MUMBAI: The benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 228 points in early trade on Wednesday amid a firming global trend and hopes of a growth-oriented Budget.

Further, covering-up of short positions by speculators ahead of Thursday's monthly expiry in the derivatives segment, supported the upside.

The government plans to set up an expert panel to find ways to improve Air India’s performance but presently no proposal is being considered for its privatisation, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati said today.

“Setting up of an expert committee to suggest ways to further improve the performance of Air India is under consideration,” he said.

Back in 2009, U K Sinha, the then UTI chief (currently Sebi chairman) told Business Standard that the regulator needs to be open to criticism. The comment had come in the backdrop of Sinha's predecessor C B Bhave's decision of banning entry load on equity schemes.

The move had attracted widespread criticism from all stakeholders - including AMCs and distributors. And that phase lasted for not less than four long years. Even today, it is not surprising to see people wishing for a return of entry load, though in hushed tones.

US-based private equity firm Carlyle group beat off stiff competition to acquire a 49% stake in PNB Housing Finance from Destimoney Enterprise Pvt Ltd.

PNB Housing Finance is the mortgage finance arm of one of India’s largest public sector lenders, Punjab National Bank, which owns 51%, and is the fourth largest housing finance company in the country.

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday suspended ONGC board member Shashi Shankar on charges of alleged irregularities in processing a yet-to-be-awarded tender of 2011 for procuring equipment worth about $4 million, or roughly Rs 23 crore at current exchange rate.

This is the first instance of a member of the board being suspended since ONGC became a corporation in 1994. In 1992, when it was a government commission, M C Nawlakha, who was then the member (finance), was suspended. He retired in 1993.

Mumbai: India’s benchmark Sensex was trading over 230 points higher, led by shares of energy, banking and information technology companies.

The government will announce the railway budget on 26 February and the national budget on 28 February. Investors will look for the direction of government policy through these two announcements and will keep an eye on annual economic outlook survey on 27 February. Investors are also cautious ahead of future and option expiry on 26 February.

India may be Asia’s fastest-growing smartphone market, but shipments slowed down last quarter for the first time. According to IDC, the quarter-over-quarter lag was caused by a surplus of inventory leftover after India’s festive season in October and November.

During Q4 2014, smartphone shipments fell four percent quarter-over-quarter, but fared better than featurephones, which dropped by 14 percent. Shipments of featurephones began declining in 2013 as more Indian consumers nixed them in favor of inexpensive Android smartphones from Samsung and Micromax.

Public-sector lenders on Tuesday took possession of Kingfisher House, the Mumbai office of the grounded airline Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), which defaulted on loans to the tune of Rs 6,800 crore from a State Bank of India-led consortium.

The 17,000 sq ft property near the domestic terminal is valued at Rs 100 crore and was pledged for the loan.

India’s second-largest information technology services firm Infosys would soon invest in a start-up that develops cloud-based air quality detectors, said a senior official.

He added the investment is in line with the Bangalore-based IT major’s strategy of providing support to start-ups exploring innovative products in new-generation technologies, such as Internet of things, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The executive, however, did not reveal the name of the company or the quantum of investment.

Tata Motors, which had two years earlier objected to the creation of quadricycles as a new vehicle category, citing low safety standards, now seems to be toeing a very different line. The automaker, India’s largest by revenues, is quietly developing under ‘project Bravo’ its own quadricycle with a new petrol engine, Business Standard has learnt.

A launch date has not yet been fixed but industry sources say this quadricycle could be based on Tata’s Iris light commercial vehicle platform and hit the roads around 2018. Such a timeline could make Tata one of the last entrants in a category where Bajaj already has a lead with the RE60.

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