Thursday, May 13, 2010

MAJOR 30 BREAKTHROUGHS IN IT WORLD

Dr Ted Hoff in 1971 put together all the elements of a computer processor on a single chip slightly larger than one square inch. The results of his efforts was the Intel 45004, the world's first commercially available microprocessor


Brooks's law is a principle in software development which says that "adding manpower to a software project that is behind schedule will delay it further".

It was coined by Fred Brooks in his 1975 book 'The Mythical Man-Month.'


Vinod Dham is a venture capitalist who was the leader of the team that developed the Intel Pentium processor. He rose to the position of vicepresident of Intel.


Dham left Intel in 1995, and joined a number of startups including NexGen, which was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and then went on to Silicon Spice. Dham is also credited with the development of K6 microprocessor at AMD


Junglee.com, founded by Rakesh Mathur merged with amazon.com in 1998


Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee is an English developer who invented the World Wide Web at the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1990.

Berners-Lee is also the director of the World Wide Web Consortium (which oversees its continued development), and a senior researcher and holder of the 3Com Founders Chair at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

Ted Nelson is an American sociologist and pioneer of information technology who coined the term "hypertext", which most often refers to text on a computer that will lead the user to other, related information on demand, in 1963.

The main thrust of Ted Nelson's work has been to make computers easily accessible to ordinary people. His motto is: "A user interface should be so simple that a beginner in an emergency can understand it within ten seconds."

Former NASSCOM Chairman Kiran Karnik is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and has worked at ISRO and Discovery Communications. He is also known for masterminding the project Computer Literacy and Studies in School (CLASS).

Larry Ellison the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, a major enterprise software company, got the idea for his company name while working at Ampex Corporation in 1970s. One of his projects was a database for the CIA, which he named "Oracle".


Larry Ellison founded Oracle in 1977 under the name Software Development Laboratories (SDL). In 1979, the company was renamed Relational Software Inc., later renamed Oracle after the flagship product Oracle database.

UNIVAC I was the first commercial computer made in the world and was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.


The design work of UNIVAC I was begun by their company, Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, and was completed after the company had been acquired by Remington Rand. The first UNIVAC was delivered to the United States Census Bureau in 1951


The company which became IBM was founded in 1888 as the Tabulating Machine Company by Herman Hollerith, in New York. It was incorporated as Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation (CTR) in 1911, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1916. IBM adopted its current name in 1924, when it became a Fortune 500 company.

Apple Inc.'s Lisa, introduced in 1983, was the first commercial personal computer to employ a graphical user interface (GUI). Lisa was also the first personal computer to have the mouse as a standard
component

HEC-2M, imported from the UK, was the first digital computer installed in India at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Calcutta in 1955.

The first computer built entirely by Indians, was installed at Jadavpur University (JU) in Calcutta in 1966. The computer was the product of a joint venture between the scientists working at ISI and JU and was nicknamed 'ISIJU'.

SWIFT, which stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, supplies secure messaging services and interface software to wholesale financial entities

The modern definition of artificial intelligence (or AI) is "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions which maximizes its chances of success. John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956, defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines."

Raymond Samuel Tomlinson implemented an email system in 1971. It was the first system able to send mail between users on different hosts connected to the ARPAnet (previously, mail could only be sent to others who used the same computer). To achieve this, he used @ sign to separate the user from their

machine, which has been used in email addresses ever since.

Microsoft issues a 'Certificate of Authenticity' to guard against counterfeit software. It has a watermark with the image of a woman Ada Lovelace who is mainly known for having written a description of Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine.


Over one hundred years after her death, in 1953, Ada Lovelace's notes on Babbage's Analytical Engine were republished after being forgotten

.

Babbage's Analytical Engine has now been recognized as an early model for a computer and Ada Lovelace's notes as a description of a computer and software.


Ada–a programming language created by the U.S. Defense Department, was named after Lovelace.

The word 'cyberspace' (from cybernetics and space) was coined by science fiction author William Gibson in his 1982 story 'Burning Chrome' and popularized by his 1984 novel 'Neuromancer'

Aldus Manutius (1450–1515), an Italian printer, was the founder of the Aldine Press. The software company that created PageMaker for the Apple Macintosh is named Aldus after him

Bill Gates & the Lakeside Programmers Group


In the fall of 1968, Computer Center Corporation opened for business in Seattle. A

deal was struck between Lakeside Prep School and the Computer Center

Corporation that allowed the school to provide it's students with computer time.


Bill Gates and his friends who studied at Lakeside immediately began exploring the contents of this new machine. It was not long before the young hackers started

causing problems. They caused the system to crash several times and broke the computers security system. They even altered the files that recorded the amount of computer time they were using. They were caught and the Computer Center Corporation banned them from the system for several weeks.


