Reliance Industries (RIL) has contested Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)’s draft observations on some payments the company made to contractors of KG-D6 fields, saying the auditor had not considered the contract requirement of factoring consequences of delays in procurement of goods and services on the project.

RIL, in a presentation at an Exit Conference called by CAG, at the end of its second audit of KG-D6 for 2008-09 to 2011-12, stated the auditor was using hindsight to question project efficiencies and procurements made eight years back.

The petroleum ministry plans to issue an order to all its public sector undertakings not to file court cases against the government following a writ petition last May by Oil & Natural Gas Corporation charging the ministry of acts of omission and commission in an alleged theft of ONGC’s natural gas by Reliance Industries Ltd.

Suitable instructions may be issued to Central PSUs under this ministry, so that such an eventuality viz CPSUs under the ministry having to file a court case against the ministry (itself alleging non-performance) may not arise in future…, additional secretary Rajive Kumar proposed last month. The step was later approved by petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Al-Shabab militants from Somalia hijacked a bus in Kenya's north and killed 28 non-Muslims on board after they had been singled out from the rest of the passengers, police officials said today.

Two police officers said that the bus traveling to the capital Nairobi with 60 passengers was hijacked 31 miles from the town Mandera near Kenya's border with Somalia.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday asked US President Barack Obama to take up the Kashmir issue with the Indian leadership when he travels to India in January next year.

Sharif made the request when Obama telephoned him, informing about his forthcoming India visit and discussing bilateral ties and the regional situation.

US automobile major Ford has decided to recall 3,072 Ford Fiesta cars in India. These were manufactured at it’s factory in Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai.

“The safety and comfort of our customers are always top priorities. For their peace of mind and convenience, we have initiated a Field Service Action to correct a product concern on 3,072 Ford Fiesta TDCi vehicles,” it said. The company is writing to customers and asking them to contact their local Ford dealer so that a new design, a waterproof Glow Plug Control Module, can be installed free of charge. The Ford Fiesta in question here, built at the plant from October 14, 2010, to December 16, 2011.

A day after Kotak Mahindra Bank acquired ING Vysya Bank in an all-share deal, the former’s management agrees there are some challenges to be addressed, apart from the opportunities.

“There is an element of fat in the business and we will address it in an evolutionary manner…We are aware of the challenges and we want to make the business productive,” said Uday Kotak, executive vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra, in an analyst conference call.

Securites and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday 'reprimanded' HSBC Securities and Capital Markets Pvt Ltd for failing to make adequate disclosures related to an open offer for shares of Global Offshore Services' made in 2008.

Besides HSBC Securities, which acted as the merchant banker, the capital market watchdog also reprimanded India Star (Mauritius) Ltd which had made the open offer. However, Sebi ruled that "a direction in the nature of ordering the acquirer to make another public offer is not warranted".

Even as the modified Direct Benefit transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme is set to be launched pan-India by January 1, 2015, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Ltd. has set a target of 90 per cent cash transfer compliance (CTC) among its consumers by mid January.

Earlier, the DBTL scheme was launched on June 1, 2013 but required consumers to mandatorily have an Aadhaar number for availing LPG Subsidy. Post review, the government later modified the scheme allowing consumers who do not have an Aadhaar number to still be cash transfer compliant by registering their bank accounts.

ICICI Bank, which more than doubled its headcount in the past five years, has decided to go slow on hiring for now.

The country’s largest private sector lender has paused on fresh recruitment and, in many cases, isn’t even replacing those leaving the company. Instead, it is focusing on improving the productivity and efficiency of its existing workforce.

Shares of ICICI Bank has higher by 3% to Rs 1,732 on National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the bank has fixed December 5 as the record date for its proposed stock split.

The bank has fixed record date as December 05, 2014 for the purpose of ascertaining the eligible shareholders who would be entitled to receive 5 equity shares of nominal value of Rs 2 each in lieu of 1 equity share of nominal value of Rs 10 each of the bank, ICICI Bank said in a statement.

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