Tata group to launch five indiOne hotels in Kerala
Kochi: Tata Group's newly launched 'indiOne' budget hotel chain is planning to set up five hotels in Kerala in the next two-three years as part of its expansion plans, company officials have said. The indiOne hotels are slated to come up at Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha and Guruvayoor.

The hotel at Thiruvananthapuram is coming up at the Technopark, the State's premier software technology park.

The indiOne hotels have tariffs under Rs1,000 per day and offers only basic services. These hotels are being set up through a subsidiary - Roots Corporation - of the Indian Hotels Company Ltd, which runs the Taj group of luxury and business hotels.

Tatas are planning to open 150 indiOne hotels across the world.
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Government row with Suzuki resolved
New Delhi: In a sharp contrast to the protracted legal battles with its foreign partner earlier, the Government has thrashed out an "amicable settlement" with Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) over the issue of fresh investments within a matter of just two hours.

Emerging from the meeting, representatives of the Government and SMC - the two partners of the joint venture Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) - told waiting newspersons that they had agreed to a "major role'' for Maruti in the manufacturing facilities to be established in the country by the Japanese auto major as part of its Rs1,000-crore investment announced last week in Tokyo.

The Minister for Heavy Industry, Santosh Mohan Dev, said that the new or the second car facility would be "under the flagship of Maruti Udyog". The Minister was confident that the understanding reached with SMC today would not only take care of the interests of the existing shareholders in MUL, but also enhance and expand the reach of the Indian car company, which would market the product from its new ventures.

A final decision on the structure of new ventures would, however, be taken by the MUL board at its meeting on Thursday.

"We can have up to 70 per cent equity in the car venture. In the diesel engine unit, they (SMC) have offered us as much equity as we want but propriety demands that the decision be taken by the MUL board," Dev said. The new company, to be named as Suzuki Maruti India, would not hurt the interests of Maruti Udyog, as it will manufacture only high-end cars, the minister said.

Currently, Maruti's plant at Gurgaon (Haryana) has a manufacturing capacity of five lakh units and the proposed plant is coming up in nearby Manesar, also in the same State.

The Suzuki announcement in Tokyo, forced the Government to step in to hold out the threat to SMC that it could not think of setting up a separate company without the 'no objection certificate' from the Government in view of the clauses of Press Note No. 18. In effect, SMC's proposal would get stalled at the level of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) when placed before it for approval.

Also, as the Government proposes to totally exit from MUL some time next year, it would not like to see the price of the Maruti scrip declining as there would then be no investor interest.

As part of the settlement reached, Maruti would have a "significant" presence in the diesel engine venture. However, as per available indication, it would have up to 49 per cent equity as Suzuki was bringing in the latest technology, including that for gear box and foundry for production of engines, both domestic and exports.
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Zee moves the Supreme Court
New Delhi: Zee Telefilms is moving the Supreme Court challenging the cancellation of the telecast rights awarded to it by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) between 2004 and 2008 and to re-open the tender process.

The writ petition filed late in the evening is likely to be mentioned on Thursday for early hearing. Since the BCCI has filed a caveat, it will also be heard along with Zee Telefilms' petition.

The petitioner contended that it had bagged the telecast rights of the matches for $308 million and it had already paid the BCCI $20 million. It said the contract for the telecast rights stood implemented with the payment of $20 million by it to the BCCI and it was fully equipped to cover the India-Australia cricket series starting from October 6.

Zee alleged that there was prior collusion between the BCCI and ESPN-Star Sports, which led to the board's sudden turnaround to cancel the contract on September 21. It said a concluded contract could not be terminated by the BCCI, which could only reject a tender bid before finalisation of the contract.

The BCCI sprang a surprise on Tuesday when it informed the court that it had cancelled the contract since Zee had not accepted the letter of intent sent to it by the board on September 8. The board's suggestion in the court that both Zee and ESPN should offer fresh bids for cricket rights was rejected by Zee and the petition was withdrawn.

This has necessitated Zee to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the cancellation of the contract.
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Adecco to pick up 67 percent stake in Peopleone
Bangalore: In an all-cash deal, Adecco SA, a global staffing and HR services company, will acquire a 67-per cent stake in Peopleone Consulting Pvt Ltd.

With this transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval in the country, Adecco would have also acquired the 21 per cent stake held by J P Morgan in Peopleone Consulting. Announcing this the company also said that they hoped to acquire "a 100 per cent stake in three years' time."

Peopleone, set up in Bangalore four years ago, reported a turnover of Rs27 crore in the year 2003-04. It has over 7,500 associates working daily in the staffing segment and has so far placed 3,000 people through its recruitment business.

The company commands about 20 per cent of the current temping market in the country that employs around 40,000 people daily. Peopleone also has a training division, which specialises in soft skills training for candidates, corporates and government initiatives.

Adecco SA is a 16.3-billion euro, Swiss-based staffing and HR services company.

With over 7,00,000 associates employed daily in the staffing division and about 1,10,000 clients serviced worldwide , Adecco is the fifth largest employer in the world.
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Wipro's initiative with the Project Management Institute
Bangalore: Wipro Technologies in conjunction with Project Management Institute (PMI) has embarked on an initiative to get all its project managers certified by PMI.
Wipro has over 1,800 project managers out of which over 1,000 are currently undergoing the PMI certification course organised by the company's Talent Transformation division.

The framework and rigorous training methods have provided a solid foundation for project management knowledge that can be readily applied in the workplace, said a company press release.
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Surya group launches sandalwood-based beauty products
New Delhi: The Surya Vinayak Group has announced its foray into the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector with the launch of Lambency range of sandalwood-based beauty products.

Under Lambency, the company will offer skincare products such as sandalwood face pack with herbal water, pure sandalwood oil, sandalwood nourishing cream and scrub. Non-sandalwood-based products include a moisturiser, anti-dandruff conditioner, bodywash and rosewater.

Surya Vinayak Industries is a manufacturer of sandal wood oil and perfumery products with group turnover of Rs500 crore. It is targeting Rs14 crore worth of sales from Lambency within the first year of launch.
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Jaitley: Priyamvada's 1999 will is illegal
Kolkata: Resuming arguments before Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta of the Calcutta High Court today, opposing the petition of R.S. Lodha seeking discharge of caveats filed by K.K. Birla, G.P. Birla, B.K. Birla and Y. Birla, Arun Jaitley, counsel of B.K. Birla, said that the will of Priyamvada Birla made on April 18, 1999 and the codicil of April 15, 2003, are both illegal and are not sustainable in law.

Jaitley alleged that R.S. Lodha acted fraudulently having full knowledge of the mutual will made in 1982, and thus set up a rival will in 1999 to frustrate the claim of the caveators; hence, the 1999 will cannot be accepted by the court of law.

In support of his argument, he said that M.P. Birla and Priyamvada Birla, pursuant to an agreement entered into between themselves, made the mutual will of 1982, bequeathing the entire estate to public charity and philanthropic centres.

Jaitley said that the law provides that pursuant to an agreement to a mutual will, irrevocable in nature, is made after the death of one testator, then the second has no right to make any further will.

Jaitley further alleged that R.S. Lodha, being a chartered account of the M.P. Birla firm, took advantage of the ill-health of Priyamvada Birla and her moderate knowledge of English language, enabling him to practice fraud on both Priyamvada Birla and the Birla family as a whole by manufacturing the will of 1999 and codicil 2003.
The hearing will continue.
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