TIC launches prdomain.com
Mumbai: The Information Company Private Limited (TIC) has announced the launch of prdomain (www.prdomain.com), a unique interface between companies and the media and investors.

The website is an independent forum on the Net where companies can present their news releases and other material financials, speeches, presentations, advertisements, notices, product galleries, logos, photo albums, etc for the benefit of the media, analysts, investors, potential employees and others.

prdomain.com provides a company the opportunity to communicate immediately and effectively with people looking for information on it. That information is made available without being cut, altered, distorted or modified in any manner. Viewers can be certain of its source and authenticity.

prdomain.com also gives visitors a wide array of other useful material reports and features on media and communication management, etc; guides on business writing; links to a host of global websites providing business information; and more. Additionally, it makes available over 27,000 pages of www.domain-b.com, India's first online business magazine. All of this is free for visitors.

Says Kiron Kasbekar, managing director of The Information Company Pvt Ltd, "We often need business information, but cannot find it quickly. When we do find it in clippings, it sometimes doesnt meet our requirement. We often need original information as it was put out by a company or an industry association. And can  never find it. This is the bitter truth some members of our team learned time and again, and decided to do something about it. Thats why prdomain.com."

prdomain.com has received a very good response from companies, which find in the portal an additional outlet for their information at a very low cost. It multiplies the chance of people finding information about the subscriber companies.

About prdomain.com
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Gillette to invest $20mn in Indian arm
Mumbai: Gillette has sought permission from India's Foreign Investment Promotion Board to invest up to $20 million in Gillette India.

The Indian company, which is 75 per cent owned by Gillette, the world's largest maker of razors and shaving blades, had earlier said that its parent was planning a capital grant to strengthen the local company's financial position and meet long-term commitments.
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Ranbaxy gets mkt rights for Nifedipine
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories has signed an agreement with US-based Penwest Pharmaceutical to exclusively market cardiovascular drug Nifedipine XL in select markets.

Ranbaxy will have exclusive rights to market Nifedipine XL in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philipines, South Africa and Sri Lanka and non-exclusive rights in Mexico.

Penwest will receive royalties on net sales.
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TVS Electronics, Verifone tie-up for e-payments
Chennai: TVS Electronics has tied up with US-based Verifone, a leader in electronic payment solutions, to offer e-payment products to local financial companies.

TVS eTechnology will jointly develop and deploy Verifone's advanced electronic payment technology into financial institutions and other emerging markets throughout India.

TVS Electronics makes printers and uninterruptible power supply systems for computers.
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H-P Labs India inaugurated
Bangalore: Hewlett-Packard has launched the H-P Labs India here, which would focus on generating innovative solutions for the country and other emerging economies of the world.

H-P Labs India is the seventh H-P Lab worldwide and the first in the Asia Pacific region.

Research conducted at H-P Labs India would also support H-P's world e-Inclusion initiative.

H-P Labs India will start off with a 10-member team, which would be ramped up to 30 to 40 in two to three years.
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Reliance signs ILD licence agreement
New Delhi: The government on 25 February issued the first licence for international long distance telecom services to Reliance.

Reliance signed the agreement after paying Rs 25-crore bank guarantee and Rs 25-crore entry fee.

Besides Reliance, Bharti and Data Access have also applied for international long distance services.
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Wipro ties up with Austrian company
New Delhi: Wipro Technologies has tied up with Austriamicrosystems that offers a range of solutions for the automotive, communication and industrial sectors.

As part of the alliance, both companies will jointly produce and market chipsets for the emerging Bluetooth wireless market.

The alliance with Austriamicrosystems will mark Wipros foray into the Bluetooth product space.

Austriamicrosystems Bluetooth radio will be integrated with Wipros IP in Bluetooth Baseband to provide wireless system vendors and product companies with a composite Bluetooth application-specific integrated circuit or application-specific standard product.
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L&T executes Rs 93-cr NPTC coal handling plant
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro has executed National Thermal Power Corporation's Rs 93 crore order to built a seven kilometre long coal handling plant at Simhadri thermal power station in Andhra Pradesh.

L&T's ECC division built the coal handling system on a turnkey basis.

The facility can handle 1,000 tonnes of coal per hour and has two stakers-cum-reclaimers of 1,600 tonnes per hour capacity and four paddle feeders of 1,000 tonnes per hour capacity.
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Millennium Telecom launches Internet services
Shimla: Millennium Telecom, a subsidiary of Mahanagar Telecom Nigam has launched its Internet services here in collaboration with Himachal Pradesh State Electronic Development Corporation.
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'Accent' to cost Rs 15,000 more
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India is hiking prices of all five variants of its mid-size car 'Accent' by up to Rs 15,000 with immediate effect.

