Bussines News

Mumbai, July 18 (IANS) The Aditya Birla group-promoted Ultratech Cement has announced a net profit of $66.25 million (Rs.2.65 billion) during the first quarter this fiscal, compared to $64.84 million (Rs.2.59 billion) for the corresponding period the previous year, registering a growth of two percent.

Mumbai, July 18 (IANS) Maxwell Industries Ltd, promoters of Indian innerwear major VIP Group, is planning to diversify into the lifestyle and wellness segment, the company's chairman and managing director Sunil Pathare said here Friday.

Chennai, July 18 (IANS) The financial products distribution arm of LIC Housing Finance Limited will initially begin operations in Mumbai, a top company official said here Friday.

Shimla, July 18 (IANS) Traffic snarls on the Himachal Pradesh-Haryana border may ease soon, as the environment ministry has given its nod to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to cut down 12 hectares of forests for an 11-km-long bypass.

Ranchi, July 18 (IANS) Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is unhappy about the way the Jharkhand government is dragging its feet over the renewal of iron ore mining leases, says Kiran Kapoor, the company's executive director (raw materials).

Chennai, July 18 (IANS) Even as interest rates are inching up and inflation soaring, the LIC Housing Finance Company is confident of growing ahead of the industry's average growth rate, a top company official here said.

New York, July 18 (DPA) Troubled US investment bank Merrill Lynch, the country's third largest securities firm, has reported writedowns of $9.7 billion as the economy slows.

Bangalore, July 18 (IANS) Wipro Ltd remains cautious in the near-term on revenue guidance from its combined IT services despite a healthy topline and bottomline growth in the first quarter (April-June) of this fiscal (2008-09) over the same period last fiscal.

London, July 18 (IANS) Reports that child labour may be in use in the quarrying of the world-famous sandstone in Rajasthan has led some British companies to tighten their import guidelines.

Mumbai, July 18 (IANS) Indian equity markets, which opened with a gain Fridfay, stayed in the positive zone in initial trade, with demand for banking, realty and capital goods stocks.

Mumbai, July 18 (IANS) The Indian equities market opened with a gain Friday. The 30 share benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened with a gain of 122.68 points at 13,234.53 points.

Washington, July 18 (IANS) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered India's growth forecast from 9.3 percent in 2007 to 8 percent in 2008-09 as it predicted the world economy now 'in a tough spot' would grow by 4.1 percent this year.

Bangalore, July 18 (IANS) Wipro Ltd has projected combined revenue of $1.09 billion from its flagship IT services business for the second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal (2008-09) under the American accounting standards.

Bangalore, July 18 (IANS) Wipro Ltd posted net profit of Rs.9.08 billion for the first quarter (April-June) of this fiscal (2008-09), registering 25 percent growth over the same period last fiscal under the Indian accounting standards.

Sarai Bawari (Rajasthan), July 18 (IANS) This village is home to a 400-year-old step well whose sparkling waters brim with fish, some weighing nearly 10 kg. But don't try to catch any - or you will be fined.

Washington, July 18 (IANS) A US Congressional committee is set to investigate whether the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) knowingly allowed Indian pharma giant Ranbaxy to distribute allegedly suspect drugs in the US.

New York, July 18 (DPA) Stocks rallied on Wall Street for a second day Thursday on falling oil prices as companies have begun to report better than expected fourth quarter earnings.

Chennai, July 17 (IANS) The strike by workers at the Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd (NLC) was called off Thursday after talks between the management and the PMK-backed Pattali Thozil Sangam (PTS).

Mumbai, July 17 (IANS) The war of words between the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and Reliance Industries over the proposed consolidation talks with South African telecom giant MTN continued Thursday - this time over an arbitration notice.

San Francisco, July 17 (DPA) In a sharp letter to stockholders, Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang said that the alliance between investor Carl Icahn and Microsoft would 'destroy shareholder value' with a plan that they called 'stupefying'.