Business Ideas
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will sell part of fund management assets to Aberdeen Asset Management Plc for an estimated 84.7 million pounds.
Car maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor today said it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the country"s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), for vehicle finance.
A sell-off in global stocks and disappointing earnings numbers from a few big corporates pulled down the key indices during four out of five trading sessions in the week. The BSE Sensex fell below the 17,000 mark and ended the week down 695 points or 4 per cent to 16,860.
The first report on impact of climate change, to be out by November 2010, will be on agriculture, the government today informed the Rajya Sabha.
If he had kept his mouth shut and his head low, Bradley Birkenfeld would be a free man today. He didn’t, so now the former UBS AG banker wears an electronic bracelet on his ankle and, beginning January, will spend three years and four months in a federal penitentiary.
Usha Martin Education and Solutions has forayed into providing standardized end to end solutions and school management services to enable the creation of a national network of high quality english medium K-12 schools with a focus on non-metro towns and cities of India.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 12, 2009, 0:04 IST
Movement on this seems stuck and linked initiative to defreeze progress needed, say analysts.
The Centre may give sops to drug exporters for shipments to Africa and Latin America through a route that would avoid passing through Europe, while it prepares to drag the European Union (EU) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over seizure of consignments of Indian pharma companies.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said his government was committed to taking every “physically possible” step to ensure that all international students in his country remained safe.
A top diplomat of the Bush Administration who was its point man for negotiations on Indo-US nuclear deal, has accused President Barack Obama of being less attentive to the partnership between the two countries, saying the relationship has been stalled in some critical issues.
The outlook for global economy has turned positive this year and the worst is over even though the road ahead is full of challenges, Wipro Chairman and a co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Azim Premji has said.
IT solutions provider Oracle Financial Services Software today reported a 13.68 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 227 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.
Vinayak Chatterjee / New Delhi January 18, 2010, 0:53 IST
The government"s disinvestment programme made a muted re-start with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approving the part-sale of its stake in two power companies — NTPC and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVNL) — but postponing a decision on the overall disinvestment policy.
BMW and Mazda lead the way in cutting auto emissions, well ahead of their rivals in the hunt for cleaner cars as new European Union targets begin to bear green fruit, a report showed today.
Yahoo! News has emerged as the top destination for news in India on the web and Times of India the most engaging local brand news site with maximum visitors, reveals a study.
The 92 per cent year-on-year growth reflected the additional revenues from the SEZ refinery numbers
The scrip zoomed to end at its 20% upper circuit at Rs 84. The counter clocked volumes of 18.67 lakh shares as compared to the two-week daily average traded volumes of 1.59 lakh shares on the BSE.
India"s exports grew over 18 per cent to touch $13.2 billion in November, reversing the downtrend seen in the past 13 months in a row due to shrinking in demand in major western markets.
Fifty-seven per cent of workers in the corporate sector in India reported an increase in stress over the last two years, a survey has said. Of over 11,000 corporates across 13 countries, 58 per cent companies worldwide experienced an appreciable rise in their workplace stress over the last two years,according to a survey by workplace solutions provider Regus plc.
The Cabinet Committee on prices will meet on Tuesday and is likely to consider various options to curb rising inflation and keep essential commodities from spiralling further.
Sales of two-wheelers in the month of July grew by 20.1 per cent over the same month last year, at 719,668 units, the highest growth till date in 2009–10. This strong growth comes on the back of Hero Honda, which has around 60 per cent of the market share, Yamaha, and Suzuki posting double-digit growth for the month.
On the back of 14 per cent growth in sales in the first quarter of financial year 2009-10, two-wheeler makers have reported 24 per cent growth in sales in July. The segment comprises motorcycles and scooters. The growth is a result of low base as annual sales growth last year was a mere 3 per cent.
Read no history — nothing but biography, for that is life without theory
Dismissing the US claims that India"s domestic climate actions can be challenged, top environmentalist R K Pachauri today made it clear there was no power granted to America in the Copenhagen accord for such interference.
Hinduja Group firm Ashok Leyland on Wednesday said that construction of its proposed facility to make light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in partnership with Japan"s Nissan had been deferred due to sluggish market conditions.
Music ripped off CDs or downloaded illegally, that can be found on digital music players, laptops and phones, robs the Indian music industry of over Rs 1,000 crore annually, according to market estimates. T-Series, the Indian music company which has rights to more than 200,000 songs, 30,000 music videos and movies, wants to change that. It has moved in with legitimate digital music on pen-drives and MicroSD cards, ideal for the preferred media devices, in the hope it will down one more deterrent to consuming media legally. The soundtrack of Blue is the first from its stables to be thus released, followed by All the Best and London Dreams.
