Business Ideas
JP Morgan Asset Management today announced the promotion of Christopher Spelman as the chief executive officer (CEO) of its India business and the appointment of Nandkumar Surti as the chief investment officer (CIO).
These independent projects are likely to end the monopoly of PowerGrid.
Sobha Developers, the Bangalore-based publicly held real estate developer, is positioning itself on the springboard as it envisages launching projects worth Rs 2,800 crore over the next 12-18 months covering 8 million square feet. This statement is perhaps is one of the most encouraging one to come from one of the established developers as the real estate market is looking to come out of the woods of global recession.
The stock surged 8% to touch a high of Rs 251 and finally ended with a gain of 7% at Rs 249. Around 117,955 shares were traded on the BSE today.
Sobha Developers, the Bangalore-based realty player, is set to raise another Rs 250 crore by selling a little over 100 acres of its land in Pune. The company has been making headway to settle a part of its Rs 1,900 crore debt by selling part of its 3,000-acre land bank spread across the country. Sobha recently raised close to Rs 530 crore through the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) route. With a debt of Rs 1,900 crore, the company was leveraged 1.6 times and it is understood that a part of the proceeds from QIP is being used to settle a part of that.
As with all the bad news from Iraq and Af-Pak, sooner or later the bad news on the climate acquires a stultifying sameness. Only when a surge is in sight — troop surge, storm surge — does one’s news radar jolt awake momentarily. The cause of this deadened state is not an unassimilable surfeit of information, rather, it is a shortage of the right sort of information. Despite the barrage of news and opinion, we don’t know enough to figure out what the right questions are. Without that foundation, our knowledge rests on a bog, into which it is liable to settle with a gentle burp or two of greenhouse gas (or, hot air).
The markets continue to trade weak. The Sensex is quoting at 16,435, weaker by 345 points, and the Nifty is at 4,893, down 114 points. Realty, metal, auto and banking sectors are weak; the FMCG space is the only silver lining.
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.
Ahead of the next round of talks on a bilateral trade treaty with India, the European Union (EU) today said it was keen that the comprehensive pact included government procurement agreement.
The jobless rate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) region -- a grouping of developed and developing nations -- rose marginally to 9.8 per cent in October, indicating that the labour market is yet to shrug off recession blues.
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.
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.
Auto maker VE Commercial Vehicles today reported a 36.86 per cent growth in its total sales of Eicher trucks and buses in August at 2,443 units against 1,785 units in the same month last year.
After bagging the Pune-Satara highway project last week, R-Infra, a unit of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) has now bagged the Rs 1,000 crore Kandla-Mundra Road Project from NHAI.
The government has turned down the suggestion of the India Infrastructure Finance Co (IIFCL) to use its refinance facility for other lending. The Rs 10,000-crore facility was announced last year to support private partnership projects in the infrastructure sector. After seeing a lukewarm response to the facility, IIFCL had proposed that the funds lying idle could be utilised elsewhere.
Mamata Banerjee is so impetuous that it is hard to fathom her. A lady member of the Planning Commission recently cleared some railway projects. After that, she had gone to the prime minister, when she ran into Banerjee. Banerjee walked up to her and gave her a big hug. “Thank you for clearing my projects,” she said to the member, who was completely bemused.
News reports in business dailies, including this one, tell us almost every day that India and Asia continue to grow at a robust rate. While developed nations are still suffering from the effects of the recession, India and most of Asia are clocking impressive growth rates.
Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI), manufacturer of premium cars in India, today launched two new variants of Honda City- Honda City 1.5V and the new Honda City 1.5S.
Toyota Motor Corp launched a fully remodeled Land Cruiser Prado sport utility vehicle in the Japanese market today, with improved on-and-off road performance.
Trades between FIIs generated a volume of Rs 146 crore on the BSE Thursday-an increase of 390.63% from Rs 30 crore clocked on Wednesday. As many as four stocks witnessed trades of 13 lakh shares on Thursday.
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.
Two-wheeler maker Suzuki Motorcycle India today reported a 20.35 per cent rise in its sales in July at 12,585 units compared with 10,457 units in the same month last year.
The American surge against the Af-Pak badlands on the turbulent North West Frontier is an unwinnable campaign for four reasons. All four are interconnected, but take them separately to begin with.
