Temptation Foods EGM

With reference to the earlier announcement dated December 13, 2007 regarding EGM on Dec 26, 2007, Temptation Foods Ltd has now informed BSE about the following corrigendum:

A. Corrigendum No 1 for Item No. 2 of the Notice.

In the Special Resolution mentioned at Item No. 2 of the said Notice, the number of Warrants to be allotted to the Directors and Business Associates had been mentioned as 1,50,000 Warrants and 1,60,000 Warrants respectively totaling to 3,10,000 Warrants. It was noticed that, in the said Item, through inadvertence, the name of one of the Director Ms. Bhairavi Goswami, to whom an offer of 20,000 Warrants has been made and which has been approved by the Board of Directors, got left out.

Accordingly, this Corrigendum was sent for inclusion of name of Ms. Bhairavi Goswami at Serial No. 7 for 20,000 number of Warrants to be allotted. Accordingly, the number of total Warrants of 3,10,000 wherever appear in the said item and the Explanatory Statement thereto be read as 3,30,000 Warrants.

Era Infra gets contract

Era Infra Engineering Ltd has informed that Company's Construction & Contract division, in joint venture with KMB, Ukraine has been awarded the work of "Expansion and Modification to Terminal Building for International Operation at C E Pune" by "Air Ports Authority of India" on February 25, 2008 valuing "Rs 77,91,57,986". The contract duration is 7.5 months.

NRDL commences Phase I of P1201-07

Nicholas Piramal India Ltd has informed that NPIL Research and Development Ltd ("NRDL") (name now changed Piramal Life Sciences Ltd) has commenced Phase I studies of a new experimental drug molecule, P1201-07, in The Netherlands.

In this regard the Company has issued the following Press Release:

"NPIL Research & Development Ltd (NRDL), recently demerged from Nicholas Piramal India Ltd (NPIL) has commenced Phase I studies of a new experimental drug molecule, P1201-07, in The Netherlands.

The Company had submitted the Clinical Trial Application (CTA) for P1201-07 to the Central Committee on Research involving Human Subjects (CCMO), the regulatory authority of The Netherlands and the Independent Ethics Committee of the foundation Evaluation Of Ethics in Biomedical Research (BEBO), Assen, The Netherlands. Both these bodies have approved the Company's application to initiate the Phase I study of P1201-07.

P1201-07 is an in compound from Eli Lilly & Co. (USA) and is being developed for metabolic disorders.

"This is our fourth new drug to enter the clinic and the first from the research
collaboration with pharma major Eli Lilly. The drug development timeline is on schedule. We in-licensed this molecule from Lilly only in January 2007, and it has gone to the clinic in just a year", said Dr. Swati Piramal, Director -Strategic Alliances & Communications, NPIL."

Further the Company has inform that, it may be recalled that the Company (i.e. Nicholas Piramal) has demerged its NCE Research Unit to NRDL pursuant to the Composite Scheme of Arrangement which has been sanctioned by the Hon'ble Bombay High Court. The Record Date for issue of shares by NRDL to the shareholders of the Company under the said scheme was February 22, 2008. The shares of NRDL would be listed on the BSE and NSE in accordance with the Scheme.

Tata Communications expands service to China

Tata Communications Ltd on February 26, 2008 has announced the expansion of its Global VPN service to China through an NNI (Network to Network Interface) agreement with China Enterprise Netcom Corporation Ltd (China Entercom or CEC), a value-added telecommunication services and integrated IT solutions provider and subsidiary of CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation).

Through this NNI, Tata Communications and China Entercom have interconnected their respective MPLS (Multi- Protocol Label Switching) infrastructures, allowing Tata Communications' multi-national corporation (MNC) customers VPN connectivity reach beyond the existing 120 cities in India and 19 major business centers across North America, Asia, and Europe to now also include 347 cities throughout China. Additionally customers can connect with dual PoP locations in tier-one cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

"Tata Communications' agreement with China Entercom allows us to serve our many global and India MNC customers who require a single scalable and reliable global VPN with deep reach into both India and China, and broad reach around the world," said Vinod Kumar, President, Global Data & Mobility Services, Tata Communications. "China and India are the engines driving the globalizing information economy, and, it is critical for MNC's to establish reliable infrastructure in these markets. Tata Communications' unmatched depth and reach throughout India coupled with our new, extended reach into China allows us to support the needs of our customers seeking to achieve seamless coverage in these markets and to major cities throughout the world."

Mr. Kumar added, "Carrier partnerships are critical to provide the deep global reach our customers' networks require. Our agreement with China Entercom is part of a larger MPLS expansion plan that will include other NNI agreements, as well as the expansion of Tata Communications' international on-net in key strategic regions and emerging markets that are of high value to our customers, including the Middle East, South Africa, Philippines, and Malaysia."

Tata Communications is the leading service provider, offering a Global VPN on-net solution with four classes of service options which provides a deep and broad reach across India as well as to major cities across the world. This partnership with CEC will offer customers additional reach into and across China allowing international and Indian MNCs to be seamlessly served with a single VPN that covers India, China, and major metropolitan areas worldwide. The service is available with both managed and unmanaged options, supported by 24/7 end-to-end network management, and tied to a stringent and unified Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Tata Communications' global IP network touts 570Gbps of high speed OC48/192 MPLS Backbone Capacity and 500G of customer connectivity throughout North America, Europe and Asia. It reaches overland, sea and sky, in 5 continents and over 195 countries, carrying more then 300 petabits of traffic globally per month.

Jindal SAW Business Outlook

Jindal Saw Ltd has announced the following Outlook:

Industry

Rising Demand for steel pipes is expected to be higher in the medium term on account of increased exploration activities and thrust on setting up infrastructure to transport oil and gas. In India, rapid economic growth faces an urgent need to develop and improve water supply, which would also increase demand for SAW pipes. Depleting oil reserves have led to increased exploration efforts, resulting in more wells in the exploratory rig. Demand for seamless pipes is directly proportional to the increase in digging of wells which is also expected to remain high.

India is expected to see a spurt in construction of pipeline infrastructure as the country's spending on exploration and production (E&P) and gas related pipeline capex increases. It is expected that water and irrigation offer a very strong business opportunity in India, which will benefit Indian HSAW, ERW and DI pipe manufacturers, in addition to the opportunity from the energy sector.

Company

The Company follows a multi-product approach to pipes - offering a full product portfolio of LSAW (longitudinal submerged are welded), HSAW (helical submerged are welded), seamless, DI pipes, anti-corrosion coatings, connector casings and Hot reduction Bends. Its product portfolio allows it to comfortably straddle between value-driven products (DI and seamless pipes, which are high-margin segments) and volume-driven ones (SAW pipe business).

Besides LSAW and HSAW, It is increasing its focus on the water infrastructure sector in India. Your Company is currently one of the very few pipe manufacturers capable of offering a complete pipe solution to the water sector (ie, spiral pipes, ductile pipes and accessories). The DI pipe business gives your Company an opportunity to take advantage of the strong domestic capital expenditure cycle seen in the water transportation segment in India. A combination of increasing government focus to build water infrastructure and rising support from multilateral agencies (such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank) is likely to result in a strong demand for the DI pipes. Your Company is implementing capacity expansion in all the three key segments with expectation and targets for overall margin expansions.

S Kumars Nationwide demerger

S.Kumars Nationwide Ltd has informed that the Honorable High Court of Bombay has passed an order on February 22, 2008 for Demerger of Retail Business of the Company into "Brandhouse Retails Ltd".

The certified copy of the said order is awaited from the Court.

Allcargo in JV with Concor

Allcargo Global Logistics Ltd has informed BSE that the Company has entered into a joint venture agreement with Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR), a Public Sector Undertaking engaged in the business of, inter-alia, Container Rail Transportation, ICD operations, Warehousing, Road Transportation, Coastal Shipping and Cold Chain Logistics, for setting up of Container Freight Station (CFS) / Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Dadri, Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh for catering the container traffic of North India.

The proposed venture would help both the Companies in achieving significant growth in their respective business genre by attracting high volumes of existing NCR LCL Cargo at Dadri CFS / ICD. The said venture is expected to commence operations by January 2009.

In this regard the Company has issued the following Press Release:

"Allcargo Global Logistics Ltd (Allcargo) and Container Corporation of India Ltd
(CONCOR), both premier players in their respective areas of business, namely, Multi
Modal Transport Operations & CFS operations and Rail Container Logistics, have formed a Joint Venture Company (yet to be named) for establishment of a CFS at ICD Dadri, Greater Noida in the State of Uttar Pradesh. This facility would be built at the CONCOR ICD at Dadri and would cater to the container traffic of North India.

The state of the art facility would be developed on area of 40,000 sq. mtrs and would have the capacity to handle 84,000 teus pa. This facility is expected to commence operations by Jan'09.

ALLCARGO is a leading Integrated Multimodal Transport Operator in India, offering end-to-end logistics solutions across the world. Its activities include Multimodal Transport Operations (MTO), owning and operating Container Freight Station (CFS) at JNPT, Chennai & Mundra, and handling of project cargo. ALLCARGO has a pan India presence across 28 locations and an extensive international reach comprising of own offices in 65 countries across the world. Recently Allcargo acquired the Transportation and equipment division of Transindia Freight Services which is expected to add another dimension to logistic services offered by Allcargo.

CONCOR, a Central Government Public Sector Undertaking under Ministry of Railways is primarily engaged in Container Rail Transportation Business, ICD operations, warehousing and road transportation. CONCOR also provides transit warehousing for EXIM cargo, bonded warehousing and provides air cargo facilities. CONCOR as, of late, ventured into Coastal Shipping and Cold Chain Logistics as well.

With the opening of container train operation for the private sector, some of the major shipping lines either directly or through their affiliates have taken license, for running container train services. This emerging trend has necessitated collaboration among neutral players with sufficient experience and expertise and a wide network in container logistics. The rationale for setting up the proposed JVC emanates essentially from the strength of CONCOR as the premier logistics service provide in the country with its unbeatable network of ICD's and wagon infrastructure and Allcargo's strength in the business of LCL consolidation, FCL forwarding, CFS operations and its ability to facilitate / market ability is expected to attract significant volumes of existing NCR cargo, to ICD / Dadri. Allcargo's extensive branch and franchisee network in India as well as in other countries would add to the strength of this JV.

