Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP has confirmed that it would acquire a majority stake in Chennai-headquartered auto parts maker Agile Electric Works Ltd for around Rs. 650 crore (around $110M).   Blackstone will take over Agile Electric along with its listed subsidiary Igarashi Motors India Ltd (IMIL), in which Agile Electric owns 60 per cent stake.   In the two-legged transaction, the private equity firm will pick up 98 per cent of the parent firm and that in turn will provide the buyer with a 62 per cent stake in IMIL. Ina addition, the transaction will reportedly trigger an open offer for another 26 per cent stake in the firm.   A person with direct knowl

HDFC Bank, India's second-largest private sector lender, on Wednesday reported an impressive year-on-year jump of 30 per cent in net profit for the April-June, thanks to strong loan growth and a sharp rise in other income.   The private sector lender said its net profit jumped from Rs 1,417.39 crore in the April-June quarter of 2012 to Rs 1,843.86 crore in the same quarter of 2013.   Advances jumped 21 per cent year-on-year to Rs 258,589 crore during the three months under review; while retail loans and wholesale loans grew 25.5 per cent and 16.5 per cent, respectively.   The bank's total deposits grew more than the industry average growth rate at nearly 18

MUMBAI: The rupee on Friday lost 17 paise to 59.84 against the dollar in early trade at Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to increased demand for the US currency from importers.    Forex dealers attributed rupee's fall to sustained dollar demand from importers but said that a higher opening in the domestic equity market and euro's strength against the US currency in global markets capped the fall to some extent.    The rupee had closed 33 paise lower at 59.67 per dollar in yesterday's trade on US Federal Reserve's comment on tapering monetary stimulus by this year-end strengthened the dollar.    Sourse:TimesOfIndia

Internet giant, Google has reported a lower than expected second quarter results as the company faced lower prices of ads and higher losses from its Motorola mobile phone business.   Investors expressed concerns over the falling prices of ad as they were expecting a change in Google's advertising system to help mitigate the impact of a move to the mobile advertising. An increasing number of users are now accessing Google services on their smartphone and tablets, where the advertising prices are much lower and this has affected profitability of the company.   Google had introduced some changes to its advertising system to remove the difference between ads destined for PC

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Friday rose by over 102 points in early trade, mainly led by gains in IT stocks, including TCS jumping over 3.37 percent, after the software services major posted better-than-estimated first quarter earnings.   Besides, a mixed trend in the other Asian markets also buoyed the trading sentiment here.   The 30-share index, which had gained 277.18 points in the previous two sessions, rose by 102.20 points, or 0.50 percent, to 20,230.61, a level last seen on May 30.   Stocks of IT, technology, auto and metal sectors led the rise in early trade.   Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 28.80 poi

The rupee on Wednesday strengthened by 21 paise to hit a fresh two-week high of 59.10 in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, after the government liberalised FDI limits in a dozen sectors.   Forex dealers said the government liberalising FDI limits in a dozen sectors, including allowing 100 per cent in telecom and higher limits in 'state-of-the-art' defence manufacturing, in a bid to lure capital inflows, in a bid to curb the sliding rupee and to boost sagging economy, boosted the local currency.   They said, a higher opening in the domestic equity market, too, helped the rupee to strengthen.   The rupee had gained 58 paise to end at 59.31

The BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday regained the 20,000-level by rising over 104 points in early trade on increased buying by funds in healthcare, realty, capital goods and banking stocks amid a mixed Asian trend.   The 30-share barometer rose by 104.12 points, or 0.52%, to trade above 20,000 points level at 20,052.85. The index had gained 97.50 points in the previous session.   Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty too moved up by 28.25 points, or 0.47%, to 6,001.55.   Brokers said increased buying by funds amid a mixed trend in the Asian region following overnight gains on the US market after US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said the

Chennai, July 17 - Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) closed the first quarter of the current fiscal increasing its asset under management (AUM) by Rs. 7,000 crore as compared to previous year's comparable quarter, said the company.   In a statement Wednesday, RCAM - part of Reliance Capital Ltd. - said the total asset under management stands over Rs. 180,000 crore across mutual/pension funds, offshore mandates and others.   "Our focus on increased retail participation and expanding our reach in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities has helped us maintain high profitability in challenging times for the industry," Sundeep Sikka, CEO of RCAM, was quoted as saying in th

Hinduja Group's Ashok Leyland Ltd recently introduced the world to its new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) called Stile, which has been developed by Ashok Leyland-Nissan Motor Co joint venture.   Scheduled to hit the roads later this year, the Ashok Leyland Stile will be rolled out of Nissan's Oragadam-based manufacturing facility.   The Stile will be available in Diesel as well as CNG versions. With seating options of 2 and 3 rows, the vehicle will target urban and rural areas, panel vans, hotel shuttles, taxi service, ambulance service and more.   Speaking about the joint venture, Nissan's Executive Vice President Andy Palmer said, "The venture is no

Montreal, July 17 : Actress Emma Roberts was arrested here for hitting her actor boyfriend Evan Peters, but she was released soon.   The 22-year-old actress was taken into custody July 7 after she got into a physical fight with Peters, reports tmz. com.   Local law enforcement sources said that the couple, who have been together for a year, were overheard fighting in their room and someone from the hotel called the police.   The source said that police officers immediately arrested Roberts after arriving at the scene and witnessing Peter's bloody nose.   The 26-year-old actor also had a bite mark on his body.   Roberts was taken into custody,

