Corporate
Sensex has opened at 16,926.. - up 14 points. The index has slipped and is now down 27 points at 16,886.
In a first at the National Institute of Design (NID), academic profiles were offered to the graduating batch of young designers during placements this year. The annual industry interface at NID campuses in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar saw around 70 firms visiting the campus. Apart from academics, profiles in auto design, apparel design, retail, and product design were offered by some of the biggies like Honda R&D, Bajaj Auto, LG, Madura Garments, TAFE, Luxor, Godrej Industries Limited, and Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing.
A high level committee appointed by the IIT Council will revisit the fee structure as part of its mandate to assess how the revenue could be increased for the premier institutes.
‘The Sun Never Sets on Dubai World’, claims the logo of the state-owned conglomerate of the Gulf city government. That’s why it got burnt under towering debts.
State governments in India have thrown caution to the winds and are rushing to attract FDI into export-oriented manufacturing and service industries by establishing Chinese-style special economic zones (SEZs) which are quite damaging for the society, says a new book.
Media and entertainment firm UTV Software Communications today said it would raise $150 million (nearly Rs 750 crore) through various channels to meet its growth plans and retire debt.
Falcon Realty today announced its plans to build eco-friendly housing projects at affordable prices starting from Rs 5.5 lakh in various cities of Bihar.
Business Standard / New Delhi July 8, 2009, 0:58 IST
After ensuring successful implementation of basic Basel II norms by banks, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today unveiled a timeframe to adopt advanced approaches to manage credit, market and operational risks.
To avoid any kind of misuse or instances of cheating during the 10-day computerised Common Admission Test (CAT), which begins tomorrow, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have published a legal disclaimer which, if flouted by any student, can attract imprisonment and a fine.
When he took over as the chairman of Union Bank, M V Nair was one of the youngest entrants to the corner office of a public sector bank. So it’s natural that Nair didn’t think twice before rewriting the rules of the recruitment game for his bank.
Business Standard / New Delhi October 21, 2009, 0:13 IST
Scientists have created visual systems which they claim would help unmanned aircraft see for themselves as they fly fast and low over dangerous terrain.
The country largest liquor manufacturer, United Spirits Limited (USL) today said it will raise $300 million through various channels to repay part of its debt.
Bhupesh Bhandari / New Delhi November 05, 2009, 0:27 IST
United Spirits, the world"s third-largest spirits maker by volume, today said it plans to raise around $300-350 million to reduce its debt burden which it mobilised to buy out the world"s largest scotch producer, Whyte and Mackay.
Kingfisher Airlines, owned by the UB Group, is planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore through issue of further share capital.
Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines is planning to raise up to $600 million (about Rs 3,000 crore) in the current fiscal to pay-off part of its debt.
The country’s largest foreign lender, Citibank, today announced the launch of CitiHome One, which seeks to combine the features of a conventional home loan and a credit line.
Kolkata-based Jai Balaji Industries has raised Rs 198.50 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue.
Surging sugar prices today became more bitter for consumers as they rose to an all-time high of Rs 4,150 a quintal at the wholesale market on increased buying for the current festival and marriage season amid widening demand-supply gap.
The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,340 - down 61 points.
The car finance market is hotting up with ICICI Bank and Axis Bank slashing interest on new car loans.
To add punch to IAF’s fleet of Sukhoi, Mig-29, Mirage-2000, Tejas.
The iconic bike maker Royal Enfield, the custodian of the oldest motorcycle brand in the world, is looking at increasing its brand reach in international markets on the back of its rich heritage.
A new “old” Royal Enfield is born. We ride the Enfield Classic.
Royal Enfield, niche motorcycle maker and a division of Eicher Motors, that has sold around five lakh bikes in its 54-year history now plans to take up its annual sales figures to one lakh by 2013.
The market is likely to be volatile on the last day of the expiry of the December series as rollovers in index and stocks futures on the penultimate day were substantially lower than the same time last month.
The market is likely to be volatile on the last day of the expiry of the December series as rollovers in index and stocks futures on the penultimate day were substantially lower than the same time last month.
