Samsung's Low-end C5130 on Sale in India

Samsung has announced the launch of its latest low-end handset in India, the C5130, ahead of its global launch that is expected to happen soon. The C5130 is a slider phone that boasts of attractive features to attract the attention of a buyer on the look out for a cheap, but feature packed phone.

The C5130 boasts of a 2-inch, 262K colors display with 176 x 144 pixels resolution. The screen should be good enough to display multimedia content. The camera on the phone is a very basic 1.3MP unit that should suffice for casual (very casual!) imaging. It also comes with the now Samsung standard mobile tracker software. The company has also thrown in a music player, an FM radio

, and Bluetooth 2.0 as additional features.

ArcelorMittal to invest Rs 30k cr in Karnataka

Steel maker ArcelorMittal would invest Rs 30,000 crore in Karnataka towards setting up a 6,000-tonne steel plant in the state. A four-member high-level team from the world's largest steel maker met Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday to discuss details of the project.
The investments would also involve a co-generation power plant of 750 mega watt capacity. The government officials said Karnataka, which was in discussions with the company about the investment proposal, had shown the team six to seven sites for housing the project. “The company has finally chosen two sites. A final decision (on the site) will be made known to the government shortly,” an official at the chief minister's office told FE. He, however, declined to name the locations considered for the plant.
Karnataka's iron ore deposits are mainly spread across the north Karnataka districts of Bellary-Hospet and Koppal. The Karnataka government has extended all necessary support and incentives to the company to set up the plant, government officials said, adding that the company had sought approximately 4,000 acres for the plant.
ArcelorMittal's group board member Sudhir Maheshwari, chief executive (India and China) Vijay Kumar Bhatnagar, chief executive (India greenfield projects) Sanak Misra, corporate affairs manager Narasimha Hegde and strategy and planning head Prateek Kapur visited the minister to discuss the project details.
Earlier, the chief minister had told the media, “We have told the company to choose a site suitable for its requirements as the prestigious project is set to create about 10,000 jobs when implemented in the next four-five years.”
In a statement, ArcelorMittal chief executive LN Mittal said, “Our team had a constructive and positive meeting in response to an invitation from the Karnataka government. Karnataka is one of the most progressive states in India and, therefore, is an ideal place to build a world-class steel plant. The state government understands that India would continue to have a growing demand for steel and is keen on participating in this growth potential.”

Tata Consultancy Services to go slow on hiring

IT services behemoth Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which had offered jobs to as many as 24,885 graduates last year, is likely to go slow on its recruitment plans this year.
"The figure will not be as high as that of last year and also not very less," TCS vice-president and global HR head Ajoy Mukharjee told reporters here on the sidelines of Sangam, the company's annual academic conclave. In 2008, the largest IT services company had made job offers to as many as 24,885 graduates in campus recruitment, of which 12,000 candidates are yet to be absorbed. It plans to make job offers to 8,000 graduates this quarter, the process for which would begin in December. Replying to a question on the salary hikes and other incentives to the staff, TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekharan said they are still working out the packages for the next year. This year the company did not give any hikes other than that of performance-linked variable incentives. About the attrition rate, Chandrasekharan said it was11.5 per cent last year with a head count of 1.41 lakh globally.

HCL Technologies bags $200-m deal from UK firm

HCL Technologies said it has bagged a long-term deal worth about $200 million from UK-based insurance firm Equitable Life Assurance “The contract is ‘evergreen,’ it is for a period of 30 years. The revenue from the deal will come (mostly) in the first five to six years and decline gradually as policies decline,” HCL Technologies’ senior vice-president Stuart Drew said on Monday. The deal has been awarded to HCL Insurance Business Services, the IT firm’s UK-based life and pensions administration business. Currently, about 340 people are servicing the account. “We expect about 100 people will be taken in by Equitable Life, rendering about 240 people surplus. They will be relieved under suitable schemes,” Equitable Life Chief Executive Chris Wiscarson said. “HCL will take care of the work of these 240 employees
, with about 50-70 jobs being taken care of from HCL’s Chennai centre,” he added

ICICI Bank raises $750 m from 5-yr bonds

ICICI Bank on Saturday said it has raised $750-million (around Rs 3,465 crore) by issuing five-year bonds at its Bahrain branch The issue, which had an order book of over $3-billion, was participated by over 250 investors, the country's second largest lender said in a press release. "The 5.33-year fixed rate notes carry a coupon of 5.5%, which translates to 292.6 basis points spread over equivalent Libor," the bank said. Last month, the country's largest lender State Bank of India raised $750-million through the issue of five-year bonds abroad.

