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A better reach in rural markets has helped both the soaps and hair colours businesses.
FMCG firm Godrej Consumer Products is looking at several acquisition opportunities globally and has earmarked a budget of Rs 1,000 crore for the purpose.
With an aim to increase credit growth by at least 20 per cent and maintain a capital adequacy ratio of 12 per cent over the next two-three years, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has recently submitted a capital requirement plan for nearly Rs 1,400 crore to the government. In an interview with Namrata Acharya, S A Bhat, chairman and managing director of IOB says while the bank is bullish on the domestic market, it hopes its growth to be good, if not extraordinary, overseas due to regulatory issues in certain geographies, such as Hong Kong. Excerpts:
Investors today pulled down the stock market benchmark Sensex below 17,000 points-level, as they sold banking, oil and gas and state-run companies’ shares to make profits.
About 20 million mobile phones without International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) will be non-functional from tomorrow as the government’s deadline to ban mobile handsets without the unique identification number came to an end today.
A V Rajwade / New Delhi January 11, 2010, 0:50 IST
DB Corp, the publisher of Dainik Bhaskar, which is planning to enter new markets, would tap the capital market next week to raise around Rs 450 crore through an initial public offer.
An express train carrying hundreds of passengers from Moscow to St Petersburg derailed, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens of others, emergency officials said.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) is scheduled this evening to make an apparent bid to find a way out in the wake of the crisis triggered by the decision to carve out a separate Telangana.
With sugar prices doubling in last one year, a Parliamentary panel today suggested that the government should draw out a long-term plan to contain the rising price trend of the sweetener.
Global inflation: Global inflation is set to present policymakers with a cruel dilemma. After falling early in 2009, prices in many countries have resumed rising. The 1.8 per cent November rise in the US producer price index (PPI) is only the latest example of this. The need to squash rising inflation could soon force central banks to risk sacrificing growth.
The markets have rebounded into the positive zone owing to fresh buying. The Sensex is now up eight points at 16,927. The Nifty is up two points at 5,045.
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."
Jyoti Malhotra / New Delhi October 27, 2009, 0:54 IST
The Shipping Ministry has sought a three-fold increase in budgetary allocations at Rs 1,055 crore for ports in the country in the next fiscal.
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.
Owing to mounting losses, Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines has returned 19 leased aircraft to lessors in the past 10 months.
The economic recovery and a low base should help India Inc post robust profit growth for the December quarter.
Aiming for a larger play in the domestic skies, Paramount Airways plans to increase its fleet fourfold by 2011 to 20 aircraft by inducting mid-sized airplanes.
The Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) is taking ing various measures to increase the number of subscribers under its New Pension Scheme (NPS). It is in discussions with the General Insurance Council, various industry bodies and companies to offer the plan to their employees. Under the recent deal between the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the pension regulator, all new recruits of banks will join the defined contribution system from April 1, 2010. Already 20 nationalised and 12 private sector banks have joined the new system.
The car finance market is hotting up with ICICI Bank and Axis Bank slashing interest on new car loans.
The New Year may bring challenges for distributors of financial products who had found solace in unit-linked insurance products (Ulips) after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had banned entry load on mutual fund instruments from August this year.
The future for the IT industry appears bright and the sector is likely to post double digit growth next year, industry veteran S Ramadorai said here today.
A new “old” Royal Enfield is born. We ride the Enfield Classic.
All the hot metal you will be seeing at the 2010 Auto Expo next week!
The last Auto Expo in January 2008 in New Delhi drew 1.8 million visitors. The 2010 edition scheduled at Pragati Maidan here, from January 5-11, is expected to draw close to 2 million visitors, which would make it the largest auto show in the world.
Nearly two crore mobile phones without unique identification numbers will go out of service from midnight today, with government deadline to operators to block calls to such devices on security concerns expiring tonight.
The commerce ministry has prohibited import of mobile phone handsets (classified under ITC (HS) Code ‘8517’) without International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number or with all zeroes’ IMEI, with immediate effect from October 14, 2009. Import of ‘CDMA mobile phones’ (classified under ITC (HS) Code ‘8517’) without Electronic Serial Number (ESN)/Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID) or with all zeroes as ESN/MEID is also prohibited with immediate effect from the same date.
Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has demanded counterfeit mobile handsets with cloned International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of other genuine handsets be banned in the country.
Carnation Auto, the multi-brand car service provider promoted by former Maruti Suzuki head Jagdish Khattar, today joined hands with Fiat Group firm Magneti Marelli for servicing premium cars in the country.
Auto makers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Hero Honda today reported robust sales in November, lending optimism that the good economic showing in the second quarter would continue.
She has been compared to Jhumpa Lahiri, and now author SELINA SEN has charmed European audiences as well. Sen’s debut novel, A Mirror Greens in Spring, has just been translated into French, Italian and Spanish and gathered significant international acclaim — two years after its release in India. In Italy, the pod-cast version of the story, about an immigrant Bengali family living in Delhi, is a hit, while, in France, a pocket-book version has just been formalised. Her European success has much to do with the readers’ curiosity about the subcontinent, she tells NEHA BHATT
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.
A better product mix, easing of cost pressures and better procurement helped consumer electronics and lightings manufacturer, Bajaj Electricals register a consolidated net profit increase of 64 per cent per cent for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, to Rs 16.4 crore, compared with Rs 10 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.
The bidding for the Uttar Pradesh government sugar mills has again been put off until November.
Tata Steel, for a consecutive quarter, has posted a consolidated net loss, of Rs 2,719.8 crore for the quarter ended September, compared with a net profit of Rs 4,703.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Consolidated net sales during the period plunged to Rs 25,269.8 crore from the previous year’s Rs 44,050 crore, down 42.6 per cent.
Gold prices today tumbled by Rs 220 -- the biggest fall this year -- to Rs 16,880 per 10 gram in the bullion market here on fresh selling by stockists influenced by a weak global trend.
Kolkata-based Balrampur Chini Mills profit after tax for fourth quarter ending September 30, 2009 improved 193 per cent at Rs 42.7 crore from Rs 14.58 crore in the fourth-quarter last year. Net sales dropped to Rs 379.96 versus Rs 416.73 crore in the corresponding quarter in the preceding year. Earnings per share gained 192.7 per cent at Rs 1.67 as against 57 paise in the year ago quarter.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), in which the UK government holds majority stake, has posted an operating loss of 1.53 billion pounds for the September quarter, as the battered entity continued to see higher impairment charges.
The new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms, which stipulate changes in the way foreign investment in a domestic company is calculated, have put a roadblock in the path of credit information bureaus, which are eager to rope in private sector banks as investors.
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is mulling raising funds to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore as India"s richest civic body struggles to overcome a financial crunch created by a projected shortfall in revenue collection and massive expenditure on projects.
My broker has advised me to invest a lumpsum amount in a Monthly Income Plan (MIP). In the current scenario where interest rates are expected to rise, should I do so? Also, should I invest in more than one MIP for diversification?
The government"s fiscal deficit has reached almost half of the full-year estimate in the first six months of FY10.
This follows a renewed effort by CBDT to seek clarification on the issue.
A Parliamentary Panel has asked the government to allocate 138 coal blocks to state-run Coal India (CIL) to help it meet production targets for the current and the next plan period and bridge demand-supply gap.
At a time when Karnataka has been struggling to attract investments, Tamil Nadu has attracted investments worth Rs 15,000 crore during 2009, majority of which was driven by the automobile industry. According to government sources, since 2006 investments worth Rs 46,100 crore have come into Tamil Nadu.
Allaying fears of delay in preparation for the Commonwealth Games 2010, Government today assured Rajya Sabha that all state-of-the-art stadia and infrastructure will be completed in time and security steps taken to ensure that the mega event is incident-free.
The activities of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) with long build-up in the Nifty futures and short-covering in stock futures during the week ended September 13 augur well for the market. The Nifty is expected to hit a new high in the coming week if it crosses a crucial resistance at 5,060. On the downside, 4,940 is a healthy support level and, below that, 4,860 is the crucial support level. The Nifty rose over four per cent during the week largely due to short-covering from foreign investors in the Nifty and stock futures.
