Small Business
The notional value of investments in the domestic stock market through participatory notes (PNs), the off-shore derivatives issued by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), rose from 15.5 per cent in August to 16.4 per cent and 16.5 per cent in September and October, respectively.
Banks’ association says the process needs a huge effort.
The Income Tax (I-T) Department has issued a fresh notice to realty major DLF even as it’s appeal against an additional tax liability imposed on it by the I-T Department is being heard.
‘If the Tatas can hold their nerves, profits will come back to this plant’.
The government will sell its 8.38 per cent stake in NMDC by March 31, 2010, the Navratna mineral company said today.
India’s identity as a ‘Mercedes country’ will be under threat this year, as arch rival Bayerische Motoren Werke (better known as BMW) is on course to dethrone the Stuttgart-headquartered luxury car maker from the top slot for the first time ever in India.
Dealers bank on small NBFCs as big players opt out.
In order to step up the regulatory grip on commodity derivatives market, Forward Markets Commission (FMC) has recently instructed bourses to ensure compliance of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) by their members. “This is more of a pre-emptive step to prevent unscrupulous money coming into our (commodity futures) market,” BC Khatua, chairman, FMC, said.
Ashok K Lahiri / November 28, 2009, 0:02 IST
Ministry moves to cut subjectivity in decision making, delegates more powers to Registrar of Companies.
India"s foreign exchange reserves fell to $280.770 billion for the week ended September 18 from $280.978 billion in the previous week.
Sudhakar Ram, chairman, Mastek, is putting together a collaborative book.
With the world applauding Chinese economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today contrasted it with India"s growth, which has been achieved in a democratic society and said he would stick to the Indian path.
Lawyers defending seven suspects, including LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, in Mumbai attacks today filed an application in an anti-terror court in Pakistan seeking their acquittal on the ground that there is no probability of their being convicted.
Kerala-based private sector lender Federal Bank is likely to approve the merger of the state-based Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) within the next three months as it has already completed the due diligence.
Your holiday in Dubai just got a little cheaper. Thanks to Dubai World’s crash, travel portals and agencies like MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Cleartrip and SOTC are offering packages at prices almost 40 per cent lower than a week or two ago.
Indians pink-slipped in the Gulf region following the Dubai debt crisis may look for some breather on their return to India with the Centre deciding to soon announce a special fund to rehabilitate overseas returnees who has lost jobs due to economic downturn.
The World Bank chief meets top policy makers.
Disinvestment plans likely to get delayed in 21 out of 43 listed companies
Seema Sindhu / New Delhi January 7, 2010, 0:24 IST
Tata group company, Indian Hotels Company, today posted a 76.56 per cent decline in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 11.87 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 on account of slowdown in travel trade.
Chennai-based software company Zylog Systems posted a 21 per cent dip in its net profit for the second quarter ended Septmeber 30, 2009 to Rs 20.91 crore as against Rs 26.48 crore in the same quarter last year.
World"s largest drug maker Pfizer today said it is in the process of bringing in synergies in operation with Wyeth, which it acquired in January this year, and will launch one more product by the end of this fiscal.
IRB Infrastructure Developers today said it has emerged as the lowest bidder for a Rs 800-crore road project of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
The stock ended with a gain of 2% at Rs 136. Around 2.33 million shares were traded today on the BSE.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is going to Kolkata tomorrow to see ailing former West Bengal CM Jyoti Basu. Singh would be leaving for the West Bengal capital in the morning and there was a possibility of the scheduled Union Cabinet meeting being postponed till the evening, official sources said.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 660.55 crore (provisional) today, according to data released by BSE.
Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust, a non-profit organisation, aims to support 5,000 entrepreneurial ventures in the next five years.
While the finance ministry today admitted to Rs 20,000-22,000-crore shortfall in the indirect tax collections during the current year, it went on to assure the industry that the tax burden on people would come down by 25-30 per cent with the introduction of the proposed goods and services tax (GST).
Asian stocks rebounded from earlier losses after Dubai secured $10 billion of funding to repay its debt. Japan shares dropped as a measure of business confidence showed companies are scaling back investment plans.
Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu, who is battling for his life, today had Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visiting him and offering help in bringing experts from other parts of the country for his treatment.
