LICHFL To Provide Reverse Mortgage Loans

Mumbai: LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL) will now give reverse mortgage loans for senior citizens above 60 years. The loan will be given on single or on joint basis with the spouse, if the spouse is over 60 years. The reverse mortgage loan will be given at a fixed interest rate subject to reset every 5 years. Under the scheme, senior citizens can get the loan either on a monthly payment or a lump sum payment or a combination of both. The property evaluated for the loan should have at least 20 years of residual life.

ICICI Venture Picks Up 15pc In City Co Arrow Webtex

NEW DELHI: Private equity firm ICICI Venture has acquired a 14.9% stake in Mumbai-based textile and real estate development firm Arrow Webtex via a preferential allotment. The deal is expected to be in the region of around Rs 130-140 crore. The transaction gives the private equity fund a stake slightly below the level, which mandates an open offer for public listed firms in India. Arrow Webtex is engaged in the business of woven and printed labels, elastic tapes, apart from various activities related to real estate, hospitality and gaming business via its subsidiaries.

ICICI Venture, which manages various private equity, real estate and mezzanine funds, has picked up around 2.03 crore shares via the allotment last week. This deal gave Pacific Corporate Services a 8.8% equity stake in Arrow Webtex. As of December 2007, the promoters held 71.94% stake in Arrow Webtex. The rest was with public and corporate bodies.

Ceat Mulls To Set Up Rs 500cr Radial Tyre Facility

Kolkata: Ceat Ltd has finalised plans to establish a 36-lakh radial tyre facility at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore. The proposed greenfield facility will primarily manufacture radial tyres for passenger car, utility vehicles and light commercial vehicles. The project will also comprise a pilot plant for manufacturing 2.5 lakh truck-bus radials annually. While the company is reportedly weeks away from finalising the location, for the moment the search for land has narrowed down to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat. It may be mentioned that Ceat initially unveiled a hunt for the right partner having access to proven technology for establishing a commercial scale truck bus radial facility. As an alternative strategy, the company had named global consultants for helping develop a truck-bus radial technology of its own as well as improving its existing passenger car radial technology.

Vizag Steel Inks Agreement With RITES

Visakhapatnam: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd inked a memorandum of understanding with the Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd (RITES) here on Feb 28 for design and implementation of the railway network needed as a part of its ongoing expansion project, according to a press release. The expansion will take the steel plant''s capacity to 6.3 million tonnes. The MoU will be applicable for a period of five years. The job involves laying of railway lines within the plant for the incoming raw materials and outgoing finished products. The RITES will also be involved in the design of railway lines at the captive mines of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant at Jaggayyapeta and Madharam.

NTPC Signs Pace With UP Utility

Coimbatore: NTPC has informed that a joint venture pact has been inked between the company and UPRVUNL, on Feb 28, for implementation of 2x660 MW coal-based thermal power project at Meja in District Allahabad of Uttar Pradesh. The project shall be implemented by the proposed joint venture company having equal equity participation on build, own and operate basis. In another notification, the company said it has inked a loan pact with Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), a multilateral financial institution owned by the Nordic and Baltic countries, to part finance the capital expenditure of its projects. The loan has a maturity of 12 years comprising availability period of 3 years and carries a floating rate of interest linked to EURIBOR and is without sovereign guarantee.

ING Vysya Launches New Product

Thiruvananthapuram: ING Vysya Life Insurance has unveiled ING Guaranteed Growth Plan, a new unit-linked product, in Kerala. The new product offers a minimum guaranteed benefit of 5 per cent per annum plus the opportunity for additional market-linked returns. For this product, up to 40 per cent of the available funds will be infused in equity and the balance in debt securities. The product offers policy terms of either 10 years or 15 years and a choice between a single premium or a limited premium paying period of two or three years. On maturity, the higher of the fund value or the guaranteed benefit will be paid.

Fiat, Tatas To Hold Equal Stake In JV

Pune: The Maharashtra Government has given approval for joint venture partners Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A and Tata Motors Ltd to restructure the existing 51:49 shareholding respectively to an equal partnership with both companies holding an equal stake in the Ranjangaon based Fiat India Automobiles Pvt Ltd (FIAPL). The approval, which came in early February, is subject to the joint venture entity satisfying some procedural requirements of the approval. Fiat proposes to finish these formalities at the earliest and hopes to have the equal equity partnership in place before the end of the fiscal. As per the original pact, drawn up in October 2007, the Government had introduced a condition that Fiat should hold more than 50 per cent of the equity. Both the partners have committed to infuse an equal amount in the project that envisages manufacture of cars for both companies and also production of Fiat engines and power trains for the domestic market initially and for global market as well in time.

MRPL Looks At South For Retail Outlets

Mangalore: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) is concentrating more on southern States for the setting up of retail outlets. Nearly 60 per cent of the company''s retail outlets will be based in the South. The company is planning to establish 25 retail outlets during the current calendar year. Nearly 60 per cent of the retail outlets, under the brand name HiQ, will come up in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Around 25 per cent of outlets will come up in Goa, Maharashtra and the Gujarat belt. The company, which set up its first HiQ outlet at Maddur on the Bangalore-Mysore highway recently, is focusing on Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the first phase of outlet establishment. Of the 25 outlets targeted for the current calendar year, 15 outlets are likely to be established in Karnataka.

Union Bank Of India Ties Up With 3i Infotech

3i Infotech, a global provider of IT solutions and the fourth largest Indian Software Product company declared that Union Bank of India (UBI), one of India''s largest state-run banks has inked an agreement to implement AMLOCK, the company''s award winning Anti Money Laundering (AML) software at Union Bank of India. There is an increasing global awareness for matters relating to Anti Money Laundering and leading banks in particular, are addressing these requirements by implementing a suitable software solution. Union Bank of India too, is among these forward looking banks which have decided to implement the AMLOCK Anti Money Laundering Solution from 3i Infotech.

ICICI Lombard Launches Weather Insurance

Mumbai: ICICI Lombard General Insurance, in association with Weather Risk Management Services (WRMS), has unveiled a hybrid weather-cum-satellite imagery-based insurance product in India to cover the risk of farmers growing wheat in the Patiala district of Punjab. Although weather-based crop insurance covers are available, ICICI Lombard''s product is single as it uses satellite-based imagery to assess crop yields. The product, if successful, is likely to considerably decrease the time needed for estimating the yield of an area by carrying out crop-cutting experiments. Using the insurance product, yield will be determined on the basis of a Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is a simple numerical indicator derived from satellite or aerial images for assessing the crop health at any particular point of time. This data will be increased by using four other parameters, namely, soil, moisture data from satellite images, temperature and rainfall data from ground weather observatory stations.

Compare this to crop-cutting experiments for calculating actual yield estimation, wherein a simple multiple-peril crop insurance product''s actual yields of an area are benchmarked to average yields of the last 3 to 5 years. The actual yield estimation of an area is done by carrying out a specified number of crop-cutting experiment In the present National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS), although Agriculture Insurance Company of India decides the claim amount, the process is managed by the Union government and takes more than a year for the farmer to get the claim amount. With the use of the hybrid weather-cum-satellite imagery, claims can be settled within 30 days.

LIC Premium Payment Facility Via Aponline

As part of customer friendly initiatives LIC is introducing payment of life insurance premium through APOnline, the digital portal of the Andhra Pradesh Government. Life Insurance Corporation of India, the largest Life Insurance Company in India is retaining its No.1 position consistently as the premier financial institution in the country. LIC has 22 Crores Policy holders of which about 2 crores are from Andhra Pradesh. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has now facilitated the payment of insurance premium through APOnline at over 1300 franchise centres located across Andhra Pradesh. This will add a new dimension of convenience to the crores of LIC policy holders across the state.

APOnline''s partnership with LIC is significant as, till now, policy holders could pay their premiums directly at any of the LIC branch offices / Satellite Offices / through Internet using their net banking account of select banks / through arrangement with certain banks like Axis Bank / through the ATMs of Corporation Bank or Axis Banks etc. APOnline is a Joint Venture between the Government of AP and Tata Consultancy Services. APOnline is an integrated web portal that operates in a franchise model and offers multiple citizen services and aims at facilitating e-governance.

State Bank Of Travancore Inks Mou With Crisil

Thiruvananthapuram: State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has inked a memorandum of understanding with Crisil for rating of small and medium enterprises. As per the MoU, Crisil will give rating services to the clients of SBT at a concessional fee. The bank senses that the independent credit rating by Crisil will go a long way in proclaiming the credibility of the enterprise among its suppliers, customers and the general public. The pact with Crisil is part of the bank''s ongoing plans to assist in the development of the small and medium enterprises and it has won recognition at the national level for excellence in lending to the small sector.

LG Electronics Inks Agreements With Itis

New Delhi: LG Electronics has inked a memorandum of understanding with Industrial Training Institute of India to give better placements to the trainees from the institute besides tuning the training programme as per the industry needs. The company targets to recruit 5,000 people by the end of 2010 as a part of its branding strategy to concentrate on services. As per the MoU, LG Electronics plans to cover 35 cities by the end of 2009 which amounts to around 50 ITIs across these cities. Soft skill training will be given to enhance behavioural competence of the students. Also hands-on training at the modern training centre equipped with training equipment will be given to the students and all high performers will be getting an opportunity to become technical consultants or supervisors.

RIL Gas Discovers In Mahanadi Basin Block

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd declared on Feb 26 that it had discovered gas in the NEC-OSN 97/2 (NEC-25) block located in the NEC-Mahanadi offshore basin, off the Orissa coast in Bay of Bengal. This shallow water block covers an area of 10,755 sq km and water depths ranging between 20 metres and 600 metres. This is the eighth discovery in the block. RIL had earlier discovered six consecutive commercial discoveries in this block, for which the development plan has been submitted to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons for clearance. The block was given under the bidding round of NELP-I. RIL holds 90 per cent participating interest and the rest is held by NIKO Ltd.

BHEL Secures Rs 1,075cr Deal

New Delhi: Equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has secured an Rs 1,075-crore order from Gujarat State Energy Generation. The order for establishing a 350-MW combined cycle power plant at Hazira in Gujarat on an EPC basis is scheduled for completion in 27 months. BHEL''s project envisages design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of one Frame 9FA gas turbine generator set, one steam turbine generator set and one heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) with latest controls and instrumentation (C&I), connected auxiliaries and balance of plant, in addition to complete civil works and select spares.