Fashion and lifestyle retail chain Shoppers Stop today said its board of directors has approved raising funds by allotting 40 lakh shares to qualified institutional buyers.
With the acute ethanol shortage derailing the programme to blend the sugarcane extract in petrol, Oil Minister Murli Deora will meet Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar next week to salvage the programme.
The $2 billion World Bank loan the government is seeking for road development will reduce the total borrowing needs of the National Highways Authority by 20 per cent to Rs 1,53,421 crore over the next 21 years.
Dish TV’s board of directors, at its meeting held today, approved the pricing of the Global Depository Receipt (GDR) issue. The issue price of $854.50 per GDR, representing 1,000 underlying company shares of Re 1 each.
Namrata Acharya & Ishita Ayan Dutt / New Delhi November 27, 2009, 1:05 IST
At the launch of Arvind Virmani’s book on Wednesday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he was intrigued by the book’s title, The Sudoku of India’s Growth. He said he’d have thought that his chief economic advisor would not think India’s growth surge was a puzzle and that he would actually know what had driven the growth. Having got everyone laughing, Mukherjee said that though he had not read the book in any great detail, his interaction with Virmani had convinced him that though the growth may have puzzled many, Virmani actually had the key to the puzzle. Suman Bery of NCAER said meanwhile that the appropriate metaphor was not Sudoku but Rubik’s Cube.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 30, 2009, 0:57 IST
Anil Ambani-led RNRL has accused Mukesh Ambani’s RIL of trying to inflate its profits by pushing for $4.20 as per-unit sale price of gas from the KG Basin.
Religare aims to become one of the top financial services companies globally, and in double-quick time.
The Nifty recovered sharply from its support of 4,820 to close at 4,900 on short-covering and positive global cues. It, however, faced strong upside resistance at 4,930 on profit-booking in key index heavyweights.
Public sector lender UCO Bank today said it will convene a meeting of its shareholders to decide whether it should come out with a follow-on public offer (FPO) or placement of shares to qualified institutional buyers to raise funds.
Better control on management expenses and income from investments helped top five life insurance companies pare losses in the third quarter of the financial year.
In a step towards initial public offer (IPO) guidelines for insurance companies, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has come out with final public disclosure norms, to be effective from March.
Aided by strong growth in sales of unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), new business premium income of life insurers went up by 75 per cent during December to Rs 12,201 crore against Rs 6,961 crore during the corresponding period last month.
For the December 2009 quarter, SAIL saw net sales at Rs 9,880 crore up 11 per cent year-on-year, in line with market expectations, even as seasonal impact saw sales dip 2 per cent sequentially. The company’s steel sales was at 2.9 million tonnes (mt) in the recently concluded quarter against 3 mt in the September 2009 quarter and 2.4 mt in December 2008 quarter.
- Parsvnath Q2 net up three fold to Rs 61.43 cr - Banco Products net up 99% at Rs 21-cr - Indusind Bank Q2 net zooms 131% at Rs 77.8 cr - HDFC Bank Q2 net jumps 30% at Rs 687.46 cr - Mid & small-cap firms to see single-digit growth - Geojit BNP Paribas Q2 net zooms 150%
Communications Minister A Raja has learnt it’s better to be safe than sorry. After the EGoM meeting on the 3G spectrum auction, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was surrounded by journalists. He refused to make any comment and then turned towards Raja and said, “Nobody should talk to the press about this meeting.” Even before Mukherjee could finish, Raja waved his hands and said, “Sir, I am not saying anything. I am not saying anything.” A few days ago, Mukherjee had summoned Raja and told him not to talk to the press about the 3G issue and to ensure that no inter-ministerial communication related to the 3G auction was leaked from his office — letters from Mukherjee to Raja and vice versa have all been leaked to the press in recent weeks.
The shop shelves are starting to fill up with fine waters, each claiming to be better and “purer” than the other. Gargi Gupta dips into what’s available.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the International Road Federation (IRF) find the social networking site twitter.com an innovative medium to bring down road fatalities.
