1. (4thOct. to 9th Oct.) By:- Nibha Goyal

2. CHINA supports a stable euro and won’t reduce its holdings of European bonds, underlining the strengthening ties with the EU. MrWen said he hopes to improve the domestic investment climate in China and that EU eases restrictions on high-tech exports and rejects protectionism. Greece received a € 110 billion ($151 billion) bailout from the EU and IMF in May to avoid default. The country plans to issue new bonds in 2011 after implementing austerity measures to reduce the EU’s second biggest budget gap. MrWen said he believes Greece is emerging from the crisis, with markets stabilising and investor confidence returning. EUphoric China all for steady € , eyes Greek bonds

3. This Diwali, carmakers to skip big discounts CARMAKERS have cut festival discounts to the lowest levels in at least three years this season. Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors have all drastically cut their discounts to push sales in the third quarter of the financial year. Several cars including the Maruti Alto, Wagon R, Hyundai Santro, Tata Indica, Fiat Palio and Ford Fiesta were discounted up to 15-20% of their price during the festive season until last year. Car sales have increased more than 30% in the first six months this fiscal year, changing the market condition completely.

4. NMDC to cut iron ore prices by 5% This is the first time that prices of iron ore, valid for the October-December period this year, will be lowered by the state-run National Mineral Development Corp (NMDC). The softening of ore prices will benefit the economy as large domestic steel companies such as state-owned Steel Authority of India, JSW Steel and Essar Steel buy through contracts from NMDC. It has been learnt that the decrease would be about 5%. NMDC exports about three million tonnes of iron ore every year to Japanese and Korean steel mills. The fall in ore prices is mainly led by lower demand from China, which is one of the biggest buyers of ore in global market.

5. Re rise has pepper exporters worried EXPORTERS looking to encash a decline in domestic pepper prices in the past 2-3 weeks are in for disappointment due to the strengthening of the rupee. The rupee’s appreciation against the dollar has taken away the competitive edge. Black pepper exports have slowed down to less than 1,000 tonne per month by August. “Rains and floods has affected the domestic demand,” said MrKishorShamji of Kishor Spices. He said truck movement has slowed down following the floods.

6. MS to launch Windows Phone 7 next wk Microsoft is set to launch its first line of Windows Phone 7 products next week and announce which carriers and manufacturers will be making and selling handsets based on its next mobile operating system. It’s evident that AT&T is on board as one of the carriers as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega will be jointly hosting a press conference in New York Oct 11 to discuss the latest developments of Windows Phone 7ased on its next mobile operating system.

7. Drug seizure issue settled , EU agrees to amend laws INDIA has resolved the dispute with the European Union over confiscation of Indian generic drugs by countries such as the Netherlands and France. In the last couple of years, Customs authorities in a number of European countries seized about 17 drug consignments shipped from Indian route to various African and Latin American countries. The Indian industry welcomed the EU decision to amend its customs rules, but said there is need to be cautious because it could be a strategy by the EU as its intellectual property interests are now covered by the anti-counterfeit trade agreement (ACTA) that it is about to implement with 10 other countries.

8. NTPC to get Rs 600-crore compensation THE Centre will compensate NTPC to the tune of Rs 600 crore for cancellation of its 600 megawatt hydropower project at Loharinag-Pala in Uttarakhand. A Group Of Ministers (GoM) headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, in August scrapped NTPC’s Loharinag Pala hydel project on environmental and religious grounds. Work on the Loharinag-Pala dam had commenced in 2005 but it was suspended last year by the Environment Ministry, following concerns raised by environmentalists and locals.

9. India, Norway to extend DTAA INDIA and Norway are all set to expand the scope of their double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) to facilitate greater information exchange on potential cases of tax evasion. After changes to the Indo-Swiss tax treaty this would be the second such treaty that would be reworked to ensure smooth flow of information on tax-related issues. This amended tax treaty will allow the income tax authorities to access information on bank accounts of Indians easily, but only in specific cases. India is pursuing the issue of exchange of information with other countries and would also seek amendments in tax treaties with them .