Bharti slashes mobile roaming charges, shares fall

* New bill plan cuts roaming rate by nearly 60 pct
* Shares fall 3 pct; 2nd worst performer in BSE index this yr (Adds details, background, shares)
India's Bharti Airtel launched yet another new billing plan on Friday, slashing mobile roaming rates by nearly 60 percent and signalling a tariff war in the world's fastest-growing wireless market was far from over.
The announcement accelerated losses in the shares of Bharti, the country's top mobile operator. The stock fell as much as 3.3 percent but trimmed losses to 2.7 percent at 284.90 rupees by 0825 GMT in a Mumbai market that was up 0.3 percent.
The price war, aimed at grabbing new users ahead of fresh entrants waiting in the wings, has raised concerns about telecom firms' profitability. Four new firms, including ventures funded by Telenor and Etisalat, are set to start services this year adding to the existing 11 operators.
Bharti's market value has slumped more than a fifth this year to about $24 billion and its stock is the second worst performer in the main index that has risen about 72 percent. Rival Reliance Communications has fallen about a quarter in 2009.
Bharti, whose about 115 million users account for more than 23 percent of India's total mobile subscribers, in September cut call charges within its own network to 50 paise (U.S. 1 cent) a minute and in October launched a low-profit per-second billing plan, reacting to competition.
Tata Teleservices [TATASL.UL], the No. 6 operator, was the first to launch per-second billing, deviating from the industry norm of per-minute billing. The offer was a roaring success and the firm has topped the new signings for three months in a row.
Bharti's latest offer will allow users to recieve calls at 60 paise a minute while roaming, and they can make calls at 60 paise a minute within the Airtel network and at 80 paise a minute for calls to rival networks.
Analysts say Bharti still charges about 8-10 percent higher than Reliance's call prices.
Bharti has said it would be competitive in pricing but had no intention to match the lowest price in the market.

India's annual food inflation rises to 14.55%

India's annual food inflation, based on wholesale prices, moved up to 14.55 per cent for the week ended Nov 7 from 13.68 per cent the week before, official data released Thursday showed.
The 52-week average prices of onions were higher by 35 per cent and potatoes became costlier by 30.7 per cent, according to the data on wholesale price index released by the commerce ministry.
Statistics also showed average prices of vegetables had gone up 18 per cent, pulses 17 per cent, rice 16 per cent, wheat 5 per cent, fruits 7 per cent and milk 8 per cent.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said here that the government may have to import rice if the kharif crop output was inadequate. Floods and the worst dry spell in nearly four decades in the country have hurt farm output causing rise in food prices.
This was the third week for which data on wholesale price index was issued as per the new guidelines approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs that restricts the disclosure of index numbers to primary articles and fuels.
The Reserve Bank of India and the government have warned India's annual inflation rate based on wholesale price index for all commodities will rise to 6-6.5 per cent by March, while the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has pegged the rate at 6 per cent.
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Mukesh Ambani tops LN Mittal in Forbes' India rich list

There was no surprise in the battle for the top spot in the recently released Forbes India Rich List. Reliance Industries' Chairman Mukesh Ambani has topped the list yet again with a net worth of USD 32 billion. But there has been a tussle for the other ranks on the list.
Steel baron and Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, Lakshmi Mittal and Anil Ambani, Chairman of ADAG completed the top three with net worth of USD 30 billion and USD 17.5 billion respectively. The number of Indian billionaires this year has almost doubled to 52 this year in Forbes' India Rich List. The net worth of the top 10 has gone up from USD 97 billion to USD 155 billion, a jump of 60%.

Ratan Tata initiates search for successor

Ratan Naval Tata, 71, is considering hanging up his boots. The chairman of the legendary Tata Group, one of the nation’s biggest conglomerates and venerable brands, is in the process of formalising a successor for him, he said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday.
Local and foreign candidates were being looked at to head the group, which includes Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Power among its 27 listed companies
If and when the baton passes, it would not only signal the conclusion of an era of one of India’s most respected businesspersons, it would also be the end of a chapter in the history of the Tata Group. A chapter, which saw the group add several feathers to its shining crown.
For Ratan Tata, the winner of several awards and recognition could be credited for a helming a number of success stories — three such events in recent years that put the Tata brand on the global map are Tata Steel’s acquisition of Dutch steel major Corus in 2007, Tata Motors taking over UK’s Jaguar Land Rover and launching of the people’s car this year, the Rs 1-lakh Tata Nano, built on Ratan Tata's professed dream of building a car for the common man.
"We are in the process of formalising a successor to me. We have some outside consultants and a formal search process is on. There are no constraints," Tata, who has steered the group for nearly two decades, said in the interview.
The successor could be from within the group or outside, Tata said, adding he hoped the person would carry on the growth path that had been set. All but one of the group's past chairmen have been Tatas, although at the moment no family candidate has been publicly identified to take over the role.
"It would certainly be easier if that candidate were an Indian national. But now that 65% of our revenues come from overseas, it could also be an expatriate sitting in that position with justification now," Tata said.

Air India to get Rs.400 cr by January

The state-run National Aviation Co of India Ltd (NACIL) that runs Air India will get by January the first instalment of equity infusion by the government worth Rs.400 crore (Rs.4 billion), the company said in a statement Tuesday.
'The group of ministers has recently assured support to the national carrier in the form of equity infusion and the first instalment of Rs.400 crore is expected by January 2010,' the company statement said.
The announcement comes after Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel last week said the government had agreed to infuse Rs.800 crore into the beleagured airline.
'Further instalments would be tied up to the milestones of savings effected on account of cost-cutting exercise at various levels,' the carrier said.
'We are simultaneously taking effective measures to enhance revenue to the extent feasible in today's market environment. We will also aggressively rationalize its fleet size and network besides pruning non-core activities in the coming months,' NACIL said.
Based on a monthly review of Air India's cost-cutting measures, the group of ministers on civil aviation, led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, recommended the equity infusion.
However, it also asked Air India to reduce costs by at least Rs.2,000 crore by the end of the current fiscal.
The airline is also putting in place a payment plan to clear the arrears of various vendors following improved booking position between December-February, generally considered good months for the aviation industry.
As per data released by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air India has improved its performance with impressive gains in domestic market.
The carrier's domestic market share, which was 16.6 percent in August, rose to 17.5 percent in September and climbed to 18.6 percent last month.
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Sensex ends little changed; IT, banks up

Equities ended lacklustre session on a flat note Tuesday in line with other peers. Losses in realty, oil&gas and auto were offset by IT and banks. Indices have been tepid since the trade began and continued to remain dull due to lack of buying activity. Low volumes indicated that participants were taking a breather before next move on either side. The annual general meeting of Reliance Industries also failed to lift the stock and indices. Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries announced that his company plans aggressive exploration campaign, investments in petrochemicals and overseas acquisitions and investment in new businesses such as retailing and alternative energy. The scrip ended flat at 0.65 per cent lower on the BSE. Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 17,050.65, up 18.14 points or 0.11 per cent. The 30-share index hit a high of 17080.17 and low of 16882.98. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 5062.25, up 4.2 points or 0.08 per cent. The index touched a low of 5010.15 and high of 5074 in today’s trade. “Traders need not worry as long as Nifty holds 4900. Every dip should be used as a buying opportunity. Trend will turn negative only if the Nifty slips below 4750. Volumes have been low for the past few sessions as traders are cautious at current levels and are expected to re-enter the market only above 5100. We are bullish on banks and infrastructure which can be bought on declines,” said Rakesh Gandhi, senior technical analyst, LKP Shares. BSE Midcap Index was down 0.08 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index rose 0.22 per cent. Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index was down 1.19 per cent, BSE Oil&gas Index fell 0.71 per cent and BSE Auto Index declined 0.13 per cent. BSE IT Index was up 2.02 per cent and BSE Bankex gained 0.34 per cent. Biggest Nifty gainers were Reliance Capital (6.07%), TCS (3.49%), Hero Honda (2.05%), Reliance Infrastructure (1.89%) and SAIL (1.85%). Losers were ONGC (-2.47%), DLF (-2.46%), Idea Cellular (-2.32%), Bharti Airtel (-2.08%) and ACC (-2.01%). Market breadth on BSE remained negative with 1389 declines against 1329 advances. European markets were in the red following decline in banks. The US markets too were expected to open in the red. At 5:30 pm IST, Dow Jones stock futures and S&P 500 were down 0.05 per cent each. Nasdaq 100 inched 0.03 per cent lower.