The 'Accent' car is currently sold in GLE, GVS, GLS, GLX and GTX variants which are priced at Rs 5.5 lakh, Rs 5.7 lakh, Rs 6.09 lakh, Rs 6.66 lakh and Rs 7.28 lakh respectively.
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Essar plant to buy gas from BG
Ahmedabad: Essar Power will buy one million cubic metres of gas a day from a subsidiary of the UK's BG Group, for its 515-MW plant at Hazira.

Gujarat Gas will supply Essar Power gas from the Lakshmi offshore oil and gas field operated by Britain's Cairn Energy.

Gujarat Gas has a deal with Cairn to purchase 1.27 million cubic metersof gas per day from July.
An Essar official said the use of natural gas could result in a saving of about one billion rupees a year to the Gujarat Electricity Board.
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No retrenchment at Jessop
Kolkata: Ruia Cotex, the highest bidder for Jessop, has said it had no retrenchment plan for over 1500 workers of the company.

Ruia Cotex, after taking over Jessop, plans to enter into collaborations and appoint consultants for revival of the company.

The company will shift the focus from wagon manufacturing to engineering for products like road roller, railway track and bridges.
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Shaw Wallace to market Scotch
Kolkata: Shaw Wallace will start selling Kyndal's brands of Scotch whisky in India by June.

Shaw Wallace and Kyndal have a marketing alliance to boost sales of top Kyndal brands such as Whyte & Mackay, Dalmore and Isle of Jura in India. Kyndal in turn will help sell Shaw Wallace brands abroad.

The Kyndal brands will first be launched in major centres like Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi.
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TCS plans to set-up centre in Melbourne
Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services plans to set up a global development centre in Melbourne to provide technical support services to Asia Pacific clients.

The proposed centre would employ up to 200 professionals and provide TCS an opportunity to grow its client base in Australia, specifically, in Asia Pacific, TCS Chief Executive officer S Ramadorai said in a release.

TCS has over 20 development centres in India and 15 in US and Europe. The company is working on projects for clients in over 50 countries.
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HM seeks FIPB nod to make 'Pajero'
New Delhi: Hindustan Motors has sought approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for technology transfer from Japan's Mitsubishi Motors to manufacture the luxury sports- utility-vehicle 'Pajero'.

HM expects to launch the 3200cc engine-fitted 'Pajero' in June this year by importing completely-built-units and later produce the vehicle by assembling completely-knocked- down kits.

HM plans to start CKD assembling next year after doing some minor upgradations of tools and machines at its plant at Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu.
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Container Corp plans Rs 1,400 -cr expansion
New Delhi: Indian Railways subsidiary, Container Corporation of India (Concor), has lined up a Rs 1400-crore expansion plan for the next five years.

The corporation has plans for expansion of terminals, containers, inland container depots, rolling stock, IT as well as manpower.

The corporation also plans to add 1000 flat railway car carriers per annum.

Concor, incorporated in March 1988, provides logistic services and support for both the international and domestic cargo industry in the country and is currently the only means by which shippers may obtain containerised freight transportation by rail in India.
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Cisco sets up IP network for Gujarat
New Delhi: Cisco Systems has set up a wide area network in Gujarat to support the state's e-governance initiative.

The WAN connects the state headquarters with all the 25 district headquarters and 225 talukas across the state.

The network is based on a three-tier architecture with high level of resilience and redundancy built into it to support its mission-critical nature.

The end-to-end IP network carries data, phone calls as well as videoconferencing on the same converged infrastructure. The network would be used for communication among the chief minister, bureaucrats and government departments.
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Agilent Tech to set up R&D centre
New Delhi: The $8.5-billion Agilent Technologies is setting up an R&D and services centre for its communications products and engineering services group in Gurgaon.

The centre with capacity of 550 people will service its worldwide product development team, which launched more than 200 products last year.

The diversified technologies company with communications as its core business, has already started the back-office service centre in Gurgaon and now plans to expand the same facility to add product development and engineering services and support for its worldwide facility.
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Antarix to set up call centre
Chennai:  Antarix e Applications Ltd (Antarix) is setting up a 300-seat call centre in Chennai. The centre will focus on outbound business, but will also handle inbound calls.

The company plans to recruit about 200 professionals by April. The activities will include telemarketing and order entry for fulfillment.
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Centaur hotel sale deadline extended
Mumbai: The department of disinvestment has extended the deadline for the sale process of Centaur hotel at Juhu, Mumbai following another failure by Tulip Hospitality to meet the 23 February deadline to tie up Rs 150 crore for buying the property.

The fresh deadline is fixed for 9 March. This is the fourth default in a row by the company in raising funds to execute the transaction after it was announced on 21 November.
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Swiss knife cuts into Indian market
New Delhi:  Switzerland-based Victorinox AG, makers of Swiss Army knives, is sharpening focus to bolster its presence in the Indian market. The knife major will open an exclusive Victorinox Showroom each in Mumbai and Delhi, following its first store in Bangalore.

