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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.
Nationalist Congress Party"s (NCP) Maharashtra unit chief R R Patil today said that the party intends to fight forthcoming Maharashtra assembly elections in alliance with Congress.
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.
I always suspected that the city was a falsification. But it was only on a foggy afternoon in early spring, when the air smells of atarch, that I discovered the nature of the fraud. We are living inside a cupboard, in the lowest depths of oblivion, among broken poles and shut boxes...” <P align="right> — Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems
Global Software Solutions company Zylog Systems is planning to invest Rs 210 crore on Wi-Fi infrastructure for providing wireless broadband and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and aims to garner Rs 550-crore revenue from this over the next 5 years.
State-run power producer NHPC today reported a net profit of Rs 581 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.
Vanita Kohli-Khandekar / Mumbai December 18, 2009, 2:33 IST
Most people in public life know that where you stand depends on where you sit. When Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran began arguing the government’s case in the fight between Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL), he happened to sit on the same side as RNRL’s lawyers. Ram Jethmalani, who is one of RNRL’s lawyers, objected and said, “You should move to the other side (near the RIL lawyers) since this makes it appear that you (the government) are in collusion with me (RNRL).”
Indian firm holds preliminary talks, Essar group also in the fray.
The first phase of the Naveen Jindal-promoted Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL)’s proposed 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel project and 1000 Mw power plant at Angul in Orissa is expected to be commissioned in 2011-12.
The Orissa government will start a pilot project for computerisation of the details of land acquisition for different projects and rehabilitation and re-settlement (R&R) of affected persons. To be launched under the banner of ‘punarbas project’, the pilot scheme will initially cover three projects.
The multilateral lending agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) will grant a loan of $200 million to finance Assam"s rural electrification drive.
Jaiprakash Hydro Power today said it would raise up to Rs 1,500 crore through various means, including stake-sale or issue of securities in domestic as well as global markets for funding its projects.
The government today cleared 10 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth over Rs 1,123 crore, a major share of which is expected to be brought in by the Essel Group promoted direct-to-home service provider, Dish TV India.
Tata Group"s Infiniti Retail today said it expects to have over 100 "Croma" stores across the country in the next three years as it eyes deeper penetration into Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
Metal producers’ earlier plan to raise funds through equity issues may get delayed, as the flush of liquidity has slowed and the market has turned weaker. Sterlite Industries, JSW Steel, Hindalco and Tata Steel together plan to raise about $5 billion through different equity issues.
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group"s subsidiary Adlabs films today filed up a winding up petition of Subhiksha Trading Services.
Reliance Power Ltd (R-Power), part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) group, is in talks with five leading global power companies to sell 15 per cent equity stake in the company.
The Nano can now hold its head high in the international arena. The small car passed the 40 per cent offset crash test at 56 kmph and the side-impact tests at the MIRA test facility in Birmingham, UK recently.
Tata Motors will distribute all Nano cars from Pantnagar through its new subsidiary, Tata Motors Distribution
The government is understood to have approached industrialist Ratan Tata to head an advisory board of the ailing Air India.
Nasscom today said that the India Innovation Fund (IIF) promoted by it and ICICI Knowledge park (IKP) has achieved its first closing corpus of Rs 40 crore.
*This fictional character is a $5-billion cash cow for its company. But its popularity seems to be waning and the company has plans to rebrand its personality by moving away from its clean image. The first project for this exercise has been code named Super Secret. Name the character.
For the second time this month, state-run oil companies today cut jet fuel prices to ease the burden on cash-strapped airlines.
Gold prices fell by Rs 250 to Rs 17,110 per ten gram in the bullion market today as investors resorted to heavy selling amid a weakening global trend.
The Air India board met here today and decided to initiate a series of major steps to cut costs and enhance savings as it gets ready to receive the first tranche of government"s equity infusion worth Rs 800 crore.
