Popular Articles

'It is wise for India to go for greater energy efficiency'
S Kalyana Ramanathan / September 24, 2009, 0:08 IST

Decision on 'Maharatna' CPSEs expected soon
The government is likely to take a decision soon on granting the "Maharatna" status to a few central public sector enterprises, which may include PSU heavyweights like ONGC, SAIL, BSNL, NTPC and CIL.

News of the day

Tech view: Markets likely to open weak
After a bearish last week, the markets are likely to open on a negative note owing to weak global cues. The US markets ended with deep cuts on Friday. The Dow shed 2%, and the Nasdaq slipped 3%.

Public Relations

Now, intelligent viewing on your TV

The boundary between a television set and a computer is blurring. Consider Zenith Computer-promoted Vu Technologies’ offering, the Intelligent TV, which is a television-cum-PC with a Microsoft Windows operating system (OS).

Andhra targets 9 per cent GSDP growth

The Andhra Pradesh government has set a target of an average annual growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent in the gross state domestic product (GSDP) and a sub-target of 4 per cent for agriculture and 10 per cent for industry and the service sector. The focus would also be on increasing the share of manufacturing in GSDP to 25 per cent in phases from the present 15 per cent, said Governor Narayan Dutt Tiwari.

AI spoils Christmas party, threatens strike

A section of Air India employees owing allegiance to ACEU has threatened to strike work from December 22 to protest the management"s proposed move to withdraw some facilities now available to them from January 1.

Letters: Double standards

With the BJP now negotiating with Shibu Soren to form a government in Jharkhand, with Soren as the chief minister, one wonders what happens to all the statements the party made in Parliament and outside it about Soren.

Jharkhand politics: All in the family

In Jharkhand politics, it’s sometimes all in the family. Take for example, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren, who is a Lok Sabha member. His daughter-in-law Sita Soren, widow of Durga Soren, won the elections from the Jama Assembly seat. Soren’s younger son, Hemant, contested the Assembly polls from the Dumka seat and humbled former deputy chief minister Stephen Marandi. Sushila Hansda of the JMM, who was a sitting party legislator in the last Assembly, was not in the fray from her Litipara constituency this time, but her husband, Simon Marandi, contested on JMM ticket and won the seat.

Concern over climate change dips globally but rising in India

Concerns over climate change are only second to profit amid the slowdown, but in India it is rising and over 54 per cent continue to be "very concerned" about global warming, a survey says.

Sensex little changed; down 19 points

The 50-share Nifty also ended almost flat at 5,041.

GVK Power buys L&T\'s 17 per cent BIAL stake

Hyderabad-headquartered infrastructure developer, GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd (GVKPIL), on Sunday acquired the entire stake of 17 per cent held by L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd in Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) for a total consideration of Rs 686 crore.

Infrastructure experience must for PPP project bids

Petroleum and natural gas companies without any experience in executing infrastructure projects will no longer be able to bid for projects under the public private partnership (PPP) model.

Talks between AI pilots, mgmt remain \'inconclusive\'

Cash-strapped Air India may be heading for another strike after the meeting between the pilots and the airline management remained "inconclusive" today.

HC asks govt, NACIL to file reply on AI-IA merger

The Delhi High Court today directed the government and the National Aviation Company of India (NACIL) to file their reply on a petition challenging the merger of two state carriers Air India and Indian Airlines.

Mjunction forays into retail space

After its success from b2b online trading platform for coal and steel, Mjunction services, a 50:50 e-commerce Joint Venture of Tata Steel and SAIL today forayed into retail space with a shopping portal straightline.In.

Kotak Securities rolls out global trading platform

Brokerage firm Kotak Securities today tied up with Denmark-based Saxo Capital Markets to launch a trading platform that provides real-time access to equities across 24 stock exchanges.

Axis Bank ties up with Motilal Oswal for online trading

Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector bank, today entered into a strategic alliance with Motilal Oswal Securities (MOSL), one of India’s largest financial services intermediaries, to facilitate online trading for the bank’s 10 million customers.

Markets marginally down

The Sensex is now at 17,664, down 23 points. The NSE Nifty is at 5,268, down nine points.