France-based Tyre group to set up rs 4000 cr facility in TN

France-based tyre manufacturer Michelin Group today signed an MOU with Tamil Nadu government for setting up a Rs 4000 crore manufacturing
facility in Tiruvallur district near Chennai.
The facility would create direct employment for 1500 people, Michelin Africa-India-Middle East, president Prashant Prabhu told reporters. "Michelin is extremely grateful to the state of Tamil Nadu for making it possible (for us) to have access to land and infrastructure to be able to build our factory," he said after exchanging documents with Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and state government officials at the Secretariat. Michelin would manufacture radial truckand bus tyres and the plant would start operations in 2012. Responding to a query, Prabhu said the factory would be built up in phases on 290 acres of land at Thervoy Kandigal in Thiruvalluvar district situated about 50km north of Chennai. On production at the facility, Prabhu said it would be focused on serving the domestic market. Prabhu said Chennai's connectivity and talent pool made them set up the facility, the company's first in India.

NTPC sale to fetch 1.8 billion dollars: Disinvestment Secretary

A five percent stake sale of the state-run power producer National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) could fetch the government 1.8 billion dollars (81 billion rupees), Disinvestment Secretary Sunil Mitra said on Friday.
Last week, the government mandated more sales of shares by state firms and changed the rules on how it can use the proceeds, as it seeks to boost revenues and rein in a widening budget deficit.
The five percent stake sale in NTPC could fetch the government more than three times the 27 billion rupees it got five years ago when it offloaded 5.25 percent of shares, Mitra said.
"Now, after the recent cabinet approval, we are going...to five percent stake in NTPC. We would be offloading this through offer for sale. The expected value that we, that we anticipate in this five percent public offering is more than three times we got near five years ago. That is because that enterprise value has gone up substantially," Mitra told the media here.
Last week, the cabinet approved a long-pending divestment policy that mandates at least 10 percent public holding in state-run firms and use the proceeds for social schemes until March 2012, to cut its fiscal deficit.
Since August, share sales in two state firms-NHPC and Oil India raised about 1.8 billion dollars.
Last month, the cabinet approved share sales for NTPC, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and Rural Electrification Corp.
India aims to sell shares of about 60 state-run firms in the coming years, with offers for NTPC and Rural Electrification Corp expected by end-March 2010.
The finance ministry is in talks with other ministries to launch public offers for Steel Authority of India, miner NMDC, Coal India Ltd and telecoms firm BSNL.
Analysts said it might not boost sentiments as appetite may be lacking for follow-on offers of listed firms unless shares are offered at a discount, but would help cut fiscal deficit.
Investors were expecting faster progress in stake sales along with reforms in insurance and banking sectors after the Congress Party-led coalition was re-elected with a stronger majority at the April/May general elections.
Scanty rainfall and floods briefly shifted policy focus to taming food price inflation in the last two months, but ministers have said recently reforms would be speeded up and more state-run firms would be taken up for stake sales.
India's fiscal deficit is set to widen to 6.8 percent of gross domestic product in fiscal year 2009/10, from 6.2 percent a year ago, on duty cuts and stimulus spending.

TCS to form business alliance with Dow

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an IT services, business solutions and outsourcing organisation, announced plans to form an innovative business alliance that will provide critical business services to Dow, a diversified chemical company, its subsidiaries and joint ventures.

The alliance is an expansion of an existing relationship between Dow and TCS, combining Dow’s leading chemical industry knowledge and operational discipline with the service delivery expertise of TCS.

“This strategic partnership will make our already lean and efficient corporate centre even more so, by supporting a business services model that delivers world-class capabilities at an estimated 30 per cent savings,” said Dave Kepler, Dow executive vice president of business services. “This innovative approach uses a variable staffing model, centralises activities and maximises efficiencies to meet evolving business needs.”

As part of this alliance and global network, Dow and TCS also are announcing plans to build a new strategic services centre near the site of Dow’s global headquarters in Midland, Michigan, subject to the approval of state and local incentives. Plans are underway to begin construction on a new facility in the next year, with the first phase of the build-out designed to accommodate 1250 employees. This effort will support the local economy through the creation of new jobs. In addition, TCS plans to expand its service offerings beyond Dow in the future, creating a service valley in central Michigan.

Australia pledges $70 million for research projects in India

Australia on Thursday decided to scale up its collaboration with India in science and research by pledging over $70 million in areas straddling energy, agriculture and environment.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that his government would invest $50 million for the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund; $1 million for an innovative joint solar cooling research project; and $20 million for research into dryland farming in India. Rudd arrived in India on a two-day visit Wednesday, his first since becoming the prime minister two years ago, amid the shadow of repeated attacks on Indian students in his country. He announced more funds for joint research projects, a crucial element of the bilateral relationship, after talks with R.K. Pachauri, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a premier research body in India.
The additional $50 million for the research fund will begin from the financial year 2009-10 and be over the five years. It will complement $20 million that the Australian government has invested since 2006 to enable Australian scientists to engage in cutting-edge collaborative research with Indian scientists.

Renault-Nissan to launch Indian low-cost car in 2012

Car would cost less than any car made in India today
* To be sold in India and abroad (Adds quotes, background)
NEW DELHI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Renault Nissan Motor Co and their Indian partner will launch an ultra low-cost car in India in 2012 that will cost less than Tata Motor's Nano, the world's cheapest car.
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of both the French and Japanese car makers, said on Tuesday an agreement has been signed with India's Bajaj Auto building on a May 2008 plan for an ultra-low-cost car code-named ULC.
The design, manufacturing and sourcing for the car would be done by Bajaj, with Renault and Nissan handling marketing in India and overseas, Ghosn told reporters in New Delhi.
"I can tell you the cost of this car would be lower than any car today made in India," he said, adding there would be a difference between the cost and price.
India would be the first and main market for the car, Ghosn said, with exports a possibility. He said it would be a competitive and novel product compared to what was currently available.
The closest competitor for now would appear to be the Nano, the world's cheapest car which sold for around $2,000 when it hit the road earlier this year, but other global majors are also looking to launch small cars for the Indian market.
General Motors [GM.UL] plans to launch a small car for India at the end of 2010, and Toyota Motor Corp is designing a small car for India that it expects to be ready by late 2011.

Air India will try paring top managements’ salary

Air India is likely to cut salaries of top management in a bid to rein in costs despite a similar the aborted bid to pare the
remuneration of pilots in late September . An immediate strike by the pilots had crippled the carrier for days together, forcing it to take back the decision. The airline is likely to take a decision on a cut in performance-linked incentives (PLIs) of functional and executive directors in the board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, sources in Air India said on condition of anonymity. The board meeting comes ahead of the crucial meeting of group of ministers (GoM) on Thursday to consider the lossmaking airline’s demand for equity infusion of Rs 5,000 crore. The GoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, in its last meeting, had asked the national carrier to present a firm cost cutting and revenue enhancement plan. As part of its cost-cutting exercise , Air India had earlier proposed to cut PLIs of its nearly 32,000 employees by up to 50%, but the plan could not be implemented in the face of severe resistance from pilots. Executive pilots protested the management’s move by going on strike for five days which cost the airline over Rs 100 crore due to cancellations. “A mail has been sent by finance director to executive directors . The director has instructed the salary department to not disburse PLI of executive and functional directors on November 10,” a senior Air India official said. The move to pare the PLI of these officials, which constitutes nearly 40% of the total salary, has caused resentment among the top executives. “We cannot agree to such decisions. There are hundreds of people whose salaries and perks have so far not been touched because they have bargaining power. We are already getting lower salaries compared to our counterparts in other public sector companies,” said an official wishing not to be identified. Faced with an accumulated loss of Rs 7,200 crore as on march 2009, the national carrier is on cost-cutting drive which includes slashing employee’s salaries, rationalising capacity, cutting flights and doing away with all non-essential expenses.

