Business Ideas
Akash Prakash / New Delhi January 22, 2010, 0:03 IST
Swiss banking major Credit Suisse has said Neil Harvey will run its asset management business in Asia Pacific and emerging markets from February.
Leading Indian entrepreneur Anil Ambani plans a takeover of the Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Hollywood studio in an attempt to become one of the world"s most powerful film bosses, the "Daily Telegraph" reported today.
Meenakshi Subramaniam / Mumbai January 24, 2010, 0:03 IST
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief urged members today to resist protectionist pressure in the wake of the economic crisis, but said hopes of an early deal to free up international commerce are uncertain. "In February this year, the global economic downturn was peaking," WTO director general Pascal Lamy told a forum.
Swiss banking major UBS AG continued to be in the red for the third straight quarter, with losses of 1.40 billion Swiss francs for the three months ended June, bogged down by credit and restructuring charges.
The race to succeed Kenneth Lewis as the Bank of America Corp chief executive has narrowed to two internal candidates, though the board is still looking for a new face for the nation"s largest bank by assets, says a media report.
Amid rising optimism for the future of their businesses, India Inc still remains cautious about hiring in the January-March period, a survey by leading staffing firm TeamLease Services said.
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
The unemployment rate in the 16-nation euro zone soared to a ten-year high of 9.6 per cent in August, as the region continued to feel the tremors of the financial turmoil.
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.
Reliance Big TV (RBTV), the direct-to-home (DTH) arm of Reliance Communications targets DTH value-added services (VAS) revenues of Rs 100-crore in the next 5 years period, a top company official said.
VE Commercial Vehicles today reported 37 per cent increase in sales in September at 2,558 units as against 1,865 units in the same month last year.
Vinayak Chatterjee / New Delhi January 18, 2010, 0:53 IST
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.
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.
The Orissa government is mulling to implement a mass housing scheme for providing houses at affordable prices to the economically weaker, lower and middle income group. The project will be implemented in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
Civil rights activists Medha Patkar and Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey alleged that the protest against them in Dantewada was state sponsored.
India-specific hatchbacks took centrestage at the 10th AUTO EXPO, currently on in New Delhi. But BIJOY KUMAR Y took a detour and was seduced
Seema Sindhu / December 7, 2009, 0:37 IST
For the first time in six months, the Hindi general entertainment genre has got a decisive leader in Colors. According to the latest ratings data provided by audience measurement firm TAM Media, Colors has got a record gross ratings points (GRPs) of 325 for the previous week — the highest since its launch in July 2008 and also the highest among all Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) in over a year.
Sanjaya Baru / New Delhi January 11, 2010, 0:36 IST
She began her career as a choreographer and then moved into film direction with aplomb. A full-time mother of three, Farah Khan is back in a new avatar as a talk show host for Tere Mere Beach Mein that is being aired on Star Plus.
Using a disputed measure, TAM, the television research agency, has said Doordarshan not only commands the highest channel share compared to private networks but attracts a far greater number of viewers. It made a presentation to this effect before the information and broadcasting minister recently.
The Supreme Court has issued notice to Sony Entertainment Television Satellite (Singapore) Pvt Ltd on a petition seeking to tax profits of the Indian operations of the foreign entity through a dependent agent (SET India Pvt Ltd).
Rising cotton prices have robbed the domestic garment exporters off their competitive edge in the global markets which could lead to massive job losses, Apparel Export Promotion Council (APEC) said today.
Economy is likely to grow by 7 per cent or a "little more" in the current fiscal returning to a fast expansion pace after a sluggish 2008 due to the global economic crisis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today.
In a blunt warning, US has threatened to take "unilateral action" by sending its troops to Pakistan to shut down Taliban and other terrorist camps there, if Islamabad does not take decisive action against them. The Americans want the Pakistanis to target Haqqani network based in north Waziristan and Taliban supremo Mullah Omar and the members of the groups top Shura, believed to be hiding in Baluchistan.
The government"s high borrowings may not push up interest rates sharply towards the end of this year and are likely to hover around the current levels, Prime Minister"s Economic Advisory Council chairman C Rangarajan said.
Japan Airlines will slash 6,800 jobs and suspend a number of overseas routes in an attempt to cut cost.
The government has slapped a penalty of Rs 32 crore on mobile operators for failing to adhere to the subscriber verification norms in 2008-09.
Kaustubh Kulkarni / December 03, 2009, 0:49 IST
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.
Consumer durables major LG Electronics today said it will invest Rs 25 crore in promotional activities of its home appliances during the festive season, as it targets a 30 per cent share in the segment by next year.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the country"s leading utility vehicles maker that recently forayed into the two-wheeler space, is now eying to source parts from China for cost advantage.
