiscal deficit that is expected at 6.8 per cent of GDP for this fiscal.
Over the next month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to review the performance of his ministerial colleagues in their first six months in office. This review exercise could be a precursor to a Cabinet reshuffle, the first since the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government entered its second term in office.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren is set to become the chief minister of Jharkhand with the support of the Bhartiya Janta Party(BJP) and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).
The ruling Congress party will hold a meeting of its MPs and MLAs on December 29 to decide on its participation in the joint action committee (JAC) floated to lead the agitation for a separate Telangana statehood.
*Name the person and the name he gave to the theoretical proto-hypertext computer system he proposed in 1945. This has been referred to as the vision behind search engines.
The Rs 1,000 crore heath city project coming up in Bardhaman, a Tier II city about 150 kilometres north of Kolkata, is expected to generate direct and indirect employment of over 9,400 people when fully operational besides promoting health tourism in the state.
Pureit and Acquasure are fighting hard for leadership in the entry-level market.
Following fare reduction by Jet Airways, national flag carrier Air India has cut fares by 20-46 per cent on certain flights on select domestic routes for travel up to September 18.
Jet Airways seeks DGCA"s intervention as 350 pilots report sick in Mumbai.
DTH player Dish TV today unveiled a new brand logo and TV commercials featuring brand ambassador Shahrukh Khan as part of its Rs 30-crore brand restructuring plan.
India Infoline Investment Services today said that its Board of Directors has approved the appointment of M N Singh and A K Purwar as independent Directors on the Board of the company.
Railway stocks are on a roll on hopes of revival of dedicated railway freight corridor. Kalindee Rail Nirman, Titagarh Wagons, Texmaco, Hind Rectifiers, Kernax Microsystems and Stone India rose 5-20 per cent.
Demand from mutual funds (MFs) continued to fall today as the rates on short-term money market instruments stayed low, dealers said.
Markets slipped today on investor"s worries that the recent rally can be cut short soon. Better-than-expected results from IT giant, Infosys, also could not cheer up the market.
The rupee is expected to appreciate in the near future, a leading mutual fund industry official said.
Markets have erased all its gains and slipped into the red.
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 899.75 crore in futures and options segments on Thursday.
On the back of robust economic growth at about 8 per cent in the second quarter of the fiscal, the Prime Minister"s economic panel today said the economy is likely to grow by 7 per cent in the current fiscal.
The Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the commodity futures markets regulator, has warned exchange members not to accept trade request from clients whose account witnessed no trade since the past six months.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has made it mandatory for insurance companies to disclose the remuneration of independent directors as part of its steps towards improving corporate governance.
With the greenback making gains, there is short term pressure on the yellow metal
The markets ended the last day on a high note. Erasing the previous day"s losses and shrugging off the spike in food inflation, the Sensex gained 120 points to end at 17,464 and the Nifty conquered the 5200 barrier to close at 5208, higher by 39 points. Power, consumer goods and energy stocks powered the indices.
Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,478 - up 134 points.
Tatas is planning to introduce its small car Nano in Latin America in partnership with Italian auto maker Fiat.
The Income Tax (I-T) Department has claimed Rs 30,000 crore from companies that have violated provisions under the minimum alternate tax (MAT).
The new rules on perks make it better to use the company car than to get usage reimbursed.
Income-tax arrears against assessees — of Rs 2,01,276 crore as on March 31, 2009 — have once again become an issue, as Parliament’s standing committee on finance has asked the Department of Revenue and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to put in place a Management Information System (MIS) within three months for collating and retrieving data concerning appeals, pendency disposal and recovery.
Hit by a drop in corporate tax revenues, direct tax collections rose marginally to Rs 20,822 crore in October, compared with Rs 19,708 crore in the corresponding month last year.
Never mind “best of” lists, here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the year in music.
ICICI Merchant Services, the newly-formed joint venture (JV) between ICICI Bank and First Data Corporation (FDC), plans to expand its Point-of-sale (PoS) terminal network to 500,000 over the next five years, according to a senior FDC executive.
With sanctioned credit lines going abegging, banks take corrective action.
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), which recently increased the corpus of its Tribal Development Fund (TDF) to Rs 600 crore, has launched six projects for the integrated development of tribals in Karnataka.