Monster Worldwide, the parent company of global online employment solution provider Monster.Com, today reported a net loss of $1.37 million in the quarter ended June 30 this year.
American aviation giant Boeing today rolled out its first "P-8A Poseidon", claiming it to be the world"s most advanced multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, with the Company saying that India would be its first buyer country.
Anil Ambani"s Reliance Big TV today said it was evaluating proposals for diluting stake even as it has earmarked around Rs 600-crore investment in the current fiscal for expansion.
Luxury carmaker Audi India today reported over two-fold increase in its sales in September at 205 units over the same period last year.
Bajaj Auto is planning to set up an assembly plant in a free trade zone in Manaus in Brazil next fiscal.
Port and Dock workers’ unions call for a nationwide strike after December 15 to protest at lack of wage revision may be averted, as the port authorities have expressed willingness to hold talks before the end of this month.
Edge for hedgies: You can’t take the edge out of hedge funds. Along with other investors, most of them are looking for that extra insight. There’s no excuse for illegally trading on inside information, as Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam is alleged to have done. That aside, getting an edge is their job – and their clients check up on them the same way.
When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on her visit to ITC’s Green Centre in Gurgaon that it was a “monument to the future”, she was emphasising what ITC had seen long before most of the world did.
Everyone with a reasonable memory remembers 26/11, but how many can instantly recall 31/10, 21/5 or 6/12? Those were equally shattering dates in the nation’s political calendar that led to convulsive bloodletting, grief and trauma. They are the dates when Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were assassinated and the Babri Masjid was demolished. Public memory is notoriously short, but unless personally affected by tragedy, catastrophic moments lie chiefly in the province of chroniclers of history. There are thousands of others who perished in other recent calamities, natural or man-made — terrorist strikes, Naxalite encounters, floods, earthquakes and rail accidents — but can anyone precisely recall when? Of course not.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown today pledged to curb the entry of doctors and other professionals from outside Europion Union (EU) into the UK in a new crackdown on immigration, a move likely to adversely impact thousands of Indians.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will soon move a court in Jharkhand for obtaining custody of former chief minister Madhu Koda, who was today arrested by the vigilance commission of that state and was sent to 14 days judicial custody.
Users are increasingly taking to dual-SIM handsets, which enable two connections on a single device.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel today cut mobile roaming rates by 60 per cent for its 115 million users, opening a new turf in the ongoing tariff war.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) today said it may directly talk to Zain Telecom to acquire a controlling stake after the exclusive talks period between the consortium Vavasi and the Kuwaiti firm ends.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has again deferred its recommendation on the revised Rs 2,500-crore proposal of Swiss telecom company ByCell to start telecom services in India.
US telecom major AT&T and the world’s largest chip maker, Intel, were among the foreign players that showed interest today in the pre-bid conference for third generation (3G) spectrum, which kick-started the process for the 3G auction in the country.
Tata Capital, today announced the appointment of Akhil Awasthi as the managing partner of its Mid-Market Private Equity Fund.
The Union government has finally accepted that in spite of a major setback in cane production during the season ended September 2009, the country’s sugar production would not have been as dismal as 14.6 million tonnes compared with 26.33 million tonnes in 2007-08, had there not been such a massive diversion of the crop to gur and khandsari units.
Goa government has demolished a portion of a hotel owned by Russian nationals in the state for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) law.
Facebook: Facebook is digging its moat deeper – only now it’s doing so on autopilot. The social networking firm has said before its operations throw off more cash than they consume. So news that operating profits also more than cover capital expenditures doesn’t surprise — until you realise the company added another 50m users over the past 3 months. This self-financed infrastructure build-out is significant.
Busness Standard / New Delhi May 28, 2009, 0:24 IST
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has lost an oilfield in Algeria to a consortium led by a Chinese oil firm.
A day after Irda recommended that insurance firms should make public disclosures, insurers said the move would increase transparency in the sector and allow customers to take informed decisions.
