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India Inc is likely to post 15-20 per cent growth in net profit in the third quarter, thanks to a low base year and a promising show from automobiles, capital goods, construction, metals, pharmaceuticals and sugar companies. The telecom sector, for the first time after several quarters of strong performance, is expected to show decline in net profit on the back of decline in revenue per phone.
Zylog Systems India Limited, a software solutions and service provider, has launched its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services "Wi5 Mega Talk" in Ahmedabad. The service will be available in all leading cities of the state.Customers can now experience a clear, undistorted communication with no lag or echo via a high-speed Internet connection at an extremely affordable cost.
It was a classic case of the davids of the world outpacing the goliaths. While the Sensex touched a 22-month high of 17338 in the earlier part of the week, only to turn sideways, the broader indices were the outperformers of the week. The mid-cap sector appreciated by 3.4% and the BSE small-cap space gained 4%.
We are in danger of losing an entire generation of artists.
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
The Finance Commission, which makes recommendations on sharing of tax revenues by the Centre and States, has suggested a new path for fiscal prudence in its report submitted to President Pratibha Patil today.
IT solutions provider Tulip Telecom today said its consolidated net profit rose by 38.19 per cent to Rs 68.60 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, over the same period corresponding fiscal.
The stock touched a low of Rs 274 - down over 13% and finally ended at Rs 276 - down 12.5%. Over 5.59 million shares were traded on the BSE today.
In a major move to check air pollution, the government today revised its norms, putting in place uniform standards for residential and industrial areas.
The government has approved 13 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, including a proposal of Dish TV, entailing total overseas investment of Rs 393.62 crore.
The Nano and IPL come on top, Swift Dzire springs a surprise in the 13th annual Brand Derby
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.
The Orissa government has decided to review the progress of various industries in the state. It will hold discussion with industries pertaining to employment generation, promotion of ancillary and downstream industries, efforts made for skill development and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities among others.
For the second time this month, state-run oil companies today cut jet fuel prices to ease the burden on cash-strapped airlines.
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.
BHARTI AIRTEL
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.
Telecom services provider Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML) today announced a consolidated net loss of Rs 34.26 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2009.
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.
Moser Bear India, an optical storage manufacturer, posted a net proft of Rs 2.76 crore for the first quarter ended June 2009 as compared to net loss of Rs 103.98 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.
While any restructuring of its humongous debt in a difficult operating environment is a positive for the Aban stock, the upsides are priced in.
Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications today said its shareholders have approved raising funds from institutional investors through sale of shares worth up to Rs 15,000 crore at current market price.
Anil Ambani group firms — Reliance Communications (RCom) and Reliance Power — today restructured their respective promoter holdings through transfer of shares among group companies.
Reliance Communications is in advanced talks to sign a technical alliance with Apalya Technologies to offer mobile television (MobiTV) on its recently launched GSM network.
Brokerage firm Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services has clocked a net profit of Rs 13.06 crore in the second quarter this fiscal, registering a 150 per cent growth over Rs 5.22 crore in the same period last year.
Luxury carmaker Audi India today reported over two-fold increase in its sales in September at 205 units over the same period last year.
Preparing ground for launching a "strategic" small car in the Indian market, the world"s largest car maker, Toyota, will expand its dealership network by over 65 per cent by the end of 2010 to increase its interface with customers.
Bajaj Auto is planning to set up an assembly plant in a free trade zone in Manaus in Brazil next fiscal.
Exporters of major farm items today said India is not completely immune to the financial concerns in Dubai and there could be marginal impact on trade.
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai December 22, 2009, 0:04 IST
This year"s Indian advertising rage will soon get audiences overseas to sit up and take notice.
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.
ING Life Insurance is expecting a 60 per cent growth in renewal premiums during this fiscal.
The security machinery has been put on high alert in the national capital after inputs that suspected LeT operative David Headley might have conducted a recee for carrying out a terror strike.
As the sea became rough due to cyclonic storm "Phyan", the Home Ministry today put on alert five coastal states and three Union Territories and sent disaster relief response force for their assistance.
