Marico declares 1:1 bonus
Mumbai: The board of directors of Marico has recommended a bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1, subject to approval by shareholders.

According to a release issued to the BSE, the board also cleared an interim dividend of 50% (Rs 5) per share for financial year 2002.
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Cadila to make open offer for German Remedies
Mumbai: Zydus Cadila will make an open offer to buy out the remaining 44.6% in German Remedies at Rs 300 per share. Zydus Cadila, along with its subsidiary, Recon Healthcare, currently hold 55.40% stake in German Remedies.

The offer, slated to open on 6 June, is at a premium of 14.78% to the 26-week average price of Rs 261.38.
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Equus Red Cell to promote India
New Delhi: WPP-group agency Equus Red Cell has been appointed by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to ensure that the tourism industry in India gets the importance it deserves.

The agency will focus on changing the current perception of tourism among the power holders and decision makers of the country and define tourism industry as a key economic impacter.
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Hero Honda to roll out costliest bike
New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors is preparing to roll out Indias costliest bike, sporting an over 200cc engine, by this year-end. The bike will sport a price tag of slightly under Rs 1 lakh.

The basic design for the bike is being sourced from Honda in Japan. In addition, the firm is also in the process of assessing the feasibility of introducing high-powered models from the Honda stables as fully-built imported bikes.
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LG India posts 26% rise in turnover
New Delhi: LG Electronics India has registered a 26.41 per cent rise in turnover to Rs 627 crore in the first quarter of 2002 against Rs 496 crore in the same period last year.

The company posted a sales growth of 34 per cent in consumer electronics to Rs 248 crore while the home appliances segment grew by 32 per cent to Rs 327 crore, a company release said.

Frost-free refigerators and air conditioners registered sales growths of 43 per cent and 69 per cent respectively, it said.
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L&T, IIT B sign MoU
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay for technical collaboration in IT, technology management and other areas.

The tie-up would encompass several areas including sponsoring L&T's Build India M Tech scholarship programme at IIT Bombay, sponsoring eligible L&T employees for M Tech or Ph.D degrees at the institute, L&T said in a release here.

L&T would also use IIT Bombay's assistance in preparation of testing materials and assessment of central tools for the company's technological leadership programme initiative.
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July Systems gets $5.5 mn funding
Bangalore: July Systems, a wireless technology startup based in India and the United States, has received $5.5 million in funding from three venture capital firms.

The company, which aims to make a suite of products to knit up diverse wireless software applications, platforms and devices, said in a statement that the funds would be used for product development and hiring talent at Bangalore.
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Pepsi plans new promos
New Delhi: Pepsi Foods is going to introduce a series of TV commercials with world football celebrities and Britney Spears this summer. The company will soon introduce litchi and orange flavours for its juice drink Slice, to be followed by the guava variety, over and above its existing mango flavour.

Pepsi will soon launch a campaign with Brazilian footballer Roberto Carlos. This is to be followed by a campaign featuring Britney Spears and top-line international footballers like David Beckham, Juan Veron, Edgar Davids and Rivaldo.
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HC lifts ban on Mescos Airlines
New Delhi: The Delhi high court has lifted the ban imposed on Mescos Airlines for alleged financial irregularities and allowed the private airline to have its licence renewed.

Setting aside the single bench order that banned the operation of the airline, a division bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice Madan B Lokur said the order against Mescos Airlines was passed without hearing it.

The court imposed procedural cost of Rs 25,000 on the director general of civil aviation (DGCA).

Allowing the airline to apply for renewal of licence, the court said DGCA would have to pass order within four weeks to refuse or to grant licence to Mescos Airlines.
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Satyam partners with Mercator in Australia
Mumbai: Satyam Computer Services Ltd has joined with the Australian arm of U.S.-based Mercator Software Inc to provide consulting and implementation of systems integration projects to global clients.

Mercator makes software that enables diverse computer systems to talk to each other.
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Apollo ties up with Saudi group
New Delhi: Apollo Health and Lifestyle, a fully owned subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, has tied up with the Al Rajhi Banking Group of Saudi Arabia.

An agreement was signed to set up The Apollo Clinic in Al Khobar.

Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation is planning to start a super speciality hospital later.

AHLL is planning to set up a large chain of franchised clinics in the Middle East & West Asia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It has ambitious plans on the anvil and 35 Apollo Clinics are expected to be up and running by December 2002, a Company press release said.
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Dabur CGU Life to launch in three weeks
New Delhi: Dabur CGU Life will launch its product in the next three weeks, following clearance from the Reserve Bank of India.

The life insurance company is expected to capitalise its account shortly with Rs 110 crore. The company already has operational offices in six Indian cities and a sales force of 500 agents.

It has also tied up with ABN Amro Bank, Canara Bank and Lakshmi Villas Bank as channel partners for selling its policies.

The life insurance company is yet to get the operational licence from the insurance watchdog IRDA.
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GM to invest Rs 500 cr in Gujarat
Ahmedabad: General Motors plans to pump in additional Rs 500 crore in Gujarat.
The company, which has a car manufacturing unit at Halol, near Baroda, has now decided to expand its existing unit.

