Singapore forecasts up to 3 percent growth for 2012
Singapore, Nov 21 (IANS) The Singapore economy is expected to grow by 1 to 3 percent next year on weak external demand and sluggish global economy, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said Monday.
"Global economic conditions are expected to remain subdued in 2012, with the outlook clouded by increased uncertainty and financial volatility," it said in a report on the performance of the economy.
The forecast for the year 2011 remained unchanged at 5 percent, reported Xinhua.
The ministry revised its reading of third-quarter economic growth to an annualised 1.9 percent on quarter-on-quarter basis, up from the initial estimate of 1.3 percent. The year-on-year growth for the quarter was 6.1 percent, up from 1 percent in the second quarter.
The manufacturing sector expanded by 14.2 percent year on year and the construction sector grew by 0.3 percent. The wholesale and retail trade fell by 0.2 percent, mainly due to weak exports. The financial sector grew by 10.5 percent.
The ministry said it expected the growth in the fourth quarter to weaken alongside deteriorating external macroeconomic conditions, with the weak electronics cluster likely to record low output and have a knock-on effect on precision engineering and wholesale trade.
The biomedical manufacturing cluster is expected to see a pullback in growth following the strong surge in the third quarter. The financial services sector is also expected to moderate.
Separate statistics released by trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore showed that the country's non-oil domestic exports in the third quarter shrank by 1.1 percent, following a growth of 1.9 percent in the second quarter.
The non-oil domestic export growth for 2011 was downgraded to 2-3 percent from 6-7 percent, while total trade was downgraded to 8-9 percent from 9-10 percent.
The non-oil domestic export growth forecast for 2012 was expected to be between 3-5 percent, while total trade was expected to grow by 3-5 percent, too.
The impact of weak external demand is beginning to be seen recently, with the non-oil domestic exports falling by 16.2 percent in October, led by a plunge of 51 percent for exports to the US and 31 percent in exports to the European Union.
IT spending in India to grow 9 percent by 2012 at $79.8
2011/11/21 17:16:58 New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Despite global economic challenges, enterprises will continue to invest in Information Technology (IT) with IT spending in India projected to grow 9.1 percent at $79.8 billion (Rs.4,154.79 billion) in 2012 against $71.1 billion in 2011, a study said Monday.
"IT spending in India is projected to total $79.8 billion in 2012, a 9.1 percent increase from 2011 spending of $73.1 billion," said research and advisory firm Gartner Inc.
According to the study, India is the ninth-largest economy in the world, and the pace of economic growth in India -- with a mild dip during the worldwide recession in late 2008 and 2009 -- has brought the role of IT into sharp focus within many enterprises.
"India like other emerging markets continues exercising strong momentum despite inflationary pressures and appreciation of local currencies, which are expected in rising economies," it said.
The study also forecasts that the worldwide IT spending will reach nearly $3.7 trillion in 2011. From this amount, emerging economies will account for $1.013 trillion.
"Businesses are increasingly looking to IT to help support the challenges of enhancing customer support, supply chain management, optimizing business processes or helping drive innovation in the business," said Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research.
"These demands are being placed on IT in an environment in which the infrastructure (hardware and software) foundation of IT within many enterprises may not be entirely in place. IT is also in transition from being viewed as a back-office support function to a frontline business-focused function," he added.
The telecommunications market is the largest IT segment in India with IT spending forecast to reach $54.7 billion in 2012, followed by the IT services market with spending of $11.1 billion.
The computing hardware market in India is projected to reach $10.7 billion in 2012, and software spending will total $3.2 billion.
The study said that the days when IT was the passive observer of the world are over as global politics and the global economy are being shaped by IT today.
"IT is a primary driver of business growth. For example, this year 350 companies will each invest more than $1 billion in IT," said Sondergaard adding that two-thirds of chief executive officers (CEOs) believe IT will make a greater contribution to their industry in the next 10 years than any prior decades.
"They are doing this because IT impacts their business performance," he added.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Monday said the state is better positioned now to push the reform process forward and she is confident that the state would log double digit growth over the next five years.
Stating that her government is confident of facing domestic and international challenges to achieve inclusive growth, she said: "We are also better placed now than at any time in the recent past to push the reform process forward."
She was speaking at the National Executive Committee meeting of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here.
According to her, the government will revitalize the manufacturing sector by launching "a package of second generation reforms".
She said the government will come out with a new industrial policy and also sector specific policies for automobiles and auto components, bio-technology and pharma sectors.