Karnataka claims to have gone far ahead of other states when it came to using job fairs and helping job-seekers find jobs. It is part of the Centre’s efforts to promote job creation through the development of skills and promoting employment.
Online marketplace eBay India, in association with television channel Star Plus, has started a charity auction of celebrity memorabilia.
Box office collections for major production houses below investment.
US President Barack Obama has said Pakistan must cooperate more fully with the United States to go after and wipe out Al-Qaeda.
Nigeria, where Indian companies are exploring possibilities of participating in exploration and production of hydrocarbons, expects its oil production could reach 2.506 million barrels per day next year.
Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee would interact with economic editors here tomorrow and provide them comprehensive view of the overall economy.
The swine flu toll in the city has risen to 75 with four more persons succumbing to the virus, health officials said today.
Consumers now have a wide variety of choices available in the market for a state-of-the-art digital camera that’s compact in size. Practically every brand is competing on megapixels and in looks too in this segment. Here is our pick of the best compact digital cameras for young adults, parents with young children and compulsive picture takers. Don’t be fooled by their diminutive looks - these babies have enough megapixels to portray in detail your picture-perfect moments.
Korean electronics giant, LG India, expects to close the current fiscal with Rs 14,000 crore in revenue, a growth of about 25 per cent over the previous year.
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.
To win without risk is to triumph without glory.
Industry body FICCI today sought more fiscal sops in the 2010-11 budget to prop up the economy.
Mercedes-Benz India Limited, a leading player in the luxury car market in the country is aiming at a sales volume of 100 units across all its models in the eastern region in 2009 out of which 20-25 units are expected to be sold in Orissa.
I currently drive an August 2005 Mahindra Scorpio CRDE SLX. I love driving and am also very passionate about it. I am looking at replacing my Scorpio and I am very confused. Ideally, I would like to buy an SUV, but my budget is about Rs 15 lakh and I don’t want to buy a Scorpio again or a Tata Safari. I’d prefer a diesel as I drive 60 km daily to office and back, make a trip of 600 km every two months and one trip of 2,000 km a year. Usually, we are only three (my wife and I and our 12-year old son) in the car.
Barun Roy / New Delhi December 17, 2009, 0:59 IST
General Motors, which has been in talks with its Chinese partners SAIC and Wuling for bringing their products to India, is likely to finalise plans on the type of vehicles and manufacturing road map soon.
US car maker Ford today launched a special edition of its mid-sized sedan Fiesta in the country, priced at Rs 6.44 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi).
General Motors Co will close Saturn, the brand created 24 years ago to emulate successful Japanese carmakers, after Penske Automotive Group Inc broke off discussions to buy the unit.
Subir Roy / New Delhi October 30, 2009, 0:34 IST
A panel probing the July 12 accident at a Delhi Metro construction site that left six persons dead has submitted its report to DMRC chief E Sreedharan.
Last week’s tragic accident at the construction site of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has raised questions about the role of its contractor, Gammon India, in the mishap. The movement in Gammon’s share price reflects the market’s concern, given that it has underperformed the broader markets since the accident. While the share price took a severe beating as it plunged nearly 20 per cent intra-day on last Monday (July 13) after the accident (which occured on July 12), it later recovered during the day. However, through the week, the stock was down 7.5 per cent as against the 9.2 per cent rise in the BSE Sensex and 5-8 per cent rise in the share price of other construction companies.
A probe panel looking into the crane mishap at Delhi Metro site during debris clearance today held the contractor Gammon India responsible for the "unusual" incident which it said was due to "mismanagement and lack of professionalism".
Gammon India, the company in-charge of construction at the metro site where a mishap killed six people, today said it is carrying out the projects as per the highest standards of quality and safety and promised to help the families of the victims.
With an expected rise in the key lending rates the government should continue with the stimulus measures to support exporters, an industry body said today.
Private sector life insurer DLF Pramerica, promoted by realty firm DLF and US-based Prudential Financial, today said the two shareholders were committed to the venture, repudiating reports that the Indian partner was mulling over a possible exit.
Realty giant DLF has reported a 78.76 per cent plunge in its consolidated net profit to Rs 396 crore for the quarter ended June 30 due to sharp decline in demand for its housing and commercial properties.
Appliances maker, GE Appliances, is focusing on penetrating the premium segment in India with its international luxury brands like GE Monogram and GE Profile, said Ranjan Damodar, general manager (Asia Pacific).
Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Roasiah said the central and state governments had a task to strike a balance between growth and inflation. The three fiscal stimulus packages announced by the central government infused liquidity for maintaining economic growth.
With the death of a 30-year-old woman, the Swine Flu toll in the city has gone up to 91, health officials said today.
Gold prices today surged by Rs 490 to scale a new high of Rs 18,460 per ten gram in the bullion market amid the metal setting a new record in global markets and continuing weakness in dollar.
Having secured the much-needed funds for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) without the government help, its Indian parent Tatas are now tightening their management control on the carmaker, but are unhappy over the way their request for help was handled by the UK authorities, a report said today.
Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi June 28, 2009, 0:14 IST
On the second day of placements at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), IIT Kharagpur saw IT biggies like Yahoo, Microsoft, and Adobe flock its campus, apart from companies like Amazon, JLLM, 3M and FICO.
Investment banking companies are back on the campuses of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), offering plum jobs to engineering graduates. IITs, which will begin placements tomorrow, expect this year to be a better one as compared to last year.
The US-software major Cognizant Technology Solutions today offered job offers for 700 students from Anna University. Last year the company offered 1,000 jobs and 500 a year before.
Low demand due to high prices will make a dent in India"s gold imports this month which will be down to 10-15 tonnes, experts have said.
Gold prices are likely to surge further this week to rule over Rs 15,000 per 10 grams level amidst a weakening dollar and rising demand ahead of the festival season.
There will be promotions, but no increments this year
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s largest IT services provider, will use the new data centre — which was set up by the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) — in Chennai as a disaster recovery for its e-passport service.
Helios Capital Management Pte, the hedge-fund manager once backed by Tudor Investment Corp, plans to start a “Slumdog Millionaire” fund that will buy underperforming shares of Indian companies.
Maruti Suzuki’s portfolio has several small cars. That makes its task of differentiating each of these cars difficult. To bolster one of its most sturdy performers, the WagonR, which sold 135,000 last year, the country’s largest carmaker has come out with a mascot named WizeR.
An all-party meeting chaired by Home Minister P Chidambaram to devise a mechanism and a road map to resolve the vexed Telangana issue began here today with TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, spearheading the movement for a separate state, and Chief Minister K Rosaiah attending it.
Tanishq, India’s jewellery brand, today unveiled its exclusive ‘Lakshmi Feet Pendant’, a range of divinity jewellery.
Ahead of the Copenhagen meet, China today backed India"s stand that developing nations have no obligation to binding emission reduction targets and said it is ready to enhance "cooperation and coordination" between the two countries, which it termed as "victims" of climate change.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to channel around $700 million from two new investment funds to its developing member countries as part of a broad global initiative to help developing countries meet the cost of actions needed to combat climate change.
Which SUV would be the best in the used car market for a price range of Rs 10-15 lakh? The vehicle should be not more than two years old and should not have done more than 20,000 km. My second query is which SUV is good but as a new vehicle in the price range of Rs 15-20 lakh. Diesel is preferable for economy though I don’t drive much (about 100 kilometres in a week). Kindly suggest.
The country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), today said its exports are expected to achieve the 100,000 units mark in the current financial year (2009-10).
After taking a two-day break, bulls re-entered the market today buoyed by good results from Maruti Suzuki India and ITC.
Union Minister of State for Minorities and Corporate Affairs Salman Khursheed today said 2,500 crore would be spend for development and upliftment works in minority dominated constituencies.
Eight automobile engineers from Detroit, the car capital of the United States, will join Maruti Suzuki’s operations in India in the next two months, as part of the start of the latter’s plan to transform itself as the largest research and development centre for parent Suzuki outside Japan.
Decision to be taken this week, says Bhargava.
Samsung India Electronics is planning to invest $20 million (around Rs 100 crore) in 2009 to support its turnover target of $2 billion (around Rs 10,000 crore) for the current calendar year. The company also said it would double its export in 2009 to Rs 1,200 crore.
Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal said the strategic alliance forged almost a year ago between his company and Kingfisher Airlines has still not achieved tangible progress.
Business Standard / New Delhi September 4, 2009, 0:00 IST
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the Rs 18,919-crore Bhatinda refinery project, being set up by the LN Mittal group, would become functional by June 2011.
Business Standard / New Delhi January 16, 2010, 0:54 IST
Hailing the decision of the two neighbouring countries to resume dialogue, the Pakistan media today said credit must go to both sides for "seizing the moment and breaking the impasse" and that they should build on the "breakthrough" achieved in the meeting between the two Prime Ministers.
A body of urban cooperative banks has appealed to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to restore the income tax exemption they enjoyed till 2006.
