VSNL buys out Tyco Global for $130 million
Mumbai: VSNL has announced that it has agreed to acquire Tyco Global Network from Tyco International for $130 million (around Rs600 crore) in an all-cash deal.

Early this year, Reliance Infocomm completed its acquisition of FLAG Telecom for $211 million from FLAG, which has a 50,000-km network.

The acquisition by VSNL is subject to approvals from authorities in India, the US, and other countries where Tyco Global has points of presence.

According to VSNL, the deal will be completed in six to nine months from now. A special purpose vehicle will be created by the company for the acquisition, the company said.

VSNL will now have control over 60,000 km of fibre - Transatlantic, Transpacific, TransAmerican, West Europe, Far East with Japan; a Network Operating Centre, 30 points of presence globally, and 12 gateway city connectivity.

Addressing the question as to why VSNL has gone in for a surplus global capacity when it already has unutilised capacity on the existing global networks, of which it is a partner, VSNL officials said that the Tata group's large presence in IT, through TCS and other companies, could gain through a marriage of IT with bandwidth capacity across the globe. They termed it as an "unbeatable combination."

India is also a large IT and BPO centre requiring more global data services as it grows, said VSNL officials. Moreover, the geographical spread of Tyco is complementary to VSNL's existing networks.

Capacity-wise, the acquisition would make VSNL owner of the largest global network in the world. Tyco has around 7,000 GB across the Pacific and around 3,600 GB across the Atlantic as unlit capacity.

The acquisition comes at a fraction of the costs that would be involved in setting up such a network, the VSNL officials said. Tyco has spent $2.5 billion to set up this network, and even replacement costs will be very much the same, they added. The officials added that the timing of the transaction was well-suited to VSNL's international expansion plans.

The funds for the all-cash transaction will come from internal accruals. Currently, VSNL has cash reserves of around Rs1,600 crore.
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SCI board clears investment for Sethusamudram project
Mumbai: The board of directors of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has approved a proposal to invest Rs50 crore in the equity capital of the Rs2,000-crore Sethusamudram canal project.

The board, at its last meeting, had deferred a decision on the proposal as some members wanted more details of the project and a report on its cost-benefit analysis. However, the board on Saturday approved the proposal on the ground that the project is fully backed by the Union Government, which owns nearly 80 per cent of SCI's equity, said a source familiar with the development.

Other equity holders in the special purpose vehicle set up to implement the project are Dredging Corporation of India and the five major ports of Tuticorin, Chennai, Ennore, Visakhapatnam and Paradip.

The project involves creating a navigable channel from the Gulf of Mannar to the Bay of Bengal through the Palk Bay. The navigation route will originate from the Tuticorin new harbour and proceed to south east of Pamban Island, pass through a canal created in Adams Bridge and run parallel to the International Median Line.

This is estimated to reduce the voyage time of ships from the East Coast to the West Coast by 400 nautical miles and save roughly 36 hours of sailing time. The five ports are understood to have agreed to the proposal to invest in the project
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GM launches new version of the 'Forester'
New Delhi: General Motors, India has launched the new version of its sports utility vehicle 'Chevrolet Forester' to tap the growing SUV market in India.

The 'Forester MY 2005' has been priced at Rs12.98 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi. The SUV will be imported from Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan as a completely built unit and marketed under the `Chevrolet' brand.

Fuji Heavy Industries, which manufactures 'Subaru' cars, is an alliance partner of General Motors Corp of the US, the parent firm of GM.
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Star and Sahara end logo war
New Delhi: As part of a compromise with the Sahara Group, the Star group has agreed to change the logo of its new channel from January 1, 2005 by adding the word `STAR' to its insignia `ONE.'
The Sahara Group had dragged Star to the Delhi High Court claiming that the company had created an umbrella brand, Sahara One, for all its media and entertainment business.

According to the agreement reached between the parties before the Delhi High Court, Star will change the logo of its new channel, which is being launched tonight, by adding the word `STAR' to its existing logo.
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Daimler Chrysler to reintroduce clean diesel
Pune: Car major Daimler Chrysler has embarked on a major initiative that will seek to reintroduce clean diesel to markets across the world.

The company is working on the next generation fuel injection systems for petrol and diesel engines, which will address the issue of emissions, which is an area of concern for many countries.
Top priority for the carmaker's research strategy is its vision for `accident-free driving'. The company will use a combination of active and passive safety systems including features such as radar systems for collision mitigation.

Even as some of its best-selling models including the S and E class offer systems such as radars that gauge distance between vehicles and adjusts speed for collision mitigation, the company is working on other technologies that can, among other things, monitor driver fatigue, issue collision warning and, in the eventuality of an imminent crash, even steer the car away from its disaster path.
The company spent an estimated euro 5.5 billion on R&D engineering in 2003.
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M&M sales up for October
Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) has reported a rise in its total automotive sales to 12,893 units for October 2004 as against the previous corresponding 11,939 units.

This included an increase in sale of utility vehicles to 10,138 units (9,514 units), LCVs to 604 units (569 units) and 3-wheelers to 2,151 units (1,856 units).

The company's sale of tractors for the month amounted to 8,708 units (6,792 units). Domestic sales were up to 8,504 units (6,225 units), but exports lagged at 204 units (567 units).
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Hero Honda's record sales for October
New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors Ltd. sold a record number of motorcycles in October, with a figure of 245,475 motorcycles. This is 18 per cent more than the same month last year. In October last year, it sold 207,472 motorcycles.

