Indiabulls takes on SBI and HDFC offers

The home loan finance segment, which is witnessing aggressive play by big lenders, got hotter with Indiabulls offering a flat rate of 8.25 per cent till April 2012, claiming to be the best in the category. The rate has been arrived at “taking care of any future fluctuations in interest rates upto April 2012 and market rate linked rates thereafter,” the financial services firm said in a statement issued here today. Country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, has a scheme under which a customer will pay at the rate of 8 per cent per annum for the first year and at nine per cent for the second and third years.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Zapak brings Spin Master to India

Zapak Games, the licensing & merchandising arm of Zapak Digital Entertainment, announced their association with global toy maker Spin Master. Zapak Games will be the exclusive distributor for many of Spin Master’s largest brands in India. A multi-category children's entertainment company since 1994, Spin Master has been designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing award winning consumer products for children around the world and is recognized as a global growth leader within the toy industry with distribution in more than 65 countries.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Oberoi rejects stake sale to ITC

Oberoi Group Chairman PRS Oberoi today ruled out selling promoter stake in EIH Ltd, that owns the Oberoi hotels and resorts chain, but said he cannot stop ITC from buying shares in the open market. Earlier this year, ITC Ltd had increased its stake to 14.98 per cent in EIH Ltd triggering speculation that the FMCG- to-hospitality conglomerate could go for an open offer once it crosses the 15 per cent mark. We have 46.4 per cent (in EIH Ltd) and there is no plan to sell any stake, Oberoi told reporters here. Asked about ITC increasing stake in EIH through open market purchases, he said: If somebody wants, we can't stop people buying from the stock market.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Google says China licence renewed by government

The Chinese government has renewed Google's licence to operate in China, the internet giant has said, ending a long-running stand-off between the two. Google gave no details of the licence renewal. There had been speculation China would revoke the licence after Google began redirecting Chinese users to its unfiltered search site in Hong Kong. But last month, in a conciliatory move towards Beijing, Google said it would no longer automatically redirect users. The licence renewal is key to Google. Losing business in China, which already has more internet users than any other country despite relatively low penetration, could harm the company's future growth prospects. Analysts welcomed the renewal, but warned that fundamental differences between Google and China remained.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Peugeot and Changan Automotive finalise joint venture

French car giant Peugeot Citroen has become the latest major carmaker to team up with Changan Automotive after sealing a deal to build cars in China. The 50:50 joint venture will produce 200,000 vehicles initially in Shenzhen, southern China, starting in the second half of 2012. It will involve an initial investment of 8.4bn yuan ($1.2bn; £815m). Changan, China's fourth largest carmaker, already has joint ventures with Ford, Volvo, Mazda and Suzuki. An initial agreement between the new partners was signed in May. The deal is designed to give the French carmaker a bigger share of the rapidly-growing Chinese car market, which is already the biggest in the world.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

EADS submits new bid for USAF refuelling contract

The European defence contractor, EADS, has submitted a new bid to supply refuelling aircraft for the US Air Force. Arch-rival Boeing's bid is expected to be delivered to the Pentagon soon. The contract, which has been long delayed, is worth $35bn (£23bn). Earlier, a long-running World Trade Organisation (WTO) investigation into whether Boeing receives illegal subsidies from the US government postponed its decision on the matter. Both the US and the European Union have reported each other's companies to the WTO, alleging illegal subsidies.

The WTO has already ruled - at the end of June - that the EU had paid illegal subsidies to the EADS subsidiary, Airbus. The EU and Airbus criticised the delay over the Boeing decision. The time lag between this case, and the United States case against support to Airbus... has constantly increased over the six years this dispute has been running and the gap is now at nearly a year, the EU's executive Commission said.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Rolls-Royce production at its Sussex plant increases

Production at the Rolls-Royce factory in West Sussex has reached its highest level since manufacturing began there in 2003. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced the rise after more than 300 vehicles were built in June at its Goodwood plant. Production is currently running at 15 cars a day and all models are sold out until at least September. The firm said sales worldwide were up almost 200% in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos said: This is an excellent interim result and we are well on our way to meeting our target of at least doubling our 2009 sales. The German carmaker BMW, which owns Rolls-Royce, also reported a sharp rise in sales; up 13.1%.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Bank of China to raise up to $8.9bn in share issue

The Bank of China says it plans to raise up to 60bn yuan ($8.9bn;£5.9bn) by issuing new shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai. It is part of a $42bn fund-raising effort by China's four biggest lenders, designed to boost their capital bases. The Agricultural Bank of China is preparing for what is expected to be the world's largest share issue. The banks have to boost their balance sheets after increasing lending as part of government stimulus measures. The government has ordered them to keep more money in reserve after they embarked on a massive lending programme which left reserves out of kilter with loans oustanding.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Toyota recalls 270,000 vehicles over faulty engine fear

