The latest report of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) paints a grim picture for the besieged Indian automobile industry.

The report said that the sales of the car in country fell 7 per cent in December, the fifth drop in six months as inadequate finance and a slowing economy hollowed demand in the traditionally weak month. The report predicts that carmakers sold 82,105 units in the month, below the 88,272 sold a year ago.

After opening on a dreary note at 9,316.33, 90.14 points, the 30-share index BSE Sensex fell deep into the pessimistic zone this afternoon.

The Sensex plunged on account of heavy selling pressure witnessed across frontline stocks. Second rung stocks were under pressure. Metal, realty and banking sectors posted sharp losses.    

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index lost 2.13% and 1.56% respectively.

All sectoral indices were trading in red zone. BSE Metal lost 5.51%, Realty declined 4.88%, Bankex dropped 4% and Power down by 3.61%.

Vijay Mallya, owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has maintained that he has not yet finalized Rahul Dravid as the skipper of the Indian Premier League team.

Commenting over the media report that Dravid has been retained as captain of the team, Mallya said, "Who said so? After all, I am the boss of the team. I will decide who will be the captain."

The news is that Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra have finally parted away.

According to the grapevine, Priyanka made a solo entry at Hrithik Roshan’s birthday party on Friday night, even though Harman was in town. This is the first time that the Priyanka was seen alone in the B-Town.

Earlier, the two have been together to Mannat at parties, at Karan's birthday last year, at the Jodhaa Akbar bash, and also Farah Khan's Eid bash.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources have alleged that fast bowler Mohammad Asif did carry a small amount of opium when he was detained at the Dubai airport last year.

The official documents of the Public Prosecutor's office maintain that Asif cannot travel to Dubai.

It may be here recalled that after playing the inaugural Indian Premier League, the fast bowler had to spent 19 days in detention for possessing banned drugs.

Documents sent by the Public Prosecutor's office in Dubai proved that Asif had been deported last June for possession of 0.24 grams of opium.

After dipping into negative zone during October, Index for industrial production (IIP) registered a positive growth of 2.4% in November 2008.

Industrial action has contracted by 0.3% in October 2008.

IIP stood at 4.9% during the corresponding period of the last year (Nov 2007).

For the first eight months, IIP increased by 3.9 percent as against 9.2 percent in the corresponding period of 2007-08.