Larsen & Toubro has said it has received an order worth Rs 345 crore from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for manufacturing and supplying steam generators.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, L&T said it has bagged an order valued at Rs 345 crore from NPCIL for design, manufacture and supply of four steam generators for 700 MegaWatt electric (MWe) pressurised heavy water reactors.

The steam generators would be supplied to the Kakrapar Atomic Power project, the filing added.

These would be one of the largest steam generators built in India so far, and would increase the size of the nuclear power project to 700 MWe from 540 MWe, the filing said.

Chairman and CEO of General Motors Corp., Rick Wagoner has resigned as head of the Detroit automaker.

In a statement, Wagoner said he stepped aside at the request of the Obama Administration.

Replacing him as CEO is Fritz Henderson, GM’s president and chief operating officer. Kent Kresa was named interim non-executive chairman of the board of directors. Kresa is chairman emeritus of Northrop Grumman Corp., and a GM director since 2003.

Wagoner’s departure comes at a time when the company and the U.S. auto industry is reeling under pressure from foreign automakers and effects of the worst global recession in 70 years.

GM has received $13.4 billion in government loans and is asking for another $16.6 billion to help sustain it during the worst downturn in auto sales in 27 years.

GM and Chrysler LLC, which also has received federal aid but might not survive, must show the government the extent of the restructuring they have enacted to become profitable.

At least 26 people were killed and up to 90 injured as gunmen opened firing and throwing hand grenades at Lahore police training center on Monday morning.

The official, the inspector general of police for Punjab Province, Khalid Farook, said efforts were being made to capture the attackers alive. Television footage from a neighboring building showed the militants holed up on the second floor of the building and people could be moving around inside. The militants were throwing grenades at about 10-minute intervals, one of the television reports said.

A cadet who was on the parade ground at the time of the attack said the gunmen entered the school at about 8 a.m. from the rear. The attackers immediately threw grenades and opened fire, said Amir Farook, 22. “Most of the recruits were present on the parade ground,” Mr. Farook said as he waited for treatment at a Lahore hospital. Contradicting some reports, he said the gunmen were not wearing police uniforms.

About 20 to 30 cadets who had served on night duty were still inside the three-story building at the time of the attack, Mr. Farook said. It was likely, he said, that the attackers were planning to take the night duty cadets hostage.

Wounded cadets were carried out of the center on stretchers and some who had escaped by jumping over walls were shown weeping in television footage. The school was believed to have 850 cadets under training.

According to the findings of a total tax contribution (TTC) survey, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI) has demanded reduction in the corporate tax rate.

The TTC Survey 2008 has provided a comprehensive picture of the taxes borne and collected by 41 participating companies, out of the 100 companies constituting the S&P CNX Nifty and CNX Nifty junior indices as on April 30, 2008.

“The corporate tax rate has to be brought down. It is clearly evident from the results of the survey that the tax borne by the corporate sector is high. They are also discharging onerous responsibility of tax collections,” Dr Amit Mitra, Secretary General of FICCI, told a press conference here to announce the results of the survey.

FICCI had also made a case for reduction in corporate tax rate (to 28 per cent) at the interaction that captains of industry had with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Saturday.

The TTC survey, claimed to be the first of its kind in India, is a partnership effort between PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and FICCI.

The total taxes borne and collected by the survey participants by March 31, 2008 was Rs 84,902 crore, which represented 9.7 per cent of the total government tax receipts.

Verizon Wireless has confirmed reports that it is ready to enter the Netbook market. Spokeswoman Brenda Raney has quoted that the plan is for the company to start selling 3G-enabled Netbooks by the end of the second quarter, or by June.

Unfortunately, Raney could offer little else in the way of details regarding pricing or potential PC partners. Crave’s Erica Ogg suggested Dell would be an obvious partnering candidate. Dell already has a relationship with Verizon parent company Vodafone, which has sold Dell Netbooks in Europe since September 2008. However, a similar rumor floated around the Web last week regarding HP hooking up with Verizon.

Verizon’s chief rival, AT&T, already sells Acer Netbooks for $99 with service through RadioShack, and also sells Dell Mini Inspirons through the wireless provider’s Web site.

Scientists have decoded the unique structure and mechanism of a tuberculosis enzyme, paving way for development of new drugs to combat active and latent tuberculosis infections. Barbara Gerratana, assistant chemistry and biochemistry professor in Maryland University College of Chemical and Life Sciences, led the research team, which included her graduate student Melissa Resto and assistant professor Nicole LaRonde-LeBlanc.

“The NAD plus synthetase enzyme that our study describes is absolutely essential for the survival of tuberculosis bacteria and an important drug target. We can now use the information we have about its structure and mechanism to develop inhibitors for this enzyme,” Gerratana explained.