To win without risk is to triumph without glory.
Shobhana Subramanian & Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai November 24, 2009, 0:00 IST
Kishore Singh / New Delhi November 3, 2009, 0:30 IST
The paper industry may recover its losses from the next quarter due to an expected rise in demand because of robust industrial and economic growth. The industry was suffering from overcapacity, low demand and competition from cheap imports. While no fresh capacities have been added in the recent past except in the writing and printing paper segment, analysts hope the demand to improve soon.
Luxury car maker Audi India today reported 8.41 per cent increase in its sales in October at 116 units over the same period last year.
Indian banks might meet the Reserve Bank of India’s projection of an 18 per cent growth in credit, K V Kamath, chairman of the country’s second largest lender ICICI Bank said in Mumbai today.
Car maker Skoda Auto India today reported a 183 per cent jump in its total sales at 1,425 units during November this year as against 504 units in the same month last year.
Terming as "most immature and irresponsible" the UPA government"s handling of the Telangana problem, BJP today said the Centre "should apply its mind" to solve the problem.
Coming out in support of creation of a separate state of Telangana, top Maoist leader Kisenji today accused the Centre of "depriving" people of the region of their legitimate rights by "backtracking" from its move to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do... goes the phrase, which is partially what consumer goods companies are adhering to. They are hiring local talent to target rural sales.
Tata Capital, the non-banking finance arm of Tata Group, today said it expects revival of demand in auto, housing and personal loans from the third quarter and plans to raise Rs 2,100 crore through bond issue by the end of next fiscal.
Seeking greater cooperation in education sector, France today said Indian students are most welcome there and that it wants to be a "privileged partner" in the growth that India is witnessing now.
Leading engineering consultant, Consulting Engineering Services (India) Private Ltd (CES) looks for a total turnover of Rs 350 crore in 2009-10 by providing designing and consultancy services in several key infrastructure projects in the domestic and overseas markets.
The Nifty on Friday closed above the resistance level of 5,060 to keep the current bull run moving. The index, however, is expected to face resistance above the 5,100 level next week. The SGX Nifty futures was down by over 50 points over the official close of 5,077 in the over-the-counter (OTC) session on Friday. The US and European markets closed more or less in a Doji pattern, indicating indecisiveness among participants. If this weakness continues, then we may see a gap-down opening on Monday.
In a stern message to Pakistan, the United States has asked it to shed its policy of "using insurgents" like LeT as a strategic tool and warned that if it cannot deliver against terrorists, the US may be impelled to use "any means" at its disposal.
With the availability of 3G spectrum, about 275 million Indian subscribers will use 3G-enabled services, and the number of 3G-enabled handsets will reach close to 395 million by 2013-end, estimates the latest report by Evalueserve, a provider of Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) services.
Auto major Tata Motors today said its wholly-owned European subsidiary, Tata Motors European Technical Centre, has got a loan of 10 million pounds (Rs 78 crore) from the UK government for its Rs 195 crore electric car project.
Wabco-TVS (India) Ltd, a provider of air brake actuation systems for commercial vehicles, is planning to tap new markets, including Brazil and Russia, during the current financial year to strengthen its export business.
Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group firms, has won a case at the World Intellectual Property Organisation against the travel portal, MakeMyTrip, which has been using the term "tata" in one of its website, "oktatabyebye.Com".
The West Bengal government will not be able to bring any new investor for Singur unless a political solution is achieved.
Aurobindo Pharma Limited has received the tentative approval for Atomoxetine Hydrochloride capsules in 10mg, 18mg, 25mg, 40mg, 60mg, 80mg, and 100mg strengths.
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.
To strengthen its IP-leveraged solutions business and capitalise on opportunities in the telecom sector, Infinite Computer Solutions (ICS) India Limited is looking at acquiring two US-based companies focussed on telecom-specific Intellectual Property (IP)-led solutions. Infinite is looking at acquiring companies with revenues in the $10 million-$15 million range, said Infinite chief executive officer Upinder Zutschi.
Has gained 10.45 per cent on NCDEX since July 29.
Mumbai, Nov 28 (PTI) The bullion market bounced back today from its overnight sell-off regaining its lost ground on fresh buying by stockists and traders at current attractive levels.
Tata Consultancy Services, a leading IT services, business solutions and outsourcing firm, announced the opening of a new Global Delivery Centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina - the first company to officially inaugurate its facilities in the new Technology District of the city of Buenos Aires.
There will be promotions, but no increments this year
Media firm New Delhi Television (NDTV) today said N R Narayana Murthy, founder of IT major Infosys Technologies, is stepping down as its director with immediate effect.
