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From Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: This is an utterly unexpected twist in the story of tea as a major international commodity– some Chinese now prefer to drink “black “ Indian tea instead of their own home grown green variety ! Nor is this a passing phase. Whenever the Chinese show...
NEW DELHI: The finance and commerce ministries have not yet found common ground on exporter sops a week before the foreign trade policy is to be announced. While the finance ministry has not yet given its consent to the popular interest rate discount scheme, fearing it can be a...
MUMBAI: Foreign investors taking exposure to Indian stocks through participatory notes (PNs) have pared their positions. The government’s clarification that it would not tax PN holders did little to boost the prospects of these offshore derivatives in April. The share of p-notes in total investments by foreign institutional investors...
NEW DELHI: India’s trade deficit for April declined marginally to $13.48 billion compared to the March 2012 figures, while the exports grew by 3.2% to $24.45 billion on account of recent depreciation in the rupee despite a slowdown in demand from overseas markets like the US and Europe. The...
NEW DELHI: A day after official data showed the slowest GDP growth in nine years and amid rising concerns over the persistent slump in investment demand, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday set up an investment tracking system to ensure speedy implementation of projects with outlays of R1,000 crore...
NEW DELHI: The power demand in the city today breached all previous records, touching a new high of 5,178 mega watt as loadshedding continued to haunt people in the blistering heat due to mismatch in demand and supply. The previous highest power demand in the city was recorded only...
NEW DELHI: State-owned oil companies have seen losses on diesel and cooking fuels drop by over 28% following a decline in international oil rates. Oil PSUs, which at the beginning of the fiscal were losing Rs 670 crore per day on selling diesel, domestic cooking gas LPG and kerosene...
Sources within the Indian Navy (IN) informed the media that the joint naval operation, conducted by both the Indian and South Korean navies will start from tomorrow onward, in the Korean port city ofBusan. An official with the Indian Embassy inSouth Koreasaid that the Indian naval fleet had reached...
New Delhi: The Sun Group-promoted SpiceJet is keen on offloading a part of its stake to an overseas investor as soon as the government gives green signal to the FDI policy, allowing foreign airlines to pick up to 49% stake in domestic airlines. The SpiceJet board has already evolved...
MUMBAI/KOCHI: The prospects of monetary easing in the mid-quarter policy review on June 18 brightened on Friday. Apart from falling commodity prices and an economic slowdown (on Friday’s Brent crude price fall and yesterday’s GDP growth figures were the most immediate reasons), the market took comfort from Reserve Bank...
NEW DELHI: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has resumed clearing investment proposals in Indian drug companies, a move that will revive deal flow in the Rs 62,000 crore domestic pharma sector. The board has cleared four proposals of foreign financial investors, but again deferred a decision on stake...
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the National Telecom Policy 2012 that aims to do away with roaming charges, introduce a pan-India mobile permit that will enable mobile phone firms to offer all communication services, allow operators to share and trade spectrum and facilitate consolidation in the...
NEW DELHI: In what came as a shock to even the most pessimistic,India’s economy expanded at just 5.3% during the last quarter of 2011-12, the slowest pace since the corresponding quarter of 2002-03, as manufacturing contracted and agricultural growth plateaued. With a decline in growth for the fourth straight...
NEW DELHI: Amid controversies over allegations of irregularities in allocation of coal mines, the Coal Ministry has identified 54 blocks to be allocated to various sectors, including power, steel and cement, through auction route. Of 54 coal mines, a maximum of 16 have been earmarked for the power sector,...
NEW DELHI: State oil companies have deferred their decision to cut petrol rates from Thursday mid-night despite softening of international prices of the fuel as the move would give “undue credit” to BJP, government and industry officials said. “Petrol prices would have reduced from June 1 in the normal...
Mumbai: India’s largest tractor and utility vehicle maker, Mahindra & Mahindra , will invest R2,500 crore in next three years until fiscal 2015 in group companies and for acquisitions, Pawan Goenka, president (automotive and farm equipment) said a day after the company announced its financial results. “The money will...
MUMBAI: In a bid to strengthen the health insurance industry, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has laid down terms and conditions for health insurance such as entry age, claim settlement period and specific reasons for denial of claim. The regulator has said that companies will have to...
India’s armed forces are set to become highly reliant on unmanned aerial systems by 2030, according to a scientist with the country’s Defence Research and Development (DRDO). ‘By 2030, the percentage of the manned fleet will have been reduced significantly,’ said Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, scientific advisor and secretary...