With this, the two Companies are looking forward to synergies their expertise in delivering world class services to their customers."

Reliance Power Board approves free Bonus in Ratio of 3:5 to all shareholders (excluding the Promoter Group)

Reliance Power Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on February 24, 2008, has approved a proposal for issuing free bonus shares to all categories of shareholders, excluding the promoter group (comprising of Reliance Energy Ltd. and the ADA Group), in the ratio of 3 shares for every 5 shares held, subject to necessary approvals.

The proposed bonus offering will result in reduction of the cost of Reliance Power shares below the IPO price as follows:

Rs 269 per share for retail investors, 40% lower than the IPO price of Rs 430.

Rs 281 per share for other investors, 37% lower than the IPO price of Rs 450.

In a related development, Mr. Anil D Ambani, Chairman, Reliance ADA Group, on February 24, 2008 simultaneously announced a voluntary contribution of 2.6% of his shareholding in Reliance Power to Reliance Energy Ltd., to protect the Company from any dilution of its existing 45% stake in Reliance Power, as a result of the bonus proposal.

Accordingly, Reliance Energy's stake in Reliance Power will be maintained at the existing level of 45%, and the revised shareholding pattern of Reliance Power will be as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

					Existing		Proposed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anil D Ambani				45%			40%


Reliance Energy				45%			45%


Public shareholders			10%			15%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The reduction of Mr. Ambani's shareholding in Reliance Power by 5% from 45% to 40%, represents a contribution of nearly Rs 5,000 crore (US$ 1.2 billion) by him, in favor of nearly 6 million investors in Reliance Energy and Reliance Power.

Commenting on the move, Mr. Ambani said, "I have been personally concerned by the notional losses arising to millions of long term investors in Reliance Power, as a result of a dramatic adverse change in sentiment in global and domestic capital markets, subsequent to the pricing of our IPO.

Though equity shares are by their very nature risk-bearing instruments, nevertheless, we have taken these one-time and unprecedented measures today, in demonstration of our philosophy of endeavoring to protect and enhance value for all our long-term
shareholders."

Based on the proposal for issuance of bonus shares, the paid up share capital of the Company will stand increased to 239.7 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each.

Reliance Power's IPO closed on January 18, 2008, receiving an overwhelming and record breaking response, with commitments of nearly Rs 7,50,000 crore (US$ 190 billion), from nearly 500 institutional investors across the globe, and 5 million retail investors.

Reliance Power has the world's largest shareholder family of nearly 500 overseas and domestic institutional investors, and over 4 million retail investors.

Reliance Power has a market capitalization of over Rs 94,000 crores (over US$ 23 billion) – among India's 10 most valuable private sector Companies, and a net worth of nearly Rs 14,000 crore (over US$ 3.5 billion) – among the top 5 private sector Companies in India on this parameter.

Reliance Power is implementing power projects with aggregate capacity of over 28,000 MW, by far the largest development pipeline in the country.

Tanla gets award

Tanla Solutions Ltd has informed that the Company has been selected for the award of Best Established Indian Company, in the IT- sector for the year 2006-07.

The Company have been identified as the top most growing Company under the INDIAN COMPANIES CATEGORY. The Company secured the No. 1 slot in terms of GROWTH and ABSOLUTE VALUE for the year 2006-2007 below the Rs 100 crores category.

Medi Caps, Mission Pharma JV for SEZ

Medi Caps Ltd has informed bout the following:

- The Company has entered into a Joint venture arrangement with M/s. Mission Pharmaceuticals for setting up a plant at SEZ in Pithampur (Dist DHAR) for manufacturing softgel Capsules with the total proposed investment of Rs 20 crores and out of which the Company has already contributed total Rs 55 lacs in the current financial year.

Surat Textile Mills gets contract order

Surat Textile Mills Ltd has informed that with reference to the scheme approved by the BIFR and the order dated January 22, 2008 received by the Company. The Company further confirm having provided the gist of the order by way of a corporate announcement made by the Company on January 30, 2008 after having taken on record by the Board of Directors of the Company.

Further the Company has informed that, consequent to the write down of equity share capital of the Company by 90% under section 18(2)(f) of Sick Industrial Companies Act, 1985 (SICA), the face value and paid up value of equity shares of the Company stands reduced from Rs 10 per equity share to Rs 1 per equity share. Accordingly the existing clause 5 of the Memorandum of Association of the Company be and is hereby substituted by the following.

V. The Authorised Share Capital of the Company is Rs 75,00,00,000 divided into 75,00,00,000 Equity Shares of Rs 1/- (Rupees One only) each with the power to increase or reduce the capital to consolidate the shares in the capital, to convert or to divide the shares in the capital, for the time being whether original or increased into, several classes and to attach thereto any preferential or special rights or conditions, as may be determined by or in accordance with the regulations of the Company, subject however, to the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 or any statutory modifications thereof.

Rain Commodities to operate petroleum coke calcining plant

Rain Commodities Ltd has informed that Rain CII Carbon LLC, USA (Rain CII), a wholly owned subsidiary Company has launched a feasibility study to construct, own and operate a petroleum coke calcining plant in China. The planned capacity for the new facility is between 300,000 and 500,000 MT/yr, with start up in early calendar 2010.

The proposed facility will be located in Eastern China in close vicinity to major oil refineries and port facilities. The location adds raw material sourcing and finished product distribution synergies to their global calcining operations. Rain CII is adopting a strategy focused on adding new facilities to increase capacity and reducing distribution costs for end consumers.

With a total capacity of 2.5 million MT/yr, Rain CII is currently the largest calciner entity in the world. In 2007, Rain CII produced roughly 2.2 million MT of calcined petroleum coke.

NRDL, Dept of Biotechnology sign agreement

Nicholas Piramal India Ltd has informed that NPIL Research & Development Ltd ('NRDL') has signed an Agreement with the Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi on 'Screening for Bio-molecules from Microbial Diversity Collected from Different Ecological Niches', thereby initiating an industry - university / national institute partnership programme in drug discovery.

In this regard the Company has issued the following press release:

"An agreement was signed on February 22, 2008 in the presence of Shri. Kapil Sibal, Hon'ble Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi, and NPIL Research & Development Ltd (NRDL), Mumbai, to initiate an industry - university / national institute partnership programme in drug discovery.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has recently initiated a network project called 'Screening for Bio-molecules From Microbial Diversity Collected From Different Ecological Niches'. The public private partnership project involves nine institutes, with NRDL, Mumbai, as an industrial partner. The total cost of the project is approximately Rs 250 million, Rs 180 million of which are being contributed by the DBT and Rs 70 million by NRDL.

The participating institutes are:

- National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur
- National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune
- Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi
- University of Delhi, South Campus (UDSC), Delhi
- Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneshwar
- M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai
- Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar
- Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Imphal
- National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Panjim

The project envisages a mega-scale screening programme for various environmental isolates. This is the first project in the country in which industry and academia will work together to screen such a large number of bacterial isolates. Different academic institutes will isolate organisms specific to diverse ecological niches. For each sample, isolation of bacteria will be carried out on 30 different growth media.

This multi-institutional effort will generate approximately 7000 isolates / month (~1000/institute), which will be regularly sent to NRDL, the industrial partner of the project. Each of these institutes is an expert in niche areas of microbial biodiversity. The microbial isolates have not been tested for potent medicinal properties, if any. The purpose of this study is to exploit the biodiversity of microbes. This will help in identifying specific therapeutic properties that may be further used to identify novel molecules, which may then be passed on to the drug development phase.

At NRDL's facility at Goregaon, Mumbai, a team of scientists have been concerting their skills and have established high-end technologies using High-throughput robotics, which help in identifying specific properties that can be further developed. Most biological assays involve the use of living cells under in vitro conditions to measure the therapeutic potential of the extract. If this is found to be positive and better than the existing controls, a collective decision may be taken to move forward to the various steps involved in the development phase of the drug.

Natural diversity appears to be a novel source for new drugs worldwide. In the pursuit of new drug development, new drugs are needed so that an effective pipeline of molecules is established whose properties can be effectively validated in vitro using modern techniques in proteomics and genomics.

Screening will be carried out for anti-cancer, anti-infective, anti-diabetes and anti-inflammation properties. In addition to the culture-dependent method, the culture-independent approach will also be adopted for a few selected samples.

There are hopes that a bank of novel leads with specific potential will soon be developed. This will aid In the long-drawn process of drug discovery.

The project will lead to the selection of potential candidate molecules, which will be taken to process scale-up strategies with appropriate partners. The credit-sharing in this project amongst the PI and industry has been mutually worked out."

Further the Company has informed that, it may be recalled that the Company (i.e. Nicholas Piramal) has demerged its NCE Research Unit to NRDL pursuant to the Composite Scheme of Arrangement which has been sanctioned by the Hon'ble Bombay High Court. The Record Date for issue of shares by NRDL to the shareholders of the Company under the said Scheme has already been fixed as February 22, 2008 (i.e. today). The shares of NRDL would be listed on the BSE and NSE in accordance with the Scheme.

JMT Auto MoU with Timken India

JMT Auto Ltd has informed that the Company and M/s. TIMKEN INDIA MANUFACTURING PVT LTD has signed and entered into a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on certain terms and conditions on February 21, 2008 for expansion of their existing project at DHARWAD, KARNATAKA specially set up for M/s. TIMKEN INDIA MANUFACTURING PVT LTD and also for investing of backward integration.