Bill Gates, Paul Allen and, two other hackers from Lakeside formed the Lakeside Programmers Group in late 1968. They were determined to find a way to apply their computer skills in the real world. The first opportunity to do this was a direct result of their mischievous activity with the school's computer time. The

Computer Center Corporation's business was beginning to suffer due to the systems weak security and the frequency that it crashed. Impressed with Gates and his friends' previous assaults on their computer, the Computer Center Corporation decided to hire the students to find bugs and expose weaknesses in the computer system.


In return for the Lakeside Programming Group's help, the Computer Center Corporation would give them unlimited computer time. The boys could not refuse. Gates is quoted as saying "It was when we got free time at C-cubed (Computer Center Corporation) that we really got into computers." Although the group was hired

just to find bugs, they also read any computer related material that the day shift had left behind. The young hackers would even pick employees for new information. It was here that Gates and Allen really began to develop the talents that would lead to the formation of Microsoft seven years later.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY UPDATES

Business & Economy

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Italian carmaker Fiat and US based Chrysler have agreed to create a global strategic

alliance under which Fiat will get a 35% stake in Chrysler. In return, the US firm will get

access to Fiat's fuel-efficient vehicle technologies.

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Amitabh Bachchan has endorsed Dabur Honey for 5 years, exhorting consumers to 'Drop Sugar, Switch To Dabur Honey'. He has company — India's cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The two will now together endorse the brand with a brand new campaign, 'Kaun banayega India ko healthy' (who will make India healthy?). The brand message is— 'Cheeni ko dhakka maaro, instead have Dabur Honey'.

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Bangalore-headquartered microfinance organisation Ujjivan, a pioneer in the field in urban India has won a process excellence award from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for successfully combining the best of Grameen Bank's self-help group model with the efficiencies of modern retail banking.

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Samit Ghosh founded Ujjivan has also started an NGO, Parinaam Foundation, to bring a holistic approach to fighting poverty. It will offer healthcare, education, vocational and entrepreneurial guidance and support community development initiatives.

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Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) has won two international awards for the innovative fuse technology that helped eliminate frequent disturbances to the power plant operations. It won a special prize for Product Technique in the mechanical engineering and electronics category of the European Aluminium Award 2008, held in Germany. The technology also won the Ideas UK 2008 award in the technology category.

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Tata Chemicals will set up a fertiliser plant at Babrala in Uttar Pradesh for manufacturing customised farm nutrient, keeping in mind the soil fertility of the local

area. The company will launch IT related services under 'Smart Krishi' for farmers enabling them to assess the crop nutrients and soil fertility of their area.

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Ford Motor Co said it may sell its Volvo unit, the company's sole remaining European brand, a day before the automaker is scheduled to present a survival plan to US

lawmakers.

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Ford began buying European automakers in 1987, when it purchased a controlling interest in UK-based Aston Martin. Ford acquired Jaguar in 1989 and Land Rover in

2000.

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Ford sold off sold Aston Martin for $931 million in May 2007, and Jaguar and Land Rover in June 2008 for $2.4 billion.

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Ford has been shedding its European brands under CEO Alan Mulally, recruited from Boeing Co in 2006. Mulally is integrating regional units and focusing on marketing the company's namesake brand, under a plan called One Ford.

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The Global Green Company, part of the Avantha Group promoted by the Thapar family, has decided to foray into the agriculture fields in Punjab to source back-end likages for its food processing business.

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Hindustan Motors (HM) of the CK Birla group has launched the first Chinese commercial vehicle in India. The 1-tonne-capacity mini-truck, priced below Rs 4 lakh, produced under licence from Shandong Shifeng of China is named the HM-Shifeng Winner.

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In a ruling that may result in $2 billion (Rs 10,000 crore) flowing into government coffers, the Bombay High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by telecom major

Vodafone International Holdings BV challenging the Income Tax (I-T) Department's jurisdiction to assess whether the over $11 billion Hutchison-Vodafone transaction was liable for capital gains tax.

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Thorium Power, a US-based nuclear energy company, has signed an agreement with Punj Lloyd to form a joint venture (JV) that will provide thorium fuel technology for light water reactors (LWR) to come up in India.

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Japanese giant Mitsui has decided to join hands with Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and IL&FS to set up an Integrated Japanese Industrial, Transportation & Logistic Park in Haryana.

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'Buyology: How Everything We Believe About Why We Buy Is Wrong', a book authored by Marketing guru Martin Lindstrom was released recently.

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The Union government has issued special bonds for Rs 10,000 crore at the coupon rate of 7 per cent to 23 fertiliser companies as compensation for subsidising prices in the current financial year.

