Birlas score in war of wills against Lodha
Kolkata: The Birlas scored a significant gain on Thursday in their ongoing battle with R. S. Lodha over the late M.P. Birla's will with Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta of the Calcutta High Court asking for theappointment of an administrator for the M P Birla group.

The move would have resulted in the removal of R S Lodha as the chairman of the group, however, in a swift counter move, Lodha appealed before a two-member division bench of the Calcutta High Court seeking a stay of the Justice Sengupta order. The two-member division bench of Justice Tarun Dutta and Justice Pinaki Ghosh partially overruled the previous order and allowed Lodha to continue as the chairman of the M P Birla group.

The issue of the appointment of administrator was kept open and the division bench will take up the issue, once the court commences session after vacation.

Earlier in the day, Justice Sengupta had ordered that a panel of administrators, comprising two lawyers, a corporate expert and a chartered accountant, be appointed for the M P Birla group with the panel taking charge of all the assets when the court begins sessions after vacation after five weeks.

The appointment of an administrator for the M P Birla group is one part of the Birla challenge to Lodha , the supposed beneficiary of the M P Birla legacy by virtue of a purported will of Priyamvada Birla, the widow of M P Birla. Apart from filing criminal cases against Lodha, the Birla clan led by patriarch B K Birla has contested the very authenticity of the Priyamvada Birla will. The family also claims the existence of a 'mutual will' of M P Birla and his wife that bequeaths the entire legacy to charity.
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ONGC-Mittal combine wins two blocks in Nigeria
New Delhi: ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd (OMEL), the joint venture between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and L.N. Mittal Group company, has won two oil blocks in Nigeria under a mini bid round.

The ONGC-Mittal combine has won blocks 209 and 212 in Nigeria's licensing rounds of exploring oil blocks.

Nigeria had invited bids for 17 blocks, which were opened on Friday. The joint venture company had bid for the two blocks at about $50 million (212) and $ 75 million (209), respectively. The two fields were discovered by Shell and Exxon.

The joint venture partners were eyeing four blocks in the bidding rounds. Earlier, OMEL had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian Government for long-term infrastructure investments in exchange for drilling rights in that country.
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GAIL commissions gas pipeline project ahead of schedule
Mumbai: GAIL (India) Limited has commissioned the Thulendi-Phulpur pipeline ahead of schedule and has commenced gas supply to IFFCO as well, stated a press release issued here today.

The 18-inch, 139-km pipeline was commissioned ahead of schedule resulting in a saving of Rs70-crore. ''As against the approved project cost of Rs220-crore, the actual cost incurred was approximately Rs150-crore,'' stated the release.

With the commissioning of this pipeline, GAIL has completed one more leg of its proposed national gas grid, the other legs completed so far being the Gas Expansion and Rehabilitation Project (GREP) and Dahej-Vijaipur pipelines.

Other pipelines under the national gas grid currently under construction include the 474-km Dahej-Uran pipeline scheduled for completion in March 2007, the 375-km Panvel-Dabhol pipeline scheduled for commissioning in March 2007 and the 192-km Vijaipur-Kota pipeline scheduled for completion in December 2006.
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Siemens and Huawei tie-up for the Indian networking market
Mumbai: In a move to target the Rs4,200-crore Indian networking market, Siemens Ltd has entered into a strategic alliance with Huawei-3 Com to offer networking solutions to Indian companies.

"Huawei-3Com, a joint venture between Chinese company Huawei and US-based 3Com, will provide us the IP network. We (Siemens) will use their infrastructure and our products to provide IP services to companies," Peter Gartenberg, executive vice-president, Siemens Ltd, said here today.

Siemens Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Siemens AG, will integrate the hardware and networking solutions offered by Huawei-3 Com. The alliance will offer IP-based voice data and video network solutions for Indian enterprises.

IP telephony, which allows the user to transfer voice and data over the Internet cable, is allowed in the country over the computer. It means that the user can use the Internet connection on a computer to dial an international number.

