Worker cleans a Hero Honda logo inside its showroom in Hyderabad.Shares in Hero Honda Motors fell as much as 9 per cent on Wednesday, after a TV channel reported the board of its Indian partner has approved the termination of the joint venture with Honda Motor.Hero Corporate will acquire Honda Motor's 26 per cent stake in Hero Honda, India's largest motorcycle maker, for $1 billion to $1.2 billion, CNBC TV18 channel reported, citing unnamed sources.It said the board of Hero Honda, the joint venture which was formed in 1984, was likely to meet on Thursday to approve Honda's exit from the venture.(Pictures by Reuters)

December 15: Snapshots for the day


A woman walks pass a Zara shop in Riga Plaza shopping center in Riga 

The rising cost of cotton and labour and sluggish European demand are set to squeeze fashion retailers, results from world number one Inditex and others in the industry showed on Wednesday.

The Spanish group, owner of the ubiquitous Zara brand, signalled a slowdown in underlying sales as it met forecasts with a 42 per cent jump in nine-month net profit.

Earnings were driven higher by rapid expansion in fast-growing Asian markets and a focus on affordable fashions.

But sales in local currencies were up 10 per cent from Aug. 1 to Dec. 12, which some analysts said amounted to a slowdown in recent weeks after stripping out new store openings.

\"We&#39;ve calculated minus 2 per cent like-for-like (sales for the first six weeks of the fourth-quarter),\" said SG analyst Anne Critchlow. \"This does not bode well.\"

A woman walks pass a Zara shop in Riga Plaza shopping center in Riga 

The rising cost of cotton and labour and sluggish European demand are set to squeeze fashion retailers, results from world number one Inditex and others in the

Onlookers stand next to Toyota&#39;s compact car &#39;Etios&#39; at India&#39;s Auto Expo.

Toyota Motor Corp said it has received 12,000 orders for its Etios sedan in India since it began taking orders on Dec. 1, putting it well on track to meet the car&#39;s annual sales target of 70,000 units.

The world&#39;s biggest automaker developed the Etios specifically for the fast-growing Indian market, aiming to boost its market share with a first foray into the mass-volume compact segment in the country.

\"The number of orders is far bigger than I personally expected,\" the car&#39;s chief engineer, Yoshinori Noritake, told reporters in Tokyo. \"We don&#39;t even have the car in our showrooms yet,\" he said.

Toyota is targeting an almost doubling of its sales in India next year to 145,000 units, with the Etios accounting for about half of that. Production of the Etios begins on Dec. 20 at Toyota&#39;s factory near Bangalore.

Global

Onlookers stand next to Toyota&#39;s compact car &#39;Etios&#39; at India&#39;s Auto Expo.

Toyota Motor Corp said it has received 12,000 orders for its Etios sedan in India since it began taking orders on Dec. 1, putting it well o

An attendant holds a petrol nozzle at a petrol pump in Siliguri.

Moves by state-run oil retailers to raise petrol prices and the possibility that diesel will increase too make the Reserve Bank of India&#39;s (RBI) fight against inflation more difficult and piles more pressure onto a beleaguered government.

Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum will raise petrol prices by about 5.6 per cent this week due to surging global crude prices. Shares in the companies rose early on Wednesday.

The Reserve Bank of India meets this week to review its monetary policy in the light of still high inflation.

While it is widely expected to refrain from raising rates after six increases since March, rising energy and other commodity prices make its target of cutting headline inflation to about 5.5 per cent by the end of March harder to achieve.

Economists said raising gasoline prices would have a small impact on the wholesale

An attendant holds a petrol nozzle at a petrol pump in Siliguri.

Moves by state-run oil retailers to raise petrol prices and the possibility that diesel will increase too make the Reserve Bank of India&#39;s (RBI) fight against in

A cashier counts currency notes inside a bank in Lucknow

India&#39;s indirect tax receipts rose 42.3 per cent on year to 2.08 lakh crore during April-November, the federal finance ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Revenue collection from customs increased an annual 67 per cent to Rs 86,840 , while excise tax receipts grew 34.4 per cent on an annualised basis to Rs 81,984 crore.

A cashier counts currency notes inside a bank in Lucknow

India&#39;s indirect tax receipts rose 42.3 per cent on year to 2.08 lakh crore during April-November, the federal finance ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
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