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Fertiliser companies sell their products at a discount to farmers and the government reimburses the subsidy component by way of cash transfer and fertiliser bonds. The

calculation for subsidy is based on cost-plus basis. When crude oil prices go up, the cost of feedstock for fertiliser units also spiral upwards.

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The government, in Budget 2008-09, had sought approval for Rs 38,863 crore for fertiliser subsidy by way of cash outgo and Rs 14,000 crore through fertiliser subsidy bond. The fertiliser subsidy bill in 2007-08 was estimated at around Rs 40,300 crore.

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'The New Paradigm For Financial Markets', a book authored by billionaire financer and investor George Soros, was released recently.

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Central Arecanut & Cocoa Marketing & Processing Cooperative Limited (Campco), the Mangalore-based multi-state cooperative of Karnataka and Kerala, known for its chocolate brand Campco, is diversifying into rubber trade.

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Leading toy manufacturer, Mattel India has launched the Disney Pixar Cars range that features models based on the characters from movies. The Pixar Car range is the second largest brand after Hot Wheels in the boys' toy category for Mattel.

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Dutch consumer electronics company Philips will roll out its specialised mother and baby-care products under the brand Avent brand later this year.

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China lost its first major trade dispute at the World Trade Organization's highest appeals court, the Appellate Body (AB), over its additional duty of 25 per cent on imported auto parts. In a comprehensive ruling, the AB dismissed China's challenge on several counts, pronouncing that Beijing's measures violated global trade rules.

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State Bank of India (SBI) has merged its Mauritius-based subsidiary, Indian Ocean International Bank (IOIB), with SBI International (Mauritius) to consolidate its

operations in the African island nation. The new entity has begun operations as SBI (Mauritius).

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Parthi Bhatol has been elected as the chairman of Banskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union which manages Banas dairy. Bhatol was also elected as the chairman of Rs. 5,200 crore apex milk marketing body-Gujarat Cooperative Milk

Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that owns the Amul brand in April 2006.

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Japanese bike maker Yamaha has launched its fifth 'Lifestyle' company owned showroom in the country in Kolkata recently.

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Yamaha has launched its in-house finance company called Bussan Auto Finance (BAF) in India. BAF, a joint venture company between Yamaha, Mitsui and Axis Bank, was formed to finance Yamaha purchases.

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Yamaha India is conducting 'Ridetech' events promoting racing culture in the country, which would also help it promote the brand image of the company.

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The Agri-Business Incubator (ABI) at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has won the Asian Association of Business Incubation (AABI) Award for the year 2008.

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ABI-ICRISAT was established with support from the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, Department of Science and Technology and

Government of India, in 2003.

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Cisco, the global leader in networking, has announced the roll out of its 'Network On Wheels' (NOW) Van program across the country to address the information technology (IT) needs of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region.

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PartyGaming Plc's founder and former director, Anurag Dikshit, pleaded guilty to illegal Internet gambling and agreed to cooperate with the US Justice Department in an investigation of the Web-based gaming company. Internet gambling is illegal in the US.

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Global Hyatt Corporation, which currently operates five hotels in India under the Hyatt Regency, Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt brands will introduce its global brands such as Hyatt Place, Hyatt Summerfield Suites and Andaz to Tier-I and -II cities in India.

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K S Raju, Chairman of the Rs 12,500-crore Nagarjuna Group, was sent to jail on judicial remand for a fortnight for defaulting on repayment of deposits collected from the public by his Nagarjuna Finance (NFL).

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K S Raju is the only son of K V K Raju, a first generation industrialist who founded the Nagarjuna Group by establishing Nagarjuna Steel and Nagarjuna Fertilizer and Chemicals (NFCL).

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Edurite Technologies, the Indian arm of TutorVista, providing technology-enabled education, is looking at taking its software DigitALLy to schools across the country and has partnered publishing firm Macmillan Publishers India to offer it to students of Class XII.

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HDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri is the Business Standard Banker of the Year. Puri has won the award for transforming the 14-year old institution into a financial powerhouse.

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HDFC Bank today has the largest branch network (1,400) among all private sector banks in the country, courtesy the acquisition of Centurion Bank of Punjab.

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Croma — the consumer electronics retail chain of the Tata group — has launched its private label 'Croma' for appliances such as air-conditioners, irons and vacuum cleaners. The Tata group already has a small presence in the durables sector since it manufactures air-conditioners under the Voltas brand.

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Internet search firm Yahoo! has acquired 30% stake in Chennai-based tele-information service provider Info Network Management Company (INMAC) known for its consumer brand, Call Ezee, a telephone directory search service available across 14 cites in India

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The Airports Authority of India (AAI), the country's largest airport operator, has been granted the mini-ratna status under category-I.

