28th October- Economic Times

Section -E
Somya Bhattacharya


ONGC Q2 net up 6%, lags estimates-
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp today reported a 6 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 5,388.77 crore in the quarter ended September 30. ONGC had posted a net profit of Rs 5,089.64 crore in July-September quarter of 2009-10 fiscal, the company said in a statement. Sales rose to Rs 18,238.98 crore in Q2 of current fiscal from Rs 15,134.04 crore a year ago.

Most expensive car India, BUGATTI drives in Veryon at rs 16cr.-
The benchmark for luxury cars in the country just got higher with Volkswagen Group company Bugatti Automobiles today launching its super premium sports car ' Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport', with price starting at Rs 16 crore, the most expensive car to hit the Indian roads. "Bugatti has been doing well in America, Europe and the Middle East. Now we see India as an emerging market for us, hence we have decided to bring the car to India," Bugatti Automobiles Sales Market Manager (Middle East, Europe and India) Guy Caquelin told reporters here.

Investor turning to Asia because of higher returns-
Markets run up a bit with regards to expectations. We have seen some profit taking already coming in over a past few sessions. So if the QE2 does not come out as aggressive as we expect, we potentially could see some more profit taking, but then again we have to remember the primary trend. This is QE2, this is another at least a couple of trillions of dollars into the system and that money will find its way into Asia some way or another, and that’s going to be good in a sense for Asian markets, Asian equity markets. So overall it is still a corrective profit taking, but in the medium term, it is positive for markets.

CBA live on TCS banking solutions platform in India-
Tata consultancy services on Thursday said Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has gone live on its banking solution platform in the country. "CBA was looking for an India ready IT solution that could be delivered quickly in a country where CBA had no existing IT team," Commonwealth Bank CIO International Financial Services David Boyle said in a statement in Mumbai.

G-20 accord needs US policy shift-
In the wake of the subprime crisis, the G20 coordinated its fiscal and monetary actions to avoid an economic catastrophe. It succeeded in averting a possible repeat of the Great Depression.

In recent months, as most people have come to believe that the worst is over, the sense of emergency is gone. Cooperation has given way to bickering. Quarrels have erupted amongst the G20 as to how best to sustain the ongoing recovery. As a result, growth in the advanced economies remains sluggish and is acting as a drag on the global economy.

Over 200 aravalli mines are still functional-
Rajasthan government claims it is sticking to Supreme Court instructions but the ground reality is different. TOI has documents that show that mining in Aravallis has not completely stopped, as claimed by the state mines and geology department affiadvit filed in Supreme Court. A survey by ministry of environment and forest (MoEF), GOI, says over 200 mines are still functional in the Aravallis. It says that although, state government had informed the Supreme Court about 53 leases granted after December 16, 2002. a verification by the MoEF revealed several mines were functioning in the area and their numbers were far more than what government had submiited to the court.

Indian IT exports to be higher than anticipated-
India's IT exports this fiscal would be higher than anticipated, given the strong second quarter numbers posted by some big companies, Infosys technologies CEO S Gopalakrishnan said today. IT exports are estimated to grow between 13 per cent and 15 per cent in 2010-11, up from about five per cent in the previous year, he said.

HDFC standard life hopes to break even in FY12-
Insurer HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd expects to break-even in the 2011/12 financial year, helped by an increase in premium income and reduction in operating costs, its chief executive said.The joint venture between India's top mortgage lender, HDFC, and Britain's Standard Life, had posted a loss of 2.75 billion rupees ($62 million) in the year ended March 2010, lower than 5.03 billion a year ago and is expected to stay in the red this year.