Victorinox is also exploring the roll-out of India-specific products like betel-nut cutter. The company will also add over 25 new products, mainly in the kitchen segment, to its current knife portfolio of 150 products.
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Mitsui pulls out of race for SCI stake
New Delhi: The Japan-based Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has withdrawn its expression of interest (EoI) for acquiring a controlling stake in Shipping Corporation of India (SCI).

Mitsui had submitted an EoI to the government well ahead of 18 February, the last date set for the submission of EoIs by potential bidders.

Mitsui can always enter the process at a later stage by joining hands with a qualified domestic bidder.

As per the bidding criteria, a foreign bidder can acquire a maximum of 25 per cent of the 51 per cent stake being put up for sale. The remaining 26 per cent would have to be held by domestic partners.

Qualified foreign bidders would thus have to forge ties with qualified domestic bidders to be eligible for bidding.
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Biocon gearing for IPO
New Delhi: Biocon India has approached the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for making Syngene, a research outfit, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary. Biocon is also gearing up for an initial public offering.

At present, Biocon holds 70 per cent equity in the company. The rest is owned by individual shareholders.
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Allied Domecq plans Indian whisky
Bangalore: Allied Domecq Spirits and Wine India proposes to create an Indian made foreign whisky within 12 to 18 months. The whisky is likely to be priced around Rs 450.

Allied Domecq, which is the second largest spirits manufacturer in the world, is eyeing the segment just below the scotches.

ADSWI had forayed into the IMFL sector, with the launch of Old Smuggler rum, gin and brandy. Its Teacher's Highland Cream, is a leading scotch in India and Teacher's 50, a 12 year old premium scotch, was launched with the Indian market in mind.
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VeriFone ties up with TVS-E
Chennai: TVS Electronics has signed up with VeriFone Inc to jointly develop and deploy VeriFone's electronic payment technology in India. According to the agreement, TVS eTechnology Ltd, a part of the TVS-E cluster of companies, will distribute VeriFone's secure payment solutions to financial institutions and expand the distribution of the international partner's products and solutions in India.
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Siel decides to sell Titwai sugar mill
Mumbai: Siel has decided to sell its Titwai sugar complex in Uttar Pradesh to Sir Shadi Lal Enterprises for Rs 56.50 crore plus the market value of working capital.

Lazard India, brokers to the deal, in a release said the transaction would be subject to approval of shareholders and institutions. The sale would be completed in May at the end of current sugar season.
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Kissan launches low-calorie jam
Chennai: Kissan has launched a new low-calorie jam called Kissan Fruit Kick Spreads targeted at teenagers and the health-conscious youth.

The spread is filled with fruit bits and is available in two combinations - dry fruit and mixed fruit.
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M&M Fin keen to market insurance
Mumbai: Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services Ltd plans to get into insurance distribution shortly.

The company has initiated a dialogue with leading private insurance companies for a tie-up to distribute their insurance products.
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Cargill plans edible oil refinery at Paradip
New Delhi: Cargill, the US commodities giant, is planning to set up an edible oil refinery at Paradip.

The cost of the five-lakh-tonne capacity per annum refinerywill be Rs 150 crore. The refinery will process imported palm oil.
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Gruh Fin to expand in Maharashtra, Karnataka
Ahmedabad: Gruh Finance Limited, a subsidiary of HDFC, is planning to expand its operations to Karnataka and Rajasthan apart from broadening its base in Maharashtra to cover almost every district of the state.

Gruh would be opening its first office at Belgaum in Karnataka during the current fiscal. This would be followed by another office at Gulbarga.

Gruh has launched a new product specifically catering to the needs of the lower-middle and lower classes, which normally are not eligible for loans in the existing housing schemes.

The new product, Gruh Suvidha, targetting families with incomes of Rs 5,000 per month has been designed in such a manner that customers can choose their initial monthly installment. Thereafter, the installment would increase every year during the tenure of the loan.
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Crisil Enters healthcare grading
Mumbai: The Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd (Crisil) has announced its foray into the emerging healthcare sector by introducing a grading system.

The grade assigned to a healthcare institution represents Crisils opinion on the relative quality of healthcare delivered by the istitutions to its patients. Healthcare institutions graded higher would have better facilities, superior quality levels and greater consistency in services delivery compared to those in lower grades.

Crisil has developed its healthcare grading methodology after an in-depth analysis of various grading criteria adopted by several international agencies in the United States, Australia and Canada.
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Financial Tech in tie-up with Keystone
Mumbai: Financial Technologies (India) Ltd has entered into a three-way technology alliance with the Singapore-based Keystone, for marketing its products abroad.

