Ranbaxy launches Visclair in the UK
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has launched its first branded prescription medicine, Visclair Tablets, in the UK. Visclair is a mucolytic drug that aids the expectoration of viscous mucus, a problem associated with respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The company claims that COPD is the fifth commonest cause of death in England and Wales, with an estimated 9-lakh people diagnosed with COPD.
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Ashok Leyland: Market Transformation Mission
Chennai: Ashok Leyland intends to increase the number of its authorised service centres to a level of one every 75 km on the highways. Under its ` ' programme, Ashok Leyland also wants to raise the number of its work bays and parts outlets. Currently, there are 1,476 work bays that can repair Leyland-made vehicles, and 1,226 parts outlets, selling spare parts. The programme is being implemented in consultation with Accenture. The company has disclosed that it intends to bring in seven new models of trucks/buses in 2004-05. These will include a high capacity, 260 hp, 12-metre bus for inter-city applications. Ashok Leyland said that they had sold 4,906 vehicles in February, compared to 3,988 vehicles in the same month last year.
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Tata Steel: 2004 is year of safety
Kolkata: Tata Steel has declared 2004 as its safety year. At a function the company celebrated National Safety Day and presented more than 50 awards to the various divisions of Tata Steel. These awards were given in recognition of safe practices, activities and awareness that the divisions had displayed through the year. Senior officials from the Jharkhand Government and the company were present at the function.
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Jindal Poly board: Revises share conversion norms
Mumbai: Jindal Polyester Ltd has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the company's board of directors meeting held on March 4, has approved the change of terms and conditions of 6 per cent convertible cumulative preference shares (CCPS) (Series I). The conversion option attached to the 6 per cent convertible cumulative preference shares (Series I) has been withdrawn and the same will now be redeemed within 13 years of the date of their allotment. The approval of the above matter will be obtained by way of postal ballot process.
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BMW team meets Naidu
Hyderabad: A high-powered delegation from BMW accompanied by senior State officials, has held parleys with the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, to explore the possibility of setting up a manufacturing unit. The team from the German carmaker is learnt to be on a feasibility tour and has thus far visited two more States.
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Tata Motors sales up 45 pc in Feb
Mumbai: Tata Motors Ltd has reported a 45.5 per cent increase in sales of vehicles including exports, over the corresponding period last year. Cumulative sales of vehicles during the April 2003-February 2004 period was at 2,79,543 units. Light commercial vehicle sales during the month were at 4,604 units (2,984) and cumulative sales were at 43,502 vehicles, an increase of 50.7 per cent.

Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales were at 10,707 units, higher by 31 per cent. Cumulative sales were at 90,977 units (65,322). Tata Indica sales were at 7,315 units last month and at 72,015 units during the 11-month period. Tata Indigo clocked a sale of 2,442 units in February. Utility vehicle sales increased by 58.7 per cent to 3,283 vehicles in February and 31 per cent during the 11-month period to 27,899 vehicles. Exports during February were at 2,450 units and cumulative export sales were at 20,106 units (8,296).
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LG: Bangalore facility to develop software
Mumbai: LG Electronics proposes to utilise the India development centre located at Bangalore to develop software for its mobile devices including CDMA handsets. In addition the company plans to invest Rs 25 crore to expand its marketing network in India. The number of software engineers at the LG centre is planned to be increased to 1,000 in three years from its current number of 300. The centre will work on UMTS and next generation GSM technology. The company has completed shipping of five million CDMA handsets to Reliance Infocomm in less than a year of operations since its launch last May.
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Idea Cellular: To invest Rs 300 cr in Andhra
Hyderabad: IDEA Cellular Ltd, the private cellular services provider, plans to invest about Rs 300 crore in the Andhra Pradesh circle over the next two years to expand its network, grow the market presence and roll out value-added services. The company said that the last three months have seen the addition of about one lakh subscribers and it is set to cross the half a million mark in the next few weeks.
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Spice Tele: Crosses 3-lakh subscribers in Karnataka
Bangalore: Spice Telecom has said that it has crossed the 3-lakh subscriber mark in Karnataka. Spice Telecom started its operations in April 1997 in Karnataka and Punjab. It is a joint venture of Hong Kong-based Distacom Communications and SpiceCorp with a combined subscriber base of over a million.
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Comsat Max: Solutions for AC Nielsen
Hyderabad: Comsat Max, a managed connectivity solutions provider, has tied up with AC Nielsen, a market research leader, to provide managed connectivity solutions. As part of the deal, Comsat Max will provide AC Nielsen with a managed connectivity solution to integrate their branch offices and research centre, which includes providing a robust mailing solution. AC Nielsen connects its 10 branch offices across the country through an Internet VPN (virtual private network) system with ISDN as `back-up' network. It intends to connect all its 65 field offices across the country in next six months.
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Wipro and Adobe Systems in alliance
Bangalore: Wipro Technologies has entered into an alliance with Adobe Systems to offer integration and customisation services for Adobe products as part of its enterprise solution offerings. Wipro will address the document generation, collaboration and process management challenges that organisations face as they move paper-based processes online, said a Wipro press release.
The alliance will also enable the two companies to leverage their expertise so they can build repeatable document solutions targeted at vertical markets such as financial services, healthcare and Government that can be applied to solving document integration problems, the release stated.
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Ocean Connect: Pune centre to double capacity
Pune: To cater to the increasing inbound and outbound sales order products, Pune-based Ocean Connect, a contact centre service provider, has decided to double its capacity. The Pune centre, which has 300 seats, will have an increased capacity of 600 seats by May. The company is also in the process of setting up a second centre here with a similar capacity. The centre caters to customer service and also collects orders for customer goods, business products and data cleansing.
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LogicaCMG: Will double head count in India
Bangalore: LogicaCMG plans to increase its headcount in India to 1,200 by December this year from the current level of 600, as it anticipates a significant increase in the amount of outsourcing work to its offshore services operation in India from LogicaCMG's global customer base. It has recently won contracts for offshore work from Britannia Airways in the UK, and from large financial services institutions in the Netherlands.

LogicaCMG, is a major international force in IT services and wireless telecoms, provides management and IT consultancy, systems integration and outsourcing services to clients across diverse markets including public sector, telecoms, financial services, energy and utilities, industry, distribution and transport.
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Pepsi and Hero Honda: Banding together
New Delhi: Hero Honda and Pepsi have come together to launch a nationwide competition for amateur bands at the college level. The winners of the competition called `Campus Icons' will get an opportunity to perform alongside an international artist. The event, organised by DNA Networks, will be held across the country in over 15 cities, over a six-month period beginning mid-2004.
The regional events will start off in August 2004 in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, respectively. They will subsequently be followed by events at Kolkata, Shillong and in cities in the North and West regions.
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