Devika Banerji / New Delhi October 27, 2009, 0:37 IST
Mobile users who want to change their service providers while retaining their old number under the mobile number portability (MNP) feature will have to pay a maximum of just Rs 19 for availing the service. It would be introduced from December 31 in metros and by March next year in the rest of the country.
At the height of the dot-com boom of the 1990s, several executives at McKinsey & Company, the world’s most prestigious management consulting firm, launched what they called the War for Talent. After extensive research, they concluded that the best companies had leaders who were obsessed with “the talent issue”. They recruited ceaselessly, finding and hiring as many top performers as possible. They singled out and segregated their stars, rewarding them disproportionately, and pushing them into ever more senior positions. The “talent mind-set” became the new orthodoxy of American management — the intellectual justification for why a high premium was placed on degrees from first-tier business schools, and why the compensation packages for top executives had become so lavish.
Realty major Ackruti City Ltd, has lined up a capital expenditure plan of Rs 600 crore over the next one-year, a top company official said.
Suven Life Sciences Limited, a Hyderabad-based biopharmaceutical company specialising in central nervous system (CNS) diseases, has received patents corresponding to three new chemical entities (NCEs) for the treatment of disorders associated with neuro-degenerative diseases.
Daiichi Sankyo, which has a majority stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories, today said it is going to launch some of Ranbaxy"s generic medicine in the Japanese market soon.
The Supreme Court today agreed to examine on December 15 the Centre"s Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the Delhi High Court"s order which held as arbitrary allocation of 2G spectrum to certain telecom operators by Telecommunication Ministry headed by A Raja.
India is not facing any shortage in onion supplies and prices of the key vegetable have now started easing, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma said in the Lok Sabha today, replying to a member"s query.
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar October 12, 2009, 0:30 IST
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has agreed to pay over Rs 3,914.39 crore for hiring an ultra deep-sea drill rig from Reliance Industries for four years, a top company official said.
Business Standard / New Delhi December 11, 2009, 0:03 IST
Insurance claims arising out of the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 are estimated to wipe out about Rs 500 crore from the corpus set up by general insurers to fund such losses.
The Imperial, Delhi, tries its best to turn you into a master chef.
Saturation in other businesses triggers the move.
Irda panel moots each lender tying up with two life, two non-life and two health insurers.
Use credit wisely, save, take insurance and sensibly invest in equities.
In what may become a revolution in entertainment, accessing television via cable, IPTV or interactive DTH services is soon going to be via wireless, on the lines of a wi-fi internet connectivity.
In the turf war between the battered CPI(M) and its arch rival, Trinamool Congress, veteran Congressman and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has found a new place of prominence.
The total telecom subscriber base in India crossed 500 million at the end of September, taking the overall teledensity to 43.5 per cent. India is the second-biggest and fastest market for wireless services, behind China, which has over 600 million users.
The days of hardship allowance are passé. For a growing number of MNCs, the most effective way to develop global talent is long-term assignments in countries such as India.
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai November 12, 2009, 0:24 IST
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal laid the foundation stone of the 60 Mw biomass-based Green Energy Power Plant of Lakshmi Energy and Foods Limited (Lakshmi Group) at Khamanon village of Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab.
Pulses getting dangerously close to Rs 100 per kilo, potatoes in West Bengal (a traditional exporter) crossing Rs 20 a kilo, make real the food price inflation that statisticians’ numbers signal. Inflation in primary food articles is currently running at over 13 per cent. Dun and Bradstreet forecasts that overall inflation will touch 6 per cent by the end of the current fiscal, fuelled by, among others, current high food prices and the impact of the drought. The 20 per cent deficit in the monsoon is slated to bring down kharif output by 15-20 per cent. The news couldn’t get worse.
The markets witnessed some volatility in the first half of the day, as traders awaited the Reliance numbers. However, renewed buying interest in the latter half of the day backed strong quarterly earnings so far saw the markets stage a smart rally.
