IA unit to take up Airbus engine overhaul
New Delhi: Indian Airlines' jet engine overhaul shop  in Delhi will take up complete overhaul of the V-2500 Airbus A-320 engines by the year-end. This will save the airline several crores of rupees in foreign exchange outflow every year.

Indian Airlines deputy managing director Gurdip Singh was quoted by Business Line as saying that the airline will be able to save costs as sending the engines abroad costs a huge amount. The cost of labour varies between $42 - 95 per hour besides the transportation cost.

The establishment is planning to get a certification from the Federal Aviation Authority of the US to carry out overhaul work on engines of other airlines.
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Airfare war over?
New Delhi: Indian Airlines  announced on 13 September that it will revert to the full economy fare of Rs 5,110 for the New Delhi-Mumbai route from 1 October. The airline has extended its special fare of Rs 3,800 till the end of this month on condition that passengers buy tickets before 25 September. The discounted fare structure had come into effect on 1 July.

Jet Airways, which also currently offers a special fare of Rs 3,800 on the New Delhi-Mumbai route, will follow suit. An official Jet Airways spokesman said the airline will extend its discounted fare till the end of the month and revert to full fare beginning October. Sahara Airlines' special fare of Rs 3,555 on this route is effective till 30 September.
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Better rating for IPCL
Mumbai: Goldman Sachs has upgraded the rating of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd to "market performer" from the earlier rating of "market underperformer". This is mainly on account of the better rating for the chemicals industry in South East Asia.

Goldman Sachs has also estimated better earnings potential for Reliance Industries for 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 in line with its new stance adopted for the sector.

"We are concerned that the market may expect too much of valuation support through the ongoing government disinvestment of 25 per cent, but improving margins and pricing would help IPCL profits over the next few years," the investment banker has stated in its report.
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BMW 3 Series in India
New Delhi: Automobile Kashyap, a unit of Kashyap Motors, and authorised dealer in India for BMW of Germany, has brought the new BMW 3 Series salon to India. The vehicle is on display in New Delhi.

The 3 Series cars are tropicalised versions, specially adapted for conditions in India. The luxury cars, with right-hand drive, are being imported from the company's German plant.

Automobile Kashyap said the landed cost (including freight and customs duties) could vary between Rs. 25 lakh and Rs. 35 lakh, depending on the options chosen. The salon model is being offered with 1.6 litre, two litre, 2.5 litre and 2.8 litre engine capacity options.

The 3 Series BMW, displayed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, is one of the most important product launches of the company.
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Ikon in showroom
New Delhi: Ford India's Ikon model was unveiled at the Ford dealership in New Delhi on 13 September. The mid-sized Ikon is being priced competitively to take on the Maruti Esteem, Opel Astra and the Mitsubishi Lancer, but company officials declined to disclose the exact price tag.

Ford India expects to sell 1,000 to 1,500 of the new model during the current calendar year, and has targeted sales of 20,000 vehicles for the year 2000, John Fink, Ford India's vice-president for marketing, sales and services, said.
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Santro will be market leader, claims Hyundai chief
Pune: Hyundai Motor India president A P Gandhi claims that Santro will become the market leader in the premium small car segment by overtaking Maruti's Zen in the next two months. "We will be market leader in the 1,000 cc car segment in a couple of months by cornering a market share of 35 to 40 per cent," Mr Gandhi said on 13 September.

Hyundai is trailing close behind Maruti, selling 7,000 Santro cars in August compared to 7,900 Zen cars by Maruti.
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Maharishi Ayurveda has new painkiller for cancer patients
New Delhi: A new herbal derivative formulated by the Noida-based Maharishi Ayurveda Products promises to control the painful side effects of chemotherapy given to cancer patients.

The Rs. 80-crore company says it has developed a herbal mixture called Maharishi Amrit Kalash, which minimises the side effects of chemotherapy, especially in patients suffering from breast cancer. The herbal compound is under trial at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS, in New Delhi.
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Canon India sets up development centre
New Delhi: Canon India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon Singapore, launched its software development centre and digital technology laboratory as part of its strategic initiatives to become a major player in the Internet arena.

Set up at Mehrauli near Delhi at a cost of $2 million, the software development centre and digital technology lab is one of six such development centres established by the company globally. The centre will work in three key areas -- embedded software, connectivity software and software focussed on enhancing functionality and value of products.
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ONGC order for Telstra V-Comm
New Delhi: Telstra V-Comm, a joint venture of Telstra of Australia, the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), has bagged a major order from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation for setting up a VSAT- based communication network to link ONGC's offices in the country.

Telstra V-Comm will set up the largest captive demand assigned multiple access network in India, said the company's managing director Abu Shafquat.

The Rs 15-crore order based on DAMA VSAT technology will connect 21 locations across the country. Eight existing ONGC locations will be augmented and 13 new earth stations will be set up.
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Equity pattern decided for Central Indian Pipeline
New Delhi: The government has finally decided on the equity holding pattern for the Central India Pipeline project. As per an agreed formula, the Indian Oil Corporation, Reliance and Petronet India will each hold 26 per cent equity and the Essar group will be given 12 per cent stake. The remaining equity will be offered other agencies, including financial institutions.

A number of companies were interested in picking up equity in the project. The pipeline is the main route connecting and supplying products from three major refineries in Gujarat -- that of Reliance Petroleum, Essar and IOC.
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Intelligroup sets up internet centre
Hyderabad: Intelligroup has created an internet development centre to serve a leading US-based global financial services firm. It has The centre is an extension to Intelligroup's existing Advanced Development Centre.