Global banking major Barclays today reported a 10 per cent growth in net profit at 1.88 billion pounds in the first half of 2009, bolstered by strong performance of its investment banking arm.
AGM approves Reliance Infratel IPO, filing soon.
The instruments will be listed on BSE, NSE.
In a move to make the mutual fund (MF) industry more transparent, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) today asked asset management companies (AMCs) to stop paying commissions to intermediaries, including banks and other distributors, who did not keep proper documents of their clients.
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai December 22, 2009, 0:04 IST
West Bengal"s flagship IT district started the week on a tumultuous note with political activists going on a rampage early on Monday in an effort to enforce the 12-hour shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Elsewhere, party activists obstructed trains and set buses on fire, to protest against rising food prices, thereby partially affecting life in the city.
Defence PSU Bharat Electronics, which is restructuring its businesses, is planning to enter the nuclear power space, designing and manufacturing instruments.
The question the headline raises is being increasingly asked. Not because the trend is new, but because it is now more than eight years old. Across a range of segments from broadcasting (radio or TV), publishing or others, media companies that have got into the events business have seen somewhat disappointing results. The 4-10 per cent of topline brought in by the events doesn’t justify the effort put in by media companies. Think of it this way — selling a double-spread ad in a magazine or a half-page one in a newspaper gets better margins than the sponsorship for an event.
The country"s largest private bank, ICICI Bank, today said it is focussing on the home-loan segment as the real estate segment is witnessing a comeback after the economic slowdown.
Sensex pares gains; Hindalco up 4%
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 ongoing fare war and the launch of wireless services by new players will only worsen the profitability of mobile service providers.
I pay an annual premium of Rs 12,000 on a unit-liked insurance plan (Ulip). An agent mis-sold me this policy three years back, but I continued with it. I will be completing the three-year lock-in period soon. Should I surrender this policy? When does it make sense to discontinue an Ulip?
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today announced a financial package of Rs 10,000 crore to carry out various developmental works in Vidarbha region, assuring to implement it within three years.
The world"s largest steel company ArcelorMittal today said it has approached the Karnataka government for setting up a steel plant in the state.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 03, 2009, 0:43 IST
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.
Bhupesh Bhandari / New Delhi November 17, 2009, 0:13 IST
The risk profile of an investor is difficult to gauge because it oscillates with market moods. When the market is on the rise, even the most risk-averse start buying stocks. A sharp correction leads to panic selling, even by risk-takers.
It was past 7 pm in the Lok Sabha and Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh had already made clear India’s stand to be taken at Copenhagen. So, Parliamentary Affairs Minister V Narayanasamy, gauging the mood of the MPs, passed a chit to Ramesh: “All MPs are satisfied” (in other words, please stop your speech so that we can go home). Ramesh, known for his sense of humour, made the chit public, “Narayanasamyji is telling me that all MPs are satisfied. But the minister himself is not satisfied. I request Swamiji to give me more time.” As the House burst out in laughter and Narayanasamy looked embarrassed, Ramesh continued, “I must take swamiji’s permission because he is the real swami here.”
Tata Motors has tied up with Vijaya Bank for financing its range of commercial and passenger vehicles to provide an added facility of finance to its customers.
The Union ministry of environment and forests has directed the Orissa government to take legal action against the Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) authorities for violating the Wild Life Protection Act, Environment (Protection) Act and Water Pollution Act.
The environmentalists and marine experts have raised serious concerns over export of sand from Orissa.
The Supreme Court today set aside the Orissa High Court’s interim order that restrained the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) from reinviting financial bids from the short-listed bidders for developing a coal berth.
India"s forex reserves declined by $144 million to $283.499 billion in the week ended December 25 as compared to $283.643 billion in the previous week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its weekly report.
The government today approved the conversion of its Rs 128 crore loan to state-run Hindustan Prefab (HPL) into equity to help the company becoming a viable enterprise.
Haldia Petrochemicals may get Rs 310 crore insurance claim for a fire that engulfed a part of the mother plant on July 2 this year.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell $1.13 billion in the week up to September 11 to $284.4 billion on the back of portfolio investments and revaluation of currencies.
State-run NHPC has drawn up an ambitious Rs 30,000-crore capex plan during the 12th Five-Year Plan to set up 14,000 Mw of hydro-power projects.
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.
The country"s top 10 firms added Rs 32,000 crore to their market capitalisation last week, with public sector oil firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) contributing the major chunk.
New technology allows access to webpages without internet.
The Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn today said exiting from the accommodative monetary policy has to be a gradual process and cannot be done at a single stroke.
China’s Golden Shield Project has several US corporations such as IBM, General Electric, and Honeywell working closely with the Chinese government to install millions of surveillance cameras throughout the country, along with advanced video analysis and facial recognition software, which will identify and track individuals everywhere they go. They will be connected to a centralised database and monitoring station, which will, upon completion of the project, contain a picture of the face of every person in China - over 1.3 billion people.
When it comes to on-line booking of air-tickets, travellers from Mumbai take the lead with as many as 77 per cent opting for these facilities compared to travellers at six other leading international airports globally.
The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has decided develop "YSR Smriti Vanam" (memorial park) over an area of 1,412 hectares in the Nallamala forest area where late chief minister, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was killed in a helicopter crash on September 2.
The Arogyasri building, being constructed by the state government, will be named as ‘YSR Bhavan’ after former chief minister, YS Rajasekhara Reddy. A proposal to this effect was approved by chief minister K Rosaiah on Thursday.
Even as its US business has been impacted by the recession, Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest information technology services provider, expects its India revenues to double to $1 billion in the next three-four years, majorly coming from the government sector. India currently contributes 10 per cent to TCS’ total revenues.
Dubai World will sell some of its assets to part finance its $26 billion debt, a senior city-state official said amid a sharp fall in the main stock exchanges in the United Arab Emirates today.
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.
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.
Shilpy Sinha / New Delhi September 22, 2009, 0:17 IST
Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi September 20, 2009, 0:08 IST
Rajesh Bhayani / Mumbai December 24, 2009, 0:12 IST
Investors, who bought gold from banks, are in a fix as leading jewellery houses are not ready to buy it and it cannot be sold back to banks either.
The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,541 - down 75 points.
A Mercer survey reveals wide disparity across sectors when it comes to superannuation benefits to employees
The world’s largest chipmaker Intel expects corporate spending on personal computers (PCs) to rise in 2010. “Corporate spending on PCs will improve significantly in 2010 and emerging markets will grow faster than mature markets,” Intel Chief Executive and President Paul Otellini told reporters here today. He, however, did not specify any numbers.
Trades between FIIs generated a volume of Rs 133 crore on the BSE Friday-an increase of 99.55% from Rs 66 crore clocked on Thursday. As many as five stocks witnessed trades of 9.73 lakh shares on Friday.
Deutsche Postbank Home Finance, a 100 per cent MNC housing finance company, has posted 28.77 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 30.16 crore during the first half year ended September 30, 2009 as compared to Rs 23.42 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Can deliver revenue by February if auction goes smoothly, he tells FM in letter.
Tata Motors commenced trial production of the first batch of the Nano at the new mother plant at the Sanand facility last week. The company will start commercial production of the ‘People’s Car’ from March onwards.
Sensex has finally ended (provisionally) at 17,336 - up 104 points.
The state-run telecom companies-- BSNL and MTNL-- have not formed any consortium so far with any other company to bid for Kuwaiti telecom major Zain Telecom, minister of state for IT and telecom Gurudas Kamat told the Lok Sabha in a written reply today.
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.
China/anti-trust: China’s campaign against market bullies has a long way to go. Some individual customers have taken on dominant companies under a new antitrust regime launched over a year ago. The targets have included big game such as telecoms operators China Mobile and China Netcom, petroleum group Sinopec, and technology giant Baidu. But the results of two early cases show consumer power hasn’t yet reached the Middle Kingdom.
