Business News: General

The Minister of Corporate Affairs has said that market regulator Sebi is working on guidelines for setting the price band of IPOs.

After bottoming out in March, exports have shown steady improvement during each month of the current fiscal.

Infosys Technologies Limited on Friday reported a 7.5 percent rise in quarterly profit and said it expected annual sales and profit to fall less than previously forecast as global demand for outsourcing grows.

The floods in south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have lead to an increase in the prices of onions in Maharashtra.

With the Hindu festival of lights Deepavali approaching, the Indian markets are flooded with lamps, lights and statues.

Jammu, October 9 (ANI): Surging gold prices have led the residents of Jammu to buy artificial jewellery instead of gold. The demand for gold normally rises between August and October when consumers buy it in huge quantity for auspicious occasions to celebrate major Hindu festivals like Dussehra, Diwali and Dhanteras. But as the gold prices are on a rise, buyers have resort to artificial jewellery.

Even as the Sensex managed to close in the green zone, telecom stocks were hammered further on Thursday amidst worries falling tariffs and increased competition will squeeze profit margins of the sector.

After the fall in telecom companies on Tuesday, it was the turn of tech companies on Wednesday. Shares of tech companies fell on concern that a surging rupee would hit the profit margins of the export-driven sector. Even as the rupee rose by another 22 paise to 46.66/67 against the US currency, the 30-share Sensex closed down 151.88 points at 16,806.66.

A Thai delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu is touring through India today and tomorrow, touting the anticipated expansion of the Thai-Indian bilateral Free Trade Agreement.

Tourism in Sikkim is on an increase, thanks to its natural beauty and peaceful environment. Around 2, 80,000 tourists visited Sikkim in the first five months of 2009, which is nearly 35 percent more than the last year.

On Friday, when IT giant Infosys kicks off the quarterly earning season, Dalal Street bulls will come to know whether they are going in the right direction.

The new management at state-owned power equipment major BHEL insists that the company, held responsible for many a project delay, will improve on timeliness thanks to a new office in China besides a revised policy that allows pre-emptive procurement of materials.

Payment of bonus and ex-gratia on arrears for 2008-09 by Tata Steel to its employees in Jamshedpur has sparked resentment among its staff at Corus, its subsidiary in the UK. The trade union at Corus — Community Union — is now considering legal action to force Corus to pay bonus for employees at Hartlepool and Corby.

Preparations are on to light up Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, as firework factories have geared up to do good business during the Hindu festival of Diwali to be celebrated on October 17 across the country.

Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao on Thursday said that India's central bank needs to control inflationary expectations and support growth, and claimed to look at the complete picture of growth before it presents the mid-term review of monetary policy on October 27.

Farmers in Abohar region of Punjab are a worried lot as the government agencies are yet to begin procurement of their cotton produce.

The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that "the global economy has turned a corner" after the harrowing start to 2009 but that only a thorough restructuring of the financial system could prevent a return to crisis and pave the way for solid growth within the next 18 months.

Following the ban imposed by Iran on exporting basmati rice over its quality,Rice exporters in Punjab clearing the doubts said that the 1121 basmati rice variety produced in the state was safe for consumption,having no contents of lead,cadmium or arsenic.

The benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange climbed above 17,000 points on Wednesday for the first time since May 2008.

India's top construction and engineering firm Larsen and Toubro said on Tuesday it planned to invest Dollar500 million to build nuclear reactors, hoping to tap Indian orders for power projects.