The project is staffed by 80 internet development and support specialists. The company plans to expand the centre to over 700 specialists by the end of 2000.
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Consumer forum punishes PAL
New Delhi: A Delhi consumer court has penalised auto major Premier Automobile Ltd (PAL) for selling a defective car and directed it to replace the car. The Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Froum-II has directed PAL to replace the Premier Padmini S1 car or refund Rs 2,29,00 (the price of the car) to the purchaser along with 15 per cent penal interest.
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S Kumars focusing on Gulf markets
Abu Dhabi: S. Kumars, leading Indian textile maker, is focusing on the Gulf countries. The company began its operations in the Gulf in July 1999 and it will concentrate on suitings and terry towels. The Business Line in a report said the company intends to expand its operations in the West Asian and African regions.

The company, a leading maker of uniform material in India, is studying the Gulf's military, services and industrial sector for supply of   material for uniforms, a company official said.
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TotalFina, Elf merger finalised
Paris: French oil company TotalFina said on 13 September it has agreed to a friendly merger deal with Elf Aquitaine, bringing to an end their takeover fight and creating the world's fourth largest oil company.

TotalFina said it will offer 19 of its shares for 13 Elf shares, up from its initial bid of four TotalFina shares for three Elf. Based on 10 September closing prices, the offer values Elf stock at 190 euros and puts the bid value at 52.6 billion euros.

TotalFina launched a hostile bid for Elf on 5 July, bidding to create the world's fourth largest oil company. Elf rejected the attack and responded two weeks later with a counter-bid, promising to spin off the group's chemical activities.

TotalFina said its chairman, Thierry Desmarest, would head the new group. The board will comprise nine Elf directors, nine TotalFina directors and four directors representing the Belgian shareholders within the TotalFina board.

There was no mention of Elf's plan to spin off the chemicals activities of the combined group. TotalFina said that chemicals would remain integrated in the combined group and a joint study group would evaluate the necessary changes in the organisation of the division.
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Bell Atlantic, Vodafone plan JV
New York: The boards of Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch are set to vote to form a U.S. joint venture that would compete against wireless industry majors like AT&T. It is certain something will happen this week, but it is not known when it will, a source said.
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Singer files bankruptcy petition
New York: Singer Co, one of America's most recognised brand names and maker of sewing machines for nearly 150 years, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to give it time to restructure its burdensome debt load. The company has liabilities of more than $800 million.
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Vencor too
New York: Vencor, hospital and nursing home operator, says it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Vencor, one of the largest nursing home operators in the US, has been piling up debt to its creditors. The government has also demanded $ 90 million from the company on account of overpayments made to it under a medicare programme.
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IBM introduces new systems
New York: International Business Machines introduced a new line-up of powerful computers designed to manage large and small internet sites. With this range, IBM is aiming to take on market leader Sun Microsystems.

The new line of IBM RS/6000 workstations range from entry-level servers used to manage local networks up to big-brain supercomputer-class machines. The line is based on IBM's new copper-based computer chips and designed for the UNIX operating system, a market dominated by Sun.

IBM said the new products are part of a strategy to surround Sun on all sides. The effort includes IBM's pending acquisition of Sequent Computer Systems Inc, with technology to run either UNIX or Windows software. The July 12 deal requires approval of Sequent shareholders and the European Union.
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3Com to spin off Palm unit
Santa Clara (California): 3Com Corp, the No. 2 maker of computer network equipment, says it plans to spin off its Palm Computing unit, makers of the world's best-selling line of handheld computers, in an initial public offering.

Palm Computing counts more than four million of its handheld devices in the market, including the best-selling Palm III, its newer Palm V and its wireless handheld Palm VII, which allows users to send and receive e-mail while on the run.
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Compaq cuts PC prices
New York: Compaq Computer Corporation announced reduction in prices on all of its business desktop computers by up to 17 per cent, the latest move in a battle by the world's No. 1 maker of PCs to regain momentum over faster- growing rivals.

Rival Dell Computer Corp had said a week earlier it is cutting prices on its business line of PCs by up to 18 per cent.

In August, Compaq cut the prices on most of the computers in its commercial Deskpro line by up to 11 per cent.

Compaq and Dell, the world's top two suppliers of PCs, are waging an aggressive battle for market share in the corporate PC market with buyers benefiting in the form of lower prices.
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Korea First Bank sale
Seoul: The long-delayed sale of South Korea's crippled Korea First Bank (KFB) to a US investment firm could be finalised later this week after the two sides narrowed their differences. But officials at the Financial Supervisory Commission said no final deal had yet been brokered, although progress was being made.
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Toshiba to sell stake in JV to Motorola
Tokyo: Toshiba Corp says it will sell its stake in a semiconductor joint venture to US electronics giant Motorola. Motorola will buy up the Japanese firm's stake in Tohoku Semiconductor Corp (TSC), a wafer-making venture set up by the two firms in 1987 in Sendai, northern Japan. The financial terms of the deal have not been spelt out.
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Is Motorola eyeing General Instruments Corp?
Chicago: Motorola stock prices fell on the New York Stock Exchange following reports that it is eyeing General Instruments Corp., a supplier of television set-top boxes. If the deal is clinched, it will be worth an estimated $10 billion.

Set-top boxes are instruments that sit on top of television sets, with which a telephone line can be connected. The same television set can be used for watching television channels and for browsing the Internet.
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