Bharti, 5 Firms To Lay $300 Mn US-Asia Undersea Cable

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel, along with five other international telecom companies, has executed a pact to build a high-bandwidth undersea fibre-optic cable linking Asia and the US. The construction of the new cable system, known as Unity, will cost an estimated $300 million. Though this cable will not touch Indian shores, traffic from the country can be taken on Bharti i2i network up to Singapore and then routed through the new cable. The Unity consortium is a collective effort by Bharti Airtel (India), Global Transit Ltd (Malaysia), Google (US), KDDI Corporation (Japan), Pacnet (Singapore) and SingTel (Singapore). This investment is in line with its strategy to extend its international footprint across the globe to give seamless connectivity to our customers via partnerships with leading global companies. The Unity consortium has selected NEC Corporation and Tyco Telecommunications to construct and install the system. The Unity cable system will give connectivity between Chikura, located off the coast near Tokyo, to Los Angeles and other West Coast network points of presence.

Bharti has two international landing stations in Chennai those links two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Singapore and Europe. The company has also recently undertaken a series of plans to extend its international footprint and has joined the Asia America Gateway cable system to give the much-needed diversity against traditional routes to the US, mainly carrying broadband traffic.

REL Announces Move To Buy Back Shares

Mumbai: Reliance Energy Ltd said on Feb 26 that the company''s board will consider buyback of shares at a meeting to be held on March 5. The company was having cash reserves of over Rs 10,000 crore and the stock was undervalued and, therefore, it was decided to take the buyback route. It could infuse between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore. The company prefers for a buyback, but in December 2007, the company had chose for Rs 8,000-crore equity capital infusion through a preferential offer. Reliance Energy Ltd, in a December 3 notice to the BSE, had said that company was preferring for capital infusion so as to take part in large-scale infrastructure projects, which will be soon open for bidding. The new equity capital will considerably enhance Reliance Energy''s net worth, and further augment its borrowing capabilities, to enable greater participation in these mega growth opportunities in high growth areas, thereby, generating superior returns for over 1.5 million shareholders. The promoters currently hold 34.68 per cent stake in the company, 63.99 per cent is held by the public shareholders, and overseas investors against depository receipts hold the rest of the stake.

MMTC To Source Truck-Bus Tyres From China

Kolkata: MMTC is planning to import truck-bus tyres from China in the next fiscal. The company is also exploring the possibility of import of raw materials for the domestic tyre companies. MMTC likely to emerge as the first major trading house to import tyres. India was importing close to 1.4 lakh truck-bus tyres every month through 35-odd smaller players. The company mulls to market the imported tyres both through the dealer network as well as directly to fleet owners, especially the State transport undertakings and major PSUs. Confirming MMTC''s move, sources in the All-India Tyre Dealers'' Federation said that the trading major has already been in discussion with the dealers and may settle for an initial import quantity of between 10,000 and 15,000 tyres comprising both cross-ply and radial varieties. MMTCs entry will infuse the much needed competition and better trading practices in the tyre sector.

HDFC Bank, Centurion Boards Grant 1:29 Share Swap Ratio

Mumbai: Shareholders of Centurion Bank of Punjab will be qualified to exchange 29 shares into one share of HDFC Bank. This follows the board of directors of the two banks approving on Feb 25 a share-swap ratio of 1:29. HDFC Bank''s share closed at Rs 1,422.70, down by 3.5 per cent while Centurion Bank ended the day at Rs 48.25, lower by 14.45 per cent on the BSE on Feb 25. The entire process of the amalgamation will take about four months for completion. The amalgamated entity will be known as HDFC Bank.

The near-term impact on HDFC''s financials will be moderately negative considering the relatively poor financials of Centurion Bank. It will take HDFC Bank a while to leverage the branch network of Centurion Bank to improve its financials. HDFC Bank, said that the merger will create a larger entity and bring together the strengths of both banks in terms of technology, products, distribution, manpower and experience. The net non-performing assets as a percentage of net advances for HDFC Bank for the year 2006-07 stands at 0.43 per cent while that for Centurion Bank is at 1.26 per cent. Post amalgamation, the NPA of HDFC Bank might decline further by 15-20 basis points to 0.6 per cent.

Opto Circuits To Acquire US Co For $68mn

Bangalore: Opto Circuits (India) Ltd on Feb 25, declared that it has forayed into a definitive pact with Criticare Systems, Inc, a US-based healthcare company, to unveil a tender offer to acquire all the outstanding shares of Criticare at an offer price of $5.50 per share, for an aggregate price of $68 million. The offer price represents a premium of 65 per cent to the average price of Criticare common stock over the last three months and a premium of 19 per cent, to the closing price of Criticare common stock on February 22, of $4.62.

Jubilant Organosys Bags New Contracts

Uttar Pradesh-based pharma major Jubilant Organosys Ltd (JOL) has secured new contracts worth $92 million (Rs.3.7 billion). The contracts have been signed under Customs Research and Manufacturing Services (CRAMS). Besides marketing its products in the regulated markets of the US, Europe and Japan, the company has managed to make forays into China, said a statement of JOL. The momentum in CRAMS related outsourcing is accelerating. The signing of agreements is expected to translate into considerable improved performance in the key pharmaceutical and life sciences segment during the calendar year 2008.

Kerala IT Firm Provides Solution To Axis Bank

Axis Bank (formerly UTI Bank) has accepted a pricing and billing software solution prepared by Kerala''s leading IT solutions company SunTec. SunTec in a statement on Monday said it was happy that it could meet Axis Bank''s expectations in time. With an ever-growing customer base like that of Axis Bank, it gets more challenging by the day to deliver consistent and personalised customer experience. The solution provided by SunTec will help Axis Bank to consolidate its billing and centralise and streamline pricing processes. The solution will also help Axis Bank create personalised product packages. SunTec''s solution allowed us to consolidate all our home-grown billing processes. Axis Bank is SunTec''s second banking services client in India after ICICI Bank. Axis Bank was among the first of the new private banks to begin operations in 1994, after the banking sector in India was thrown open to private players.

NTPC Names 14 New Eds

New Delhi: NTPC Ltd has named 14 new executive directors at its various subsidiaries and projects. NTPC has named 14 executive directors to head its various divisions for attaining its growth plans in the areas of forward, backward, lateral integration and subsidiaries and joint venture projects.

Life Insurance Agents Likely To Get Service Tax Relief

Mumbai: Life insurance agents are likely to be waived from payment of service tax if their total annual commission income does not exceed Rs 8 lakh. Though in principle the notification dated March 1, 2005, let away from tax, services of aggregate value not exceeding Rs 8 lakh in a year the benefit of the exemption is not extended to insurance companies that pay the tax on behalf of their agents. This differential treatment of life insurance auxiliary services likely to get corrected in the 2008-09 Union Budget.

The benefit of exemption up to the threshold limit is not extended to such cases where service tax is paid by the recipient of service on behalf of the provider of service. In the case of life insurance agents, the service tax (12.36 per cent) is paid by insurance companies which then deduct the amount from the commission of their agents. Life insurers have made a submission to the finance ministry, asking that the benefit of service tax exemption below the threshold limit of Rs 8,00,000 in a year likely to be extended to all service gives such as insurance agents, notwithstanding that the actual remittance of the tax is made by the principal, namely, the insurance company, which is in fact a procedure to ensure efficiency of collection.

Bombay HC Approval For JSW Steel-Siscol Amalgamation

Coimbatore: The Bombay High Court has given its clearance to the amalgamation of Southern Iron & Steel Ltd (Siscol) with JSW Steel Ltd (JSWSL). JSWSL said that the High Court of Judicature at Mumbai has granted the Scheme of Amalgamation of Southern Iron & Steel Co Ltd with the company. The order granting the scheme was announced in the Court on Feb 22. The written order sanctioning the scheme is hoped to 1be get shortly. The company had proposed a swap ratio of one share of JSWSL for every 22 shares of Siscol.

ICICI Bank To Foray Into Germany

ICICI Bank of India is set to open for business in Frankfurt, the German financial capital, next week, the institution''s chief executive, Kundapur Vaman Kamath, said in an interview published on Feb 22.

He said previous plans to commence operations last November had been held up by negotiations with German regulators.Germany is the right jumping-off point to seek out alliances, partnerships and opportunities in Europe, he said, according to the German text printed in the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

He said ICICI would offer online retail and business banking to German residents starting Thursday next week, offering savers higher rates of interest than its competitors.Kamath said this was possible because the bank would save costs by managing all its electronic operations from India, not Germany.It also expected to serve business customers active in rising German-Indian trade.

Alok Ind Targets Rs 1,100cr Export Turnover In FY08

Mumbai: Alok Industries, the Rs 1,824-crore textile company, plans to increase its export earnings. It is aiming revenues of Rs 1,100 crore from the segment this financial year. The company has already attained its export turnover worth Rs 640.4 crore out of its total turnover of Rs 1,434.4 crore in the first nine months of this financial year, a rise of 66.2 per cent on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis. Alok Industries were able to withstand the impact of a strengthening rupee through expanding sales of higher value products across our product segment, that includes home furnishings, men and women''s clothing. In addition, the company''s growth in sales in the European market was derived from their earlier Czech-based acquisition Mileta, which gave them manufacturing and marketing capabilities in the region. The company''s other main export markets are in Latin America. In December 2007 quarter, its operating profit grew 22.3 per cent y-o-y to Rs 134.8 crore, while its net sales increased 14.75 per cent to Rs 550.78 crore. Meanwhile, in the domestic market, Alok Industries is increasing its retail network from 20 stores to 125 stores by the end of December 2008.