Accenture Going to Hire 8,000 by Next Year

One of the biggest consultancy giant and global technology leader, Accenture is going to hire approx. 8,000 people in India by the end of next year.
According to Accenture, it wants its total employee base in the country up to 50,000 by next year. The Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Accenture Mr. William D Green said to PTI on the sidelines of India economic summit, “We are 42,000 right now and we imagine we will be about 50,000 by the end of 2010.”
Showing recovery from the global downturn, Green stated that the company would be now paying attention in India, especially in analytics arenas. Main objective of Accenture’s in India is going to be the analytics space that will help the clients in converting information into insights and for better performances.
Green commenced, “We believe that analytics is going to be an important trend that our customers are going to demand from us. We think India is going to be a great place for us. We have some core centers of excellence in the analytics space in the country.” He also added, India would be a great place for them and have some core centers for excellence in the analytics space in the country.
For the year 2009, Accenture has annual revenue of $21.58 billion and now the company will beef up its attention on clients in telecommunications, energy and pharmaceutical divisions in the country.

Vendors to share BSNL's 3G ad spend

Communications Minister A Raja is pushing an innovative plan under which vendors which supply equipment for 3G mobile services to state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will share the bill for advertising and marketing the services in the first six months of the launch.
In a meeting a few days ago with Huawei, whose contract with BSNL for 20 million lines in the south has been finalised, Raja told the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer that it should co-invest with BSNL to popularise 3G in the country. He also told it that similar arrangements would be made with vendors who have won the bid in other zones. This includes Ericsson (in the north and east) with which price negotiations are going on.
Informed sources said that Huawei has been asked to give a plan and also indicate how much it will invest in the marketing and advertising exercise which will include electronic and print advertisements, 3G kiosks where you can experience the technology, and below-the-line activities. In Tamil Nadu, the plan is to go into 22 to 30 cities and towns in eight districts.
Asked whether it will take part in the joint marketing effort, the Huawei India spokesperson said: “BSNL is a prestigious customer of Huawei and we will be happy to partner with BSNL on all 3G development programmes. At the request of BSNL, Huawei conducted the soft launch of 3G activities in the Chennai and Tamil Nadu circles in March 2009.”
Industry experts have estimated that the marketing and advertising for launching 3G across the country could cost between Rs 250 crore and Rs 350. But some of them said that it could cost more as it will also require educating the consumer.
The Department of Telecommunications has pointed out that one out of ten mobile subscribers actually uses all the services which are offered to him; therefore, there is a need to educate customers on the new service. The initial soft launch of 3G services by both MTNL and BSNL has not taken off — both only have a few thousand subscribers.
Equipment manufacturers, however, pointed out that with profit margins of not more than 3 to 5 per cent in sale, the extra cost will adversely impact them. These expenses were not factored in when they bid for the equipment order.
Joint development of the market is of course not a new concept. In India, Qualcomm in its initial days of launching its CDMA technology for mobile telephony services used to run joint advertising campaigns with service operators to explain to the consumers the advantages of the technology. Chipmaker Intel has had many joint advertising programmes across the globe with makers of personal computers