Dish TV cancels issue of shares to Indivision India Partners

Dish TV India Ltd has informed about the cancellation and withdrawal of the Company's proposal for issue of the following securities in one or more tranches on a Preferential basis to M/s. Indivision India Partners,

- 12,500,000 Equity Shares of Re 1 each for cash at a price of Rs 100/-per share; and

- 9,615,385 equity warrants which would entitle to seek and convert these warrants in to equity shares of Re 1 each for cash at a price of Rs 130/- per share

The Company had obtained all requisite approvals for the said issue, including regulatory approvals:

- Board of Directors on December 05, 2007,

- Shareholders by means of Special Resolution on January 04, 2008

- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India (MIB) vide dated January 02, 2008

- Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) vide dated January 31, 2008

Further the Company has informed that, even though the time limit of 15 days specified under Chapter XIII of the SEBI (Disclosure and Investor Protection) Guidelines, 2000 applicable for Preferential Issues Guidelines has expired on February 21, 2008, the Company has not been able to complete the process of allotment of these securities within the specified time limit in the absence of any remittance from the Investor towards subscription to these securities. Under the circumstances, the proposal for issue of the securities on a Preferential Basis to the Investor stands withdrawn and cancelled.

Satyam sponsors first Middle East Aviation Outlook Summit to leverage the booming regional industry

Satyam Computer Services Ltd has announced that it will sponsor the first Middle East Aviation Outlook Summit (MEAOS) 2008 as part of its plans to leverage the booming aviation industry in the Middle East. The growth in the regional market is reflected by the massive requisition it has placed to worldwide manufacturers, which has totaled to 50 per cent of the world's aircraft orders with a collective value of USD 50 billion in 2007. In addition to the sponsorship at the event, which is being held at the Beach Rotana Hotel, Abu Dhabi from February 26-28, 2008, the Company is also set to launch a series of roadshows targeting the aviation sector across the region.

The liberalization across almost all of the Gulf region's economy-enhancing sectors and its near perfect geographic position have driven the unprecedented growth in the aviation industry, which is being projected to reach 80 per cent in five years. Amidst this highly potent business environment, Satyam intends to bring forward its solutions for the aviation sector, which integrates deep industry and functional expertise, leading technology practices and an advanced global delivery model. Specifically, Satyam has gained considerable acclaim for its aerospace and defense solutions, in addition to its 'Travel and Logistics Practice', which aids companies in the passenger, freight, authorities and hospitality industries to improve their business competitiveness. Included among Satyam's roster of high profile clients are Etihad Airways, Oman Aviation, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, Kuwait Airways and Yemmenia.

"As the IT partner of choice of six leading airlines in the Middle East, and with our growing presence in the GCC countries, we have identified MEAOS 2008 as an effective platform to meet international industry leaders and discuss the emerging and future opportunities in the region," said Virender Aggarwal, Director and Sr.Vice President for Satyam's Asia-Pacific, Middle East India and Africa operations. "Our participation in the Middle East Aviation Outlook Summit is a natural extension of our growing investment in enhancing our competency in addressing the demands of the aviation sector. With the growth of our Travel and Logistics Business Unit, we are fully confident to engage with the aviation industry at the highest levels".

Satyam has excelled at the implementation of the 'Travel and Logistics Practice', which include key solutions and services to travel and logistics companies such as Business Analysis and Process Re-engineering (BAPR), Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), Data Warehousing (DW) and Business Intelligence (BI). Leveraging alliances with, a host of vendors who are industry leaders in their respective domains, the Company also offers the 'Airline Express' solution, which offers a fixed duration implementation of a complete airline backoffice solution. The Company is also highlighting its 'iDecesions for Airlines', which provides airline-specific data model and reports, and its 'Right Sourcing' model, which benefits airline companies with robust application development IT support services.

"The annual SITA / Aviation Business IT Trends survey has shown that for the last seven years, 2 to 2.5 per cent of airline revenues go to its annual IT spending. Taking into consideration the growing investments of the region towards the development of the aviation industry, we can expect considerable growth in IT infrastructure spending among leading and emerging aviation companies to enhance customer experience and internal process efficiency. We believe that our long-standing partnerships with travel and logistics businesses stand as a testament to our wide breadth of technical and industry expertise, which reflects the efficiency of our top-of-the-line solution said Sai Manadapaty, Satyam's Senior Vice President for Travel and Logistics.

Providing its high profile attendees with a definitive view of the aviation industry within the next 24 months, the Middle East Aviation Outlook Summit will feature international industry players, who will discuss about the future and emerging opportunities in the Middle East. The event will feature presentations, interactive panels and discussions, which will aid participants acquire valuable information to enter the market, meet the biggest players and hear the views from the leaders in the regional aviation industry.

Reliance Communications enters Uganda Telecom Space

Reliance Communications Ltd on February 21, 2008 has announced the acquisition of Uganda based Anupam Global Soft (U) Ltd a Company holding Public Infrastructure Provider License (PIPL) and Public Service Provider License (PSPL) issued by Uganda Communications Commission. The acquisition, made through a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Ltd, marks the first step in the Company's plans in the International Mobile market.

Under the existing Licenses, Reliance Communications targets to offer Mobile, Fixed Line, Internet, National and International Long Distance services, in addition to WiMax and Wifi services in Uganda.

This Company has received Spectrum allocation and plans to launch its Mobile services by end of 2008. Reliance Communications Group is targeting to invest upto US$ 500 million (Rs 2000 crore) in establishing a high quality, fully-IP enabled integrated telecom network in Uganda to capture the significant growth potential in this emerging African market.

Punit Garg, President, Global Business, Reliance Communications said, "Uganda telecom market is similar to what India was 8 years back. Our expertise in managing among worlds largest integrated telecom network, and deep understanding of diverse consumer segments makes us confident to achieve a significant position to add further value for our 2 million shareholders."

The Company plans to connect the African continent with rest of the world by laying a submarine cable system through its arm Reliance FLAG plans to spend USD1.5 Billion (Rs 6000 crore) in building a 1,15,000 Kms fully-IP enabled optic network to reach 2/3rd of World population.

Reliance Communications has ambitious global expansion plans and is concentrating on opportunities in emerging Asian and African markets. The Company has established a pan-India, next generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent digital network that is capable of supporting best-of-class services spanning the entire Infocomm value chain.

Uganda has a population of approx. 30 million with a significant literacy rate of approx. 62%. There were 3.016 million mobile subscribers by end-March 2007 (source: UCC), equivalent to a penetration rate of 10%, providing ample scope of expansion. The existing telecom players have been witnessing healthy subscriber and ARPU growth recently.

Larsen gets a contract from Cairn

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) has announced that the Engineering and Construction Projects Division of the Company has been awarded another major Contract by Cairn India for the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) services for the Export Crude Oil Insulated Pipeline and Gas Pipeline from Barmer, Rajasthan to Salaya, Gujarat.

The scope of work involves the laying of a cross country 24 inch skin heat traced pipeline with PUF insulation for crude oil transportation from the Mangala terminal, located at Barmer, Rajasthan to the Salaya Oil Export terminal, near Jamnagar.

The pipeline travels 330 Kilometres (kms) south from the Mangala Field to a pump station and oil take off point at Viramgam.

From Viramgam the pipeline continues for 261 kms south west up to an Export Oil terminal at Salaya.

Another pipeline of 8 inch diameter will be laid for transporting Natural Gas from the Raageshwari Fields which will be laid alongside the 24 inch pipeline to the Salaya receiving facility for feeding the Gas generator sets located at 32 sites enroute. These Gas generator sets are meant primarily for producing electricity for 'Skin Effect Heat Management System' (SEHMS) to maintain the fluidity of the waxy crude.

L&T's Pipeline Engineering Centre - L&T Gulf located at Faridabad, is a Joint Venture of L&T and Gulf Interstate, Houston. It will provide complete engineering services for the cross country pipeline and the intermediate facilities for this project.

The multi million dollar order was secured by L&T against stiff competition and the project is slated for commissioning by June 2009.

Cairn has a resource base of 3.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place. Field developmental activities have already commenced with a targeted production level of more than 150,000 bopd.

Completion of this export oil Pipeline will match the evacuation plans of Cairn for H2 2009.

Announcing the order, Mr. K Venkataramanan, President (Engineering & Construction Projects) & Member of L&T's Board said, "L&T is proud to be associated with Cairn in being able to leverage our own strengths to build the unique mega pipeline of this kind, for
the first time in India. Our technical expertise in engineering and construction, and a dedicated team, will enable us to deliver the job on time".

HCL Technologies announces Global Services Partnership with SAP to deliver joint business value through 'Customer Centric Ecosystem'

HCL Technologies Ltd on February 21, 2008 has announced an expanded global services partnership with SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), that underscores SAP's focus on extending its industry lead in ecosystem innovation, and HCL's focus on delivering value to its customers through collaboration. HCL's new global services partnership with SAP is aimed at enabling Companies of all sizes to access the business benefits of enterprise service-oriented architecture (enterprise SOA) and draws upon HCL's strengths in emerging geographies, strong domain experience, risk taking and service innovation capabilities. This announcement is a milestone in a rapidly growing relationship between the two organizations, which further evidences their close links.

As part of the agreement, SAP and HCL will now partner to enhance value and accelerate growth for customers in a manner that will reduce implementation costs while providing strong domain centric solutions to transform their business processes.

HCL Technologies Joins a select group of the market's leading consultancies to join the 'SAP Global Partner — Services' program. As a new global services partner, HCL Technologies will Invest in significantly enhancing its SAP consulting practice and will create dedicated SAP sales resources and supporting marketing activities across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific HCL and SAP will create teams for solution definition, long term engagement and will co-develop new and extended functionalities to implement enterprise SOA based services in specific segments and verticals globally.

HCL’s global partnership with SAP is a step towards delivering on the promise of a services-based IT approach. By combining SAP's global market leadership in inter-enterprise solutions with HCL's domain expertise and focus of creating new markets and solutions through a Blue Ocean strategy- we plan to create and deliver new innovative solutions, that deliver unique customer value", said Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies.

SAIL signs Joint Venture Agreement with Jaiprakash Associates

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has informed that the Company on February 21, 2008 has signed a Joint Venture Agreement with M/s. Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) for formation of a Joint Venture Company (JVC) to set up a cement plant for producing 2 million tonnes of Cement at Bokaro (Jharkhand) by using slag generated at Bokaro Steel Plant of SAIL. SAIL would hold minority stake of 26 per cent in the JVC and the remaining 74 per cent stake would be with JAL.

