Cadila Pharma enters the herbal segment
New Delhi: Domestic pharma major, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, announced its tie-up with US-based Nature's Way Products, an arm of Murdock Madaus Schwabe, to introduce natural healthcare products in the country.

The agreement provides for a two-way manufacturing and distribution of herbal products in the country. The company has also tied up with the Murgappa group company, Parry’s Nutraceuticals, for a marketing alliance to market its products in south India.

Cipla, which has a US Food and Drug Administration-approved plant for manufacturing its herbal product line is targeting a sales turnover of over Rs 50 crore from this range.
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Mumbai may have a skybus solution for its harried commuters
Mumbai: The Konkan Railway Corporation has got an in-principle approval to its proposal to operate Skybuses in Mumbai on an experimental basis. The Skybus service is an electrical coach suspended over existing roadways to provide a viable alternative to the city’s transport problems.

The Maharashtra government is understood to be providing a sum of Rs. 250 million to KRC, which is touting the Skybus service as a mass transit system where commuters will be transported in coaches suspended on overhead cables. The government has also given KRC the right of way to construct pylons and cabling, besides allotting land for the start and finish points to construct terminals. The infrastructure for the Skybus would be installed over existing roadways, on road dividers, as a result of which no land acquisition is required.

The first Skybus is expected to be operational within 18 months after the state government gives all the necessary approvals.

With an average speed of 45 km per hour, each Skybus is expected to cover the 11-kms distance in 18 minutes in each direction. Each airconditioned bus would have a capacity of 125 passengers. The fare would be at the rate of Rs 0.15 per km.

The corporation is also relying on its experience in building the 760 km-long Konkan Railway on wild terrain along India’s west coast to promote this project.
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Sony may bring in more star power into gameshow
Mumbai: Sony Entertainment Television’s answer to the hugely popular rival show hosted by Star TV, is being beefed up in terms of star power in light of the dropping television rating points for the show.

It is understood that, in addition to Govinda who anchors the show Jeeto Chappar Phaad Ke, Sony plans to bring in a few of his co-stars to add more fizz to the show. Talks are apparently on with stars like Raveena Tandon and Kader Khan to make guest appearances on the weekend show.

Also in the pipeline are special theme shows, such as one on Hasya Kavi, to add more "fun" to the show. While keeping the entertainment and money factor intact, Sony plans to enhance the quizzing element in the show, giving it a more serious look, sources close to the channel said.

Launched on January 26, Govinda's Jeeto Chappar Phaad Ke on Sony, which has had a very short stint in the list of the top 10 programmes, moved from the top 10 list to garner a television rating point of as low as three for the week ended March 31.
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Satyam increases local hiring after closing US arm
Mumbai: After downsizing its US subsidiary, VisionCompass, to cut down costs, Satyam Computers has stepped up its local recruitment drive. The Hyderabad-based software services company has gone on a recruiting spree and is hiring manpower to develop its local business unit. The company ' sacked about 40 personnel from its US subsidiary.

While no figure as to the number of people to be hired was available, the company stated that the hiring was part of its effort to move its business offshore in an attempt at offering services at lower rates.

Satyam Computer officials claim that stepped up recruitments at the local development centre have nothing to do with the downsizing that took place in the company's US subsidiary.

Since confusion has been generated by the fact that Satyam has been recruiting its local employees for its VisionCompass business unit, company officials confirmed that while the US based VisionCompass is a Satyam subsidiary and is registered in the US, the local horizontal business unit operating out of India, caters to business needs within the company.

The local horizontal unit will work exclusively for Satyam's clients and cater to the Japanese and European markets apart from serving North America alone.
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Hughes Software to go on recruiting spree
New Delhi: Despite the slowdown in the global IT industry, telecom software major, Hughes Software Systems has decided to recruit 800 more professionals by the end of 2001. The fresh induction would take the total software professional strength of the company to 1900 by the end of 2001.

The recruitment, according to Mr. Arun Kumar, company president and managing director, will be to focus on the client-dedicated product and technology development, mainly on mobile internet and wireless technologies as the next area of thrust.

Hughes decision to recruit 800 more professionals comes at a time when most Indian companies and India subsidiaries are cutting down employees due to US slowdown.
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Indus League to supply garments to Reliance
Mumbai: Textile major, Reliance Industries, has entered into an agreement with Bangalore-based Indus League under which the latter will supply garments for the former’s sole branded garment, Reance.

The introduction of the Reliance brand is to stave of challenge from established global brands like Gap and Hugo Boss, that are likely to enter the country in the aftermath of the removal of quantitative restrictions.

Under the agreement, RIL will supply the material for Indus League to manufacture the Reance range of garments. The garments, comprising shirts and trousers, will now be designed by Indus League, which has a full-fledged design centre in Bangalore.

RIL, which has recently decided to phase out certain products from its textile portfolio, is expanding its garment business by making the Reance brand available in most of its showrooms.

The Reance brand was registered three years ago and is being outsourced from various small-scale manufacturers. However, with the present arrangement, Indus League will provide most of the company's requirements.
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LN Mittal to pull out of Zambian deal
Mumbai: International steel baron, L N Mittal is said to be contemplating pulling out of the consortium which operates two copper mines in Zambia.

