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Orissa Government has taken few steps for AIDS affected persons to improve their standard of living. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa introduces a new plan for HIV/AIDS affected people; he said that Orissa government is planning to include HIV-AIDS affected persons in the up-coming BPL list.

Orissa government had hosted an AIDS campaign Red Ribbon Express (RRE) at Mancheswar Railway station, where Naveen Patnaik said that government is concerned for all the persons affected by AIDS and soon necessary actions will be taken to help the affected people and their family to live normal life.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the biggest retailer in the world, announced today that it is appointing Andy Clarke as the new president and chief executive of its UK supermarket chain Asda Group Ltd. Andy Clarke, who is currently working as the chief operating officer of Asda, will replace Andy Bond, who decided to step down after five years as president and CEO last month.

InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, the largest hotel operator in the world by number of rooms, announced today that its net profit doubled in the first quarter of the fiscal. The hotel group said that its revenue per available room was reported positive for the first time in last 18 months.

Standard Life Plc, an Edinburgh based UK insurer, said that it is selling its medical insurance business Standard Life Healthcare Ltd. for £138 million. Standard Life is selling its healthcare division to a subsidiary of South Africa's Discovery Holdings Ltd.

Aviva Plc, the second largest insurer in UK, announced that its life and pensions new business sales fell by 4.6% in the first quarter of the fiscal ended March 31, 2010. The insurer said that the sales declined as North America region performed very poorly in the first quarter.

UK industrial production grew sharply by 2% in the month of March, according to the data released by the Office for National Statistics. This was reported six times better than the expectations of the economists. ONS said today that the growth in industrial production in the month of March was mainly attributable to the weaker pound.