|
Sensex down by 202 points in
early trade
Mumbai,
Sep 4 (PTI):
Tracking a weak global trend, the Bombay Stock Exchange
benchmark Sensex plunged by 202 points in early trade today on
selling by funds in heavy-weight stocks led by banking and
reality sectors.
The 30-share
index, which had gained 551.35 points on Tuesday, tumbled by
202.08 points to 14,847.78.
Similarly,
the wide-based National Stock Exchange’s index Nifty fell by
61.25 points to 4,442.75.
Stock
brokers said reports of subdued trends in global markets
dampened the trading sentiments here.
Meanwhile,
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index moved down by 0.91 per
cent.
Not competing with Nano:
Maruti Suzuki
New
Delhi, Sep 04 (PTI):
Automobile major Maruti Suzuki India today said the company has
no plans to enter the nano car segment or become a competitor to
the existing player. “Maruti has always been in small car
segment and we have always concentrated on that category of up
to 1200 cc cars. But Nano is something which is a totally
different segment and we are not venturing or competing in that
segment,” Maruti Suzuki India Chairman and MD R C Bhargava told
reporters on the sidelines of the 48th SIAM Annual convention
here.
On being
asked about the decline in the sale of small cars and
four-wheelers, Bhargava said that such kind of temporary
downslide has been faced by the industry earlier.
“It won’t
take the industry long to recover and the market to stabilise.
Certain external factors like rise in crude oil prices, the
sub-prime crisis and inflationary pressure has hurt the auto
industry just like any other industry and if the oil price
stabilises the entire affect will mitigate,” Bhargava said.
He added
that the upcoming festive season would lead to increase in sale
of small cars.
“The festive
season has always been a good one for the industry as sales tend
to go up and we expect the same to happen this year as well,” he
said.
He refused
to accept that sales of Maruti Suzuki cars in India has declined
drastically.
“Maruti 800
and Alto are from the same segment and taken together the sales
of the two cars have not declined significantly,” he said.
Regarding the Singur controversy, Bhargava said one such case
would not make much of a difference “it is very necessary for an
important state like West Bengal to have industries. It is a
pity that they did not go for the Singur project and we hope
that the issue will be sorted out.”
CCP takes stock of price
situation in country
New
Delhi, Sep 04 (PTI):
Amid impact of flood in Bihar, Assam and other states on prices
of essential commodities, the government today took stock of the
situation.
Cabinet
Committee on Prices, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
was briefed about the stock and prices of foodgrains, edible
oils and other commodities. The CCP was also briefed about the
impact of floods on cultivation and the prices, particularly
foodgrains. Sugarcane, paddy and maize is widely grown in north
Bihar, which has been severely affected by floods.
According to
sources, the CCP was informed that despite floods in some
states, the prices of food commodities have begun showing
downward trend.
Inflation,
which is well above the 12 per cent mark, has remained an area
of serious concern for the government which has been taking a
number of steps to check the price rise. However, the government
is expecting inflation to come down to 8-9 per cent in coming
months with the international crude oil prices declining to 109
dollars a barrel from all time high of 147.27 dollars per barrel
on July 11.
The
Committee of Secretaries which met yesterday deliberated on
further options to rein in inflation.
On
possibility of fall in prices, Finance Minister P Chidambaram
said last week that it was too early to draw a conclusion on a
slight drop in inflation. “I don’t think any conclusion can be
drawn from weekly data,” he said.
Government
and the Reserve Bank have taken various steps to cool off
inflation such as raising interest rates, removing or slashing
import duties and putting export restrictions on number of
essential items.
Six Indians in Forbes’
under-40 Asian billionaire
list
New York,
Sep 4 (PTI):
Six Indians, including Ranbaxy promoter family’s Malvinder and
Shivinder Singh, Suzlon’s Girish Tanti and Indiabulls’ Sameer
Gehlaut, have made it to a list of 15 youngest Asian
billionaires, compiled by business magazine Forbes.
“The
country’s millionaires jumped 23 per cent last year. The
billionaire count soared to 53 from 36 the previous year,”
Forbes said, adding that India has maintained its pace in the
money race.
India, which
boast of a competitive demographic advantage of young
population, was represented by six people that are under 40 with
a cumulative worth of 8.3 billion dollars.
Other
Indians on the list include real estate firm Oberoi
Constructions’ Vikas Oberoi and online gambling entity
PartyGaming’s founder Anurag Dikshit.
China
dominated the list with as many as eight representations, with a
combined wealth of 20 billion dollars. South Korea and Hong Kong
have one each person on the list.
Among the
Indian representatives, Malvinder and Shivinder Singh command a
net worth of 2.5 billion dollars. The two brothers control
generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories, founded by their
grandfather, but sold their holding in the company to Japan’s
Daiichi earlier this year.
Despite the
sellout, Malvinder remains CEO of Ranbaxy, while Shivinder runs
Indian hospital chain Fortis Healthcare, which went public in
2007. The brothers also recently listed financial services arm
Religare Enterprises.
| 
