* AUTO: Contract workers at Jaguar Land Rover's all three manufacturing and assembly plants in the UK will halt work for half-an-hour in each shift on Aug 28 to protest a wage dispute.
* AVIATION: India 's domestic air traffic increased 7.7% on year in June. Etihad Airways is likely to bid for five Air India Boeing 777s.
* BANKING: The finance ministry is ready and waiting for the right time to infuse capital into public sector banks. The finance ministry has asked state-owned banks to strictly monitor large companies that have accounts with several banks and have defaulted in payments with any of the public sector lenders.
Economic Adviser C. Rangarajan has said non-performing assets of banks could rise on account of slowing economy. Following the steps taken by the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday, ICRA estimates mark-to-market losses of banks in Jul-Sep to come down to 30-55 bln rupees from its earlier estimate of 250-300 bln rupees.
* CONGLOMERATE: Welspun Energy, part of the Welspun Group, has commissioned Asia's largest 55 MW solar power project in Jodhpur , Rajasthan. Mahindra group plans to set up second World City in Chennai at an investment of 40 bln rupees.
* DISINVESTMENT: The West Bengal government will select by Sep 30 the final bidder for selling 40% stake in Haldia Petrochemicals.
* FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: Global fashion giants Hennes & Mauritz and Uniqlo plan to defer their entry into Indian market by a year to 2015 due to a weak domestic currency and economic sentiment.
* FOREIGN EXCHANGE: Rapid fall in rupee against the dollar is likely to increase pressure on hedging strategies of information technology companies.
* ECONOMY: Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram today said the Reserve Bank of India had on Tuesday announced open market purchase of long-dated gilts to bring down yields at the long-end.
* ENERGY: The price of India 's crude oil basket fell 76 cents a barrel to $107.87 on Tuesday. India and Iraq will sign an energy co-operation agreement during Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's four-day visit to this country.
* INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: New product IPsoft, which relies on artificial intelligence to manage computer networks and enables machines to do the work of humans, is likely to affect the business process outsourcing industry.
* POWER: An Empowered Group of Ministers has been constituted to quickly resolve infrastructure issues to ensure speedy implementation of power projects in the northeast.
* PRIVATE EQUITY: Manpasand Beverages is in final stages of negotiations with private equity fund IDFC Alternatives to sell 10% stake in the company to raise around 1.50 bln rupees. Jaypee Capital Services, the anchor investor in National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, is in advanced talks with domestic and foreign private equity players to sell a chunk of its 22.4% stake in the bourse.
Private equity fund Carlyle is in talks to buy a minority stake in Gurgoan-based super speciality hospital Medanta-The Medicity.
* REGULATORS: Forward Markets Commission has ordered National Spot Exchange to auction the commodities, after the exchange failed to declare members who did not meet their pay-in obligations.
* STEEL: India 's crude steel production increased 4.3% on year to 6.7 mln tn in July.
* TAXATION: The government is proposing a 35% tax rate for those earning more than 100 mln rupees in the Direct Taxes Code that is likely to be tabled in Parliament during the ongoing session.
* TELECOM: A panel comprising representatives of department of space, defence ministry, telecom department, and telecom sector regulator is considering a proposal to free up 80 MHz or "units" of airwaves in the S-band for fourth generation wireless broadband services. Vodafone India launched mobile money service, 'm-pesa', in Delhi and National Capital Region in collaboration with ICICI BANK. The Supreme Court refused to clarify its order, contested by Bharti group and Essar group, leaving it for the trial court to interpret and decide on proceeding.
The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the petitions by 2G-spectrum case accused, who had sought recall of an apex court order. Reliance Group head Anil Ambani will testify on Thursday, as the 2G court has rejected plea to defer his examination as witness.
India has accepted Vodafone Group Plc's proposal to hold "informal" talks to decide on a set of "mutually agreed rules" to settle the 200-bln-rupee withholding tax dispute.
* AVIATION: India 's domestic air traffic increased 7.7% on year in June. Etihad Airways is likely to bid for five Air India Boeing 777s.
* BANKING: The finance ministry is ready and waiting for the right time to infuse capital into public sector banks. The finance ministry has asked state-owned banks to strictly monitor large companies that have accounts with several banks and have defaulted in payments with any of the public sector lenders.
Economic Adviser C. Rangarajan has said non-performing assets of banks could rise on account of slowing economy. Following the steps taken by the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday, ICRA estimates mark-to-market losses of banks in Jul-Sep to come down to 30-55 bln rupees from its earlier estimate of 250-300 bln rupees.
* CONGLOMERATE: Welspun Energy, part of the Welspun Group, has commissioned Asia's largest 55 MW solar power project in Jodhpur , Rajasthan. Mahindra group plans to set up second World City in Chennai at an investment of 40 bln rupees.
* DISINVESTMENT: The West Bengal government will select by Sep 30 the final bidder for selling 40% stake in Haldia Petrochemicals.
* FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: Global fashion giants Hennes & Mauritz and Uniqlo plan to defer their entry into Indian market by a year to 2015 due to a weak domestic currency and economic sentiment.
* FOREIGN EXCHANGE: Rapid fall in rupee against the dollar is likely to increase pressure on hedging strategies of information technology companies.
* ECONOMY: Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram today said the Reserve Bank of India had on Tuesday announced open market purchase of long-dated gilts to bring down yields at the long-end.
* ENERGY: The price of India 's crude oil basket fell 76 cents a barrel to $107.87 on Tuesday. India and Iraq will sign an energy co-operation agreement during Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's four-day visit to this country.
* INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: New product IPsoft, which relies on artificial intelligence to manage computer networks and enables machines to do the work of humans, is likely to affect the business process outsourcing industry.
* POWER: An Empowered Group of Ministers has been constituted to quickly resolve infrastructure issues to ensure speedy implementation of power projects in the northeast.
* PRIVATE EQUITY: Manpasand Beverages is in final stages of negotiations with private equity fund IDFC Alternatives to sell 10% stake in the company to raise around 1.50 bln rupees. Jaypee Capital Services, the anchor investor in National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, is in advanced talks with domestic and foreign private equity players to sell a chunk of its 22.4% stake in the bourse.
Private equity fund Carlyle is in talks to buy a minority stake in Gurgoan-based super speciality hospital Medanta-The Medicity.
* REGULATORS: Forward Markets Commission has ordered National Spot Exchange to auction the commodities, after the exchange failed to declare members who did not meet their pay-in obligations.
* STEEL: India 's crude steel production increased 4.3% on year to 6.7 mln tn in July.
* TAXATION: The government is proposing a 35% tax rate for those earning more than 100 mln rupees in the Direct Taxes Code that is likely to be tabled in Parliament during the ongoing session.
* TELECOM: A panel comprising representatives of department of space, defence ministry, telecom department, and telecom sector regulator is considering a proposal to free up 80 MHz or "units" of airwaves in the S-band for fourth generation wireless broadband services. Vodafone India launched mobile money service, 'm-pesa', in Delhi and National Capital Region in collaboration with ICICI BANK. The Supreme Court refused to clarify its order, contested by Bharti group and Essar group, leaving it for the trial court to interpret and decide on proceeding.
The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the petitions by 2G-spectrum case accused, who had sought recall of an apex court order. Reliance Group head Anil Ambani will testify on Thursday, as the 2G court has rejected plea to defer his examination as witness.
India has accepted Vodafone Group Plc's proposal to hold "informal" talks to decide on a set of "mutually agreed rules" to settle the 200-bln-rupee withholding tax dispute.