"Our re-oriented strategy of development focuses on a strong policy and regulatory leadership by the government, dynamism and competitive efficiency of the private sector and enthusiastic participation of the people through local democratic institutions," she said.
Referring to the Planning Commission's approach paper to the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017) where the growth target was indicated as 9-9.5 percent she said: "My government is therefore aiming to exceed the national average growth rates and make Tamil Nadu grow faster than the rest of India. In fact, we had done this in the past and an encore is not far off."
"In 2005-06, Tamil Nadu under my government clocked an overall growth rate of 13.3 percent and the manufacturing sector had registered a growth rate of 14.6 percent. However, these growth rates dipped in successive years. I am very confident of repeating double digit growth rates in the next five years."
Stressing that industry cannot grow on its own unless there is all round growth in the agricultural sector, Jayalalithaa said her government has chalked out a new strategy for the achieving four percent growth of primary sector.
"We will usher in this second green revolution to improve agricultural production by addressing the productivity gap and through value addition. We have also set for ourselves an ambitious goal of two to three times increase in farmers' per capita income within five years," she said.
Referring to the power situation in the state she said by the end of 2012, the state will have additional capacity of 4,640 MW and the government is planning to undertake measures to add 23,140 MW to the existing installed capacity of 10,237 MW over the next five years. (IANS)
2011/11/4 5:13:43 (IANS) Computer chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) said it plans to cut its global workforce by about 10 percent in a move to reduce operational costs.
The layoff will occur across all functions globally and is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2012, the company said Thursday.
The cuts will amount to about 1,400 jobs, according to estimates by analysts.
Combined with implementing efficiencies across the company's operations, AMD expected that the workforce reduction will result in operational savings of more than $200 million in 2012, reported Xinhua.
"Reducing our cost structure and focusing our global workforce on key growth opportunities will strengthen AMD's competitiveness and allow us to aggressively pursue a balanced set of strategic activities designed to accelerate future growth," Rory Read, AMD's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
As the world's second largest maker of processors for computers, AMD has been suffering from the slowdown of global PC market and is seen as slow to move into new mobile device market.
The operational savings will help accelerate the company's future growth in emerging markets and in the cloud computing field, AMD said.
2011/9/30 0:33:06 The US economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the second quarter, compared with an earlier estimate of 1 percent, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The department's third and final calculation of GDP growth in April-June was slightly above the 1.2 percent forecast by analysts and coincided with government economists' initial second-quarter numbers.
US growth domestic product grew by only 0.4 percent in the first three months of 2011.
The upward revision in GDP and Thursday's announcement that new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to 391,000 - the lowest level since April - combined to spur modest advances in the financial markets.
The Commerce Department report also indicated that consumer spending rose by 0.7 percent in the second quarter, better than the previous estimate of a 0.4 percent increase.
Consumer spending accounts fuels around 70 percent of US economic activity.
The figure for corporate profits in the second quarter was likewise revised upward, from 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent.
The US unemployment rate remains at 9.1 percent more than two years after the end of the worst slump since the Great Depression. Last month, for the first since February 1945, the US economy created no net new jobs. (IANS)
Food inflation in double-digits for second straight week
2011/10/27 7:27:05 New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) Prices of pulses, vegetables and milk shot up during the week ended Oct 15, taking India's food inflation to 11.43 percent from 10.6 in the week before, official data showed Thursday.
This is the second consecutive week that food inflation has stayed in double digit levels.
The soaring food inflation comes even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked key interest rates for the 13th straight time Tuesday. The central bank and the government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, however, have maintained that they expected inflation to fall from December.
Overall inflation has remained stubbornly high near double-digit since January 2010. The headline inflation based on the wholesale price index was recorded at 9.72 percent in September, according to latest official data.
"Inflation rate will begin falling in December 2011 and then continue down a steady path to 7 percent by March 2012. It is expected to moderate further in the first half of 2012-13," RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao had said while reading out the second quarter monetary policy review.
Subbarao said for food inflation to ease on a sustainable basis, the government needed to step in and removed infrastructure bottlenecks and accelerate reforms in the agriculture and allied sectors.
In the week under review, the primary articles index, which has a 20.12 percent weight in the wholesale price index, rose by 11.75 percent during the week under review as compared to 11.18 percent in the previous week, according to data made available by the commerce and industry ministry.
The index of fuel and power declined marginally to 14.7 percent.
