Business

Washington, April 22: On a visit to India as part of a bi-partisan Congressional delegation, a US Senator today said that India is a natural ally of the United States and the two countries need to further strengthen their relationship.

“As a dynamic democracy in the heart of Asia, India is a natural ally of the United States,” Senator John Hoeven said in a statement.

The Congressional delegation is being led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Hyderabad, April 22: All jewellery outlets in the city will soon sell gold at prices prevailing in Chennai, which is five per cent lower than Hyderabad. However, the difference will not be passed on to the customer. “Wherever you buy, ultimately the customer ends up paying the same amount. But customers don’t know this. This move is aimed at clearing confusion and also to create some kind of trust amongst consumers,” said the Hyderabad Gold merchants’ Association secretary, Mr Praveen.

Calfornia, April 22: Toyota on Thursday announced a voluntarily recall of over 300,000 RV4 and Highlander vehicles in order to replace an airbag sensor.

The automaker intends to conduct a safety recall for approximately 214,000 RAV4 vehicles, from the 2007 and 2008 models, as well as 94,000 Highlander and Highlander HV vehicles from 2008.

All the fore mentioned vehicles were sold in the North American market. Toyota will to replace the curtain shield airbag sensor assembly from the vehicles of the specified models.

Kolkata, April 21: Motorcycle major Bajaj Auto is eyeing a 25 percent market share in the middle segment by the end of this fiscal, a top company executive said Thursday.

“Currently we have 22 percent market share in commuter deluxe segment, which is the middle segment of the motorcycle industry. Our market share in this segment grew by 8 percent in FY09 to 22 percent in FY11. We are eyeing 25 percent market share in this segment by the end of FY12,” S. Sridhar, president, motorcycle business, Bajaj Auto, said after launching the new ‘Discover 125cc’ motorcycle here.

Mumbai, April 21: Tata Steel Thursday said it would sell 51 percent stake of its refractory unit — Tata Refractories Ltd (TRL) — to Japanese firm Krosaki Harima Corporation.

“The transaction is based on an equity valuation of TRL at approximately Rs.1,130 crore and is subject to approval of relevant regulatory authorities in India and Japan,” the company said in a regulatory statement.

According to the statement, after the completion of the transaction, Tata Steel’s current stake of 77.46 percent in the unit would come down to 26.46 percent.

New Delhi, April 21: A unique Sikkim Studies Programme would be launched in Jamia Millia Islamia Monday by Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, an official said Thursday.

The programme would be launched at Jamia’s Centre for North East Studies which would be followed by a speech on “Regional Parties and their efficacy in advancing Nation Building” by Chamling, a varsity official said.

“Sikkim Studies Programme is indeed a welcome addition… It has been our endeavour to strengthen our understanding of the North East,” Vice Chancellor Najeeb Jung said.

Tokyo, April 21: Japanese automaker Toyota has announced a decision to extend its production cuts in North America and China due to a shortage of car parts following Japan’s disastrous earthquake last month.

Toyota said Wednesday that it would reduce its production by 70% from April 26 to June 3, the state-funded BBC reported.

The company’s North American plants now operate on four-hour shifts, three days a week, from Tuesday to Thursday. The manufacturer is likely to cut its US sales target for the current year.

New Delhi, April 21: Gold crossed the psychological Rs 22,000 mark today on aggressive buying by stockists, amid a rising global trend. It rose by Rs 115 to Rs 22,060 per 10 grams. Silver also climbed to a new high and rose by Rs 1,850 to Rs 66,300 per kg on rising demand from industrial units.

Silver coins followed suit and shot up by Rs 1,500 to a record high of Rs 72,000 for buying and Rs 72,500 for selling of 100 pieces.

Gandhinagar, April 21: Oil marketing companies (OMCs) in India face a debt burden of Rs.2 lakh crore in 2011-12 due to under-recoveries with global crude prices touching $120 a barrel and marketing restricted to government-controlled rates for diesel, kerosene and cooking gas, a senior official said Wednesday.

According to S. Sundareshan, secretary at the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, the OMC’s debt burden was Rs.49,000 crore in 2006-07, which soared to Rs.70,000 crore and Rs.1 lakh crore in the next two fiscals.

Abu Dhabi, April 20: Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and Oman Oil Company (OOC) have signed an agreement on investments in oil, gas and petrochemicals projects and exchanging industry expertise.

IPIC, an investment company, has been established by the Abu Dhabi government.

The agreement was inked between Khadem al Qubaisi, managing director of IPIC, and Ahmed Al Wihaibi, chief executive officer of Oman Oil Company (OOC).

Kolkata, April 20: Tata Steel and Rio Tinto, leading international mining group based in the UK, have signed a licensing agreement to support technological and commercial development of the environmentally friendly direct iron smelting process, called HIsarna.

According to a company release here Wednesday, the agreement covered how both parties will work together, sharing their existing knowledge of the two technologies that were combined in the new process.

Mumbai, April 20: The rupee today appreciated by 16 paise to close at more-than a week’s high of 44.32/33 against the US currency on the back of strong equities despite a weak dollar overseas.

Dealers said that the sale of dollars by exporters and some banks too aided the rupee’s firm trend.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today closed higher by 349.15 points or 1.83 per cent, which mainly supported the rupee.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pumped in USD 461.97 million on April 19 as per SEBI data.