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A category-I mini-ratna company is allowed to incur capital expenditure on new projects, modernisation, purchase of equipment without government approval up to Rs 300 crore, or equal to its net worth, whichever is lower. This apart, the company will be allowed to establish joint ventures (JVs) and subsidiaries in the country.

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Regional Food Research & Analysis Centre (RFRAC), Lucknow has been appointed as the authority to certify dussehri mango exporters in Malihabad region of Uttar Pradesh.

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National Horticulture Board has registered the dussehri mango under the Geographic Indication (GI) Act for better marketing and visibility in international market recently.

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Dussehri is primarily grown in Malihabad area of Lucknow district and is famous for its flavour and sweetness and is exported mainly to the Gulf, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, besides the domestic market in the country.

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Reliance Communications (RCom) has launched 'Samachar', a service that provides text news in Hindi and vernacular languages. The service is supported by mobile and web applications provider Webdunia.com.

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National Aluminium Company (NALCO), India's public sector aluminium company, has inked an agreement with Rak Minerals and Metals Investments (RMMI) for its Rs 14,000-crore Indonesian project.

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Reliance Money and National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE) have announced the setting up of National Agriculture Produce Marketing Company of India (National APMC) that aims to provide the required infrastructure for electronic trading in agricultural products.

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W2M, a geosynchronous orbit communication satellite built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the European Space Centre at Kourou in French Guyana recently.

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ISRO is making another satellite called HYLAS, also in association with EADSAstrium, for UK's Avanti Screen Media, and will be launched later this year.

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The W2M project was undertaken under an accord signed during the 2006 visit of the French president to New Delhi between Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO, and EADS Astrium.

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Tata Motors' plans to roll out the first of its Rs 1 lakh small car, the Nano, from Uttarakhand, got a boost after a state government committee under Chief Minister B C Khanduri allotted it nearly 45 acres of land to expand the Pantnagar unit.

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The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bangalore, has entered into the first public-private JV in the aircraft design in the country with Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) to produce General Aviation Aircraft.

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Britain has drawn up a guide titled 'Caring for Hindu Patients' to help health professionals provide care to Hindu patients according to their values and practices. The

guide seeks to provide insight into how services may be provided sensitively, with respect for Hindu values, practices and worldviews.

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Wipro Technologies will acquire Citi Technology Services–the captive delivery centre of IT services and solutions centre of Citigroup in India–for $127 million (around Rs 609 crore). Citigroup had recently sold its captive BPO arm, Citigroup Global Services, to TCS for about $505 million.

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Tulsi Tanti promoted Suzlon Energy, the world's fifth largest wind turbine maker, will sell 10% of its stake in Belgium-based subsidiary Hansen Transmission to fund its acquisition of stake in another Suzlon subsidiary, Germany based REpower Systems AG.

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Consultancy firm KPMG will prepare the 2009 report on the media and entertainment sector for industry chamber FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) after the industry association terminated its relationswith Price water house Coopers (PwC) in the wake of Satyam Computers' accounting fraud after PwC's audit arm came under fire.

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The government has said that as the owner of gas from the KG basin it has every right to direct RIL whom to supply. The assertion was made before the Bombay High Court

which is hearing the gas supply dispute between the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) and Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL).

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Larsen & Toubro has signed a MOU with the Toshiba Corporation owned US based

Westinghouse Electric Company, the largest nuclear power equipment maker, to build 1,000 megawatt pressurised nuclear power plants in India.

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Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit has agreed to cede control of Smith Barney brokerage to Morgan Stanley. Citigroup's announcement came as Bank of America, the biggest US bank by assets, received emergency funds from the government to support its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

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Shah Rukh Khan promoted Red Chillies Entertainment has floated a TV production division—Idiot Box—to produce shows for general entertainment channels. The first

show to go on air is "The First Ladies with Abu Sandeep" on NDTV Good Times.

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PricewaterhouseCoopers has acquired all shares of ECS Ltd., providers of HR consulting services, from the erstwhile owners Eicher Goodearth.

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As many as seven Indian MFIs have been ranked among the world's top 50 in an annual Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) ranking of MFIs across the world in 2008. Vikram Akula founded SKS Microfinance is ranked #2.

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Zimbabwe has introduced a 100 trillion dollar note, in its latest attempt to keep pace with hyperinflation that has left the economy in tatters

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The Supreme Court has set aside the judgment of the Delhi High Court in the tripartite dispute over the trade mark 'Field Marshal' and asked the Intellectual Property

Appellate Board to examine the issues once again. The disputed trade mark was claimed by Thukral Mechanical Works, which makes centrifugal pumps and other products,

Jain Industries which manufactures flour mills and pumps and PM Diesels, which

produces diesel engines.