Govt to spend Rs 15,000 cr for \'a clean, free-flowing Ganga\'

The Centre has expressed confidence that by 2020 the polluted river Ganga would be cleaned and Rs 15,000 crore will be spent on it.

GUVNL aims to buy 1050 Mw from GSPC

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) is aiming to enter into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for its upcoming power units.

US, Japan agree to seek \'open skies\' deal by year-end

The US and Japan have agreed to pursue the completion of bilateral "open skies" negotiations by the end of this year, a Japan-US negotiation source has said.

Orders and deliveries for Boeing dip in Aug

Commercial plane maker Boeing saw orders for its jets dip 11 per cent in August this year from a year ago while for the first eight months of 2009, orders plunged 71 per cent to 161 from 556 in January-August 2008.

Citigroup in talks for $15 bn equity offering: report

Global financial services firm Citigroup is in advanced talks with regulators over its plans to raise more than $15 billion through an equity offering, a media report says.

CPI leader seeks enquiry into pvt airlines\' demand for bailout

Criticising private carriers for "bad management" and seeking bailout from the government, senior CPI leader D Raja today said their functioning should be enquired into and demands "carefully scrutinised".

Motilal Oswal profit rises 74% to Rs 47cr

Motilal Oswal Financial Services reported a 74 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit to Rs 47.2 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

Gammon slumps over 6%

The shares of the engineering and construction major Gammon India, which plunged 16.11 per cent in the morning trade, closed with an over 6 per cent decline on the Bombay Stock Exchange, as investors dumped its shares after one of the bridges it was constructing in Kota, Rajasthan collapsed last Thursday.

When the time is right

Signals to look for before deciding when to enter, lie low or get out of stock markets.

Invest in fewer schemes

I am a 65-year-old retired engineer and live with my wife, 58. Both my children are married and well-settled. My wife and I have a mediclaim policy of base value Rs 1 lakh each (now approximately Rs 1.5 lakh). We would like to be financially independent all our lives. Advise me as to any change required in my financial plan, particularly with regard to regular investment in mutual funds.

Infy to reduce sub-contractors, perform work in-house

Infosys plans to reduce the usage of sub-contractors and do its work in-house, especially at cheaper offshore locations, the IT company"s Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy said today.

2010: A gamble in equities

Valuations can look stretched if the momentum in recovery doesn’t pick up as expected.

FII buying lifts market to 2009 high

Extending gains for the third straight day, the Sensex rose 129.50 points to touch a new 2009-high of 17,360.61, backed by strong liquidity and hopes of firm economic and corporate growth.

Nomura revises India\'s GDP forecast to 7%

In view of a surprising economic growth for the second quarter, Nomura Financial Advisory & Securities (India) today revised the country"s FY10 GDP growth forecast at 7 per cent from 6 per cent earlier.

Markets at a glance

Worries of rising food prices and a hike in interest rates weighed on the market sentiment. During the week, the BSE Sensex fell 400 points or 2.3 per cent to 16,720, while Nifty fell 130 points or 2.5 per cent to 4,988. However, mid-cap and small-cap stocks performed better, BSE Mid-Cap index fell by 1.6 per cent and Small-cap index declined by 1.04 per cent during the week.

Hotel stocks: Up on higher room demand

Since October, stocks of hotel companies have done reasonably well having outperformed the BSE Sensex. While most of them have underperformed the broader market since January last year till March 2009, the key reason for the recent upmove is that the fundamentals of the industry are showing signs of improvement helped by the domestic demand.

Sensex near day\'s high; NTPC up 3%

The Sensex has soared to a high of 17,513 and is now at 17,501, up 157 points. The NSE Nifty is at 5,214, up 44 points

Sensex up 33 pts at opening bell

The Sensex has opened at 17,378 - up 33 points. The index is now up 126 points at 17,473.

Tata, Israeli co tie up for aerospace defence

The Tata group, which is setting up a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter cabin manufacturing plant at the Aerospace and Precision Engineering Special Economic Zone at Adibatla near here, has formed a joint venture with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for setting up defence aerospace manufacturing facilities in the same SEZ.

