current affairs for ias exam 2011 economy affairs september 2010 www.upscportal

8/6/2019 Current Affairs for IAS Exam 2011 Economy Affairs September 2010 Www.upscportal

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ECONOMY

No tax breaks for firms creating jobs outside U.S. Persisting with the theme of protecting American jobs, President Barack Obama in his

latest speech on the economy said that he would press for tax breaks only for companiesthat created jobs on U.S. soil and not those that created jobs abroad.

His comments also followed in the wake of steps taken by the U.S. Congress to hike thefees for H1-B and L visas, mostly requested by Indian companies with U.S. operations.Following the passage of this bill and comments by its sponsor, Senator Charles Schumer,criticising companies such as Infosys for being body shops, Indian companies andindustry bodies such as National Association of Software and Service Companies(Nasscom) had warned of negative fallout of protectionism.

Industrial output doubled in July Industrial output nearly doubled to 13.8 per cent in July, dispelling fears of a dip in

demand and giving an impetus to achieving 8.5 per cent economic growth this fiscal. The

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for July, released on Friday, showed that theoutput of capital goods, used by the manufacturing industry, soared to 63 per cent from1.7 per cent a year ago. The manufacturing sector output grew 15 per cent in the monthagainst 7.4 per cent a year ago, setting at rest doubts on economic expansion growth.

Concern over Ohio move Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma expressed concern over the

move by the State of Ohio in the United States to ban outsourcing of IT services.

Dhanlaxmi Bank to ramp up NRI deposit base

The Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank will ramp up its Non-resident Indian (NRI) deposit base and devise a strategy to double its business (in the segment) to Rs.1,000 crore by theend of this fiscal. We plan to take our NRI deposit base to around Rs.1,000 crore fromthe present Rs.400 crore by the end of 2011, Dhanlaxmi Bank branch banking & NRI

business head Salil Datar said here recently. The NRI deposit base was around 5 per centof the total deposits

RIL completes deal to buy 60% stake in U.S. firm Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced the completion of its

deal to acquire a 60 per cent stake in the United States-based Marcellus Shale gas assetfor $392 million.

RIL had announced on August 5 that it would buy its third Shale gas asset in the UnitedStates. Its subsidiary, Reliance Marcellus II LLC, had signed a definitive transaction agreement

to enter into a Marcellus Shale joint venture with the U.S.-based Carrizo. Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc on Saturday announced that the company closed its previously

announced joint venture transaction in the Marcellus Shale with a subsidiary of RelianceIndustries Limited.

Joint venture-In connection with the joint venture, Reliance acquired a 20 per centinterest in approximately 52,200 net Carrizo acres in Pennsylvania considered highly

prospective for Marcellus Shale natural gas at a purchase price of $65 million.Reliance

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paid $11.4 million in cash to Carrizo at closing with $1.7 million more expected later this

year.

Highlights of Direct Taxes Code Bill

The Federal Bank has announced that its ATM network has been linked to the IndiaPayNational Financial Switch managed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).This is India's largest network of shared ATMs, which connects around 61,200 ATMsacross 44 banks all over India.

No immediate plans to go to WTO court on U.S. visa fee hike issue'

India on Monday said it was trying to sort out the issue of the H-1B and L-1A visa feehike and the outsourcing ban issues through bilateral means with the United States,and had no immediate plans to go to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) court.

The U.S. government recently increased visa fee by $2,000 for certain H-1B visas and$2,250 for L-1A and L-1B visas, which India has termed as discriminatory and againstthe spirit of fair trade rules of the WTO. India has also criticised the U.S. State ofOhio's decision to forbid outsourcing of IT services by government departments.

Doha Round to miss deadlin The contentious Doha Round of trade talks of the World trade Organization (WTO) will

miss the 2010 deadline due to domestic compulsions of U.S. that has made the agreementalmost impossible.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry on the issue,Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said the global trade agreement would not happenthis year as was originally envisaged in the Delhi declaration adopted in September lastyear. The deal is not going to get done in 2010,'' Mr. Khullar said..

