New Delhi, (IANS) Affordable access to energy is one of the main challenges which the world faces today, and India will ensure electricity to households in the next five years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday. “Our goal is to provide electricity to all 600,000 villages of India. More than 100,000 villages were provided connections [...]

Washington, (IANS) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised India’s growth forecast down to 4.9 percent in 2012, rising to 6 percent next year, as it presented a gloomier picture of the global economy. Saying prospects have deteriorated further and risks increased since July, the IMF’s latest World economic Outlook, unveiled in Tokyo Tuesday ahead [...]

Beijing, (IANS) China’s retail and catering industries saw a surge in sales during the eight-day national holiday, driven by demand for jewelry, clothes, home appliances and banquets, Xinhua reported Monday. The combined sales of major retail and catering enterprises in the country rose by 15 percent to 800.6 billion yuan (about $126.3 billion) during Sep [...]

Abu Dhabi, (IANS/WAM) The UAE has invited Indian companies to participate in an international energy summit to be organised here next year. The sixth edition of the World Future Energy Summit will be held Jan 15-17. UAE’s embassy in India has organised events in New Delhi Sep 26 and Ahmedabad Sep 27 to apprise the [...]

Chennai, (IANS) Insurance regulator has imposed a penalty of Rs.76 lakh on private life insurer MetLife India Insurance Company Ltd. for violation of its regulations, an official said Monday. After considering 42 charges against the company, the chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) J. Hari Narayan ordered it to pay Rs.76 lakh [...]

Abu Dhabi, (IANS/WAM) The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade rose by 17.3 billion dirhams to 320.3 billion dirhams (about $87 billion) in the first four months of this year. The figure was 303 billion dirhams in the corresponding period last year. Exports during the January-April period grew by 33 percent from 35.1 billion dirhams to 46.9 [...]

New Delhi, (IANS) The Empowered Group of Ministers on telecom Monday decided to refund or adjust licence fees of companies whose licences stand cancelled following the Supreme Court’s verdict on 2G spectrum allocation but have no criminal charges against them. “Licence fee would be adjusted of those players who bid and win spectrum in the [...]

New Delhi, (IANS) Delhi’s power regulator’s office premises Monday witnessed high drama when BJP workers under Vijay Goel made an unscheduled appearance there – the venue where IAC activist Arvind Kejriwal was to protest against inflated electricity bills and high cost of power. Goel along with over 100 supporters reached the office premises of the [...]

Hyderabad, (IANS) Actress Amla Akkineni and other Greenpeace activists were arrested by police here Monday after they staged a protest here demanding the Indian government to halt all new coal mining in forest areas if it was really serious about conserving biodiversity. Amla, who is also animal rights activist and wife of popular Telugu actor [...]

New Delhi, (IANS) Riding the racing wave, Monster India, one of the leading online career and recruitment solutions providers, Monday announced its global partnership with the Marussia F1 Team to globally recruit personnel for the technical and commercial success of the team. “The Marussia F1 Team is leveraging Monster’s technology and global job seeker reach [...]