BUSINESS

These figures also do not include the hundreds of thousands --- perhaps millions – of Indians who are seriously injured by these frequent mishaps.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), the No. 1 computer maker, raised its estimates for third-quarter earnings to $1 a share from 94 cents apparently because of higher demand as well as the initial impact of firing 27,000 employees to shave costs.

Apple’s iPhone 5 release could account for 170 million total iPhones sold in the next year, experts say. According to analyst Horace Dediu, who has quoted Apple’s own marketing chief, the iPhone 5 will comprise 85 percent of total Apple smartphone sales in the next 12 months, CNET reported.

China has become Uganda’s number one trade partner, replacing Britain.

Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), the No. 1 chain of coffee shops, said it had invested $25 million in Square, the start-up specialist in mobile payments, which values the company at $3.25 billion.

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter gave shareholders a side of politics with their pizza last week when he said the pizza chain would see a price increase for its pizza, blaming Obamacare for the hike in prices.

The productivity of U.S. workers rose 1.6 percent in the second quarter, the Labor Department reported Wednesday, as output of goods and services rose much faster than the amount of time employees worked. Economists polled by Bloomberg expected productivity to climb by 1.4 percent.

An uncanny legal document that accused British bank Standard Chartered of penal law violations raises the question: If the bank were a person, what kind of hard time would it be facing?

The search giant's corporate tax bill amounts to £1,519 paid for every million pounds in turnover, a rate of just 0.15 percent.

MEMC Electronic Materials, Tower Semiconductor, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, InterContinental Hotels Group, UBS AG, ARM Holdings, Hewlett-Packard and Credit Suisse Group AG are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Wednesday.

Local campaigners have compared the potential impact of the mine's effluent to BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster and the Exxon Valdez oil spill, saying the region's fish stocks will become unsellable if the project goes ahead.

Peregrine Semiconductor, which has sold more than a billion high-frequency chips to the mobile industry in the past five years, raised $77 million in its IPO on Tuesday and plans to start trading Wednesday, the latest technology IPO since the Facebook fiasco.

The Federal Reserve sent some strong messages in its latest policy statement that it is heading toward new easing measures to buck up the weak economy. But the central bank may have a different caliber of weapon in mind other than launching another round of large-scale asset purchases, or QE3.

A road trip from New York City to Saratoga Springs, New York in the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and 2013 Porsche Boxster S is a reminder that life's about the journey, not the destination.

Rumor has it so far that Apple will follow suit of rival Android devices and release the iPhone 5, boasting a taller 640×1136 resolution display. A latest report has claimed that iOS 6 is completely scalable to the rumored taller iPhone 5 display, allowing five complete rows of apps in the home screen.

Asian stock markets advanced for the third straight session on Wednesday as sentiment continued to improve on hopes that the major central banks around the world will soon announce new round of stimulus measures to spur economic growth.

U.S. stock index futures point to a lower open Wednesday as investor sentiment was weighed down by lack of stimulus measures from policy makers around the globe to rejuvenate the faltering economic growth momentum.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Tuesday were Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation, CSG Systems International Inc, Express Scripts Holding Company, Interval Leisure Group Inc and Ctrip.com International Ltd.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were priceline.com Incorporated, Santarus Inc, Zillow Inc, XOMA Corporation and Horizon Technology Finance Corporation.

Microsoft has entered into an intellectual property (IP) licensing agreement with Sharp to use the latest Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT), a modern file system that facilitates large files for audiovisual media and enables seamless data portability for an easy interchange of files between desktop PCs and other electronic devices.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Tuesday were Dean Foods, Chiquita Brands International, Thompson Creek Metals, Rackspace Hosting and Kenexa Corp. The top after-market NYSE losers were Willbros Group, Sothebys, Elan Corp, Williams Partners and Exterran Holdings, Inc.

Offshoring of back-office work to India, a trend among banks and accounting firms, came under new scrutiny with allegations that Standard Chartered Plc moved compliance oversight work dealing with Iranian banking transactions to India to avoid U.S. regulators.

Most of the Asian markets rose Wednesday as investor confidence continued to be lifted by hopes that the European Central Bank will take actions to reduce the debt pressure faced by Spain and Italy.

Asian shares rose to a three-month high Wednesday, supported by expectations that policymakers will soon decisively address the euro zone fiscal crisis and declining global growth.

Jared Loughner pleaded guilty Tuesday in Tuscon, Ariz., to the January 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and seriously wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others.

Neymar led Brazil to the gold-medal match in men's soccer.

The Chinese government has taken an important step towards breaking the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and EADS N.V. (Paris: EAD)'s Airbus SAS's duopoly in aerospace manufacturing by successfully testing a new regional plane, the Financial Times reported.

Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage financier, reported a $3.02 billion second quarter profit Tuesday on a stronger portfolio, another sign of an improving housing market.

A college dropout pleaded guilty on Tuesday to killing six people and wounding 13 others, including then-Representative Gabrielle Giffords, in a shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona last year.

Citing reputation and legal risk, several brokers downgrade their recommendations of British bank Standard Chartered Tuesday. But one broker's suggestion stood out from the rest