The UAE remains a popular destination globally among expatriate workers as employment prospects have increased by up to 8.3 per cent annually and is expected to maintain its upbeat growth this year, a leading Middle East online recruitment portal has said.
Read no history — nothing but biography, for that is life without theory
Civil rights activists Medha Patkar and Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey alleged that the protest against them in Dantewada was state sponsored.
Hinduja Group Company Ashok Leyland would open three more outlets in Punjab including, one in Chandigarh in the current fiscal to expand its network.
Seema Sindhu / December 7, 2009, 0:37 IST
Online marketplace eBay India, in association with television channel Star Plus, has started a charity auction of celebrity memorabilia.
Abhilasha Ojha / New Delhi October 25, 2009, 0:40 IST
An acute labour shortage is hurting coffee production in Karnataka, which accounts for around 70 per cent of the country’s coffee output.
Channel V has revamped its content with more reality shows. Can it regain its market position?
Kanika Datta / New Delhi September 17, 2009, 0:42 IST
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.
Health care workers lined up to be inoculated against swine flu as the United States began a massive campaign to administer 250 million vaccinations by year"s end.
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.
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.
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.
Diesel engines, automatic gearboxes, same price range... but worlds apart. You could read the following few lines and be done with this article. Even if you have not driven either of these two cars, the conclusion is foregone. The Skoda Laura 2.0 TDI with the DSG is the driver’s car here, and if you are a chauffeur-driven sethji, the Hyundai Sonata Transform 2.0 CRDI Automatic should be at the top of your list. Game, set and match. It is that simple and if you go to the end of the story, there are no surprises in store for you either. But since you are reading anyway (ostensibly not to make a purchase decision!), let me tell you what these two cars are like.
Pune-based Bajaj Auto, India"s second biggest two wheeler manufacturer today stated that the company has recorded a growth of 52 per cent in sales of motorcycles at 249,681 units in October as against 163,850 units recorded in the same month a year ago.
General Motors India will launch its light commercial vehicles, popularly called minivans, in the domestic market in the medium future. “The launch of the light commercial vehicles in association with our Chinese partners would happen in the medium term,” says Karl Slym, President & Managing Director.
Car maker General Motors India today said it has offered a new scheme under which customers can exchange their Opel cars for Chevrolet brands.
Subir Roy / New Delhi November 27, 2009, 0:31 IST
Fears of an imminent price rise, production spillovers owing to spare parts shortages plus a low base effect saw sales of the country"s major car makers grow a record 63 per cent in November.
The market as expected drifted lower after giving a downward breakout. It may test further lows before bouncing back.
Banks may soon have to cap the charges on basic services such as issuing a draft, remittances or for stop-payment instructions.
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.
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.
IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative Limited, a subsidiary of IL&FS has given a proposal to the Orissa government for setting up 10 more centres in the state for imparting Sewing Machine Operator Training programme.
Foreign Institutional Investors raised their holdings in as many as 25 Sensex companies in the first quarter of the current fiscal, riding on positive global cues and a decisive verdict in the general elections.
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.
The government today sought to bolster exporters, hit hard by recession in the West, by extending various tax sops and special incentives on trade with markets in Asia and Africa, in its Foreign Trade Policy.
Business Standard / New Delhi September 22, 2009, 0:51 IST
The Centre has indicated that it would consider giving direct cash subsidy to state-owned oil marketing companies this year, instead of bonds, to compensate them for selling cooking fuel at lower than market price.
President Barack Obama declared swine flu a national emergency, the White House announced in a statement yesterday.
Drug maker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals today reported 31 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 80.88 crore for the second quarter ended September 2009.
Within 10 days of launch of SUV Fortuner, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd received 5000 bookings for its SUV from across India. The company which is present in India through a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group, expects to sell over 2500 units by December 2009.
Telecom services provider Neotel, which is majority owned by Indian conglomerate Tatas, is expanding its network across South Africa.
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.
Has gained 10.45 per cent on NCDEX since July 29.
The Finance Ministry today said that customs duty collections at about Rs 18,000 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal and initial reports on steel and cement sectors point to a recovery in industry that would also benefit from tax cuts announced as part of stimulus packages.
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.
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.
Country’s largest IT firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has won the country’s largest State Wide Area Network (SWAN) project from the government of Andhra Pradesh on a five year Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT) model.
MoUs range across pharma, telecom, IT and homeland security.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 25, 2009, 0:52 IST
India today asked countries in the region to take "urgent, proactive measures" to cooperate and eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations to ensure that these forces do not derail the processes of progress and prosperity.
