General Motors announces VRS
New York: General Motors has announced plans to cut 5,000 white collar jobs in 2002 through voluntary retirement scheme. The company will cut 10 per cent of its executive staff in North America.

Initially, the offer would hold for only those employees who had crossed 50 years of age and worked for more than 10 years.
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Big players eye Sify stake
New Delhi: MSN, AOL Time Warner, Bharti and Reliance have evinced interest in buying full or partial stake in India's largest Internet service provider, Satyam Infoway.

The four companies were the frontrunners among the companies that have evinced interest in buying Satyam Computers' entire stake in Satyam Infoway (Sify).
The company holds a 53 per cent stake in Sify, 15 per cent is held by CDC India Ventures, 5-6 per cent is with employees and the rest is with public
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NIIT signs pact with IBM India
Mumbai: NIIT and IBM India have formed an alliance to train IT professionals.

NIIT aims to train over 10,000 individuals in the next 12 months on IBM technologies.

Training in IBM software technologies for the complete range of data management, transformation and integration software would be provided by NIIT in India at its 51 centres for advanced technology studies.
The courses would commence in Mumbai from 28 January.
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Bids for SCI stake sale invited
New Delhi: The government has invited initial bids for privatisation of profit-making Shipping Corporation of India, stipulating a condition of Rs 800 crore net worth for interested parties.

Companies, joint ventures and consortiums, interested in participating in the proposed disinvestment, are required to submit their expression of interest by 18 February.

The government would bring down its equity from 80 per cent to 26 per cent by offering 51 per cent to a strategic buyer and another 3 per cent to employees.
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Philips launches research centre
Bangalore: Philips has launched the Centre for Industrial Technology (CFT) here to develop industrial technologies for all the product divisions of Philips as well as for selected external customers.

An initial investment of $1 million would be made towards the setting of the centre which will have about 10 engineers at present.

Work will be in the application domain, especially in the digital rights management as well as enabling various multimedia applications on the wireless platform.
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IPCL due diligence to be completed by mid-Feb
Ahmedabad: Bidders for a stake in Indian Petrochemicals Corp Ltd (IPCL) are expected to complete due diligence of the company's assets by the second week of February.

The government is likely to invite price bids for a 26 per cent stake in IPCL along with management control in the third week of February.

The suitors for IPCL include detergent maker Nirma, petrochemicals major Reliance Industries and state-owned Indian Oil Corp.
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BPL to buy Toshibas flat CTV tube plant
New Delhi: BPL Display Devices, a BPL group company, is close to acquiring Toshibas 2.2 million capacity pure flat colour picture tube manufacturing facility in Japan at an estimated cost of around Rs 120 crore.

The manufacturing line, currently running in Fukaya, will be dismantled and put in place at BPL Devices existing facility in Uttar Pradesh.

Toshiba worldwide is closing all its picture tube bases and is replacing it with advanced plasma displays.
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Sebi clears promoters in Amara Raja case
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has given a clean chit to promoters, NRIs and overseas corporate bodies (OCBs) in the alleged stock price manipulation of Amara Raja Batteries.

Sebi said that since the holding of OCBs has not changed since 1 January 2000, it cannot be concluded that heavy selling by OCBs has attributed to a sharp fall in the price of the stock.
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RailTel awards contracts for laying OFC
New Delhi: Railtel Corporation has awarded contracts for laying optic fibre cable (OFC) in four sections of the Railways covering 1,500 route kilometres.

The telecom company of the Indian Railways has also floated tenders for procuring telecom equipment to be installed along the Mumbai-Chennai route including Hyderabad and Bangalore. The contract for equipment procurement is expected to be awarded next month.

According to an official, the entire work of laying OFC in the four sections is likely to be over by July.

OFC will be laid on Delhi-Jaipur, Pune-Wadi-Secunderabad and Pune-Vadi-Bangalore and Secunderabad-Vijaywada routes by Supreme Telecom for contract award of Rs 30 crore.

RailTel will be spending Rs 3,000 crore over the next seven years on creating the OFC network.
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Sebi exempts Echostar
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has decided to exempt the US-based Echostar from making an open offer for shares of Hughes Software Services (HSS) and Hughes Tele.Com, whose parent and holding company Hughes Electronics Corporation (HEC) saw change in its management following the acquisition of the controlling stake by Echostar.

