SEATTLE - A person familiar with Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo said Friday the software company is evaluating its offer in light of the economic climate and the Internet pioneer’s deteriorating business. The person, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Yahoo Inc.’s share of the search market and overall condition have deteriorated since Microsoft... 

March 31 - HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank by market value, started private banking services in China as rising demand from the nation’s growing ranks of millionaires helps counter slower growth in U.S. and Europe. The bank will open the business in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, it said in a statement today. HSBC will target customers with a net worth of at least $10 million. HSBC... 

BANGKOK - India’s Tata Motors Ltd said on Thursday it was confident its $2.3 billion deal to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford should improve its balance sheet in the long term. “We have gone through the profit and loss and balance sheet. We think we are pretty confident that they will add positively to our consolidated balance sheet,” managing director Ravi Kant told Reuters on... 

India’s leading car maker Maruti Suzuki said that it will launch the much-awaited mid-sized sedan, Swift ‘DZire‘ by the end of this month. The car is based on the highly successfull platform of the Swift and will eventually take the place of the phased out Esteem. Price of the car was not divulged by the company however industry sources say that it should be priced in the Rs 5-6... 

The average crude oil price of the Indian basket in the current fiscal year is around US$78 per barrel as against US$62 in the last financial year With crude oil futures in the US nearly crossing the US$110 per barrel mark, the Indian crude basket has crossed US$100 a barrel. On Monday, the Indian crude basket reached US$100.17 per barrel, up 29 cents from March 7. The average crude oil price of the... 

As it scrambles to avoid defeat in its battle with Microsoft, Yahoo is trying to put a little more time on the clock. Microsoft, whose offer for Yahoo is now worth $41.2 billion, was preparing to escalate its takeover fight by starting a proxy contest next week. But in an effort to delay that move, Yahoo said Wednesday that it was extending the deadline for nominating directors until 10 days after... 

Economic growth for 2007-08 has been pegged at 8.7 per cent, compared with 9.2 per cent in the last fiscal. Although the macroeconomic fundamentals continue to be strong, holding on to this growth rate would prove to be difficult for the government with inflation and infrastructure staring in the face as the biggest challenges. As per the 11th Five Year Plan, the infrastructure investment required...