Home Business
The Nifty closed marginally above the support level of 4,940 on short-covering at lower levels. The trading pattern in the Nifty futures and options suggests the index may fall below the 4,900 mark soon. The 5,000 call option added 2.24 million shares in open interest (OI), mostly through change of hands and sell-side trades, indicating strong resistance above the 5,000 level.
Private insurance firm DLF Pramerica today announced introduction of eight unit-linked products, including two new single premium ULIPs.
Higher prices of staple vegetables such as onion and potato pushed food inflation higher to 13.68 per cent in the last week of October.
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
Global Software Solutions company Zylog Systems is planning to invest Rs 210 crore on Wi-Fi infrastructure for providing wireless broadband and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and aims to garner Rs 550-crore revenue from this over the next 5 years.
Assuring India Inc of full safety, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today invited corporate honchos to invest in the state as there can be no inclusive growth unless the state catches up with the rest of the nation.
GVK Power & Infrastructure today said its consolidated net profit surged over two fold to Rs 45.80 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009, over the same period previous 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.
Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan today firmly told the Dubai-based promoters of the proposed SmartCity IT project that his government would not hand over even “an inch of land” to them with the right to sell.
Ruias-led Essar Group has bid $150 million for taking over an Australian coal firm, Rocklands Richfields, bettering an earlier offer from Jindal Steel and Power.
The multilateral lending agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) will grant a loan of $200 million to finance Assam"s rural electrification drive.
Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the Centre is in talks with the Jharkhand and Orissa governments to facilitate the multi-billion dollar India projects of global steel giants ArcelorMittal and Posco.
The government today said record invesments in the equities market by foreign investors was not a matter of concern, but it would act if it finds any distortions.
Brokers have discovered a golden opportunity in the positive market sentiment to add investor accounts, even if it means offering these services for free.
Leads prime-time band with GRP of 113
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.
Tata Group"s Infiniti Retail today said it expects to have over 100 "Croma" stores across the country in the next three years as it eyes deeper penetration into Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
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.
Shobhana Subramanian / Mumbai May 22, 2009, 0:56 IST
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.
Deutsche Bank, a relatively new entrant in retail banking, is expecting a 25 per cent growth in retail loan portfolio this financial year as it increases focus on mortgage lending.
Cracking the whip to turn around ailing Air India, the government today announced an overhaul of its top management within 30 days by inducting seven independent directors with proven track record on the airline"s board.
Major revamp in Air India"s top management in next 30 days, says Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
The sales of used gold, known as scrap gold in commodity parlance, shot up 25-30 per cent on Wednesday as retail investors rushed to cash in on high prices before a correction, which analysts forecast as imminent.
The government today admitted its failure in dealing with the losses suffered by tribals in land acquisition for various projects, but said one solution was that tribals must benefit from the projects for which they had been displaced.
*This fictional character is a $5-billion cash cow for its company. But its popularity seems to be waning and the company has plans to rebrand its personality by moving away from its clean image. The first project for this exercise has been code named Super Secret. Name the character.
Demanding higher prices for sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh, Rashtriya Lok Dal President Ajit Singh has said that if sugarcane farmers did not get the right price for their crop, they will gherao the cane mills and stop the supply of their produce to them.
The government today said there is a need to enhance investment in the agriculture sector to achieve 4 per cent growth during 11th Five Year Plan.
A status quo on “title and possession” is to be maintained on four properties that were owned by the late patriarch of the Ranbaxy family, Bhai Mohan Singh, and his wife, according to an order of the High Court here. Further proceedings will be taken up in March 2010.
Monster Worldwide, the parent company of global online employment solution provider Monster.Com, today reported a net loss of $1.37 million in the quarter ended June 30 this year.
Amid its falling revenues and net profit, state-run MTNL today said it is keen to expand its areas of operations by forming strategic alliances and joint ventures both within India and overseas.
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.
While any restructuring of its humongous debt in a difficult operating environment is a positive for the Aban stock, the upsides are priced in.
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.
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 Life today launched a unit-linked investment solution, ING Flexi Life Plus, which offers flexibility in premium payments as well as the convenience to change premium amount during the term.
Google, the world’s largest search engine and one of the biggest internet brands, is understood to be eyeing opportunities in the third generation of mobile telephony, or 3G, in India.
Priyanka Chopra has had a successful 2009 so far. Will her reign continue?
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.
ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Limited (ING Life), part of the ING Group, a financial services company, today announced its tie-up with Mumbai-based Suvidhaa Infoserve, a company pioneering in service commerce (s-commerce), to collect insurance policy renewal payments for its customers. Customers of ING Life can now pay their policy renewal premium at over 7,000 Suvidhaa outlets across 300 cities in India, including over 700 outlets in Gujarat.
Shobhana Subramanian / Mumbai July 31, 2009, 0:55 IST
Acknowledging that India is a big player in the region, a top US military leader has said that the relationship between India and Pakistan is critical for the stability in the region.
In a bid to popularise Duronto trains, the Railways have showcased the non-stop super fast train in the trade fair.
In a boost to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a court here issued an arrest warrant against Binod Sinha, close associate of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda in connection with the multi-crore illegal investments and hawala case.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 18, 2009, 0:21 IST
Early last week, the Mumbai revenue department issued show cause notices to Vodafone, proposing to tax offshore transaction, as a result of which Vodafone acquired a controlling interest in GSM licences from Hutch.
Taking a cue from state-run NHPC"s disappointing debut on the bourses, primary market tracking firm Prime Database today said the government should consider giving shares to only retail investors in the initial public offers of PSU firms, to lower post-listing selling pressure.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) today said it may directly talk to Zain Telecom to acquire a controlling stake after the exclusive talks period between the consortium Vavasi and the Kuwaiti firm ends.
Dishnet Wireless Ltd, part of Aircel group that offers GSM mobile services in northern and eastern states, was the most congested mobile network in April-June this year, Trai said today.
India today ruled out taxing capital inflows to the stock market on the lines of Brazil and said markets have been functioning normally.
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.
Facebook: Facebook is digging its moat deeper – only now it’s doing so on autopilot. The social networking firm has said before its operations throw off more cash than they consume. So news that operating profits also more than cover capital expenditures doesn’t surprise — until you realise the company added another 50m users over the past 3 months. This self-financed infrastructure build-out is significant.
Caught in the Ambani gas dispute and facing a CBI probe over allegations of favouring Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), oil regulator V K Sibal may not continue as Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) from next week.
Young India is patriotic but being “stylish” is a growing priority, too. “Chocolate” remains the first craving of Indians and “MTV” Youngistan’s most loved space. And the stock market is growing in appeal for young traders, while football catches up with cricket.
Media Group Sun TV Network today reported a 16.83 per cent growth rate in net profit to Rs 119.80 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, as compared to Rs 102.54 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.
Caretel Infotech, a business process outsourcing (BPO) services provider from the Dalmia group, has bagged a two-year contract from state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to manage the latter’s call centre. The financial terms were not disclosed.
AGM approves Reliance Infratel IPO, filing soon.
Real estate developer Ansal Properties & Infrastructure today said that it will raise Rs 203 crore through issue of shares on prefertial basis and issue of warrants.
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.
Catamaran Venture Fund, promoted by Infosys Technologies Chairman and Mentor Narayan Murthy will be active for investments from March 2010.
Come New Year, cars will be costlier with automakers like Toyota and General Motors today saying that they will hike prices by up to three per cent due to rising input costs, while the country"s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India is still evaluating the situation.
North Indians travelling south of the Vindhyas experience disconnect in terms of body-language versus verbalisation. “Yes” in those parts is emphasised with a side-to-side shake of the head. That gesture means “no” in most other places. Foreigners visiting India are often equally foxed by namaskars. Putting palms together is common to many forms of prayer and not employed much as a peer-to-peer greeting outside India.
The Trident Group company Abhishek Industries today said it is planning to enter into a joint venture with the Portugal-based Mundotextil Industrias to produce luxury linen and other home textile products.
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.
Another son is rising at India Inc. Anant Goenka, son of RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka, will take over as deputy managing director, a post created at tyre major Ceat. Anant will take over on January 4.
It makes you wonder about India’s ‘vibrant democracy’
Completion financing, or last-mile funding, where developers get funds to complete projects stuck midway, is catching on among private equity (PE) funds.
Sensex pares gains; Hindalco up 4%
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.
This will enable the firm to tap the defence offset market.
The number of deals came down to 80 in 2009, from 127 in 2008.
Telecom regulator TRAI today said it will float a consultation paper on merger and acquisitions in the sector by the next month, a move that could unleash the second wave of consolidation in the sector.
The minimum ticket size and the tenure for unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) are set to be higher from the New Year.
The government has said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) was empowered to take action against Reliance Industries (RIL) if a probe established irregularities in share allotment by the company in 2000, and wanted to know what exactly the market regulator expected from it.