The Indian car market may be revving but the country"s marque event, Auto Expo starting on January 5, is being cut short to just a week as participants want to curtail expenditure in the face of the global slowdown.
Japanese two-wheeler company Yamaha today said it would introduce a new version of its super-bike YZF-R1 in the country next year, and a range of other models and variants from its stable to strengthen its position in India.
Even as IT bellwether Cognizant Technology Solutions raised its outlook for 2009-10, it reported a 21 per cent growth in net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, to $136.6 million compared with $112.8 million during the corresponding period a year ago.
Jyoti Parikh & Kirit Parikh / New Delhi November 22, 2009, 0:08 IST
Business Standard / New Delhi November 22, 2009, 0:05 IST
There is a flicker of hope for Tata Motors’ abandoned Singur site. A team from government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) today visited the place, along with state government officials, for a possible project with the West Bengal Power Development Corporation.
The benchmark indices rose for the second straight day today with S&P CNX Nifty closing at a 22-month high of 5,278. Nifty January futures closed at a premium to the spot and added 1.05 million shares in open interest through buy-side trades, indicating fresh long build-up. However, the Nifty remained range-bound after opening at higher levels.
Bajaj Auto, the country’s second largest motorcycle manufacturer, has quietly discontinued two of its flagship products in the past three months to make way for more expensive models.
Besides stadia, all metro rail links are also likely to be ready for use by Sep 2010
Aditi Technologies, an outsourced product and application development firm, is increasing its focus on intellectual property (IP)-led domain services for which it plans to double its headcount to over 2,000 people over the next 18 months. The company hopes this move will help it cross the $120 million mark in revenues during the same period.
Hexaware’s net profit for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009 jumped over threefold to Rs 41.3 crore from Rs 11.5 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
The world"s largest software maker Microsoft, today launched the much-awaited "Windows 7" operating system (OS) with a host of tools for multimedia applications for business and retail customers.
India’s power sector will be a key destination for private equity (PE) players to park their money, with close to $1.64 billion worth of infrastructure funds, mainly in power, awaiting their launch. According to industry experts, once the liquidity situation improves globally, the sector will see good investment momentum.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann, has set the ball rolling for web addresses in scripts other than Latin. This will allow uniform resource locators (URLs), as web addresses are called in virtual parlance, in languages other than English, including Hindi, Tamil or Bhojpuri.
Agri business was a profit driver, growing 128% to Rs 174.1 cr.
ITC has posted a 26 per cent rise in net profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1009.91 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 as compared to Rs 802.7 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.
Italian modular kitchen company Cucine Lube today said it plans to strengthen its retail presence in India by opening nine more outlets across the country by 2011.
The race to succeed Kenneth Lewis as the Bank of America Corp chief executive has narrowed to two internal candidates, though the board is still looking for a new face for the nation"s largest bank by assets, says a media report.
Telecom regulator TRAI has urged the government to consult it before deciding on a uniform license fee for operators, saying it has implications on the Centre"s revenue as well as of the service providers.
Calls made from the mobile handsets without International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number are being rejected by the cellular operators from this week, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
State-run Bank of India was set to launch an 8 per cent home loan scheme from January 1, M Narendra, executive director of the bank said today. “We are in the process of launching such a scheme. The scheme will be open to applicants from January 1 to February 28,” he said.
After a breather, private sector banks are again catching up with their public sector counterparts in auto finance as car sales zoom.
The country"s second-largest car maker Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) today reported a 28.46 per cent growth in its total sales in November at 55,265 units, its highest ever since starting operations in India 12 years ago.
A third strike in nine months loomed large over Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) today with a section of workers saying they will go ahead with a tools-down agitation if the management or the state labour department do not act positively on their demands.
Maruti Suzuki is the latest auto major in the country preparing for trading in carbon credits.
The Advocates Association of Bangalore today demanded the transfer of Karnataka High Court chief justice P D Dinakaran who faces an impeachment motion for alleged disproportionate assets and land-grabbing.
Business Standard / New Delhi August 26, 2009, 0:43 IST
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Narendra Modi government on a petition filed by expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh challenging the order banning his controversial book on Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Gujarat.
