Intel comes out with fastest transistor
San Francisco—Intel says it has developed the fastest and smallest transistor ever that is only 20 nanometers, or 0.02 microns, in size..
By comparison, the transistors found in the latest chips in use today measure 0.18 microns from one side of the transistor gate to the other.
The implications of developing such small and fast transistors are significant: Silicon will be used to make chips until 2007, and it will make possible microprocessors containing close to 1 billion transistors running at 20 gigahertz by that year.
Today's Pentium 4 processors have about 42 million transistors and run at 1.7 gigahertz.
Transistors, as they get smaller, require less power, so microprocessors in 2007 will consume less power in all than those on the market today, said a software expert.
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Zee keen on bidding for DD Metro prime-time slots
New Delhi—DD Metro’s slots are again being hotly contested for. On the back Channel Nine and Sony entertainment's reported interest in DD Metro slots up for sale, Zee Network has also indicated it was keen to make a bid, but only for the 7-9 pm prime time slot.
A senior official at Zee said that Zee was positively disposed and there was no reason why Zee should not make an expression of interest in that channel.
He said the Subhash Chandra promoted company would place a bid for only the 7-9 pm slot, and was confident of turning up a winner since it had a vast variety of content to leverage from.
Late last month Prasar Bharati had invited bids for the prime time band of 7 to 10 pm and for the 10 pm to 0030 am slot on DD Metro for a period of three years.
Dividing the time band into one-hour slots, it laid the floor price of Rs 22.5 crore, Rs 32.5 crore, Rs 42.5 crore and Rs 17.5 crore for the four hourly slots between 7 pm to 11 pm.
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Yamaha to trim 200 jobs
New Delhi—Yamaha Motor Company is offering a fresh voluntary retirement scheme, VRS, at its Faridabad unit in Haryana. The object of the VRS is to trim around 200 jobs.
Yamaha employs around 2000 people at its Faridabad plant.
Earlier Yamaha had entered into a JV with Escorts for its motorcycle operations, which recently broke off with Escorts exiting the JV. Yamaha Motor is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the parent company.
However officials said that the Yamaha has decided to retain the motorcycle brand Rajdoot because it has a good brand equity in the rural areas on India. It will however phase out other Escorts brands.
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Bhel; another disinvestment in the offing
New Delhi—The department of disinvestment is planning a public offer for reducing the government’s stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel). The government’s stake would be rediced to to 26 per cent, in keeping with its stated disinvestment policy
Given the critical nature of Bhel to India’s thermal, hydro, nuclear and non-conventional energy, defence and aero space programmes, the government feels that it would not be feasible to go in for induction of a strategic partner in the company, sources said.
Also, for companies that are well run, the DoD has decided to go in for public offers. And Bhel is a well run, profit making company where small investor interest is expected to be substantial.
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DPC wants MSEB nod for initiating second phase
Mumbai--Lenders to the Dabhol Power Company, at the meeting in Singapore, said they wanted the latter to revive the first phase of the project and test-fire the second phase without any delay.
DPC on its part has put the onus on Maharashtra State and says that it wants the Electricity Board’s (MSEB) permission to test-fire the second phase, which will be mechanically ready by June 30. It also says that that the first phase is available for generating power provided MSEB wants it.
In other words, the onus of saving the project is with MSEB which will be required to lift power to revive the first phase and permit DPC to test-fire the second.
MSEB is also required to activate the escrow account for the second phase.
The lenders plan to take a hard line to save the project and in the worst-case scenario, they would invoke the equity ownership clause and take over the project since DPC shares are pledged to them sources said.
Although the current situation does not warrant that, as DPC has not yet defaulted in loan repayment and has not done anything to call for such drastic action they added.
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SBI Infotech to launch its Rs 800 crore technology plan
Mumbai--State Bank of India is kicking off its ambitious Rs 800-crore technology plan.
Thus SBI’s infotech venture —SBI Infotech—will be cast as a holding company with a cluster of joint ventures with different solution providers in the areas of automated teller machines, net banking, core banking, etc.
The bank has received clearance from the Reserve Bank of India and is awaiting the finance ministry nod, senior sources in SBI said.
The technology plan of the SBI has three prongs, which are; setting up 1,000 ATMs by March 31, 2002; launching net banking and networking bank branches.
SBI has already kicked off its technology plan by integrating 247 ATMs in seven cities and will set up another 200 ATMs soon. It is also ready to launch net banking in 51 select branches on July 1.
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BK Birla group may merge ten group firms
Kolkata--The B K Birla group is planning another restructuring plan, which aims at merging over 10 closely-held group companies with three main money spinners.

Senior sources said this was being done to enhance shareholders' value by bringing these closely held companies under the umbrella of the listed firms.
According to sources the three companies with whom the closely held companies will be merged will be Century Textiles & Industries, Kesoram Industries and Jay Shree Tea & Industries.
However senior officials in the company declined to name these companies as the proposal was yet to be cleared.

The prominent B K Birla group companies are Century Textiles, Kesoram Industries, Jay Shree Tea & Industries, Mangalam Cements, Mangalam Timber Products, ECE Industries, Manjushree Plantations, Bharat Commerce & Industries and Century Enka.
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Rabo plans merchant-banking subsidiary
New Delhi--Rabo India Finance, the 75 per cent non-banking finance subsidiary of Dutch banking group Rabo Bank, is planning to set up a wholly owned subsidiary in India to undertake merchant banking activities.
This is in compliance with a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) guideline that has directed non-banking finance companies to separate their fund-based and non-fund based activities, said company executives.
The move also comes in the aftermath of a foreign direct investment (FDI) policy change announced on April 19, 2001.
Kapoor said the existing two-and-a-half year old joint venture (Rabo Finance India) presently has a capital of Rs 106 crore (approx $21.5 million), of which the FDI component subscribed to by Rabo Bank at 75 per cent is $17 million.
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