'Vande Mataram' should be respected by all Indians: Congress

The Congress party Friday said 'Vande Mataram', around which a controversy has arisen after a Muslim clerics organisation endorsed a fatwa (decree) against it, should be respected by all Indians.
A day after Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid hit out at Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind which asked Muslims not to recite 'Vande Mataram', Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said endorsement of the fatwa against 'Vande Mataram' is the view only of 'some organisations' and 'not the opinion of the whole community'.
Khurshid, while slamming Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Thursday, said: 'This country has enough problems and some people only want to create more.'
Meanwhile, the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) burned Home Minister P. Chidambaram's effigy for addressing the national convention of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind at the Dar-ul-Uloom seminary at Deoband where the clerics passed their resolution against 'Vande Mataram'.
The outfit also submitted a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil, demanding a ban on the seminary for the 'anti-national acts of the body' and apology to the nation by the home minister 'for endorsing the resolution.'
The VHP's national adviser B.L. Sharma 'Prem' alleged that the fatwa against 'Vande Mataram' would boost the morale of the separatists and anti-nationals of the country.
The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind Tuesday supported a decree of the Deoband seminary against 'Vande Mataram'

India urges allies 'to stay the course' in Afghanistan

Indian Premier Manmohan Singh Friday urged the international community to "stay the course" in violence-wracked Afghanistan.
The call comes as US President Barack Obama weighs up whether to send more troops to the country and follows a decision by the United Nations to evacuate some of its staff.
"We are in this region and what happens in Afghanistan, what happens in Pakistan affects us intimately," Singh told reporters after talks with the European Union represented by Swedish premier Fredrik Reinfeldt.
"We appreciate the efforts of international community to stabilise Afghanistan and it is our sincere hope that the international community will stay the course."
The situation in the region was part of the agenda of the 10th India-EU summit in New Delhi on Friday, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters after talks with Singh.
India, which has extended more than one billion dollars in humanitarian and developmental assistance to Afghanistan since November 2001, has suffered two car bomb attacks on its embassy in Kabul.

Tata to extend affordable housing project to more cities

Upbeat over the good response to its affordable housing venture in Mumbai, Tata Group is planning to extend the scheme to other major cities across the country.The group is looking for housing projects in Kolkata and Bangalore in the next phase, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata told reporters here.Tata was here to attend the silver jubilee function of the company-run High Range School.He said the company's affordable housing projects in Mumbai had evinced keen interest from all parts of the country and some foreign countries as well.Tata said the government of Maldives had also shown interest in the company's housing project.Tatas had in September this year announced the launch of its affordable housing project under the name of 'New Haven' at Boisar in Mumbai.

Mobs block trains, seek justice for 1984 riots victims

Rail traffic on the busy Amritsar-New Delhi section was severely hit Friday as mobs demanding justice for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, stopped trains at various places in Punjab, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
Over 20 trains were either halted for a few hours or diverted to alternate routes due to the widespread agitation. The protesters also pelted stones at an engine in Ferozepur division.
Hundreds of passengers, who were stranded at various stations, suffered a harrowing time as there was no formal announcement that the trains were blocked or stopped.
'In our division, over a dozen trains were affected due to today's protest. Protestors even attacked one engine that could not stop in time, as it was running at a very high speed. They threw stones at it and broke the window panes,' a railway official of the Ferozepur division told IANS.
'The situation started becoming normal only after 4.30 p.m. and now the rail traffic has become normal in state. We have deployed sufficient security force to keep the situation under control at all railway stations.' he added.
Railway authorities had to stop over half a dozen trains at Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana after mobs blocked railway tracks.
H.K. Jaggi, divisional railway manager (DRM) for the Ambala division, told IANS that the railway authorities had tried to make arrangements to provide food and water to stranded passengers.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) supported the protests. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar joined the protesters in Ludhiana.
One of the trains halted by protesters was the Amritsar-New Delhi Swarn Shatabdi Express at the Ludhiana railway station.
The train, which left Amritsar early Friday, was stranded near Ludhiana with over 600 Delhi-bound passengers for over three hours, police officials said.
The Sachkhand Express was also stopped by protesters at Goraya station between Jalandhar and Ludhiana. The Amritsar-Hardwar Jan Shatabdi was halted at Beas town, 40 km from Amritsar.
Railway officials said that some trains were not allowed to leave Jalandhar station.
Over 3,000 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and other places across India in the four days of anti-Sikh riots that broke out following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards Oct 31, 1984.
Sikh organisations have lamented that even 25 years after the carnage, the guilty have not been punished.
Radical Sikh organisations led by Dal Khalsa and Khalsa Action Committee organised a strike in Punjab Nov 3 demanding justice for the riot victims.