Indiabulls Financial - Application for setting up Mutual Fund

Indiabulls Financial Services Ltd has informed that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved setting up of an Asset Management Company and a Trustee Company, pursuant to application of the Company for setting up a Mutual Fund.

The Company is in the process of setting up of an Asset Management Company and a Trustee Company in terms of the approval of the SEBI, for setting up the Mutual Fund.

Satyam sets-up Life Sciences Center of Excellence focused at delivering enhanced ROI to global clientele

Satyam Computer Services Ltd on February 22, 2008 has announced the setting up of the Life Sciences Center of Excellence (CoE). The facility was inaugurated by Satyam’s founder and chairman, B Ramalinga Raju on the sidelines of RxCellence, the Life Science’s conclave which Satyam hosted at its state-of-art Satyam School of Leadership in Hyderabad. The theme for the conference was Faster, Safer and Smarter Strategies for Life Sciences Industry. The day was filled with compelling, insightful and thought-provoking speaker sessions and panel discussions on the progressive accomplishments in the pharmaceutical, biomedical and generics industry. Thought Leaders CXOs, business leaders, consultants, analysts, scientists and senior executives from different parts of the world attended the event. Some of the eminent dignitaries were from the Life Sciences Advisory board members comprising ex-senior executives / ex-CXOs of leading Life S companies.

"Customers have moved on and ahead from the traditional services model. They are now looking at us, the service providers, to help identify tomorrow’s business challenges and collaborate proactively in buffing solutions and frameworks which deliver faster and better Return on Investments. We are setting up a number of CoEs for the industries we service.” said Ram Mynampati, President, Commercial and Healthcare Business, Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

The Life Sciences CoE will showcase Satyam’s domain expertise and thought leadership in the industry. The CoE will house solutions cutting across the value chain, addressing a number of industry pain points. While there are quite a few discrete point solutions attempting to address various industry pain points, they are often incomplete requiring huge amount of customization and complex integration. The CoE solutions will provide the necessary frameworks with flexibility and ease of customization enabling faster implementations and therefore a better Rol. These solutions leverage extensive domain experience that Satyam has built over the years in the industry. The CoE addresses industry needs in the areas of clinical drug accountability, drug counterfeiting, cell line management systems, high throughput analytics, clinical development, bioinformatics, Supply Chain, CRM, Key Opinion Leader portals etc.

"This is a significant step forward for us. We have been servicing customers in the Life Sciences industry for a number of years. We are now in a position to significantly contribute and help our customers in their efforts towards safer drugs to the market quickly in a cost effective manner by leveraging these innovative frameworks and solutions. This we believe will contribute towards greater access and affordability of healthcare globally" said Kishore Rachapudi, Global Head, Life Sciences, Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

The Satyam CoE solutions are being reviewed and validated regularly by their customers and the life sciences advisory board comprising eminent personalities with decades of experience in the industry. With all the inputs being received and the consequent refinements and enhancements being made, Satyam is confident that the organization will be able to make a step change in the quality and delivered value of services to customers.

Tata Power's strategic electronics division & thales announce the signing of MOU on Airborne optronics

Tata Power Company Ltd has announced that Tata Power's Strategic Electronics Division (SED) and Thales on February 18, 2008 announced the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding in the area of optronics.

Through this Memorandum of Understanding, Tata Power SED and Thales agree to cooperate in order to offer optronics solutions for Indian defence market such as the MMRCA programme and further programs on existing or future airborne platforms. This agreement will allow both Companies to develop transfer of technologies in order to implement local contents and meet the Offset requirements of Indian MOD.

The growing importance of imagery in decision-making processes has made optronics a vital component of all defense and security systems. On land, at sea or in the air, in peacetime, crisis or war, Thales optronics technologies offer unparalleled day / night detection, reconnaissance, target identification and weapon guidance capabilities while guaranteeing complete discretion.

Thales offer particularly includes the Damocles pod that enables the use of guided weapons either alone or as part of a cooperative deployment, and the Areos air reconnaissance system. The Areos pod is an airborne reconnaissance electro optical system for tactical and strategic missions. Thales solutions are fully compatible with many platforms including French and Russian airplanes.

Rahul Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer of Tata Power SED, noted that "Large defence program like MMRCA with Offsets have created opportunities for Indian Companies with Defense Systems experience. Tate Power SED will leverage this partnership with Thales, a world leader in Defence Systems, to serve our customers better."

i-flex Solutions - OTP Bank, Hungary's Largest Retail Bank, Selects FLEXCUBE for Retail

i-flex Solutions Ltd on February 18, 2008 has announced that OTP Bank, Hungary's largest retail bank, has selected FLEXCUBE® for its retail, lending and corporate banking businesses. IQSYS, i-flex's local partner in the region, will participate in the implementation.

N R K Raman, Managing Director and CEO, i-flex solutions, said; "In order to gain a greater share of the market, banks in Eastern Europe have been consolidating assets since the last few years. Across the region, some of the largest and best known banks looking to consolidate assets have chosen FLEXCUBE. We are very happy that OTP Bank in Hungary has also selected i-flex as its partner. We believe OTP Bank would also benefit enormously in the short and long term from implementing FLEXCUBE: greater customer insight, lower costs of operations, better competitive differentiation, and a quicker turnaround cycle for reports to various regulatory authorities and stakeholders."

Apar Industries Updates

With reference to the earlier announcement dated December 19, 2007 regarding the approval by the shareholders of the Company in respect of the sale of Polymers Division of the Company located at Village Dungri, T. Valia, Via Ankleshwar, Dist Bharuch, Gujarat to M/s. Eliokem India Pvt Ltd as a going concern on a slump sale basis for a lump sum consideration of Rs 111 crores, Apar Industries Ltd has now informed BSE that the said sale of the said Polymers Division has been completed on February 15, 2008 being the date of closure of the transaction and the ownership of the Polymers Division has been handed over to M/s. Eliokem India Pvt Ltd.

The sale proceeds received are proposed to be utilized for expansion of the business of the Company including that of Uniflex Cables Ltd, the Company which has been proposed for acquisition by the Company as per Public Announcement dated February 13, 2008.

Larsen wins order from ONGC

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) has announced that the Company has been awarded a Rs 1,250 crore turnkey fast track project by Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), India. This order reaffirms L&T's world class capabilities in the Oil & Gas Sector.

L&T will have single point responsibility for the complete engineering, procurement, fabrication & installation of the offshore platforms. The project comprises building three smart well platforms, sub-sea interconnecting pipelines, sub-sea cables and topside modifications for the Mumbai High South field. It will involve 15,000 tonnes of topside and jackets, 58 KM sub-sea pipelines & 22 km sub-sea cables, in addition to many state of the art & modern facilities. It is to be completed by April 2009.

L&T will carry out the engineering design at their subsidiary L&T Valdel in Bangalore, and fabrication will be carried out at L&T's world class shore-based manufacturing complex at Hazira near Surat, as well as at the Company's modern large fabrication facility at Sohar in Oman.

This contract was won through a competitive bidding process against international competitors.

L&T has a strong track record of timely completion of similar projects for the upstream Oil & Gas sector.

Ess Dee Aluminium joins hands with Vedanta to revive India Foils

Ess Dee Aluminium Ltd has informed that the Company has decided to join hands with Madras Aluminium Ltd (MALCO) a Vedanta Group Company, the current promoters of India Foils Ltd (IFL) to work towards the revival of IFL through a Rehabilitation Scheme in consultation with the operating agency and subject to BIFR approvals and regulations as may be necessary.

Arshiya International signs contract with Singapore Govt

Arshiya International Ltd has informed that the Company has signed a contract with Singapore Government owned Jurong International, for undertaking master planning, architecture and engineering of the Company's three Free Trade Warehousing Zones (FTWZs) coming up near Mumbai, Delhi and Sohar (Oman).

This work would be carried out in three stages, which would bring in the world-class facilities in industrial park development to India and Oman.

Flawless Diamond - Launch of 8 New Series of Designer Diamond Studded Jewellery

Flawless Diamond India Ltd has informed that the Company is launching its 8 New Series of Designer Diamond Studded Jewellery. The Company has developed 5000 exclusive Designer Jewellery for their valuable customer. After launching this Series of Jewellery, the product portfolio of the Company becomes more wider and giving better choice to the customer.

The Series are as follows:

1. AUM Elegant - Pleasing graceful and stylish in appearance
2. AUM Signature - Distinctive pattern
3. AUM Ethereal- Extremely delicate & light
4. AUM Solitaire - Bond of Love
5. AUM Star - Young & full of zest
6. AUM Galaxy - For international contemporary design
7. AUM Exquisite - Intensely felt
8. AUM Bridal - An enchanting bride

Further this Designer Jewellery will be introduced to the Company's retail outlet, B2B Segment and export market also. Company has 18 outlet and many more will be opened very soon and also has arrangement with many traditional Jewellers. Recently Company has organized many exhibitions and fashion shows and also took part in trade fair across Pan India and international market to launch these new designs. Company has received very encouraging response from all categories of customer from domestic & international market. The Managing Director Mr. Bhawar U Jain says that "This is a strategy of Company to offer better services, wider product range and exclusive designs for all segment of customer, which will help the Company to achieve better growth. This is very exciting time for the company and looking for robust growth in near future".

BL Kashyap gets fresh orders

BL Kashyap & Sons Ltd has announced that the Company has bagged new projects worth over Rs 1100 Crores. The Projects are scheduled for completion within 20 months.

Reliance Power Board to consider issuing free Bonus Shares

Reliance Power Ltd on February 17, 2008 has announced that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on February 24, 2008.

The Reliance Power Board will, inter alia, consider a proposal for issuing free bonus shares to all categories of shareholders, excluding the promoter group (comprising of Reliance Energy Ltd. and the ADA Group), and / or other measures, which will result in reduction of the cost of Reliance Power Ltd, shares below the IPO price of Rs 430 per share for retail investors, and Rs 450 per share for institutional and other categories of investors.