The development of new TB drugs has become urgent, as strains of TB resistant to all major anti-TB drugs have emerged worldwide. World Health Organisation estimates that one-third of the world’s population carries latent TB and that 10 percent will eventually develop the disease, said a Maryland release.

Women who consumed high amounts of soy during childhood may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer, says a new study on Asian-American females.

“Historically, breast cancer incidence rates have been four to seven times higher among white women in the U.S. than in women in China or Japan. However, when Asian women migrate to the U.S., their breast cancer risk rises over several generations and reaches that of U.S. white women, suggesting that modifiable factors, rather than genetics, are responsible for the international differences. These lifestyle or environmental factors remain elusive; our study was designed to identify them,” said Regina Ziegler, Ph.D., M.P.H., a senior investigator in the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG).

Researchers interviewed 597 women with breast cancer and 966 healthy women. If the women had mothers living in the United States, researchers interviewed those mothers to determine the frequency of soy consumption in childhood.

The research team divided soy intake into thirds and compared the highest and lowest groups. High intake of soy in childhood was associated with a 58 per cent reduction in breast cancer. A high level of soy intake in the adolescent and adult years was associated with a 20 to 25 per cent reduction.

The childhood relationship held in all three races and all three study sites and in women with and without a family history of breast cancer.

“Since the effects of childhood soy intake could not be explained by measures other than Asian lifestyle during childhood or adult life, early soy intake might itself be protective,” said the study’s lead investigator, Larissa Korde, M.D., M.P.H., a staff clinician at the NCI’s Clinical Genetics Branch.

“Childhood soy intake was significantly associated with reduced breast cancer risk in our study, suggesting that the timing of soy intake may be especially critical,” said Korde.

The underlying mechanism is not known. Korde said her study suggests that early soy intake may have a biological role in breast cancer prevention. “Soy isoflavones have estrogenic properties that may cause changes in breast tissue. Animal models suggest that ingestion of soy may result in earlier maturation of breast tissue and increased resistance to carcinogens,” the expert said.

On Saturday the White House announced, President Barack Obama has invited the leaders of 16 major economies to Washington for a forum on energy and climate next month.

Obama, who recently turned his attention to the need for more clean-energy funding, has also asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to attend.

The forum, scheduled for April 27-28, seeks to “generate the political leadership necessary” for a successful outcome at the U.N. climate change negotiation to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, the White House said in a statement.

Aside from the United States, the 16 other major economies are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

From April 1 you can use any ATMs of your choice without shelling out any extra money.

According to RBI directive, banks have been prevented from charging any fee for cash withdrawals using ATM and debit cards issued by other banks from April 1 onwards.

However, banks can still charge extra for services like cash withdrawal with the use of credit cards and at ATMs located outside India.

Last year on March 10, the RBI had come out with guidelines limiting the fee charged by banks for using their ATMs by clients of other lenders to Rs 20. It had also allowed the use of ATM for purposes like balance enquiry free of any charge.

Leading Tata group firms, including Tata Motors and Tata Steel, outperformed Sensex in March by surging more than twice of what the benchmark index has gained in the month so far.

According to a comparative analysis of their performance, the 30-share Sensex, which regained the 10,000-level last week, surged 13 per cent in the one-month period till Friday last week. On other hand, the four Tata group firms — Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Communications and Tata Steel– on an average gained over 26 per cent in the period.

“Tata group stocks had been oversold and are now bouncing back. Further, the expectations of launch of Nano had fuelled the Tata Motors shares,” a leading analyst from a domestic brokerage said.

Tata Communications, which provides communication solutions, led the Tata group firms by posting gains of 33 per cent in one month period ended March 27.

North Korea is preparing to launch a close- to mid-range missile separately from the long-range rocket that Pyongyang has said it will launch next month, the Sankei Japanese daily newspaper reported on Sunday.

The report comes as Pyongyang is poised to launch a communications satellite between April 4-8 that regional powers believe will actually be a test of a long-range missile, the Taepodong-2, which is already believed to be on its launch pad.

North Korea has given international agencies notice that the rocket’s planned trajectory should take it over Japan, dropping booster stages to its east and west. Any attempt to shoot the rocket itself down would be an act of war, it has said.

The reclusive state may fire the short- to mid-range missile shortly after the long-range missile is launched, Sankei said, quoting unidentified Japanese government sources.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday that Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force had started to deploy units capable of shooting down a rocket to the northern prefectures of Akita and Iwate.

Units carrying Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles left a base in central Japan early on Sunday and expected to arrive at the northern prefectures on Monday, NHK said.

With the White House set to announce more financial aid for General Motors and Chrysler on Monday, the Obama administration’s automotive task force met yesterday, and GM chief executive G. Richard Wagoner Jr. visited with officials.