This decision comes just a day after the Sebi takeover panel decided to plug major loopholes in the Sebi Takeover Regulations, 1997, with respect to making an open offer.
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JK Ind claims Rs 140 cr for NOC delay
Ahmedabad:  The J K Industries, the promoters of the Dholera Port project in Gujarat, have filed legal notices against the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) for alleged criminal negligence in delaying the project.

In the notice, Dholera Port Ltd has contended that GPCB has caused criminal negligence to the Rs 1,400-crore mega port project by delaying the issue of NOC for the project. The notice has also sought a Rs 140-crore compesation for damages and has warned of legal action in case of non-compliance.
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Cadila gets DGCI nod for anti-ulcer drug
Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad-based pharma major Cadila Pharmaceuticals (CPL) has received permission from the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) to launch rabeprazole sodium, an anti-ulcer drug.

The drug, to be marketed under the brand name Rabeloc, is by far the most advanced anti-ulcerant for the treatment of duodenal ulcers, gastro ulcers and heartburn.

CPL plans the all-India launch of the drug on 11 January 11.
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United India Insurance plans automation
New Delhi: United India Insurance Company Ltd is going in for complete automation of its branches and networking them at a cost of about Rs 95 crore. The IT update plans, the first phase of which is expected to be completed by the end of the current fiscal, is aimed at improving service levels and customer care at the company.

The company plans to fully automate its 1,094 odd offices. The hardware side of the IT mission would cost Rs 72.22 crore, while the software part is pegged at Rs 22 crore.

The automation of all the companys branches is expected to be completed before the end of the current fiscal.
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Sify mulls separating key businesses
New Delhi: Satyam Infoway (Sify) is exploring the option of splitting its businesses into infrastructure and individual consumer Internet business. The company is talking to leading telecom service providers for the telecom infrastructure part of the business and to MSN and AOL Time Warner for the consumer Internet access business.

Satyam Computers has been wanting to sell its 53 per cent stake in Sify. The current valuation of Sify is around $200 million.
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BConnectB sells ASP biz to Siemens
Mumbai: BConnectB Limited, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptech, has sold its ASP-related business to Siemens Information Systems Limited, a subsidiary of Siemens Limited.

The company had been looking to sellout for quite some time.
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Motif sets up two call centres
Ahmedabad: Motif India Infotech Pvt Ltd has set up two state-of-the-art customer contact centres in Ahmedabad with multiple dedicated lease lines.

The company plans opening three more 500 seat call centres at various locations in the country within the next 18 to 24 months. The company also proposes to recruit 1,000 people by December 2002 and another 1,800 by 2003.

Motif Inc has formed a strategic alliance with the Florida-based Precision Response Corporation (PRC), a call centre subsidiary of USA Networks. PRC clients include large corporations and Internet-focussed companies such as American Express, AT&T, British Airways, DirectTV, Citicorp and Dell Computers.
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Kinetic to introduce Nova
New Delhi: Kinetic Engineering Ltd plans to launch a four-stroke scooter, Kinetic Nova in February. The 115-cc brand is expected to be one of the most pricey scooters from the Kinetic stable. A major Rs 10-crore marketing campaign will also be kicked off by mid-February.

Kinetic Engineering also plans to launch, Kinetic Boss motorcycle, priced at Rs 32,000; 150-cc GF motorcycle, around Rs 55,000; and a 150-cc cruiser motorcycle, priced below Rs 65,000.
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Pepsi ropes in Rahul Khanna
New Delhi: Pepsi India has roped in model-turned-veejay-turned-actor Rahul Khanna for a TV ad campaign. The star-son of Vinod Khanna is the latest celebrity to have been signed on by the soft drink major and will be appearing in its latest television commercial in February.

Rahul Khanna would be making an appearance as a model in one of Pepsis forthcoming TV commercials along with Fardeen Khan.
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Owen Illinois to exit from India
Mumbai: Owens Illinois, one of the worlds largest manufacturers of glass bottles, has decided to exit India by selling its 100 per cent Indian subsidiary to Calcutta-based Hindustan National Glass Industries Ltd.

Owens Brockway has an annual turnover of Rs 170 crore. The company has been incurring losses. Owens Brockway supplies bottles to the soft drinks and the liquor industry.

