S Kalyana Ramanathan In Chennai

Stories by S Kalyana Ramanathan In Chennai

Vedanta faces heat from activists again

Vedanta faces heat from activists again

Rediff.com   28 Jul 2009

Campaigners from Hamburg-based (Germany) think-tank World Future Council, along with British charity ActionAid, protested against the Church of England and Middlesbrough Borough Council on Monday for investing their pension funds in UK-based metals and mining company Vedanta Resources Plc (with an $8-billion group turnover), whose reputation for trampling human rights and alleged unclean mining practices has been questioned before.

Another outsourcing storm brewing in UK

Another outsourcing storm brewing in UK

Rediff.com   23 Jul 2009

The unions are planning a major protest in Birmingham on July 27, at National Grid's annual general meeting. National Grid is a leading supplier of gas and electricity in Britain and the northeast region of the US. In an e-mail response to queries from Business Standard, a NG spokesperson said the company already outsources some information services support from India, from companies including Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Zensar Technologies.

Jaguar loan: UK govt, Tatas are at loggerheads

Jaguar loan: UK govt, Tatas are at loggerheads

Rediff.com   20 Jul 2009

Reportedly insists on no loan guarantee if the government is not allowed any say in the company's future.

2.38 million Britons jobless

2.38 million Britons jobless

Rediff.com   16 Jul 2009

Jaguar's plan to cut 300 more jobs at its Halewood plant comes at a time when unemployment numbers in the UK have risen to record levels, at 2.38 million.

Jaguar stops making popular model, cuts 300 jobs

Jaguar stops making popular model, cuts 300 jobs

Rediff.com   16 Jul 2009

Jaguar X-TYPE, an 8-yr-old range, constituted nearly a fourth of annual production till now.

Summer shutdown to be shorter: JLR

Summer shutdown to be shorter: JLR

Rediff.com   14 Jul 2009

In a statement correcting media stories that appeared on Sunday suggesting its plants would be shut for longer, a company spokersperson said, "The reality is that our annual summer shutdown begins at the end of next week (July 23) as scheduled and will last for two weeks, with the plants due to restart on August 10. This two-week break is actually a week shorter than the traditional three-week break our plants have previously had."

JLR dangles carrot to push back pays for 15 days

JLR dangles carrot to push back pays for 15 days

Rediff.com   2 Jul 2009

A JLR spokesperson said this offer will apply to nearly 6,000 of its 14,500 employees who are categorised as salaried employees. The rest of the workers are paid weekly. He further said 25 per cent of those to whom this offer was made have already accepted it.

MJ concert organiser faces the music

MJ concert organiser faces the music

Rediff.com   29 Jun 2009

While refund of the 750,000 tickets seems inevitable at this stage, the financial implication of the canceled tour is far from clear.

Corus to cut 2,045 more jobs

Corus to cut 2,045 more jobs

Rediff.com   26 Jun 2009

A statement issued on Thursday by Corus said the consultation process within the company identifies 2,045 jobs as being at risk. Some 1,500 of these are in the company's production facilities -- around 800 at the engineering steels sites, mainly Rotherham and Stocksbridge; about 370 in Corus Tubes in the UK and the Netherlands; and about 375 at downstream rolling and finishing plants in Teesside and Scotland.

A first: Ficci picks up stake in company

A first: Ficci picks up stake in company

Rediff.com   12 Jun 2009

Ficci Secretary-General Amit Mitra said this new not-for-profit organisation had been set up to improve the availability of skilled manpower in India and Ficci had picked a 10 per cent stake in this company for Rs 51 lakh. The Skills Development Corporation itself is empowered with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. A Ficci representative will also be on the board of this company.

Pune most suitable for UK investment: Survey

Pune most suitable for UK investment: Survey

Rediff.com   10 Jun 2009

The survey report, titled Opportunities For UK Plc In Emerging Cities In India, also ranks eight other cities -- Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Goa, Indore, Kochi, Nagpur and Vadodara -- as the most conducive destinations for UK investments in India. While its annexure lists 41 cities in the survey's ranking -- with Pune holding the top rank and Ranchi getting the lowest rank -- it provides a detailed study of nine cities that merit UK investment the most.

European football clubs shoot for India

European football clubs shoot for India

Rediff.com   8 Jun 2009

Experts have estimated that the huge following for European football in India is good reason for these clubs to get active in the country.

No option but to shut UK Corus unit: Tata

No option but to shut UK Corus unit: Tata

Rediff.com   11 May 2009

The British government has said it was "not prepared" to accept an announcement by Tata Steel and its European subsidiary, Corus, that there seemed no option but to indefinitely suspend operations at one of the latter's factories in north-east England, which means loss of around 2,000 jobs.

JLR to enter India 'in a few months'

JLR to enter India 'in a few months'

Rediff.com   29 Apr 2009

The India foray of the two brands, which debuted in 1922 and 1948, respectively, has been hastened by their new Indian owner, Tata Motors, which took over in 2008 from Ford Motor Company of the US. The spokesperson said Tata Motors would be the distributor of these brands in India.

Jaguar close to Rs 5,840-crore loan

Jaguar close to Rs 5,840-crore loan

Rediff.com   13 Apr 2009

Sunday Times reports Tata Group has agreed in principle to invest pound 100 million alongside refinancing.

JLR gets Rs 2,500 cr to build a greener car

JLR gets Rs 2,500 cr to build a greener car

Rediff.com   8 Apr 2009

The board of the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank on Tuesday approved a pound 340 million (Rs 2,500 crore) loan to the Tatas-owned Jaguar Land Rover to support efforts to make low-emission cars.

VWgets Rs 664 cr for Pune plant

VWgets Rs 664 cr for Pune plant

Rediff.com   8 Apr 2009

Loan approval marks EIB's first direct exposure to a plant in India.

G20 agrees to $1.1 trillion stimulus package

G20 agrees to $1.1 trillion stimulus package

Rediff.com   3 Apr 2009

To take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens.

Tatas forced to justify JLR buy

Tatas forced to justify JLR buy

Rediff.com   30 Mar 2009

A year after the Tata group took over the two of Britain's most iconic automobile brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, it is faced with newer and bigger challenges than it would have expected when it paid $2.3 billion to Ford for the acquisitions on March 26, 2008.

Tata to UK govt: Help Jaguar or I'll cut jobs

Tata to UK govt: Help Jaguar or I'll cut jobs

Rediff.com   25 Mar 2009

Tata's comments come a little over two weeks after JLR management and its workers agreed to a two-year pay freeze, subject to no compulsory layoffs for the next two years. This is also the first time the Tata chairman has made a direct public appeal to the UK government for credit support.