Keystone has a collaborative technology and marketing programme designed by pooling resources of global technology leaders Microsoft, Intel Corporation and Compaq. This helps the company to deliver technologies for the financial services industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

Financial Technologies is the only Indian company having multiple IPRs for multiple markets within the financial services vertical -- equity, derivatives, treasury, forex, commodity and depository.
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ICICI Bank launches MF sweep account
Mumbai: ICICI Bank has launched mutual fund sweep account, which automatically allows current account holders to park their short-term surpluses into liquid mutual funds and earn higher returns.

Initially the banks current account customers would have the facility to invest their account surpluses in the liquid fund schemes of Prudential ICICI Asset Management Company and GIC Mutual Fund.

The bank, in a release here, said it would continue to tie-up with other reputed liquid funds in the future to increase the options for its customers.
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Equus Advt bags JVC account
New Delhi: Equus Advertising has snatched the account of Japanese audio company JVC from the Mumbai-based Advertising Avenues.

In India, JVC has five brands in the personal music category and seven in car audio systems. The company claims to have a 20 per cent market share in the organised car audio market.

Plans are also on to launch a few more products in both the personal and car audio categories.

Equus is going to launch a multi-media campaign for JVC in around two weeks. JVC has so far launched only a print campaign.
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TBWA cuts ties with FILA
Mumbai: TBWA Anthem has severed ties with FILA, the Italian sportswear company following TBWA Worldwides recent acquisition of the advertising business of Adidas, a rival sportswear company.

TBWA Anthem had been handling the FILA account for about a year.
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L Oreal to take on skin care
New Delhi:  French cosmetics major LOreal Groups Indian arm LOreal India has added a new division called Active Cosmetics to tap the emerging market of skin care.

The new division plans to take on the skin care category with its Vichy range of products sold exclusively through pharmacies in 48 countries across the world.

The products are priced between Rs 300 and Rs 1,000.

The cosmetics major plans to market face care, skin care and body care only through pharmacists and healthcare outlets. The company already has a tie-up with Lifespring, a chain of health and beauty stores promoted by Total Care India Ltd.
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Ambience loses Godrej account to HTA
Mumbai: Ambience D'Arcy has lost the Rs 15-crore advertising account of Godrej Appliances to Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA).

This is the second time that HTA has bagged the Godrej Appliances account. About three years ago, the entire Godrej Appliances account was handled by HTA, before it moved to Ambience.
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Reliance Life setting up biotech lab near Mumbai
Mumbai: Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) is setting up a biotechnology laboratory complex at Thane, near Mumbai.

The facility is expected to be in place by the end of 2002. The Thane complex will come up in two phases. The first phase will involve setting up of labs for cell biology. This will involve an animal house for clinical trials, a greenhouse for plant biotechnology and other paraphernalia. Phase two will involve the construction of other support systems critical for biotech laboratories.

The Reliance group plans to invest close to $25 million over the next few years and is likely to scale up investments when the research results come up for commercial production.
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Lifespring to open 15 outlets
New Delhi:  Lifespring, the health and beauty store chain promoted by Total Care Pvt, proposes to set up 10 to 15 outlets this fiscal. Initially it plans to focus on the North Indian market with 10 additional outlets in and around Delhi before entering West and South.

The chain is exploring the franchisee route in addition to its existing company-owned outlets and shop-in-shops.

Launched about a year ago in Delhi, the chain currently runs five company- owned outlets in Delhi. It has also tied up with Ansal Housing & Construction and The Home Store (THS) to open shop-in-shops branded Lifespring Express in various proposed hypermarkets and existing supermarkets.
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Nimbus bags ad sales contract
Mumbai: Nimbus Communications has been awarded the exclusive advertising sales rights on Doordarshan for the current India-Zimbabwe cricket series.

The contract provides for Nimbus paying a minimum guarantee of Rs 7.02 crore, beyond which revenue generated will be shared on a 70:30 ratio in favour of DD.

Doordarshan may extend the ad sales contract to Nimbus for subsequent international cricket series played in India over the next two years if revenue generation during the Zimbabwe series is up to expectations.
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ITC to export rice
Guntur: ITC is willing to take up rice exports on a large scale if the Food Corporation of India (FCI) agrees to waive the one per cent market cess on paddy.

Boiled rice from Punjab was found to be superior to AP rice in quality and it was being exported. The international business division of ITC was exporting rice, wheat, aqua products, fruits and oils from 14 states and total turnover amounted to Rs 750 crore.
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Parent seeks nod to raise stake in Nestle India
Mumbai: Nestle SA group, Switzerland, is seeking approval of the government to acquire up to 10 per cent of the equity shares from the other shareholders of the Indian arm by way of creeping acquisition.

Nestle SA currently holds 53.96 per cent of the total paid-up capital of Nestle India Ltd.

Subject to necessary approvals being received, the purchase of equity shares of Nestle India Ltd would be to the extent of shares available at a price that is acceptable to Nestle SA Switzerland.
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