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The Railways is not short of smart ideas. After using the inside walls/doors of trains like the Rajdhani Express to place ads, another smart idea is to make use of the long waiting period at its telephonic information services. Those calling 139, the information service, are asked to enter their choices (1 for Hindi, and so on) on various prompts — after a while, ads of Tata Indicom phones get played.
The Nifty closed marginally above the support level of 4,940 on short-covering at lower levels. The trading pattern in the Nifty futures and options suggests the index may fall below the 4,900 mark soon. The 5,000 call option added 2.24 million shares in open interest (OI), mostly through change of hands and sell-side trades, indicating strong resistance above the 5,000 level.
Bank of Maharashtra (BoM), today said that it has reduced its benchmark prime lending rate (PLR) by 0.25 per cent to 12.25 per cent.
Higher prices of staple vegetables such as onion and potato pushed food inflation higher to 13.68 per cent in the last week of October.
The consumption trend in rural areas has shown a paradigm shift from price-driven to quality-driven products, points out a recent study on rural marketing by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
A leadership position in its business, a good track-record and better growth opportunities in smaller towns augur well for DB Corp.
Global steel giant ArcelorMittal today said it has raised $750 million (Rs 3,500 crore) through issue of convertible bonds by its wholly-owned arm based here.
VS Achuthanandan would, however, continue as the CM.
Says HC allocation order wrong, for govt is custodian of all gas in India
To fund its 2,400-Mw project in Raigarh
Complaining of high taxation and inability to lobby effectively before government agencies, Direct-to-Home (DTH) television companies have called for strengthening the DTH Operators Association of India (DOAI), the apex body of all DTH operators.
Tata Group hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) today said it has acquired a controlling 85 per cent stake in Elel Hotels and Investments, which owns the Mumbai-based Sea Rock Hotel, for Rs 680 crore.
Tata Group firm Tea Tata today posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 700.55 crore in the year ended March 31, 2009, down 54.58 per cent over the corresponding 12-month period a year ago.
Don’t get carried away by just the interest rate on offer when investing in company fixed deposits
Their fight, despite a family settlement of June 2005, may have reached the Supreme Court but Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil are expected to come together once again -- this time for a prayer meeting on their father Dhirubhai"s death anniversay.
Deutsche Bank, a relatively new entrant in retail banking, is expecting a 25 per cent growth in retail loan portfolio this financial year as it increases focus on mortgage lending.
Tata Motors will distribute all Nano cars from Pantnagar through its new subsidiary, Tata Motors Distribution
National carrier to induct seven independent directors and appoint a chief operating officer.
Cracking the whip to turn around ailing Air India, the government today announced an overhaul of its top management within 30 days by inducting seven independent directors with proven track record on the airline"s board.
The sales of used gold, known as scrap gold in commodity parlance, shot up 25-30 per cent on Wednesday as retail investors rushed to cash in on high prices before a correction, which analysts forecast as imminent.
The government today said there is a need to enhance investment in the agriculture sector to achieve 4 per cent growth during 11th Five Year Plan.
For the second time this month, state-run oil companies today cut jet fuel prices to ease the burden on cash-strapped airlines.
Latha Jishnu / New Delhi January 28, 2010, 0:56 IST
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi January 27, 2010, 0:56 IST
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 Mumbai-based Avon Corporation has posted first ever quarterly net profit at Rs 3.38 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal on a turnover of Rs 25.79 crore.
Hartmarx Corp Chairman and CEO Homi Patel is expected to retire from his post tomorrow as his company, which made suits for US President Obama prepares to be run by UK"s Emerisque and Indian apparel company S Kumars Nationwide Ltd, its new owners.
Anil Ambani group firms — Reliance Communications (RCom) and Reliance Power — today restructured their respective promoter holdings through transfer of shares among group companies.
Luxury carmaker Audi India today reported over two-fold increase in its sales in September at 205 units over the same period last year.
Prices of key inputs up 44% to 74%; analysts expect earnings squeeze after a quarter or two.
Pension reform remains among the unfinished agenda of the UPA government in 2009 even as it gave every citizen an option to get an old age safety net for the first time in Indian history.
The FBI has charged 14 people, out of which five have already pleaded guilty, in a case related to the $20 million hedge fund insider-trading scam, the largest ever such case in the US.
Every time there is a major regulatory development in the United States, the Indian media goes into paroxysms. Whet-her they are convulsions of delight or despair is dictated by the context of what has happened in the US.
The Cast and crew reminisce about working on the sets of Vishal Bharadwaj"s latest film, Kaminey, which opened this week to positive reviews.
