While software segment is facing the heat of global slowdown, Polaris Software Lab Limited performed well for the third quarter of current financial year. The company provides application development solutions to banking, finance and insurance sector.

The company posted 94 per cent increase in net profit despite low demand in IT segment and tight liquidity conditions. The board of company has decided to pass 30 per cent dividend to shareholders.

The famous Dutt family might be facing some turbulent times. It is well known that the patriarch of the family, Sunil Dutt, had always been a Congress person.

His daughter, Priya Dutt, followed in his footsteps and is a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai-North-West in Maharashtra. However, his son, Sanjay Dutt seems to have different plans and is planning to contest Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

Acupuncture, a technique of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body, has been found effective in curing headaches.

Recently it has been found that, even the fake procedures, in which the needles are inserted incorrectly, can be pretty effective.

According to traditional explanations, acupuncture works by tapping into "meridians" or channels which are described in classical and traditional Chinese medical texts, as pathways through which Qi (the vital energy) and "Blood" flow.

Leading public sector lender Indian Bank has announced its financial results for the third quarter of the current financial year. The bank posted 14 per cent increase in net profit which stands at Rs 350.70 crore as compared to Rs 307.50 in the same period last quarter.

Its total income increased to Rs 2071.37 crore as compared to Rs 1676.00 crore in previous quarter.

The bank said in a filing before BSE, "The additional segments of corporate banking and retail banking have been included for the quarter and for the nine months ended

LIC Housing Finance (LICHFL) is planning to launch its new financial arm in the current quarter. The decision is aimed to strengthen its distribution network across the country. The company would start its new financial arm, headquartered at Bombay and expand its network across country at later stage.

The Director and Chief Executive of LICHFL, R R Nair said, "We are launching our financial services subsidiary called LIC Housing Finance Financial Services which will help us improve our disbursement of loans and other financial products, during the quarter."

Leading pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy's Laboratories announced its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 08. The company posted net profit of
192.40-crore in the reporting period as compared to loss of Rs 121.30 crore in the same period last year.

Its revenue stood at Rs 1,840 crore in Q3 as compared to Rs 1,231 crore in the third quarter of financial year 2007-08.