The company said in a statement that supply constraints came in way of the monthly sales figures hitting the 250,000 units last month. Hero Honda is planning to set up a third factory to meet the increased demand.
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Maruti sales up 27.6 percent for October
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd said sales in October rose 27.6 per cent on increased demand for models such as Alto and Wagon R.
Maruti sold 49,399 vehicles last month, compared with 38,715 in the same month last year. This includes exports of 5,458 units, the company said.

Sales of the Maruti 800 though dipped by 4.6 per cent to 11,633 units. The model's sales have been falling after Maruti had implemented a price cut on its compact car Alto, reducing the price gap between the two models.

Combined sales of compact cars - Alto, WagonR and Zen - jumped by 57.6 per cent in October.
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Bajaj Auto sales up 13.4 percent
Mumbai: Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) reported a 13.4-per cent rise in total sale of two and three wheelers in October 2004 to 1,76,693 units as against the previous corresponding 1,55,783 units. But for the first time in many months, its sale of 3-wheelers registered a decline.

The 2-wheeler sales for the month amounted to 1,57,631 units (1,34,949 units for the year ago period), a rise of 16.8 per cent. Motorcycle volumes were up 34 per cent to 1,43,491 units (1,07,115 units).

Sale of 3-wheelers dipped 8.5 per cent to 19,062 units (20,834 units).

Exports for the period grew 34.1 per cent to 1,11,275 units (82,965 units) while the same for the month was up 14.2 per cent to 15,262 units (13,360 units).
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UK companies begin Indian operations
Bangalore: Blue Box, a British hardware inventory firm, is establishing Indian operations in Bangalore, said the British High Commissioner to India, Sir Michael Arthur, at the inaugural of the Bangalore IT.COM 2004.

The subsidiary of the London-based Azure Integration Ltd offers supply solutions through its proprietary procurement model. The company has plans to offer over £2,50,000 of supply-only solutions to new and existing Indian customers such as HP, Intel, GM, Tata Infotech and Wipro.The company would initially focus on sales and marketing in the region.

Randox, a northern Ireland-based biopharma company, is also setting up Indian operations, Sir Michael said. In its first manufacturing unit outside the UK, the diagnostic reagent and equipment maker, which earlier had distribution activities in the country, is planning to manufacture out of India.

Randox develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of clinical diagnostic products for laboratory medicine. The privately-held multi-million pound company that employs over 600 people including over 185 scientists, mainly offers biochip array technologies, clinical chemical automation systems, external quality assurance, Net-driven quality assurance systems, quality control material, clinical reagents and environmental diagnostics.
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Cognizant in services agreement with Wallenius Wilhelmsen
Hyderabad: Cognizant has announced a one-year services agreement to provide IT infrastructure management for Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a global specialist in ocean, inland and supply chain management, which operates over 60 modern vessels and 600 vehicle transporters across five continents.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen said that it has selected Cognizant to help reduce its management and maintenance costs for all of its global IT operations, while maintaining high service levels.
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Honeywell to hire 1,200 more for lab
Bangalore: US aerospace major Honeywell is expanding in India and plans to hire over 1,200 people in the next year.

The company's regional technology lab in Bangalore employs 3,000 software professionals and this number would go up by 1,000, while the company's software development centre at Madurai, which has about 300 people would increase by 200 people in a year.

The expansion would come with an investment of about $15 million; so far the company has invested about $25 million in its Indian operations.

The decade-old technology lab in Bangalore will continue to grow. The lab focuses mostly on software product development, R&D and digital work and consultation in aerospace and controls. The company said that the India centre has moved up the value chain and is key to all of Honeywell's businesses.
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Sri Lankan Air's festive offer
Kochi: To celebrate the completion of its 25th year, Sri Lankan Airlines is offering its passenger from Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram two nights of free accommodation in Sri Lanka on the purchase of two return tickets to Colombo from either city.

For passengers from Kochi this offer is valid up to November 30, and passengers in Thiruvananthapuram can avail of the monsoon offer up to November 15, a press release from SriLankan Airlines has said.

While airfare for the Kochi-Colombo- Kochi is Rs8,600 per person, the fare for the Thiruvananthapuram- Colombo- Thiruvananthapuram sector is Rs7,300. The offer is inclusive of return airport transfers, the release added.

Sri Lankan Airlines also announced that it is stepping up its operations from seven to nine flights per week from Thiruvananthapuram.
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Royal Sporting launches `New Balance' range
Mumbai: Royal Sporting House has launched its `New Balance' footwear and apparel in India and has also announced its association with Brett Lee, who is endorsing the product in India.
Interestingly, the company does not believe in celebrities endorsing its products globally, but has made an exception in India.

According to the company, Royal Sporting House is one of the fastest growing sports brands in the world and has grown 20-25 per cent year-on-year in the last five years.

The company is opening a new 5,000 sq feet store in Mumbai, and its shoes will range from Rs995 to Rs2,995.

He added that in the next 3 years the aim was to sell one lakh pairs a year from the 25,000 pairs it sells now.

Worldwide sales, according to a company press release, grew from $210 million in 1991 to $1.3 billion in 2003.

It has 42 stores in India and is the exclusive distributor of brands such as Mizuno, Caterpillar, TYR, Dunlop sports and non-exclusive ones such as Reebok, Adidas, Nike and Skechers.
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