Merrill Lynch warned that oil prices could fall as low as $25 a barrel next year if the recession affecting the US, Europe and Japan extended to China, the main driver of demand growth in commodity markets in recent years.
2008 is possibly the worst year of violence in India. There have been terrorist attacks and blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and now in Mumbai. The Indian government is merrily going around boasting of economic growth as ordinary citizens reel under attacks by terrorists.
So clear are the signs of a US downturn that the National Bureau of Economic Research, the most prestigious US independent economic authority, said the country has been in recession since December 2007.
The siege of Mumbai is over. Now the hand-wringing and the finger-pointing begins -- a dangerous period that needs desperately to be turned to advantage, regionally and internationally.
There are no easy answers to this crisis. But governments should consider whether they ought to become the insurer of last resort.
If India cannot industrialise, it will never be prosperous
Ranbaxy's shares jumped almost 10 per cent, having long been depressed by escalating investigations from the US Food and Drug Administration, triggering a ban, which is still in place, that stops the US importing or purchasing the company's drugs. Daiichi Sankyo, the Japanese drugmaker, reiterated on Wednesday that it would stick to its June offer to buy Ranbaxy in spite of its recent troubles.
Under the terms of the deal Ranbaxy will drop litigation it initiated in November 2005 and will sell Nexium from May 2014 - the expiry date of the first of a series of patents. Under US law Ranbaxy would be the exclusive generic distributor for the first six months.
Manjit Rajain, Mortice's founder, will hold 75 per cent of the equity after flotation. He will use the funds raised to take the company into broader property and facilities management services across India. He said the company had looked at several stock markets, including in India and Singapore, before deciding to come to Aim because it would be cheaper, quicker and at a higher valuation.
India is keen to expand its banking system to help support its economic growth, which is the second fastest after China among Asia's large countries. Unlike China, its financial system is still small relative to the economy and its banks are dwarfed by many of their international peers, in spite of their vast potential market in India and overseas.
The breakthrough for Scrabulous came when it appeared on the social networking site. Now it claims more than 600,000 daily users, making it one of Facebook's most popular applications.
The truth is that this is an impressive realisation of a corporate vision, a car long-promised, designed explicitly to hit a price point, and one that will meet the needs of poorer consumers. It is safer than a bicycle and cleaner than an old moped.
What is the best course of action for executives trying to allocate a smaller bonus pot? And how should they manage expectations to prevent mass defections or legal action?
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