International Business
The Telangana agitation over the Centre’s decision to create a new state in the region has forced several companies, including Bharat Forge, the Lakshmi Mittal Group and the NTPC-BHEL joint venture, to either put their expansion plans on hold or explore other states.
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.
Oil marketing companies (OMCs) are increasingly going in for debentures and commercial papers for meeting their short-term credit requirements. The largest petroleum marketer, Indian Oil Corporation, has raised around Rs 5,000 crore and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has raised Rs 2,000 crore through sale of commercial papers (CPs) over the past two months. Bharat Petroleum Corporation recently raised Rs 1,000 crore through debentures.
The eight team owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are all set to lock horns with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by refusing to pay their next instalment of the franchisee fee which is due in January 2009.
Entertainment and Sports Direct (ESD) today bagged the theatrical rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches for the next 10 years which cost them Rs 330 crore.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has extended Sahara"s contract for another six months as the Indian team’s sponsor for the same price the company had paid earlier. Sahara had paid around Rs 1.9 crore per test match and one-day international (ODI), while it will pay Rs 1.5 crore for T20 matches.
Hyderabad-based drug maker Natco Pharma Limited will be releasing into the market over 1 million doses (10 million tablets) of Natflu, its medicine for treatment of swine flu, by the end of next month.
The Delhi Government today allowed retail sale of Tamiflu, the only drug to treat swine flu, from authorised chemist outlets in the capital.
The Nifty has a strong support at the 5,000 mark.
Markets opened weak this morning following cues from the Asian markets. The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) move against Reliance also dampened the sentiment. The stock slipped below the Rs 1,000-mark in early trades.
A study conducted by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has said that it is time for the premier B-school to study from the Indian diamond industry, lessons "of its rise, recession and recovery".
The CBI has charged Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju, his brother B Rama Raju and eight others with creating fictitious customers and siphoning off Rs 430 crores from the IT firm.
In contrast to official optimism about recovery in India"s global shipments after September this year, financial services major Citi has estimated 10 per cent contraction in the country"s exports in the current fiscal.
The domestic stainless steel industry has demanded removal of value cap on exports of the alloy with an aim to increase shipments which were hit hard by the global economic crisis.
After two weeks of tough negotiations, the five permanent members of the Security Council have agreed on a draft resolution to impose tough new sanctions against North Korea for its second nuclear test, diplomats said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the country"s economy is even now capable of growing by 8-9 per cent, the same rate as it did before the global financial meltdown set in.
Progress on infrastructure, real estate and power projects will determine value creation in the long run.
The Indian Air Force today began the flight evaluation and performance trials for the six foreign defence firms which are in race to bag an estimated $10 billion order for 126 Medium Multi Range Combat Aircraft.
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi May 20, 2009, 0:11 IST
I am investing Rs 2,000 via SIPs in ICICI Infrastructure, Reliance Regular Savings Equity and Reliance Diversified Power Sector fund for the past 18 months. I want to continue investing in them for the next 10 years. Are these schemes good for the long term? I intend to invest another Rs 5,000 through SIPs. Please suggest whether I should increase the amount in the existing schemes or go for HDFC Top 200 and IDFC Premier Equity Plan A. I can take reasonable risk.
The prodigal son who returns but may not stay, the troubled, dying salesman on the road with his young son, negotiating with the censor to write a love story in Iran, depressurising in Ladakh: a to-read list for today.
In line with its plans to bring synergies in operation and to improve cost efficiency, FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products is consolidating three of its businesses, including its joint ventures and the process is going to be completed in the next two-three months.
Dancer Prathibha Prahlad bridges worlds, and makes us a lasagna.
Russia, the country"s longtime and largest defence partner, appears to be miffed over India working towards sewing up a defence pact with Ukraine.
Hoping to bag environmental clearance by this month end, Gopalpur Ports Ltd (GPL) is confident of converting the minor port in south Orissa into an all weather deep water one within 24 months, two years ahead of the stipulated timeframe.
Tightening her grip over the succession squabble in Andhra Pradesh after the sudden death of chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has summoned K V P Ramachandra Rao, the late chief minister’s biggest acolyte, for a meeting on Tuesday at her residence in the national capital.
