Stock Watch

Chrome, a web browser by search giant Google, will be available for Linux and Macintosh computers and it is expected to give a stiff completion to Safari software. Google had recently introduced Chrome web browser for PC users as an apparent challenge to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.

Plantronics Discovery 975 Bluetooth Headset is effective for noise free communication and offers capability to work in different environments. The Bluetooth headset, having very complicated design, is very easy to handle with just two buttons for volume and call control.

Hero Group's 100 per cent subsidiary Hero Electric would source batteries for its two-wheeler category from the Canada-based battery maker, Electrovaya under an agreement signed by both firms on 8th December 2009. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both firms is yet to take final shape which is expected within one month.

The Canadian firm and Hero Elecric would establish a joint venture company in India for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries in India for using in Hero's own products besides selling other electric vehicle makers in the domestic market.

Further expanding its mobile handset portfolio, Samsung has come up with 3G handset Samsung M5650 Lindy in the Portugal and Spain market. The new product is almost similar to Samsung's budget handset Corby but comes with some unique and user friendly features.

Leading pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories has announced to sell its 50 per cent stake in its Japanese joint venture with Nihon Pharmaceutical Industry (NPI) without divulging the financial details of the deal. However, media reports claim that the buyer Nippon Chemiphar, founded in 1950, would pay $18 million for the 50 per cent stake.

The Unique Identification Authority of India has announced that all the residents of the country are to be given a Unique Identification number and the main goal behind it was to improve the national security.

It has been reported that getting full coverage was not an easy task and it is evident that completing the whole process would take a few years at the least. The necessity of the number was said to be for identification purpose and for necessary tracking only.

The two major private banks of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank, have stepped into the war of interest rates involved in the current home – loan market accompanied by the fixed – cum – floating rate schemes. These two banks have currently joined HDFC Ltd. and SBI, and have increased the confusion of borrowers for home loans with their offer of slashed interest rates.

NDTV, the New Delhi Television Ltd., has decided to sell major part of its indirect holdings in its NDTV Imagine Ltd. for a whopping $117 million. The stakes were held by the subsidiary of NDTV, the NDTV Networks plc. NDTV is to sell about 76 per cent for about $67 million and an additional fresh issue of $50 million worth of equity shares. It has been reported that NDTV was to retain about 5 per cent stake of the channel ahead of issuing the fresh shares as per the agreement with the company Turner Asia Pacific.

HCL Technologies, the giant IT firm, has confirmed that it has managed to win a 5 year long multi-million Pounds deal from Britain based New International, a division of the American News Corp, for providing "software services" to the publishing giant.

As per the deal, HCL will be taking care of News International's "data centre and network environments", all the while developing ideas to strategically and efficiently transform them.

For the month of November, on the back of cheaper loan rates and a rapidly growing economy, passenger car sales across India hiked the most in over 5 years, led by high demand for Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. hatchbacks and Tata Motors Ltd.'s Nano.

For the month of November, as confirmed by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, as many as 133,687 units were sold in all, which is an over 61% rise as compared to the 83,121 sold for the same month last year.