21st October - BUSINESS STANDARD

Parinita Dash
Parvesh Kumar
Pawandeep Singh
(section- G)

Rates:Sensex 19872.15 (fall) 110.98Nifty 5982.10 (fall) 25.70Dollar Rs. 44.36 Rs. 44.35Euro Rs. 61.35 Rs. 61.59Gold Rs. 19450 (fall) Rs. 285(10 gm)Front Page:ECONOMY-Budget May Prune Excise Exemptions:* the finance minister is looking into the possibility of phasing outsome exemptions from the Centre's excise list in the next Budget.* the move is part of the transition exercise to the goods andservices tax (GST) regime, slated to come into force next financialyear.MFI Activities in AP Come to a Halt:* the Andra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions Ordinance, 2010, whichcame into effect on October 15, stipulates that MFIs should registerwith the project director of the district rural development agency.SBI Limits Base Rate Increase to 10 bps:* SBI's new base rate, the benchmark for all other loans, will be 7.6%for the quarter till December 31, compared with 7.5%.* this is SBI's first increase in base rate since the new lending ratesystem was introduced on July 1.INDUSTRIES-IAF Order Worth Rs. 250 Crore to Indian Industry:* after a year of rigorous flight trials in the Indian Air Force'sfrontline Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, Samtel's home-built cockpit displayshave been certified as suitable for introduction into frontlineservice.The East will Light Up, Hopes ONGC:* while Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has bought interests in threeshale gas assets in the United States, Government owned Oil andNatural Gas Corporation (ONGC) began drilling at its maiden shale gaswell at Ichhapur in West Bengal's Burdwan district last month.HCL Technologies Net Up 3%:* HCL technologies, the country's fourth-largest informationtechnology service exporter, today posted a 3.1% rise in its Septemberquarternet profit at Rs. 331.1 crore, compared to Rs. 321.3 in theyear ago quarter.* HCL Technologies has appointed Vineet Nayar as its vice-chairman,effective from November 1.Record Sales Push Leyland's net up 89%:* Dheeraj Hinduja, son of Gopichand Hinduja, is the new chairman ofAshok Leyland.* commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland has reported 89% growth innet profit to Rs. 167 crore during the second quarterof this financialyear, as compared to Rs. 88.6 crore, during the same period last year.GENERAL-No New Mosque in Ayodhya, says VHP:* the Sant Uch-adhikar Samiti of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) hassaid they would not share the disputed site in Ayodhya with themuslims.Government Decides on Major Push for Pulses:* pulses saw the highest rise of Rs. 340-380 per quintal in minimumsupport price (MSP), the Government announcing these for the currentrabi season.* the decision by the cabinet comittee on economic affairs is aimed atencouraging farmers to take up cultivation of masur and chana in a bigway, so that India can rescue dependence on imports.Amendment to Enemy Property Act approved:* the Government today approved that such property is divested only tothe owner or his lawful heir and continues to vest in the custodiantill it is divested by the Centre.Land Prices zoom around Navi Mumbai Airport site:* land prices in the 18 villages to be affected due to the proposedinternational airport in Navi Mumbai have skyrocketed.A Low Carbon Economy a tough ask for India:* the INFRA SECTOR accounts for 58% of the country's total greenhousegas emission.NCDEX looks to Upgrade APMC markets:* commodity exchange NCDEX today said it was in talks with variousstate governments for upgrading Agricultural Produce MarketingCommittee (APMC) on a build-operate-transfer (BoT) basis.ZEE: Once Bitten Twice Shy:* after a poor experience in 2001, the channel has steered clear ofbig-bang spends and is focusing on profits rather than stars.FED Wants Banks to buy some bad Mortgages:* to the long list of those picking fights with banks over badmortgages, add the Fedeal Reserve.* 2 years after the FED bought billions of dollars in mortgagesecurities as part of the financial bailout, its New York arm isquestioning the paper work and pressing banks to buy some of theinvestments back.Are Indian firms in US funding Anti-Democratic campaign:* yes, if a US website, which lists out the names of 54 Indian firms,is to be taken seriously.UIDAI Shortlists Nine IT Firms for Rs. 2000 crore Deal:* the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has shortlistednine information technology service companies for the managed servicesprovider (MSP) contract.INTERNATIONAL-Canada's Watchdog bites Google for Flouting Privacy:* Canada's privacy watchdog accused Google Inc on tuesday of violatingthe rights ofv thousands of Canadians by inappropriately collectingtheir personal information in building its Street View service.China Factory output up 16.3% in January-Sept:* the output is likely to expand over 13% in the whole of 2010.