Reliance Power's IPO closed on January 18, 2008, receiving an overwhelming and record breaking response, with commitments of nearly Rs 7,50,000 crore (US$ 190 billion), from nearly 500 institutional investors across the globe, and 5 million retail investors. The sheer scale and unprecedented magnitude of the response clearly reflected the pricing of the IPO as being in line with prevailing valuation benchmarks and market sentiments.

However, subsequent to the closing of the IPO, the global and Indian equity markets have suffered an extra-ordinary meltdown, with all benchmark indices down 15% - 20%, and leading Indian stocks down by an even greater range of 20% - 40%.

In line with this global trend, the Reliance Power stock price has closed below the IPO price, since listing on February 11, 2008.

From the time of opening of the Reliance Power IPO on January 15, 2008, the Sensex is down 13%, while the Reliance Power stock is down 11% from the IPO price for retail investors, and 15% for other categories of investors.

The decline in the Reliance Power stock price has been compounded by:

- a vicious and orchestrated campaign of market manipulation and market abuse

- unleashed by unscrupulous rival corporate interests

- to hammer down all Reliance ADA group stocks

- in an attempt to undermine our fair name and reputation, and

- cause losses to millions of genuine investors.

Reliance Power has formally written to SEBI seeking an investigation into the same.

Equity shares, by their very nature, are risk-bearing instruments, and there is no obligation on behalf of any issuer to insure investors against possible losses.

However, in keeping with the Reliance ADA Group's fundamental and over-riding philosophy of creating value for genuine long term investors, the Board of Directors of Reliance Power will be meeting as above, to consider appropriate one-time measures which will result in reduction of the cost of Reliance Power shares below the IPO price.

This will include, inter alia, consideration of a proposal for issuing free bonus shares to all categories of shareholders, excluding the promoter group (comprising of Reliance Energy Ltd. and the ADA Group), thereby protecting investors even from notional short-term losses on their shareholdings.

The proposal will result in dilution of the promoter group's shareholding in Reliance Power, which they have indicated they will accept in the broader interest of protecting and enhancing value for over 4 million institutional and retail investors.

Reliance Power has the world's largest shareholder family of nearly 500 overseas and domestic institutional investors, and over 4 million retail investors.

Reliance Power has a market capitalization of Rs 87,000 crores (US$ 22 billion) - among India's 10 most valuable private sector Companies, and a net worth of nearly Rs 14,000 crore (over US$ 3.5 billion) - among the top 5 private sector Companies in India on this parameter.

Reliance Power is implementing power projects with aggregate capacity of over 28,000 MW, by far the largest development pipeline in the country.

Mahindra Defence Systems in advanced talks with WASS for underwater defence JV

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has informed that Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS), the country's leading provider of high mobility and light bullet proof vehicles to the armed forces, paramilitary and police forces and a division of the US$ 6 billion Mahindra Group, announced that it is in an advanced stage of discussions for a strategic alliance with Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS), the maritime underwater systems subsidiary of the $ 12 billion Finmeccanica Group of Italy. MDS is showcasing its armoured military vehicles at the 5th International Land and Naval Systems Exhibition (DefExpo 2008) at Pragati Maidan.

MDS' proposed JV with WASS will utilise the industrial and operational capabilities of Mahindra & Mahindra enabling MDS to enhance its product range. The Finmeccanica Group has had a long association with the Indian Armed Forces in supplying lightweight torpedoes, submarine fired decoys, and also been pad of the highly successful Transfer of Technology programmes with the Indian industry in the past.

"The Mahindra Group has a long and illustrious relationship with the Defence Sector which dates back to the time when we began assembling Jeeps in India. Our association has only strengthened over the years with the inception of MDS which has emerged as one of the foremost suppliers of light combat / armoured vehicles and their derivatives for defence / security forces in the country today. We are also looking at strategic partnerships with experienced players in the field which will help us enhance our product offerings for the Defence Sector," said Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group.

"I am delighted to announce that MDS is in an advanced level of discussion with WASS for a strategic alliance. The Finmeccanica Group has had a long association with the Indian Armed Forces. MDS's proposed underwater defence JV with WASS will jointly address the Indian requirement for underwater defence, bringing to the country's Armed Forces affordable world class underwater defence systems. The range of MDS products displayed at the DefExpo underscores our competencies in Land and Naval Systems, Military Communications and System Integration. MDS is the country's leading provider of up-armoured and bullet proof vehicles with more than 500 Rakshaks and up-armoured Scorpios in service in the Indian Army and security / police forces. These vehicles have proved themselves repeatedly in operations and have developed a formidable reputation by saving the lives of our armed forces personnel," said Brigadier Khutub Hai, Chief Executive of Mahindra Defence Systems.

Era Infra Engineering

Era Infra Engineering Ltd (Construction & Contract Division) has been awarded the work of "Construction of CBI Head Office Building at Envelope - 5B, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi" by "National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd" on February 15, 2008 valuing "Rs 115,12,89,940". The Contract Duration is 24 months.

This project comprises the construction of 12 storied building (Built up area 57350 sqm) with double basement (14050 sqm) along with complete services like sanitary, water supply, electrical, fire fighting, lifts, etc.

Ramco Systems launches India's first "Software as a Service" ERP - Ramco OnDemand ERP

Ramco Systems Ltd on February 18, 2008 has announced the launch of India's first full-fledged Software-as-a-Service ERP — Ramco OnDemand ERP.

Ramco OnDemand ERP is a full-suite web enabled ERP that is available for an affordable subscription and takes care of all IT Infrastructure, maintenance and support needs. Companies can now benefit from shortened Implementation times (from months to weeks) and hence faster time to benefit.

Following a soft launch earlier, Ramco OnDemand ERP has successfully won close to 1000 users across multiple verticals that include Auto components, Discrete manufacturing, Trading, Distilleries, Electronics, Textiles, Chemicals, Services and more.

According to Mr. P R Venketrama Raja, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Ramco Systems, "Traditional ERP implementations have been plagued by non-availability of skilled resources, long implementation times and huge upfront investments. Now with Ramco OnDemand ERP available as a service, customer completely focus on growing their business and stop worrying about managing an ERP.

Ramco OnDemand ERP is powered by Ramco VirtualWorks™ that keeps the solution evergreen and constantly tuned to changing business needs.

Solix Technologies - LMW Ltd implements Solix EDMS to Increase Oracle 11i Application Performance

Solix Technologies Ltd has announced that Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) has implemented Solix EDMS for database archiving of Oracle 11i, decreasing database size and significantly improving application performance. Oracle 11i is the critical business application for LMW to run its manufacturing, finance, distribution and procurement departments and needs to maintain optimal performance for its end users, despite relentless growth in transactional data.

"Providing a responsive Application environment is critical to meeting the needs of our customers demands, we cannot afford down-time or poor application performance, said P. Ananthan, Head of IT at LMW, "Legacy data growth was slowing on application performance and burdening IT resources to provide back-up and maintenance activities."

Using Solix EDMS, LMW automated the process of archiving and purging of historical data from it modules of Oracle E-Business Suite 11i into separate archives. By implementing Solix EDMS, LMW benefited from significant improvements in application performance, gains in DBA productivity, an faster backup and recovery. Solix Technologies, Inc. is a subsidiary of Solix Technologies Ltd.

Cadila Healthcare - Zydus Cadila firms up presence in Oncology segment with Nudoxa

Cadila Healthcare Ltd has informed BSE that the Company has introduced an NDDS product "Nudoxa" for the treatment of various cancers, one of the critical drugs used in Chemotherapy, Nudoxa heralds a new approach in cancer therapy.

In this regards the Company has announced the following Press Release:

"Zydus Cadila has introduced an NDDS product 'Nudoxa' for the treatment of various cancers. One of the critical drugs used in chemotherapy, Nudoxa heralds a new approach in cancer therapy.

With chemotherapy being a common mode of treatment in cancers, there has been a long standing need for a drug that is stable and long lasting with reduced toxicity and side effects. Nudoxa addresses this need. A patented product in India and South Africa, patents for Nudoxa have also been filed in EU, US, Japan and several countries globally.

Doxorubiein, the first generation drug, was launched in 1960s and gave a new lease of life to cancer patients with its ability to combat aggressive and malignant tumours. This DNA-interacting drug, however, was discovered to cause life-threatening side effects in the form of cardiac abnormalities.

An advancement on this therapy resulted in liposomal doxorubiein in which the molecules of the drug are encapsulated in a fatty coating known as liposomes. The liposomes allow the doxorubiein lo be delivered specifically in greater amounts to the cancer cells, while having fewer side effects on the healthy tissues. A further advancement in this line of treatment was the Pegylated-liposomal doxorubiein, a unique form of liposomal doxorubicin in which the liposomes are coated with polyethylene glyeol, leading to a much longer half-life in the blood. However Pegylated-liposomal doxorubicin are likely to cause 'Hand-Foot Syndrome,' characterized by skin eruptions on the palms of the hand or soles of the feet, leading lo interruption in therapy.

A new variant liposomal doxorubiein Nudoxa with its unique drug delivery system is a breakthrough in cancer therapy as it offers the benefits of Pegylaled-liposomal doxorubiein without its major side effects like the Hand Foot syndrome. Marketed by Zydus Biogen, Nudoxa is manufactured by Zydus-BSV Pharma Pvt. Ltd., the joint venture company of Zydus Cadila and Bharat Serums and Vaccines Pvt. Ltd. Founded in 2005, Zydus-BSV Pharma focuses on targeted therapies in the area of Oncology.

Nudoxa is being used as a chemotherapy drug to treat various cancers, particularly, breast cancer - second most common type of cancer, ovarian cancer - the fifth-leading cause of cancer death in women, and AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma which develops in people who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Blue Star completes acquisition of Naseer Electricals for a consideration upto Rs 42 crore

Blue Star Ltd has announced that the Company has completed the strategic acquisition of the businesses of Naseer Electricals Pvt Ltd, a leading Electrical Contracting firm as a going concern for a consideration upto Rs 42 crore which includes upfront payment, debt and escrow amount payable on fulfillment of certain conditions. This move will enable Blue Star, which is the leader in central airconditoning in the country, to deliver integrated Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing (MEP) contracting projects for the commercial building and infrastructure segments.