Toyota is to recall 270,000 cars worldwide - including 138,000 vehicles in the US - because of an engine fault. Toyota said the recall included seven luxury Lexus models - some of them in the UK - and the popular Toyota Crown. The latest quality problem follows the recall of more than 8m vehicles which had problems with sticking accelerator pedals earlier this year. The company was fined $16m (£10.6m) in the United States for its slow response to the accelerator fault. The company is still facing more than 200 lawsuits tied to accelerator accidents.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Google enters travel market with flight data purchase

Search engine giant Google has entered the travel market after acquiring flight information firm ITA Software. ITA provides software that organises fares, flight and journey times that are used by airlines, travel agents and flight comparison sites such as Orbitz. Google said it may well expand the scope, enabling users to search directly for flight destinations.

Google paid $700m in cash for the US-based company, founded in 1996 by a team of MIT computer scientists. What we're going to do is build new flight search tools that focus on end users, said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt. However, he said that the firm would not be selling airline tickets to consumers and that it would honour "all existing agreements that ITA has with its partners".

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Comet reports 14% jump in profits

Electrical and household appliance retailer Comet has reported a rise in annual profits of almost 14%. The chain made £11.5m in the year to the end of April, compared with £10.1m a year earlier, its parent company Kesa Electricals said, despite like-for-like sales slipping 1.5% . Kesa credited its focus on customer service for the improved profits. But it warned that its major markets across Europe remained challenging. Across the Kesa group, profits were £69.6m, from losses of £81.8m. Sales were up 0.4% but down 1.5% on a like-for-like basis which strips out new stores.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

BA strike: Unite union to ballot members if no progress

British Airways cabin crew will be balloted on fresh strikes if there is no progress towards a solution by Tuesday, the Unite union has said. The crew have staged 22 days of strike action this year in the dispute which now involves the withdrawal of travel concessions from striking workers. Recent talks between the two parties have failed to break the deadlock.

BA said Unite had demonstrated a selfish lack of concern for our customers and their own colleagues. Unite said that it was giving BA until 29 June to "demonstrate that it is willing to negotiate a solution to the fresh issues between the parties - or will ballot its members for strike action".

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Devon firm in £45m Jackal deal with Ministry of Defence

Devon defence firm Supacat has won a £45m Ministry of Defence contract to supply more than 140 Jackal military vehicles to troops in Afghanistan. Supacat's Jackal 2a is built at Plymouth's Devonport Dockyard in partnership with Babcock. It will bring the total number of Jackal vehicles in service with the UK armed forces to more than 400. The Jackal is designed to travel at speed across rough terrain and deflect blasts from mines away from occupants.

It was first deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 as an alternative to the Snatch Land Rover which has been criticised for not offering enough protection from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). However, there have been a number of fatalities involving the Jackal, including the death of three soldiers from the Parachute Regiment who were killed in August 2009 when their vehicle was hit by an explosion and small arms fire

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Lufthansa and pilots union settle dispute

German airline Lufthansa, Europe's largest, has settled a lengthy dispute with pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit. In return for greater job security, the union has accepted a pay freeze until March 2011. However, the union says the agreement still needs to be agreed by its members.

In February, pilots went on strike over pay and job security, but called off a four-day stoppage in April after agreeing to arbitration talks. Like other airlines, Lufthansa is trying to push through cost-cutting plans in the face of the global financial crisis, rising fuel costs and competition from low-cost rivals

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Google's YouTube wins Viacom copyright case

Google has won a landmark ruling as a judge threw out a $1bn lawsuit brought by Viacom accusing the internet giant of allowing copyrighted material on its YouTube service without permission. Viacom had accused Google of "massive intentional copyright infringement". But the Manhattan judge said Google and YouTube could not be held liable merely for having a "general awareness" that videos might be posted illegally.

Media conglomerate Viacom said it planned to appeal against the decision. Google called the ruling an important victory. Viacom had claimed that "tens of thousands of videos" based on its copyrighted works had been posted on YouTube, and that both YouTube and its owner Google had known about it but had done nothing about it.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

HCL Nadar doles out 580 cr for charity

In one of the biggest philanthropic initiatives, HCL founder Shiv Nadar today donated over Rs 580 crore he earned by selling his 2.5 per cent stake in the company owned by him and his family. The amount was raised through the sale of a stake of about 2.5 per cent in software firm HCL Technologies in block deals through HCL Corporation and will be used for education initiatives of the Shiv Nadar Foundation.

