TCS signs MoU with Israeli biotech firm
Tel Aviv: The software solutions and consulting services major Tata Consultancy Services has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BioStrx to provide optimised leads for "targetted proteins."

Of the three stages involved in the process - protein crystallisation, structure determination and material synthesis - the first two will be carried out by BioStrx and TCS will give it the final touch.

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of a two-day conference on IT and biotechnology here sponsored by the CII in which leading Indian companies are participating.
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Skoda to make India operations its South Asian hub
New Delhi: Volkswagen group company Skoda Auto India has said that it would launch Fabia and Octavia II sedans next year and make the Indian operations a hub for south Asia.

The company would also start assembling its luxury sedan Superb in India by the year end, which currently was being brought in as fully built units.

The Indian arm of the Czech carmaker, which started production three years back, will also start exporting cars from the country to the Asia-Pacific region.

Skoda Auto would also increase the number of its dealerships to 40 by the end of 2004, which would further be spread to 46 locations next year. The company is hoping for a 65 per cent rise in sales in 2004 over 4,656 units sold last year and targets 10,000 units next year.

At present, it manufactures five variants of Octavia sedans, luxury car Superb and Laurin & Klement at its plant.
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Shreyas Shipping to expand operations to East Coast
Mumbai: Shreyas Shipping Ltd, part of the Transworld Group and the country's first container feeder shipping company, is planning to expand its operations from the West Coast to the East Coast of India.

The company will soon be introducing freight services on the East Coast, which would offer a low cost alternative route for the cargo flowing from the two new containers terminals in Chennai and Visakhapatnam.

The company says that it may divert some vessels from the existing fleet of six vessels or deploy one of the three second hand container vessels, which it is planning to buy within the next few months. The company will be acquiring two or three second-hand container vessels of a capacity ranging between 500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and 1600 TEUs within the next five or six months, out of which one is scheduled to be delivered in December.

The company will be investing $22 million for these acquisitions. The company is also considering the possibility of booking new-building orders.

Shreyas will also be increasing its presence in the logistics market through strategic alliances to provide total supply chain management solutions and are currently in talks with some companies, both domestic and foreign. The company intends to create a synergy between its own capabilities of handling coastal movement of cargo and the expertise of other companies in the area of logistic services.
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Natco Pharma launches cancer drug Curcumin
Hyderabad: NATCO Pharma Ltd (NPL) has announced the launch of anti-cancer drug Curcumin in 500 mg capsules form under the brand name Turcumin.

In a press release the company said Curcumin is essentially an extract of turmeric and is considered to be an essential food supplement, especially in patients suffering from cancer.

According to the company, Curcumin has been found to be effective in the treatment of multiple myeloma, tumours and other cancers. Intake of Curcumin, as a supplement, would be of immense benefit to patients suffering from cancer. Depending on the condition, a patient can take three to six capsules a day, the company said.

Further, according to Natco, Curcumin is being widely and increasingly accepted as a potent tool in fight against cancer. Clinical studies have established the importance and distinct advantage of Curcumin in fighting cancer and other ailments, the release said.
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Nagarjuna Construction opts for preferential allotment
Hyderabad: The board of directors of Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd (NCC) has, in principle, approved a proposal to issue three million equity shares to select investors on preferential allotment basis at a price of Rs278 per share, the price determined as per applicable SEBI guidelines.

In a communication to stock exchanges, the company said its board has also accorded its in principle approval for the issue of one million share warrants on preferential allotment basis at a price of Rs278 per warrant to the promoters and other select investors.

Further, the NCC board has also approved the issue of 3-lakh Options to the employees under the Employee Stock Option Plan.

To obtain approvals of shareholders for these proposals, the company has decided to convene an extraordinary general meeting on November 16.
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IOC raises $100 million through ABN Amro
Mumbai: The Indian Oil Corporation has said that it has signed a loan agreement with the ABN Amro Bank to raise a short-term oil import loan of $100 million.

The amount raised through ABN Amro's Amsterdam branch will be used to finance the IOC's oil import requirements, a news release said.