Oil rose to near $82 a barrel today in Asia after a jump in US stock markets boosted investor confidence and helped extend a four-week rally in crude prices.
Fears of rising interest rates in the US dampened investor sentiments on Monday. The Sensex dropped over 100 points, to end below 17,000 after four trading sessions.
Assocham: Aam aadmi Budget
Real estate firm Parsvnath Developers today reported a nearly three-fold growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 61.43 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, and said it expects the coming quarters to be more robust.
Tata Group firm Rallis India today reported 9.90 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 45.71 crore for the quarter ended September 30.
The state health and family welfare department is looking to forge partnerships with the healthcare institutions in the private sector.
Delegates geared up for a tough round of negotiation on climate change as a crucial summit opens today with top UN officials saying that emission reductions announced by key countries, including India, had put the world within reach of a global warming control pact.
Five more persons, including an AIDS patient, died of swine flu in the city, taking the countrywide death toll in the pandemic to 23.
Drug Firm Cipla today said it will raise Rs 676 crore through the issue of equity shares on institutional placement basis.
IT outsourcing company, Satyam Computer Services Limited (rebranded Mahindra Satyam), has entered into a strategic alliance with Australasia’s information and communications technologies (ICT) provider Gen-I for migration services of Microsoft’s Windows 7, which was launched on October 22.
Professionals are making the most of the short- and full-term courses to keep pace with changing trends at the workplace
Reliance Industries (RIL) may make a firm bid to acquire bankrupt chemicals and fuel maker LyondellBasell Industries AF in February 2010 after $20 billion of debt owned by the troubled firm is restructured.
Nasscom, the apex body representing the Indian Information Technology (IT) industry, today proposed that it would like to work closely with the government “to drive an inclusive (which benefits all sections of society) economic growth agenda”.
Hiring activity is finally picking up steam among Indian companies. The job index, Naukri JobSpeak, increased by 4.1 per cent in September, compared with August. In terms of the three-month moving average, the index inched up from 715 in August to 719 in September this year, making it one of the best months since April-May when the job index was as low as 664.
Reflecting the changed ground realties in the US in the wake of economic crisis, there has been a sharp drop in H-1B work visas being applied for and obtained by major IT companies from India.
Liquefied natural gas importer Petronet LNG today said its net profit declined by 2.20 per cent at Rs 103.31 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, over the same period last year.
Alstom Projects India has bagged a contract worth Rs 373 crores for the supply of boiler components to Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).
Madhya Pradesh"s biggest Birsinghpur based 1340 Mega Watt (Mw) thermal power generation station is facing fuel crisis with a coal stock of just 10,000 metric tonnes (MT) to generate power against its daily need of around 15,000-16,000 MT if plant functions at its full capacity.
State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, is expected to set aside more funds to meet the new norms that mandate 70 per cent provision coverage for non-performing assets (NPAs).
The new year may bring fresh influx of foreign buyers for local small and medium-scale industries of Madhya Pradesh. Buoyed by the encouraging response from its earlier MSME buyer-seller meetlast year, state-owned MP Laghu Udyog Nigam (MPLUN) is once again going to organise a three-day mega congregation of SMEs from all over the world at Gwalior from January 16 to 18. The meet will also invite select participants of Prawasi Bharatiya Diwas being organised in New Delhi.
Uttarakhand is experiencing another dry spell during this winter season with the last two months going almost dry.
Asian stocks fell for the fourth straight day as China’s fastest quarterly economic growth since 2007 and Indian food inflation raised concern about government action to control price increases.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today recorded its largest single-day fall in last six months, after the company reported 50% drop in net profit. The company posted Rs 758.82 crore net profit for Q3FY10 against Rs 1,520.44 crore in Q3FY09.
Small and medium borrowers taking term-loans from the Delhi Financial Corporation(DFC) will now be eligible for working capital loans from Punjab National Bank(PNB).
Andhra Pradesh government today said it had no objection to Congress MP L Rajagopal, who escaped from the Government Hospital here, being admitted to the Nizam"s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad as desired by him.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah said revenues coming to the government in the form of taxes had taken a beating due to the turmoil in the state. “Trade was first affected by the agitations for a separate Telangana and now for a unified Andhra,” he told reporters here on Thursday.