Rafael To Sign Agreement With Tata Power For Air Defence Systems

New Delhi: Rafael, the Israeli armaments company, is set to ink an agreement with Tata Power for maintenance of air defence systems which the company will supply to the Indian Air Force. Rafael, which has got the order for quick reaction surface-to-air Python and Derby Air Defence Systems for the Ministry of Defence, will ink the production transfer programme agreement with the Tata Group company this fiscal.The missiles, that target low-flying enemy missions, will replace the IAF''s ageing Russian SAM-6 and SAM-7 missiles. Under the proposed agreement, Tata Power will manufacture some parts of the air defence systems and do the maintenance work post delivery. Each unit of the air defence systems consists of a command and control vehicle fitted with a radar, four silos capable of firing four missiles and units to supply and service the vehicle. The Cabinet committee on security last month cleared the deal, which will cost Rs 4,500 crore. As part of the main contract to deliver the air defence systems to the IAF, Rafael will give an as yet unspecified number of Python-5 and Derby missiles, both of them considered advanced surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles

Deccan Aviation To Mop Up Rs 1,600 Cr

Coimbatore: Deccan Aviation Ltd''s board of directors has decided subject to approvals to mop up Rs 1,600 crore by way of domestic or overseas offerings to institutional investors, NRIs, Indian public companies, corporate bodies or approved mutual funds. The board resolved to consider banks, insurance companies, pension funds and qualified institutional buyers for allotment. The board also decided, subject to approval of the shareholders, increase in authorised share capital from Rs 150 crore to Rs 500 crore and consequential amendments to the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company.

Nalco Gets Mining Rights In AP

Mumbai: State-owned Nalco has received in-principle rights for bauxite mining from the Andhra Pradesh Government.

“The mines are situated at Jayrala in Andhra Pradesh,” the Minister of State for Mines, T. Subbarami Reddy, said here on Friday. Nalco plans to set up a greenfield aluminium project in Andhra Pradesh. Nalco also plans to set up a 0.5 million tonne plant in South Africa. “The company will tap the local mineral resources,” the Minister said.

The country would extend all possible support along with access to local mineral resources for Nalco to do the value addition. The project cost is estimated at around Rs 15,000 crore. Nalco also had plans to set up unit of 2.50 lakh tonnes per annum in Iran

Nissan, Renault Sign Mou With TN For Car Project

Chennai: Global car majors Nissan of Japan and Renault of France today jointly signed an MoU with the Government of Tamil Nadu to develop an integrated greenfield car plant at Oragadam, about 50 km from here. Run-up to Budget 2008-09

A year ago the two companies along with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) announced a tripartite joint venture with the latter holding 50 per cent and the rest shared by the two overseas alliance partners.

With the Indian partner’s “priorities having changed”, to focus more on the product lines it had been in, it severed its ties. Hence, Nissan and Renault are taking the show forward.

Globally, Renault and Nissan are partners - Renault has 44 per cent stake in Nissan, while the Japanese company holds 15 per cent of Renault.

In the Indian project, both the partners will hold equal share in the company that is yet to be named and have agreed to invest Rs 4,500 crore to create a manufacturing facility with an installed capacity of 4 lakh vehicles per year. Commercial production is expected to commence in 2010. The new facility would provide employment to about 4,000 people. They expect about 50 vendors to set up shop in the neighbourhood of the car plant.

The plant will have two manufacturing lines, one for each partners to make 2 lakh cars each. However, some capital-intensive manufacturing such as for power trains and stampings, will be common.

Nissan’s plans

Speaking to the media after the MoU signing ceremony, the Executive Vice-President of Nissan Motor Company Ltd, Carlos Tavares, said Nissan would make four models in the new plant and distribute them through a proposed joint venture distribution company.

Nissan is looking for a partner for the joint venture.

Both companies have indicated that they would make compact cars, aiming for volumes. Eventual local content will be upwards of 80 per cent.

Renault’s plans

Renault would make five models in the Chennai plant and distribute them through its joint venture company with M&M - Mahindra Renault India Ltd, the company that makes the ‘Logan’ car. Fifteen per cent of the production will be exported.

The Executive Vice-President (Product & Strategic Planning and Programmes) - Renault Group, Patrick Pelata, said, “all the cars manufactured by Renault at the Chennai plant will have the ‘Mahindra Renault’ badge.” To a question if there is a possibility of M&M getting back into the joint venture, he said the re-entry option was open.

US Stocks: Bond Insurer Rescue Spurs Late Stock Rally

New York: U.S. stocks rallied late on Friday on news that banks were near an agreement to bail out bond insurer Ambac Financial, a deal that could prevent further damage to the banking industry and credit markets.

After trading in negative territory for most of the session, stocks turned positive in the last half hour after CNBC television reported a bank rescue may come as soon as next week. A source later told Reuters that progress has been made in recent days, but that a deal may still fall through.

The triple-A credit ratings of Ambac and rival MBIA have come under threat because of their exposure to risky mortgage bonds. That has forced banks to write down the value of holdings insured by the two companies.

Earlier, financial shares had led the decline after Merrill Lynch & Co recommended investors sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the biggest U.S. home financing companies in anticipation of further deterioration in financial markets.

News of the potential rescue plan caused the Dow to swing from a loss of about 80 points to a 96-point gain by the close, led by a reversal in financial shares.

"The Ambac news turned the entire stock and index futures markets around. The rally almost fed on itself as traders looked to get long wherever they could," said Joe Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at online brokerage thinkorswim in Chicago.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 96.72 points, or 0.79 per cent, to end at 12,381.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 10.58 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 1,353.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 3.57 points, or 0.16 per cent, to close at 2,303.35.

For the week, the Dow ended up 0.3 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent, but the Nasdaq fell 0.8 per cent.

Volume was about 1.4 billion, down from last year's daily average of 1.9 billion on the New York Stock Exchange, which also reported at the close that short interest rose in the first part of February to a fresh record.

Ambac Roars Back

Shares of Ambac, which had been lower for most of the day, surged 16 per cent to end at $10.71, while MBIA shares gained 2.4 per cent to $12.18, both on the New York Stock Exchange.

The S&P financial index rose 1.6 per cent, while an index of bank shares rose 1.7 per cent.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares sharply pared losses but still ended lower for the day. Fannie Mae shares were down 0.9 per cent at $28.72 at the close, while Freddie Mac shares were down 4.1 per cent at $26.61.

The Merrill downgrade was the latest in a long series of bad news for the financial sector where investors are reacting to woes stemming from defaults in the subprime mortgage market that have led to much stricter lending conditions.

Genentech Up Late On Drug Ok

After the close, shares of Genentech Inc rose more than 8 per cent to $77.99 following news that U.S. regulators had approved the company's cancer drug, Avastin, for the treatment of breast cancer.

During the regular session, Express Scripts Inc rose 2.4 per cent to $66.31 on Nasdaq after the pharmacy benefits manager raised its 2008 profit forecast due to favorable trends.

Nasdaq volume was fairly brisk, with about 2.3 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average of 2.17 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 3 to 2, while on the Nasdaq, the opposite trend held, with about 4 stocks falling for every 3 that rose.

First Advantage Acquisition

Mumbai: The Nasdaq listed First Advantage Corporation has acquired Verify Ltd, an employment screening company for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition further extends First Advantage’s ability to deliver its global talent acquisition solutions, especially in the high growth countries of Malaysia and China, Ashish Dehade, Managing Director, said.

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and with offices in India, Hong Kong, Japan and China, Verify is the second largest background-screening firm in Asia. “Verify offers great extension to our customer base and terrific management, and together we have the opportunity to continue to grow our international presence and cross-sell industry leading products and services,” First Advantage President and Chief Executive Officer, Anand Nallathambi, said.

BEL Ties Up With 3 Israeli Cos

Bangalore: Bharat Electronics Ltd said it has tied up with three Israeli companies during the just-concluded Defexpo in Delhi. Run-up to Budget 2008-09

It will form a joint venture with Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd to take up missile electronics and guidance technologies. This will enable Rafael to take up offset requirements by transferring technology and have indigenous production, according to a BEL release.

V.V.R. Sastry, BEL's CMD, said the joint venture will enable BEL to expand its portfolio to meet the growing demand of missile electronics. BEL also signed a MoU with Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd (IAI)- Malat to jointly work on unmanned aerial vehicle systems for Indian defence requirements.

BEL will undertake the product support function for the UAVs and manufacture and supply designated sub-systems. IAI will provide the technical know-how for maintenance support. A 12-year tie-up with Elisra envisages joint working for various airborne electronic warfare programmes for Indian defence requirements.

Govt Approves Securities For SBI Rights Issue

New Delhi: The government on Feb 21 approved issuing special marketable securities worth Rs 9,995.99 crore to subscribe to State Bank of India''s rights offer.The Cabinet, which met in New Delhi on Thursday, gave its approval to modify an earlier decision to give SLR (statutory liquidity ratio) status to the government securities. The issuance of such securities would have allowed SBI to meet a part of its SLR requirement.

Under SLR provisions, banks have to park 25 per cent of their deposits in government bonds. SBI has decided to raise Rs 16,736.31 crore by issuing about 10.5 crore shares on a rights basis. The issue, which opened on February 18 will close on March 18.

i-flex Solutions Bags Order From Volkswagen Bank

Mumbai: iflex Solution Ltd, a leading provider of technology solutions to the global banking and financial services industry, on Feb 20 announced it will provide banking software solutions to Europe''s Volkswagen Bank for the Netherlands region.In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Thursday, iflex said the solution would also allow Volkswagen Bank to deliver web-based services to its dealers and customers.

Syndicate Bank Forges Alliance With ECGC

Mumbai: Syndicate Bank has inked a memorandum of understanding under corporate agency tie up arrangement with Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd (ECGC), for marketing their various export insurance products through its designated branches. The alliance will offer innovative solutions to exporters in insuring their export credit and would also cater to individual requirements of exporters against payment risks due to default by buyers or due to other commercial and political risks in export of goods and services.

Deutsche Bank To Appoint More Than 1,000 In India

Deutsche Bank is looking at appointing over 1,000 people for its back-office operations in India and open front-end offices in the UK and US to facilitate offshoring. According to the source, staff strength at DB Operations International (DBOI) will reach 5,000 by the year end compared with 3,900 now. The move comes at a time, when a few other multinationals are actually trying to sell off their captive units and outsource operations.

