Britain plunges into first recession since '91 Fourth-quarter GDP decline steepest since 1980

Gross domestic product shrank by 1.5% in the final three months of the year, following a 0.6% quarterly contraction in the July-to-September period, the office for national statistics said in its initial estimate. That was the steepest quarterly drop since 1980, and also met the widely-used definition of a recession of two consecutive quarters of declining GDP.

Satyam board appoints Goldman as investment banker

Goldman Sachs has been appointed by Satyam board as the investment banker of the company at its meeting held on January 22,

PowerGrid accomplishes transmission line in Afghanistan

PowerGrid Corporation said that it has completed 202-km long transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul in Afghanistan,

JSW`s Vijayanagar plant on track

JSW Steel`s expansion of its Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka to 10 million ton per annum (mtpa) from the present 7 mtpa is moving ahead as per schedule and the company has fully tied up funds for the project

Sadbhav Engg bags Rs 993.10 mn order

Sadbhav Engineering announced that consortium led by the company had bagged an order valuing Rs 993.10 million by government of Andhra Pradesh Irrigation and CAD department in joint venture (JV) with Gokul Krishna Construction in the ratio of 52:48 respectively.

L&T secures orders worth USD 245 mn

Larsen & Toubro (Oman) LLC, one of the leading engineering and construction company, has secured major orders cumulatively valued at Rs 11,980 million (USD 245 million), against stiff international competition. The orders cover construction of a hotel and apartments for the Second Asian Beach Games, a mosque and underground cabling.

Wheels India to invest Rs 450 mn in power plant projects

Wheels India proposes to invest Rs 450 million over a period of next 3 years for manufacture of 50,000 metric ton (MT) of steel structural parts annually for its power plant projects.

The company has taken about 30 acres of land from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in Deoli in Wardha District for setting up a facility to cater the purpose

President Barack Obama's pick for treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner

Google beats estimates with profit, sales gains

Google Inc. said late Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell sharply to $382 million, or $1.21 a share, from $1.2 billion, or $3.79 a share in the same period a year earlier. Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet giant Google said net revenue in the period ended in December rose to $4.2 billion. Excluding special items, Google said earnings for the period were $5.10 a share. Analysts on average had been estimating Google would post earnings excluding special items of $4.95 a share on $4.1 billion in net revenue

Russia will allow 10% devaluation of ruble

Russia's central bank said Thursday that it will effectively allow the ruble to fall by about 10% against its dual currency basket, ending its policy of gradual mini-devaluations in a move aimed at deterring speculators and stemming the outflow of foreign exchange reserves.

Since last August, Russia's international reserves have plunged by more than $200 billion.The central bank reported Thursday that reserves tumbled by $30.3 billion to stand at $396.20 billion during the week ended Jan. 16.

Through this move, the bank effectively allowed further 10.6% devaluation of the ruble from the pre-announcement 37.04 level, and a cumulative 40% foreign exchange rate adjustment since the middle of 2008

Microsoft a window into tech sector's crash

Microsoft reported declining profit and slower-than-expected revenue growth Thursday and said it would eliminate as many as 5,000 jobs, about 5.5% of its 90,000-employee workforce. The broad job cuts were the 33-year-old company's first, triggered by slumping demand for the personal computers that run its software.

Pfizer in talks to buy Wyeth in $60 billion deal

Pfizer Inc. is negotiating to acquire rival drug maker Wyeth in a blockbuster deal potentially worth more than $60 billion that could alter the global drug industry

Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker by revenue,

Korea's GDP posts sharpest drop since Asian crisis

Korea's gross domestic product fell 5.6% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three months, the Bank of Korea reported Thursday in a statement. In the third quarter, Korea's GDP had grown by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter.

China's biggest car maker warns on 2008 profit

Shanghai-headquartered automaker SAIC Motor Corp. warned Friday its profit for 2008 may be more than halved because of slowing sales growth and losses related to its investment in South Korea's Ssangyong Motor Co.

SAIC, China's largest car maker, had a net profit of 4,63 billion yuan ($677 million) in 2007.

Earlier this month Ssangyong Motor suspended production at factories and filed for bankruptcy protect with a South Korean court.SAIC hold a 51% stake in the ailing firm and had provided it with $45 million in financial aid as of Dec. 31,


SAIC is better known a joint venture partner for General Motors and Volkswagen AG's units in China.

Fortis Bank faces $18 billion loss

Fortis Banque, the former Belgian banking arm of Fortis and now controlled by the Belgian government, said late Thursday that it made a net loss of 14.1 billion euros ($18.2 billion) in the first nine months of 2008. The bank also said it will lose between 4 billion euros and 5 billion euros in the final quarter of the year.

France's BNP Paribas had agreed to some Fortis assets and banking operations, but that deal has been put on hold after a court ruled shareholders must be given a say in the plans