Briefly Business

US economic statistics released Friday offered the clearest sign yet that the recovery,already acknowledged to be sauntering...

US Q2 growth 1.6,below expected 2.4

New York: US economic statistics released Friday offered the clearest sign yet that the recovery,already acknowledged to be sauntering,had slowed to a crawl. The Obama government lowered its estimate of economic growth in the second quarter to an annual rate of 1.6 per cent,after originally reporting last month that growth in the three-month period was 2.4 per cent. The revision is a significant slowdown from the annual rate of 3.7 per cent in the first quarter and 5 per cent in the last three months of 2009. Data released earlier in the week showed existing home sales in July were down to their lowest in a decade while new homes sales were at their lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1963.

Mukesh joins WEF Foundation Board

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani has been elected a member of the Foundation Board of World Economic Forum WEF,an independent international grouping of business leaders from across the world. Others elected to the board are Alcatel-Lucents CEO,Ben J Verwaayen and Zhu Min,Special Adviser,International Monetary Fund IMF and a former Deputy Governor,Peoples Bank of China.

Limited Maruti Ritz from today

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India on Friday said it will launch a limited edition of its compact car Ritz on Saturday,which will cost about Rs 16,000 more than the existing version. The firm will introduce about 5,000 units of the limited edition,which is based on the current Vxi and Vdi versions,over the next three months in both petrol and diesel options.

3G spectrum by Sept 1: Govt

New Delhi: The government on Friday said the telecom operators,who had bagged 3G spectrum in the auction held recently,would be allocated airwaves from September 1,paving the way for launch of high-speed mobile broadband services. DoT had set September 1 as the deadline for allocating spectrum.

SC refuses to stay Sesas Cairn offer

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to restrain Vedanta Resources subsidiary Sesa Goa from launching an open offer to buy 20 per cent stake in Cairn India. A bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and Ashok Kumar Ganguly refused to entertain the application filed by one Sesa Goa shareholder,Harinarayan G Bajaj.

Camp;C Constructions net profit up 68

New Delhi: Camp;C Constructions on Friday reported a 68 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 690.8 crore for the quarter ended June 30,2010. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 411 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal 2009-10.