The yellow metal rose Rs 155 on the announcement of RBI’s asset purchase, weak dollar.
Standard gold prices crossed Rs 16,700-level for the first time in the history on the bullion market in the early trade on hectic stockists buying triggered by rise in the global market.
State-run UCO Bank today posted a net profit of 34.03 per cent in the first quarter of 2009-10 touching Rs 178.85 crore as compared to the same period in the last fiscal.
Major Russian aircraft manufacturer famous for its fighters, Sukhoi has been listed amongst the most rapidly growing companies of Russia by the Economic News Agency rating.
The Sensex is quoting at 16,633, down by 232 points and the Nifty is placed at 4,922, lower by 81 points.
Nagarjuna Construction has said the Dubai debt crisis will not affect the company as the projects it has undertaken there belong to government agencies.
Indian submarine cable companies, including Tata Communications and Reliance Communications, re-routed at least 300-400 Gigabytes of internet traffic over both own and consortium cable networks between the Chinese mainland, Asia and Europe following the recent Taiwanese earthquake that disrupted communications across Asia and the Chinese mainland.
The US markets have ended on a positive note.
The Sensex is now at 14,948, down 463 points. The NSE Nifty is now at 4,446, down 133 points.
IIM-Ahmedabad has around 75 tie-ups while IIM-Calcutta has around 50 partnerships with B-schools abroad
At the upper price band of Rs 212, it will be the most valued listed media company in India.
Maintaining its initial leads, the ruling BJP in Karnataka was racing ahead in 16 of the 28 constituencies followed by Congress in nine and JDS in three seats.
Jharkhand signed 71 MoUs with an investment of Rs 2,95,857.75 crore with the private players to set up industrial projects in the state. The State’s Industries Department in September 2006, compiled a list indicating requirement of 98,547 acres for the 55 MoUs signed between 2004-06.
Luxury hotel chain operator Orient Express, in which Indian conglomerate Tata Group holds a significant stake, has reported a net loss of $24.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009.
Akash Prakash / New Delhi November 13, 2009, 0:14 IST
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) organized an awareness camp at its headquarters at Burla near Sambalpur in association with the Young Men Christians" Association (YMCA) on the occasion of the World AIDS Day. Free comdoms and pamphlets on HIV/AIDS were distributed to the truck drivers on the occasion.
The company has an advance booking of over 170 cars
EXIM Bank and IDBI are said to be cautious while financing films, prompting producers to tap PE players and investors like the Dar Capital group.
In the last one year, Dubai has lost much of its lustre. The global credit crunch already hit inflows into the emirate, leading to job losses and delayed real estate projects.
Normal life was paralysed across the Kashmir Valley today due to a strike called by a local outfit to protest the CBI report in the Shopian case even as authorities placed top Hurriyat leaders under house arrest as a precautionary measure.
The Left Front chairman, Biman Bose, has proposed today that the Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee should convene an all-party meeting to evolve consensus on the issue of refraining from the practice of blocking roads and railway tracks for agitations. Yesterday, while submitting the demand for additional budgetary allocations for her ministry in the Lok Sabha, Mamata Banerjee had appealed to the CPI(M) members to desist from damaging the Railway properties in the name of pursuing their agitations.
It’s never easy to be in public domain. Members of Parliament (MP) cutting across party lines have realised that. Madhusudan Mistry, a Congress MP from Gujarat, gave his mobile number to the voters of his constituency. “Even in the middle of the night, people, evidently drunk, used to call me to solve their petty personal problems,” Mistry recalls.
Galleon Group LLC, the US hedge fund whose founder Raj Rajaratnam has been charged with insider trading, has exited domestic brokerage firm Edelweiss Capital by selling entire 7.02 per cent stake in the company.
Saksoft Limited, a Chennai-based software services company with focus on the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) segment, is planning to double its revenues by the end of the 2011-12 financial year, from last year’s Rs 120 crore, through the organic growth route.
The cost cutting measures taken by companies to tackle economic crisis, have sharply eroded morale and commitment of their employees, especially of the top performers, a study by Watson Wyatt says.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 22, 2009, 0:30 IST
Business Standard / New Delhi August 26, 2009, 0:58 IST
Business Standard / New Delhi August 26, 2009, 0:43 IST
Indian education has only regulatory bodies such as the All India Council of Technical Education. It also needs rating agencies like Crisil that can rank colleges by performance, said Union minister of state for higher education, D Purandeswari.
US-based provider of low-cost shared computing technology NComputing Inc is aiming at doubling its deployments in India to 400,000 by the end of the calendar 2009.