Huawei-3 Com, a supplier of IP network solutions, has three offices in the country and is targeting to achieve $100 million revenues from India over the next four years, Huawei-3 Com managing director Eric Zhao said.
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Air Force may soon vacate spectrum for mobile users
New Delhi: The Air Force is likely to be the first amongst the Defence Services to vacate spectrum for use by mobile operators, as connectivity to the Air Force access points is likely to be completed in the next 6-7 months.

The work is part of the Rs1,000-crore exclusive optical fibre cable project for the three armed forces.

The Rs1,000-crore project entails an optical fibre cable network for the armed forces, linking crucial establishments across the country, which will enable them to shift part of their communication from the existing wireless mode to a wire line network, enabling the defence services to vacate around 45 MHz of spectrum, which can then be allocated to mobile telecom operators for wireless services.
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ABB and IIT, Delhi, in R&D pact
New Delhi: ABB in India and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) towards furthering research and development efforts in power and automation technologies.

The MoU would also facilitate increased interaction between industry and academia. Under the MoU, ABB will facilitate technology development and knowledge sharing between ABB and IITD through specific development projects and research in power and automation.
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IFC package for LG Balakrishnan and Bros.
New Delhi: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has sanctioned a $20-million financial package for LG Balakrishnan and Bros Ltd (LGB). The investment comprises an equity investment of $5 million and a loan of $15 million. The package will support the company's expansion plans in setting up a greenfield hot forging facility near Coimbatore.

LGB is involved in the manufacturing of transmission chains for two-wheelers and for other automotive and industrial appliances. The company is in the process of implementing a $44.5-million expansion plan to strengthen its asset base in its product lines such as transmission chains, fine-blanked parts and forgings.
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Aban Loyd to buy 52 pc in Indonesian drilling co.
Chennai: Aban Loyd Chiles Offshore Ltd has informed the stock exchanges that it has commenced negotiations to acquire a 52 per cent stake in PT Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk of Indonesia.
PT Apexindo Pratama is an onshore and offshore drilling company. It has five offshore and 11 onshore drilling rigs. The company is also into drilling geothermal wells and has done geothermal drilling jobs for Chevron.

Sources in Aban Loyd said the Apexindo is also getting a new rig built.
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Radico Khaitan announces joint ventures in UK, Africa
New Delhi: Liquor company Radico Khaitan Ltd has announced joint ventures in the UK and Africa by way of owning production lines overseas. In the process, the company claims to have become one of the first Indian liquor entities to join hands with overseas production lines.

According to Abhishek Khaitan, managing director, Radico Khaitan Ltd said, "The production on these lines is slated to begin later this month. These joint ventures will help us to roll out our brands in the UK and African markets. We will handle sales, marketing and distribution functions, while manufacturing will be outsourced to the local partner."

While two units will be operational by the end of this month and the outlook is to expand it to 3-4 units by the end of the financial year. Radico will also hit the UK market with its rum and vodka brands viz, Contessa Rum and Magic Moments Vodka.
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Tata Tele, Maharashtra, narrows net loss in Q4
Mumbai: Tata Teleservices, Maharashtra has reported a quarterly cash profit for the first-time and has reduced its net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2006.

Net loss for the fourth quarter amounted to Rs151.76 crore against Rs177.96 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The company reported a cash profit of Rs26 crore against a cash loss of Rs69 crore.

Revenues for the quarter grew 42 per cent to Rs307 crore (Rs216.36 crore).

Higher revenues as well as lower expenditure (notably on administrative costs) helped to improve the company's EBIDTA which was Rs55 crore against a loss of Rs25.08 crore.
Net loss for the year widened to Rs541 crore (Rs527.86 crore) while revenues rose 74 per cent to Rs1,095 crore.

The company is the listed subsidiary of unlisted pan-India telephony access services provider Tata Teleservices Ltd.
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