Business

New York, April 08:Google’s Android will become the most popular smartphone operating system and will account for 49 percent of the market by 2012, a research firm has said.

According to projections by information-technology firm Gartner, worldwide smartphone sales will reach 468 million units in 2011, a 57.7 percent increase from 2010, Xinhua reported.

The company predicts that Apple’s iOS will remain the second biggest platform worldwide through 2014 although its share will decrease slightly after 2011.

Moscow, April 08: Iran and Russia have called for a greater role by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the establishment of security in the international energy market.

The two sides also called for further cooperation between gas producing and exporting companies in GECF member states for a greater global energy security, Fars News Agency reported.

The comments were made in a meeting between CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom Alexey Miller and Ali Aqamohammadi, the Iranian vice president’s deputy for economic affairs, in Moscow on Thursday.

New Delhi, April 07:India and Bangladesh Thursday announced a bouquet of programmes, including creation of a special tourist circuit, two joint movie productions and exhibition of paintings to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

The official 150th Tagore anniversary celebrations will open in Dhaka May 6 and in the Indian capital May 7.

The three-day opening ceremony May 6-8 in Dhaka will feature performing artistes from India and will be attended by a top level Indian government representative.

New Delhi, April 07: Food inflation fell to a four-month low of 9.18 per cent for the week ended March 26, prompting experts to suggest that record foodgrain production will keep the numbers stable in the coming months.

Food inflation fell from 9.50 per cent in the previous week and 21.15 per cent a year ago. The rate of price rise during the week ended March 26 was the lowest since the week ending November 27, 2010, when it was recorded at 8.69 per cent.

New Delhi, April 07: Food inflation fell to 9.18 percent for the week ended March 26, the lowest level in almost four months, on the back of a decline in the prices of pulses.

Food inflation stood at 9.50 per cent in the preceding week. The last time food inflation was lower than this level was during the week ended November 27 last year, when it was registered at 8.69 percent.

The latest numbers also mean that food inflation is in single digits for the second consecutive week.

During the week under review, prices of pulses fell by 5.39 percent on an annual basis.

Kolkata, April 07: The Union government has slapped an excise duty of 10 per cent on jute products that constitute about 80 per cent of the Rs 6,000 crore industry and threatens to cripple the fate of 2.5 lakh workers.

“This 10 per cent central excise duty on the jute sector will bring great trouble to the industry and increase the cost of jute packaging products,” industry veteran Sanjay Kajaria said.

He believes this could be an error of part of the ministry as jute comes under textiles and branded garments on which excise duty has already been levied.

New Delhi, April 07: Indian companies are not very confident that the measures they have in place to manage contingencies will work and to quite an extent the firms tend to rely on key executives to evaluate risks instead of following well-laid out processes, according to a survey by global audit and advisory major KPMG.

The survey conducted across Europe, Middle East, Africa and India had close to 500 companies participating in it. More than 57 percent of the respondents were from Indian firms.

New York, April 07: Toyota has announced that it has sold the one millionth Prius hybrid in the US, as rising fuel prices further stimulated demand for the car.

“Since the Prius went on sale 11 years ago, not a year has gone by when it hasn’t been the No.1 selling hybrid vehicle in the US,” Bob Carter, Toyota vice president and general manager, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Toyota sold nearly 43,000 units in the first quarter this year, up 52 percent than a year ago. Last year, the company sold over 140,000 units in the US.

Bangkok, April 07: The German Foreign Ministry has stressed that the Hamburg-based European-Iranian Trade Bank AG (EIH Bank) will continue its activities in the country.

“The Hamburg-based EIH Bank is continuing its activities,” IRNA quoted the ministry’s spokesman, Andreas Peschke, as saying on Wednesday in a press conference in Berlin.

The remarks came after the The New York Times reported that the US “is concerned about recent reports that the German government authorized the use of EIH as a conduit for India’s oil payments to Iran.”

New Delhi, April 07:Indian companies are not very confident that the measures they have in place to manage contingencies will work and to quite an extent the firms tend to rely on key executives to evaluate risks instead of following well-laid out processes, according to a survey by global audit and advisory major KPMG.

The survey conducted across Europe, Middle East, Africa and India had close to 500 companies participating in it. More than 57 percent of the respondents were from Indian firms.

New Delhi, April 06: In an effort to give a trade push to the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan, the commerce secretaries of the two countries will meet in Islamabad on April 27 and 28.

The meeting comes on the heels of talks between the home secretaries of the two countries here last month, ahead of the India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final match witnessed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries at Mohali.

Mumbai, April 06: The US dollar ended sharply cheaper against the rupee at Rs 44.17/18 per dollar and the Pound Sterling also finished lower at Rs 71.97/99 per pound at the lose of the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (Forex) here today.

The Following are the Interbank Forex and RBI rates:

(In Rs Per Unit) Unit Interbank RBI Reference US Dollar 44.17/18 US Dollar Rs 44.20 Pound Sterling 71.97/99 Euro Rs 63.09.

Euro 63.13/15 Japanese Yen (100) 51.