South Korea-based steel giant Posco on Tuesday confirmed that it has ditched plans to build a $5.3 billion (£3.5bn) steel plant in India’s southwest state of Karnataka.   Posco announced in a statement that it decided to ditch the project due to delays in securing required mining rights, land and infrastructure and opposition by local people.   Confirming the decision, the company said, “We have agreed to drop the project given a delay in (acquiring mining rights) and opposition by local people."   On Monday, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cited anonymous sources saying that the South Korean steel maker had pulled out of its initial agreement

Mumbai, July 17 : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Wednesday closed 98 points or 0.49 percent up on the hope of better earnings season and global cues.   Good buying was seen in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer durables and IT sectors; while baking index (bankex) tanked substantially followed by metal and auto sectors.   The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,928.95 points, closed at 19,948.73 points, up 97.50 points or 0.49 percent from the previous day's close at 19,851.23 points.   The Sensex touched a high of 19,983.22 points and a low of 19,778.54 points intra-day.  

Mumbai, July 17 : The Reserve Bank Wednesday opened a three-day borrowing window of Rs. 25,000 crore to help mutual funds meet their financial needs.   The central bank said that "as a contingency measure", it had decided to conduct a special repo under which banks could raise funds totalling Rs. 25,000 crore at 10.25 percent interest.   "As a contingency measure, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to conduct a special 3-day repo at an interest rate of 10.25 per cent for a notified amount of Rs. 25,000 crore with a view to enabling banks to meet the liquidity requirements of mutual funds," Alpana Killawala, chief general manager, said in a state

New Delhi, July 17 : The revision in gas rates from April next year will boost investor sentiment in a sector where investments have almost dried up, Petroleum Minister M. Veerappa Moily said Wednesday.

Speaking at an industry association Assocham seminar here, the minister said with the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons finding the current rate of $4.2 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) uneconomical to produce gas from deep-sea fields, gas price revision will be a booster to augment investment in the oil and gas sector.

People in the country, therefore, should understand the necessity of the hike decision, he added.

The governmen

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a biopic on the life of legendary athlete Milkha Singh     Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and actor Farhan Akhtar met Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat on Wednesday (July 17, 2013) and sought tax concession for their latest outing Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a biopic on legendary athlete Milkha Singh.

The director and the lead actor reached Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai, where the monsoon session of state legislature is underway, and met the minister.

"We informed the government that many more people would be able to watch the film after tax exemption," said Farhan.

"The minister assured

New Delhi: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, said it would scrap its planned 12 million-tonne-a-year steel plant in Odisha as it has not been able to acquire the requisite land and a captive iron ore mine.

The withdrawal comes a day after South Korea's POSCO said it was ditching a project to build a 6-million tonne-a-year plant in Karnataka and focus on its own project for a 12-million-tonne-a-year plant in Odisha.

"Over the last seven years we have invested considerable resources into this project; however, the delays relating to land acquisition and allocation of captive iron ore blocks means this project is no longer viable," sa

New Delhi: Fruits like mango and pomegranate can be very useful to clear scars and marks on your face and even to nourish your skin.

Use them on your face once a week to get a natural glow. But it is first vital to know your beauty fruits and their properties well.

Ritu Makhija, CEO of Smart Brand Products Pvt Ltd. explains what makes a fruit special for face.
    Mango: Its rich Vitamin C pulp is an effective treatment for pimples and acne. You can also get rid of scars and blemishes with its use.

Noni Fruit: It helps to heal wounds on the skin. This also helps to treat acne.

Pomegranate: Know

Mumbai: Reacting to the mixed response to his second film ‘Lootera’, director Vikramaditya Motwane says it is impossible to make everyone happy.
    The director, who earned a lot of credibility with his internationally acclaimed 2010 directorial debut ‘Udaan’, didn`t receive the same response for ‘Lootera’.

Despite being made with newcomer Rajat Barmecha in the lead, "Udaan" took off in a big way and became the talk of the town. On the contrary, made with stars like Ranvir Singh and Sonakshi Sinha, the period drama couldn`t have the same effect.

"Yes, the film ha

MUMBAI: Banks may get to play the role of insurance brokers soon, which will make them more accountable for the policies that they sell to their customers. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is actively considering changes to its broking norms that will permit banks to register themselves as insurance broking entities.

At present, banks are selling insurance products by acting as corporate agents of insurance companies. Under the present arrangement, they are not registered by the insurance regulator and they are accountable only to the insurance companies. The insurance companies, in turn, are liable for any mis-selling by banks. As corporate agents, ba

Infosys shares surged 15 per cent after India's second largest IT outsourcer beat June quarter earnings estimates. Infosys was the biggest gainer on the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks and single handedly drove the markets higher.   Here are 10 factors driving the stock:
1.    Topline beat: Infosys Q1 sales rose nearly 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs. 11,267 crore against estimates of 5-6 per cent growth. The big beat, however, was the 2.7 per cent sequential jump in dollar sales against estimates of flat (0 to 1 per cent) growth. Hitesh Shah of IDFC Securities told NDTV that revenue growth was pretty encouraging considering that slowing growth was the b