Business

Chennai, May 02: With the strike called by Air India pilots affiliated to the Indian Commercial Pilots Association entering its fifth day, flight operations continued to be hit, as only three out of the regular 30 flights were operated on Saturday.

However, services operated by the international carrier to Port Blair, Bangalore and Delhi were not affected. Meanwhile, passengers of the Singapore bound AI 358 were accommodated in the AI Express Boeing 737-800 flight.

New Delhi, May 02: Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav on Sunday sent SMS to employees of the national carrier to “persuade” striking pilots to return to the negotiating table and work to “save our airline.”

Jadhav said the Indian Commercial Pilots Association struck “work illegally for pay increase and parity, thus threatening our survival.”

“This when a Supreme Court judge is studying this issue. Risking our airline’s survival at this time is criminal. We all condemn corruption in public life, and culprits must be punished,” he said.

New Delhi, May 01: The Air India pilots’ strike gained momentum on its fifth day on Sunday with six pilots’ union pledging support to the banned ICPA (Indian Commercial Pilots Association) which is spearheading the agitation, a news channel reported.

The national carrier increased the cut in its domestic operations to 40 from Saturday’s 30 flights. Air India regular operations involves 165 flights.

Out of 66 Air India domestic flights from Delhi, only 13 will operate Sunday while from Mumbai, out of 55 flights of the airline only 9 will operate.

New Delhi, May 01: As the strike by Air India pilots entered the fifth day today, the national carrier reduced its operation to 40 flights across its network against the regular 165.

“We are continuing with our contingency plans and will be operating 40 domestic flights across the country today. we will be utilising Boeing 737 aircraft of our subsidiary Air India Express on some of the sectors,” an Air India spokesperson said.

The national carrier will be operating 14 flights, including one each to Kathmandu and Dubai, today out of its scheduled 52 flights from the national capital.

Hyderabad, April 30: Corporators of the Telugu Desam Party on Friday accused the standing committee of the GHMC, for imposing unwarranted burden on common man by increasing the property tax rates.

TDP corporators led by their floor leader, Singireddy Srinivas Reddy staged a protest at the GHMC head office, demanding withdrawal of all resolutions adopted by the standing committee immediately.

Mumbai, April 30: Despite the Delhi High Court ordering the striking Air India pilots to get back to work and the airline management threatening stern action and declaring a lock-out, the 850-plus agitating pilots today said they will go ahead with the stir and are willing to go the jail.

Washington, April 29: The International Monetary Fund has projected that India’s economic growth will moderate 8.2 per cent this year, declining from last year’s 10.4 per cent. The fall will continue into 2012, when it is expected to go down to 7.8 per cent.

Far from taking an adverse view of the projected decline, the IMF regards it as “a more sustainable” level of growth at a time when potential overheating pressures are rising and inflationary risks remain on the upside across Asia.

New Delhi, April 29: After two unsuccessful attempts in 2002-03 and 2006-07, the Reserve bank of India again on Thursday floated a discussion paper on deregulation of interest rate on saving deposit.

Interest rate on saving deposit, at 3.5 per cent since March 1, 2003 is the only regulated interest rate even as saving deposit constitutes a sizeable portion (about 22 per cent) of total deposits.

While RBI favours deregulation, it points to the fact that deregulation will enhance attractiveness, enable product innovation and facilitate monetary transmission better.

Tokyo, April 28: Japan’s top consumer electronics maker Panasonic has announced plans to cut its work force by 35,000 over the next two fiscal years.

The reduction in workforce comes as part of the company’s efforts to streamline overlapping overseas production branches.

“The figure is huge, but so is the company, and for an old-fashioned one like Panasonic, this is a big move,” the Montreal Gazette quoted Panasonic’s Chief Investment Officer Toru Hashizume as saying on Thursday.

Bangkok, April 28: A recent survey conducted by an economic research institute in Germany shows that consumer confidence in the country is expected to fall once again for the second consecutive month.

The survey by GFK economic research institute revealed that the consumer confidence, which had first dropped in April for the first time in 10 months, is set to decline in May, AFP reported.

New Delhi, April 28: Around 60 Air India flights were cancelled while several others delayed on the second day of the pilots’ strike which continued despite the Delhi High Court directing them to return to work.

In Delhi, 33 domestic and five international flights to Kathmandu, Kabul and Dubai were cancelled as the airlines management decided to operate only those flights for which cabin crew as well as adequate pilots were available.

Similarly, unavailability of cockpit crew forced the national carrier to cancel around 19 flights, including two international ones, out of Mumbai.

New Delhi, April 28: Software exporter Wipro on Wednesday reported a growth of 13.77 per cent in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, to `1,375.4 crore, as against `1,208.9 crore last year.

“We have made good progress in creating a leaner, simpler and more customer-centric organisation structure. We believe our business strategy along with the new structure will deliver industry leading growth,” Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said in a statement.

New Delhi, April 28: Cracking down on striking pilots demanding pay hike, Air India management today sacked six leaders of the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) which was derecognised and its offices sealed.

The services of ICPA leaders, including its president Capt A S Bhinder and general secretary Capt Rishabh Kapur, were terminated by the management, senior airline officials said. Two other agitating pilots were suspended.

