In a bid to enhance the shareholders’ value, country’s No. 4 software services exporter, Satyam Computer Services has decided to engage the services of DSP Merrill Lynch.

Earlier on Saturday evening, the company decided to postpone its December 29 meeting and also enlarged the agenda, which was only to discuss the buyback option.

It is learnt that the Satyam Computer Services could also see a change in the composition of its board when it meets on January 10 (as against the earlier date of December 29).

One of the country's top private air-carrier, Kingfisher Airlines has announced that it would effect fare cut across its network from January 1.

In a press release, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijaya Mallya said, “Kingfisher Airlines will begin the New Year on an aggressive note by slashing fares on its network.”

However, Mallya did not state the quantum by which fares would come down.

Indian equities belled the day (Monday, Dec 29) on a weak note because of negative global cues.

Select FMCG, pharma, metal and oil stocks went up, while realty stocks slipped on selling pressure.

There were huge losses for a variety of stocks from auto, capital goods, information technology, power and banking sectors as well.

BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap stocks remain quite subdued this morning.

At 10:26 a.m., the BSE Sensex, which opened with a small negative gap at 9318.86, stood at 9204.97, down 123.95 points.

Software giant Microsoft has been asked to lay off around 9,100 employees (around 10%) to tell the market that profits are more significant than revenue growth in difficult times.

In a report on Microsoft, Brokerage firm Oppenheimer & Co’s analyst Brad Reback stated that such layoff exercise would be a profitable move for the company.

In his report for the institutional investors of Microsoft, Mr. Reback said that cutting down the staff by 10% would increase company’s earnings per share (EPS) by about 10%.

Recent research has revealed that teenagers who skip breakfast as middle school students lose their virginity at earlier age as compared to those who start the day with a proper meal. Research team led by Kunio Kitamura, executive director of the Japan Family Planning Association analyzed data collected from 1,500 people aged 16 to 49.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's health minister confirmed the presence of deadly virus, Ebola in Western Kasai province. He added that Ebola has killed nine and infected 21.

He told media persons that analysis from samples taken on site confirmed the existence of the virulent disease, which kills up to 90 percent of its victims, mostly by puncturing blood vessels and spurring non-stop hemorrhage.