The NSE Nifty ended (provisional) at 4,568, up 44 points. The BSE Sensex ended (provisional) at 15,378, up 147 points.
Domestic mutual funds are again scouting investment opportunities abroad, mostly in emerging markets, as they plan to launch international funds, after more than a year. At least three fund houses-- SBI Mutual Fund, UTI Mutual Fund and Mirae Asset Mutual Fund— are planning to launch international funds soon.
Commending the role of Indian navy in fighting pirates at the Gulf of Aden, the world"s maritime controlling agency has awarded a special certificate to the forces.
This is one of the few IPOs to be oversubscribed in the retail category this year.
Global multinational drug companies’ need to outsource manufacturing to low-cost destinations like India has turned out to be a boon for leading drug companies in India such as Ranbaxy, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Aurobindo.
The third edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will begin on March 12 in Hyderabad with the final to be held at D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on April 25, the BCCI announced here today.
Indian Commodity Exchange Ltd (ICEX), which will go live soon, has enlisted 250 members. The majority of the members have been approved by the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) and the unique codes have been allotted.
The Bombay High Court has asked Delhi-based businessman Sanjay Dalmia to appear before the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in connection with a cheating case.
A stuttering GDP growth and high-base effect are likely to push same store sales (SSS) growth and profitability of Indian retailers in the red zone for the January-March 2009 quarter, research firm, Macquarie, said.
The gem and jewellery industry has sought enhanced dollar liquidity, lower lending rates, a 2-year tax holiday and turnover tax and import duty reductions as part of budgetary relief, a top industry official said.
Business Standard / New Delhi August 20, 2009, 0:46 IST
NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources today said it would not offer more than the already announced $1.87 billion to buy bankrupt American mining firm Asarco but is confident that it can clinch the deal with the support of the US government and the trade unions.
In the wake of the recent controversies over Chinese incursions, India and China have reaffirmed the need to maintain peace and tranquility on border pending resolution of the “complex” issue.
Major auto companies, including Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and General Motors, today reported record sales for January, signalling that the worst is behind for the industry that was battered by the global economic meltdown.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is desperately short of aircraft for training its flight cadets. With the entire fleet of basic trainers — the HPT-32 Deepak — grounded after a series of crashes, advanced training is suffering equally due to unexpected delays in the manufacture of the Hawk advanced jet trainer (AJT) in India.
The Centre will initiate talks on Telangana after situation calms down in Andhra Pradesh as any move by it now will "ignite things further", Minister of state for Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid said today.
The Orissa government hopes to generate about 9820 Mw power in the state by 2014.This includes 2400 Mw to be generated by Sterlite Energy Ltd, 1050 Mw by GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd, 1050 Mw by Nava Bharat Energy and 600 Mw to be generated by KVK Nilachal Power.
The MD of entertainment firm Pyramid Saimira, P S Saminathan, was today arrested by Haryana Police on a loan default complaint filed by Indiabulls, but the company claimed he was let out shortly after.
India has emerged as a dominant player globally in providing IT engineering services, with the sector set to touch $50 billion by 2020, a Nasscom-Booz study said.
With the growing swine flu scare across the city, a number of IT-BPO service providers here are seeing up to 20 per cent drop in attendance.
With the India Oil Corporation (IOC) expressing keenness to supply naphtha again, chances of debt-ridden Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (Spic) resuming operations of its fertiliser plant have increased.
Plans aggressive push to Pulsar and Discover ranges.
The West Bengal government had not sought return of the land at Singur from Tata Motors ‘formally’, said West Bengal commerce and industry minister Nirupam Sen, a day after Ratan Tata said the government had not approached for the land. Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar organized by Assocham in association with the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce, Sen said, though the government had not formally asked for the land, the company had been informed about the Bhel proposal and later the Railways proposal. Sen said, unless the Railways submitted a formal proposal, the government would not ask for the land back. With Sen’s comments, it appears that Singur was once again in limbo, as Railways has made it clear that it would not visit the land as it belonged to Tata Motors.
The government is likely to continue with its existing policies to ensure economic stability in the forthcoming Union Budget, a top banker said.