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The country's second largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank, which added 658 branches last year, has the largest branch network among private sector banks. HDFC Bank has a nationwide network of 1,412 branches spread across 528 towns and cities while ICICI Bank has a network of 1,400 branches.

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Telecom service provider Tata Teleservices (TTSL) merged its infrastructure business with independent infrastructure equipment rental company Quippo Telecom Infrastructure (promoted by the Kanorias of Srei Infrastructure Finance) to form the

country's largest independently managed tower company.

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India's largest telecom tower company Indus, a combined venture between rival telecom

operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular, owns about 80,000 towers.

Reliance Communications has also hived off its infrastructure arm, Reliance Infratel, which has around 40,000 towers.

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The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), the Tata Group firm which runs the Taj Group of Hotels, will be consolidating its spas into one brand called 'Jiva'.

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IBM's India Research Laboratory has completed its pilot project on 'Spoken Web' concept. The spoken web is a network of voicesites or interconnected voice applications. Callers can create their own voicesites or access those of others. The calls are routed through a telecom operator.

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IBM has developed a new protocol, Hyperspeech Transfer Protocol (HSTP) for its 'Spoken Web' pilot project. HSTP is similar to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that the web uses to help people move from one website to another.

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India is ranked 41st on in the latest Global Innovation Index for 2008-09 prepared by Instead, a France-based business school, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The US continues to remain on top.

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Israeli drug major Taro Pharmaceutical, which is battling a hostile takeover bid, has demanded a 58% premium to effect a merger with India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. Sun Pharma rejected the offer citing it was beyond the worth of Taro. The

Israeli Supreme Court is likely to decide the fate of Sun Pharma's attempts to acquire the remaining 64% stake of promoters and other shareholders in Taro.

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New York-based IBM T J Watson Research Centre has initiated Project Checkmate to undertake research on avian influenza (bird flu) and to predict stable and mutant varieties of the H5N1 strain of virus causing the disease.

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A joint venture (JV) between BAE Systems and Mahindra & Mahindra to produce land systems, including an anti-landmine vehicle, has been cleared by the government.

Initial work is likely to include the up-armouring of Rakshak vehicles and the Axe vehicle production.

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Reliance Petroleum, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has commissioned its second refinery in a special economic zone (SEZ) at Jamnagar, adjacent to its existing facility. The Rs 25,000-crore refinery, with processing capacity of 580,000 barrels a day, is the

sixth largest refinery in the world. Together with the existing refinery, the total capacity of the complex will go up to 1.24 million barrels a day, making it the largest at a single location.

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P J Nayak will step down as Axis Bank's chairman & CEO from August after a nine and- a-half years stint with the bank after his term ends in July 2009. The bank was earlier called UTI Bank.

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The first airport city project (aerotropolis) in the country will come up near Durgapur in West Bengal by 2011. The aerotropolis would be constructed by Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL), which has entered into a technical services agreement with

Singapore's Changi Airports International.

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Healthcare company Zydus Cadilla has acquired Italy-based Etna Biotech, the whollyowned

subsidiary of Dutch biopharma company Crucell.

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ITC won the top UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) award at the International Conference on Sharing Innovative Agribusiness Solutions 2008 at Cairo in recognition for its exemplary initiatives in agri business. ITC's e-Choupal, the

largest rural digital infrastructure in the world, today covers over 40,000 villages and benefits over 4 million farmers.

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Hazira Port Private Ltd (HPPL), a joint venture between Shell Gas B.V. and Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France, is looking for developers to build a $500-million multicargo terminal at Hazira.

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Telecom solutions vendor Tech Mahindra has set up a new division christened Tech Talenta that will address the contract recruitment needs of clients across Europe.

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MedPlus, a pharmacy chain with 600 outlets across the country, has tied up with Wockhardt Hospitals to offer cardiac care and education to communities at 'Cardiac Zones', at the former's clinics.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY UPADTES

Business & Economy

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A professor at Carnegie University in the US, Scott Fahlman is credited to have been the inventor of the smiley emoticon in 1982, when he first used colon, dash and brackets as part of expressing his feelings on the university's electronic message board.

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Shemaroo Entertainment has launched its first three titles–'Downfall', 'All About My Mother' and 'Amen' under its World Cinema label.

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Fiama Di Wills has launched Shine In Style, a new shampoo variant, expanding its premium range of shampoos to five.

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ITC Welcomgroup, the Hotels Division of ITC Limited was conferred the NCPEDP Shell Helen Keller award for the third time in recognition of its substantial contribution to the cause of promoting employment opportunities for differently abled people over an extended period of time.

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Bangladesh's government launched its tourism brand name 'Rupomoy Bangladesh' (Beautiful Bangladesh) in a bid to attract tourists from home and abroad.