Growth Opportunities

The growing Indian economy and the construction boom, specifically in the infrastructure, hospitality, healthcare, IT and ITES segments, offer attractive business opportunities in the MEP contracting space. Many customers of Blue Star have been seeking Electrical Contracting services from the Company. While Blue Star will continue to focus on its core businesses of airconditioning and commercial refrigeration as manufacturer, contractor and service provider, it will enhance its capabilities in the MEP space by entering Electrical Contracting through this transaction.

- Naseer Electricals Pvt Ltd

Naseer Electricais Pvt Ltd, headquartered at Bangalore, is an Electrical Contracting firm with a turnover of Rs 107 crore (FY07) and a strong presence in South India. Founded by Mr. A S Dawood, the Managing Director, Naseer Electricals enjoys an exceptional reputation in terms of customer satisfaction. The current order book is approximately Rs 100 crore.

- Mr. A S Dawood retained as Corporate Advisor

Mr. A S Dawood has been retained by the Company as Corporate Advisor for the new entity.

- Transaction Details

With effect from the Closing Date (January 24, 2008), the businesses of Naseer Electricals including the pending orders, assets and liabilities stand transferred to the Company. All 117 permanent employees of Naseer Electricals have been employed by the Company.

L&T secures Rs 311 crore (USD 78.8 million) order for 66/11 kV Substation works in Qatar

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) has announced that the Company has secured an order valued at Rs 311 crore (USD 78.8 million and QR 287 million) from the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) for the Design, Supply, Installation and Commissioning of five 66/11 Substations at Qatar, as a part of the KAHRAMAA PHASE VIII.

The Package consists of 66/11 kV Gas insulated switchgears. 11 kV Metal Clad Air insulated switchgears. 50/60MVA 66/11 kV transformers, Substation Control System, Protection Systems. DC System and auxiliaries. The contract also encompasses design and construction of Substation buildings together with associated utilities such as Air Conditioning. Fire Fighting and Lighting systems. All five substations are to be completed in a time frame of 27 months.

KAHRAMAA is the government body of Qatar for Transmission & Distribution of Electricity and has further ambitious expansion plans in the near future. M/s. Moti MacDonald is the consultant for the project.

Announcing the receipt of the order, Mr. K V Rangaswami, President (Construction) and Member of the Board L&T, said "This is a major breakthrough L&T's Power Transmission & Distribution Sector in Qatar. KAHRAMAA in its PHASE VIII for the first time invited Non OEM EPC Contractors also to bid for the tender, enabling L&T to enter this market. The order has been secured against stiff competitor from many international players in the field".

Bharti Airtel wins The Best Billing/ Customer Care Solution at the GSMA Mobile World Congress

Bharti Airtel Ltd has informed that Airtel was awarded with top honors in the GSMA Mobile World Congress Conference in Barcelona for its mChek solution in the category "Best Billing / Customer Care Solution". This prestigious award is testimony to Airtel's continuing endeavor to set industry benchmarks and drive innovation and service excellence across various mobile technology platforms.

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is an annual event that brings together all leading mobile companies in the world and recognizes the very best product and service innovations across categories. Given the increasingly diverse and changing communication landscape, the Best Billing / Customer Care Solution award recognizes solutions that help increase profitability, reduce costs and help engender a high standard of customer service. Airtels mChek solution was adjudged the best in its category for its simplicity of use, in-built security features and the convenience that this brings for customers.

Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, President, Mobile Services, Airtel said, "It is an honor to be recognized as-the best amongst our global peers for our mChek platform. The award truly recognizes Airtel as an industry leader in innovation and service excellence. To have won amongst an elite list of entries only strengthens our resolve to set higher benchmarks and deliver innovative solutions to enhance customer convenience. In future, we will enhance this platform further as we extend our foray into mobile commerce."

The Jury for the Awards included eminent personalities like independent editors, analysts, experts and academicians. Conferring the honor to Airtel for pioneering yet another category defining initiative, the Jury had this to say "For all those who thought mobile commerce was a pipe dream, mChek on Airtel, has just shown the way to do it. The cashless society is here and it s gone mobile."

mChek - the application that makes possible Anytime-Anywhere Bill Payment allows customers to sign- up for the service through their mobile phone in a matter of seconds and make payment transactions for mobile bill / insurance premiums / transfer funds from bank accounts to name a few. mChek as a service was introduced with an aim to enhance customer delight and provide them yet another simple, secure option for payments through mobile.

The other nominations in the Best Billing / Customer Care Solution category apart from Bharti Airtel in the final short-list were CTI Group, IDEA Cellular and True Move Com.

Wipro to deliver IT transformation

Wipro Ltd has informed that Wipro Infotech, the India, Middle East and Asia Pacific IT Business of Wipro Ltd and a leading provider of IT and business transformation service on February 14, 2008 announced that it has won a comprehensive IT outsourcing contract from Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. Pantaloon Retail is India's leading retailer and operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segments of the Indian consumer market. Pantaloon operates over 1000 outlets across 53 cities in India.

Pantaloon Retail has ambitious growth plans to enhance their geographical footprint and will increase their outlets to over 2,500 over the next 5 years. In its endeavour to capture a large pie of the consumption basket of Indian consumers, Pantaloon is aggressively launching innovative retailing formats and differentiated private labels.

To support these strategic initiatives, Pantaloon has selected Wipro for delivering streamlined IT operations. As pad of the scope, Wipro is responsible for rolling out and managing the IT operations across all the outlets of Pantaloon. Wipro will deliver comprehensive infrastructure management and application support services, managed security services and data centre hosting, operations & management services. Wipro will leverage its state of the art Global Service Management Centre to deliver predictable & scalable IT services platform for Pantaloon.

Suresh Vaswani, President — Wipro Infotech & Global IT Practices said, "We are delighted to be partners in the retail revolution unleashed by Future Group which has transformed the consumer experience in India. Wipro will deliver IT transformation for Pantaloon by creating scalable and agile operations which will become the bedrock of geographical expansion and superior customer experience. This partnership brings together two innovation led organizations strongly focused on the Indian customers & their unique needs.

Gremach issues FCCBs

Gremach Infrastructure Equipments & Projects Ltd has informed that the Company has issued and allotted Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds ("FCCBs") with a maturity of five years and one day on February 12, 2008. The FCCBs were issued in the principal amount of US$ 50,000,000 (Fifty million only) and are convertible into ordinary shares of the Company at an initial conversion price of Rs 376.36 per share. The conversion price of the FCCBs may be adjusted in certain circumstances. The FCCBs, have a 1% coupon (payable on a semi-annual basis). The said issue was made at 15% premium to the reference price.

The Company had previously obtained the approval of its shareholders to issue FCCBs up to a value of US$ 75 million. These FCCBs will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Standard Chartered Bank was the sole bookrunner and Atherstone Capital Markets Ltd act as a financial Advisor for this issue

NRDL signs deal with Lilly

Nicholas Piramal India Ltd has informed BSE that NPIL Research & Development Ltd ('NRDL'), has signed a second new drug development agreement with Eli Lilly and Company ('Eli Lilly') to develop and in certain regions, commercialise, a select group of Eli Lilly's pre-clinical drug candidates that span multiple therapeutic areas.

In this regard the Company has issued the following Press Release:

"NPIL Research & Development Ltd (NRDL), an independent Company recently demerged from Nicholas Piramal India Ltd ("NPIL") and Eli Lilly and Company ("Lilly") (NYSE: LLY) have signed a second new drug development agreement to develop and, in certain regions, commercialise a select group of Lilly’s pre-clinical drug candidates that span multiple therapeutic areas.

The new NRDL-Lilly alliance generally follows the framework established by the earlier agreement between NPIL and Lilly, signed on January 12, 2007, and continues the rationale of seeking to increase productivity in drug development by synergizing the unique strengths of both companies and equitably sharing risk and reward. However, the second agreement includes an innovative structure that may improve the probability of success of the programme. In this new agreement, both NRDL and Lilly will independently carry out early clinical development of two different candidate compounds directed against the same target. Following the evaluation of the data from the Proof-of-Concept studies, one or more of the drug candidates may be selected for further development. NRDL's compensation, based on a pre-agreed formula, could total up to $110 million in call-back payments and milestones, plus royalties on sales.

Dr. Swati Piramal, Director, Strategic Alliances & Communications, NPIL, said, "We are strengthening our R&D collaboration with Eli Lilly as our first agreement is on track and has seen benefits accruing to both partners in terms of cost, quality and time. These partnerships are a win-win for both Companies and will help us to reduce the burden of human disease."

"This additional collaboration with Nicholas Piramal is a prime example of the innovative risk sharing relationships that Lilly is building around the globe as we implement our strategy of becoming a fully-integrated pharmaceutical network, or FIPNet", said Robert W Armstrong, PhD., Vice President, Global External Research and Development for Lilly. "In the case of NRDL, we have made good progress over the past year and look forward to continued success in our combined drug development efforts."

Glodyne Technoserve super ranked!

Glodyne Technoserve Ltd has announced that the Company has been super ranked 173 among the Top 1000 Corporate Giants in India, according to a survey by Business Standard.

The super ranks were arrived at by weighing the rate of growth of consolidated net sales, operating profits, net profit, assets, net worth and market capitalization for the financial year 2006-07.

Glodyne has also been the winner in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 in Asia Pacific for the year 2007. This was the second time that Glodyne has won the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific award in the last 3 years.

Dwarikesh power plant at UP becomes active

Dwarikesh Sugar Industries Ltd has announced that on the February 03, 2008 at Company's Dwarikesh Puram (DP) plant in Afzalgarh, Bijnore District, the power generation turbine was synchronized with the grid of UPPCL. Power evacuation which is 20 megawatts initially will be gradually stepped up to achieve its rated capacity of 24 megawatts. Power generated will be green power, as it will be generated from bagasse (biomass). The fact that the project is already registered with UNFCCC for generation of (Carbon emission reduction) CER units is a matter of pride and bears adequate testimony of the environment friendly nature of the project.