Wipro Sets Up Global Service Centre In Malaysia

Bangalore: Wipro has unveiled its global service management centre (GSMC) in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. This centre will serve the infrastructure and application management service requirements of customers across the ASEAN region through a remote service delivery model. The key services rendered from this centre would include management of data centre, network, call centre technology, business service, managed security services and end user support services. Running the operations on a 24x7 basis, this centre will be the nerve centre for providing multilingual technical support to customers.

Infosys Embarks On Latin American Ops

Mumbai: The Latin American subsidiary of Infosys Technologies has embarked on its operations. The Infosys subsidiary has been established in Mexico to offer services such as business process outsourcing (BPO), infrastructure management and packaged solutions implementation, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The subsidiary would provide business consulting and IT services for clients of all industries, including banking, financial services, distribution, retail.

State Govt Plans IT SEZ For Smes

For the first time ever in the country, an Information Technology (IT) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is being planned in the State exclusively for the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs). The State Government''s decision comes in the wake of the realisation that there''s no level-playing field for all IT companies, especially for the SMEs, which are capable of generating more employment and thus help build social infrastructure.

This initiative, the IT department hopes, will deliver the desired results. Though a red carpet has been rolled out for IT giants like the Microsoft and the Infosys, they are generally seen as doing not much to employ local talent. By encouraging the SMEs, this gap can be filled, an IT department official said. To set the ball rolling, the department has invited expressions of interest (EoI) from companies willing to set up their facilities at the SEZ.

LIC Revises Gratuity Of Agents To Rs 2 Lakh

Chennai: The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has reworked the gratuity payable to agents to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh earlier. The revised rates will be applicable retrospectively from April 1, 2007. The Life Insurance Agents'' Federation of India, the apex body of LIC agents, has been demanding that agents'' gratuity benefits be brought on par with that of LIC staff. At present, an agent can avail of a maximum of Rs 1 lakh as gratuity benefit as opposed to Rs 3.5 lakh for LIC employees.

Gratuity admissible to an agent shall be at the eligible rate for each qualifying year for the first 15 qualifying years and at half the eligible rate for the subsequent 10 qualifying years, provided the maximum amount of gratuity payable shall not exceed Rs 2 lakh, LIC said in a communication to its zonal managers and others on February 12. For instance, bancassurance channels have grown rapidly at 30-40 per cent year-on-year. The entry of the private sector has added a new dimension by introducing several incentives, including foreign trips for agents performing well. Of course, LIC has a semblance of such incentives only for agents who are top performers. As of now, LIC agents receive commissions ranging from 14-35 per cent for traditional products depending on the sum assured and only 2 per cent for investment products. In the case of renewal premia, the commission is around 5 per cent. Last year, LIC handed out Rs 6,000 crore in commissions to agents.

Metlife Hikes Paid-Up Capital By Rs 350 Cr

Bangalore: Metlife India Insurance has decided to hike its paid-up capital by Rs 350 crore to Rs 1,230 crore. This additional infusion has come in from J&K Bank, Pallonji & Co, Metlife Inc, besides a couple of private equity investors who are the existing shareholders.

At present, Metlife is tenth among the 14 private insurance players in India. The company has offloaded around half a million policies during its seven years of operations, collection a total premium of around Rs 620 crore. The company is expecting to cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark by the end of 2008. Nearly 95 per cent of their revenue comes through the sale of ULIP products. Metlife India''s 20 products are also available through J&K Bank, Axis Bank, Barclays Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank and Karnataka Bank.

SBI Cuts Lending Rate By 0.25 Per Cent

In a move that will make housing and auto loans cheaper, four public sector banks, led by State bank of India, today announced slashing the Prime Lending Rates by 0.25-0.50 per cent.For the second time in less than 10 days, the country''s largest lender SBI slashed Prime Lending Rate by 0.25 per cent to 12.25 per cent. The bank had announced, on February 11, cutting the PLR by 0.25 per cent effective from February 16.

The reduction in PLR is likely to moderate lending rates for all category of borrowers, including housing (floating rate), corporate, car loans.Moreover, Bank of India and Union Bank also announced reduction in PLR by 0.5 per cent to 12.75 per cent today.

Bangalore-based Canara Bank also cut PLR by 0.25 per cent to 12.75 per cent.Earlier last month, housing finance company HDFC and PNB Housing Finance too had reduced interest rate on housing loan.While HDFC reduced its RPLR by 0.25 per cent effective February one, PNB Housing Finance slashed the rates by 0.5 per cent. RBI Governor Y V Reddy, while announcing the quarterly monetary policy review on January 29, had asked bankers to explore the possibility of reducing interest rates in the light of high net interest margin.

United Spirits To Hike Its Wine Portfolio

Vijay Mallya''s United Spirits (USL) will be launching two wine ranges later this year. Over the past two decades, USL has been more or less absent in the wines category. However, the company felt that it was imperative to create and introduce its own brands as wines form 50 per cent of global spirit sales.

The company operates through two wine subsidiaries, United Vintners and Four Seasons Wines. United Vintners will deal in imported wines, which the company has been doing for the past 20 years, while Four Seasons will produce and sell Indian wines straddling all price points. The company''s new range would be priced between Rs 375 and Rs 500 per bottle. This would be followed by a super-premium reserve range, which would be sent to French oak barrels. Zinzi is priced between Rs 150 to Rs 276. USL had set up its wine division in September 2006 and invested Rs 25 crore in plant machinery and equipment. The company may also invest as much as 50 per cent of its sales in advertising and promotions and an additional Rs 75 crore in the next four years to scale up production. USL currently sources grapes from a 1,000 acre land in Baramati, 120 km from Pune. The company looks to buy more 300 acres there and get into contract farming on another 700 acres in the next two years. Wines form a very small percentage of total spirits sales in India, but it has the potential to go up to 50 per cent, on par with the rest of the world, say experts.

Other players in the Indian wine industry include Chateau Indage, Grover Vineyards and Sula Wines. Diageo India, arm of global spirits Diageo, is also expected to enter the wine market in India in a big way, while Seagram India, part of the Pernod Ricard Group, launched its wine brand Nine Hills last year. The company expects Zinzi, which is priced lower than many other existing wines, to provide tough competition to other brands.

West Bengal, Fastest Growing IT Hub In India

With West Bengal aiming to become one of the top three IT states by 2010, contributing 15-20 per cent of the country''s total IT revenue, a number of IT majors are today doing significant business in Kolkata. Announcing the results of a survey report on the state''s IT and ITeS sector in Kolkata on Monday, Indian Chamber of Commerce president Harsh K Jha said, Between 2002-05, West Bengal has been recognised as the fastest growing IT destination in the country with more than double the national average growth rate. The ICC carried out the survey by gathering feedback from prominent IT companies operating in the state, including TCS [Get Quote], Cognizant, IBM, Wipro [Get Quote], on issues like infrastructure, investment scenario and future business prospects, he said.

Ford Rolls Out Endeavour Variant

Chennai-based Ford India on Feb 10 rolled out the new 3 litre Endeavour Thunder kitted with 16 valve TDCi (turbo diesel common rail injection) diesel engine. The sports utility vehicle (SUV) offers increased power and improved fuel efficiency, sources said from the company.

Ford''s new vehicle is the third addition to the auto major''s stable of Endeavour SUVs in the country. The new Endeavour Thunder costs Rs 17,32,000, ex-showroom Delhi. The SUV competes with a host of 4X4 vehicles such as GM Taverra, Hyundai Terracan and Toyota Innova. The company has so far sold 10,000 Endeavours. The Endeavour family contributes 10-20 per cent to the company''s revenues. Ford, which sold 40,000 vehicles in 2007, sold 360 Endeavours in January this year. With 50 per cent of the country''s automobile market consisting of small cars, McCormack said Ford India would launch its small car in the next 24 months.

Sintex Industries Mulls Rs 1800cr Investment For Expansion

Gujarat-based Sintex Industries Ltd mulls investment about Rs 1,800 crore over the next three years for expansion of its various units. The company which acquired Zeppelin Mobile System India in 2005 has also chalked out plans to set up two greenfield projects in Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh for manufacturing telecom shelters, which are installed at the base of telecom towers. Sintex is also planning to enhance the capacity of its over 75-year-old textile division, Bharat Vijay Mills, for an estimated investment of Rs 130-180 crore.

The company is also planning to enter high-end women shirting and upholstery and has introduced over 3,000 designs in Europe. In 2006-07, the textile division accounted for Rs 303 crore of the total Rs 1,100 crore. This share of 28 per cent is likely to come down to 20 per cent this year as the growth in textile year-on-year has been 4-5 per cent as compared with the company''s monolithic and pre-fabricated business where the growth is about 40-50 per cent. The textile division produces cotton structured dyed yarn fabric for high-end clients like Armani. The company has no plans to enter into branded products as of now, Patel said. It is sourcing designs for textile business from the UK and Italy and its entire production would be pre-sold. The company has set its eyes on emerging as a $3-billion company by 2012.

IRDA Asks Insurers To Follow Proposal Norms

Hyderabad: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has asked the insurers to strictly follow norms with regard to proposal for insurance. The authority has advised all insurers to strictly follow the provisions relating to Proposal for insurance (Section 4) under the IRDA (Protection of Policyholders'' Interests), 2002. IRDA was in receipt of several complaints, citing instances of policies being issued without collecting a proposal form from customers as specified in Section 4.

OCL India Fixes Record Date For Scheme Of Arrangement

OCL India Ltd has informed that March 05, 2008 has been fixed as a record date for ascertaining the list of shareholders of OCL India Ltd (OCL) for issue of equity shares of OCL Iron and Steel Ltd (OISL) and Landmark Property Development Company Ltd (LPDC) (formerly known as Konark Minerals Ltd) as per the Scheme of Arrangement (Scheme) approved by Honble Gauhati High Court on October 15, 2007 and the Honble High Court of Orissa, Cuttack on November 27, 2007. Certified copy of Order was filed with the office of the Registrar of Companies, Shillong on November 05, 2007 and Registrar of Companies, Cuttack on December 20, 2007. Accordingly, the Effective Date for the Scheme is December 20, 2007.

Further, OCL has fixed March 06, 2008 as the record date for the entitlement of Dalmia Cement (Meghalaya) Ltd (DCML) shareholders to the shares of OCL.