According to a government press release, Aditya Vij, managing director, General Motors, met chief minister Narendra Modi to confirm the companys proposed move.

The company now plans to manufacture multi-utility vehicles at Halol. Apart from creating employment opportunities for 3,500 people, the said investment would also act as a catalyst for new ancillary units in the area.
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Cognizant to invest $40m in India
New Delhi: Cognizant Technology Solutions has decided to invest $40 m in India to build three development centres by 2004.

The development centres are expected to support new and existing clients for application outsourcing and high value engagements, the company said. The three facilities with a size of 62,000 sq ft are expected to house 6,000 employees.

Cognizant has around 3,900 people and has spread a large portion of its employee base in its 11 centres in India. The company recently inaugurated a centre in Pune.
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BPL eyes firm in Europe
New Delhi: BPL Ltd is eyeing acquisitions in Europe for consumer electronic company.

In India, it is planning tie ups with broadcasters and is expected to invest about Rs 50 crore in the near future to add to its digital entertainment platform.

BPL already manages a company called EV in Slovenia through its London-based fully owned subsidiary BPL Eurotrade.

With protective customs duty in the Euro zone it makes sense to manufacture and sell there itself instead of exporting from India.
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HCL Insys net down 43%
New Delhi: HCL Infosystems Ltd has announced a 43-per-cent drop in its net profit for its third quarter ended 31 March 2002 at Rs 10.28 crore against Rs 18.18 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

However, net sales of the company during the period were up by over four per cent to touch Rs 351.37 crore over Rs 336.17 crore in the same period last year, HCL Insys said in a statement.

For the nine-month period, HCL Insys had a net profit of Rs 37.35 crore, down from Rs 54.88 crore in the corresponding period. Net sales stood at Rs 858.7 crore over Rs 911.37 crore in the same period last year.
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Dr Reddy's launches new anti-allergy drug
Hyderabad: Dr Reddy's Laboratories has launched Mizolastine, a new generation, non-sedative, anti-histamine drug under the brand name `Elina'. Dr Reddy's claimed that it was the first company to launch this drug in India.

Mizolastine is used for the treatment of common allergic conditions such as Rhinitis and Urticara. It is a dual-acting anti-histamine drug, which has both anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory properties.

In a press release here, the company said that Elina would strengthen Dr Reddy's presence in the anti-allergy segment in the country.
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Boston bags order from Philippines
Hyderabad: Boston Software Consultants (India) has bagged an order from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), the Philippines, to implement an e-learning solution based on its intralearn suite of e-learning solutions.

AIM has plans to complement its face-to-face classroom sessions with online course delivery.

For this purpose, the institute seeks to streamline and add new methods.
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TMI, XA Alliance Holdings merge
Mumbai: Tele Media International (TMI) has announced its merger with XA Alliance Holdings Ltd, an Asia-based company offering end-to-end networking and managed IP services to enterprises in the region.

The merged entity is now called XA TMI Ltd. The company will continue to provide clients its high-speed data communication service called Universal Connect Datafast (frame relay technology), according to a news release.

Telecom Italia and XA TMI, the merged entity, have formed a commercial partnership, said the press release. TMI has been in India since 1994 in partnership with Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
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Orchid goes live on SAP project
Chennai: Orchid Chemical and Pharmaceuticals Ltd has gone live on its SAP ERP implementation, the company said in a press release.

Dubbed project OMEGA (Orchid's Management of Enterprise resource planning through Group work to Achieve success), the implementation phase has been completed and the modules are now running across the organisation one and a half months ahead of schedule.

Post-SAP implementation, Orchid will look at decisions support systems and supply chain management and customer relationship management to add value.
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Esconet launches auto part site
Mumbai: Esconet Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Escorts Ltd, has launched AutomatrixIndia, a collaborative e-commerce platform for buying and selling automotive components.

It was the first neutral and collaborative platform aimed at the Indian automobile industry, an official statement said.

The AutomatrixIndia platform covers procurement functions through procurement collaboration, order management, request for quotation and reverse auction.
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Zee plans separate feed for West Asia
Mumbai: Zee Network is planning to launch a separate encrypted beam for markets in West Asia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal under the Zee International banner by May.

The beam will help the channel sell airtime slots to advertisers in these markets.
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MTV, Citibank launch translucent card
Chennai: MTV and Citibank have launched the first translucent card in India and have also announced a contest called `Fly to Malaysia or Dine with MTV VJs contest'.

This promo is reportedly targeted at prospective MTV Citibank card members, who stand a chance to either win a four-day trip to Malaysia or dine with MTV video jockeys (VJs) Nafisa Joseph and Nikhil Chinapa, by participating in a slogan contest.
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IDBI Bank Q 4 net up
Mumbai: IDBI Bank has reported a marginal rise in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2002 at Rs 10.54 crore as compared to Rs 10.14 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year.

Total income rose to Rs 69.10 crore (Rs 55.19 crore).

Bank chairman M.S. Verma told newspersons that the delay in raising capital hampered growth plans during the last quarter and may affect the growth prospects during the first quarter of the financial year 2002-03.

