Cairn India employees work at a storage facility for crude oil at Mangala oil field at Barmer in RajasthanOil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Monday said he views the $9.6 billion Cairn-Vedanta deal royalty issue as cost recoverable.Cairn Energy agreed six months ago to sell up to 51% in its Indian unit to Vedanta, but the deal has been delayed as the government looks into the issue of royalty payment.Shares in state-run explorer ONGC, which currently pays royalties on the blocks, extended earlier gains to be up 1.4% by 0823 GMT.Cairn Energy had said it was hopeful of concluding a long-delayed deal to sell its Indian assets to Vedanta Resources by April 15.(Pictures by Reuters)

March 28: Snapshots for the day

Reliance Industries floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel is seen off the Bay of Bengal in this undated handout photoReliance Industries may not touch peak output of 80 million cubic metre a day (mmscmd) of gas from its east coast deep water block by April 2012, the country&#39;s upstream regulator SK Srivastava said on Monday.The output target had been approved by the govement.Srivastava said the block was currently producing 52-53 mmscmd of gas.

Reliance Industries floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel is seen off the Bay of Bengal in this undated handout photoReliance Industries may not touch peak output of 80 million cubic metre a day (mmscmd) of gas fro

A horse-drawn carriage carrying tourists moves past a hotel in Mumbai. Indian hotel chains are raising funds but preferring to use the cash to clean up their balance sheet and complete existing projects than draw new plansIndian Hotels, the Tata group firm that owns the Taj chain, and Oberoi brand owner EIH raised funds this month, while Hotel Leelaventure is on course to sell equity and a land parcel."Most of the funds they have raised or will raise will be used for debt reduction in the high interest rate scenario," said Rashesh Shah, an analyst with brokerage ICICI Securities.Most Indian hoteliers have been struggling with mounting debt since the global slowdown of late 2008 that forced a reality check on the exuberance of previous years, when they bought land at astronomical prices and borrowed generously, hoping to recover money quickly in a booming economy.The hotel industry has slowly recovered since, with occupancy and room rates improving,

A horse-drawn carriage carrying tourists moves past a hotel in Mumbai. Indian hotel chains are raising funds but preferring to use the cash to clean up their balance sheet and complete existing projects than draw new plansIndian Hote

A woman opens a glass door with a "Now Hiring" sign on it as she enters a Staples store in New YorkUS companies are dusting off their "help wanted " signs but the pipeline of new jobs is being filled at only a trickle.After slashing jobs swiftly in response to the cratering economy and credit crisis of 2008 and 2009, employers are treading cautiously, waiting for clear signs of economic improvement and that their own sales can be sustained.Many firms find themselves in a catch-22 situation: They are wary of having too many staff if the recovery slows but don&#39;t want to be caught short-handed if business takes off.

A woman opens a glass door with a "Now Hiring" sign on it as she enters a Staples store in New YorkUS companies are dusting off their "help wanted " signs but the pipeline of new jobs is being filled at only a trickle.After sl

A Chinese Google user stands with bouquets of flowers that he wants to present to the Google China headquarters in BeijingGoogle is joining Citigroup and MasterCard to set up a mobile payment system that will tu Android phones into a kind of electronic wallet, the Wall Street Joual said, citing people familiar with the matter.The new technology, which is in its early stages, will allow consumers to wave their Android phones in front of a small reader at the checkout counter to make payments, the Joual reported.The planned payment system would allow Google to offer retailers more data about their customers and help them target advertisements and discount offers to mobile device users near their stores, the sources told the WSJ.

A Chinese Google user stands with bouquets of flowers that he wants to present to the Google China headquarters in BeijingGoogle is joining Citigroup and MasterCard to set up a mobile payment system that will tu Android phones into a

Templeton Asset Management&#39;s Mark Mobius speaks during a conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) in BangkokVeteran emerging markets investor Mark Mobius said on Monday he does not have any direct holdings in Indian infrastructure firms because of the opacity of firms.Mobius, who oversees roughly $50 billion as chairman of Franklin Templeton&#39;s Emerging Markets Group, part of US asset manager Franklin Resources, also said he has not seen a major decrease in investor risk appetite post the Japan and Middle East crisis.

Templeton Asset Management&#39;s Mark Mobius speaks during a conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) in BangkokVeteran emerging markets investor Mark Mobius said on Monday he does not have any direct holdings