Pursuant to the Orders and as envisaged in the Scheme, the following issue and allotment of shares will be carried out by the respective companies in accordance with the Scheme:

i) As per clause 7.1 of the Scheme, OISL shall, in consideration of demerger of Steel Undertaking of OCL, issue and allot three equity shares of Rs 1/- (Rupees One only) each of every one equity share of OCL to the members of OCL;

ii) As per clause 7.2 of the Scheme, LPDC shall, in consideration of demerger of Real Estate Undertaking of OCL, issue and allot three equity shares of Rs 1/- (Rupee One only) each for every one equity share of OCL to the members of OCL; and

iii) As per clause 11.1 of the Scheme, OCL shall, in consideration of merger of DCML, issue and allot sixty one equity shares of Rs 2/- (Rupees two only) each for every hundred equity shares of DCML to the members of DCML.

Further, the Scheme does not involve reduction of paid up equity share capital of OCL and existing listed shares of OCL will not undergo any change in face value.

RIL To Begin Methane Production From Sept

New Delhi: Reliance Industries (RIL) is all set to start production of coalbed methane (CBM) from its Sohagpur blocks in Madhya Pradesh by September, well ahead of its mid-2009 schedule. RIL is looking at producing around 5 million cubic metres of gas a day (mcmd) from the blocks, most of which will be used for a 500 mw power plant that the company plans to set up in the area.

An investment of around Rs 4 crore is required per megawatt for setting up a gas-based power plant. Thus, RIL''s 500 mw plant would involved an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore. RIL shares closed flat today at Rs 2,553 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. RIL will be the second company in the country to produce methane from coal beds after Kolkata-based Great Eastern Energy Corporation (GEECL), which began commercial production from its Ranigunj block near Asansol, in West Bengal, in July last year. CBM is a natural gas occurring in coal seams.

RIL will start with a production of around one mcmd of gas from the block to get to a peak level of five mcmd over the next couple of years. The block is estimated to have around 3.6 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves. Some of the gas will be sold to industries around Sohagpur. The company had originally planned to carry the gas by pipeline to Uttar Pradesh for industries there. RIL could, however, face opposition from the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) as the two brothers had agreed when they split not to enter each other''s business areas. ADAG is already in the power business through Reliance Energy and has plans for generation projects through Reliance Power. The government has awarded 26 CBM blocks for exploration so far, five of these to RIL. ONGC and Reliance Natural Resources of the Anil Ambani group also have CBM blocks.

Union Bank Sets Up Additional Branches

Visakhapatnam: The Union Bank has set up five fully computerised branches in the districts of Vizianagaram and East Godavari. The new branches are situated at Bobbili, Salur and Parvatipuram in Vizianagaram district and Kakinada and Rajahmundry in East Godavari district.

BHEL To Set Up Libya Power Plant

New Delhi: BHEL, India''s leading Power equipment maker, announced that it received a major order for setting up a 300 MW gas turbine-based power plant in Libya. According to a statement by BHEL, The order worth Rs 650 crore order to be executed on engineering, procurement and construction basis, has been placed by general electricity company of Libya for expansion of the 600 MW Western Mountain Power Project.

BHEL had recently completed execution of the Rs 1,400 crore project, the largest gas turbine-based power project installed by the company so far. The present contract for extension of western mountain power project envisages setting up two gas-turbine units of 150 MW each. The equipment for the 300 MW order would be supplied from Bhel`s manufacturing facilities at Haridwar, Bhopal, Jhansi, Bangalore, Chennai and Ranipet.

Tata Investment Becomes Arm Of Tata Sons

Mumbai: Tata Investment Corp Ltd (TICL) has become a subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd.TICL said Tata Sons has acquired five million of its equity shares from Tata Chemicals Ltd. Tata Sons Ltd now holds 54.98 percent of the paid-up capital of the company.

UTV Expands Alliance With Walt Disney

Mumbai: Hollywood media giant Walt Disney Company is all set to put in Rs 13.14 billion in two UTV group firms. An agreement has recently been reached between the two groups under which Disney, through its subsidiary The Walt Disney Company (Southeast-Asia) Pvt Ltd will invest Rs 13.14 billion in UTV Software Communications Ltd (USCL) and UTV Global Broadcasting Ltd (UGBL).

UGBL is the parent company for its two wholly owned subsidiaries, Genx Entertainment Ltd and UTV Entertainment Television Ltd. Genx has already launched successfully two youth entertainment channels through the Bindass brand while the latter just launched The World Movies channel and is about to start UTV Hindi Movies channel. The company would also keep its shareholders informed by a public announcement. The deal and the open offer of Rs 1.19 billion is subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. The agreement, once sealed, will help Disney increase its stake in UTV from 13.7 per cent to 32.1 per cent.

Reliance Power Gains On Bonus

Mumbai: Anil Ambani will not be disappointed from markets'' immediate reaction to the announcement of the Reliance Powers bonus shares.On opening, it zoomed to Rs 436 in the mornings trade and is now hovering around the Rs 420 mark compared to the Rs 384 mark at which it closed on Friday. Reliance Power announced its decision on Sunday to issue bonus shares to shareholders.For the first time in the history of global capital markets, a company issued free shares to retail and institutional shareholders. This comes after the February 11 listing of the company which saw a less than positive reaction. Reliance sources said that bonus is not a face saving exercise and it will also consider methods other than bonus to compensate investors

Weather Insurance Pilot Likely To Cover 10 Lakh Farmers

Mumbai: Around 10 lakh farmers are expected to be covered under the weather insurance plan by end of the current rabi season. The Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC) alone expects to cover over 5 lakh farmers and insure over 8 lakh hectares of crop for a sum of Rs 1,500 crore in the rabi season. The pilot insurance plan was announced by the Finance Minister in the last Budget.This will be the largest number of farmers covered under weather insurance, given that insurance companies have so far only been able to cover a little over a lakh of farmers annually under other commercial weather insurance products. The AIC and a few private insurers together expect to cover around 10 lakh farmers under the weather insurance plan by this rabi season, said insurance company officials. The pilot, which is being run by AIC in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, is a significant step as it offers farmers a substitute to the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) .

Claim payouts so far under the NAIS, the largest insurance scheme in the world (in terms of number of farmers at 1.7 crore), have seen long delays as they are based on yield data. The premium under NAIS has been based on a flat rate system while in the case of weather insurance it is derived on an actuarial basis. The premium under the weather insurance pilot is subsidised in the range of 30-75 per cent, depending on the crop.

BSNL May Increase Fixed Line Tariffa

New Delhi: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has told the telecom regulator that it will be forced to hike tariffs for fixed line telephones in case access deficit charges are withdrawn. BSNL has cautioned that such a move could wipe out fixed telephone usage in the country as subscribers will prefer to take cellular connection. BSNL has told the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India that while operational expenditure per line per month for rural telephones comes to Rs 643, it recovers only Rs 171 per month per subscriber. To recoup a part of these losses, BSNL will have to hike rental, call charges and decrease free calls in respect of its wire line services, both in urban as well as in rural areas.

The TRAI had earlier said that ADC would be abolished by April 2008 on the grounds that BSNL had got enough support from the Government. Private operators, who pay the charges to BSNL, have supported the TRAI''s move. However, BSNL pointed out that, on one hand, it was not being permitted to fix the tariffs for rural fixed line telephones based on market conditions and on the other, the regulator was withdrawing the subsidy support for fulfilling social obligations.

TVS Mulls To Manufacture LPG & CNG Bikes

Ahmedabad: The TVS Motor Company having forayed the electric scooter segment, the company is planning LPG and CNG two wheelers. The company has been eyeing at LPG and CNG-run motorcycles, scooters and scooterettes. The company has its R & D centre at Hosur near Bangalore. The company''s first entry into alternative fuels has begun with ''Scooty Teenz Electric'' which will make its debut from Ahmedabad.

Rolled out from the company''s Mysore plant, the 800 watt scooter generates an average range of 40 kms per nine hours of charge. Priced at Rs 32,500 (ex-showroom Ahmedabad), the vehicle comes with a load carrying capacity of 130 kgs with a pillion rider. The company has decided to unveil the vehicle at Ahmedabad owing to the high concentration of two wheelers in the city and higher average of female riders.

Tata Capital Joins Hand With Mizuho Securities

Mumbai: Tata Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, and Japan-based Mizuho Securities Co Ltd (MHSC) have achieved a preliminary, non-exclusive understanding for an alliance in private equity, investment banking, broking and related businesses. The alliance will also cover structured finance and wealth management activities. MHSC is a subsidiary of Mizuho Corporate Bank. Its main concentration is the debt and equity related business. Tata Capital is registered with the RBI as a Systematically Important Non Banking Financial Company, and targets to give financial services in the areas of retail and corporate finance, broking and distribution, private equity, and wealth management.

NTPC Inks Agreement With BSEB

New Delhi: NTPC Ltd and Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) have inked a pact to promote an alliance company to setup, operate and maintain a 1,980-MW (3x660MW) coal-based power station at Nabinagar in Bihar. NTPC and BSEB will have equal shareholding of 50:50 in the joint veuture, NTPC informed the BSE. NTPC currently has an installed capacity of 28,644 MW. The power major is entering into hydro generation, coal mining, power distribution, power trading and equipment manufacturing, among other related sectors.

Jindal Power Aims 4,500 Mw In 4yrs

New Delhi: Jindal India Thermal Power, a subsidiary of the BC Jindal group, is mulling a power generation capacity of more than 4,500 mw in four years. Jindal Power will infuse Rs 20,000 crore for the capacity, expecting high returns. They hope 15-18 per cent return on investment for these projects. The Jindal group, which follows many other private sector companies in entering into power, is establishing the projects in the coal-rich states of Orissa, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. While it is planning a 2,000 mw project in Madhya Pradesh, for which a memorandum of understanding will be inked with the state government shortly, work on the 1,200 mw plant in Orissa is in progress. The company also hopes to acquire main plant equipment (boiler-turbine-generator) via bidding. The project is hoped to be commissioned by September 2010.