India"s retail industry boom gave way to despair in 2009 as consumers held back big spending, forcing some companies to restructure finances, while recession-battered western retail chains would have felt glad they were not allowed to set shop.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 27, 2009, 0:14 IST
The Nordic region (Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Sweden), which is now opening up to offshoring as a viable option to sustain its long-established competitiveness, offers an untapped $10 billion outsourced services opportunity for Indian IT companies, said a Nasscom-PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
Brushing aside reports that India is moving away from Russia, President Pratibha Patil has said New Delhi"s ties with other countries would not be at the cost of Moscow.
Gold today surged by Rs 250 to touch a new peak of Rs 16,220 per 10 gram in the bullion market here on frantic buying by stockists ahead of the festival season amid the global rates climbing to an 18-month high of $1,018.15 an ounce.
Tanishq, India’s jewellery brand, today unveiled its exclusive ‘Lakshmi Feet Pendant’, a range of divinity jewellery.
Commercial banks would come out with a plan for financial inclusion by the end of the financial year, RBI Governor D Subbarao announced here during a bankers’ meet on financial inclusion and promotion of financial literacy.
History repeats itself. It was the fast unto death of Potti Sriramulu that heralded the formation of Andhra Pradesh and the subsequent reorganisation of states on a linguistic basis in the 1950s. This time, it is Chandrasekhara Rao’s fast whose reverberations are indicative of the fact that another redrawing of the map is on the anvil.
After four days of vehement denial, Force India on Thursday announced that its Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella is joining Ferrari with immediate effect, while also insisting that there was no financial settlement involved in his move.
Business Standard / New Delhi September 4, 2009, 0:00 IST
BJP today termed India agreeing with Pakistan that "terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process" as "sheer betrayal" and "U-turn" adding it was done under international pressure.
After raising the hopes of both subscribers as well as telecom companies, the government is understood to be in no special hurry for auctioning spectrum for 3G mobile services this calendar year.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam"s (BSNL) net profit dipped to Rs 104 crore in 2008-09 as staff costs rose and revenues fell in the period, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal will get a 1 billion pound windfall from a European scheme to curb global warming under the "carbon credits" given to it.
Sterllte Technologies, a leading global provider of transmission solutions, today announced that it has won a contract from BSNL, valued at Rs 372 crore for enabling a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Network based on Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology. Sterlite was awarded a major share of the total outlay of project, among competition from global players. Sterlite has streamlined its efforts to ensure that the contract is executed within FY10.
Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has pulled out of a project to develop an oil field in Kazakhstan in partnership with Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and is looking for buyers for its stake in another company in the Central Asian nation.
The government today constituted a Group of Ministers to look into pricing and auctioning of spectrum for 3G telephony that will revolutionise the way data is received and transferred on mobile phones.
Real estate firm Parsvnath Developers today reported a net profit of Rs 13.81 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, a 81 per cent decline over the corresponding period a year ago. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 73.96 crore in the same period last fiscal.
However, analysts fear third quarter will be down overall.
The intensifying tariff war among telecommunication players in India is likely to result in consolidation of smaller, regional and startup operators in the telecom space, global research firm Macquarie says.
The contemporary hotel in India is lifestyle- rather than luxury-oriented, and it suits younger business travellers just fine.
Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications (RCom) today said its telecom tower subsidiary Reliance Infratel has filed the draft prospectus for its initial public offer with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company, Reliance Communications, today said its capex would decline significantly starting this year and continue on a downward trend in the future.
State-owned oil companies will pay Rs 27 a litre, or 25 per cent higher from existing level, for buying ethanol from sugar mills for doping petrol.
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.
It"s time we busted a few myths and revamped our strategy towards the farm sector.
The Sensex has erased most of its losses and is now at 17,158, down 68 points. The index has recovered 113 points from the day"s low. The NSE Nifty is at 5,122, down 25 points.
The Sensex opened marginally (24 points) lower at 17,204 amid weak cues from the global markets. The index soon dropped to a low of 17,111, and is now down 47 points at 17,181.
IT services and solutions provider Polaris Software Lab today said its consolidated profit after tax rose by 2.23 per cent to Rs 35.19 crore for the quarter ended September 30.
Reliance tops the combined value chart on both the BSE and the NSE with a total turnover of Rs 558.09 crore. It is followed by Suzlon (Rs 531.62 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 413.41 crore), DLF (Rs 390.68 crore) and Aban Offshore (Rs 372.79 crore).