Chef Patrick Verre goes microbiotic in search of “food energy”.
Green chilli, fried and crumb-coated ice creams sting the tastebuds and emerge winners.
He may not be playing head chef anymore but Heinz Egli continues to delight us with his unusual recipes.
Keisuke Uno proves that language is no barrier when it comes to cooking.
Most are for regional languages.
Omkar Goswami / New Delhi December 31, 2009, 0:48 IST
The government said today the role and responsibilities of independent directors on the boards of companies would be fixed as also the number of firms they could represent once the Companies Bill, 2009, became a law.
Mobile operators are clashing yet again over the fee paid for spectrum (air-waves) with Vodafone claiming that Tata Teleservices and RCom were paying far less to the government - a charge denied by the two companies.
ONGC and ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas investment arm of ONGC, in association with the Hinduja Group and Petronet LNG, have entered into two broad enabling agreements with Iranian authorities for participation in development of gas fields and liquefaction facilities in Iran, in return for assured minimum six million tonnes a year of LNG on long-term basis. ONGC made an announcement on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today.
Former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha’s recent stint at the Indian School of Business turned out to be the best year of his life, he tells Neha Bhatt
M J Antony / New Delhi November 25, 2009, 0:06 IST
Assistance will be used to for infra projects, recapitalsation of PSU banks
With no takers for the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now looking at alternatives — either to go for re-tendering with a lower base price or renegotiate a contract with the Sahara group, which currently holds sponsorship till December.
Jai Arjun Singh / New Delhi November 07, 2009, 0:35 IST
A ncient Indians discovered the Zero, but modern, cyber-savvy Indians everywhere are discovering the Zed. That’s Rajan Zed, a Nevada-based Indo-American statesman who modestly refers to himself as an “acclaimed Hindu spokesperson” in an endless series of press releases that are slowing down the Internet, or at least my home connection.
Brian Moynihan, Oswald Gruebel and Josef Ackermann, leaders of some of the world’s biggest banks, met during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to plot how to reassert their influence with regulators and governments.
To make London its European hub.
The government today asked the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to ensure an early disbursement of Rs 400 crore subsidy under an employment guarantee scheme for 2008-09 pending with the banks.
In a significant move, the government has decided to allow private funding in setting up some of the proposed 14 national universities, which would be of world class standards.
Tax would ‘indirectly benefit’ multinational firms
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.
Last fortnight, Vancouver, British Columbia hosted the annual International Fiscal Association (IFA) Congress with over 1000 international tax experts representing large MNCs, international tax experts, academicians and tax administrators of several jurisdictions. Expectedly, the buzz centered on India’s Direct taxes code. Most participants expressed anxiety on DTC provisions impacting cross border investments, particularly on General anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) and were perplexed with a position that the Indian domestic law can override a double tax treaty (DTT).
The government has decided to compensate states for any revenue loss on account of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a move that will encourage states to go in for the new tax structure scheduled to be implemented from April 1, next year.
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has commenced a programme to promote the transformation of novel entrepreneurship ideas into business ventures by funding the projects.
Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Dabur is scouting for overseas acquisitions, particularly in West Asia and Africa, in a bid to increase its market share in the personal care segment.
As governments debate ways to reduce carbon emission levels at the climate change summit in Copenhagen, some fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are doing their bit to rein in carbon footprints.
The latest GST move is why the tax holiday notifications are being sought to be ended by March 2010.
The Australian government today gave green signal to the construction of the Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island worth $50 billion off the West Australian coast on few conditions.
The government is considering extending incentives to the services sector, battling demand recession in Western economies, in the Foreign Trade Policy to be unveiled next month.
Eases regulatory hurdles for Bharti-MTN deal.
Clinton Foundation"s proposed "Solar Integrated City" project may come up in a special economic zone. The Central government has recently approached the state to consider setting up a solar SEZ in Gujarat.
DTH major Dish TV today said it has partnered Indiatimes.com to offer mobile value added services (VAS) called "Mobile Active" to its customers.
Equity derivatives volumes on NSE fall, but traders say it’s too early to see a trend.