New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) The non-stop Duronto trains will no longer have old coaches with side-middle berth, known as AC economy class.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted search operations at offices of real estate company Emaar-MGF, a joint venture between MGF India and the Dubai-based Emaar. These operations were of a routine nature and were not linked to the investigation into the dealings of the former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, the company said in a statement. Some news reports said the search operations were triggered by the directorate finding documents that showed Koda’s associates on the boards of some Emaar group companies.
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.
While pay-per-second tariff plans seem attractive, there’s a lot you need to know before switching over.
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.
Singapore’s leading telecom firm SingTel today said contribution of Bharti Airtel, in which the company holds nearly 32 per cent stake, to its profit rose by 26 per cent to S$236 million (around $170 million) for the July-September quarter.
Media company Si Adhikari Brothers Television Network will issue 10.1 million warrants carrying an option to subscribe equivalent number of equity shares to promoters on a preferential basis to promoters and private bodies corporate to fund its expansion plans, the company said in a statement to the Bombay stock Exchange.
Japanese corporates and retail investors see India as a major investment destination and already up to$1 billion has reached Indian equity markets.
A government appointed auditor is understood to have found inflation of revenues by Rs 2,915 crore by Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications (RCom) in 2007-08, besides evasion of Rs 315 crore in licence fee — findings termed as "biased" by the company.
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.
Reason: Few issues have enabled investors to make listing gains.
If Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) is aggrieved at Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd for not proceeding with the private agreement between the two brothers on gas supply from the latter’s fields, it should instead blame the Union government, said RIL’s senior counsel, Harish Salve, at the Supreme Court today.
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has lost an oilfield in Algeria to a consortium led by a Chinese oil firm.
Seven days after it was launched, Isro’s answer to Google Earth gets nearly 23,000 downloads a day
To really understand the power of execution, you need to be in the East Stand of Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, when India is playing an opponent like Australia in a one day international. Every time Sachin Tendulkar touches the ball, an electric current passes through 60,000 spectators who let out a humungous roar of excitement. It is a zing that almost physically tries to reach out and touch this diminutive teacher’s son. A man who realizes a million dreams as he sends the ball scorching across the ropes.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s crackdown on illegally produced vodka may help the country’s two biggest distillers, OAO Synergy and Russian Alcohol Group, sell more of their most popular brands.
Despite having a full-fledged dept and a corporation for PDS
The annual maintenance charges for subscribers of the New Pension System (NPS) may come down by Rs 70 from April. National Securities Depository (NSDL), the record-keeper for NPS, expects over one million people to join the scheme in the next six months, leading to a reduction in the account maintenance fees from Rs 350 to Rs 280.
AGM approves Reliance Infratel IPO, filing soon.
The instruments will be listed on BSE, NSE.
Andhra Pradesh today sought Rs 6,000 crore as an advance fund for the rehabilitation and restoration works in the state after heavy floods, which it wanted to be declared as a "national calamity with rare severity".
In a bid to attract subscribers of rival companies, state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is gearing up to start mobile number portability (MNP) services as soon as telecom regulator Trai issues tariff structure.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 26, 2009, 0:29 IST
In a move that may lead to faster primary market issuances, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) today said Asba (applications supported by blocked amount) facility would also be extended to non-retail, high net worth and corporate investors. The measure was introduced in Sebi’s scheme of ASBA-II. All investors, except qualified institutional buyers, would be able to apply through the facility, a Sebi circular said.
Public sector Bharat Heavy Electrical (BHEL) would recruit about 4,000 people, including executive engineers, annually at least for the next three years as the company is embarking on new joint ventures, a top company official said today.
GAIL
Indowind Energy Ltd on Friday said it had availed of Rs 36 crore term loan of the Rs 76 crore sanctioned by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd in October 2008 for completing the existing 18 Mw operational projects. The balance Rs 40 crore has been earmarked for implementing new projects to be undertaken this year
The government today said that China has denied reports suggesting it was planning to divert the course of the Brahmaputra river.
Despite hype and cross-media marketing and promotions, the first episode of the big-ticket reality show Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao on Sony Entertainment only managed to get television ratings (TVR) of 1.6, says overnight ratings agency aMap.
