A day after the Reserve Bank of India's monetary-tightening measures, banks on began raising interest rates, effecting the hike for the second time in a month.
For such bonanzas, prospective home buyers have a downturn to thank. Property sales have fallen 15 to 20 per cent countrywide over the last six months, owing to rising home loan rates. This has pinched the cash flows of developers, already reeling under higher borrowing costs and a range of anti-inflationary measures that restrict their flexibility to raise funds.
Although a merger with low-cost carrier SpiceJet would have made the Kingfisher-Deccan combine the largest carrier in Indian skies, it would have put a huge burden on the Vijay Mallya-controlled carrier's financials, feel experts. SpiceJet's losses have almost doubled to Rs 133 crore (Rs 1.33 billion) this year -- of which Rs 123 crore (Rs 1.23 billion) were incurred in the March quarter -- as compared with last year.
In a yet another bailout that will go down well with the political class, the government has proposed one-time assistance to state government and private universities and colleges that do not get any financial assistance from the University Grants Commission, the country's higher education standards regulator, which also funds institutions.
Cheap imports from China threaten to punch a huge hole in the business of local automobile component makers.
Low-cost carriers SpiceJet and IndiGo were two of the main traders of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) at the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), which started trading of ATF futures on Monday, market sources said. Around Rs 34.8 crore worth of ATF was traded till five on Monday evening.
Interestingly, the ad also takes the Shahrukh Khan versus Aamir Khan rivalry to another level. Previously, the two stars battled over Pepsi and Coke, then Toyota and Hyundai, and now Nokia and Samsung. So will 2008 belong to SRK or Aamir?
In the last two rounds of the Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, both India and the world witnessed dips in confidence. Now in the face of the ever-worsening economic environment, marked by rising inflation and interest rates, the subprime and credit crises, and fickle stock markets, shoulders have begun to droop in India and abroad.
As a slowdown looms, Indians remain optimistic, albeit cautiously so. The survey is the largest bi-annual study of its kind. The April round covered 28,253 Internet users in 51 markets. The previous leg was conducted on 26,000 people across 48 countries.
A high-profile team from MTN is also expected to meet Reliance Industries Ltd next week to take stock of the situation. RCom had informed the bourses on May 26 that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with MTN for 45 days soon after the South African giant aborted its talks with the Sunil Mittal-controlled Bharti group. The deadline will end on July 8.
Bhai Mohan Singh came to Delhi from Rawalpindi after the partition, having made big money in road contracts in the northeast region during the Second World War. He was soon in business, lending money to companies based in Delhi. It would be difficult to tell if he would have shared the elation of his grandson, Malvinder Mohan Singh at the family's exit from the company today.
Chief Executive S Ramadorai said, "We have hedged for about $1.5 billion. I believe one has to run the business on fundamentals and not on currency fluctuations." He also said it was very difficult to predict the rupee movement as in the last one-and-a-half months, the currency has begun to depreciate against the dollar.
South African major to make open offer to RCom shareholders. The deal would create a telecom colossus with 115 million subscribers in 25 countries.
The burger giant hopes to open new vistas by coming to your doorstep.
Electronics, IT goods makers HCL Infosystems, HP, LG Electronics and Zenith are raising prices of personal computers (laptops and desktops), LCDs and plasma TVs, and IT peripherals for the first time this year by as much as 13 per cent to offset higher cost of inputs triggered by a falling rupee. The move may nudge inflation further crimping consumer spending.
The race for South African telecom major MTN Group is hotting up with the possibility of two other players evaluating a bid or a strategic relationship with the company. Banking sources say European telecom major Deutsche Telekom and Russian telco Vimpel Communications are also studying the possibility of talking to the MTN Group.
As the market grows young, old brands go under the knife. In 1897, a young man named Ardeshir Godrej gave up law and turned to making locks. He went on to make safes and security equipment, and toilet soap from vegetable oil. He wouldn't have imagined that one day the business that started after his name would grow into a conglomerate with over Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) in revenues, or that one of its top executives would wear long, red-streaked hair.
The auto sector is doing well in India, despite stock market meltdown, emerging signals of industrial slowdown and rising costs.
Banking sources said with the MTN shareholders asking for a higher price than what Bharti had initially offered, the Indian telecom company might now pay 50 per cent of the money in cash and the rest through shares in Bharti Airtel. The sources added that MTN is also believed not to favour signing an 'exclusivity' contract with Bharti Airtel under which it would be bound not to talk to any other competing bidder till the negotiations with them have been concluded.
This is as definitive as it can get. Dutch global beer major Heineken is understood to have outlined its intent to Vijay Mallya's United Breweries that it does not want to have any conflicting presence in India.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances