PM to inaugurate Infosys training centre
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies has said that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, will inaugurate the company's corporate training centre in Mysore on February 12.

In a first of its kind initiative, Infosys will centralise its training facility in Mysore and will train over 12,000 fresh engineering graduates annually. The Prime Minister will also visit the Infosys Leadership Institute, which is located in the same campus in Mysore, said a company press release.
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SC notice to telecom operators on BSNL petition
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued notice to basic telecom operators on a petition filed by BSNL challenging a TDSAT order which asks BSNL to extend the concessional alternate tariff package, that it offers to its customers, to the subscribers of other service providers.

BSNL questioned the TDSAT order on the ground whether the state-run telecom operator was obliged to extend benefits or reduction in tariffs for its own subscribers, to other competing operators for the purpose of calculating the interconnection charges.

Interconnection charges are payable by the basic telecom operators to BSNL on account of carriage of their calls on its network.

The benefit of concessional tariffs which is actually intended for BSNL customers for a limited distance of 50-200 km gets extended to customers of private operators for larger distances beyond 200 km. BSNL had filed for concessional tariffs (for its subscribers) in 2001 to be implemented with effect from January 26, 2001. But TDSAT had asked BSNL to extend similar concessions to customers of other service providers on the representation of private basic and cellular operators.
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Govt. accuses Reliance Infocomm of committing fraud
New Delhi: In an affidavit filed with telecom tribunal TDSAT, the government has accused Reliance Infocomm of committing "a well thought of and carefully organised fraud" on state-owned BSNL and MTNL.

Reliance Infocomm is accused of cheating the two government companies of at least Rs480 crore by passing off its incoming international calls as domestic calls. The telecom company had started a scheme by which calls originating abroad would land at a Reliance Infocomm gateway and then get rerouted to a local number.

Reliance Infocomm has defended itself by saying that the licence agreement allows it to treat each phase as two separate calls. According to the company, the first phase has nothing to do with BSNL or MTNL. It's only the second phase for which they need to pay access deficit charge (ADC) to the two companies.

However, the government says telecom laws are very clear. It argues that the two phases together need to be treated as a single international call and Reliance Info has to pay the corresponding access deficit charge that is levied on overseas calls.

In its affidavit, the government says that Reliance Infocomm deliberately misled it by initially denying that it had rerouted the calls at all. The company later claimed that it had launched a new service called Home Country Direct Service through its US-based arm, Reliance Communications Inc. However, Reliance Infocomm says it's entirely legal to do so.

But the Telecom Ministry says it's a violation of the companies licence agreement and if Reliance Infocomm doesn't pay its dues it's licence could even be revoked.
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Ford set to launch upgraded Mondeo
Chennai: Ford India will introduce the upgraded version of the Mondeo later this month.

The car, imported from Ford Motor Company's plant in Genk, Belgium, comes with changes to both the exterior and interior, according to Ford India officials. The car's exterior and interiors have been freshened up, but the driving characteristics remain the same.

The new interiors of the Mondeo have a two-tone Camel-Ebony environment and the seats are premium leather Alcantara. Both the driver and front passenger seats are power adjusted and the rear seats have an armrest with stowage space and cup holders. The rear seats are also split folding and provide access to the trunk. The new Mondeo comes with CFC-free automatic climate control and feature premium wood finish on centre stack, floor console and front door panels.

New chrome highlights on the radiator grille and reprofiled front bumper with trapezoidal fog lamps give a new look to the Mondeo front. The tail lamps have a distinctive metallic look with silvered indicator lenses. Added chrome accents on the upper doorline, door handle inserts and tailgate handle complete the premium look.
Ford India has not yet announced the price of the upgraded Mondeo.
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HM to launch cheaper versions of Lancer and Pajero
Kolkata: Hindustan Motors has lined up a launch of low-priced variants of Lancer and Pajero in th efface of sharply dropping sales of the Lancer and lukewarm sales of the Pajero. It is also aiming to launch another Mitsubishi product to fill the price gap between the two.

The new car, which will be launched in the next year in the D segment will be priced around Rs12 lakh, will need an additional investment of Rs50 crore.

The company has ruled out launches in the A and B volume-segments. Sales have dropped with the company selling just 3,000 Lancers in 2003-2004. In 2004-05 so far, the company has sold around 2,000 lancers.

HM is trying to fight dropping sales by reducing prices. The cheapest variant of the Lancer is now available at Rs6.93 lakh. The company said that they are not slashing prices but removing expensive fancy items and passing on the benefit of indiginisation to customers. The company says it has attained 72 per cent indiginisation and has reduced the price of 93 spares by an average of 56 per cent.

As regards the Pajero, HM has already reduced its price and is now planning to launch a variant in the range of Rs17 lakh to take advantage of a 600 unit per month market.
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Hutch brings mobile business under single entity
Mumbai: The Hutchison Essar group has consolidated its mobile interests under a single entity Hutchison Max Telecom Ltd in preparation for a domestic initial public offer later this year. HMTL will be renamed Hutchison Essar Ltd, said a statement from the Hutch group. The IPO will consist of fresh issue of shares, he said. The size of the issue has not yet been decided.

"All requisite Government and regulatory approvals, consent and permissions for effecting the consolidation have been obtained," said a news release from the Hutchison Essar group.

Following the IPO, Hutchison Telecommunications International (HTIL) could emerge as the first foreign company to get majority ownership in an Indian telecom services company. Indian promoters, going by the new policy will have to own at least 10 per cent stake. Already, HTIL not only holds 42.34 per cent stake in HMTL, but also has an additional indirect interest of approximately 13.86 per cent in common stock of HMTL.

Apart from HTIL, the direct shareholders in HMTL will be the Essar group with a 26.42 per cent stake, the Kotak Mahindra group (22.97 per cent), the Hinduja group (5.11 per cent) and Max India (3.16 per cent).

The consolidation has happened through the shareholders of the five different Hutch operations in the country transferring all their shares in their respective companies to HMTL in return for issue of new shares in the latter.

Hutchison Max will be paying the Essar group approximately Rs1,230 crore in shares for its 49.03 per cent in Hutchison Essar Telecom; and Rs490 crore in shares for Essar's 33.5 per cent stake in Hutchison Telecom East.

Altogether Hutchison Max will have paid over Rs3,000 crore (over $680 million) worth of stock to the Essar group, the Kotak Mahindra group, the Hinduja group and the Max group for these companies' stakes in individual operations. The new HMTL shares have a par value of Rs 10 each and were issued at a premium of Rs 237.99, according to the HTIL announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Hutchison Max has 7.2 million subscribers in 13 circles in the country.
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TRAI moves SC on interconnection rows
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has approached the Supreme Court seeking powers to resolve disputes relating to interconnection between service providers.
The move comes after the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) recently passed an order that the TRAI did not have adjudicatory powers to resolve interconnection disputes.

Following the TRAI appeal, the Supreme Court issued notice to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) since TDSAT had passed the order based on a petition by the BSNL challenging a directive issued by TRAI.

While barring TRAI, the telecom tribunal had said: "When TRAI has no adjudicatory functions under the Act, it cannot in turn take the stand that it has powers to pass interim orders in disputes between two operators. If TRAI has no powers to pass final orders, it cannot certainly have powers to intervene to pass interim orders.''
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OPI plans another centre
Bangalore: Outsource Partners International (OPI) Inc, a BPO services provider in finance and accounting, plans to hire 1,500 people and invest $10 million in expanding the operations of its Indian subsidiary, Business Process Outsourcing Pvt Ltd, over the next two years.

The company was also looking at setting up its second delivery centre in the country, outside Bangalore. OPI has over 300 people operating from Bangalore. The company also runs a pilot unit in Kochi with 50 people.

OPI serves US businesses - public and private, large and small. It handles internal accounting functions such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, reconciliations and financial reporting from its Bangalore centre. It also has a few clients in the UK.
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Pantaloon acquires 49 per cent stake in Planet Sports
New Delhi: Retailing company Planet Sports Private Ltd. has announced the acquisition of 49 per cent of its stake by Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd.

Planet Sports said it would triple its sales in two years time by pooling the resources with Pantaloon. It would also add more branded lifestyle products through the Pantaloon network. Planet Sports is the sole franchisee of the UK-based Marks and Spencer and holds exclusive distribution licensing rights for brands like Wilson, Puma, Speedo and Converse. It has six Marks and Spencer and 25 Planet Sports stores in India, Bhardwaj said.

Under the pact, Pantaloon would subscribe to 49 per cent stake in Planet sports for a sum of up to Rs14.20 crore.
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ITC Hotels and Ansal Hotels to merge with ITC
New Delhi: The Kolkata High Court has given the go ahead for the merger of ITC Hotels and Ansal Hotels with ITC. The merger will be effective from April 1, 2004.

Under the merger scheme, ITC Hotels' shareholders will receive three ITC shares for every 25 ITC Hotels shares that they own. Shareholders of Ansal Hotels will receive one ITC share for every 150 Ansal Hotels shares that they own.
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