Reliance Industries (RIL), which raised Rs 2,675 crore through the sale of treasury shares on Monday, is looking to generate a similar amount over the next few weeks by selling more stock to institutional investors.
Mafatlal Industries, a flagship company of Arvind Mafatlal Group, is planning to increase production of school uniform and corporate uniform by reducing capacity of non-profitable product ranges like industrial fabrics, sheeting’s, government supply products etc.
The annual plan ceiling of the water resources department (WRD) for 2010-11 has been fixed at Rs 2222.64 crore. It is the highest among all the departments.
The 1200 MW thermal power project of Jindal India Limited at Kaniha near here, estimated to cost Rs 6,000 crore, is under a cloud as the twelfth meeting involving the local administration, company authorities and the affected villagers remained inconclusive.
Jindal India Limited"s 1200 MW thermal power plant proposed to come up at Kaniha near here at an investment of Rs 6,000 crore has faced yet another roadblock.
Godrej Consumer Products is in discussions with Sara Lee Corp to acquire 100 per cent stake in Godrej Sara Lee, a joint venture (JV) between Godrej group and the US-based firm, a top company official has said.
Higher prices in India since the last seven months led to a rise of 42 per cent in the imports of black pepper during the April-October period. The country imported 11,500 tonnes of pepper compared with 8,100 tonnes in the same period last year. Interestingly, the exports during the period were also 11,500 tonnes.
The Centre may be eager to introduce the proposed Goods and Service Tax (GST) from April 1, 2010, but the Orissa government has cast doubts on the timely launch of the new tax regime.
India today lifted a 28-month ban on wheat export by allowing export of 900,000 tonnes of the grain by government-owned trading agencies.
The government is considering a proposal to amend the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) to encourage more farmers to take crop insurance cover.
Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) and global weapon system manufacturer BAE Systems have signed an agreement to create a joint venture defence company in India to focus on land-based systems.
The stock closed at 52-week high of Rs 468.30, up 6 per cent, on reports that the company has started recruiting pilots to man proposed expansion of the operations due to a rise in air traffic recently. Domestic traffic is reported to have risen 25.80 per cent to 3.9 million passengers in October 2009 from 3.1 million passengers a year ago.
If company defined as controlled by Indians as in Press Note 2, clear its further investments.
The US, which foiled a major terror plot by LeT to target India, has said it would be forthcoming with details of the case but cited legal limitations in allowing Indian investigators to quiz the two arrested operatives David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana.
India"s maiden moon probe Chandrayaan-I has developed a malfunction that puts some experiments in jeopardy and raises questions on completion of the mission that was intended to last two years.
Bangalore-based public sector lender, Vijaya Bank has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that its authorised capital has been increased from Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore. The bank has a network of 1,132 branches in the country.
Private sector, ICICI Bank, today said its Board of Directors has appointed Homi R Khusrokhan and V Sridar as the non-executive directors.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), the country’s largest power equipment manufacturer, has posted a 36 per cent jump in net profit for the quarter ended December 2009 on the back of lower raw material costs.
The land cost at the proposed Kashipur estate is likely to be 40 to 50 per cent cheaper than the other industrial areas in Uttarakhand.
DLF, the country’s largest real estate developer, posted a 30 per cent dip in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, on account of losses arising from non-core businesses of the company as well as continuing stress in the business environment.
Century Textiles and Industries, part of the B K Birla group, has posted a rise of 110.52 per cent in its net profit for the quarter ended December 2009 at Rs 59.64 crore compared with Rs 28.33 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. Its net sales during the period grew to Rs 1,068.10 crore against Rs 879.79 crore, up 21.4 per cent.
Ahead of the Reserve Bank of India"s (RBI) credit policy review later this week, economists today said the central bank may suck out excess liquidity from the system by asking banks to keep more cash with it to tame the surging inflation.
Oil prices dipped but stayed above $74 in Asian trade today as demand uncertainty weighed on investors already wary from recent economic policies in the United States and China.
The year 2009 ended on a high note, with benchmark (BSE & NSE) indices registering best yearly gains in the last two decades and touching fresh 19-month peaks. The year, however, will be most remembered for the Sensex and the Nifty hitting the upper circuit for the first time.
