Mumbai, Oct 16 : In response to the Maharashtra Government''s decision to phase out taxis that over 25-years old, thousands of taxis and auto rickshaws observed a day-long strike in Mumbai on Thursday.

Sharad Rao, the leader of the Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen''s Union, said, "The Union has given a strike call to protest the Maharashtra government''s decision to phase out taxis which are over 25-years old, besides other issues."

Mumbai, Oct 16: Jet Airways decided to lay off 1,100 additional employees in the next few days on Wednesday, according to a top official.

Earlier in the day, Jet said it has retrenched 800 flight attendants and suspended its expansion programme, adding that it will also cut flights because of a slowdown in demand.

The additional job cuts would be across all categories and departments, Executive Director Saroj Datta told reporters in a televised press conference.

Wolfgang Prock Schauer, Chief Executive Officer, Jet Airways, during a news conference in Mumbai, said the suspension of employees had nothing to do with the planned alliance with Kingfisher Airlines.

Mumbai/Hyderabad, Oct. 15 : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday warned that no Jet Airways flights would be allowed to take off from Mumbai if the airline continued with its policy of laying off employees because of the crisis affecting the aviation sector.

Thackeray''s warning came as the airline said that it would lay off 800 cabin crew and reduce services to cut costs.

Mumbai, Oct 15 : Equities plunged on Wednesday as sentiments turned bearish after global markets declined on recessionary concerns.

All the sectoral indices closed in the red led by losses in capital goods and metals stocks.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 10,809.12, down 674.28 points. It touched an intra-day low of 10,760.33 and a high of 11,257.15.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 3338.40, down 5.12 per cent or 180.25 points. The broader index touched a low of 3,324.55 and a high of 3,518.50.

Mumbai, Oct. 15 : Finance Secretary Arun Ramanathan on Wednesday chaired a meeting of a panel of bankers and experts to explore options to ease liquidity pressure in the system.

The panel, which was appointed by the Central Government last week to make quick assessment of the liquidity requirement, is expected to submit an interim report within a week.

The high-powered group comprises IBA Chairman T S Narayanaswamy, UTI CMD U K Sinha, SIDBI CMD R M Malla, L&T CFO Y M Deosthalee and a representative of RBI. Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) chairman A P Kurien also attended the meeting.

Sources said the panel would list the options available with the government and the central bank to ease the liquidity crunch.

New Delhi, Oct 14 : Real estate-focused publication ‘Realty Plus’ ranked Mumbai and Delhi in the top, in a list of top 10 cities for doing business in India.

The report, named as 2008 City Microeconomic Competitive Index, highlights the business opportunities offered by various cities, and the challenges entrepreneurs can expect.

The competitiveness of the 10 leading cities on a highly evolved framework of multiple dimensions encompassing 225 indicators, have been brought out in the report.