As the sea became rough due to cyclonic storm "Phyan", the Home Ministry today put on alert five coastal states and three Union Territories and sent disaster relief response force for their assistance.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat today said he had not issued any "directive" to senior BJP leader L K Advani during their recent meeting to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol starrer My Name is Khan, directed by Karan Johar, is set to create a record ahead of its release early next year with Fox Star Studios reportedly buying its marketing and distribution rights for around Rs 100 crore.
Bangalore will soon get the Duronto, a point-to-point ‘super fast’ train, said Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee, on her maiden visit to Bangalore today after becoming the railway minister. The Duronto, India’s fastest class of trains, will run between Bangalore and Howrah in West Bengal, she said.
Retail investors’ response to initial public offers (IPOs) from the power sector have been tepid. The Adani Power IPO, subscribed 21.64 times in all, was subscribed 2.97 times by retail investors. Indiabulls Power was subscribed 21.84 times overall, but only 1.09 times by retail investors. JSW Energy saw retail investors place bids for 32.7 million shares of the 81 million reserved for them.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted search operations at offices of real estate company Emaar-MGF, a joint venture between MGF India and the Dubai-based Emaar. These operations were of a routine nature and were not linked to the investigation into the dealings of the former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, the company said in a statement. Some news reports said the search operations were triggered by the directorate finding documents that showed Koda’s associates on the boards of some Emaar group companies.
Outlets of telecom companies such as Airtel and Vodafone may soon double as bank kiosks for financial services like funds transfer or bill payment, especially in parts of the country where there are very few banks or none at all.
Taking a cue from state-run NHPC"s disappointing debut on the bourses, primary market tracking firm Prime Database today said the government should consider giving shares to only retail investors in the initial public offers of PSU firms, to lower post-listing selling pressure.
It has a cash reserve of $6 billion
Idea joins Vodafone to use the fun route on the Net
Villages in Andhra Pradesh will be supplied bottled "mineral water" rather than piped water from the coming Independence Day.
India urgently needs coherent policy and regulation
Tata Capital, today announced the appointment of Akhil Awasthi as the managing partner of its Mid-Market Private Equity Fund.
US defence major Boeing today said India was planning to buy 10 C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift aircraft and the US government has received a "Letter of Request" in this regard.
Famed micro-blogging site Twitter has acquired location tracking firm Mixer Labs for an undisclosed amount.
Among all the political parties in Jharkhand, former chief minister Babulal Marandi"s Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (Prajatantrik) scored the highest winning percentage.
If Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) is aggrieved at Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd for not proceeding with the private agreement between the two brothers on gas supply from the latter’s fields, it should instead blame the Union government, said RIL’s senior counsel, Harish Salve, at the Supreme Court today.
Facebook Inc plans to expand its staff by as much as 50 per cent this year as it benefits from a surplus of engineers amid the recession, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said.
Private sector life insurer Aviva India today forged a strategic tie-up with DBS bank for distribution of its insurance products through the bank"s branches to affluent and high net worth (HNI) customers.
French governance:  The press release reads like a statement from the politburo of a Soviet-era communist dictatorship: the ruling elite’s decision to back the great leader was “unanimousâ€ü. That’s the way it goes at Veolia, where directors of the French environment services group have bowed down to the wishes of the chairman and chief executive, Henri Proglio.
The annual maintenance charges for subscribers of the New Pension System (NPS) may come down by Rs 70 from April. National Securities Depository (NSDL), the record-keeper for NPS, expects over one million people to join the scheme in the next six months, leading to a reduction in the account maintenance fees from Rs 350 to Rs 280.
Caretel Infotech, a business process outsourcing (BPO) services provider from the Dalmia group, has bagged a two-year contract from state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to manage the latter’s call centre. The financial terms were not disclosed.
AGM approves Reliance Infratel IPO, filing soon.
Watch the forthcoming Saffronart auction to decide which segment of the market is recovering fastest and at what value.
Taking the disinvestment process in iron ore producer NMDC forward, the government today invited applications for appointment of lead managers to advise it on the timing of the public issue, among other aspects.
Domestic sales of automobiles for November grew 46 per cent, to 1,037,133 units, over the corresponding period last year.
The government today said that China has denied reports suggesting it was planning to divert the course of the Brahmaputra river.
Despite hype and cross-media marketing and promotions, the first episode of the big-ticket reality show Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao on Sony Entertainment only managed to get television ratings (TVR) of 1.6, says overnight ratings agency aMap.