The multilateral trade agreement under negotiations among 153 members of the WTOsince 2001 was to be concluded in 2004. Since then, it has missed several deadlines in theface of differences between developing and developed countries on giving commitmentson market opening.

Recently, the U.S. Congress enacted an Emergency Border Security Supplemental

Appropriations Act, which hiked the visa fees for short-term Indian IT services


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providers.In addition, the U.S. is believed to be considering several more restrictive trademeasures.

Wholesale Price Index: new series comes into being

Consumer items widely used by the middle class like ice-cream, mineral water,flowers, microwave oven, washing machine, gold and silver will be reflected in thenew series of WPI inflation to be released.The new series of Wholesale Price Index

(WPI) for August with additional 241 items and change in the base year from 1993-94to 2004-05 will be released on Tuesday, a senior Commerce and Industry official saidhere .Better picture

With these items, the WPI will measure a total of 676 items against the existing 435.This would give better picture of the price variation, a senior official said.

BVB to launch chain of restaurants

Better Value Brands (BVB) has joined hands with Master Chef and gourmet food expert,Sanjeev Kapoor, to launch the country's first global chain of Indian restaurants, called

Indii. The Rs. 100- crore joint venture plans to set up 70 Indii outlets across thecountry, and also aims to reach out to the Indian diaspora in different continents inthe next 12 months, says a release.

Hyundai Motor bags EEPC award

Hyundai Motor India has been conferred the All India award for export excellence2008-09' by the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC). HMIL was awarded theGold Trophy in the large enterprise category, says a release. The Union Minister ofCommerce & Industry, Anand Sharma bestowed the award to HMIL, at a functionorganised recently in Bangalore, says a release.

Gayatri ties up funds for power project

Gayatri Projects and Sembcorp Utilities Pte Ltd achieved financial closure for their1,320 MW joint venture power project, Thermal Powertech Corporation India Ltd.,being set up at Krishnapatnam. Sembcorp is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SembcorpIndustries Ltd. The company was executing the Phase-I of the project (2x660 MW) at atotal outlay of Rs.6,869 crore. Special Correspondent

Inflation slips to 8.5 % in August under new WPI series Switching over to a new series of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) with 2004-05 as the base

year, the government on Tuesday revealed that headline inflation in August stood peggedat a seven-month low of 8.51 per cent as against 9.97 per cent in July under the old series.

Since the two WPI series are not comparable in view of the vast difference in the basketof commodities and their weight in calculating inflation, data on the old series releasedalong with the new index also reflected a drop in the rate of price rise to 9.5 per cent inAugust.

Under the new WPI series aimed at capturing the price movement in a more realistic wayin keeping with the times, the decline in inflation was mainly on account of easing pricesof food items such as vegetables, cereals and pulses.


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Indian Hotels unveils Vivanta by Taj' brand

The Tata Group's flagship in the hospitality segment, The Indian Hotels Company Ltd(IHCL), announced on Tuesday the launch of its new brand, Vivanta by Taj, a portfolioof 19 properties across the country in the upper upscale segment.

Tata Steel buys into Canadian iron ore mines Tata Steel on Tuesday said it would acquire 80 per cent stake in an iron ore mining

project in Canada for about Rs.1,350 crore, a move that will help the steel maker boost itsraw material supply.

The Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) project is owned by Canada-based New MillenniumCapital Corp, in which Tata Steel holds 27.4 per cent stake. The project contains 64.1million tonnes of proven and probable mineral reserves.

SAIL, RITES ink pact to float joint venture

Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) on Tuesday inked an agreement with RITES, asubsidiary of the Indian Railways, for jointly setting up a railway wagon-making unit inKulti in West Bengal at a cost of Rs. 120 crore.

The joint venture between the two PSUs is mutually beneficial. It will lead to manymore such collaborations between them,'' Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh toldreporters here after the signing ceremony.