The consortium was formed by LN Mittal alongwith the Binani Group and the Al Baraka Group, the second-largest industrial group in Saudia Arabia, last year.

The consortium had acquired the two copper mines in Zambia from the state-owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mine and was scheduled to commence production from the mines of around 1.1 lakh tonne of copper at a total investment of $125 million.

While initially the group found the going good, the recent tariff revision for power by the Zambian government has made the costing unviable. This is said to be the main reason for the LN Mittal group to pull out of the venture.

Besides, it is understood that two of the mines located at the Luanshya and Baluba regions, have been badly hit by rains that has resulted in heavy waterlogging, which has led to a temporary closure of operations in the mines.

Moreover, Mittal has also launched a massive reorganisation at flagship Ispat International with several positions and appointments for senior executives in global operations in the process of being reshuffled.

From the onset, the copper venture had been hinged on the low cost factor with plans for producing copper at $250 per tonne, which would be among the lowest rates in the world. The recent turn of events has made this prospect unviable.
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Balco talks fail
New Delhi: The tripartite talks initiated to resolve the Balco stalemate remained inconclusive on Sunday and the parties to the negotiation process have agreed to meet on Monday.

The parties to the process are the Chattisgarh industry minister Mahendra Karma, representatives of seven unions including INTUC, AITUC and BMS and the talks aer being held at the residence of mines minister Sunderlal Patwa.

Balco's new management was not represented at the talks, Patwa said adding this was following a request of the Chattisgarh government and workers.
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Cadila to sell licencing rights of new drug
New Delhi: Domestic pharma major, Cadila Pharmaceuticals is said to be in advanced stage of negotiations with a German multinational drug company for selling off licensing rights of its newly-developed anti-fungal drug. According to company sources, the deal is likely to be finalised very soon.

The deal would give the German company the right to market the drug in a major portion of the international market. For the rest of the market, Cadila is likely to tie up with a Jordanian company.

The company ios also said to be negotiating with a couple of Japanese pharma majors for joint development and marketing of new chemical entities and formulations, as part of its move to get into basic R&D in a big way.

The company is also planning to soon file two ANDAs in the US. While one will be anti-fungal drug, the other is anti-histamine.

The company is set to launch about six biotechnology products in the Indian market this year, which includes a diagnostic kit christened Neva for diagnosis of HIV in just two minutes.
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Pfizer aims to get into new areas for R&D programme
New Delhi: The Indian subsidiary of global pharma company, Pfizer, has announced that it has identified new dosage formulations, manufacturing technologies and animal health as future focus areas for its research and development programme.

The focus would be on import substitution and resolving process development and standardisation of quality control of bulk drugs and formulations.

With the animal health market accounting for nearly Rs 800 crore the company is planning for a major market share in this segment through companion animal vaccines and nutritional products.
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Reliance plans massive foray into public transportation
Mumbai: According to a report appearing in a leading economic daily, the Reliance group is planning a massive foray into the urban mass transportation segment along with the Konkan Railway Corporation as its technology partner.

The group is understood to be involved in the recent proposal made by KRC for installing Skybuses in the metro of Mumbai.

The SkyBus metro railway project is an overhead railway system or monorail two-car, driver-less sky-bus that will run on electricity on an eight-metre-high elevated tract, running parallel to the highways and service roads in cities.

The project is proposed to be introduced in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Senior Reliance officials, when contacted, are understood to have declined to speak on the issue.

Konkan Railway officials however state that if the talks with Reliance materialise, it will provide the entire technical know-how while Reliance will implement and run the new mode of transportation.
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Deepak Fertilisers shelves Tanzania plan
Pune: Leading fertiliser company, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation, is understood to have shelved its plans to set up a gas-based ammonia plant in Tanzania. According to reports it is now looking at Indonesia and the oil-rich West Asian countries as a new option for setting up the plant.

The recent visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Iran makes it another possible destination depending on the outcome of the various agreements signed between the two countries.

The company is said to be seriously considering the prospect of overseas projects as its domestic production of ammonia is being affected due to low gas supplies from the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) resulting in lower capacity utilisation of its ammonia plant at Taloja, near Mumbai. The recent visit to Iran by the Indian prime minister is said to have made that country a possible destination for the fertiliser company.

The company was keen to have a facility in Tanzania because this African country has no fertiliser manufacturing facility and the company was looking at both sourcing ammonia to meet the needs of its Indian plant and also for selling some of its output in the African continent.

In West Asia, the company is looking at the possibility of roping in a local partner particularly in countries where the local law does not allow 100 per cent equity holding for projects set up by outside investors.
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Cisco offers generous layoff package
San Francisco: Global IT networking equipment supplier, Cisco Systems, which recently announced the layoff of over 5,000 employees, has offered a generous six months package to the laid off employees. The package will be offered to the employees if the concerned employee signs a severance agreement.

The identification of employees to be laid off will be completed in the next two weeks by senior management of the company. This is in keeping with the timeline chief executive John Chambers has mentioned in comments following its March 9 announcement that it was trimming its payroll.

According to Mr. Larry Carter, the chief financial officer of the company, each case will be treated with sensitivity, understanding and dignity.

Cisco also reiterated its plan to defer salary raises during its April review and encouraged employees to take three personal days in the financial third quarter and seven personal days in the fourth quarter, which concludes toward the end of July.
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