Ministers join Telangana protest

The political crisis in Andhra Pradesh worsened on Saturday when 20 ministers of the state cabinet from non-Telangana regions decided to resign to protest the formation of the separate state of Telangana.

\'Firms can mitigate IT skills shortage\'

The shortage of information and communications technology (ICT) skills in developed countries could become a serious issue once the worldwide economic crisis starts easing. This will be exacerbated by the falling number of masters and PhD holders in science and engineering, restrictions on cross-border movement of IT professionals and the US H-1B visa programme. However, this vicious circle could be mitigated by the Indian service firms increasingly recruiting internationally, according to a new OECD report on employment trends in the ICT sector.

Akash Prakash: State of play

Akash Prakash / New Delhi November 27, 2009, 0:18 IST

Mini Dairy project in Idukki, plans to start in TN

Private sector Dhanalakshmi Bank has kickstarted a Mini Dairy Funding project in the backward Idukki district of Kerala and has plans to start a similar project in Tamil Nadu in two weeks time.

Govt to sell wheat in open market via e-trading platform

The government has now decided to go for electronic trading of wheat for bulk consumers like flour millers to boost sales of the grain in the open market.

Steering ahead of the taxman

The new rules on perks make it better to use the company car than to get usage reimbursed.

\'Data on I-T arrears must be analysed, retrievable by segment\'

Income-tax arrears against assessees — of Rs 2,01,276 crore as on March 31, 2009 — have once again become an issue, as Parliament’s standing committee on finance has asked the Department of Revenue and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to put in place a Management Information System (MIS) within three months for collating and retrieving data concerning appeals, pendency disposal and recovery.

Vanita Kohli-Khandekar: The insider\'s view of Indian media

Since yearends and beginnings are about reflections and resolutions, here are some from yours truly. In 2000, I was an assistant editor at Businessworld magazine, writing and editing whatever came my way — management, media, Internet, technology. A stint in Cambridge researching copyrights in digital music, at the height of the Napster era, helped me decide to specialise in media and entertainment (M&E) writing. Now in the tenth year of making my bread and butter from this business, it makes sense to revisit the reasons I chose this industry.

Avatar tops record week as Hollywood closes 2009

The US box office will set a weekly record of almost $500 million in the final days of 2009 on sales from Avatar, Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, according to Hollywood.com.

Commitment charges are back as sanction-disbursement gap rises

With sanctioned credit lines going abegging, banks take corrective action.

Rational, not administered

Business Standard / New Delhi October 23, 2009, 0:41 IST

Dena Bank cuts lending rates on home loans

State-owned Dena Bank has reduced home loan rates for new customers as part of festival offer.

Dhanalakshmi bank trims deposit rates

Private sector-lender, Dhanalakshmi bank today said that it has reduced its interest rate on deposits across various slabs.

Nabard sanctions Rs 159.86 cr for rural infra

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned Rs 159.86 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) XV to the government of West Bengal.

Munchy bites

Nestlé has decided to take on Cadbury’s Dairy Milk head on

Festive season sales push up retail targets

This festive season has been successful enough in pushing sales for companies to revise upwards their year-end targets. A survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) says demand conditions have improved across sectors.

Matthew Lynn: Merger boom may be the next bubble

Matthew Lynn / October 7, 2009, 0:33 IST

Insurers push accident cover sale to schools

Schools and colleges have become the new hunting ground for non-life insurers, eager to push personal accident (PA) policies, a segment which has traditionally seen low claims.

Kaiga nuclear leak: Investigators zero on five employees

Investigators probing the radiation contamination of a drinking water cooler unit in Kaiga atomic plant in Karnataka have zeroed in on five employees from whose department the heavy water could have been smuggled out.

AI chargesheets airhostess in molestation case

An Air India enquiry committee has chargesheeted airhostess Komal Singh, who had levelled molestation charges against two pilots of the airlines, for "violating the conduct rule".

Delphi to raise head count at Bangalore centre

US-based mobile electronics and transportation systems supplier Delphi today said it would hire 150 more engineers at its Bangalore Technical Centre to cater to the automobile sector.