The amount donated by Nadar is by far bigger than the standards set by larger firms. Charitable giving in India probably totaled about USD 7.5 billion (Rs 3,487.12 crore at an exchange rate of Rs 46.49 per dollar) in 2009, according to a study by Bain & Co.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Axa sells UK business to buyout fund Resolution

French insurer Axa has agreed the sale of its UK life assurance business to buyout fund Resolution for £2.75bn. The fund already owns Friends Provident and intends to merge the two, saving £75m a year in costs. The UK assets being sold include Axa's traditional life and pensions businesses and its annuity business, but not wealth management. The payment comprises £2.25bn in cash and £500m in shares, and Resolution will mostly fund it via a rights issue.

The full details of the deal are expected to be finalised in September, and must be approved by regulators and by Resolution's shareholders. Resolution wants to become the UK's biggest provider of life insurance, and is thought to be considering other possible acquisitions.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

SocGen trader Kerviel slammed for 'stratospheric' risks

Alleged Societe Generale "rogue trader" Jerome Kerviel took "stratospheric" risks that almost brought down the bank, an ex-colleague told a court. Mr Kerviel, 33, is blamed for losses of 4.9bn euros (then worth £4.3bn). He has been under investigation since SocGen unveiled the losses in 2008, which it said were caused by unauthorised deals carried out by him. On trial in Paris, he denies accusations of forgery, breach of trust and unauthorised computer use.

Salim Nemouchi, who worked on the SocGen trading desks, said Mr Kerviel put in danger the bank by making trades for stratospheric amounts. "I can't explain his actions. I am disappointed by his behaviour, Mr Nemouchi said. "All traders have limits they must respect." Mr Kerviel has always maintained the bank knew about the risky deals, but turned a blind eye to them. He admitted frequently passing trading limits and logging fake transactions to cover his gambles.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

BA chief Willie Walsh turns down £334,000 annual bonus

The chief executive of British Airways, Willie Walsh, has turned down an annual bonus of shares worth £334,000, the airline has said. It is the second year in a row that Mr Walsh has turned down a bonus. Mr Walsh's salary remains at £735,000, although he earned £674,000 last year after voluntarily giving up July's pay as part of cost-cutting measures.

The Unite union, which is locked in a dispute with BA, said there would have been uproar if he had taken his bonus. The long-running row, which had led to 22 strike days this year, began over staffing levels and working conditions. But the Unite union, which represents BA cabin crew, says the main outstanding grievance now is the removal of travel concessions for those who went on strike

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Citibank Russia to outsource ATMs to Diebold

Diebold Inc. said Monday that it signed a multi-year agreement with ZAO Citibank in Russia to handle the bank's automated teller machine services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Citibank Russia currently has more than 370 ATMs in Russian regions. Under the agreement, Diebold will provide ATM outsourcing services for a portion of Citibank Russia's ATM network, including status monitoring, help desk, currency management and forecasting, cash handling and software distribution along with various field maintenance services.

Citibank will lease ATM equipment from Diebold under the deal. Diebold started providing ATMs to Citibank in Russia under a long-term agreement in the first quarter of 2010. The company said it has nearly 60,000 ATMs under different managed services contracts.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

British Airways fuel price-fixing trial under way

The trial of three ex-British Airways executives and one current employee on price-fixing charges has begun at Southwark Crown Court in London. The four men, who deny wrongdoing, are accused of agreeing with Virgin Atlantic to fix fuel surcharge prices between 2004 and 2006. Virgin executives are immune from prosecution as they blew the whistle on the price-fixing agreement. 


Three Virgin employees are expected to give evidence for the prosecution. One of these is expected to be Steve Ridgeway, Virgin's chief executive. BA's head of sales Andrew Crawley, ex-commercial director Martin George, ex-communications head Iain Burns and ex-UK and Irish Republic sales chief Alan Burnett are in the dock.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Carphone Warehouse raises profit forecast to £47m

Mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has raised its full-year profit forecast for the third time in six months. The company said it expected net profit for the year to the end of March to be about £47m, more than the £40m-£45m it indicated in January. It said cost cuts and strong sales of smartphones were driving profit growth. The firm also said it expected strong growth at its joint venture with US group Best Buy.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Royal Dutch Shell profits up 50% on oil price

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has seen its quarterly profits jump by nearly 50% thanks to higher oil prices. The Anglo-Dutch company said profits for the first three months of the year were $4.9bn (£3.2bn) - up 49% on the same period last year. Shell said higher energy prices and growth in its business had helped boost profits from "low levels" seen at the end of last year. Profits for the last three months of 2009 were $1.2bn.