This is a red-letter day in SAIL's history, as every year there is a shortfall of 6,000wagons. This 50:50 joint venture will help bridge the gap,'' SAIL Chairman C. S. Vermasaid.

For the project, SAIL will provide its surplus land in Kulti, near Burnpur, in WestBengal. The location of the plant would be near the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works.SAIL, which has an annual production capacity of about 14 million tonnes, will alsosupply its specialised steel products to the proposed wagon-making unit.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said the tentative name of the factorywould be the Bengal Wagon Industry.

The present wagon demand in the country is around 25,000 units and it is expected torise further once the dedicated freight corridors start coming up.Meanwhile, seekingto further expand their cooperation, International Coal Ventures, a consortium of PSUssuch as SAIL and Coal India has joined hands with RITES to prepare a feasibility reporton the possible buyouts of coal blocks in Indonesia and Mozambique.

BoB to take over Memon co-op bank

Bank of Baroda (BoB) informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday that ithas decided to take over specific assets and liabilities of the Mumbai-based MemonCooperative Bank Ltd. Approvals of the Central Government and the Reserve Bank ofIndia have been received for the purpose, it said. The bank will formulate a schemefor the take-over, which will be subject to further approvals of the appropriatecompetent authorities. The RBI had restricted its operations in May 2009. MemonCooperative Bank has 14 branches in Maharashtra and four in Gujarat.


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EPF interest hiked to 9.5% Over 4.4 crore workers and employees of the public and private sectors in the country

will receive an interest rate of 9.5 per cent instead of 8.5 per cent for 2010-11 for their savings in the Provident Fund account.

ICICI Bank, Kingfisher launch credit card

ICICI Bank and Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday announced the launch of ICICI BankKingfisher Airlines MasterCard Credit Card. The card is powered by a uniquelyrewarding miles programme coupled with exclusive travel and lifestyle privileges fordiscerning customers. To cater to the different needs of customers, the card isavailable in 3 variants World, Platinum and Titanium according to a statementissued here. Special Correspondent

Exports rise 23 % in August

Exports grew by 22.5 per cent at $16.64 billion in August on improved global demandand imports too jumped at a higher pace of 32.6 per cent at $29.7 billion, leaving aworrisome trade gap of $13.06 billion.

However, the renewed demand for Indian goods in western and European markets hasgiven hope to policymakers of achieving the $200-billion export target for the currentfiscal.

Things are going so far according to our plan and we should be able to reach our exportstarget of $200 billion,'' Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters here onWednesday.

Russia, Norway sign Arctic border pact

Russia and Norway have signed an Arctic border pact, ending a 40-year dispute over anenergy-rich area in the Barents Sea.


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The Treaty on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the ArcticOcean was signed on Wednesday in the Russian northern seaport of Murmansk by theRussian and Norwegian Foreign Ministers in the presence of Russian President DmitryMedvedev and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

No conflict of interest: Srinivasan's counsel

1. In the Indian Premier League and its Managing Director N. Srinivasan being theSecretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), argued senior counselRohinton Nariman, appearing for Mr. Srinivasan in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

RBI hikes key policy rates to tame inflatio

In an aggressive move to tame inflation and inflationary pressure, the Reserve Bank ofIndia on Thursday raised the indicative short-term lending (repo) rate by 25 basispoints to 6 per cent from 5.75 per cent and the borrowing (reverse repo) rate by 50basis points to 5 per cent from 4.5 per cent with immediate effect.

The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks and the reverse repo

rate is the rate at which banks park their funds with the central bank. This is the first mid-quarter policy review since the RBI said it would increase the

frequency of its policy reviews to eight from four in a year.

These measures, according to the central bank, would contain inflation and anchorinflationary expectations without disrupting growth and reduce the volatility inovernight call money rates and strengthen the monetary transmission mechanism.The RBI said in its Mid-quarter Monetary Policy Review.