BSNL’s revenue arrears for 2007-08 have touched Rs 7,482.81 crore, out of which Rs 4,226 crore may or may not materialise, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
India Inc is likely to post a whoping 63 per cent growth in net profit in the second quarter, thanks to four oil marketing companies which are expected to post a combined net profit of Rs 2,730 crore in the quarter ended September. If one excludes these four from the sample of 235 companies studied, net profit is expected to only increase marginally, around 1 per cent.
Sach ka samna is a gripping show. It asks perfectly ordinary people 21 intimate questions. These could be around their deepest thoughts and feelings — about partners, family, spouse, society or just anything. The participant’s ability to answer these truthfully could win them some money. The show, a licensed version of the American Moment of Truth, has been aired in 23 countries. It is known for its corrosive impact. In one instance, a marriage broke up on air.
Rajya Sabha was today adjourned for the day without transacting any business after condoling the death of sitting BJP member Suryakantabhai Acharya.
The Supreme Court collegium has decided to drop its recommendation for elevating Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, facing charges of land grabbing, to the apex court, bringing to end months of controversy over the move.
The US-brokered deal with India and three other emerging economies went down to the wire with a personal push by President Barack Obama, even as developing nations appeared to have staved off attempts to subject their voluntary mitigation actions to international review.
Weighed down by the slump in economic activity during the first half of the year, the value of private equity (PE) and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) deals dropped 48.96 per cent to $21.20 billion from $41.54 billion during 2008.
This will enable the firm to tap the defence offset market.
The private hospital sector is expected to touch $45 billion (around Rs 2,00,000 crore) in the next three years riding on growth in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, a study said.
Domestic realty companies, which are planning to tap the primary market, may not see smooth sailing, as the Dubai debt crisis is likely to undermine investor confidence in the sector. As many as nine realty companies, including Emaar MGF, have filed their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator, Sebi, aiming to raise about Rs 15,000 crore.
The minimum ticket size and the tenure for unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) are set to be higher from the New Year.
The markets are trading marginally weak, with the Sensex quoting at 17,084, lower by 17 points, and the Nifty down 13 points at 5095. Metals, energy and pharma pack are weighing down on the indices.
The Indian markets have opened in the green on the back of positive global cues. The Sensex is quoting at 17,134, higher by 33 points and the Nifty is up 4 points at 5113.
Public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) today said it will raise Rs 700 crore by issues of bonds.
Suven Life Sciences, a Hyderabad-based biopharmaceutical company specialising in central nervous system (CNS) diseases, on Wednesday said that its clinical candidate for Alzheimer’s disease has secured product patent in India, Mexico, South Africa, Singapore, New Zealand, Korea, Eurasia, Australia and Europe markets. The granted product patent in all these countries is valid till June 2023.
Ajit Rangnekar has been appointed the dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) for a five-year term. The Executive Board unanimously named Rangnekar as the new dean in Mumbai on January 8.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose $22 million to $283.52 million during the week ended January 1, mainly due to the revaluation of gold.
Crisis-hit Maytas Infra today said the Company Law Board (CLB) had allowed the company to report its accounts for the quarter ended September by December 31.
Income Tax authorities are carrying out search operations at various establishments of the shipbuilding and repairing firm, ABG Shipyard, for alleged tax evasion, an Income Tax Department source has said.
The government today shot down a suggestion in the Lok Sabha for setting up a committee under the Member of Parliament in respective constituencies for monitoring disbursement of loans by banks to priority sector like agriculture, small and medium enterprises.
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 promote transport of goods along the coastline of the country and on national waterways, the Ministry of Shipping has written to the Ministry of Finance to exempt goods transported through such routes from service tax.
The Uttarakhand government has bought 145 buses from auto giant Tata Motors through an open bidding. The red-colour buses will ply in three cities – Dehra Dun, Haridwar and Nainital. Under the Jawaharlal Nehru Renewal Urban Mission (JNRUM) programme, the Centre will bear 80 per cent of the cost and the rest 20 per cent will be borne by the state government.
The Petroleum Ministry has sought oil bonds worth Rs 11,853 crore for state-run fuel retailers to make up for the losses they incurred on selling domestic LPG and kerosene below cost during the first half of the current fiscal.
Persistent Systems, providing software product development services, set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) around the Android open mobile platform.
UTI Mutual Fund would revise the exit load for 18 schemes from Monday, the fund house said on Friday, amending the scheme’s offer document.
Betting big on the growing India-related M&A deals, private-sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank today entered into a pact with Russian investment bank, Renaissance capital, to advise cross-border transactions.
As a first initiative of its kind in India, a World Bank entity will provide credit facility of up to $51 million to Kotak Mahindra Bank to help small and medium enterprises, hit hard by the global financial crisis, meet their export and import obligations.
