As per the latest air travel-related data, coming from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), there has been a 15 percent fall in the year-on-year figures concerning total number of passengers carried by the nine Indian airlines in March - the number coming down from the previous year's 37.11 lakh to the recent 31.60 lakh.

The government data shows that the plunge in the number of passengers taking the air route has been continuing over the past nearly 11 months; and the key reasons for the decline is the decreased number of foreign tourist arrivals.

Citing the rather poor performance of the Indian heavy truck segment, the Hero Group has decided to pull out of its joint venture with Daimler! With the Hero Group quitting the collaboration for making commercial vehicles in India, Daimler will buy back Hero's 40 percent stake - worth 16 million euros - in Daimler Hero Motor Corporation (DHMC).

While Daimler says the Hero Group back-out was due to financial constraints, the Chairman of Hero Corporate Services, Sunil Kant Munjal, cited plunging commercial vehicle sales in India - which dropped 22 percent in FY 2009 - as the reason.

In today’s session, gold futures turned lower after government data showed U.S. consumer prices unexpected fell during the last month, and posted their first 12-month fall since 1955, denting the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge.

Gold prices fell by Rs 80 in the bullion market on Wednesday because of profit booking amid strong stock markets.

The purchasing for the present marriage season and an improved curve in London bullion market failed to improve prices and prices chop down after traders and stockists indulged in profit booking at advanced levels.

With the help of funds from its internal accretions and the foreign exchange proceeds, Reliance Communications intends buying back foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) at a mark down, depending upon the central bank approval.

A tender offer, for repurchasing the bonds for cash at a discount, has been issued by the company to all its bond holders.

Gold traded in jerky session on Tuesday as traders backed away from the safe investment amid anticipation that the financial system can return to normal.

In the international spot market, Gold belled the day at $887.50. During the session, it gained steam as worse than expected retail sales caused the equity markets to fall and gold rapidly rallied, touching an intraday high of $893.

Gold typically moves opposite the US currency owing to its hedge value. The dollar remained choppy as compared to other majors on Tuesday, giving back early gains.

Despite the fact that the global downturn has virtually hit every sector of the economy, the education sector has largely escaped any major blows; and is beckoning private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds!

According to a “Private Equity Pulse – Education” report by Venture Intelligence - a research service tracking private equity and M & A activity in India – the PE, VC investors are targeting the domestic education firms, after they have noticed a huge potential in the education arena.