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ITI commissions GSM equipment making facility
Mumbai: State-owned telecommunications giant ITI Ltd has commissioned GSM cellular mobile equipment manufacturing facilities at its plants in Mankapur and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. The facilities have been set up in collaboration with its longstanding partner, Alcatel of France.

According to Y.K. Pandey, chairman and managing director, ITI, the company is the only public sector unit manufacturing GSM mobile equipment in India. It would become the country's first 3G equipment manufacturer next year, placing India amongst the select group of countries manufacturing 3G GSM technology.

ITI has already received an order from BSNL for three million lines in the west zone, which is currently under execution. MTNL has also placed an order for two million lines.

The indigenous mobile equipment manufactured by the company, besides meeting the domestic requirements, will also have potential for overseas markets, particularly in south Asia and Afro-Asian countries.
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Scandent Solutions BPO subsidiary wins US contract
Mumbai: Scandent Solutions Corporation Ltd on Thursday announced that its BPO subsidiary, Cambridge Integrated Services group, has been awarded an annual contract to administer claims for a US fast food restaurant chain. Claim administration services will include general, premises, and product liability, in addition to managing crime and property claims.

Through the new contract, worth between US$4mn and US$6mn, Cambridge will immediately acquire a definable market-share by managing claims for nearly 1,000 franchise owners with the potential to deliver to over 8,000 locations in the US alone.

"This win is in large part due to Cambridge's deep domain expertise," said Chris Sinclair, Executive Chairman and CEO. "We not only have experience in handling insurance claims, but also in understanding the nuances of the fast food industry Our expertise with product, premises and general liability claims in this industry, aligned with our technology and benchmark programs for retailers, really set us apart from the competition. This win reinforces out ability to undertake and deliver complex, high-end knowledge process outsourcing engagements."
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BHEL to pay 40 per cent interim dividend
Mumbai: The board of directors of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on Thursday approved payment of 40 per cent interim dividend for financial year 2005-06. The company has fixed the record date for December 23.
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M&M's Uttaranchal three-wheeler plant inaugurated
Hardwar: Uttaranchal Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari inaugurated the fifth full-scale automotive plant of Mahindra & Mahindra here on Thursday. The plant has an initial capacity to produce 30,000 three-wheelers, which would subsequently be ramped up to 50,000. The company's other plants are at Kandivali, Nashik, Igatpuri and Zaheerabad.

The Haridwar plant has been set up primarily for the manufacture of three wheelers of different load capacities and range. The choice of products is made in consonance with the market in the region, availability of skills and vendor base.

Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director, M&M, said the company was looking at a three-fold strategy. "Primarily, the plant is intended to give a fillip to our three-wheeler business," he noted. "Uttaranchal offers attractive benefits in terms of quick clearances, efficient state machinery and skilled work force.

Uttaranchal is a young but fast-growing state with a progressive chief minister and a forward thinking bureaucracy. This plant and our tractor operations in Rudrapur will add momentum to the industrial growth of the state. Finally, the plant is in line with our efforts to continuously update our capacities to fuel Mahindra's growth."
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Bharat Forge sets up JV with China's FAW Corporation
Mumbai: Bharat Forge Ltd (BFL) on Thursday signed a joint venture contract with FAW Corporation, China, for its forging business. The forging company of the FAW group is the largest in China.

FAW is the largest automotive group in China, with a leading position in both passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors. It has successful joint ventures for car manufacturing with both Toyota and the VW group, with multiple plants in China.

BFL will hold majority stake in the new venture, which will manufacture a wide range of engineered forged auto components for the Commercial Vehicle, Passenger Car & Light Truck market.

"This joint venture is a step in the direction of reiterating our strong commitment to providing world class forging technology to the fastest growing automotive market of the world - China," said B N Kalyani, Chairman & Managing Director, BFL. "We will be able to fully support our customers across the world who have manufacturing plants in China through our Chinese plant."
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Dabur obtains first patent for yeast strain
New Delhi: Dabur Pharma, a division of Dabur Research Foundation, has obtained a patent for a strain of yeast. This is after the Government permitted patenting of
micro-organisms in India under the Patents (Second Amendment) Bill, 2002.

The company said this is the first ever patent granted for a micro-organism in India since this law came into effect. The company has obtained both a product patent for the strain as well as a process patent that protects the manufacturing procedure, and grants it exclusivity. Dabur Research Foundation has applied for patents for this strain in the US market as well.

The Government has so far granted very few patents for micro-organisms, on direction from courts.

Dabur Research Foundation has been focusing on developing innovative products in the oncology segment. While research is being conducted on new drugs in cancer, it is also working on novel processes for manufacturing generic oncology drug formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients. It has a strong pipeline of 16 new molecules under development.
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PC with broadband @ Rs.451 per month
New Delhi: MTNL has tied up with HCL to offer a PC along with a broadband connection for Rs451 a month. Consumers also have the option to go for higher-end PCs for a monthly fee of Rs939, Rs764, or Rs674, depending on the configuration.

The PCs come with a CD drive, anti-virus software, digital colour monitor, 1,000 games, cooking recipes, and an educational tool.

