Rajkot-based three-wheeler major Atul Auto Limited has registered net profits of Rs 2.50 crore for the third quarter ended December 2010 against Rs 1.12 crore in the corresponding period last year, showing a growth of more than 120 per cent.

Atul Auto registers 120% rise in Q3 PAT

Business Standard

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is looking at raising around Rs 1,000 crore through issue of equity shares to the Government of India on a preferential basis.

Indian Overseas Bank to raise Rs 1000 cr through preferential issue

BS Reporter

He is a control freak in the kitchenâ€”yes, he likes to buy his veggies and go through the entire drill of rustling up something nice for his boys  â€” but Rana Barua, the newly appointed chief operating officer at Contract Advertising, is a completely hands-off manager at work.â€œI like to delegate; if you hire a person and donâ€™t allow him or her to do his job, you would be cheating that person,â€ says Barua.Barua joins from Law & Kenneth and succeeds Umesh Shrikhande who left the agency after putting in 17 years. Shrikhande, along with Jagdip Bakshi, who preceded him, was credited with inculcating a culture of sound thinking and a value-based approach to doing business. Barua understands theirs will be a tough act to follow. â€œSee, there was a Contract of the 1990s and there was a Contract of the 2000s. And growth during these two phases happened in two different directions. Now the environment has changed and I can tell you itâ€™s time for Contract to cha

BS People: Rana Barua

Global market research agency Nielsen has just released a list of top-10 rankings for brands in six lifestyle categories based on consumer surveys done in eight cities of the country. The categories include mobile apps, handsets and operators, e-tailing websites, books and travel destinations. The findings are for January and will be updated every month both city-wise and on an all-India level. A look at the top brands on the consumer wish list.(All-India rankings)

Nation's most-likeable brands

Though the microfinance sector is well past the crisis of 2010, private equity (PE) firms are still cautious on investing in the sector.In FY13, a major chunk of investments in MFIs would be constituted by development agencies such as the International Finance Corp (IFC). According to rough estimates, PE investment in MFIs in FY13 will be Rs 600-650 crore, compared to Rs 500 crore in FY12. However, if the Rs 230-crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) by SKS Microfinance is excluded, the deals will be about Rs 350-400 crore, taking that Rs 100-150 crore will be raised in February and March.This is peanuts when compared to the money made in the heydays of MFIs, before October 2010, when PE deals had touched Rs 1,500 crore.Since the crisis, most of the PE deals are thanks to development finance institutions. For example, in FY12, the International Finance Corp (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank, invested Rs 135-crore in West Beng

PEs still cautious about investing in MFIs

The restriction on FDI is threatening to block any fresh investment into the sector

E-retailers stare at bleak funding scenario

Bangalore-based Pilani Soft Labs, which runs online bus ticket booking portal redBus.in, is looking at raising $20 million through the private equity (PE) route, according to sources. The company, started by three BITS Pilani graduates in 2005, could be planning to aggressively scale up its business to tap the untapped potential that the bus-booking service offers in India.It had raised $6.5 million in Series-C funding in May 2011 from Helion Venture Partners, SeedFund and Inventus Capital Partners.Phanindra Sama, CEO of Pilani Soft Labs and a co-founder, told Business Standard the company had many proposals from investors but it had not finalised anything. Sama added, â€œItâ€™s pretty early to discuss on the funding. We have as much as $6 million as reserves from internal accruals and from the earlier fund raise. We will evaluate options and decide at an appropriate time.â€Sama hit upon the idea to start an online bus ticketing service business whe

RedBus eyes $20 mn via PE route

The PE firm eyes a valuation of Rs 500-600 for its stake

ICICI Venture hires JLL to sell Express Towers stake

With growth stagnating in India and other small markets, the company is left with no choice but to sell in the US, Europe and Japan

Cipla plans big overseas push

With the Centre notifying the final award of the Cauvery Waters Dispute Tribunal, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Wednesday said unless the civil appeals are disposed of by the Supreme Court, the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) should not be set up, even as protests broke out in some parts of the state following the development.â€œThe Central Government should not set up CMB unless the civil appeals in the matter are disposed of by the Supreme Court,â€ he told reporters here when asked about the notification of the final award.After the issuance of the notification, institutions like the Cauvery River Authority chaired by the Prime Minister and the CMC will cease to exist and new organisations like the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee will be constituted.  Shettar said two days ago an all-party delegation from the state met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and requested him not to notify the proposed final award. 	The

'Do not set up CMB till civil pleas are disposed'

Press Trust of India

Says budget, to be presented on March 18, won't have constraints even though the mining crisis is looming large over the state

Goa to have a balanced budget despite mining crisis: Parrikar

This is to make up for the financial losses caused to the state exchequer in the absence of royalty

Goa govt starts renewing mine leases for stamp duty collection

A new partnership between Indian and UK scientists to develop talent and innovation in a progressive branch of atomic physics is now underway. The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune and the University of Birmingham's School of Physics and Astronomy are collaborating in joint curriculum development, computer-based learning and experimental tool design and knowledge transfer in the area of ultra-cold atoms.This complex field of study is concerned with cooling atoms down to some millionths of a degree above absolute zero through the use of laser technology. 	Research in ultra-cold atoms has gained enormous momentum in the last decade.Experimental and theoretical investigations have opened a broad range of possible applications, including high precision atomic clocks, for use in everything from communications to satellite navigation. The Birmingham/ IISER Pune partnership will pave the way for students to acquire the highly developed

UK-IISER project to enhance talent in atomic physics research

The state government has ordered demolition of 139 houses and apartment projects in the city for obstructing drainage facility and illegal constriction, said Raghunath Mohanty, state minister for urban development and IT. The order for razing the houses was given as per ODA Act, he informed the state assembly.Apart from illegally constructed houses, the state government has identified 530 projects which have been developed violating rules formulated by Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA). The government is cautiously tracking all such constructions and has taken steps not to renew the licences of errant builders, Mohanty said.

Odisha govt to raze 139 illegal buildings

Says it will lead to devt of rural and urban infra, generate new jobs for skilled and unskilled people and will continue to attract largest domestic and foreign investments

ASSOCHAM hails Odisha budget

In a reaction to the state budget proposals for the year 2013-14, some industry bodies hailed the provisions, while some expressed concerns over additional burden.

Budget evokes mixed responses from industries

Announcing the state budget for fiscal 2013-14, Gujarat finance minister Nitin Patel on Wednesday offered certain tax relaxation for beneficiaries like farmers, students, urban and rural poor and middle class families, cottage industries and dealers.

No concrete steps to curb price rise in Guj Budget

Both farmers and fishermen have expressed discontent over the Budget for lacking provisions to benefit them

Odisha's agri-Budget sops fail to cheer farmers, fishermen

State IT minister informs the assembly that 112 IT units are operating in the state

IT headcount in Odisha at 11,122

Estimated loss to GSDP pegged at Rs 800 crore, train and vehicular traffic disrupted

Trade unions' strike hits normal life in Odisha

e-learning education market growing at 65% y-o-y, getting flooded with players like Educomp, Everonn & Next Education

Learnhive Education enters Andhra Pradesh

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