Tata Communications today said its net profit surged over three fold to Rs 281.80 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, over the same period previous fiscal.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said his government is ready to draft a separate policy for stainless steel manufacturers, provided they are willing to foray in gymnasium equipment and toys manufacturing as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).
With five more entities folding up, the total number of American bank failures has touched nine in 2010.
Despite adverse market conditions prevailing in the state, Jammu and Kashmir Bank has registered a business turnover of Rs 51,975.56 crore during the quarter ended June and operating profit of Rs.256 crore, recording a 41 per cent increase over the same period last year.
Short-covering, expectation of rise in yield on advances behind spike.
The finals of the 2010 Football World Cup or Michael Schumacher’s amazing comeback, you can be on the ringside of all that sporting action and more. Ask Arun Raghu.
Britannia ended at Rs 1578, lower by Rs 22 or 1.4%, on the BSE.
The Sensex ended at 16,330, higher by 40 points, and the Nifty closed at 4,876, up 22 points (provisional closing).
Bank reform: The overhaul of the global financial system has entered a new, more complicated phase. For two years, a fragile multilateralism has prevailed as the world’s largest economies agreed that changes should be designed and adopted on a global basis. The task of redesigning financial regulation was largely delegated to central bankers, regulators and other technocrats.
Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Lalit Modi today brushed aside concerns that the Twenty20 League"s franchise team owners are miffed at not being compensated for extra expenditure incurred during the 2009 event held in South Africa.
Evading taxes for long by calling itself a charitable organisation, the the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may now have to shell out more than Rs 100 crore as the Income Tax department is set to penalise the Indian Cricket Board for hiding details of its commercial activities.
Birla Sun Life Insurance, which belongs to the Aditya Birla Group, has roped in four cricketers — Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma — to endorse its wealth and protection solution plans.
Google Inc, seeking to wrest consumers from Apple Inc and Research In Motion Inc, is poised to unveil a mobile phone that uses its Android software at a press event today, analysts said.
The Prime Minister’s information technology advisor Sam Pitroda said the government was not planning to merge BSNL and MTNL, but efforts were on to sell stake in BSNL.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has again put the onus of deciding the number of slots to be auctioned for 3G spectrum on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Handset giant Nokia today said it will cut around 330 jobs in Finland and Denmark, as part of streamlining research and development operations.
Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland today showcased a bus with wireless connectivity --iBUS2 -- useful for disaster management, mobile education and medical emergency response targeted at the government and the defence sectors.
A peak into gizmos you can safely invest in and carry over to the next year without feeling the itch to upgrade.
US markets edged up on Monday. The Dow added 30 points to 10,501. The Nasdaq gained 22 points (1%) at 2,212.
Far from the chaos of the city, Abhilasha Ojha finds a spacious farmhouse transformed into an exotic sea of green
State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman O P Bhatt today said that excess liquidity available with the bank would be a matter of concern for the next two quarters.
Asian markets are trading in the negative, albeit off their day"s lows.
The Sensex finally ended (provisional) at 16,242, down 538 points. The Nifty shed 171 points at 4,837.
India witnessed only one air accident -- the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and four others -- this year, a period that saw airlines improve their safety record, says IATA.
Satyam Computer Services founder B Ramalinga Raju had made trips to the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad, to Visakhapatnam and even the US, to convince the independent directors on the his board for acquisition of Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, the two companies promoted by his family members.
Education and placement company Edserv Softsystems today said it has bagged an order worth Rs 100 crore from the government for providing training to unemployed and under-employed youth across India.
Shree Cements Limited has recorded a 13.81 per cent growth in despatches during September. It has despatched 6,80,170 tonnes last month as against 5,97,650 tonnes during the corresponding period last year. Its total cumulative despatch for the first half of the current fiscal (April – September) stands at 45,01,800 metric tonnes, which is 28.99 per cent higher than the corresponding period of the last last financial year.
FMCG major Emami today said its realty arm Emami Infra will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in the next three-four months.
Reflecting the robust growth witnessed by the Indian economy, major cement manufacturers, including Ambuja Cements, Jaiprakash Associates and Shree Cement, today reported increase in their sales in November.
The markets have been virtually unchanged in the past one hour. The Sensex is down 21 points at 17,619 and the Nifty is lower by five points at 5269.