The government has asked capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for more details of a probe into a case of alleged routing of funds by Reliance Industries (RIL) to dummy companies for buying its own shares in 2000.
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.
Daiichi Sankyo-owned Ranbaxy Laboratories has won a decisive ruling from the District Court of New Jersey that its generic version of valganciclovir, prescribed for HIV/Aids patients and for organ transplantation-related infections, does not infringe the patent rights of Swiss drug maker Roche"s anti-infection drug, Valcyte.
Ajit Rangnekar has been appointed the dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) for a five-year term. The Executive Board unanimously named Rangnekar as the new dean in Mumbai on January 8.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose $22 million to $283.52 million during the week ended January 1, mainly due to the revaluation of gold.
Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi November 15, 2009, 0:32 IST
The electronic registration (e-registration) project in the state is set to become a reality soon as the state government would sign the concession agreement with IL&FS- Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDC) within 15 days for implementing the Rs 100-crore project.
The government today said exports from Software Technology Parks (STP) increased 15.1 per cent to Rs 2,07,358 crore in 2008-09.
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.
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.
India does not plan to move the World Bank for getting aid for conservation of tigers in the country. “Personally, I was very keen that the World Bank should help us in providing funds, at least for ensuring livelihood for villagers living on the fringes of the tiger reserves, so that they do not try to return to their original habitat (reserves).
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.
Drug maker Jubilant Organosys today said it has earmarked Rs 250 crore for its capacity expansion plans in the current fiscal.
Domestic steel producer Ispat Industries today said it has earmarked a capex of about Rs 2,600 crore for two years in major projects.
State-run NHPC has drawn up an ambitious Rs 30,000-crore capex plan during the 12th Five-Year Plan to set up 14,000 Mw of hydro-power projects.
The ONGC scrip rose 7 per cent to close at Rs 1,126.45 on fuel price hike. The government raised the price of petrol by Rs 4 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 after market hours on July 1. Following the hike, experts believe that the ONGC"s subsidy burden for the current year would reduce if the crude prices stay at around $70 a barrel. The stock opened at Rs 1,081.1 and made a high of Rs 1,155.7 and a low of Rs 1,076.1. The total traded volumes stood at 1.9 million shares (around 4 times its two-week average).
State-run ONGC today said it will borrow about Rs 27,000 crore over next three to four years to fund its projects, its chairman R S Sharma said.
Almost 50 per cent of all the 350 million-odd active users on the social networking site are members of regional networks.
Reliance Industries (RIL) has increased LPG supplies to Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum from its twin refineries at Jamnagar, forcing the state-run firms to sell cooking fuel cargoes that they had contracted from overseas suppliers.
Diversified business conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) today said it has allotted 21,173 equity shares to its employees under the Employees Stock Option Scheme (ESOS).
With the exception of Ajay Parmar, fund managers found it difficult to negotiate the volatile markets. The Smart Portfolios benchmark, the S&P CNX 500 rose by 0.75 per cent during the week. An investment of Rs 10 lakh in the benchmark at the start of Season II on September 1, 2009, is today valued at Rs 10.80 lakh, a gain of 8 per cent.
the right scheme and occasional shifting will ensure safety with returns.
Under attack from the government, the agitating private airlines who are demanding a bailout package, have kept bookings open for customers who want to fly on Aug 18, the day they have threatened to go on strike.
There were marginal changes in networth for the four fund managers in the first week of Smart Portfolios II. The managers have invested around 28-35 per cent of their individual starting corpus.
When it comes to on-line booking of air-tickets, travellers from Mumbai take the lead with as many as 77 per cent opting for these facilities compared to travellers at six other leading international airports globally.
Aditi Phadnis / New Delhi August 22, 2009, 0:00 IST
Even as its US business has been impacted by the recession, Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest information technology services provider, expects its India revenues to double to $1 billion in the next three-four years, majorly coming from the government sector. India currently contributes 10 per cent to TCS’ total revenues.
IT, consulting and business process outsourcing services company, Cognizant Technology Solutions, on Wednesday signed an initial five-year, multi-million contract with UK-based railway control and communications systems provider Invensys Rail to serve the global product research and development (R&D) needs of its group companies located in the UK, Australia, Spain and the US.
Nasdaq listed IT company Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp today announced the acquisition of Pepperweed Advisors, the IT consulting services division of US-based Pepperweed Consulting, for an undisclosed sum.
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.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has pointed out serious lapses in the way banks sold derivative products in 2007 and 2008. This is part of RBI’s reply to a questionnaire sent by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Orissa High Court had last year asked the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to submit a report on the derivative losses incurred by the industry last year.
