New Delhi/Mumbai: Big business is eyeing the media space once again. Just four months after Reliance Industries invested in the Network 18 group in a multi-layered deal, leading business houses, including the Aditya Birla Group, are looking at acquiring 26 per cent stake in the Aroon Purie-controlled Living Media India....
Mumbai: (Reuters) – Indian shares were flat to higher as banks recovered after recent steep falls, though oil and gas stocks dropped after a directive from a government regulator to cut gas tariffs in New Delhi raised fears that similar actions would follow. A banking sub-sector lost 2.9 percent over...
New Delhi: Amid concerns of foreign investors over the tax treatment of investments, FIIs met senior finance ministry officials for the second time within seven days, to discuss the provisions of anti-tax avoidance rules, or GAAR. “The meeting ended on a positive note. We are examining the FIIs’ concerns....
NEW DELHI: Cargo handling in ports saw a decline in 2011-12, the first in 10 years. In 2011-12, cargo handling fell 1.7 per cent, compared to that in 2010-11. In the past few years, it had seen an increase of two-five per cent. Though the primary reason for the...
NEW DELHI: India and the US have embarked on a trade war over higher visa fees and restrictions on poultry imports. India has dragged the US to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) dispute settlement body (DSB) over an increase in the professional visa fee. Both sides will fight a...
MUMBAI: Indian companies filed for external commercial borrowings (ECBs) worth $2.6 billion (Rs 13,300 crore) in February for funding capital expenditure, acquisitions abroad and to repay old loans. Reliance Communications accounted for $925 million for redeeming its Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs). Vodafone entities (seven) raised $750 million to...
NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan will take another step towards deepening trade and economic relations when the commerce ministers of two countries meet later this week and officials say New Delhi will examine the issue of preferential access for Pakistani products such as cement and textiles . The two...
NEW DELHI: Two international trade bodies have joined the global chorus seeking a review of the government’s move to retrospectively tax overseas transactions involving Indian assets, a proposal widely seen to be targeted at British telecom company Vodafone. The France-based International Chamber of Commerce and the Business and Industry...
By Amulya Ganguli The Congress and the CPI(M) have just concluded their analyses of electoral performance – the first via a limited exercise relating only to U.P. and presided over by the party’s heir apparent, Rahul Gandhi and latter in a more elaborate manner. However, the outcome was the...
By Praful Bidwai It’s indisputable that the world is in acute need of reform which would make it less unequal, violent, crisis-prone and unjust. The Great Recession, the globe’s worst economic crisis since the 1930s, continues to wreak havoc on millions of people’s well-being. Disparities between the developed and...
By Narendra Sharma NEW DELHI: The recent political shakeup in the Railway Ministry has incidently revealed that railwaymen are a worried lot. Their concern about financial viability of Railways and its safety and security seems to have pushed the Railwaymen Federations to openly lend support to railway fares increase...
By Nitya Chakraborty NEW DELHI: The top leadership of the UPA-2 Government is always facing a Hameltian dilemma on the pushing of the financial sector reform bills which, according to them, have the potential to rejuvenate the economy through the inflow of foreign funds. The Insurance Bill proposing 49...
By B.K. Chum in Chandigarh Situations never remain static. The latest example is of Himachal Pradesh. The state’s ruling BJP leadership was euphoric over the Akali-BJP’s recent electoral victory in Punjab hoping it would favourably impact the party’s prospects in the state Assembly elections to be held by 2012...
NEW DELHI: The government is likely to define the term “joint venture” for the purpose of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under which it would be mandatory for at least two partners to have minimum 25% stake each in the JV company. The definition of “joint venture” would be incorporated...
NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding a tight monetary policy that is continuing and adverse reactions to some of the Budget proposals, a larger number of players sense a growth in the manufacturing sector to have revived in the last quarter of 2011-12, says a study. They expect a healthy expansion of...
MUMBAI: Private equity funds are looking to list their portfolio companies on overseas stock exchanges as the volatile Indian stock market offers them lower returns. “We have made structures for some of our portfolio vehicles in such a way that the listing of the holding company on the foreign...
MUMBAI: A weakening rupee and higher hedging costs are prompting foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to pare their positions in the Indian debt market. That apart, some investors are apprehensive of how the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) would impact their exposures. GAAR, which is part of the proposed direct taxes...
MUMBAI: Faced with a shortfall in gas production from its KG-D6 field, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is set to make its debut in the marketing of imported natural gas. India Gas Solutions, the equal joint venture between RIL and British Petroleum (BP) set up to source and market natural...