S Tel launches mobile services; joins 1p tariff war

S Tel, a joint venture between the Chennai-based Siva group and Bahrain Telecom, today said it will launch mobile services from tomorrow with twin tariff plans of one paise a second and 50 paise per minute.

Nalco SAPs at Damanjodi demand R & R benefits

About 1000 Substantial Affected Persons (SAP) in the mining and refinery complex of National Alumina Company Limited (Nalco) at Damanjodi in Koraput district have demanded rehabilitation benefits at par with the SAPs of the company in its Angul smelter and power complex.

Nalco shelves South Africa project; puts Iran project on hold

In a twin decision on its global operations involving about Rs 27,000-crore investment, the state-owned aluminium major Nalco has shelved its proposed project in South Africa, and has put on hold the one in Iran.

Plan Panel identifies 4 PPP models for higher education

Setting the agenda for the new UPA government, the Planning Commission has zeroed in on four business models to promote higher education through Public- Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

United Spirits hits new 52-wk high on distillery acquisition

The scrip soared to a high of Rs 1,244 and finally settled at Rs 1,228, up 2.5% from its previous close. The counter clocked 88,709 shares as comapred to the two -week daily average traded volumes of 115,510 shares on the BSE.

IEP to invest Rs 100 crore in Gujarat

Private equity player, India Equity Partners (IEP) Fund Advisors Pvt. Ltd. is planning to invest around Rs 100 crore in the industrial water segment in the state of Gujarat. The company is in talks with one of the industrial water services player in Gujarat.

China, India key to check the economic crisis: World Bank

India, China and other developing nations have played a key role in checking the economic crisis, World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said, adding there is need of multiple poles of growth as the global economy can no longer rely on the US consumers.

SCOPE advise state run firms against flooding market with IPOs

Standing Conference Of Public Enterprises (SCOPE), the apex industry chamber for state-run firms, has advised members against flooding the market with their IPO offerings -- expected in the face of the government planning to list all profit-making public sector enterprises.

Sebi may allow higher stake for buyers

Corporate acquisitions in India could become costlier with market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) mulling making it mandatory for acquirers to make an offer for up to 100 per cent stake in any listed company.

Maharatna status for top PSUs likely in a month

The government is considering a proposal to elevate some Navratna PSUs to Maharatna companies to allow them more freedom regarding investment, Bhaskar Chatterjee, secretary of the Union government"s department of public enterprises, today said.

United Spirits acquires Tern Distilleries

United Spirits today acquired the entire share capital of Tern Distilleries (Tern) based in Andhra Pradesh for Rs 13.42 crore. Consequent to this acquisition, Tern has become a wholly owned subsidiary of United Spirits.

Emami eyes acquisitions, domestic and foreign

Kolkata-based FMCG major Emami is scouting for acquisitions in the domestic and overseas markets and says it can spend up to Rs 800 crore on this.

Court asks HUL not to use \'Boro\' word in Vaseline ad

In what could be termed as a victory for home grown FMCG player Emami, the Kolkata Civil Court has restrained Hindustan Unilever (HUL) from running a campaign using the word "Boro" in its advertisement for Vaseline.

Pak claims India backing insurgency in Balochistan

Pakistan has alleged that India"s RAW is backing insurgency in its southwestern Balochistan province and said it is probing the matter.

Foreign luxury liquor brands eye India foray

With the luxury liquor segment in India growing by 30-40 per cent annually, the coming year could see a number of premium overseas brands entering into the domestic market.

SAIL rises 5 per cent

The stock gained 5 per cent to close at a 52-week high of Rs 236.10 on reports that steel companies may increase prices next month to cash in on the demand surge in the domestic market and recovery in the global steel prices.

No discrimination in hiring IT employees: Govt

IT and ITeS being a knowledge industry does not discriminate in recruiting employees and the hiring is done on the basis of merit and competency, the Government today said in the Rajya Sabha.

Star Union Dai-ichi offers annuity cover with reverse mortgage

Now you can buy an annuity cover on reverse mortgage loans.