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.
The Supreme Court collegium has decided to drop its recommendation for elevating Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, facing charges of land grabbing, to the apex court, bringing to end months of controversy over the move.
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.
Charts out ambitious growth plan for the company over the next five-six years.
The minimum ticket size and the tenure for unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) are set to be higher from the New Year.
The Indian markets have opened in the green on the back of positive global cues. The Sensex is quoting at 17,134, higher by 33 points and the Nifty is up 4 points at 5113.
Public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) today said it will raise Rs 700 crore by issues of bonds.
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 Railway Board is likely to utilise the undisputed 600 acres for setting-up a coach factory at Singur, the erstwhile site for the Nano project.
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.
As a first initiative of its kind in India, a World Bank entity will provide credit facility of up to $51 million to Kotak Mahindra Bank to help small and medium enterprises, hit hard by the global financial crisis, meet their export and import obligations.
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.
Focus is on underground, abandoned mines.
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.
Hindalco Industries, an integrated producer of aluminum and a leading copper manufacturer has drawn up a Rs 16,000 crore capex plan for the next two years, a top company official said.
Madhukar Sabnavis / New Delhi December 04, 2009, 0:34 IST
In order to reduce costs, global oil major Shell will soon transfer additional office jobs from Houston and elsewhere to India and the Philippines.
Heavy buying by foreign and domestic institutional investors saw the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex rise 2.25 per cent, or 339 points, to close at a 10-month closing high at 15,466. The rally was led by index heavyweights Reliance Industries (RIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC) as global crude oil price touched $71 a barrel after settling above $70 for the first time in over seven months. Firm global markets too helped the rally.
In the last month of 2009, the Hindi film industry promises lots of fun, drama and action.
In the final interview in the current series of Smart Portfolios, Phani Sekhar, fund manager, PMS, Angel broking talks about his investing strategy, sectors he is bullish on and how investors should approach the market.
BP: The worst may be over for oil and gas majors, if BP is anything to go by. The UK oil major’s net profits almost halved in the third quarter, relative to the same period in 2008. But they were up on the preceeding three months and the drop was much less than investors feared. BP, and newish chief executive Tony Hayward, can take as much credit for the performance as the recovering oil price.
Ajai Shukla / New Delhi December 29, 2009, 0:19 IST
With private airlines suspending operations on August 18, the government today said it does not support any move to inconvenience the travelling public and asked the carriers to engage in a dialogue.
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.
The Centre"s decision to carve out a separate state of Telangana today created ripples in political parties in Andhra Pradesh with as many as 60 legislators and three MLCs from the Congress, TDP and Praja Rajya Party submitting their resignation to the Speaker.
Aditi Phadnis / New Delhi August 22, 2009, 0:00 IST
A top official of the Dubai administration today said the six months is not enough to restructure the debts of the troubled Dubai World and has asserted that the government-owned conglomerate has enough assets to meet its obligations.
In the biggest financial scam of the nine-year-old state of Jharkhand, “dial M for money” didn’t only mean mining leases for Madhu Koda and company, but megawatts too.
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.
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.
Meanwhile, park spare cash in short-term debt.
The insurance sector is making a strong comeback. Buoyed by a steep rise in sale of single premium policies, the industry clocked a 53.25 per cent rise in November.
While pay-per-second tariff plans seem attractive, there’s a lot you need to know before switching over.
The department of disaster management, Andhra Pradesh, would include more mandals, which have not been covered under the drought notification. “We are taking further action to consider the requests based on the eligibility norms,” said state revenue, relief and rehabilitation minister Dharmana Prasada Rao.
Kabir Suman, the maverick singer-cum-MP in Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress takes politics so seriously he manages to convert even his musical shows into mini-rallies. At his first performance in the capital after he became an MP, Suman chose not to sing his popular songs, and instead sang song to sympathise with the Maoists and slamming the West Bengal government. He also gave short speeches in between the songs. “Whatever I did in life, people said someone else had done it before. But I am the first singer to defeat CPI(M)”. As the winter chill set in on the open air stage, Suman said, “I am sure the CPI(M) is thinking that if I die in the cold there will be a by-election and they can win back the seat. But I will not die so easily.” He did announce though, that he would not contest the Lok Sabha election again.