Cabinet approves Bill to make FMC autonomous

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved for introduction in Parliament the ForwardContracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2010, that amends the Forward Contract(Regulation) Act and the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2010,that seeks to improve the accountability of cooperatives. Both Bills will be tabled inthe next session of Parliament.

The FC(R) Act, 1952, provides for the regulation of commodity futures markets and theestablishment of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).

The proposed amendments will enable the FMC, as a regulator, to become anautonomous body with powers to regulate the market on the lines of the Securitiesand Exchange Board of India. At present it functions under the Department ofConsumer Affairs.

Videocon partners Twitter

Videocon Telecommunications has entered into an agreement with Twitter to serve thecommunication needs of Twitter users. Videocon customers can stay connected to thereal time information flow regardless of the location and can tweet by a single SMSsaid, Kevin Thau, Director of Business Development-Twitter, in a release. CorporateReporter


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Mines: 26 p.c. of profit for affected people

The Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on Fridaycleared the draft mining bill, which makes it mandatory for miners to share 26 percent of their profits with the people affected by their projects.

It is largely approved. One more sitting of the GoM remains, and after which it will goto the Cabinet. Whatever we have suggested has by and large been approved, UnionMinister for Mines B.K. Handique told journalists after the meeting.Senior officials saidthe Union Ministry of Mines would work on the final draft.The bill

EU bans import of branded Indian honey

The European Union has banned the import of branded honey from India after laboratorytests showed a high level of lead and antibiotics in the samples, according to AsitTripathy, chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export DevelopmentAuthority. proposes a fund, District Mineral Foundation, and the beneficiaries will bepaid out of it.

India exhorts G-20 nations to coordinate policies

India on Friday exhorted the G-20 member countries to work together to support awell-functioning international economy by coordinating their policy actions in amanner that can ensure strong, sustainable and balanced growth.

Delivering his keynote address at a conference on International cooperation in timesof global crisis: Views from G-20 countries' here, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjeepointed out that the financial and economic crisis of 2007-09 had not only exposed thefragility of existing global financial and economic institutions and the limitations ofexisting macro-economic policy tools but had also provided an opportunity to theworld for new thinking in the world of finance and globalisation.

Bharti ropes in IBM for African operations Bharti Airtel on Friday said it had tied up with technology major IBM for managing its

computing technology and services for its African operations spanning 16 countries. Thestrategic partnership would enable Bharti Airtel to scale up its network and systems tocater to more than 10-crore African customers by 2012.

Jivo Wellness opens second canola oil plant in Delhi

Jivo Wellness on Friday said it was aiming for Rs.100 crore sales over the next twoyears from its Jivo' canola edible oil brand.

The company, which has tied up with Canada-based Richardson Oilseed Ltd. forsourcing canola oil, opened its second bottling plant in the capital.

BHEL secures major orders Breaking the myth that the company was piggy bank ridding on the back of orders from

public sector undertakings (PSUs), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) on Friday saidit had secured 90 per cent of the Rs.59,037-crore orders from clients in the private sector.


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Essar Steel's retail initiative The retail business of Essar Steel through hypermart and expressmart formats contributes

in good measure to its revenues, company CEO Malay Mukherjee said here on Friday.

With good monsoon, Centre expects better grain output With good monsoon this season, the country expects the grain production during the

2010-11 crop year to touch, or even exceed, the last best level of 2008. Grain productionduring 2008-09 was 234.47 million tonnes. During 2009-10, the output is expected to beabout 218 million tonnes

Duty drawback rates slashed for exporters The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has decided to reduce duty drawbacks

(tax refund) for exporters of leather, textiles, sports and some other items by up to 30 per cent.

In its new notification, the CBEC has said the new rates will be effective from September 20.

Shree Textiles opens Linen Club showroom Linen Club, the premium brand from Jaya Shree Textiles, a unit of Aditya Birla Nuvo,

plans to have 100 exclusive showrooms in two years to meet the surging demand for linen, according to S. Krishnamoorthy, President, Textile Division, Aditya Birla group.