The start of cogeneration plant at its Dwarikesh Dham plant in Fardipur, Bareilly district on February 09, 2008 is another defining moment in the history of the Company. This plant is an encore of the DP plat and will also use biomass for power generation. It is equipped to supply more than 24 megawatts of green power to the grid of UPPCL. Recognizing the environment friendly nature of the project, UNFCCC has on the February 01, 2008 accorded registration to this project for generating CER units.

Power purchase agreements (PPA) are already executed with UPPCL for supply of power from these units for the next 20 years. Registration of these projects with UNFCCC will help enable the Company to sell CER units and in the process earn handsome revenues.

The Company is now equipped to export 56 megawatts of green power besides meeting all its captive requirement. Commencement of these projects are giant steps in the direction of optimizing use of by products and in combating adverse cyclic conditions impacting the sugar industry. In the execution of above projects high pressure boilers & sophisticated turbines involving revolutionary technology and investment in excess of INR 225 crores were deployed. The commencement of these projects would usher in a new era in the history of the Company as new dimension will be added to the business model where in there will multiple streams of revenue, each contributing significantly to the top-line and the bottom-line.

The Company now has state of art facility to crush 21,500 metric tons of sugarcane every day, export 56 megawatts of power every hour and produce and sell 30 KL of ethanol / Industrial alcohol everyday.

There is paradigm shift in the business model of the Company. From a business entity which originally made only sugar it has now transformed in to an entity which also makes sugar.

Mr. Vijay S Banka, CFO, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries said "The commencement of the cogeneration plants and their registration with UNFCCC adds an exciting dimension to the growth story of our group. The past one year has been very difficult and it required concerted effort on the part of all concerned within the organization and support and help of all our business associates to survive and beat the adversity. However the worst is behind us and we look forward to sustained growth and exciting times in future."

Biocon to acquire axiCorp

Biocon Ltd, on February 11, 2008 has announced that it has reached agreement to acquire a 70% stake in German pharmaceutical company, AxiCorp GmbH for a consideration of €30 Million. This will enable the marketing and distribution of a range of pharmaceuticals including generics, biosimilars, biologics and innovative pharmaceutical products in Germany and Europe. Allegro Capital were the financial advisors to Biocon on this transaction.

AxiCorp is a specialized marketing and distribution company established in 2002 by a group of industry experts to address the lucrative generics and parallel distribution market in Germany and Europe. AxiCorp is ISO 9001 certified with a differentiated distribution model that is aligned to the radically altered way the German pharmaceutical market now functions.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon said, "AxiCorp is a key strategic investment for Biocon as it heralds our European foray for biosimilars like Recombinant Human Insulin. Biocon is investing in AxiCorp’s very impressive entrepreneurial team and its highly differentiated business model, which will help us build strong marketing and distribution capabilities in Europe. Both companies share a common vision of affordable healthcare which we can deliver through a combination of Biocon’s low cost manufacturing and AxiCorps low cost distribution. We are delighted to welcome AxiCorp to the Biocon group of companies as an autonomous subsidiary. We look forward to the continued leadership role played by Holger Gehihar and Dirk Ullrich in steering AxiCorp to new levels of growth."

With the strategic investment in AxiCorp, Biocon establishes its first presence in Europe in order to market its injectible insulin on its own, and also to build up marketing and distribution capabilities for many other products of its portfolio.

Sterlite Technologies gets contract from Ethiopia

Sterlite Technologies Ltd on February 11, 2008 announced that it has received a contract from Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), Ethiopia for manufacture and supply of AAAC Power Transmission Conductors. The contract is valued at US$ 17.5 Million
(approximately INR 700 Million) and as per customer requirements; the deliveries are scheduled from April 2008 through September 2008.

Sterlite was chosen as the sole manufacturer and supplier for over 17,000 km of ‘AAAC Conductors' that would be installed in the 4,000 km route length of the 'Accelerated Electrification Programme (AEP) Project' being executed under World Bank funding in Ethiopia.

Sterlite has a fortified its market share to about 14% in Africa & the Middle East with its Power Transmission Conductors products sold in 32 countries across the region to reputed Turnkey, Utilities and Infrastructure Companies such as SONELGAZ - Algeria, EEPCo - Ethiopia, KPLC – Kenya, PHCN – Nigeria, ESKOM - South Africa and FEWA - UAE, to name a few.

For the 9-months in FY 2007-08, Sterlite’s export sales for its Power Conductors accounted for about 35% of total revenues from sale of its Power Conductor products. The Company currently supplies about 27% of India’s total demand for power transmission & distribution conductors.

Says Mr. Pravin Agarwal – Director, of the Company, "We are honored to partner with EEPCo for this project. With over a decade of experience with the varying requirements of our customers in global markets, supported with state-of-the-art integrated manufacturing facilities, we believe that Sterlite is uniquely positioned to deliver significant value to all our business partners."

Sterlite is a significant contributor to the global power sector through indigenous manufacture of a complete range of power transmission conductors at Extra High Voltages (400kV - 800kV), High Voltages (66kV – 220kV) and power distribution conductors (11kV- 33kV). The Company has a cumulative manufacturing capacity of 115,000 MT (Metric
Tons), making it the largest manufacturer in India and amongst the Top 5 global manufacturers of Power Conductors.

Moser Baer to expand Thin Film Photovoltaic capacity

Moser Baer India Ltd on February 09, 2008 has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, PV Technologies India Ltd, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a leading global equipment supplier to secure supply of critical equipment for a 565 MW phased expansion of its Thin Film Photovoltaic modules manufacturing capacity, which together with the current project capacity of 40 MW will take the total manufacturing capacity to over 600 MW by 2010.

Ravi Khanna, CEO, PV said, "Leaders in the PV industry will continue to emerge on the strengths of rapid scale up and technology differentiation. We see an increasingly significant role for Thin Film technologies in meeting peaking power requirements and now aim to be a significant player in this arena."

Thin film solar modules are ideal for energy farms, rural applications and building integrated Photovoltaic markets. Photovoltaic modules based on large area Thin Film technology provide a path to cost parity between solar grid power. According to market estimates, the Thin Film based solar modules will see large emerging applications and a robust demand that, according to industry estimates is expected to grow ten fold; from 250 MW currently to 2GW with a market size of $5 bn by 2010.

Kemrock to acquire Top Glass

Kemrock Industries & Exports Ltd has informed that the Company has reached an in-principle understanding to acquire the business of Top Glass SpA, Italy. The deal was negotiated and agreed in-principle on February 08, 2008, by Mr. Kalpesh Patel, Chairman and Managing Director of Kemrock and Mr. Alfonso Branca, Managing Director of Top Glass.

The acquisition of majority holding, which is subject to customary due diligence, documentation and compliances with the applicable regulations / approval would enable, Kemrock to integrate Top Glass' World renowned technical Capabilities in the field of pultrusion with Kemrock's growing reputation as Asia's leading composites manufacturer employing all the major process technologies.

This significant event in the history of Kemrock signals a major step forward in the technical competence, of pultruded products now available to the Indian and Asian Composites Market. The Company would have the enhanced capability of serving basic industries in the manner that European and North American users have enjoyed over the past few years.

Mr. Branca, Managing Director meantime foresees advantage for the Top Glass activity in Europe. Top Glass will remain an autonomous, entity as a subsidiary of Kemrock.

Top Glass are based some 20 kms north east of Milan, in a modern, state of the art pultrusion facility; and are renowned for the market leading technical expertise they exhibit.

Tanla Solutions Mobile Updates

Tanla Solutions Ltd has announced that Tanla Mobile Ltd, a subsidiary of the Company is issuing a press release about Tanla Mobile publishing a Marketing and Advertising Guide in the United Kingdom, which is as follows :

"Tanla Mobile, the global leader for wireless application development, mobile billing and messaging solutions, today unveils its benchmark-setting guide to mobile marketing and advertising. Aiming to cast light on the complexities of this increasingly critical communications channel, the guide provides a clear, unbiased view of the current market.

The Tanla guide aims to offer step-by-step guidance to agencies and brands about how to design, launch and manage mobile marketing campaigns. Edited by mobile marketing guru Helen Keegan and drawing on the expertise of senior figures at 02, Vodafone, Admob and Emerging Media Platforms, the Tanla Mobile Marketing and Advertising Guide identifies key areas that must be addressed for the industry to thrive. It promises to be essential reading for all marketing and mobile executives.

"2008 promises to be the year that mobile marketing truly earns its spurs but the Guide has revealed that there exists a growing knowledge gap that threatens to hold it back," explains Gautam Sabharwal, Director, Tanla Mobile. "Mobile marketing has promised much and has become a critical element in the marketing mix but the feeling persists that many companies do not yet know how to make the most out of mobile marketing possibilities. That’s why we have spent the past eight months developing this guide to provide the mobile industry with answers to the challenges and opportunities that exist."

The Guide covers every aspect of mobile's place in the marketing mix. From campaign mechanisms to common challenges, from leveraging user-generated content to exploiting mobile TV, it contains everything mobile executives need to know about this rapidly evolving market.

The Tanla Mobile Marketing and Advertising Guide will be officially launched on Monday 11th February at the Mobile World Congress. Tanla Mobile is hosting a reception, attended by leading executives from the global mobile industry, at the Lika Lounge, Passatge de Domingo."

Strides Arcolab agreement with Genepharm Australasia

Strides Arcolab Ltd on February 08, 2008 has announced that it has entered into the following transactions:

1. Strides has entered into a Heads of Agreement with Genepharm Australasia Ltd
("Genepharm") under which Strides will vend its Australian and Asian business in
exchange for the issue of shares in Genepharm, subject to approval by Genepharm
shareholders ("Genepharm Transaction").

2. Strides has acquired a relevant interest over 17.7% of the issued shares in ASX-listed
Genepharm under a share acquisition agreement with a group of Genepharm shareholders based in Cyprus that are associated with Genepharm's largest shareholder, Genepharm Asia Pacific Enterprises Ltd ("GAPE Transaction"). When added to the existing 2.1% of Genepharm shares over which Strides currently has a relevant interest, the GAPE Transaction takes Strides' total relevant interest in Genepharm issued shares to approximately 19.8%.