Those poor results prompted Shell to announce plans to cut 2,000 jobs before the end of 2010, helping to cut a planned $1bn in costs. Shell's chief executive Peter Voser said the turnaround in results for the first quarter of the year was "driven largely by our own actions", citing growth in production and exploration of new oil fields. But oil price rises on the international markets have also played their part..

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

BP vows to clean up Gulf of Mexico oil slick

Oil giant BP has acknowledged it is "absolutely responsible" for cleaning up a huge oil spill after an explosion at one of its wells off the US coast. But BP boss Tony Hayward said the firm was not to blame for the accident which sank the Deepwater Horizon rig on 22 April, causing the slick. He said the equipment that failed belonged to drilling firm Transocean. Both companies are expecting lawsuits over the slick, which threatens to cause major ecological damage.

US President Barack Obama has described the oil leak as a "potentially unprecedented" environmental disaster. BP is responsible for this leak. BP will be paying the bill, he said. The US government has been putting pressure on BP to act quickly. In a BBC interview, Mr Hayward dismissed talk of a rift between BP and US officials.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Norsk Hydro buys Vale's aluminium business

Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro has agreed to buy a majority stake in the aluminium operations of Brazilian miner Vale. The deal is valued at $4.9bn with Vale receiving $1.1bn in cash and a 22% stake in Norsk Hydro.

The Norwegian firm said the deal would improve competitiveness by securing access to bauxite and alumina. About 3,600 Vale employees will be transferred to Norsk, which already employs 19,000 people in 40 countries. Vale is the world's third largest coal mining company. As part of the deal, Norsk Hydro will buy Vale's 60% stake in the world's third-biggest bauxite mine, Paragominas, Brazil.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Toyota is recalling another 600,000 vehicles in US

Liverpool are set to appoint a new chairman and ask a new bank to lead their search for fresh investment, BBC Sport understands. Martin Broughton has been approached, with the British Airways chairman considering forming part of a restructured board at Anfield. Barclays Capital, the bank's investment arm, will head the latest attempt to find a new buyer for the club. Co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are ready to step down as co-chairmen. The Americans believe that by presenting a united front, potential investors are more likely to be found. Broughton has previously chaired the British Horseracing Board, and is a lifelong Chelsea fan.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

M&M acquires 55% stake in Reva

Automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today acquired a majority stake in the Reva Electric Car Company Ltd of Bangalore. As a result, Reva Electric Car Co Ltd. will be renamed as Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicle Co Ltd. Under the agreement, which was signed today by the two companies, M&M will own 55.2% equity in the new company by a combination of equity purchase from the promoters and a fresh equity infusion of over Rs 45 crore into the company.

The buyout makes the Mahindra group a strong global player in the electric vehicle space. The board of Mahindra Reva will be headed by Pawan Goenka, president automotive and farm equipment sector, M&M, as its chairman. The board has five nominees from M&M, two from the Maini family, and one from AEV LLC, California (the Mainis and the US company are the two co-founders of Reva). An independent director will be added to the board later. Chetan Maini of the Maini Group will continue to play a leading role in Mahindra Reva as chief of technology & strategy and will continue to be on the board.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Apple passes Microsoft to be biggest tech company

Apple has pushed past arch-rival Microsoft to become the world's biggest technology company. Changes in the share price values of the two in Wednesday's choppy trading left the total value of Apple at $222bn (£154bn). Microsoft is now valued by investors at $219bn.

The worth, known as market capitalisation, is calculated by multiplying the number of shares in a company by the current share price. Although Apple shares closed down 0.4%, Microsoft fell by 4%. Apple, which makes computers, iPods, iPhones and now iPads, almost went out of business in the 1990s. Its growth is partly owing to the launch of the stylish iPod in 2001. Its compatibility with existing - but not mass-selling - Apple computers lead customers to engage with them, just as Microsoft's products looked set for long-term dominance.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Standard Chartered's Indian share offering opens

The UK's Standard Chartered Bank on Tuesday began selling its shares in India, in the first initiative of its type there by an overseas firm. It is selling shares through a method known as Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs), which show ownership of shares in an overseas firm. The price band for the offering is 100 (£1.47; $2.10) to 115 rupees per IDR. The bank, which makes most of its profits in Asia, will issue 240 million IDRs through the offer.

The UK's Standard Chartered Bank on Tuesday began selling its shares in India, in the first initiative of its type there by an overseas firm. It is selling shares through a method known as Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs), which show ownership of shares in an overseas firm. The price band for the offering is 100 (£1.47; $2.10) to 115 rupees per IDR. The bank, which makes most of its profits in Asia, will issue 240 million IDRs through the offer.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).