Piramal, BUPA in joint venture
Mumbai: Piramal Enterprises has entered into a joint venture agreement with Britain's BUPA to "provide one-stop health facilities" in India.

The 50:50 joint venture company, BUPA Piramal Healthcare, will function from the premises of the Gopichand Piramal Trust in Mumbai and open an ambulatory care hospital, Wellspring, shortly. The joint venture will have an initial investment of Rs 14 crore.

The Nicholas Piramal group wants to implement the concept of preferred provider organisation, the group's director Swati Piramal has been quoted by The Economic Times as saying. Under the concept, a number of senior medical professionals will offer services in a user-friendly, cost-effective manner. The company will subsequently become a health maintenance organisation offering even health insurance. It will first cover the whole of Mumbai and later extend its activities to Calcutta, Lucknow and Bangalore.
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Gujarat Airways non-operational
Mumbai: Air taxi operator Gujarat Airways has been grounded. At least 10 senior pilots of the airline have migrated to Jet Airways with the latter inducting the new ATR aircraft. The company intends to shut down its operations and it is reported that it is returning three of its aircraft to the lessor, Raytheon of the US. The company has also terminated the services of about 150 employees.

Gujarat Airways has been operating as a feeder airline connecting 21 stations in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Kenya-based NRIs and the promoters of an aircraft maintenance company own the airline.
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Jet Airways to use ATR craft from today
New Delhi: Jet Airways will introduce the newly-purchased ATR 72-500 aircraft on its Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Mumbai route from 15 October. The airline has acquired two aircraft, and is expected to add four more stations to its network and provide links between seven "city pairs". A third aircraft will be delivered in November and two more will arrive in May 2000.

Jet Airways is introducing night flights connecting Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore using the ATR aircraft from 15 November.
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Tisco files winding up case against Ispat
Calcutta: Tata Iron and Steel Company has filed a winding up petition in the Calcutta High Court against Ispat Industries for recovery of dues worth over Rs 32 crore. Tisco has sought the court's directive to attach books, relevant documents and assets of Ispat Industries.

The petition states that Tisco had supplied hot rolled coils of various grades worth Rs 53.4 crore to Ispat between February and September 1998 and Ispat has paid Rs 25.5 crore in seven instalments, leaving dues  worth Rs 27.9 crore in principal alone.
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HDFC, IL&FS to exit Microland
Bangalore: HDFC and Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services, the initial investors in Microland, are pulling out of the company. The two financial institutions are likely to get Rs 150 to Rs 200 per share.

HDFC sources said Microland is offering to buy out the stake of the two companies, but a decision is yet to be taken. With the exit of HDFC and IL&FS, Indocean Chase Capital Advisors, an affiliate of Chase in India is expected to pick up 26 to 33 per cent of the company's equity at a cost of Rs 60 crore. Besides HDFC and IL&FS, the other investors in Microland are ICICI Ventures, GE Caps and the promoters and staff.
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Hexaware gets CMM Level IV
Mumbai: Hexaware Infosystems has received CMM level IV certification, a distinction achieved by some 35 companies worldwide. The company is aiming for Level V by June 1999. Hexaware operates in North American and European markets through its 100 per cent subsidiaries.

Nearly half the information technology companies that have been accorded Level IV certification are reportedly Indian companies.
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Cognizant bags Philadelphia bourse order
Calcutta: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has bagged a contract for modifying the back office systems of Philadelphia Stock Exchange for decimal-based pricing. Cognizant will modify the code for all the exchange's business and for the Stock Clearing Corporation of Philadelphia for accommodating trading prices using decimals instead of fractions. The company expects that by August 2000 all the listed stocks in the exchange will be traded in decimals.
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Accent is priced at Rs 5.35 lakh
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India announced a price of Rs 5.35 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the base version of its Accent, the mid-size sedan that is being introduced in the market. A top-end model, GLS, is being priced at Rs 5.85 lakh. The booking for the vehicle will start on 21 October, A.P. Gandhi, president of Hyundai India, said. The bookings will be made against full payment of the price, he added, and the despatches will begin from the first day of the booking.