The stock erased all its gains and finally settled 4% lower at Rs 90. The counter witnessed trades of 14 lakh shares as compared to the two-week dialy average traded volumes of 10.41 shares on the BSE.
With the economy showing signs of recovery, industry would pick up further momentum with a growth of more than seven per cent in August and nearly nine per cent in October, economic think-tank Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) today projected.
Jaiprakash Power Ventures today said it has appointed Sunil Kumar Sharma as Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Telecom major, Bharti Airtel, has announced that it has agreed to acquire 70% stake in Bangladesh-based, Warid Telecom. Bharti plans to make $300 million fresh investment in the company, thus taking the overall investment to $1 billion. The new funding will be for capacity expansion, coverage and innovative products.
The Union government has decided not to make any change in the listing rules for insurance companies till a parliamentary panel on the subject has completed its job.
The country"s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today said it will hold world premier of a concept multi-purpose vehicle, designed exclusively by Indian engineers, at the Auto Expo starting here from January 5.
Arvind Subramanian / New Delhi November 25, 2009, 0:54 IST
Billionaire Gautam Thapar plans to buy companies to expand India’s third-largest equipment maker and add capacity in the nation’s biggest paper maker as demand in the world’s fastest growing major economy after China surges.
IPO guidelines next month; derivatives products on cards.
After putting a cap on charges on unit- linked insurance plans (ULIPs) products, the insurance-sector regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is mulling a similar move for traditional insurance products, a top official said.
FMCG firm Jyothy Laboratories today reported a 24.92 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 16.84 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, as compared to the same quarter year ago.
Realty major DLF today reported a 30.25 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 467.89 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009.
Increased capacity and demand have helped cement manufacturer Binani Cement post a whopping 573 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 57 crore in the third quarter this fiscal compared to the same period last year.
A 20-member delegation from Karnataka today met Union mome minister P Chidambaram and demanded special incentives for its five districts.
Anil Ambani’s Reliance Power today started power generation at its Rs 6,000-crore Rosa Power Project in Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) has signed an agreement with aircraft engine manufacturer, CFM International (CFM), to establish a new CFM56 maintenance training centre to support its customers in the South Asian region.
KPIT Cummins today reported a marginal increase in its net profit at Rs 21.37 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is reported to have appealed a decision by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) that over-ruled the Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) refusal to issue an in-principle listing approval to a listed company.
Three persons, including a lawyer, have been arrested in connection with the murder of RTI activist and graft whistle-blower Satish Shetty at Talegaon near here, police said today.
Eminent economist Jagdish Bhagwati today said India had made a mistake in aligning with China at the recent climate conference in Copenhagen. Instead, the country should have taken a leadership role in climate talks by coming forth with fresh ideas.
ArcelorMittal"s bid to enter India by acquiring additional stakes in Uttam Galva through an open offer has hit the regulatory road block and the company is now expecting to close the offer only in January next year.
Minimum market-cap requirement halved
The late Robin Wood was a courageous and open-minded writer who brought a new discipline to film criticism. Jai Arjun Singh reviews the critic
A few of the proposals are awaiting clearance for over six months now.
The country"s oldest fund house, UTI Asset Management Company (AMC), today said it will divest 26 per cent stake to a strategic partner by August this year.
The finance ministry is keen on selling stakes in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), but follow-on public offers (FPOs) in the two bluechip public sector units (PSUs) are unlikely, as unresolved issues are affecting valuations. Disinvestment Secretary Sunil Mitra last month wrote to his counterpart in the petroleum ministry, R S Pandey, seeking comments on “public offerings from the government’s shareholding” in ONGC and IOC. The petroleum ministry is of the view that raising funds from the capital market was not prudent till issues like fuel pricing and subsidies were resolved, which were affecting share prices of ONGC and IOC, sources in the know said.
Era Infra Engineering today posted a jump of over 85 per cent in net profit at Rs 57.24 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009.
The combined cash and futures market turnover today touched a record high of over Rs 1.52 lakh crore at the end of trade, soaring by 19 per cent over the previous session even as Sensex fell below the 17,000-level.
That Petroleum Minister Murli Deora comes from the country’s commercial capital was made obvious today when reporters asked him about whether there was going to be a petroleum price hike. “Arre baba, I’m not running a private limited company”, he told reporters, “there has to be a larger consultative process.”