Nilanjana S Roy / New Delhi December 1, 2009, 0:39 IST
Kolhapur based Ghodawat Energy Private Ltd (GEPL), part of Ghodawat Industries, is planning to invest around Rs 1,300 crore to increase its wind turbine production and to set up wind farms. To support the investment the company is planning to go public and initiated talks with private equity for fund raising.
As probe intensifies, says he’s being framed since he’s a tribal.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda was today discharged from a city hospital and claimed he was "innocent" and was not involved in the Rs 2,000 crore hawala scam even as Income Tax officials prepared to question him in connection with the case.
Hinduja Group’s flagship company Ashok Leyland’s Rs 1,300-crore Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) plant is likely go onstream within the next few months. The plant would have an installed capacity of 50,000 units of commercial vehicles annually.
The government today decided to allow retail sale of Oseltamivir, commonly known as Tamiflu, which is the only drug available to treat swine flu.
The Supreme Court today refused to give any relief to Swiss pharma firm Hoffman La Roche Ltd that had challenged a Delhi High Court order allowing Cipla to manufacture and sell a generic version of lung cancer drug "Erlotinib".
The Sensex started the day on a very strong note mirroring international cues and on expectation of a good earning season. The Sensex is now at 17,660, up 120 points. The NSE Nifty is 33 points higher at 5,278.
A report identifying a broad range of potential benefits of incremental pharmaceutical innovation for India would be released later this week by the US India Business Council (USIBC).
Emami Ltd, the Rs 2000 crore FMCG major, is currently recording zero sales of biodiesel, following a circular issued this month by the ministry of petroleum, virtually banning the sale of bio-diesel.
The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre, pharma major Cipla, Ranbaxy Lab, Hetero Drugs, Natco Pharma and others on a pettion filed by Swiss firm Novartis AG challenging the denial of patent for its blood cancer drug Glivec in beta crystal form.
Swiss drug maker Novartis today said its newly developed vaccine ‘Celtura’ against Influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) has shown effective result during a pilot test conducted by it.
Indian drug firm Sun Pharma may have to shell out up to Rs 1,000 crore for acquiring the Israel-based Taro Pharma-ceuticals. “If we are able to get all the shares of Taro pharma-ceuticals, including promo-ters’, then the total cost would be up to Rs 1,000 crore,” the firm said.
Posco India Limited which is setting up a 12-million tonne per annum steel plant in Orissa has announced the formation of the Posco Foundation for carrying out various social welfare programmes focusing on development of underprivileged sections of the society.
French pharma major Sanofi-aventis today said its vaccine division Sanofi Pasteur has acquired majority stake in Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics, which has been valued at euro 550 million (over Rs 3,770 crore).
Chennai-based electric scooter manufacturer Kabirdass Motor Company is planning to raise Rs 60 crore through an initial public offering to support its expansion plan and for setting up a manufacturing facility near here.
JSW Steel ended the day at Rs 1134, stronger by Rs 110 or 10.8%, on the BSE.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has succeeded in developing a copycat or generic version of Pfizer’s Lipitor, the world"s largest selling drug which has sales of over $10 billion.
Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical major, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, forayed into the transdermal patch segment with the launch of Finrid – a medicated adhesive patch used in the management of severe to moderate pain – in the Indian market.
To make up for 80% of losses incurred by component suppliers
Anil Ambani’s direct-to-home company, Reliance BIG TV, has formed a marketing alliance with Fox STAR Studios for its forthcoming movie, Avatar. The deal, according to source, has been struck for Rs 20 crore.
India urgently needs a new land acquisition policy as the present framework is outdated and does not adequately incorporate the interests of the owners and workers of the land procured by private firms, according to Planning Commission member Arun Maira.
The Allahabad High Court today quashed UP government"s notification for use of emergency powers to buy land for Anil Ambani group firm"s Dadri power project, side-stepping a provision for inviting objections from land owners.
The government today said it will give 50 paise as incentive for a unit of electricity generated by wind power producers for 4-10 years.
India Inc lines up Rs 1,50,000 crore equity sales