Oil prices were near record levels of $111 in Asian trade Monday, increased by the dollar’s bend to a new low next to the euro, dealers said. In early morning trade New York’s main contract, glow sweet crude for April delivery, temporarily traded at 110.71 dollars a cask, up 50 cents from its Friday close of 110.21 dollars in US trading hours.

New York oil prices set at a new trading high of 111 dollars last Thursday as saver rushed into commodities including oil, which they see as a safe haven amid rising concerns over the US economy and worldwide credit press. Oil prices are likely to trend higher after the euro hit a new lifetime high of 1.5808 against the dollar in Asian trade Monday, dealers said.

The ill greenback has helped fuel the spike in world oil prices because crude is priced in dollars and becomes more affordable for purchasers holding stronger currencies. Investors view oil futures as a hedge next to price rises and the feeble dollar.

Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, has kept up its pathway record in big-bucks jobs. The post process which began on March 8 ended on Tuesday with an inspiring score sheet. The numbers of firms contribute in the campus interviews crossed the 100 mark again this year with around 107 companies making a beeline to hire from the batch of 290 PGP students at IIM-C.

As many as 243 offers had by now been made to the students before the beginning of the final placements. This built-in 153 offers made during the laterals process and the 90 pre-placement offers (PPOs) that were awarded for excellent presentation during the summer internship. Of the foreign job locations which IIM-C grads accepted, the bulk is in the United Kingdom, US and the Asia Pacific region. The Middle East and many European countries are other major locations offered to the students. But India still remains the preferred purpose for a bulk of the students with most choosing to stay here and contribute in the great Indian enlargement story.

The regular domestic salary this year was Rs 16.4 lakh per annum. But that’s only the beginning. The highest package this year is in the range of Rs 65 lakh to Rs 70 lakh per annum, offered by a leading global investment bank. Another emphasize this year is that Mckinsey has offered the profile of an associate to a fresh IIM-C grad. The finance domain is still one of the most preferred sectors, with 34% of the IIM-C batch opting for jobs in the financial sector.

Some of the top notch firms which hired students from the batch of 2008 include Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, ING, JP Morgan and Barclays. As many as 32 investment bank offers were made to students in the slot zero speculation banks. Consulting firms were preferred by 26% of the students during the placements. Inspiring counts of 42 offers were made by slot zero consulting firms on campus. Major ask groups like Mckinsey, Bain, BCG, AT Kearney and AD little hired in good numbers.

“A record 22 new companies were a part of the assignment process this year, which is testimony to the fact that the managerial talent of the students of IIM Calcutta is widely recognized” said S D Moitra, president, placement group.

Some of the firms coming to the campus for the first time included o3 Capital, Dawnaday, Ocean Oil, Lodha Group, Anand Rathi and Opera Solutions. The further education college grounds also saw the participation of marketing giants like PnG and HUL. Other marketing firms on campus included Nokia, ITC, Nestle and Asian Paints, who also employ in good numbers.

Graduating from three of the important Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) would be dearer, with the institutes deciding to hike the fee from the 2008 academic year.

The Boards of Governors of the IIMs at Ahmadabad, Bangalore and Kolkata have decided to lift the fee for the post graduate programme from the coming academic year, HRD Minister Arjun Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. According to information provided by the Minister in the House, the utmost hike in fee has been affected by IIM, Bangalore, from Rs 2.50 lakh for the first year of the program me in 2007 to Rs four lakh in the coming sitting.

IIM, Ahmadabad and IIM, Kolkata have decided to increase the fee from Rs two lakh to Rs three lakh. In reply to another query, he said the Union Government has not opposed the fee hike.