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to order a CBI inquiry into the helicopter crash in which former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and four others died.
PROFILE
Former US President Bill Clinton would be leading a trade delegation to Haiti in October, in his capacity as the UN Special Envoy for Haiti.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) is scheduled this evening to make an apparent bid to find a way out in the wake of the crisis triggered by the decision to carve out a separate Telangana.
The Centre today sought to downplay the growing momentum for carving out of small states in some regions after the decision on Telangana and said cooperation of (undivided) states and political parties is needed in addressing such demands.
The Chennai Port Trust is planning to award the construction of its Rs 3,686-crore mega container terminal by March 2010. The proposed terminal will have a capacity of five million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) per annum.
The stock gained 3.2 per cent to Rs 253.80 after the company announced that it entered a joint venture agreement with NTPC, Power Grid Corporation of India and Rural Electrification Corporation for formation of a public limited company.
Entertainment firm Pyramid Saimira Theatre today said it will demerge two of its subsidiaries — Pyramid Saimira Content Distribution and Pyramid Saimira Production International — from itself.
Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair has decried the tendency to prefer imported foreign systems, though they underperform vis-a-vis indigenous technologies and said global companies are setting up R&D units to “exploit” the vast talent pool in the country.
Pyramid Saimira today said N Narayanan has been appointed as Chairman on board of the firm.
After yesterday"s massive 520 points rally, the Sensex today opened on a flat note. It slipped into the negative zone for a while and touched a low of 14,078.
After yesterday"s massive 520 points rally, the Sensex today opened on a flat note. It slipped into the negative for a while and touched a low of 14,078.
Software major Wipro today accepted a 50-acre plot at Rajarhat near here for its second campus, two months after Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee stepped in to assure alternative land after scrapping the controversial Kolkata Links IT Township project.
The government may extend the tax holiday for software exporters beyond March 2010, in the Budget tomorrow.
The Uttar Pradesh government is keen on having an Information Technology/IT Enabled Services (IT/ITeS) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Lucknow to give a major boost to the sector.
The markets are likely to open on a flat note amid mixed cues from the global markets.
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group (SAIC) and General Motors, US, today announced the formation of a 50:50 joint venture exclusively to cater to the Indian market and to South East Asian countries. The new company will be called General Motors SAIC Investment Ltd (GMSIL) and will be based in Hong Kong.
Will spend $58 million to acquire McCamish Systems
The pilot run for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), headed by Nandan Nilekani, could cover nearly 60-70 per cent of citizens in Karnataka within a period of one year post commencement. Karnataka would be the first state to come under the UID project that seeks to issue a unique ID number for each citizen.
Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto today said it is eyeing 1 million sales a year from the Pulsar brand in the next fiscal with the launch of the Pulsar 135 LS.
Showing the rift in the Hamara Bajaj-famed two wheeler giant Bajaj Auto, group Chairman Rahul Bajaj today differed with his son and Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj"s decision to exit production of scooters saying he was not only not convinced but was "hurt" by it.
Home appliances manufacturer, Whirlpool India is looking to strengthen its position in the air-conditioner segment and plans to launch smart and affordable range of cooling solutions by February next year, a senior company official said.
Construction firm Unity Infraprojects today said its joint venture with IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects has bagged an order worth Rs 1,145.88 crore from Municipal Corporation of Mumbai.
Mumbai-based Unity Infrastructure posted a 22 per cent jump in its profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 18.75 crore for the September quarter of financial year 2010 as compared to Rs 15.4 crore it posted in the second quarter of last financial year.
Four public sector giants -- Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Indian Oil Corp and NTPC -- are likely to get in next ten days the coveted Maharatna status, which will empower the PSUs with greater autonomy, a top government official said today.
Artist Anita Chauhan cooks as well as she paints.
Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani has decided to take a big pay cut. His pay for 2008-09 has come down by 66 per cent, or nearly two-thirds, to Rs 15 crore from Rs 44 crore in the previous year.
State-run Bharat Heavy Electrical (BHEL) today said it has set up a new transformer manufacturing facility at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi has opposed the induction of big powers into the UN Security Council (UNSC), saying such a move would further tilt the balance of power.
Prioritising its various communication modules like films, Press Information Services, electronic media monitoring centre and visual publicity, a 34.4 per cent increase was today effected in the allocation for information and publicity wing of the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting in the Union Budget.
Beijing has threatened to ban import of seafood and other food products from India if New Delhi continues to restrict import of milk products from China, the government informed the Lok Sabha today.
A significant change is happening in the country’s Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). Two years after the government proposed upgrading 1,397 ITIs into Centres of Excellence in specific trades and skills under private-public partnership, Corporate India is warming to the idea.
The Centre today said state governments have been asked to prepare the local level adaptation action plans on climate change consistent with the objectives of the National Action Plan on Climate Change.
The Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), part of Vedanta Resources, has not violated any forest and environment norms at its alumina refinery and bauxite mining site in Kalahandi district of Orissa, according to a report of the state government.
ADAG will provide help in production and distribution in India.
Government today renamed its flagship rural job guarantee programme - National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) - after Mahatma Gandhi.
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.
ICICI Bank today said it has raised $750-million (around Rs 3,465 crore) by issuing five-year bonds at its Bahrain branch.
Subir Roy / New Delhi January 6, 2010, 0:11 IST
The Nifty futures moved in a narrow band and closed higher at 5,239 on poor volumes in both cash and derivates segments. The trading volume in Nifty January futures declined to 11.86 million shares from around 42 million shares on the first day of the December series. It is difficult to predict the market movement in the near future due to extremely poor volumes. However, the intra-day trading pattern in Nifty futures and options suggested that traders booked profits while bears built short positions at higher levels.
Ready to assist in annuity-based BOT projects.
India and Russia are expected to sign a number of key agreements during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh"s December 6-8 visit here, including those on extension of the long-term defence cooperation programme beyond 2010 and construction of four more nuclear reactors at Kudankulam.
Indian conglomerate Tata Group has rejected a 10 million pound British government loan, which was supposed to be used for developing an electric version of one of its existing models, says a media report.
Global commodities experienced a steep fall today, as investors and hedge funds across regions unwound their long positions after the news of Dubai’s debt crisis. Most commodities were down today between three and five per cent as the dollar strengthened. In late afternoon trade, however, prices recovered.
The government has no immediate plans to import rice as it has enough stocks to manage the demand, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
To buy from Thailand, Vietnam; not to import wheat as it has surplus stock.
Déjà vu for the US giant, as queries land at the eleventh hour.
Global technology and consultancy giant Accenture today said it is going to add around 8,000 people in India by the end of next year taking its total employee base in the country to 50,000.
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!”
Poor Farrah Fawcett. At the peak of her stardom in the late 1970s as the most conventionally sexy of the Charlie’s Angels, her pin-ups helped a generation of young boys discover hormones they had never imagined existed. But in death, she found herself relegated to the sidelines by (as one Netizen impertinently put it) “a freakishly disfigured, putty-nosed paedophile”.
The common man can now view sharper pictures of any part of the world on their personal computer using satellite images with ISRO today unveiling "Bhuvan", its version of Google Earth.
The simplest solutions continue to escape those trying to fix our broken financial system. Consider banks’ need to have enough capital on hand to weather market storms. Instead of requiring banks to simply raise and hold more common equity—the most important kind of capital—regulators are kicking around more convoluted ideas.
In yet another attack on an Indian in Australia, a 29-year-old man was set on fire by a group of four assailants here, drawing strong condemnation from a student body which called such assaults unacceptable and asked authorities not to “dodge” the issue.
Once again coming to the rescue of American corporate, billionaire investor Warren Buffett will be buying $300 million worth Harley-Davidson bonds, which will help the bike manufacturer improve its cash position.
Deficient rains in the agrarian interiors and lack of finance availability from lending institutions, despite a mammoth relief package announced by the Centre last year, is slated to hit tractor sales, the industry says.
Advance tax collection shored up in the second quarter of the financial year indicating expectations of profit for the September quarter.