Indian Oil plans to import over 33 million tonnes of crude oil in the current fiscal.

The company has also announced that it has signed an agreement with Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd (CFCL) to supply 1.6 million cubic metres of natural gas a day to its plant located at Gadepan, Kota in Rajasthan, from April 2005.
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Biocon and Nobex in tie up for oral insulin
Bangalore: Biocon has tied up with US-based drug development company Nobex Corporation to jointly develop a painless oral insulin molecule into a tablet-form product, which diabetics can take orally instead of the conventional injection. This promises to be the first oral insulin product worldwide.

The companies have not disclosed the financial or other arrangements of the tie-up.

Both the companies expect to have significant clinical data and "make firm progress towards manufacturing within two years."

With 120 million diabetics worldwide and 30 million in India the global insulin business would soon touch $5 billion. The oral insulin product meant for both Type 1 and 2 diabetics could cater to a similar size and be a huge business opportunity.

Nobex discovered the molecule early this year and the drug is in phase 2 clinical trials.
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CDG award for Reliance Infocomm
Mangalore: Reliance Infocomm has won the `3G CDMA Industry Achievement Award for International Leadership'.

A Reliance Infocomm press release said that the award - instituted by the CDMA Development Group (CDG) - has been presented to Reliance Infocomm "for emerging as the largest wireless operator in India since deploying CDMA2000 in March 2003, with more than eight million customers".

Perry LaForge, Executive Director of the CDG, presented the award to Bharat Bhushan Anand, President, Regulatory Affairs, Reliance Infocomm, at the recently concluded CDMA Congress at the Miami Beach Convention Centre, the release added.
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Tata Indicom launches 'Walky'
Mumbai:Tata Indicom has repositioned its fixed wireless service by relaunching it under the name of `Walky'. `Walky' offers mobility at landline rates and also comes with a single rate plan, with increasing discounts for higher usage.

"With the launch of `Walky', Tata Indicom is looking at catering to different segments by offering a host of value-added benefits like freedom of mobility within the premises, high speed Internet access, in-built speaker, CLIP, missed call details, etc," said a news release from Tata Indicom.

Tata Indicom has also introduced a single rate plan which will be applicable to both its existing 1.2 million fixed wireless phone customers and potential `Walky' customers across its eight circles.

The launch of `Walky' is backed by market research, which indicates that FWP has easily substituted the landline as the `shared' family phone, creating more dependence, through personalisation tools, which will help spur more use of the product within homes and enterprises, said the release.

The single rate plan for Walky customers would consist of rental and plan fee at Rs240 per month, CLIP facility at Rs50 a month, free value of Rs144 and a call rate of Rs1.20 per three minutes.
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AirTel starts operations in J&K
Srinagar: Airtel has become the first private operator to launch cellular services in the trouble-torn Jammu and Kashmir.

The company has earmarked an investment of Rs125 crore during the current fiscal to cover 100 towns across the State.

This takes AirTel's presence in 19 circles across the country. The company plans to launch its services in Bihar, Assam and North-East in the next few months.

The launch will also enable mobile subscribers in other parts of the country to roam in Kashmir. However, international tourists will not be able to use roaming facility in the State owing to security concerns.

Mittal said that the company has already got confirmed booking from 50,000 consumers in the State.

The company said that it has received a greater response here than in even in Mumbai. Bharti has employed 200 people for its operations in J&K directly and another 1,000 people through its distribution channel.

Bharti has, for the first time deployed three mobile switching centres (MSC) in the State owing to tough terrain. The company has also laid a robust network with satellite and micro—wave back up to cater to any emergencies. AirTel has launched with 90 cell sites across 46 towns, which is expected to be taken up to 118 sites. The network is managed by Swedish equipment manufacturer Ericsson and is GPRS ready (general packet radio services).

