Prakash Karat elected CPI (M) general secretary
New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has unanimously elected Prakash Karat as its new general secretary and retained the outgoing general secretary, Harkishan Singh Surjeet and veteran leader, Jyoti Basu, in the Politburo.

The new Politburo, elected at the 18th party congress, saw the induction of four new members for the first time into the 17-member empowered body. The new members include Brinda Karat, Prakash's wife as the first woman to make it to the Politburo.

The general secretary's post fell vacant after Harkishan Singh Surjeet's offer to step down on account of his fragile health and advanced age. Surjeet turned 89 recently.

Karat said the first Polit Bureau in 1964 had nine members and of these `navratnas,' Surjeet and Basu, were present on the occasion.
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Ratan Tata steps down from VSNL — to focus on telecom strategy
New Delhi: Ratan Tata has stepped down as chairman of Videsh Sanchar Nigam in order to assume direct charge of Tata group's telecom business. The group has committed to raise investment in telecom to Rs30,000 crore by August 2006.

"Ratan Tata's resignation as Chairman of VSNL today enables him to directly coordinate and control telecom strategy of the group in India and abroad as chief mentor and strategist," a group spokesperson said after the VSNL Board meeting.

Ratan Tata, who catapulted the group to the top most private sector entity with a market capitalisation of over Rs100,000 crore, is succeeded by Subodh Bhargava, whose appointment was cleared by the VSNL board at the end of nearly four hour-long meeting.

Bhargava, a former president of CII and a leading private sector executive, is the longest serving independent director in the board of VSNL, acquired by the Tatas from the government in 2002.
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Jaeger Lecture Award for Dr. Baldev Raj
Chennai: Dr. Baldev Raj, Director of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, has been awarded the 'Jaeger Lecture Award' by the International Institute of Welding and the International Standards Organisation.

The International Institute of Welding is a premier body consisting of experts from over 30 countries. It formulates welding directions and policies for advancement of welding science and technology.

Dr Raj is the first Indian to receive this coveted award in recognition of his research and significant contributions to welding science and technology and hard facing.

A press release from IGCAR says Dr Raj had developed and implemented successfully the 'in-situ' repair welding of cracked shrouds and blades of steam turbines. He is also responsible for the development of indigenous electrodes for the 500 MW(e) fast breeder reactor, which led to the availability of high quality welding electrodes in the Indian market.

Dr Raj has also been honoured with the `Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2004' by the Indian Welding Society for his contributions to the field of welding science and technology.
He has to his credit more than 652 publications in leading national and international journals, as well as 16 patents.
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K Sera Sera board takes on three independent members
Mumbai: K Sera Sera Productions has taken three independent directors on board — Dr M.K. Sinha, former Chairman of State Bank Of India; A.P Naidu, former Vice-President & Company Secretary, Indian Petrochemicals Corp Ltd; and Prakash Shah, a practising chartered accountant.

The film production company has also reconstituted the audit committee, investor grievance committee and remuneration committee. It has appointed Ms Amruta Paranjape as company secretary and compliance officer.

K Sera Sera also adopted the Director's Code of Conduct.
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