3. On successful completion of the Genepharm Transaction, Strides may emerge with a
shareholding of approximately 55% of the expanded capital base of Genepharm.

4. The combined regional businesses are expected to have revenues of approximately
A$100 million on closing of the Genepharm Transaction.

In a press release issued at the occasion of the announcement.

Arun Kumar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Strides said:

"The Strides business model is based on the philosophy of 'Leadership By Partnering'. We are delighted to have found in Genepharm the ideal partner with which to build an even stronger business across Australia and the Asian region."

"Over the last few years, Genepharm has established itself as one of the leading generic pharmaceutical companies in Australia. Its focus on serving its customers has enabled it to capture significant market share within a relatively short period of time."

"We expect that Genepharm's sales and marketing expertise will help accelerate the growth of the Australian and Asian businesses. Combined with Strides' manufacturing strength and product offering, we are confident that this will prove to be a successful partnership that will create value for the shareholders in both companies."

Background

Vending in Strides' Australian and Asian businesses

Strides' businesses in Australia and Asia are involved in the manufacture and distribution of pharmaceutical prescription and over the counter ("OTC") products across the region, with sales in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Australia. For the year ending June 30, 2008, these businesses are forecast to generate revenue of A$32.5 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ("EBITDA") of AS7.4 million. For the purpose of this transaction, these businesses are being valued at approximately A$65 million.

The businesses in Asia includes Drug Houses of Australia (Asia) Pte Ltd ("DHA"), which consists of regional sales and marketing capability as well as a manufacturing facility in Jurong, Singapore. DHA is the leading local generic pharmaceutical company in Singapore. This will become the Asian hub for Genepharm's Asian operation.

Genepharm's Australia Business

Genepharm's business in Australia is involved in the sales and distribution of a broad range of pharmaceutical and OTC products in the Australian market. Genepharm services pharmacies, hospitals, medical centres and wholesalers. It has an estimated market share of 11% in the markets in which it operates and for the financial year ended June 2007 reported revenues of A$55 million and an underlying EBITDA of A$5 million. The Company expects strong growth for the year ending June 30, 2008.

Key areas Strides is focusing on:

- Regional leadership in selected territories

- Creating value partnership models with key global pharmaceutical companies through
equity partnerships, JVs and key accounts to maximize stake holder valuation.

Rationale For The Transaction

- Strides' business model is based on the philosophy "Leadership By Partnering" and to
build strong and sustainable regional leadership in selected territories.

- Asia and Australia is a key focus market for Strides and is amongst the faster growing regions for the Company.

- Genepharm's strength as a leading Generic Company in the competitive Australian market, with strong OTC market capabilities, makes Genepharm a natural partner to grow the emerging Australasian markets and leverage its strong development pipeline.

- Recent discussions with Genepharm resulted in the opportunity for the two Companies to form a broader alliance that offers synergies and future growth opportunities and form the future basis of a strong regional partnership.

Conditions Precedent

The Genepharm Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including finalisation of due diligence by both Genepharm and Strides and following which definitive agreements are expected to be executed during late March 2008.

Completion of the Genepharm Transaction will also be subject to a number of conditions, including Genepharm obtaining shareholder approval and obtaining an opinion from an independent expert that the transaction is fair and reasonable to non-associated shareholders. The Board of Genepharm has appointed KPMG to provide an independent expert's report in this regard. Genepharm shareholders will be asked to approve the acquisition at an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM") expected to be held in early May 2008.

Proposed Shareholding

A. Strides has acquired a relevant interest over 17.7% of the issued shares in Genepharm under the GAPE Transaction. When added to the existing 2.1% of Genepharm shares over which Strides currently has a relevant interest, the GAPE Transaction takes Strides' total relevant interest in Genepharm issued shares to approximately 19.8%.

B. The vending in of the Strides Asian business under the Genepharm Transaction will
result in Strides acquiring an additional 44% of the expanded capital in Genepharm.

C. On successful completion of the Genepharm Transaction, Strides may emerge with a shareholding of approximately 55% of the expanded capital base of Genepharm.

Strides Preferred Supply Agreement

Contemporaneously with completion of the Genepharm Transaction, it is proposed that the companies enter into a 5 year Strides Preferred Supply Agreement, under which Genepharm, subject to any existing Strides supply arrangements in the region, will have the first right of refusal to distribute all existing and future Strides' products (other than products for treatment of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria) into Australia, New Zealand and the Asian regions, excluding Japan and China, where Genepharm will have the nonexclusive right to supply Strides' products.

Similarly, Genepharm will give Strides the first right to supply products manufactured by Strides in the region as its preferred supplier. However, if for any reason the parties do not reach an agreement on the terms for the sale and distribution of any of the Strides' products in the region, Genepharm retains flexibility to source products from alternative suppliers.

Other key elements of the regional partnership

In recognition of Strides' shareholding in Genepharm and the supply relationship between the two companies, it is proposed that Strides will nominate two non-executive directors to the Board of Genepharm. Accordingly, at the time of completion of the Genepharm Transaction, there will be six directors, comprising the two Strides nominees, the Managing Director, Dennis Bastas, together with three independent non-executive directors (including the Chairman, Torn O'Brien).

Other key terms of the Genepharm Transaction

Under the Genepharm Transaction, Genepharm and Strides have agreed to an exclusivity period until 30 April 2008, although this is subject to the fiduciary duties of the respective Boards of Genepharm and Strides.

Genepharm and Strides have also agreed to the payment of a A$500,000 break fee by the relevant party in the event that the Genepharm Transaction does not complete because of the occurrence of certain events, including the recommendation by either the Strides or the Genepharm Board of a competing proposal. No break fee is payable if the acquisition does not complete due to, amongst other things, the Directors of either Genepharm or Strides resolving not to approve execution of the relevant transaction documents, Strides not obtaining FIRB approval, or Genepharm not obtaining shareholder approval or not obtaining an opinion from an independent expert that the Genepharm Transaction is fair and reasonable.

MARG unveils plans for a new city - " MARG Swarnabhoomi"

Marg Constructions Ltd has announced that the launch of its mega infrastructure project - MARG Swarnabhoomi. Strategically located off the high growth East Coast Road, MARG Swarnabhoomi is designed as a global standard model city. Spread over more than 1000 acres, this city includes two notified Special Economic Zones for "Multi Services" and "Engineering sector including auto ancillaries". Epitomizing the name Swarnabhoomi, this new land of prosperity is projected to create an economy of us$ 1 billion over the next 5 years through a self sustaining business model. MARG Swarnabhoomi will soon emerge as a jewel in the crown for the state of Tamil Nadu.

Announcing the launch of the city, Mr. GRK Reddy, Chairman & Managing Director, said MARG Swarnabhoomi is a city with the promise of plenty, peace and prosperity. Swarnabhoomi is strategically located off ECR with a scenic ambience in the midst of large water bodies; it encompasses two notified SEZs designed as engines for economic growth and wealth creation. Designed as a global city with world class civil and social infrastructure, MARG Swarnabhoomi delivers the perfect setting for a work-life balance while promoting the walk-to-work concept”.

MARG Swarnabhoomi has been designed to international standards by world renowned architects HOK, USA. A planned city, it will offer superior civic infrastructure, ample provision for residential units, 24-hrs water supply, power supply from the state electricity grid, optic fibre telecom & broadband connectivity, sewage treatment and desalination plants. Social infrastructure will include educational institutions, wellness centres, shopping malls and a first of its kind destination mall. For sport aficionados, there would an international standard golf course, sports and water sports facilities. The spectrum of housing options would be from affordable homes to luxury villas designed to bring in inclusivity.

MARG plans to invest in excess of US $400 million in the project. The total size of the project is expected to touch US $1 billion over the next 5 years. The SEZ projects will cover 612 acres and the MARG group has purchased in excess of 1000 acres of land outside the SEZ for the wholesome development of this zone. Basic infrastructure for the SEZ projects like road connectivity, power supply, sewage treatment facility and water supply is planned to be completed by year 2009. The project is surrounded by the Cheyyur swamps and this makes the temperature about 4 degrees Celsius lower than Chennai.

The two SEZs in MARG Swarnabhoomi are notified by the Board of Approval (BOA) of Government of India and they have also received the Environmental clearances, the only Multi Services SEZ in South India, it will target global businesses in the fields of KPO Animation & Simulation Services; Market Research, Specialty Healthcare and Educational Institutions. The Engineering sector SEZ is designed to attract mainly the industries in the Auto Component & Ancillaries sector. At the launch, Mr. B G Menon, Executive Director, MARG Ltd, said Soon after the formal notification, the response from the industry and investment community has been very enthusiastic. As we forge alliances and progress, MARG Swarnabhoomi will emerge as the Gurgaon of Chennai. This mega infrastructure project will be completed in 3 phases, the first phase by December 2009, followed by Phase
2 in March 2011 and then fully by December 2013.

Located in the Latur block, Cheyyur Taluk, this project will be an engine for massive employment generation. MARG Swarnabhoomi is expected to generate employment for over 1 lakh people once the SEZs are fully developed. The Latur Block covers 41 Panchayat villages with a population of close to 80,000 people with around 50 percent of SC & ST population. MARG Swarnabhoomi would also be accessible to youth seeking employment in the neighbouring areas of Kalpakkam, Puducherry, Tindivanam, Maduranthakam, Mahabalipuram and Chengalpet.

Reaffirming the belief that growth has to be inclusive, MARG had partnered with CII in June 2007 to initiate a Grassroots Skill Development Initiative (GLSDI) project in Cheyyur Taluk, the area surrounding MARG Swarnabhoomi. This innovative project covers preemployment skill training to cover 5000 unskilled workers by 2008. The second phase of the project includes industry specific training. MARG had allocated Rs. 1 crore for this social program. This innovative skill development program targets to generate social inclusiveness and to provide socially and economically vulnerable youth an opportunity to be a part of the mainstream economy. This initiative would work towards building a movement that will meet the challenges of sustainability and of inclusive growth.