2. Metro to JLN Stadium from Today The 16-km Central Secretariat-SaritaVihar corridor will be opened to the general public at 8 am on Sunday, just a few hours before the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. As many as 29 standard gauge Metro trains will run on the line. Train services on the line will run on a very high frequency of 2 minutes and 40 seconds to cater to the passenger rush expected for the opening ceremony. Train movement on this line will be personally monitored by senior Metro officers from the Operations’ Control Room, and engineers from Germany and South Korea will be present to ensure that no technical glitches occur.
3. Tata Motors mulls $525-m share sale to institutions The country's third largest carmaker Tata Motors is likely to launch a $525 million share sale to institutional investors to finance its investment initiatives and cut down on its debt. Industry sources said that the money would be used for product development. Tata Motors, which had net debt of close to $4 billion on its books at the end of March 2010, has reduced its debt-to-equity ratio to 2.05 from 4 in March 2009. In 2009, the company raised $750 million through the issue of global depository shares and covertible notes, and paid off the entire outstanding debt incurred in its acquisition of the Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) brands from Ford. It was reported earlier that the company may monetise investments in its subsidiaries and associate companies to raise cash in order to bring down its debts. Currently, Tata Motors is looking to increase its passenger car portfolio. Top industry sources told FE that the company has started work to produce a 1-tonne plus diesel engine for the world’s cheapest car Nano. Apart from that, the company is set to introduce an entry level hatchback which would bridge the gap between Indica and Nano. This car has been codenamed Dolphi
4. M&M plans big for two-wheeler segment Two years after entering into the two wheeler space, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Thursday made an entry into the serious end of the two wheelers market, motorcycles.While the two motorcycles, Stallio and Mojo, mark the beginning of M&M's presence in the motorcycle market, sources say with Stallio in its portfolio, M&M is already aiming at doubling the volumes to 3,00,000 units in the next 12-18 months with eventual goal of touching half a million by 2012-13.And this, M&M says, is just the beginning as it aims to have presence across categories in the next two-three years. According to sources, M&M is also developing three to four different engine platforms which goes into future motorcycles. In addtion, the company is continously in talks with its Taiwanese colloborator to bring in more scooters into India. With the support from its sister companies Mahindra Finance, for financing options, and its tractor division for deeper rural reach, the two wheeler division intends to expand the touchpoints to over 1,000 from 370 at present in the next two years.
5. BankingThree more banks raise rates by up to 50 basis points Two state-owned lenders Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank on Friday announced raising their minimum benchmark lending rate by up to 50 basis points. Private sector lender KarurVysya Bank also raised its deposit and lending rates by up to 50 basis points across various maturities. Interest rate on 91 days to six months fixed deposit has been raised by 50 basis points to 5.75 per cent while 9-12 months would attract 6.5 per cent, 25 basis points higher than existing rate with effect from October 4, KarurVysya Bank informed the Bombay Stock ExchangeThe bank has also increased its base rate, the minimum rate below which a bank cannot offer loans, by 50 basis points to 9 per cent. At the same time, Chennai-based Indian Bank also raised its base rate by 50 basis points to 8.5 per cent while Indian Overseas Bank hiked it by 25 basis points to 8.5 per cent effective October 1. This will make loans costlier for the new borrowers.
6. Motorola reveal its most recent handset Motorola Milestone XT720 Motorola reveal its most modern handset Motorola Milestone XT720: Renowned mobile manufacturing company Motorola reveals its latest Android Smartphone the Motorola Milestone XT720 in India. This handset is fully loaded with advanced features and specifications. These features comprise 8MP camera, geo-tagging, Face Detection, image stabilization, and auto focus for most excellent quality pictures. The listing does not finish here. It is also fully loaded with additional features such as Xenon flash, all along with HDMI, and 720p video recording, 8GB microSD memory card, expandable 32 GB memory card and strong battery backup. Since, with good battery backup the cell phone does not need recharging each day and they offer user friendly contracts. These eye-catching deals shall be afforded by citizens having all range of the income.