CIT Group, one of the largest small-business lenders in the United States, has filed for bankruptcy, with its board approving a "prepackaged" restructuring plan to shed $10 billion in debt.
Owing to the weak global economy, Royal Dutch Shell reported a sharp drop in third-quarter earnings and production on Thursday and said it would downsize by 5,000 jobs.
India Inc is expected to witness a salary hike of 8 per cent, one of the highest pay increases in the Asia Pacific region, in 2010 riding on the country"s improved economic performance, said a survey.
The West Bengal government has earmarked 30,000 acres for industrial projects (around 7,000 acres has been allocated, the rest is at different stages of acquisition), but even as it faces one of the most violent battles for land rights, figures for displacement or project-affected persons are yet to be aggregated.
US food major Kraft Foods has reported a 39.5 per cent drop in the third quarter net earnings at $824 million, but said it remains interested in acquiring British confectionery firm Cadbury.
UK’s Takeover Panel today asked US confectioner Kraft Foods Inc to make its final offer (popularly known as “put-up or shut-up”) to take over Cadbury Plc by November 9, or announce that it does not intend to make any fresh offer at all.
Investigators probing the radiation contamination of a drinking water cooler unit in Kaiga atomic plant in Karnataka have zeroed in on five employees from whose department the heavy water could have been smuggled out.
An Air India enquiry committee has chargesheeted airhostess Komal Singh, who had levelled molestation charges against two pilots of the airlines, for "violating the conduct rule".
Four Wall Street lobbyists and about a dozen lawmakers huddled over eggs and bacon at Tortilla Coast restaurant on Capitol Hill on December 2 to discuss legislation aimed at strengthening bank regulation.
Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today ruled out inspection of financial accounts of Reliance Communications (RCom), which is under attack for alleged understating revenues and evading licence fee payment, unless the DoT asks the Ministry to do so.
General Motors is planning to start the repayment of a $6.7 billion loan it received from the US government later this year, says a media report.
Former President Bill Clinton did not carry any message on behalf of US Government to the North Korean regime, the Obama Administration clarified today.
Mercedes-Benz is planning to launch over-dimensional-cargo (ODC) vehicles and long-haulage trucks that can carry up to 240 tonnes in India soon.
Mercedes-Benz Japan Co, an arm of Daimler AG of Germany, released the S-Class hybrid sedan today, becoming the first foreign automaker to roll out an electric-gasoline model in the Japanese market.
The country"s leading public sector general insurance player, Oriental Insurance Company, is seeking insurance regulator Irda"s approval to open an office in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.
The stock extended gains and touched a high of 1,517 - up 2%. The stock finally ended with a gain of 1% at Rs 1,506. Over 26,830 shares were traded on the BSE today.
The Sensex opened in the green at the day"s high of 17,230 on the back of strong cues from US markets. However, subdued cues from the Asian markets has led the index into the red to a low of 17,111 - down 119 points from the day"s high.
Diversified conglomerate Siemens today said its energy unit has bagged an order worth Rs 608 crore from Qatar"s General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) for constructing high voltage cables.
Rajiv Shirali / New Delhi November 8, 2009, 0:17 IST
Toyota Motor said today that global sales of its hybrid vehicles had topped the two-million mark since their launch in 1997, led by the Prius — Japan"s top-selling car for the past four months.
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.
As the government wants to make accreditation mandatory for all institutions, the IITs have said they would like to be accredited by a statutory body and not by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).
The government today approved the policy for Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) operators, a technology that will provide digitised cable content to viewers across the country. The guidelines are not binding on the cable operators or the subscribers and they can continue with the existing analogue system.
Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank (CUB) is planning to raise Rs 300 crore through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route.
Oil crept higher today after OPEC maintained its output quotas at existing levels, analysts said.
Finance Ministers of the world"s 20 most powerful countries in their two-day meet starting today are slated to discuss reforms to tackle black money and money laundering.
Vanita Kohli-Khandekar / New Delhi November 24, 2009, 0:18 IST
Development Credit Bank (DCB) today said it will raise funds up to Rs 100 crore by way of private placement of shares with potential buyers.
