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Dabhol issue: Bombay HC restrains Bechtel
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has restrained Bechtel from taking any steps for execution of the award passed by Paris-based ICC International Court of Arbitration.

The arbitration court has asked Maharashtra and the state electricity board to pay $123 million to Bechtel as compensation for violating shareholders rights in Dabhol Power Company.

The High Court, while granting injuction on May 30 on a suit filed by Maharashtra Power Development Corporation Ltd (MPDCL), observed that Bechtel's reference to arbitration, the arbitral proceedings and the award of arbitrators was in defiance of the earlier orders passed by the Division Bench of the court.

A US Court had directed attachment of the 14.6 percent stake of MPDCL in Dabhol Power Company for failing to meet the May 27 deadline set by international arbitration panel in Paris last month to pay Bechtel $123 million for violation of its shareholders rights in Dabhol Power Project.
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TERI award for ITC's e-choupal initiative
Kolkata: ITC Ltd has been presented the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award 2004 from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for its e-Choupal initiative.

According to an official release by the company, the award provides impetus to sustainable development and encourages on-going social responsibility processes within the corporate sector.

The company's e-Choupal initiative, dubbed as the single largest IT-based intervention by a corporate in rural India, has already received national and international accolade as a "unique transformation model for rural India".

According to the release, the curriculum of the Harvard Business School now includes a case study on the ITC e-Choupal movement and how it was enabling a paradigm shift in Indian agriculture.
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MS launches Windows Starter Edition with PC
New Delhi: By way of targeting first time users and making PCs more affordable, Microsoft has announced the launch of a personal computer, with Windows XP Starter Edition in Hindi, which will be priced at Rs18,900.

It has tied-up with the State Bank of India, United Bank of India and Bank of India for easy financing schemes that include a down payment of Rs3,780 and equal monthly instalment of Rs399 over 48 months.

The starter edition offers Wordpad, Internet Explorer, Outlook and Media Player with a Hindi user interface. However, it does not contain MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other MS Office packages. In order to use these software, users need to buy MS Office package.

While the Hindi MS Office Student and Teachers Edition costs about Rs7,200, the English Student and Teachers Edition (a basic edition) costs around Rs6,500, company representatives said.

The company has partnered with Intel Corp. and HCL Infosystems to develop PCs with Windows XP Starter Edition, which happens to be the lowest cost version of Windows XP operating system. The PC has a Celeron 2.4 GHZ processor, 40 GB of disk space, CD-Rom and DVD drive. It has local language interface, step-by-step guidance, pre-configured settings for ease of use.

The Windows XP home edition PC, with Pentium IV 2.26 GHZ and Windows XP Home Edition is available for Rs24,99.
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Indu Projects to introduce hi-tech welding of railway tracks
Hyderabad: Indu Projects Ltd, a Hyderabad-based construction company, will introduce hi-tech welding of railway tracks through the use of "Mobile Flash Butt Welding" units for the South Central Railways (SCR) after bagging an order worth Rs12 crore from SCR involving 300 km of track across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

According to company officials, "Mobile Flash Butt Welding" will bring a new dimension to railways and its operations. The company has placed orders for importing two of these hi-tech units at a cost of Rs12 crore and they are expected to arrive in the next few days.

The cumbersome and unwieldy practice of depot welding - where rails are welded at a workshop and then transported - will no longer be required as these units will lay and weld the tracks on the route itself. The tracks laid mechanically by these units will be of superior quality, ensure a smoother and uniform finish.
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BPB India Gypsum to double production capacity
Hyderabad: BPB India Gypsum Ltd, manufacturers of gypsum plaster board and universal plaster, is set to double its production capacity shortly.

The company currently has two manufacturing facilities with a combined production capacity of 12 million square metres - Jind (Haryana) unit with a capacity of seven million sq. m and Chennai facility with a capacity of five million square metres.

The third facility near Mumbai is set to take off during this month with a capacity of 12-million sq. m, company officials said. BPB India Gypsum is the only manufacturer in the country to have three manufacturing facilities in the segment.

According to company officials, the company's Universal Plaster and Universal Ceiling boards were aimed at catering to the needs of middle class, lower middle class and commercial segment.
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Bose Corp. to increase headcount at Bangalore unit
Kolkata: Bose Corporation, the US-headquartered $1.7-billion turnover audio systems and acoustics major, has announced plans to augment the headcount at its Indian software hub located in Bangalore under a wholly-owned subsidiary named Bose Technology Centre.

The outfit, which engages 16 people at present, is engaged in the development of embedded software for futuristic products. The headcount at the Bangalore centre is slated to go up to 40 by March 2006, according to company officials.

Although the company is known globally for research-based, high-end acoustics products, it is also engaged in the development of the latest products such as an automobile suspension system that would negate the impact of potholes. Talks are under way with a US-based automobile major for commercial application of the suspension system.

As regards music systems, Bose Corporation's offerings are available through its 18 subsidiaries located across the world. In India, its products are priced at between Rs7,900 and Rs2,29,900.

Company officials said that for the company, India is the fastest growing market, having recently clocked a compounded annual growth rate of over 60 per cent. The idea now is to augment the number of company-owned retail outlets from nine to 16 in the next two years.
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Kingfisher calendar bags FAB award
Bangalore: The Kingfisher Premium beer Swimsuit Special Calendar 2005 bagged the FAB Award at the 7th International Food & Beverage Creative Excellence Awards 2005 held in London.

The FAB Awards is the only International Creative Awards programme focussed solely on creative work done for food and drink brands, and this year attracted nearly 2,500 pieces of work from over 60 countries, covering TV, posters, press, radio, below-the-line work, integrated campaigns, packaging and new media.
The work was judged by creative directors from six countries.
United Breweries was the only Indian company to win at the FAB Awards 2005.

Vijay Mallya and Atul Kasbekar received the award at a glittering award ceremony held at the Hurlingham Club in London. The Kingfisher Premium beer Swimsuit Special Calendar won the award for creative excellence in the below-the-line promotions category.
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Corporate performance: Hyundai, Hindustan Motors
Hyundai sales for May up 82.5 per cent
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India has reported an 82.5 per cent rise in sales in May this year at 23,206 units against 12,712 units in the same month last year. The company, a fully-owned subsidiary of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., said the growth in the domestic market was almost 81 per cent on sale of 14,001 units.

On the export front, sales grew 85 per cent to 9,205 units from 4,973 units in May 2004.

Sales in the A2 segment, where the company sells the flagship 'Santro' and the recently-launched 'Getz', were up 73.1 per cent to 11,072 units from 6,394 units in the same month last year. The sale of the mid-size 'Accent' saw a phenomenal 658 per cent growth as the company sold 2,547 units against 336 units in May 2004.

However, luxury sedan 'Sonata' as well as 'Elantra' saw the numbers drop by around 70 per cent each per cent to 32 and 224 units respectively.

Sales for Ambassador cars up 12 per cent in May
New Delhi: Hindustan Motors (HM) has posted 12 per cent growth in the sales of `Ambassador' cars during May this year with 1,010 units. Between April and May 2005, the growth was 16 per cent at 2,012 units over the corresponding period last year, HM said in a statement here.

It said that HM has launched a CNG variant of its popular Ambassador model and that the 1800-cc CNG Ambassador Grand has been well received in the market. The Ambassador Grand comes with new features such as power steering, power windows, central locking and remote controlled MP3 music system.

The statement said that the company also launched the Ambassador 1.5 LPG in compliance with the new Bharat Stage (BS) III norms.
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