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi January 5, 2010, 0:48 IST
Adidas, which launched its premium lifestyle product – Originals — in India two years ago, is still in the process of educating customers about the different story that the collections, represented by the Trefoil logo, has to tell vis-à-vis its regular "performance’ brands. Timo Pape, adidas’ Director Sport Style, Asia Pacific, spoke to Suvi Dogra about the German sports wear company’s strategy to increase the share of Originals to one-fifth of its business in India. Excerpts:
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty said today the weak southwest monsoon could put upward pressure on inflation.
Buoyed by healthy growth in the first quarter, public sector Corporation Bank today said it expects its total business to cross Rs 1,50,000-crore mark during the current fiscal.
Without a strong global economic recovery, the maritime sector will find it tough to overcome the demand-supply mismatch.
IT financial services solutions vendor Oracle Financial Services Software today said its consolidated net profit rose by 75.99 per cent to Rs 185.78 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, over the same period last year.
Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today signed two MoUs with State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) for vehicle finance.
Consumer electronics major Philips Electronics India has decided to float an buyback offer of Rs 242 per share, to enable minority shareholders make an exit.
Wipro finally ended at Rs 625, up 1% from the previous close and Infosys settled flat at Rs 2,323.
Business Standard / New Delhi September 24, 2009, 0:57 IST
The bidding for the Uttar Pradesh government sugar mills has again been put off until November.
India"s biggest sugar refiner, Shree Renuka Sugars has reported a standalone net profit of Rs 48.2 crore, an increase of 298 per cent during the quarter ended September 30, 2009 as against the net profit of Rs 12.1 crore posted in the same period a year ago.
Shri Renuka Sugars has acquired "Vale Do Ivai S.A Acucar E Alcool (VDI)", a Brazilian sugar and ethanol production company. The acquisition includes two sugar and ethanol production facilities located in the southern state of Parana with a combined cane crushing capacity of 3.1 mn tonnes per annum. In addition, VDI holds strategic stakes in several logistics assets including terminals for staoarge and loading of sugar and ethanol at the port of Paranagua. Larger part of the sugarcane requirements at VDI are met through its own cultivation of more than 18,000 hectares of land on long lease.
Announce intense agitation against Rs 30,000-cr project
Ajay Modi / New Delhi September 17, 2009, 0:39 IST
Riding on all-time high realisation and a sharp jump in profitability, domestic sugar companies are looking to strengthen their balance sheet by reducing debt. Prices are at an all-time high and companies expect it to remain firm for at least the next four-five quarters.
Prospect of the cos continuing their excellent performance attracts investors.
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Wants earlier rule on mills having to share extra profit with cane growers restored.
Dutch financial services firm ING today reported euro 499 million profit for the third quarter, helped by strong performance in banking and insurance business.
Bajaj Electricals today said it has raised Rs 160.79 crore by issuing shares to qualified institutional buyers.
IDBI Bank has taken an initiative to strengthen its base in the mid-corporate, SME and retail sectors without compromising its pre-eminent position in the corporate banking business.
Private carrier Jet Airways" plan to raise funds from international institutional investors will come up for approval by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board this week.
Indiabulls Power Ltd, the initial public offer (IPO) of which opens on October 12 for subscription, has informed that eight anchor investors have committed to buy over 60 million shares of the company at Rs 45 a piece, amounting to Rs 270 crore.
Apparel and FMCG segments will be the driving forces for the Indian retail sector, which is likely to grow annually by 9 per cent to touch $521 billion by 2012, a senior retail industry official said.
The government today said it is looking at steps to cut subsidy on fertiliser and oil sale with an aim to cutting non-Plan expenditure and contain fiscal deficit.
Protecting the rights of HIV positive job seekers and those already employed, a policy document has asserted that their HIV screening should not be required at the time of giving jobs or extending other benefits.
State-run power producer NTPC today said it has entered into an agreement with the Madhya Pradesh government and MP Power Trading Company for setting up a 2,640 MW thermal power plant in the Narsinghpur district of the state.
Indian Overseas Bank today reported 51 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 176.04 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009.