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Dooars and Terai tea, which account to about 30% of the total tea produced in India, can now be distinguished by its new brand mark - an elephant standing against the backdrop of tea bushes. This is the fourth tea logo in the country. Tea produced in Assam,

Darjeeling and the Nilgiris already have their own logos in place.

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Coca-Cola is getting into the unsweetened, flavoured-water category with the launch of Dasani Essence that will have no sugar, no calories and no preservatives. PepsiCo offers Aquafina FlavorSplash, which is also a no-calorie and all-natural drink.

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Italian eye-wear major Luxottica is venturing into the Indian market and plans to set up exclusive outlets under the brand name Sunglass Hut.

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Harlequin Mills & Boon India, one of the world's leading publishers of romance, has started a short story-writing contest, called Passions, exclusively for India.

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Compact Disc India (CDI) will invest $63 million for an animation feature film and multi platform gaming project with legendary Brazilian footballer Pele.

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Barclays of UK has become the first bank in Europe to pilot Microsoft Surface technology, which will allow users to 'grab' digital content with their hands and navigate for information about premier banking with simple gestures and touches.

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The Microsoft Hyderabad campus has kicked off its annual 'Giving' campaign and community week that encourages employees to take up social initiatives throughout the year.

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Apple files ''swipe gesture'' patent for touchscreens news

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Apple Inc., maker of the iPhone and iPod Touch media player, filed a patent application for software that lets users control computers and phones using swipes of their fingers. Apple's system would allow users to insert spaces, line breaks and uppercase characters

by swiping the screen rather than pressing keys, according to the application titled "Swipe Gestures for Touch Screen Keyboards."

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India is now the world leader in production of organic cotton with an output of 73,702 tonnes in 2007-08 according to Organic Exchange's Organic Cotton Farm and Fibre Report 2008

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NXP Semiconductors India has developed a solution based on RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology that will help oil companies prevent commercial use of LPG cylinders meant for homes.

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Shipping Corporation of India's new VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) 'Desh Viraat' collided with a small cargo vessel on its maiden journey off Korea.

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Religare Enterprises has agreed to acquire Lotus India Asset Management Company from the majority shareholders, Alexandra Fund Management, an affiliate of Singaporebased Fullerton Fund Management Company Ltd and India-based Sabre Capital.

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The Hotel Leela Ventures-operated 'Rio' became operational in 2008 while Goa Coastal Resorts and Recreation's Pride of Goa and the Victor group of Hotels' Kings Casino commenced subsequently. Casino Royale, operated by High Street Cruises and Entertainment that opened in Oct 2008, is the latest to join the fleet anchored in the Mandovi River. The Advani Pleasure Cruises operated 'The Carvela', launched in 2002, was the first offshore casino in India.

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MTV has already launched a line of clothing called MTV Gear by licensing its brand to a Bangalore-based clothing manufacturer (Primus Clothing).

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Haier Mobile has launched its Icon series handsets under the brand name 'Sumukha' for Tata Indicom.

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MTV India is planning to enter the stationery segment in collaboration with Ballarpur Industries Ltd to launch a rage of notebooks and diaries under the MTV brand.

Collaboration with the jeans wear brand of Wrangler to manufacture helmets under the MTV franchise is also on the cards. MTV is using its highest TRP-driven programme —

Roadies — and building it as a mini sub-brand.

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After the introduction of Barish Bima Yojna (BBY) for kharif crops in 2004, Iffco- Tokio General Insurance Company evolved a variant of its weather insurance product — Mausam Bima Yojna (MBY) — recently.

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After 'Aamchi Mumbai', 'Hamaari Delhi' and 'Namma Bengaluru' campaigns, digital imaging company Canon India launched 'Namma Chennai'. The initiative is aimed at reaching out to regional markets which have been the company's focus to garner better market share.

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Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will now be endorsing Dabur's Chyawanprash already being endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan.

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The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has been authorised by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) to collect production data from industrial units on its behalf for compiling the new series of Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Production data relating to 209 products is compiled by DIPP for the IIP. The remaining data is collected by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) from other agencies.

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In a bid to bring smaller players on the electricity trading platform, the country's first power bourse — Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) — has lowered the minimum tradable volume under the day-ahead market to 1 mega watt (MW), from the earlier limit of 10

MW.

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B Ramalinga Raju, Founder-Chairman of Satyam Computer Services, has received the Frost and Sullivan Excellence in Leadership Award for 2008 in November 2008.

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Indo-Russian joint venture Ural India Ltd and Chinese public sector automobile company First Auto Work (FAW) signed a memorandum of understanding to form a small car and bus manufacturing unit in West Bengal.

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Chennai-based Exim Rajathi has entered into an agreement to export tea to Pakistan where it is being marketed under the brand 1013 Janoowala and sold in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and even as far as Russia.

