CORPORATE DISPUTES
Tender dispute stalls BSNL's rural telephony project
BHARAT Sanchar Nigam Ltd's rural telephony programme has hit a snag with its satellite-based phone project being referred to the Disputes Settlement Committee under the Union Cabinet. The roadblock comes in the wake of the state-owned Bharat ... More

Birla will executor seeks discharge of caveat filed by Lodha
MR KASHINATH TAPARIA, the common executor of the 1982 will of both M.P. Birla and Priyamvada Birla, on Wednesday filed two petitions in the Calcutta High Court, seeking discharge of the caveat filed by Mr R.S. Lodha with regard to the 1982 mutual ... More

COMPANY LAW
No concept, only paper
K. Srinivasan on the fuss that the Concept Paper tries to churn up More

AUDITING
E&Y ex-partners form audit firm
THE Big Four - KPMG, Ernst &Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte Haskins & Sells - could soon see some hot competition on the audit front. Six of the high-profile partners who exited Ernst & Young (E&Y) this August have co More

FIXED DEPOSITS
RBI asks `problem' cos not to repay deposits before term
FOR the purpose of permission to prepay accepted public deposits, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to segregate companies that accept such deposits into `problem' and normally run companies. Expressing concern over non-banking entities ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
AS Steel Traders highest bidder for Orichem
AS Steel Traders Ltd of Visakhapatnam has put in the highest financial bid of Rs 9.12 crore for purchase of Orichem Ltd, a closed subsidiary of Industrial Development Corporation of Orissa Ltd (IDCOL). The company has emerged as the highest ... More

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Guidelines on valuation of corporate assets to be framed
THE Ministry of Company Affairs is examining the report of an expert group on framing guidelines for valuation of corporate assets and shares in connection with amalgamation, merger, demerger, acquisition and buyback of companies' shares. The ... More

NEW PROJECTS
Maruti top brass in Japan to work out Rs 6,000-cr investment
THE top brass of Maruti Udyog Ltd is in Japan to work out with its parent, Suzuki Motor Corporation, the modalities of the proposed Rs 6,000-crore investment plan announced recently. According to sources, the Maruti team led by the Managing ... More

Piaggio plans expansion of manufacturing base
PIAGGIO Vehicles, a subsidiary of Piaggio &C SpA, Italy, has drawn up plans for the expansion of its manufacturing base aimed at making the Indian assembly line its global sourcing hub. The company has firmed up a slew of launches including a .. More

Welspun to get $15 m from IFC for plant expansion
WELSPUN India is expected to get a $15 m (about Rs 68 crore) funding from International Finance Corporation for its Rs 575-crore expansion project. The company is likely to get the loan at LIBOR-linked rates. Also, Indian lenders led by State ... More

Apollo Tyres completes expansion
Apollo Tyres Ltd (ATL), which received the FACT M.K.K. Nayar Memorial Productivity award for 2002-03 on Tuesday, has completed the capacity expansion programme in its two plants in Kerala. With this, the capacity of its main plant at Perambra ... More

Ranbaxy setting up plant in Brazil
IT'S official now. Homespun drug major Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd is in the process of setting up a manufacturing unit in Brazil. "We said right at the beginning, as our business grows we will build a factory and that is what we are doing. We ... More

ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES
FICCI urges PM for continuation of Press Note 18
THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has urged the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, for continuation of Press Note 18 stating that such a provision is necessary for Indian investments to be safe. Press Note 18 ... More

GV Films collaboration
CHENNAI: GV Films Ltd on Wednesday informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it will collaborate with St. George Films Ltd, UK, to renovate cinemas and provide all the technological inputs and investments required for the ... More

SOCIETY & DEVELOPMENT

RIGHTS ISSUE
Mafatlal still struggling to get out of the woods — Polyolefins rights issue to pay debts
Although MIL remained a high-profile group of companies up to mid-1990s, before year 2000 arrived, losses and debt had mounted high. And the company was declared sick on September 19, 2000. More

OUTLOOK
LG India targets $3-b export turnover by 2010
LG Electronics India, slated to be the South Korean electronics major's export hub for West Asia and African markets, aims to touch an export turnover of $3 billion by 2010. This will constitute 30 per cent of the Indian arm's then prevailing ... More

Ind-Swift Labs in talks with 2 cos for making statins
IND-SWIFT Laboratories Ltd (ISLL), a Chandigarh-based bulk drugs company, is in talks with two generic pharmaceutical companies for the manufacture of statins (cholesterol-lowering agents). The company expects to finalise this contract ... More

Adecco Peopleone targets Rs 160-cr revenue by March '06
ADECCO Peopleone Consulting, the merged entity of Adecco SA, a Swiss firm, and Peopleone Consulting, a Bangalore-based human resources company, is targeting revenues of Rs 160 crore by March 31, 2006, Mr Ajit Isaac, Founder and Managing Director, ... More

PERFORMANCE
GM sales rise 60 pc in Sept
SELLING a record 3,207 cars in September, the highest in a month since its inception, General Motors India recorded over 68.5 per cent growth in the first nine months of 2004. The company's sales increased by 60.27 per cent in September over ... More

Tata Motors sales up 25% in Sept
TATA Motors on Wednesday reported a 25.1 per cent rise in total vehicles sold (including exports) to 35,406 units for September against 28,306 units in the previous corresponding month. The company's commercial vehicle sales for the month ... More

PEOPLE
Temasek's Lee on Apollo Hospitals board
CHENNAI: Dr Jennifer Lee has joined the governing board of Apollo Hospitals as the nominee of Temasek Holdings. Apollo recently placed 5 per cent of its equity with Temasek at Rs 246 a share. Apollo's notice to the stock exchanges said ... More