Engineering conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has been awarded a contract to supply 100 self-propelled howitzers to the Indian Army for nearly Rs 4,500 crore. The first batch of the 155mm/52 calibre tracked self- propelled (SP) gun — K9 VAJRA-T — will be delivered later this year and the entire supply will be made within next 42 months. L&T, supported by its South Korean technology partner Hanwha Tech Win (HTW), had bid for the contract in 2011.

The S&P BSE Sensex came down from its record peaks, slipping 52.28 points amid profit-booking in recent gainers from healthcare, telecom, banks, financials, FMCG and consumer durable sectors as caution crept ahead of key government macro data to be released later today. The industrial production data (IIP) for March and April inflation data based on consumer price index (CPI) will be announced after market hours today, while weak Asian trend also dampened sentiments.

KOLKATA: Leading automobile manufacturer Tata Motors Limited today said that the company was readying itself for compliance to the Bharat Stage-VI (BS) emission norms scheduled to come into effect from 2020.

"TML is now working towards manufacturing BS-VI- compliant commercial vehicles for which significant R&D activity is being undertaken," Girish Wagh, head, product line, MHCV (medium and heavy commercial vehicles), of the company said.

India’s Information Technology (IT) companies are in the middle of their biggest retrenchment drive. After Wipro fired over 600 staff members in March, it has now been reported that seven of the biggest companies have planned to ask at least 56,000 engineers to leave this year. That roughly amounts to 8,000 employees per company.

As reported in Mint, the companies include both Indian and multinational firms with a large footprint in India.

Infosys has deferred salary hikes for employees to July and even later in case of senior executives as the Indian tech industry struggles to cope with uncertain environment and visa-related issues in key markets like the US.

Typically, the country's second-largest software services firm rolls out increments from April but this year the hikes have been pushed back to next quarter. Infosys has over two lakh employees.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that India's flag carrier Air India would begin direct flights between Colombo and the holy city of Varanasi from August.

Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, made the announcement of the beginning of the flights during his address at the inauguration of the International Vesak Day, the biggest festival of Buddhists.

A top US think-tank on Friday launched a knowledge web-portal which tracks the policy and regulatory environments of major Indian states.

An initiative of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the online web portal the 'Engaging Indian States,' was launched by Griffin Thompson, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Transformation and Richard Rossow, senior adviser and Wadhwani Chair in the US-India Policy Studies.

Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) on Thursday won a Rs 2,950 crore arbitration award against Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the alleged breach by the latter of the agreement on the Airport Express line.

Delhi Airport Metro Express (DAMEPL), a subsidiary of R-Infra, has been awarded a compensation of Rs 2,950 crore. If the interest of Rs 1,775 crore is included, the total goes up to Rs 4,725 crore, possibly the largest arbitration award, said a person close to the development.

TVS Motor Company has roped in former Bajaj Auto's dealer in Central America for expansion in the region. The company expects around Rs 500 crore from Central America over the next three years.

Sudarshan Venu, joint managing director, TVS, said the company has tied up with Masesa, a large group in Central America, for distribution of two-wheelers and three-wheelers in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Private sector lender Axis Bank is planning to expand its business of distributing life insurance policies through a tie-up with one more insurer.

In the case of life insurance, the bank currently has a partnership with Max Life and LIC. Now, the rule allows an open architecture with up to three insurers. The private bank will at some point look at adding a third partner as well, its managing director and chief executive officer Shikha Sharma said at CII’s banking technology summit.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.