During the week ended Oct 15, the index for non-food articles again showed a significant decline, growing at a slower rate of 7.67 percent as compared to 8.51 percent in the previous week.
The following are the yearly rise and fall in prices under review of some main commodities that form the sub-index for food articles:
Onions: (-) 18.93 percent
Vegetables: 25 percent
Fruits: 11.96 percent
Potatoes: (-)0.45 percent
Eggs, meat, fish: 12.82 percent
Cereals: 4.62 percent
Rice: 4.26 percent
Wheat: (-) 0.95 percent
Pulses: 9.06 percent
If inflation comes down as projected by March, the central bank said it could focus on offering incentives for growth.
Tata Motors Q2 consolidated net profit down 15.55 percent
2011/11/14 17:26:11 Mumbai, Nov 14 (IANS) Indian automobile giant Tata Motors Monday reported a 15.55 percent decline in the consolidated net profit, at Rs.1,877 crore, for the quarter ended Sep 30 as against Rs.2,223 crore during the same period of the previous financial year.
Revenue stood at Rs.36,198 crore during the quarter under review, up 26.9 percent compared to Rs.28,519 crore during the like period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Tata Motors' sales of commercial and passenger vehicles for the first half of the financial year stood at 409,006 units representing a growth of 2.8 percent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Segment-wise, Jaguar Land Rover sale for the first half of 2011-12 stood at 130,090 units representing a growth of 13.8 percent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year on the back of better product mix and with strong growth in China and Russia.
Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles registered net revenue of Rs.902 crore and recorded a net profit of Rs.3 crore during the quarter under review.
Tata Motors Finance, the company's financing subsidiary, registered a net revenue of Rs.471 crore and reported a net profit of Rs.52 crore during the quarter.
At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the shares of the company closed 2.09 percent lower at Rs.177.90.
2011/10/13 6:56:59 The government Thursday announced various incentives, including interest subsidy, worth around Rs.1,700 crore to boost the growth of exports in view of the slowing demand in US and European markets.
"It is difficult to put the number, but my guess is the total financial outgo will be around Rs.1,700 crore," Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said at a press conference here.
He said nearly half the financial outgo would be in the form of interest subvention or subsidy on interest. "Interest rate subvention itself will cost around Rs.800-1,000 crore. Other schemes will cost roughly around Rs.800-900 crore," he said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma Thursday announced the annual review to the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14.
The minister announced several schemes to keep the growth momentum in the foreign trade.
"We have been able to secure interest subvention of two percent on rupee export credit which have been extended up to the end of the current financial year," he said.
The subsidy will be available to exporters with retrospective effect from April 1, 2011 until March 31, 2012. The earlier interest subsidy scheme had lapsed at the end of last fiscal.
To promote market diversification, the minister said the government would provide four percent duty credit to exporters under a new Special Focus Market Scheme.
"We are introducing today a special focus market scheme. It will cover 41 countries - 12 from Latin America, 22 from Africa and seven from CIS countries," Sharma said.
The government has also introduced a new scheme to provide special assistance to engineering, pharmaceutical and chemical sectors for the period of 6 months.
The new Special Bonus Benefit Scheme will cover 50 products, including hand tools, gas compressors, motorcycles and goods vehicles, carbon black, potassium iodide, niacin amide, erythromycin and its derivatives and ciprofloxacine.
Under the scheme duty credit of one percent will be given. The scheme is applicable from Oct 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012.
In view of the slowdown of demand in US and European countries, the government has extended the market linked focus product scheme to these countries as well.
India's exports have risen by 52.1 percent to $160 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal.
The growth in exports has declined in the recent two months mainly because of the slowdown in demands of Indian goods in US and European countries due to economic uncertainties. (IANS)
Tyre major MRF Ltd, with a revenue of Rs.10,000 crore, is looking to acquire tyre plants and rubber plantations overseas for its growth and to improve its margins, said a top company official.
"We are looking at acquisitions in Europe, China and South East Asia for existing tyre plants and rubber plantations, chairman K.M. Mammen told reporters here Monday. "Acquisition is a quicker way to expand overseas. We are studying the prospects."
He said MRF became the first Indian tyre company to touch Rs.10,000 crore turnover for the 2010-11.
"The financial results are yet to be approved by the board," he added when queried about profitability figures. "However, the increasing raw material prices have exerted pressure on the bottomline growth. We are operating at 1-1.5 percent margin and sometime even its negative."
