Economic loss due to bandh: Rs 13,000 crore 

New Delhi: Bharat Bandh on Monday partially disrupted economic activities with commodity markets and the transport sector taking a hit in many parts of the country, and the industry pegged losses at up to Rs 13,000 crore.

While Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, and several industrialised states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, were affected, the impact was partial in many other states like Tamil Nadu and in the national capital Delhi.

The 12-hour strike was called by the Opposition parties to protest the fuel price hike and rising inflation.
'The bandh is estimated to have cost the nation close to Rs 13,000 crore in terms of GDP loss,' industry chamber FICCI said in a statement. Another industry body Assocham put the losses at Rs 10,000 crore, while CII pegged it at Rs 3,000 crore.

Wholesale commodity markets remained shut in most of the cities, while several flights from key airports like Mumbai were cancelled. According to the All-India Motor Transport Congress, 6 lakh vehicles were off the road.

Though the screen-based stock market remained open, the trading volume at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was down 52 per cent to Rs 2,857 crore against a daily average of nearly Rs 6,000 crore.

According to reports by industry chambers like Ficci and Assocham, thin attendance was witnessed in commercial establishments in several states, while the economic activity came to a complete halt in states like West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala.

Banking services were completely paralysed in Left governed West Bengal and Kerala while some disruptions were noticed in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Mumbai.The disrupted rail movement also contributed to the industry loss

UAE world's sixth in infrastructure quality 
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been ranked sixth in the world in terms of the quality of its infrastructure. 
The country has the 23rd position in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) among 133 countries, the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum (WEF) said in its report. 

In the index of competitiveness, the UAE has beaten India, Russia, China, Malaysia, Ireland, Italy and Brazil, the report said, adding that the UAE posses advanced infrastructure in public premises, roads, ports, aviation and electricity. 

UAE Minister of Public Works, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan said that the ranking 'is a motivation to the ministry and work team to further boost their performance and implement development and strategic projects'. 

Toyota investing Rs.500 cr for engine plant in India 

Bangalore: Japanese auto major Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is investing an additional Rs.500 crore (Rs.5 billion) in India to set up an engine plant for its upcoming compact car Etios, a top company official said Tuesday.
'We are setting up the second engine plant with an installed capacity of 100,000 units per annum for our Etios compact car, which will enter the Indian market in December,' Toyota-Kirloskar Motor Ltd (TKML) managing director Hiroshi Nakagawa told reporters here. 

The new plant will be set up by Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Ltd (TKAP), a joint subsidiary of TMC, Toyota Industries, Japan and the Pune-based Kirloskar group. 

TKAP has already invested Rs.500 crore in setting up a transmissions plant and an engine plant for exporting to its overseas manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe and Latin America. 

The Toyota group has 90 percent stake in TKAP, while Kirloskars hold the remaining 10 percent equity. 

Till Etios production is scaled to 100,000 units per annum from the initial 70,000 units, the remaining 30,000 engines will be exported to Toyota's auto plants in Thailand and Argentina. 

'Though Etios is specially designed for the Indian market, it will have an imported engine from Japan till engines from the TKAP third plant roll out,' Nakagawa said. 

TKML has invested Rs.1,700 crore in setting up its second plant to roll out Etios, with an installed capacity of 100,000 units per annum. 

TKAP's third plant for Etios engines will be commissioned in the next 24-30 months. 

Simultaneously, the capacity of the first plant, which manufactures 170,000 manual transmissions (gear box) per annum for its Fortuner sports utility vehicle (SUV), will be expanded to 240,000 units per annum by 2012. 

All plants are located in the Bidadi industrial hub, about 30 km from Bangalore. 

TKML also made a cumulative investment of Rs.3,200 crore in its first plant over the decade to manufacture Qualis and subsequently Innova multi-utility vehicles (MUV), Corolla sedan and the Fortuner. 

The global auto firm also imports in completely built unit (CBU) its luxury sedan Camry, Land Cruiser Prado and hybrid vehicle Prius for the Indian market. 

World Bank pledges over Rs 500 cr for various health projects 

Chennai: The World Bank today pledged over Rs 500 crore for implementation of various health projects under the second phase of the Tamil Nadu Health Scheme. With the first phase ending in March this year, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had approached the World Bank through the Centre, seeking more financial aid for health projects aimed especially at women and child welfare, a state government press release here said.

World Bank has pledged Rs 564.94 crore for three years, with the government contributing over Rs 62 crore. This sum would be used in projects like prevention of breast cancer scheme and procuring more vehicles for the 108 free ambulance services besides others, it said.

Further, the two signed a pact for additional grants towards upgrading roads in the state to a length of more than 1000 km, it said, adding that officials from World Bank and respective state government departments signed the understanding in the presence of Karunanidhi here.