Noted

Demerged: By Ahmedabad-based textiles conglomerate Arvind, its branded apparel and retail businesses into two separate companies as part of its plan to raise funds later. Both the demerged companies will become subsidiaries of the company. Arvind’s branded apparel business will be merged with Arvind Lifestyle Brands and its discount store chain Mega Mart with Arvind Retail. The demeger will come into effect from April 2009.

Ranked: India at #4, among the top 10 nations of the world with 81 million Internet users. United States leads the chart with 220 million Internet users followed by China (210 million) and Japan (88.1 million). India, however, does not find a place among the top 10 nations in terms of broadband connections, where too the US stands first with 73.2 million connections.

Dipped: The sale of motorbikes and cars in November, with Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest carmaker, reporting a 27.4 per cent decline in sales, its biggest fall this financial year. The company sold 47,103 cars in November compared to 64,885 in the same period last year. The country’s second-largest vehicle manufacturer, Tata Motors, reported a 30 per cent decline in total sales (down to 32,696 units from 46,947 vehicles sold in November last year). In the two-wheeler segment, Hero Honda Motors reported a near-flat growth of 0.4 per cent with 289,426 units sold in November.

Allowed: Restarting of trade on exchanges in four suspended commodities— soya oil, chickpea, rubber and potato. The Government of India had suspended trading of these items in May this year, to rein in rising prices.

Announced: Buyback of 10 per cent of shares for up to $250 million by Anil Agarwalcontrolled Vedanta Resources. The Londonbased company has $5 billion in cash. Vedanta, which has copper, aluminium and zinc operations in India, has seen its value slump 75 per cent this year in London trading.