Europe's and Bangkok's loss is turning out to be gain for several other destinations like Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore.
Marriott is also expanding its overall presence in the country. By 2013, it aims to have 40 hotels across categories. Out of these, five hotels -- Jaipur (Marriott), Chandigarh (JW Marriott), Bangalore (JW Marriott) and Pune (Marriott and Courtyard) -- would be opened by the end of 2010.
Tour operators are turning their attention to the coming football madness, with the World Cup tourney set to kick off in 46 days.
From those fresh out of school to retired couples, there is a new emerging segment of travellers keen to see the world in their own specific way.
While convenient destinations like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are the usual suspects, places like Greece, Piedmont, Jordan and Santiago are making their way into the itinerary of the Indian traveller.
The world economy has slipped into a state of stagflation, says Reddy.
In an earlier analysis for the period till April 26, it had been found that of the 365 items in the WPI, the index for as many as 166 items had not been revised for more than four months. The latest analysis as of June 21 shows that the index for around 55 of these 166 items has been revised. In effect, only one-third of the items have seen an index revision. During this period, headline inflation has moved from 8.27 per cent to 11.63 per cent.
The move aimed at blunting Finance Ministry, RBI's opposition to monthly reporting.
The average number of workers a business unit employs is declining for both urban and rural areas.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board, the nodal body for approving foreign direct investment in the country, has given its nod to a proposal from Germany-based Deutsche Bank to buy a 5 per cent stake in the Delhi Stock Exchange.
The panel has also decided to increase the weight of manufactured items and the fuel group in the new index. Accordingly, the new WPI series, with a revised base year of 2004-05, will see the weight of manufactured items go up to around 65 per cent from 63.75 per cent in the present series.
A high-level committee on External Commercial Borrowings chaired by Finance Secretary D Subbarao is expected to take a final view on the matter this week. The committee comprises officials of the ministry of finance and the Reserve Bank of India. A high-level committee on External Commercial Borrowings chaired by Finance Secretary D Subbarao is expected to take a final view on the matter this week.
This lack of regular and detailed disclosure by companies or respondents lies at the core of the problem, one that has gained ground in recent weeks.
A nation-wide housing price index may be a reality soon. The National Housing Bank, in collaboration with the National Council of Applied Economic Research, is close to finalising the methodology to be adopted for the index, named NHB Residex.
The International Monetary Fund has reduced India's contribution to world gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms to 4.6 per cent in 2007 from the earlier estimate of 6.4 per cent.
Even as the government grapples with a surge in prices, a three-year old initiative to recast the index that measures wholesale prices is not getting anywhere fast. The revised index is likely to take at least another year to implement and may spill over into the tenure of the next government.
The duty cuts and export restrictions imposed by the government to control inflation may only have a marginal impact, economists have said. The long-term solution, they say, is to boost agricultural production to enable the sector to ride out of the current slump.
"If the tax holiday is withdrawn, STPIs will lose the level-playing field vis-a-vis special economic zones. We have recommended that the government either withdraw the tax holiday to SEZs or continue the incentive to IT companies," an official with knowledge of the deliberations told Business Standard. STPIs enjoy direct tax exemption under sections 10A and 10B of the Income-Tax Act, 1961. The benefits are scheduled to expire on March 31, 2009.
The project is aimed at meeting the manpower requirements of India's rapidly growing economy, which currently faces a huge skill deficit at all levels of the job chain. The mission, which is expected to start functioning in four to five months from now, will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who will head an "apex committee" with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia as the vice-chairman.
While the economy has been averaging an annual growth rate of around 8.7 per cent for the last five years, the unorganised manufacturing sector is slowing down.