Input credits under service tax law

In a recent landmark judgement in Coca Cola India Pvt. Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Central Excise (2009-VIL-06-HC-BOM-ST), the Mumbai High Court has interpreted the relevant provisions of service tax law in a broad and inclusive manner in order to hold that expenses incurred by a company in relation to advertising and promoting a brand owned by it would be eligible for input tax credits as such services will qualify as ‘input services’. The decision has extended the present understanding of the service tax provisions to a significant extent and beneficially at that.

BoB, Indian Bank name Executive Directors

Public sector lenders Bank of Baroda and Indian Bank today announced that they had appointed new Executive Directors.

Bajaj Auto raced ahead on restructuring plans

Bajaj Auto ended at Rs 1,724, higher by Rs 81 or 4.9%, on the BSE, accompanied by a surge in volumes.

Naxalites attack at Balimela disrupts power supply

The power supply in the state was disrupted when around 20 armed Naxalites attacked Balimela hydro power station in south Orissa on Saturday night damaging its Valve House and thus affecting generation at the station.

\'We are World Bank\'s largest borrower\'

T E Narasimhan / New Delhi November 14, 2009, 0:35 IST

Jewellery exports shine on global economic recovery

The signs of global economic recovery have given new life to the Indian diamond processing industry, with export orders rising sharply by 20 per cent for execution on the occasion of Christmas and New Year.

Rising rupee a big worry for exporters

Over 10 per cent rise of rupee against the US dollar has become a "big worry" for exporters at a time when they saw arrest in sharp decline in the country"s exports amid a hope of recovery.

India Yamaha Motor sales up 2.12% in Nov

Two-wheeler maker India Yamaha Motor today said its sales have grown by 2.12 per cent in November to 17,055 units, against 16,701 units in the same month last year.

Kanika Datta: \'Foreign hands\' in Indian business

Kanika Datta / New Delhi December 10, 2009, 0:53 IST

J K Paper sets the ball rolling for carbon credits

J K Paper Mills, a leading paper manufacturing company has initiated the process of registration with the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) on carbon credits in the forestry sector.

G20 ministers to talk recovery, climate change

Bolstering the world economic recovery and crafting a deal to fight climate change will be top of the agenda for G20 finance ministers meeting tomorrow in Scotland.

Pharma, telecom, FMCG sectors may hike pay 12% in 2010

Driven by scarcity of talent and increasing competition, India Inc is expected to hike salaries in the new year with the pharma, telecom and consumer goods companies leading the space with up to 12 per cent pay hike, global consultancy Ernst & Young (E&Y) says.

CMIE raises GDP growth to 6.7% for this fiscal

The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has revised its GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.7 per cent from 6.2 per cent announced last month.

Domestic crude oil production falls 1.2% in H1: CMIE

Domestic crude oil production in India declined by 1.2 per cent in HI of the current fiscal from the same period a year ago due to fall in output by oil exploration and production major-- ONGC, an economic think-tank said in its report.

Consumers to spend $706 bn on electronics this year: survey

Despite the ongoing global economic crisis, people worldwide will spend more this year on consumer electronics, IT and telecom and are expected to take the total market size to $706 billion, according to a survey.

If in doubt, rub it out

Chinese banks: Economic crisis or not, China’s lenders are in good shape. The country’s big listed banks – Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China and China Construction Bank (CCB), all unveiled mid-year balance sheets enviously light on bad debts. Thank China’s rapid growth – and an astonishing $300 billion vanishing act.

Global economic crisis hits Indian overseas investments

On an overseas acquisition spree over the past few years, Indian companies, have suddenly become wary of making investments in foreign companies as a result of the current global economic crisis, a Columbia University report said on Monday.

L&T, GE Hitachi to build nuclear reactors in India

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US-based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, one of the largest nuclear power plant vendors in the world, for the construction of nuclear power plants in India.

Borrowing up by nearly 2.5 times; expense on defence goes up

The government will rely heavily on borrowings to finance its various flagship schemes as the target for this head has been increased to 34 paise of every rupee from 14 paise projected in the last Budget.

Assocham calls for consolidation of banks

Industry body Assocham today called for consolidation in the Indian banking sector without any delay to enhance global competitiveness, despite dithering of RBI on the issues.