Powering its way ahead in tapping renewable energy sources for power generation, public sector power utility NTPC (formerly National Thermal Power Corporation) has set the ball rolling for its two solar thermal units of 50 Mw each in Gujarat. The company has firmed up its plans to initially install a solar power generation capacity of 100 Mw in the state, which may go up to 300 Mw at a later stage.
The initial share sale offer of Indiabulls Power attracted five anchor investors, raising over Rs 316.46 crore, before the slated opening of the issue on Monday.
The country managed a reasonable economic growth of 6.1 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal despite the global financial crisis impacting manufacturing and certain services like hotels.
A Union finance ministry notification has extended the basic customs duty concession applicable on equipment for entirely new (‘greenfield’) power projects to expansion (‘brownfield’) of existing units, too.
Financial market regulators and senior finance ministry officials met today to review recent developments in markets and discussed issues, including those related to credit rating agencies, an RBI release said today.
This follows a renewed effort by CBDT to seek clarification on the issue.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s forecast that Brazil, Russia, India and China would eventually eclipse the Group of Seven countries economically has been described as “the biggest market call of the decade.”
Your tax burden has just gone up, with the government today issuing the new guidelines for taxation of perquisities. In fact, it could be a double whammy, as you have to pay the additional tax liability for the whole of this financial year over the next three months.
At the end of 2008, banks were staring at a slowing economy, souring retail loans and a tanking stock market. The focus, especially of private and foreign banks, was on containing losses rather than growing.
Polling for by-elections to two Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies began this morning amidst tight security.
The DMK Government today launched Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited, setting into motion the trifurcation of the state electricity board in line with the Centre"s directive, even as it said that the three corporations would not be privatised "at any cost."
US markets ended flat on Tuesday. The Dow dropped two points to 10,545 while the Nasdaq slipped three points to 2,288.
ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas arm of ONGC, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sistema, a diversified industrial group of Russia having investment in India’s telecom sector, to jointly acquire and develop oil and gas fields in Russia and other CIS countries.
Yen: Why is the yen rising? It might seem that with the U.S. dollar plumbing the zero interest rate depths, pounds printed like decorated toilet paper by the Bank of England, the euro overvalued and the Chinese renminbi inaccessible, the yen is the world’s closest thing to a safe haven.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) informed BSE today that BPCL, Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Bharat Oman Refinery (BORL) signed an agreement on November 15, 2009 in Oman on additional investment in BORL by OOC. OOC will invest be Rs 1,220 crore in BORL to hold 26 per cent of the equity share capital of BORL, after full equity closure.
The Committee for Determination of Terms of Reference (CDToF) under the Central Environment and Forest Department has turned down the application of Bhoruka Power Corporation Ltd (BPCL) to set up a thermal power plant at Halga village beside Hanakon in Karwar taluk in Uttara Kannada district.
The Union Cabinet today approved additional fund for the expeditious completion of capital"s infrastructure for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Away from the glamour, but important nevertheless
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 retail sector in Kolkata has adopted a wait and watch situation with retailers still wary of what lies ahead. What started as a big set-back for the retail industry in end-2008 with several malls and retailers shutting shop, the year 2009 was particularly bad for the industry with several cancellations of booked spaces and deferment of sanctioned projects.
India’s energy scenario poses the challenge of investing adequately to narrow the demand-supply gap and reducing import dependence.
An undergraduate economics student from Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), University of Delhi (DU), has reportedly bagged an offer from Deutsche Bank for an annual compensation package of Rs 32 lakh. This, university officials say, is due to the course revision that happened a few years ago, which made the content of the course more relevant today.
Steel czar Lakshmi N Mittal today said initial installations at the Bhatinda oil refinery is likely to come up in the first half of 2011 and the project is not facing any major hurdles.
Private snooping agents may be used to carry out special checks on violation of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) on official trademarks and brand merchandise of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) next year to avoid monetary loss to the tune of crores of rupees.
T N Ninan / New Delhi November 7, 2009, 1:34 IST
As Delhi races against time to complete all unfinished tasks ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, it faces a daunting work of inculcating civic sense among Delhiites, generally known for being rude and inhospitable.