Largest insurer’s sales rise 20%.
Crisil’s IER initiative should benefit investors in the long-run provided the service is available on an ongoing basis
Casual dining chain Pizza Hut today announced that it has roped in Bollywood star Lara Dutta to promote its newly-launched "Cheesy Bites" range.
The stock jumped 8.4 per cent to Rs 377.30, a 52-week high, after the foreign institutional investor (FII) — Capital International A/c Emerging Markets Growth Fund Inc bought 1.09 million equity shares at a price of Rs 374.18 per share through block deal on the National Stock Exchange.
After becoming operational, the Indo-US civil nuclear deal is moving "satisfactorily" with the government now negotiating with nuclear vendors, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar said today.
With an aim to make visa services faster, hassle-free and efficient, Indian Consulate here has decided to outsource its consular services under a new visa regime which will become functional from May 22.
The government was unlikely to make any fresh moves on consolidation of public sector banks for now, and would rather wait for banks to make the next move, a person close to the development said today.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 885.65 crore (provisional) today, according to data released by BSE.
UK motor insurers, including Aviva Plc, Admiral Group Plc and Fortis Insurance Ltd, thought they had found a way to squeeze out extra revenue when their customers get into car crashes.
Iron ore exports jumped 13 per cent in the first half of the current financial year due to a sudden spurt in Chinese offtake as steel mills build their inventory.
The All India Regional Rural Bank Employees Association wants regional rural banks to have a greater autonomy in opening branches in the rural areas, and hence in the process of financial inclusion.
The government said today it is examining a proposal to implement a debt-relief package for growers to revive the coffee industry.
The eight team owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are all set to lock horns with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by refusing to pay their next instalment of the franchisee fee which is due in January 2009.
Cricket fans were not the only ones left disappointed by the cancellation of the India-Australia one-day international (ODI) match today that was to be played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Public sector insurer Oriental Insurance will have to pick up the tab for claims worth Rs 6.75 crore.
SREI Sahaj e-Village Limited, a subsidiary of the Kolkata-based Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited, targets to place 50,000 youth trained through the company"s various skill development programmes, by March 31, 2010.
With the economic slowdown hitting the exchequer hard, the Centre today proposed that the states accept half of the compensation on account of their losses due to cut in the Central Sales Tax (CST) for the current fiscal.
The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on the auction of third generation (3G) spectrum will meet tomorrow to discuss the vacation of spectrum by defence forces.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued directions to stock exchanges to amend their bye-laws to give discretion to the exchanges to extend the period of limitation for initiating claims under the arbitration mechanism of the exchanges, for a period of three months beyond the currently applicable limitation period of six months.
Loan disbursements, which dipped due to economic slowdown, during the nine months ending May 2009, is expected to pick up post-September with an improvement in industrial activities, a top banking industry official said.
LNG importer Petronet LNG is eyeing 53 per cent growth in the top line at Rs 13,000 crore during the current fiscal, Petronet LNG Managing Director P Dasgupta said today.
The Andhra Pradesh police have registered cases at 96 places and arrested 185 persons in the state in connection with the attacks on the outlets of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). The damage to the company’s properties was “not much and there is no major problem,” a RIL spokesperson told Business Standard.
The country"s second largest public sector lender, Punjab National Bank, today said it can raise up to Rs 7,000 crore from bonds to fund growth plans.
The day-one of the 96 hour oil-blockade against Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Upper Assam by the All Assam Students" Union (AASU) has passed off peacefully today without affecting much the operations of the company.
China vs. Iron ore oligopoly: China could fracture the world’s iron ore oligopoly. Three miners – Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto – control two thirds of international trade. The big producers are consolidating, most notably with a joint production venture between BHP and Rio. China, the world’s largest customer, would like to keep its costs down and its supply assured.
The Visakhapatnam zone of Andhra Bank is targeting to end the current financial year with a total business of Rs 3,600 crore.
Around Rs 11,088 crore are being circulated via chit fund schemes in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Around 58 million house holds have participated in chit fund schemes, according to a recent study released by Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR). The study was funded by Bill Gates foundation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Mastering money making - Don't be bold on gold - Getting rid of government controls - For the risk-takers - High on expectations - Commodity to the rescue
The rupee fell, reversing earlier gains, on speculation importers used the currency’s rise to a week’s high today to buy cheaper foreign exchange.
The two security guards with bamboo sticks look on sheepishly as guests make their way through metal detectors and X-ray scanners at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Before entering the hotel, however, a rather stern looking man — presumably part of the hotel’s elite security force — was asking them the purpose of their visit.