Konda Surekha resigns as minister

Minister for women development and child welfare Konda Surekha submitted her resignation to Governor ND Tiwari on Thursday. The minister stated she had resigned as she was unable to continue in a cabinet without former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Ever since the death of YSR, Surekha has been pitching for the chief ministership of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the late chief minister"s son. She had even said earlier that she would resign if Jaganmohan Reddy was not made the chief minister.

GMR raising Rs 13,000 cr for power, road projects

In advanced discussions with many domestic lenders, including SBI, Axis Bank and IDFC for raising the debt.

Kotak Mahindra net up 72% at Rs 257 cr

Kotak Mahindra bank today announced its first quarter results. The bank"s net profit went up by 72 per cent to Rs 257 crore in first quarter of FY10 compared to Rs 150 crore in the corresponding quarter last year on a consolidated basis.

Indian Overseas Bank cuts lending rate by 0.5%

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) today slashed benchmark prime lending rate (PLR) by 0.5 per cent to 12 per cent in line with its peers.

Bank of Baroda eyeing Rs 4.25 lakh cr turnover this fiscal

Public sector Bank of Baroda is eyeing a total turnover of Rs 4.25 lakh crore in the current fiscal, bank"s Chairman and Managing Director M D Mallya said here today.

Positive surprises are unlikely

The trading pattern in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment suggests that the Nifty could breach its immediate support of 4,820 and find support at 4,750. Daily technical indicators are currently oversold but without any backing from other studies. According to a technical analyst at JM Financial, the chart set-up remains weak and hence positive surprises are unlikely.

Capital inflows lessen external sector blues

BS Reporter / Mumbai October 27, 2009, 22:21 IST

Corporation Bank net rises 52% to Rs 291 cr

Public sector Corporation Bank has posted 52.29 per cent increased in its net profit to Rs 291.67 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009 as compared with the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal.

A balanced approach

Business Standard / New Delhi October 28, 2009, 0:01 IST

Bank of Baroda net up 60.4%

Control on operating expenses and growth in margins and other income helped Bank of Baroda (BoB) post a 60.4 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 634.18 crore for the second quarter ended September 2009. Its net profit in July-September 2008 was Rs 395.29 crore.

Kingfisher Airlines net declines 13% at Rs 418 cr

Vijay Mallya-controlled Kingfisher Airlines has reported a 13.4 per cent drop in its net loss at Rs 418.23 crore during the second quarter ended September 30, 2009 compared to a net loss of Rs 483.2 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Its income from operations declined by 13.6 per cent to Rs 1,142.1 crore during the quarter compared to the same period a year ago.

Jyothy Laboratories profit at Rs 14 cr

FMCG company Jyothy Laboratories today said its net profit surged by nearly three-fold to Rs 14.11 crore for the quarter ended September 30 against the same period last fiscal.

Home truths on science

Business Standard / New Delhi January 08, 2010, 0:53 IST

Frequent strikes might make Pricol move out of Coimbatore

Leading auto component manufacturer Pricol has said it may be forced to move production units out of the district due to frequent strikes and "non-cooperative" attitude of some workers for the last two years,substantially bringing down its profit margin.

Talks on Telangana continue

Congress likely to continue consultations with various interest groups and political parties.

Dollar buys, FII inflows take Re to 15-month high

The rupee on Monday hit a fresh 15-month high against the dollar. Dealers offered oil companies’ dollar buying and heavy inflow of funds from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) as reasons.

Banks credit offtake rises 13.34%

Credit growth of banks remained at 13 per cent for the fortnight ended January 1 compared to 24 per cent in same period a year ago.

ONGC doubles oil production at Imperial to 16,000 bpd

Set to turn the company around this year.

Abu Dhabi fund wants citi deal scrapped or $4 bn

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is trying to abort an agreement to buy $7.5 billion of Citigroup Inc stock at eight times Wednesday’s price, saying the bank misled it about the investment.

Citigroup stuck with Bernanke offer rival banks plan to refuse

When financial stocks slumped in February to the lowest level in at least 17 years, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S Bernanke told Congress the government might end up owning “substantial” stakes in the country’s biggest banks.