On Thursday, President Obama said that the administration’s aid package would require the companies to make “painful” and “pretty drastic” changes. It is not known how much more financial assistance would be offered or what conditions would be attached.

Separately, Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne said Fiat Group’s deal to take a 35 percent share of Chrysler is likely to change, adding that the Italian automaker can help the U.S. company.

Under the nonbinding agreement, Fiat would take a 35 percent stake in the U.S. automaker in exchange for small-car technology, transmissions and other items that Chrysler has valued at up to $10 billion.

After wowing the auto press with the sleek design of Tesla Motors’ all-electric Model S, company CEO Elon Musk is now making an economic argument to consumers–and, perhaps, the U.S. government–for buying the luxury sedan.

After months of anticipation, Tesla on Thursday took the covers off the Model S, an electric sedan priced at $56,400 but that qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax credit.

In a newsletter to customers on Friday, Musk, who is also product architect at Tesla, touted the many benefits of electric vehicles over gasoline cars, including price.

“The ownership cost of Model S, if you were to lease and then account for the much lower cost of electricity versus gasoline at a likely future cost of $4 per gallon, is similar to a gasoline car with a sticker price of about $35,000,” he wrote.

Mohammad Azharudddin, the former cricketer who joined the Congress last month, will open his political inning from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh.

Azharuddin’s name figures in the list of 14 candidates declared by the party on Friday for Uttar Pradesh, where the party wants to revive its lost votebase by going it alone in the polls.

The candidature of the former India batsman, who hails from Hyderabad, was earlier being considered for Tonk in Rajasthan and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

So far, the Congress has announced 53 candidates in Uttar Pradesh where its negotiations with the Samajwadi Party for seat sharing collapsed. Former union minister Sanjay Singh was announced as the candidate from Sultanpur, a constituency neighbouring Rae Bareilly and Amethi from where party president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi will contest respectively.

Discovery and its crew are scheduled to touch down at NASA’s Florida spaceport early Saturday afternoon. Favorable weather is expected.

The seven astronauts are winding up a 13-day mission that was highlighted by the successful installation and unfurling of the space station’s last pair of solar wings. The $300 million addition brought the orbiting outpost up to full power. It’s an essential part of NASA’s plan to double the space station population by late spring and boost the amount of science work.

Discovery is bringing back former space station resident Sandra Magnus. She’s spent 4 1/2 months in orbit.

The space station, meanwhile, is getting more guests Saturday with the arrival of a Russian Soyuz capsule.

At least 50 people have drowned after a lake burst through a dam, sending a wall of water into a neighbourhood outside Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

The collapse of the dam on Friday morning left more than a dozen people missing and hundreds of homes submerged.

Officials say they expect the death toll to rise.

It is not clear what caused the dam to burst, but an official said the Situ Gintung lake behind the dam became overloaded after four hours of heavy rain.

“The dam was very old, up to a hundred years old, and people are saying maybe the construction was at fault here,” Hywel Davies, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tangerang, 20km west of Jakarta, said.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry crisis centre, said that the flash flood submerged around 400 houses in water up to two metres deep in some places, following hours of heavy rain.

“It rained very heavily for several hours yesterday. The lake overloaded with water and the dam broke,” he said.

“Right now residents are being evacuated. About half of them are still on rooftops waiting for help.”

The dam was holding about two million cubic metres of water on the Pesanggrahan river.

India will need to introduce further measures to stimulate growth, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the nation’s Planning Commission, ahead of a Group of 20 meeting on the global economic crisis.

The new government that takes over in May after general elections will need to take steps to try and maintain the current year’s economic growth, Ahluwalia said at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s annual conference in New Delhi today.

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is heading to London next week to attend a meeting where leaders of the 20 major economies will discuss ways of spurring global growth. The International Monetary Fund has urged countries to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on stimulus, estimating that only Saudi Arabia, Australia, China, Spain and the U.S. will introduce budget boosts worth that much this year.

The government has injected about 4.3 trillion rupees ($85 billion) into the economy since September, India’s cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, said at the same meeting today. The impact of the global financial crisis was first felt in India in that month with a freeze in the credit market.

The new government must spend as much as 1 percent of GDP as extra stimulus, Ahluwalia said earlier.

The lights are going down from the Great Pyramids to the Acropolis, the Eiffel Tower to Sears Tower, as more than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries plan Saturday to mark the second worldwide Earth Hour.

McDonald’s will even soften the yellow glow from some Golden Arches as part of the time zone-by-time zone plan to dim nonessential lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to highlight global climate change.

“Earth Hour makes a powerful statement that the world is going to solve this problem,” said Carter Roberts, chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, which sponsors Earth Hour. “Everyone is realizing the enormous effect that climate change will have on them.”

Earth Hour 2009 has garnered support from global corporations, nonprofit groups, schools, scientists and celebrities — including Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu.