Tamil Nadu secured investments worth Rs 1.44 trillion on Monday by signing of memoranda of understanding (MoU) with 60 companies, laying of foundation stones and inauguration of new projects.
Employees at Ford India's Chennai unit have called off the strike that started on May 30. Following this, the company has revised its severance package from earlier 115 days to 121 days for employees supporting production. The company indicated it would continue 'constructive discussions' with the unions in order to sweeten the deal further, if required.
White-lipped tamarin is a type of monkey that lives in the Amazon area of Brazil and Bolivia. Prevost's squirrel is a colourful species from the forests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula and nearby islands. Sugar gliders are tiny marsupials - 6.3 to 8.3 inches in length - native to Australia.
More than 1,600 employees of Air India, the former state-run carrier now owned by the Tata group, have opted for voluntary retirement under a scheme announced on June 1. These employees comprise 22 per cent of permanent staff (around 7,000). The airline has a total employee strength of around 10,800, including those on contract.
In a boost to the electric vehicle boom in India, Taiwanese major Hon Hai Technology Group (aka Foxconn) is likely to set up an EV manufacturing unit in India through its subsidiary Foxtron. Amid speculation that the company may look at Tamil Nadu and probably the Ford India unit near Chennai for its new facility, sources indicate that the group was already betting big in the electric vehicle component space in India through Bharat FIH, which is already having a tie up with companies like Ola Electric and Ather. Bharat FIH currently has two manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur that manufactures phones like Apple iPhones and Xiaomi phones.
In a move that may boost the Indian hydrocarbon industry and bring more investments into the sector, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to give marketing freedom to domestic crude oil producers, allowing them to sell petroleum to any company in the local market. The move is set to be beneficial for major crude oil producers, such as state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India, and private sector majors like Vedanta's Cairn Oil and Gas and Reliance Industries. As of May 31, India was dependent on imports for 86 per cent of its crude oil consumption; domestic production sufficed the remaining 14 per cent demand.
Jet Airways has complained to India's aviation regulator about the use of its livery on SpiceJet aircraft, saying the practice could "mislead the public" and is a safety hazard. Jet collapsed in 2019 and lessors repossessed its Boeing 737s. Some of these aircraft were leased to SpiceJet, which operates them without changing the livery. Jet, which is now being revived by the Kalrock Jalan consortium and aims to restart operations in September, has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ask SpiceJet to stop using its livery.
American retail major Walgreens Boots Alliance on Tuesday said it would retain its pharma retail business - Boots UK - thus abandoning the entire sale process. The company did not make any comment specifically on the offer made by Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL), which had made a bid for the company last month. "As a result of market instability severely impacting financing availability, no third party has been able to make an offer that adequately reflects the high potential value of Boots and No7 Beauty Company.
Amid news of a fuel shortage in some parts of the country and wider unrest over fuel issues in the neighbourhood, an analysis of the data from international tracker globalpetrolprices.com shows that the per litre price of petrol is higher in India than in seven out of its nine neighbours.
According to industry sources, domestic toy manufacturers are seeing a sharp rise in sales during the current financial year. On January 1, 2021, India had banned the sale of toys that are not certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This meant that all factories churning out toys to be sold in India had to be certified by the bureau along with mandatory product testing, including for units abroad.
In one of the biggest donations by a business family in India, the family of Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on Thursday committed to donating Rs 60,000 crore (around $7.7 billion) to various charities related to health care, education, and skill development. The commitment has been made to mark Gautam Adani's 60th birthday on Friday as well as the birth centenary year of his father Shantilal Adani. The corpus will be administered by the Adani Foundation. "At a very fundamental level, [programmes] related to all these three areas should be seen holistically and they collectively form the drivers to build an equitable and future-ready India.
For Pinarayi, a victory in Thrikkakara would have come as public endorsement of his development initiatives, including controversial K-Rail project, which has witnessed widespread protest
As oil marketing companies (OMCs) stare at huge under-recoveries, India is facing fuel shortage across the country with states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Haryana being the worst hit. The under-recoveries suffered by OMCs are around Rs 20-25 a litre for diesel and Rs 14-18 a litre for petrol, said sources. Government and state-run companies denied reports of any crisis or supply-side issues on the availability of fuel.
Visa delays have perturbed Indian visitors this summer. But a solution could be in sight soon, as embassies gear up to address the challenges caused by a spike in applications and staff shortages. While the British High Commission has said it is working urgently to reduce the current visa processing time, the German Embassy has introduced extra shifts to process more visas. However, appointments with the latter are fully booked till August-end due to high volumes.
At least 50 per cent of the 2,000-odd employees at Ford's Chennai factory have agreed to restart work at the unit, a Ford India official said on Monday. The plant had to shut down due to a staff strike that started on May 30. The company also warned protesting workers of loss of pay, effective June 14, and urged them to get back to the shopfloor. Ford said it would continue to hold talks with the unions.
Six consecutive profitable quarters after an equal number of losses - for Bharti Airtel, the turnaround has been quick. But it is not a result of higher tariffs or absence of exceptional items alone. Execution and strategy are playing a part, too. Bharti Airtel's chief executive officer Gopal Vittal summed it up in a post-result conference call last month. "We track the profit in each of our 237,500 (cell) sites.
'We should have calmed down the child. We will do an internal analysis on that.'
An unhappy, restive mood prevails at the Ford factory Maraimala Nagar, 50 km from Chennai, and the surrounding area. The security is tight - not just Ford security personnel but also Tamil Nadu state police who are posted at the main gate. From September 9, when Ford India announced it was phasing out its units in India and leaving, workers at its manufacturing unit at Maraimala Nagar have held onto one hope: that the state government will step in to save their jobs.
Giving a fresh twist to the Ford India employees' strike at the firm's Maraimalai Nagar factory, the company has set the deadline for Monday evening for workers to accept a 'non-negotiable' severance package it is offering. It also indicated the possibility of legal action against workers from June 14 (Tuesday) and warned of early closure of the unit, before completing remaining export volume production. For the past 14 days, some 2,000 employees at the unit had struck work, seeking a better package from the company.
Air India is set to increase capacity on domestic and international routes over the next few months as it overhauls its grounded aircraft. Air India has the approval to operate 2,456 flights per week in the summer schedule. This is more than a 16 per cent increase over 2020. But its international schedule has declined 41 per cent (compared to winter 2019) to 361 weekly departures.