Aurobindo Pharma Limited announced that it received two approvals from Swissmedic, a Switzerland government agency for therapeutic products, for the licence of Amlodipine APL 5mg and 10 mg tablets and Melformin APL 500 mg, 850 mg and 1,000 mg tablets.
Industry in Uttar Pradesh has demanded a new industrial policy, which should comprise a judicious incentive package for attracting investment in the industrial sector.
The country"s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has allotted a total 30,158 equity shares pursuant to conversion of options under the Employees Stock Option Scheme, 2000 (ESOPS).
Essar Steel has approached the government to denotify a sector-specific Special Economic Zone developed by it in Hazira, Gujarat, as this would enable the company to sell the produce also locally.
IT infrastructure services provider Allied Digital Services today said it is planning to raise $50 million (about Rs 244 crore) through issue of securities on a preferential basis.
India hasn’t reached the stage where top professors acquire celebrity status, but it could be getting there. At an event organised by the All India Management Association, a student asked IIM Bangalore Director Pankaj Chandra for his autograph. Professor Chandra was a bit taken aback and suggested the student get autographs of important persons at the function — the student was adamant, so Chandra obliged.
Amid fears that Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation will miss the deadline, a leading consultancy firm PiceWaterHouseCoopers (PwC) has said the Centre and states are yet to reach an agreement on major issues relating to the new tax regime.
Kirtika Suneja / New Delhi November 11, 2009, 0:35 IST
UK services expanded the most in 1 1/2 years, manufacturing unexpectedly rose and home prices jumped as evidence mounts that the worst recession in a generation is easing.
The human resource development ministry has decided to keep its Budget allocation demands within the limits of what it had made in the Interim Budget, especially in the case of primary education.
In an attempt to support exporters hit by the ongoing global economic crisis, the commerce ministry has proposed to its finance counterpart to exempt income tax for a period of three years for certain labour-intensive sectors like handicrafts, leather and textiles.
Castigated by CAG for stepping away from protocol in releasing over Rs 50,000 crore meant for welfare schemes, the government is proposing electronic surveillance of flow of funds earmarked for flagship schemes.
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.
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia today said the Dubai crisis would not have any significant impact on India"s exports to the Middle East.
Last fortnight, Vancouver, British Columbia hosted the annual International Fiscal Association (IFA) Congress with over 1000 international tax experts representing large MNCs, international tax experts, academicians and tax administrators of several jurisdictions. Expectedly, the buzz centered on India’s Direct taxes code. Most participants expressed anxiety on DTC provisions impacting cross border investments, particularly on General anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) and were perplexed with a position that the Indian domestic law can override a double tax treaty (DTT).
A joint venture led by NHPC, the country’s largest hydel power producer, will develop the 1,500-Mw Tipaimukh hydropower project in the north-eastern state of Manipur.
Chandigarh Industrial Fastener Association (CIFA) has sought the implementation of Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development (MSMED) Act 2006 in letter and spirit.
Energy major Reliance Industries today said that Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) like the one it had signed for KG-D6 fields with the government should not be tampered with by anyone to maintain their credibility.
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.
The European Union has settled its decade-long anti-trust dispute with American software giant Microsoft, paving the way for consumers in Europe to have a wider choice of web browsers.
For the first time since its launch four months ago, the market share of Microsoft"s search engine Bing slipped in September while that of its rival Google rose.
Micro-blogging site Twitter is close to securing $100 million funding from about seven investors, a move which will make it a billion-dollar entity, says a media report.
The rift in the ruling BJP in Karnataka widened further today with the two Reddy brothers, who are ministers in the state cabinet, intensifying their efforts to make chief minister B S Yeddyurappa yield to their pressures.
The rift between Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his mine-owning ministerial colleagues continued as they stepped up their campaign against a new cess imposed on lorries transporting iron ore. Tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy, himself a mine owner in the ore-rich Bellary district, took the lead in holding parleys with like-minded fellow miners since yesterday to mobilise support against the Rs 1,000 cess on each lorry load of iron ore, sources close to them said here. There are 92 licenced owners of mines in the district and about 40 of them have been carrying on mining.
FMCG major Dabur has alleged that US-based firm Aveda, which manufactures and sells Ayurvedic cosmetic products, is infringing on the trademark of its skincare range.