Vijay Mallya-promoted United Spirits is focusing on football as platform for promoting McDowell"s Celebration rum.
Kolkata-based FMCG major Emami is scouting for acquisitions in the domestic and overseas markets and says it can spend up to Rs 800 crore on this.
In what could be termed as a victory for home grown FMCG player Emami, the Kolkata Civil Court has restrained Hindustan Unilever (HUL) from running a campaign using the word "Boro" in its advertisement for Vaseline.
IT and ITeS being a knowledge industry does not discriminate in recruiting employees and the hiring is done on the basis of merit and competency, the Government today said in the Rajya Sabha.
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.
Teaser and step-up home loans may look similar in the beginning, but they work out differently in the later years
Infosys ended at Rs 2,454, higher by Rs 10 or 0.4%, on the BSE.
HCL Technologies closed at Rs 355, higher by Rs 6 or 1%, on the BSE. It opened at Rs 350 and touched a high of Rs 357 and a low of Rs 349 during the day. The stock saw trading volumes of 517,850 shares as against the 2-week average of 172,036 shares.
ACC, the country"s largest cement manufacturer, today said it would invest Rs 1,400 crore next year to expand its production capacity to 30 million tonnes by 2010-end and would raise Rs 300 crore to retire some of its long-term debt.
While robust demand and availability of credit has boosted auto volumes in recent months, higher interest rates and reversal of excise duty cuts may play spoilsport.
A V Rajwade / New Delhi November 2, 2009, 0:32 IST
The Indian rupee strengthened by another 30 paise to trade at one-year high of 46.36 a dollar in opening trade today, extending its rally for the fifth straight session, as corporates and exporters continued to sell dollars.
Oil/dollars: Oil and the US dollar used to go together almost as naturally as gold and greed. Times change.
Bajaj Auto, India’s second largest bike maker, today posted a growth of 84 per cent in motorcycle sales in November at 242,390 units, against a dismal tally of 131,681 units recorded in the same month a year ago.
Asian economies must handle their monetary and currency policies carefully to avoid unleashing a wave of potentially destabilising inflation, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said today. The US and European economies, which are barely starting to recover from the global meltdown, are less at risk, but in Asia, the massive liquidity flowing into regional markets could push asset prices up dangerously high, Zoellick said.
Investments worth Rs 700,000 crore will get commissioned in 2010-11, 55 per cent more than those in the current year.
Financial services firm Barclays is set to award its 22,000 investment bankers pay rise of up to 150 per cent in an effort to beat government moves to clamp down on multi-million-pound bonuses, says a media report.
G20 finance ministers meet here tomorrow to chart the next steps out of the global economic crisis, with calls to curb bankers" bonuses as part of beefed-up financial market rules topping the agenda.
Despite the ongoing global economic crisis, people worldwide will spend more this year on consumer electronics, IT and telecom and are expected to take the total market size to $706 billion, according to a survey.
To cash in on the rise in demand for its products, JSW Steel plans to hike the annual capacity of its mills in the US to 30 per cent by the end of the current fiscal.
Indian Railways will be paying a higher dividend of Rs 5,479 crore during the current fiscal despite over Rs 3,000 crore dip in cash surplus on account of higher wage bill following implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission award.
Vandana / Mumbai December 2, 2009, 1:24 IST
Cigarette to hotel major ITC today said it is open to demerger of its business verticals into separate entities if needed as they grow in size.
After a breather, private sector banks are again catching up with their public sector counterparts in auto finance as car sales zoom.
Fifty-one days after the death of former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), his son and a Member of Parliament from Kadapa, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, broke his silence on his future role in the state politics.
The Reserve Bank of India has adopted a business correspondence model, acting as an agent of a commercial bank, to provide banking services to the people of remote areas where there is no banking outlet.
The Kerala High Court today held as legal, the sale of about 70 acres of land by public sector HMT to Mumbai based Blue Star Realtors,a subsidiary of the Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), to set up a Rs 4,000 crore cyber city project in Kochi.
With seven of the 16 initial public offers (IPOs) launched this year trading below their issue prices, 2009 has been a mixed year for primary market investors.
Economists, bankers, however, think CRR likely to go up 25 per cent
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs 171.16 crore (provisional) today, according to data released by BSE.
Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank today reported 86.22 per cent rise in its net profit at 299.76 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009, over the same period last year.
In a surprise move, state-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) has cancelled the equipment purchase order given to Chinese company Huawei saying the conditions imposed by the vendor are not acceptable, leaving the fate of Rs 32,000-crore capacity addition programme in limbo.
Control on operating expenses and growth in margins and other income helped Bank of Baroda (BoB) post a 60.4 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 634.18 crore for the second quarter ended September 2009. Its net profit in July-September 2008 was Rs 395.29 crore.
The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 1,594.16crore in futures and options segments on Tuesday.
The Finance Ministry today said the RBI"s move to retain almost all key rates unchanged will give a positive signal to the economy, which is on the path of recovery.
FMCG company Jyothy Laboratories today said its net profit surged by nearly three-fold to Rs 14.11 crore for the quarter ended September 30 against the same period last fiscal.
Business Standard / New Delhi January 08, 2010, 0:53 IST
Flooded with requests from candidates qualifying the NIFT entrance examination for change in the centres, the Textile Ministry has asked the prestigious apparel design and production training centre to change its admission policy.
In the turf war between the CPI(M) and its arch rival Trinamool Congress, veteran Congressman and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has found new prominence.
Mangalore-based public sector lender, Corporation Bank, today reported 41.75 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 261.25 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009 compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Its operating profit for the quarter went up by 77.96 per cent year-on-year to Rs 571.24 crore.
Dishman Arabia, the 50:50 joint venture between Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals and Saudi Arabia based Takamul, is bullish on touching a turnover of $50 million within two years of commencement of production at its JV plant in Riyadh.
Broking firm Kotak Institutional Equities today revised upwards the growth estimate of Indian economy at 7.5 per cent for the current fiscal on the back of increased economic activities and turnaround in industrial production growth.
Wind power major Suzlon Energy today said financial services major Indiabulls Financial Services has reduced stake in the company to 0.6 per cent, by way of releasing pledged shares.
New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) A person seeking global trade mark now need not apply for it in several countries incurring a big cost, as Lok Sabha today amended the trade mark law to simplify the procedures.
UCO Bank has recorded 22.05 per cent growth in advances and 19.77 growth in deposits for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.
After hitting a 13-month high in October, external commercial borrowings (ECBs) and foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) issued by Indian companies dipped slightly to $2.35 billion.
Less than a week after deflecting calls for his resignation, Timothy Geithner sold bonds on behalf of US taxpayers at the lowest yields on record in a show of confidence in the Treasury Secretary’s policies.
Financial services firm Wells Fargo & Company has said it will repay bailout funds worth $25 billion to the US government.
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.
Investors got the upper hand in 2009, while fund houses struggled to cope with regulatory changes and upheavals in the economy, even as the industry shrugged off recession blues with its assets hitting an all time high of Rs 8 lakh crore.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $144 million for the week ended December 25, 2009, mainly due to revaluation of currencies. The rupee ended the week at Rs 46.65 to the dollar as against Rs 46.73 at the end of the preceding week.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) was actively considering allowing repurchase agreements (repo) in corporate bonds to increase liquidity and volumes in the market, Prashant Saran, whole-time member of Sebi, said.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stepped in this evening to soothe market sentiments after the government’s intention to borrow over Rs 4,00,000 crore during the current financial year pushed up bond yields.
As investors get ready for Christmas celebrations, domestic bourses will not have much to cheer about and is likely to see subdued trading this week, feel analysts.
Domestic companies are expected to embark on a mega fund raising spree this year with plans to raise over Rs 50,000 crore by way of public offers, driven by the sharp recovery in the stock market.
German lender Deutsche Bank today reported third quarter profit of 1.4 billion euro, which has nearly tripled from that of the year-ago period supported by tax benefits and rise in revenues.
British banking major Standard Chartered today said its proposed local listing would enhance its commitment to Indian market.
Nine years after it exited the business, Premier Auto is making a comeback in passenger cars. The Doshi family, promoters of one of India’s oldest car companies, known for the once-ubiquitious Premier Padmini, are set to launch a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV).
