US credit card and banking giant, American Express is likely to start retrenchment drive in India and other locations. It would retrench about 10 percent workforce, cutting around 7,000 jobs. The staff would be eliminated in all business units, including markets and staff groups. Some staff in its Indian operations is also likely to be laid off.

SBI Card would release a financial package for defaulting clients. SBI card is the joint venture company of State Bank of India and GE Money. SBI card intends to help those customers who have been good at repaying in the past, but have failed to repay following the turbulent global financial conditions. The company y would restructure its card-portfolio to check further defaults.

The South Korean steel giant, Posco-India is committed to complete Posco's Orissa project, despite global financial crisis. The director of Posco-India project, Mr Sung said that the global slowdown would not affect the project and company would go for Rs 51,000 crore projects in Orissa. He also reviewed the work of the project in a meeting called by the chief secretary Mr Ajit Tripathy.

In a formal announcement, one of the leading financial services groups of India, Religare Enterprises (REL), confirmed that it has agreed to acquire Lotus India asset management company (Lotus India AMC) from its majority shareholders - Alexandra Fund Management and Sabre Capital.

Informing the Bombay Stock Exchange of the intended proceedings, REL said that its board of directors has approved a proposal to discuss, negotiate and finalize the terms for acquiring 100 per cent or majority equity shareholding of Lotus.

India's largest telecom major, Bharti Airtel has set a target of $10-bn revenue by next year. It is asserted by chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal in the sidelines of a function, organized to launch new brand identity and logo of Bharti group.

He said that Indian telecom sector is emerged as a strong sector and it is hardy impacted by slowdown. Indian telecom companies provide call services at very low prices and they are increasing by volumes. Bharti Airtel is the largest telecom company of the country, having nearly 80 million customers. It contributes about 85% in the revenue of Bharti group.

Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, the Detroit-based generic subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd., has been issued a letter of warning by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and all its future marketing approvals for medicines have been withheld due to some quality-control issues.

This action of the US regulator comes in the wake of certain technical inadequacies identified by it during a May 2008 inspection. The FDA considered some of its observations to be repeat observations, and hence issued the warning letter.

Caraco said the FDA observations include, among other things, the inadequate and untimely investigation by the quality control unit of certain incidents at the facility contrary to the company’s standard operating procedures.