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The hearing in the gas dispute between the Ambani brothers today commenced afresh in the Supreme Court after a change of judge and the two sides indulged in a verbal battle with the one side accusing the other of deviating from its earlier stand.
About 25 lakh life insurance agents have opposed the recommendations of Swarup Committee on elimination of upfront commission paid to advisers. "Implementation of the recommendation will make the role of 25 lakh life insurance agents working with LIC and private insurers redundant and adversely affect crores of people who are dependent on them," Life Insurance Agents" Federation of India President H M Jain told reporters here.
We are in danger of losing an entire generation of artists.
Bank of Maharashtra is planning to raise funds from the market, its Chairman and Managing Director Allen C A Pereira said today.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 25, 2009, 0:31 IST
Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) today reported a decline of 53 per cent in its net profit at Rs 87 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009.
CM Achuthanandan to inaugurate on Oct 10
VS Achuthanandan would, however, continue as the CM.
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare(GSKCH) has resumed operations at its plant in Dowlaiswaram, Andhra Pradesh, the company said in a statement posted on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday. Work at the plant was temporarily halted on December 11 following widespread unrest in the state.
The government has approved 13 foreign direct investment projects, including a proposal of Dish TV, entailing total overseas investment of Rs 393.62 crore.
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.
The Centre today asked industries and research laboratories to develop alternate technologies using iron ore and non-coking coal so as to reduce production cost for the steel industry.
Group in alliance with global majors to gear up for the decade of innovation.
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.
Major revamp in Air India"s top management in next 30 days, says Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
Allows inclusion of technical write-offs while calculating provision coverage ratio.
A major fire broke out at the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in the wee hours today, severely hitting the hot metal production at the flagship entity of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).
Haryana Cooperation Minister Paramvir Singh said that the central cooperative banks in the state would provide a loan of Rs 8,600 crore during the current financial year to the farmers. These banks had provided loans worth Rs 4,306.60 crore during the last financial year to the farmers under various schemes.
The Union Government has given consent for setting up the centre of National Institute of Urban Development (NIUD) in the Chhattisgarh. Sources in the government said that after discussion with state officials, the union government had given consent for setting up the NIUD centre in the state. The centre had also sanctioned Rs 35 crore for the project.
National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) today reported a fall of 76 per cent in its net profit to Rs 126.45 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, over the corresponding period a year ago.
Patni net up 14 per cent
While any restructuring of its humongous debt in a difficult operating environment is a positive for the Aban stock, the upsides are priced in.
Wide sectoral variations; good time for cement, automobiles and media.
Luxury carmaker Audi India today reported over two-fold increase in its sales in September at 205 units over the same period last year.
ING will sell its stake in the life insurance business by 2013 as part of its ongoing Back to Basics programme by moving towards complete separation of its banking and life insurance operations.
Brewberrys Hospitality Pvt Ltd (BbH), which operates the Brewberrys chain of cafes in India, plans to increase its footprint by over 200 per cent in the coming months. The Vadodara-based cafe chain is banking on the franchisee model to gain further scale and depth in its operations, according to Reji Thomas of JenJon Retail & Services Private Limited, the master franchiser for Brewberrys.
Bharti Airtel Direct to Home (DTH) service, Airtel digital TV, added nearly 1.5 million customers across India in first seven months of the current financial year. Majority of the customers were added during October.
Outlets of telecom companies such as Airtel and Vodafone may soon double as bank kiosks for financial services like funds transfer or bill payment, especially in parts of the country where there are very few banks or none at all.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) will appoint a consultant to enhance shareholder value, its Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goyal said today.
It has a cash reserve of $6 billion
Leading telecom firm Vodafone along with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) today launched the new version of the Storm2 smartphone in seven European countries as well as South Africa.
Villages in Andhra Pradesh will be supplied bottled "mineral water" rather than piped water from the coming Independence Day.
India today ruled out taxing capital inflows to the stock market on the lines of Brazil and said markets have been functioning normally.
Tata Capital, today announced the appointment of Akhil Awasthi as the managing partner of its Mid-Market Private Equity Fund.
The Cabinet is likely to discuss a proposal to allow trading of energy units saved-- on the lines of sale of carbon credits-- by nine power-intensive sectors, under the clean development mechanism.
