What is the reason behind PayPal wanting to end its partnership with Alibaba.com?

EBay's online payment unit, PayPal, will end its year-old partnership with AliExpress, the wholesale website of Alibaba.com, from early August. The reason cited for the same was that PayPal was unhappy with AliExpress's rising consumer business on the platform, which is meant for business transactions.

Reliance Industries today said the energy-to-retail conglomerate will be free of debt by March next year, using cash earned from selling stake in oil and gas fields to UK's BP Plc. Mukhesh Ambani said BP will acquire 30% participating interest in (Reliance's) 23 oil and gas blocks, including the currently producing KG-D6 block for $7.2 billion (Rs 32,400 crore).

Electrical products maker Havells India believes its foray into the domestic appliance space will be a Rs 500 crore business annually in about 3-4 years. The company is now readying to launch electric irons, juicers, mixers and grinders. Cables & wires are Havells’ biggest business, turning over Rs1,300 crore in 2010-11 followed by switchgears at Rs900 crore

The Kolkata-based arm of Linde AG, is mulling getting into supply of carbon dioxide whose major consumers are carbonated soft drink makers. The company plans to diversify in a phased manner into other gases such as hydrogen, helium and carbon dioxide, which have good potential to support the growth in gases business. Besides, BOC has aggressive plans to leverage Linde’s gas-based applications technology and has set up an application business development team to drive this growth strategy in India.

Technology and business solutions provider ElectraCard Services has tied-up with IndusInd Bank to offer technology and processing services for the bank's credit card business with immediate effect. Through the association, ECS would cater to the technology, processes and expertise to ensure a seamless integration and meet the bank's requirements.

Standard Chartered Bank announced the launch of a mobile banking application, `Standard Chartered Breeze', in India. The product will give customers greater ease of use and a higher degree of convenience through an intuitive and design-rich interface. Customers can access Breeze with their existing on-line user-name and password.

Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd's has agreed to buy German electronics retailer Medion AG for around $900 million, boosting its market share in Europe. The acquisition, Lenovo's biggest since its purchase of IBM's PC business six years ago, comes four months after Lenovo signed a joint venture deal with NEC Corp to sell laptops in Japan. The deal will double market share to more than 14% of the PC market in Germany.

Private insurer Tata AIG Life Insurance Company launched two unit linked products -Tata AIG Life Insurance InvestAssure Gold Supreme and Tata AIG Life Insurance InvestAssure Maximizer. Tata AIG Life Insurance InvestAssure Gold Supreme a policyholder can avail of life insurance protection for the entire life as also leave a legacy by paying premiums for 5 or 7 years. With Tata AIG Life Insurance InvestAssure Maximizer, the policyholder can choose a life cover term ranging from 20 to 40 years by paying premiums for 5 or 7 years.

Stationery major Camlin Ltd said Japan’s Kokuyo Co Ltd will acquire a majority stake in the company through its wholly owned subsidiary Kokuyo S&T Co Ltd in India. The two companies will form a joint venture to expand and modernise Camlin’s present business. As per the joint venture agreement, the transaction will be executed in three tranches. First, Kokuyo will acquire a 10% stake in Camlin through preferential allotment at Rs85 a share.

Bullish on growth in the retail sector, K Raheja company Inorbit Malls plans to invest around Rs1,000 crore over the next three-years for setting up new centres in west and south India. Inorbit, which currently runs four malls each in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune, plans to open three more centres in Bangalore, Baroda and Pune within the next three years. Apart from the metros, the company is also targeting Tier II and III cities to expand its footprint in the country.