Australia: The services sector was sluggish in August with the gradual withdrawal of fiscal stimulus and the uncertainty surrounding the national political landscape continuing to impact on demand. The latest seasonally adjusted Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index (Australian PSI®) rose slightly to 47.5 in August remaining below the critical 50 point [...]

Australia: “Ai Group welcomes new initiatives by the Queensland government to channel investments into infrastructure projects and skills development,” Ai Group Queensland Director Matthew Martyn-Jones said.
“The plans outlined in the Connecting SEQ 2031: A South East Queensland Integrated Regional Transport Plan (IRTP), are important for the long-term interests of the $224 billion Queensland economy.
“Queensland businesses, [...]

Australia: Uncertainty related to the federal election was among the factors dampening demand in the manufacturing sector during August. The latest Australian Industry Group – PricewaterhouseCoopers Australian Performance of Manufacturers Index (Australian PMI®) fell 2.7 points to 51.7 in August partly due to slower growth in new orders and production (readings above 50 indicate an [...]

India: Spanish textiles firm Inditex Group has said it will open an e-commerce store for the Zara brand later this week. Inditex’s CEO and deputy chairman Pablo Isla has defined the launch as “an important strategic step.”
The launch will include Spain, France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Portugal with the company saying it will be followed [...]

India: Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) will shortly link ‘National Pension Scheme (NPS)’, with employment guarantee programme like ‘MNREGA (Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act)’ to ensure that each of its beneficiary becomes entitled to pension facilites under NPS, says PFRDA, Executive Director, Mr. P.K. Tiwari.
Delivering his keynote address at ASSOCHAM organized “6th [...]

India: The GDP growth of 8.8% in the first quarter of current fiscal is on expected lines but the ASSOCHAM foresees pressures building on the growth rate since manufacturing has not being doing too good off late, says President ASSOCHAM Dr. Swati Piramal.
In a statement the ASSOCHAM Chief said that steel and cement sectors [...]

India: Mr. Tarun Bajaj, Jt. Secretary, Pension Funds in Ministry of Finance on Tuesday disclosed that his ministry is working out to devise a mechanism to appoint aggregators across the country to bring in vast section of rural poor in fold of new pension scheme.
Delivering his valedictory address at ASSOCHAM organized ‘6th National Conference on [...]

India: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and McKinsey&Company have projected that the size of Property and Casualty insurance (P&C) industry would exceed Rs. 500 billion (US$ 11.2 billion) in total premiums by 2012-13 from current level of close to Rs. 370 billion (US$ 8 billion) in 2009-10.
However, the study has [...]

India: Minister for Corporate Affairs & Minority Affairs (I/C) categorically stated that there is no corporate governance issue involved in Vedanta as yet and that his job is to ensure that companies grow in India but not at the cost of environment and issues relating to common people.
In his keynote address at ASSOCHAM organized Judicial [...]

India: The government will put a complete curb on unsolicited calls and SMSes to enable close to 68 crores of mobile subscribers breathe a sigh of relief as mobile operators and service providers have been asked to stop this unethical and illegal practice, disclosed Mr. Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications & IT here [...]