Tokyo - Japan's core consumer price index (CPI) rose in September from a year before due to rising oil and food prices, and the nation's average household spending declined as people spent less on food, the government data showed Friday.

The nation's core CPI, excluding fresh food prices, rose 2.3 per cent in September, compared to a year before, as energy prices grew 14.7 per cent and non-perishable food prices rose 4.2 per cent, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said.

The net profit of Cairn India increased 12 fold for the third quarter. Its net stands at 293.32 crore as per the reports released by the company. Cairn India has done a remarkable work in the field of oil reserves exploration in India.

Company’s turnover increased to 21 per cent and stands at Rs 321 crore. It suffered a loss of Rs 106.4 crore in the same period of previous year. The company made income of Rs 118.20 crore in third quarter form investments and Rs 172.37 crore in the nine months ended September 30, 2008 including foreign exchange fluctuation of Rs 87.34 crore and Rs 110. 83 crore.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks fell 3.7 per cent in early trading Friday on profit-taking after two days of double digit gains.

The blue-chip Hang Seng index lost 525 points in the first hour after opening, dropping to 13,804 points.

Analysts blamed the fall on profit-taking after three consecutive days of gains which has seen the index bounce back by 23 per cent after recording one of its biggest day losses Monday.

This week has been one of the most volatile in the Hang Seng's history.

The NTPC would form a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) for diversifying its efforts to generate nuclear energy. NTPC is the largest power generator of India and its board has approved the JV proposal with India’s only nuclear power producer. The joint venture is expected to come

Initially, the JV would set up a 2,000-MW nuclear power plant. The JV would boost the nuclear power generation capacity of India following the Nuclear Suppliers' Group waiver and Indo-US nuclear deal. India has set a target to produce about 20,000 MWe of nuclear power by 2020 and 36,000 MW by 2030.

Indian IT hub, Bangalore is also facing the heat of global recession. The IT industry of state of Karnataka has suffered 5 per cent decline in manpower utilization. Employment opportunities are also decreased by 3 to 5 per cent during the April-September 2008 period. It is established in a report based on the survey conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the Southern Region.

IT sector witnessed low demand following global financial crisis. A decline of 2-3 per cent in pricing (billing) during the first half of the current financial is also noticed. Overall decrease in the demand from European countries is also a cause of concern for Indian IT industry.

Norway-based telecom company, Telenor has brought a majority of 60% stake in Unitech Wireless. Telenor is the largest telecom company of Norway having existence in 12 nations with subscriber strength of over 150 million. The Norway government holds 54 per cent stakes in Telenor. Unitech wireless is a subsidiary of major reality giant, Unitech.