India emerging as a major outsourcing hub for engineering services The automotive industry will start outsourcing 40 per cent of its engineering activities to

the engineering service providers by 2015. Nearly 15 per cent of the total outsourcedautomotive engineering services were catered to by subsidiaries of Indian originalequipment manufacturers

Monetary policy evokes renewed interest Last week was eventful for the Reserve Bank of India and its monetary policy. The

scheduled Mid-quarter Monetary Policy review took place on Thursday. Two days earlier,the Centre announced a new series of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) to measure inflation.

The connection between the two is fairly obvious. The Monetary policy has traditionally been trying to balance its two key objectives of maintaining price stability and providingcredit for the real sector. Recently, the focus of the policy has shifted towards controllinginflation at all costs. The new measure, claimed to capture the rate of price rise moreaccurately, is obviously relevant to the RBI.

Change in name of insurance JV to help boost business

The recent change in the name of IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Company Ltd., a jointventure floated by IDBI Bank, Federal Bank and Fortis Insurance International, to IDBIFederal Life Insurance Company Ltd., is expected to help boost the company's operationsin Kerala. Federal Bank has a very strong presence in South India, particularly in itshome State, Kerala.

With its brand name coming into the title of the insurance company, Federal Bank expects to grow its insurance business at a much faster pace in the State, its officials said.

U.S. exited recession in June 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a discussion on jobs and the economy hosted

byCNBC in Washington on Monday. The U.S. economy exited recession in June 2009, the National Bureau of Economic

Research (NBER) said


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Private sector can help meet skilled workforce target Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said India was faced with a major

challenge of creating a skilled workforce of 150 million by 2022 and the National SkillDevelopment Corporation (NSDC) had made a good beginning in this regard.

Proposal to set up fertilizer plants The Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited has offered to set up Rs.5,000-crore urea

plant and Rs.2,000-crore di-ammonium phosphate plant in the State. The offer was made

by Abhay Oswal, chairman and managing director of Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers toChief Minister K. Rosaiah during their meeting

OVL bids for two new Russian oil fields ONGC-Videsh Ltd. (OVL) has bid for Russia's strategic Trebs and Titov oil fields, even

as its proposed bidding partner, Rosneft, has pulled out of the race. OVL submitted its application on Monday through Nord Imperial, which is part of

Imperial Energy, an OVL subsidiary in Russia, hours before the bidding closed. The Indian company is the only foreign bidder competing for what has been described as

a jewel among the Russian oil reserves. OVL faces tough competition from fiveRussian rivals LUKOIL, Russia's No.2 oil producer, TNK-BP, half-controlled byBritish Petroleum, Gazprom, Russia's natural gas monopoly, Surgutneftegaz, Russia'sfourth-largest oil producer, and mid-sized firm Bashneft.

Cairn finds oil in Greenland U.K.-based Cairn Energy on Tuesday announced that it had made its first oil discovery

off the coast of Greenland. Edinburgh-based Cairn said its Alpha-1S1 well in the sea between Greenland and Canada

found oil over a 400-metre section and encountered gas reserves, the company said

IBM to offer IT support services IBM on Tuesday said it had signed a 10-year business transformation and information

technology (IT) services agreement with Jet Airways. Valued at $62 million, theagreement will help Jet Airways achieve significant growth by aligning the company's ITwith business strategy.

Reliance Brands' venture with Italian firm

Ermenegildo Zegna Group, a leader in luxury menswear and one of Italy's family-drivenenterprises, and Reliance Brands, a part of the Reliance Group, have established a51:49 joint venture to develop the Zegna brand in India. In the five-year period 2010-15, more than ten stores across six to seven cities will be opened.

Crisil to buy Pipal for $13 m Crisil has signed an agreement to purchase the business of Pipal Research Corporation

(Pipal), a leading player in the knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) industry for aconsideration of $12.75 million.

Crisil's KPO division, Irevna, has consistently been ranked as the leading financialservices and investment KPO firm by the Datamonitor Black Book of Outsourcing. TheIrevna-Pipal combination will be uniquely positioned in the high-end analyticaloffshoring space with the widest range of services, geographic locations, and customer diversity. Headquartered in Chicago, Pipal's services, clients and delivery locations arecomplementary to Irevna's, enabling the combine to strengthen its leadership in the KPO

industry.


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FII investment cap raised by $10 b in debt markets Aimed at bridging the financing gap in infrastructure business and ensuring India's

growing attractiveness as an investment destination, the government on Thursday raisedthe cap on investment by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the country's debt and

bond markets by $10 billion to $30 billion. According to an official statement here, FIIs will now be allowed to invest up to $5

billion more in both government bonds and corporate papers after they reach the existingcap of $5 billion and $15 billion in the two instruments, respectively. Besides, FIIs are

permitted to invest $5 billion in bonds of infrastructure companies and government bondswith a residual maturity of over five years.

JSW Steel gets Rs.4,800 crore from Japanese firm JSW Steel has received Rs.4,800 crore from JFE Holdings of Japan following a deal in

July this year when JSW sold a 14.99 per cent stake to JFE.

Taj unveils new brand in Sri Lanka Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces on Friday announced brand new architecture' for its

existing chain in Sri Lanka and said that it would look for more sites to expand in the post-war island nation. Currently the group has three properties in Sri Lanka. Five-star hotels in Colombo and Bentota, a coastal town 65 km south of the Capital, and a four-star hotel at Seeduwa near the international airport.

Mahindra Satyam to delist ADRs Satyam Computer Services Limited (Mahindra Satyam) on Friday announced that it has

notified the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) of its intent to delist its AmericanDepositary Receipts (ADRs).

A release here said, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securitiesand Exchange Commission (SEC), the company intends to file Form 25 (Notification of removal from listing) on or about October 4. The company anticipates that the delistingof its ADRs from the NYSE would be effective on or about October 14.

Efforts on to expand trade with Canada Seeking further strengthening of the strategic partnership between the two countries,

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said that bilateral trade betweenIndia and Canada will triple to $15 billion in the next five years.

Mr. Sharma, who is currently on a visit to Canada with a high power business delegation,also held discussions with the Canadian International Trade Minister, Peter Van Loan atOttawa, on India's determination to gain access to BlackBerry corporate e-mails and itsthreat to ban RIM (Research-In-Motion) if it is denied that access. India is just one of several countries that have demanded access to encrypted data over concerns aboutsecurity and cultural sensitivities.

BPCL to diversify into gas, power

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has chalked out a five-year strategy todiversify its business into other core areas like gas, exploration and production, powergeneration, increasing its market share and refining capacity, a top company officialsaid.


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Pranab to launch LIC's Swavalamban scheme today Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to formally launch the Swavalamban

Scheme' of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on Sunday at Murshidabad in West Bengal. The Centre has already approved the operational guidelines for the scheme which was

announced by Mr. Mukherjee in his budget speech for 2010-11. The scheme is applicableto all citizens in the unorganised sector who join the New Pension Scheme (NPS), subjectto their meeting the eligibility criteria, an official statement said here. The scheme is to befunded by grants from the Centre.

IDFC launches infra bonds Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), which was recently accorded the

infrastructure finance company status by the Reserve Bank of India, on Monday launchedthe country's first tax-free infrastructure bonds to raise Rs.3,400 crore.

Unilever to buy Alberto Culver

Consumer goods major Unilever on Monday said it would acquire U.S.-based AlbertoCulver Company for $3.7 billion in an all cash deal, a move that would help instrengthening its global position in both hair care and skin care categories.

Kuwait evinces interest in acquiring stake in Indian Oil Corporation Eyeing the disinvestment lined up by the UPA-II in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC),

Kuwait's Petroleum Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah on Monday expressedthe desire of his Government to pick up a stake in state-run IOC if the Government optsfor strategic sale

Supreme Court refuses stay for Vodafone

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to offer any immediate relief to Vodafone,which has challenged the Bombay High Court order allowing the government to tax thecompany's $11-billion deal with Hutch.

