IBT Staff Reporter

Crude prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns that U.S. stockpiles will rise for a fifth week, which would continue to signal weaker demand.

Natural gas declined on Tuesday amid speculations that higher temperatures may reduce demand of the fuel for heating.

Coffee gained on Tuesday following a decline in U.S. inventories and shipments from Brazil that prompted processors to increase the bean prices on retail brands.

India's largest IT services, business solutions and outsourcing company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched its second Global Delivery Center (GDC) near Hyderabad even as it announced reorganization of its global operations for better efficiency.

India's largest refiner, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) announced Monday that it would invest Rs.9000 crore ($2.25 billion) to improve the quality of petrol and diesel production that would meet tighter regulations due to come into force from April 1, 2010.

Indian workers in Gulf countries appear to be the most disgruntled employees in the Middle-East among all expatriates, a survey conducted by the Arabian Business website has revealed.

Emboldened by the overwhelming response from Indian consumers following the launch of world's cheapest car Nano, Tata Motors has announced that it would launch a European version in 4 years.

Vodafone has said it will be running a trial of HSPA+, an upgraded version of current access HSPA technology. The trial is to asses the potential of HSPA+ to deliver higher data rates through the upgrade of existing network equipment.

Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) today announced its plan to close its Berkshire Brewery near Reading by early 2010. The brewer said it would immediately begin consultation with employees at the site, who will be affected by the closure.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today released figures showing an increase in consumer prices index (CPI) annual inflation in January, largely a result of higher petrol prices.

The European Commission conducted antitrust raids against Intel Corp's Munich offices on Tuesday and against retailers selling products of the world's largest chip maker, the Commission and the chip maker said.

Yahoo Inc ousted archrival Google in a deal with T-Mobile in Europe and unveiled a service to squeeze social Web connections on to phone screens on Tuesday, a day after rebuffing a $41.6 billion takeover bid from Microsoft.

Nintendo sold over 1 million copies of its latest Smash Bro. game in Japan just 11 days after its launch according to a Japanese game publisher, making the new title on of the fastest games selling to break a million on the Wii game system.

Labor peace returned to Hollywood on Monday, but the town's production machine remained at a low idle ahead of a vote by striking film and TV writers on whether to return to work after a three-month clash with major studios.

The weakening U.S. dollar means some immigrants must dig deeper to send money home.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday Iran was still seeking to build nuclear weapons and called for a greater international effort to prevent Tehran from succeeding.

General Motors Corp will offer buyouts or early retirements to all 74,000 U.S. hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers in a sweeping deal with the union intended to clear the way for GM to hire lower-cost replacements.

Four people including a former Boeing engineer and US Defense Department weapons expert were held on Monday on suspicion of stealing Space Shuttle secrets and spying for China.

The entertainment industry are inches away from scraping up the debris left by the 100-day long Hollywood writers strike after reaching a tentative agreement over the weekend.

The new European Columbus science module was removed from the Atlantis space shuttle and attached to the International Space Station.

Copper futures fell in New York as inventories had a steep drop. Earlier copper had reached its highest price in three months on $3.5585 a pound.

U.S. crude climbed on Monday after President Chavez threaten the U.S. to cut off oil supplies due to disputes with Exxon Mobil Corp.

Microsoft sent a letter to advanced purchasers of it's special edition Valentines Day Zune, saying the red media player may in fact, not be delivered on the 14th, but will come with a full refund when it arrives.

Shares of Apple rallied on Monday as the consumer electronics makers reductions to iPod and iPhone manufacturing were already reflected in its stock price, analysts said.

The 50th annual Grammy Awards, featuring clear front runners Amy Winehouse and Kanye West, attracted fewer viewers compared to last year, in spite of being the most-watched U.S. television show on Sunday night.

Shares of Apple rallied on Monday as the consumer electronics makers reductions to iPod and iPhone manufacturing were already reflected in its stock price, analysts said.

Russia's largest private sector consumer services company, Sistema, is eyeing India's booming telecommunication and real estate market besides planning to become a major player in a host of other sectors like infrastructure, technology and tourism.

The UAE-based Emirates Trading Agency-Associated Constructions and Investments (ETA-Ascon) is reportedly in talks with jet manufacturers Embraer, Bombardier and ATR and plans to launch a new airline in India.

A recent nationwide survey of over 60,000 households by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi and Max New York Life has revealed that people in India do not plan for long-term future and keep away from investing in long-term instruments though they save for long-term goals such as emergencies, education and old age.