The company closed 2009-10 with sales of Rs.7,463 crore and an after-tax profit of Rs.353.98 crore.
He said the inverted import duty structure -- lower duty on tyres and higher duty on rubber, the raw material -- was hurting the domestic industry and the acquisition of rubber plantation overseas may be a remedy.
According to Arun Mammen, managing director, the company is looking at acquiring or leasing plantation to the order of one lakh hectares in South East Asia.
MRF earns 10 percent of its revenue from exporting tyres to around 65 countries.
Queried about the capex planned for the current year, Koshy Varghese, executive president and vice president-marketing, said the plans were fluid and depended on the plans of vehicle makers.
The company derives 70 percent of its revenue from the replacement market, 20 percent from sales to vehicle manufacturers and 10 percent from exports.
Varghese said the sales mix was beneficial to the company and did not forsee any change in that.
Officials said the company's new plant at Tiruchirapalli, around 320 km from here, would commence operations in the first quarter of 2012. (IANS)
2011/10/27 8:10:22 Telugu Desam Party leader Sudeesh Rambhatla on Thursday stated that the Central Government was planning to hike interest rates to contain inflation. He said such a move increase further burden on the common man.
In a statement, Sudeesh Rambhatla said that the UPA government has increased the interest rates by 13 times in the last 20 months which had driven the farmers and the common man into huge debt trap.
“The UPA government is continuously misleading the people with false projections of inflation at 5.5 percent all these years and even this year they were not able to maintain the inflationary trends below 6 percent,” he pointed out. He said that contrary to global trends of reducing the interest rates as a prerequisite to economic growth and industrial production as in Singapore, Brazil and Indonesia, India was on the reverse gear.
The TDP leader said that it was a shame that the country was exposed to such economic and financial crisis in spite of having a noted economist Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. (INN)
2011/6/24 12:25:01 The reported increase in the States GDP (gross domestic product) and per capita income during 2010-11 is not a matter to gloat about since Andhra Pradesh continues to be at the bottom of the ladder in the human development index, commented Lok Satta Party working president DVVS Varma and secretary P Bhaskara Rao on Friday.
In a statement, they recalled that Andhra Pradesh lags behind many large States in sectors like education, healthcare, and employment.
According to media reports, the per capita income in the State stood at Rs.60,458 and the growth rate in the States GDP at 9.22 percent during 2010-11. Agriculture registered a growth rate of 9.10 percent.
The Lok Satta leaders pointed out that a higher rate of growth in agriculture does not necessarily mean that farmers are better off. On the contrary, the condition of farmers has worsened in recent years. The per capita income of farmers is one-fourth of the States per capita income.
The Lok Satta leaders demanded that the Government publish data on the growth (or lack of it) in the farmers income, as suggested by the Swaminathan Commission.
Mr Varma and Mr Bhaskara Rao wanted the Government to return the 972 acres of land it had acquired for Nagarjuna Constructions thermal power project to farmers in the wake of the High Court suspending the concerned Government order. (INN)
2011/10/25 1:58:46 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continued its duel with high inflation by hiking key interest rates by 25 basis points Tuesday -- the 13th increase since January 2010, setting the stage for auto, housing and commercial loans to become dearer once again.
However, the central bank also revised economic growth projections for the current fiscal downwards to 7.6 percent from the earlier prediction of 8 percent. The RBI, however, maintained the projection of annual inflation and said it would be at 7 percent by March 2012.
The repurchase rate, or the interest the central bank levies on short-term borrowing by commercial banks, has been raised to 8.5 percent from 8.25 percent. Automatically, the reverse repurchase rate, or interest on short-term lending, gets hiked to 7.5 percent from 7.25 percent.
The rate hikes were effected by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao during the second quarter review of the apex bank's monetary policy for this fiscal, amid high inflation rate that is nudging double-digit levels once again.
"The monetary policy tightening effected so far has helped in containing inflation and anchoring inflation expectations, even as both remain elevated. While the impact of past monetary actions is still unfolding, it is necessary to persist with the anti-inflationary stance," Subbarao said while announcing the measures.
Commercial banks are widely expected to pass on the interest rate burden to customers, which could made consumer and corporate loans dearer, even while raising the interest outgo on existing loans, along with a longer tenure for repayment. (IANS)
2011/10/13 7:07:17 China had 535,000 millionaires last year, registering a 12-percent year-on-year increase in its number of millionaires, a Capgemini report said Thursday.
