New Delhi, Feb 7 : The Indian economy is set to grow below five percent for the second consecutive year due to contraction in manufacturing and mining sectors.

Ahead of a vote on account for the coming fiscal Feb 17, the government Friday lowered growth forecast for the current financial year ending March 31, 2014, to 4.9 percent against the 4.5 percent expansion recorded in the previous financial year.

This projection is sharply lower than 6.1 to 6.7 percent economic expansion pegged by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the annual budget for 2013-14 presented in February last year.

The finance ministry recently revised the growth target

  Cement giant Ambuja reported a marginal fall in net profit for the year ended December 2013, despite an impressive quarter-on-quarter increase in December quarter net profit.

Ambuja Cements announced that its net profit increased 49.31 per cent to Rs 316.50 crore in the October to December quarter of 2013, but net profit in the twelve months through December 31 slipped 0.19 per cent to Rs 1294.57 crore.

Total income slipped 5.21 per cent to Rs 9553.97 crore in the year ended December 2013 over the year ended December 2012. In the Q4, total inclome slipped 5.19 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2297.62 crore.

On a consolidated basis, the company

Washington, Feb 7 : LinkedIn has reported revenues worth 447.2 million dollars and non-GAAP earnings per share of 0.39 dollar during Q-4'13.

The company had predicted that its revenue for the period would be between 415 million dollars and 420 million dollars.

While LinkedIn gained more than 4 percent in regular trading, its shares fell in after-hours trading over growth concerns , Tech Crunch reported.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn called its results "solid" and boasted of now having 277 million members. (ANI)   Source: Top News  

  New Delhi, Feb 5 : In pursuit of its growth agenda, telecom service provider Bharti Airtel Wednesday announced a rejig of its top team at Airtel Africa.

V. G. Somasekhar has been appointed executive operations director of the strategic business unit (SBU) clustering Zambia, Congo B, Malawi, Burkina, Niger, Chad, Madagascar and Seychelles. Somasekhar has been managing director for Airtel Uganda since December 2010, a company statement here said.

Bharti Airtel is a telecommunications service provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.

Christophe Soulet has been appointed as executive operations director of the second SB

New Delhi, Feb 5 : Elevation of Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella as chief executive officer of technology giant Microsoft is a reflection of rising India's talent globally and it would inspire professionals across the world, business leaders and experts said.

“It's pretty inspiring. An Indian becoming CEO of Microsoft is an exceptional achievement. We are really proud of it,” said Sachin Bansal, co-founder and chief executive officer of India's largest e-commerce site Flipkart.

He said Nadella's elevation is a reflection of rising Indian professionals influence at the global business sphere.

"It should be inspiring for

  Abu Dhabi, Feb 5 : Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is increasing its commitment to Africa with the establishment of a new sales region -- Africa Sub-Sahara and Indian Ocean (AFI).

This brings to seven the number of geographical regions that make up the airline's global sales structure.

The other regions include the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East, North Africa and Levant, Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific North and the Indian Subcontinent, and Asia Pacific South and Australasia.

"Africa is quickly developing into the next big investment destination, with business growth on the rise a

  New Delhi, Jan 31 : Budget carrier SpiceJet Friday launched another promotional fare scheme offering 30 percent discount on all domestic routes till Feb 2.

The new promotional scheme comes a week after the low cost carrier (LCC) launched a massive 50 percent discount scheme -- that led to other airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo and GoAir also offer the promotional fares.

The airline said that under its 'Second Chance' sale, passengers can avail 30 percent off on tickets booked from Jan 31-Feb 2 for travel till April 15, 2014.

"These offers are a win-win for customers and for the airlines, since it leads to signi

Japanese automaker, Hero MotoCorp Ltd has said that its sales have risen 6.85 per cent to 16.80 lakh two-wheelers during the third quarter of 2013 compared to the third quarter of 2012.

The company's EBITDA margin (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization stood at 13.06 per centduring the third quarter till December 2013. The joint entity has been a leader in the market and has recorded strong sales in the domestic market.

Mr. PawanMunjal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Hero MotoCorp said, "We have been able to post solid sales in the quarter in a relatively dull market, and our PAT and total turnover figures a

  Siemens has said that it has recorded a higher than expected profits due to increased demand for infrastructure during the three months till the month of December.

The Munich-based company said in a statement today that its income from continuing operations rose 21 percent to 1.39 billion euros or about $1.9 billion during the three months. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was at 1.33 billion euros for the company for the quarter.

The company has also said that it is planning to scrap its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in order to cut costs and reduce the complexity of reporting results. Joe Kaeser, who became chief executi

Global rating agency, Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the shares of Japanese electronics giant, Sony to speculative Ba1, or junk status.

Investors and analysts have remained calm even after the latest downgrade of the company. The rating means that the shares of the company are not advised for investment and this might affect a mass withdrawal by investors. A Sony representative said that the company is not facing any issues relating to cash flow and the company will provide knowledge as per the situation.

The credit rating agency said, "We expect the majority of core consumer electronics businesses, such as TVs, mobile, digital cameras and per

UK's banking giant, Barclays is planning to close a quarter of its branches and cut hundreds of jobs in the investment banking division in the United Kingdom.

