French firm enters India’s parcel services sector

September 30th, 2009 Crocs enters credit facility agreement with PNCNIWOT, Colo. — Crocs Inc.

September 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Private sector lender Yes Bank Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement with Proparco, a French multilateral development finance agency, to raise $20 million (Rs.97.45 crore) subordinated debt. "The bank intends to raise up to Rs.500 crore by way of subordinated debt forming part of upper and lower tier II capital by end of March 2010," it said in a statement.

September 4th, 2009 German services sector sales fall 11 pct in Q2FRANKFURT — The German services sector saw second quarter sales fall 11 percent compared with a year earlier as the economic downturn continued to hurt demand. The Wiesbaden-based Federal Statistical Office said Friday that strong declines were seen in the business services sector, which saw sales fall 13 percent, while the transport and warehousing sector saw a 12 percent drop compared to the April-June period of 2008.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India managed a reasonable economic growth of 6.1 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal despite the global financial crisis impacting manufacturing and services sectors. Country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate during April-June 2009 at 6.1 percent was higher than 5.8 percent in the previous quarter.

August 6th, 2009 The servicers in gov't loan-modification planA look at the loan servicers in Treasury's mortgage-modification program, the taxpayer money they could receive and the percentage of eligible loans they've offered to modify so far. The servicers will keep some of Treasury's money and will pass some of it on to investors and homeowners.

August 5th, 2009 Britain's services sector growing fastLONDON — Britain's services sector grew at its fastest rate in nearly a year and a half during July, a closely watched survey showed Wednesday. The Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply said its monthly purchasing managers index for the services sector rose to 53.2 in July from 51.6 in June.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Renewable energy player Astonfield will invest around $2 billion in India over the next five years to generate about 1,000 MW of power, most of it from solar sources, a top official said Friday. "We are going to make an announcement in the next 30-60 days.

July 3rd, 2009 Britain's services sector grows for second monthLONDON — Activity in Britain's services sector rose for the second month running in June despite a modest slowdown in activity, a closely-watched survey showed Friday. In its monthly asessment of the sector, the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply said its purchasing managers' index — a broad gauge of business activity — for the sector in June dipped slightly to 51.6 from May's 51.7.

June 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The banking sector, which hired 16,200 people in the first quarter this fiscal, remained the biggest job provider in the country during the period, an industry lobby survey said. The country's largest lender, State Bank of India, alone created 13,000 jobs, while Danalakshmi Bank and Andhra Bank recruited 1,300 and 900 people respectively, the survey by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said.

June 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - To boost its presence in the Indian education sector, Pearson, a Britain-headquartered education and information company, will invest $30 million in Indian education resource provider Educomp Solutions and Bangalore-based online tutorial firm TutorVista, the company announced Wednesday. Pearson will acquire 50 percent stake in Educomp Solutions for $17.5 million as part of their agreement signed Wednesday.

June 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan met the Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah on Friday, for collaboration in the renewable energy sector. "Since ages, India has had good relations with UAE.

May 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - French telecom infrastructure firm Alcatel-Lucent Friday said it had bagged a $150 million contract from Unitech Wireless to support its launch of GSM operations. Unitech Wireless is a joint venture between real estate major Unitech Ltd and Norwegian telecom giant Telenor.

April 22nd, 2009 Malaysia removes ethnic rule for some investmentsPUTRAJAYA, Malaysia — Malaysia's government said Wednesday it will immediately remove a 30 percent requirement for ethnic Malay ownership of investments in parts of the services sector as it tries to boost the country's flagging economy. Prime Minister Najib Razak said the move is mainly in the areas of health and social services, tourism, transport, business and computer-related services.

February 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The growth of India's gross domestic product (GDP) dropped to 5.3 percent in the third quarter ending Dec 31 last year, compared to a growth of 8.9 percent in the same period the previous year. The economy, usually equated to the GDP, had grown by 7.6 percent in the second quarter of this fiscal.

January 7th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The Orissa government will invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to tackle the ongoing strike by employees of public sector oil companies, a state official said Thursday. Those who try to obstruct free flow of petroleum products in the state will be dealt with under the act, the official from the state civil supply department told IANS.