The combined wealth of China's 535,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs) topped $2.66 trillion, up 13.2 percent from 2009, according to a joint report issued by Capegemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management.
The number of millionaires makes the region the second-largest HNWI market in the Asia-Pacific region and the fourth-largest in the world after the US, Japan and Germany, reported Xinhua citing the report.
China is continuing to see an expansion in its HNWI population and their wealth, fuelled by strong macroeconomic growth and market performance, particularly in equities and real estate, said Pauline Ko, market manager for China at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management.
The mainland's HNWIs had 42 percent of their investments in equities and 27 percent in real estate last year, the report said.
Wei Zhen, Asia strategist with Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Ltd., said that he expects Chinese millionaires to gradually reduce their wealth allocation in the equity and property markets, as the government will not loosen its grip on the real estate market anytime soon and global equity markets may turn volatile.
Wei projected that China's economy will expand by 9.3 percent this year and nine percent in 2012.
HNWIs are defined as individuals who have investable assets of $1 million or more, excluding primary residences, collections, consumables and consumer durables. (IANS)
2011/11/18 10:58:29 Mumbai, Nov 18 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Friday slipped further into the red in noon trade, with selling intensifying in capital goods, power and realty stocks. Investor sentiment continued to be subdued on negative cues from Asia.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened lower at 16,387.7 points, was ruling at 16,241.15 points -- down 220.56 points or 1.34 percent from its previous close at 16,461.71 points.
The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was also trading in the red, 71.7 points or 1.45 percent lower at 4,863.05 points.
Broader markets were also ruling lower, with the BSE 500 index down 1.39 percent. The BSE midcap index shed 1.88 percent, while the BSE smallcap index fell 2.42 percent.
The market breadth at the BSE was negative with 525 stocks advancing and 2,083 scrips declining. Another 94 remained unchanged.
Among gainers on the Sensex were: Hero MotoCorp, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Wipro while the losers included BHEL, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Steel.
Asian markets stocks were ruling lower as fears of the European debt crisis and the sluggish growth in the region continued to weigh on investors.
Concerns on debt-ridden countries able to pay back creditors overshadowed the release of positive economic data from the US which showed the manufacturing registering growth in many months.
The Japanese Nikkei closed 1.23 percent down at 8,374.91 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was ruling 1.94 percent lower at 18,452.24 points.
The Chinese Shanghai composite index closed 1.95 percent lower at 2,415.13 points.
2007/11/30 7:05:11 Hero Ram Charan is leaving for Singapore to take part in the 50 days celebration of his film Chirutha. The film completed 50 days run t the Plaza in Singapore. The director of the film Puri Jagannath along with other unit members will attend the function.
A gala function has been arranged on December 8 to mark the success of the film. What has surprised observers is the decision of Ashwini Dutt to celebrate the 50 days function in Singapore instead of Hyderabad or some other place in Andhra Pradesh.
2011/9/30 0:33:47 US stocks opened broadly higher Friday amidst positive economic data, Xinhua reported.
Investors also embraced news that Germany's lower house had approved a new plan for euro zone debt crisis fund.
The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits fell by 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 391,000 last week.
Meanwhile, the revised US GDP growth in the second quarter was 1.3 percent, beating previous expectations.
Investors also focused on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech Wednesday in which he said the central bank might need to ease monetary policy further if inflation fell broadly.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 190.46 points, or 1.73 percent, to 11,201.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 18.80 points, or 1.63 percent, to 1,169.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 42.31 points, or 1.71 percent, to 2,534.24. (IANS)
It was based on the advice of Amitabh Bachchan that the ailing superstar Rajnikanth went to Singapore for treatment. Rajni had originally planned to go to the US for treatment.
Superstar Rajnikanth who has been admitted to the Elizabeth hospital in Singapore is recovering fast. His health condition is stable.
The doctors have shifted him from the ICCU to the general ward.
2011/6/22 7:53:07 Chiranjeevi has surprised everybody by going to Singapore on Tuesday to meet Kollywood superstar Rajinikanth who is taking rest after he was discharged from hospital. Though, they both were good friends in the film industry, neither of them have any special interest in each other expect meeting occasionally. Chiranjeevis unpredicted tour to Singapore, that too after Rajinikanths discharge from hospital gives way to speculations. His further actions may clarify whether he has any other intentions behind his tour or not.
