After repeated letters of protest by the IOA failed to move the International Olympic Committee, the Indian government has now stepped in by asking the international body to drop Dow Chemicals as sponsor of this year's London Games for the company's link to the Bhopal Gas tragedy.
The 50-50 partnership would bring together BSE's closely watched India index suite, which includes the Sensex, with S&P Dow Jones Indices' 115 years of experience in publishing transparent and independent global benchmarks.
London Olympics organizers, on Monday, made it clear that it was never their intention that Dow Chemical's name would be on the fabric wrap around the main stadium for the Games and the company has now agreed to remove its branding.
Three Bhopal gas tragedy survivors' organisations have opposed West Bengal government's move to invite Dow Chemicals to the proposed chemical hub in Haldia after the state government failed to acquire land at Nandigram.
London politicians called on Olympic officials to rethink their sponsorship contract with Dow Chemical on Wednesday, saying the company's links to the 1984 Bhopal disaster damaged the reputation of this month's Games.
Dow India would comply with all the directives stated by the government to work outa solution to the current situation, the company said. Recently the company's research facility at Chakan was razed by a group of villagers, following which members of the Warkari sect claimed responsibility for the act, saying they would not allow the facility to come up at a place which is sacred to the followers of the 17th century Bhakti movement saint Tukaram.
The Indian Oympic Association came down heavily on the Government for adopting double standards on Dow Chemicals' sponsorship of the London Games and said the Sport Ministry's plans of selective boycott of the London Olympics will have "serious repercussions".
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan urged the government to boycott next year's London Olympics because of the event's sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical company, according to local media reports.
DJSI is an international indicator, which tracks the financial performance of companies having outstanding sustainability conduct.
United Phosphorus Ltd has purchased the US-based Dow AgroScience LLC's oryzalin herbicide business, including Surflan, for $21.3 million.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Union Carbide Corporation, Dow Chemicals and others on a Centre's plea seeking enhancement of compensation to the victims of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy from Rs 750 crore to Rs 7,700 crore.
'India's fundamentals are a lot better (than those of other emerging market economies).' 'India will suffer (witness a fall in its stock market) what I call the second order effect.' 'And the second order will happen when these funds (belonging to macro and hedge fund investors and which have leveraged Japanese yen-carry trades), because they lose money elsewhere as lot of their positions were financed by borrowing Japanese yen, will have to book profits in investment destinations where they are making money, including in markets like India.' 'They (these investors) will have to effectively sell in countries like India and which is the consequence (the crash in equity markets) that Indian markets might see.'
A children's movement in Bhopal takes on the might of Dow Chemicals.
"If I go there at all, I would be addressing the (US-India) CEOs meeting and also have some bilateral meetings with Treasury officials. I do not know of any other meeting. I do not know from where these things come," he told media persons in Ahmedabad when asked about reports about his plans to meet with Dow Chemicals CEO Andrew Liveris in the US.
One of the world's most-watched index reached a record high yesterday. Here are some key takeaways for investors.
In a major development that will allow Indian investors access to the American market, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has decided to begin trading in futures contracts of S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), two of the world's most influential market indices.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped to a lifetime peak of Rs 404.18 lakh crore on Thursday helped by a five-day rally in benchmark indices, making investors richer by Rs 11.29 lakh crore. Recovering after a sell-off in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 486.50 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 74,339.44 on Thursday. During the day, it surged 718.31 points or 0.97 per cent to 74,571.25.
Amid growing resentment over Dow Chemicals' association with the London Olympics, the IOA's Executive Board decided to write a 'strong' protest letter to the IOC, seeking the removal of the company as a sponsor of the Games next year.
Pune villagers are protesting against Maharashtra govt's move to give about 40 hectare of grazing land to Dow Chemicals for a R&D facility in Shendi village. The area's dairy business has suffered due to this and the villagers were also not informed. Activists say there is no environmental impact assessment report for the project. Over 10 villages in the Pune district have launched protests to save their grazing land, by not allowing construction material into their villages.
The international chemical giant Dow will invest $100 million in Research and Development (R&D) facility at Chakan, near Pune. The centre may be fully functional by 2010. The R&D facility would come up in the 100-acres, and will employ 500 researchers.
The backing of the 16-member board on Tuesday sends the offer to the Bancroft family, which controls the majority voting shares of the company, for a final vote.
Investors' wealth eroded by Rs 6 lakh crore in a single day on Wednesday as the BSE benchmark Sensex tumbled over 790 points. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 790.34 points or 1.08 per cent to settle at 72,304.88. During the day, it slumped 872.93 points or 1.19 per cent to 72,222.29.
Among the Sensex firms, major winners included Tata Steel, rising 3.77 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, which gained 3.62 per cent. IndusInd Bank and PowerGrid closed with a gain of 3,60 and 3.34 per cent, respectively. Other gainers were Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserve and Bharti Airtel, among others. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and TCS were the only laggards, sliding up to 2.94 per cent.
Global index developer Dow Jones Indexes, in partnership with Dharma Investments, on Tuesday launched 'Dharma Indexes,' which measure the performance of companies selected according to the value systems of religions, especially Hinduism and Buddhism.
Rupee-denominated contracts will be traded from 9 am to 5 pm.
The two entities are in talks for launching option contracts based on the US index at the Indian exchange.
The Indian Olympic Association on Monday expressed deep concern at Dow Chemical Company's sponsorship role in the 2012 London Olympics and said it would write to the organisers to reconsider the decision.
It has emerged that a senior US government functionary offered to help India garner greater funding from the World Bank in return for protecting Dow Chemicals from possible legal fallout from the gas tragedy.
As Air Force One landed in India's financial capital with promises of bonding between the United States and the country in many sectors, one of the key people missing from Barack Obama's 200-member business delegation was, The Dow Chemical Company chief.
The apparent linkage had been implied by a report on the Times Now news channel that disclosed an email exchange between US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
The issue of allowing trading in indices such as the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) is being considered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
A day ahead of the crucial General Body Meeting of the Indian Olympic Association on the controversial Dow Chemicals issue, its acting president VK Malhotra, on Wednesday, demanded the company to be removed from being one of the sponsors of the 2012 London Games.
Notwithstanding persistent claims by the multinational chemical company that it has no plans to convert the R&D center into a manufacturing unit across the 100 acres of land it has acquired through Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation at village Shinde, the protest by locals and activists continues.
The board of Dow Jones and Co. has decided to take no action on the $5 billion unsolicited bid for the company by media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the company has announced.
Investors should use a mix of active and passive funds.
Dow Chemicals will be converting its Pune unit into a global R&D centre that will focus on a wide spectrum of products.