Green activists and the fishermen community have geared up to intensify their agitation against the Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) in protest against the marine pollution caused by the oil spill from the sunken vessel. Noted environmentalist, Shanknad Behera has threatened to intensify agitation and stage a dharana on October 29 in front of the PPT office.
TransCare Logistics India Private Ltd, part of the TransCare group of companies based in Germany, has forecast a traffic handling of 100 million tonne for Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) by 2016-17.
As part of enhancing production of oil and gas, public sector undertaking Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has decided to install Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESP) in 26 Well Head Platforms (WHP) in Western Offshore of the coast of Mumbai.
Business Standard / New Delhi July 3, 2009, 0:54 IST
Reliance Industries (RIL) has increased LPG supplies to Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum from its twin refineries at Jamnagar, forcing the state-run firms to sell cooking fuel cargoes that they had contracted from overseas suppliers.
With the exception of Ajay Parmar, fund managers found it difficult to negotiate the volatile markets. The Smart Portfolios benchmark, the S&P CNX 500 rose by 0.75 per cent during the week. An investment of Rs 10 lakh in the benchmark at the start of Season II on September 1, 2009, is today valued at Rs 10.80 lakh, a gain of 8 per cent.
BIRLA SUN LIFE’95
Essar Oil is in talks with Royal Dutch Shell to buy two of its refineries in Germany and one in the UK.
Under attack from the government, the agitating private airlines who are demanding a bailout package, have kept bookings open for customers who want to fly on Aug 18, the day they have threatened to go on strike.
With private airlines suspending operations on August 18, the government today said it does not support any move to inconvenience the travelling public and asked the carriers to engage in a dialogue.
Normal life was paralysed for the second consecutive day in Telangana as violent demonstrations rocked the region in support of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president, K Chandrasekhar Rao, whose fast-unto-death entered ninth day on Monday.
Two senior Congress MLAs and former ministers J C Diwakar Reddy and D L Ravindra Reddy today resigned from their post in protest against the party’s decision to carve out a separate state of Telangana.
Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke is travelling to Europe to consult with leaders in Germany, France and Russia, before traveling to Kabul to attend the inauguration of Hamid Karzai for his second term as the Afghan President.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that he agreed to the November 7 run-off elections for the sake of peace and stability of the country, though he feels that the Presidential election result was "clear".
Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, son of late Y S Rajashekhara Reddy, today met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her residence here, amid demands by his supporters to make him chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Sanjaya Baru / New Delhi October 21, 2009, 0:16 IST
Bharathi Cement Corporation (BCC) commenced its commercial operations from its Nallalingayapalli manufacturing plant, located in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday.
It’s a sign of the changing power equations in the telecom ministry after the CBI raids on it and the investigations into the allotment of spectrum to a handful of firms — Communications Minister A Raja’s Private Secretary R K Chandolia’s name no longer figures in the list on the ministry’s website. Till a few weeks ago, if you logged on to the ministry’s website and clicked on ‘contacts’, you’d find Chandolia’s name against the designation ‘PS’. Of late, however, there are no names/numbers in this slot.
The Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in Orissa, in association with the nationalized banks sponsoring them, have prepared the road map for implementation of 100 per cent Core Banking Solutions (CBS) before the stipulated time period fixed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Mumbai-based HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company today said the various cost saving measures adopted by the company would lead to less need for capital infusion during the current financial year. The company’s original plan was to invest about Rs 350 crore in the current financial year, which now may come down to Rs 250 crore.
Former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash two days ago, was laid to rest on Friday by the side of his parents at his private estate at Idupulapaya in Pudivendula, his hometown. The embalmed body, which was kept in a wooden coffin, was buried at 5.30 pm.
The department of disaster management, Andhra Pradesh, would include more mandals, which have not been covered under the drought notification. “We are taking further action to consider the requests based on the eligibility norms,” said state revenue, relief and rehabilitation minister Dharmana Prasada Rao.
In an attempt to uproot Naxalites from their support base among the tribals, the West Bengal government will soon embark on a development project costing Rs 1,600 crore for the western part of the state.
Foreign direct investment in the country surged by 60 per cent to $1.74 billion (around Rs 8,000 crore) in November, an official said today.
IRB Infrastructure Developers today said it has emerged as the successful bidder for a project of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Punjab.
The country’s second largest public lender, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has offered to grant home loans at floating interest rates up to 2.5 percent below the prevailing Public Lending Rate (PLR) till the end of 2009 under its flagship scheme.
