The net profit of Auto major Tata Motors declined 34 percent in the July-September period. Its net profit stands at Rs 346 crore which was Rs 526 crore last year. The company has to pay for high input cost, high interest rates and world financial crisis. The sale of auto major increased 7% to Rs 7029 crore in the same period. But its operating margin fell to 8.13% which was earlier 9.2%.

The union government has approved the proposal to increase FDI limit in insurance sector to 49 percent. FDI limit in insurance sector is currently 26 percent. The government took decision on the matter in the recent meting of union cabinet. It would introduce a bill in parliament in the forthcoming session to effect this change. However, the bill is unlikely to pass due to lack of time and opposition of the communist parties.

Union finance minister, P Chidambaram said that the government would introduce Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2008 to amend the Insurance Act 1938, General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972 and Insurance Regulatory and Development Act, 1999. The government would introduce it in the upper house of parliament as it is not a money bill.

Air passengers have to pay the transaction fees of Rs 350-10,000 per ticket for national and international flights from November 1. Indian domestic carriers such as Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines have decided to levy this fee through travel agents. Air carriers are, at present, giving 5 percent commissions to agents which would be replaced by transaction fee from today onward.

Drug maker, Ranbaxy Laboratories registered worst ever performance for the quarter ended September 30, 2008. The company suffered a loss of Rs 394.5 crore for the reporting quarter.

It had made a profit of Rs 207 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Ranbaxy is already acquired by Japanese major Daiichi Sankyo. It is facing tough time in the US and US food department had already banned entry of its 30 drugs.  

John McCain and Barack Obama are going almost neck and neck in the presidential race, in the Hoosier State — that’s what the latest Obama vs McCain Indiana Polls show.

Indiana has been Republican state — the state’s electoral votes were won by Republicans in 2000 and 2004 respectively. Let’s check out what the latest McCain vs Obama Indiana Polls show.

Research 2000/WISH-TV’s Obama vs McCain Indiana Poll, conducted from October 24 to October 28, shows Obama and McCain statistically tied — 47 % to 47 % among the likely voters of Indiana.

Indian equities started the week negatively tracking hopeless global cues and heavy selling action witnessed by FIIs as well as retail investors.
The Sensex touched the 8,000 mark, while the Nifty embraced the 2,300 level during intra-day. Afterward, it recovered some lost ground on account of short covering and buying by domestic institutional investors.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday celebrated Diwali at evening when the index posted a sharp 547-point gain taking back some eagerness among investors after five days of decline.