Air India Starts Flights To Madhya Pradesh

Air India on Feb 16 launched new flights to connect national capital Delhi with Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh four times a week. Air India officials said the new flight would operate on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of the week and will include a 20-minute stopover at Gwalior. In order to attract passengers to these destinations, the airline has offered an attractive inaugural fare of Rs 3,500, including taxes. The airline will use the turboprop ATR-42 aircraft on this route.

The latest announcement comes a day after the airline introduced new flights to Rajasthan connecting Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur six times a week. The officials also said that more destinations would be connected once the airside developments at 35-non-metro airports are complete by 2010. The airline expects to add 111 more aircraft to its fleet by 2011.

ICICI Bank Forges Alliance With HRP

ICICI Bank is one of the co-sponsors for the Association of Human Resource Professionals (HRP) HRM Awards 2007 on February 22 in Colombo. The HRM Awards 2007 Super10, organized by the HRP will select and rank the top 10 HRM practitioners of excellence in Sri Lanka. Good HRM practices are the key to the success or downfall of any organization and ICICI Bank is pleased to be associated with HRP in promotion of good HRM practices, said the source.

L&T Wins Rs 1250 Crore Order From ONGC For Mumbai High

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) has announced that the Company has been awarded a Rs 1,250 crore turnkey fast track project by Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), India. This order reaffirms L&Ts world class capabilities in the Oil & Gas Sector.

L&T will have single point responsibility for the complete engineering, procurement, fabrication & installation of the of the offshore platforms. The project comprises building three smart well platforms, sub-sea interconnecting pipelines, sub-sea cables and topside modifications for the Mumbai High South field. It will involve 15,000 tonnes of topside and jackets, 58 KM sub-sea pipelines & 22 km sub-sea cables, in addition to many state of the art & modern facilities. It is to be completed by April 2009.

L&T will carry out the engineering design at their subsidiary L&T Valdel in Bangalore, and fabrication will be carried out at L&Ts world class shore-based manufacturing complex at Hazira near Surat, as well as at the Companys modern large fabrication facility at Sohar in Oman.

This contract was won through a competitive bidding process against international competitors.

L&T has a strong track record of timely completion of similar projects for the upstream Oil & Gas sector.

NASSCOM Organises Leadership Forum 2008

National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) the trade body and chamber of commerce for the IT - BPO industry organised the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2008 at Hotel Grand Hyatt, Santacruz from February 13 - 15. Run-up to Budget 2008-09

As part of the summit, NASSCOM announced the winners of the NASSCOM Global Leadership Awards 2008. The awards were given with a view to recognise some of the most outstanding business leaders and visionaries from across the world from the IT-BPO sector. The award ceremony was felicitated by Praful Patel, Union Minister of Aviation and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on February 14.

Tata Group Chairman, Ratan Tata bagged the Global Indian Award given to an individual who has earned his spurs in the overseas domains and brought fame and glory to the country. CEO of British Airways, Willie Walsh was honoured with the 'Business Transformation Award’ for encouraging the use of technology within the organisation to achieve business goals and operational excellence.

The 'Business Leader Award’ was presented to Cisco Chairman John Chambers for setting the company on a path of innovation, customer responsiveness and corporate governance and enabling it to achieve rapid growth and profitability.

The NASSCOM India Leadership India Forum witnessed the participation of over 1500 people from the IT-BPO sector. Some of the big name included former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Anand Mahindra, vice chairman and managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd; Thiru Raja, Minister for Communications and IT and others. “Based on the feedback of the Indian IT industry, we are looking into the issue of extending the Software Technology Parks of India scheme on a priority basis. We feel there are many start-ups and small and medium enterprises for whom the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) may not be a viable option,” said Thiru Raja. However, Dr Kalam, who addressed a special session at the summit, adds “Don’t be a software powerhouse, be a knowledge services powerhouse.

HCL To Open More Stores In Statea

Focusing on the demand for laptops from rural areas, computer and laptop manufacturer, HCL has launched a laptop for about Rs14,000 in the state on Friday. The product will be available in the state by next week. Run-up to Budget 2008-09

“At a cost of just $350 this is the cheapest laptop, not only in the country but across the world. We want to focus on mobility, internet and affordability for our urban as well as rural customers,” said chairman and CEO of HCL Infosystems, Ajai Chowdhry. HCL has around 50 retail stores including franchises in India. “We are planning to add 50 more stores in the year. In Gujarat, we have two stores in Ahmedabad and one in Rajkot. We are planning to open more stores in the state,” he said.

The company will be opening stores in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Vapi, Surat, Rajkot and few more cities. According to Chowdhry HCL is the leading desktop computer maker in India.

“We only entered the laptop market last year yet managed to capture 7 per cent market share in the country. Following the launch of our new product we expect this market share to go up,” said Chowdhry.

Talking about the HCL’s MiLeap X Series laptops, he said the shipment of the product is expected to reach Gujarat next week. “The X series is specially designed for the Indian environment and is available with both flash-based and disk based storage versions,” said Chowdhry.

Blue Dart To Boost Airport Connect

Air express and courier firm Blue Dart is all set to add new cargo facilities and expand at existing ones at major airports to cut down on turnaround time for loading and unloading cargo and courier. Run-up to Budget 2008-09

The company is setting up a 1000 sq m temporary facility at Hyderabad Airport at a cost of about Rs 20-25 crore, which would be operational by end of March 2008. This would be increased to about 2500 sq m in the coming months.

Blue Dart currently has a 1,500 sq mt facility at HAL Bangalore International Airport and is constructing a bigger facility of 9,500 sq mt at Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which is scheduled to replace HAL.

Anil Khanna, managing director, Blue Dart, said: "If HAL is not completely shut, we would retain our 1,500 sq m facility there, further increasing our space to 11,000 sq m in Bangalore."

The new facility, which would be shared by DHL would be set up at a cost of Rs 65 crore and would be operational by April 2008.

The express major is expecting the approval for expansion of its 2500 sq mt facility at Delhi Airport very soon and would increase the space to about 4,400 sq m.

"This is a temporary facility for one year, further we will get 11,000 sq m space at Delhi Airport, for which we have already got approvals," Khanna added.

The company has also applied for space enhancement at Mumbai Airport, which Khanna said will take some time due to space constraints there.

Last year, Blue Dart had announced its plan to invest Rs 1,000 crore in aircraft, facilities, warehouses, network hubs and technologies. The company has earmarked Rs 200 crore for the calendar year 2008, which would include the airport infrastructure development, setting up new facilities and acquisition of a new aircraft.

Following this, Blue Dart is also setting up 32 warehouses and transit hubs in this calendar year for an investment of Rs 25-30 crore. The few locations that have been identified are Hyderabad, Nagpur, Vizag, Pondicherry and some areas in Mumbai and Delhi. The company owns and operates one million sq feet of warehousing area and plans to double it in the next five years.

"This is part of our plan to set up 120 new premises for Blue Dart in 2008, which would include warehouses, offices and transit hubs," said Khanna.

Of the 120 locations, 23 has been planned in the north, 11 in the east, 40 in the south and 46 in the west, and would be a mix of both old and new locations.

Blue Dart will also add a new Boeing 757 to its fleet by second half of 2008. The company, of which DHL Express Singapore Pvt Ltd owns 81.03 per cent, currently operates four Boeing 737s and two Boeing 757s.

IT Gives Realty Prices A Push

The influx of Information technology (IT) companies in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad enhance real estate growth, opine experts and builders. Run-up to Budget 2008-09

Suresh Patel, secretary of Gujarat Institute of Housing and Estate Developers (GIHED) said, "The IT industry is attracting lots of professional to Ahmedabad. The peaceful environment of the city has motivated them to settle down permanently leading to three time increase realty prices in the entire region."

Hiten Barot, director of Info City said, "Since Info city came into existence the number of professionals has been incessantly increasing where most of them hails from different states. There is a strong need of around 4,000 houses near Info city for as around 70 per cent of IT employees, currently, commute between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar every day."

"Hence more studio and service apartments are required followed by the two-bedroom-hall-kitchen and three-bedroom-hall-kitchen," Barot added.

Pranit Banthia, CEO of Hi-Tech Outsourcing Services said, "Most of the employees in our company are from different states. They have purchased flats seeing good career prospects and have long term plans here."

Seeing the increase in population of IT professional in the city many developers are coming up with new residential projects to cater their basic need -home. Koba and Dudasan are witnessing many developers' feet for the land.

Few special economic zones (SEZ), which are in line, would not have residential felicities. A source said, "Rehaja Builders, which is coming up with a SEZ don't have residential facility." This again will give impetus to realty market in the city.

"My husband is working in a BPO company. Last year, we came to Ahmedabad from Delhi. Seeing the infrastructural growth of the city we bought a house in Chandkheda three months ago," said Riddhi Shukla.

SBI Life To Ramp Up Bank Network

Hyderabad: SBI Life is planning to increase its operations in the rural and semi-urban areas by better utilisation of State Bank of India (SBI) branch network and increasing the number of agents. They want to make a substantial difference in our rural reach by doubling the number of agents by 2008-09 (from current 34,000) and fuller-utilisation of SBI branch network in rural areas. SBI Life will unveil a health product in the first quarter of the next fiscal and implement direct payment of premium through core banking network from May. The company, which earned a profit of Rs 37.74 crore at the end of December 31, 2007 by wiping out all accumulated losses, is planning to foray the micro insurance sector in Andhra Pradesh. They have implemented a pilot micro insurance project, Grameenn Shakti, in Bhubaneswar for Self Help Groups (SHGs) in December, 2007 and give life cover to 2.5 lakh women.

Tata Industries, Boeing To Form JV Company

Tata Industries Limited and Boeing Company have accorded on a plan to form a Joint Venture (JV) company that will initially include more than $500 million of defense-related aerospace component work in India for export to Boeing and its international customers. Under the memorandum of agreement signed by both the companies, it is contemplated that the JV company will be established by June 2008. Manufacturing capabilities established within the joint-venture company would in later phases be leveraged across multiple Boeing programs including the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition. In the first phase of the agreement, Boeing would potentially issue contracts for work packages to the joint-venture company involving defense-related component manufacturing on Boeing''s F/A-18 Super Hornet for the US Navy and Royal Australian Air Force, CH-47 Chinook and/or P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

ICICI Pru Life Enters Rural With Micro Offices, Biometric Cards

Mangalore: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance seems to believe in a mix of biometric smart cards and micro offices to reach rural market. While the company is mulling to reach more rural customers through the set up of micro offices, it is also targeting at the government-sponsored e-initiatives in various States to increase the use of biometric cards in rural areas. Of the nearly 750 branches of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance in the country, nearly 250 are in rural areas. Called as micro offices, these 250 branches are located in Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal.