Food inflation continues to shoot up, at 12.21 percent
2011/11/3 5:32:19 New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) There seems to be no respite from rising food prices. Latest official data Thursday for food inflation showed a sharp rise during the week ended Oct 22 at 12.21 percent -- the highest in nine months.
Prices of pulses, vegetables and milk and poultry all rose. The week before had seen food inflation logging at 11.43 percent.
This is the third consecutive week food inflation has stayed in double digits.
The spike in food inflation in the three weeks of October, for which data is available, is also because of a rise in demand as the month had many important festivals which raises demand.
Overall inflation too has remained stubbornly high, near double digits, since January 2010.
The headline inflation based on the wholesale price index was recorded at 9.72 percent in September, according to latest official data.
To contain inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has hiked key interest rates 13 times since early 2010, but the frequent tightening has not had much impact on soaring prices.
The central bank, in its last rate hike, said that it may not take such an action further because it expected inflation to fall from December.
In the week under review, the primary articles index, which has a 20.12 percent weight in the wholesale price index, rose by 12.08 percent during the week under review as compared to 11.75 percent in the previous week, according to data made available by the commerce and industry ministry.
The index of fuel and power declined marginally to 14.5 percent.
During the week ended Oct 15, the index for non-food articles again showed a significant decline, growing at a slower rate of 6.43 percent as compared to 7.67 percent in the previous week.
The following are the yearly rise and fall in prices under review of some main commodities that form the sub-index for food articles:
Onions: (-) 20.33 percent
Vegetables: 28.89 percent
Fruits: 11.63 percent
Potatoes: 0.98 percent
Eggs, meat, fish: 13.36 percent
Cereals: 4.13 percent
Rice: 4.21 percent
Wheat: (-) 1.54 percent
Pulses: 11.65 percent
If inflation comes down as projected by March, the central bank said it could focus on offering incentives for growth.
2011/11/12 10:08:04 Mumbai, Nov 12 (IANS) Telcom service provider Reliance Communications Saturday posted an increase of 60.5 percent in net profit at Rs.252 crore for the quarter ended Sep 30 against Rs.157 crore during the previous quarter.
Total revenues stood at Rs.5,040 crore during the quarter, up 2 percent as compared to Rs.4,940 crore during the last quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing.
The wireless revenue of the company also grew 2 percent at Rs.4,417 crore during the period under review against Rs.4,327 crore in the previous quarter. The company said that its wireless revenues were driven by growth of paid minutes and strong growth in the data business.
The wireless minutes of usage increased from 97.3 billion to 98.9 billion as compared to the previous quarter. The company said it has 2.1 million active 3G customers, the highest in the industry.
Reliance Communications also said that it continues to be free cash flow positive.
"RCom generated operational cash flow of Rs.1,605 crore in this quarter. Post payment of 3G auction fees and with peak capex behind us, this is the first full year of positive free cash flow for the company and this trend will continue in succeeding years," the company said.
The company also bagged orders worth Rs.1,400 crore from HDFC Bank for outsourced data centre facility in India during the quarter. The data centre will house equipment possessing the highest computing power in the industry in India today.
2011/5/27 2:50:51 Media was abuzz with the news on Thursday that, Kollywood super star Rajinikanth soon after his discharge from Sri Rama Chandra hospital will be shifted to London for better treatment. But, Rajinikanths family members have condemned the news and told the media that he is leaving for Singapore tonight in Singapore Air Lines flight accompanied by his wife and daughter for better treatment.
(IANS) Computer chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) said it plans to cut its global workforce by about 10 percent in a move to reduce operational costs.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continued its duel with high inflation by hiking key interest rates by 25 basis points Tuesday -- the 13th increase since January 2010, setting the stage for auto, housing and commercial loans to become dearer once again.
Chiranjeevi has surprised everybody by going to Singapore on Tuesday to meet Kollywood superstar Rajinikanth who is taking rest after he was discharged from hospital. Though, they both were good friends in the film industry, neither of them have any special interest in each other expect meeting occasionally. Chiranjeevis unpredicted tour to Singapore, that too after Rajinikanths discharge from hospital gives way to speculations. His further actions may clarify whether he has any other intentions behind his tour or not.
Media was abuzz with the news on Thursday that, Kollywood super star Rajinikanth soon after his discharge from Sri Rama Chandra hospital will be shifted to London for better treatment. But, Rajinikanths family members have condemned the news and told the media that he is leaving for Singapore tonight in Singapore Air Lines flight accompanied by his wife and daughter for better treatment. 
