With global trade expected to shrink drastically in 2009, the issue of increasing protectionism is expected to come up for an intense discussion at the summit in London among the leaders of the advanced and developing economies which account for over 80 per cent of the multilateral trade.
Troubled financial services firm Citigroup is inviting bids for selling its Japanese brokerage unit, Nikko Cordial, in an effort to raise over $5 billion, a media report says.
The top executives of American entities Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley will forego their yearly bonuses amid the Wall Street executives coming under fire for the ongoing financial turmoil, say media reports.
And what happens next?
In what could raise questions about his ability to rule Pakistan, a newspaper has claimed that Asif Ali Zardari, the country's leading contender for presidency, was suffering from severe mental problems as recently as last year.
The buying of the aircraft was 'seen as a misuse of money at a time when the bank is reliant on public support'. The report said that Citi, which earlier insisted that it would go ahead with the purchase of the jet, backed out after officials acting for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, expressed strong opposition to the move.
The troubled financial services major Citigroup's deal to sell its brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley is expected to bring about $4 billion tax revenue to the US government.
President Barack Obama is voicing optimism that this week's crucial G20 summit will set the framework for recovery, saying that world leaders know they must 'deliver a strong message of unity' for the sake of the global economy.
The cutback in production has been announced on top of three days' production halt this month and would impact most of Toyota's models made in Japan, excluding those outsourced to subcontractors, the report revealed. Further, sales of new vehicles in Japan slumped to the lowest level in three decades in 2008 as recession hit Asia's biggest economy, piling pressure on its auto giants, an industry group had said.
With no signs of financial aid coming from the UK government, Indian conglomerate Tatas have agreed to inject "tens of millions of pounds" into its British car company Jaguar Land Rover, says a media report.
India-born Vikram Pandit led world's biggest bank Citigroup is planning to overhaul its bonus system, aimed to increase co-operation and minimise in-fighting among disparate parts of the conglomerate, a media report said.
Arun Sarin, the former chief executive of telecom giant Vodafone, who was reportedly in the race for the CEO post at Internet major Yahoo has decided not to accept the offer, says a media report.
The head of Pantaloon, India 's leading retailer, has warned that high property prices in big Indian cities are threatening the country's burgeoning retail industry and adding to the pressures brought on by soaring construction and labour costs
According to the Financial Times, Credit Suisse will be trimming its workforce by 10 per cent leading to job loss for 650 employees, while HSBC said it was slashing 500 jobs. Credit Suisse has been impacted by the loan writedowns, which has led to two quarters of losses for Switzerland's second-largest bank this year, the report said.
According to the newspaper, Lakshmi Mittal said large parts of manufacturing industry would not suffer the same problems as those parts of the world economy more closely linked to banking and finance such as housing and consumer goods. The India-origin billionaire indicated that substantial parts of the broad industrial sector across the world would perform in a satisfactory way in the next one to two years.
NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has suffered a $50 billion decline in the value of shares he holds in the ArcelorMittal following the global financial meltdown, a leading economic daily has claimed.
Gains were led by HUL on better-than-expected margins in March quarter and capital goods shares.
They say 'money can't buy you happiness,' but a new study has proved the opposite. Researchers at Wharton Business School have carried out the study and found that inhabitants of richer nations are happier than those of poorer countries, the Financial Times has reported. Their finding contradicts years of wisdom that higher national gross domestic product often did not translate into a greater overall sense of well-being.
Engaging India is an online column analysing the issues, trends and forces behind the business and politics shaping India and its impact on the world. Engaging India appears on Thursday mornings exclusively on FT.com India, a dedicated online section on India, and is written by Jo Johnson, the Financial Times' South Asia bureau chief; Amy Yee, New Delhi correspondent; and Joe Leahy, Mumbai correspondent.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Anil Ambani, whose flagship company Reliance Communications is in talks with South Africa-based MTN, is looking to buy more than 40 per cent stake in the telecom major, a media report said on Tuesday.
Britain's new points-based immigration system may become a 'retrograde step' as it prevents India and other developing countries from exporting information technology systems and personnels to the country, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has said. "The new regime can make it harder for software and other IT executives to travel back and forth between India and the UK, imperiling their ability to fulfill service contracts," Nath told the Financial Times.
The Financial Times reported that Ambani hopes to be a major shareholder in RCom and MTN after the firms combine in a reverse takeover. Ambani would pay an extra $4 to $5 billion in cash to bring his stake in MTN to his target level of 34.9 per cent, the ceiling beyond which he would be forced to make a general offer for MTN, the newspaper said in an article published in its online edition.
Tibetans are losing faith in the Dalai Lama's conciliatory 'middle way' because of China's refusal to strike a deal with him over the region's future, the exiled spiritual leader said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Dean of ISB, M Rammohan Rao on ISB's new programmes, their unique selling proposition, placement programme, their recently launched pre-doctoral programme and dearth of quality faculty crunch faced by Indian management schools.
Google's comments echo figures released recently by AT&T and O2, which carry the iPhone exclusively in the US and UK respectively.
Bharti Airtelis looking to buy assets in emerging markets - the latest sign that India 's biggest mobile phone operator could broaden its base. One would see Bharti, which has a market value of $44bn, make a partial tender offer for a 51 per cent stake in MTN. This would allow MTN to retain its listing in Johannesburg and reduce the debt Bharti would need to take on to finance a deal.
It is Aditya Mittal, son of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and CFO of ArcelorMittal, who persuaded his father to accept a shareholding of below 51 per cent in the company post its takeover of European giant Arcelor. Before Arcelor takeover, Mittal family held an 88 per cent stake in Mittal Steel. Aditya, who visited a steel plant first at the age of eight, joined his father in early 1997, after working for less than a year as an investment banker at CSFB.
The changes afoot in the capital may herald the beginning of the end of India's long infrastructural nightmare.
When Anil Ambani, the billionaire businessman, launched the initial public offering of his company, Reliance Power, this week, he received enough orders to cover the $3bn listing within one minute of its opening.
With the murder of Benazir Bhutto just days before the elections, and with the government coming up with new stories everyday about her death, the report says that Musharaff's position is probably now more insecure and he might not remain in power by the end of the year.
The Mumbai traffic police, in a move that runs against the very culture of driving in this city of 18m, have begun cracking down on noisy motorists.
The Tata Group had acquired its UK steel operations as part of a 6.7 billion pounds acquisition from Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2009.
In an interview with the Financial Times last week, Jos Luis Duran, Carrefour's chief executive, said he was poised to sign a retail joint venture in India.
Union ministers fanned out across the country to highlight the crackdown on black money to mark the first anniversary of demonetisation on Wednesday which the Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated as "Anti Black Money Day" while the Congress-led Opposition observed it as "Black Day" with street protests.
Bharti Airtel, India 's leading mobile operator, said it could "move pretty quickly" if the board of MTN, the South Africa-based telecoms group, puts itself up for sale on Monday.
What a weaker dollar really does is to encourage American and international investors to invest in non-American markets. The more the dollar drops, the more global equities rise. Many Asian currencies are hitting record highs against the dollar.
He added that Suzuki could not build a car for the same price as the Nano without sacrificing quality and standards.
A World Bank report released last week projected that remittances to developing countries alone will reach $240bn this year compared to $221bn in 2006, with Asia receiving $114bn.
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