Among all the political parties in Jharkhand, former chief minister Babulal Marandi"s Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (Prajatantrik) scored the highest winning percentage.
Goa government has demolished a portion of a hotel owned by Russian nationals in the state for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) law.
Freebies are no longer catching the fancy of prospective home buyers; instead they are seeking cash discount, as the real estate market shows signs of revival.
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.
BPO services provider Caretel, a Dalmia group company, has bagged a two-year contract from state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to manage the latter’s call centre. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Courier service provider Gati today said it will raise Rs 78.91 crore by issue of warrants to different promoters and the Infrastructure Fund of India LLC.
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.
India and Russia are expected to sign a number of key agreements during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh"s December 6-8 visit here, including those on extension of the long-term defence cooperation programme beyond 2010 and construction of four more nuclear reactors at Kudankulam.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 26, 2009, 0:29 IST
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked asset management companies (AMCs) not to compel investors to get no-objection certificates (NoCs) from their existing distributors for shifting their investments.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 04, 2009, 0:02 IST
Catamaran Venture Fund, promoted by Infosys Technologies Chairman and Mentor Narayan Murthy will be active for investments from March 2010.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 03, 2009, 1:34 IST
Hyderabad-based drug maker Natco Pharma reported an 8.5 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 43.98 crore for the year ended March 2009, compared with Rs 40.52 crore posted in the previous year.
The Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries (RIL) has reopened about two-thirds of its 1,432 petrol pumps in the country and is selling about 2,000 kilolitres of auto fuel per day, RIL President (Refinery Business) P Raghavendran said today.
Reliance Industries, which had declared an intention to seek inorganic growth opportunities, confirmed a preliminary offer for a controlling interest in global petrochem major, LyondellBassel. The timing is prime for acquisitions in the space as there has been a steep decline in replacement cost and asset value given the plummeting of margins in the petrochemical space.
In a bid to attract subscribers of rival companies, state-run telecom operator BSNL is gearing up to start mobile number portability (MNP) services as soon as telecom regulator Trai issues tariff structure.
While the key benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty, have regained momentum and are trading at their yearly highs, the volumes have declined. Volumes in cash and derivatives segments declined 14 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively, on a month-on-month basis in August 2009, according to a study by domestic research house IDFC-SSKI.
What does TV broadcast major Star’s shift of operations from Hong Kong to India suggest? What does it mean now that the Star India CEO Uday Shankar will report directly to James Murdoch, the head of Europe and Asia for parent News Corporation, instead of reporting to the regional boss in Hong Kong? In the answers to these questions lie the story of the growth of Indian media.
Adani Power has fixed the price at Rs 100 per equity share for its initial public offering, which has garnered over Rs 3,000 crore.
Government today downplayed comments by White House senior adviser David Axelrod that the Copenhagen Accord had bound India to cutting emissions and said the remarks were that of a "spin doctor" aimed at domestic consumption.
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.
Indian automobile majors Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) have shown interest in taking over the Termini Imerese plant owned by Italy’s largest car maker Fiat.
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.
After Karnataka, the steel giant ArcelorMittal has set its eyes on the mineral-rich Chhattisgarh for setting up a steel plant.
Suven Life Sciences net down 48%
Bharati Shipyard ended at Rs 165, higher by Rs 1 or 0.88%, on the BSE. The stock had opened at Rs 166 and touched an intra-day high of Rs 174 and a low of Rs 164. Total trading volumes of 218,525 shares were registered on the counter as against the two-week average of 99,782 shares.
Mahesh Kulkarni / Bangalore November 17, 2009, 0:30 IST
The government today said in the Lok Sabha that a special audit has observed that Reliance Communication and its other subsidiaries under reported revenues during 2006-07 and 2007-08.
If it was dry arid land which was being used for growing jatropha, it is now the turn of water ponds to add fuel to biodiesel production in the country. All it takes is to grow algae in water bodies and then press it to get oil that is processed to get biodiesel.
The government today said exports from Software Technology Parks (STP) increased 15.1 per cent to Rs 2,07,358 crore in 2008-09.
State-run Oil India (OIL) has rejected the resignation offered by V K Sibal after he was reverted to the company following denial of extension as oil regulator amid reports of alleged favours to corporate houses.
Reliance Industries (RIL), today said the bonus shares allotted by the company last month have been listed on stock exchanges and will be traded from tomorrow.
The Uttarakhand government has bought 145 buses from auto giant Tata Motors through an open bidding. The red-colour buses will ply in three cities – Dehra Dun, Haridwar and Nainital. Under the Jawaharlal Nehru Renewal Urban Mission (JNRUM) programme, the Centre will bear 80 per cent of the cost and the rest 20 per cent will be borne by the state government.
Janta Roadways, a Chennai-based logistics services provider in the car transportation segment, launched its luxury taxi service in the city on Tuesday. The service will cover Greater Chennai, which includes Sriperumbudur.
BS Reporter / December 8, 2009, 0:19 IST
Lending rates might move upward in the months ahead as credit growth picks up, but banks may take a cue from the RBI policy before effecting any change in their rate-structure, a top banker today said.
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar October 12, 2009, 0:30 IST
The Paradeep Port Workers" Union has sought the removal of K Raghuramaiah, the chairman of the Paradeep Port Trust (PPT).
The Orissa government today asked the Orissa Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) to take steps to prevent any possible oil spillage by the sinking of the Mangolian ship, M V Black Rose, in the port limit of Paradip port.
The efforts of Coal India Limited (CIL), the world"s single largest coal producer to explore coal blocks in Mozambique seem to have gathered steam.
The corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cell for Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) has approved the company"s additional bank finance needs to fund its expansion project.
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.
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.
To reduce costs, global oil major Shell will soon transfer additional office jobs from Houston and elsewhere to India and the Philippines. Royal Dutch Shell has also announced that it would slash 5,000 jobs by the year-end, including ‘hundreds’ in Houston, as part of a sweeping reorganisation new CEO Peter Voser said was needed to make the company more competitive.
After a sharp correction at the start of the week which saw Smart Portfolios slip into the red, the markets bounced back sharply and recouped losses.
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.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah on Sunday said that the ruling Congress government would abide by the apex court’s verdict on the alleged irregularities by mining firm Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) in the Bellary reserve forest of Anantapur district.
About 200,000 Indians will be affected due to the Dubai crisis wherein real estate and construction sectors have taken a major hit, according to Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) past president Anil K Agarwal.
Infosys Technologies, India’s second largest information technology services company, which is an early bird on campuses this year, says it will offer jobs to 13,000 freshers for 2010-11. This is despite the fact that the number of engineering colleges it visits every year for campus recruitment is expected to drop by half as compared with 2007.
The government today asked investigating agency Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to initiate prosecution proceedings against persons involved in Satyam accounting fraud and partners of Price Waterhouse, the auditors of the IT company.
CBI has filed a fresh status report before the Supreme Court into alleged irregularities in defence deals, which caused a loss of around Rs 2,000 crore to the state exchequer, entered into in the wake of the 1999 Kargil conflict.
Even if they are a small part of your portfolio, these funds can help reap rich returns.
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.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister, K Rosaiah, has agreed to hand over the land already allotted for a new shipping technology unit at Visakhapatnam as and when required. He gave this assurance to shipping secretary, APVN Sharma, who called on him on Saturday.
There is finally some good news for health insurance buyers. Insurers are now beginning to cover outpatient department (OPD) expenses.
As food inflation shot up to a 10-year high of 19.95 per cent, the yield on government bonds softened today on belief the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may not take steps like raising borrowing costs to contain inflationary expectations.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 02, 2009, 0:34 IST
American professionals have high degree of confidence in the companies they are employed with as a majority of them have an optimistic outlook for their firms, a recent survey says.
Devangshu Datta / New Delhi September 12, 2009, 0:08 IST
The Indian bourses opened in the positive at 17,604 but soon slipped into the red owing to lack of buying activity and no major trigger to boost the sentiment. The index exhibited lacklustre movement for major part of the trading day. The benchmark index towards the end slipped deeper into the red to touch a low of 17,509, down 149 points from the day"s high.
Keeping up the pace at which companies converged on the campus on the first day of summer placements at the premier Indian Institute of Ahmedabad (IIM-A), the second day saw companies like Procter & Gamble, Hindustan Unilever, Coca-Cola, Nokia, Tata Administrative Service (TAS) and the Aditya Birla Group.
Move could further bring down mobile tariffs.
Anil Ambani Group company Reliance Power (R-Power) today said it plans to become over 3,300-Mw company by the end of the Eleventh Five-year Plan (2007-2012).
The Karnataka government has proposed to set up a tourism development authority for Mysore and Shimoga for the promotion and development of tourism in the two places. It will be similar to the Hampi Development Authority for the ruins of the Vijayanagar empire in Bellary district.
Everyone in a democracy has the right to express their opinions, but this right needs to be tempered sometimes. Tower of Babel (December 31) rightly points out that there are too many conflicting voices on the economy from senior government officials, and this is confusing the markets. There are various estimates of growth and the latest in this is from the Chief Economic Advisor who thinks India will move back to 9 per cent next year, and will overtake China in the next three-four years. If all of this is going to happen without India undertaking any serious reforms, why are we even worried about reforms — 9 per cent growth with a population growth of 1 per cent is more than good enough.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today said that it has decided to include Cox and Kings (India) in the BSE 500 index.
Awards its 3G management franchise to Virgin.
The government today said it will allow private and public telecom players to set up towers in the border areas to improve mobile connectivity.
Coal-based generators plan upgrades, clean tech over 5 years.
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai October 29, 2009, 0:58 IST
The Asian markets have ended in the green.
Abhilasha Ojha goes shopping for bed linen and finds that the branded market is flooded with incredible options, including limited edition collections, zany motifs and quality that redefines comfort.
As a direct fallout of the controversy over the Vedic Village resort, the West Bengal government has decided to scrap its proposed IT township, meant to accommodate Infosys and Wipro, near the resort.
Nine MLAs and an MP from Andhra Pradesh are among 21 protestors taken into preventive custody today when about 100 activists gathered at high-security North Block violating prohibitory orders, as a meeting on Telengana issue was being held in the Home Ministry.
As negotiators from 193 nations were busy negotiating a historic deal on cutting carbon emissions, the UN"s top weather agency today said that the world, including parts of India were experiencing the hottest decade on record.
Subir Roy / New Delhi October 14, 2009, 0:00 IST
Carrying out fresh attacks, Maoists set ablaze a rail office at Banshipur station in Lakhisarai district after taking eight officials hostages and blew up a block office in neighbouring Munger on the second and final day of their two-day shutdown in Bihar.
Subir Roy / New Delhi July 8, 2009, 0:02 IST
REpower, the German subsidiary of Suzlon Energy, has posted a 21.5 per cent increase in net profit at ¤17.5 million (Rs 121.9 crore) for the first half of 2009-10, from ¤14.4 million (Rs 100.3 crore) in the previous year, thanks to its healthy order book position.
While most feel the world is a safer place now that the financial crisis has been tackled, Sunil Kewalramani lists ten future bubbles in the making.
The Asian markets are trading flat to positive.
The Sensex is now at 15,375, up 144 points. The NSE Nifty is at 4,566, up 43 points.
The stock gave up some of its gains and finally ended at Rs 222, up 1.5% from the previous close. Around 391,918 shares were traded on the counter at the BSE as compared to the two-week daily average traded volumes of 307,418 shares.
The Pension Fund and Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) today unveiled a savings account scheme under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) which would allow investors to enter and exit at will.
Japan"s Nomura Group is set to acquire 35 per cent in LIC Mutual Fund, India"s seventh largest mutual fund, after the board of directors of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) approved a proposal to induct the Japanese financial services major as a strategic partner in the mutual fund business, sources in the state-owned life insurer said.
PROFILE
Pratip Kar / New Delhi December 14, 2009, 0:54 IST
Naval Chief Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma today said that responsibilities of the Indian Navy has increased post 26/11 terror attacks and suggested to bring all coastal vigilance agencies "under a single security magnet".
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.
Hyderabad is likely to lose its status as the pharmaceutical capital of the country if the current political turmoil in Andhra Pradesh continues and the state is bifurcated, according to the head of the Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association (BDMA).
Indian generic drug companies have been charged with violating EU’s patent laws