Verma said the bank was expected to raise its capital by last September but the process was delayed due to some uncertainties.

He said the uncertainties about IDBI Bank being able to raise capital have since been removed.
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IDBI-Principal AMC launches monthly income series
Mumbai: IDBI-Principal Asset Management Company Ltd has launched the monthly income plan series. The open-ended income fund, IDBI-Principal Monthly Income Plan Series will initially have three investment plans namely a Dividend plan, Auto Earnings Payout (AEP) option and a Growth Accumulation Plan.

The Monthly Income Plan Series will be open for subscription from 22 April to 10 May.

The minimum investment amount in the dividend and Auto Earnings Payout Plans are Rs 10,000, which is among the lowest in the industry, and the minimum investment amount for the growth accumulation plan is Rs 5,000.
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ICICI media account goes to WPP
Mumbai: WPP Marketing Communications has bagged the entire media planning and buying account of ICICI limited. This account was worth around Rs 125 crore. In addition, ICICI has also awarded its international business to WPP.

Earlier, the account was handled by Ogilvy & Mathers media buying wing.
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Matrix Telecom to launch EPABX
Chennai: Matrix Telecom is planning to launch a digital range of EPABX and voice mail systems among other new products in the coming six months.

The telecom company is also looking at targeting specific market segments like hotels and housing complexes with their EPABX products modified to their special needs. In addition to this, the company is launching support centres in all the major cities to ensure ready availability of its spare parts to its customers. Four of them are already in place - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Cochin - and another four to five will come up this fiscal.
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CDC Cap to double Indian investments
New Delhi: CDC Capital Partners, the UK-government owned private equity player, is planning to double its investments in India this year compared to last year.

The private equity player, which invested close to $50 million last fiscal , is now looking at investing about $100 million in India this fiscal through various investments.

The firm in India is increasing its focus on investing in consolidation activities, which includes merger and acquisitions, privatisation and financial restructuring.
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Photoshop 7.0 launched
Mumbai: Adobe Systems India has launched its flagship product Adobe Photoshop 7.0 in India. The company is also in the process of expanding its R&D facility and plans to double its current employee strength in the next 2 years.

The Indian R&D centre has wholly and solely developed the future version of Adobe Pagemaker 7.0. This centre has been involved with the plug-in technologies for the Photoshop 7.0 and the checking of quality insurance of the product is done in India.

Adobe Photoshop 7.0 will be available in India at an estimated price of Rs 31,500.

Registered users of the earlier versions of Photoshop can upgrade to version 7.0 for Rs 7,800.
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Mahindra Ugine redords profit
Mumbai: Mahindra Ugine Steel Company (Musco), the alloy steel manufacturing subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra, has turned the corner in 2001-02 and booked cash profits of Rs 8 crore.

The company registered a cash loss of Rs 40 lakh, and a net loss of Rs 14.22 crore during the 2000-01 fiscal. The company had been posting losses for the last three years.

The sales volume of alloy steel, the company's main product, improved 20 per cent during 2001-02 to 64,000 tonne, from 53,360 tonne during the previous fiscal.

M&M has a 49.28 per cent stake in Musco, which reduced its workforce by half over the last three years.
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Zee Tele plans to fund 15 movies every year
Mumbai: Zee Telefilms is looking at producing 15 movies annually. The company is looking at producing around two big budget movies, 4-5 medium budget movies and 8-10 small budget movies in a year.

The company, in a strategic move, recently acquired a 32.8 per cent stake in Hyderabad-based films producing and entertainment software creation major Padmalaya Telefilms at an investment of Rs 59 crore.

Zee may transfer its film production division to Padmalaya Telefilms.
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L&T plans aircraft spares foray
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is planning a foray into manufacturing aircraft parts. The company recently made a presentation to Airbus, wherein it has offered to manufacture aircraft parts for the company.

At present, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) is the only aircraft parts manufacturer in India which supplies aircraft parts to Airbus.
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RMG David bags Rs 20 crore business
Mumbai: RMG David, the Mumbai-based advertising agency, has bagged business amounting to an annual capitalised billing of Rs 20 crore.

RMG David closed the calendar year 2001 with Rs 25 crore revenues.

The new business acquired by the agency comprise Radio City FM, Oberoi Constructions and Classic Stripes in Mumbai; a project on Scullers from Indus League in Bangalore; Cuticura Talc and Classic Polo T-shirts in Chennai; Daawat Basmati Rice in Delhi and; a new hair-oil brand from Deys Medical in Kolkata.

RMG David, which currently operates out of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, is planning to open a Kolkata office by the next month.
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Kerry Packer stake in HFCL down to 2.5%
Kolkata: Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer is set to exit Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL). Packer's holding in the company as foreign promoter stands at 2.54 per cent.

At this point of time, the promoters do not have plans to woo a strategic investor to put money into HFCL to replace Packer.

Packer has already moved out of the other two ventures with HFCL--HFCL Nine Broadcasting, a television software producer and Excel Net Commerce, e-solutions provider.
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