Kolkata, May 9 (IANS) The worst is over for the Indian economy and credit has again started flowing into key sectors, O.P. Bhatt, chairman of the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), said here Saturday.

“The worst is over for the economy. Auto and housing loans have started picking up already,” Bhatt told reporters after releasing the bank’s financial results.

Mumbai, May 9 (IANS) The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) Saturday reported a 45.62 percent rise in its net profit for the quarter ended March 31.

The bank said in a regulatory statement that its fourth quarter profit stood at Rs.2,742.31 crore, up from Rs.1,883.25 crore in the like period last year.

Washington, May 9 (IANS) The Tata Group, State Bank of India (SBI) and Infosys Technologies are among 17 Indian firms that figure among the top 50 in a list of the world’s 200 most reputable companies.

New York, May 9 (DPA) Winning listings outnumbered losers by nearly seven to one on Friday, led by financial shares after the government announced late Thursday that top US banks had overall stronger balance sheets than widely believed.

A slowing rate of job losses helped spur broad gains on Wall Street.

Washington, May 9 (DPA) Chrysler took a giant step towards emerging from bankruptcy and joining Italy’s Fiat Spa after a group of the US carmaker’s creditors Friday gave up their hopes for a better deal.

Chrysler last week filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to strike an agreement with about one quarter of its smaller debt holders. But after a number of defections in the past few days, a lawyer for the remaining hold-outs said Friday they could no longer keep up their opposition.

Washington, May 9 (DPA) Major US banks turned to private investors Friday in the hopes of finding $75 billion that the government believes is needed for the financial sector to survive the ongoing recession.

Wells Fargo & Co, Morgan Stanley and Bank Of America Corp were launching new stock offerings to raise the capital they need to comply with the government’s demands.

Mainz (Germany), May 9 (DPA) Italian carmaker Fiat appeared to raise fresh doubts Friday about its plans for parts of the German operations of crisis-hit US carmaker General Motors if the group’s bid to buy GM’s European auto offshoots succeeds.

Following a meeting between Fiat chief Sergio Marchionne and key German political leaders, the premier of the west German state of Rhineland Platz Kurt Beck said he was “greatly concerned” about the operations of GM’s German subsidiary, Opel.

Manchester, May 8 (IANS) Indian telecom major Airtel Friday signed a five-year telecom partnership deal with top English premiership club Manchester United.

The deal was announced by club chief executive David Gill at Old Trafford and Airtel’s deputy chief executive Sanjay Kapoor in the presence of manager Alex Ferguson, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.