Business

Concerned over excessive speculation leading to price fluctuation of some essential commodities being traded at the Forward Markets Commission recently, the government Friday said it will take action after getting the report of secretary consumer affairs in 10 days.

“We are not jumping on to any conclusions…We will decide on the action to be taken after getting the report from secretary consumer affairs who is probing the issue,” Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K.V. Thomas told reporters after meeting with the chairman of the FMC Ramesh Abhishek here.

Actors shooting for “Jamuna Paar” and other soaps on Imagine TV are shocked at the sudden decision of the Hindi entertainment channel to shut down.
Many were busy shooting for their serials when they got the jolting news and say it will leave employees of the channel without their livelihood.

Imagine TV, which aired some of the most talked about shows like “Rakhi Ka Swayamwar”, “Zor Ka Jhatka” and “Raaz Pichhle Janam Ka”, went off the air Thursday.

Ankur Verma and Vidhi Parekh, lead actors of “Jamuna Paar”, are shocked and hoping for some miracle.

Google Inc. reported a 61 percent increase in its net income for the first three months of the year and announced plans to split its stock 2-for-1 to preserve its leadership’s control over the company in the long term.

The online search leader said Thursday that it wants to issue a new class of stock to shareholders, but the new shares won’t have any voting power. Under the plan, all current stockholders would get one share of the new Class C stock for each share they now own. This effectively splits Google’s stock price in half.

The India-Pakistan dargah diplomacy seems to have paid off as the former may soon allow foreign direct investment from the latter, said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Reiterating the PM’s statement, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma also said that India will soon allow FDI from Pakistan. This comes in the wake of President Asif Ali Zardari having an hour-long meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his one-day India visit.

Country’s second-largest software exporter Infosys on Friday reported a 27.4 percent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,316 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012.

This is against a net profit of Rs 1,818 crore reported in the January-March quarter of the last fiscal (2010-11), Infosys said in a filing to the BSE.

However, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the net profit declined by 2.4 percent.

Revenues rose 22 percent to Rs 8,852 crore for the quarter from Rs 7,250 crore in the year-ago period.

In a relief to Google India, its name was yesterday dropped from the suit for trial of various social networking websites for allegedly hosting offending content.

Reuters

The move came after it was pointed out to a Delhi court that Google was only a software developing firm.

Google India had pleaded that it was only a subsidiary of Internet giant and should be removed from the suit, to which the judge agreed.

Cases against seven other firms – Exbii, IMC India, My Lot, Shyni Blog, Topix, Zombie Time and Boradreader were also dropped yesterday.

THE country’s leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday unveiled its compact multipurpose vehicle ( MPV) Ertiga priced between ` 5.89 lakh and ` 8.45 lakh creating a new price standard in the MPV segment.

Ertiga will be available in both petrol and diesel variants.

The petrol variant is priced between ` 5.89 lakh and ` 7.30 lakh while the diesel option will cost between ` 7.30 lakh and ` 8.45 lakh ( ex- showroom Delhi).

The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today launched its compact multi purpose vehicle Ertiga at introductory price of up to Rs 8.45 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as the company looks to tap the fast growing utility vehicles segment.

Ertiga will be available in both petrol and diesel variants. The petrol variant is priced between Rs 5.89 lakh and Rs 7.30 lakh, while the diesel option will cost between Rs 7.30 lakh and Rs 8.45 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

India is the first market to sell Ertiga.

The rupee on Thursday strengthened by 12 paise to 51.30 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, on the back of euro gains against the American currency overseas.

Dealers said euro’s gains against the US dollar overseas and a higher opening in the equity market supported the rupee.

The rupee closed marginally higher by 5 paise at 51.42/43 in the previous session on fresh dollar selling by banks.

–PTI

In what could be a sigh of relief for the cash-trapped Indian airlines, the government is likely to take up a decision on the proposal of foreign airlines buying a 49 percent stake in local carriers.

The move will attract much-needed investment for the country’s troubled aviation industry.

Employees across corporate India are expected to get a lower average salary hike of 11.54 percent in 2012 compared to last year as companies are grappling with sluggish economic activities, says a survey.

As per the survey conducted by HR consulting firm Right Step Consulting, the salary hikes for India will decline to 11.54 percent in 2012 from 11.89 percent in 2011.

Bullion traders and jewellers on Saturday returned to business, suspending three-week long strike following the government’s assurance that it will consider their demand for rollback of excise duty on non-branded jewellery and hike in import duty on gold.

Various bullion trade associations called off the 21-day strike after meeting UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee yesterday who assured them that their demand for rollback of excise duty on non-branded jewellery would be considered.

In an effort to break the deadlock over the recent hike in duties affecting the gems and jewelery industry, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet industry representatives in New Delhi Friday, an official said here Thursday.

“The meeting has been called to discuss the issue of rollback of excise duties, TCS and customs duties levied in the latest union budget. We shall make all efforts to convince him for ordering a 100 percent rollback,” All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (AIGJTF) Chairman Bachhraj Bamalwa said.

It’s been likened to a piece of toast, a device for elephants and a throwback to the 1980s-style brick phone.

And yet, despite all the sniggering, Samsung Electronics has sold 5 million of the phone/tablet Galaxy Note, helping drive its booming handset profits in the quarter just ended.

More than a freak hit, consumer and design experts believe the surprise success of the “phablet” marks a deeper shift in the fast-paced world of mobile devices.

The government has sent feelers to oil companies that it might cut the excise duty on petrol to lower their under-recoveries, a move that will benefit the consumers as well.

As per reports, the finance ministry is actively considering a proposal from the oil ministry to slash the excise duty. It is learnt that the reduction of excise duty on petrol is intended to avert the looming hike in the prices of petrol.

The Government on Thursday said it will “very soon” take a decision on the issue of allowing foreign airlines to pick up stake in the Indian carriers.

“This has been discussed with the Finance Minister, Civil Aviation Minister and myself and an appropriate view and decision will be taken very soon,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters at the sidelines of Hero Mindmine Summit here.

Faced with criticism for slashing interest rate on deposits by 1.25 percent for 2011-12, the retirement fund body EPFO may raise it to 8.6 percent for this fiscal to benefit about 5 crore subscribers.

Last month, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had brought down the rate of interest to 8.25 percent for 2011-12 from 9.5 percent provided in 2010-11, evoking sharp criticism within and outside Parliament.

“EPFO is working on income estimates to provide 8.6 percent rate of return on provident fund deposits during this fiscal,” a source privy to the development said.

Good lord, we’re guzzling so much diesel that we might soon face a shortage in the stuff.

According to a report in The Economic Times, India could soon become a diesel-deficit nation if the government’s pricing policy on diesel continues to fuel consumption. Currently, diesel prices are controlled by the government, while petrol prices can be freely priced by state-owned oil marketing companies (at least in theory).

After a long wait of four months, a section of employees of crisis-ridden Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) on Wednesday received part of their pending salaries.

“Some of the junior staff have finally been paid (their dues). But they have received only one month basic salary,” an airline staffer said.

The payment comes following KFA Chairman Vijay Mallya’s assurance to the employees on Monday that their dues would be paid in a staggered manner by 10 April.

With the indefinite strike by jewellers entering the eighth day on Wednesday, a Kolkata-based organisation said that the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council has been invited by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to discus their demands.

Mr. Mukherjee has invited the jewellers to meet him in Delhi on April 6, 2012 to discuss their demands, Ashok Begani, president, Calcutta Gem and Jewellers’ Welfare Association, told PTI in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Members of the association are on an indefinite strike in protest against increase in import duty and excise duty on gold.

Indians have topped the list of first-time property buyers in Dubai for 2011, having bought properties worth Dh2.1 billion, Dubai Land Department (DLD) data reveals.

“The Indians topped the list of new investors in Dubai properties and conducted 927 transactions worth Dh2.1 billion. This represents 16 per cent of the overall value of transactions carried out by new investors,” the department said in a statement.

“New” money flowing into the Dubai property market for last year totaled Dh13.125 billion.

The tax department on Wednesday said it will not provide any “leeway” to Kingfisher Airlines in paying arrears of about Rs 60 crore and the firm has to pay the dues as soon as possible.

“Kingfisher has paid Rs 20 crore service tax last month and they have promised…that they will try to pay (the arrears) as early as they can. Arrears are now about Rs 60 crore,” Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman S K Goel told reporters on the sidelines of a FIEO event here.

Although the current recession in Europe will probably extend into the third quarter, we believe the economy may pick up modestly late this year and in 2013, said Standard & Poor’s on Wednesday in announcing the publication of its report “No Fast Lane Out Of Europe’s Recession.”

“Germany and other core northern countries of the eurozone should see sluggish GDP growth this year, while their southern neighbors–namely Italy, Spain, and Portugal–are likely to experience a genuine recession,” said Jean-Michel Six, Standard & Poor’s EMEA chief economist.

India’s services sector witnessed a significant decline in the month of March amid slower rise in new business orders and a dip in business sentiment, a survey by HSBC Wednesday said.

According to the HSBC Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data, the seasonally-adjusted HSBC Services Business Activity Index, posted 52.3 in March, down from 56.5 in February. In January, it stood at 58.

A score above 50 indicates growth in the sector, while a reading below 50 means the segment is contracting.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear two different pleas that seek investigation into Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

The first petition against Chidambaram was filed by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, while the second has been filed by lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan.

The petition by Swamy says that Chidambaram must be held responsible for allowing 2G spectrum allocation at 2011 prices during his tenure as the country’s Finance Minister.