The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, December 20, 2008

HDFC, LIC Housing follow banks, cut lending rates
HDFC attributes it to improved operational efficiency and good quality portfolio. Mumbai, Dec. 19 Concerned about losing business to public sector banks, which cut interest rates on home loans earlier this week, leading housing finance companies ...

Chanda Kochhar, ICICI Bank’s new chief
Mumbai, Dec. 19 Backed by strong fundamentals, ICICI Bank is in a position to capitalise opportunities quickly, even in these challenging times, said Ms Chanda Kochhar, who has been appointed as Managing Director and CEO of ICICI ...

Change of guard: Mr K.V. ... Oil exploration cos face heat as crude drops below $35
‘Refining margins could be under pressure’. Mumbai, Dec. 19 Share prices of major oil and gas exploration companies have dipped sharply on the back of the continued slide in international crude oil price after it touched an all-time ...

Reliance Ind may go slow on some projects
To focus more on core biz to deal with meltdown. Mumbai, Dec. 19 Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd may go slow on certain of its planned projects such as the Rs 5,000-crore Rewas port project, the Navi Mumbai SEZ project and the ...

Exporters doing business with Iran feeling the heat
Mumbai, Dec. 19 Exporters doing business with Iran are in a spot, as global security concerns make it more difficult for them to receive payments for their ...

Daiichi gets 2 new members on Ranbaxy board
Shivinder Mohan Singh, Brian Tempest not on new board. New Delhi, Dec 19 Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd announced the reconstitution of the Indian pharma company’s board of ...

Our priority is to win back trust: Satyam founder
Hyderabad, Dec. 19 Satyam Computer Services has begun a fire-fighting exercise to undo the damage done to its image. It says calling off the deal is a message to investors that it listens to their views and ...

Economy will need another booster dose next fiscal
Implement stimulus package properly, says Montek. New Delhi, Dec. 19 The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Friday reiterated the need to properly implement the fiscal stimulus package announced by the ...

Raghuram Rajan warns against going back to ‘old system’
Chennai, Dec. 19 Dr Raghuram Rajan, economist and member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, on Friday warned against the dangers of going back to the old system of economic management, where enterprises ...

NRI funds flow pushing rupee up against dollar
Fed rate cut causes shift to FCNR, NRE deposits. Bangalore, Dec. 19 Foreign currency deposit inflows into the domestic banking system have begun exerting upward pressure on the rupee-dollar ...

MNC staff get extended Christmas break this year
India operations to remain closed till first week of January. Mumbai/Bangalore, Dec. 19 Friday was the last working day in the year for India-based employees of several multinational technology firms. Beginning next week, employees of Cisco, ...

Area under wheat declines marginally
Overall acreage under other crops increases. New Delhi, Dec. 19 Progressive area sown under wheat during the current rabi season has declined marginally to 229.58 lakh hectares (lh), as against 229.79 lh covered during the same period of ...

PM: 20 new IITs, 7 IIMs, 30 Central varsities on cards
Chennai, Dec. 19 The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today said that apart from the proposed eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, the Government proposed to set up another ...

Insurers moving to corporate, bank bonds
Bulk deposits no longer attractive. Bangalore, Dec. 19 With interest in bulk deposits declining, insurers have begun shifting attention to corporate and bank tier two ...

IIT alumnus who got an early whiff of N-opportunity
PM Dimensions, India’s only trainer in sector. Mumbai, Dec. 19 About 18 months ago when the Indo-US nuclear deal started hitting the headlines, Mr Makrand Rajadhyaksha scented an ...

Oberoi staff working overtime for Sunday reopening
Mumbai, Dec. 19 The mood at the Oberoi and Trident hotels in Mumbai is distinctly buoyant even while the terror attacks are fresh in ...

Markets this week (Latest Audio:English/Tamil)
On Monday, following its Asian peers, the Sensex opened with a gain of 122 points from the previous week's close, and went on to touch an intraday high at ...

Dipping westerlies fan moisture to northwest
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec. 19 A trough in the westerlies dipping to as low as 13 degree south latitude caused moisture from the available pool over southwest Arabian Sea to be sprayed fountain-like over Pakistan and adjoining northwest India ...