The company recently unveiled biometric smart cards for its rural customers in a few States. With these cards, the policy-holders can carry all policy details without any papers and store transaction details. A rural customer does not have to go to the branch located in a distant place. He can go to the nearest FINO (Financial Information Networks Operation) Fintech access points, where the customer can swipe the card, authenticate himself. This was unveiled around three months ago in some places in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. At present, around 50 FINO Fintech points are available for the transaction. To make better use of the biometric cards, the company is planning to take the benefit of government-sponsored e-initiatives like ''AP Online'' in Andhra Pradesh and e-mitra in Rajasthan.

BHEL Secures Rs 200cr ONGC Deal

New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on Feb 14, announced it has secured a Rs 200-crore order from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for supply of spare and accessories used in oil exploration. The order is the single largest, long-term contract from ONGC for supply of well head assemblies, X-mas tree valves and other critical spare and accessories used in the oil exploration. Around 65 per cent of the deal will have deemed export status, the new order comprises supply of over 500 sets of well head assemblies and X-mas tree valves per annum.

Birla Sun Life Mulls To Launch A Unit-Linked Health Insurance

Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Insurance to unveil a unit-linked health insurance plan by the first quarter of the next financial year. The Life Insurance Corporation of India was the first to unveil a unit-linked health insurance policy last week, followed by Reliance Life Insurance. Designing a unit-linked health insurance policy will increase the ticket size of the policy since the investment proportion of the premium will be significant in comparison to the health insurance premium. The health insurance market is valued at just around Rs 3,000 crore. The average ticket size of a policy has increased to Rs 39,000 from Rs 26,000 last year.

PFC To Foray Financial Advisory Services

Kolkata: Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is confident of making an foray into financial advisory services sector in the next six weeks. To start with, the company will hold a minority stake of around 30 per cent in the special purpose vehicle (SPV), and a consortium of corporates likely to hold the residual stake from the power sector. The SPV will help private equity (PE) investment in the Indian power sector. The company, currently engaged in specialised debt-financing in power sector, is looking forward to emerge as an equity investor in the long term. They are trying to appoint the captains of Indian power sector including representations from both thermal and hydel in the venture. As an advisory service provider, its role will be limited to bridging the gap and help in the matchmaking. They are hoping its disbursals to grow by 15 per cent this fiscal and the sanction aim for the next fiscal likely to go up from $4.5 billion to $ 6.5 billion. The finances are likely to be raised from the domestic market as the recent ECB norms do not confirm use of foreign currency loan in projects at home.

TCS Aims 100pc Increase In Domestic Revenues

Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) mulls to increase its revenue share from the domestic market. In the next 15-18 months, the company plans to achieve revenues of $800 million to $1 billion from $500 million at present. S Venkatramani, who will lead the Indian operations, is already optimistic about the opportunity the domestic market offers. Venkatramani takes over after the recent rejig declared by TCS in its organisational structure. To achieve these numbers, Venkatramani will focus on a mix of services and solutions instead of infrastructure. Venkatramani conceives that India and China are the next growth areas. Currently, BFSI, telecom, government and manufacturing form a major chunk of the IT major''s revenues. TCS had also announced that it will soon unveil a dedicated small and medium enterprises business solutions unit.

Amul Likely To Acquire Kochi-Based Vanilco

Kochi: Amul mulls to puchase Kochi-based Vanilla India Producers Company (Vanilco), which processes and markets natural vanilla. The acquisition will assist the dairy major gain a foothold in the southern markets and secure natural vanilla stocks ahead of a launch of natural vanilla-based ice creams in March. Vanilco said the companies had received in-principle approval for equity participation. There is strong possibility for the equity participation leading to a merger of the two companies. Vanilco, a company formed in 2003 by 2,500 vanilla growers, already has a pact with Amul to supply it 20 tonnes of natural vanilla essence annually, mainly for the Real Vanilla ice cream range. Vanilco produces 24 vanilla-based products, comprising some for the pharmaceutical and brewery industries. Amul, which lacks a production base in Kerala, is keen on foraying the Kerala market and the association with Vanilco will be a part of the strategy.

Amul sources said the company had switched over fully to natural vanilla to benefit consumers and to help sustain the livelihood of 500,000 vanilla growers in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The company, which had earlier introduced Vanilla Royal, is planning to unveil another range of vanilla ice creams in the domestic market by the second week of March. Amul accounts for about 45 per cent of the domestic ice cream market share.

Punj Lloyd Group Awarded S$ 400 Million (INR 1119.2 Crore) Project By Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd, Sing

Punj Lloyd Ltd has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Company Sembawang Engineers & Constructors Pts Ltd has been awarded a Singapore Dollar 400 million (INR 1119.2 crore) contract by Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd to construct and build the North Podium of Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd to construct and build the North Podium of Marina Bay Sands integrated report comprising to casino, theatres and retail arcades in Singapore.Press Release follows.....

GAIL Inks Mou With ITERA

New Delhi: GAIL (India) Ltd on Feb 13 inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ITERA Oil & Gas Company of Russia for cooperation in hydrocarbon sector. The areas of cooperation comprise involvement in compressed natural gas projects and gas-based petrochemicals opportunities in Russia, as well as exploration and production opportunities in Russia and CIS countries. The two companies will also explore possible cooperation in other projects of mutual interests. GAIL, said that this is a substantial measure to focus on GAIL''s competence in gas-based petrochemical projects and CNG in Russia with a major private Russian company.

LIC Witnesses Steady Growth

Hyderabad: The bancassurace business of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is on a firm growth, thanks to the growing interest of many banks in enhancing the fee-based income. Led by Andhra Bank in the number of policies and first premium income, 26 banks in the country are currently eyeing a niche in bancassurance by selling insurance products of the State insurer. While Andhra Bank has been ranking number one in the number of new policies and first premium income for the last two months, there is renewed interest among other banks to drive big business. The number of polices sold through the bancassurance channel registered an increase of over 60 per cent in the first three quarters of the current fiscal compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. However, LIC''s new business via bancassurance was about Rs 475 crore so far in the year. Andhra Bank, UCO Bank, Corporation Bank, Central Bank of India and Dena Bank are currently the top five banks in LIC''s bancassurance business as on January 31, 2008 as per the figures released by the corporation

IRDA Advises Changes To Rural, Social Obligations

Hyderabad: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has advised amendments to Obligations of Insurers to Rural or Social Sectors Regulations, 2002. The amendments also give for alignment of obligations with the IRDA (Micro Insurance) Regulations, 2005. As per the Gazette notification hosted on IRDA''s Web site, the rural obligations after the sixth financial year for a life insurer should have 18 per cent of the total policies written direct in the seventh financial year, followed by 19 per cent in the eighth and ninth financial years and 20 per cent in the tenth financial year. All insurers should give cover for 25,000 lives, 35,000, 45,000 and 55,000 in the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth financial years of operation. In the social sector, LIC should give cover to 25 lakh lives each from 2007-08 to 2009-10. The general insurers should have 6 per cent of the total gross premium written in the rural sector during 2007-08 followed by 7 per cent up to 2009-10.

Wipro To Provide Chip Design Services To NEC

Japanese chip major NEC Electronics has chosen Indian IT bellwether Wipro Technologies for semiconductor design services. Wipro has set up a dedicated engineering development centre to provide chip design services and support activities. The centre will offer front-end and backend design services and IP (intellectual property) to NEC for application-specified integrated circuits (ASICs) and micro-controllers in digital consumer and automotive areas, NEC Electronics President and CEO Toshio Nakajima said. As one of the world''s largest manufacturers of system-on-chip (SoC), micro-controllers and discrete semiconductor solutions, the $5.9-billion NEC Electronics caters to global customers in areas like consumer electronics, and automotive and industrial systems.

With a team of 25 engineers initially, Wipro will work on various designs ranging from 150 nanometres (nm), 130 nm and 55 nm. As a leader in semiconductor design support services, Wipro is familiar with the requirements of global electronics industry and has a track record of delivering quality and winning solutions. Sudip Nandy, Wipro Technologies President for telecom and product engineering solutions, said the software major would leverage its vast VLSI (very large system integration) expertise with its in-house design methodology to deliver advance designs to NEC Electronics.

ICICI Prudential Plans Expansion In Tier B And C Cities

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd. has started to look beyond the metros and focus on tier B and C cities to expand its presence, in general, and deepen the gains from bancassurance arrangements, in particular. In an interaction with this correspondent, Tarun Chugh, Chief, Group, Bancassurance & Alliances, said tier B and C cities were grossly under penetrated territories vis-a-vis life insurance. ICICI Prudential was pushing financial product distribution companies hard to open offices in those cities. It was also going in for alliances with regional rural banks, co-operative banks and the like to beef up its bancassurance business. So far, the company had bancassurance tie-ups with 22 institutions. Around 37 per cent of the premium income for ICICI Prudential came from bancassurance route. The company wrote a premium income of around Rs.4,300 in 2006-07. Bancassurance was a tedious model unlike the agency route, where an insurance company controlled everything. The strength of a partner, requirements of a bank client and the level of relationship all mattered in a bancassurance model.

Geometric To Showcase Its Latest Products & Technologies At The Diemould India 2008 Event

Geometric Ltd has announced that the Company will showcase its latest suite of products and technologies at the Diemould India 2008 event (booth #F16 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Center from February 15 to 18, 2008. The products and technologies will include CAMWorks®, DFMPro™, eDrawings® Publisher, GeomCaliper, NestLib®, Feature Recognition® and 3DSearchlT®.

