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The Reserve Bank of India has directed banks to consider coversion of 50 per cent of exporters earning in foreign currency (EEFC) into rupee, provided the contract is booked before May 10. As per the notification, exporters are required to sell 50 per cent of their retained foreign exchange earning in their bank account by May 25, 2012. The move is aimed at arresting the fall in Rupee against dollar. EEFC is an account maintained in foreign currency with a bank. It is a facility provided to the foreign

50% of balances in EEFC a/c to be converted into rupee

exchange earners, including exporters, to credit 100 per cent of their foreign exchange earnings to the account. The account holders do not have to convert foreign exchange into Rupees and vice versa, thereby minimising the transaction costs. In respect of all future forex earnings, an exchange earner is eligible to retain 50 per cent (as against 100 per cent earlier) in noninterest bearing EEFC accounts, it said. The balance 50 per cent shall be surrendered for conversion to rupee balances.

German auto major Volkswagen AG has put on hold the proposed Rs 2,000 crore investment plan in India as the VAT refund issue with the Maharashtra government remains unresolved. The normal investments required for usual operations of the company is going on but the big plans for the future have been put on hold at the moment, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India John Chacko told PTI.

Volkswagen defers 2k cr investment

Asked what would be the groups next step if the state government sticks to its stand, he said: We will cross the bridge when it comes. VW had announced an investment of 580 million (about Rs 3,600 crore) in 2008 for setting up their plant at Chakan. The group had stated that it planned to increase the capacity of the Chakan plant to 1.3 lakh units annually from 1.1 lakh cars this year.

Vedantas core profit up 12.9 pc

India-focused mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources has reported a 12.9 per cent growth in its core profits to US$4.026 billion for the year 2011-12, buoyed by earnings from recently acquired Cairn India and higher output in zinc, silver, and power. The London-listed firm had reported US$3.566 billion EBITDA in FY11. Core profits at US$713 million from Cairn, which was acquired in Decem-

ber last year, accounted for most of the increase in group EBITDA of Vedanta. Zinc, silver and power businesses were other contributors in companys group EBITDA. However, iron ore business of Vedanta, operated by subsidiary firm Sesa Goa, was a drag on companys core profits as it reported a 38.6 per cent drop in EBITDA to US$721.4 million, mainly due to 26.6 per cent drop in production.

South Korean models displaying a new version LG Electronics Optimus smartphone in Seoul on Thursday. AFP

Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto said its net profit declined 44.85 per cent at Rs 772 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012. The company had posted net profit of Rs 1,400 crore in Q4, 2010-11. Net sales, however, rose to Rs 4,515 crore for the fourth quarter, as com-

Bajaj Auto Q4 net dips 45 per cent

pared to Rs 4,030 crore in the same period of previous fiscal. For year ended March 31, 2012, the company posted a net profit of Rs 3,004 crore, as against Rs 3,340 crore during 2010-11. The companys net sales in 2011-12 rose to Rs 18,880 crore, as against Rs 15,897 in the previous fiscal.

Ever wondered what would it be like to see a computer diagnosing and treating your disease? If Narayana Hrudayalaya Founder Dr Devi Shetty is to be believed, this would be a reality in the next five years. He calls it smart healthcare delivered through a computer

Computers to treat patients in 5 yrs

and says that it will be the next big thing in healthcare. In the coming five years eprescription or computer generated diagnosis would be a reality and in another 10 years it would become mandatory for doctors to take a second opinion from computer software, says Dr Shetty.

Realty player Century Real Estate and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, have inked an MoU for setting up the IIMB-Century Real Estate Research Initiative, which will focus on collecting data and conducting scientific, cross-disciplinary research on the Indian real es-

Century Real Estate, IIM-B tie up

tate sector that will be published in leading academic and practitioner journals. In addition, the research initiative will seek to provide guidance and policy prescriptions to the government and industry stakeholders on major issues relating to the real estate sector.

Yahoo! India Research & Development announced the appointment of Anindo Roy as Vice President of India

Yahoo! India R&D appoints new VP

Solutions under its Media Engineering Group. In this role, Roy will drive the regional Media products for Yahoo!.

IT firm Mahindra Satyam, on Thursday, reported a net profit of Rs 534.21 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 327 crore in the

Mahindra Satyam Q4 net at Rs 534 cr

January-March period of 2011. The income from operations during the quarter stood at Rs 1,666 crore as compared to Rs 1,375 crore for the same period last fiscal.