Tata Steel out of Stewarts & Lloyds
Mumbai: Tata Iron & Steel Company Ltd has informed the BSE that the company and its subsidiaries, Kalimati Investment Company Ltd and Tata Refractories Ltd, have signed a definitive agreement to divest their stakes of 54.90 per cent held in Stewarts & Lloyds of India Ltd at the rate of Rs 25 per share to Indian Oil Tanking Ltd.
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Essar Oil to raise $207 million
Mumbai: Essar Oil Ltd has decided to raise $207 million through the issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCB), the company has informed stock exchanges on Monday. The funds will be utilised for completing its 10.5-million-tonne refinery under construction in Vadinar, Gujarat.
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Wockhardt gets USFDA approval for six units
Mumbai: The Mumbai-based drug company, Wockhardt Ltd, has got the US regulatory approval for six of its manufacturing plants at Aurangabad, Waluj and Ankleshwar. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has approved Wockhardt's sterile injectable facility as well as its facilities for sterile bulk drugs (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and formulations, according to a company communiqué. The company has ambitious plans in the US, and has so far applied for 17 ANDAs, of which the US FDA has approved nine. Wockhardt expects to apply for 15 ANDAs this year. It has filed 32 DMF (drug master file) applications to export active pharmaceutical ingredients to the US.
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Maruti launches new Esteem
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog has relaunched the Esteem with a new look and has also reduced its prices by at least Rs 40,000 in its ongoing strategy of slashing product prices in order to win new customers and retain old ones. The base model of the new Esteem (petrol) has been priced at Rs 4.25 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) while the top-end VXi version would sport a price tag of Rs 4.90 lakh and intermediate variant LXi would cost Rs 4.55 lakh.

The company says that the aggressive pricing has been made possible due to its successful cost reduction programme. Meanwhile, the new look Esteem comes with new front styling, bonnet, multi-reflector clear headlamps, bumper and new chrome griller. The rear has been redesigned with multi-reflector clear tail lamps and new boot garnish. The Esteem comes with a 1.3 litre MPI engine. Maruti, which at present imports diesel engines, is in the process of setting up a diesel engine plant in Haryana at an investment of Rs 350 crore.
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Customised Nokia handsets for Airtel
New Delhi: Finnish telecom major Nokia has developed a customised handset for Bharti Cellular, which will enable Airtel users to access multimedia services at a single touch. This is the first global system for mobile communications (GSM) handset customised for an Indian operator. Nokia has customised its 6220 model with an additional key that takes Airtel subscribers directly to an entertainment portal with content in the spheres of movies, music, sports and mobile games.

Though the handset is compatible for use by subscribers of other cellular operators, the one-touch key function will be available only for Airtel pre-paid and post paid subscribers. The phone comes with pre-installed high data transmission capacity with General Packet Radio System (GPRS), multimedia messaging, embedded bookmarks and links and is expected to be priced at Rs 12,000. The phone also has a built-in FM radio.
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VSNL and FLAG arrive at settlement
Mumbai: Flag Telecom and VSNL have announced that they have agreed on the sale of 17 STM-1s of capacity on the FLAG Europe Asia (FEA) cable system to and from India. An additional 2.65 Gbits of international telecommunication bandwidth will become available for sale to and from India with Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) reducing its landing station access charges per synchronous transport module-1 (STM-1).

These charges will be lowered by 25 per cent due to the settlement of differences with FLAG Telecom (now a Reliance Infocomm-group company). Under the terms of this agreement, arrived at a month ago, 6 STM-1 westerward, and 11 STM-1s eastward will become available immediately in the marketplace, along with additional capacity that may become available because of "grooming/changes" in the existing contracts between the two companies. With the signing of this Agreement FLAG Telecom and VSNL have settled the differences amicably on the issue of access for existing capacity available under their agreement for sale on FEA Cable System, said a release.
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Sony launches Animax TV
Mumbai: Animax, a television channel focused on animation but targeting the youth, was formally launched here on Monday. From the stable of Sony Pictures Entertainment and distributed by One Alliance, the joint venture between Sony Entertainment Television India and Discovery Communications India, the channel will be available initially in 24-hour English and 12-hour Hindi feeds. Launched originally in Japan where it has since become the leading C&S channel, Animax brings Japanese animation to Indian homes. It is a pay channel, adding Rs 3 to the One Alliance bill of Rs 61 (including Nickelodoen and MTV). But initially Animax may have a free to air phase.
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