Mumbai, April 20: Amid concerns expressed by the Reserve Bank, country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) today announced withdrawal of special home loan schemes, or teaser rates, with effect from May 1.

SBI Easy Home Loan and SBI Advantage Home Loan (teaser rate products) will be replaced by floating interest rate schemes on par with other commercial banks.

Under the teaser home loan scheme, SBI was offering lower rate of interest of 8-8.5 per cent for the first three years.

Mumbai, April 20: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex shot up 349 points Wednesday to over 19,470 as funds bought strong stocks, led by auto and IT sectors, amid forecast of normal monsoon and firm global cues.

The Sensex, which had gained 31 points in the previous session, spurt 349.15 points to close the day at 19,470.98.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index shot up by 110.90 points to 5,851.65.

Mumbai, April 20: Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex opened 192 points up Wednesday, extending its gains from Tuesday on continued buying by funds, supported by a normal monsoon forecast and firming trend on Asian bourses.

The 30-share index rose by 192.14 points, or 1 percent to 19,313.97 points in opening trade. It had gained 30.66 points in yesterday’s volatile session.

Stocks of financials, IT, capital goods and metal sectors led the rally in early trade.

Similarly, broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 60.05 points, or 1.05 percent, to 5,800.80 level.

Kolkata, April 20: Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile company, has entered into an agreement with the State Bank of India (SBI) for providing financing facilities to the company dealers.

According to a company release here Tuesday, the bank will provide financing for both passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles range.

The dealers of the company will now have access to ready upstream finance from SBI to meet their working capital requirements, in addition to their existing retail finance arrangements.

New Delhi, April 20:India’s exports surged 37.5 percent to $245.9 billion in 2010-11, substantially surpassing the official target of $200 billion, on the back of nearly 85 percent jump in engineering exports, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said Tuesday.

“It is indeed heartening to see that our exports for the year ending March 31, 2011 touched $245.9 billion,” Sharma told reporters here.

The government had set a target of $200 billion of export for 2010-11, which was 15 percent higher than the previous fiscal’s figure.

Mumbai, April 20: The country’s largest lender the State Bank of India (SBI) Tuesday said it will hike its base and prime lending rates by 25 basis points from April 25, thus making auto and housing loans dearer.

The bank will increase its benchmark prime lending rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 13.25 percent per annum from the existing rate of 13 percent per annum, SBI said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

This will make lending rates, especially auto and housing loans, dearer by at least 25 basis points.

Mumbai, April 19: Public sector undertaking IDBI Bank Tuesday reported an increase of 62.13 percent in its net profit for the fourth quarter of 2010-11, which stood at Rs.516.25 crore as against Rs.318.41 crore in the like period of 2009-10.

The total income of the bank grew by 23.17 percent in the quarter under review and reached Rs.5,700.65 crore from Rs.4,627.91 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

For the fiscal year 2010-11, the bank reported an increase of 60 percent in its net profit, which stood at Rs.1,650.32 crore as compared to Rs.1,031.13 crore in the previous fiscal.

New Delhi, April 19: With an aim to catch fraudsters early in their sinister designs, Sebi will soon set up a forensic accounting cell to identify any bungling in the books and regulatory filings of listed firms and market entities.

At the same time, the market watchdog would also seek help from outside professionals, use latest technology software tools and put in place its own ‘investigation laboratory’ to churn out new investigative methods.

Mumbai, April 19: The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), which is setting up in collaboration with the French nuclear power giant AREVA, took stock of the situation arising out of Monday’s violence at Madbhan, Sakhri Nate and other places in Rajapur taluka of Ratnagiri district.

Shanghai, April 19: China’s annual vehicle sales are expected to hit 23 million units by 2015, a 27-percent increase compared to 2010, a media report said Monday.

It was announced by Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Su Bo, at a seminar here.

China’s vehicle sales rose by 32.4 percent in 2010 to 18.06 million units, securing the country’s position as the world’s biggest auto market for the second straight year, China Daily reported.

–IANS–

San Francisco, April 19: Apple Inc. has sued Samsung Electronics Co. over patent infringement in a latest suit, Xinhua reported Monday.

The suit, filed last Friday in US District Court in California, alleged that Samsung’s smartphones, such as “Glaxy S 4G” and “Nexus S”, and the Galaxy line of tablet computers violated Apple’s patent and trademark, according to All Things Digital, a technology and startup company news site.

Mubai, April 18: JIK Industries has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Searange Houseware, Hong Kong, for outsourcing co-operation and introducing Searange’s products under JIK’a brands.

Informing this to BSE today, the company said the puprose of MoU
was outsourcing co-operation and introduction of Searange’s products
under JIK’s brands and to promote, sell and distribute the same
through its marketing and sales channels to the hospitality industry
and other segments and customoers.

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Mumbai, April 18: BSE benchmark Sensex shrug off its early gains and was trading 176 points down at midsession today on heavy selling in fundamentally strong IT stocks led by Infosys amid weak Asian trend.

Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex, which climbed to 19,649.22 in morning trade, fell by 176 points to 19,210.82 level at 1215 hrs, dragged down by a poor performance of Infosys, the most important scrip on 30-share index after Reliance Industries.