Meanwhile, a second chargesheet in the multi-crore Satyam scam will be filed soon, as the CBI team probing the case has returned from Mauritius with some bank details from the island nation.
Shilpy Sinha / Mumbai December 25, 2009, 0:41 IST
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to seek Rs 10,000 crore from the Centre to undertake drought relief measures in the state. A memorandum will be submitted to the Union government shortly. A decision to this effect was taken at a review meeting held by chief minister, K Rosaiah, on Sunday.
Madan Sabnavis / New Delhi December 27, 2009, 0:17 IST
Releasing a compendium of all FDI-related 177 press notes for comments from public, the government today said it would review its foreign direct investment (FDI) rules twice a year from the next fiscal.
Foreign direct investment in the country surged by 60 per cent to $1.74 billion (around Rs 8,000 crore) in November, an official said today.
India needs to commission more Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) to meet its growing energy needs, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company Reliance Power CEO J P Chalsani has said.
IRB Infrastructure Developers today said it has qualified to bid for projects worth Rs 22,000 crore from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Gujarat State Road Development Corp (GSRDC) among others.
There is finally some good news for health insurance buyers. Insurers are now beginning to cover outpatient department (OPD) expenses.
Ajai Chowdhry / December 06, 2009, 0:45 IST
Encouraged by the success of a pilot to implement the smart card-based electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system on “one district, many banks” model in three districts of the state, Karnataka has shown interest in implementing the scheme in another three districts on a “one district, one bank” model.
State-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce today said it is looking at credit and deposit growth of up to 24 per cent each in the current fiscal.
The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,541 - down 75 points.
Devangshu Datta / New Delhi October 24, 2009, 0:30 IST
Devangshu Datta / New Delhi August 1, 2009, 0:50 IST
Shyam Ponappa / New Delhi November 5, 2009, 0:50 IST
Telecom operator Tata Teleservices (TTL) has asked the government not to impose any penalty on it for failing to meet the network roll-out obligation saying the delay was caused by the Telecom Engineering Centre"s (TEC) inability to test its equipment on time.
The government today said it will allow private and public telecom players to set up towers in the border areas to improve mobile connectivity.
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai October 15, 2009, 0:52 IST
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.
The Asian markets have ended in the green.
In an attempt to retain Wipro and Infosys in West Bengal, the state government today offered 45 acre each to the two IT giants for setting up their units.
West Bengal government shelves IT township project at Rajarhat in the wake of Vedic Village land scam.
Students of the joint action committee (JAC) at Osmania University, the nerve centre of pro-Telangana protests, on Sunday said they would block all the entry points to Hyderabad, including national highways, in a bid to prevent leaders of Seemandhra (Rayalseema and Andhra) from entering the state capital on January 5.
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.
India today favoured a legally binding climate change agreement from the developed countries saying a political pact will not be "enforceable", even as it asserted that its voluntary reduction of carbon emission intensity was not announced under pressure.
As delegates at the Copenhagen summit discuss a new climate treaty, green activists here are hoping that it would focus on emission cuts and safeguarding of biodiversity.
Subir Roy / New Delhi October 14, 2009, 0:00 IST
Vrishti Beniwal & Ajay Modi / New Delhi November 21, 2009, 0:57 IST
Asian stocks climbed, lifting the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its best year since 2003, as commodity prices rose and China pledged to maintain a “moderately loose” monetary policy.
Subir Roy / New Delhi July 22, 2009, 0:51 IST
Wind energy major Suzlon Energy has officially opened Infigen Energy’s Capital wind farm, the largest wind farm in Australia at Bungendore in New South Wales.
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 markets are now exhibiting sideways movement, after initial volatility.
Seeks 40% lower funding from Asian Development Bank.
Congress today downplayed demands for a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) for the UPA saying a small group will be constituted to consider the common points of the manifestos of the parties in the alliance. "A small group will be formed that will decide what are the issues in the manifestos of other parties which could be included," AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters after the first meeting of the pre-poll alliance partners of the UPA here.
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?
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said intensified international action to tackle ship seizures off the Somali coast is forcing pirates further afield into the Indian Ocean and more recently closer to the Seychelles.
First unbundled state power utility to tap market.
The Maharashtra government has deferred the submission and opening of financial bids for Dharavi Redevelopment Projects for a further date, a key government official said. The new date has not been fixed yet, he said.
Will get access to large distribution network in eyecare segment
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.