Garments maker Provogue India today said it will buy back shares worth Rs 50 crore from its shareholders through open market route.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is taking a final view on the report of a task force which suggested easy access to bank finance and preference in public sector procurement to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The Committee of Secretaries formed to monitor the turnaround plan of Air India today asked the civil aviation ministry to move a proposal on the financial restructuring of the airline to the Cabinet in consultation with the finance ministry.
The company has an advance booking of over 170 cars
Siemens, the German engineering giant, says it plans to expand its green energy portfolio to enable ¤25 billion (approximately Rs 1,74,339 crore) savings globally by 2011, with significant carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction from its products and processes in key markets, including India.
Realising that their two-way trade did not match the potential, India and Japan today decided to give push the negotiations on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, with an aim to conclude it by next year.
The white paper (official position statement) on organisational, operational and financial performance of the railways, presented in Parliament today, busted former railway minister Lalu Prasad’s claims of raking in record profits during his 2004-09 stint.
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.
Indian-American Anil Kumar, an accused in one of the the largest insider trading scam in the US, has agreed to waive indictment in the Galleon Hedge Fund case, in an indication that he might plead guilty as per a deal struck between him and the prosecutors.
Futures prices fell 5-12% in December; trend may continue next year.
The controversy surrounding "3 Idiots" has taken a new turn with Chetan Bhagat, the author of the book from which the movie has been adapted, accusing the filmmakers and actor Aamir Khan of not giving him due credit.
Subir Gokarn / New Delhi November 16, 2009, 0:04 IST
Business Standard / New Delhi August 26, 2009, 0:58 IST
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%.
India today announced it has designed a new version of Advanced Heavy Water atomic reactor which will use lesser low enriched uranium along with thorium as fuel and having next generation safety requirements.
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.
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.
Will use funds to finance operations of group firms; to have a total war chest of Rs 10,500 crore.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 06, 2009, 0:36 IST
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.
Police notice to Baldotas stayed.
In a move to bring greater transparency and discipline among market participants, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday put out mandatory requirements related to dealings between investors and stock brokers (including trading members). The move gives brokers the right to take actions against clients. The deadline for implementing the norms is March 31, 2010.
Authorities investigating a disproportionate assets case against former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda will start questioning top officials of the Union Bank of India tomorrow regarding funds deposited in the bank’s Zaveri Bazaar branch here.
A crucial meeting between the representatives of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) and the Indian Banks Association (IBA), slated for tomorrow, is likely to discuss wage revision and other demands of about 10.5 lakh bank employees and officers in the country.
Global private equity funds Temasek and Sequoia are understood to be advanced stages of finalising a combined investment of close to Rs 200 crore in Bangalore-based realty developer Prestige Estates Projects. This will be part of the pre-IPO placement, which Prestige will be executing ahead of its proposed public offer.
No clarity yet on brokerage fee, securities transation tax yet.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren who today became the chief minister of Jharkhand for the third time, has never been elected to the state Assembly.
The shareholders of the country"s most valued company Reliance Industries (RIL) today approved the 1:1 bonus issue for which the company fixed November 27, 2009 as the record date.
Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries (RIL) today said it will expand its Jamnagar petrochemical complex by adding 2 million tonnes (MT) per year of olefins and matching downstream capacities.
Aditi Phadnis / New Delhi December 06, 2009, 0:23 IST
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.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has replaced Reliance Industries with Repsol YPF SA, Spain"s biggest oil company, and Malaysia"s Petronas to bid for Venezuelan oil blocks next month.
Essar Oil has bagged three more coal bed methane (CBM) blocks after a panel of secretaries rejected the bids put in by a consortium led by Deep Industries.
India, with exports of over 100 million tonnes of iron ore, must be keenly watching as to how soon the recently sealed joint venture (JV) between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to combine their mining operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia will cross the regulatory hurdles at European Union Competition Commission and also China’s competition regulator. However, sweetly the JV is now framed to placate raising of market dominance questions, iron ore buyers fear that pooling of knowledge about production volumes and demand by the pair in JV will put them at a distinct disadvantage.
USL Wines, a division of United Spirits, part of the United Breweries (UB) group, is set to start exporting its brands.
New York bankruptcy court to hear former owner’s updated rescue plan today.
The stock extended gains and touched a high of Rs 1,239. It finally ended with a gain of 3.5% at Rs 1,212. Over 77,090 shares changed hands at the counter today.
The stock slipped to a low of Rs 306. Thereafter, it surged 9% from there to a high of Rs 334. It finally ended flat at Rs 317. Over 5.51 million shares were traded on the NSE today.
Domestic brokerage firm Religare Enterprises today said it will not go ahead with the agreement to develop a health insurance joint venture firm in association with Switzerland-based reinsurer Swiss Re.