Hindustan National Glass had a net profit of Rs 10 crore on a turnover of Rs 230 crore in fiscal 2000-01. The company has a glass making capacity of 2.8 lakh tonees, which industry sources say is the largest in the organised sector.
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Schenectady acquires 50% stake in Herdillia
Mumbai: Schenectady (India) Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based Schenectady International, has acquired 50.08 per cent controlling interest in Herdillia Chemicals Ltd from Duncan Goenka Group.

With this, SIHL's total holding in Herdillia Chemicals has aggregated to 66,95,039 shares representing 60.72 per cent.
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HLL shuts Kanhan tea plant
Mumbai: Hindustan Lever has closed down its tea-packaging facility in Kanhan, near Nagpur, due to unviability. All the 364 employees at Kanhan had been given benefits under the voluntary separation scheme.

The Nagpur plant had a capacity of 7,000 tonnes per annunm. The tea facility, one of the oldest of HLL, housed an automated packaging plant for Taj Mahal tea bags apart from other brands and packagings.
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Arena Multimedia to set up 50 animation centres
Mumbai: Arena Multimedia, a division of Aptech, will set up 50 centres across the country to impart hi-end animation training in the next six months. The centres will come up in Trivandrum, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi.

Arena will invest in developing courseware, faculty training and support to training centres. At present there are eight centres providing high-end animation training in Mumbai, Calcutta and Hyderabad.
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Tata Power issues get AAA rating
Mumbai: Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd (Crisil) has reaffirmed the ratings assigned to Tata Power's debt instruments.

The agency has retained `AAA' rating for Tata Power Company's (TPC) two non-convertible debenture issues of Rs 500 crore each. It has also reaffirmed `P1+' rating for the company's Rs 200-crore short-term debt programme, including commercial paper.

Crisil said TPC's bid for Enron's Dabhol Power project would have no impact on the credit profile of the company as of now.
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RPL, IOC mull status quo
New Delhi: Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) are considering settling for a lower take-or-pay offtake of around 12-13 million tonnes annually from the former's refinery in the post-administered pricing mechanism (APM) era.

This is one of the solutions being mooted to resolve the stand-off on the marketing rights agreement between IOC and RPL. Reliance Petroleum has been insisting on a take-or-pay offtake of 15 million tonnes of products per annum. IOC had refused to accept these terms and sought review of the contract.

IOC and RPL are now considering retaining the existing commercial arrangement on offtake from the RPL refinery for a period of two years in the post-APM era, beginning April 1, 2002.
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Levi's introduces `Mobile' pants
New Delhi: Levi Strauss (India) has launched a new 100 per cent wrinkle-free cotton Khaki trouser in the name of Dockers Mobile Pant for the fast paced mobile professionals.

The Dockers Mobile Khaki Pant is an alternative to cluttered briefcases and bulky belt clips. With as many as nine invisible storage pockets for discreetly carrying high-tech gadgets, it helps a professional to carry his modern tools of trade like mobile, palm tops and digital diaries in a comfortable manner.

The external appearance of the Mobile Pant is that of a normal trouser and that there will be no room for bulge pockets in Dockers Mobile Pant.

The pleated and flat front styles of the Mobile Pant is available between Rs 1,799 and Rs 2,295 and has been targeted at the premium-end of the market.
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UB plans Rs 1-cr campaign for ice beer
Hyderabad: United Breweries Ltd is planning to launch a Rs 1-crore promotional and marketing campaign in Andhra Pradesh for promoting UB Premium Ice Beer.

The ice beer, according to him, gets its name from a unique refrigeration process called cold filteration. The beer brew is frozen, resulting in formation of ice crystals which are subsequently filtered out, giving the brand a very distinctive and crisp taste.

The brand is targeted at upmarket sophisticated consumers.

The ice beer was initially launched in Maharashtra and Goa followed by successive launches in Karnataka and Kerala. Now, the company is planning to launch the brand in Delhi by March this year and subsequently in Kolkata.
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Nestles Chocostick enters Mumbai
Mumbai: Nestle India has extended its Chocostick brand to Mumbai. Priced at Rs 2 a unit, Chocostick is being pushed as a taste of chocolate at the price of candy' product.

Nestle's Chocostick has grabbed a 11 per cent share of the chocolate market in Chennai. The brand was introduced about six months ago. Nestle's Chocostick is a liquid chocolate formulation in a transparent packaging.
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