T N Ninan / New Delhi November 7, 2009, 1:34 IST
There has been a sharp increase in the number of graduates who want to qualify as patent agents – the intermediates between patent applicants and the patent office.
A V Rajwade / New Delhi September 26, 2009, 0:41 IST
Drug firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is planning to raise around Rs 300-350 crore through issue of shares to qualified institutional buyers on a private placement basis.
After an initial slide, the Sensex turned volatile on the back of mixed cues from the Asian markets. The index gained strength and touched a high of 16,910 - up 243 points from the day"s low of 16,667.
The government could be among the least active investors in the stock markets, but it appears to have come out the winner in terms of returns--its equity portfolio appreciated by about Rs 10 crore in every minute of trade in 2009 resulting in a total gain of Rs 6,50,000 crore.
Latha Jishnu / New Delhi October 31, 2009, 0:16 IST
‘The Sun Never Sets on Dubai World’, claims the logo of the state-owned conglomerate of the Gulf city government. That’s why it got burnt under towering debts.
Even after tendering his resignation for his alleged involvement in a sex scandal, troubles for former Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari may not be over.
Pollution level in 10 major industrial hubs in the country, including some in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh has reached to a "very alarmingly" level, according to a study.
Sunil Sethi / New Delhi August 22, 2009, 0:04 IST
Rising coal prices cited as reason.
Consumer durables major Videocon Industries today said its board has approved raising Rs 1,245 crore by issuing shares on rights and preferential basis.
Wind power turbine maker Suzlon Energy today said its three promoters have, in total, pledged a further 2.80 crore shares, taking the total shares pledged by the company"s promoters to 28.28 per cent.
Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) has made history by supplying 11,016 fuel rods from the imported natural Uranium to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) in a record time of six months for three reactors.
About 50 employees are being interrogated.
Ashoka Buildcon Limited (ABL), a city-based BOT (build, operate and transfer) operator for infrastructure projects, has reportedly secured a Rs 580-crore contract from construction major Larsen and Toubro’s subsidiary – L&T PNG Tollway Private Limited.
Vedanta Group has asked Orissa government to restrict entry of foreign NGOs in the area where it proposes to mine bauxite, as part of its $8-billion project in the state, saying they were instigating locals.
The West Bengal tourism department will appoint an international consultant by the end of next month, to chalk out a model for attracting more foreign tourists.
Infosys Technologies intends to ramp up business in the domestic market. It recently set up an India-dedicated unit within Infosys BPO — its business process outsourcing arm. The order book has already begun to see action, inform company executives. The domestic BPO arm has won a Rs 250-crore BPO contract from the income-tax department and is soon going to sign a letter of intent for another government deal, says Infosys BPO CEO and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry.
Suven Life Sciences Limited, a Hyderabad-based biopharmaceutical company specialising in central nervous system (CNS) diseases, has presented the clinical Phase-I data for its SUVN-502 drug at the 2009 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Vienna, Austria.
Ranbaxy Laboratories, received the final approval in Canada to manufacture and market Ran-Simvastatin tablets from Health Canada, Therapeutic Products Directorate. The total generic market size of Simvastatin tablets in Canada is $CAD153 million.
The rate war in Indian telecom has shifted to short messaging services (SMSes). Reliance Communications today announced a plan under which both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers of its GSM and CDMA services would be charged 1 paisa per SMS, if they paid Rs 11 a month.
Reliance Mutual Fund (RMF), part of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has said it will look at offering more plans and schemes on the recently launched MF trading platform of stock exchanges.
Financial services company Morgan Stanley plans high-level management changes, which includes finance chief Colm Kelleher and veteran banker Paul Taubman taking charge of the company"s institutional securities unit, says a media report.
The indices closed flat for the third consecutive session. In line with its Asian peers, the Sensex was down nearly 200 points in opening trades. But a recovery in the Japanese markets engineered a turnaround on Dalal Street. The Sensex finally ended at 16,356, lower by one point, and the Nifty closed at 4,906, up 24 points. Consumer durables, IT and auto sectors traded firm, while FMCG and banking were sluggish.