-Agencies

New Delhi, April 06: A petition was today filed in the Supreme Court alleging operation of an unholy nexus between National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and private companies engaged in toll collection across the country, which is causing a huge loss to public exchequer.

The PIL filed by an NGO, People?s Voice, sought a direction for settig up of an independent regulatory body to regulate and govern the collection in a transparent and accountable manner.

Mumbai, April 06: Leading India Inc representatives today made a strong plea to the Reserve Bank to review its rate tightening policy, saying the high cost of credit is having an adverse impact on growth.

Quoting a recent study, industry body FICCI’s Vice-President and HSBC’s Country Head, Naina Lal Kidwai, said a majority of firms feel inflation and successive rate hikes in the key monetary variables “have started having a bearing on the industry’s performance.”

Tokyo, April 06: The Japanese government plans to draw up a supplementary budget of more than 3 trillion yen (35 billion dollars) in about 10 days to finance measures to help rebuild areas ravaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, news reports said on Wednesday.

Mumbai, April 06: The Indian rupee strengthened by 18 paise to Rs 44.24 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange today, extending its gains for the fifth straight session on the back of capital inflows and a firming trend in the stock market.

The rupee had appreciated by 17 paise to close at nearly a five-month high of Rs 44.42/43 against the US dollar in the previous session on heavy capital inflows amid the sale of dollars by exporters and banks.

New York, April 06: A US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent has testified how hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam made millions thanks to secret tips from company insiders including two Indian Americans.

Galleon Group founder Rajaratnam made nearly $23 million in profits from his trading in ATI Technologies after allegedly receiving tips about its potential acquisition by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in 2006, FBI Special Agent James C. Barnacle Jr. told a Manhattan court Tuesday.

New Delhi, April 06:Amid increasing cases of tax evasion, frauds and corruption, India Tuesday announced it would revamp its nodal economic intelligence agency.

President Pratibha Patil has sanctioned the constitution of a committee that will make recommendation to restructure the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), the finance ministry said in a statement.

CEIB is the nodal agency responsible for economic intelligence, and monitoring and fighting economic offences like tax evasion, money laundering and smuggling.

Ahmedabad, April 05: The RBI has said that more efforts are needed for achieving financial inclusion and creating the spirit of entrepreneurship to make the economic growth success broad based.

Speaking here at a convocation ceremony of EDI Ahmedabad, RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty also called upon the NGOs to play a bigger role in this regard.

“While the growth story has been impressive, there are causes for concern on other dimensions. Issues of income distribution are important. We have a long way to go in addressing concerns of absolute poverty,” he said.

New Delhi, April 05: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to clear London-listed mining group Vedanta Resources’ USD 9.6 billion acquisition of Cairn India tomorrow after overruling the law ministry’s opinion on state-owned ONGC’s rights.

“The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon…in all likelihood, it will give an in-principal approval to the Cairn-Vedanta deal,” an official privy to the development said.

Islamabad, April 05: Pakistan and Britain today formally launched an “enhanced strategic dialogue” aimed at strengthening their cooperation in key areas like security, the war on terrorism, trade, health and education.

Addressing a news conference with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, British Prime Minister David Cameron described bilateral relations as “unbreakable” and said that the two sides had agreed on boosting cooperation in police services and intelligence-sharing.

Mumbai, April 05: L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd, the special purpose vehicle incorporated to implement Hyderabad Metro today said it has achieved financial closure for the project in a record time of six months.

A consortium of banks led by State Bank of India has sanctioned the entire debt requirement of Rs 11,480 crore for the project. The equity component, expected to be around Rs 3,440 crore, would be infused primarily by L&T Group, the company said in a statement.

Jaipur, April 05: The Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL) today said its turnover has increased by 34 per cent as compared to the previous fiscal to Rs 134 crore in 2010-11.

REIL has supplied Solar Power Packs to 144 panchayat Samitis and 931 Gram Panchayats in Rajasthan under MoU signed between the government of Rajasthan pertaining to Jawahar Lal Nehru Solar Mission of Govt of India, an official release issued here said.

These centres will be used as a single window for providing the information on MNREGA and provide feedback on the implementation of the progamme.

New Delhi, April 05: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging increase in export quota of cotton by 1.5 million bales to 7 million bales to help farmers realise better prices, sources said today.

The government had put a quantitative cap of 5.5 million bales (170 kg each) on cotton exports for the year ending September this year.

In the letter, Pawar has noted that there is a case for more cotton exports as domestic production is high and there is a global shortage of the natural fibre, sources said.

New Delhi, April 05: Japanese two-wheeler major Yamaha plans to foray into the Indian scooter market by next year and will set up a separate body assembly line at its Surajpur plant in Uttar Pradesh for this purpose.

The firm’s wholly-owned subsidiary, India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd, is investing Rs 10 crore to set up the body assembly line at the plant.

“The scooter market in India is huge and we want to have a strong presence. Now we are preparing to launch a scooter here within 2012,” India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd CEO and Managing Director Hiroyuki Suzuki told PTI.