After the Budget, it’ll be time for some Bollywood entertainment in Parliament. The Lok Sabha secretariat has arranged for a special screening of Danny Boyle’s highly-acclaimed film, Slumdog Millionaire, on August 3 for the MPs.
Gold prices will continue to remain bullish and are expected to hover around Rs 16,000 this week as the US dollar is showing a weakening trend amid a better demand for the metal in the domestic market, analysts said.
Gold and silver sparkled and logged an all-time peak in Mumbai"s Zaveri Bazar on Wednesday on heavy stockists buying and firm global guidance.
Buoyed by better-than-expected GDP growth of 7.9 per cent in the second quarter, the Reserve Bank today said it will have to raise the country"s growth outlook for 2009-10 from the current estimates of 6 per cent.
Pharma firm Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals today said it has received the final Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approval for its Zaleplon capsules from the US Food and Drug Administration, in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE).
The country"s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India, today said it is targeting to export one lakh units of its small car A-Star.
The country’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India, expects double digit growth over the next few months.
In my mind
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.
Honda Motor Co’s withdrawal from Formula One racing in December to save money may give it an advantage over rivals: fresh blood from an elite cadre of engineers to improve its Civic compacts and Odyssey minivans.
In an apparent climbdown, India today agreed with Pakistan"s contention that terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani met here to chart the "way forward" in bilateral ties.
May look at VRS later
Workers of telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) today said they would observe "Anti-Disinvestment Day" on July 22 against the government"s proposal to sell its shareholding in the company.
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.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) would provide bandwidth services for the implementation of the Orissa State Wide Area Network (OSWAN) project in the state.
The Steel Ministry has sought absolute powers from the government on grant of mining rights for iron ore and other minerals to steel firms, a request that would, if granted, expedite projects, including that of Posco and ArcelorMittal, which are stuck for want of secure raw material supply.
World"s largest steel-maker ArcelorMittal today announced the appointment of Peter Kukielski in the Group Management Board of the company, effective from January 1, 2010.
Sung Kim, the US special envoy for the six-party talks on ending North Korea"s nuclear drive, will shortly travel to Asia and Russia to discuss how to respond to Pyongyang"s recent nuclear and missile tests, Japanese lawmakers who met him said.
The government today said it will allow sugar mills more time to comply with export obligations as the priority now was to meet domestic demand.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) today announced its partnership with software major Microsoft for offering Windows Mobile solutions on its wireless networks.
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 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.
The US markets had a weak closing.
The Sensex is now at 14,879, down 531 points.
The Sensex is at its day"s low of 14,999 - down 411 points. The Nifty is down 129 points at 4,459.
The condition of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is suffering from swine flu, has improved overnight, doctors attending on him said today.
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.
Sayantani Kar / Mumbai December 8, 2009, 0:28 IST
Corporate acquisitions in India could become costlier, with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) mulling making it mandatory for acquirers to make an offer for up to 100 per cent stake in any listed company.
M J Antony / New Delhi December 16, 2009, 0:59 IST
With Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda earlier indicating review of the Haryana industrial policy, industrialists in Panchkula eagerly await the review that might help in changing the facade of industry in the state.
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.
The European Commission (EC) has objected to Oracle Corp"s proposed $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems, saying that the deal could threat competition in the market.
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.
Our low expectation of Hindi cinema could do with a push.
An upset Aamir Khan has spoken out against author Chetan Bhagat, on whose novel the star"s latest blockbuster "3 Idiots" is based, accusing him of trying to take away the credit from the film"s scriptwriter.
John Paulson disclosed that his hedge-fund group acquired 300 million shares of Citigroup during the third quarter, while selling its entire stake of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
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 Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has turned to India’s private sector to arm the police forces with weapons needed to respond to terror attacks like 26/11.
Equity brokerage volume jumps 66% in April-June while non-broking income dips.
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.
Largest insurer’s sales rise 20%.
India’s life insurance sector is expected to grow by almost 15 per cent in the current financial year and touch a total premium income of Rs 2,55,000 crore (about $ 50 billion).
Operators may ask for more after studying the viewing habits of subscribers
Crisil’s IER initiative should benefit investors in the long-run provided the service is available on an ongoing basis
To cash in on the festivity, the world"s largest handset maker, Nokia, today said it will launch new version of its flagship smartphone N97 in the Indian market by Diwali or middle of October this year.
