All low-cost laptops and desktops come pre-loaded with a Linux OS or a DOS version (obsolete on desktops). The installation of a legal Microsoft operating system (OS) and office suite (for word, excel, etc) will increase the price of the desktop or laptop by 20 to 35 per cent.
If good stocks were available at throwaway prices, penny stocks found no takers. For instance, Hari Gundecha faced a strange dilemma. He had made profits, buying into Harig Crankshafts when the stock was quoting at Rs 1.30 a share but he could not exit the stock on Tuesday. The stock had run up to Rs 7.61 a share and was quoting at Rs 4.48 a share on Tuesday.
Logix, a company dealing in automative e-retailing solutions, is negotiating the acquisition of a US firm.
In the last three months, attrition of the company has come down by 25 per cent. The company's attrition on an average ranges from 38 to 58 per cent annually.
The Express group is expected to get around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) from the deal.
"With all kinds of stocks flying around, investing can't be a part-time job," says Bruce Greenwald, professor of finance at the Columbia Business School.
A recent US Department of State directive to the US consular posts now requires consulting an electronic record for visa issuance in these categories.
Indian IT-BPO firms are looking at Philipines as a viable option to build outsourcing centres.
On December 17, Sebi put out a note on the introduction of new products in the futures and options segment. That was followed by permission for short-selling by institutional investors on December 20, stating that the securities lending and borrowing mechanism would be put in place along with short-selling, which will begin from February.
Sebi is planning to fast track mutual fund products. This move will speed up the approval process and help fund houses to cater to investor demands.
The year 2007 surely belonged to the Indian gaming industry. Though investments made were larger than the returns, the number of people playing games certainly grew.
If you search for Benazir Bhutto on the Net, chances are that you would reach a malicious website that will steal your money and personal details stored on the computer and may even crash the system. All this if you do not have a genuine anti-virus installed on the PC.
Matrix's new SIM offering promises less paperwork.
Technology, auto, FMCG and pharmaceutical stocks may be the most battered sectors of the Indian stock market this year. But select mutual fund schemes were able to notch up good returns despite being in these sectors by tweaking the investment mandate and smart stock-picking within the mid- and small-cap segments.
The declining prices of mobile handsets and low connectivity costs have helped in doubling Internet access through cellphones this year.
The Essar group firm is in talks with 7-10 companies for a "strategic fit", as it races to become a $500 million company by 2010. In some of these cases the due diligence process is in progress. Aegis is looking at firms in the US, South America and the Philippines.
Indian asset management companies (AMCs) are likely to see a hefty spike in their valuations, after the last week's 5 per cent equity stake sale by Reliance Mutual Fund to US-based hedge fund Eton Park.
Consider these numbers. The latest figures from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reveal that the number of Indians using their mobiles to logon to the internet has increased from 16 million in 2006 to 38 million in 2007 (both GSM and CDMA).
Players such as Net4, Sify and Worldphone Internet Services are offering International long distance (ILD) calls that work out to less than a rupee a minute by using a technology called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Around 80 million minutes worth of calls are made via VoIP every month (legally), according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
With the listing of Reliance gold ETF on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday, four fund houses (Benchmark, UTI Mutual Fund and Kotak Mutual Fund being the other three) currently offer gold ETFs to Indian investors.