Declaring as illegal the strike by about 800 pilots, the management derecognised the ICPA and sealed its offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

New Delhi, April 28: Indian American Pulitzer winner Siddhartha Mukherjee’s “The Emperor of All Maladies” tops the non-fiction list this time while Jeffrey Archer’s “Only Time Will Tell” continues its domination over the fiction charts.

The top 10 in each bestselling category this week are:

Non-fiction

1. “The Emperor of All Maladies”
Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Price: Rs.499

2. “Great Soul: Mahatama Gandhi and His Struggle with India”
Author: Joseph Lelyveld
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: Rs.699

Mumbai, April 28: Castrol India said Wednesday its net profit rose 16.55 percent to Rs.136.6 crore for the fourth quarter of 2010-11 ended March 31.

The net sales of the company stood at Rs.750.7 crore during the quarter as compared to Rs.654.0 crore during the corresponding period of the last fiscal, the company said in a statement.

Tehran, April 28: Syria’s oil minister says that Iran will connect to the Arab Gas Pipeline via Syria and Iraq, which will open a route for the export of Iranian natural gas to Egypt.

“Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus have held talks on the establishment of a 2,000-kilometer (1,242-mile) gas line from Iran to Syria,” IRNA quoted Sufian Alao as saying on Wednesday.

Alao added that 700km of the pipeline runs within the Iranian borders before it stretches another 900km across Iraq with the remaining 400km expanding via the Syrian soil.

Tehran, April 28: Iran’s Ministry of Industries and Mines says the country’s car production increased by 13 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year (ending March 20).

The Islamic Republic manufactured roughly one million and 350 thousand passenger vehicles in the previous Iranian year, which represents a 13 percent increase compared to the previous year, Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.

In May 2010, carmaker Saipa inaugurated the largest single manufacturing plant in the Middle East with the capacity of rolling out over 150,000 units per year.

Chennai, April 28: The Indian subsidiary of South Korean consumer durables major Samsung is targeting a 40 percent market share in the growing smartphone segment, a senior official said Wednesday.

“We are aiming a market share of 40 percent this year. Our current market share is 15 percent. Last year the Indian market size for smartphones was around 2.5 million units and this year it is expected to be around eight million units,” Country Manager for mobile and IT Ranjit Yadav told reporters here.

Hyderabad, April 27:John Deere India, a subsidiary of US-based Deere & Company and a leading manufacturer of agricultural tractors, has introduced its ‘smart’ tractor, 60-HP tractor model 5060E for the India market.

“John Deere is bringing advanced technology to farmers in India, helping them to be more productive and cost effective. This new 60-HP tractor model 5060E offers state-of- the-art features that help customers be more productive and cost effective,” John Deere VP sales and marketing Narinder Ghuman said.

Mumbai, April 27: Over 2,000 members affiliated to various seafarers’ unions and associations of shipowners today carried out a ‘morcha’ and submitted a petition to the Directorate General of Shipping demanding safety of Indian seafarers from pirates.

“We demand that the government should take more effective measures in combating the menace of piracy. We want the matter to be addressed at the level of the United Nations,” National Union of Seafarers’ of India (NUSI) General Secretary, Abdul Gani Serang, said in a statement here.

Bangalore, April 27: The country’s third largest software exporter Wipro today said it will hike salaries for its employees in India by 12-15 per cent as it looks to counter high attrition.

The wage hike, effective June 1, will be to the tune of 2-4 per cent for onsite staff (at the customer site).

Announcing Q4 2010-11 results, the company said wage hike will impact its operating margins in the first quarter this fiscal.

Bangalore, April 27 : Indian IT bellwether Wipro Ltd is investing heavily in emerging verticals such as analytics, mobility and cloud computing for the next wave of customers’ spend, company chairman Azim Premji said here Wednesday.

“To prepare for the next wave of customers’ spend, we are investing heavily in three key areas of analytics, mobility and cloud computing. We have created dedicated lines for the first two and a software layer for the third, with a focus on business process outsourcing (BPO) platform,” Premji told reporters here.

Mumbai, April 27: Financial technology company Polaris Software Lab today made a foray into the cloud computing space by making an investment in a digital identity authentication services provider, IdenTrust.

Cloud computing is Internet-based computing whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand.

This acquisition will mark Polaris’ entry into the cloud computing space for Financial Technology solutions, Polaris Software Lab said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

New Delhi, April 27: Auto component maker Bosch Ltd today reported a 35.45 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, to Rs 274.39 crore.

The company, which follows a January-December fiscal year, had posted a net profit of Rs 202.57 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Total income during the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at Rs 2,085.79 crore, as against Rs 1,596.41 crore in the same period a year ago, Bosch Ltd said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Mumbai, April 27: Shares of Coal India jumped by over 3 per cent on the bourses to touch a record high today amid media reports that the company has received proposals from several companies to get imported coal at discounted prices.

Following the reports, the scrip rose by 3.32 per cent to touch a lifetime high of Rs 375.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

In a similar fashion, shares of the company touched a new high of Rs 377, up 3.44 per cent from their previous closing price of Rs 364.45, on the National Stock Exchange.