Softdrinks major PepsiCo is scaling up the distribution of "Nimbooz" by entering the South and East Indian markets by the end of this month, making the product available across the country.
India Inc"s overseas shopping spree has dipped to a four-year low of $27.3 billion so far this year, but a possible acquisition of LyondellBasell by Reliance Industries (RIL) would be one of the largest ever by an Indian company, according to deal tracking firm Dealogic.
Internet service provider Primus Canada is replacing some of its call centre staff in India with Canadian representatives as that will make it eligible for getting financial incentives from the New Brunswick government.
The markets rebounded in the later afternoon, thanks to the Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao"s comments that capital flows into India were in line with requirements and there were no fears of asset price bubbles in the near future. Capital goods, power and metals stocks powered the Sensex to recover nearly 170 points from its intra-day lows to end at 17,189, higher by 64 points, and the Nifty to close at 5,134,up 22 points.
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.
Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today said that besides a goal of thermal energy generation capacity of 78,000 Mw, an additional 5,000 Mw will be produced during the current Five-Year plan (2007-12).
India suffered loss of export orders worth Rs 8,982 crore in nine months since August 2008, on account of global recession, Minister of State of Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya M Scindia informed Rajya Sabha today.
Sugar stocks have run up significantly triggered by higher sugar price outlook based on tighter supply side conditions. Earnings estimates for FY10 have been upgraded by about 75-200% depending upon the individual company’s profit-gearing to higher sugar prices, according to HSBC research.
Police notice to Baldotas stayed.
The ambiguity over availability of 3G (third generation) telecom spectrum would end soon, as the ministry of defence has agreed to release 25 MHz of 3G spectrum before December 8, paving the way for auctioning of all the four slots in every circle simultaneously. But, the successful bidders in the auction would be able to utilise the spectrum only after June 2010, despite the auction process happening on schedule in January.
Foreign telecom companies today stayed away from a meeting to discuss the blueprint for 3G (third generation) mobile spectrum auction, while domestic players were riddled with doubts regarding regulation and availability of airwaves.
Stock markets skidded today, commodity prices took a beating, Kerala panicked and even Bollywood worried as Dubai’s $60-billion debt woes sparked fears over corporate and bank exposure to the crisis. Indian companies and banks played down the impact, saying the exposure was not significant.
When he took over as the chairman of Union Bank, M V Nair was one of the youngest entrants to the corner office of a public sector bank. So it’s natural that Nair didn’t think twice before rewriting the rules of the recruitment game for his bank.
The Jharkhand government will not grant any mining and prospecting licences till the pendency of the President"s Rule, a top government official said.
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata today said the stimulus packages provided to the economy to cushion the impact of the global economic downturn should not be withdrawn.
Essar Oil is on track to complete expansion of its facility at Vadinar refinery in Gujarat to 16 million tonnes by December 2010, brokerage firm IDFC-SSKI said in its report on the firm while putting a price target of Rs 194 on its stock.
The Nifty has a strong support at the 5,000 mark.
US markets ended flat on Tuesday.
Citibank India today said it has launched a new rewards platform-CitiRewards, targeting customers who hold Citi-branded credit cards.
Delhi-based real estate company Emaar MGF plans to utilise over half of the amount it will raise through its initial public offer to repay part of its debt.
Tata Motors slipped to a low of Rs 701 and finally settled at Rs 705, down 3.5% from its previous close. The counter witnessed trades of 1.24 million shares as against the two-week daily average traded volumes of 939,906 shares on the BSE.
The US Administration will bring a Bill in the Congress to remove the federal cap on intake of medical students, a move that will benefit international students, including those from India, a body of Indian-origin physicians in America has claimed.
City-headquartered Gandhimathi Appliances Ltd, manufacturers of the "Butterfly" brand, today reported a net profit of Rs 1.78 crore for the quarter ending March 31, 2009.
Manmohan Singh / January 3, 2010, 0:41 IST
Private sector mutual fund house Religare AMC, a relatively new but fast-growing player, today said that abolition of entry load charged to investors will benefit the company and the industry as a whole.
Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren has assured Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP) managing director V K Srivastava that SAIL’s needs would be met by Chiria mines.
The industrial sector in Chhattisgarh government termed 2009 as good while the investors said it was bad.