Steel Exchange India has plans to increase the authorised capital of the company. The decision, in this regard, is expected to be taken in company"s board meeting on January 22.
General Motors Co agreed to sell its Saab unit to Dutch sports-car maker Spyker Cars NV in a deal that would save the 72-year-old Swedish brand that’s being wound down.
The Mahindra & Mahindra group today said it would enter the motorcycle segment this year with the launch of an in-house developed bike.
A day after senior Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh announced his resignation from key posts, party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav today said Amar Singh continued to be in the party fold and his quitting key posts was “nothing big”.
Tata Motor’s future profitability hinges on its ability to scale up JLR volumes and execute a slew of cost-reduction measures.
The usually choc-a-bloc bus parking lot at Makuhari Messe was deserted. There were no car company hoardings on the way to the Tokyo Motor Show venue either. Inside, the show was restricted to just three halls. There were no go-go girls in skimpy costumes dancing to loud techno beats. Missing in action were Ferrari and Lamborghini. No Jaguar or Aston Martin, either. Not even Volkswagen. The space normally occupied by the American giants was filled in with paintings by children – on an automotive theme, mind you.
Japanese car maker Nissan today said it would consider launching electric vehicles in the Indian market within few years as part of its global plan to roll out cleaner and alternative fuel technology.
Mercedes-Benz has launched its ninth-generation iconic sedan E-class, which has a number of technical innovations, in Mumbai.
Asian stocks fell for the first time in five days, led by South Korean oil refiners and Chinese steel makers on concern they will report lower-than-estimated earnings in coming months.
Hero Honda has appointed Anand Burman, chairman, Dabur, as non-executive and independent director, the company said in a statement to the stock exchanges. This is with effect from January 13.
Ford Motor Co hourly employees have rejected contract concessions the automaker said it needed to remain competitive with its US rivals, said two people familiar with the outcome of the voting.
The market crashed in the last two sessions with the Nifty bouncing from 4,955 level to close at 5,036 points for a week-on-week loss of 4.12 per cent. The Sensex was down 3.96 per cent, closing at 16,859 points. The Defty closed 4.93 per cent down as the rupee slid. Declines far outnumbered advances and volumes increased as prices fell. The broadbased BSE 500 dropped 4.3 per cent while the Midcap index dropped 5.4 per cent and the Junior was down 3.8 per cent. Domestic institutional investors were net buyers but FIIs sold heavily.
High-profile Samajwadi Party spokesperson Amar Singh today resigned as its General Secretary and other posts following deepening differences with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying his priority now was his health, wife and children.
Though the index of industrial production expanded 11.7 per cent in November, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sees the recovery still skewed and says the uneven recovery would dominate the central bank’s thinking.
The country"s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), plans to hire more than 27,000 people this year to fill vacancies across different divisions, a top bank official said.
Public and private sector banks in the Navi Mumbai municipal area which have done gold transactions, will have to pay 1 per cent account-based cess on the total turnover. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) could be the first civic body in the country to recover such a cess on gold transaction.
Jamal Mecklai / New Delhi January 22, 2010, 0:05 IST
HDFC Bank’s board today decided to give a three-year extension to Managing Director Aditya Puri. His term was to end in March. Puri has been with the bank since its inception. HDFC Bank said the appointment was subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
Friday will see companies like Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and TCS, announcing their results. NIIT Tech, IDBI Bank, Indusind Bank, UCO Bank and Balaji Telefilms will also report their numbers today.
South Indian Bank (SIB) reported a 15.8 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 62.46 crore in the third quarter of current financial year as compared to Rs 54.20 crore in the same period of last fiscal.
New Delhi-based HCL Technologies today posted a 20.5 per cent fall in net income for the second quarter ended December 31, 2009, owing to wage hikes and currency fluctuations.
A meeting of the board of directors will be held on January 21 to consider sub-dividing the equity shares and a second interim dividend for FY09-10, besides the unaudited financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2009, according to the company"s filing with the BSE.
The stock ended flat at Rs 712. Around 86,350 shares were traded on the BSE today as compared to the two-week daily average traded volumes of 98,591 shares.
A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier sped towards Haiti early today to assist an international relief effort, as anger and despair mounted in the stricken country.