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Man Booker Prize 2008 winner Aravind Adiga has decided to donate a part of his prize money to his alma mater St Aloysius College of Mangalore to start a special scholarship for the higher education of under-privileged children.

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Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces has launched two new 'Safari' destinations in the forests of Madhya Pradesh–Pashan Garh and Banjaar Tola in Panna National Park and Kanha National Park respectively.

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The automotive aftermarket division of Bosch, which at present has 250 outlets offering after sales services for all brands of cars under the business unit Bosch Car Service, is mulling options to offer after sales service for two-wheeler of all brands.

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Wipro Furniture has launched a new range of office furniture — I'M, which, the company claims, is India's first Leg and Beam based system.

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Larsen & Toubro and Malaysia-based Scomi Engineering will together build the country's first monorail system in Mumbai.

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BSA Motors, a new business unit of Tube Investments of India (part of Murugappa group), has launched five models of eScooters and has signed on South Indian actress Tamannah Bhatia to endorse the brand

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MMTC Ltd has bagged the Capexil (Chemical and Allied Products Export Promotion Council) award for 17th time in a row.

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Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has signed an MoU with Uranium Corporation of

India for joint cooperation in uranium exploration and development.

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Sterlite Industries has bagged the CII-EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence at the 16th CII Quality Summit held at Bangalore.

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Satyam Computers, the official IT services' provider for FIFA World Cup in 2010 (South Africa) and 2014 (Brazil), will organise the Satyam Football Challenge every

year in India.

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Novatium Solutions has partnered with BSNL to bundle its Nova netPC along with broadband connection.

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Sify Technologies has announced revamped mail service from Sifymail called WIYI (World In Your Inbox).

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Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, the country's first greenfield airport developed

under the public-private partnership initiative, was inaugurated at Shamshabad near

Hyderabad.

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Japan's largest mobile operator NTT DoCoMo (acronym for Do Communications Over the Mobile Network) picked up a 26 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices (TTSL) for a consideration of $2.7 billion or Rs 13,070 crore. The Japanese company offers its services and data applications under the brand i-mode and is known for its mobile applications such as 'Imadoco' and 'Osaifu-Keitai'. The first one is a service that allows the user to know the exact location of his friends and family using GPS on mobile phone while the latter is a mobile commerce platform.

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Survey of India (SoI) has entered into an agreement with Tele Atlas Kalyani India (TAKI) to allow it to release SoI-approved digital maps of India. TAKI, formerly Kalyani Net Ventures Ltd, is a 60:40 joint venture between Tele Atlas Asia Pacific and

the Kalyani Group formed in April 2008.

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HCL Infosystems has launched the HCL Leaptop Series 39 laptop, which are specially designed for Indian conditions.

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Paramount Airways has launched its 'frequent flier' programme and packaged it as a 'lifestyle product' in which points accumulated can be redeemed for a variety of lifestyle

products such as golf course memberships. The airline has also launched 'Royale Concierge' — a portal through which a frequent flier could avail himself of a range of services.

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The Kandla-based Jaisu Shipping and Tata Consultancy Services have joined the Volvo Ocean Race India Stopover Team as sponsors, supporting the hosting of stopover

event, being hosted by Cochin Port Trust and Kerala Tourism.

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Dr Reddy's Laboratories has launched an initiative called Roshni to create awareness on diabetes among the public and facilitate early intervention for children by propagating healthy living habits.

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A $30-million commitment from Yale University and $5 million from Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani has funded the "Yale India Initiative" that will be used to create faculty positions, curricular and scholarly programmes and research leading to an increased engagement with India.

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Wipro Technologies and Oracle have announced the launch of the innovative solutions lab (OZONE) that will be used to co-develop solutions across specific industry processes in human capital and customer relationship management and supply chain management.

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Intel has launched Intel® Core™ i7 processor, which it said was 'the fastest desktop processor on Earth'.

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World's first electronic auction of tea was organised by the Calcutta Tea Traders Association in partnership with the Tea Board, in Kolkata recently. The buyers were

Bajaj Enterprise, Gujarat Tea Processors & Packers, Duncans Tea, Asia Tea & Exports Ltd and M.K. Corporation.

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The Delhi headquartered Bharat Hotels is to call all its hotels 'Lalit' instead of the name The Grand by which they are known at present.

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DQ Entertainment has signed an agreement with Turner Networks to produce animation series Balkand and Ravan, based on the mythology Ramayana.

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Chennai-based CaratLane, a Web site to sell certified and high-quality diamonds as well as readymade and custom-made diamond jewellery was launched recently.

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Comedian Jerry Lewis will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy Awards ceremony in February. The 82-year-old actor has raised over $2 billion (£1.3bn) for the Muscular Dystrophy Association through his annual Labor Day telethon.