CAMWorks is a SolidWorks® certified Gold CAM product that has provided state-of-the-art machining capabilities seamlessly integrated into the award winning SolidWorks 3D mechanical design software since 1997. CAMWorks can be purchased to run with SolidWorks, or as part of a cost-effective package that includes CAMWorks Solids, an integrated solid modeler.

The recently launched DFMPro 2008 add-on for SolidWorks is a revolutionary Design for Manufacturability product developed for designers and manufacturing engineers to facilitate upstream manufacturability validation and identification of areas in design that are difficult, expensive or impossible to manufacture. DFMPro is engineered for quick and in-depth examination of product manufacturability. DFMPro is an advanced version of DFMXpress, a free tool shipped with every seat of SolidWorks 2008.

eDrawings® Publisher is a lightweight intuitive collaboration tool for 3D models that enables publishing of 3D models from all major CAD systems.

GeomCaliper is a quick and easy-to-use wall thickness analysis tools for casting, die-casting, injection molded parts and is integrated within CATIA V5® and Pro/ENGINEER®.

NestLib optimizes material utilization while fitting two-dimensional shapes on the sheet. NestLib is one of the fastest automated true shape nesting libraries that is commercially available for maximizing shop-floor efficiencies and reducing raw material consumption.

Bharti Airtel - Sunil Bharti Mittal Awarded Global Telecom Sector''s Highest Honour

Bharti Airtel Ltd has announced that Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Group Chairman and CEO, Bharti Enterprises has been awarded the GSM Association Chairmans Award 2008. This Award, which is the highest honour in the global telecom sector, has been conferred on Mr. Mittal for his tremendous contribution to the development of Indias telecom sector.

On the receiving the award Sunil Bharti Mittal said, This is a tremendous honour and I would like to thank the GSM Association for considering me worthy of this award. This award is a tribute to Indias telecom growth story, Bhartis vision and the emergence of Indian telcos on the global stage. It has been a privilege for me personally and Bharti Airtel to have been a part of this telecom revolution that has delivered affordable telecom services for all and has transformed the lives of millions across India.

Bharti Airtel is Indias leading private integrated telecom company. With an innovative outsourcing model, dedicating major resource to customer service and outsourcing the IT and the networks, the company has been able to reduce tariffs from more than 20 cents a minute to less than two cents, catalysing a real shift in the economic model for emerging markets.

Reliance Industries - First Gas Discovery In Deepwater Block In The Krishna Basin

Reliance Industries Ltd has announced the first gas discovery in exploratory block KG-DWN-2003/1 (KG-V-D3) of NELP-V. The block KG-DWN-2003/1 is located about 50 kilometers from Machalipatnam, in Andhra Pradesh in the deep waters of the Krishna Basin in the Bay of Bengal. It covers an area of 3288 Sq. Km. The gas discovery has been struck in the very first exploratory well in this block. RIL holds 90% participating interest (PI) and Hardy Exploration and Production India Inc holds balance 10% in the block.

The well KG-V-D3-A1 was drilled at a water depth of 716 m, to a total depth of 1937 m, with the objective of exploring Pliestocene deep water fan complex play fairway. A thick reservoir was encountered with gross hydrocarbon column of around 84 meters in Pliestocene the potential of which was evaluated through wire-line based technology called Modular Dynamic Testing (MDT). Subsequently the well flowed at a rate of 38.1 MMscfd on conventional testing. This play fairway is expected to cover a large area of the block. This discovery, named Dhirubhai - 39 has been notified to Government of India and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. The potential commercial interest of the discovery is being ascertained through more data gathering and analysis.

This discovery validates RILs understanding of the petroleum system in this block. Based on interpretation of the first phase seismic campaign covering about 65 per cent of the block area, several more prospects with potential upside have been identified along the same play fairway as well as other play fairways at different stratigraphic levels.

HDFC Bank Signs Agreement With Symantec

Mumbai: Private sector lender HDFC Bank has inked a $7.4 million, three-year strategic enterprise agreement with Symantec for IT compliance, enterprise security and storage management solutions. Symantec will also give HDFC Bank with consulting and implementation services. The bank has forayed into this deal with Symantec to enhance the security posture, ensure our data are protected and available and help facilitate our compliance and corporate governance programmes.

Symantec will give security and storage solutions and services. Its IT compliance solution will help the bank to automate and standardise processes for compliance with laws, regulations and frameworks, comprising SOX, Basel-II. Symantec Security Information Manager will give HDFC Bank the ability to automate incident management and event correlation across all security devices, network devices, applications, servers, operating systems and databases. The final layer of solution will be focused on protecting critical network endpoints of HDFC Bank with the integrated Symantec Endpoint Protection and Symantec Network Access Control solutions

Canara Bank Slashes BPLR By 25 Bps

Bangalore: Canara Bank has decreased its benchmark prime lending rate by 25 basis points. The revised BPLR effective from February 16 is 13 per cent. The rate cuts follow the Union Finance Minister''s recent advice to banks to reduce lending rates. Canbank''s home loan rates are already came on at 10 per cent, depending on the period and the amount. Besides, many of the banks are already lending to AAA rated corporates at steep discounts to the BPLR, ranging from 200 to 250 basis points. Moreover, corporates with loan exposures in excess of Rs 10 crore are hoped to get themselves rated before March 2009, in line with Basel II guidelines.

PVR Joins Hand With Thai Entertainment Company

New Delhi: Multiplex chain PVR will be opening bowling alleys, karaoke centres and ice-skating rinks in alliance with Thai lifestyle and entertainment company Major Cineplex Group. The chain expects to bring lifestyle entertainment concepts to serve changing consumer preference patterns under PVR Blu-o. They realised that there are other potential areas to expand and offer more entertainment options to our customers, in the retail entertainment space. The company plans to roll out about 150-200 lanes, or 10-15 bowling and karaoke centres and gaming zones, roughly translating to Rs 100 crore-investment over the next three years across its new cinemas. PVR is estimating the footfall at its cinemas to reach 20 million at the end of this year, and has already joined hands with Mr Amit Burman''s Lite Bite Concepts to bring food courts to its customers.

Thermax Inks 15yr Agreement With US Firm

Mumbai: Pune-based power equipment maker Thermax has forayed into a technical collaboration with Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group (B&W PGG), to enter into manufacturing and supply of utility boilers of up to 800 mw used to power thermal plants. The deal gives Thermax the right to design, manufacture and sell subcritical B&W Radiant utility boilers in India. The 15-year pact with B&W PGG will help Thermax to join other companies such as BHEL and the L&T-Mitsubishi combine and about five Chinese power equipment manufacturers operating in India. Thermax, which earned a revenues of Rs 2,800 crore in the first nine months of financial year 2007-08, hopes to generate Rs 1,500 crore annually from the business, tapping 10 per cent of an estimated 100,000 mw of installed capacity to come up in India in the next five years.

Satyam Conducts Faculty Sabbatical Program (FSP) For Malaysian Academia In A Strategic Effort To Enh

Satyam Computer Services Ltd on February 13, 2008 announced that the successful commencement of its faculty Sabbatical Program (FSP). 25 faculty members from key Malaysian universities are being taken through a month-long program to help them gain a clear understanding of Satyams learning model and enable them to groom fresh graduates for entry level positions. The scope includes technology, process and essential behavioral traits. In addition, they will also be exposed to real life projects and understand critical factors that can ensure success.

This is part of a larger strategic competency development Initiative called Campus Link. It is aimed at bridging the gap between academia and industry needs. Our touch points are primarily at three levels: students who make up tomorrow resource pool; faculty who are responsible for making them employable; and administration which is responsible for keeping the curriculum current and relevant. Through this initiative, we endeavor to develop sustainable academic relations with major universities and educational establishments. As a contributing member of the people development ecosystem, we do our part to help hamess the full potential of ICT in Malaysia, said Rajul Asthana, Head of Satyam Learning Center.

Satyam has been progressing well to create the largest offshore centre outside of India at Kuala Lumpur. In the last three quarters, we have grown to employ 500 associates with a ramp-up target of 2000 in next two to three of years, maintaining a local vs. foreign ratio of 80:20. As we build up our presence to be the most preferred IT organization to work for, we are proactively collaborating with Universities and academia to build long term sustainable availability of right freshers. The unstinted support from the government has also been a driving force in our endeavor to consolidate and expand our business presence in the country, said Prasenjit Kundu, Head of Satyam Global Solutions Center in Malaysia.

RIL, RNRL Continue To Differ On Gas Supply Agreement

Even four months after the Mumbai High Court asked the Reliance Industries and Reliance Natural Resources, led by estranged Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil respectively, to renegotiate the gas purchase pact between them, the companies continue to differ on all key points. Justice AV Mohta last year had asked both parties to sit together and renegotiate the Gas Supply Master Agreement. However, filing appeals before the division bench on Monday, they said they differ on all key issues.

The dispute is over an agreement whereby Reliance Industries was to supply gas for Reliance Natural Resources from Krishna-Godavari basin. RNRL had challenged the existing Gas Supply Master Agreement saying it was unfair and sought modifications in it. RNRL wanted certainty of tenure and the quantity of gas. Court will hear the case on February 25. Meanwhile, the interim order of High Court restraining RIL from creating third party interest in the gas to the extent of RNRL''s claim will continue till then, through mutual understanding.

ICICI Pru Forges Alliance With Dubai Firm

Mumbai: ICICI Prudential Life has forged an alliance with the Dubai-based UAE Exchange House to assist the non-resident Indian (NRI) customers of ICICI Prudential Life to access any of the 50 branches of UAE Exchange to make their first and renewal premia. ICICI Prudential has also entered into institutional tie-ups for cash management solutions with local organisations.

Mcdonald`S To Commission Rs 100 Cr Unit In North

New Delhi/ Chandigarh: McDonald''s India will be opening a food processing plant in the northern region. The proposed plant is likely to be set up either in Punjab or Haryana with an investment of Rs 100 crore. Additonally, it has plans to set up a distribution centre in this region in addition to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Banglore.

Further, to fuel its growth rate of 40 per cent, McDonald''s India and its suppliers will be investing Rs 400 crore in the next three years. The organisation plans to open 40 restaurants and create about 1,800 jobs by the end of this year. McDonald''s India in the north alone contributes approximately Rs 30.7 crore per annum as sales tax to different state governments.