Spurred by growth in the number of policies renewed, commission expenses of the life insurance industry grew by 5.64 per cent in 2008-09 to Rs 15,533 crore as against Rs 14,704 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Financial services firm India Infoline’s net profit doubled to Rs 59.50 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009, compared to last year. Its income rose 39 per cent to Rs 319.48 crore during the same period.
Margins however continue to be under pressure.
With virtually no rain in Himachal Pradesh for the past four months, farmers are deeply worried over the drought-like conditions in the hill state.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s core team for the Budget will witness a crucial change on February 1. With the government announcing the appointment of Sunil Mitra as revenue secretary, the West Bengal cadre official will now move to North Block from the Department of Disinvestment, where he spearheaded the recent divestment drive of public sector companies.
NTPC has selected TRF Ltd, a Tata group company, for setting up coal handling plants for its super thermal power plants at Barh, Bihar and Mauda, Maharashtra. The combined value of the two orders is Rs 611.62 crore. The company has been given the order for setting up coal handling plants on turnkey basis for the 2X660 MW power plant at Barh and 2X500 MW power plant at Mauda. The coal handling plants will be designed to run at a capacity of 2420 and 1760 tonnes per hour, respectively.
Troubled consumer finance firm GMAC Financial Services is likely to get around $3.5 billion (around Rs 16,350 crore) of additional aid from the US government to help cover its mortgage losses, a media report has said.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) seems to be in a state of confusion on deciding the number of slots of 3G spectrum to be auctioned. It is now in favour of auctioning only two blocks and immediately assigning the spectrum to the successful winners.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi asked the chemical industry in the state to take up the challenge of manufacturing ink used for printing currency notes.
Amid India"s concerns over use of Nepalese soil by ISI and other anti-India elements, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said such apprehensions are being taken seriously but made it clear that an extradition treaty would have to wait for political stability here.
Jubiliant Foodworks, which operates largest pizza chain Domino"s in domestic market, today fixed the price band for its proposed initial public offering (IPO) at Rs 135-145 per share.
GTL Infrastructure, which today agreed to buy the tower business of Aircel, plans to have a footprint of 50,000 towers over the next three years, company"s Chairman Manoj Tirodkar said here today.
Tata Communications has signed an agreement with the Qatar-based Qtel for a new undersea cable network that will connect a number of regional operators in the Gulf region with the country.
The government today said radio wave auctions for third generation mobile phone services, or 3G, will be completed by end of March.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has floated a tender for building an exclusive optical fibre cable network for the armed forces in lieu of their vacating radio waves. The network would be auctioned to mobile services’ operators for offering third-generation (3G) services. The tender, which was in the works for a long time, will set in motion the process of vacating spectrum by the defence forces.
The auditor for Bharti Airtel has asked for more time from the department of telecommunications (DoT) to finalise the special report sought by the government on the company, as they have yet to fully get the needed information.
The murder of a 21-year-old Indian national, Nitin Garg, in Melbourne has further tarnished Australia’s reputation for hosting Indian students. For the academic year 2010, overseas education consultants are predicting a 20-50 per cent fall in the number of students applying to Australian universities.
The Australian government has provided over A$8 million to fund the creation of the Australia-India Institute at the University of Melbourne. The institute is a platform to support research, training, executive briefings and policy advice for the benefit of both countries, according to Australia-India Institute Deputy Director John Webb.
The Supreme Court today asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to fix the tariffs for direct-to-home (DTH) services by June 30 and place the plan before it.
The Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group is all set to get into Hollywood’s big bucks league. DreamWorks Studios, a joint venture between Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider, along with the ADA Group, will make ‘Martin Luther King, Jr’. The screenplay will be written by acclaimed screenwriter and Academy award winner, Ronald Harwood.
The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), the special purpose vehicle set up to implement the metro rail project in the city, had postponed the sale of Request for Qualification (RFQ) applications for global bids to July 24.
Domestic 3rd quarter news weigh on sentiment.
Engineering major Larsen & Toubro and Malaysia’s Scomi Group are expected to commission the first phase of Mumbai Monorail, the country’s first such system, by the end of this year.
Engineering equipment maker Thermax Ltd today said its net profit declined by 21.84% to Rs 56.50 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, over the same period corresponding fiscal.