The high-end PCs also have stereo speakers and an encyclopaedia.

The PC prices under the offer range from Rs18,490 to Rs38,890 payable in installments spread over 40 months, after which the users would have to pay only for the broadband connection.

All MTNL-HCL PCs will come with a three-year warranty. HCL Infosystems will provide free installation of Tri Band broadband for customers buying the PC.

Consumers can book the PCs through MTNL Sanchar Haats, which will also be accepting registrations for broadband connections.

The product can also be booked through select HCL Infosystems Ltd dealers and through the Web sites of HCL Infosystems and MTNL.
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BMW signs pact with TN government for CKD plant
Chennai: BMW, the German premium car manufacturer, is planning to source components from India for its global operations.

The company recently signed an agreement with the State Government for setting up a completely knocked down plant at Maraimalai Nagar, about 45 km south of Chennai.

BMW will invest close to 20 million euros (about Rs110 crore) in a plant that will have a capacity to assemble 2,000 cars a year. The company plans to launch the 3 series cars first, and later the 5 series. Kits for these cars will come from Germany.

To begin with, the cars will have about 10 per cent local content — mainly interior parts and seat components.

BMW says it would start sourcing components from India within two years.
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Natco Pharma launches blood cancer drug
Mumbai: Natco Pharma has launched the cyto-toxic drug 'Alphalan' for treating blood cancer. Alphalan, will be available in packs of 25 tablets each, in both 2 mg and 5 mg forms, the company informed the BSE.

According to the company Alphalan is the only Indian product available in the market for the treatment of Multiple Myeloma - a form of blood cancer, which affects the plasma cell.

In case of persons affected with this disease, the malignant plasma cells accumulate and damage the bone marrow in the spine, pelvis, rib cage and skull, it said.
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NTPC to take legal action against Reliance over gas pact
Mumbai: NTPC is considering taking 'legal recourse' against petrochemicals major Reliance Industries (RIL) over the gas sale and purchase agreement for its Kawas and Jhanore Gandhar power plants in Gujarat.

Reliance had signed a deal to supply gas/LNG to NTPC's two power plants in Gujarat, which are going in for capacity addition of 1,300 megawatts each, but is now seeking changes in the agreement.

NTPC said that RIL had ''accepted the terms and conditions'' of the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) and "unconditionally withdrew all earlier deviations" sought by it during the bid process.

NTPC has informed the BSE that since RIL has sought changes in important terms and conditions, the PSU is now considering taking recourse to legal action.
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Finolex Cables to manufacture lamps at Pune facility
Mumbai: Finolex Cables has decided to manufacture compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) at its Pune facility.

The company informed the BSE that its board has approved the project for manufacturing CFL at its existing facilities at Urse, Pune.

Finolex Cables Ltd, a flagship company of the Finolex Group, manufactures electrical and telecommunication cables.
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Merck ties up with PATH for rotavirus vaccine clinical trials
New Delhi: Merck & Co Inc has tied-up with non-profit organisation PATH to conduct clinical studies of Merck's investigational rotavirus vaccine, Rotateq, in Asia and Africa.

The clinical trial sites will be identified in the next six months, with a goal of starting at least one trial by the end of 2006, the company said in a release.

Merck & Co chief medical advisor vaccines and infectious diseases, Adel A F Mahmoud said "Most of the children who die from the effects of rotavirus live in countries where emergency medical care, such as intravenous rehydration, is less readily available,"

Efficacy studies of Rotateq will be conducted in regions of the world where it has not been studied before and where factors including poor nutrition and the presence of intestinal bacteria or viruses might play a role in the response to the vaccine, it said.
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Tata Motors hikes commercial vehicle prices by 2-2.5 per cent
New Delhi: Tata Motors has raised the prices of its medium and heavy vehicles by 2-2.5 per cent because of increase in input costs.

The prices have been raised with effect from December 1, 2005, a company spokesperson told.

Last month, company's rival Ashok Leyland raised prices by 2.5 per cent.
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Tata Teleservices adds highest number of new subscribers in Nov.
New Delhi: Tata Teleservices has surpassed all GSM operators by adding 8.69 lakh new subscribers in November, mainly due to its new scheme 'non-stop mobile, free incoming for two years' launched recently.

The company is now targeting achieving nine million mobile subscribers by the end of 2005 from a little over 7.1 million now.

Tata Teleservices chief executive officer Darryl Green said: "The company has not lost any revenue in offering free incoming for two years...no company does business to lose money...my Board is delighted with the financial performance of Tata Indicom."
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Bajaj Auto to get into merchandising
Mumbai: India's largest two-wheeler maker, Bajaj Auto, is giving final touches to its business plan to get into the merchandising business with branded bike and rider accessories.

The company plans to outsource a host of accessories, ranging from jackets and T-shirts to watches, boots, helmets and even camping equipment, and market them through pro-biking showrooms that are being set up across the country.

While the company is yet to finalise the branding strategy for its merchandising foray, sources pointed out that its power-bike brand Pulsar is among the front-runners.
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