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Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will promote Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC) 'Zinger' Burger. The campaign uses Murali's unique bowling action to drive home KFC's 'Finger Lickin' Good' brand proposition.

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The fourth and final phase of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) campaign launched in association with the BBC World Service Trust (BBCWST) aims at promoting condoms and India's HIV/AIDS control efforts centers on a puppy called 'Condom'. The film summarises this in the tagline, 'Jo Samjha Wohi Sikander' (The

One Who Understands is the Winner).

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In its first phase, the Condom campaign featured a Jo Bola Wohi Sikander contest, which ran from 1 December to 20 December 2007. Phase 2 was a national campaign,

with a TV and radio ad featuring a 'kabaddi' match. Phase 3 featured condom ringtone ads in August and September 2008.

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Sweden's AB Electrolux, which had shut its Indian operations and sold assets and brand rights to Videocon three years ago, is moving back to India and is planning to launch built-in kitchen appliances under the Electrolux brand. Xcite, a multi-brand electronics retail chain will sell Electrolux's Frigidaire in India.

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Frigidaire, which has a range of products, including refrigerators, water filters, washing machines and air-conditioners, was earlier owned by General Motors. It has been with Electrolux since mid-80s. Electrolux products are now manufactured, marketed and distributed by Videocon Industries. Videocon owns the brand rights for Electrolux for

five years which expires in 2010.

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Swimwear and beachwear company Banana Moon, set up in 1986 by Daniel Flachaire, Véronique Flachaire, Bernard Donati and Nat Maori, has made its debut in India.

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Arvind Limited, the textile and apparel company, will be demerging its branded apparel

and retail business which operates under the MegaMart brand into wholly owned subsidiaries from 1 April 2009.

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The branded apparel business which markets Arrow, Flying Machine, Newport, and Excalibur will be demerged into Arvind Lifestyle Brands. The retail business which operates under the banner of MegaMart will be demerged into Arvind Retail. Under the

MegaMart banner, Arvind presently has about 150 stores across the country along with the license for world's largest value brand Cherokee.

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Tata Indicom has appointed two brothers from cricket – Yusuf Pathan and Irfaan

Pathan as brand ambassadors in its ad whose punchline is 'Suno Dil ki Awaaz'.

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Femina magazine has launched a new monthly 'What to Wear' targeted at 25+ SEC A

women which is complimentary with Femina.

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Titan Industries has unveiled Braille watches designed for the visually impaired, branded Titan Braille.

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The India Today Group is planning to launch Harper's Bazaar and Robb Report in

the Indian market.

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The Robb Report is a luxury lifestyle magazine, featuring products such as cars, watches, and real estate for affluent connoisseurs. It was originally started by Robert

White as a magazine to complement the purchase of a Rolls-Royce automobile.

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The Reserve Bank of India has reduced the short-term indicative rates — the repo rate

and the reverse report rate by 100 basis points each to 6.5 per cent and 5 per cent — with effect from December 8.

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The Union government has approved a hefty hike in the salaries of executives and nonunionised

supervisors of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). Only profitmaking CPSEs would be eligible for implementing the revised pay scales.

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Wadhawan Food Retail launched its 50th Smart Store in Karnataka recently.

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Wadhawan Food Retail operates multiple food and grocery brands including Spinach in Maharashtra and Kolkata, Sabka Bazaar in Delhi NCR and Smart in Karnataka, launched its 50th Smart Store recently.

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Wadhawan Food Retail also has a home décor and utility lifestyle store called 'The Home Store' in Delhi NCR, Jaipur and Bangalore.

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Harper's Bazaar is an American fashion magazine that was launched by Harper Brothers in 1867 as a weekly in New York. It became a monthly later and was re-launched as Harper's Bazaar by William Randolph Hearst in 1913. Harper's Bazaar considers itself

to be the style resource for 'the well-dressed woman and the well-dressed mind'.

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The Indian Railway Catering Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the tourism arm of Indian Railways, is tying up with travel company Cox and Kings to launch the large stever luxury rail service in India.

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Tata Tea has launched its Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars campaign targeted at schoolchildren through which the company plans to promote football among school

children and provide them an opportunity to participate in the Arsenal International Soccer Festival.

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Medical care provider Apollo Health and Lifestyle plans to expand its presence across

the country under the formats 'Reach Hospitals' and maternity hospital chain, Cradle.

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched India's first 3G mobile services of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) in Delhi.

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The Asian Forum on CSR, Singapore, awarded Hindustan Zinc (a company of Vedanta Group in zinc business) the Asian CSR Excellence Award 2008 under the Poverty Alleviation Category for the "Zinc Integrated Poverty Alleviation Programme

(ZIPAP)".