The Accent is claimed to give the performance of the Mitsubishi Lancer at a price close to that of Maruti's Esteem. It is pitted against rivals Opel Astra, Honda City, Ford's Escort and Ikon, Fiat Siena and Daewoo Nexia.
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Ikon to be priced below Rs 5 lakh
New Delhi: Ford India is likely to price its base Ikon model below Rs 5 lakh. Ford sources said the price will be Rs 4,99,677 (ex-showroom, Delhi) and it will be competitive in terms of the price announced by Hyundai for its Accent.

Ford will launch three petrol versions and one diesel version of the car. The company is likely to make announcements of the price and booking of the car on 26 October.
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Titan special edition for Rajnikanth
Chennai: Titan Industries is bringing out special edition watches to mark Tamil superhero Rajnikant's 25 years in the film industry. The watches will be brought out as part of Rajni 25, a special millennium celebration, planned by his wife, Latha Rajnikanth, in December 1999, under the theme, "Entertainment for a cause".

The proceeds of all the events to mark the occasion will go towards "Education for all -- The Ashram School", a project run by Ms Rajnikanth.
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HMT cuts down watch output
Bangalore: HMT is slowing down production of watches, mainly because of a funds crunch. The public sector company's chairman and managing director N. Ramanuja said watch production in value terms in the first six months of 1999-2000 dipped to Rs 53 crore from Rs 62 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Mr Ramanuja said HMT is hoping that the government will clear the turnaround plan submitted by the company. The company has sought infusion of Rs 200 crore for downsizing.
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Lifestyle models from Bose
New Delhi: Bose Corporation India launched its digital surround performance Lifestyle home theatre system in the Indian market. The company has also introduced its new range of music systems capable of giving complete information and functionality with touch screen from anywhere.

The home theatre system incorporates the novel Videostage 5 decoding technology that allows the listener to hear five independent channels of audio from five speakers even if the original contains only mono or stereo programming. The Lifestyle 12 series' prices range from Rs 1,24,900 to Rs 2,14,900.
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Sharp Industries' merger plan
New Delhi: Sharp Industries, the Mumbai-based flexible packaging material company, plans to merge Akar Laminators and another unlisted group company Vishnu Vijay Packagers, with itself. Sharp Industries was acquired by the Akar group in 1996.

With the merger, Sharp will be the largest operator in flexible packaging industry in India. The merger ratio for Vishnu Vijay Packagers is expected to be 1.5:1, while for Akar Laminators, 8:1. With the merger Sharp's equity base will be Rs 15.5 crore, up from Rs 9.62 crore.
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DASA, Aerospatiale merge
Frankfurt: German aerospace company DASA and France's Aerospatiale-Matra are planning to merge to create Europe's largest aerospace company and the world's third largest. The merged entity will have annual sales of 21 billion euros.

The merger will be completed by the first half of 2000, a statement issued by DASA parent DaimlerChrysler, in association with Aerospatiale shareholders Lagardere and the French government, said.

Analysts see the merger as paving the way for a pan-European grouping in defence as well as restructuring of the four-nation civil aircraft consortium Airbus Industrie.

The statement said the new company will be known as European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Company and will employ over 89,000 people. A holding company will be created to control 60 per cent of the new company, while the remaining 40 per cent will be listed on the stock market. DaimlerChrysler and its French partners, Lagardere, a French financial institution, and the French government will own one half of the holding company.
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Hyundai annexes affiliate
Seoul: Hyundai Electronics Industries has annexed its affiliate Hyundai Microelectronics, saying it will spin off all its non-semiconductor business early next year. The company is in talks to secure $700 million to $1 billion of foreign investment in three of the company’s four non-semiconductor businesses to be spun off, says its chief executive officer and president Kim Young-hwan.

Hyundai has become the world's biggest dynamic random access memory maker through the absorption of the affiliate. The company also makes telecommunications equipment, thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays and automobile parts.
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GM not interested in Samsung, Ssangyong
Seoul: Contrary to reports, General Motors has declared that it is not interested at the moment in purchasing Samsung Motors and Ssangyong Motor. The company had evidently shown interest in a purchase a day earlier.

The company's Seoul spokesman Lee Ki-sup said, "When we said we were open to all possibilities, we meant in reference to Daewoo Motor Company." Mr Lee said when the Daewoo issue is resolved, the company could discuss the possibility of other issues.
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