The Income-tax Department had raised a demand for Rs.12,000 crore as tax on the2007 deal, worth about Rs.55,000 crore.

Reliance Capital plans to enter banking Reliance Capital plans to enter the banking sector once the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

is ready with its final guidelines for new banking licence.

ADB upgrades India's growth forecast Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday upgraded India's growth forecast for the

current fiscal to 8.5 per cent from 8.2 per cent in April this year. It, however, expressedconcern over persistent high inflation and rising value of rupee that could underminefuture economic expansion.

Tyco to merge Indian energy business into Raychem RPG Raychem RPG Ltd. (RRL), a 50:50-joint venture between U.S.-based Tyco Electronics

(TE) and RPG Enterprises, on Tuesday announced that TE would integrate its energy business in India into RRL, thereby creating a single entity.

International coir fair in Alappuzha in November The State Coir Development Department, in association with various departments and

agencies, will organise an international coir fair from November 25 to 30 in Alappuzha.


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ONGC seeks legal opinion on Cairn-Vedanta deal State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is learnt to have sought legal

opinion from the Solicitor General of India on its right and legal position in the $9.6 billion Cairn-Vedanta deal which has run into trouble with the authorities here.

Aircel to offer Apollo healthcare services Aircel on Wednesday launched the first tele-healthcare delivery on mobile in association

with the Apollo Hospitals Group. Aircel Apollo Mobile HealthCare' will address thehealthcare needs of the masses through tele-medicine, providing online interactivehealthcare in real-time basis by utilising modern technology and telecommunications.

Centre rejects GST's alternative model The Centre has rejected the alternative model of Goods and Services Tax (GST)

suggested by the empowered panel of State Finance Ministers and a few BJP-ruledStates, which was suggested as a strategy to obviate the need for amendment to theConstitution.

Three-fold rise in current account deficit

India' current account deficit, representing net flow of income out of the countrybarring capital movements, surged three-fold to $13.7 billion in the April-June quarterover the same period last year.

The increase in current account deficit (CAD) during the quarter is due to higherimports because of economic recovery and larger payments overseas for certainservices, according to the data on Balance of Payments (BOP) released by the ReserveBank of India (RBI)

Food inflation surges to 16.44 per cent

Continuing its march for the fifth straight week, food inflation surged further to 16.44 per cent for the week ended September 18 from 15.46 in the previous week, mainly driven by


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higher prices of essentials following supply disruptions on account of heavy rains andfloods

SBI hikes deposit rates State Bank of India (SBI) revised upwards its deposit rates by 25-75 basis points for

various maturities, effective October 1. However, the deposit rates for 15-45 days and 46-80 days would remain at the current

level of 4 per cent. Further the rate for deposits of 181 days to less than one year would be the same at 6 per cent.

Shareholders approve SAIL-MEL merger Shareholders of Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) on Thursday approved the scheme

of merger of Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Ltd. (MEL) with the Maharatna' company under Sec.391-394 of the Companies Act, 1956. The proposal is now under consideration of theMinistry of Corporate Affairs.

At the SAIL's 38th annual general meeting here, shareholders also approved the boardrecommendation for final dividend payment of 17 per cent on paid-up equity, apart fromthe interim dividend of 16 per cent already paid earlier this year. This takes the total

dividend payment for 2009-10 to 33 per cent.ICICI Bank opens branch in Singapore

ICICI Bank on Thursday opened a retail branch in Singapore, with India's HighCommissioner T. C. A. Raghavan symbolically signing the first account.

Change in name of insurance JV to help boost business The recent change in the name of IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Company Ltd., a joint

venture floated by IDBI Bank, Federal Bank and Fortis Insurance International, to IDBIFederal Life Insurance Company Ltd., is expected to help boost the company's operationsin Kerala. Federal Bank has a very strong presence in South India, particularly in itshome State, Kerala.


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