IRB Infrastructure Developers will raise funds by further issue of securities.
Public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) today received final approval for its general insurance venture from the sectoral regulator IRDA.
Sudheer Pal Singh / New Delhi November 23, 2009, 0:51 IST
State-run Union Bank of India today announced the appointment of Subhash Chander Kalia as its Executive Director.
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.
Ashok Leyland ended the day at Rs 53, higher by Rs 0.6 or 1.2%.
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.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 03, 2009, 0:48 IST
Frustrated with an almost seven-month delay in the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) response to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommendation that the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should be permitted to use telephone lines to make internet telephony calls, the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) has moved the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
The West Bengal government today said a relaxed Essential Commodities Act and "forward trading" had led to the rise in prices of commodities. "During the NDA regime when Trinamool Congress was a partner, there was a complete relaxation of the Essential Commodities Act. We are trying to bring that in order," West Bengal state finance minister Asim Dasgupta said here when asked about price rise.
- Oil imports rise first time in over a year - 2010 set to be year of indices trading - Crisil to research illiquid stocks to help investors - "Indian regulatory regime has brought us a world of good" - Global crisis pinches FDI purse in 2009 - Experts debate rollback of lenient policy
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today said that it has decided to include Cox and Kings (India) in the BSE 500 index.
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.
ADANI POWER
Business Standard / New Delhi October 15, 2009, 0:45 IST
At a time when cities are looking at improving transport and residential properties for urban development, the Asian Planning Schools" Association (APSA) concluded on the first day of its 10th International Congress held at Centre for Environment Planning and Technology (CEPT) University that the key lies in reducing number of slums as well.
The old problem of talent exodus may come to haunt companies once again when the economy recovers, if they do not take steps to attract top talent and retain employees now, a study says.
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.
Asian markets are trading in red this morning. The Hang Seng has dropped 80 points to 21,419. The Nikkei, after touching a four-month high, has dropped 27 points to 10,611 on continued concerns of Japan Airline"s debt.
The Sensex opened marginally lower this morning.
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.
With no new trigger expected on the domestic front, Dalal Street is likely to remain choppy, as investors will continue to offload stocks at higher levels, say analysts.
Reliance Power ended with a loss of 3.3% at Rs 145 on the BSE.
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.
Ambuja Cements finally ended at Rs 95, down 2% from the previous close. Heavy volumes of 1.57 million shares were traded on the BSE as compared to the two-week daily average volumes of 916,782 shares.
The markets are likely to open on a positive note owing to strong cues from the global markets. Reliance is likely to be in focus today ahead of its Q1 numbers.
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.
I had invested in ELSS (equity linked savings scheme) funds one year before, but I have not claimed this investment while filing for return. Can I withdraw from the ELSS, though the three-year lock-in is not complete?
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".
Despite recent floods in northern districts and subsequent damage to the standing crops, Karnataka, the sixth largest producer of cotton in the country, is likely to increase its cotton output this year by around 15 per cent to a little over one million bales (1 bale is 170 kg). The state, which produced 900,000 bales of cotton from 390,000 hectares in 2008-09, had earlier set a target of 25 per cent growth in cotton output and 21 per cent increase in area under cultivation at 490,000 hectares.
The Indian pesticides industry is eagerly looking forward to August 15. Not for the usual celebration of the Independence Day, but for a different reason. It expects the monsoon to recover by this time. If not, its bottom line this year would be hit.
The markets staged a recovery after a steep correction during the first half of last week. The trading was characterised by bouts of sharp intra-day volatility, especially in the last three trading sessions. The BSE Sensex managed to cross the 16,000 level during the last sessions of the week. During the week, the Sensex rose 262 points or 1.65 per cent to 16,158, while Nifty rose 84 points or 1.79 per cent to 4,796. However, mid-caps outperformed the broader indices during the week, whereas small-caps underperformed. FIIs were net sellers initially, but started buying during the second half of the week.
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).