Food inflation shoots up to 11.47% on costlier cereals, fruits

NEW DELHI:   Food inflation shot up to 11.47 per cent for the week ended August 28, the second consecutive week of upward thrust, even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed hope yesterday that prices will moderate in the coming months. The rise in inflation was mainly on account of spurt in prices of cereals, fruits and milk.

Food inflation was 10.86 per cent for the week of August 21. Experts said that food inflation will stabilise by next month when this year's fresh kharif crops starts arriving in the market.

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Inflation to come down in coming months: PM

NEW DELHI:   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed hope that inflation, which is close to the double digit mark, will come down in the coming months.

"Let us hope, it (inflation) will come down in the coming months. I am not an astrologer," he told reporters here.

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Railways post 7.95 pc earning increase in Apr-Aug period

NEW DELHI:   Railways have posted 7.95 per cent increase in earnings during the first five months of the current fiscal. The total earnings of Railways between April and August this year were Rs 37015.28 crore as compared to Rs 34289.58 crore during the same period last year, which was an increase of 7.95 per cent.

During this period, earnings from goods went up from Rs 23129.08 crore during this period last year to Rs 24768.16 crore this year, said an official release.

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Bombay High Court rules against Vodafone in tax case

MUMBAI:   The tax department has jurisdiction over tax bills in cross-border mergers, a court ruled, dismissing a petition by Vodafone and setting a precedent for overseas firms looking to buy into Indian companies.

The Bombay High Court ruling came as foreign firms show renewed interest in acquiring Indian companies, lured by growth prospects in the world's second-fastest growing major economy. But the decision may prompt overseas firms to be more cautious about plans to enter India through acquisitions.

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RBI asks banks to help debt-ridden aviation sector

MUMBAI:   The Reserve Bank has asked lenders to work out a special concessional package for the crisis-ridden aviation sector, reeling under financial debt burden of staggering 60,000 crore.

In response, banks said they would look into the problems of airlines on case-by-case basis.

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Sensex extends gains for second day, rises 85 pts

MUMBAI:   Reflecting the continued buoyancy in the share market, with good demand coming in for market leader Reliance Industries, the BSE benchmark Sensex today gained 85 points to close at its best level in 31 months at 18,645.06.

The appreciation in the 30-share barometer of the Bombay Stock Exchange comes on top of yesterday's gain of 338 points, when the index closed at 18,560.05.

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Nearly two-third Indians blame economic growth for widening rich-poor divide: Survey

NEW DELHI:   Liberalisation of the economy notwithstanding, two-third of Indians blame economic growth for the widening divide between the rich and the poor, according to a survey.

Almost 63 per cent of people believe that poverty, slums and urban squalor would continue to dominate the landscape even after 20 to 25 years from now, the survey, presented at a roundtable on tracking the progress of millennium development goals (MDGs) here, said.

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