National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has decided to hike iron ore prices up to 40 per cent. NMDC is a leading state-run mining company in India. The revised prices would be implemented from Oct 1. The decision to hike ore prices is aimed to save the interests of buyers. It would insulate them from short-term market fluctuations. The steel prices may increase following the implementation of revised prices.

The chairman and Managing Director of NMDC, Rana Som said that the hike in prices is the need of the hour as production cost has increased manifolds. The public sector company can revise the ore prices as per the agreement with buyers.

London, Oct 22 : A scientist has claimed to have found concrete evidence that confirms the detection of methane gas on Mars and also identifies key sources of the gas.

The scientist in question is Michael Mumma, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, US.

While on Earth, methane is mostly biological in origin, on Mars, it could signal microbes living deep underground.

According to a report in Nature News, the latest work suggests that Martian methane is concentrated in both space and time.

At a handful of hotspots hundreds of kilometers across, plumes of methane bloom and dissipate in less than a year.

Harrisburg (Pennsylvania, US), Oct. 22 : Republican running mates John McCain and Sarah Palin have once again questioned Barack Obama''s readiness to lead the country in the wake of the latter’s running mate Joe Biden saying that Obama would face a "generated crisis."

"We don''t want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars," McCain said Tuesday in Harrisburg, Pennyslyvania.

Karvy Stock Broking Limited has maintained ‘buy’ rating on ICICI Bank stock with an intraday target of Rs 440.

According to Karvy, interested traders can purchase the stock between Rs 418-422 with a strict stop loss of Rs 400. If the stock market remains on positive track, the stock pricing becomes more attractive, and reach above Rs 405.
 

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks plunged Wednesday as investors worried about the grim outlook for Japanese firms' earnings.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average tumbled 631.56 points, or 6.79 per cent, to end 8,674.69.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also lost 67.41 points, or 7.05 per cent, to 889.23.

Japan's automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp expected a 7.6-per-cent fall in sales in the year's first six months through September due to slowing demand in the United States and Europe, the company said.

The shares of major sugar companies witnessed a steep downfall on Bombay stock exchange on Monday trading. The shares of Bajaj Hindustan Ltd declined Rs 5.6 and closed at 53.50. The company is the biggest refiner by sale of the country. Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd. also saw share decline of 12% which is the lowest since December 2.

The shares downfall came after the decision of UP government to hike the cane prices in the state. UP government had hiked the state administered price (SAP) of sugarcane by Rs 15 per quintal for the new crushing season. UP is the largest sugar producing state of India and many leading cane companies are located in the state.