CEO seeks changes in regulatory regime
Based on the recommendation of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the government has deferred a decision the proposals of Analjit Singh and Asim Ghosh to part-sell their minority stakes in Vodafone Essar.
Bhupesh Bhandari / New Delhi October 23, 2009, 0:21 IST
Realty developer Godrej Properties will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on January 5.
Godrej Properties today fixed the issue price for its initial public offer at Rs 490 a share at the lower-end of the price band, to garner over Rs 460 crore.
Asserting that it has positive cash-flow position, debt-ridden Dubai World"s subsidiary DP World, which operates container terminals in the country, today said the debt crisis would have no impact on India operations.
DP World, a regional branch of the crisis-hit UAE investment company Dubai World, celebrated the 38th National Day of the country here, ignoring the hoopla over its parent company"s debt default issue.
Individual tax payers will save only Rs 1,000 more a year following the government raising the tax exemption threshold by Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,60,000, whereas the benefit for senior citizens (65 years and above) will be higher at Rs 1,500.
With the new UPA Government expected to give a push to economic reforms, LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL) hopes the Centre would resolve some pending issues to enable it to launch long-awaited reverse mortgage scheme for senior citizens.
Net interest income growth still remains subdued.
Business Standard / New Delhi October 27, 2009, 0:46 IST
Average participation in the last 12 offers was just 2.39 times
Abhineet Kumar & Sidhartha / Mumbai December 23, 2009, 0:36 IST
JSW Energy’s track record and high revenue visibility are some clear positives, but the IPO leaves little to gain from in the short-term.
Sebi should change the way issues are graded, say experts.
Disinvestment ball starts rolling: 15 companies shortlisted.
The government today said no headway has been made regarding the disinvestment of state-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).
Business Standard / New Delhi November 11, 2009, 0:19 IST
State-run Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) today said it has received approval from the Power Ministry approval for its proposed follow-on public offer (FPO).
Overseas funds bought a net Rs 994 crore ($213 million) of Indian equities yesterday, taking their investments in stocks this year to Rs 77,410 crore, the nation’s market regulator said today.
The Company Law Board (CLB) today allowed Satyam Computer (now Mahindra Satyam) to finalise accounts for 2008-2009 and also adjust past irregularities.
The stars are in their 40s or more, playing roles unsuitable to their age. A new generation of actors waits in the wings.
Apparel maker and retailer Provogue India is in talks with fast moving consumer goods companies (FMCG) to form a joint venture to distribute its bodycare products across the country, a top company official said.
The National Stock Exchange Nifty closed above the 5,000 mark for the first time in 16 months on Thursday after second-quarter advance corporation and personal income tax collections registered positive growth.
The Sensex has finally ended (provisional) at 16,789 - down 169 points. The Nifty ended provisionally down 45 points at 4,982.
The stock ended with a marginal gain of 2% at Rs 417. It has added 11% in the past month. Over 1.20 million shares were traded on the BSE today.
Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Energy may go for an Initial Public Offer (IPO) to raise funds for its ambitious plans to step up power generation capacity to 12,000 Mw from the present 800 Mw.
The initial public offer (IPO) of Adani Power, which closed today, got subscribed over 14 times with most of the bids coming in from institutional investors.
Aditya Birla Retail, the country"s second-biggest supermarket operator, is considering an initial public offer (IPO) and will time it as soon as the company starts spinning profits.
An investor with a wide exposure to small caps can beat the Nifty.
A couple of real estate initial public offers (IPOs) may falter from around 15 lined up over the next few months if the issues are not reasonably priced, a realty consultant said.
India may go beyond the purchase of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft.
Hindalco Industries, the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, today said it has received approval from its shareholders for raising funds up to Rs 2,900 crore through issuing securities.
It is the first overseas acquisition by an Indian sugar company.
Not since the dark decade of the 1990s, when the Indian Air Force crashed 177 aircraft — losing 54 young pilots and some Rs 1,000 crore worth of equipment — has the air force faced such a pilot training crisis. The long-delayed Hawk trainers, which began arriving in India in 2007, have improved advanced training for IAF flyers. But the crucial introduction to flying, conducted in antiquated HPT-32 Deepak and HJT-16 Kiran aircraft, is taking a growing toll on pilots’ lives.