Claiming that the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) was in its expansion mode and would open at least 200 new branches every year in the next three fiscals, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Bank T Y Prabhu said the bank had sought capital support of Rs 1,000 crore from the government to implement its expansion plan.
Sembmarine Kakinada Limited (SKL), a joint venture of Singapore-based Sembawang Shipyard Pvt Ltd and Kakinada Seaports Ltd, has announced the establishment of a shipyard at Kakinada port at an estimated cost of $375 million to cater to offshore units and merchant vessels operating in Indian waters.
State-run Union Bank of India today announced the appointment of Subhash Chander Kalia as its Executive Director.
The Indian rupee today inched higher by 8 paise to 46.22 against the US dollar in early trade on expectations of fresh capital inflows by foreign funds into Indian bourses.
IDBI Bank said on Friday it would come out with a follow-on public offer (FPO) in January to meet its capital needs. It also plans to raise $500 million through overseas bonds to fund Indian corporates’ expansion programmes abroad.
Aarti Drugs closed at Rs 108, higher by Rs 2 or 2.8%, on the BSE.
Tanla Solutions Limited, a Hyderabad-based telecommunications software and services provider, has signed a five-year agreement with handset manufacturer Nokia for license management, mobile payments and related professional services.
Telecom operator Tata Teleservices (TTL) has asked the government not to impose any penalty on it for failing to meet the network roll-out obligation saying the delay was caused by the Telecom Engineering Centre"s (TEC) inability to test its equipment on time.
It was not a smooth ride in 2009 for the Railways which was hit by accidents, derailments and hijacking of the prestigious Rajdhani train.
- Oil imports rise first time in over a year - 2010 set to be year of indices trading - Crisil to research illiquid stocks to help investors - "Indian regulatory regime has brought us a world of good" - Global crisis pinches FDI purse in 2009 - Experts debate rollback of lenient policy
In an attempt to improve telecom services in rural areas, state-owned BSNL would set up about 10,000 towers across the country, many of which would be installed in villages bordering Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The government will take a considerate view of the telecom regulator Trai"s proposal to bill customers based on per second usage instead of the prevailing pulse system, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot today said.
Indian Railways’ ambitious plan to install ‘green’ toilets in all its 9,000 trains by 2011-12 have got postponed once again, with the process of tendering for procurement of biotoilets being scrapped last week. A revised tender agreement is likely to be approved by the Railway Board shortly.
For most companies, hiring women employees at an entry level has never been a problem. However very few of them make it to the higher levels. This has been a concern for recruiters.
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai August 20, 2009, 0:05 IST
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai August 6, 2009, 0:37 IST
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai July 23, 2009, 0:09 IST
A man allegedly involved in illegal land acquisition for the controversial Vedic village resort near New Kolkata township was arrested along with five others from Bankura by a North 24 Parganas police team today.
After the heat it faced on climate change stand for the Copenhagen summit, the government today came under scanner as the Opposition felt that India might come under US pressure on the trade talks in WTO.
Business Standard / New Delhi October 28, 2009, 0:33 IST
West Bengal’s assembly elections may be due only in early 2011, but that’s not stopping Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee from preparing to become the state’s next chief minister. She has assigned two economists the task of preparing a blueprint for the economic revival of the state. Both economists are frequent contributors to various newspapers and are known to be votaries of free enterprise.
Subir Roy / New Delhi July 8, 2009, 0:02 IST
The NSE Nifty ended (provisional) at 4,568, up 44 points. The BSE Sensex ended (provisional) at 15,378, up 147 points.
The Nifty has opened at 4,570, up 46 points. The Sensex meanwhile is up 96 points at 15,327, in opening trades.
Arnav Pandya / Mumbai September 27, 2009, 0:28 IST
Semiconductor revenues in 2010 are expected to bounce back to the same levels as in 2008 at $255 billion, analyst firm Gartner said in its latest outlook.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said intensified international action to tackle ship seizures off the Somali coast is forcing pirates further afield into the Indian Ocean and more recently closer to the Seychelles.
The Indian pesticides industry is eagerly looking forward to August 15. Not for the usual celebration of the Independence Day, but for a different reason. It expects the monsoon to recover by this time. If not, its bottom line this year would be hit.
Two greenfield plants to come up at Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad.
As Anil Ambani helicopter sabotage case took a mysterious turn with the death of a witness, Maharashtra government today said no evidence has been found to suggest that a "corporate rivalry between two groups" was behind the incident.
Hyderabad is likely to lose its status as the pharmaceutical capital of the country if the current political turmoil in Andhra Pradesh continues and the state is bifurcated, according to the head of the Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association (BDMA).