Worldwide spending on satellites, launches and support services increased to $314 billion in 2013, up 4% from 2012, even though the United States government reduced its own space spending, an industry association reported this week.

Commercial space activity, including rocket launches to fly cargo to the International Space Station, fueled most of the growth, the report by the US Space Foundation said. "Fifty-seven years after the launch of the first satellite, the space industry is rapidly evolving," said the foundation's annual Space Report, released on Monday.

Back-to-back bomb blasts killed at least 118 people and wounded 45 in the crowded business district of the central Nigerian city of Jos on Tuesday, emergency services said, in an attack that appeared to bear the hallmarks of the Boko Haram insurgents.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the militant group Boko Haram, which has set off bombs across the north and centre of Nigeria in an increasingly bloody campaign for an Islamic state, was likely to be the prime suspect in what would rank among their deadliest single attacks in five years of insurrection.

The BSE benchmark index Sensex today retreated from record by losing almost 47 points in early trade on profit-booking by speculators in oil and gas, PSUs and banking stocks, amid a weak trend in the global markets.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained over 562 points in the past four sessions after the BJP-led NDA swept the polls, shed 46.88 points, or 0.19%, to 24,330.00. On similar lines, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 12.80 points, or 0.18%, to 7,262.70.

The operator of Japan's destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant began releasing groundwater that it said is within legal radiation safety limits into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, in a bid to manage huge amounts of radioactive water built up at the site.

Tokyo Electric Power, or Tepco, has been fighting a daily battle against contaminated water since the Fukushima nuclear station was wrecked by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

Around 50 tonnes of gold entered India in the first quarter (January-March) of 2014 through smuggling, estimates the World Gold Council (WGC), due to continued restrictions on imports through official channels.

“Broadly, we estimate 20-25 per cent of gold demand is met through smuggling, which continued in the first quarter of (calendar year) 2014 as well,” said Somasundaram P R, managing director of WGC India at the issue of its Gold Demand Trend report for the period.

As the days at work got longer after she became the managing director & CEO of ICICI Bank exactly five years ago, Chanda Kochhar had to make substantial changes in her once must-do routine. But she has refused to give up two things: one, visiting the bank's branches almost unannounced; and two, her monthly informal meetings with about 20 employees picked on a random basis.

A meeting to take the views of the industry department, finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on raising the foreign investment limit in HDFC Bank remained inconclusive on Tuesday. Now, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram would decide whether another meeting is to be held or the matter would straight go to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), sources said.

This could well be advice from Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan to the next government, on autonomy for public sector banks (PSBs). He said on Tuesday that PSBs could raise money much more easily from the markets if they became competitive, by distancing themselves from the influence of the government, without sacrificing their public character.

Jet Airways plans to move all its 18 ATR turboprop planes to its low cost subsidiary, JetLite, in a possible first step towards offering only a full service model under its operating permit. The move is also part of a plan to turn around JetLite’s operations.

The airline has two operating permits and offers both full service and no-frills service in the domestic market. Jet acquired Air Sahara and renamed it JetLite in 2007. Jet Airways did not respond to an email query on the topic.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) chairman S Narsing Rao on Tuesday said he would be quitting his post to serve the government in the new state of Telangna, where he hails from.

While confirming the reports about his plans to return to Hyderabad, Rao told Business Standard that as a ‘son of the soil’, he was looking forward to working in Telangana, as the new state requires a lot of dedication and effort by men in government to meet the aspirations of its people.

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