The banking giant, which is controlled by the British government, has said that it is planning to open branches in Asda stores under a new pilot project while closing nearby outlets. The new job cuts will be above the 3,700 layoffs announced in the previous year. Following the pilot project, the bank will replace about 400 branches with smaller outlets in Asda supermarkets.

The bank indicated that the staff will transfer from their current branches to the in-store branch and work their usual working ho

Los Angeles, Jan 29 : Actress Elizabeth Banks will be donning the director's hat for the first time for the sequel of "Pitch Perfect".

Banks will be making her debut as a director with the film, while she featured and produced the original.

"Elizabeth originated the idea for 'Pitch Perfect' and was instrumental in making the first film such a huge success. She brings an enormous amount of energy and experience to everything she works on and we're thrilled that she is making her feature directorial debut on 'Pitch Perfect 2'," The Hollywood Reporter quoted Donna Langley, Universal Pictures' chairman, as saying.

  Indian economy's slowdown may have bottomed out but the pace of recovery will likely be slower than previously expected, a newly published United Nations (UN) report predicted.

In its World Economic Situation & Prospects 2014 report, the US said while a mild recovery in investments and stronger growth of exports would help in the gradual pick up in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) this year, the growth would likely be lower-than-expected 5.3 per cent.

In the following year, India's GDP is projected to grow at a rate of 5.7 per cent.

The WESP 2014 report said, "While India's slowdown may have bottomed out

Walmart is currently concentrating on growing its wholesale retail business in India and would wait for more clarity on the government's FDI rules before entering the lucrative multi-brand retail sector, the U. S.-based retail giant's chief said on Friday.

Doug McMillon, president and chief executive of Walmart, said that they were excited about India but at the moment they were focused on cash-&-carry business under our Best Price brand.

Speaking on the topic, he said, "We are excited about India. At the moment, we are focused on cash-and-carry business . the foreign investment rules are decided in such as way that we can help serve people of I

Michelle Obama and her beautiful biceps captured the attention of the fashion industry easily, but for the First Lady to get the franchise industry to warm up to the White House is a surprising hat trick.

As part of her Let's Move campaign to improve the health of children in the U.S, Michelle Obama announced a three-year commitment from Subway to encourage kids to eat healthy. In addition to adding apples as an option for a side and making low-fat milk or water the default beverage for kids meals, Subway has agreed to launch its largest targeted marketing campaign aimed at getting kids to make healthy eating decisions.

"I'm excited about these init

When entrepreneurs embark on their journey, they start with a blank canvas: There is no manual for building their dream. Along the way, they’re bound to hit some bumps -- and when they do, it’s important they visualize the picture of success. For Erik Wahl, he takes it one step further and actually paints his success.

As a business strategist and an artist, Wahl combines his two passions to demonstrate the journey for his entrepreneurship endeavor, while also providing motivation to others.

Taking the stage at Entrepreneur’s 2014 Growth Conference in New Orleans, he left the crowd captivated painting iconic pieces like the Statue of Liberty and

In the news, retailing giant Target just can't seem to catch a break.

Target announced this week that it will stop providing health care coverage for part-time employees who work less than 32 hours a week beginning April 1. Instead, the workers no longer under the company plan will receive a single $500 cash payment and benefits counseling.

Some 360,000 people, or about 10 percent of Target employees, participate in the part-time plan that is offered.

In a blog post on the company website, Target's Executive Vice President of Human Resources Jodee Kozlak said of the changes, "our decision to discontinue this benefit comes after carefu

Image credit: kioan As the new year is in full swing, many entrepreneurs have big plans for 2014 -- hoping to eclipse goals from last year. One way to make sure you are on the right track is to meet with a mentor. But for these meetings to be a success be sure to meet on a regular basis (at least once a month).

Before I delve into what the meeting should entail, it is important to seek out the correct mentors.

You may have heard your net worth is closely connected to your network. Ready for a great activity? Think about the past 72 hours and write out a list of the people you've spent considerable time with. (By considerable, I'm thinking more than an

  Stationery retailer, WH Smith has said that it has recorded a four per cent fall in like-for-like sales during the 20 weeks to January 18 but it managed to record profits.

The retailer has been able to record rising profits amid falling sales through controlling costs.  The company has said that it reported strong sales at its travel outlets over Christmas and also said that it is expecting further progress this year even as it's like-for-like sales is falling.  WH Smith's travel outlets recorded a fall of one per cent in like-for-like sales but were better than a fall of 2 per cent recorded in the previous 10 weeks.

Chief executive St

Washington, Jan 22 : BlackBerry's shares have soared 10 percent since Pentagon announced that it will install 80,000 handsets on its network by the end of January 2014.

According to TechCrunch, the new BlackBerry phones are part of the Pentagon's new mobile programme for unclassified work.

According to the report, the Pentagon's order will gives the company the sort of credibility it needs to retain corporate clients and keep investors interested in its future.

BlackBerry ended 2013 at 7.44 dollars, around 34 percent so far in 2014, the report added. (ANI)     Source: Top News