Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) reported a decline of 35 per cent in its net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2008. Its net profit was Rs 285.9 crore in the same period last year. Now, it stands at Rs 185.7 crore registering 35 per cent decline.
M&M reported an exchange loss of Rs 117.8 crore including a notional loss of Rs 96.7 crore. These losses were suffered following revaluation of the company’s net foreign currency borrowings. Its gross revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 registered a growth of 14.1% and stands at Rs 3,695.2 crore. It was Rs 3,239.5 crore during the corresponding period last year.
Berlin - European inflation edged down in October, data to be released Friday is forecast to show, adding to the likelihood of the European Central Bank delivering another hefty cut in interest rates next week.
Analysts expect the European Union's statistics office to say in its preliminary estimate for October that inflation in the 15-member eurozone edged down to 3.2 per cent or even 3.1 per cent from 3.6 per cent in September.
Cotabato City, Philippines - Fire razed a Philippine military ammunition depot in the troubled southern region of Mindanao on Friday, triggering a series of explosions that caused panic among nearby residents.
Major Randolph Cabangbang, a regional military spokesman, said the cause of the fire was still being determined, but assured the public that sabotage was not involved in the incident.
He said the depot inside Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Shariff Kabunsuan town, 930 kilometres south of Manila, was completely destroyed by the fire.
"No need to be alarmed," he said. "Nobody was hurt, and the ammunition stored in the warehouse are old, defective and were scheduled for disposal."
Augsburg, Germany - November is Germany's mournful month: every year on November 1, Christians observe All Saints' Day, a general commemoration of the dead.
Introduced in 835 AD as a feast for all martyrs and saints by Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious, it has become the main day on which Christians visit the graves of their loved ones.
The faithful departed were originally commemorated on All Souls' Day, on November 2, a holiday established by St Odilo, abbot of Cluny (994-1048) in present-day France.
Paris - When French historian Pap Ndiaye was asked recently what Barack Obama's election as US president would mean to him personally, his voice grew soft: "I will be very moved. The most powerful man in the world will be a black man. This is incredible."
But Ndiaye - the author most recently of The Black Condition: An Essay on a French Minority - was quick to add that he also expected Obama's election to bring about certain changes in French society.