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd had already launched its mobile services in the State a year back and has a subscribers base of one lakh. Other private operators such as Reliance Infocomm are also looking at launching telecom services in the next few months.
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Satyam Q2 net up 28 per cent
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer Services Ltd has announced revenues for Q2 at Rs848.1 crore, which is 9.93 per cent up sequentially from the last. It is also up 41.71 per cent compared with the revenues in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company posted a net profit of Rs188.79 crore for the quarter under review, recording a growth of 8.83 per cent sequentially and 27.92 per cent year-on-year, on a total turnover of Rs872.03 crore (Rs 636.07 crore). The EPS for the period under review was also higher at Rs5.95 than the guidance of Rs5.48.

Th ecompany has also revised its revenue guidance for the current year upwards projecting it in the range of Rs3,415 crore to Rs3,428 crore, indicating an annual growth of 34.37 per cent to 34.88 per cent. The earlier forecast was 28.59 per cent to 30.32 per cent.

The board has also announced an interim dividend of 100 per cent for 2004-05.
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Polaris Q2 net up at Rs.24 crore
Chennai: Polaris Software Lab Ltd has reported increased net profit of Rs24.45 crore on revenues of Rs201.89 crore for the quarter-ended September 30, 2004. This is against a net profit of Rs22.04 crore on revenues of Rs157.41 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

The Chennai-based software firm is targeting an 8 per cent growth, and has revised its year-end revenue guidelines for March 2005 upwards to reach between Rs826 crore and Rs834 crore from Rs780 crore, says a press release.

Polaris has added 11 new customers, and two global financial institutions have chosen the company for its outsourcing needs during the quarter.

Optimus Outsourcing Company Ltd, the business process-outsourcing arm of Polaris, will launch an end-to-end processing infrastructure in the next 45 days to exploit the demand in banking sector.
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HCL Info net rises 33.4 percent
New Delhi: HCL Infosystems Ltd has posted a 33.4 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September, 2004 at Rs43.16 crore against Rs32.35 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

During the period, its consolidated gross sales stood at Rs1,579.50 crore compared to Rs856.12 crore in the year-ago period, a statement said.

The board of directors has declared a quarterly interim dividend of Rs7 per share (70 per cent on an equity share of par value of Rs10).

Revenue from the computer systems business grew 18 per cent to Rs394.7 crore while that from office automation and telecom business grew by a whopping 127 per cent to Rs1,174.7 crore, the release said.
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Visualsoft Q2 net down 31 percent
Hyderabad: Despite a growth of 25.34 per cent in total income for the second quarter ended September 30, Visualsoft Technologies Ltd has suffered a fall of 31.46 per cent in its net profit compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

As per the un-audited financial results taken on record by the board, the company posted a total income of Rs47.14 crore compared to Rs37.61 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal and a net profit of Rs6.52 crore (Rs9.51 crore).

On a sequential basis, the company achieved a marginal growth of 2.02 per cent in total income and suffered a fall of 17.52 per cent in its net profit.

For the first half of the current fiscal, the turnover improved to Rs93.35 crore (Rs73.09 crore), while the net profit declined to Rs14.42 crore (Rs18.53 crore).
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Bajaj Auto Q2 net profit dips
Mumbai: Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) has reported a lower profit after tax of Rs179.9 crore for the second quarter of 2004-05 as against the previous corresponding Rs193.4 crore. The company's sales and income from operations amounted to Rs1,448.2 crore (Rs1,249 crore for the year-ago period).

Other income and revenues from wind power dipped to Rs88.3 crore (Rs117.6 crore). Gross profit after interest and before depreciation and tax was Rs327.7 crore (Rs344.1 crore).

Profit before tax was almost on par at Rs264.9 crore (Rs264.4 crore) but provision for tax increased to Rs85 crore (Rs71 crore) leading to a lower profit after tax.

For the quarter, BAL's total sales volume was up 17 per cent to 445,195 units (380,273 units). BAL's profit from automobile operations gained by 21 per cent to Rs187 crore (Rs155.2 crore).

Export earnings were up 41 per cent to Rs181.7 crore (Rs128.6 crore). The company's non-operating income for the quarter declined to Rs78.2 crore (Rs103.9 crore). For the first half, BAL had a profit after tax of Rs 344.5 crore (Rs 354.4 crore) on sales and income from operations of Rs 2,674.4 crore (Rs 2,323.1 crore).
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