The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Regulators may have say on more independent directors — Company Law to set minimum number
THE Ministry of Company Affairs is veering round to the view that the new Companies Act should prescribe a minimum number of independent directors, with the proviso that sector-specific regulators could prescribe a higher number of such directors ... More

Deutsche Bank re-enters retail
DEUTSCHE Bank announced on Tuesday that it is starting retail banking operations in India with eight branches in seven cities all over the country. In fact, for the German multinational bank, it is a re-entry in this sector in India as the ... More

Weak rupee drags down stock market — Sensex slips 80 in volatile trading
STOCK prices were down sharply after a highly volatile trading session on Tuesday on worries of rupee depreciation and selling of shares by foreign investors. The equity market opened firm with the BSE Sensex moving up by more than 100 points ... More

Max Telecom exits Hutchison Essar — Divests 3.16-pc stake in Rs 657-cr deal
MAX Telecom Ventures Ltd, a subsidiary of Max India, has divested its entire 3.16 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar Telecom to Essar Teleholdings Ltd in an all-cash deal aggregating Rs 657 crore at a sale price of Rs 607 per share. Since Max ... More

Microsoft launches easier licensing programme for small customers
OUTLINING a three-pronged strategy to sharpen its focus on Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), Microsoft Corporation India today said it is doubling investments and headcount in the segment and would expand its reach to 33 cities from the ... More

Gloomy global weather buoys coffee prices
COFFEE prices have perked up following reports that erratic weather conditions could have harmed the crop in the Central America. The rise comes after the prices witnessed a fall since March. The rise has infused a bullish sentiment among growers ... More

Kingfisher likely to pick up stake in Air Sahara: Mallya
KINGFISHER Airlines is likely to acquire stake in Air Sahara but no decision on the details has yet been finalised, the Chairman of Kingfisher, Mr Vijay Mallya, told reporters here today. Speaking on the sidelines of the CII meeting on the ... More

TCS bags BPO deal from UK insurer
A subsidiary in which Pearl will be a minority, passive partner would be created to handle the project. More

BK Modi group co buys out Distacom stake in Spice Tele
THE B.K. Modi-controlled McorpGlobal has bought out the stake of Hong Kong-based Distacom and AIG's Emerging Market Fund in Spice Telecom's Karnataka circle. The buyout ends months of intense speculation that Spice Telecom was on the lookout ... More

South accounts for 62 pc of software, services export
THE southern region is estimated to have accounted for 61.8 per cent of the total exports of computer software and services in 2004-05, according to the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC). "In absolute terms, ... More

Will cashback bait make cardholders spend more?
GIVING a discount is the oldest trick in the book to boost sales. Credit card companies are now offering you a part of your money back. Called `Cash back offers', and started as promotional offers by a few companies earlier this year, they have ... More