Godrej Properties to raise upto Rs 3,000cr for expansion

After its Rs 462-crore initial share sale, the real estate developer Godrej Properties today said it plans to raise around Rs 3,000-crore through debt or equity to fund its expansion plans over the next two-three years.

Markets open flat

The markets have opened on a lacklustre note. The Sensex is quoting at 16,690, down 29 points and the Nifty is at 4,974, down 12 points.

Support at 4,900 likely to melt soon

The Nifty remained listless after opening on a positive note on lack of follow-up buying in cash and F&O segments. With traders unwilling to be active at higher levels, the derivatives trading volume dropped significantly by Rs 10,000 crore. The Nifty December futures closed on a par with the spot index and shed 1.24 million shares in open interest (OI), mostly through a blend of buy and sell trades, indicating short-covering and unwinding of long positions. The rollovers in the Nifty January were lower at 0.78 million shares compared to unwinding in the December futures. This indicates that participants are not in a hurry to rollover their positions at the current level.

Kalpataru Power declines despite bagging orders

Kalpataru Power Transmission closed at Rs 1151, weaker by Rs 19 or 1.64%, on the BSE.

NSE shoots down brokers\' plea to postpone new timings

ANMI attempts to perusade NSE and BSE to stick to current opening time.

Over 15 PwC tax professionals quit; to join rival KPMG

Over 15 senior executives of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), whose Bangalore-based arm audited accounts of scam-hit Satyam Computer Services, have quit and would be joining PwC"s global rival KPMG.

DB Corp fixes IPO issue price at Rs 212 per share

Media house DB Corp, the publisher of Hindi newspaper "Dainik Bhaskar", today said it has fixed the issue price of its initial public offer at Rs 212 per share, garnering Rs 384.22 crore through the offer.

SocGen 3rd quarter net doubles

Societe Generale SA, France’s second-largest bank by market value, said third-quarter earnings doubled as its investment-banking unit returned to profit.

India listing to cement our commitment: StanChart

British banking major Standard Chartered today said its proposed local listing would enhance its commitment to Indian market.

IIMs see better summer

Companies like Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Nomura, Standard Chartered, JPMorgan and RBS flock the campuses Banking and finance companies, whose dismal performance in late 2008 caused panic among students and faculty members of the premier Indian Institutes of Management, are making up this year with better profiles and stipends.

StanChart to hire 3,000 more in India

Global banking behemoth Standard Chartered plans to hire 3,000 employees in India by the end of 2010, a year that would also see it listing its shares on the bourses in India.

Vishnupriya Hotels ties up with JHM Interstate

Vishnupriya Hotels Limited (VHL), which is setting up a five-star hotel at Visakhapatnam, has tied up with US-based JHM Interstate to operate the hotel.

Godrej Industries signs MoU with group companies

Godrej Industries, leading chemicals manufacturer and exporter of chemicals products, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co and Godrej Properties for development of the property at Vikhroli.

Air India gets award for energy efficiency

National carrier Air India today received the National Energy Conservation Award 2009 for its efforts in saving fuel and reducing carbon emission.

Aamir Khan, Kate Winslet to work together on partition film?

Superstar Aamir Khan is all set to team up with Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet in an international film based on Saadat Hasan Manto"s famous partition story "Toba Tek Singh", Femalefirst reported.

Shipping ministry calls for status report on DP World

The Union shipping ministry has asked all ports in the country with a presence of Dubai World’s maritime subsidiary, DP World, to report on how much trade goes through the company-operated terminals.

Sangam of Tamil and English

Rrishi Raote / New Delhi July 25, 2009, 0:52 IST

Embarrassing code

That the new direct taxes code is proving embarrassing for the government is obvious, it’s just that one didn’t realise the government felt the same way as well. At one point the code says, “A business shall be distinct and separate from another business if there is no interlacing, inter-dependence or unity ‘embarrassing’ the two businesses.” Now that’s embarrassing.

Retail investors give IPOs the cold shoulder

Average participation in the last 12 offers was just 2.39 times

Societe Generale to devise new strategy for insurance sector

Undeterred by the premature end to its life insurance joint venture with Indiabulls Financial Services Ltd, French banking giant Societe Generale is still buoyant on the opportunities in the sector and plans to develop a fresh strategy.

No headway in BHEL disinvestment: Vilasrao

The government today said no headway has been made regarding the disinvestment of state-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).

CHESS #616

Quarterfinals at the World Cup. Just five of the top ten seeds are still in contention. Gelfand (No:1) is tied with Jakovenko (9) while Ponomariov (7) is tied with Gashimov (2) after the first game. Svidler (3) appears to be on his way out against Malakhov (22) and Karjakin (12) looks set to eliminate Mamedaryov (13) after Malakov and Pono won their first games.

CHESS 613

Fifty years ago, opponents used to complain that the young Mikhail Tal’s “hypnotic” gaze added to the psychological pressure caused by his dynamite sacrifices. Hungarian-US GM Pal Benko took to wearing wraparounds when playing Tal. Tal was amused but the shades prompted complaints from others, who were distracted.

India, Russia reach agreement on Gorshkov, to ink nuke deal

Comprehensive civil nuclear pact to be signed during PM’s visit.

Celebrity endorsement market back on track

After a lull of over eight months when virtually no new endorsement deal of any significant value was signed, the Rs 400-450 crore celebrity endorsement business is back on the recovery path.

Provogue reworks business plans, strategises to boost revenues

After a year of slow growth, apparel maker and retailer Provogue is reworking its business strategy to boost revenues and prop up margins, a top company executive said.

IT, banking shares pull down Sensex

Continuing its yesterday pullback coupled with strong cues fromm global markets, the Sensex opened with a positive gap of 110 points at 17,069. The index soon spurted to a high of 17,121 and thereafter exhibited firm trend till noon trades.

Markets slip from day\'s high

The Sensex has dropped 55 points to 16,905. The Nifty is down 16 poinst at 5,011.

Bharti, RCom seek telecom corridor via Bangladesh

Indian telecom majors Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications (RCom) have sought to build a fibre optic network in Bangladesh to get connected to the isolated north-eastern states, a report said on Sunday.

Unitech pares gain, plunges over 5%

Weakness in realty stocks weighed on Unitech. The stock could not hold gains and slumped to a low of Rs 82. It finally ended with a loss of 5.5% at Rs 84. Around 27 million shares were traded on the BSE today.

SJVN public offer could be launched next year: CMD

The Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN), the state-owned hydro power producer, is likely to hit the market in the next financial year.

Markets recover at close

The Sensex has ended at 16,647, down 208 points, and the Nifty has ended at 4943, lower by 63 points (provisional closing).

Before going ON a power trip...

Investing in this capital-intensive sector calls for a close look at existing power purchase agreements and fuel supplies

Sahara Prime holds talks to raise $214 mn

Sahara Prime City Ltd, the company planning India’s second-largest real estate initial public offering in more than two years, is in talks to raise as much as Rs 1,000 crore ($214 million) from private equity investors.

Satluj Jal Vidyut IPO likely in next fiscal: CMD

Public sector hydropower producer Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) today said its proposed initial public offer is likely to come in the next fiscal and the company is in the process of appointing independent directors, a prerequisite for firms planning to hit the market.

3G bids: Industry fears \'winner\'s curse\'

In 2000, British Telecom and Vodafone were the darlings of stock markets in the UK. But share prices and revenues took a knock after the telecom majors won 3G spectrum through a high-priced bidding.

Govt to sell 8.38% in NMDC in 2009-10

The government will sell 8.38 per cent of its stake in the mining major NMDC before March 31, 2010, generating Rs 14,100 crore from the process.

Suryakirans to enthrall Dasara crowds

Mysoreans will have the opportunity of witnessing for the first time thrilling aerobatic demonstrations by the Suryakiran team of the Indian Air Force (IAF) during this Dasara.

CBI begins probe into copter crash, visits Nallamala forests

The CBI today began its probe into the helicopter crash that killed former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four other persons with a team visiting the site in Nallamala forests.

Pantaloon QIP to start today

Pantaloon Retail, the country’s largest listed retailer, was likely to open its qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue from Friday, sources said. The company plans to raise anywhere between Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore from the issue.