FMCG firm Dabur India today reported a 30.7 per cent jump in consolidated net profit during the second quarter ended September to Rs 140.34 crore compared with Rs 107.41 crore in the corresponding period last year, driven by strong volume growth across key categories. Revenue was at Rs 855.06 crore compared with Rs 698.45 crore in the corresponding period last year, up 22.4 per cent, the company said in a statement.
Indian fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) players are once again on the prowl to acquire companies, as the economy picks up.
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.
The Orissa government today rejected the Opposition demand for an enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the irregularities at high level in the alleged mining scam running into hundreds of crores.
Germany-headquartered BrainLAB group, a privately held manufacturer of software-driven medical technology, is planning to form an Indian subsidiary next year to localise its growing Indian operations.
J K Lakshmi Cement will invest about Rs 1,600 crore over the next three years on expansion, which includes setting up of a 2.7 million tonnes greenfield manufacturing plant in Chhattisgarh.
Drug maker Zydus Cadila today said it has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct clinical trials for the swine flu (H1N1) vaccine.
Punjab government has approved 336 mega projects with the private investment of Rs 97.163 crore which would provide employment to more than 12 lakh persons. Disclosing this here today Manoranjan Kalia, Industry, Commerce and Local Government Minister Punjab said that four Textile Parks, Foundry and Machine tools cluster at Batala had been approved by Government of India. He said that 20 clusters for micro, small and medium enterprises were proposed to be set up in the state.
Contrary to my pessimistic mood at the year end, 2010 has been ushered in with good cheer by the announcement that all royalty payments-sectors, quantum, caps notwithstanding, will henceforth be covered by the automatic route, subject to the FEMA Current Account Transaction Rules, 2000.
PepsiCo wants to replicate Kurkure’s success with Aliva
NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources today said it will not offer more than the already announced $1.87 billion to buy bankrupt American miner Asarco but is confident that it can clinch the deal with the support of the US government and the trade unions.
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.
It treats KG gas as personal property of the brothers, says SLP.
Realty firm Parsvnath Developers today said it has received approval from the Haryana government for a township project in the state, in which the company would invest about Rs 380 crore.
In an effort to check forgeries and misuse of passports, the government is rolling out e-passports that will carry biometric information in a chip.
ICICI Bank has asked the government not to take into account overseas securities like ADR and GDR when deciding on whether a bank is Indian or foreign.
Over 500 rural sales executives of Hero Honda dealers are now busy meeting the sarpanch, the headmaster and the anganwadi workers in villages all over the country. They are also visiting potential customers at their homes, inviting them to drop in at the company’s dealerships which might be located a few kms away.
The country"s largest two-wheeler maker, Hero Honda Motors today reported a 35.88 per cent jump in its sales at 4,15,137 units in August compared to sales in the same month last year.
Dish TV has advanced nearly 2% to Rs 44. The stock has touched a high of Rs 45 and a low of Rs 43 during the day. The counter saw trades of 2.56 million shares as against its two-week average quantity of 3.8 million.
Former BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur died in Mumbai following protracted illness. Affectionately called as ‘Rajbhai’ in the cricket fraternity, the 73-year-old Dungarpur, who was president of the Cricket Board for three years in the late 1990s, was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Former BCCI President Raj Singh Dungarpur passes away.
Telecom major Airtel today said it has achieved 1 million subscribers in Sri Lanka in a record 171 days of launching services, making its subsidiary Bharti Airtel Lanka the fastest growing service provider in the Island nation.
Telecom services provider Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML) today announced a consolidated net loss of Rs 34.26 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2009.
The government proposal to reduce the promoters" stake in listed companies to 75 per cent may result in 180 companies offloading part of their shares in the market, as per a study done by merchant bankers.
Sunil Jain / New Delhi July 27, 2009, 0:41 IST
Simplex Infrastructures profit during the second quarter fell marginally to Rs 27.92 crore from Rs 28.07 crore during the same quarter last year.
Tata Power and SN Power, Norway’s fast growing international renewable energy company, signed an exclusive partnership agreement to develop joint hydropower projects in India and Nepal.