IT firm Sterlite Technologies today said its net profit jumped nearly nine-fold to Rs 54.67 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009, over the same period last year.
Narayana Murthy, Rajeev Chandrasekhar role questioned in airport project
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai October 29, 2009, 0:58 IST
You’ve heard of honorary doctorates, but honorary black belts? Bollywood czar Shahrukh Khan who has been appointed the Honorary Ambassador of Korea (Culture & Tourism) has been conferred the title ‘Honorary Black Belt (5 Dan) of Taekwondo’. The ceremony, a press release from the Korean National Tourism Organisation says, was held at the Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai. And in case you think SRK has just got the black belt for nothing, Korea’s honorary ambassador said, according to the press release, that he had ‘developed a keener interest in sports such as Taekwondo now because of his children — son Aryan, who has won 10 gold medals in sports and daughter Suhana who’s won 3 gold medals in sports activities at the school level’. SRK also said that given the rising interest in sports in India, this was the right time to associate with Korea which is known for its strong base in sports. Bollywood’s macho man Akshay Kumar is probably trembling in the face of SRK’s new black belt.
Hinting at Pakistani link to the Kabul Embassy attack, India today said Afghanistan faced threat from terrorists and their "patrons residing across the border" and that the blast was the handiwork of those who wanted to undermine Indo-Afghan friendship.
Jeera future prices are likely to firm up in January as there is a possibility for renewed export demand in the market. The demand from overseas market is expected from first week of January 2010 and this may support the price to strengthen.
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai September 17, 2009, 0:39 IST
Italian car-maker Fiat today said it plans to bring its super premium hatchback "By Diesel 500", a co-branded model with European clothing firm Diesel, to India as it looks to add more style quotient to its portfolio.
The West Bengal government today said it has not rejected proposals of IT majors Wipro and Infosys for setting up units near the state capital.
Business Standard / New Delhi January 06, 2010, 0:03 IST
The Dubai government said today neighbour Abu Dhabi has agreed to give $10 billion in emergency funds that will go toward paying debts owed by its Dubai World conglomerate.
Business Standard / New Delhi October 28, 2009, 0:33 IST
A tubelight performs many duties at capital’s Banga Bhawan, the state guest house of West Bengal in New Delhi. On Saturday, Chief Minister Buddhadab Bhattacharjee addressed a press conference in the Bhawan auditorium. On his table was a packed tubelight used to help set up a few dozen TV microphones. Bhattacharjee was initially amused but soon understood the purpose of the arrangement.
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
Software bellwether, Infosys Technolgies today said it was focussing on "powerful" emerging markets such as Mexico, Brazil, China and India.
The NSE Nifty ended (provisional) at 4,568, up 44 points. The BSE Sensex ended (provisional) at 15,378, up 147 points.
The Sensex is now at 15,375, up 144 points. The NSE Nifty is at 4,566, up 43 points.
Buy shares worth Rs 30,456 crore in June quarter, mostly from open market.
Government today said the major private domestic airlines owed over Rs 274 crore to the Airports Authority of India for availing its services.
With Congress reluctant to accommodate him in the new government, RJD chief Lalu Prasad today appeared resigned to his fate, saying he would not feel bad if he doesn"t get a Cabinet berth.
Political expediency should not stunt a great city’s growth.
The Sensex has ended at 17,589, down 111 points and the Nifty has closed at 5,257, down 24 points.
The information technology industry is ending its worst year ever with the worldwide IT spending expected to decline 5.2 per cent in 2009, IT research and advisory firm Gartner said.
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.
Will get access to large distribution network in eyecare segment
The Tatas" acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) had woken up Britain to growing Indian strength, UK Secretary of State for Business and Innovation Peter Mandelson today said.
If power companies want their IPOs to be reasonably successful, they will have to price them well.